NEWS ROUNDUP WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20 2019

DEVELOPING.. ????? ??????.. Attorney General Bill Barr is preparing to announce as early as next week the completion of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, with plans for Barr to submit to Congress soon after a summary of Mueller's confidential report, according to people familiar with the plans...

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that the Constitution's ban on excessive fines applies to state and local governments, thus limiting their ability to use fines to raise revenue..

“Amazon Pullout, Thanks for Nothing, AOC,” the billboard, located on 42nd street near 8th Avenue, reads...

REUTERS: Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy demanded on Wednesday to meet Pope Francis to press their call for the Church to apply a zero tolerance policy including the dismissal of bishops who covered up such offences..

STRANGER THINGS comic will introduce another 'number'..

‘Happy Death Day’ Creator Scott Lobdell Teases Next Project ‘Odin,’ Centered on a Vengeful Dog!

The spacecraft Hayabusa2's first touchdown onto the asteroid Ryugu is scheduled for this week. If successful, the craft will shoot a bullet into the rock in order to capture samples to bring back to Earth...

Actor Jussie Smollett now a suspect in criminal investigation!

New 'Scream' and 'Hellraiser' Films Being Considered by 'Halloween' Reboot Producer!

MORE! "Yes, we definitely have [discussed it]," the producer confirmed with CinemaBlend when asked about the two specific properties. "We're looking - there's nothing happening with either one of those things - but we're definitely looking at it, and it's definitely something I'd be open to."..

For better or worse.. THOR becomes HOGAN.. Chris Hemsworth to Play Hulk Hogan in Biopic Directed by Todd Phillips..

HULKAMANIA the movie..

Nickelodeon Studios has cut a deal with Netflix to produce two animated movies for the streaming giant based on Nickelodeon properties “The Loud House” and “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

After three comic book crossovers, Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will finally be teaming up on the silver screen. The animated film will be called Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and will hit home video formats later in 2019.

‘MAKING A MURDERER’ UPDATE: WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CLARIFIES BONE FRAGMENTS AND PELVIS LOCATION TO STEVEN AVERY'S ATTORNEY.. more: All bones have allegedly never been tested for DNA, meaning it’s said to be uncertain if the bones belong to Halbach..

Why Do Zebras Have Stripes? Scientists Camouflaged Horses to Find Out!

Neptune's newfound moon, Hippocamp, might be left over from a comet crash!

In the new study, researchers were observing Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies in the lab when they noticed a very large distribution in sleep duration. Most slept somewhere between 300 minutes and 600 minutes per day, but about 6% of females slept for less than 72 minutes per day, and three particularly restless individuals slept for only 15, 14, or 4 minutes per day, respectively.. And it had no effect on health..

MONDAY FEBRUARY 18 2019 PRESIDENTS DAY NEWS WRAP

News on the ropes!! ABC News on the defensive about softball Smollett interview.. The network refused to call the now questionable MAGA attack on the actor alleged.. full damage control mode now as the story unravels..

There is a spider that has been dead for 110 million years.. but the eyes still glow!

A whirlpool of near-naked men massed on a dark temple compound here on Feb. 16 as they sought to become the luckiest man of the year!

Volcanic activity under Mars' surface possible..

There's a cavity underneath Antarctica that's two thirds the size of Manhattan — a sign ice sheets are melting faster than we thought..

NORTH POLE has officially shifted..

50 CENT THREAT: NYPD REVIEWS

The New York Police Department is investigating allegations that a precinct commander threatened rapper and actor 50 Cent...

MORE..

The New York Daily News reported Sunday that Deputy Inspector Emanuel Gonzalez, who is commander of the city's 72nd precinct in Brooklyn, allegedly told officers to shoot 50 Cent "on sight" during a roll call in the station house. 

New York police did not confirm the date the alleged comment was made.

The Daily News reported the incident was not recorded and that Gonzalez tried to pass off the comment as a joke.

50 Cent responded to the story:

"This is how I wake up this morning, This guy Emanuel Gonzales (sic) is a dirty cop abusing his POWER," 50 Cent said on Twitter. "The sad part is this man still has a badge and a gun. I take this threat very seriously and im (sic) consulting with my legal counsel regarding my options moving forward."

