©2019
Mashable, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Mashable, MashBash and Mashable House are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission.
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2tDATsb
via IFTTT
This post is part of our High-tech High series, which explores weed innovations, and our cultural relationship with cannabis, as legalization in several U.S. states, Canada, and Uruguay moves the market further out of the shadows.
Will you soon be blowing into a tube connected to a handheld gadget that can tell an officer or an employer whether you’ve toked in the last few hours?
That’s the vision of Hound Labs, a Bay Area company that announced Wednesday it had completed a successful clinical trial for its “world’s first” marijuana breathalyzer. The company says it will move forward with making a commercial product with a roughly $5,000 price tag, primarily aimed at police and construction companies.
Hound Labs claims the trial shows THC can be detected in the breath, in the truly minuscule amount of a trillionth of a gram per liter, for two to three hours after inhaling. This amounts to a “significant breakthrough that validates our science and technology,” says cofounder and CEO Dr. Mike Lynn, a former ER doctor and VC.
SEE ALSO: Technology has changed the way we get high, forever
Whether that is in fact what the trial says or does, we can’t say. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed or published. It asked 20 people — a small number for a clinical trial — to bring their own weed. The UCSF doctor responsible for the study says “financial restrictions” prevented her from using more participants, or a control group, but that they were not necessary.
“No study for the evaluation of THC in breath has been larger to date,” explains Dr. Kara Lynch. “Future studies will be done involving more participants and with varying experimental designs.”
Mashable was shown a non-working prototype of the Hound, and several larger previous prototypes that supposedly proved the technology needed to detect that tiny amount of THC is getting smaller. But Hound Labs is not letting journalists — or indeed anyone, outside the 20 people UCSF pulled off the street — test the device at the moment. (In 2016, an early version was apparently tested on volunteer drivers in California. No high people were found.)
“We’re not Theranos,” joked Lynn, referring to the defunct Silicon Valley company that famously hyped a breakthrough blood test requiring minuscule amounts of blood. At the same time he admitted that even he had not read the UCSF study, and defended his policy of not demoing the product. “When it’s commercially available,” Lynn told us, “you can test it.”
Had we been able to try it, Lynn did admit, the test would show some THC in your breath no matter how much was in your system. A brief toke on a vape pen within the past few hours — or even a small bite of an edible — would show up on the Hound as clearly as a dozen bong rips.
A breakthrough in detection, perhaps. But it raises the specter of someone getting fired or arrested for doing the cannabis equivalent of drinking half a beer. In a world that’s coming around to the medical benefits of marijuana microdosing, that’s a real problem.
We’d love to tell you exactly what and how those 20 participants ingested to get their results, but not even the UCSF doctor knows, thanks to restrictions on marijuana research. Hound Labs has no such restrictions, but also doesn’t seem to appreciate the world of difference between dose levels.
Take this video of a test of stoned driving that Hound Labs conducted two years ago. Drivers — we’re not told how many participated — were told to ingest as much weed as they felt like. We see someone smoking what appears to be an entire joint. They then had to maintain speeds of up to 65 mph around a 1.5 mile track. Not surprisingly, they hit stuff. Lynn claims this is the equivalent of stoners hitting cyclists in the real world.
Hound Labs is not the only company to be chasing the weed breathalyzer vision; a Canadian company called Cannabix is hot on the Hound’s tail. That might explain why Hound Labs was eager to claim its clinical trial was successful before verifiable results were in. It’s hardly the first company to grasp early for the laurel wreath of proof.
At the same time, both companies are being hounded by some pretty essential questions: No matter the level of breakthrough, is a weed breathalyzer even necessary? Does it prove anything we didn’t know before? Does pot really need to be singled out like this?
“It’s illegal to drive under the influence of many drugs,” says Paul Armentano, deputy director of the marijuana legalization advocacy group NORML. He points out that police have a number of sobriety tests already at their disposal to determine whether someone is too stoned or otherwise drugged out to drive, without having to resort to a breath or blood or urine sample.
If you can’t walk in a straight line, if your eyes are bloodshot and your speech is messed up, that is already legally admissible evidence that you should have found a designated driver, dude.
“Could [the Hound] be one piece of evidence? Of course,” admits Armentano. But he says Hound Labs is missing the bigger picture. For all the company’s 65 mph closed-course, whole-joint testing, “there is no science correlating the detection of THC in breath with impairment of performance.”
He’s not wrong. A major 2015 U.S. Department of Transportation study found that “after adjusting for age, gender, race and alcohol use, drivers who tested positive for marijuana were no more likely to crash than those who had not used any drugs or alcohol prior to driving.” The same year a University of Iowa study showed drivers were safer behind the wheel after they smoked compared to after they drank.
In 2013, an analysis of 66 studies found a slightly elevated risk of traffic-related injuries with marijuana use — but it was lower than the elevated risk from taking penicillin, antidepressants, and even antihistamines.
You’re not exactly the best driver in the world when you’re high, but you will often err on the side of caution. A Harvard researcher once offered this memorable if exaggerated explanation: When you’re drunk, you run red lights. When you’re stoned, you stop at green lights.
There is no agreement on an impairment level for THC anywhere else in the world, either. Canada can’t figure it out. A UK government transport report said that impairment is a thing, but lasts for just one hour after pot consumption — far short of the two to three hours Hound Labs is measuring.
None of that has stopped a handful of states from imposing an arbitrary THC limit regardless. The fear of marijuana proponents is that the folks in charge will blindly trust detection technology like Hound Labs’, and impose new laws on that basis, without thinking through the implications. “Police, pundits and lawmakers already conflate breathalyzers with impairment,” says Armentano.
Even if Hound Labs’ tech is for real, even if it can show exactly how much THC entered your system in the last couple of hours, it’s easy to see scenarios where cops might abuse it for an easy arrest of a non-impaired driver, or employers might use it to safely get rid of the long-haired guy they just don’t like.
