LA’s new app will warn users before an earthquake strikes

As earthquake waves ripple out from a volatile fault line to the heart of a city, mere seconds of knowledge that the shakes are coming can save lives.

That’s according to the City of Los Angeles and experts who say that an earthquake early warning (EEW) system, which monitors seismic waves and notifies people when it detects that an earthquake is on the way, is a powerful way to mitigate harm.

“We’ve previously talked about earthquakes as no warning events,” Dr. Lori Peek, the director of the natural hazards center at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told Mashable over the phone. “In an earthquake, if you know what to do, and if you have a few seconds, you may be able to drop, cover, and hold on. And that really can make the difference between who lives, who is injured, and who dies.”

Luckily for “quake-prone” Southern California, Los Angeles County just became the first place in the nation to get one. On Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the launch of ShakeAlertLA, an app that will send users a notification when an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 or greater is coming, seconds before it hits. It is the first public application of the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) Shake Alert initiative.

“We are known together as a place that is an epicenter of seismic risk,” Mayor Garcetti said at Los Angeles City Hall Thursday. “We hope today this is another big step forward to being an epicenter of seismic preparedness.”

ShakeAlertLA became available to the public for free on December 31, and anyone can download it in the App Store or Google Play Store.

ShakeAlertLA is not the first alert system of its kind: Mexico, Japan, and several other countries already have EEW systems in place. Notably, Mexico City’s system gave residents a minute of warning before its deadly 8.1 magnitude earthquake in 2017.

With the West Coast’s vulnerability to earthquakes, the LA mayor announced his intention to join that club in 2016, setting a launch date for the end of 2018. Miraculously to some reporters in the room during the announcement, the city met the deadline — releasing the app on December 31.

The Mayor’s Fund and the Annenberg Foundation funded the creation of the app in a public-private partnership. Earthquake wave sensor technology and systems developed by the USGS, which is within the Department of the Interior, provide the underlying technology for the system. And the USGS worked with programmers from AT&T to actually develop the app. Notably, the app and notifications are completely carrier agnostic; Mayor Garcetti said the fact that AT&T won the RFP that provided the developer team has nothing to do with AT&T’s capacity as a carrier.

“It’s an app that works on everybody’s phone no matter who your carrier is,” Mayor Garcetti said.

The alert system is not an earthquake soothsayer — predicting earthquakes is still impossible. Instead, ground motion sensors placed near fault lines can detect when an earthquake is beginning, and give people who know how to read the signs a jump on the upcoming shake.

“This is not predicting earthquakes,” Dr. John Vidale, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, told Mashable over the phone. “This is noticing the start of an earthquake using instruments, and notifying them that they’re on the way.”

Hundreds of sensors around the state, which comprise the California Integrated Seismic Network, are now monitoring the earth for signs of P-Waves. As opposed to S-Waves —the slower moving waves that actually shake the ground — P-Waves are faster, and occur sooner at the beginning of the earthquake process. So by monitoring P-Waves, sensors can tell when S-Waves are coming.

Ya got your P-waves here, ya got your S-waves there, ya got your earthquake there, and ya shake it all around.

Image: usgs

This network of sensors was already in place before the creation of the app, but it did not previously have a public-facing application. Now, the P-wave sensors will send a signal to the ShakeAlertLA app that a P-Wave is occurring, if it indicates an earthquake with a greater than 5.0 magnitude (which means it is a significant shake).

Then, the app will send out a notification to every smartphone with the app installed that is in the affected area (currently limited to LA county) at the time. It will also send out signals to some PA systems, such as at government buildings, schools, and hospitals.

Currently, the average latency time between detection and delivery is 1.88 seconds. But even that amount of time could allow people to duck and cover, pull off to the side of the road, move away from hazardous structures, and more. Additionally, Dr. Vidale says it’s likely that as the technology improves and app use becomes more widespread, that warning time might increase.

“It may not come before the shaking for some cases, and it may not be very fast for the first year or two it’s out there,” Dr. Vidale said. “But eventually it will be very useful.”

Its usefulness could increase as EEW systems become more widespread. The app is open source, and Mayor Garcetti said he would be enthusiastic if other counties wanted to either create their own apps, using what the city’s AT&T contractors had developed, or sign on to the ShakeAlert app itself. The app also has resources to educate people about earthquake preparedness, and information about what to do in the aftermath. Additionally, the city undertook the creation of the app in concert with other earthquake preparedness measures, such as the retrofitting of buildings, pipes, and more.

Still, it’s easy to see the app’s drawbacks. The first is that it’s … an app. Who wants to download yet another app, allocating precious space to a maybe-some-day-sort-of-useful safety precaution? The mayor did not say that there would be any specific outreach campaigns to get people to download the app, beyond social media, press, and his own enthusiasm: “I’m going to certainly be talking about it,” Mayor Garcetti said.

As an app, users will also have to enable location and notification settings at all times, to receive the alerts at all. Unlike an Amber Alert or other official weather alerts that come via text message with that unmissable blaring beep, ShakeAlertLA won’t be able to catch your attention if your phone is on silent.

Finally, and perhaps most obviously, ShakeAlertLA won’t help people who don’t have smart phones — and that could negatively impact people who need earthquake warnings the most.

