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The top Homeland Security official accused of cultivating a "frat-house"-style work environment has "voluntarily placed herself on leave" amid an internal review, the department told FoxNews.com late Tuesday evening -- just hours after FoxNews.com contacted the agency about new allegations against her.

 The official, Suzanne Barr, is chief of staff for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 Two more ICE employees came forward this week to complain about "lewd" conduct inside the agency, submitting sworn affidavits that depict graphic comments made by two top officials working under DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.

 The affidavits were given as part of a discrimination and retaliation suit filed earlier this year by James T. Hayes Jr., the head of the New York office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 The two new affidavits described separate incidents in 2009. Both accounts described the actions of Barr, who was also mentioned in Hayes' lawsuit.

 ICE Public Affairs Director Brian Hale said in a written statement that the department would respond "directly and strongly" to the lawsuit in court, but noted internal measures were being taken over the claims against Barr.

 "ICE has referred these allegations to the DHS Office of Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility for review. Ms. Barr has voluntarily placed herself on leave pending the outcome of this review," ICE Public Affairs Director Brian Hale said in a written statement.

 In the newly emerging affidavits, one of the employees claimed that in October 2009, while in a discussion about Halloween plans, the individual witnessed Barr turn to a senior ICE employee and say: "You a sexy" (expletive deleted).

 SEND TIPS TO NEWSMANAGER@FOXNEWS.COM

 "She then looked at his crotch and asked, 'How long is it anyway?'" according to the affidavit.

 "Several employees laughed nervously," the affidavit said. The names of the workers making the claims have been redacted.

 The other account recalled a trip to Colombia in late 2009, attended by ICE Director John Morton, Barr and Ray Parmer, who is ICE special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans.

 The account said Parmer and Barr were "drinking heavily" at the house of the deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy there. It said Parmer took the BlackBerry of another employee, Peter Vincent, and sent "lewd messages" to Barr.

 The affidavit went on to say: "During this party, Suzanne Barr approached me and offered to" perform oral sex.

 The two accounts were submitted this week to the defense attorney in the case Hayes filed against Napolitano.

 A DHS spokesman had previously described the allegations in the Hayes suit as "unfounded."

 Attorney Morris Fischer, who represents Hayes, told FoxNews.com his team is in the process of gathering more evidence.

 "People are coming out of the woodwork on this because this is such a serious matter and people want to see this agency's mess cleaned up," he said.

 While Napolitano is named as the sole defendant, Hayes' suit focuses on Barr and Dora Schriro, who joined DHS in February 2009, five months after Hayes was promoted to director of ICE Detention and Removal Operations.

 Hayes claims Schriro, who was brought on as a special adviser to Napolitano, was not qualified for the job because she lacked law enforcement experience. Hayes maintained Schriro enjoyed a "long-standing relationship" with Napolitano, and soon pushed him aside "because of this relationship (with Napolitano) and because he was not female," the suit says.

 Schriro previously led the Arizona and Missouri corrections departments. She has since left DHS and now serves as commissioner for the New York City Department of Correction. ||||| Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 A discrimination and retaliation lawsuit has embroiled the upper reaches of the federal government’s immigration enforcement agency, contributing to a sense of turmoil in a bureaucracy that has been suffering major labor conflicts between senior officials and employees.

 The lawsuit, filed by a top federal immigration official in New York, alleges that he was shunted out of a high-level position in the agency in favor of a less-qualified woman because he was a man.

 The official, James T. Hayes Jr., also accuses the agency’s chief of staff, Suzanne Barr, of “sexually offensive behavior” that contributed to a discriminatory work environment for male employees.

 Last week, Ms. Barr stepped down from her post and voluntarily left the agency on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal review of the misconduct allegations, a spokesman said.

 The charges by Mr. Hayes have added to a sense of unrest in the agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

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 The union that organizes more than 7,000 enforcement agents, the National ICE Council, has been openly critical of the leadership of the agency’s director, John Morton, and resistant to policy changes he has introduced. The head of the union has accused Mr. Morton, who was appointed in 2009, of failing to consult with agents in the field about the effect of the new policies.

 Last week the union posted a petition on its Web site asking for public support for ICE officers who are “upholding the law.” As of Tuesday morning it had more than 55,000 signatures.

 The discrimination lawsuit, which names Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security secretary, as the sole defendant, was filed in May by Mr. Hayes, special agent in charge of investigations for the agency’s New York office.

 In the lawsuit, Mr. Hayes claims he was shoved out of a senior-level management position to make way for a less-qualified woman and then suffered retaliation when he threatened to file a discrimination complaint.

 In addition, he accuses Ms. Barr of contributing to a sexualized office culture hostile to men.

 Ms. Barr, the lawsuit alleges, “created a frat house-type atmosphere that is targeted to humiliate and intimidate male employees.”

 Men make up a majority of the leadership at ICE.

 Mr. Hayes’s lawyer, Morris Eli Fischer, said other ICE employees had filed affidavits in support of Mr. Hayes’s lawsuit, also alleging inappropriate behavior by Ms. Barr. Until Mr. Hayes’s lawsuit, however, no employee had filed a sexual harassment complaint against Ms. Barr, said a federal official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record about the case.

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 Mr. Hayes first accused the agency of discrimination last year in a formal complaint to its Equal Employment Opportunity office, according to court documents. That complaint, however, did not include any sexual harassment allegations.

 Brian Hale, director of public affairs for ICE, said the agency “will respond directly and strongly to this lawsuit in court.” He added that the misconduct allegations were referred to internal affairs investigators at Homeland Security and ICE.

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 Federal lawyers filed a motion last week to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that it failed to present sufficient facts to justify the claims.

 Mr. Hayes began his federal career in 1995 as a border patrol agent in Texas and quickly ascended the ranks of the federal immigration bureaucracy. In September 2008, he was promoted to head the agency’s detention and removal operations, managing a staff of 8,500 and a budget of about $2.5 billion, according to the lawsuit.

 But Mr. Hayes contends that he was soon supplanted in meetings by Dora B. Schriro, who was appointed in February 2009 as a special adviser to Ms. Napolitano for detention and removal operations.

 Mr. Hayes contends that he was “being replaced in his duties” in part because “he was not female,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

 Mr. Hayes claims that Ms. Schriro was unqualified for the job because she lacked federal law enforcement experience. Ms. Schriro had previously served as head of both Missouri’s and Arizona’s correction departments. She left Homeland Security in 2009 and is currently the commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction.

 Mr. Hayes sought a transfer to Los Angeles, the lawsuit contends, but his request was denied.

 When he threatened to file an internal discrimination complaint, the lawsuit says, the agency opened four misconduct investigations against him and reopened two others “to intimidate him,” the lawsuit says.

 He was eventually transferred to New York in late 2009 “at a substantial financial loss,” he claims, and is suing to recover $335,000 in moving costs, unpaid relocation bonuses and lost wages. Mr. Hayes, Ms. Barr nor Ms. Schriro could be reached for comment, though a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement that Ms. Schriro’s appointment at ICE was “based on merit.” |||||

– A federal worker who says he lost out on a plum job because he is a man has filed a discrimination lawsuit naming Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano as the sole defendant. What's more, James T. Hayes also alleges that a high-ranking official in Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office "created a frat house-type atmosphere that is targeted to humiliate and intimidate male employees," reports the New York Times. That official, Suzanne Barr, has gone on paid leave as an investigation into the allegations continues, notes Fox News. They came to light after Hayes says he got passed over in favor of a woman who he says wasn't qualified. He says she got the job because she had a "long-standing relationship" with Napolitano—"and because he was not female," according to the lawsuit.


