Article:

LONDON -- The Bank of England swallowed its pride and overcame its perceived prejudice Wednesday by designating Jane Austen as the new face of the 10-pound note, bowing to public outrage over the possibility that only male historical figures would be represented on British currency.

 The beloved novelist will probably appear on bank notes starting in 2017, a year after the portrait of 19th century prison reformer Elizabeth Fry is to be phased out from the five-pound note. The announcement in April that Fry would be replaced by wartime leader Winston Churchill, thus eliminating any women from Britain’s past on its bank notes, sparked protests and an online petition that drew more than 30,000 signatures.

 “We’ve listened, and we fully understand the concerns that were raised by many people,” said Mark Carney, the new governor of the Bank of England, who took up the post three weeks ago. “We believe that our notes should celebrate the full diversity of British historical figures and their contributions in a wide range of fields.”

 About Austen, who wrote the classics “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility,” Carney added: “We’re very certain that she will prove a popular choice.”

 The move followed a storm of criticism and a creative campaign that included the Internet petition and a protest at Bank of England headquarters by women dressed up as important female figures in British history, such as scientist Rosalind Franklin and the ancient warrior-queen Boadicea.

 Caroline Criado-Perez, a freelance journalist who led the drive for women’s representation on bank notes, said she was “absolutely delighted” with Carney’s decision, which he announced at a news conference at Austen’s home in Hampshire, now a museum.

 Criado-Perez is particularly pleased that Carney has promised a review of how the bank chooses the people who appear on its bills. Carney pledged to revisit the criteria and to make the selection process more transparent.

 “If we want to stop having basically white men running everything and being chosen for everything, then the process by which we value things and choose things needs to be changed,” said Criado-Perez.

 The Bank of England’s change of heart comes at an interesting time. At present, besides Fry the reformer, the only woman featured on British currency is 87-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, who as monarch appears on all notes and coins.

 But after her death, Britain is likely to be ruled by kings for decades, since the next three in line for the throne are Prince Charles, 64, Prince William, 31, and William’s new son, George Alexander Louis, who was born Monday. With male monarchs eventually replacing Elizabeth on British money, the need to ensure that notable women from British history also appear takes on even more urgency.

 Austen will be only the third such woman to grace a banknote, following Fry and nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale. Her face will replace Charles Darwin’s.

 A prototype of the bill unveiled Wednesday shows the silhouette of a writing desk and a drawing of the house where Austen’s brother lived, which is believed to have been an inspiration for places in some of her novels.

 The writer’s portrait is based on a sketch by her sister, and below her gently smiling face is a quote from “Pride and Prejudice”: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading.”

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 Edward Snowden cleared to leave Moscow airport -- but not today ||||| Jane Austen has been confirmed as the next face of the £10 note – but for the quote that will feature on the reverse, the Bank of England is steering clear of her many waspish observations on the subject of money in favour of a line from Pride and Prejudice: "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!"

 Using Austen's image on banknotes is surprisingly apt: her novels and letters feature an abundance of choice quotes and remarks on the obligations of wealth, the extravagance of the rich and the challenges presented by barely having enough money to live comfortably.

 "I am sorry to tell you that I am getting very extravagant, and spending all my money, and, what is worse for you, I have been spending yours, too." That is not a line from a novel but from one of Austen's 1811 letters to her sister Cassandra, in which she discloses she went shopping for fabric but was "tempted" by a pretty-coloured muslin.

 That's certainly not a sentiment that would have sat well with new Bank governor Mark Carney's predecessor, Sir Mervyn King, who was accused by some of banging the drum for the need for austerity.

 If the Bank had been looking to preach a message of thrift, there are plenty of Austenisms to support that, too. In 1799, as a young woman, Austen was provided with an allowance of "£5 a quarter" by her father, according to the Jane Austen Society, and clearly wasn't above frequenting the 18th-century equivalent of the pound shop. "We have been to the cheap shop, and very cheap we found it," she wrote to Cassandra.

 Or how about this line from an early work, Lady Susan: "When a man has once got his name in a banking-house he rolls in money." Perhaps a little too close to the bone, bearing in mind the recent kerfuffle surrounding the £874,000-a-year pay and perks package handed to Carney.

 To his credit – or, perhaps, because he aware he was surrounded by Austenophiles who might fire the quote back at him – Carney proactively drew attention to the line when he delivered a speech at Jane Austen's House Museum in Chawton, Hampshire, on Wednesday to confirm that the author would appear on £10 notes, probably from 2017. King had previously let slip to MPs that Austen was "waiting in the wings" as a potential candidate to feature on a banknote.

 "Jane Austen certainly merits a place in the select group of historical figures to appear on our banknotes. Her novels have an enduring and universal appeal and she is recognised as one of the greatest writers in English literature. As Austen joins Adam Smith, Boulton and Watt, and in future, Churchill, our notes will celebrate a diverse range of individuals who have contributed in a wide range of fields," said Carney.

 The theme of money runs through Austen's novels, from Mr Darcy's reported £10,000-a-year fortune in Pride and Prejudice, to the Dashwood sisters' lack of cash in Sense and Sensibility.

 "She does write about money, I think, more than any other canonical novelist in English," the Austen scholar Prof Janet Todd told an audience at the Hay festival last month. "All the Austen characters, except the entirely idealistic or the very stupid, know that the relationship to money is important."

 Austen on money

 • "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of." – Mansfield Park

 • "Oh! my sweetest Lizzy! how rich and how great you will be! What pin-money, what jewels, what carriages you will have! Jane's is nothing to it – nothing at all. I am so pleased – so happy. Such a charming man! – so handsome! so tall! … Ten thousand a year, and very likely more! 'Tis as good as a Lord!" – Mrs Bennet's remark to her daughter Elizabeth on hearing of her engagement to Mr Darcy, Pride and Prejudice

 • "I am not without hopes of tempting Mrs Lloyd to settle in Bath; meat is only 8d per pound, butter 12d, and cheese 9 1/2 d. You must carefully conceal from her, however, the exorbitant price of fish: a salmon has been sold at 2s 9d per pound the whole fish." – from a letter written by Austen to her sister Cassandra in 1801

 • "Business, you know, may bring money, but friendship hardly ever does." – Emma

 • "We have been to the cheap shop, and very cheap we found it, but there are only flowers made there, no fruit; and as I could get four or five very pretty sprigs of the former for the same money which would procure only one Orleans plum – in short, could get more for three or four shillings than I could have means of bringing home – I cannot decide on the fruit till I hear from you again." – letter to Cassandra, 1799 ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption People from Jane Austen's hometown of Alton give their views on the note

 Author Jane Austen is to feature on the next £10 note, the Bank of England says, avoiding a long-term absence of women represented on banknotes.

 The Pride and Prejudice author will be the next face of the note, replacing Charles Darwin, probably in 2017.

 Chancellor George Osborne tweeted the move showed "sense and sensibility".

 In April, the Bank prompted a high-profile campaign against the prospect of having no female characters, besides the Queen, on the UK's currency.

 It had announced that Sir Winston Churchill would be put on the £5 note from 2016, replacing social reformer Elizabeth Fry.

 The latest announcement means that women could be absent from newly issued banknotes for up to a year, although the Elizabeth Fry £5 note will still be in circulation.

 'In the wings'

 On Twitter, Mr Osborne wrote: "[Incoming Bank of England governor] Mark Carney's choice of Jane Austen as face of £10 note is great. After understandable row over lack of women, shows sense and sensibility."

 Banknotes are regularly redesigned, in order to maintain security and prevent forgeries.

 Banknotes around the world Denmark has six different note denominations, half of which showed famous Danish women (Karen Blixen, Anna Ancher and Johanne Luise Heiberg)

 US banknotes mostly celebrate former presidents and signatories to 1776 declaration of independence, all of whom are men

 The Queen appears on more denominations than anyone else - she features on currency in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK

 The most recent new design from the Bank of England to enter circulation was the £50 note. This features Matthew Boulton and James Watt, who were most celebrated for bringing the steam engine into the textile manufacturing process.

 The decision to replace Elizabeth Fry on the £5 note prompted protests and discussions about female representation on banknotes, but Jane Austen was thought to have already been part of the Bank's plans for the next new note.

 Sir Mervyn King, in his last public appearance as governor of the Bank, said the author was "quietly waiting in the wings" to replace Darwin.

 Mr Carney started discussions about female representation on banknotes on his first day in office.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mark Carney discusses women on banknotes and in the Bank of England

 The Bank said in a statement that it was "never the Bank's intention" that none of the four characters on banknotes would be a woman.

 "Jane Austen certainly merits a place in the select group of historical figures to appear on our banknotes. Her novels have an enduring and universal appeal and she is recognised as one of the greatest writers in English literature," Mr Carney said.

 He also announced a review of the selection process for future banknote characters. Jane Austen will be the 17th historical figure to appear on Bank of England notes. The review will be completed by the end of the year.

 Campaign

 The pressure was increased on the new governor through protests, an online petition - signed by 35,000 people, and a threat of legal action.

 Image caption Caroline Criado-Perez led a campaign for more female representation on banknotes

 The campaign was led by Caroline Criado-Perez, from Rutland, who was invited to speak to Bank officials about the situation earlier in July.

