NYTimes | President Biden pardoned five members of his family in his last minutes in office, saying in a statement that he did so not because they did anything wrong but because he feared political attacks from incoming President Donald J. Trump.
“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics,” he said in his last statement as president. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”
Mr. Biden’s action pardoned James B. Biden, his brother; Sara Jones Biden, James’s wife; Valerie Biden Owens, Mr. Biden’s sister; John T. Owens, Ms. Owens’s husband; and Francis W. Biden, Mr. Biden’s brother.
The White House announced the pardons with less than 20 minutes left in Mr. Biden’s presidency, after he had already walked into the Capitol Rotunda to witness the swearing-in of Mr. Trump before leaving the Capitol for the last time as president.
The pardons were a remarkable coda to Mr. Biden’s 50-year political career, underscoring the mistrust and anger that the president feels about Mr. Trump, the man who preceded and will succeed him in office.
Mr. Biden had repeatedly warned that Mr. Trump was a threat to democracy in America. But he also said that he believed in the rule of law, and was confident in the stability of the institutions of law enforcement. The pardons — like one that he did earlier for his son, Hunter Biden, threatened to challenge that assertion.
In his statement, Mr. Biden explained his action.
“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Mr. Biden wrote. “But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.”
cbsnews | Why was the Santa Ynez Reservoir empty when the fires broke out?
The reservoir was taken out of service to "meet safe drinking water regulations," the DWP said in a statement. A tear in the reservoir's cover made the water supply subject to contamination, the Los Angeles Times reported, leading the agency to drain it in February.
"The
water system serving the Pacific Palisades area and all of Los Angeles
meets all federal and state fire codes for urban development and
housing," the release said.
DWP representatives did not respond
to further questions about the reservoir from CBS News. The agency's
statement suggested that the fact the reservoir was empty for nearly a
year was in part due to the process of contracting a company to carry
out the repairs.
"To commission the support and resources to
implement repairs to Santa Ynez, LADWP is subject to the city charter's
competitive bidding process which requires time," the statement read.
The reservoir is intended to provide water storage "for domestic use
and fire fighting purposes in the Pacific Palisades area" according to city documents.
DWP
says that the agency is conducting its own investigation on its "water
resiliency." But experts and officials agree that the extent of the wildfires would have put a strain on the city's water supply regardless of whether the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been full.
In his letter to DWP, Newsom wrote, "While water supplies from local
fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas,
losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to
protect some homes and evacuation corridors."
David Freyberg,
PhD, a hydrologist and water resources specialist at Stanford
University, told CBS News in an email that while a full Santa Ynez would
have had benefits, it's not clear how much impact it would have had.
"The
reservoirs above Pacific Palisades were not designed to support
fire-fighting at the scale of [this] fire," he wrote. "Water supply
reservoirs are typically designed to cope with house fires, not
wildfires."
He added that the situation has made it clear that larger-scale solutions are necessary.
axios | As devastating wildfires raged across Los Angeles County this week, firefighters battling the blazes encountered fire hydrants that had no water.
Why it matters: The dry fire hydrants sparked political outrage
and illustrated just how unprepared municipal water systems are to
combat the sorts of large-scale urban wildfires that have become more
frequent with climate change.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday ordered an independent investigation
into the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), the nation's
largest municipal utility, over hydrants and water supply issues. DWP
provides water for more than four million L.A. residents and serves
Pacific Palisades, a wealthy area of Los Angeles where much of the
destruction took place.
"While water supplies from local fire
hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas,
losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect
some homes and evacuation corridors," Newsom said. "We need answers to
how that happened."
President-elect Trump has suggested Newsom
was to blame for the dry hydrants — claiming without evidence that he
blocked water supply to the south of the state with the state's fish
conservation efforts. The governor and other experts have sharply
rejected the claims.
"We are looking at a situation that is
just completely not part of any domestic water system design," Marty
Adams, a former DWP general manager and engineer, told The New York Times.
The big picture: Fire
hydrants running out of water isn't unheard of during severe wildfires,
said Faith Kearns, a water and wildfire expert with the Global Futures
Laboratory at Arizona State University. Similar instances were reported
during wildfires in Maui, Colorado and Oregon,
"It's
something that we have definitely started to see as, essentially, these
wildland fires move into urban areas and become urban conflagrations,"
Kearns said.