According to a 2018 Pew survey, 67 percent of low-income people own smartphones, as opposed to greater than 80 percent for middle income, and greater than 90 percent for high income populations. Additionally, low income and minority populations are disproportionately affected by natural disasters, according to Dr. Peek’s research, and others. With earthquakes, that is the case because those populations are most likely to inhabit the buildings and structures that are in the most dire need of retrofitting. In other words, the people who may need the warnings most may have the least access to it.

But Dr. Peek is optimistic.

“These events are really a chance to re-focus our attention on the risks that exist, that are real,” Dr. Peek said. “As long as we’re raising those questions and recognizing that the digital divide is real is when we can have those conversations.”

EEW systems like ShakeAlertLA are not a cure all. When an earthquake comes to shake things up, a few seconds can help, but it may not be enough. Making buildings and pipes earthquake resilient, doing community outreach, and getting resources and information to people who need it are the crucial supplement to early warning.

“It’s important to emphasize that this is just a limited effort,” Dr. Vidale said. “It probably will cut the earthquake losses, but it won’t eliminate them. Bad buildings will fall, infrastructure will fail, people will get hurt. This is just something to try to lessen the impact of earthquakes.”

Mayor Garcetti both recognized the challenges posed by the app, and emphasized that ShakeAlertLA was part of a larger plan of earthquake resilience. So far, the city has retrofitted 1,300 at-risk buildings, with thousands more in progress. It has also installed metal pipes, and instituted shared carrier networks in the case of an emergency.

Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti demoed ShakeAlertLA himself.

Image: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Mayor Garcetti also acknowledged that the app and its notifications are a first and imperfect step that must go hand in hand with more sensors, ways to make notifications more prominent, and increased communication between the sensors and populations that may not have smart phones.

But the Mayor and the ShakeAlertLA team didn’t want to let these issues slow them down.

“It will never be perfect, but this will give you a notification for the majority of earthquakes hitting the southland,” Mayor Garcetti said. “But while we’re waiting for a something perfect, I don’t want to wait to launch a system that can help save lives.”

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New Democratic kingmaker: Ratings surge positions Maddow to boost favorite candidates

Rachel Maddow averaged the second most viewers on cable news during 2018, with 2.9 million nightly per Nielsen, and finished the year with a kick, claiming the No. 1 spot for that week of December. | Steven Senne/AP Photo

Media

“Rachel has a [direct] line to the base,” said a Democratic consultant involved in a 2020 campaign.

Iowa is fine, and New Hampshire certainly has its charms.

But one of the most important contests of the 2020 Democratic nominating process kicked off Wednesday night not at a county fair or diner, but inside MSNBC’s New York City studios, where Elizabeth Warren sat down with Rachel Maddow, the host of cable news’ recently crowned No. 1 show.

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Donald Trump’s ability to dominate cable news helped vault him from outsider status within the Republican Party to the White House in 2016. Now, with ratings surging at MSNBC, political strategists and communications experts say getting air time on the left-leaning network, and the Rachel Maddow Show in particular, could be crucial for candidates looking to separate themselves from what is expected to be a crowded Democratic field.

“People will break the political speed limit to be a guest on her show if they’re seriously considering seeking the Democratic nomination in 2020,” said Antjuan Seawright, a South Carolina-based Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.

“Rachel has a [direct] line to the base,” said a Democratic consultant involved in a 2020 campaign. Her viewers are older, the consultant said, “but it’s the lowest hanging fruit.”

Those with strong preexisting relationships with the host, such as Warren — who chose Maddow for her first interview after announcing she is formally weighing a run for president and was rewarded with about half of the show’s one-hour airtime — could stand to benefit. Maddow, who is known for her progressive positions, won’t feel compelled to give all the many Democratic candidates equal time, said one person familiar with the thinking at the network about the primaries.

“I don’t think anybody is trying to make sure everybody gets a chance,” the person said, adding that there would be no mandates to Maddow from network brass. “Only Rachel speaks for Rachel, and that’s the beauty of that show.”

And so perhaps the most important thing Maddow said to Warren Wednesday night came at the end of the interview, when the host offered a quasi-endorsement and invitation to return frequently. “I think that your campaign is going to be formidable, from what we have seen already,” Maddow said. “I hope throughout the process you will keep us apprised and keep coming back.”

MSNBC, which declined to comment for this story, is in the midst of a ratings boom, as the network of choice for Democrats and other anti-Trumpers. It averaged 1.56 million viewers throughout the day during the five-day week of Dec. 17-21, according to Nielsen, pushing it past Fox News (1.54 million) for the first time during a week since 2001 and placing it well ahead of CNN (975,000).

But Maddow’s platform is unlike any other on the network. The progressive host averaged the second most viewers on cable news during 2018, with 2.9 million nightly per Nielsen, and finished the year with a kick, claiming the No. 1 spot for that week of December, averaging 3.21 million viewers (to be fair, her Fox News rival Sean Hannity was on vacation that week). Maddow averages about a million more viewers per night than her primetime colleagues, Lawrence O’Donnell and Chris Hayes.

One MSNBC producer said that the mad scramble of candidates trying to get on the network’s air has not yet begun, given that Warren is one of only a few candidates to make their intentions plain so far. Many hopefuls seem to be avoiding the network right now, the producer said, possibly because they don’t want to be put on the spot by hosts asking whether they’ll run. With such a crowded field, though, the producer predicted heavy jockeying for the most desirable spots: on Morning Joe and in primetime, particularly with Maddow.

