News You Can Use

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NJ Town Wants Residential Streets Removed From Navigational Apps « CBS New York

LEONIA, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Leonia’s drastic traffic experiment will take place later this month.

As CBS2’s Dave Carlin reported, the sleepy, little New Jersey town, a quarter-mile from the George Washington Bridge, is declaring 60 residential streets off-limits to drivers who use them as cut-throughs.

Residents say they are sick of traffic tie-ups caused by commuters short-cutting.

“They should stay on the highway,” said Carlos Gomez, of Leonia. “Why bother us?”

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8 in 10 French people believe a conspiracy theory: survey

Around eight out of 10 French people believe in at least one conspiracy theory, according to a survey that tested some of the most famous ones on a group of 1,200 people.

The poll by the Ifop group on behalf of the Fondation Jean Jaures think-tank and the Conspiracy Watch organisation found that large sections of French society believed in theories with no grounding in established fact.

One of the best-known conspiracy theories -- that the CIA was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 -- was believed by 54 percent of respondents, while 16 percent thought America had faked its moon landings.

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Syracuse's snow streak finally ends, 66 hours and 19.3 inches later

For 66 straight hours, the National Weather Service's hourly logs showed snow at Hancock International Airport. Sometimes it was light snow, sometimes heavy snow, sometimes blowing snow, but always snow.

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FGCU police presence planned for start of 'White Racism' class

When a "White Racism" class meets Tuesday at Florida Gulf Coast University, at least two campus police officers will be on guard as a precaution.

Today marks the start of the spring semester at FGCU, and Tuesday will be the first time the class meets. The course has caused controversy due to its name and garnered national media attention.

"We have prepared for any possible distractions related to Tuesday's first class of the White Racism course, but we are expecting normal campus civility as our students engage in this and other courses at the spring semester's start," Susan Evans, FGCU's spokeswoman and chief of staff, said in an email.

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D&C 18:20 Contend against no church, save it be the church of the devil.


Hell freezes over: how the Church of Satan got cool | World news | The Guardian

Thanks to a canny social media presence – which has included messages to Chelsea Clinton – and progressive politics, satanism is an unlikely spiritual antidote to the Trump era

Disappointingly, Chelsea Clinton has denied she and her husband practise satanism. Her tweet wishing the folks at the Church of Satan a happy new year should not be taken as endorsement of the dark lord’s manifold heresies.

One hopes that, like her father’s denial of having had “sexual relations with that woman”, Chelsea’s disclaimer isn’t for real. Doesn’t she realise that the radical power of Satan is having a moment unparalleled since Milton unwittingly made him the badass rebel hero of Paradise Lost?

Satanism’s latest mutation is a contrarian uprising against a patriarchal world order that deserves its comeuppance

According to the LA Times, “a heterodox generation of new self-described satanists is upending old Rosemary’s Baby and Helter Skelter stereotypes in service of radical politics, feminist aesthetics and community unity”.

The paper sent a reporter to investigate a satanic soiree in a California basement where they found a coterie of artists, writers and musicians who chanted “Hail Satan!”, while someone, unacceptably, played minor chords on the organ.

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Credit card debt hits new record in November, raising concerns.

Americans' outstanding credit card debt hit a new record in November, highlighting a more confident U.S. consumer but also flashing a warning signal of potential trouble down the road.

Revolving credit, mostly credit cards, increased by $11.2 billion to $1.023 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Monday. That nudged the figure past the $1.021 trillion highwater mark reached in April 2008, just before the housing and credit bubbles burst. Over the past year, revolving credit has surged by $55.1 billion, or 5.7%, according to the Fed and Contingent Macro Research.

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Tech a new religion at consumer gadget extravaganza | AFP.com

Tech is the new religion, offering hope of salvation in a troubled world as industry leaders converge in Las Vegas this week.

Technology will not just help us communicate better and give us bolder and brighter screens. It is promising to end urban congestion, treat cancer and depression, and help us live fitter and more productive lives.

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Snowden Joins Outcry Against World's Biggest Biometric Database - Bloomberg

Former U.S. intelligence-contractor-turned whistleblower Edward Snowden joined critics of India’s digital ID program as the nation’s top court is due to decide on its legality.

