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Hollywood Mega-Producer Harvey Weinstein Fired After Sexual Harassment Allegations

Jonathan Antonio
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Hollywood Mega-Producer Harvey Weinstein Fired After Sexual Harassment Allegations

Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was fired on Sunday from the company he co-founded.

“In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company — Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar — have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately.”

Weinstein is a legend in Hollywood and perhaps one of the most powerful producers in the game. Weinstein’s studio has produced some of the biggest movies in Hollywood including The King’s Speech, The Artist and whose TV business division was behind Lifetime’s Project Runway among other hit TV series. That said, Weinstein is accused of having sexually harassing women for years.

Harvey Weinstein
Miramax Films Co-founder Harvey Weinstein attends 18th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival Chairman’s Reception on October 9, 2010 at the home of Stuart Suna in East Hampton, New York. (Photo © Nick Stepowyj)

That said, Weinstein is accused of having sexually harassing women for years. Several women including Ashley Judd revealed their stories in an article published by The New York Times on Thursday. Weinstein has been placed on indefinite leave of absence after the company said it would investigate the allegations.

According to NBC News, on Sunday two sources close to the company revealed that it was considering changing the company’s name to distance the production company from business’s co-founder. That said, Harvey’s brother, Bob Weinstein, is resisting that decision.

Weinstein’s allegations follow a series of sexual harassment scandals including comedian Bill Cosby, Fox Chief executive Roger Ailes, and host Bill O’Reilly. All of the men have disputed the claims.

Sen. Bob Corker: Trump Is Leading The US “On the Path to World War III”

Reginald Edward
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Sen. Bob Corker: Trump Is Leading The US “On the Path to World War III”

Republican Senator Bob Corker called out President Trump on Sunday evening, saying the president is running the country like a “reality show.” Then, Sen. Corker added that Trump could set the United States on “the path to World War III.”

The comments appeared in an interview with The New York Times. In the interview, it seems the war of words between Corker and Trump have escalated after the Tennessee senator announced he would not seek reelection in 2018.

Corker told the Times, “He concerns me. He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.

Corker added that Trump might not understand the power of the presidency.

“I don’t think he appreciates that when the president of the United States speaks and says the things that he does, the impact that it has around the world, especially in the region that he’s addressing,” he told The Times. “And so, yeah, it’s concerning to me.”

Sen. Bob Corker Donald Trump
Karl W. Eikenberry, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, discusses progress in Garmsir district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, with Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, Feb. 21, 2011 while walking through a bazaar just outside the Garmsir District center. (Image Credit: ResoluteSupportMedia/Flickr.com)

On Sunday, Trump called out Corker on Twitter, claiming he denied the senator an endorsement and rejected him as a candidate for secretary of state. Trump also blamed Corker for what he called the “horrible Iran Deal.” Trump added that Sen. Corker “didn’t have the guts” to run for reelection.

But Corker did not take those comments sitting down. Corker took to Twitter to fire back saying, “shame the White House has become an adult day care center.” Corker also told the Times Trump encouraged Corker to run for reelection and even offered to endorse the Senator, only for Corker to decide not to run again.

“I don’t know why the president tweets out things that are not true,” he told The Times. “You know he does it, everyone knows he does it, but he does.”

The public disagreement between the President and the Tennessee Senator, who lead the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, all started on Wednesday when Corker criticized the president for undermining Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s strategy for easing relations between North Korea and the United States. Corker described Tillerson as being someone that can “help separate our country from chaos.” Also, Corker also criticized Trump’s tax plan, saying last Monday it could increase the deficit.

Dove Apologizes After Ad Sparks Backlash: ‘Dove is Racist’

Reginald Edward
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Dove Apologizes After Ad Sparks Backlash: ‘Dove is Racist’

Dove deleted a “three-second video clip” from their Facebook page and admitted on Saturday that the company had “missed the mark in thoughtfully representing women of color” in an ad for body wash.

Consumers had reacted angrily to images of a black woman removing a brown shirt and appearing to transform into a white woman removing a similar shirt.

One Twitter user tweeted that the ad showed a “black woman turning white after using @Dove.”

Dove issued statements on Twitter and Facebook saying the company had, “missed the mark in thoughtfully representing women of color and we deeply regret the offense that it has caused. The feedback that has been shared is important to us and we’ll use it to guide us in the future.”

