Article:

When asked to pinpoint where Jeb Bush’s presidential effort began running into trouble, many confidants utter a single word: Dallas.

 Mike Murphy, Bush’s political alter ego, decided early on to hold regular senior staff meetings at an unusual location: a Hyatt hotel inside a terminal at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The idea was that it was a central and relatively inexpensive gathering place for a team scattered from Los Angeles, where Murphy lives, to Miami, where the would-be candidate resides.

 It went fine at first but quickly became an awkward routine. Donors and other Republicans found the setup ungainly for a campaign-in-waiting that was supposed to be based in Florida.

 Older Bush hands also grew unhappy with rapid hiring by new advisers, and relationships frayed, according to Bush associates. And as the former Florida governor began to founder on the trail and in the polls, the discussions flared into arguments about how to divvy up money and resources between Bush’s allied super PAC and his official campaign.

 “These things are always tug of wars,” Thomas D. Rath, a Bush family friend in New Hampshire, said of the initial sessions. “It’s almost like the first day of school, everyone trying to get to the right place and find the right seats.”

 In a speech delivered in Berlin during a three country European tour aimed at promoting his foreign policy credentials, probable U.S. presidential candidate Jeb Bush also addressed campaign “shake-ups.” (Reuters)

 The airport huddles were just one sign among many of a political operation going off course — disjointed in message and approach, torn between factions and more haphazard than it appeared on the surface. Bush’s first six months as an all-but-declared candidate have been defined by a series of miscalculations, leaving his standing considerably diminished ahead of his formal entry into the race on Monday.

 [Debrief: For Jeb Bush, the challenge is making it about ‘Jeb,’ not ‘Bush’]

 In interviews this week, dozens of Bush backers and informed Republicans — most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to comment candidly — described an overly optimistic, even haughty exploratory operation. Strategic errors were exacerbated by unexpected stumbles by the would-be candidate and internal strife within his team, culminating in a staff shake-up this week.

 The original premise of Bush’s candidacy — that a bold, fast start would scare off potential rivals and help him overcome the burden of his last name — has proved to be misguided.

 His operation’s ability to rake in large checks also fueled inflated expectations. Supporters acknowledged this week that an allied super PAC was likely to fall short — perhaps substantially — of predictions that it would bring in $100 million in the first half of the year.

 On the stump, Bush has stuck to his pledge not to shift to the right to win the nomination, but his middle-of-the-road positions on immigration and education have come off more as out of step with the base of his party than shrewdly pragmatic. His wonky question-and-answer exchanges with voters sometimes resemble college lectures rather than a disarming appeal for votes.

 The troubles have eroded the image Bush has sought to present as the one Republican uniquely ready for the presidential stage. He has slipped in polls from presumed front-runner to one of several candidates jumbled toward the top of an increasingly crowded field.

 “We’ve learned that the prospect of a big financial advantage is not going to keep people out of the race and that the notion of a new face is stronger than we might have thought,” Vin Weber, an outside Bush adviser, said in an interview. “That requires modest adjustments in strategy, not wholesale changes.”

 [Jeb Bush shakes up team ahead of campaign launch]

 After weeks of bad press, “donors were getting a little edgy,” Weber said. “No one is ready to jump ship. Nobody has lost heart. But they have watched other candidates rise in the polls.”

 Speaking Wednesday in Berlin during an overseas trip, Bush expressed confidence. “It’s June, for crying out loud, so we’ve got a long way to go,” he said, adding later: “I’m going to compete everywhere. If I’m a candidate, there’s no fifth-place, you know, kind of mentality in my mind.”

 Forced to make up lost ground, Bush, his aides and his super-PAC allies are now preparing plans to attack the records and experience of his GOP competition, especially Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. A summer envisioned as a season of slow and warm introductions to voters is poised to be a battle as Bush tries to recapture his place atop the pack.

 “The Bushes have always underestimated the depth of the base’s dissatisfaction with their policies, and they take the criticism personally,” Laura Ingraham, a conservative radio host, said in an interview. “Jeb has to try to understand the reasons why conservatives have problems with him instead of crowing about how principled he is.”

 Aides bristle at what they consider the media’s relentless focus on Bush’s personal and professional past. They say that out on the campaign trail, in visits to more than a dozen states, he has been doing exactly what he should.

 “Interacting with people on the road who deal with real issues . . . that’s what brings true joy to Jeb,” Sally Bradshaw, a longtime consultant, said in a recent e-mail.

 Bush started with an aggressive series of steps late last year and early this year — a kind of “shock and awe” entry that caught fellow contenders by surprise. The moves were designed to send an unambiguous cue to fundraisers and party activists and to reinforce a natural advantage Bush had with establishment donors.

 [Earlier: Awash in cash, Bush asks donors not to give more than $1 million]

 At the same time, Bush’s inner circle operated on the theory that there was little that could be gained by trying to speed up the political clock and that most voters in early states would not begin paying attention until later in the year.

 Bush revived a 650-member alumni network of aides who worked for him as governor, and he recruited 21 veterans of his father’s and brother’s administrations to advise him on foreign policy. He hired state directors in the first four early states, aides for outreach to evangelical Christians and Hispanics, and a spokeswoman dedicated to fielding questions from the Spanish-language press.

 As Bush travels the country, he has fielded more than 900 questions from donors, reporters and voters, according to aides. He has maintained a busy schedule that stretches from the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — where conservative Republicans remain skeptical — to places visited less frequently at this early stage by presidential candidates, including Denver, Seattle and Puerto Rico.

 Despite those efforts, some recent surveys put Bush in a five-way tie for the lead. Recent polls touted by his advisers give him a wide lead in New Hampshire, while others taken nationally and in the early states put him behind Rubio and Walker.

 [Post-ABC poll: Bush lead evaporates in unsettled GOP race]

 Sensing Bush’s vulnerabilities, Ohio Gov. John Kasich this week hired two experienced GOP operatives as he prepares to jump into the contest and make a play for the same donors Bush has already wooed.

 “I didn’t think I was going to be back up here again, because frankly I thought Jeb was just going to suck all the air out of the room, and it just hasn’t happened,” Kasich told New Hampshire business leaders last week.

 Bush dispatched one possible adversary early when Mitt Romney decided not to run again. His vigorous entrance also bruised the chances of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is still pondering a bid. They did not regard Rubio as a likely opponent, thinking he would decide against challenging his onetime mentor, but were proved wrong when the young, telegenic Cuban American jumped in the race.

 Early on, there were indications that Bush’s ability to command huge amounts of cash for his allied Right to Rise super PAC was emerging as the dominant characteristic of his potential candidacy. His team laid out presidential-style goals for fundraisers, asking them to pull in $50,000, $100,000, $250,000 or $500,000 by April 17. The money was flowing into the super PAC so briskly that his advisers issued an edict — no contributions of more than $1 million, for now.

 “He was more of a super-PAC candidate than a retail candidate,” said one Republican close to the Bush operation. “. . . When was the last time he’s asked anyone for a vote? It’s been quite a few years.”

 Those concerns, simmering under the surface, finally boiled over one week in mid-May with a series of interviews focused on the most obvious issue imaginable for a Bush: the Iraq war.

 [On Iraq question, Jeb Bush stumbles and GOP rivals pounce]

 Starting with an interview aired on Fox News on Monday, May 11, Bush struggled over four days to answer whether he would have authorized the war begun by his brother given what is known now about faulty intelligence. He first said yes, then said “maybe,” then refused to answer altogether.

 Finally, that Thursday, he attempted to settle the issue at a campaign-style event in Arizona. “Here’s the deal,” he said. “If we’re all supposed to answer hypothetical questions — knowing what we know now, what would you have done — I would have not engaged. I would not have gone into Iraq.”

 The episode served to crystallize some of the key concerns about Bush — his reluctance to criticize or distance himself from the unpopular policies of George W. Bush, and his tendency toward prickliness if pushed.

 “We should have had that answer nailed down,” one donor said. “There were people who were really shaken by that.”

 By the time major party donors gathered in Dallas in late May for a meeting of the Republican Governors Association’s executive roundtable, the overwhelming sentiment, according to several participants, was that Jeb Bush was less formidable than many thought he was going to be. Some flatly stated that they did not believe he could win the nomination.

 People close to Bush started getting anxious, according to a top party fundraiser with close ties to his advisers — and things began to deteriorate inside the Bush camp.

 David Kochel, an Iowa-based strategist and former Romney aide, had been brought aboard in January as a de facto campaign manager. As the months wore on, Bradshaw and Murphy became jittery about Kochel’s concentration on staffing issues rather than deflecting the shots being thrown Bush’s way.

 Meanwhile, Bush was growing chummy with Danny Diaz, a 39-year-old Washington native and onetime plumber, who was spotted several times on the road with Bush while Kochel ground away at headquarters near the Miami airport.

 By late May, Kochel’s grip on power had eroded. Bradshaw and Murphy moved with the candidate’s blessing to push Kochel into a lesser role and ensure they alone had final say about the allocation of funds. The candidate, urged on by his allies and donors, suggested that a more assertive tack was necessary.

 On Monday, as Bush prepared to leave for Europe, Diaz was named the campaign manager.

 Friends and donors are hopeful that Bush has corrected course and that his cash-flush political committees will carry him further than other candidates.

 “He’s going to try to do it his way without acting with every change in the wind, without doing full face-plants on the pandering,” said Tallahassee lobbyist John “Mac” Stipanovich, a Bush ally.