 She described the expected announcement as "a brilliant day for women and a fantastic one for people power".

 "We warmly welcome this move from the Bank and thank them for listening to us and taking such positive and emphatic steps to address our concerns," she said.

 "To hear Jane Austen confirmed is fantastic, but to hear the process will be comprehensively reviewed is even better.

 The money raised for a legal challenge will now be donated to women's charities the Fawcett Society, Women's Aid and Rape Crisis.

 Banknote features

 Jane Austen, who lived from 1775 to 1817, became one of the country's most celebrated novelists. She was born in Hampshire as one of eight children.

 Image caption Jane Austen is one of the country's most celebrated authors. She died in 1817

 She began to write as a teenager. Her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, appeared in 1811. She described her next novel, Pride and Prejudice, as her "own darling child".

 Her other published novels were Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey - the final two of which were published after her death.

 Most of her novels were published anonymously.

 The portrait of Jane Austen, which will appear on the banknote, is adapted from a sketch drawn by her sister Cassandra Austen. Other features include:

 A quote from Pride and Prejudice - "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!"

 An illustration of Elizabeth Bennet, one of the characters in Pride and Prejudice

 An image of Godmersham Park in Kent - the home of Jane Austen's brother, Edward Austen Knight, and the inspiration for a number of novels

 A central background design of the author's writing table which she used at home at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire

 Fellow writers William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens have appeared on banknotes in recent times. Dickens was on the £10 note and Shakespeare on the £20 note.

 Bank of England notes can be spent throughout the UK. In addition, three banks in Scotland and four in Northern Ireland are authorised to issue banknotes. |||||
What is a summary?

– Jane Austen is going on Britain's 10-pound note in 2017, reports the BBC. And the guy she's replacing is no slouch—Charles Darwin. Along with her image will be a quote from Austen's Pride and Prejudice: "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!" The Guardian calls the decision "surprisingly apt" given how frequently the theme of money comes up in Austen's novels, even if it finds the choice of quote a little "safe." So why the move? The push began earlier this year when the Bank of England announced that Winston Churchill would replace prison reformer Elizabeth Fry on the 5-pound note. Critics pointed out that would leave no women on the nation's currency, except for the queen. And as the LA Times notes, this week's birth of a certain royal baby means that Britain will be ruled by kings for decades after the 87-year-old queen dies. Austen's presence means at least one woman will remain on the money.


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 WASHINGTON — When the news broke that Reality Winner, a 25-year-old NSA contractor with an apparently heavy social media presence, had been charged with leaking a classified document to reporters, many people wondered: How does someone so young have a such a top-level security clearance?

 It’s actually very common.

 "The vast majority of people who do the National Security Agency’s intercept work, who translate and analyze — most of them are fresh out of high school," said Matthew Aid, an intelligence historian who has written about the NSA. "There are thousands and thousands of 18 to 21-year-olds doing critically important and secret work around the world."

 Related: Feds Arrest NSA Contractor in Leak of Top Secret Russia Document

 The NSA is a military intelligence agency, and many of the people who work on the front lines of intelligence gathering in the military are young enlisted personnel. If they are eavesdropping on anyone from a terrorist in Afghanistan to a Russian colonel, they need a very high security clearance. The equipment, the methods, the words they hear — are all highly classified.

 So it was that Winner, who served in the Air Force from 2010 until December 2016, found her way to a job as a contractor at an NSA facility in Georgia. A Cryptologic Language Analyst for the Air Force, she was fluent in the languages of Afghanistan. She was arrested at her home Saturday for allegedly leaking a document about Russian hacking of U.S. electoral systems that was published in a story by The Intercept on Monday afternoon.

 The issue that Winner’s arrest highlights is not her age, current and former intelligence officials say — it is what they perceive as a cultural shift that has led a small but growing subset of spy agency employees to break the ultimate organizational taboo, and share secrets with the public and the news media.

 There have always been American spies who have betrayed their country for money. Now, from Chelsea Manning to Edward Snowden to Reality Winner, a new class of rogue employee has emerged: People who decide there are secrets the public needs to know, and take it upon themselves to share them with reporters.

 Reality Leigh Winner, 25, a federal contractor charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for sending classified material to a news organization, poses in a picture posted to her Instagram account. Reality Winner / Instagram via Reuters

 "It’s a new kind of insider threat that the agency can’t defend against," Aid said.

 And it’s getting worse, he added, in part because "Donald Trump and the change in the political scene in America has created an environment for a lot of people who feel that they have to DO something. You become an instant activist."

 Winner was vocal in her opposition to Trump on social media, but her motives are unclear. According to federal charging documents, she admitted to mailing a Top Secret document detailing Russian hacking intelligence to the news media. She faces one count of "gathering, transmitting or losing defense information."

 The lines are blurry, but Winner and those like her seem in a different class than the Washington insiders who have always leaked to settle internal scores or to make policy points. They are small fries, far from the nation’s power centers, inside a vast intelligence apparatus who decide the public needs to know what they do. Manning leaked from Baghdad; Snowden was based in Hawaii; Winner was in Georgia.

 "These are people who have a greater sense of loyalty to some outside cause than to the organization they are working in, and that’s a new thing for the intelligence community," said a former senior NSA official, who asked not to be named so he could speak more candidly about sensitive topics.

 There is another dimension, another former NSA official said: Too much information is classified, and everyone working in intelligence knows it.

 Related: NSA Leak Mystery Not Solved With Arrest of Hal Martin

 Indeed, the document Winner allegedly leaked did not seem, on its face, to be terribly sensitive. The U.S. government, after all, was perfectly willing to acknowledge its authenticity by charging Winner barely an hour after the story broke on The Intercept, as if to send a message. The charging documents don’t link the case to The Intercept, but officials quickly did so in background comments to reporters.

 Her attorney, Titus Thomas Nichols, said Winner has yet to enter a plea, although a detention hearing is scheduled for Thursday. She remains jailed in Lincoln County.

 "A week ago today she was living her life," he said. "Now she’s in the middle of a political whirlwind." ||||| (CNN) The federal contractor accused of leaking classified information to an online news outlet regarding a 2016 Russian military intelligence cyberattack complained about the Trump administration and posted about leaks on what appears to be her public Twitter account.

 Reality Leigh Winner, 25, was employed as a contractor with Pluribus International Corp., a government facility in Georgia from around February 13, according to an affidavit supporting her arrest. Her Twitter activity dropped significantly after that date.

 The Justice Department announced charges Monday against Winner. She is accused of leaking classified information, used as the basis for an article The Intercept published Monday, detailing a classified National Security Agency memo.

 Twitter account under Sara Winners

 Winner posted on Twitter as Sara Winners but didn't seem too concerned with concealing her identity. Her profile picture is a photo of herself, and she posted a selfie in February.

 She also uses her Twitter username @Reezlie on Instagram; however, her activity on the two platforms differed dramatically. On Instagram, she primarily posted selfies from the gym and pictures of food, while on Twitter she rarely posted about herself, focusing more on politics -- behavior not uncommon for people who use both social networks.

 Accounts she follows

 Winner follows 50 Twitter accounts, among them Edward Snowden, WikiLeaks, several with links to the group Anonymous and "alt" government agency accounts that became popular after President Donald Trump's inauguration, including AltFDA. None of the accounts appear to be personal connections.

 Anti-Trump

 Winner didn't hide her disdain for Trump. On Election Night, when it became apparent that Trump would win, she tweeted, "Well. People suck. #ElectionNight"

 On February 11, she was particularly active on the social network, tweeting directly at the President, describing him as an "orange fascist."

 Melania and I are hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mrs. Abe at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. They are a wonderful couple! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2017

 the most dangerous entry to this country was the orange fascist we let into the white house — Sara Winners (@Reezlie) February 11, 2017

 Winner didn't appear to post explicitly about hacking or leaking but did retweet and like several tweets on the topic.

 She "liked' a tweet from the hacking group Anonymous in November that hinted at hacking a Mac computer the then-President-elect was using.

 Donald Trump using a Mac. Very insecure! Would be SAD if something happened!! https://t.co/9DPWiBRgtK — Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) November 29, 2016

 Winner also favorited a February 15 tweet linking to an article about White House press secretary Sean Spicer's reported lax approach to his personal data security and also liked a WikiLeaks tweet linking to a Wall Street Journal reported headlined, "Spies Keep Intelligence From Donald Trump on Leak Concerns."

 WSJ says US intelligence says it is intentionally concealing information from US president @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/1tYJNENLAR pic.twitter.com/u8hzVDZI2q — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 16, 2017

 'Alt' accounts

 She follows several "rogue" Twitter accounts designed to look like they are run by federal agencies. Many of these accounts claim to be run by agency employees unhappy with the Trump administration.

 She retweeted a post in January from the "Rogue NASA" account that attempted to explain why such accounts were becoming more popular.

 Rogue Twitter accounts are fun, but gov't employees and scientists are very afraid of being fired if they speak out & share facts. #resist — Rogue NASA (@RogueNASA) January 25, 2017

 Winner's Twitter activity slowed in mid-February, and the last time she appeared to tweet before her arrest Saturday was on March 5, when she tweeted at Anonymous, "what happened to the Feb 28th call for Trump to resign?"