According to The Guardian, makeup artist Naomi Blake was able to grab a screenshot of the ad before Dove deleted it. Blake posted the ad on Friday, “So I’m scrolling through Facebook and this is the#dove ad that comes up…. ok so what am I looking at….”

Nearly 1,000 people agreed that the ad was offensive and racist. But some felt that it was not racist. One user said, “there was nothing wrong with the commercial … Lets do better and not over think things.” Another user commented, “For people to say black woman are reaching and being sensitive lemme break this down….. Dove is advertising bodywash, which means that this product removes dirt/ has the ability to get you clean, POINT BLANK!”

‘Blade Runner 2049’ Falls Flat in the Box Office

Jonathan Antonio
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‘Blade Runner 2049’ Falls Flat in the Box Office

Things are not looking great for Blade Runners 2049 box office premiere. The highly anticipated sci-fi sequel is on track to gross an estimated $31.5 million in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend, beating the competition but falling short of industry’s projections, which predicted the movie would make between $45 to $55 million.

Blade Runner 2049 Box Office

2049 received stellar reviews had a large number of advance ticket sales and included an all-star cast including Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling. Even the movie’s director had a stellar track record as Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario) directed the project. Not to mention, the movie’s original filmmaker Ridley Scott joined the production as an executive producer.

According to reports, for those who did show up and watch the movie over the weekend, men predominately made up the demographics of the movie’s audience as 71% of men watched the film with 63% being over the age of 35, 86% over the age of 25. 

Also, viewers gave it a solid A-minus Cinemascore. While $31.5 is a box-office record for Villeneuve and Gosling, it’s a disappointing start for a movie that cost $150 million to make. The movie’s premiere draws comparisons to Ridley Scott’s Alien Covenant, which was another sci-fi reboot that required a lot of money to make and made approximately the same at the box office.

Produced by Alcon Entertainment and released by Warner Bros. domestically, the movie is estimated to make an additional $50.2 million overseas over the weekend.

The original Blade Runner, which hit theaters over 30 years ago was not a box office hit either. But, a cult following for the movie slowly grew. The original film starred Harrison Ford as a cop hunting down robots in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Fox’s romance thriller The Mountain Between Us made $10.1 million in the box office. The new movie, which stars Idris Elba and Kate Winslet center around strangers stranded by a plane crash in the wilderness.

Overall, box office is down 4.8 percent year-to-date. Here are the box office’s top 10 movies this weekend:

1. Blade Runner 2049 — $31.5 million

2. The Mountain Between Us — $10.1 million

3. It — $9.7 million

4. My Little Pony: The Movie — $8.8 million

5. Kingsman: The Golden Circle — $8.1 million

6. American Made — $8 million

7. The Lego Ninjago Movie — $6.8 million

8. Victoria and Abdul — $4.1 million

9. Flatliners — $3.8 million

10. Battle of the Sexes— $2.4 million

Here’s Why Reddit Reportedly Hired Lobbyists

Jonathan Antonio
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Here’s Why Reddit Reportedly Hired Lobbyists

Reddit is one of the most visited websites in the world. Last week, The Hill reported the message board website hired their first federal lobbyists.

The federal disclosure filings indicate Reddit hired the Franklin Square Group in July to lobby on behalf of “Internet issues, including net neutrality and liability protections for online platforms.”

The Hill reports their decision to lobby for liability protections may stem from a reference in a Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, a bill pushed by Sen. Rob Portman that would crack down on websites that help facilitate sex trafficking. Facebook and Google have been reportedly hired lobbyists to fight and drive back on the bill as it could open the companies to potential lawsuits.

Reddit
CHIANGMAI, THAILAND – February 26, 2015: Photo of Reddit homepage on a ipad monitor screen through a magnifying glass. (GongTo / Shutterstock, Inc.)

It is also important to note that Reddit has been called into the Congress’ investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Sen. Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the committee, said that he is worried the site is vulnerable to Russian political influence campaigns.

Reddit’s History

It is important to note, analysts claim several false news stories originated on Reddit. For instance, as The New York Times points out, four hours after someone posted on Twitter about anti-Trump protesters being shuttled into Austin, the tweeted was posted to Reddit, where it link was rapidly “upvoted” by users. Several hours later, the story was shared on Facebook where over 300,000 users shared it. However, the busses were, in fact, part of a corporate conference and not protesters. In addition, earlier this year the company’s CEO Steve Huffman admitted to altering comments made by users. He said he edited comments that were posted by users because a significant number of them were abusive, arguing he was a pedophile and mentioned him by name.

