Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, wader, Doctor RJ, rfall, JML9999 and Man Oh Man. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
From the New York Times: Amtrak Wreck Took Place at More Than 100 M.P.H.
The scene of the crash on Wednesday. Investigators have recovered the so-called black box data recorders.
The Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least seven, was barreling into a sharp turn at 106 miles an hour — more than twice the speed limit on that stretch — when the engineer slammed on the emergency brakes, seconds before the train jumped the tracks, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The maximum allowed speed was 50 m.p.h. on that curve, in the Port Richmond section of the city, but data downloaded from the “black box” recorder showed that just before it crashed, the train was speeding at 106 m.p.h., Robert Sumwalt, the National Transportation Safety Board member leading the investigation, said at a news conference late Wednesday. He said that the speed limit on the straightaway leading to the curve was 80 m.p.h; the Federal Railroad Administration said it was 70.
“Just moments before the derailment,” Mr. Sumwalt said, “the engineer applied full emergency brake application.” When the data recorder stopped working three seconds later, he said, the speed was 102 m.p.h.
From
TIME:
Lawmakers Approve Amtrak Budget Cut Hours After Deadly Crash
A Republican-controlled House panel on Wednesday approved deep spending cuts to Amtrak’s budget just hours after a deadly crash in Philadelphia.
The Appropriations Committee backed a $55 billion transportation and housing measure after rejecting Democratic attempts to boost spending on Amtrak by more than $1 billion, including $556 million targeted for the railroad’s Northeast corridor, site of the derailment. The vote was 30-21 along party lines.
The GOP bill would cut Amtrak’s budget by $251 million, to $1.1 billion, for the upcoming fiscal year.
From the
Washington Post:
95 percent of parents think their overweight children look ‘just right’
When researchers recently looked at data on how parents perceive their overweight young children, they learned that 94.9 percent believe the kids' size to be "just right." As startling and unsettling as that statistic may be, it had been shown before in smaller populations and wasn't the worst news out of the study.
More disturbing was what the researchers found when they compared the results with the same survey taken about two decades earlier. Over the years, they realized, the chances of a child "being appropriately perceived by the parents declined by 30%." African American and low-income parents had the most inaccurate perceptions.
"We have changed our perceptions of what our weight ideals are," even among kids aged 2 to 5, who were the subjects of this study, said Dustin T. Duncan, an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Medical Center, who led the research. Most parents can no longer tell what a healthy weight looks like, and their doctors aren't helping them understand, Duncan said.
From
Reuters:
U.S. House votes to end spy agencies' bulk collection of phone data
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that would end spy agencies' bulk collection of Americans' telephone data, setting up a potential showdown with the U.S. Senate over the program, which expires on June 1.
The House voted 338-88 for the USA Freedom Act, which would end the bulk collection and instead give intelligence agencies access to telephone data and other records only when a court finds there is reasonable suspicion about a link to international terrorism.
The strong support in the House by both Democrats and Republicans could increase pressure on Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on the bill. McConnell and several other senior Republican senators have said they would rather renew the existing bulk data collection program, authorized under the USA Patriot Act, passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
From the
Los Angeles Times:
Deal with Democrats clears way for vote on Obama's free-trade pact
Senate Democrats have dropped a key demand that led them to filibuster President Obama's request for expedited consideration of a major trade deal, quickly resolving a rare internal battle between the president and his party.
The decision Wednesday makes it more likely that the Senate will pass legislation that gives Obama the authority he said he needs to help complete negotiations with 11 Pacific Rim nations over the free-trade agreement.
From
Al Jazeera:
House approves 20-week abortion ban
The House of Representatives passed a GOP-sponsored bill on Wednesday that would ban most late-term abortions and require doctors to try to help aborted fetuses survive in the rare occasions that such procedures are allowed.
The legislation would bar most women from terminating pregnancies after 20 weeks and is based on some doctors’ belief that fetuses develop the ability to feel pain at that point, though the research is disputed.
Exceptions can be made for victims of rape, women whose lives are endangered by the pregnancy and minors who are victims of incest if the assault is reported to police or a government agency. (It doesn’t exempt incest victims 18 or older.)