 Her mother, Billie Winner, said her daughter wasn't especially political and had not praised past leakers such as Snowden to her. "She's never ever given me any kind of indication that she was in favor of that at all," her mother said. "I don't know how to explain it."

 Her court-appointed attorney, Titus Nichols, told CNN he was unable to confirm Tuesday that the Twitter account was Winner's.

 Earlier, he said he believes the government has a political agenda by going after his client, whom he says is a low-level government employee. Nichols said he hasn't seen anything that would lead him to believe Winner is guilty of these charges.

 CNN has reached out to Pluribus International to ask if it was aware of Winner's Twitter account. ||||| Reality Leigh Winner, a federal contractor from Augusta, Georgia, has been charged by the Department of Justice for leaking classified information on a 2016 Russian military intelligence cyberattack to The Intercept, an online news outlet.

 Winner, who is 25 years old, was not a public figure prior to the news of her arrest. Here's what we know about her so far.

 A federal contractor who allegedly took a risk

 Winner served as a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation, according to officials, and had been working at an unidentified government facility in Georgia "since on or about Feb. 13," according to an affidavit in support of application for her arrest warrant, written by Justin C. Garrick, a special agent with the FBI.

 Pluribus International Corporation lists one employee location in Georgia on its website -- Fort Gordon, a United States Army installation -- but it's unclear if that is indeed where Winner was based.

 ABC News reached out to Pluribus International Corporation for a comment about Winner's arrest but did not immediately receive a response.

 She had top secret security clearance at her job, Garrick wrote in the affidavit.

 On or about May 9, 2017, Winner allegedly printed and improperly removed the classified intelligence report, according to Garrick's affidavit, which noted that the material had been dated on May 5.

 The Intercept reached out to the government on May 30 for comment on the story it was planning to run, and on June 1, the FBI was notified about that interaction.

 According to the affidavit, Winner confessed to Agent Garrick on June 3.

 Winner was formally charged by the Justice Department with removing and mailing classified material to a news outlet on Monday. She has not yet entered a plea.

 Her attorney told ABC News that Winner remains in federal custody, and will have a detention hearing on Thursday to determine if she will be released before her trial.

 "A good person ... caught in a political whirlwind"

 Winner is a former Air Force linguist who speaks Pashto, Farsi and Dari, according to her attorney, and had recently worked as a yoga instructor at a studio called Oh Yeah Yoga in Augusta.

 Oh Yeah Yoga owner Annalisa Adams described Winner to ABC News as a "reliable" employee.

 "She taught first class at my studio in January," Adams said. "She started doing sub stuff but eventually - she was so reliable - I gave her two classes."

 She added, "[Winner] was never anything but completely professional and we're honestly all in complete shock that she took this step."

 "She’s a good person with no criminal history who is caught in a political whirlwind," her attorney, Titus Thomas Nichols, told ABC News in a statement Monday night.

 Winner’s mother, Billie Winner-Davis, called her a "very passionate" person who was outspoken about her beliefs.

 "Very passionate about her views and things like that, but she’s never to my knowledge been active in politics or any of that,” Winner-Davis told The Daily Beast on Monday.

 Gary Davis, Winner’s stepfather, described Winner to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday as a veteran and a patriot.

 “She’s a veteran, six years’ service of the Air Force,” he said. “She received commendations during that time. She’s just a passionate young woman who probably made some mistakes.”

 “You may not agree with her politics but she is a patriot,” Davis told the paper.

 Winner's social media presence shows her to be frequently critical of President Trump, and concerned about environmental issues.

 Roughly four months ago, she wrote a Facebook post that was critical of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

 "Repeat after me: In the United States of America, in the year 2017, access to clean, fresh, water is not a right, but a privilege based off one's socio-economic status," Winner wrote. "If that didn't feel good to say aloud, contact your senators today and tell them those exact words as to why the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines cannot be built on American soil. Let's fix the pipes meant to bring water, sans lead or pollutants, to our citizens before we build pipes meant to benefit big oil and poison the land. #NoDAPL" |||||

Write a summary.

– Reality Winner was charged Monday with leaking a document about the Russian hacking of US electoral systems. One of the most surprising things, according to NBC News, was that a 25-year-old had top-level security clearance. But apparently it's not that unusual. Most people who do NSA work involving intercepting communications and translation are just out of high school. "There are thousands and thousands of 18- to 21-year-olds doing critically important and secret work around the world," an expert on the NSA says. Many of them, like Winner, are young members of the military. She served six years in the Air Force. A high security clearance is needed to listen in on terrorists or members of foreign governments. Intelligence officials are concerned that Winner is part of a growing number of American intelligence employees leaking state secrets not for money but because they feel the public has a right to know the information. The election of President Trump is making people feel like they need to take action. CNN details Winner's anti-Trump comments on social media. And ABC News has more information on the 25-year-old, including that she speaks Pashto, Farsi, and Dari and had recently worked as a yoga instructor, where she was known as a "reliable" employee. Winner's mother says her daughter is "very passionate about her views."


Article:

Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. ||||| She's a mom! Anne Hathaway and her husband, Adam Shulman, have welcomed their first child together, her rep confirms to Us Weekly.

 The Oscar winner, 33, gave birth to a baby boy on March 24. E! News was first to report the news, and revealed that the couple named their son Jonathan Rosebanks Shulman.

 Jason Kempin/Getty Images

 Us confirmed last November that Hathaway and her actor-producer husband were expecting. The Alice Through the Looking Glass actress made reference to her pregnancy for the first time in a bikini Instagram photo on January 4.

 "So, posting a bikini pic is a little out of character for me," she captioned the beach shot. "But just now while I was at the beach I noticed I was being photographed. I figure if this kind of photo is going to be out in the world it should at least be an image that makes me happy (and be one that was taken with my consent. And with a filter :)"

 Happy 2016 to my beautiful Instafriends! So, posting a bikini pic is a little out of character for me, but just now while I was at the beach I noticed I was being photographed. I figure if this kind of photo is going to be out in the world it should at least be an image that makes me happy (and be one that was taken with my consent. And with a filter :) Wishing you love, light and blessings for the year ahead! ⚡🦄Annie🦄⚡ A photo posted by Anne Hathaway (@annehathaway) on Jan 3, 2016 at 9:31pm PST

 Two months later, she posted an Instagram photo of her growing baby bump ahead of the 88th Academy Awards. "Favorite Oscar day ever. Good luck to everyone at the show! #oscars," she wrote on February 28. She and Shulman attended the Vanity Fair afterparty following the ceremony.

 Hathaway and Shulman got engaged in November 2011 after three years of dating. They tied the knot in Big Sur, California, in September 2012. That same year, Hathaway revealed that she had wanted to be a mom since the age of 16.

 Favorite Oscar day ever. Good luck to everyone at the show! #oscars A photo posted by Anne Hathaway (@annehathaway) on Feb 28, 2016 at 2:52pm PST

 "I’m 30 and I want to have a family of a certain size. Look, I’ll start with one healthy kid, but I’d like to have a few naturally and adopt. I gotta get on it, you know? I’d like to have as many as I can afford, not just financially but in terms of time because you want to make sure each one feels special," she told the U.K.'s Telegraph in December 2012. "I’ve had one goal in mind for the past 12 years, which is 'get a movie, get a movie, get a movie.' Now I might have to say, 'Get a baby, get a baby, get a baby.'"

 Can't get enough of Us? Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter packed with the latest celeb news, hot pics and more!

  ||||| Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email

 Anne Hathaway has reportedly welcomed a baby boy into the world, and fans can't get enough of the normal name she's chosen.

 The actress and her husband Adam Shulman have called their newborn son Jonathan Rosebanks, and the tot's first name has been given the seal of approval from fans discussing the happy news on Twitter.

 One fan tweeted: "Shout out to Anne Hathaway for giving her baby a normal name! #YouGoGirl Welcome to the world, baby Jonathan (sic)"

 Another added: "Anne Hathaway just went up, like, three notches for such a nice, normal baby name"

 Some fans seemed happy to see a star opting for a more traditional name, seemingly referencing famous monikers like Apple, Elsie Otter and Saint.

 A user joked: "Anne Hathaway has baby boy, gives him normal name. See, Gwyneth, Zooey and Kim, it's not hard."

 The couple brought Jonathan Rosebanks into the world on March 24, and the little one is reportedly doing well.

 A source told E! News: "The baby is extremely healthy and is surrounded by friends and family in LA. Anne and Adam are ecstatic to be parents."

 The birth of the baby came just a few weeks after the brunette beauty enjoyed a "relaxed" baby shower with friends in March. The 33-year-old star was joined by a bunch of close pals - including Matthew McConaughey's wife Camila Alves - at the celebration.

 (Photo: FameFlynet.uk.com)

 A source said: "Anne was one of the first people to arrive. She looked relaxed and happy to be there.

 "There was a lot of chatter and laughter throughout the afternoon. Many times there was giggling and clapping because all of the ladies were having so much fun."

 (Photo: Rex)

 Later on in the afternoon, Anne's husband Adam - whom she tied the knot with in 2012 - appeared alongside the mother-to-be's family and their arrival was well received.

