| Joe Biden Is Ahead in the Iowa Polls. But His Rivals Are Ahead on Organizing Posted: 11 Jun 2019 12:08 PM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden is ahead of other Democrats in Iowa polls, but behind the scenes, he is still playing catch up.
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| One dead as helicopter crash-lands on Manhattan building Posted: 10 Jun 2019 04:20 PM PDT  A helicopter crash-landed on top of a high-rise in midtown Manhattan Monday, starting a fire and leaving one person dead as the entire building shook from the impact. The New York fire department confirmed one fatality -- presumed to be the pilot, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio. Video footage of the aftermath of the crash showed a gray plume of smoke drifting away from the top of the building.
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| Pose’s Dyllón Burnside: I’d Love to See Queer Folks Embraced as the Mainstream—Not ‘the Other’ Posted: 10 Jun 2019 02:25 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast/Photos GettyIn this special series, LGBT celebrities and public figures talk to Tim Teeman about the Stonewall Riots and their legacy—see more here.Dyllón Burnside is an actor currently starring as Ricky Evangelista in Pose, the second season of which starts on FX on Tuesday, June 11, at 10 p.m.When/how did you first hear about the Stonewall Riots, and what did you make of them?I first heard about Stonewall and the riots that took place there when I came to New York for a summer music theater program at NYU. I met an older couple who became big brothers to me. They were the first gay black married couple I had met in my life. I was so shocked, fascinated, and curious about them. Stonewall 50: Don't Forget the Black & Brown LGBTQ StruggleI didn't know much about gay culture and had even less experience with gay bars. They took me on a tour of Christopher Street and the old "gayborhood" in the village. Stonewall was our first stop. I was lucky enough to meet guys like them who really had an interest in mentoring and caring for younger brothers. That's something I'm truly grateful for because everyone doesn't find that and I think that kind of sharing of history and experiences is so necessary for the community. It gave me a sense of security and belonging. I was also shocked that I had never heard anything about Stonewall before, which highlighted for me a need to tell the stories of queer people and history in the media on a much larger scale. It's why I do what I do. What is the riots' significance for you now?To know that people fought with their bodies and souls for my right to be and express freely made me feel a responsibility to honor that bloodshed. It is also what emboldens me to keep fighting with pride. Knowing that their fight produced results reinforces my faith that the work I'm doing and seeds I'm sowing to further liberate men, men of color, and queer men of color from the bondage of toxic masculinity, homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny, will bear fruit as well.How far have we LGBT people come since 1969?We have come to a place in history where LGBTQ folk are more visible and celebrated than ever, and that only continues with the rise of shows like Pose. The work of our ancestors made room for us to thrive in our communities. We can now find refuge in our bars. We have safe places to pray and worship. We even have brilliant queer folks leading major companies and organizations and serving as leaders in our government. However, the work doesn't end there. We still see our people persecuted all around the world and even here on U.S. soil. What would you like to see, LGBT-wise, in the next 50 years?In the next 50 years I'd love to see queer folks not only be accepted in the mainstream but embraced as the mainstream. I look forward to the day when the lives and experiences of queer people, specifically queer people of color, are normalized. No more being treated as the other. I envision a world where the collective "we" invokes an image of all "the people" living and working side by side, sharing mutual respect and understanding. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Michigan hotel offers free room to women seeking abortions Posted: 10 Jun 2019 02:39 PM PDT ![Michigan hotel offers free room to women seeking abortions]( "Michigan hotel offers free room to women seeking abortions") A hotel manager in Michigan's rural Thumb region is offering free lodging to women who come from states that have passed tough abortion restrictions to have the procedure. The Detroit Free Press reports Yale Hotel manager Shelley O'Brien proffered an invitation on Facebook that includes roundtrip transportation to appointments. O'Brien, a 55-year-old mother and grandmother, says she wants to help women "maintain autonomy" over their bodies.
