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– Two explorers managed to finish their re-creation today of Ernest Shackleton's famous survival journey from the Antarctic to South Georgia Island—but only after a blizzard stranded them on a high, icy plateau for hours, reports the Australian Times. Using only period gear and food, Tim Jarvis and Barry Gray had already completed a 12-day, 800-mile sea voyage in a wooden lifeboat from the site of Shackleton's original shipwreck on Elephant Island to South Georgia Island, but tough conditions forced four members of their crew to drop out. The journey then required a 32-mile trek across the island, over mountains up to 2,950-feet high, to reach on old whaling station, which is when rain, snow, and 45-knot winds forced the men to take shelter for 12 hours in a tent—a modern tent with modern sleeping bags, notes Global Post, along with some extra food supplied by their modern support team. But today, Jarvis and Gray completed the arduous journey. "There’s no doubt in my mind that everyone has a Shackleton double in them and I hope we’ve inspired a few people to find theirs," says Jarvis. Some of Shackleton's long-lost Scotch was last month returned to Antarctica.

What do you think?

 A team of exhausted but elated explorers successfully recreated Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic survival journey Monday, completing a three-day climb across mountains despite a treacherous blizzard.

 Expedition leader Tim Jarvis and Barry Gray reached the old whaling station at Stromness early Monday (2245 GMT Sunday) after a 900-metre (2,950-foot) climb over the mountainous interior of South Georgia.

 "It was epic, really epic, and we've arrived here against the odds," said Jarvis, who with Gray completed the climb using the same kind of clothing and gear that Shackleton and his men would have worn in 1916.

 "The ice climb at the Tridents is a serious thing and Shackleton didn't exaggerate -- with ice at 50 degrees, with one wrong foot, we could have careened down a crevasse."

 Jarvis, 46, said he and Gray, 38, had more than 20 crevasse falls up to their knees during the climb with the latter plunging into one up to his armpits, requiring their one-man support crew to help pull him free.

 "These early explorers were iron men in wooden boats and while modern man mostly travel around in iron vessels, I hope we've been able to emulate some of what they achieved," he said.

 "There's no doubt in my mind that everyone has a Shackleton double in them and I hope we've inspired a few people to find theirs."

 The crossing follows a 12-day re-enactment of Shackleton's 800 nautical mile journey in a spartan lifeboat from Elephant Island to South Georgia, along with four other members of the British-Australian team.

 Jarvis and Gray had planned to make the mountain crossing within 24 hours but were held up by an extreme storm.

 They were forced to hunker down on the mountain, resorting to using a modern tent and sleeping bags to stay alive as snow and sleet and 50 knot winds pounded them on Saturday.

 "We've had to adapt just as Shackleton and his men did and we had to survive," said Jarvis, adding there were times they thought they might not make it.

 Shackleton's 1916 journey to raise the alarm about the sinking of his ship the Endurance is considered one of the greatest-ever survival tales.

 During his third visit to the region the explorer's boat became trapped in 1915 and sank 10 months later as it was crushed by the advancing ice.

 After living on the floating ice until April 1916, they set off in three small boats for Elephant Island.

 From there, Shackleton and five crew made the voyage to South Georgia, reaching their destination 16 days later to face the mountainous trek to the whaling station at Stromness to raise the alarm.

 All members of the Endurance were eventually rescued.

 Shackleton is considered among the great Antarctic explorers, along with Norway's Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole in 1911, Australian explorer Douglas Mawson and Briton Robert Falcon Scott.

 mfc/mp/ao

 http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130210/explorers-complete-shackletons-epic-antarctic-journey |||||

 THE BRITISH-AUSTRALIAN explorer leading the team attempting to recreate a famous Antarctic expedition was stranded on a plateau only hours before completing his voyage after a blizzard forced the evacuation of the majority of his support team.

 Tim Jarvis and mountaineer Barry Gray “hunkered down” in a tent at Shackleton’s Gap in order to avoid the extreme weather conditions, including wind gusts of 45 knots and a mixture of rain, sleet and snow causing zero visibility. Jarvis and Gray assured their support team on Saturday that they would continue their expedition when conditions improved, ultimately completing their epic journey during a small break in the adverse weather conditions on Monday morning.

 Upon arrival at former whaling station Stromness, Jarvis said: “These early explorers were iron men in wooden boats and while modern man mostly travel around in iron vessels, I hope we’ve been able to emulate some of what they achieved. There’s no doubt in my mind that everyone has a Shackleton double in them and I hope we’ve inspired a few people to find theirs.”

 Jarvis’s team had been attempting to replicate the famous expedition of British adventurer Ernest Shackleton, who was shipwrecked while attempting to cross Antarctica from coast-to-coast in the 1910s. After his ship sunk after being frozen in an ice floe, Shackleton and a small crew were forced to navigate dangerous waters and trek 51 kilometres over mountainous terrain to reach a whaling station and seek help.