 An insider added: "They seemed excited to get inside the party. At the end of the shower, they helped pack up all the gifts. He's been helping Anne shop a lot for the baby. They've been ordering a bunch online too. They are as happy as clams." |||||
What is a summary?

– There's a new addition to the Anne Hathaway-Adam Shulman household, and his name is Jonathan Rosebanks Shulman, E! News reports. The 33-year-old actress gave birth to her first child on March 24 in Los Angeles, as confirmed by Hathaway's rep. "The baby is extremely healthy and is surrounded by friends and family in LA," a source says. "Anne and Adam are ecstatic to be parents." And Twitter was apparently ecstatic that the couple went "traditional" with the baby's moniker, per the Mirror, with one commenter noting, "Shout out to Anne Hathaway for giving her baby a normal name!" Us notes that Hathaway had expressed her desire to be a mom since the age of 16, saying in 2012, "Look, I'll start with one healthy kid, but I'd like to have a few naturally and adopt. … I'd like to have as many as I can afford, not just financially but in terms of time, because you want to make sure each one feels special." (Long before she became a mom, Hathaway was laughing it up with Jon Stewart.)


Article:

 Richard Ojeda. (Facebook)

 Richard Ojeda was doing what any state Senate candidate would be doing just days before his primary election: Attending a cookout.

 It was there that the West Virginia Democrat was brutally beaten Sunday by a man wearing brass knuckles, according to authorities.

 Jonathan Porter, 41, was arrested Sunday and charged with malicious assault in the Logan County attack, West Virginia State Police spokesman M. T. Baylous told The Washington Post. Jail records do not list attorney information for Porter.

 Senior Trooper J.E. Garren told the Associated Press that Porter attacked Ojeda after asking the candidate to put a bumper sticker on Porter's truck. Garren said that police still don't know the motivation.

 But Ojeda said he thinks the attack was political in nature. "This was premeditated, and there was a reason the guy did this," Ojeda said on his personal Facebook page.

 [The West Virginia primary]

 Ojeda suffered multiple fractures to his head and face and was transported to a hospital in Charleston, according to a message posted on Ojeda's campaign page.

 "Though this attack seems to be politically motivated, Richard is as tough as woodpecker lips, as he often says and he will pull through this," it reads.

 Ojeda wanted to return home in time for Tuesday's primary election and planned to delay surgery until later this week.

 An update on his campaign page Monday night noted:

 "He is resting this evening, but will have to spend another night in the hospital. Continue to keep him in your prayers. He wanted to be pounding the pavement and reminding everyone to go out and vote. Let's hope that he is feeling better and will be able to do just that tomorrow."

 But early Tuesday morning, Ojeda posted an update on his own Facebook page, writing:

 "All....still in the hospital. They just informed me that they are taking me to surgery to fix my face (if that's possible). I thank everyone for your support. Today is Election Day! Vote! Remember that people have gave their lives so you can have that voice."

 Ojeda, who has known Porter since childhood, told NBC News that the last thing he remembered was being asked for a bumper sticker. "When I woke up, my head was on a tree stump covered in blood," he said. "Everyone was looking at me."

 From NBC News:

 Citing what he described as the intense poverty, corruption and nepotism that plagues the region — and his campaign for transparency and good government — Ojeda said: "The moment you start asking questions, you become public enemy number one."

 Ojeda wrote on Facebook: "If you thought this would shut me up you are mistaken. I am now even more determined to continue on my path."

 Garren said others attending the cookout tried to stop Porter, who rammed their vehicles and escaped.

 [Campaign 2016 is on a dangerous descent]

 Ojeda's primary opponent, incumbent state Sen. Ark Kirkendoll (D), said in a statement that he wished Ojeda "a speedy recovery," the State Journal reported. "I do not now, nor have I ever, condoned violence," Kirkendoll said. "It has no place in our political campaigns or in our communities."

 Ojeda, a military veteran, wrote that he has "dealt with the Taliban and Al Qaeda."

 "I have been threatened before," he wrote on Facebook, "but I never really knew it would come to this."

 This post has been updated. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

 / Updated By Tim Stelloh

 West Virginia state Senate candidate Richard Ojeda was brutally beaten during a cookout Sunday — just two days before his primary — and nearly run over with a pickup truck, Ojeda told NBC News.

 Jonathan Stuart Porter, 41, was in custody Sunday. State Trooper Zachary Holden told NBC News he was being held on suspicion of malicious assault, malicious attempted assault and felony destruction of property.

 In an interview from his hospital room in Charleston, Ojeda, 45, a Democrat and military veteran whose primary contest is Tuesday, said he had been at a barbecue in the mountains about 60 miles southwest of Charleston when Porter asked for a bumper sticker.

 Ojeda, who said he has known Porter since they were kids, placed one on the rear bumper of Porter's truck. Then Porter asked for a second one on the vehicle's front grill.

 Richard Ojeda Richard Ojeda

 "That's all I remember," Ojeda said. "When I woke up, my head was on a tree stump covered in blood. Everyone was looking at me."

 Ojeda suffered eight bone fractures and three lacerations to his face, as well as exterior swelling to his head, he said.

 Ojeda's primary opponent, state Sen. Art Kirkendoll, said in a statement that he was praying for Ojeda and wished him a full recovery.

 "I was informed that my opponent was physically assaulted and injured at a political function today," Kirkendoll said. "I do not now, nor have I ever, condoned violence. It has no place in our political campaigns or in our communities."

 Ojeda said witnesses told him that he was kicked and struck with brass knuckles, although Holden said he found no evidence of the weapon and Porter denied using them.

 Afterward, when the assailant got in his truck, a neighbor who witnessed the beating jumped in between the vehicle and Ojeda.

 "He feared Porter was going to hit him," Holden said.

 Jonathan Porter. West Virginia Southwestern Regional Jail

 The attacker spun out in the gravel, and when a second neighbor tried to block his exit with an ATV, the driver rammed the quad several times, Holden said, adding that the man eventually ran over it — along with a second ATV whose driver also tried to block him.

 Porter called police and peacefully turned himself in after hiding out in the mountains for six hours, Holden said.

 Aside from a brief comment about the brass knuckles, Holden said, Porter refused to talk to authorities. A motive for the assault remained unclear, he said.

 To Ojeda, however, it was clearly premeditated — and it was all about politics.

 Citing what he described as the intense poverty, corruption and nepotism that plagues the region — and his campaign for transparency and good government — Ojeda said: "The moment you start asking questions, you become public enemy number one."

 "I'm challenging the powers that be," he added. ||||| UPDATE (5:35 p.m. 5/9/16)

 Richard Ojeda told 13 News he's been receiving threatening phone calls for weeks while campaigning for the District 7 State Senate Seat.

 "I've been told quite a few times, buddy you're going to wind up dead floating in the Guyandotte River. I had a person call my house one time tell me he's going to cut my head off. I've had somebody come to my house and rip the wires out of our telephone cable boxes," Ojeda explained.

 Retired veteran Richard Ojeda, said he's had a rough road running for state senate. So he was happy to attend a candidate meet-and-greet Sunday at the Kendall Dingess residence. That is until Jonathan Porter showed up.

 "I mean he showed no signs of anger when he was there, everything was fine. It was uncalled for," Dingess said.

 Porter was asking Ojeda for a bumper sticker when he attacked, leaving Ojeda with a fractured face and concussion.

 "So I get another bumper sticker, I walk to the front, he tells me where he wants it, I kneel down and as I'm kneeling down putting the bumper sticker on, that's the last thing I remember other than pretty much coming to where my head's on a tree stump and I'm spitting blood," Ojeda added.

 While State Police do not have any indication that another person was involved in planning the attack, Ojeda believes this is just another example of dirty Logan politics.

 "I don't understand why he would do anything like this, other than the fact that I really believe this is politically motivated," Ojeda told 13 News.

 But Ojeda says the attack won't stop him from running.

 "I've spent years dealing with the Taliban and Al Qaeda I'm not scared of these people," Ojeda said.

 Ojeda will be released CAMC General Monday to campaign and be with his family ahead of tomorrow's primary election. He will be back at CAMC later this week for facial surgery.

 Ojeda faces-off against Art Kirkendoll in tomorrow's primary election.

 Logan County's Clerk says they believe the attack was an isolated incident and they do not plan on having extra security at polling locations.

 UPDATE (10:37 a.m. 5/9/16)

 West Virginia State Deputies told 13 News Jonathan Porter is facing three felony charges including- malicious assault, attempt to commit a malicious assault and felony destruction of property. Porter is being held in the Southwestern Regional Jail. Deputies will continue their investigation today including interviewing witnesses. They have no evidence, of yet, that any other person may be involved in committing the crime.

 UPDATE (6:25 a.m. 5/9/16)

 West Virginia Senate candidate Richard Ojeda is still in the trauma unit at CAMC General Hospital in Charleston this morning. He is still in need of surgery, which is expected to take place later this week.

 His goal is to be out on Tuesday still helping to rally votes.