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| Maine Gov. Signs Bill Allowing Non-Doctors to Perform Abortions Posted: 11 Jun 2019 08:46 AM PDT  Maine's newly elected Democratic governor, Janet Mills, signed a bill Monday granting medical professionals who are not licensed doctors the authority to perform abortion procedures.In a statement released Monday, Mills argued that the bill, which will allow registered nurses and physician assistants to administer abortion-inducing drugs and perform in-clinic abortions."Allowing qualified and licensed medical professionals to perform abortions will ensure that Maine women, especially those in rural areas, are able to access critical reproductive health care services when and where they need them from qualified providers they know and trust," Mills said.Maine joins California, Colorado, Vermont, and New Hampshire in allowing individuals who are not licensed physicians to administer abortions."States across the country, including Vermont and New Hampshire, have already eliminated this outdated restriction on abortion care," said Democratic state representative Sara Gideon, who sponsored the bill. "This law will allow women to receive the care they need from a provider they trust and eliminate the financial and logistical hurdles they face today."Carroll Conley, executive director of the Christian Civil League of Maine, told the New York Times that his group objects to the bill on purely philosophical grounds but also raised a number of pragmatic concerns, including whether nurses would receive adequate training in how to administer abortions by the time the law takes effect in September, and whether patients might be placed in danger if they have an emergency medical complication at one of the remote clinics where the bill is designed to facilitate abortion access.
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| Opioid maker Insys Therapeutics files Chapter 11 bankruptcy after corruption charges Posted: 10 Jun 2019 08:41 AM PDT  Pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday less than a week after pleading guilty to fraud charges.
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| Photos of the 2019 Fiat 500e Posted: 11 Jun 2019 11:20 AM PDT |
| Trump says Huawei dispute could be solved 'as part of trade talks' with China despite national security threat claims Posted: 10 Jun 2019 06:10 AM PDT  Donald Trump has claimed that his dispute with Huawei could be resolved through trade talks, despite repeated accusations that the Chinese tech firm poses a national security risk.Huawei has said the US president's attacks are motivated by a desire to advance American economic interests and have nothing to do with national security. Washington claims Huawei could use its network equipment to spy on US citizens.Asked on Monday whether Huawei was in fact a "chess piece" to be used in talks with Beijing, the Mr Trump said the situation could be fixed "as a part of trade negotiations", apparently undermining his previous national security argument.During a phone call to CNBC's Squawk Box, Mr Trump threatened China with additional tariffs if Xi Jinping doesn't meet with him at the upcoming Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, this month. But Mr Trump said he expects the Chinese premier to attend. Mr Trump called into the show after the US Chamber of Commerce criticised him for using the threat of tariffs to force Mexico to stem the flow of migrants across its northern border."They have to start representing the United States, not just the companies that are members of the US Chamber of Commerce," said Mr Trump. The outburst came after news that Mr Trump's acting budget chief is reportedly pushing to delay implementing parts of a law that restricts the US government's business with Huawei.According to the Wall Street Journal, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, sent a letter to the vice president and nine members of Congress, urging them to postpone parts of the law that would effectively ban the tech giant from doing business in the US. "While the Administration recognises the importance of these prohibitions to national security," Mr Vought's letter states, "a number of agencies have heard significant concerns from a wide range of potentially impacted stakeholders who would be affected" by the rules as written.Last month China created a blacklist of "unreliable" foreign firms causing harm to Chinese interests in a move widely seen to be retaliation for Mr Trump's decision to target Huawei.China will set up a mechanism listing foreign enterprises, organisations and individuals that don't obey market rules, violate contracts and cut off supplies for non-commercial reasons or severely damage the legitimate interests of Chinese companies, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng said. That could include the likes of Google and Intel which have suspended their dealings with Huawei.Huawei has been damaged by Google's decision to block it from using Android apps on its devices.
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| Emerging Markets Caught Between Rate-Cut Euphoria and Trade Woes Posted: 09 Jun 2019 10:33 PM PDT  While Mexico averted the start of new tariffs, Washington's campaign to shake up trade agreements worldwide is still wreaking havoc on global economies. "Broadly we remain constructive on emerging-market debt," said Paul Greer, a London-based money manager at Fidelity International, whose emerging-market debt fund has outperformed 97% of peers this year after reducing risk in the first quarter. Rate DecisionsRussia's central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said policy makers may reduce interest rates for the first time in a year at their meeting on FridayTraders have boosted wagers for rate cuts to the highest in more than a yearThe Turkish central bank is due to set rates on Wednesday.