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– The Simpsons character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, who has been criticized for promoting negative stereotypes about South Asians (and is voiced by white guy Hank Azaria), may be getting cut from the show. "I got some disheartening news back, that I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether," producer Adi Shankar tells IndieWire, claiming he heard the news from two people who work on the show and a third person who works directly with creator Matt Groening. "They aren’t going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that, but they’ll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy." Shankar was talking to IndieWire about Apu because he recently held a spec script contest for an episode dealing with the show's "Apu problem" and had been hoping Fox would agree to produce the script. Reached for comment, a rep for the show told IndieWire simply that "Apu appeared in the 10/14/18 episode 'My Way or the Highway to Heaven.'" IndieWire notes that the only shot Apu appears in during the episode is one in which dozens of characters are gathered around God. Comedian Hari Kondabolu, who made a recent documentary about Apu, responded to the news by tweeting, "There are so many ways to make Apu work without getting rid of him. If true, this sucks." The Daily Dot rounds up other critical and mournful responses on Twitter. Shankar, producer of films including Dredd and The Grey and co-showrunner of Castlevania on Netflix, plans to produce the winning script (which sees Apu going from Kwik-E-Mart owner to thriving businessman) himself on his Bootleg Universe YouTube page. (Here's what Azaria thinks should happen with Apu.)

Exclusive: Here's the trailer for Castlevania Season 2. We did not set the bar at "good enough"... We're here to create the greatest videogame adaptation of all time. Who's with us?PS if this receives enough comments, I'll tell you guys if Grant is in it ;) Show less ||||| Hari Kondabolu uudelleentwiittasi Andy

 Agreed. There are so many ways to make Apu work without getting rid of him. If true, this sucks.https://twitter.com/avnindera1/status/1055903558170824704 … ||||| Back in April, The Simpsons attempted to address the growing controversy surrounding the character of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon with the episode, “No Good Read Goes Unpunished,” which was heavily criticized for not so much addressing the issue as basically dismissing it. In response to the controversy, Indian-American producer Adi Shankar announced that he was holding a crowdsourcing contest for fan submissions to come up with a better script to be produced by either Fox or as a fan film.

 Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the episode will ever come to fruition because, in a recent interview with IndieWire, Shankar said that he’s heard from sources that The Simpsons is planning to instead quietly write the character off the show.

 Shankar blasted the decision as “cowardice” on the show’s part.

 If you are a show about cultural commentary and you are too afraid to comment on the culture, especially when it’s a component of the culture you had a hand in creating, then you are a show about cowardice. It’s not a step forward, or step backwards, it’s just a massive step sideways. After having read all these wonderful scripts, I feel like sidestepping this issue doesn’t solve it when the whole purpose of art, I would argue, is to bring us together.

 Twitter predictably also had thoughts about the decision to remove the character. Some blasted PC culture and social justice warriors, while others bemoaned the loss of the character or made jokes.

 This joke is going to be a lot sadder now that Apu is gone pic.twitter.com/6jzT2GdMva — Delos (@04Sonicfan) October 28, 2018

 Is the world a better place now that Apu is gone? pic.twitter.com/oElztQfg2S — JONDERS FPT (@JondersFPT) October 28, 2018

 To anyone following the journey, I didn't get the #Apu script comp. I was informed a few days ago, however, that I was a finalist of 30 out of 200 though, and that is something I am very proud of. But a shame still: I would have loved for people to have seen that script. pic.twitter.com/I6VbEBqCXI — Sp00ky Jono (@JonnyJonJon1) October 27, 2018

 This is the biggest ‘joke’ The Simpsons team have ever made. A load of complete nonsense. What about those of us Asians who loved Apu? We recognise that many of us are shopkeepers but are aware that not all of us are. The solution is more varied depictions not less. Regressive. https://t.co/DN38kkP0Pq — Adil Ray OBE (@adilray) October 27, 2018

 You know what, Apu? I am really gonna miss you.

 Credit: Julia Taylor pic.twitter.com/AT1SYOmG86 — dank simpsons (@DankSimpsons) October 28, 2018

 Wonder who will replace Apu on the Simpsons pic.twitter.com/0NbDKVxTdK — mez (@Mez9696) October 28, 2018

 The Problem with Apu documentary filmmaker Hari Kondabolu also weighed in:

 RIP Apu. RIP My Mentions — Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) October 27, 2018

 For what it’s worth, the winning script that Shankar selected was written by Vishaal Buch, an Indian-American family doctor from Bethesda, Maryland, who envisioned Apu going from owning the Kwik-E-Mart to being a thriving businessman. The episode would have focused not just on Apu but would have incorporated “other prominent Indian Americans in hilarious ways to highlight the importance of diversity and individuality through the lens of The Simpsons,” according to Indiewire.

 It’s unclear whether Apu would have been voiced by Hank Azaria or an Indian-American voice actor, but either way, it sounds like a huge missed opportunity on Fox’s part.

 Update 7:30am CT, Oct. 29: Executive producer and writer Al Jean has pushed back against reports that The Simpsons is writing Apu out of the show. On Twitter, Jean noted that Shankar isn’t a producer and that “he does not speak for our show.”

 H/T Indiewire ||||| As "The Simpsons" side-steps the controversy and character altogether, Shankar will produce the contest winning script through his Bootleg Universe site.

 In April producer Adi Shankar launched a spec script contest for “The Simpsons” to solve what has become known as the show’s “Apu Problem.” The long-running character, a convenience store owner voiced by Hank Azaria, has become a controversial figure because many believe him to be an inaccurate and hurtful portrayal of Indian-Americans.

 It was Shankar’s intention to crowdsource a script that “in a clever way subverts him, pivots him, writes him out, or evolves him in a way that takes a creation that was the byproduct of a predominately Harvard-educated white male writers’ room and transforms it into a fresh, funny and realistic portrayal of Indians in America.”

 Shankar’s primary hope was that Fox would produce the script as an episode of “The Simpsons,” but now that he has found what he calls the “perfect script” and announces the winner of his contest, he told IndieWire that he has heard from people who work for the show that “The Simpsons” is eliminating the character.

 “I got some disheartening news back, that I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether,” said Shankar in an interview with IndieWire. “They aren’t going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that, but they’ll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy.”

 Shankar clarified that he got this news from two people who work for “The Simpsons” and a third source who works directly with creator Matt Groening.

 Reached for comment on Shankar’s allegations, a representative for “The Simpsons” at Fox provided a cryptic response: “Apu appeared in the 10/14/18 episode ‘My Way or the Highway to Heaven.’” In the episode, Apu only appears in a single wide shot (below) that showed dozens of characters gathered around God.

 Following Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary “The Problem with Apu,” “The Simpsons” poked fun at the controversy in the ironically titled episode “No Good Read Goes Unpunished” that took a jab at the political correctness of the shows’ critics. Then in May, Matt Reiss, the only original writer still at the show, told Vanity Fair that the show dealt with the Apu problem back in 2016 episode, with the episode “Much Apu About Something,” and the character has “barely had a line in the past three seasons.”

 Shankar believes the decision to yank the Apu character and avoid the controversy is a mistake, especially for a show known for its social satire.

 “If you are a show about cultural commentary and you are too afraid to comment on the culture, especially when it’s a component of the culture you had a hand in creating, then you are a show about cowardice,” said Shankar. “It’s not a step forward, or step backwards, it’s just a massive step sideways. After having read all these wonderful scripts, I feel like sidestepping this issue doesn’t solve it when the whole purpose of art, I would argue, is to bring us together.”

 Shankar who viewed his contest as an olive branch to the show, has picked a winning script from hundreds of submissions that he believes will be enjoyed by fans on both sides of the controversy. The Grand Prize winner is Vishaal Buch, a family doctor in Bethesda, Maryland.

 Courtesy of Coverfly

 In Buch’s script, Apu goes from a single store owner to a thriving businessman in Springfield. The spec episode doesn’t just focus on Apu, but pulls in other prominent Indian Americans in hilarious ways to highlight the importance of diversity and individuality through the lens of “The Simpsons.”

 “The contest was never meant to be an attack against anyone, but I think in a lot of ways we weren’t asking for anything too radical than to be viewed in three-dimensions,” said Shankar. “I think the beauty of Vishaal’s script is it did just that. It wasn’t preachy. It wasn’t hammering us over the head. When a lot of people hear ‘The Problem with Apu’ they roll their eyes, ‘there is no problem with Apu, it’s these millennials, they’re out of control.’ I think in a lot of ways those people will really like this episode.”