 UPDATE (8:10 p.m. 5/8/16)

 West Virginia Senator Ark Kirkendoll, D-Logan, released a statement about the assault of his opponent, Richard Ojeda:

 "I was informed that my opponent was physically assaulted and injured at a political function today. I do not now, nor have I ever, condoned violence. It has no place in our political campaigns or in our communities. My and my family's thoughts and prayers are with my opponent and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery.''

 Kirkendoll and Ojeda face off in the primary election Tuesday, May 10, 2016.

 UPDATE (7:31 p.m. 5/8/16)

 A suspect is in custody in connection with an attack on West Virginia Senate candidate Richard Ojeda.

 Jonathan Porter of the Whitman's Creek area of Logan County turned himself in to an off-duty officer at about 6 p.m. Sunday, May 8, 2016.

 A trooper with the West Virginia State Police in Logan County told 13 News that Porter faces three felonies and will be arraigned in Logan County some time Sunday night.

 The trooper also said Porter also rammed two ATVs as he was trying to flee from the incident, including one ATV with a driver.

 Ojeda sustained multiple facial fractures and a severe concussion, but is in stable condition, according to the trooper.

 ORIGINAL

 West Virginia Senate candidate Richard Ojeda is in the hospital Sunday, May 8, 2016, after sustaining injuries from an attack, Ojeda’s wife, Kelly, told 13 News.

 Richard Ojeda, a Democratic candidate for District 7 of the West Virginia Senate, was taken to CAMC General Hospital in Charleston.

 According to Kelly Ojeda, Richard Ojeda was attending a cookout Sunday in Logan when a man asked Richard Ojeda for a campaign bumper sticker.

 Witnesses said when Ojeda bent down to apply the sticker to the man’s vehicle, the man struck Ojeda with brass knuckles eight to nine times, knocking him out. When the man tried to run over Ojeda with his vehicle, several bystanders stepped in to stop the assault.

 Richard Ojeda is running against incumbent Sen. Art Kirkendoll, D-Logan.

 Logan County dispatchers said the West Virginia State Police is investigating the incident. |||||Summary:

– Politics can be rough stuff, but for one West Virginia Senate candidate it got downright violent. Authorities say retired Army officer Richard Ojeda, a Democrat running in Tuesday's primary, was brutally beaten by a man wearing brass knuckles at a political cookout on Sunday, the AP reports. Per the Washington Post, Jonathan Porter, 41, was arrested and charged with malicious assault for the attack, which left Ojeda—who's known Porter since they were kids—with multiple head and face fractures and a concussion. And while officials aren't sure what the motive was, Ojeda thinks he knows. "This was premeditated and there was a reason the guy did this," he wrote Sunday on his campaign's Facebook page. Ojeda, who has been campaigning against the region's corruption and poverty, adds, per NBC News, that "the moment you start asking questions, you become public enemy number one." Per the State Journal, Ojeda says Porter approached him at the cookout, asked for a bumper sticker, then attacked. "As I'm kneeling down putting the bumper sticker on [Porter's truck], that's the last thing I remember, other than … coming to where my head's on a tree stump and I'm spitting blood," Ojeda says. Witnesses say after the beating, Porter hopped in his truck and tried to run Ojeda over before bystanders stopped him; Porter then fled, surrendering a few hours later. Ojeda, 45, tells the State Journal he'd received menacing phone calls recently, including one that said, "You're going to wind up dead floating in the Guyandotte River." But the man described in a Facebook post as "tough as woodpecker lips" says he's dealt with al-Qaeda and the Taliban and writes he's "now even more dedicated to the cause. This doesn't scare me." Porter has also been charged with malicious attempted assault and felony destruction of property. (Voting in West Virginia? No selfies in the booth.)


Article:
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

 Well, they’ve finally arrived. After months and months of speculation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its Academy Award nominations this morning, honoring the supposedly best of 2014 in film. And in large part, they did do just that. The marvelous Boyhood got lots of recognition, for its writing, acting, and directing. Laura Dern, beloved by an obsessive subset of the nation, got a nomination—for Wild, but frankly it doesn’t matter what it was for, it’s good news no matter what. Other thoughtful performances, like Edward Norton in Birdman and Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher, were also nominated. So there’s much to be happy about. And yet, don’t the nominations this year feel so wrong?

 Let’s start with the silly stuff. After she snagged Golden Globe and SAG nominations, we in the Oscar-predicting business thought that Jennifer Aniston was for sure going to get nominated for Cake. Not because it was such a groundbreaking performance, but because it seemed like one of the big narratives of the year, a much-maligned-and-gossiped-about comedy star getting the big, unexpected dramatic accolade. But, it didn’t happen. And, really, I have only myself to blame for being shocked. The overhype and subsequent anticlimax of Aniston’s truncated Oscar season was all the doing of people like me. Because the actress who “stole” Aniston’s spot, Marion Cotillard, won some big critics prizes for her performance in Two Days, One Night (and in The Immigrant, which this nomination seems to also essentially be recognizing). So there was no reason to count her out of the Oscars. But, Aniston was the much more exciting story, and so we, I, ran with it. And that was silly of us. Apologies for that.

 On the more egregious end of things, that the superb Swedish film Force Majeure was not nominated for best foreign language feature is a modest outrage, displaying the sort of frustrating shortsightedness that the Academy is unfortunately rather famous for. Force Majeure is a difficult film, and hard to classify, not neatly comedy or drama or satire or tragedy or anything else. Yes, I suppose you could say the same for Birdman, which did very well this morning, but that movie has a certain palatable polish to it that Force Majeure, with all its angular foreignness, does not. And so it got ignored. One of the absolute best movies of the year! Completely snubbed. That’s annoying.

 But not nearly as annoying, if annoying is even the right word, as what happened with two other big films this morning. First, Selma was nominated for only two awards, for best original song and best picture. That best-picture nod is very good news, of course. But that the movie’s wonderful acting, directing, writing, editing, and cinematography were shut out is a real oversight, sad in the story it tells and troubling in how grimly predictable it was. Maybe the issue really was, as some are saying, Paramount botching the movie’s awards campaign, failing to get screeners out in time. But there’s a strong whiff of something else amiss here, when a movie so beloved by audiences and critics, that has so many strong points that could be singled out for awards recognition, goes largely unrecognized. Especially in a year when other, far less acute or thoughtful biopics about white people fared so much better.

 Selma’s short-shrifting is particularly galling when you consider that American Sniper got more nominations, two of them in “major” categories (best actor and editing). Clint Eastwood’s messily reverent biopic of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle does exactly the opposite of what Selma does, occluding important sociopolitical truths behind a veil of macho patriotism. It’s not exactly a surprise that older Academy members are enamored of its aggressive jingoism. But when that fusty predilection makes collateral damage of a movie like Selma—such a searching, galvanizing, genuinely enriching film, perfectly tuned for such troubled political and social times—the crusty old Academy begins to look, as it does from time to time, like a deeply flawed voting body.

 Gallery: The 2015 Acting Oscar Nominees ||||| No black woman has ever been nominated for a Best Director Oscar. That won't be changing this year.

 Despite its hype, previous awards nominations and breathless reviews, Selma director Ava DuVernay was not nominated for a Best Director Oscar in 2015. Who was? Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman), Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game). In other words, guys getting nominated for movies about white guys.

 For those left scratching their heads, here are some further things to ponder. David Oyelowo, who earned rave reviews for his portrayal of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma was not nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. He was beat out by Steve Carell, Bradley Cooper (who wasn't even nominated for Golden Globe), Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne. Five white men.

 See also: 7 black female directors earning incredible Hollywood reviews

 Though Selma was nominated for Best Picture, an inevitability thanks to the category allowing five to 10 nominations, it wasn't nominated for best screenplay. The lack of nominations doesn't bode well for a Best Picture win — the only film in history to take home the top prize without a director or acting nomination was the 1932 film Grand Hotel.

 Though Selma could possibly make history in that respect, it's doubtful. The Academy already missed its chance once.

 The surprising dearth of nominations for minorities — this will be the whitest group since 1998 — comes after a banner year in 2014 for black actors and directors. The Steve McQueen-directed 12 Years a Slave took home three awards, for Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong'o), Best Adapted Screenplay (John Ridley) and Best Picture. Furthermore, lead actor Chiwetel Ejiofor was at least nominated for Best Actor.

 Lupita Nyong'o holding her Oscar at the 2014 Academy Awards. Image: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Associated Press

 Historically, black directors don't fare well at the Oscars. Only three black men have ever been nominated in the best director category: John Singleton for Boyz n the Hood (1991), Lee Daniels for Precious (2009) and Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave just last year. None of them won. No black person has ever won a Best Director Oscar.

 This year marks the Academy's 87th award show. Is it really believable that in 87 shows, not one black person has been deserving of a Best Director win? Of course not.

 To be fair, it's not as though black people were able to direct award-worthy films back in 1929, when the first Academy Awards took place. What with all the rampant racism in the country at the time, it wasn't easy for black people to break into Hollywood. However, that's inexcusable in today's film landscape. There's a wealth of award-worthy black directors whose work is deserving of recognition.

 Nominating DuVernay could have been an incredible, two-fold win on its own. Though she should not be nominated just for the sake of it, it's fair to say DuVernay has earned her place. She directed one of the most talked-about films of the year and has been nominated at every turn — except where it counts. She would have also only been the fifth woman in history to grab a Best Director nom (only one has won — Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for Hurt Locker).