"Our urban water supply is meant to deal more with things like a single house being on fire," she added.
Why did the fire hydrants run dry?
Firefighters battling the Palisades Fire
earlier this week encountered swaths of fire hydrants with no water
after the three water tanks supplying the Pacific Palisades ran dry by 3
a.m. Wednesday, Janisse QuiΓ±ones, chief engineer of the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power, said at a press briefing later that day.
The
area's water system had been pushed "to the extreme," she said. "Four
times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered
our water pressure."
The problem persisted for hours while wildfires ravaged the area, the New York Times reported.
yahoo | Luigi
Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian
Thompson in New York City on Dec. 4, waived his right to extradition at
the Blair County courthouse in Pennsylvania on Thursday morning.
New York City police officers escorted Mangione out of the courthouse and flew him to New York, where he was indicted earlier this week. He is expected to appear in a state court for arraignment in New York either later Thursday or on Friday.
Federal authorities have now filed murder, stalking and weapons charges against Mangione, according to a complaint that was unsealed Thursday. It is unclear when he would appear in court for the federal charges.
By
waiving his extradition hearing, Mangione has voluntarily agreed to put
his Pennsylvania criminal case on hold and return to New York for
prosecution there. Among the charges he will face in New York include
murder as an act of terrorism, which carries a life sentence in prison
without the possibility of parole.
Although neither Mangione nor his New York attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo,
have commented on the situation, David Sarni, a former NYPD detective
and current adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal
Justice, told Yahoo News it’s not unusual that Mangione and Agnifilo
filed to waive extradition in this case.
“Extradition
takes place usually when the case is stronger in the other state and if
the prosecution is willing to do the extradition hearing,” Sarni said.
The Federal charge of Murder Through The Use Of A Firearm makes Mangione eligible for the Federal death penalty....,
Reuters | MOSCOW,
Feb 14 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that
Russian scientists were close to creating vaccines for cancer that could
soon be available to patients.
Putin
said in televised comments that "we have come very close to the
creation of so-called cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs of a
new generation".
"I
hope that soon they will be effectively used as methods of individual
therapy," he added, speaking at a Moscow forum on future technologies.
TASS | MOSCOW, December
15. /TASS/. Russia has developed its own mRNA vaccine against cancer, it
will be distributed to patients free of charge, General Director of the
Radiology Medical Research Center of the Russian Ministry of Health
Andrey Kaprin has told Radio Rossiya.
The vaccine was developed in collaboration with several research
centers. It is planned to launch it in general circulation in early
2025.
Earlier, Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for
Epidemiology and Microbiology Alexander Gintsburg told TASS that the
vaccine’s pre-clinical trials had shown that it suppresses tumor
development and potential metastases.
NYTimes | Luigi Mangione on Tuesday was formally accused of first-degree murder, a charge that branded him a terrorist and aimed directly at the idea that the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive was a legitimate political act.
“This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,” said Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, at a news conference on Tuesday.
The assassination of the chief executive, Brian Thompson, on Dec. 4 in the heart of Manhattan set off a dayslong manhunt and captivated Americans, many of whom vented their frustrations on dealings with health insurance companies. Some voiced their support for Mr. Mangione and rooted for him to elude capture.
But on Tuesday, prosecutors said that Mr. Mangione’s actions were meant to further terrorism. They were, prosecutors said, “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population” and to “affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder.”
Mr. Mangione, 26, also faces two counts of second-degree murder and weapons charges in New York in the killing of Mr. Thompson.
A lawyer for Mr. Mangione, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, declined to comment on the new charges on Tuesday.
Mr. Bragg said that they were in response to the “brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting,” adding that he couldn’t think of another office “more equipped to handle a terrorism charge.”
If convicted on the highest charges, Mr. Mangione faces a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Newsweek | Wanted posters for healthcare executives have started appearing across New York City following the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.
Thompson, 50, was en route to speak at UnitedHealth Group's investor conference at the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan last Wednesday when he was fatally shot. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that Thompson was struck at least once in the back and once in the right calf.