“Theoretically, we’d find airtime,” the producer said, “but if it’s so many, some may not get the times they’d prefer.”

For all of Maddow’s power, the weight of any single media channel has diminished in recent decades, as information sources become more diffuse. Left-leaning podcasts like Pod Save America have loyal, younger followings, and The Young Turks helped Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) shock a longtime incumbent in a primary. Candidates also have their own social media streams and email lists that can reach hundreds of thousands of activists.

But Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania who has studied how Rush Limbaugh turned himself into a political kingmaker for Republicans, said she sees similarities between the two. Limbaugh and Maddow have clear ideological viewpoints and loyal followers who have made their shows part of their daily routine, Jamieson said. She said candidates who get invited back multiple times will start to seem to viewers like part of Maddow’s group.

“I wouldn’t call it a primary so much as I’d call it a caucus,” Jamieson said. “The key thing is going to be how much do you see a person, not do you see them.”

Maddow is coveted by potential Democratic presidential candidates not only for her program’s reach but for the credibility that her brand lends them with progressive activists and donors. Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic strategist based in New York, called Maddow “the Ed Sullivan of politics of this generation,” saying a candidate can use appearances on the program as a status signal to the base.

“If you go there, you get viewed by people who are interested in politics and who are on the left, center-left, who don’t like Trump and who have no problem with sexual orientation or gender,” he said. “It’s safe for people on the so-called progressive left. All they have to do is show up, smile, get a cane, and dance like Fred Astaire.”

Within hours of her appearance on Maddow’s program, Warren had tweeted video of it. By Thursday morning, it had been viewed 132,000 times.

For Democratic candidates, Maddow also offers a relatively low-risk environment, with a sympathetic host and viewership. She is not Hannity — whose chummy relationship with Trump extended to appearing at a campaign event with him — but on Wednesday night, she teed up Warren to unfurl her personal biography and favored talking points. Maddow rarely challenged Warren, including over her decision to take a genetic test in response to criticism over her claims of Native American heritage.

Frank Sesno, director of The George Washington University’s media school and a former CNN reporter, said that it remains an open question how hard Maddow will question her guests. Citing a host on another network who recently grilled a potential candidate, Sesno asked, “Is she going to challenge Elizabeth Warren or Cory Booker or Sherrod Brown or anybody else when they come across their desk in the same way?”

Seawright, the South Carolina-based strategist, said Maddow’s reach extends beyond her television program. When Maddow moderated a forum among Democratic candidates in South Carolina ahead of the 2016 presidential election, he said, “people were literally coming from all parts of the country” to see not only the candidates, but also the television star.

The Massachusetts senator — who has long been a regular on the MSNBC program, even as she built a reputation for avoiding reporters inside the Capitol — is far from the only Democrat to benefit from Maddow’s glow. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris have appeared on her program, and last year, the TV host told Amy Klobuchar that she is “one of the people who I most enjoy talking to on television about politics.”

“As a political analyst, I feel like you have exactly the right profile of somebody who ought to run for president, with an expectation that you would do very well both in the primary and in the general election,” Maddow told the Minnesota senator.

And when the candidates make it on, they take pains to ingratiate themselves with the host. Klobuchar told Maddow last year, “I think I was on your show early on — I would go on every Halloween, when no one else maybe did.”

And in September, amid the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Harris tweeted a photograph of herself on the phone in a utility closet, apparently with Maddow on the other end of the line.

“Always good to talk to @maddow, even from a utility closet,” the senator wrote.

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Here’s how to hold your own Robert Mueller vigil

Now that the 116th Congress has been sworn in and Democrats have control of the house, the chances that Robert Mueller will finally produce his report grow stronger. But will it be a matter of days? Weeks? Light-years? The anticipation is destroying some of us from the inside.

To be fair, there are a lot of things destroying me from the inside: the existence of Jared Kushner, the state of the United States Postal Service, fights about the 2016 election, astrology worship, the return of flare jeans, the United Nations’ most recent climate change report, the entirely undeserved soup renaissance, violence inside the naked mole community, and Doc Martens, which are bad for my ankles.

We all need to stay vigilant until the Mueller report arrives. Until that day comes, we must and shall hold vigils.

Please, spare me your “Trump-Russia is a conspiracy” or “Mueller won’t be able to indict Trump until he leaves office” takes. I, too, have a Twitter account. I’ve seen seen that argument recycled day in, day out. And even though I realize the chances of Trump going to prison before 2020 are slim, I personally can’t wait that long for him to disappear from my consciousness.

Can’t a girl have a dream? Why won’t you let me dream, lefty internet?

Let’s all just operate on the same entirely reasonable assumption: that Mueller will indict Trump, Trump’s whole family, and Pence, sending them all to federal prison and giving Nancy Pelosi control of the presidency. She’ll, of course, immediately accede her position to her superior, Lady Maxine Waters.

It might take a while before all that magic happens. In the meantime, here’s how to hold a proper Robert Mueller vigil.

1. Light your Robert Mueller devotional candles

I hate “resistance merch” as much as the next cynical lefty, but I’m willing to make a very *special* exception for these Robert Mueller devotional candles. It’s not enough to say a prayer near a normal candle, it has to be a branded one.

You should light one candle for each day of the investigation. Available for $14 from Devotional Democracy.