SPIDER-VERSE OpenColorIO GOES OPEN SOURCE!

Sony Pictures Imageworks has made the color management tool OpenColorIO—which was used to create the recent hit animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse—available to the open source community. 

The tool has now become the second software project of the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF), a Linux Foundation-owned open source association.

MORE..

"We want to contribute OpenColorIO back to the community that relies on it, and the Academy Software Foundation is a natural fit," Sony Pictures Imageworks vice president and head of software development Michael Ford said. 

"The developers and companies that use it every day will guide the project roadmap, starting with the features and release cadence for a new 2.0 version."

Robot revolution will even hit the farms

Soon: Robots will be harvesting the produce that ends up in your local stores.. The robotic revolution, in full swing, will be coming to a farm near you..

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST,

The future of agricultural work has arrived here in Florida, promising to ease labor shortages and reduce the cost of food, or so says the team behind Harv, a nickname for the latest model from automation company Harvest CROO Robotics.
Harv is on the cutting edge of a national push to automate the way we gather goods that bruise and squish, a challenge that has long flummoxed engineers.
Designing a robot with a gentle touch is among the biggest technical obstacles to automating the American farm. Reasonably priced fruits and vegetables are at risk without it, growers say, because of a dwindling pool of workers.
"The labor force keeps shrinking," said Gary Wishnatzki, a third-generation strawberry farmer. "If we don't solve this with automation, fresh fruits and veggies won't be affordable or even available to the average person."

The article goes on to report  that the current state of electronic farm worker is clumsy.. But the future coming may feature must more dutiful robots that don't harm the crops they pick..

While the company says that the robotics will actually INCREASE jobs (...??..) some aren't sure..

More from POST reporting.

"I see the robot and think, 'Maybe we're not going to have jobs anymore,' " said Antonio Vengas, 48, one of the about 600 employees on the farm with Harv.
Vengas moved to Florida 15 years ago from the Mexican state of Oaxaca and makes about $25 an hour. About 75 percent of his co-workers are Mexicans on seasonal work visas.
They all make good money, he said. They're motivated.
"People can pick strawberries without hurting them," he said. "They know which ones are too little or rotten. Machines can't do that."

 

The CREEP finished production and is ready for the show #Creepshow

Special effects EXPERT Greg Nicotero has posted on Instragram that the first episode of the upcoming horror anthology series “Creepshow” has finished production and in the process he’s released a look at the new version of The Creep from the series

The six-episode season will feature a variety of writers, with one episode being based on the Stephen King short story “Survivor Type” from the collection Skeleton Crew. The other episodes include:

“Silvery Waters of Lake Champlain” by Joe Hill ( NOS4A2 )

“House of the Head” by Josh Malerman ( Bird Box )

“The Companion” by Joe Lansdale ( The Bottoms )

“The Man in the Suitcase” by Christopher Buehlman ( The Lesser Dead )

“All Hallows Eve” by Bruce Jones ( The Hitchhiker )

“Night of the Paw” by John Esposito ( The Walking Dead: Webisodes )

“Bad Wolf Down” by Rob Schrab ( Monster House )

The TV series will be an anthology of original stories, each made by a different director, with the series scheduled to kickoff on Shudder in 2019

Kevin Smith expands on the Howard the Duck series coming to HULU

More.. the CLERKS director and constant warrior against Bill Maher stated,

“The times we’re living in deserve an orator who can identify all the quacks in the system – a straight-shooter who won’t leave us holding the bill. Thanks to Marvel & Hulu, I get to do fowl things to one of my all-time favorite comic book characters in animation!
Let’s be honest: I’m not talented enough to handle any of the Avengers, but Howard is definitely in my wheelhouse! However, the real brains of our operation is a legit cartoon genius: the great Meatwad himself, Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Dave Willis! So prepare to get Ducked hard!.”
Willis: “I’m looking forward to working with Kevin on bringing Howard to the flat screen,” added Willis. “And I know if I screw this up, I’ll never be able to show my face at Comic-Con ever again. Nerds will hunt me the rest of my days.”