You’re not paranoid, stoners. The Hound may soon be out to get you.
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2NwYe7X
via IFTTT
Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
By Matt BinderThe U.S. government is taking on fake Amazon reviews.
On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had reached a settlement in the agency’s first ever case against fraudulent Amazon reviews.
In the FTC’s complaint, it claimed that defendant Cure Encapsulations, Inc. and the company’s owner, Naftula Jacobowitz, paid a third-party website called “amazonverifiedreviews.com” to post fake reviews for its weight loss supplement on Amazon. Along with the falsified reviews purporting to be from actual customers, the FTC also alleged that the company made “false and unsubstantiated claims” for the pills known as Quality Encapsulations Garcinia Cambogia.
Garcinia cambogia is a tropical fruit found in Indonesia that has been used as a natural aid for weight loss. As The Verge points out, use of the herbal supplement has associated with acute liver failure.
“People rely on reviews when they’re shopping online,” said director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Andrew Smith in a statement. “When a company buys fake reviews to inflate its Amazon ratings, it hurts both shoppers and companies that play by the rules.”
SEE ALSO: FTC assembles new task force focused on the tech industry’s anti-competitive practices
According to the FTC, Jacobowitz had paid the fake Amazon review seller $1,000 for 30 reviews in order to bump the product’s ratings. The defendant claimed that at least a 4.3 out of 5 stars was needed in order to make sales.
“Please make my product … stay a five star,” the FTC says the defendant wrote in an email to the review provider.
In the reviews and on the product description, Cure Encapsulations fabricated claims about the supplement. The defendant stated that the product “Literally BLOCKS FAT From Forming” and caused “significant weight loss.”
As part of the settlement with the FTC, the defendant is banned from “making weight-loss, fat-blocking, or disease-treatment claims for dietary supplements, food, or drugs, unless they have reliable scientific evidence from clinical trials in humans.” The company must also inform its customers of the allegations and tell Amazon which reviews were faked.
The settlement includes a fine of $12.8 million. Cure Encapsulations will immediately pay $50,000 to the FTC and the remainder will be dependent on how much money the company has based on hand in the event it misrepresented its financials.
Fake, paid Amazon reviews have long been a scourge to the e-commerce giant. In recent years, Amazon has decided to go so far as suing fake reviewers and review-selling websites.
However, the problem doesn’t seem to be going away.
Just last month, Facebook employees were caught leaving 5 star reviews for its video conferencing device, Facebook portal. While not quite the same as paying for ratings from individuals who never even used the product, Amazon’s reviews are clearly intended for customers who purchased the product. In fact, according to Amazon, offering compensation for a review or reviewing your own products is a violation of its terms.
This first of its kind FTC case on fake Amazon reviews will likely not be its last.
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2GNnQwX
via IFTTT
Kabul, Afghanistan – A return to peace is not possible in Afghanistan if its government continues to conduct air strikes which have resulted in countless civilian casualties, a former Taliban official has said.
In a press conference in Kabul on Wednesday, Syed Mohammad Akbar Agha, who is the current leader of Rah-e-Nejat (High Council of Salvation), said President Ashraf Ghani‘s government is sabotaging peace talks being held in Qatar between Taliban representatives and US officials.
“The government doesn’t want peace. They are still targeting civilian areas while claiming to have targeted Taliban hideouts,” Agha told Al Jazeera, adding that air raids are being carried out “almost every day”.
“We are all positive about peace and very serious, especially now that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is directly involved in the talks in Qatar,” he said.
“We are expecting positive results for peace in Afghanistan.”
Taliban and United States officials are meeting for the third day on Wednesday in Qatar’s capital Doha, where two main issues being discussed in the high-level talks are: the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, and assurances that Afghanistan will not be used by foreign armed fighters.
The talks have gained momentum in recent months after the US decided to engage with the Taliban, which has been waging a deadly armed rebellion since the group was removed from power in 2001.
US President Donald Trump‘s administration is seeking to end the 17-year war, the US’s’s longest, that has left thousands dead.
According to the United Nations, at least 32,000 civilians have been killed and another 60,000 wounded in the last decade, when the organisation began compiling the data.
Baradar, one of the Taliban founders, is attending the talks in Doha for the first time. He is the highest-level representative to take part in negotiations with the US special envoy for peace, Zalmay Khalilzad.
 |
| Talks for peace in Afghanistan have gained momentum in recent months after the US decided to engage with the Taliban [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera] |
The Taliban have repeatedly refused to negotiate with the Afghan government, calling it a “puppet” of the US.
“We, like all the Afghans, want peace in this country. The Taliban are now sitting down to talk, which means they are ready for peace as well,” Agha told Al Jazeera.
“But if innocent civilians are killed this way in air strikes, they will never trust the government and will, in fact, stand against it.”
Agha, former leader of Taliban’s Jaish-e-Muslimeen wing, fought against the Afghan forces after the US toppled the Taliban government in 2001. His council is currently seen making efforts to restore peace in Afghanistan.
Officials from the Afghan government were not immediately available for their reaction on Agha’s comments in the press conference.
Last year, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed its “strong concern” at the rising number of civilian casualties from air raids.
The report said aerial attacks killed 149 people and wounded more than 200 civilians in the first half of 2018, up by 52 percent from the same period a year before that.
Among the deadly incidents was the one in the northern province of Kunduz in April 2018, when an Afghan air raid killed or wounded 107 people, mostly children, at a religious gathering.
The government said the bombing had targeted a Taliban meeting where senior members of the group were planning more attacks.
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2NwY0xD
via IFTTT
By Elizabeth de Luna
One of Justin Bieber’s biggest hits asks “Where Are Ü Now?,” a question that feels timely today as the singer celebrates a decade of pop stardom with the release of a greatest hits album, The Best. Over the last 10 years, Bieber has broken records, countless hearts and, yes, several laws. But he’s also found solace in religion and family and is happily married. The Bieber of 2019 has grown up, and so have his fans. We wanted to know, where are they now?