 Buch was like a number of the spec script contestants in that he had never written a screenplay before. In fact, Coverfly, the screenplay submissions management software company that administered the contest for Shankar, is helping the doctor this week translate his winning script into proper screenplay formatting.

 “I think as entertainers we can be myopic in our view and it was really refreshing to read a script that was outside of our bubble, our ecosystem,” said Shankar. “It was clever and authentic.”

 What Buch, a former US Air Force pilot, lacked in creative writing experience, he made up for with life experiences and a deep love and knowledge of “The Simpsons.”

 “I was born in Oklahoma, moved to California, and have gone through all the ups and downs that comes with being an Indian-American,” said Buch. “To no one’s surprise I ended up in medicine, but what is different is that I actually practice in the US military. When you think of the US military you don’t necessarily think of an Indian guy, but that is how much the Indian-American has evolved. I grew up a huge fan of ‘The Simpsons,’ so to be able to help tell this story is a testimony to not only my hard work, but the hard work of others like me. It’s been a pleasure to work with Adi and his team, and I am incredibly excited for the journey.“

 Shankar noted that the number of doctors who applied to the contest was enormous. He also noted that the guest star most often written into submitted spec scripts, by an extremely wide margin, was Elon Musk.

 Project Bootleg

 Shankar is working under the assumption “The Simpsons” will not produce and air Buch’s script, which Shankar is in the process of helping to hone, so he will do it himself through his Bootleg Universe YouTube page. In addition to producing big-budget action films like “Dredd” and “The Grey,” Shankar’s Bootleg Universe has been his outlet to produce short films that reimagine well-known franchises and characters, like James Bond, The Punisher, and most notably a 14-minute short based on the The Power Rangers — directed by Joseph Kahn, starring Katee Sackhoff and James Van Der Beek — which racked up over 11 million views in its first 24 hours online and that many believe Saban Film took its cue from in rebooting the “Power Ranger” franchise.

 In addition to his work in live-action, Shankar also has roots in the animation world and is the co-showrunner of the animated Netflix series “Castlevania.” Shankar is confident that he is capable of producing an episode of “The Simpsons” that will sound and look like the Fox series. He is also open to inviting “The Simpsons” voice actors, including Hank Azaria, to lend their talents.

 Below is a video Bootleg made for $3,000 to test how it would emulate the art and style of the show.

 Shankar also named a second place winner: Tasha Dhanraj, a London-based comedy writer represented by Emily Wraith at Berlin Associates. The producer said he hasn’t 100 percent ruled out producing that script as well, but mostly he wanted to acknowledge Dhanraj’s “incredible talent.”

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Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Kasturi Munirathinam says she was trying to escape the house when her Saudi employer "chopped off" her arm

 India's foreign ministry has complained to the Saudi Arabian authorities following an alleged "brutal" attack on a 58-year-old Indian woman in Riyadh.

 Kasturi Munirathinam's right arm was chopped off, allegedly by her employer, when she tried to escape from their house last week, reports say.

 Ms Munirathinam was working as a domestic help. She is recovering in hospital.

 Her family has alleged that she was being tortured by her Saudi employers.

 Saudi authorities have not commented on the incident yet.

 'Disturbed'

 Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj wrote on Twitter: "This is unacceptable. We have taken this up with Saudi authorities. Our embassy is in touch with the victim."

 "Chopping of [arm] of Indian lady - we are very much disturbed over the brutal manner in which Indian lady has been treated in Saudi Arabia," Ms Swaraj added.

 The family of Ms Munirathinam in the southern Indian city of Chennai said that her employers had been "angered" after she complained about the "harassment" she was facing at her employer's home, where she had begun working three months ago.

 They are asking the government to secure them compensation from the family, and also help pay Ms Munirathinam's medical expenses.

 Serious condition

 "Ever since she went to work with this family in July, things were not alright. My mother was not even allowed to speak to us over the phone, she was not given proper food and was forced to work long hours," her son S Kumar told BBC Hindi.

 "When she tried to escape the harassment and torture, her right arm was chopped off by the woman employer. Now my sister can't even sit and do simple things on her own, as her spinal cord has also been injured," her sister S Vijayakumari added.

 Ms Vijayakumari said her sister had been hospitalised in Riyadh and was "in a serious condition", adding that although they were relieved she was getting proper medical attention, they were unable to afford the expenses.

 They have asked the Tamil Nadu state government to help them financially and have also sought the Indian government's help in securing Ms Munirathinam's return to India.

 The family said that they had come to know of the incident through the "agents" who had hired her to work in Saudi Arabia. They also claim to have received a video message from Ms Munirathinam that has been recorded on a mobile phone.

 Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup told the Indian Express newspaper that India would "continue to seek justice for the victim".

 "Our embassy in Riyadh has taken up the matter with the Saudi Foreign Office and asked for strict action in the matter and severe punishment for the sponsor," he said.

 He said India had sought an independent probe in the incident and urged that "a case of attempted murder be lodged against the sponsor so that he is punished, if found guilty as per law".

 Thousands of men and women from India travel to Arab states every year to seek work as domestic servants and labourers.

 Almaz's story

 The poor treatment and abuse of maids in the Middle East is a familiar tale. Benjamin Dix and Lindsay Pollock tell the disturbing story of a young Ethiopian woman who took a job as a domestic help in Saudi Arabia but was treated like a slave.

 Read Almaz's story ||||| Story highlights A Saudi employer allegedly cut off his Indian maid's arm after she complained to police

 New Delhi has complained to Riyadh over the alleged incident, calling for charges

 Tensions are high after a Saudi diplomat in New Delhi was accused last month of raping maids

 New Delhi (CNN) A Saudi employer chopped off the right arm of an Indian domestic worker after she complained to police that the employer was mistreating her, the woman's sister said Friday.

 Kasthuri Munirathinam, 58, was employed by a Saudi household in Riyadh three months ago, her sister S. Vijayakumari told CNN on the phone from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

 Vijayakumari said the family was told about the attack on September 30.

 According to Vijayakumari, Munirathinam's employer cut off her arm after she told local police that she was being mistreated, not being paid and not given enough food.

 The Indian government has complained to Saudi Arabia about the incident.

 Read More |||||

– Indian diplomats say they are disturbed by reports that one of their nationals working in Saudi Arabia had her arm cut off by a vengeful employer. The family of 58-year-old Kasturi Munirathinam says that when Saudi officials conducted a routine check of the home where she was working as a maid, she complained of mistreatment, which led the woman of the house to attack her after officials left, the Times of India reports. Indian officials say Munirathinam is recovering in hospital. They have complained to the Saudi government about the "very unfortunate and most condemnable incident" and have asked for the attacker to be severely punished, reports CNN. Munirathinam's son tells the BBC that she had been harassed and "tortured" by her employers. "Ever since she went to work with this family in July, things were not all right. My mother was not even allowed to speak to us over the phone, she was not given proper food, and was forced to work long hours," he says. Her sister tells CNN that Munirathinam, who went to Saudi Arabia after the family faced financial difficulties, had complained to officials about mistreatment and not being paid. The employer has been arrested and Indian officials, who have vowed to pursue justice for the victim, want the Saudis to charge her with attempted murder, the BBC reports. (A Saudi wife who posted footage of her husband sexually harassing their maid could go to jail for "defaming" him.)


Here is a news article: The federal government says its offices in the Washington, D.C., area will be closed Wednesday as the nation's capital braces for its first big snowfall of the winter.

 The Office of Personnel Management says non-emergency employees of the federal government will be granted excused absences for Wednesday.

 Forecasters were predicting as much as 10 inches of snow for Washington, with more predicted for the suburbs north and west of the district.

 Airlines along the storm's projected path have cut hundreds of flights, most of them at Dulles and Reagan National airports in the Washington area. ||||| Story highlights Shelters are open for 215,000 without power in Virginia

 A coastal flood warning is in effect for Massachusetts

 Virginia's governor declares a state of emergency

 They'd hoped to trade political potshots for wet snowballs.

 Instead, the storm billed as "Snowquester" is turning out to be nothing more than a big wet blanket for members of the Washington D.C. Snowball Fight Association. The group had planned a big showdown in DuPont Circle, where a few years ago 3,000 people turned out for a humdinger of a fight.