2. Cast a protection spell

Witches have played a huge part in the resistance, mostly because of their incredible hexing work. Now it’s time for the witch community — and you — to cast a spell to guard Robert Mueller. If Congress won’t pass legislation to protect him, you must summon all your bravery and burn the leftover incense in your closet.

3. Assemble a large, peaceful group to watch Rachel Maddow

No one has followed the Russia investigation more closely than my queer “shero” Rachel Maddow. Gather your closest most hardcore MSNBC fans (most likely your family of retirees) and turn on the channel for a nonviolent viewing.

4. Join hands in song and recite Pussy Riot

Eminem Schmeminem; Bob Dylan, Schmob Dylan. Boys drool, radical Russian riot grrl activists who were sentenced to prison rule. Pussy Riot’s “Make America Great Again” is the great protest anthem of the Trump era.

5. Invite speakers to speak at your vigil — perhaps someone from your local Indivisible chapter. Alternatively, just play the Lawfare podcast

When it comes to chronicling the Russia investigation in podcast form, no one does it better than Lawfare. They can satisfy all your hardcore national security needs.

Not to brag, but I did purchase an exclusive Lawfare T-shirt last year from the esteemed Zazzle.com.

6. Dress in classic Robert Mueller style — geometric tie, neatly fitted suit, perfectly starched white shirt, and a Casio DW-290 sports watch

Honor our king by imitating his style. It shouldn’t set you back much. Mueller’s trademark Casio watch is estimated to cost around $50 dollars, less than a single night’s shitty dinner in Brooklyn.

7. Invite others, but avoid social media like the plague

There’s nothing Mueller hates more than unwanted and excessive press attention. Unlike our boy Comey, he’s no showboat. He’s here to do his job, damnit. Take absolutely no photos of your event and otherwise do whatever you can make every photo editor’s job incredibly difficult.

8. Buy some dumb Robert Mueller merch

You’re a radical socialist and an anti-consumerist skeptic. But let’s not lie: I know you like that “It’s Mueller time” mug. Treat yourself to the fruits of neoliberalism and purchase it from Etsy for $11.99.

9. Employ a “Mueller mixologist” and make some Mueller-themed cocktails

After Flynn’s guilty plea last year, one DC bar decided to offer a “Moscow Mueller.” Consider some other equally thematic alternatives as well: a Manhattan Detention Complex, an Old Fashioned Corruption, or a White Trump-Russian Conspiracy.

10. Have a start and end time for your vigil

One of the best things about Robert Mueller is how he runs his Christmas parties: He sets an end time and he sticks to it. He even goes so far as to flick his lights when the party is supposed to end. It’s a very polite GTFO.

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Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane See Manchester City Past Liverpool in EPL Thriller

Manchester City's German midfielder Leroy Sane (R) celebrates with teammates after scoring their second goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on January 3, 2019. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

Manchester City blew the Premier League title race open again on Thursday, as they beat Liverpool 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

Liverpool were close to taking the lead early on after a mixup in the City defence, although it was deemed the ball had not crossed the line by the narrowest of margins after John Stones’ cleared against Ederson following Sadio Mane’s strike struck the post.

Sergio Aguero then fired the home side ahead in the 40th minute, beating Alisson Becker with a thumping finish from a tight angle.

In the second period, Liverpool fought back and levelled when Roberto Firmino turned in Andrew Robertson’s cushioned cross. City continued to threaten, though, and got back in front when Leroy Sane fired home a pinpoint finish from the edge of the area.

The victory for City sees them reduce the gap to Liverpool to just four points, with Tottenham Hotspur six back on the Merseyside outfit.

Liverpool Still Title Favourites

Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp gestures on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on January 3, 2019. - Manchester City won the game

PAUL ELLIS/Getty Images

This match was always going to be more crucial for City to win than it was for Liverpool and despite the loss, Jurgen Klopp’s side are likely still favourites for the title.

Not only did they respond well and pile pressure on the champions in the latter stages of this encounter after falling behind, they stood up in a raucous atmosphere and against a fine side performing to a level near their best.

Per Oliver Holt of the Mail on Sunday, Liverpool played their part in what was an absorbing contest:

Oliver Holt @OllieHolt22

Plenty of credit to Liverpool, too. Lost their unbeaten record but still showed what a formidable side they are. Big test for them is how they react to this.

Had there been some more breaks in their favour, things may have gone so differently for the visitors too:

Sky Sports Premier League @SkySportsPL

You don’t get much closer…

Watch live on Sky Sports PL & Main Event or follow here: https://t.co/AlaCpCXy8J https://t.co/emP3polssi

Michael Cox @Zonal_Marking

Expecting lot of tripe about how City deserved that, but Liverpool were the better side: hit the post at 0-0, a couple off the line, City with some awful defensive mix-ups, Kompany should have been off, the winner was a deflected effort that went in off the post. Fine margins.

It’s also worth taking stock of what Liverpool have accomplished already this season. They still lead City by a decent margin and tasted defeat in the top flight for the first time in 2018-19; their excellent goalkeeper, improved defence and menacing forwards mean they will still overwhelm the majority of sides in the division too.

So while those in sky blue were deservedly gleeful at the final whistle, Liverpool supporters should continue to dream with some reason about possible glory at the end of the campaign.