Police arrested a suspect, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, on Monday in connection with the shooting, charging him with second-degree murder. No motive for the shooting has been established, but a handwritten manifesto purportedly found with Mangione at the time of his arrest indicates that Thompson's killing may have been motivated by anger about the health insurance industry, with the suspect allegedly justifying the homicide by writing: "The parasites had it coming."
Following the shooting, videos shared on social media showed "wanted" signs featuring Thompson and other healthcare corporate leaders plastered across traffic control boxes in Canal Street in Manhattan.
One video showed a poster with a red X over Thompson's image. Other posters featured images of Heather Cianfrocco, Optum Health's CEO, and and UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty.
UnitedHealth Group is the parent company of UnitedHealthcare and Optum.
Videos showed the posters featured the words: "Wanted. Denying medical care for corporate profit.
Health care CEOs should not feel safe."
"UnitedHealthcare killed everyday people for the sake of profit. As a result Brian Thompson was denied his claim to life. Who will be denied next?" they continue.
timesofindia | Mangione’s actions, punctuated by symbolic gestures like inscribed bullet casings and a manifesto railing against corporate greed, were designed to convey a broader message.
While Mangione’s methods were criminal, the public response has included elements of celebration. Social media platforms have amplified anti-corporate sentiment, with many framing the act as retribution against a predatory system. Tweets like, “When you deny care, karma doesn’t require pre-authorization,” illustrate how personal grievances with healthcare have transformed Mangione into a symbolic figure of resistance.
Following his arrest, an unexpected wave of support for Mangione surfaced online. Merchandise celebrating him appeared on various platforms, and social media users began crafting narratives that portrayed him as a modern-day Robin Hood figure—someone who stood up against powerful corporate entities.
According to a report in Politico, This celebratory reaction, rooted in collective frustration with the US healthcare system, aligns remarkably with Eric Hobsbawm's theory of "social banditry." Thompson’s death is not merely viewed as a crime but as a symbolic strike against a system perceived as exploitative and oppressive.
Message over murder: Reports indicate that bullet casings at the scene were inscribed with words like “deny,” “defend,” and “depose,” echoing criticisms of the insurance industry’s claim practices. This performative element suggests an intent to convey a broader critique of systemic injustices rather than personal grievance alone.
Resonance with public sentiment: Social media erupted with posts framing Mangione as a vigilante hero. Tweets like, “Finally, someone stood up to the corporate thieves!” and memes mocking the healthcare system’s shortcomings went viral, illustrating how his actions tapped into collective anger.
A Manifesto of frustration: The discovery of a manifesto carried by Mangione seems to support the idea that his actions were driven by frustration with the complex, costly, and often dysfunctional US health care system. "I had an opportunity to read the manifesto," said Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny of the New York Police Department on Good Morning America. "It's handwritten. He does make some indication that he's frustrated with the health care system in the United States."
Social media as modern balladry
In traditional contexts, tales of social bandits were spread through songs, stories, and legends that framed them as defenders of the downtrodden. In today’s digital era, social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok serve as the new ballads, amplifying narratives and shaping public perceptions.
Memes and merchandise: Posts satirizing the healthcare industry, such as “karma doesn’t require pre-authorization,” gained widespread traction. These digital artifacts serve to humanize Mangione while vilifying the healthcare system.
Merchandise featuring slogans like "FREE LUIGI" and "CEO Hunter" exemplifies this shift in perception. Supporters view him not just as an individual who committed a violent act but as a symbol of resistance against what they perceive as systemic failures within the healthcare industr
Echo chambers of support: Platforms foster communities where anti-corporate sentiments are amplified, reinforcing the narrative of Mangione as a folk hero. This environment has not only mythologized Mangione but also deepened the public’s antagonism toward corporate America.
Normalization of violence: The celebration of Mangione raises ethical concerns about the normalization of violence as a tool for addressing systemic grievances. While his supporters argue that his actions highlight legitimate frustrations, endorsing murder as a form of protest risks legitimizing further radical acts.
Risk of copycat behavior: The glorification of Mangione could inspire others to engage in similar acts of defiance. The New York Police Department has already issued warnings about heightened threats against corporate executives, and online forums have discussed creating “hit lists” of other high-profile figures in the healthcare industry.