 Dan Balz, Scott Clement, Matea Gold, Tom Hamburger and Philip Rucker in Washington and Karen Tumulty in Berlin contributed to this report. ||||| Photo Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 BERLIN — Jeb Bush said Wednesday that he felt compelled to reorganize his political team — and pick a new, unexpected campaign manager — “based on the skills of people that I got to know” and the “magnitude of the journey” he faces as a candidate.

 In his first remarks about the reshuffling, Mr. Bush, a former governor of Florida, pleaded for patience and played down the idea that he was displeased with his standing in a crowded Republican field. He is expected to formally enter the race next week.

 “It’s June, for crying out loud, so we’ve got a long way to go,” he said during a news conference held outside his hotel here on the second and final day of meetings and speeches in the German capital. “I just urge everybody to be a little more patient about this.”

 Mr. Bush called Danny Diaz, his new campaign manager, “a grinder.” He added that David Kochel, who had been expected to lead the political operation, was best suited to serve as chief strategist, with a focus on states like Iowa that hold caucuses and primaries in the early part of the campaign.

 That “is where his skills sets are,” said Mr. Bush, who called Mr. Kochel “a great strategic mind.”

 Pressed on polls that show he is lagging or not strongly leading in a few early states, especially Iowa, Mr. Bush all but dismissed the data.

 “Polls are, you know, it’s fun to see them when you’re winning, not so fun when you’re not,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter, though.”

 Mr. Bush said he would seek to compete in every state, regardless of how he was performing in polls.

 “If I’m a candidate, there’s no fifth place, you know, kind of mentality in my mind,” he said. |||||
What is a summary?

– Jeb Bush has not yet announced his presidential candidacy, but some critics contend that his campaign is already struggling—and in a front-page piece, the Washington Post delves into why that might be. One of the first blunders may have been allowing his political consultant, Mike Murphy, to hold senior staff meetings in a hotel inside the Dallas/Fort Worth airport—odd for an almost-campaign that's technically based in Florida. The awkwardness that created is just one example of the splintered nature of the upcoming campaign: There have been conflicts, for instance, between longstanding staffers and newer ones, and disagreements over dividing funding between Bush’s super PAC and the campaign itself. “These things are always tug of wars,” Bush ally Thomas D. Rath says. “It’s almost like the first day of school, everyone trying to get to the right place and find the right seats.” The first day of school may have been more like musical chairs, as Republican Party strategist Danny Diaz was named campaign manager earlier this week over the more expected choice—David Kochel. The selection of Diaz just a week before Bush declares his candidacy Monday is evidence that his team is still working out serious kinks, write Ed O'Keefe and Robert Costa; their piece traces Bush's other apparent problems, including shortfalls in both fundraising and the polls, and of course, that Iraq blunder. "In interviews this week, dozens of Bush backers and informed Republicans ... described an overly optimistic, even haughty exploratory operation," they write. "Strategic errors were exacerbated by unexpected stumbles by the would-be candidate and internal strife within his team." As for Bush, he appears unconcerned. “It’s June, for crying out loud, so we’ve got a long way to go,” Bush said of the staffing swap at a news conference yesterday, per the New York Times. “I just urge everybody to be a little more patient about this.”


A newborn baby with his umbilical cord still attached was barely breathing when it was found in a dumpster at an apartment complex Tuesday morning, MyFoxHouston.com reported.

 The infant was discovered upside down in a trash bag by Carlos Michel, a maintenance man at the complex, after he heard the baby crying, The Houston Chronicle reported.

 "It made a big impact," Michel, who is a grandfather, told the paper.

 Police told the paper that the baby is at the Hermann hospital and is doing fine. They are trying to locate the baby's parents. The child was reportedly found inside a bag with food leftovers and papers that appear to be homework assignments with a student's name on it. ||||| A newborn child has been found in a plastic bag tossed in the dumpster of a Houston apartment complex.

 A newborn child has been found in a plastic bag tossed in the dumpster of a Houston apartment complex.

 A newborn child has been found in a plastic bag tossed in the dumpster of a Houston apartment complex.

 A newborn child has been found in a plastic bag tossed in the dumpster of a Houston apartment complex.

 An infant is recovering in the hospital after being left in a large garbage bin in a southeast Houston apartment complex.

 It happened at the Reserve at Windmill Lakes on Almeda Genoa Road at around 8 a.m. Tuesday.

 Houston police say the child was barely breathing when he was found.

 A worker was dumping trash when he heard a noise.

 "I opened a white plastic garbage bag and saw the baby," said Carlos Mitchell in Spanish. "He was cold. Maybe hours old."

 Paramedics took the baby boy to a hospital where he is apparently doing well. Investigators are trying to find out who the mother is. They believe she's a teen girl who lives on the property.

 Child Protective Services will also investigate the incident.

 The so called "Baby Moses" law was passed to prevent incidents like this that often don't end so well. You can take a baby to any place that offers 24-hour medical care and leave it with a person, according to the law. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A baby boy is reportedly in good condition after he was found, cold, wet, and purple-faced in a Houston apartment building's trash. Maintenance worker Carlos Michel discovered the newborn after hearing sounds coming from a blue Dumpster yesterday morning, the Houston Chronicle reports. "I almost had a heart attack," he says. He stepped on a bucket and looked over the trash bags; the baby was in one, upside down alongside homework and leftover food, Fox News reports. "He was cold. Maybe hours old," Michel says, per MyFox Houston. Michel wrapped the boy in his shirt and warmed him in a pickup truck; the child never opened his eyes before paramedics rushed him to the hospital, Michel says. Child Protective Services will take custody of the baby, born to a 16-year-old girl who acknowledged putting him in the Dumpster, though details haven't been released. She was also hospitalized. Texas, notes the Chronicle, has a "Moses law" that allows parents to surrender newborns without fear of repercussions. It's not yet clear whether the mother will face charges.


Article:
In 2012, Kim Nace, Rich Earth’s administrative director and partner Abe Noe-Hays collected 600 gallons of urine from friends and neighbors. The next year, the organization brought in about 3,000 gallons from 170 human volunteers. Rebecca Rueter, a board member for Rich Earth, invited members of the local women’s chorus to donate their pee.

 Rich Earth hopes to double that amount this year to a round 6,000 gallons — enough to fill a third of an average American swimming pool. “We’ve given volunteers a few things to make it easier — some funnel devices and things like that,” says Nace.

 Urine contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium — essential plant nutrients that are usually mined from the earth or the air for agricultural use.

 The project aims to test human urine as a replacement for chemical fertilizers. Urine contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium — essential plant nutrients that are usually mined from the earth or the air for agricultural use. In collecting human urine, Rich Earth is diverting the same chemicals from waterways to farms, making a potentially harmful substance a boon to crop production.

 The urine collection scheme has had some unintended consequences for Nace’s home in Brattleboro, which hosts the so-called “urine depot.” There is a buzz of conversation as volunteers drop off 5-gallon jugs to be loaded into larger holding tanks. “When people realize that they produce something every day that can be helpful to the environment and the earth, it’s a very wonderful feeling,” says Nace.

 Poop Versus Pee as a Fertilizer “Urine Separation — Closing the Nutrient Cycle,” the exhaustive Swedish study of using urine as a fertilizer, compares the pros and cons of using solid human waste and liquid human waste to help grow crops. According to the study, urine contains many of the chemical elements plants need, but solid waste has the lion’s share of organic material such as carbon, fiber and beneficial microorganisms.

 At the moment, solid human waste is much more likely to become fertilizer in the U.S. Despite strict regulations from the EPA, almost 50 percent of “human biosolids” return to farmland in the states. As far as Rich Earth knows, they are the only project in the country legally returning human urine to the soil.

 Which is surprising. Fecal matter requires a much greater amount of attention to be processed into safe fertilizers or grey water. On the other hand, urine only makes up 1 percent of the liquid sewage flow in Sweden, and it’s rarely separated from the rest of the stuff that gets flushed and turned into fertilizer. To capitalize on the plant nutrients in urine, the liquid would need to be separated at its source rather than processed at a treatment facility.

 Jay Bailey, who owns and operates Fair Wind Farms with his wife Janet Bailey, volunteered a few hay fields for the initial stages of the project in 2012. He spread a urine solution from the Brattleboro volunteers over the crops from a horse-drawn applicator and, come harvest time, observed that urine-treated fields were twice as productive as unfertilized controls. The success earned Rich Earth a $10,000 SARE grant from the USDA to expand the trials at Fair Wind in 2013. This year, urine will go to three farms for collaborative trials.

 But would Bailey — who makes his living operating a small farm — opt for pee-power if he wasn’t part of an experiment? “With the cost of fertilizer these days, I would certainly give it very serious consideration,” he says.

 Across the Atlantic, studies have long established urine as a powerful fertilizer. A study conducted by the Stockholm Water Company in the late 1990s diverted urine from four housing projects to a grain farmer outside the city. The scientists concluded not only that urine could replace quick-acting mineral fertilizers, but also calculated that one Northern European adult pees enough plant nutrients to grow 50 to 100 percent of the food requirement for another person. Other successful trials have taken place in China and Mexico, though none as detailed as the Swedish one.

 Rich Earth acknowledges that the biggest hurdle to their work is public perception of lingering buckets of pee, or the so-called “ick factor.” Urine is actually sterile when it exits the body, save for rare cases of a bladder infection or salmonella poising. REI has nevertheless developed two strategies for eliminating the risk of pathogens, either by solar pasteurization or long-term storage in a warm greenhouse. Both have proven effective.