City Can’t Rely on Kompany

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 03: Vincent Kompany of Manchester City reacts during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool FC at the Etihad Stadium on January 3, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty I

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

With Fabian Delph suspended, Benjamin Mendy injured and Oleksandr Zinchenko seemingly not trusted by Guardiola in a game of this magnitude, City shuffled their defence around for this fixture to solve their left-back issues.

It meant their standout centre-back Aymeric Laporte was moved to the troublesome spot and John Stones was partnered in the central positions by skipper Vincent Kompany; the City captain did not convince on the night.

In the first period, he was lucky to avoid a red card for a late lunge on Mohamed Salah. AFP’s Kieran Canning anticipated a reckless moment from the Belgium international:

Kieran Canning @KieranCanning

This https://t.co/a9JiOcgiNx

At his peak, Kompany was arguably the best central defender in the world, although injury issues have clearly taken their toll on him in recent years.

While he’s still able to do a decent job in some games, in massive matches like this one you sense there is a danger of him being found out. If City can get a left-back fit and reunite Stones and Laporte at the heart of their defence then that’ll enrich their hopes of challenging for top spot.

Aguero Deserves More Credit for Incredible City Record

Manchester City's Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero (C) celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on January 3, 201

PAUL ELLIS/Getty Images

Despite playing in the Premier League since 2011, so often the talents of Aguero appear to be taken for granted; he had famously never been included in the PFA Team of the Season until the previous campaign. On Thursday he showed again just how reliable he can be in front of goal.

The manner in which he took the ball in the penalty area and thudded a shot past Alisson was a sensational piece of forward play.

While he’s never found the net at Anfield for City, whenever the Reds come to the Etihad the Argentina star fills his boots:

ESPN FC @ESPNFC

Sergio Agüero loves playing Liverpool at home. https://t.co/X4HNhWercd

Opta’s Duncan Alexander commented on the consistency Aguero has shown throughout his career when it comes to productivity:

Kieran Canning @KieranCanning

This https://t.co/a9JiOcgiNx

Aguero has been part of three title-winning teams for City and any suggestions of Gabriel Jesus usurping him as Pep Guardiola’s starting forward will have been shelved with this display. If the defending champions are to reel in the leaders this season, the 30-year-old’s goals will be vital.

What’s next?

Both teams turn their attention to the FA Cup following this high-profile encounter, with City taking on Rotherham United on Sunday at the Etihad.

Liverpool face a tricky tie in Round 3 of the competition, as they visit Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night.

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‘It’s awkward now’: Shutdown puts damper on start of new Congress

Members of the House of Representatives are sworn in Thursday. Instead of advancing a progressive agenda, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic majority were setting up votes on legislation to reopen the government. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

Government Shutdown

It should have been a festive day for lawmakers, but they couldn’t escape a shutdown that has no end in sight.

It’s not the way they wanted to start the 116th Congress.

On a day that should have been solely marked by ceremony and celebration, lawmakers couldn’t shake the gloom of a government shutdown that has no end in sight.

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“It does put a damper on things. We’re all thinking about those people that are working without pay today, or who are furloughed,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), adding that he’s been speaking to constituents who’ve been affected by the shutdown.

It’s the first time in history that a government shutdown has dragged on from one Congress to the next, underscoring a sense of dysfunction in Washington that appears to have only intensified in the Donald Trump era.

Scores of new House Democrats arrived for their first day of work Thursday, with freshly pressed outfits and sparkling new member pins.

But instead of advancing the first pieces of their ambitious progressive agenda, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic majority were setting up Thursday night votes on legislation to reopen the federal government. That’s despite the fact that the plan has already been panned by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), ensuring the partial shutdown will drag on well past its 13th day.

“I think everybody is frustrated about the shutdown,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). “I’ve said repeatedly it’s kind of a road to nowhere so we need to find a solution.”

But, she added, “it’s still not going to spoil the day for us and for the new people that are coming in.”

The funding lapse has left a particularly dark cloud over the heads of lawmakers who felt encouraged by the passage of so many other spending bills last year. Congress funded three-quarters of the federal government before running into a shutdown over Trump’s demand for border wall money.

“I hate it, it’s a terrible way to govern,” said Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, a veteran House Republican who helped seal a deal on funding for the Energy Department, among other agencies. “It could potentially be a very long shutdown.”

Asked if things could become awkward if the shutdown drags out, Simpson replied with a laugh: “It’s awkward now!”

Plenty of the pomp and circumstance of the beginning of a new Congress was still evident Thursday.

Just before Pelosi formally reclaimed the gavel, dozens of freshly elected Democrats crowded the chamber to receive their first tokens of the office, including their pins, voting cards and congressional license plates, as they mingled with their new colleagues for the first time.

It was a show of pure joy, coming after an election that swept 67 new Democrats into the House. Members, old and new, introduced each other to their spouses and grandchildren. Many snapped photos, flagrantly breaking the chamber’s no-cameras rule, as prominent first-termers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) walked by.

On the Senate side, the 10 newly elected members rode the subways with their families at the same time that the Senate’s spending chief, Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), warned that the shutdown could go on for “months and months.”

Meanwhile, the impasse over Trump’s border wall has only worsened as nine federal agencies prepare to enter their third week without funding. Hundreds of billions of agency dollars — and the paychecks of 800,000 federal workers — are at risk the longer the shutdown continues.

Pelosi, McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will head back to the White House for yet another sit-down with Trump on Friday. The plan from there, according to multiple lawmakers and aides, is entirely unclear, with both sides increasingly dug in.