NYTimes | A grainy image of his face drew comparisons to Hollywood heartthrobs. A jacket similar to the one he’s wearing on wanted posters is reportedly flying off the shelves. And the words written on the bullets he used to kill a man in cold blood on a sidewalk on Wednesday have become, for some people, a rallying cry.
Three days after a gunman assassinated a top health insurance executive in Midtown Manhattan and vanished, the unidentified suspect has, in some quarters, been venerated as something approaching a folk hero.
The authorities have pleaded for help from the public to find the person who killed the UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, who was a husband and father of two children. But in a macabre turn, some people seem to be more interested in rooting for the gunman and thwarting the police’s efforts.
The Upper West Side hostel where officials believe the unknown man stayed during his time in the city has reportedly received a deluge of bad reviews online, with some people calling the workers there “narcs.” The business has been cooperating with the police.
It is unclear what motivated the killing or whether it was tied to Mr. Thompson’s work in the industry. The police have yet to identify the shooter, and he remained at large as of Saturday.
The killing, which occurred at around 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, just outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, incited an immediate citywide manhunt by law enforcement. Police officials have said that their assumption is that the gunman left the city by bus about an hour after he shot Mr. Thompson because they have video of him entering a bus depot but not leaving it.
United CEO Andrew Witty gave an address to the company today (video leaked to me). Some highlights: - "we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care." - "There are very few people in the history of the US healthcare industry who had a bigger… pic.twitter.com/7ihMkHAcia
thedailybeast | UnitedHealth Group’s CEO slammed health insurance
industry critics on social media as “vitriolic” and “not in tune with
reality” as it is battered by anger in the wake of insurance CEO Brian
Thompson’s murder.
Andrew Witty, Thompson’s
boss, did not make the comments to the public but in a private video to
company staff. He has not spoken publicly since the assassination-style
murder outside a Manhattan hotel early Wednesday morning.
Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein initially posted a shortened clip of Witty’s comments to his Substack amid an avalanche of people attacking the health insurance industry on social platforms. He followed up with the full almost three-minute long address Witty gave to staff at UnitedHealth.
Witty,
clearly reading from a script and dressed casually, defended his
industry against accusations it refuses people vital coverage saying “we
guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or unnecessary
care.”
His extended complaint started by claiming the
company puts “patients, consumers and members first, as we always have
done,” claiming its mission was to improve their experience–and that
Thompson left a legacy of doing that.
“I have
never been more proud of this company and our colleagues and what this
company does on behalf of people in need across this country,” he said.
He
urged them to “tune out that critical noise that we’re hearing right
now,” adding, “It does not reflect reality. It is simply a sign of an
era in which we live.
“What we must know is
focus on what we know to be true. And what we know to be true is that we
need a company like UnitedHealth Group and it needs people like Brian
within it.”
Witty, a British former pharma
executive who is known as Sir Andrew Witty in the UK after being given a
knighthood by the late Queen Elizabeth, is facing a Department of
Justice probe into insider trading allegations. His last fully
calculated compensation package in 2023 was $25 million. The company
denies wrongdoing.
“I’d like to give you a
little bit of advice around the media,” said Witty. “My strong advice
and request to everybody is just don’t engage with the media. If you’re
approached, I would recommend not responding and, if necessary, simply
refer them to our own media organization.”
Witty
added, “You’ve seen a lot of media interest in this situation with a
huge amount of misinformation and frankly offensive communication,”
calling the coverage “aggressive, inappropriate and disrespectful.”
Representatives
for UnitedHealth Group and its health insurance division,
UnitedHealthcare—which Thompson led—did not immediately respond to a
Daily Beast request for comment on the leaked video.
On
the heels of Thompson’s death and the ensuing hunt for his assassin,
the company removed his bio from a page that once listed UnitedHealth’s
leadership. Now it goes to a broken link.
Thompson
was shot dead outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan on
Wednesday. He was due to address an investors’ conference for his
company, which is one of the largest health insurers in the world. The
killer, who experts have suggested is not a professional hitman, fled on
an electric bike and remains at large.
newsmax | Health insurance companies removed executive leadership names from
their websites after the assassination of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
Brian Thompson. 50, was murdered Wednesday morning in New York City
in a shooting that police called a "brazen, targeted attack."
As of Friday morning, UnitedHealthcare's "About Us" page that listed leadership, including Thompson, redirected to a more general page.