In 2009, Beliebers were the pioneers of online stanning culture and paired in-person community organizing with digital savvy. They led mass physical album buyouts while setting records for streaming and zealously adopted early forms of online engagement. By 2010, they were trending Bieber-related hashtags daily on Twitter, prompting the platform to alter its trending hashtag algorithm in an attempt to diversify the topics that appeared there (though Beliebers remained unbothered and quickly trended “Bustin Jieber” instead).
We talked to five current and past Beliebers about those first few years, whether they still consider themselves fans today, and what they’re up to now. See what they had to say about buyouts, “Baby,” and The Biebz below.
Maya, 22
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Favorite Justin Bieber Song: “Stuck In The Moment”
Courtesy of MayaMaya today, age 22
MTV News: What is your first memory of Justin Bieber?
Maya: I remember watching a YouTube video that someone had embedded on their MySpace page of his “With You” cover. From there, I watched his YouTube videos and added him as a friend on MySpace and followed him on Twitter… He actually ended up following me in March 2010 after months of begging. He still follows me, and I always forget. I sometimes DM him just because I can and I know he won’t see them. In high school I DM’d him “please go to prom with me.” [Laughs]
MTV News: When would you would you say you became a Belieber?
Maya: I saw on Justin’s MySpace events that he’d be doing a concert with a local radio station at Fourth Street Live! in Louisville. This was September 2009 and, OK, listen to this lineup: Justin Bieber, Boys Like Girls, Push Play, Jay Sean, and Jessie James… for $5! He was headlining, and it was chaos. As soon as he went on, it was clear that that’s who everyone was there for. It sold out and I had a soccer game just before, so my dad drove us from soccer straight to the concert. Justin played “One Time,” “Bigger,” and “One Less Lonely Girl.”
Courtesy of MayaMaya and a friend at the 4th Street Live! concert, with homemade shirts
MTV News: What a nice dad you have!
Maya: My parents were both super supportive, especially my dad. He’s a professor at a community college, so whenever he introduces himself to his classes he likes to brag, “I went with my daughter to see The Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber way back when, before they were big.”
MTV News: How long would you say you were a hardcore Belieber?
Maya: I probably was into him until Purpose. I still love him, of course, but I got into One Direction, and now I just support smaller bands.
MTV News: What do you do now?
Maya: I just graduated with a degree in Recording Industry Management and Music Business and want to go into VIP experiences.
Courtesy of MayaA homemade collage of Maya with the My World 2.0 album and Bieber with the same album, posted to her Kentucky street team MySpace page
MTV News: Do you think being a fan of Justin contributed to your career?
Maya: Definitely. I just remember following how Scooter Braun [Justin’s manager] managed artists and thought it was cool that the head of Bieber Army [a fan Twitter account] was hired to do digital marketing for SB Projects [Braun’s company]. A lot of people in the fandom have ended up going into digital media jobs and touring.
I was so cringey… I’m just thinking about how much stuff I did. When My World came out I made a shirt that said “Bieber Day” in bubble paint and wore it to school to promote the album. And when My World 2.0 came out and they made a CD booklet that was a collage of fans faces, I submitted my photo and it got on the cover. I created a Justin Bieber “street team” for Kentucky on MySpace, and I was just a kid! I wanted to organize a buyout, but I was a poor 12-year-old so I just updated the page with TV appearances and his discography. Looking back at it now, I’m like, “Wow.” It makes sense that I got the degree I did. I was a kid trying to promote an artist — and that’s still what I want to do!
Ida, 23
Oslo, Norway
Favorite Justin Bieber Song: “All Around the World”
Courtesy of IdaIda, age 23, on a trip to Seoul, South Korea
MTV News: What is your first memory of Justin Bieber?
Ida: It was lunch break or recess in middle school. The girl who would later become one of my best friends showed me “Love Me” on her iPod Touch because it sampled “Lovefool” by The Cardigans, which was a song we already knew. The first thing I said upon hearing his voice was, “Who is this girl?” My friend got really offended and corrected me. I then listened to “One Less Lonely Girl,” which is one of the first things I remember doing on my way to becoming a Belieber.
MTV News: Do you consider yourself a Belieber still?
Ida: No.
MTV News: Why not, when did you decide that?
Ida: When I met him.
MTV News: Get out!
Ida: Yep! It was his Believe tour in April 2013 and my friend and I got Diamond Circle tickets. She had joined a contest on BieberFever.com where could be entered to win a meet and greet with Justin if you submitted a photo of yourself with lots of Bieber merch. She happened to check her phone while we were waiting for the concert to start and we started screaming, “We’re meeting Justin Bieber!” and every Belieber around us was so excited for us. We had an amazing concert. Bieber has amazing stage presence, so it’s fun to see him in concert — I will always say that.
The next day was the meet and greet and I was so nervous. I see him, I walk up to him, and I say, “Hi, Justin!” and he looks at me like he would rather be dead than say hi to me. I remember that so vividly that I got this really weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. Before we could say anything else to him, security started to push us out. We tried saying goodbye and he didn’t even acknowledge us or smile in the picture. I did think it was kind of sweet that he held my hand behind one of my friend’s backs in the photo we took, but it sort of felt like an automatic reaction to make me feel like he cared.
Courtesy of IdaIda, second from the right, at her meet and greet with Bieber
Anyway, it doesn’t sound as bad when I say it out loud, but as a person who had been a fan of him for over three years, it just wasn’t the best feeling. That night we went to see him in concert again, and I barely remember it because we just didn’t have as much fun. That was April 18, 2013 and by the time June 2013 came around, I was already an EXO-L [a fan of K-pop group EXO].