In such cases, a second doctor would have to be present during the procedure to provide medical care for the fetus and transport it to a hospital if it is born alive and seems capable of surviving.
From the
Boston Globe:
Jurors begin deliberations in Marathon bombing trial
Hoping to convince a jury to spare Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from the death penalty, a defense attorney on Wednesday blamed Tsarnaev’s late older brother, Tamerlan, for the 2013 terror attack.
“If it were not for Tamerlan, this wouldn’t have happened,” said Tsarnaev’s attorney, Judy Clarke. “Dzhokhar would not have done this but for Tamerlan.”
“We’re asking you to choose life. Yes, even for the Boston Marathon bomber,” Clarke said. “It’s a sentence that reflects justice and mercy.”
But prosecutors said the blame fell squarely on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, even if he was only 19 when, in the name of radical Islam, he mounted the attack on the Marathon.
“These weren’t youthful crimes,” said Assistant US Attorney William Weinreb. “There was nothing immature or impulsive about them. These were political crimes, designed to punish the United States ... by killing and mutilating US citizens."
From
The Atlantic:
A Brief History of American Executions
Hanging is perhaps the quintessential American punishment. In the pre-revolutionary era, criminals were also shot, pressed between heavy stones, broken on the wheel, or burned alive. (An estimated 16,000 people have been put to death in this country since the first recorded execution, in 1608.) But the simplicity of the noose triumphed, and its use spread as the republic grew. In theory, a hanging is quick and relatively painless: the neck snaps immediately. But hangings can be grisly. If the rope is too short, the noose will slowly strangle the condemned. If the rope is too long, the force of the fall can decapitate the person.
The Supreme Court has never struck down a method of execution as unconstitutional. But states have at times tried to make the process more humane. “Hanging has come down to us from the dark ages,” New York Governor David B. Hill told the state legislature in 1885. He asked “whether the science of the present day” could produce a way to execute the condemned “in a less barbarous manner.”
Thomas Edison offered up his Menlo Park laboratory for New York officials to test electrocution on animals. Confident that the method would be painless and instantaneous, state legislators abolished hanging and mandated the use of the electric chair for all death sentences, starting in 1890. Other states slowly followed, although hanging never truly disappeared—the most recent one took place in Delaware in 1996.
From
BBC News:
Islamic State deputy leader 'killed in Iraq air strike'
The second-in-command of Islamic State (IS) has been killed in a US-led coalition air strike in northern Iraq, the Iraqi ministry of defence says.
Abdul Rahman Mustafa Mohammed, also known as Abu Alaa al-Afari, was at a mosque near Tal Afar that was targeted, spokesman Brig-Gen Tahsin Ibrahim said.
However, the US military later denied coalition planes had attacked a mosque.
From the
Financial Times:
Pope Francis to sign groundbreaking treaty with Palestinians
The Vatican is set to sign a groundbreaking treaty with the Palestinian Authority, in a move that immediately triggered anger in neighbouring Israel for its emphatic recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The looming agreement — which the Vatican said had been finalised but not yet signed by the parties — would cover legal and tax issues related to the Catholic Church’s activities in the Palestinian territories.
But the substance of the deal was less important than the fact that it would mark the first bilateral agreement between the Holy See and the Palestinian Authority — referred to as the “State of Palestine” in the official document.
From
The Guardian:
Beekeepers see 42% of US honeybee colonies die off in a single year
More than two out of five American honeybee colonies died in the past year, and surprisingly, the worst die-off was in the summer, according to a federal survey.
Since April 2014, beekeepers lost 42.1% of their colonies, the second-highest rate in nine years, according to an annual survey conducted by a bee partnership that includes the US Department of Agriculture.
“What we’re seeing with this bee problem is just a loud signal that there’s some bad things happening with our agro-ecosystems,” said study co-author Keith Delaplane at the University of Georgia. “We just happen to notice it with the honeybee because they are so easy to count.”
But it’s not quite as dire as it sounds. That’s because after a colony dies, beekeepers split their surviving colonies, start new ones, and the numbers go back up again, said Delaplane and study co-author Dennis vanEngelsdorp of the University of Maryland. But that pushes the bees to their limits, he said.