MORE AT THE MARVEL SITE

So there you have it.. 

The DUCK this generation may not know it wants, but definitely feels it needs...

HOWARD is coming back..

Smollett self-hate!

FEN 17 2019: POLICE NOW LOOKING INTO THE POSSIBILITY THAT JESSIE SMOLLETT ORCHESTRATED THE ATTACK .. THE ATTACK HE CLAIMED WAS DONE BY TRUMP-MAGA-HAT WEARING FANS WHO SHOUTED HATEFUL WORDS TO HIM...

MORE..

CNN, NBC News, the Chicago Tribune, and USA Today are now all among the mainstream news media publications who have sources in the police stating Smollett planned it all out himself..

THE UK DAILY MAIL has a good wrap on events thus far .

• Actor Jussie Smollett orchestrated an assault against him, Chicago police say

• He has furiously denied the claims saying 'nothing is further from the truth'

• Issued a statement through his lawyers Saturday night who now say one of the suspects was Smollett's personal trainer for a music video

• 'It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie’s complicity', they say

• Attorneys say Smollett 'has now been further victimized by claims'

• Both men, Nigerian brothers, are friends of Smollett and said to be anti-Trump

• The brothers were reportedly paid $3,500 and were promised additional $500

• Smollett has hired high-powered defense lawyer Michael Monico

• Smollett said last month that he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack

• Initial reports said two noose-wielding men yelled 'this is MAGA country'

• Police say new evidence emerged in interrogations that requires investigation

DEVELOPING..

9/11 VICTIM COMPENSATION FUND RUNNING OUT OF MONEY!

NPR:

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is cutting its payouts in half for some and by as much as 70 percent for others, as the fund faces a surge in claims ahead of its expiration date in December 2020.
The fund, which was opened in 2011, compensates for deaths and illnesses due to exposure to toxins at the sites of the Sept. 11 attacks. The $7.3 billion fund has already paid out about $5 billion to 21,000 claimants. But it still has about 19,000 additional unpaid claims to address.
With resources rapidly dwindling, the fund said any pending claims will be paid at 50 percent of their prior value. Claims received after Feb. 1 of this year will be paid at 30 percent.

MORE

"Most Americans have moved on over the last 18 years, and rightfully so," Feal told NPR. "But for those who are deeply effected by 9/11, and are waiting for claims, this day hasn't ended for them. 9/11 continues"

Associated Press:

Nearly 40,000 people have applied to the federal fund for people with illnesses potentially related to being at the World Trade Center site, the Pentagon or Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after the 2001 terror attacks there, and about 19,000 of those claims are pending. Nearly $5 billion in benefits have been awarded out of the $7.3 billion fund.

Scientists can't say definitively whether toxins at the site gave people cancer. One study published last year found that overall mortality rates among nearly 30,000 rescue and recovery workers weren't elevated. But researchers have raised concern an unusual number of suicides among first responders and more deaths than expected from brain cancers and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

MANHOLE HELL IN NYC! EXPLOSIONS LEAD TO THEATER EVACUATION!

From dispatches from the big Apple:

A manhole exploded near West 50th Street between 8th and 9th avenues shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday night... before two others followed afterwards..

A spokesperson for the theater said Avenue Q, the Play that Goes Wrong, Puffs and a Spirited History of Drinking were cancelled.

“All patrons, casts, crews, and staff were evacuated as a precaution and performances were then cancelled,” the spokesperson said.

Loud pops and noises could be heard from New Yorkers from blocks away. No injuries were reported.

Bloody tears and Ben Tramer Michael Myers toy coming

BLOODY DISGUSTING is among the sources reporting that a new Michael Myers collectible toy will feature the bloody tears image from HALLOWEEN 2 along with the mask that Ben Tramer wore in the second film..


\


John Squires writes,

If you’ve been dying for new figures of classic Michael Myers, oh boy does NECA have you covered. On display at Toy Fair today, Halloween II‘s Michael Myers is soon on the way!
NECA’s Halloween II Myers will include THREE different heads, one of which depicts his “blood tears” look from the finale. The third head? Blonde-haired Ben Tramer!