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| Hong Kong's Leader Says Extradition Bill to Go Ahead Prompting Calls for Fresh Protests Posted: 10 Jun 2019 12:54 AM PDT  Opponents called for fresh protests after a massive march Sunday
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| 'Bad for business': Executives from major companies sign joint letter against abortion bans Posted: 10 Jun 2019 10:18 AM PDT  Nearly 200 CEOs signed a letter opposing laws that restrict access to abortion. The executives said they represented more than 108,000 workers.
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| The Latest: House expects to see Mueller evidence soon Posted: 10 Jun 2019 05:10 PM PDT  The House is expecting to receive the first files of underlying evidence from Robert Mueller's report soon. The sudden shift by the Justice Department comes as Democrats weigh impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler says the Justice Department will provide some of Mueller's "most important files" and all members of the committee will be able to view them.
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| Justin Amash Leaves Freedom Caucus to Avoid Being a ‘Distraction’ Posted: 11 Jun 2019 08:55 AM PDT  Representative Justin Amash (R., Mich.) announced Monday night that he was stepping down from the House Freedom Caucus to avoid becoming a "further distraction" to the group amid the ongoing flurry of national media attention prompted by his call for President Trump's impeachment.Amash, who co-founded the Freedom Caucus in 2015, told CNN that he has "the highest regard for them, and they're my close friends," but he "didn't want to be a further distraction for the group."In keeping with his reputation as a gadfly willing to buck party leadership, Amash became the first Republican to publicly call for Trump's impeachment following the release of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report. In a lengthy Twitter thread, Amash argued that Trump's attempts to obstruct Mueller's investigation were a betrayal of the public trust and, as such, constituted grounds for impeachment.Amash is now facing two Trump-allied 2020 primary challengers in Michigan and lacks support among party leadership and founding members of the Freedom Caucus. He was, however, greeted warmly during his first trip home to his district after denouncing the president, laying out his rationale for breaking with his party during a two-hour town hall before a packed auditorium in Grand Rapids.The 39-year-old lawmaker also refused to rule out the possibility of running for president on the Libertarian ticket in 2020 during the town hall."I've said many times, I don't rule things like that out," Amash said. "If you're fighting to defend the Constitution, if you find a way to do that that's different and maybe more effective, then you have to think about that."
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| Photos of the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato Continuation Posted: 11 Jun 2019 07:43 AM PDT |
| Maybe we are alone after all: Planets that could sustain alien life much rarer than thought Posted: 11 Jun 2019 12:13 PM PDT ![Maybe we are alone after all: Planets that could sustain alien life much rarer than thought]( "Maybe we are alone after all: Planets that could sustain alien life much rarer than thought") So, maybe we are alone after all. The number of planets in the universe that could sustain life is much smaller than had been thought, scientists said.
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| Star Watergate witness calls Mueller report a 'road map' for investigating Trump Posted: 10 Jun 2019 05:40 PM PDT  John Dean testimony comes as Jerry Nadler says justice department will turn over evidence from Mueller report John Dean, a key figure in the Watergate scandal that toppled former president Richard Nixon, is sworn in prior to testifying before a House judiciary committee. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters John Dean, a star witness during Watergate who helped bring down the Nixon presidency, testified Monday that the special counsel Robert Mueller has provided Congress with a "road map" for investigating Donald Trump. He told the House judiciary committee he saw parallels between Mueller's findings and those of congressional investigators looking into Richard Nixon's administration decades ago. He pointed to the way the presidents used their pardon power in an attempt to influence witness testimony, and their efforts to seize control of investigations and direct the efforts of prosecutors. Dean also said that he believed the Mueller report showed "evidence of collusion, by the way". Dean, who served as White House counsel, testified as House Democrats opened three days of sessions aimed at focusing public attention on the findings of the Russia investigation and Trump's actions. "We have a responsibility to do this work, to follow the facts where they lead," said the Democratic chairman Jerry Nadler as he gaveled in the hearing. He said the intent was to make certain "no president, Democrat or Republican, can ever act in this way again". Trump, apparently watching the televised hearing, tweeted, "Can't believe they are bringing in John Dean, the disgraced Nixon White House Counsel." He added his oft-repeated claim, "No Collusion - No Obstruction!" Ahead of the hearing, Nadler announced that the justice department has agreed to turn over some of the underlying evidence from Mueller's report, including files used to assess whether Trump obstructed justice. In the first breakthrough in weeks of negotiations over the report, Nadler said