 Shackleton was ultimately able to arrange the rescue of his crew members after they had endured almost five months of isolation in the harsh Antarctic terrain. Despite their struggle to survive, Shackleton’s team did not incur any casualties and the explorer’s intense mission to find help became a staple part of Antarctic folklore.

 Jarvis’s expedition had already completed the dangerous crossing of the Southern Ocean before being stranded by the adverse weather. After resuming their voyage they faced a two-day climb through the mountainous region of South Georgia before completing their expedition.

 The expedition had endeavoured to recreate Shackleton’s experience as authentically as possible, only using mountain-climbing gear and navigation equipment that the original team would have utilised in the early 1900s. Jarvis and Gray were resupplied at their position in Shackleton’s Gap over the weekend by members of their crew, who were forced to use modern equipment in order to safely access their colleagues.

 Jarvis and Gray were the only remaining members of the original six-person team that set out on the journey. Several of their teammates were forced to withdraw from the expedition after contracting trench foot – a debilitating rotting of the feet – while on the 19-day sea voyage to South Georgia Island from the site of Shackleton’s shipwreck.

 Jarvis, inducted as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2010, is a prominent environmental scientist that advises agencies such as the World Bank and AusAID on issues of sustainability and conservation. He recently completed another re-enactment of a historical Antarctic expedition, tracing the path of Australian explorer Sir Douglas Mawson’s ill-fated 1912 voyage across the continent. |||||


Jeb Bush pauses as he is asked a question from the audience at the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum during a campaign stop Dec. 1 in Waterloo, Iowa. (Matthew Putney/The Courier via AP)

 This post has been updated.

 A nice catch by Mother Jones: A trademark application for the enthusiastic appellation "Jeb!" has been abandoned.

 Jeb!, of course, is the preferred wordmark for one John Ellis Bush, better known as "Jeb." Better known as Jeb:( these days, given that he is now polling in seventh place, according to the just-released CNN/ORC poll.

 Jeb uses Jeb! with the exclamation point in his campaign material in the way that you say "lol" to someone over text even though you maybe only smiled. Well before he was an official candidate, in January of this year, the application was filed by a group apparently aligned with Bush to reserve its exclusive right to use "Jeb!" on cool products like mousepads, money clips and golf towels. (Those are all identified in the application filing, among a lot of other things.) But as Mother Jones's Russ Choma notes, that trademark has been abandoned, as the parlance has it, its filer having not provided consent from Bush to use his name.

 This is a metaphor.

 Jeb! (or someone presumably acting on his behalf) wanted to trademark Jeb!, the print representation of the candidate that would take America by storm. Look out world, the application implied, here comes Jeb!!! Here is what has happened to Jeb's poll numbers since the filing.

 Jeb. The Jeb! trademark application has been abandoned. That exclamation point is not needed.

 It also goes a level deeper. The trademark application is meant to keep ne'er-do-wells from offering up Jeb! merchandise for sale, lining their own pockets instead of Jeb!'s. The abandonment of the mark allows anyone to start selling Jeb! stuff without recrimination. (See update below before you start cranking out windbreakers, though.)

 But there's clearly no demand to do so. Bush came into the race as the financial heavyweight — thanks to $100 million-plus in money raised to a super PAC endorsing him. His campaign's finances, though, have struggled, slashing costs back in October. You can buy lots of Jeb! stuff at the Jeb! campaign store, but people clearly aren't buying enough of it. The trademark wasn't terribly valuable anyway because there's not really any money to be made from selling anything with Jeb! on it. This ain't Nike.

 Anyway, if you want to make poor Jeb:( even sadder, you're now apparently free to sell your own Jeb! mousepads. You will not make $100 million doing so.

 Updated with heartbreaking news: The Bush campaign tells us that the trademark was associated with Bush's time as governor, and that they didn't trademark it in the context of the campaign. That said, they can still shut you down if they don't like the Jeb! stuff you're selling. You are warned. ||||| Looking for news you can trust?

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 Perfect last-minute Christmas present for the low-energy person in your life who needs an extra exclamation point: Jeb!

 Not the candidate, just his name—upbeat punctuation mark and all. The word has apparently lost its appeal. Even to the candidate.

 Last winter, months before Jeb Bush announced he was running for president, a Miami intellectual property attorney filed a trademark request for the word “Jeb!” on behalf of a mysterious Delaware corporation called BHAG LLC. As we discovered this summer, BHAG was an acronym for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. This phrase came from one of Bush’s favorite business management books, and when he was governor he used this term to motivate his underlings. It wasn’t until Bush, as a declared candidate, filed his financial disclosure form in July that the world learned he directly owned BHAG.

 One of BHAG’s few activities was to trademark “Jeb!” As is par for the course, the US Patent and Trademark Office accepted the submission and requested additional information before it would grant the trademark. But according to that office, on November 9 Bush’s application was officially abandoned. Technically, Bush has until January 9 to restart the process, but for now the name is not trademarked and open for anyone else to try to grab.