 A real concern for Rich Earth? Left over pharmaceuticals that end up in urine. The EPA has selected Rich Earth for funding to conduct a study of traces of drugs in urine with the help of the University of Michigan and SUNY Buffalo.

 But even if there is minimal risk to personal or public health, Nace realizes that only a chosen few will ever be willing to collect their own urine with jugs and funnels. A much more realistic option is urine-diverting toilets, which again the Swedes, masters of pee, have reliably engineered.

 1 Volunteers find the optimal dilution rates for 2013 field trials. 2 A greenhouse built to treat urine tanks for pathogens. The urine is sanitized after 30 days at or above 20°C (68°F). 3 Board member Dan Marks and Research Director Abe Noe-Hays built a solar pasteurizer in 2012 to sanitize 50 gallon batches of urine. 4 Over 170 volunteers have donated urine to the project. Photos and captions courtesy of the Rich Earth Institute. 1 Volunteers find the optimal dilution rates for 2013 field trials. 2 A greenhouse built to treat urine tanks for pathogens. The urine is sanitized after 30 days at or above 20°C (68°F). 3 Board member Dan Marks and Research Director Abe Noe-Hays built a solar pasteurizer in 2012 to sanitize 50 gallon batches of urine. 4 Over 170 volunteers have donated urine to the project. Photos and captions courtesy of the Rich Earth Institute.

 Nace keeps one in her home, where it’s become something of a tourist attraction for people coming to learn about the project. (She welcomes everyone to use her bathroom, but appreciates a donation in return.) The toilet has a division three-quarters of the way toward the front of the bowl. Urine goes in the front side where it’s piped to a holding tank; all other waste and toilet paper falls to the back for composting.

 The only complaint on the toilet, says board member Konrad Scheltema, is that the men have to sit to use it. Then again, the requirement keeps Nace’s bathroom clean.

 Vermont might be one of the more progressive states in the country, but even as regulators and politicians support the project, there remains a fair number of skeptics coming to Rich Earth with questions. Does it smell? Sure, says Bailey, but only for about an hour after application. Any ammonia-based fertilizer smells. Is it legal? Rich Earth has met repeatedly with Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, which oversees waste water management, to make sure they are meeting all public health standards.

 Most inquires come from people worried they are literally pissing away a valuable fertilizer, all with the same question: How can I help?

 Nace refers all potential urine donors to the Rich Earth website. ||||| View photo . Field permit sign (Rich Earth Institute)

 Waste not, want not.

 The Rich Earth Institute (REI) in Battleboro, Vt., is investigating whether human urine can replace chemical fertilizers.

 We first learned of the technique over at Modern Farmer. The project, which has enlisted well over 100 volunteers to donate their urine, aims to determine if "essential plant nutrients" found in urine, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, will work as a kind of all-natural fertilizer.

 It's not as unusual as you might think. Modern Farmer explains that, "Across the Atlantic, studies have long established urine as a powerful fertilizer."

 The article goes on to cite a study done by the Stockholm Water Company.

 Via Modern Farmer:

 A study conducted by the Stockholm Water Company in the late 1990s diverted urine from four housing projects to a grain farmer outside the city. The scientists concluded not only that urine could replace quick-acting mineral fertilizers, but also calculated that one Northern European adult pees enough plant nutrients to grow 50 to 100 percent of the food requirement for another person. Other successful trials have taken place in China and Mexico, though none as detailed as the Swedish one.

 National Geographic spoke with researcher Debendra Shrestha of Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal, who said that Nepalese farmers have been using human urine on crops for centuries.

 But does it work? According to National Geographic, it did for Shrestha. After conducting an experiment that featured sweet peppers grown in soil with different combinations of urine, compost, and urea ― "the main nitrogen-containing chemical in human urine" ― the researchers found that plants grown in soil that "had a combination of human urine and compost grew the tallest, yielded the most peppers, and had the most total fruit weight per plant."

 That study's results were published in Scientia Horticulturae.

 Another study investigated the effect that urine and ash had on growing beets. The researchers found that "urine with or without ash can increase the yield of red beet and furthermore the microbial quality and chemical quality were similar to the situation in mineral-fertilized products."

 Yet another study that focused on tomatoes found similar results.

 Still, there are questions. As Modern Farmer notes, traces of pharmaceuticals that can show up in urine are also being studied by REI, with the help of two universities.

 Follow Mike Krumboltz on Twitter (@mikekrumboltz). ||||| People have been using manure as fertilizer for millennia. But scientists now believe they can turn human urine into liquid gold—as composting material.

 The premise is simple: Pee is rich in nitrogen, which plants desperately need. Commercial fertilizers boost plant growth and yield by providing abundant nitrogen to the plant’s roots.

 Of course, commercial fertilizers can harm the environment if they get into lakes and streams. As well, not all farmers in the developing world can afford to buy fertilizer for their crops. Enter pee. (Related: “Human Pee With Ash Is a Natural Fertilizer.“)

 Debendra Shrestha, a researcher at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal, noted that Nepalese farmers have been applying human urine to their crops for centuries.

 Unlike commercial fertilizers, urine is free and abundantly available. Plus, it doesn’t seem to have any harmful environmental effects. The main question that remained was whether it actually worked: Would plants grow better when their soil was treated with human urine?

 Pee Power

 To answer this question, Shrestha and colleagues grew sweet peppers (Capsicum annum) in soil that had various combinations of human urine, compost, and urea—the main nitrogen-containing chemical in human urine. The urine was collected from communal toilets in Kathmandu, whereas the compost was sourced from cow manure. (Also see “Urine Battery Turns Pee Into Power.”)

 The plants grown in soil that had a combination of human urine and compost grew the tallest, yielded the most peppers, and had the most total fruit weight per plant, according to the study, published recently in the journal Scientia Horticulturae.

 The scientists say the pee was so effective because of several factors working together. For instance, the mix of compost and urine decreased the amount of nitrogen lost in the soil while making more carbon available to the plants.

 “We need to start moving toward the application of urine in combination with compost,” Shrestha said in an interview with <a ” href=”http://www.scidev.net/en/south-asia/news/crop-thrives-on-urine-compost-mix.html” target=”_blank”>SciDev.Net.

 To Pee or Not to Pee?

 Still, not everyone is convinced. Other studies in Africa that used a combination of human urine, human manure, and poultry manure found that these substances did not yield more crops than commercial fertilizers did. (See “Human Waste to Revive Haitian Farmland?”)

 The use of human urine, noted Surendra Pradhan, a researcher at the International Water Management Institute who is based in Ghana, has major problems, according to SciDev.Net.

 For one, although urine is freely available, not all cultures might take to the idea of using it on their crops. What’s more, it needs to be used along with compost for it to be effective, since urine alone doesn’t have enough nutrients to sustain plant growth over several years. (Read more about sustainable agriculture.)

 Last, although commercially available fertilizers aren’t free, many governments do subsidize their availability, which may decrease the overall appeal of urine-based fertilizers. |||||Summary:

– Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are among plants' key needs—and your urine contains all of them. That's why Vermont's Rich Earth Institute is studying the use of human urine as fertilizer, Modern Farmer reports. There's already plenty of evidence that it works. Yahoo cites one study, earlier reported by National Geographic, in which a researcher found that a blend of urine and compost resulted in taller sweet pepper plants with more peppers. A Swedish study, meanwhile, sent urine from housing projects to a farm. Researchers found that one adult's pee provides enough plant nutrients for 50% to 100% of another person's diet, Modern Farmer notes. A farmer working with the Rich Earth Institute also found urine to be highly effective in a 2012 field test, results that helped the group get a $10,000 USDA grant. Last year, the institute collected some 3,000 gallons of pee from 170 people. "When people realize that they produce something every day that can be helpful to the environment and the earth, it’s a very wonderful feeling," says its administrative director. But hurdles remain: For instance, human urine can contain remnants of medications.


Article:
An Interesting SETI Candidate in Hercules

 A candidate signal for SETI is a welcome sign that our efforts in that direction may one day pay off. An international team of researchers has announced the detection of “a strong signal in the direction of HD164595” in a document now being circulated through contact person Alexander Panov. The detection was made with the RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, in the Karachay–Cherkess Republic of Russia, not far from the border with Georgia in the Caucasus.

 The signal was received on May 15, 2015, 18:01:15.65 (sidereal time), at a wavelength of 2.7 cm. The estimated amplitude of the signal is 750 mJy.

 No one is claiming that this is the work of an extraterrestrial civilization, but it is certainly worth further study. Working out the strength of the signal, the researchers say that if it came from an isotropic beacon, it would be of a power possible only for a Kardashev Type II civilization. If it were a narrow beam signal focused on our Solar System, it would be of a power available to a Kardashev Type I civilization. The possibility of noise of one form or another cannot be ruled out, and researchers in Paris led by Jean Schneider are considering the possible microlensing of a background source by HD164595. But the signal is provocative enough that the RATAN-600 researchers are calling for permanent monitoring of this target.

 Image: The RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

 Here I’m drawing on a presentation forwarded to me by Claudio Maccone, from which I learn that the team behind the detection was led by N.N. Bursov and included L.N. Filippova, V.V. Filippov, L.M. Gindilis, A.D. Panov, E.S. Starikov, J. Wilson, as well as Claudio Maccone himself, the latter a familiar figure on Centauri Dreams. The work is to be discussed at a meeting of the IAA SETI Permanent Committee, to be held during the 67th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Tuesday, September 27th, 2016,

 What we know of HD 164595 is that it is a star of 0.99 solar masses at a distance of roughly 95 light years in the constellation Hercules, and an estimated age of 6.3 billion years. Its metallicity is almost identical to that of the Sun. A known planet in this system, HD 164595 b, is 0.05 Jupiter mass with a period of 40 days, considered to be a warm Neptune on a circular orbit. There could, of course, be other planets still undetected in this system.