A Google search for the UHC leadership team sends users to the
company home page. A search-result link to "Our Leaders" page that lists
several names, including Thompson's, sends people to a "Page Not Found." Clicking on Thompson's name also results in that.
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, which Thursday announced it will walk back changes
that would charge patients for anesthesia during procedures that went
longer than estimated, redirects its own leadership page to its "About
Us" page, 404 Media reported.
Blue Cross Blue Shield, separate from Anthem BCBS, now redirects its own leadership page to its "About Us"
page. Originally, that BCBS page showed leadership, including President
and CEO Kim Keck, Executive Vice President and CFO Christina Fisher,
and 23 more executives as of earlier this year according to archives of
the page.
On social media platform X, user @GASLIGHTER_ spotted that other major insurers including CareSource, Medica, CVS, and Molina also removed info of their leadership teams.
"Nonprofit health insurance organization Caresource took down the
individual pages for all of its executive leadership, including
President and CEO Erhardt Preitauer, Executive Vice President David
Williams, Executive Vice President for Markets and Products Scott
Markovich, Executive Vice President for Strategy and Business Sanjoy
Musunuri, CFO Larry Smart and COO Fred Schulz. Snippets from each of
these pages are still visible on Google search, but the pages themselves
return an error that says 'the requested URL was not found on this
server,'" 404 Media reported.
"Another nonprofit health plan, Medica, did the same: Medica's
executive leadership page redirects to its homepage, and its foundation
leadership staff page now returns an error: 'Oops. That page doesn't
exist.'
"Elevance Health took down its leadership page, too, replacing it
with a message that says 'Sorry, that page is no longer here.' The most
recent archive for that page is from last week."
cbsnews | Bullets that an unidentified gunman used to shoot and kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday morning had words written on them, CBS News has confirmed.
The
words "delay," "deny" and possibly "depose" appeared on shell casings
and bullets recovered from the scene of the shooting in New York City,
according to New York City Police Department officials. Law
enforcement officials said they are examining whether the words relate
to a possible motive involving insurance companies and their responses
to claims. ABC News first reported this information.
A source
briefed on the investigation said each word was meticulously written,
not etched, onto the casings in Sharpie. Officials are examining the
casings to determine whether the words could be related to a possible
motive involving insurance companies and their responses to claims.
Investigators believe they could reference "the three D's of insurance"
coined by the industry's critics, which are "delay," "deny" and
"defend." The alliteration is a comment on the tactics that opponents
say insurance companies use to delay or deny policyholders' claims.
Thompson, 50, was shot multiple times
before 7 a.m. ET Wednesday, by a masked gunman who fled the area before
police arrived. The shooting happened in a busy section of Manhattan
outside of the Hilton Midtown hotel, where the executive was set to
attend a conference for UnitedHealthcare investors. Thompson had been
staying at the Marriott across the street, authorities said.
The
NYPD released the first unmasked images Thursday of an individual wanted
for questioning in connection with the shooting, asking the public for
help identifying that individual. The images were taken from a hostel in
the Manhattan Valley area of the Upper West Side. A law enforcement
official with knowledge of the investigation told CBS News the man used a
fake ID with a fake name to check into the hostel. A person briefed on
the investigation said it was a fake New Jersey identification card. The
hostel said in a statement to CBS News it was cooperating with the
NYPD.
thinkingman | Have you ever heard of the Olmecs? They’re the earliest known
civilization in Mesoamerica. Not much is known about them, but they have
left behind one big thing—a few, actually. Their heads.
‘Olmec’ heads. Screenshot from grahamhancock.com, all photos by Santha Faiia
You may have seen one of the heads as the host of Legends of the Hidden Temple
on Nickelodeon as a kid. Hancock and several others have mentioned the
similarities between the features on the Olmec colossal heads and people
from modern day Polynesia and Africa. The theory on this is that maybe
the Olmecs, or the civilization which predated them, was started by
seafaring Africans or Polynesians who crossed the ocean and settled in
the area well before the other civilizations in Mesoamerica.
When
Joe Rogan asked Dibble if he could at least agree that the Olmec heads
had features similar to African or Polynesian people, Dibble still
denied it. To me this showed us that he was not going to budge or get
anywhere close to agreeing on a single thing Hancock had ever claimed.