From
Wired:
With Instant Articles, Facebook Shows Us What Paper Was For
Facebook Paper was a strange thing. After its release early last year, the extravagant news-reading smartphone app that unbundled the News Feed from the rest of Facebook quickly faded from view. But now it’s paying dividends—at least for Facebook.
On Wednesday, the company rolled out what it calls Instant Articles: stories from big-name news outlets that appear within Facebook’s iPhone app in their entirety rather than simply as a link to elsewhere on the web. In order words, you needn’t leave Facebook’s app in order to read the latest from The New York Times, The Atlantic, or The Guardian. The arrangement was long rumored, and it carries a fair share of controversy, with many worrying it will erode the power of publishers to control their content. But it makes good sense for Facebook. And, it turns out, the team behind the look and feel of Instant Articles was also the team behind Paper.
From
Slate:
The guy behind the Stanford prison experiment claims video games and porn are destroying men
In 1971, the psychologist Philip Zimbardo spearheaded the Stanford prison experiment to show how the hierarchy of the penitentiary system could turn otherwise reasonable men into monsters. Now, Zimbardo has identified a new threat to mankind: the Internet. Excessive video game use and porn consumption, Zimbardo says, is turning modern young men into limp, loveless losers. It’s a theory he’s pushed with increasing urgency over the past several years. In 2011, Zimbardo delivered a TED talk titled “The Demise of Guys?” The next year, he penned an e-book based on the talk titled The Demise of Guys, no more question mark. And this month, Zimbardo released his full-length tract: Man (Dis)connected: How Technology Has Sabotaged What It Means to Be Male, and What Can Be Done.
Man (Dis)connected (written by Zimbardo with a co-author, Nikita Coulombe) proffers a host of explanations for this crisis of masculinity—too many female teachers, too few father figures, too much soda—but it reserves its most damning critique for video games and porn. The Independent calls the work a “study” that takes an “in-depth look into the lives of 20,000 young men and their relationships with video games and pornography.”
It’s not, and it doesn’t.
From
Salon:
I’m saving myself for God: True stories from evangelical purity culture
‘‘Ooooh, sex is wonderful!’’ gushes Emily Holland, an unusual confession for someone at an evangelical college. Emily wears a smart, pale green suit, dressed as if our meeting is really a job interview. Her cheeks turn pink, her long eyelashes flutter, and her blue eyes dance as she draws out each syllable.
My eyes open wide as I try to hide my surprise.
It’s not that I haven’t met other evangelical students who have had sex. But they are typically regretful, mortified, angry, or fearful. Emily is decidedly different.
Like most of her peers, Emily grew up in a ‘‘very religious’’ household, went to church every Sunday (sometimes more than once), prayed and studied the Bible at home with her family, and was part of a youth group. She describes herself as ‘‘very involved and very religious and very spiritual.’’ In her journal, she writes that she has ‘‘religious experiences all the time’’ because she ‘‘walk[s] every day with God.’’ Emily decided to attend an evangelical college because she wanted to ‘‘surround herself ’’ with fellow students and faculty who would ‘‘hold her accountable’’ in her faith.
From
USA Today:
Keith Olbermann obliterates Tom Brady's agent in hilarious open letter
Hours after the NFL handed New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady a four-game suspension for his role in Deflategate, Brady’s agent Don Yee slammed the NFL for the “ridiculous” punishment in a statement and said independent investigator Ted Wells’ report was “unfair.”
On his show Tuesday, ESPN’s Keith Olbermann advised Brady to fire his agent immediately.
“We’ve all been suspended…. Take it from me, Tom. Please don’t appeal your suspension, don’t appeal, and don’t let your agent suggest another conspiracy theory. In fact, Tom, fire this agent of yours Don Yee…. When the suspension was announced last night your agent Don Yee issued a statement. Not an off-the-cuff remark, not some kind of cri de coeur, not some agonizing yell echoing through space like Captain Kirk shouting ‘KHAN!’
Don Yee thought this up and wrote it down and reviewed it and then gave it to other people rather than saying ‘oh that’s right I’m supposed to do what’s best for Tom, not what’s worst.'”