 Image: Strong signal from the direction of HD 164595. “Raw” record of the signal together with expected shape of the signal for point-like source in the position of HD 164595. Credit: Bursov et al.

 From the presentation:

 The estimated probability ~2 X 10-4 to simulate the signal from the direction of the HD164595 by signal-like noise is small, therefore HD164595 is good candidate SETI. Permanent monitoring of this target is needed.

 All of which makes excellent sense. We can’t claim the detection of an extraterrestrial civilization from this observation. What we can say is that the signal is interesting and merits further scrutiny. ||||| Mikhail Turnovskiy/Alamy Stock Photo

 Are you there, ET? Recent news of a spike in radio signals that could fit the profile for an intelligent, extraterrestrial source has SETI astronomers across the globe swinging their radio dishes in hopes of confirming the detection. Although so far they have all come back empty-handed, two observatories will follow up on the tantalising signal again tonight.

 The signal was detected on May 15, 2015 by a radio telescope operated by the Russian Academy of Science. It appeared to come from the star HD 164595, a sun-like star located roughly 95 light-years from Earth. The system has only one known planet: a warm Neptune, so called because it is gaseous like Neptune but orbits its star in only 40 days. But the star probably has other planets — perhaps rocky ones — as well.

 The researchers speculate that such a bright signal, if real, could have been produced by a radio beacon built by an intelligent civilisation.

 If that beacon is transmitting radio waves in all directions, the energy it would need to produce is a whopping 1020 watts, says Seth Shostak, an astronomer at the SETI Institute in California. “That’s a big energy bill even if you’re getting a bulk discount from your local supplier,” he jokes. “It’s hundreds of times more than all the energy falling on the Earth from sunlight.”

 That means the hypothetical beings responsible might be what SETI scientists call a Kardashev Type II civilisation, so advanced that they can tap all of the energy being produced by their host star.

 If instead the beacon was targeted at Earth, then the power needed drops to 1013 watts, Shostak says. “That is more or less the total amount of energy used by humankind — all the cars, all the planes, all the electronic devices, everything,” Shostak says. “This is not a high-school science project.”

 That would make the senders a Kardashev Type I civilisation, able to harness all the starlight that falls on its home planet.

 Jumping to conclusions?

 Although it’s fun to speculate, it’s far more likely that the signal isn’t an extraterrestrial beacon at all, but actually earthly interference. Radio telescopes have been known to pick up rogue signals – everything from flushing toilets to cell phones. Just last year, astronomers at the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia traced a mysterious type of radio signal to two on-site microwave ovens.

 “In SETI part of the problem is that you have a civilisation that is producing signals that can mess you up all the time – and that civilisation is called humanity,” Shostak says.

 So before astronomers jump to any conclusion, they’re attempting to detect the signal again. Last night, the SETI Institute used the Allen Telescope Array in northern California to track the star. They saw nothing, but will observe again tonight.

 That lack of detection doesn’t close the book on an extraterrestrial civilisation just yet. “You can’t say because you didn’t find something that there’s nothing there,” Shostak says. “Say Captain Cook sailed around all day in the South Pacific and he didn’t find any new islands. That doesn’t prove that there are no new islands, it just proves that he didn’t find any that day.”

 A civilisation might also try to send signals at multiple frequencies, says Douglas Vakoch, the president of METI International, a group that wants to send messages to ET as well as detect their signals. Perhaps last night, they simply weren’t broadcasting at the same frequency we initially detected.

 Read more: SETI looks at red dwarf stars in its search for ancient aliens

 “If you really want to communicate a lot of information there are advantages to sending at optical frequencies,” he says. “So we are planning to observe the star from our optical SETI observatory in Panama this evening. We tried last night but the weather didn’t cooperate.”

 Still, Vakoch is not particularly optimistic that they will find anything. “I think the likely outcome of this is that there’s no indication that it’s ET, but it provides a critical preparation for a day we may really discover intelligence out there,” he says. “We can speculate as much as we want about whether there’s intelligence out there in the cosmos, but unless we find something interesting and do a rigorous follow-up, we’ll never know.”

 An earlier version of this story misstated the distance to the star. This has been corrected. ||||| The SETI Institute is using the Allen Telescope Array in Northern California in an attempt to confirm an intriguing signal coming from the star HD 164595.

 A powerful signal has been spotted coming from the vicinity of a sunlike star, and now astronomers are trying to figure out what it means.

 In May 2015, researchers using a radio telescope in Russia detected a candidate SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) signal that seems to originate from HD 164595, a star system that lies about 94 light-years from Earth, the website Centauri Dreams reported over the weekend.

 The astronomers have not yet published a study about the detection; they plan to discuss it next month at the 67th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Guadalajara, Mexico, according to Centauri Dreams' Paul Gilster, who wrote that one of the team members forwarded him the IAC presentation. [13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Alien Life]

 Yes - We may not have found them yet, but they're out there.

 No - Aliens are just part of science fiction.

 I'm not sure

 HD 164595 is known to harbor one planet — a roughly Neptune-mass world that orbits too close to the star to support life as we know it. However, it's possible that other worlds lurk undiscovered in the system, said astronomer Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, who is not part of the detection team.

 To be clear: Nobody is claiming that aliens beamed out this signal. But that is one of the possible scenarios at the moment, Shostak told Space.com.

 The scientists who made the detection are respected researchers, and the signal is strong enough that it's probably not just random noise, Shostak said. Furthermore, the signal is consistent with something an alien civilization might send out — and if aliens did indeed do it, they are certainly far more advanced than we are, he added.

 Based on the received signal's characteristics, aliens would have to generate about 100 billion billion watts of energy to blast it out in all directions. And they'd still have to produce more than 1 trillion watts if they beamed it only to Earth for some reason, Shostak said.

 "The first number is hundreds of times more than all the sunlight falling on Earth," he said. "That's a very big energy bill."

 The SETI Institute focused the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), a system of radio dishes in Northern California, at HD 164595 Sunday night (Aug. 28) and plans to do so again tonight (Aug. 29), Shostak said. He certainly hopes the ATA finds something that would suggest ET is behind the signal, but he said he suspects there's a more prosaic explanation.

 For example, it's possible that interference by an Earth-orbiting satellite or something else close to home is responsible, Shostak said. Indeed, he said that such "terrestrial interference" would be his bet, if we ever do learn what caused the signal.

 But, sadly, it's very possible that we'll never know. The Russia-based team apparently observed the HD 164595 system 39 different times and only detected the signal once, Shostak said. If nobody sees it again, it will probably remain a mystery, much like the famous "Wow!" signal of 1977.

 "Without a confirmation of this signal, we can only say that it's 'interesting,'" Shostak wrote today in a blog post about the candidate signal detection.

 Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. ||||| An international team of scientists from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is investigating mysterious signal spikes emitting from a 6.3-billion-year-old star in the constellation Hercules—95 light years away from Earth. The implications are extraordinary and point to the possibility of a civilization far more advanced than our own.

 The unusual signal was originally detected on May 15, 2015, by the Russian Academy of Science-operated RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, Russia, but was kept secret from the international community. Interstellar space reporter Paul Gilster broke the story after the researchers quietly circulated a paper announcing the detection of “a strong signal in the direction of HD164595.”

 READ ALSO: NASA Director Reveals the 4 Places Most Likely to Have Alien Life In Our Solar System

 The mysterious star’s designation is HD164595, and it’s considered to be sun-like in nature with a nearly identical metallic composition to our own star. So far, a single Neptune-like (but warmer) planet has been discovered in its orbit—HD 164595 b. But as Gilster explained, “There could, of course, be other planets still undetected in this system.”

 Decorated Italian SETI researcher and mathematician Claudio Maccone along with Russia’s Nikolai Bursov of the Special Astrophysical Observatory are the principal scientists working on the apparent discovery. They claim that “permanent monitoring of this target is needed.”

 “The signal conceivably fits the profile for an intentional transmission from an extraterrestrial source,” said Alan Boyle, author of The Case for Pluto who reported the story for Geekwire. “In any case, the blip is interesting enough to merit discussion by those who specialize in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.”

 The signal’s strength indicates that if it in fact came from a isotropic beacon, the power source would have to be built by a Kardashev Type II civilization. (The Kardashev scale is used to determine the progress of a civilization’s technological development by measuring how much energy was used to transmit an interstellar message.) An ‘Isotropic’ beacon means a communication source emitting a signal with equal power in all directions while promoting signal strength throughout travel.

 In his acclaimed work “Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations,” Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev explained that a Type II civilization would be able to harness the energy of their entire host star. The most common hypothetical example of this would be a Dyson Sphere—which is a massive artificial structure that could completely encapsulate a star and transfer the energy to a nearby planet.

 Basically, if the signal was beamed out into the galaxy without aim or direction, that would require an enormous amount of power to actually be detected. But what if the signal was beamed specifically at our solar system? Well, that would require less energy and could indicate the presence of a Kardashev Type I civilization—meaning that it could be a highly technological, contemporary society that harnesses the solar energy emitted by its local star, much like our planet does with solar panels. This particular civilization’s social structure is theorized to be completely globalized and interconnected.