 But where 5 to 10 inches of wet snow was supposed to fall on DuPont Circle, not even slush was accumulating Wednesday afternoon, said organizer Michael Lipin.

 "Quite a letdown," he said.

 While the storm was dumping plenty of snow in other places, Washington was getting just fractions of an inch, said CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.

 JUST WATCHED Snowstorm marches east Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Snowstorm marches east 01:46

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 In fact, the National Weather Service dropped its winter storm warning for the Washington area Wednesday afternoon.

 "It's just not panning out to be the storm we'd thought it would be," Morris said.

 In nearby Virginia, however, things were quite different.

 Gov. Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency, state police extended shifts and the National Guard called up 100 troops for snow duty as inches of wet, heavy snow fell across parts of the state.

 Authorities opened shelters for the 215,000 Virginians without power, according to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

 Transportation officials reported particularly nasty conditions on many secondary and some primary routes in 15 central and northern counties, with deep snow or ice covering the pavement. State and many county offices closed early.

 About 4,200 utility workers were in the field trying to deal with outages, Rodney Blevins of Dominion Power said during a news conference.

 How do you really feel about the snow?

 Airlines canceled more than 1,600 flights, leaving passengers such as Alex Thompson, who had hoped to take a flight to San Francisco, with plenty of time on their hands.

 Thompson traveled all the way from Kenya only to find that his next flight was one of hundreds called off until Thursday because of the storm.

 With no hotel reservations and nowhere else to go, he said he'd find a place to sack out at Dulles International Airport and "waste my time until I can get on my flight."

 Capital closings

 The dire forecast issued Tuesday prompted the federal government to close offices in the nation's capital, but emergency workers and telecommuters were expected to be on duty, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

 The White House canceled a planned celebration for the Alabama Crimson Tide, college football champions, and Congress called off several hearings.

 More than 954,000 students who attend major school districts in Washington, Virginia, Maryland and Ohio got the day off.

 Amtrak shut down some trains in Washington, Virginia, West Virginia and New York.

 Track the late-winter storm

 But tourism goes on

 Not all of Washington was shut down. Although the National Zoo was closed, the Smithsonian said its museums would be open for visitors.

 Washington's Metrorail system was running, although some bus service was disrupted, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

 Flooding threat

 Along the coast, the problem wasn't snow, but high winds and the threat of flooding.

 The National Weather Service issued coastal flood warnings for parts of Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

 Officials in parts of New Jersey suggested residents evacuate from flood-prone areas along the coast, including areas still recovering from damage done by Hurricane Sandy in October, according to CNN affiliate WABC.

 A flood warning was in effect through Friday morning for the eastern coast of Massachusetts based on a "high confidence" for high winds, storm surge, and moderate to major coastal flooding, the state's emergency management agency said.

 About 300 National Guard troops will be used along the Massachusetts coast to help with flooding and possible evacuations, agency spokesman Peter Judge said.

 Fifty Delaware National Guard troops were called up as emergency management officials urged some coastal residents in that state to evacuate, saying flooding would cut off exit routes. The agency warned of almost certain flooding in areas and said "conditions during the height of the storm could make the process of leaving flooded areas dangerous or impossible."

 High winds forced the brief closure of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in both directions, Maryland authorities said, but not before a tractor trailer overturned on one end, CNN affiliate WJZ reported.

 Wind was believed to have been a major factor in the accident.

 Power was out across the Delmarva Peninsula, which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, Delmarva Power reported.

 In coastal Sussex County, the 911 center reported numerous calls for wires down, vehicle accidents and trees down.

 Water breached a sand dune in Sussex County, forcing the closure of State Route 1 in the county, according to DEMA.

 Is the snow helping ease drought?

 Midwest recovering

 The storm is the same one that earlier dumped about a foot of snow in parts of Illinois, Minnesota and North Dakota, paving a white swath across the Upper Midwest.

 Chicago's O'Hare International Airport had 6 inches of snow Tuesday, beating a 1999 record for the date by 2.2 inches. It was the first snowfall of 6 inches or more in the Windy City since February 2011, the weather service said.

 Plows removed snow from roads and trucks spread salt and sand, but drivers still slipped off of roadways, leaving snow-covered cars to be retrieved by tow trucks.

 Tuesday's snow put a drag on air traffic in the Midwest, leading to delays and cancellations, but planes continued to fly in Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, after plows removed the snow from runways.

 Analyze the snowfall |||||
A summary of this is?

– The federal government closed up shop today, shutting offices in anticipation of a looming snowstorm that blanketed Chicago with snow yesterday, the AP reports. (The six inches logged at O'Hare best a 1999 record for the date—by more than two inches.) The National Weather Service is predicting six to 12 inches of heavy, slushy snow in DC, though there's a chance the snow could turn to rain as it nears the Atlantic, CNN reports. "We're in our mobilization level 5, which is our highest mobilization level," says one Virginia Department of Transportation employee. Airlines have already cancelled hundreds of flights in the storm's projected path, and at least 4,723 Virginia residents have lost power. Ohio is getting its taste of the storm as well, and schools in Columbus have closed; DC kids are off, too.


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This is a set of web collections curated by Mark Graham using the Archive-IT service of the Internet Archive. They include web captures of the ISKME.org website as well as captures from sites hosted by IGC.org.These web captures are available to the general public.For more information about this collection please feel free to contact Mark via Send Mail ||||| A human sacrifice has been staged in the grounds of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, the home of the God Particle.

 A video circulating online shows hooded figures apparently engaging in a ritual, staged under a huge statue of a Hindu deity, at the end of which a woman is stabbed.

 But the footage appears to have been recorded as part of a prank by scientists at Europe’s top physics lab, which serves as the home of the Lagre Hadron Collider. The identity and motives of those behind the video hasn’t yet been discovered.

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 In the footage itself, multiple people are shown wearing long, flowing black robes – and one appears to have hiking boots on underneath. They are depicted walking around, before a woman moves onto the floor and is apparently stabbed.

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REUTERS/Jim Urquhart 18/18 An iris clip fitted onto the eye This images is apart of the Wellcome Images Awards and shows how an artificial intraocular lens is fitted onto the eye. Used for conditions such as myopia and cataracts. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT. Wellcome Images 1/18 Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty 2/18 Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty 3/18 Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. 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REUTERS/Jim Urquhart 18/18 An iris clip fitted onto the eye This images is apart of the Wellcome Images Awards and shows how an artificial intraocular lens is fitted onto the eye. Used for conditions such as myopia and cataracts. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT. Wellcome Images

 As that happens, the person who is supposedly recording the video appears to react – firing out expletives and apparently running away, which causes the camera to move away from the scene before it is cut off.

 The ceremony took place under the large states of the Hindu deity Shiva, which permanently stands at the complex. In both the video and real life, it is lit from below – which means that a huge shadow is cast across the building behind.

 The Shiva statue was a “gift from India to celebrate its association with Cern”, according to the institution’s website.

 “This deity was chosen by the Indian government because of a metaphor that was drawn between the cosmic dance of the Nataraj and the modern study of the ‘cosmic dance’ of subatomic particles,” the organisation says on a website unrelated to the prank. “India is one of CERN’s observer states, along with the USA, Russia and Japan.

 A Cern spokesperson confirmed that the video had been filmed there, but said that it had been made without permission or knowledge. Cern said that it doesn’t “condone this type of spoof” because it can “give rise to misunderstandings about the scientific nature of our work”.

 It’s far from the firs time that scientific work has been associated with the occult or the mystical. Because of the highly-specialised – and often terrifying – work that goes on at Cern, it has become a haven of speculation for conspiracy theorists and anxious people.

 Many have suggested that the Large Hadron Collider could bring about a black hole in the Earth, or that something is going on there that would allow people to access new forms of power that would be wielded against the Earth. Others still have said that the work might open a portal to another dimension – an apparent extrapolation from the fact that the work going on there might allow scientists to test theories about the presence of other dimensions.