The funding lapse remained in focus even as McConnell and Schumer took to the floor to welcome their new colleagues to the Senate.

“This new Congress is under the shadow of a government shutdown,” Schumer said. “Only one person is to blame for this predicament: President Trump.”

McConnell accused Democrats of “political theater” in their attempt to reopen the federal government with a plan that is dead-on-arrival in the Senate, adding that the party is only concerned with its “political standoff” with Trump.

The Senate and House are expected to leave town this weekend without a resolution, showing a glaring lack of urgency in both chambers as growing swaths of the government run out of their rainy-day funds.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the head of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus who is close to Trump, predicted Thursday that the standoff would last for several more weeks.

“I think there’s a very good possibility that this could be the longest shutdown that we’ve had in the history of Congress,” Meadows said. The current record is 21 days, which was set in 1996 during another period of fiercely divided government.

For some, a shutdown at the start of the new Congress is just more of the same.

“Things have gotten so off-track around here in the last couple of years, you know in the last three or four years, it’s just become a course of events,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “It’s our third shutdown since I’ve been here.”

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The internet is arguing over the best way to pirate Netflix’s ‘Bandersnatch’

The internet will always find a way.

Netflix’s new choose-your-own-adventure style episode of Black Mirror, “Bandersnatch,” has the online world abuzz with all the different storylines available for the viewer/player of the streaming digital experience.

Overlooked in the discussion regarding which breakfast cereal best kicks off the main character’s day lies another probing question. How, exactly, does one pirate a show that has roughly 5 hours of total runtime spooled out over multiple non-linear scenes requiring a specially designed Branch Manager tool to access?

Fear not, internet pirates are on the case.

While some in media and online have speculated that the format of “Bandersnatch” would make it “more difficult to pirate,” difficult does not equal impossible — a fact we are reminded of by a quick stroll to The Pirate Bay and Reddit.

On The Pirate Bay, a notorious torrenting site, we found numerous copies of the episode for download that addressed the specific problems inherent in illegally downloading a choose-your-own-adventure video in a variety of ways.

One file description, for example, explains that out of “the 250 available decision events, this is the default 68 choices Netflix have defined as the default ‘linear’ timeline.” It lists a runtime of 1 hour, 33 minutes and 12 seconds, and seemingly just plays out as a straight film (for legal reasons we did not download the file). In other words, this iteration solves the aforementioned problem of different storylines by simply ignoring it.

Another pirated copy, listing a 5 hour and 12 minute runtime, suggests a different approach. With reports putting the total amount of all the final “Bandersnatch” footage combined at just over five hours, it would seem that this content pirate just decided to go ahead and upload everything as a single uninterrupted movie.

However, that approach defeats the entire purpose of the thing. Seeing all possible outcomes, one after another, is not the same as making a specific choice and watching the ramifications of that choice unfold — a fact the true sophisticates of Reddit clearly understand.

A Reddit thread titled “Soo…. How the hell am I going to pirate Netflix’ Bandersnatch?” asks if “there is a method of preserving the [episode’s] interactivity” via a torrent file.

The top response as of this writing, which begins with “Have none of you used interactive porn?”, ends just as poorly as it started: with a suggestion to use a flash player.

A different Reddit thread suggests a more technical approach: specially, using the MKV file format to create “editions, file linking and ordered chapters.” A helpfully linked blog post explains that, if implemented correctly, these features “let the viewer choose between multiple ‘angles’ or versions of the video (said versions may or may not be in the same file).”

In other words, the necessary tech to pirate and view a fully interactive copy of “Bandersnatch” is already out there. Someone just has to make it happen. If the “Bandersnatch” format ever moves from gimmick to mainstream, you should expect custom-tailored pirating techniques to move with it.

Of course, you could always take the extremely lazy and technically unsophisticated approach of just watching the reported five distinct endings on YouTube. That or sign up for a Netflix account.

After all, in the end, you get to make your own choice as to how you’ll watch “Bandersnatch” (if you watch it at all)…which seems fitting.

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Windows 10 becomes the most popular desktop OS

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.

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In Bolsonaro’s Brazil, indigenous groups fear more violence

Amarante do Maranhao, Brazil – Davi Gaviao, an indigenous man with a mental illness was known to spend his days wandering the streets of Amarante do Maranhao, a poor and remote rural town on Brazil’s Amazon frontier.

By nightfall, he would usually return to the nearby 42,000 hectare Governador indigenous reserve where he lived with around 1,500 other Gaviao Pykopje tribespeople, in Maranhao state.

But in mid-October, days after the first round of Brazil’s presidential elections, Davi was killed, shot to death by two men on a motorbike as he lay asleep outside a local supermarket.

Sebastiao Wagner Bezerra, a local civil police chief, confirmed to Al Jazeera that an investigation of Davi’s murder was “advancing” but the motive was still unknown.

Rumours spread that Davi had somehow “offended” the matriarch of one of the powerful landowning families that dominate the region. Others speculate that he was killed for being indigenous.

Amarante’s economy, specialists say, is based in large part on illegal timber, much of which is plundered from indigenous reserves like Governador where Davi lived.

“Some locals here see indigenous people as a barrier to progress,” said Guaraci Mendes da Silva, a substitute regional coordinator in Maranhao state for Brazil’s National indigenous Foundation (Funai).