the department will begin complying with the committee's subpoena on Monday and provide some of Mueller's "most important files". He said all members of the committee will be able to view them. Nadler said in response to the agreement Democrats would not vote on holding the attorney general William Barr in criminal contempt, for now. Instead, the House will vote Tuesday on a resolution that would empower the Judiciary Committee to file a civil lawsuit for Mueller materials. The deal is unlikely to give Democrats all of what they were requesting – including an unredacted version of the report and secret grand jury testimony. At the same time, the justice department announced it was stepping up its counter-investigationinto the origins of the Russia investigations, a priority for Trump and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill. The department said Monday it has asked intelligence agencies to preserve all relevant records and access to witnesses. Dean was supposed to be the headliner Monday, but some of the strongest testimony came from two former US attorneys who served during the Obama administration, Barbara McQuade and Joyce Vance. Vance, a former federal prosecutor from Alabama, said she believed so strongly that Trump committed obstruction of justice in the way he interfered with and attempted to curtail Mueller's investigation that she would prosecute. "I would be willing to personally indict the case ... and win on appeal," she said. The slate of televised sessions on Mueller's report means a new, intensified focus on the Russia investigation and puts it on a path that some Democrats hope leads to Trump's impeachment. They are trying to aim a spotlight on allegations that Trump sought to obstruct a federal investigation as well as his campaign's contacts with Russia in the 2016 election. And they will lay the groundwork for an appearance from Mueller himself, despite his stated desire to avoid testifying. On Wednesday, the House intelligence committee intends to review the counterintelligence implications of the Russian meddling. Mueller said there was not enough evidence to establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but he said he could not exonerate Trump on obstruction. On Tuesday, the House has scheduled the vote to authorize lawsuits against Barr and the former White House counsel Donald McGahn for failing to comply with subpoenas from the Democratic-controlled House. The vote will put the full House on record approving the lawsuits, if leaders and committees decide they want to move forward with them. Barr had defied a subpoena to provide an unredacted version of Mueller's report, along with underlying evidence. McGahn, who is frequently referenced in the report, has defied subpoenas to provide documents and testify before the House judiciary committee. The procession of hearings and votes in the week ahead is partly designed to mollify anxious Democrats who have pushed the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to begin impeachment proceedings immediately. Pelosi has rejected that option, preferring a slower, more methodical approach to investigating the president, including the court fights and hearings. During a meeting with Nadler and other committee heads last week, Pelosi made the case that she would rather see Trump voted out of office and "in prison" than merely impeached, according to a report in Politico. A person familiar with the exchange confirmed the account to the Associated Press. Educating the American public on what is in the Mueller report is a priority for Democrats, who believe Trump and his allies have created the public impression that the report said there was no obstruction of justice. Trump has made that assertion repeatedly, echoing Barr's judgment that there was not enough evidence in the report to support a criminal obstruction charge. Mueller said in the report that he could not exonerate Trump on that point. Joanna Walters contributed reporting
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| Lordy! 2005 Lexus IS300 Is Powered By Toyota's 2JZ-GTE Turbo Unit Posted: 10 Jun 2019 02:25 PM PDT  This 2005 Lexus IS300 is unlike most. Unless you are proficient in the way of Lexus, the IS300 appears rather bland. While it could be argued that the Lexus IS300 would only ever appeal to a limited audience –screaming of low market value versus high running and repair costs – we believe the vehicle's time is coming.
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| Missouri's only abortion clinic to stay open after injunction issued Posted: 10 Jun 2019 03:53 PM PDT  Women's healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood sued Missouri two weeks ago after state health officials refused to renew the license of the Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis. If the facility's license is not renewed, Missouri would become the only U.S. state without an abortion clinic since the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that legalized abortion nationwide and recognized a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy.
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| Crenshaw: Rep. Tlaib's proposal would entice people not to work Posted: 10 Jun 2019 04:53 PM PDT  Rep. Rashida Tlaib proposes plan to proved cash to lower and middle class Americans; House Budget Committee member Rep. Dan Crenshaw reacts.
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| Mike Pence says banning pride flags at US embassies is 'the right decision' Posted: 11 Jun 2019 01:08 PM PDT  Pence said he was aware of reports that only the American flag was allowed to be flown, and "I support that."