 Others have claimed that Cern’s work is meant to prove that God doesn’t exist, another claim that the institution has been forced to rebut on its website.

 “People from all over the world work together harmoniously at CERN, representing all regions, religions and cultures,” an FAQ page says. “CERN exists to understand the mystery of nature for the benefit of humankind.

 “Scientists at CERN use the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments to study the basic constituents of matter – the fundamental particles. Particles are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. This process gives the physicists clues about how the particles interact, and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature."

 The campus has a range of security measures, ensuring that everyone on the grounds is either an official scientist or a visitor – and those involved in the ceremony appear to have had their ID checked. Cern hasn’t said who took part in the prank, but the woman at least does appear to be identifiable in the footage.

 Many of those people come from around the world to the site, to partake in scientific work or to speak with people who are doing so. A Cern spokesperson appeared to blame such people, saying that “some of them let their humour go too far”.

 An article has been added to the FAQ page of Cern’s social media pages, which makes the same claim. In response to the question “I have seen a video of a strange ritual at CERN, is it real?” the page says that it isn’t.

 “No, this video is a work of fiction. CERN fills up with visitors over summer, with users from across the world who come to CERN as part of their work, and some of whom occasionally let their sense of humour go too far, and that is what has happened on this occasion. CERN does not condone this kind of spoof.” |||||

– "Prankster" may not be the first word that comes to mind when describing a scientist, but a group of them at Switzerland's European Organization for Nuclear Research (aka CERN) may have just elevated the term in an odd and creepy way. The Guardian reports the research organization is looking into a video that popped up online last week showing what appears to be a mock human sacrifice, filmed in the dead of night at CERN's Geneva headquarters (where the Large Hadron Collider is housed). The Blair Witch-style tape, shot from the POV of a person watching from a window above one of the lab's main squares, shows a woman in white being pretend-stabbed amid a group of black-cloaked mysteriosos (the Independent notes one appears to be wearing hiking boots) in front of a statue of the Hindu deity Shiva. "These scenes were filmed on our premises but without official permission or knowledge," a CERN rep informed AFP via email, adding the organization frowns upon such a "spoof" as it can "give rise to misunderstandings about the scientific nature of our work." Snopes notes CERN and the Large Hadron Collider have become "conspiracy magnets" because of the complicated research there, with some even insisting that scientists are plotting to take over the Earth or open a portal to hell. Although the video raises concern about campus security, the lab's rep stresses that entry to the campus is secure and that the disguised occult wannabes must have had access badges. "CERN welcomes every year thousands of scientific users from all over the world, and sometimes some of them let their humor go too far," she says. (CERN has been trying to keep Satan at arm's length.)


Summarize this article:

The skull of the "Vampire of Venice" was found in a mass grave with a brick stuck in its jaw.

 Archaeologists in Poland believe they've made a startling discovery: a group of vampire graves.

 The graves were discovered during the construction of a roadway near the Polish town of Gliwice, where archaeologists are more accustomed to finding the remains of World War II soldiers, according to The Telegraph.

 But instead of soldiers, the graves contained skeletons whose heads had been severed and placed on their legs. This indicated to the archaeologists that the bodies had been subject to a ritualized execution designed to ensure the dead stayed dead, The Telegraph reports. [Famous Fangs: Tales of Our Favorite Vampires]

 By keeping the head separated from the body, according to ancient superstition, the "undead" wouldn't be able to rise from the grave to terrorize the living. Decapitation was one way of achieving that; another way was hanging the person by a rope attached to the neck until, over time, the decaying body simply separated from the head.

 There were other, equally bizarre ways of dealing with vampire burials, according to research published by forensic anthropologist Matteo Borrini. He cites the case of a woman who died during a 16th-century plague in Venice, Italy. The woman was apparently buried with a brick wedged tightly in her open mouth, a popular medieval method of keeping suspected vampires from returning to feed on the blood of the living. The woman's grave might be the earliest known vampire burial ever found.

 Hers was a typical case of an accusation of vampirism following some calamity, such as a plague or a devastating crop failure. Accusing an individual of being a vampire was a not-uncommon way of finding a scapegoat for an otherwise unexplained disaster.

 In other cases, the body of a suspected vampire might be staked to the ground, pinning the corpse into place with a stake made of metal or wood. In 2012, archaeologists in Bulgaria found two skeletons with iron rods piercing their chests, indicating they may have been considered vampires.

 The practice of decapitating the bodies of suspected vampires before burial was common in Slavic countries during the early Christian era, when pagan beliefs were still widespread.

 In fact, their belief in vampires stemmed from both superstition about death and lack of knowledge about decomposition. Most vampire stories of history tend to follow a certain pattern where an individual or family dies of some unfortunate event or disease; before science could explain such deaths, the people chose to blame them on "vampires."

 Villagers have also mistaken ordinary decomposition processes for the supernatural. "For example, though laypeople might assume that a body would decompose immediately, if the coffin is well sealed and buried in winter, putrefaction might be delayed by weeks or months; intestinal decomposition creates bloating which can force blood up into the mouth, making it look like a dead body has recently sucked blood," writes LiveScience's Bad Science columnist Benjamin Radford. "These processes are well understood by modern doctors and morticians, but in medieval Europe were taken as unmistakable signs that vampires were real and existed among them."

 There's no consensus yet on when the bodies found in Poland were buried. According to Jacek Pierzak, one of the archaeologists on the site, the skeletons were found with no jewelry, belt buckles, buttons or any other artifacts that might assist in providing a burial date.

 Follow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com. ||||| Skeletons were found with their heads removed and placed on their legs indicating they had been subjected to an execution ritual designed to ensure the dead stayed dead.

 Sometimes they would be decapitated, while another punishment involved hanging from a gibbet until decomposition resulted in the head separating from the body. In both cases the head was then laid on the legs of the victim in the hope that an inability to locate their head would hinder the progress of those intent on rising from the grave.

 Historians say that the practice was common in the Slavic lands during the decades following the adoption of Christianity by pagan tribes.

 The remains were found on the construction site of a ring road near the town of Gliwice, and came as a surprise to archaeologists more accustomed to finding the human detritus of the bloody fighting of the Second World War.

 Just when the bodies were buried is open to speculation. Doctor Jacek Pierzak, one of the archaeologists on the site, said the skeletons were found with no jewellery, belt buckles, buttons or anything that could aid the task of determining their age.

 Unlike the classic Bram Stoker image of a caped, blood-sucking aristocrat, the definition of a vampire in the Middle Ages was far broader. Even people who abided by old pagan customs and left food on the graves of dead relatives could fall foul of accusations of vampirism, and suffer a prompt execution. |||||

– No word on whether they kept garlic or a crucifix nearby as they dug, but Polish archaeologists say they've unearthed four "vampire" skeletons. The remains were found with the head placed between their legs; folk tradition held that this burial arrangement would ensure that a possible bloodsucker couldn't find his head and come back to life. Though an archaeologist tells Polskie Radio that "it's very difficult to tell when these burials were carried out" due to their lack of jewelry or other items that could be dated, they likely occurred long before 1914—the date of the last recorded "vampire" burial in the country. The skeletons were found on a construction site near Gliwice, in southern Poland, and tests are being conducted on the remains. The Telegraph goes into greater (and gorier) detail about the ritual, which was said to be common in the Slavic region after the advent of Christianity there: Believed vampires would either be decapitated or hanged until their body naturally fell from the head due to decomposition. LiveScience points out that there were other ways to deal with suspected vampires, like using metal stakes to secure the corpse to the ground. Archaeologists in Bulgaria made just such a discovery last year.