 Last year, 43.1 million people watched the Oscars. What will all those people see this year? An awards ceremony that shunned one of its brightest new stars.

 Ava DuVernay at the 2015 Golden Globes, where she was nominated for Best Director. Image: ordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Associated Press

 This year's nominations send a brutal message: Academy voters do not appear to care about diversity. This year's nominations refuse to highlight actors and directors who deliver excellent work in an industry that repeatedly shuts them out. Voting members of the Academy are 93% white, and 76% male, according to the Los Angeles Times.

 What's worse is this comes at a time when Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the Academy's president (who is a black woman) has been openly pushing for more diversity.

 “We’re in the second decade of the 21st century, and it’s a whole new environment for entertainment,” Boone Isaacs told Variety. “I think part of this is a recognition that there are different voices that need to be heard — and that there are audiences for these different voices. We at the Academy want to be a place where these voices can be recognized.”

 Despite Boone Isaacs' best efforts, those voices aren't going to be recognized this year. And that's a damn shame. ||||| The Oscar nominations were announced this morning. There will be plenty of analysis regarding good surprises and bad surprises, and I may dip my toes in later today. But the most egregious omission is the sadly not-entirely-surprising absence of Selma’s Ava DuVernay from the five contenders nominated for Best Director. This is not a place to complain about the five nominees who did make the cut, although anyone who knows me well enough knows which one or ones I could have swapped in and out. To the extent that one can be “angry” about a certain filmmaker not being nominated for a major award that honors the best in filmmaking, I am angry. I am angry because she deserved a nomination. I am angry because if the legacy of DuVernay’s Selma becomes shaped by its Oscar-season controversy, I fear that it will affect the artistic opportunities afforded to its African-American female director in a manner different than if Selma would have come under fire under the directorial lens of a white male filmmaker.

 Ms. DuVernay directed one of the very best films of the year and has been lauded and celebrated accordingly for the last two months and yet she was shoved aside for at least a few contenders who were nowhere near as celebrated. There is a real chance that this terrific and towering achievement that highlights the profoundly heroic and blood-stained work of those who worked with and for Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement will be forever defined by the notion that it wasn't nice enough to a powerful white guy in a supporting role. Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty allowed itself to be defined by those sniping from the sidelines (including many outside the filmmaking and critical community) that the film somehow endorsed and glamorized torture because it didn't have characters monologue at length about the immorality and impracticality of torture. Despite the film’s rave reviews and rock-solid box office ($132 million on a $40m budget), the narrative around Bigelow’s masterpiece, for which she too was denied a Best Director nomination, has become “that torture movie.” Zero Dark Thirty, an overwhelming indictment of our entire post-9/11 mindset wrapped up in the story of one of the War on Terror’s alleged successes, was tainted along with its female filmmaker, who currently has no projects on tap.

 Selma is not the first “based on a true story” picture that has come under fire for historical inaccuracies. But it is the rare black-centric historical drama told explicitly from the point of view of its black protagonists. So it is both ironic and infuriating that it has now been defamed because of the (I would argue false) notion that it isn't nice enough to a really powerful white guy who plays a key supporting role. More importantly, it is a rare big movie, even if it was merely a $20 million independently financed production, which comes from the lens of a female African-American filmmaker. We are just now getting to a point where Warner Bros./ Time Warner Inc. felt properly pressured (or logically inclined) to hire a female director to direct a Wonder Woman movie. We are just at the point where we have male black filmmakers like Lee Daniels and Steve McQueen crafting very important movies about black characters and/or black-centric historical events. We've even got Tim Story crafting franchises for Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. It’s a very tiny piece of progress, but it is thus-far male-centric in nature.

 I have no idea what offers (if any) have been afforded to Ms. DuVernay in the aftermath of Selma’s initial rave reviews and Oscar-happy media tour. But she is, to put it bluntly, by virtue of her race and her gender, at a greater disadvantage in terms of what opportunities are afforded to her in a still explicitly white/male-centric Hollywood. Mortem Tydlum will face no penalty for the borderline libelous (but unquestionably entertaining and engaging) The Imitation Game when it comes time for him to pick his next project. Clint Eastwood may have sanded off the rough edges off of American Sniper’s protagonist, but he will still get to do what he wants to do next time out. Bennett Miller will face no qualms getting a directing job despite the various "we're pretending our protagonists are secretly gay for drama" fabrications in Sony's Foxcatcher. James Marsh will face no career hurdles on account of the not-100% accurate The Theory of Everything. And they arguably shouldn't face any real penalties, since historical movies are at best an approximation of history, a kind of "Elseworlds" variation on known events. The films will earn their critical plaudits, make their money, and win their awards, but the respective directors have already won.

 WATCH: Common Talks About Working On 'Selma'

 But Ms. DuVernay used Paramount's ( Viacom Inc.) Selma as both a personal artistic statement and a calling card of sorts in terms of what she can do behind a camera in an industry that is mostly filled with white male directors. White male filmmakers have the luxury of being mediocre, and would-be Oscar bait films about interesting white males have the luxury of shrugging off the failures accrued during Oscar season and coasting merely on the perception of prestige whether the films are worthy or not. Damien Chazelle and Dan Gilroy will get huge career boosts merely because Whiplash and Nightcrawler were two of the best movies of the year, and Oscar validation would merely have been a cherry on top. Ms. DuVernay, more than her peers, arguably needed that Oscar validation as a bargaining chip.

 That Ms. DuVernay didn't get a Best Director Oscar nomination doesn't make Selma any less of a great film. But that she was not among the final five announced this morning points to the notion that the smear campaign worked as intended. It’s a sad reflection of a year when a number of good, great, and lousy fictionalized true-life biopics about allegedly great or somewhat interesting white men are well-represented while one of the very best-reviewed movies of the year went with hardly a single relevant nomination, aside from getting into the expanded Best Picture field, arguably on account of controversy over its accuracy. Considering the obstacles that Ms. DuVernay faces in terms of just steady employment by virtue of her gender and skin color, the risk of Selma being defined not by its once-unquestionable quality as a motion picture but rather by the context of its back-and-forth bantering over its alleged historical embellishments is more than just trivial.

 I’m angry because one of the best films of the year has been libeled and that said libel apparently worked. I hope I’m wrong about both Selma’s cinematic legacy and about DuVernay’s career prospects. Maybe she will get a call from Marvel tomorrow to helm a Phase Three picture as Luke Y. Thompson brilliantly advocated on Monday. Maybe she will quickly make a deal to do whatever it is she wants to do with little fuss and little melodrama merely based on the obvious filmmaking talent than Selma displays. But her omission from the five Best Director candidates this year makes that possibility that much less likely in a way that it wouldn’t have for a Selma directed by (for example) Paul Greengrass. Greengrass, who originally intended to direct Memphis based on an earlier portion of King's life, would have emerged unscathed. I can only hope Ava DuVernay does. And that’s why it matters. And that’s why I’m angry.

 Also on Forbes: |||||Summary:

– The Oscar nominations come once a year, and so too the avalanche of stories on the biggest snubs. But in terms of 2015, Richard Lawson at Vanity Fair puts it thusly: "Don’t the nominations this year feel so wrong?" Our roundup of this year's particularly vocal snub-coverage: Director Phil Lord is grabbing a ton of headlines for his "touché" response to the Lego Movie somehow not being nominated for Best Animated Feature: "It's okay. Made my own!" he tweeted along with an image of an Oscar made entirely from yellow Legos. He's nearing 12,000 retweets. How Jezebel sums it up: 2015 Oscar Nominations Snub Basically Everybody Who Isn't a White Dude. Mashable notes "this will be the whitest group since 1998." In that vein, Scott Mendelson at Forbes zeros in on one "egregious" omission: Selma director Ava DuVernay. His lengthy piece explores why her snub matters. Mashable notes that no black female director has ever gotten a nod; only three black male directors have (John Singleton, Boyz n the Hood; Lee Daniels, Precious; Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave). None won. Lawson looks beyond Selma's Best Director snub, expanding it: "That the movie’s wonderful acting, directing, writing, editing, and cinematography were shut out is a real oversight, sad in the story it tells and troubling in how grimly predictable it was." (Its only nods were Best Picture and Best Original Song.) For a meaty rundown, check out Huffington Post's list of today's 29 biggest snubs.


Article:

The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:06 PM

 Arizona State University expelled the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity Thursday night, just days after it held a party during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend depicting racial stereotypes.

 The university said in a statement that it notified the fraternity that its recognition as a fraternity chapter at ASU has been permanently revoked for violating the university’s student code of conduct. Revoking recognition means the 65-year-old local chapter is no longer affiliated with ASU. The group won’t be listed on the university’s website and cannot recruit members or hold meetings on campus.

 >> Read ASU's statement

 ASU President Michael Crow said in the statement that the university’s student code of conduct establishes behavior standards.

 “At ASU, students who violate these standards will be subject to disciplinary sanctions in order to promote their own personal development, to protect the university community, and to maintain order and stability on our campuses,” he said.