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Paris prosecutors probe Apple over 'planned obsolescence' | AFP.com

Paris prosecutors have launched a probe of US tech giant Apple over suspected "planned obsolescence" in some of its iPhone models, a judicial source told AFP on Monday.

The investigation was opened on Friday and is being led by anti-trust and consumer protection specialists in the French economy ministry.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the probe.

It comes after a complaint by the association Stop Planned Obsolescence (HOP or Halte a l'Obsolescence Programmee) after Apple admitted last month that it intentionally slowed down older models of its iPhones over time.

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Highly classified US spy satellite appears to be a total loss after SpaceX launch

Dow Jones reported Monday evening that lawmakers had been briefed about the apparent destruction of the secretive payload — code-named Zuma
The payload was suspected to have failed to separate perfectly from the upper part of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
The missing satellite may have been worth billions of dollars

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Now this is a cause to celebrate!

Cliven Bundy standoff case thrown out in another stunning blow to government | OregonLive.com

LAS VEGAS -- A judge Monday threw out criminal charges against Nevada cattleman Cliven Bundy, his two sons and a co-defendant in their 2014 standoff with federal agents, citing "flagrant misconduct" by prosecutors and the FBI in not disclosing evidence before and during trial.

"The government's conduct in this case was indeed outrageous," said U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro. "There has been flagrant misconduct, substantial prejudice and no lesser remedy is sufficient."

The judge issued her ruling before a packed courtroom with nearly 100 spectators inside and more than a dozen others waiting outside the doors. Cliven Bundy's lawyer put his arm around his client. Supporters held hands, wiped tears from their eyes and hugged. One looked up and whispered, "Thank you, Lord.''

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Drone swarm tactics get tryout for infantry to use in urban battlespace

The science fiction-sounding goal: Put an autonomous robot swarm of 250 or more drones under the control of light infantry soldiers or Marines to do complex tasks on the urban battlefield.

Competitors are now tackling that goal in a multi-stage event announced late last year by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Events called Sprinters are intended to develop “offensive swarm-enabled tactics” for these emerging technologies.

Swarm drone technology already exists. In 2016, the Defense Department successfully tested micro-drone swarms at China Lake, California. They dropped 103 Perdix drones from three F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters.

The drones had a 6.5-inch body and 11.8-inch wing span and weighed less 10.23 ounces, or as much as full can of soda.

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Stranger Sprays Caustic Substance In Woman’s Face On Staten Island « CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A woman was severely burned after she was sprayed in face with a caustic substance by a stranger during an unprovoked attack in the middle of the day on Staten Island.

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Google's Fact-Checking Is Liberal Bias | The Daily Caller

Google, the most powerful search engine in the world, is now displaying fact checks for conservative publications in its results.
No prominent liberal site receives the same treatment.

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Former Rep. Hixon dead at age 36 | The Spokesman-Review

House Speaker Scott Bedke just announced “some bad news” to the House: “Former Rep. Brandon Hixon has tragically taken his own life. Our thoughts go first to family and friends who are suffering from this loss.”

Bedke said, “We should … support those who are close to us when they are struggling. Please remember Brandon’s family in your prayers.”

Hixon, R-Caldwell, resigned from the House in November amid a criminal investigation into sexual abuse, though no charges were filed; he subsequently was twice arrested for driving under the influence, with the first arrest also including a charge of resisting arrest.

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FBI chief calls unbreakable encryption 'urgent public safety issue'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The inability of law enforcement authorities to access data from electronic devices due to powerful encryption is an "urgent public safety issue," FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday as he sought to renew a contentious debate over privacy and security.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was unable to access data from nearly 7,800 devices in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 with technical tools despite possessing proper legal authority to pry them open, a growing figure that impacts every area of the agency's work, Wray said during a speech at a cyber security conference in New York.

The FBI has been unable to access data in more than half of the devices that it tried to unlock due to encryption, Wray added.

"This is an urgent public safety issue," Wray added, while saying that a solution is "not so clear cut."

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'Somebody's already been killed' because of Trump dossier, Fusion GPS rep revealed | Fox News

An attorney for the co-founder of opposition research firm Fusion GPS revealed during a closed-door interview this summer with congressional investigators that “somebody's already been killed” as a result of the publication of the anti-Trump dossier. 

