Facebook bans Elizabeth Warren Facebook ads!!

Talk about sensitive!
Facebook just banned some ads that presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren placed on its service.. apparently the insult hit too close to home for Mark Zuckerberg's comfort...


MORE..

Facebook has removed several ads placed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign that called for the breakup of Facebook and other tech giants.

The ads, which had identical images and text, touted Warren's recently announced plan to unwind "anti-competitive" tech mergers, including Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram.

POLITICO REPORTING:

“Three companies have vast power over our economy and our democracy. Facebook, Amazon, and Google," read the ads, which Warren's campaign had placed Friday. "We all use them. But in their rise to power, they’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field in their favor.”
A message on the three ads reads: “This ad was taken down because it goes against Facebook's advertising policies.”
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the ads had been taken down and said the company is reviewing the matter. The person said, according to an initial review, that the removal could be linked to the company's policies about using Facebook's brand in posts.

 

No survivors in Ethiopian plane crash

All 157 people on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed soon after taking off from Addis Ababa have been killed, the airline said on Sunday morning.

The plane, en route to Nairobi, Kenya, lost contact at 8:44 a.m. local time, six minutes after taking off from Bole International Airport in the Ethiopian capital.

The spokesperson said 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Americans, eight Italians and seven UK nationals were among the passengers.

Eight Chinese passengers were also on board, said Li Liang, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy to Ethiopia.

It was a new plane.. and reports indicate a pilot with impeccable flying record..

Developing ..

Venezuela goes dark: Country hit by major blackout

REUTERS REPORTING TONIGHT:

A major power outage hit crisis-stricken Venezuela on Thursday, according to Reuters witnesses, a problem the government of President Nicolas Maduro quickly blamed on “sabotage” at a hydroelectric dam that provides much of the country’s power.
Electricity outages are frequent in Venezuela, where the economy is collapsing under hyperinflation, with chronic shortages of food and medicine and a mass emigration of more than 3 million citizens.
Critics say corruption and under investment have left the country’s power grid unable to function, while Maduro says the problems are intentionally created by political adversaries.

Rep OMAR somewhat censured

RT:

The House of Representatives adopted a resolution condemning all forms of bigotry (including anti-Semitism) after a long day of linguistic gymnastics that saw it morph from censuring Rep. Ilhan Omar to frowning on… intolerance. 

The thrice-rewritten bill was barely recognizable as a rebuke of the alleged anti-Semitism of the Minnesota Democrat, instead bristling with denunciation of bigotry against every imaginable minority group in the US – a process that began when Omar's supporters requested the language be modified to include Muslims 

The final resolution veered close to self-parody after Democrats insisted Latinos, Asians, Pacific-Islanders, and LGBTQ people be added to the “traditionally persecuted peoples” list, pushing the vote back an hour on Thursday afternoon. Internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, and even the Dreyfus affair – which took place in 1800s France! – were name-dropped in the final version of the bill.

Zellner breaks the news: Steven Avery officially won his motion to appeal on Monday

NEWSWEEK REPORTING:

Making A Murderer subject Steven Avery will have his case re-examined by a Wisconsin circuit court, his lawyer Kathleen Zellner revealed Monday. Avery officially won his motion to appeal on Monday, when the Wisconsin Court of Appeals filed their decision.
Avery was found guilty of the murder of Teresa Halbach, who he claims he did not kill. He is currently serving life in prison. If he is exonerated, it will be his second extended prison sentence for a crime he claims he did not commit.
Zellner told Newsweek it's a big win for Avery. "The appellate court granted our motion to supplement the record with the evidence the bones were destroyed," she explained. "The case is being remanded back to the circuit court to conduct proceedings, which can include a hearing. The circuit court can grant a new trial, or if not, back to appellate court who can reverse the conviction and/or grant a new trial. Either way, the State opposed this motion and lost. This evidence has the potential to undo the whole case, so it is a big win."

Tourist hit! The Gas Station from TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

FOX 13 IN TEXAS REPORTS

“We actually have a gas pump that every once in a while we take out,” manager Ben Hughes told KVUE. “The Coca-Cola machine that’s exactly the one from the movie, we take out.”
There’s also memorabilia for purchase inside the building and a replica van from the movie is parked outside.
“If you’re a fan of the movie to begin with, then coming out and actually getting to be in a place where it was, it really heightens it for you,” Hughes said.
Roy Rose and Lisa Rose moved from Cleveland to Bastrop, Texas, and opened the restaurant in 2016. The property includes four mini cabins and campsites for fans who want the full experience.
Nearly three years in, the tourist attraction is a hit.

“It’s a place of enjoyment,” Hughes said. “You have people who are not just horror film people, but just movie people in general.
Just go and have a good time, see some cool things, eat some good food and just talk with people.”

MORE FROM KVUE:

AUSTIN, Texas — If you're cruising down Highway 304 and head just south of Bastrop, you'll probably pass by a quiet — and familiar — building.

The original 1974 film 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was filmed at a gas station along the highway.

Well, The Gas Station is now a restaurant, serving up barbecue and all sorts of merchandise for horror movie buffs.

YOU CAN FIND THE PRICES HERE SHOULD YOU CARE OR DARE TO STAY..

Animated Gremlins prequel being planned

Do you hear what I hear? Not a sequel..
... but going back in the past to see where Mr. Wing got his creature..

MORE..

The potential series is said to be a period piece that would follow Mr. Wing, the Chinese grandfather played in the films by Keye Luke, as a young man as he goes on adventures with the friendly Mogwai Gizmo. 

The series will be produced by Warner Bros. Television and Amblin Television. Both Warner Bros. and Amblin produced the films on which the show will be based.

John Oliver vs Physics: They should have seen it coming

HBO's JOHN OLIVER of Last Week Tonight featured a hit on physics this week -- the episode brought back old clips of people like Sylvia Browne on Montel Williams and John Edwards in embarrassing clips..

GAGA FOR THE GALA? OSCAR RATINGS RISE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS

ABC reports that 29.6 million viewers tuned into the Oscars, scoring a 7.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic. That makes it TV’s most watched entertainment telecast in two years, and the first rise in viewership since Ellen DeGeneres hosted in 2014. 

It’s also up in total viewers versus last year’s 26.5 million—an all-time low for the Oscars—and up 13% in the demo.

Good news for the ACADEMY ... 

Now if only they could do something about movie theater audiences.. 

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..


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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!