Listen. I’m not saying that Hancock is 100% correct. Most of the evidence he had to show were megaliths which he claims look manmade. But I agree with his argument that it is possible for
an ancient civilization to have existed, especially when he brings up
how these megalithic structures seem to be built by a people with
astounding knowledge of astronomy—we’ll get to that later.
The
fact that Dibble could not even admit there being a possibility that
there was a civilization predating anything we know is a testament to
what is wrong with the experts today. He did bring some interesting
evidence to the debate. His breakdown of how seeds have developed since
the Ice Age was something I didn’t know, but I still didn’t think it
ruled out Hancock’s theory. He explained that we can trace back exactly
when agriculture first started by the evidence of seed development that
suggests that humans didn’t start planting until after the Ice Age—which
would rule out anything ever coming before then.
Another one of
Flint Dibble’s arguments was the insistence of the evidence of hunter
gatherers during the ice age. Since there is a bunch of evidence of
hunter gatherers from the time period but none of Hancock’s
civilization, it was enough for him to say that Hancock’s theory
couldn’t possibly be true. But Hancock never said his civilization and
hunter-gatherers couldn’t have both occupied the planet—there are hunter
gatherer tribes alive today. But why the evidence of hunter gatherers
and not Hancock’s civilization? Who knows—maybe they figured out a way
to survive with a way of feeding themselves that was lost to time along
with the rest of their culture. It’s possible.
The most
fascinating thing about the civilization that Hancock discusses is their
connection to astronomy. The sites he has discussed seem to have been
built in orientations that line up with the solstices and equinoxes
(like Serpent Mound in Ohio). Dive deeper and you’ll find theories on
the orientation of the pyramids reflecting Orion’s Belt and the sphinx
(which is possibly 12,000 years old).
studyfinds | Could another group of ancient humans have lived alongside Homo sapiens?
A new study suggests that they did, and scientists are starting to
piece together the clues of their forgotten past. A researcher from
the University of Hawai’i at Manoa is revealing new insights into a
group called the Julurens — meaning the “big head” people.
The new research is revolutionizing our understanding of human evolution,
particularly in eastern Asia, where scientists have uncovered a far
more intricate picture of our ancient past than previously thought.
For decades, researchers believed human evolution followed a
relatively straightforward path. The dominant theories suggested either
that humans gradually evolved in place across different regions or that a
single group from Africa replaced all other human populations. However,
the groundbreaking study published in the journal Nature Communications is turning those simplistic models on their head.
Paleoanthropologists Christopher Bae and Xiujie Wu introduce a potentially revolutionary concept: a new human species called Homo juluensis. This group, which may include the mysterious Denisovans
— ancient human relatives known primarily through fragmentary DNA
evidence — lived approximately 300,000 years ago, hunting and surviving
in small groups across eastern Asia before disappearing around 50,000
years ago.
Moreover, they found that eastern Asia was home to multiple distinct
human species during the Late Quaternary period, roughly 50,000 to
300,000 years ago. Instead of a linear progression, the human story
looks more like a complex, branching network of different populations
(including the Julurens) interacting, mixing, and coexisting.
The team identified four human species that existed during this time: Homo floresiensis, a diminutive human found on the Indonesian island of Flores; Homo luzonensis from the Philippines; Homo longi, discovered in China; and the recently named Homo juluensis, which includes fossils from various sites across eastern Asia.
“We did not expect being able to propose a new hominin
(human ancestor) species and then to be able to organize the hominin
fossils from Asia into different groups. Ultimately, this should help
with science communication,” Bae says in a university release.
wikipedia | Judaism - In ancient Israel, the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) wore a headdress called the Mitznefet (Hebrew: ΧΧ¦Χ Χ€Χͺ, often translated into English as "mitre"), which was wound around the head so as to form a broad, flat-topped turban. Attached to it was the Tzitz (Hebrew: Χ¦ΧΧ₯), a plate of solid gold bearing the inscription "Holiness to YHWH"[1] (Exodus 39:14, 39:30). Lesser priests wore a smaller, conical turban.