 “The signal is provocative enough that the RATAN-600 researchers are calling for permanent monitoring of this target,” said Gilster. And that’s exactly what is transpiring. As of last night, the SETI institute is diverting its Allen Telescope Array in northern California to investigate while their counterparts at METI International (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence) will use Panama’s Boquete Optical Observatory.

 The detection of the mysterious signal and the ensuing investigations will be discussed at the IAA SETI Permanent Committee during the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, on September 27—the same day and location where Elon Musk will reveal his plans to colonize Mars. The Observer will be following up on both these stories from the Congress.

 Robin Seemangal focuses on NASA and advocacy for space exploration. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, where he currently resides. Find him on Instagram for more space-related content: @nova_road. ||||| It remains only the barest of probabilities that astronomers have just found evidence of extraterrestrial, intelligent life. Nevertheless, in the community of astronomers and other scientists who use radio telescopes to search the heavens for beacons of life there is considerable excitement about a new signal observed by a facility in Russia.

 According to Paul Gilster, author of the Centauri Dreams website, the Italian astronomer Claudio Maccone and other astronomers affiliated with the search for extraterrestrial intelligence have detected "a strong signal in the direction of HD164595." HD 164595 is a star of 0.99 solar masses about 95 light years from Earth, with an estimated age of 6.3 billion years. The system is known to have at least one planet, HD 164595 b, which is similar in size to Neptune and orbits its star in 40 days. Other planets may exist in the system as well.

 The observation was made with the RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, in southern Russia, Gilster reports. He cautioned that the evidence is very preliminary:

 No one is claiming that this is the work of an extraterrestrial civilization, but it is certainly worth further study. Working out the strength of the signal, the researchers say that if it came from an isotropic beacon, it would be of a power possible only for a Kardashev Type II civilization. If it were a narrow beam signal focused on our Solar System, it would be of a power available to a Kardashev Type I civilization. The possibility of noise of one form or another cannot be ruled out, and researchers in Paris led by Jean Schneider are considering the possible microlensing of a background source by HD164595. But the signal is provocative enough that the RATAN-600 researchers are calling for permanent monitoring of this target.

 More information may be forthcoming soon. According to Gilster, the discovery and work to understand its origin will be discussed at a SETI committee meeting during the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Tuesday, September 27.

 Ars contacted Nick Suntzeff, a Texas A&M University astronomer, for insight into what this signal at 11Ghz might be if it were not of alien origin. "If this were a real astronomical source, it would be rather strange," Suntzeff told Ars. Although there are mysterious, high-energy astrophysical phenomenon called “fast radio bursts” that are seen at a few gigahertz, they last only 10 milliseconds or so (this event lasted longer). Unfortunately, he said, there is no information given about the strength of the signal as a function of frequency.

 Suntzeff added that he would not be surprised if the signal was due to a terrestrial origin, because it was observed in part of the radio spectrum used by the military. "God knows who or what broadcasts at 11Ghz, and it would not be out of the question that some sort of bursting communication is done between ground stations and satellites," he said. "I would follow it if I were the astronomers, but I would also not hype the fact that it may be at SETI signal given the significant chance it could be something military." ||||| A star system 94 light-years away is in the spotlight as a possible candidate for intelligent inhabitants, thanks to the discovery of a radio signal by a group of Russian astronomers.

 The RATAN-600 radio telescope, credit: nat-geo.ru

 HD 164595, a solar system a few billion years older than the Sun but centered on a star of comparable size and brightness, is the purported source of a signal found with the RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, at the northern foot of the Caucasus Mountains. This system is known to have one planet, a Neptune-sized world in a very tight orbit, making it unattractive for life. However, there could be other planets in this system that are still undiscovered.

 The signal seems to have been discussed in a presentation given by several Russian astronomers as well as Italian researcher, Claudio Maccone, the Chair of the International Academy of Astronautics Permanent SETI Committee. Maccone has recently sent an email to SETI scientists in which he describes this presentation, including the signal ascribed to star system HD 164595.

 Could it be a transmission from a technically proficient society? At this point, we can only consider what is known so far. This is a technical story, of course.

 First, is the detected signal really coming from the direction of HD 164595? The RATAN-600 is of an unusual design (a ring on the ground of diameter 577 meters), and has an unusual “beam shape” (the patch of sky to which it is sensitive). At the wavelength of the reported signal, 2.7 cm – which is equivalent to a frequency of 11 GHz – the beam is about 20 arcsec by 2 arcmin. In other words, it’s a patch that’s highly elongated in the north-south direction.

 The patch from which the signal seems to be coming agrees in the east-west direction (the narrow part of the beam) with HD 164695’s sky coordinates, so that’s the basis of the assumption by the discoverers that this is likely to be coming from that star system. But of course, that’s not necessarily the case.

 Second is the question of the characteristics of the signal itself. The observations were made with a receiver having a bandwidth of 1 GHz. That’s a billion times wider than the bandwidths traditionally used for SETI, and is 200 times wider than a television signal. The strength of the signal was 0.75 Janskys, or in common parlance, “weak.” But was it weak only because of the distance of HD 164595? Perhaps it was weak because of “dilution” of the signal by the very wide bandwidth of the Russian receiver? Just as a potpie, incorporating lots of ingredients, can make guessing the individual foodstuffs more difficult, a wide-bandwidth receiver can dilute the strength of relatively strong narrow-band signals.

 Now note that we can work backwards from the strength of the received signal to calculate how powerful an alien transmitter anywhere near HD 164595 would have to be. There are two interesting cases:

 (1) They decide to broadcast in all directions. Then the required power is 1020 watts, or 100 billion billion watts. That’s hundreds of times more energy than all the sunlight falling on Earth, and would obviously require power sources far beyond any we have. <

 (2) They aim their transmission at us. This will reduce the power requirement, but even if they are using an antenna the size of the 1000-foot Arecibo instrument, they would still need to wield more than a trillion watts, which is comparable to the total energy consumption of all humankind.

 Both scenarios require an effort far, far beyond what we ourselves could do, and it’s hard to understand why anyone would want to target our solar system with a strong signal. This star system is so far away they won’t have yet picked up any TV or radar that would tell them that we’re here.

 Enter the Allen Telescope Array

 The chance that this is truly a signal from extraterrestrials is not terribly promising, and the discoverers themselves apparently doubt that they’ve found ET. Nonetheless, one should check out all reasonable possibilities, given the importance of the subject.

 Consequently, the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) was swung in the direction of HD 164595 beginning on the evening of August 28. According to our scientists Jon Richards and Gerry Harp, it has so far not found any signal anywhere in the very large patch of sky covered by the ATA.

 However, we have not yet covered the full range of frequencies in which the signal could be located, if it’s of far narrower bandwidth than the Russian 1 GHz receiver. We intend to completely cover this big swath of the radio dial in the next day or two. A detection, of course, would immediately spur the SETI and radio astronomy communities to do more follow-up observations.

 We will continue to monitor this star system with the Array.

 One particularly noteworthy thing about this discovery is the fact that the signal was apparently observed in May, 2015 (it seems that this was the only time in 39 tries that they saw this signal). The discoverers didn’t alert the SETI community to this find until now, which is not as expected. According to both practice and protocol, if a signal seems to be of deliberate and extraterrestrial origin, one of the first things to do is to get others to attempt confirming observations. That was not done in this case.

 So what’s the bottom line? Could it be another society sending a signal our way? Of course, that’s possible. However, there are many other plausible explanations for this claimed transmission – including terrestrial interference. Without a confirmation of this signal, we can only say that it’s “interesting.”

 August 30, 2016

 We spent a second day looking for radio emission from HD 164595, this time stepping across the radio dial to cover all the frequencies observed by the Russian astronomers. We failed to see any signal greater than 0.1 Janskys in a bandwidth of 100 MHz, whereas the claim by the Russians was a signal of 0.75 Janskys. Despite the fact that it would be both exciting and enticing to say that this signal was really from aliens inhabiting HD 164595, that would be an unwarranted assertion given the inability to confirm this signal. In the SETI business, one telescope is not enough and an array is even better.

 August 31, 2016

 An article that quotes the Russian news agency TASS is suggesting that the signal found using the Russian RATAN-600 radio telescope is, indeed, terrestrial interference. The article, which can be found here – http://tass.com/science/896683 -- says in part “Director of the Institute of Applied Astronomy at the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Ipatov told TASS that back at the Soviet period he had been part of a group of young astronomers at the special astrophysical observatory searching for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. ‘We, indeed, discovered an unusual signal. However, an additional check showed that it was emanating from a Soviet military satellite, which had not been entered into any of the catalogs of celestial bodies,’ Ipatov said.”

 As noted in the accompanying write-up, we have been unable to find this signal using our Allen Telescope Array. That would be consistent, of course, with it being terrestrial interference, such as a military satellite. However, there seems to be some contradiction in the Russian response quoted above, as the signal was labeled as being measured in May, 2015, long after the demise of the Soviet Union.