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| Apple’s U.S. iPhones Can All Be Made Outside of China If Needed Posted: 11 Jun 2019 06:44 AM PDT  The Cupertino, Calif.-based company's primary manufacturing partner has enough capacity to make all iPhones bound for the U.S. outside of China if necessary, according to a senior executive at Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. The Taiwanese contract manufacturer now makes most of the smartphones in the Chinese mainland. China is a crucial cog in Apple's business, the origin of most of its iPhones and iPads as well as its largest international market.
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| Trump raises tariff threat anew over secret provision in Mexico deal Posted: 10 Jun 2019 04:40 AM PDT  President Donald Trump said Monday a secret provision of the US immigration deal with Mexico will require the approval of that country's legislature and warned US tariffs will be reinstated if it is not forthcoming. Trump first alluded to the secret provision in a tweet late Sunday defending the agreement with Mexico against criticism it contained little that had not already been agreed to. Trump, for his part, withdrew a threat to impose a five percent tariff on all Mexican imports, beginning Monday and escalating to 25 percent by October.
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| The 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class Sees a Substantial Price Hike Posted: 10 Jun 2019 09:54 AM PDT  Starting at $5050 more than the 2019 model, the new GLS offers far more standard equipment.
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| IAEA chief worried about rising tension over Iran nuclear issue Posted: 10 Jun 2019 02:06 AM PDT  The U.N. atomic watchdog's chief said on Monday he was worried about rising tensions over Iran's nuclear program and called for de-escalation through dialogue, departing from his usual guarded language on the country. It has tightened already punishing economic sanctions, and deployed an aircraft carrier and other extra hardware to the Middle East in response to what it said was a threat from Iran. "I am worried about increasing tensions over the Iranian nuclear issue," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said in a speech to a meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors, one of its main decision-making bodies.
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| Meet the Bullpup Rifle: The Powerful Gun That You Need to Know About Posted: 10 Jun 2019 10:00 AM PDT  What if I told you there are modern rifles that feature a full-length barrel, firing a standard rifle round, but they are the same size as a short-barreled rifle?If you think that sounds like an excellent idea, then you may be the perfect candidate for a bullpup rifle. A bullpup rifle can do all the above in a lightweight, easy handling package.The bullpup market has exploded in popularity. Quite a few countries have adopted the bullpup platform as their chosen service rifle. Even the United States Secret Service adopted a bullpup for use with the Presidential Protection detail.What is the best bullpup rifle? That's a hard question to answer because there are so many bullpups out there and they are designed for so many different purposes.It's impossible to choose just one, so we are going to look at the Top 5 Best Bullpup Rifles. Each rifle on the list will cover a specific purpose.WHAT'S A BULLPUP?
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| Samsung’s overhauled Galaxy Note 10 design shown again in new leaks Posted: 10 Jun 2019 05:17 AM PDT  Samsung's Galaxy Fold is a complete and total failure at this point. The company was mere days away from launching its first smartphone with a foldable display when a number of reviewers found inexcusable defects with the Galaxy Fold's design, and the release had to be canceled. That's right, a bunch of bloggers are apparently better than a multi-billion dollar company at quality assurance. Samsung postponed the phone's release and went to work on fixing it, but we would definitely suggest skipping the Fold even once the updated model launched. It's a bad phone with a terrible design, and it's a total waste of $2,000. Everyone knows that Samsung is horrible at first-generation products, so smart consumers will wait for the second- or even third-generation model, since Samsung excels at refining existing products, not introducing new ones.If you want proof that Samsung is fantastic at refining its products, look no further than the Galaxy S10. Early Galaxy S phones were awful, plasticky iPhone copycats. Now, the Galaxy S10 is easily one of the sleekest and most powerful smartphones on the planet. Want more proof that Samsung is great at refinement? Just wait until you see the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10 Pro, which are set to be released in August.With about two months to go until Samsung unveils its next-generation Galaxy Note lineup, leaks are hitting the rumor mill in full force right now. We've learned all sorts of details from reliable sources in recent weeks, and we know that this is the first year Samsung is planning to release not one but two different Galaxy Note 10 models in 2019. Just as the Galaxy S10e offers a less expensive option to people who don't want to spend over $1,000 on a smartphone, Samsung is reportedly readying am "entry-level" Note 10 that will be more affordable than the Galaxy Note 10 Pro, which could have a base price as high as $1,200.We've heard all about Samsung's new Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Pro designs over the past month or so, and then last week we saw renders based on design files that were stolen from the factory where the Note 10 will be manufactured. The renders are believed to be accurate, for the most part, and now a new leak reaffirms that they were the real deal. Two different users took to leak aggregator Slashleaks over the weekend and posted renders of the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10 Pro in protective cases.Here's the Note 10 from Slashleaks:And here's the Galaxy Note 10 Pro from Slashleaks:Samsung is expected to announce its new Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10 Pro at a press conference in early August, and the phones should be released in the weeks that follow.