Davi’w murder comes amid rising violence against indigenous people and rural peasants in Brazil’s Amazon states, enabled by recent cuts to indigenous and environmental budgets.

And now, with the election of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office on January 1, local indigenous activists fear even more violence due to the president’s history of anti-indigenous rhetoric and alliance with Brazil’s powerful farming lobby.

A sign marking an indigenous territory is riddled with bullet holes [Tommaso Protti/Al Jazeera]

Shortly after being elected at the end of October, Bolsonaro said in a TV interview, “As far as I am concerned, there is no more demarcation of indigenous land.”

Increased gun ownership for rural property owners and opening up indigenous lands for mining were also measures touted throughout his campaign.

Hours after assuming office on Tuesday, Bolsonaro issued an executive order transferring the responsibilities of regulating and creating new indigenous lands from the the indigenous affairs agency, Funai, under the Justice Ministry to the Agricultural Ministry. Funai will be moved to a new ministry for family, women and human rights.

Analysts fear that such a move and rhetoric empowers violent loggers and land grabbers in largely lawless and remote rural areas and towns like Amarante.

“It’s a discourse that legitimises violence against indigenous people,” said Cleber Buzatto, executive secretary of the indigenous Missionary Council, an advocacy group, said of Bolsonaro.

‘Sends a message’

In July, Bolsonaro visited Eldorado do Carajas, in the Amazon state of Para, which neighbours Maranhao, site of a 1996 massacre in which 19 rural workers protesting by blocking a highway were killed by military police. Two former police colonels are serving 228 years for the crime.

Brazil’s O Estado de S Paulo newspaper reported that Bolsonaro said, “Who needed to have been arrested were the MST, (Landless Worker’s Movement) who are scoundrels and shameless. The police reacted not to die.”

Luiz Antonio Nabhan Garcia, president of the Democratic Association of Ruralists (UDR), a group of right-wing farmers and activists opposed to land reform, now appointed as Bolsonaro’s secretary for land affairs, told Brazil’s O Globo in a recent interview that he would not “negotiate” with landless peasant movements.

“The tendency is for rural violence to increase even further, it’s very worrying,” said Paulo Cesar Moreira, a national coordinator for Brazil’s Pastoral Land Commission.

Brazil is already the world’s deadliest country in sheer numbers for indigenous, land and environmental activists with a record 57 killings in 2017 according NGO Global Witness.

Impunity is a huge driver of violence and Maranhao is one of the worst affected states. According to Brazil’s Pastoral Land Commission, a rural violence watchdog, of 157 land conflict killings in Maranhao between 1985 and 2017, just five ended up in court.

Amarante do Maranhao, a municipality of some 40,000 people is home to two large indigenous reserves; Governador and Arariboia. Together, a handful of indigenous lands and conservation units concentrate 70 percent of the remaining Amazon forest in Maranhao state.

According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, just 25 percent of Maranhao’s previous 110,000 square kilometre of Amazon forest remains, the majority of which was cleared for agriculture and cattle ranching.

Recent data showed that across Brazil’s Amazon states, deforestation increased by nearly 50 percent during the August to October election period.

“Bolsonaro’s discourse throughout the campaign, that he’ll end Ibama [Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources] or the environmental ministry, this sends a message to those that commit environmental crimes, that they will be tolerated,” said Marcio Astrini, public policy coordinator for Greenpeace Brazil. “It has an immediate effect.”

Government data pointed to an overall increase of nearly 14 percent in Amazon deforestation in 2018 compared with the previous year, the worst result in a decade, which the government blamed on illegal logging.

Ibama destroyed several irregular sawmills in Amarante and the surrounding municipalities last year [Tommaso Protti/Al Jazeera]

Experts warn that unless deforestation slows, the Amazon will reach a point of no return and eventually begin to turn into shrubland.

“If the deforestation continues and passes 20 – 25 percent, there is the risk of the beginning of the process of the Amazon turning into Savannah,” said Carlos Nobre, one of Brazil’s leading climate scientists.

Nobre said that 16 percent was already gone and could be accelerated through climate change, global warming and forest fires.

Ricardo Salles, Bolsonaro’s environmental minister, has called climate change a “secondary issue” and environmental fines “”ideological.”

‘We have no resources, no support’

In poor rural Amazon towns like Amarante do Maranhao, many locals who depend on the timber trade for their income agree with Salles, leading to conflicts with authorities and indigenous groups.

Last year, Ibama destroyed several irregular sawmills in Amarante and the surrounding municipalities.

“The objective of destroying these sawmills was to protect the biodiversity inside of indigenous lands and conservation units,” said Roberto Cabral, surveillance operations coordinator of Ibama, who was once shot and injured by loggers in the region.

Rosinan Alves dos Santos, 43, said that he had worked at a sawmill that was destroyed by Ibama last year and that afterwards was unemployed for nearly eight months. Now working at another irregular sawmill, he said he could earn 50 Brazilian real (about $13) a day, more than Brazil’s minimum wage.

“They come here and destroy our jobs,” he said of Ibama. “For us, this is the only work we have.”

Roberto Cabral of Ibama said, “There is a false impression that the jobs that sawmills provide are providing prosperity,”

Cabral added that “if you look as cities where clandestine sawmills are present, the city doesn’t develop, because there are no taxes paid.”