From
NBC News:
White House press secretary: Tom Brady can still be a role model
When Patriots quarterback Tom Brady skipped the team’s visit to the White House, one theory was that he was perturbed by a comment the President’s press secretary had made about him.
And that press secretary, Josh Earnest, had some more comments Tuesday about Brady and the responsibility he carries moving forward.
“I do think that people around the world, particularly children, particularly boys, do look up to Tom Brady,” Earnest said, via Phil Perry of CSNNE.com. “He is somebody who has a reputation for professionalism. He’s somebody who’s enjoyed tremendous success on the football field and has carried himself off the field in a way that has earned the respect of a lot of people.
“And I think that as he confronts this particular situation and he determines what the next steps will be for him, that he’ll be mindful of the way that he serves as a role model to so many, not just American kids as you point out, but to kids around the world.”
From
CNN:
Online fury over Boston University professor's tweets on race
Fury erupted this month over incoming Boston University sociology and African-American studies professor Saida Grundy's tweets about white men, race and slavery.
College student Nick Pappas wrote about Grundy's tweets on his website SoCawlege.com a week ago with the headline "Boston University assistant professor Saida Grundy attacks whites, makes false statements on Twitter."
Pappas, who will be a senior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst next school year, launched the site last fall, intending it as a conservative BuzzFeed-style website.
Grundy, a sociologist who studies race, gender and class, received her doctorate last year from the University of Michigan's joint program in sociology and women's studies. She is to start work in a tenure-track position at Boston University -- the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s alma mater -- on July 1.
From
Ars Technica:
Google rejecting 59 percent of right-to-be-forgotten removal requests
It was a year ago Wednesday that the European Court of Justice ruled that search engines must remove links from their search results if the content rendered in those URLs is deemed "inadequate" and "irrelevant."
Google, which has about a 90 percent market share in Europe, has rejected removing 59 percent of the URLs it has been asked to take down, according to Google's latest report on the issue.
Google says it has removed 322,601 links from its search results. It has rejected taking down 457,958 URLs.
The figures underscore that the ruling leaves Google and other search engines wide discretion when it comes to abiding by removal requests. According to Google:
In evaluating a request, we will look at whether the results include outdated or inaccurate information about the person. We’ll also weigh whether or not there’s a public interest in the information remaining in our search results—for example, if it relates to financial scams, professional malpractice, criminal convictions or your public conduct as a government official (elected or unelected).
Our removals team has to look at each page individually and base decisions on the limited context provided by the requestor and the information on the webpage. Is it a news story? Does it relate to a criminal charge that resulted in a later conviction or was dismissed?
From
NPR:
University Of Virginia Dean Sues 'Rolling Stone' Over Discredited Rape Article
Nicole P. Eramo, an associate dean of students at the University of Virginia who handles reports of sexual assault for the school, is suing Rolling Stone magazine over the way she was depicted in a now discredited story.
Eramo has filed suit against Rolling Stone LLC, parent company Wenner Media LLC, and Sabrina Rubin Erdely, the author of the article called "A Rape on Campus," which painted a harrowing picture of a rape and its coverup at U.Va. The complaint was filed in the Charlottesville, Va., circuit court. Eramo is seeking a total of $7.85 million.
In her complaint, Eramo says, "Defendants' purpose in publishing the article was to weave a narrative that depicted the University of Virginia ('UVA') as an institution that is indifferent to rape on campus, and more concerned with protecting its reputation than with assisting victims of sexual assault."
The complaint continues:
"Erdely and Rolling Stone claimed — both in the article and in a slew of media appearances and interviews designed to increase publicity for the article — that Dean Eramo intentionally tried to coddle Jackie to persuade her not to report her rape; that she was indifferent to Jackie's allegations; that she discouraged Jackie from sharing her story with others; that she 'abuse[d]' Jackie; that she did 'nothing' in response to Jackie's allegations; that she claimed that UVA withholds rape statistics 'because nobody wants to send their daughter to the rape school'; that she did not report Jackie's alleged assault to the police; that she 'brushed off' Jackie; and that she actively sought to 'suppress' Jackie's supposed gang rape. ... These statements, and the portrayal of Dean Eramo, in 'A Rape on Campus' and in Erdely and Rolling Stone's subsequent public statements, are categorically false."