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| Did Apple accidentally reveal the Mac Pro release month on its website? Posted: 11 Jun 2019 03:14 AM PDT  On Monday, 9to5Mac was the first to report that "Coming September" was temporarily published on Apple's Mac Pro homepage, an error that was promptly switched to "Coming This Fall" in less than 24 hours.
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| Lean, mean, grass-cutting machine: Honda breaks record for fastest lawnmower acceleration Posted: 11 Jun 2019 08:58 AM PDT  It only took Honda's Mean Mower V2 6.29 seconds to go from zero to 100 and beat the Guinness World Record for the fastest acceleration of a lawn mower.
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| Aerials show rooftop view of NY copter crash Posted: 11 Jun 2019 07:29 AM PDT  A helicopter that crashed on the roof of a rain-shrouded Manhattan skyscraper killed the pilot and briefly triggered memories of 9/11. The chopper had taken an erratic trip Monday across some of the nation's most restricted airspace. (June 11)
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| Dallas crane collapse victim identified as 29-year-old woman Posted: 10 Jun 2019 08:16 PM PDT  Residents in North Texas began to come to grips Monday with the widespread damage left after a sudden thunderstorm bearing near hurricane-strength winds rolled through the area and collapsed a crane onto an apartment complex, killing one person and injuring five others. Wind gusts measuring as high as 71 mph (114 kph) blew out the windows of high-rise buildings and tore trees apart, taking power and telephone lines with them, especially in Dallas and its northern suburbs. Kiersten Symone Smith, 29, was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to the Dallas County Medical Examiners' office, after the construction crane smashed into a five-story building near downtown.
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| Trump taunts journalists with supposed one-page Mexico deal Posted: 11 Jun 2019 11:01 AM PDT  "This is one page," Trump said, taking a folded piece of paper out of his blazer pocket and holding it up for cameras to see.
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| Photos of the 2020 Bentley Flying Spur Sedan Posted: 11 Jun 2019 04:00 AM PDT |
| House Dems Abandon Bid to Axe Ban on Federal Abortion Funding from Spending Bill Posted: 11 Jun 2019 01:05 PM PDT  Progressive Democrats have backed down from their push to scrap the decades-old ban on federal funding for abortions in a $190 billion budget bill.The House Rules Committee on Monday night prevented the so-called Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of taxpayer funds for abortions, from being removed from the appropriations bill convering the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services.Currently, the Hyde Amendment bars federal funding for abortions except in circumstances when the mother's life is in danger or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. The measure proposed by Representative Ayanna Pressley and other Democrats would "ensure" abortion coverage for people using federal health programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children's Health Insurance Program."As a response to the coordinated attacks on abortion rights and Roe v. Wade, the Congresswoman believes that she and her colleagues must use every tool and tactic available to fight for reproductive justice," said Pressley's communications director."I think we don't have the votes that we need," said Representative Pramila Jayapal, a sponsor of the measure. "It's frustrating. I actually think the country is with us. It's a political issue that is being used for political gain and it shouldn't be because it's a personal issue and it's a constitutional issue."House rules ordinarily do not allow measures like this one that set into motion new policies to be introduced in spending bills without a waiver, a rarity that Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to grant."It is the law of the land right now, and I don't see that there's an opportunity to get rid of it with the current occupant of the White House and this U.S. Senate," Pelosi said Tuesday, adding that she does not support the Hyde Amendment herself."Let me be clear on the Hyde Amendment: I would repeal it tomorrow," said Representative Katherine Clark, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus. However, she added that an attempt to repeal it in this spending bill would become "a focal point that could collapse everything in the Labor-H bill that is so good for American families."
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