 Later today, a statement from the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences was made: https://www.sao.ru/Doc-en/SciNews/2016/Sotnikova/ The statement concludes with this sentence: “It can be said with confidence that no sought-for signal has been detected yet.” |||||Summary:

– Are aliens living 95 light-years away reaching out to say hello? OK, probably not, but astronomers are nevertheless intrigued by an unusual signal reported out of Russia, reports the Observer. It seems to be coming from the general vicinity of an ancient star in the constellation Hercules known as HD164595, which has at least one planet in its orbit. The signal was detected by the RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya on May 15, 2015, but only just made public in a paper, reports the website Centauri Dreams. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence has begun looking into it, and "the signal is provocative enough that the RATAN-600 researchers are calling for permanent monitoring of this target," writes Paul Gilster. The reason it's generating so many headlines on science websites is that the signal has the hallmarks of one that would come an advanced civilization. After all, it would take an enormous amount of energy to blast it out deliberately, notes Space.com. Unfortunately for sci-fi fans, the best bet is that the signal is the result of some kind of interference from Earth, reports New Scientist. It might even come from our own military's communications, reports Ars Technica. "Could it be another society sending a signal our way?" asks SETI's Seth Sostak in a blog post. "Of course, that’s possible." But plenty of other explanations exist, and "without a confirmation of this signal, we can only say that it’s 'interesting.'" Astronomers will discuss the signal at a SETI meeting on Sept. 27. (SETI is also looking for signals from another star.)


Article:

It was unclear how, exactly, that submission to the United Nations would take place. Christiana Figueres, a former top United Nations climate official, said there was currently no formal mechanism for entities that were not countries to be full parties to the Paris accord.

 Ms. Figueres, who described the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw as a “vacuous political melodrama,” said the American government was required to continue reporting its emissions to the United Nations because a formal withdrawal would not take place for several years.

 But Ms. Figueres, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change until last year, said the Bloomberg group’s submission could be included in future reports the United Nations compiled on the progress made by the signatories of the Paris deal.

 There are 195 countries committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions as part of the 2015 agreement.

 Still, producing what Mr. Bloomberg described as a “parallel” pledge would indicate that leadership in the fight against climate change in the United States had shifted from the federal government to lower levels of government, academia and industry. ||||| Bloomberg founder and CEO Michael Bloomberg has offered to make up the $15 million in funding that the United Nations stands to lose from U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

 Under the historic agreement, the U.S. would have been expected to contribute that amount to the operating budget of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the accord’s coordinating agency.

 “Americans are not walking away from the Paris Climate Agreement,” the billionaire philanthropist and former New York City mayor said on Thursday, according to the Washington Examiner. “Just the opposite — we are forging ahead.”

 Bloomberg believes that “non-state actors” will be able to achieve the United States’ 2025 emissions reduction target without the federal government’s support.

 In a draft letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, cited in the New York Times, he wrote: “The bulk of the decisions which drive U.S. climate action in the aggregate are made by cities, states, businesses, and civil society. Collectively, these actors remain committed to the Paris accord.”

 For more about the Paris Climate Agreement, watch Fortune’s video:

 Bloomberg joins a growing chorus of business leaders from various industries who have publicly denounced Trump’s withdrawal from the accord.

 Tesla (tsla) CEO Elon Musk and Disney’s (dis) Bob Iger both left the President’s advisory council in protest, while corporations such as Google (googl) and Shell have criticized the president’s move online. |||||
What is a summary?

– "Americans are not walking away from the Paris climate agreement," Fortune quotes Michael Bloomberg as saying. On Friday, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced it would commit $15 million to "support the operations" of the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change, which coordinates the Paris climate agreement, CNN reports. The $15 million will cover the US' share of the convention's operating budget. The executive secretary of the Framework Convention on Climate Change calls the money "crucial." On Thursday, after announcing the US was withdrawing from the Paris agreement, President Trump said the money the US had pledged to give the UN for climate matters was a "draconian" burden on the country. Bloomberg says he believes the US can hit its 2025 emissions reduction target laid out in the Paris climate agreement without the help of the federal government. "The bulk of the decisions which drive US climate action in the aggregate are made by cities, states, businesses, and civil society," the New York Times quotes Bloomberg as saying in a letter to the UN secretary-general. Bloomberg says the federal government doesn't determine how the US as a whole acts on climate change. "We're going to do everything America would have done if it had stayed committed," the former New York City mayor with an estimated worth of $50 billion says of group that includes mayors, governors, universities, and businesses.


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 Embed For Some, Hatchimal Toy Craze Has Not Been All It Was Touted to Be 1:29 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog

 The hottest toy of the holiday season has now hatched a lawsuit.

 A California mom has filed a class-action suit against Spin Master, alleging the Hatchimal toy she bought for her daughter's birthday never popped out of its egg.

 Hatchimals are a plastic grapefruit-sized egg that you rub, tip, and tilt for around 25 minutes until a Furby-like interactive creature is electronically stimulated to poke its beak through the plastic. Then you can remove the top and discover whether your Hatchimal is one of five different cute "species," a "Bearakeet," "Burtle," "Draggle," "Owlicorn," or a "Penguala."

 Related: Hatchimals, Barbie Disappoint Parents and Kids on Christmas

 The $50 toys were the "Tickle Me Elmo" or "Teddy Ruxpin" of the year, with parents lining up outside stores chasing scarce supplies, and bidding up sales on third-party sites to $350.

 But that fever turned to frustration and rage when the presents were opened and kids — and their hapless parents —couldn't get them to hatch. They flooded the company's customer service lines and vented on social media.

 @SpinMaster My daughters Hatcnhimal won't hatch out of it's shell! It won't spin around to peck away at the egg and hatch out. Please advise pic.twitter.com/M9swedO1Ct — Dustin Shammo (@dustinshammo) December 26, 2016

 "When we purchase an iPhone, we expect it to make a phone call. When we purchase a yo-yo, we expect it to come back up," the lawsuit alleged. "Unfortunately, this Christmas season, millions of children and families across the globe were sourly disappointed with coal in their stockings, in the form of a bait-and-switch marketing scheme."

 In a statement to CNBC, Spin Master general counsel Christopher Harrs said that the company "provided troubleshooting support and where required immediately made available replacement products for those few consumers whose toys did not work as they anticipated."

 "The allegations from the class action lawyer are simply inaccurate and not based on actual facts," he added. ||||| After complaints that a sought-after children's toy "Hathchimals" didn't do the main thing it advertises -- hatch from its egg -- a federal class action lawsuit has been filed in California.

 The battery-powered toy is designed to slowly peck its way through the surrounding shell after the egg is rubbed, tapped and warmed, according to the lawsuit. But Jodie Hejduk of Bakersfield filed the complaint, on behalf of a class of other affected people, against Hatchimals' parent company Spin Master after she says the toy she purchased did not hatch.

 Spin Master

 Hejduk says in the lawsuit that she purchased the Hatchimal for approximately $50 on January 14 as a birthday gift for her daughter. She claims she and her daughter followed directions included in the package and the Hatchimal failed to hatch.

 Hejduk is suing for damages relating to Spin Master's "deceptive business practices in selling Hatchimals," according to the lawsuit. Her attorney Mark Geragos, alleges that the company misrepresented the toy.

 "The product is defective and it's unfortunate for all those people because there was kind of a craze about it," Geragos told ABC News. "They ought to rename it the 'bait and switch.'"

 Geragos said Hedjuk was denied a refund or a product repair. The lawsuit also cites several negative reviews on Amazon.com from other consumers saying the toy was defective.

 "My guess is there will be more lawsuits filed any day," Geragos said.

 Spin Master released Hatchimals, which retailed for $50 to $60, on October 7, 2016. But the popular toy often sold out, creating a market for resellers.

 "By November 2016, the products were difficult to find and sold out in many locations, which led to a black market for Hatchimals," the lawsuit alleges.

 Soon, Hatchimals were selling on e-commerce sites for hundreds of dollars, but many parents and children were allegedly let down after the item failed to live up to its name.

 "Spin Master knew that the 'hatching' was one of the primary draws of the toy," the lawsuit said. "Since children do not know what is inside of the egg," the lawsuit alleges that according to a Spin Master senior vice president,"they get excited about what they may get."

 The lawsuit goes onto to say, "This excitement was replaced with extreme disappointment for the many children when their Hatchimals did not hatch."

 The lawsuit also alleges that Spin Master has failed to take "proper action to address its malfunctioning product."

 After receiving complaints that the toy didn't hatch, the company posted onto Facebook that they are "100% committed to bringing the magic of Hatchimals" to all of its customers.

 In a statement to ABC News in December, the company said that while "the vast majority of children have had a magical experience with Hatchimals," it also acknowledged it had received calls from consumers who had "encountered challenges" and that, "To ensure all queries receive a timely response, we have increased the number of Consumer Care representatives, extended our hours, and increased the capacity for callers in the queue to help prevent calls dropped due to the holiday volume."

 "We have also created troubleshooting tips on Hatchimals.com and a video with 'The Top 5 Things to Know About Hatchimals'," the December statement continued. "We are committed to doing everything possible to resolve any consumer issues. We sincerely apologize and thank everyone who is experiencing an issue for their patience."

 Today, Christopher Harrs, executive vice president and general counsel for Spin Master provided a new statement to ABC News:

 "Spin Master stands behind its products and cares about its consumers. Given the popularity of Hatchimals and the overwhelmingly positive consumer response, a large number of Hatchimals were purchased as gifts and opened on Christmas day. As a result, the Company experienced a higher than anticipated number of consumer calls over the holiday period. Spin Master took extraordinary and proactive steps to respond to consumer questions regarding Hatchimals. The Company provided troubleshooting support and where required immediately made available replacement products for those few consumers whose toys did not work as they anticipated. The allegations from the class action lawyer are simply inaccurate and not based on actual facts."

 Geragos maintains that the toy did not function as advertised for many people.