It was kind of sad, but that was a nice way to end it. He still follows me on Twitter, which is funny. He is my oldest mutual on Twitter! He retweeted me once, so I had done everything a Belieber could want — I was followed by him, retweeted by him, saw him in concert, and met him. Everything except being the One Less Lonely Girl!
MTV News: What were some of the craziest things you did as a Belieber?
Ida: When I was 15, me and my best friend at the time made the first Bieber parade in Norway. The girl who had created the first Bieber parade ever was from Denmark, and I knew her and asked if we could do the same thing in Norway. And me being 15 years old, we just did it; we didn’t ask the police. There is a statue in front of the Norwegian palace in Oslo, and we decided we would meet there. The soldiers standing guard literally told us several times not to stand there, and we did it anyway. I was barely allowed to be in Oslo alone, and my friend and I were hosting an event! We also made a street team and used the printer at our school to print posters before putting them up everywhere. My friend and I did a buyout of Under the Mistletoe and gave the albums to the Oslo University Hospital. And then I also saw Justin in the amazing chaos that was May 30th, 2012 on the roof of the Oslo Opera House.
Courtesy of IdaIda, front right in the blue Converse sneakers, at the Justin Bieber parade she organized in Oslo
MTV News: There’s an incredible overhead shot of the scene that day!
Ida: Exactly! We decided we were going to go to the airport and wait for him to show up. A friend had a camera crew following her for an NRK (Norway’s public broadcaster) show called Normal Madness the entire day. We waited overnight and when he landed he didn’t come through either of the VIP exits we were waiting at, so there’s a nice recorded shot of me swearing because we had been given the wrong information about where he’d be.
By this time I was feeling pretty ill, but we still went to the Opera House. They weren’t letting anyone else onto the roof to watch him perform, and I was so sick that I fainted in line. That gave me this amazing idea for a lie. I walked right up to the security guard and told him that we were with that friend who was filming a documentary but had to stay back because I was not feeling well. We were supposed to meet them on the roof. He didn’t look convinced so I whipped out my phone and, even though I didn’t have the number of the girl being filmed, I still said, “I can call them right now and confirm that we are part of the team.” And he let us onto the roof! I was so intense as a Belieber. That same day, a pap offered us $2300 to tell them where Justin was and we refused to tell him. I went home and it turned out that I had bronchitis for those two days.
MTV News: How has being a Belieber affected who you are today?
Ida: I learned to speak English by being a fan of Justin Bieber. We learn English in school in Norway, but I talked to people on Twitter every day when I became a Belieber. I went from being an average student in English to getting top grades because I was speaking English every day, just talking about what I loved.
Khoi, 22
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Favorite Justin Bieber Song: “Favorite Girl”
Courtesy of KhoiKhoi today, age 22
MTV News: What is your first memory of Justin Bieber?
Khoi: I was in Germany, and my cousin showed me the song “One Time” on her phone. I remember immediately loving the song, even though I recall being a hater before that. I watched him on YouTube, busking in front of the Avon Theatre, at least a hundred times.
MTV News: When did you start your Justin Bieber fan Tumblr?
Khoi: It must have been around that time. I was already into Photoshop and making GIFs and he had a lot of content, interviews, etc., to work with. I would make GIFs and create promo photos. I had a pretty great URL (thebiebs.tumblr.com) and, at my peak, I had 11,000 followers!
MTV News: Would you say you’re still a Belieber? Why or why not?
Khoi: I wouldn’t say I’m not, because whenever he plays a gig in Rotterdam I always go, but around 17 or 18, I stopped being so into him. This was around the time that he and Selena [Gomez] broke up and he went into a downward spiral. He had to appear in court and had a mugshot and that’s when I was like, “I can’t do this anymore.”
For five years, I protected him. I would always stick up for him whenever anyone talked trash about him. Even when he was doing bad things, I could still make very good excuses for him. I think I saw him as a friend. I’d say, “You only see what they say about him on the news, you don’t know him.” Not that I knew him, but I felt like I did. I knew the names of his best friend, of his mom, of his grandparents, of his dog. I felt like they didn’t know the Justin I knew and the Justin I knew was so much better than anything that was ever portrayed on the news.
MTV News: What’s your best memory from being a Belieber?
Khoi: I remember him retweeting and following me on Twitter and that was such a big deal. That was on July 8, 2013, and I used to think about that date whenever I was upset because it made me so happy. It was 2 a.m. and I started screaming and my parents woke up and asked me what was going on. When they discovered why I was shrieking, they were like, “Are you kidding me?”
MTV News: What did your parents think?
Khoi: I think they were kind of worried about me because I would spend so much time on the internet. I would do Skype sessions with a few girls from the Netherlands, the Philippines, and America. I remember having long talks about how he was super misunderstood, how he was 12 when he got famous, and how he obviously had to learn to grow up coping with the fame. I don’t think my parents understood why I was talking to so many people around the world or how big of a fan I was.
Courtesy of KhoiKhoi in her room with Bieber posters. At the peak of her devotion, there were 40 posters on her walls.
MTV News: When you look back on that time, what do you think of yourself?
Khoi: I definitely could have been less obnoxious about Justin Bieber, but I do remember that time very fondly because I really found a sense of community I hadn’t had before. I clicked with people who I would have never met otherwise. I grew up in a small town in the Netherlands, and I’m Vietnamese and there weren’t many Asian people where I grew up, so to have that sense of community was a really good time.
In general, I was very in the Justin Bieber bubble. I remember getting in a fight with a friend because I could remember Justin Bieber’s birthday and not hers. And I remember her being significantly upset about it and back then, I couldn’t understand why. In hindsight, it’s super weird that I would know a celebrity’s birthday and the time he was born but not when one of my best friend’s birthday was.
MTV News: What are you up to now?
Khoi: I’m doing a BA in International Communication and Media at a university here in Rotterdam. I’m really interested in pop culture and how things are portrayed in the media and want to go into marketing… In a way, always wanting to be up to date about all things Justin helped me figure out that I was really interested in popular culture and made me want to apply for this degree.