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– Rates of interracial marriage are increasing—and you might have online dating to thank, according to a new study. The MIT Technology Review calls the results of the study a "profound revelation" and signs of an improving society. Researchers Josue Ortega and Philipp Hergovich found online dating has completely upended how society is formed. People have strong links to family and friends and weak links to a bunch of other people they're connected to through those strong links. Traditionally, it was those weak links that provided a romantic partner—think a friend's coworker or something. Then Match.com and other dating sites arrived in the mid-90s. Online dating is now the most common way homosexual couples meet and second most common way heterosexual couples meet, and 15% of Americans say they've tried online dating, according to Science Alert. Suddenly, people were forming strong links with complete strangers, ignoring those weak links altogether. Hergovich and Ortega developed a model to see how the rise of online dating affected interracial marriage. A lot, it turns out. “Our model predicts nearly complete racial integration upon the emergence of online dating," the researchers tell the Technology Review. And data from the real world supports their hypothesis. While the rate of interracial marriage has been increasing for decades, the rate notably jumped in the mid-90s, again in the 2000s when online dating got more popular, and once again in 2014 when Tinder took over the dating world. Hergovich and Ortega's model—and real-life data—also shows online dating is making marriages stronger.

Not so long ago, nobody met a partner online. Then, in the 1990s, came the first dating websites.

 Match.com went live in 1995. A new wave of dating websites, such as OKCupid, emerged in the early 2000s. And the 2012 arrival of Tinder changed dating even further. Today, more than one-third of marriages start online.

 Clearly, these sites have had a huge impact on dating behavior. But now the first evidence is emerging that their effect is much more profound.

 The way people meet their partners has changed dramatically in recent years

 For more than 50 years, researchers have studied the nature of the networks that link people to each other. These social networks turn out to have a peculiar property.

 One obvious type of network links each node with its nearest neighbors, in a pattern like a chess board or chicken wire. Another obvious kind of network links nodes at random. But real social networks are not like either of these. Instead, people are strongly connected to a relatively small group of neighbors and loosely connected to much more distant people.

 These loose connections turn out to be extremely important. “Those weak ties serve as bridges between our group of close friends and other clustered groups, allowing us to connect to the global community,” say Josue Ortega at the University of Essex in the U.K. and Philipp Hergovich at the University of Vienna in Austria.

 Loose ties have traditionally played a key role in meeting partners. While most people were unlikely to date one of their best friends, they were highly likely to date people who were linked with their group of friends; a friend of a friend, for example. In the language of network theory, dating partners were embedded in each other’s networks.

 Indeed, this has long been reflected in surveys of the way people meet their partners: through mutual friends, in bars, at work, in educational institutions, at church, through their families, and so on.

 Online dating has changed that. Today, online dating is the second most common way for heterosexual couples to meet. For homosexual couples, it is far and away the most popular.

 That has significant implications. “People who meet online tend to be complete strangers,” say Ortega and Hergovich. And when people meet in this way, it sets up social links that were previously nonexistent.

 The question that Ortega and Hergovich investigate is how this changes the racial diversity of society. “Understanding the evolution of interracial marriage is an important problem, for intermarriage is widely considered a measure of social distance in our societies,” they say.

 The researchers start by simulating what happens when extra links are introduced into a social network. Their network consists of men and women from different races who are randomly distributed. In this model, everyone wants to marry a person of the opposite sex but can only marry someone with whom a connection exists. This leads to a society with a relatively low level of interracial marriage.

 But if the researchers add random links between people from different ethnic groups, the level of interracial marriage changes dramatically. “Our model predicts nearly complete racial integration upon the emergence of online dating, even if the number of partners that individuals meet from newly formed ties is small,” say Ortega and Hergovich.

 And there is another surprising effect. The team measure the strength of marriages by measuring the average distance between partners before and after the introduction of online dating. “Our model also predicts that marriages created in a society with online dating tend to be stronger,” they say.

 Next, the researchers compare the results of their models to the observed rates of interracial marriage in the U.S. This has been on the increase for some time, but the rates are still low, not least because interracial marriage was banned in some parts of the country until 1967.

 But the rate of increase changed at about the time that online dating become popular. “It is intriguing that shortly after the introduction of the first dating websites in 1995, like Match.com, the percentage of new marriages created by interracial couples increased rapidly,” say the researchers.

 The increase became steeper in the 2000s, when online dating became even more popular. Then, in 2014, the proportion of interracial marriages jumped again. “It is interesting that this increase occurs shortly after the creation of Tinder, considered the most popular online dating app,” they say.

 Tinder has some 50 million users and produces more than 12 million matches a day.

 Of course, this data doesn’t prove that online dating caused the rise in interracial marriages. But it is consistent with the hypothesis that it does.

 Meanwhile, research into the strength of marriage has found some evidence that married couples who meet online have lower rates of marital breakup than those who meet traditionally. That has the potential to significantly benefit society. And it’s exactly what Ortega and Hergovich’s model predicts.

 Of course, there are other factors that could contribute to the increase in interracial marriage. One is that the trend is the result of a reduction in the percentage of Americans who are white. If marriages were random, this should increase the number of interracial marriages, but not by the observed amount. “The change in the population composition in the U.S. cannot explain the huge increase in intermarriage that we observe,” say Ortega and Hergovich.

 That leaves online dating as the main driver of this change. And if that’s the case, the model implies that this change is ongoing.

 That’s a profound revelation. These changes are set to continue, and to benefit society as result.

 Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1709.10478 : The Strength of Absent Ties: Social Integration via Online Dating ||||| Digital match-making services have done more than just change how we find our perfect squeeze; they're changing the fundamental nature of our social networks.

 According to a pair of researchers investigating online dating, the way we're looking for love (and lust) is connecting communities in completely novel ways, breaking down boundaries and possibly even making for stronger long-term relationships.

 It wasn't all that long ago that most relationships would begin with a smile and a handshake, rather than a click or a swipe.

 That began to change in the mid-1990s, when websites like Match.com merged traditional lonely-heart classifieds with the convenience of the internet.

 Today there's a wide variety of sites and apps to suit your tastes, lifestyle, sexuality, and budget, from Tinder and Bumble for a quick swipe to like, to OKCupid and eHarmony for those who want their wit to show with their words.

 Any stigma over online dating has slowly evaporated over the years. 15 percent of Americans admit to having used online dating, and 5 percent of those who are married or committed long-term relationships stating they met their spouse online.

 Not only has digital technology made dating easier for romantic hopefuls, the data collected by such sites has been a boon for researchers curious about human mating habits.

 But it's clear that the digital revolution hasn't only been shaped by the human appetite for sex and companionship; it's changed the way we form relationships.

 Economists Josue Ortega from the University of Essex and Philipp Hergovich from the University of Vienna wanted to know just how the rise of digital match-making has affected the nature of society.

 Society can be modelled as a web of interlinked nodes, where individuals are the node and the link describes how well they know one another.

 Most people are tightly connected with about a hundred nodes, including close friends and family, and loosely connected with others.

 We can trace pathways through relationships to all come to Kevin Bacon – or nearly any other figure on the planet – in surprisingly few steps.

 "Those weak ties serve as bridges between our group of close friends and other clustered groups, allowing us to connect to the global community," Ortega and Hergovich told MIT Technology Review.

 Even just a few decades ago most new connections were just a jump or two away inside an existing network. A bar, a sporting team, church, or college would typically provide the perfect environment for those first hot sparks.

 Not any more.

 For heterosexual couples, online dating has risen to second place – just below 'met through friends' – as the context for that first introduction. Among homosexual couples, digital match-making has skyrocketed.

 Josue Ortega/University of Essex, Philipp Hergovich/University of Vienna

 And the knock-on effect is profound.

 "People who meet online tend to be complete strangers," say the researchers.

 As far as networks go, this is like building new highways between towns, rather than taking the local backroads. Just a few random new paths between different node villages can completely change how a network functions.

 Take interracial relationships, for example, long held to be a measure of the general social distances within a population.

 Once illegal in many states, and long taboo, marriage between different ethnic groups in the US has slowly been on the rise since the mid-20th century.

 The increase steepened at the turn of the 21st century in line with the rise in online dating, and then even further as swipe-to-match apps like Tinder went mainstream around 2014 (it launched in late 2012).

 While there are almost certainly a variety of influences, the network changes resulting from online dating fits the observations perfectly.

 "Our model predicts nearly complete racial integration upon the emergence of online dating, even if the number of partners that individuals meet from newly formed ties is small," say Ortega and Hergovich.

 Marriages online were also predicted by the model to be more robust and less likely to end in divorce, a hypothesis which is supported by a study conducted in 2013.