From
Vox:
Science is often flawed. It's time we embraced that.
In his book Derailed, about his fall from academic grace, the Dutch psychologist Diederik Stapel explained his preferred method for manipulating scientific data in detail that would make any nerd's jaw drop:
"I preferred to do it at home, late in the evening... I made myself some tea, put my computer on the table, took my notes from my bag, and used my fountain pen to write down a neat list of research projects and effects I had to produce.... Subsequently I began to enter my own data, row for row, column for column...3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 4, 5, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 5, 4, 3, 3, 2. When I was finished, I would do the first analyses. Often, these would not immediately produce the right results. Back to the matrix and alter data. 4, 6, 7, 5, 4, 7, 8, 2, 4, 4, 6, 5, 6, 7, 8, 5, 4. Just as long until all analyses worked out as planned."
In 2011, when Stapel was suspended over research fraud allegations, he was a rising star in social psychology at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. He had conducted attention-grabbing experiments on social behavior, looking at, for example, whether litter in an environment encouraged racial stereotyping and discrimination. Yet that paper — and at least 55 others, as well as 10 dissertations written by students he supervised — were built on falsified data.
Stories like Stapel's are what most people think of when they think about how science goes wrong: an unethical researcher methodically defrauding the public. But outright fraud is just one potential derailment from truth. And it's actually a relatively rare occurrence.
Recently, the conversation about science's wrongness has gone mainstream. You can read, in publications like Vox, the New York Times or the Economist, about how the research process is far from perfect — from the inadequacies of peer review to the fact that many published results simply can't be replicated. The crisis has gotten so bad that the editor of The Lancet medical journal Richard Horton recently lamented, "Much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue."
From
Jalopnik:
Top Gear Trio's Possible Netflix Show Could Be Called 'House Of Cars'
Top Gear has been off the air for a few months now. It’s sad. But there is a chance that Clarkson, Hammond, and May could have a show on Netflix. The title? House of Cars. Get it?
The name was given to The Mirror by a pal of the trio who said “if it goes ahead, they’re planning to call it House of Cars, which is just genius.”
Of course, it’s a play on the Netflix hit House of Cards. Clarkson, Hammond, May, and former show chief Andy Wilman have reportedly been in discussions with Netflix for a little while.
The original show will reportedly soldier on with a new cast.
From the
A.V. Club:
Mad men mad at 'Mad Max' for having mad women
Mad Max: Fury Road has earned near-uniformly rave reviews for being the sort of action movie that leaves other action movies wanting, creating a savage beauty from its cyber-circus freaks and their desert smash-’em-ups, and generally being a hell of a good time. However, it can’t be that much fun, because there are women around. Women—always ruining the post-apocalypse with their refusal to go make sand-sandwiches while the men do men things—have infiltrated the film, and made it all about their tired feminist agenda of not being sex slaves to a warlord. And Men’s Rights Activists are not having it.
As noted by The Mary Sue, the MRA blog Return Of Kings—the online paper of record “for heterosexual, masculine men” to declare their dominance, by making a safe space where they don’t have to talk to women or gay people—has proudly asserted its masculinity with a blog post complaining that a movie’s use of female characters threatens it. Specifically, writer Aaron Clarey believes men could find themselves “duped by explosions, fire tornadoes, and desert raiders into seeing what is guaranteed to be nothing more than feminist propaganda, while at the same time being insulted AND tricked into viewing a piece of American culture ruined and rewritten right in front of their very eyes.” How, he asks, could Australian director George Miller have so ruined and rewritten George Miller’s creation in such a way that so blatantly disregards this Australian franchise’s proud American heritage? America is where men live.
From
The Hollywood Reporter:
'Mad Men' Series Finale: What Should Happen, What Could Happen
There are a lot of theories floating around about what will happen in Mad Men and to its main character, Don Draper. None of them are likely to be identical to what series creator Matt Weiner has dreamed up. That’s what I was hinting at in my deconstruction of the penultimate episode; it’s Weiner’s baby, and he can do whatever pleases him. And viewers should respect the stories of storytellers, particularly ones who have put together seven mostly masterful seasons.