 ASU said the fraternity violated four provisions of the conduct code: engaging in discriminatory activities, violating alcohol rules, violating the terms of earlier disciplinary sanctions and off-campus conduct that may present a risk or danger.

 University officials are still investigating and deciding how to handle individual cases of student discipline.

 National fraternity spokesman Alex Baker said in a statement that they had received the university’s findings and “we will be issuing the results of our own investigation shortly.” Representatives of the local chapter were unavailable for comment.

 Over the holiday weekend, photos on social media depicted partygoers wearing stereotypical hip-hop clothes. The photos showed people wearing saggy pants and posing with hollowed-out watermelon cups.

 The images drew a swift reaction from civil-rights leaders, who demanded that the university expel the fraternity.

 At the time of the party, the fraternity was on university probation for a fight in November 2012, when police reports say fraternity members confronted a rival fraternity member, an African-American, and beat him up. He suffered a broken jaw, concussion and cuts.

 The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, a local civil-rights leader, said the university’s decision to cut ties with the fraternity meets the first of three demands. The civil-rights leaders also want students disciplined, and they want the university to take steps to create a “more accepting environment” for all students.

 Maupin applauded university officials, saying, “They did the right thing to defend the legacy of Dr. King and to say to the nation and to the state, and everyone who is watching, that there is a zero-tolerance policy for racism and discrimination at Arizona State University.”

 Civil-rights leaders threatened to boycott the university’s athletics and a fundraising campaign to rebuild Sun Devil Stadium unless their demands are met. The incident has drawn national publicity, with CNN’s Anderson Cooper featuring it on his “Ridiculist” segment, where he asked: “Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned toga party?”

 This is the second time in less than a year that ASU has expelled a fraternity chapter. In June, ASU revoked recognition of Sigma Alpha Epsilon after a member nearly drank himself to death. Earlier that same school year, a pledge was found dead in the river.

 ASU put the TKE fraternity on interim suspension on Monday after receiving reports that fraternity members hosted an unregistered event off campus with a racially insensitive theme and where underage alcohol was consumed.

 TKE had a relatively clean record with the university until about 14 months ago. Documents obtained through a public-records request by The Arizona Republic show that the fraternity violated alcohol policy in the 2009-10 school year but stayed out of trouble the next two school years.

 Then, in November 2012, a group of 20 or so fraternity members walked into an apartment complex where several members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity lived and attacked one of them.

 The TKE members confronted an African-American fraternity member and punched him several times in the face, according to police reports. Two men later pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records.

 ASU then put the fraternity on probation until May 17, 2014. The fraternity was not allowed to have parties as a condition of probation.

 In a statement issued earlier this week, the national Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity apologized for “any offensive actions that a few of our members might have participated in.”

 “Tau Kappa Epsilon does not condone or support any actions by its members that would be defined as racist, discriminatory and/or offensive,” the statement said.

 Reach the reporter at anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com. ||||| TEMPE, AZ - Arizona State University permanently revoked its recognition of fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon on Thursday in the wake of TKE’s controversial Martin Luther King Day party, university officials say.

 The university said that the party “encouraged a racially insensitive theme and created an environment conducive to underage consumption of alcohol.”

 The unregistered, off-campus party involved students posing in basketball jerseys and flashing gang signs and drinking out of watermelon cups. They also posted photos on social media with the hashtag #blackoutformlk.

 Revoking recognition means the 65-year-old local chapter is no longer affiliated with ASU, the group won't be listed on the university's website and it cannot recruit members or hold on-campus meetings.

 The fraternity had previously been placed on probation in 2012 and was suspended immediately after the university became aware of the party on Monday.

 Upon its initial suspension after the party, the university stated, “ASU has one of the most diverse student bodies of any major university in the country, and it is unfortunate that a few individuals held an offensive party at a time when ASU, the state and the nation were celebrating Dr. King’s achievements and legacy.”

 University officials said they still are investigating the event and deciding how to handle individual cases of student discipline.

 Alex Baker, a spokesman for the national fraternity organization, said Tau Kappa Epsilon has received the university's findings and planned to release the results of its own investigation shortly.

 Baker previously said the group does not condone racist or discriminatory behavior.

 The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, an Arizona civil rights activist, said the party antics were outrageous and offensive. He called for the school to expel all students involved and permanently ban the fraternity from affiliation with ASU.

 Founded in 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill., the fraternity has about 257,000 members at 291 chapters and colonies across the United States and Canada, according to its website.

 In 2012, the University of Arizona stripped its local chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon of recognition after an investigation showed multiple instances of dangerous hazing.

 In a statement, ASU President Michael Crow quoted Martin Luther King, saying, “We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” Crow said these values are reflected in ASU’s Student Code of Conduct, and any violations by students may result in disciplinary action. |||||
What is a summary?

– It's official: Arizona State University has given Tau Kappa Epsilon the boot, expelling the fraternity after it hosted a racist party last weekend—apparently to "commemorate" Martin Luther King Jr. Day. ASU says the frat violated at least four school rules—including engaging in discriminatory activities—and has permanently revoked the university's recognition of the 65-year-old local chapter, meaning the group won't be able to hold meetings or recruit members on campus, the Arizona Republic reports. In a statement per ABC15, ASU's president quoted MLK, saying, "We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education." According to local civil-rights leader, Rev. Jarrett Maupin, "They did the right thing to defend the legacy of Dr. King and to say to the nation and to the state, and everyone who is watching, that there is a zero-tolerance policy for racism and discrimination at Arizona State University." ASU says student cases are still being decided, while TKE's national head says its own investigation will be released "shortly."


Here is a news article: Manspreading might make you the villain of the morning L train, but a new study suggests it could also make you lucky in love. People who adopted “expansive postures”—widespread limbs and a stretched-out torso—in speed-dating situations garnered more romantic interest than those who folded their arms in “closed postures,” the researchers found.

 For her recent paper, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, performed two studies. First, she and her team watched videos of 144 speed-dates and correlated them with the participants’ ratings of each other. People who sat in expanded postures were deemed more attractive, and for both men and women, postural expansiveness nearly doubled their chances of getting a “yes” response to a second date. Even laughing and smiling didn’t work as well as spreading out, Vacharkulksemsuk found.

 Next, Vacharkulksemsuk posted pictures of people in open and closed postures on a dating site. Again, those in the expansive postures were about 25 percent more likely to generate interest from another user. However, this strategy worked much better for men than women. Men, overall, received far fewer bites than women did, but 87 percent of their “yeses” came in response to an open posture. For women, meanwhile, 53 percent of “yes” responses came when they were in an expansive posture.

 In a separate test, Vacharkulksemsuk found that both the male and female “expansive” photos were considered more dominant than the “closed” photos. That dominance might suggest an abundance of resources and a willing to share those resources. When potential romantic partners are evaluating each other for just a few seconds, in other words, money talks—mainly through bodily breadth.

 So should you rush to change your Tinder picture to something a little less pouty and a little more Backstreet Boys cira Millennium? Like with almost every study, there are reasons to be skeptical. “Power poses” made a big splash in 2010 when it was found that adopting them could tweak hormone levels—then sparked controversy after a follow-up study failed to replicate the effect. ||||| Story highlights New research looks at ideal postures in quick dating contexts

 Study finds that posing with stretched limbs in profile pictures increases odds of success

 (CNN) The power of posture reigns in the animal kingdom, where peacocks fan their feathers and chimpanzees flaunt their limbs to assert dominance and attract mates. New research suggests that humans trying online dating apps and speed-dating might want to follow their lead.

 Previous studies have shown that nonverbal cues such as a smile or a nod of the head garner interest from potential romantic partners. The gestures have what scientists call "positive signal value," meaning they create the impression that you are warm and friendly, someone others want to be around.

 But modern courtship rarely lasts long enough to form an impression based on meaningful, real-life interactions. Decisions are made in a matter of minutes, even seconds, with a single swipe in digital dating or a passing encounter in the real world.

 Research based on two studies found that literally extending yourself could make you more attractive in speed and online dating. In a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found that body postures involving widespread limbs and a stretched torso nearly doubles the odds of success compared with closed postures involving limbs held close to the torso, hunched over.

 It's called "postural expansiveness," and it basically refers to how much space you take up with your torso and limbs. Such "power postures" convey dominance and willingness to share those traits with others, study co-author Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk said.

 Read More ||||| This set of studies tested whether humans are more attracted to individuals displaying their bodies expansively, a behavior considered to express both dominance and openness. Results from two field studies—a speed-dating event and a controlled experiment using a Global Positioning System-based dating application—suggested that (i) expansive (vs. contractive) body posture increases one’s romantic desirability; (ii) these results are consistent across gender; and (iii) perceived dominance and perceived openness are mechanisms through which expansiveness exerts its effect. These findings indicate that in modern-day dating contexts, in which initial attraction often is determined by a rapid decision following a brief interaction or seeing a photograph, displays of expansive posture increase one’s chances of initial romantic success.