Lama, 20
Saudi Arabia
Favorite Justin Bieber Song: “Down to Earth”
Courtesy of LamaLama today, age 20
MTV News: What is your first memory of Justin Bieber?
Lama: Everyone was talking about him, and I remember I pulled up YouTube on my mom’s computer to listen to “One Time.” Then I started looking at his older videos. I really liked his music and I still remember most of the lyrics to the My World album. I remember he always talked about his mother and how much he loved her and that was one of the things that made me really like him and gave him points with my mom, too. Pretty quickly I changed my Twitter account to “LamaBieber” with a couple of random numbers at the end.
MTV News: Did you have friends who were Beliebers?
Lama: I befriended a lot of people during that time and I actually met one of my best friends before I actually knew her. She had a Bieber fan account and said she was Saudi, and there weren’t many Saudi Beliebers, so it was really fun to find another one. My friend group was obsessed with Justin. That was kind of our thing, being Beliebers. I remember once on his birthday, we got him a cake even though we knew he’d never see it.
Courtesy of LamaA photo taken at the May 2013 concert that Lama attended
MTV News: What’s different about being a Saudi Belieber?
Lama: We didn’t have as much opportunity in terms of merchandise and movies because back then Saudi Arabia was really behind on media. Physical albums would arrive months after their release. We didn’t have a cinema until recently so when his movie came out, I needed to travel to see it. I’ve never purchased something Bieber-related in Saudi Arabia. Whenever my family traveled and saw something Bieber-related them would buy it for me. It was just harder to be a fan, and we got all of our info from Twitter.
MTV News: Would you consider yourself a Belieber still?
Lama: No. The first experience that annoyed me was when Justin came to perform in Dubai in May 2013 and was three hours late. I was alone, it was really hot, and I was really tired because we were standing. There were so many people who came from Saudi Arabia to see him. It was a very exhausting experience for us, and he issued no apology… I started seeing photos of him and realized I didn’t feel the same way anymore.
MTV News: How did being a Belieber shape who you are now?
Lama: When I look back at what I did, I think some of it was cute, but overall I am embarrassed by it. But at the same time, it was fun and a lot of it helped shaped my childhood. When I was in middle school I remember writing a lot of essays about Justin Bieber and I was into Tumblr and would write there, too. I also used to read a lot of fiction. Of course, I read Danger.
MTV News: What’s that?
Lama: It was one of the most popular fanfictions of Justin Bieber at the time. Now when I think about it, the story line was kind of problematic — Justin was a bad person and he had killed people. One girl witnessed one of his murders and he stopped her to make sure she didn’t say anything and then took her to meet his friends… I can’t remember the rest, but I do remember the author’s name, JaileyOverboard. “Jailey” — like Justin and Miley Cyrus. She was really popular at the time and even made sequels to Danger, though I never read any of them. Anyway, I am studying English Literature so it’s possible that my reading and writing as a Belieber affected that.
Courtesy of LamaLama’s birthday cake, with cake toppers in her and Justin Bieber’s likenesses
MTV News: Anything else you’d like to add about your time as a Belieber?
Lama: My friend and I had a Twitter account called “BieberClimax,” but we had no idea what that meant. I was pretty upset when she deleted it because we had Hailey Baldwin’s follow, and even Tom Cruise and Britney Spears. It was so weird! Hailey used to DM us because my friend was her first hardcore stan. She used to write to us to ask about our days, stuff like that. It’s so funny to think that she’s married to Justin now.
Reece, 21
Manila, Philippines
Favorite Justin Bieber Song: “Be Alright”
Courtesy of ReeceReece today, age 21
MTV News: What is your first memory of Justin Bieber?
Reece: I was at my friend’s house and MTV was on and they started playing “One Time.” I thought Justin was handsome and the song was so catchy — it was really a bop in 2009. I started looking him up and watching his YouTube videos and from then on I knew I was going to be a Belieber for a long time. And here I am, still a Belieber.
MTV News: How did you keep up with Justin from the Philippines?
Reece: I pretty much grew up with Justin through the screen of my laptop. Whenever he announced that he was going to release new music at a certain time, I would literally sit in front of my laptop, waiting, counting down the time with him. Being on the other side of the world from him, I followed him through his social media and interviews.
Whenever he released an album, I had to make sure that I got my hands on the physical copy. When I had a daily allowance of 100 pesos for lunch, I would always save up 50 pesos every day so that at the end of two weeks I could have enough to buy the album. For iTunes, I had to ask my mom to buy it for me since it was her credit card. My family and my mom were definitely very supportive when it comes to me fangirling. They saw how inspired I was to save money and saving money young is considered a valuable trait here. I think Justin was really a great influence on me.
MTV News: Have you ever seen him in concert?
Reece: The first and last time I saw him perform was a small concert when I was 12. It’s hard for Asian countries, especially the Philippines, to hold a concert for that big of an artist so it really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Tickets are expensive, and the Philippines is a third world country.
Courtesy of ReeceReece holding her Justin Bieber concert ticket, age 12
MTV News: What’s one of your favorite things about being a Belieber?
Reece: One of my most memorable experiences as a Belieber was meeting other people who shared the same love for him and his music. For example, when he released Purpose, I remember there was a fan gathering here through @JPhilippines, the official fan club here in the Philippines. Also, my friendship with one of my good friends was strengthened by being co-fangirls. At one point we started posting covers of Justin’s songs to YouTube and then started writing our own songs. We were inspired by him and wanted to do our own music as well. He had a really big impact on our lives back then.
MTV News: At some point, there was a video accusing him of spitting on fans. What did you think about that?
Reece: I had a friend who moved to Canada who once saw Justin walking down the street, mingling with fans. He said he was really approachable and friendly with fans, and that’s what made me really love him not as an artist but as a person in general. His personality was really down to earth and loving with the fans, and he has a really strong relationship with the fans even now. He knows that he has us.