 The study is currently available online on the pre-publish website arxiv.com, so it has not completed its full peer-review process just yet.

 It can often seem as if the online world reinforces our echo chambers and leads us to become more insular, especially when it comes to social media.

 It's nice to have some evidence that the relationships we make online are also breaking down boundaries and making for stronger connections. |||||


News article:

You might think a world-famous filmmaker and author would be above petty crime. But you would be wrong! Miranda July, the twee mind behind the film “You And Me And Everyone We Know,” has confessed in this week’s issue of The New Yorker to a sordid history of shoplifting. Her first time stealing was during her freshman year of college when she nabbed a package of Neosporin. The minute a guard apprehended her, she wet her pants. And if you think that an incident of public peeing might have put the woman off from shoplifting, you would be wrong again! July continued to shoplift at the grocery store and even at Goodwill. (Yes, this woman stole from charity. Oof.) If you ever go to one of Miranda July’s book signings, watch your purse. [New Yorker]

 Alas, Miranda July isn’t the only celeb with sticky fingers. Here are 10 more female celebs who have (allegedly) given themselves a five finger discount. ||||| I don’t remember the first time I did it, but I remember the first time I got caught. I was a freshman at U.C. Santa Cruz, the store was called Zanotto’s, the item was Neosporin. I took it out of its packaging, bent down as if to scratch my ankle, and then wedged the tube of triple-antibiotic ointment into my white ankle sock. When the guard grabbed my arm, I was so scared I peed on the floor. As we waited for the police to come, I had to watch a janitor clean up my pee with a mop. I was taken down to the station and formally arrested: fingerprints, mug shot—they really wanted to teach this nineteen-year-old, transparent-dress-wearing punk a lesson. The lesson I learned was that I was now legally an adult, so I didn’t have to worry that my parents would be called. I was free—even my crimes belonged to me alone.

 In time, I improved. I discovered that stealing required a loose, casual energy, a sort of oneness with the environment, like surfing or horse-whispering. And once I knew I could do it I felt strangely obliged to. I remember feeling guilty for not stealing, as though I were wasting money. After I dropped out of college and moved to Portland, Oregon, it became part of my livelihood. I stared at my shopping list like a stressed housewife, deliberating over which items to steal and which to buy with food stamps. My preferred purse was gigantic and discreetly rigid, like a suitcase. I packed it with blocks of cheese, loaves of bread, and lots of soy products, because I was a vegetarian.

 But it wasn’t just about the supermarket—the whole world was one giant heist. It goes without saying that I used magnets to reset the Kinko’s copy counters to zero, and carried scissors to cut alarm tags out of clothes. Everyone I knew did these things. I say this not to excuse myself but just so you can visualize a legion of energetic, intelligent young lady criminals. Anytime anyone we knew flew into Portland, we urged her to buy luggage insurance and allow us to steal her bag from the baggage carrousel. The visiting friend then had to perform the role of the frantic claims reporter and was given a cut of the insurance money. Some friends were up for this; others thought it was an inhospitable thing to ask.

 My first employer in Portland was Goodwill, which, yes, is a charitable organization, and, no, I did not have any qualms about slipping books and clothes and knickknacks into my bag. Because what is money, anyway? It’s just a concept some asshole made up. I also put red “Sold” tags on large appliances and entire living-room sets, and felt magnanimous as my friends gleefully loaded up their vans. One day, a co-worker was admiring a pink blouse that had just come in. I encouraged her to take it, and when she wouldn’t I put the blouse in a Goodwill bag and ran out of the store calling, “Sir! Sir! You forgot your bag!” Then I stuffed it in the bushes. At closing time, I fished it out with a halfhearted “What’s this?” and handed it to my prim co-worker. Prim and ungrateful, as it turned out. I was called into the boss’s office the next morning; the pink shirt was on her desk. “The good news is we’re not going to press charges,” she said. I wept as I walked over the river to the place where my girlfriend worked as a dog groomer. I’d never been fired before. It was a lot like dropping out of school or being arrested. All of these institutions, in their crude, clumsy way, seemed to be saying, You don’t need us, we’ll never understand you, and it’s important for you not to want us to.

 I took the message to heart. I labored obsessively over creative pursuits they would never recognize, hurtling through systems and hierarchies as if nothing that already existed were relevant to me. I performed at colleges and scanned the room for what I could take. Even a box of chalk slipped into my pocket reassured me that I still had my freedom—the freedom to steal, to self-destruct, to ruin everything.

 There was an exact moment when I decided to quit. I was sitting on a man’s lap and we had just determined that I was “his girl.” As we kissed, I thought, Well, I guess I have to stop stealing now. As if the idea of having a boyfriend, of being straight, required straightening out in other ways. I may have been looking for an excuse; I may have realized that I didn’t need to be a criminal to be an artist. Art itself could be the crime—could be scary and dangerous enough to shoulder my rebellion. After a while, I also stopped getting into physical fights, working in peepshows, bleaching my hair white, and wearing my tights over my shoes. Still, for a long time I thought my biggest heist was fooling everyone into believing that I was an upstanding citizen, a sweet girl. Then, just a few years ago, I realized that everyone feels secretly fraudulent. It’s the feeling of being an adult. ♦ |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Despite their fame and (sometimes) fortune, even celebrities occasionally turn to crime. The Frisky rounds up 11 (alleged!) celebrity thieves: Miranda July: The indie filmmaker admitted in the New Yorker that she stole some Neosporin as a college freshman—then peed her pants when apprehended. Even so, she says she kept on shoplifting, even from Goodwill. Farrah Fawcett: She took clothes from a boutique and was charged with shoplifting in 1970, but she called it "vigilante behavior"—citing the store's unfair return policy. Courtney Love: The troubled rocker has been sued for not returning $114,000 worth of borrowed jewelry. Megan Fox: After taking some lip gloss as a child, the future star was banned from Walmart for life. Angelina Pivarnick: The former Jersey Shore star was accused of never returning a gown she borrowed from a designer for the MTV Movie Awards. Click for the full list, which includes a tennis star and a former Miss USA.


– The 200-year-old Buddhist monk found still seated in the lotus position is not dead, but is rather in a rare spiritual state known as tukdam, Buddhism experts suggest. Dr. Barry Kerzin, a famous fellow monk who is also a physician to the Dalai Lama, tells the Siberian Times that monks in this state go into "very deep meditation" and, if they can stay in such a state for more than three weeks, their bodies shrink until all that remains are "hair, nails, and clothes," he says. "Usually in this case, people who live next to the monk see a rainbow that glows in the sky for several days. This means that he has found a 'rainbow body.' This is the highest state close to the state of Buddha," and someone who remains in the state can even become a Buddha, he says. He adds that over the past five decades, there have been 40 such cases in India. Ganhugiyn Purevbata, founder and professor at the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art at Ulaanbaatar Buddhist University, agrees: The monk "is sitting in the lotus position vajra, the left hand is opened, and the right hand symbolizes of the preaching Sutra," he says. "This is a sign that the Lama is not dead, but is in a very deep meditation according to the ancient tradition of Buddhist lamas." But scientists have a different take, theorizing that the cold weather in Mongolia, where the monk was found, helped preserve him, the BBC reports. And the Washington Post notes that such "accidental mummies" have been discovered in freezing climates before, like a 9,000-year-old mummified bison in Siberia. Meanwhile, there is drama of a less spiritual type unfolding: Police say a man stole the monk from a cave in another part of the country and was planning to sell him on the black market, but police learned of the plot, recovered the monk, and arrested the man for smuggling. (Click for more on the spiritual practice of self-mummification.)

Expand this summary.

Image copyright The Siberian Times/Morning Newspaper Image caption The monk was found wrapped in traditional Buddhist robes

 A mummified monk found preserved in Mongolia last week has been baffling and astounding those who uncovered him.

 Senior Buddhists say the monk, found sitting in the lotus position, is in a deep meditative trance and not dead.

 Forensic examinations are under way on the remains, found wrapped in cattle skins in north-central Mongolia.

 Scientists have yet to determine how the monk is so well preserved, though some think Mongolia's cold weather could be the reason.