 "Spin Master is aptly self named," Geragos said in response to the company's statement to ABC News. "Our lawsuit is based on actual facts not alternative facts spun by Spin Master."

 Hejduk is seeking "compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages in amounts to be determined by the Court and/or jury," Geragos confirmed. She is also asking for Spin Master to recall defective Hatchimals. ||||| The holiday's hottest toy quickly turned into one of its biggest disappointments for many families. Now, that disappointment has led to legal action.

 Jodie Hejduk of Bakersfield, California, has filed a class-action lawsuit against Spin Master, alleging the Hatchimal toy she purchased for her daughter never hatched.

 Hatchimals are stuffed animals that start out inside a spotted plastic egg, and are supposed to hatch when the owner rubs the shell. That process should take 25 to 40 minutes, according to Spin Master's website.

 But that wasn't the case for "millions of families throughout this country," Hejduk said in her lawsuit.

 "Millions of children and families across the globe were sourly disappointed with coal in their stockings, in the form of a bait-and-switch marketing scheme perpetrated by Spin Master, the manufacturers of this Christmas season's 'it' gift, Hatchimals," the lawsuit says.

 "Spin Master knew that the 'hatching' was one of the primary draws of the toy," the suit continued. "One of the company's senior vice presidents recognized that getting the toy to hatch 'resonates well with kids' and that since children do not know what is inside of the egg 'they get excited about what they may get.' This excitement was replaced with extreme disappointment for the many children when their Hatchimals did not hatch."

 A Hatchimal cost about $50, depending on the retailer. However, the part-Furby, part-Tamagotchi toys were popular on the resale market, where they sold for upward of $250. Many parents lined up outside Toys R Us and Wal-Mart stores to purchase the highly sought-after toy.

 However, once children opened their Christmas presents, the buzz surrounding the toys quickly turned from, "Where do I find one?" to "This thing doesn't hatch."

 "I paid triple the price so I could get my 5 yr. old daughter what she wanted but when it was time to play with it the Hatchimal would not respond inside the egg. We watched every YouTube video we could for help, but to no avail ... we had to open it ourselves," one customer wrote on Amazon.com, according to the lawsuit.

 In a statement provided to CNBC, Christopher Harrs, Spin Master's executive vice president and general counsel, said that "Spin Master stands behind its products and cares about its consumers."

 "Given the popularity of Hatchimals and the overwhelmingly positive consumer response, a large number of Hatchimals were purchased as gifts and opened on Christmas day. As a result, the Company experienced a higher than anticipated number of consumer calls over the holiday period," Harrs said.

 "Spin Master took extraordinary and proactive steps to respond to consumer questions regarding Hatchimals," he continued. "The company provided troubleshooting support and where required immediately made available replacement products for those few consumers whose toys did not work as they anticipated. The allegations from the class action lawyer are simply inaccurate and not based on actual facts."

 Hejduk's lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

 Update: This story has been updated to include comment from Spin Master ||||| FRESNO, Calif. (CN) – A federal class action claims that Hatchimals, the nationwide toy craze that hatches from an egg, don’t always hatch, producing unhappiness in families that the filing attorney says can range from “extreme disappointment to tragic.”

 Hatchimals are stuffed animals that hatch out of the colored spotted eggs they are sold in. The creature inside is a mystery, making kids excited to see what they may get. The hatching is the toy’s signature attraction, according to the Jan. 19 lawsuit against Spin Master Corp.

 Spin Master released the toys in early October 2016, in time for the holidays, and they quickly became the year’s must-have gift. By November they were hard to find. Some parents waited for hours outside toy stores; others paid up to seven times the retail price eBay and other internet sites.

 Hatchimals typically sold for $50 to $60. They were advertised Monday morning for $79.99 on the Toys Are U website, and for $59.99 on the Wal-Mart website, which, however, was out of stock.

 Spin Master made an estimated $100 million in profits off the toy, attorney Ben Meiselas said in an interview, but investigations indicate that its failure rate is exceptionally high.

 “This was an aggressive and brilliant marketing campaign built on a house of cards and lies for a product that was not ready for the market,” Meiselas said. “Spin Master knew it was spinning consumers; they knew the product didn’t hatch.”

 He noted the irony of the company’s name: Spin Master. Stories told by families who bought the toy “border on extreme disappointment to tragic, depending on different families’ situations and their ability to purchase these expensive items,” said Meiselas, of Geragos & Geragos in Los Angeles.

 “They were playing on the most visceral emotions of a family: a child’s happiness. It exceeds a mere letdown and caused real damages.”

 Many consumers who tried to solve the problem by contacting Spin Master hit a brick wall, as customer service never returned their calls or messages, “with some customers reporting being on hold for as long as three hours before having their call disconnected,” the complaint states, citing a Dec. 28 article in Global News.

 Lead plaintiff Jodie Hejduk seeks to represent both a California class and a national class, though Meiselas says his office has been getting calls from people around the world.

 “We want Spin Master to stop the spin, be a responsible corporate citizen, and redress the damages to consumers, or it’s headed to a jury of moms and dads, husbands and wives, who will decide whether the product was fraudulent. We think they will,” Meiselas said.

 He said he hopes the class action sends a message to other corporations “looking to exploit the average consumer saving money to buy their kids a gift not to sell a defective product that hits Americans in the pocketbook.”

 Hejduk, who snagged one of the coveted toys for her daughter’s birthday, says her daughter was thrilled to get it, but “dismayed” when it never hatched, though she followed the instructions.

 Other parents have written scathing reviews on Amazon.com and on the Toys R Us website.

 Spin Master promised to address the issues, but the few remedial measures it took were ineffective, according to the 25-page complaint. Hejduk says the company should have recalled the toys or issued refunds, but it did neither.

 Spin Master did not return emailed requests for comment on Friday.

 Hejduk seeks class certification, a recall, restitution with interest, and compensatory, statutory and punitive damages for consumer law violations, unfair competition, false advertising, breach of warranty and unjust enrichment.

 Like this: Like Loading... |||||Summary:

– Hatchimals, the hottest toys of the holiday season, laid an egg with many expectant kids Christmas morning when their furry hatchlings refused to come out of their shells. Now the manufacturer, Spin Master, is facing a class-action lawsuit from a California mom who alleges her child's egg was a dud. The lawsuit, filed by Jodie Hejduk of Bakersfield, Calif., on behalf of what the suit says could be millions of consumers, claims Spin Master ran "a bait-and-switch marketing scheme." Hatchimals are plush animals stuffed into plastic eggs that, when the egg is rubbed and cuddled for about half an hour, should begin to peck their way out. While Spin Master acknowledges some of the toys didn't work as intended, the company tells CNBC it "provided troubleshooting support and where required immediately made available replacement products." The toy cost about $50 in stores, but it was so popular it spawned internet bidding up to $350—only to leave many buyers disappointed. One customer wrote on Amazon.com that she "watched every YouTube video we could for help, but to no avail," the lawsuit says, per NBC News. Others complained that calling Spin Master had done no good because the company was "impossible to contact," or that when they got through they were told to open the egg themselves. Spin Master blames the toy's popularity, saying the company "experienced a higher than anticipated number of calls" over the holidays, and that the lawsuit's allegations are "not based on actual facts." But an attorney on the case tells Courthouse News that the toy's failure rate is "exceptionally high," and that the company knew the product wasn't ready for market. Hejduk's lawyer, Mark Geragos, tells ABC News his client was never offered a refund for her defective Hatchimal.


Article:

Buh-bye Barbie. Hello Lego!

 Danish toy manufacturer Lego Group has taken the title of the biggest toymaker in the world in terms of revenue and profit. The popular Lego movie helped propel sales 11% higher in the first six months of the year.

 "We are thrilled by the reception of the Lego Movie products," said Lego Group CFO John Goodwin. Sales across Europe, the Americas and Asia increased by double digits compared to the same period in the previous year.

 The family-owned business surpassed top competitor, Mattel (MAT), which is struggling with slumping global sales and slower demand for Barbie dolls and Fisher-Price toys.

 Lego also trounced Hasbro (HAS) sales -- reporting revenue that was more than 30% higher than the board-game giant.

 The Lego Movie, which was released in February by CNNMoney's parent company, Time Warner (TWX), made $69 million in its opening weekend and has grossed nearly $260 million so far, according to Box Office Mojo.

 Popular Lego sets have been snapped up like hot cakes over the past few months, including a highly-celebrated new set featuring female scientists. The new toy launched in early August and sold out on Lego's website over the course of a weekend.

 Now Lego executives are hoping the business momentum will last into the all-important second half of the year.

 "The majority of Lego sales ... [happen] in a short time-span of a few weeks leading up to the holiday season," said Goodwin. "It remains to be seen how the line will continue to develop behind the highly anticipated launch of the Lego Movie on DVD in the second half of 2014."

 Lego toys have become so popular they've even attracted the attention of big-time criminals. This summer, police departments across the U.S. reported breaking up various Lego theft schemes involving over $300,000 in toys.

 Lego Group, which has roughly 12,000 employees, is still owned by the Kirk Kristiansen family that founded it in 1932.

 Related: LEGO cashes in on sexism critiques

 Watch: Inside the LEGO hysteria ||||| The maximum quantity of an item that can purchased in each transaction is 99.

 To inquire about purchasing more than 99 of one item, please call 800-362-4738. ||||| COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish toy maker Lego says revenue soared 11 percent in the first six months of 2014, mostly because of the success of the "Lego Movie."