Of course, I was shocked when he acted that way. I can’t say that I wasn’t disappointed, but that was when I really proved to myself that I was a true fan. I stayed by his side during those times. Here in the Philippines, there were many who left the fandom. As a fan since 2009, I was confident that he would overcome that phase. When he started going to church, I was really proud of him. He started to share how God played a part in turning him into a better person and I said to myself “Wow, I am so glad that I stayed despite all those mistakes that he made.”
MTV News: What are you up to now?
Reece: I’m a fresh graduate and just got my first job two weeks ago with a concert production company, mainly because of how much I loved going to concerts when I was young. There’s something about concerts that really makes my heart feel alive and that made me want to pursue a career in it. The thrill and the feeling of being in an arena with your favorite artist, seeing them live, that’s really fulfilling.
MTV News: When you look back at your days as a hardcore Belieber, what do you think?
Reece: Being a Belieber made my life colorful. Being a fangirl in general, and being a fan of Justin, was really a whirlwind of emotions and experiences — getting to see him at his best and his worst and sharing those experiences with him and with other Beliebers. When I look back, the only thing I can remember is that it was pure happiness. Talking to you, it’s all coming back to me — the thrill and excitement when you get your new album, when he releases new music, and especially when it’s your first time to see him in concert and you hear him perform live. It’s one of the most fulfilling experiences there has to be for me, and it’s had a very positive and lasting effect on me.
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2GS2PB8
via IFTTT
Image: Nick Shepherd / Getty Images / Ikon Images
You may see the hashtag #NEDAwareness trending this week. The hashtag stands for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, a movement that lasts from February 25 to March 3, which aims to combat society’s beauty standards and promote self-acceptance.
The annual initiative was created by the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), a nonprofit that offers programs and services to people experiencing eating disorders. This year, the organization aims to make conversations about eating disorders more inclusive by amplifying stories from people of marginalized communities. Online, they’re promoting this theme through #ComeAsYouAre as well as #NEDAwareness.
SEE ALSO: ‘To the Bone’ lacks the courage to tackle anorexia in a meaningful way
“There is a stereotype that eating disorders only occur in thin, white, affluent women. Not only is that incredibly false, it is dangerous, too,” Ryan Sheldon, an ambassador to NEDA, wrote in an email. Sheldon explains that more than 30 million Americans will struggle with eating disorders at some point in their lives.
Organizers want to assure people experiencing eating disorders that they are not alone, says Lauren Smolar, the director of programs at NEDA. The group encourages people to take the Body Acceptance Challenge, a pledge to accept their bodies, respect others’ bodies, and fight weight stigma.
“If we’re truly going to break the stigma that surrounds eating disorders, we need to show people that the spectrum of those affected is vast,” Smolar wrote in an email.
When shared, the hashtags #NEDAwareness and #ComeAsYouAre can help spread awareness but it can also guide you to additional resources, like text hotlines and information about common types of eating disorders. Here are nine tweets to read, like, and share to understand more about the campaign and eating disorders in general.
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2T7DJoB
via IFTTT
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Robert Kraft‘s troubles may only be starting, the draft’s must-have talent and the NFL can’t help but mess up a good thing. All this and more in the latest 10-Point Stance.
1. Could Robert Kraft lose the Patriots?
In order to understand the kind of punishment Patriots owner Robert Kraft might face from the NFL after he was charged Monday with soliciting prostitution at a Florida massage parlor, you have to go back to March 16, 2014. What happened then could serve as a road map.
That night, Colts owner Jim Irsay was stopped by police and subsequently arrested on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated, along with four counts of possession of a controlled substance. The Indianapolis Star (h/t USA Today) reported police found $29,000 in cash in the car in addition to numerous bottles of prescription medication.
As a result of that arrest, and a subsequent guilty plea to the DWI charge, the NFL suspended Irsay six months and fined him $500,000.
Fast-forward to now and the legal trouble in which Kraft finds himself. There’s a chance the 77-year-old billionaire could be only the third owner in recent history to be punished by the league. Irsay and former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, who was fined $1 million and suspended the entire 1999 season over a gaming scandal, were the others.
For his part, Kraft has denied that he “engaged in any illegal activity,” via a spokesperson. Still, the news has become the buzz of the league. In many ways, it’s a bigger story than even the scouting combine.
While the fact this involves one of the NFL’s most prominent owners is an obvious attention-getter, how the story progresses has grabbed different groups around the game for different reasons. Players tell me they are watching closely because they don’t believe the NFL polices owners the way it does players. Some team officials are watching because they enjoy seeing the Patriots taken down a notch.
I haven’t heard from any owners yet, but it’s hard to imagine they aren’t monitoring this situation more than anyone. Kraft, after all, is one of their own.
There are a range of beliefs from teams about how all of this could play out from a disciplinary perspective. One theory holds that, if the accusations prove true, the NFL could simply fine Kraft six figures and not suspend him. This would make sense especially since the early suggestion by law enforcement that the spa was involved in human trafficking has yet to be confirmed in the form of criminal charges.
However, the general consensus I hear from speaking to people in the league (who are guessing) is that if the accusations against Kraft are proved accurate, the NFL will punish Kraft more severely than it did Irsay or DeBartolo.
They believe the league doesn’t want to be viewed as going easy on arguably the NFL’s most powerful owner. Also, they say, the NFL may have no choice. The Personal Conduct Policy says owners and high-ranking officials are to be held to a higher standard than players or others.
“Ownership and club or league management have traditionally been held to a higher standard,” the policy says, “and will be subject to more significant discipline when violations of the Personal Conduct Policy occur.”
There is another scenario that could, ultimately, be even more dramatic for the team. If there is damaging video evidence of Kraft engaged in an illicit act that becomes public, some wonder if Kraft would be so embarrassed that he would feel compelled to transfer control of his team to his son, Jonathan, and disappear from the public eye. The NFL may get off the hook in having to decide a potential punishment, but it would lose one of its most influential voices.