Forest guards say that they receive regular threats [Tommaso Protti/Al Jazeera]

Al Jazeera visited the Governador indigenous reserve earlier this year. For decades, the Governador reserve has been plundered by illegal loggers and in 2013, tribesmen set up an indigenous forest patrol guard initiative to keep the loggers out.

“Before, illegal logging in our territory was basically liberated,” said Marcelo Gaviao, 37, the leader of the forest guard. Marcelo Gaviao said he and other leaders receive regular threats.

But it’s far from stopped. It was here, last year, that Sonia Vicente Cacau Gaviao and José Caneta Gaviao, were killed when they were hit by a speeding truck local leaders say belonged to loggers.

Marcelo Gaviao also said that some indigenous on Governador are “co-opted”: that they pass information to loggers in exchange for payment.

“Even during our monitoring group we have people who pass information about missions,” he said.

Al Jazeera recently accompanied the forest guard on a night patrol of the territory. At one point, Marcelo Gaviao and four other forest guards dressed in camouflage and armed with shotguns in a pickup, sped after a truck laden with timber they suspected was taken from their reserve but gave up after a brief chase, fearful of a violent confrontation.

Now, with the murder of Davi Gaviao and the new Bolsonaro government, Marcelo Gaviao, his forest guard and the community fear escalating violence and increased invasions of their territory.

“We are really scared after what happened to Davi,” Jonas Polino Sançao, a local indigenous teacher and activist said. “We have no resources, no support.”

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Trump makes surprise appearance in briefing room to defend the shutdown

Donald Trump speaks in the White House press briefing room — President Donald Trump’s demands for a border wall have prevented lawmakers from reaching a compromise on a spending bill. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo

President Donald Trump made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room on Thursday, offering a vigorous defense of his demands for billions in border wall funding that has resulted in a prolonged government shutdown.

Trump insisted on the necessity of a physical barrier on the southern border, and was flanked by border patrol officers who also said a physical wall would help stop the flow of undocumented immigrants from coming across the border.

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“We’ve never had more people wanting to come to the United States, and that has to do with the economy,” Trump said.

Trump’s demands for a border wall have prevented lawmakers from reaching a compromise on a spending bill, and prompted a partial government shutdown that entered its 13th day on Thursday. Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, joined Trump in saying not all federal employees were upset over the shutdown, suggesting border patrol agents agreed with the move in order to push through funding for a physical wall.

“They have been an absolute necessity for border patrol agents in securing the border,” Judd said of physical barriers. “We need those physical barriers, and we appreciate President Trump and all of his efforts in getting us those physical barriers.”

Data from the Department of Homeland Security suggests illegal border crossings do not make the lion share of undocumented stays in the United States, The Washington Post reported. A substantial proportion of undocumented immigrants overstayed visas or entered through other initially legal means.

Regardless, Trump claimed he has garnered substantial support for his border wall, suggesting he doesn’t intend on backing down any time soon.

“I’ve never had so much support as I’ve in the last week over my stance for border security, for border control and for frankly the wall or the barrier,” Trump said. “I have never had anything like it in terms of calls coming in and in terms of people writing in and tweeting and doing whatever they have to do.”

Still, Trump said he was open to working with Democrats, who took control of the House as Congress opened a new session on Thursday, congratulating Nancy Pelosi on winning the speakership. Pelosi has repeatedly said Democrats would not budge on granting additionally funding for Trump’s border wall.

“It’s a very, very great achievement,” Trump said of Pelosi winning the speakership. “Hopefully we’re going to work together and we’re going to get lots of things done, like infrastructure and so much more and I know they want to do that very badly. … I think it will be a little bit different than a lot of people are thinking, so I congratulate Nancy.”

Neither Trump nor White House press secretary Sarah Sanders took questions from reporters during the briefing.

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NBA Trade Rumors: Hornets ‘Desperate’ to Move Nicolas Batum at Deadline

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 29: Nicolas Batum #5 of the Charlotte Hornets looks on during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on December 29, 2018 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)

Will Newton/Getty Images

The Charlotte Hornets are “desperate” to move Nicolas Batum and would consider packaging him with former lottery pick Frank Kaminsky, according to the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney.

Batum is in the middle of a five-year, $120 million deal he signed in July 2016. Per Spotrac, Batum, who is making $24 million this season, is owed $25.6 million next season and holds a $27.1 million player option for 2020-21.

A first-round pick back in 2008, Batum spent the first seven years of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers before joining Charlotte in 2015.

Despite shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, the 30-year-old is averaging just 8.8 points per game this season, which would be his lowest total since his rookie season. Also of note, he has a net rating of just 0.0 in 36 appearances this season, per NBA.com, which is only a slight improvement from his negative-0.2 rating from a season ago.

Also of note, his usage percentage (12.8 percent) is currently at a career low, per NBA.com.

Batum remains in Charlotte’s starting lineup, although his minutes have, albeit just slightly, gradually declined as his Buzz City tenure has progressed. His 30.5 minutes per game this season are on pace to be his lowest since 2011-12.

He told NBA.com’s Ian Thomsen back in July 2017 that he prioritizes being a “good team player” over individual statistics. His offensive numbers are not quite on the level they were when he signed his lucrative contract, but he has been willing to take on challenges on the defensive end of the court.

Batum’s contract makes finding a trade tough, but it appears as though the Hornets are exploring the idea of potentially packaging him with other players to try to get something done.

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