Byzantine empire - The camelaucum (Greek: καμιλαΟΞΊΞΉΞΏΞ½, kamilaukion), the headdress both the mitre and the Papal tiara stem from, was originally a cap used by officials of the Imperial Byzantine
court. "The tiara [from which the mitre originates] probably developed
from the Phrygian cap, or frigium, a conical cap worn in the
Graeco-Roman world. In the 10th century the tiara was pictured on papal
coins."[2]
Other sources claim the tiara developed the other way around, from the
mitre. In the late Empire it developed into the closed type of Imperial crown used by Byzantine Emperors (see illustration of Michael III, 842-867).
Worn by a bishop, the mitre is depicted for the first time in two
miniatures of the beginning of the eleventh century. The first written
mention of it is found in a Bull of Pope Leo IX
in the year 1049. By 1150 the use had spread to bishops throughout the
West; by the 14th century the tiara was decorated with three crowns.
politico | The Washington Post on
Friday announced it will no longer endorse presidential candidates,
breaking decades of tradition in a move that immediately garnered fierce
backlash from both employees and outside critics.
At
least one editor has already resigned, and the paper’s legendary former
top editor Marty Baron publicly rebuked the move as an act of
“cowardice.”
The Post is the second major newspaper this week to punt on a presidential endorsement, following a similar decision
by the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday at the instruction of its
billionaire owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, that led to the resignation of
the editorials editor and multiple staffers.
In a note published to the paper’s website
announcing the move, Washington Post publisher Will Lewis called it a
“statement in support of our readers’ ability to make up their own
minds,” writing that it would help the publication focus on “nonpartisan
news for all Americans” from the newsroom and “thought-provoking,
reported views from our opinion team to help our readers make up their
own minds.”
“We
recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a
tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or
as an abdication of responsibility,” Lewis added. “That is inevitable.
We don’t see it that way.”
The
Post’s newsroom and editorial team erupted in outrage. Robert Kagan, a
neoconservative columnist and editor at large at the Post, resigned in
response, he confirmed in a statement to POLITICO. A spokesperson for
the Post declined to comment on Kagan’s resignation.
David Maraniss, a 46-year veteran reporter at the paper, publicly called the move “contemptible,” writing in a social media post: “Today is the bleakest day of my journalism career.”
And on Friday evening, nine of the paper’s opinion columnists published a scathing dissent
of the decision, calling it “a terrible mistake” that “represents an
abandonment of the fundamental editorial convictions of the newspaper
that we love, and for which we have worked a combined 228 years.”
“There
is no contradiction between The Post’s important role as an independent
newspaper and its practice of making political endorsements, both as a
matter of guidance to readers and as a statement of core beliefs,” the
columnists wrote. “That has never been more true than in the current
campaign.”
"Welp, that's
certainly a new type of October Surprise,” Ashley Parker, a senior
national political correspondent for the Post, wrote on X.
In
a statement, the newspaper's union attributed the decision to
billionaire owner Jeff Bezos and said the move "undercuts the work of
our members at a time when we should be building our readers’ trust, not
losing it."
"The
message from our chief executive, Will Lewis — not from the Editorial
Board itself — makes us concerned that management interfered with the
work of our members in Editorial," the union wrote. "According to our
own reporters and Guild members, an endorsement for Harris was already
drafted, and the decision to not to publish was made by The Post’s
owner, Jeff Bezos."
A
person close to the decision granted anonymity to discuss it told
POLITICO that the decision was made within the Post and did not come
from Bezos.
But others were quick to point the finger at Bezos.
Baron,
who was executive editor from 2012 until his retirement in 2021, called
the move “cowardice, with democracy as its casualty,” writing on X that Donald Trump “will see this as an invitation to further intimidate” Bezos and others.
“Disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage,” Baron wrote.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in an X post that the move “is what Oligarchy is about.”
“Jeff
Bezos, the 2nd wealthiest person in the world and the owner of the
Washington Post, overrides his editorial board and refuses to endorse
Kamala,” Sanders wrote. “Clearly, he is afraid of antagonizing Trump and
losing Amazon’s federal contracts. Pathetic.”
Lewis’ announcement comes months after the publisher made headlines over bombshell reports
alleging that he played a role in a phone hacking scandal while he was
an editor at the Sunday Times, an accusation he denies. Lewis had
clashed over the scandal with the Post’s then-top editor, Sally Buzbee,
who reportedly wanted to cover it.
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