It doesn’t mean viewers can’t be unhappy or disappointed about the choices — what happened, how it happened, who was left out, etc. But I’m a firm believer that whatever Weiner will come up with for the last hour (and change) will be something I’ll appreciate.
I’ve written about Mad Men for seven seasons and talked numerous times with Weiner, from the very first Mad Men party when almost nobody outside of the room that night had seen a single frame of the show to live on stage in front of hundreds of people who were fanatical enough about the show to pay to hear Weiner talk about it. So, yes, I have my own theories and guesses about how it ends, what Don might do, and what I’d like the finale to cover.
From
Entertainment Weekly:
Watch the trailer for Netflix's 'Between': No one over 22 is left alive
The first full trailer for Netflix’s new series Between has arrived, and it is bleak.
Starring iCarly’s Jeannette McCurdy, Between is the story of the ironically named town of Pretty Lake, where a mysterious disease wipes out everyone older than college age. Quarantined and on their own, the survivors have to redefine what’s left of their society. Will they make it work, or will this turn into Lord of the Flies with contagious diseases?
The first of Between’s six episodes will be released on Netflix at 8:30 p.m. PT on May 21, with a new episode following every Thursday at the same time.
From
TheWrap:
Marvel Courting Ava DuVernay to Direct Diverse Superhero Movie
Marvel is courting “Selma” filmmaker Ava DuVernay to direct one of its diverse superhero movies, which include “Black Panther” and “Captain Marvel,” multiple individuals with knowledge of the situation have told TheWrap. Insiders suggest that “Black Panther,” due first in July 2018, is the most likely possibility.
Marvel has had discussions with DuVernay about taking the reins of one of its marquee comic book properties and while the studio is considering other directors, there is mutual interest in having her join the MCU.
Marvel’s courtship surfaces on the same day that the American Civil Liberties Union asked state and federal agencies to investigate Hollywood’s hiring practices at major studios, networks and talent agencies. The ACLU has alleged rampant and intentional gender discrimination in recruiting and hiring female directors ... Insiders told TheWrap that Marvel is intent on hiring an African-American director for “Black Panther” and a female filmmaker for “Captain Marvel.” DuVernay’s hiring would make her Marvel’s first African-American and first female director, which would no doubt double as a public relations boon for the company.
From
Variety:
Watch: First ‘Supergirl’ Trailer & More Videos for New CBS Shows
The highly anticipated “Supergirl” series landed the coveted 8 p.m. Monday timeslot on CBS’ fall schedule, and now, the first trailer is finally here.
See Melissa Benoist as the title superhero in the first-look video of “Supergirl,” plus watch trailers for all the other fall shows on CBS, including the TV adaptation of Bradley Cooper’s “Limitless,” Jane Lynch’s comedy “Angel From Hell,” ensemble star-powered sitcom “Life in Pieces” and medical drama “Code Black.”
From
Rolling Stone:
David Letterman: Happy at Last
"I feel like I'm talking too much. You tell me some stories."
It's 10 till seven in a conference room high above West 53rd Street, and David Letterman has just exhausted his capacity for self-reflection. We were scheduled to talk for 45 minutes; we've been at it for 44. After nearly 50 years of live broadcasting, he knows instinctively when a segment is about to run long.
Normally, Letterman doesn't love talking about himself; what he wants to say, he says on his show. But today, he's sitting for an exit interview of sorts. A few weeks from now, at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20th, Letterman will wave good night, the lights at the Ed Sullivan Theater will go dark, and the Late Show With David Letterman will have taped its last episode. There's a long goodbye scheduled before then, featuring a once-in-a-lifetime lineup of A-list guests — Hanks, Clooney, Seinfeld, Winfrey, Murray, Roberts, at least one Obama — as well as plenteous highlights from his 22 years on CBS. It's shaping up to be the kind of star-studded send-off television may never see again. And Letterman, of course, is not looking forward to it.
"I'm dreading it," he says, grimacing. "As Regis used to say, 'I don't like going down memory lane' — and I'm afraid that's what this is all about. After we get through with it, then I'll sit back and see what we've done. But for now, I just want it to be over with."