 The privately owned company's chief financial officer said Thursday they were thrilled by the success.

 John Goodwin said: "Lego Movie products provided a significant boost to our sales during the first half of 2014." He said that support could continue in the second half of the year, when Lego Movie will be launched on DVD.

 Net profit in the period was up 14 percent compared with the first half of 2013, at 2.7 billion kroner ($480 million), on sales of 11.5 billion kroner.

 Lego, which is not publicly listed, releases only half-year figures. ||||| STOCKHOLM—The Lego brick has toppled the Barbie doll—at least for now—in children's affections.

 Toy maker Lego A/S on Thursday said its revenue in the first six months rose 11% boosted by "The Lego Movie" products, making it the biggest toy company in the world by revenue and profit, ahead of Barbie-maker Mattel Inc.

 The jump... |||||
What is a summary?

– Barbies and board games will always have a place in the family rec room, but it's Legos that rule the roost. The Danish toymaker now ranks as the largest toymaker in the world in terms of revenue, beating out competitors Hasbro and Mattel for the top spot with an 11% jump in the first half of the year, reports CNNMoney. The net profits for the company—which once said it has sold about 86 bricks for every person on Earth—were also up 14% compared to the same period in 2013, reports the AP. So why the sudden brick-loving boom? Lego honchos say the wildly successful Lego Movie and related merchandising helped: The movie had grossed nearly $470 million by the end of August, reports the Wall Street Journal. And while competing manufacturers are probably hoping to play catch-up in the months leading up to year's end, execs in the family-owned business are confident they can keep, ahem, building on their momentum. "The majority of Lego sales ... [happen] in a short timespan of a few weeks leading up to the holiday season," the company's CFO says per CNNMoney—right before stating a reminder about the "highly anticipated launch" of the Lego Movie DVD in the second half of 2014. A sequel to the movie is set to hit theaters in 2017, notes the Journal. (Check out the world's largest Lego tower ever built.)


Article:
The information was posted during an extraordinary hearing in which Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Ex-Democratic staffer charged with posting senators’ private info

 A man accused of "doxing" several GOP senators was caught on Tuesday night inside the office of Sen. Maggie Hassan by a Hassan staffer, who then called the police on the man, according to a person familiar with the matter.

 The U.S. Capitol Police on Wednesday arrested Jackson A. Cosko, 27, for posting addresses and private information of senators, according to the police department. A former Hassan (D-N.H.) staffer, Cosko made an unauthorized entry into her Capitol Hill office on Tuesday evening which led to his arrest, the person familiar with the matter said.

 Story Continued Below

 Hassan's office declined to comment. Cosko most recently worked for Hassan as a “legislative correspondent/systems administrator,” according to Legistorm. Cosko left Hassan’s office in May. Cosko is due in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday.

 The department reported that it arrested Cosko for allegedly posting “private, identifying information (doxing) about one or more United States senators to the Internet.” Cosko has been working as an intern in the office of Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and has been fired, according to her chief of staff, Glenn Rushing.

 “We’re just cooperating with law enforcement right now,” Rushing said in an interview.

 Cosko graduated from The George Washington University in 2014 and previously worked for Hassan and California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has since retired.

 Last week, the Wikipedia pages of Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Orrin Hatch of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were altered to show their addresses, phone numbers and email address. The information was posted during an extraordinary hearing in which Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford testified about Ford’s accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982. All three are GOP senators who are supportive of Kavanaugh.

 Cosko has been charged with making public restricted personal information, witness tampering, threats in interstate communications, unauthorized access of a government computer, identity theft, second-degree burglary and unlawful entry. A bot that tracks edits to Wikipedia pages found that the changes were made from a computer on Capitol Hill on the House side.

 “The investigation will continue and additional charges may be forthcoming,” the police said.

 Cosko remained in custody Wednesday evening and was due to appear before Judge Deborah A. Robinson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday. ||||| U.S. Capitol Police announced late Wednesday that a former junior Senate Democratic staffer has been arrested for allegedly posting private information about Republican senators on the Wikipedia Internet website.

 Jackson A. Cosko, 27, of the District, faces five federal counts including making public restricted personal information, making threats in interstate communications, identity theft, witness tampering and unauthorized access of a government computer, police said.

 Cosko also faces District charges of second degree burglary and unlawful entry, police said. He is set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Deborah A. Robinson of the District on Thursday afternoon, the U.S. attorney’s office for the District said.

 “The investigation will continue and additional charges may be forthcoming,” Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said.

 Cosko could not immediately be reached for comment.

 A brief police statement did not give details, but a U.S. official said the arrest was tied to the investigation into the posting of personal information about Republican senators on the Wikipedia site as they held a hearing Sept. 27 on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh.

 At the time, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) rejected accusations that a member of her staff was responsible, calling them “lies, lies, and more despicable lies.”

 The information posted purportedly included phone numbers and home addresses for three Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the hearing: Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) and Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah).

 [‘Despicable lies’: Rep. Maxine Waters denies her staff doxed Republicans on Wikipedia]

 They were doxed — or had private or identifying information made public on the internet — when an anonymous Wikipedia user edited their pages. The information was quickly removed after the doxing was discovered and aides contacted authorities.

 Edits to the online encyclopedia were traced to IP addresses of computer devices assigned to the U.S. Capitol. Waters in her statement last week said Capitol Police and internal computer specialists determined that an IP address cited online did not belong to her office or anyone on her staff.

 According to the Legistorm website of congressional disclosures, Cosko was employed as a low-level aide from January 2017 to May 2018 with the office of U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), and earlier with former senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

 Hassan spokesman Aaron Jacobs said he could not comment on an ongoing investigation.

 Cosko was paid $23,000 over six months ending March 31, according to Legistorm.

 A LinkedIn website to a Jackson Cosko lists work from Jan. 2016 to May 2018 as an intern, press assistant and legislative correspondent/systems administrator assisting senior Senate staff on matters before the commerce and homeland security committees, including cyber security issues.

 It could not be immediately determined if Cosko had any past connection to Waters’ office. The office did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday. ||||| Personal information of Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch were posted by an unknown person located in the House of Representatives on Thursday during the hearing of Supreme Court Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

 The information, which supposedly included home addresses and phone numbers, was posted - or doxxed - on the senators’ respective Wikipedia pages, where users are allowed to update the information at any time. The information has since been removed.

 All three targeted senators were members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who questioned both Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh regarding Ford’s allegations that he sexually assaulted her over 36 years ago. The leaking of information occurred sometime after the three lawmakers questioned Kavanaugh.

 KAVANAUGH VOTE LIVE BLOG - SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE WEIGHS IN ON RECOMMENDING NOMINEE

 But while the home addresses of the senators appear to be correct, the phone numbers weren’t entirely accurate, with most either disconnected or going to voicemail.

 A “home” phone number listed for Graham appears to direct the callers to Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group. A receptionist told Fox News that they didn’t receive many calls, despite their number being listed as the senator’s home number.

 LINDSEY GRAHAM'S KAVANAUGH MOMENT EARNS CONSERVATIVE PRAISE

 “It’s shocking that someone would post Senator Hatch and other Judiciary Committee Republican’s home addresses online, putting their families at risk,” Hatch’s spokesman, Matt Whitlock told the Washington Post.

 “That it happened as they were asking questions in a Supreme Court confirmation hearing is just another indication of how broken this process has become".

 White House spokesman Raj Shah wrote on Twitter that the leake information was "outrageous".

 The intentional publication of the information was first caught by a Twitter bot that automatically tracks any changes made to Wikipedia entries from anyone located in the U.S. Congress and publicizes them on the social media site.

 SEN. JEFF FLAKE SAYS HE WILL VOTE TO CONFIRM KAVANAUGH

 The tracking account has since deleted the tweets because they revealed the personal information. Fox News confirmed the changes were made to the senators’ pages. The Wikipedia appears to have removed the changes.

 Due to the anonymity of the edits, it remains improbable that a person or persons responsible for the stunt could be caught. It remains unclear whether the publication of such information was done to intimidate the senators following the dramatic hearings on Thursday.

 Graham stood out during the hearings, giving perhaps one of the most impassioned speeches in defense of Kavanaugh, accusing the Democrats of trying to destroy the Supreme Court nominee with the “the most unethical sham since I've been in politics.”

 “What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open, and hope you win in 2020,” Graham told Senate Judiciary Democrats. “Boy, y’all want power and I hope you don’t get it.”

 Other senators also defended Kavanaugh, including Hatch, who said: “What we have are uncorroborated, unsubstantiated claims from his teenage years” and that Kavanaugh has been treated unfairly. |||||Summary:

– A former member of Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan's staff was caught inside Hassan's Capitol Hill office Tuesday night and ultimately arrested Wednesday on charges that he "doxxed" GOP senators. Jackson A. Cosko, 27, is accused of posting "private, identifying information," including addresses, online, Politico reports. A current Hassan staffer allegedly caught him in the office and called police; he had allegedly made an unauthorized entry. Cosko, a George Washington University graduate who also worked for Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, had most recently been working as an intern for Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee; he has since been fired. A US official tells the Washington Post the arrest relates to information posted on Wikipedia during Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing; during that hearing, the Wikipedia pages of Republican Sens. Mike Lee, Orrin Hatch, and Lindsey Graham were edited to include addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, and the changes were found to be made from a Capitol Hill computer. All three are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Fox News reports. Cosko is charged with making public restricted personal information, witness tampering, making threats in interstate communications, unauthorized access of a government computer, identity theft, second-degree burglary, and unlawful entry.