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Pregnant Woman Claims She Was Fired After Refusing To Get Flu Shot « CBS New York

LONG BEACH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – A pregnant woman on Long Island says she was fired after refusing to get a flu shot.

Allison Labarbera, an ultrasound technician, told WCBS 880’s Sophia Hall that in 2018, it’s sad and disturbing how NYU Winthrop Hospital treated her. The Long Beach resident is five months pregnant.

“I don’t think it’s right,” she said. “My choice, my body.”

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Teacher Arrested For Asking Why Superintendent Got A Raise « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

CBS Local — A chaotic scene broke out at a Louisiana school board meeting after a teacher was arrested, apparently for questioning why the board’s superintendent was being given a $38,000 pay raise.

Deyshia Hargrave, a middle school teacher in the Vermilion Parish school system, was videotaped being escorted out of a room and then wrestled into handcuffs by a city marshal on Jan. 8. The disturbing incident took place after Hargrave asked school board members to justify the massive raise while teachers and school employees had reportedly gone without a pay hike in years.

“I have a serious issue with a superintendent or any person of leadership getting any type of raise,” Hargrave was seen saying in a YouTube video. “I feel like it’s a slap in the face to all the teachers, cafeteria workers and any other support staff we have. We work very hard, with very little, to maintain the salaries we have.”

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White men who can’t get jobs say they’re being discriminated against - MarketWatch

An engineer who was fired by Google for circulating an anti-diversity memo sued the company this week, alleging that the tech giant discriminates against white, conservative men. He’s likely not alone in that belief.

There are other white men working in tech who believe their gender and race are making it difficult for them to get ahead, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center about diversity in the science and technology fields.

Pew asked a nationally representative sample of white men with jobs in science, technology, math and engineering (or STEM) fields whether they thought their gender made it harder for them to succeed. Of the 14% who said yes, more than 1 in 10 said they had been affected by reverse discrimination.

When Pew posed a similar question about race to the survey respondents, nearly 20% of those who said race made their job harder cited reverse discrimination as the reason for their challenges.

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Yelp Accused Of Hiding Positive Reviews For Non-Advertiser « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

DALLAS (CBS11) – A Dallas business owner is accusing Yelp of hiding good reviews of his coffee shop after he refused to pay them for advertising.

Bob Sinnott owns Toasted Coffee + Kitchen in Lower Greenville.

He said after months of non-stop phone calls from Yelp, he claims his favorable rating dropped after he finally told the company he would not pay for advertising.

“What I would compare it to, the mafia,” said Sinnott. “You know, you do business with me or there’s retaliation.”

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Switzerland Rejects Citizenship Bids of Residents Who Have Been on Welfare

A new civil rights act has come into force in Switzerland that prevents residents who have been on welfare in the past three years from becoming citizens unless they pay back the money they received to the state.

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Surprise: Women watched more porn in 2017

Both Pornhub and xHamster have recently unveiled year-in-review reports for 2017. And while much of it is far from surprising (people like cheerleaders, can you believe it?), one finding consistent across both reports further confirms what many have known all along: Women are watching more porn.

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Jay Inslee Warns Of Climate Apocalypse | The Daily Caller

Washington state’s Democratic Governor Jay Inslee warned there was “just 59 days” to save future generations from “an endless cycle of crop-killing droughts one year, and rivers spilling their banks the next.”

Inslee went on a lengthy Twitter rant in efforts to convince the state legislature to pass legislation to tax carbon dioxide emissions. Washington residents voted down Inslee’s last carbon tax plan by a wide margin in 2016.

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Jeff Bezos is now richer than Iceland, Tunisia, Jamaica, and Estonia c

All those rush-ordered birthday presents on Amazon and Whole Foods salad bar purchases have finally paid off–for Jeff Bezos, at least. Per Bloomberg‘s billionaire tracking, the founder has a net worth of $105.1 billion, making him the richest man in history, according to CNN (although, Mansa Musa, the King of Timbuktu, and Augustus Caesar were even richer by some calculations). For those keeping track at home, Bezos is now worth more than the GDP of over 125 of the world’s 195 nations. Interestingly, though, Microsoft’s Bill Gates would be richer than Bezos, save for the fact that he gives a significant portion of his income to charity.