 But Dr Barry Kerzin, a physician to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, told the Siberian Times that the monk was in a rare state of meditation called "tukdam".

 "If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha," Dr Kerzin said.

 The monk was discovered after being stolen by a man hoping to sell him on the black market.

 Mongolian police have arrested the culprit and the monk is now being guarded at the National Centre of Forensic Expertise.

 Worship for eternity

 Image copyright The Siberian Times/Morning Newspaper Image caption The monk was found as he was about to be sold on the black market

 The identity of the monk is unclear, though there is speculation that he is the teacher of Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, who was also found mummified.

 In 1927, Itigilov - from neighbouring Buryatia in the then Soviet Union - supposedly told his students he was going to die and that they should exhume his body in 30 years.

 The lama sat in the lotus position, began meditating and died.

 When he was dug up, legend has it that his body was still preserved.

 Fearing interference by the Soviet authorities, his followers reburied him and he remained at rest until 2002 when he was again dug up to great fanfare and found still well preserved.

 The lama was then placed in a Buddhist temple to be worshipped for eternity. ||||| The mummified remains, covered in cattle skin, were found on January 27 in the Songinokhairkhan province. Picture: Morning Newspaper

 A mummified monk found in the lotus position in Mongolia is 'not dead' and is instead one stage away from becoming a real-life Buddha, it has been claimed.

 Forensic examinations are under way on the amazing remains, which are believed to be around 200 years old, having been preserved in animal skin. But one expert has insisted the human relic is actually in 'very deep meditation' and in a rare and very special spiritual state known as 'tukdam'.

 Over the last 50 years there are said to have been 40 such cases in India involving meditating Tibetan monks.

 Dr Barry Kerzin, a famous Buddhist monk and a physician to the Dalai Lama, said: 'I had the privilege to take care of some meditators who were in a tukdam state.

 'If the person is able to remain in this state for more than three weeks - which rarely happens - his body gradually shrinks, and in the end all that remains from the person is his hair, nails, and clothes. Usually in this case, people who live next to the monk see a rainbow that glows in the sky for several days. This means that he has found a 'rainbow body'. This is the highest state close to the state of Buddha'.

 He added: 'If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha. Reaching such a high spiritual level the meditator will also help others, and all the people around will feel a deep sense of joy'.

 Initial speculation is that the mummy could be a teacher of Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov.

 Born in 1852, Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov was a Buryat Buddhist Lama of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, best known for the lifelike state of his body.

 The 'meditating monk' and the house in Mongolia where it was hidden. Pictures: Morning Newspaper

 Ganhugiyn Purevbata, who is the founder and professor of the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art at Ulaanbaatar Buddhist University, said: 'Lama is sitting in the lotus position vajra, the left hand is opened, and the right hand symbolizes of the preaching Sutra.

 'This is a sign that the Lama is not dead, but is in a very deep meditation according to the ancient tradition of Buddhist lamas'.

 The mummified remains, which were covered in cattle skin, were found on January 27 in the Songinokhairkhan province of Mongolia.

 However, there is more to the story and now police have revealed that the monk had been stolen from another part of the country and was about to be sold off.

 An unnamed official said that it was taken from a cave in the Kobdsk region by a man who then hid it in his own home in Ulaanbaatar.

 He had then been planning to sell it on the black market at a 'very high price', with local media claiming he wanted to take it over the Mongolian border. Police uncovered the plot and quickly arrested a 45-year-old, named only as Enhtor.

 According to Article 18 of the Criminal Code of Mongolia smuggling items of cultural heritage are punishable with either a fine of up to 3million roubles ($43,000) or between five and 12 years in prison. The monk is now being guarded at the National Centre of Forensic Expertise at Ulaanbaatar. |||||

 Is this the body of famed Buddhist monk Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov? (Courtesy of Morning Newspaper/The Siberian Times)

 Rare is the day that Mongolia wades into the international realm. These days, despite the nation’s sweeping size, its population has shriveled to less than 3 million. But every now and then, something remarkable rises out of its storied past — like a Genghis Khan find — to grab attention that has long eluded it.

 Today is one of those days.

 Mongolian scientists, according to reports in the Siberian Times and local Mongol media, are investigating the remains of what researchers describe as the 200-year-old corpse of a monk who was found frozen — yes — in lotus position. The monk “is sitting in the lotus position vajra, the left hand is opened, and the right hand symbolizes the preaching Sutra,” Ganhugiyn Purevbata, a professor at the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art at Ulaanbaatar Buddhist University, told the Siberian Times.

 None of this has been verified independently or described in a peer-reviewed publication.

 Though incredible, there is an undeniably rich history of scientists discovering so-called “accidental mummies” in areas of extreme chill like Mongolia. Last year, a 9,000-year-old mummified bison turned up in Siberia. Then some Russian archaeologists dug up a trove of accidental mummies masked under copper plates. Even forces as powerful as decomposition will sometimes stall, it appears, in the face of fierce chills.

 Perhaps even for a monk in lotus position.

 The Siberian Times, which also originally broke a story about a mysterious Siberian crater, reported the monk was found on Jan. 27 in north central Mongolia. He was covered in cattle skin. “The mummified body sits in a lotus position, as if still meditating,” Mongolia’s Morning Newspaper said. “Experts that only had time to carry basic visual test say they believe the body can be about 200 years old.” At the time of that report, which hit one week ago, Mongolia’s Morning Newspaper confessed it didn’t know many of the details of the mummified monk’s origins.

 But those details now appear to be filling in — along with a dose of intrigue, geopolitics and mystery. There’s strong suspicion the body belongs to famed Mongol Buddhist monk Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, who inhabited the rugged Siberian terrain near the border with Mongolia. Born in 1852, his myth was solidified with his death in 1927, the New York Times reported in 2002.

 “Then 75 and retired, [he] instructed those gathered around him to ‘visit and look at my body’ in 30 years,” Times reporter Steven Lee Myers wrote. “He crossed his legs into the lotus position, began to mediate and, chanting a prayer for the dead, died.” The intervening decades were not kind to the Buddhists inhabiting that area of Russia. Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union enacted severe crackdowns, executing hundreds of Buddhists and laying waste to their temples. So when the Itigilov’s students came upon his cemetery 30 years after his death as he requested, it wasn’t clear what they would find.

 “What they found, as the story goes, was Itigilov’s body, still in the lotus position, still perfectly intact, having defied nature’s imperative to decay,” the Times said.

 Not knowing what else to do, they fitted the monk’s body back into his crypt. And there it remained for the next 75 years. Then on Sept. 11, 2002, before a small gathering of dozen witnesses, it was pulled free once more. The body was still somehow preserved, which spawned much international speculation. Was it the monk’s genes? Was it his burial process? Was he embalmed? Salt? Soil? Faith? What was it?

 “To me, it is the greatest miracle in life,” spiritual leader Hambo Lama Ayusheyev said. “It turns out there are things on which time has no power.”

 Now, 13 years later, it appears as though the saga of the mummified monk had a final twist. Today’s monk was discovered on a snow-covered estate in Mongolia’s Songinokhairkhan province, but local authorities believe the monk didn’t die there. “Police have revealed that the monk had been stolen from another part of the country and was about to be sold off,” the Siberian Times reported. “He had then been planning to sell it on the black market at a ‘very high price,’ with local [Mongol] media claiming he wanted to take it over the Mongolian border. Police uncovered the plot and quickly arrested a 45-year-old, named only as Enhtor.”

 Though local officials suspect that this corpse was, in fact, the remains of Itigilov, many elements of the story remain unclear. How was the monk’s corpse stolen? Who is this mysterious Enhtor? There’s a black market for frozen bodies?

 Whatever this story’s resolution — whether the body is the monk’s corpse, or another monk’s corpse — the body is now reportedly under guard at Ulaanbaatar’s National Center of Forensic Expertise.

 “If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha,” Barry Kerzin, an aide to the Dalai Lama, told the Siberian Times. “Reaching such a high spiritual level, the meditator will also help others. And all the people around will feel a deep sense of joy.” |||||