 Abstract

 Across two field studies of romantic attraction, we demonstrate that postural expansiveness makes humans more romantically appealing. In a field study (n = 144 speed-dates), we coded nonverbal behaviors associated with liking, love, and dominance. Postural expansiveness—expanding the body in physical space—was most predictive of attraction, with each one-unit increase in coded behavior from the video recordings nearly doubling a person’s odds of getting a “yes” response from one’s speed-dating partner. In a subsequent field experiment (n = 3,000), we tested the causality of postural expansion (vs. contraction) on attraction using a popular Global Positioning System-based online-dating application. Mate-seekers rapidly flipped through photographs of potential sexual/date partners, selecting those they desired to meet for a date. Mate-seekers were significantly more likely to select partners displaying an expansive (vs. contractive) nonverbal posture. Mediation analyses demonstrate one plausible mechanism through which expansiveness is appealing: Expansiveness makes the dating candidate appear more dominant. In a dating world in which success sometimes is determined by a split-second decision rendered after a brief interaction or exposure to a static photograph, single persons have very little time to make a good impression. Our research suggests that a nonverbal dominance display increases a person’s chances of being selected as a potential mate. |||||
A summary of this is?

– You may not think of that guy manspreading across from you on the subway as a magnificent peacock, but he's more or less doing it for the same effect: a show of dominance and openness. And indeed, new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that in online dating and speed dating, nonverbal displays showing "postural expansiveness"—i.e., how much space you fill with your body and limbs—can up your chances of scoring with potential mates compared to those with a more "closed" posture. "We've seen it in the animal world, that ... maximizing presence in a physical space is used as [a] signal for attracting a mate," co-author Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk says, per CNN. "By exerting dominance they're trying to signal to a potential mate, 'I am able to do things.'" Scientists filmed 144 speed-dating sessions, matching 12 pairs of men and women for four minutes a pop; subjects were asked whether they'd want to see each partner again —and those who gestured or moved hands or arms nearly doubled their chances of a "yes." Even a tried-and-true smile didn't attract mates as well, Vacharkulksemsuk says, per the Atlantic. In the study's second part, a mobile dating app gave almost 3,000 subjects the profiles of possible dates, with each featuring a photo, first name, and age, Smithsonian reports. Each of the six candidates had two photos: one showing an expressive, open posture, the other a tighter one. Those with the more-expansive look got about 25% more hits, with the success rate higher for men. In online dating, "we are forced to rely more on these instincts because time is so limited," Vacharkulksemsuk says. (Here, cougar speed dating.)


Article:

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 A forklift driver from North Wales has become the first person in history to survive swimming across the Hoover Dam reservoir in the United States.

 Arron Hughes, 28, of Park Road Ruthin , was on a stag do with pals when he jumped into the water below the 725ft-high structure while on a 37 hour bender.

 (Image: Arron Hughes)

 He escaped being dragged under only because nine of the ten hydroelectric turbines were not in operation.

 Speaking to the Daily Post, the ex Ysgol Brynhyfryd pupil talked about his dice with death and his journey into the history books.

 He said: “It was around 45-50 degrees outside and we were on a stag do in Vegas. You go to Vegas to have fun don’t you? We made The Hangover movie look tame!

 “We were all just standing there, and I thought, 'f*** it! I’m going for a swim'. I got to the bottom and thought ‘I can make that’.

 (Image: Arron Hughes)

 “I literally just turned to the lads, said ‘I’m off’ and they were all cheering me on and I swam across. It’s a hell of a sight to see the dam from underneath.”

 The Hoover Dam, on the border of Arizona and Nevada, provides water and electricity for Las Vegas.

 “I swam from Arizona to Nevada, I went across first and then swam back. But at the time I didn’t realise how many people had died doing it. I knew I could make it though.

 “It took about 30 minutes to do. Even though I was knackered half way across I knew I had to get to the other side. The water was pulling me in towards the dam - it could have actually swept me away.

 (Image: Getty Images)

 “Because I went close to the dam first and I could feel it sucking me in, I thought ‘I've got to get out of here quick.’"

 For the duration of the swim, Hughes kept his trainers on. But they didn’t aid in a speedy getaway from officers who were waiting at the other side.

 “I did it with my shoes on. I wasn’t turning round once I go back. A pair of Lonsdales. Obviously I bought a new pair of trainers to go away with.

 “When I got to the other end, the police were standing there. There was a steep rocky climb on the other side.

 “The police officer shouted to me ‘Oi! Boy! Get your a*** up here!’ So I climbed out, and as soon as I got up there they arrested me.

 “I was handcuffed and taken back to their office at the dam.

 “One of them was an a******* but the others were alright.

 “They were like ‘nobody has ever done this before.’ So in the end I just got a fine.”

 (Image: Arron Hughes)

 Police noted his offence down on the ticket as: “Jumping, diving, swimming from dam’s spillways or other structures.”

 His adrenaline fuelled stunt has generated mixed opinions.

 “My friends all think I’m a legend.

 “My mum thinks I’m an idiot but she’s coming round. My dad has just been laughing at me, saying ‘well done son’.

 “I didn’t realise it would become as big news as it has. I’ve never had my phone go off so much.”

 (Image: Getty Images)

 However, due to lack of official witnesses it is unlikely that the effort will be marked in the record books.

 “The Guinness Book of World Records have contacted me. But they needed an official adjudicator there to see you do it. But I said I’m not f****** doing it again! Because they need an adjudicator it can’t go in.

 “It almost warranted going back and doing it again.”

 Hughes is far from an avid swimmer, but this is not the first time he has performed such death defying stunts.

 “I did swimming badges when I was seven or eight but I’ve not really been swimming much since then. I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie really.

 “I’ve done some crazy things before, but not as mad as that though.I jumped off in to this quarry, and you’ve got to clear a 10ft gap underneath. If you fall off that, you will die. It’s on YouTube and it’s had over 20k views.” ||||| Arron Hughes swam from Arizona to Nevada on August 8. He said he had not seen any signs saying that it was prohibited The Sun/News Syndication

 A fork-lift truck driver on a stag do in Las Vegas is believed to have become the first person to swim across the Hoover Dam and live to tell the tale — and pay the fine.

 Arron Hughes from Ruthin in north Wales had no idea he was risking his life when he leapt into the Colorado River to cool off. Out of sight beneath the surface are 17 giant hydro-electric turbines, each of which could have sucked him under to his death.

 Mr Hughes, 28, survived only because most of the turbines were turned off, although he had a close shave with one that was working. The authorities would have been able to identify him from his tattoo which says “no regrets”.

 After his… ||||| Aaron Hughes is told he escaped being dragged under only because nine of the 10 turbines were not in operation

 A British man has been fined for swimming across the Colorado river at the Hoover Dam while drunk on a stag do.

 Aaron Hughes is thought to be the first person to survive the swim across the reservoir at the 221m-tall (726ft) structure, which is on the border of Arizona and Nevada.

 The 28-year-old was told he escaped being dragged under only because nine of the 10 hydroelectric turbines were not in operation at the time.

 Hughes, a forklift truck driver from Denbighshire, north Wales, was arrested immediately after getting out of the water and fined $330 (£250).

 He told the Daily Post: “It was around 45-50 degrees outside and we were on a stag do in Vegas. You go to Vegas to have fun, don’t you? We made the Hangover movie look tame.

 “We were all just standing there and I thought fuck it, I’m going for a swim. I got to the bottom and thought: I can make that.”

 His friends, who have since called him a legend, were supportive of the stunt. Hughes said: “I literally just turned to the lads, said ‘I’m off’ and they were all cheering me on and I swam across. It’s a hell of a sight to see the dam from underneath.”

 It took him 30 minutes to cross the reservoir. “Even though I was knackered halfway across, I knew I had to get to the other side. The water was pulling me in towards the dam.”

 In the last 10 years, 275 people have died at the site and no one had previously survived swimming across its breadth. However, it is thought that had all of the turbines been switched on, Hughes also would not have survived.

 The police were waiting for him when he climbed back out and he was put into handcuffs before being issued the fine. Of his arrest, he said: “I didn’t realise it was an offence. There are no signs saying no swimming – you’re just expected not to.”

 He did, however, admit the swim was “drink fuelled”. |||||
What is a summary?

– The world's least shocking quote: A British man's admission that his fairly miraculous swim across the Hoover Dam reservoir was "drink fueled," per the Guardian. Arron Hughes speaks to the Daily Post about his Aug. 10 experience, which came after what he says was a 37-hour bachelor-party bender with friends in Las Vegas. He describes it as a brutally hot day and says that as they stood under the 726-foot-tall structure, he decided, "F--- it! I'm going for a swim." What he didn't know then that he knows now: Some 275 people have died at the dam over the last decade, and no one has successfully made it across the full width of the Colorado River there. But he apparently had luck on his side: Only one of the 10 hydroelectric turbines were powered on during his swim. "I swam from Arizona to Nevada," he tells the Post. "I went across first and then swam back. ... It took about 30 minutes to do. Even though I was knackered half way across I knew I had to get to the other side." He reportedly told the Sun that he was about 160 feet from the dam and felt a strong tug. "I was sucked towards the wall and had to swim hard." He says police were waiting for him and handcuffed him for what he didn't realize wasn't permitted, as he says there aren't any "no swimming" signs posted. "You're just expected not to." He says he ended up getting fined about $330, but, as the tattoo on his body reads, per the Times of London: "No regrets." (This bachelor party ended up being a scam.)