That may be a little far-fetched, but it’s an idea that’s making the rounds in the league. Until we know more, it’s difficult to say what happens next. It’s yet another mess for the league to contend with and one that could get incredibly ugly.
2. A good defense sometimes is the best offense
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
It’s been reported that a video of Kraft’s “activities” at the Florida massage parlor exists. And if that’s the case, there’s a belief in league circles that it won’t be long before TMZ acquires it and subsequently forces the NFL to take disciplinary action against Kraft. (After all, it was TMZ’s release of the Ray Rice and Kareem Hunt videos that spurred the league to take action in those cases.)
And while the outrage from many is expected to force the NFL’s hand, also know that there are numerous Kraft defenders in the league. It’s difficult to put into words how popular he is among opposing players and teams.
Moreover, these same voices of support are blunt about the intersection of professional sports and the sex trade. I’ve heard a lot of: “If you think Kraft is the only one in the NFL doing this…”
I’m just passing this info along, people. Don’t @ me, bro.
3. Not even an immovable object can stop New England’s irresistible force
Whether Kraft is punished or not, you can be reasonably certain it won’t affect the Patriots’ play on the field. They will crank along, churning out win after win. Not just because owners (while obviously important because they have the cash) aren’t playing or coaching but because the New England organization is built to survive chaos.
It survived Spygate. It survived Deflategate. There is probably nothing that can knock the Patriots out. Not even the potential loss of their owner.
4. Mr. Brown is headed out of town
Antonio Brown @AB84
Had a great meeting with Mr.Rooney today we discussed a lot of things and we cleared the air on several issues! We both agreed that it is time to move on but I’ll always have appreciation and gratitude towards the Rooney family and @steelers organization! #CallGod #Boomin https://t.co/DEgURchvhW
Speculation has been running rampant about the potential trade destination of disgruntled Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. The latest comes from Peter King, who recently theorized in his Football Morning in America column that Brown could end up in Carolina. Take a look, because it makes a lot of sense.
Still, no one truly knows what teams are in the mix, except the Steelers and Brown, and neither side is saying much publicly or privately.
5. Size is a state of mind
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
You will hear lots of talk surrounding the NFL Scouting Combine this week about the 5’10” height of Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray. Reports are likely to emerge that detail the private concerns some teams have that Murray does not even measure 6’0″ tall.
Most teams that I’ve spoken to, however, don’t seem to care how tall he is. What I’ve heard is that Murray is one of the more dynamic quarterback prospects personnel men have seen in several years and may have more potential than any quarterback drafted last year. Note that I said potential, not that it is a sure thing he would be better.
While his size has already generated comparisons to Seattle’s Russell Wilson, I’ve heard another one that may prove more accurate: Aaron Rodgers.
6. A steamy affair
Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
Teams have fallen in lust with Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa as much as any player I can recall since I’ve been covering the league. That includes the likes of Peyton Manning. Teams are that high on him.
Bosa represents a bit of a shift in how teams are viewing the impact of defense. It’s a copycat league, and teams saw this past season how two defenses dominated in Super Bowl LIII. Offense is still setting the pace; everyone saw in the playoffs how the Pats were able to sidetrack three of the most explosive teams in the NFL—the Chargers, the Chiefs and the Rams.
Teams see Bosa as someone who can transform a franchise the way the Rams’ Aaron Donald has. Or, perhaps, even the way a quarterback does.
7. If it ain’t broke…
Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press
The NFL is considering revamping some of its new rules on celebrations and, according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, barring players from leaving the sideline to participate in the fun.
There are times when the NFL cannot get out of its own way, and this is one of those times. The relaxing of the celebration rules was one of the best moves the league has ever made. Many of the skits are funny and help to humanize the players.
Who cares if a few guys come off the sideline to join in? It’s fun. Let it happen in all of its goofy glory.
Why hamper something so successful?
8. The other Mueller report
Matt York/Associated Press
For many in the sports world, the first time they heard the name Robert Mueller was in regard to one of the most important investigations the current league administration had ever faced.
In 2014, the NFL was reeling from a report that a woman at the league office had received the infamous Ray Rice video before it was aired by TMZ, contradicting claims from the NFL that it had no knowledge the video existed. The league hired Mueller to investigate the claim, and Mueller’s report was so thorough and compelling that it assuaged any concerns about the NFL’s veracity.
I was one of the Mueller skeptics. I thought, like many others, the NFL was using Mueller to help cover up malfeasance. Boy, was I wrong. After reading the report in its entirety, I was stunned by its comprehensiveness and depth. Lending credence to the report was the fact that Mueller, though hired by the league, was critical of how the NFL handled the Rice situation overall.
Now, Mueller is crafting a different type of report, and as he does, it’s difficult not to think of the first Mueller report and how it impacted the NFL.
9. XFL is on the right path
Ted S. Warren/Associated Press
The Seattle XFL franchise this week named Jim Zorn the team’s head coach and general manager. It’s another example of how, quietly and methodically, the XFL is putting together some pretty big, and credible, names to coach its teams.
That obviously isn’t a guarantee of success, but it’s a good start. Zorn has a special place in Seattle football history. When the Seahawks became an expansion franchise in 1976, Zorn was the quarterback. Decades later, he became an assistant with the Seahawks on two different coaching staffs.
Zorn becomes the XFL’s third coaching hire, following Bob Stoops in Dallas and Pep Hamilton in Washington. So far, it’s a nice, intriguing group. Let’s hope it continues to grow smartly.
10. The impact of Jerry Jones
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Thirty years ago this week, Jerry Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys. It was a moment that would change the NFL forever.
When Jones entered the league, he was disliked by the then-NFL old guard, like the late Hall of Fame owner Wellington Mara of the Giants. They thought he was arrogant and selfish.