From
io9:
First 'Jem And The Holograms' Trailer Is Truly Outrageous—In How Bad It Is
The trailer for the Jem and the Holograms movie is out and... no. Just no. We get a Jerrica who goes from shy girl to diva, no Misfits, no artificial intelligence, and NO ACTUAL HOLOGRAMS? It’s like the people who made this thing never actually watched the show.
We’ve been very, very worried about Jem for a while now. Christy Marx, who created the TV series, was never consulted on the movie, and we were underwhelmed by the photos coming out of the project. Now we’ve got a trailer that simply fails to capture what we loved about Jem. Now it’s just a story about fame in the social media world with a worn-out story about the band member tempted to go solo. Ugh.
From
Billboard:
Wiz Khalifa Leads Hot 100, Britney Spears & Iggy Azalea Debut
Wiz Khalifa's Furious 7 soundtrack smash "See You Again," featuring Charlie Puth, dominates the Billboard Hot 100 for a fifth week.
Meanwhile, Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea soar in at No. 29 with their playfully boastful collab "Pretty Girls."
As we do each Wednesday, let's look at all the pretty people in the top 10, and a bit beyond, on the sales/airplay/streaming-based Hot 100 (dated May 23). "Again," released on Atlantic Records and promoted to radio by Roadrunner Promotions, spends a sixth week at No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart with 251,000 downloads sold (down 12 percent) in the week ending May 10, according to Nielsen Music. The track posts a fifth week at No. 1 on both Streaming Songs (24.5 million U.S. streams, up 2 percent) and the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart (7.5 million, down 6 percent).
From
/Film:
‘Crimson Peak’ Trailer: Welcome to Guillermo del Toro’s Gorgeous Haunted House
Leave it to Guillermo del Toro to create a haunted house so gorgeous, we’d gladly put up with any number of ghosts to visit it. No wonder Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Mia Wasikowska are willing to stick around what is clearly a pretty terrible place ... It’s beautiful and creepy and weirdly sexy, and reveals just enough of the storyline to keep us intrigued. You know you’re in for a treat when Stephen King himself calls a movie “fucking terrifying.” It kind of looks like Jane Eyre if Charlotte Brontë had decided to unleash actual ghosts instead of just a crazy first wife.
As great as the cast is, that house is really the star of the show, and del Toro previously revealed that it took “the better part of a year” to design and build it. In the end, they wound up with “an entire Victorian mansion, three stories high, with working elevators, working bathrooms, rooms, a full library.”
From
Entertainment Tonight:
Did Leonardo DiCaprio Send Rihanna 'I Love You' Roses Before Clubbing Together?!
t's looking more and more like we may have to decide soon, as 27-year-old pop star Rihanna received a bouquet of roses believed to be from 40-year-old actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
Rihanna's assistant retrieved the roses, complete with a Thomas the Tank Engine balloon (aww!), along with a heart-shaped balloon that read "I love you."
The pair, who's been rumored to be linked since New Year's, reportedly partied together Tuesday at NYC nightclub Up & Down.
From
US Weekly:
Cannes Film Festival 2015 Red Carpet Fashion: What the Stars Wore
Lights, camera, glitz, and glamour galore! Hollywood's brightest and most talented stars walked the red carpet during the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival in France. Check out what celebs like Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts, and Julianne Moore wore.
From
Men's Health:
6 Things You Didn't Know Your Dick Could Do
It’s a “Semen Displacement Device”
While you probably think of your dong as a device designed to inject semen, it’s also engineered to remove the semen of competitors, suggests research from the State University of New York, Albany. You know that ridge at the base of your penis head—the raised part just north of your shaft? While you’re thrusting in and out of your partner, that ridge rakes away the semen of any foes who may have slid into home base ahead of you, the researchers say.
It Can Eject Semen Up to 8 Feet
That’s according to a study conducted years ago at the University of Indiana by the famous sex researcher Alfred Kinsey. While there’s not much new data backing up that finding, one recent study from Weill Cornell Medical College found the force with which you ejaculate corresponds directly with how satisfied you feel about your orgasm.
It Smiles during Sex
A study from France looked at the shape of your schlong during sex. When you and your partner are in the missionary position, your penis—including the portion of your shaft inside your body—basically forms a smile-shaped curve.
Why? Because it's happy, of course!