Facebook’s Chief of Security Defends the Company’s Algorithms

Jonathan Antonio
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Facebook’s Chief of Security Defends the Company’s Algorithms

Alex Stamos, Facebook’s chief security officer, defended the social networking company against recent coverage of the platform on Twitter.

Stamos was responding to an article by Quinta Jurecic of Lawfare who criticized Facebook’s decision to have human editors oversee more ads as an excuse saying it should fix their algorithms instead.

Stamos responded on Twitter by saying the company is being attacked for not doing enough to combat misinformation spreading on the social network. Stamos added that journalists underestimate the difficulty of filtering content for the site’s billions of users. Facebook’s chief security officer later added that the company should not become a “Ministry of Truth,” a reference to George Orwell’s propaganda agency in the book 1984.

“If your piece ties together bad guys abusing platforms, algorithms and the Manifestbro into one grand theory of SV, then you might be biased,” Stamos wrote. “If your piece assumes that a problem hasn’t been addressed because everybody at these companies is a nerd, you are incorrect.”

“If you call for less speech by the people you dislike but also complain when the people you like are censored, be careful,” he added. “… If you call for some type of speech to be controlled, then think long and hard of how those rules/systems can be abused both here and abroad.”

This news comes after reports of targeted Facebook advertisement purchases by organizations linked to the Russian government before the 2016 elections.

Ultimately, the results of the Presidential election and recent investigations into how individuals, government agencies or even hackers can manipulate some of the most popular websites in America has draw scrutiny. But, where does responsibility lie? Should users be at fault for choosing to get their news information from a social networking application, forum, or news feed? Or should the companies hosting and providing the platform for the content hold the blame? Either way, tech companies are facing a new challenge, and it is something that an algorithm may not be able to fix.

Las Vegas Shooter’s Note Revealed in a New Interview

Reginald Edward
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Las Vegas Shooter’s Note Revealed in a New Interview

60 Minutes reports the Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock took notes and calculated the distance from his window to the victims below and the trajectory of his bullets from the height of his room to “know where to shoot” and kill his victims below. The calculations were on a note found by the police who stormed Paddock’s room and were the first to see his body, the number of weapons, and ammunition in his hotel room.

As part of the 60 Minutes episode that airs on Sunday, October 8th, Bill Whitaker speaks with Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo. Other police officers were interviewed on the report including Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Detectives Casey Clarkson and Matthew Donaldson, and Sergeant Joshua Bitkso and officer David Newton from the K9 unit.

Officer Newton explained that he found a note on the nightstand near his shooting platform. “I could see on it he had written the distance, the elevation he was on, the drop of what his bullet was going to be for the crowd. So he had had that written down and figured out so he would know where to shoot to hit his targets from there.”

Newton added Paddock, “had written we must have done the calculations on line or something to figure out what his altitude was going to be and how high up he was-how far out the crowd was going to be and what at that distance and what the drop of his bullet was going to be. He hadn’t written out the calculations all he had was written out he final numbers that were on the sheet.”

Pence Leaves 49ers NFL Game After Players Protest

Reginald Edward
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Pence Leaves 49ers NFL Game After Players Protest

Vice President Mike Pence left an NFL football game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday after several players knelt during the National Anthem. The VP of the United States said that he did not want to “dignify” the event.

On Twitter, the Vice President of the United States said, “I left today’s Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.”

Pence later issued a statement opposing the protest on Twitter.

President Trump tweeted that he asked Pence to leave the stadium.

“I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen,” Trump tweeted.

Several journalists accompanying the vice president were not allowed into the stadium and was asked to stay behind in their vans, according to CNN. They were told by a staffer to the vice president that “there may be an early departure from the game,” but were not given any more information.

After leaving the game, Pence posted a photo of himself and his wife standing for the anthem at the game on Sunday.