Now, decades later, there are far more owners like Jones than not. He’s a Hall of Famer and his hiring of Jimmy Johnson, ridiculed at the time in the wake of Tom Landry’s firing, was one of the best moves any owner has ever made.
Jones hasn’t won a championship since Johnson departed, but Jones’ legacy is money: He earned tons of it and showed other owners how to do the same in the NFL. He paid $140 million for the Cowboys, according to the Dallas Morning News‘ David Moore. Now, the franchise is worth $4.8 billion, according to Forbes.
More than the rings, it’s that—the exponential production of capital—that will likely be Jones’ biggest contribution to the game.
Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2Ej8NXT
via IFTTT
Michael Cohen, the former “fixer” and personal lawyer of US President Donald Trump, is set to give his testimony on Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight.
Cohen, who worked for Trump from 2006 until 2018 in roles including as his personal lawyer, co-president of Trump Entertainment and deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the special counsel’s Russia probe in August.
Those charges include fraud, lying to Congress and violating campaign finance laws, which he said he committed at Trump’s direction – an allegation the president denies.
Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison. The start of that prison sentence is set to begin in May.
Wednesday’s testimony began at 10am local time (15:00 GMT). Here are all the latest updates:
Congressional hearing under way featuring highly anticipated public testimony by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
LIVE: Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney of US President Donald Trump, testifies before members of the House Oversight Committee. https://t.co/hTBj98pNFv
— Al Jazeera News (@AJENews) February 27, 2019
“Never in a million years did I imagine, when I accepted a job in 2007 to work for Donald Trump, that he would one day run for president, launch a campaign on a platform of hate and intolerance, and actually win. I regret the day I said ‘yes’ to Mr. Trump. I regret all the help and support I gave him along the way.
“I am ashamed of my own failings, and I publicly accepted responsibility for them by pleading guilty in the Southern District of New York.
“I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty – of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him.
“I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr. Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience.
“I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is.
“He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.
“He was a presidential candidate who knew that Roger Stone was talking with Julian Assange about a WikiLeaks drop of Democratic National Committee emails.”
Cohen plans to accuse Trump of being “a racist”, “a conman” and “a cheat” who committed “illicit acts” before Congress on Wednesday, according to a draft testimony (PDF) released by US media outlets.
Cohen will state in the testimony that Trump committed a variety of possible crimes, including making hush payments to aid his campaign and tax fraud.
The former lawyer claims that Trump asked if he “could name a country run by a black person that wasn’t a ‘s******’”, during former President Barack Obama’s term.
Cohen also claims Trump was told by Roger Stone, a longtime Republican political consultant, that WikiLeaks was in possession of emails that “would damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign”.
Read more.
Ahead of Cohen’s testimony, Trump took to Twitter, saying his former lawyer is “lying in order to reduce his prison time” – a statement he has said before.
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2T4yQME
via IFTTT
Last updated
Josh Gerstein
Senior Legal Affairs Contributor
8:00 a.m.
Welcome to our live-chat of Michael Cohen’s long-awaited appearance before Congress.
Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer is expected to deliver explosive testimony today — including laying out how the president allegedly engaged in criminal conduct related to a hush-money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Stay with us as we dissect what the hearing means for Cohen, Trump, the Robert Mueller investigation and more. We’ll kick off just before 10 am when the hearing starts.
Josh Gerstein
Senior Legal Affairs Contributor
9:51 a.m.
Hi everybody! The big moment is about to arrive as Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen delivers his blockbuster testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Josh Gerstein
Senior Legal Affairs Contributor
9:54 a.m.
POLITICO posted the testimony last night, which seemed to basically break the internet. Something for everyone there, aspects of it were pretty staggering, although some of the commentary seemed a bit hyperventilating to me. Mainly because much of Cohen’s story is already out, albeit in drier, off-camera form.
Anita Kumar
White House Correspondent & Associate Editor
9:57 a.m.
Hi Josh. Did you see the RNC already put out a statement this morning an hour before his testimony is set to start?
No one should believe a word Cohen says in his testimony. By holding this hearing, Democrats are hoping this established liar creates a media spectacle to distract from the historic progress President Trump is making overseas with North Korea.
Josh Gerstein
Senior Legal Affairs Contributor
10:00 a.m.
Cable talking heads calling attention to Rep. Matt Gaetz entering the room after his bizarre tweet yesterday that seemed to be seeking to threaten or intimidate Cohen. Gaetz later withdrew it after a public smack from Speaker Pelosi. I don’t see Gaetz on the committee membership list, so it’s unclear to me how/if he’ll get to ask a question today.
Kyle Cheney
Congress reporter
10:01 a.m.
Couple things I’m watching for on the Congress side:
-This is a high-profile moment for some of the House’s most recognizable freshmen: AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Talib and committee vice chair Katie Hill. Will be the first time many Americans see them in action as members of Congress.
-Republicans, now in the minority, need to decide how cooperative to be during this hearing. When they were in the minority Dems used a lot of procedural tactics to disrupt the flow of previous high-profile House hearings. Rs may borrow from that playbook today.
Anita Kumar
White House Correspondent & Associate Editor
10:02 a.m.
Here’s our story on Gaetz apologizing for his tweet yesterday
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2Ej8HQ1
via IFTTT
Maria Dermentzi and Nikolay Nikolov
Mariéme Jamme is one of these people that give you a sense of hope for the future. She’s an enterpreneur, coder, and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, who is using the influence and power of voice to offer a helping hand to a new generation of women around the world.
Following an extremely traumatic childhood, Jamme taught herself how to read and write at the age of 16. Today, through her organisation iamtheCODE, she is on a mission to teach one million girls and women how to code and be digitally savvy citizens.
This video was sponsored by UBS. Try this quiz to find out what investment themes are important to you.
from Daily Trends Hunter https://ift.tt/2U9g2Zb
via IFTTT
Daily Trends Hunter 