Donald Trump Jr., the President’s eldest son, tweeted his support for Pence’s decision. “Amen. After almost a decade it’s great to have leaders who have pride in our country again,” Donald Trump Jr. said on Twitter

Colin Kaepernick made headlines after kneeling during the anthem last year. Kaepernick argued his form of non-violent protest was a way to bring attention to police brutality and race relations in America. Trump has bashed the form of protest calling it disrespectful to the flag and veterans. Trump has even called for a boycott of the National Football League unless the league takes action against players who protest.

Report: Ivanka, Trump Jr. Were Nearly Charged for Fraud

Reginald Edward
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Report: Ivanka, Trump Jr. Were Nearly Charged for Fraud

Donald Trump Jr. and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, two of President Trump’s children, were nearly indicted in 2012 on accusations they misled potential buyers about units in the Trump SoHo, a hotel and condo development that was seeking buyers.

According to a ProPublica investigation, attorneys in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office spent two years building a case against the two Trump children, which included emails showing the Trumps knew they were using inflated figures to attract buyers to the condo.

“They knew it was wrong,” one source familiar with the emails told ProPublica investigators. Reportedly, there was “no doubt” that they “approved, knew of, agreed to, and intentionally inflated the numbers to make more sales,” the source explained.

The case against the Trump children disappeared after Trump’s attorney, Marc Kasowitz, met with the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to reportedly ask him to drop the investigation, according to ProPublica. Kasowitz offered no new arguments and only reiterated what Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr.’s lawyers had said in the past.

trump soho
TRUMP SOHO, NEW YORK CITY, February 2017 (splask / Shutterstock.com)

Three months after the meeting, Vance overruled his prosecutors and dropped the case. ProPublica also reports during the same year, Kasowitz donated $25,000 to Vance’s campaign, which Vance said was returned shortly before their meeting.

“I did not at the time believe beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime had been committed,” Vance told ProPublica. “I had to make a call and I made the call, and I think I made the right call.”

That said, a donation of $50,000 occurred less than six months after Vance dropped the case. After being confronted with this information, Vance pledged to ProPublica to return this contribution as well.

“I don’t want the money to be a millstone around anybody’s neck, including the office’s,” Vance told ProPublica.

In a statement, Trump’s lawyer explained the donations were not “quid pro quo” for anything.

“I donated to Cy Vance’s campaign because I was and remain extremely impressed by him as a person of impeccable integrity, as a brilliant lawyer and as a public servant with creative ideas and tremendous ability,” Kasowitz told ProPublica in an email. “I have never made a contribution to anyone’s campaign, including Cy Vance’s, as a ‘quid-pro-quo’ for anything.”

Yahoo Reveals All 3 Billion Accounts Were Affected By The 2013 Hack

Jonathan Antonio
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Yahoo Reveals All 3 Billion Accounts Were Affected By The 2013 Hack

On Tuesday, Yahoo issued a statement disclosing that upon further investigation of the 2013 breach the company believes all of its three billion accounts were impacted, not 1 billion liked previously thought. The revelation of 3 billion breached accounts means everyone who had a Yahoo account, and all the people who had registered for any Yahoo service such as Flickr or fantasy sports were affected.

The company, now a part of Oath after it was acquired by Verizon for $4.5 billion and merged with AOL, said that it discovered the new evidence while integrating the two companies.

The company explained that when the 2013 breach was discovered and disclosed in 2016, the company “took action to protect all accounts.” Those actions include notifying impacted users, requiring password changes and invalidating unencrypted security questions and answers so that they could not be used to access an account.

3 billion affected users is a significant hit to Verizon, which had received a discount of $350 million on their acquisition price for the company after initial findings of the security breach.

“Verizon is committed to the highest standards of accountability and transparency, and we proactively work to ensure the safety and security of our users and networks in an evolving landscape of online threats,” said Chandra McMahon, Chief Information Security Officer, Verizon. “Our investment in Yahoo is allowing that team to continue to take significant steps to enhance their security, as well as benefit from Verizon’s experience and resources.”

Yahoo Hack
MONTREAL, CANADA – DECEMBER 15, 2016: Yahoo Notice of a newly discovered data breach under a magnifying glass. (dennizn / Shutterstock.com)

Yahoo explains the stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, passwords, and security questions and answers.

“The investigation indicates that the information that was stolen did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information. Payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system the company believes was affected,” said the company.

This news comes after the Equifax breach, which illustrates how some of the biggest companies can still be vulnerable to hackers.

Also, Yahoo released a set of guidelines to protect your account, which can be found here.

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