 According to the original application, Bush wanted the name reserved for use on leather key chains, stadium cushions, stemware, stuffed toys, hair bands, and other cool stuff. In April, the USPTO asked BHAG to provide, within six months, written consent from Bush himself to use his name. Bush never responded. So the USPTO issued an abandonment notice regarding the trademark request.

 Bush’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

 To be fair, Bush has had many other things to worry about these past few months. But his chief antagonist, Donald Trump, did find the time to re-up his hold on “Trump,” and he added a trademark claim to cover the use of his name for books on how to succeed in business and politics. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Jeb Bush has abandoned his trademark for "Jeb!," Mother Jones reports. Perhaps it was getting harder to muster the enthusiasm necessary for an exclamation point when your polling numbers suggest something closer to Jeb? or Jeb[shrugging emoticon]. According to the Washington Post, Bush is currently sitting around seventh in the Republican presidential field. Mother Jones reports Bush's BHAG LLC—it stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal—filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office to use Jeb! on "leather key chains, stadium cushions, stemware, stuffed toys, hair bands, and other cool stuff" last winter. But Bush failed to give written permission to the Patent and Trademark Office to use his name for the trademark, and Jeb! was considered abandoned last month, Mother Jones reports. That means anyone is free to start selling Jeb! brand merchandise, though the Post certainly wouldn't recommend it. "The trademark wasn't terribly valuable anyway because there's not really any money to be made from selling anything with Jeb! on it," the paper states. "This ain't Nike." Meanwhile, Mother Jones points out Bush's personal Blofeld, Donald Trump, not only renewed his trademark on "Trump" but took out a new trademark for the use of his name on books about how to succeed in politics.


Summarize this article:

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 Yes ||||| HOUSTON -- Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is out for the season after he suffered a tibial plateau fracture in the team's 42-34 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, coach Bill O'Brien said Monday.

 Watt fell to the ground while engaged in a block on the Chiefs' opening drive. The veteran defensive end was helped to the sideline by the Texans training staff and was looked at in the sideline tent before being taken off on a cart. He was eventually taken to a hospital in an ambulance.

 O'Brien also confirmed that outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus will be out for the remainder of the season with a torn pectoral muscle.

 "The deal in this league is that the train doesn't stop moving," O'Brien said. "These guys are there, and they're going to have to step in.

 "It's going to be multiple guys. You don't replace J.J. Watt or Whitney Mercilus with one guy. That's ridiculous. So it's going to a lot of different guys that are going to chip in to help."

 On Monday morning, Watt tweeted to apologize to his teammates and the city of Houston.

 I can't sugarcoat it, I am devastated.

 All I want to do is be out there on that field for my teammates and this city.

 I'm sorry. — JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 9, 2017

 Watt, 28, missed the last 13 games of the 2016 regular season because of a back injury. He played in his first regular-season game since his September 2016 back surgery in this season's opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In four games, Watt had 13 tackles, but he did not have a sack. ||||| Bob Levey/Getty Images

 Houston Texans superstar defensive lineman J.J. Watt suffered a serious left leg injury Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first quarter and was unable to walk off the field under his own power.

 The Texans announced Watt has a tibial plateau fracture, and head coach Bill O'Brien confirmed Monday that Watt will miss the season after Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the news Sunday night.

 Watt was seen on crutches entering an ambulance after suffering the injury, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.

 Watt and his brother T.J. tweeted about the injury:

 Adding to the Texans' woes in Week 5, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reported Whitney Mercilus needs surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle suffered in the first quarter and will miss the rest of the season.

 Injuries are becoming a worrying storyline for Watt. A back injury cost him all but three games in the 2016 season, and he dislocated a finger in the season opener, though he didn't miss a game. He also dealt with a broken hand in 2015.

 When he's stayed healthy, he's been the most dominant defensive player in the NFL. In his first five seasons (2011-15), he registered 372 tackles, 74.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, 12 fumble recoveries and 45 pass deflections.

 Pro Football Focus ranked him as its top player for the 2014 season and No. 5 player in 2015. He's a three-time Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year, four-time Pro Bowler and four-time first-team All-Pro selection.

 Watt is the heartbeat of the Texans defense and recently used his platform to raise over $37 million in donations for relief for those affected by Hurricane Harvey as more than 200,000 people donated.

 While the team managed to reach the postseason without Watt in 2016, the defense is far better when he's in the lineup alongside Jadeveon Clowney.

 In his absence, Brandon Dunn, Joel Heath and Carlos Watkins should see more time in Houston's defensive line rotation. ||||| I can't sugarcoat it, I am devastated. All I want to do is be out there on that field for my teammates and this city. I'm sorry. |||||

– Houston Texans fans who have been holding their breath since their superstar defensive end JJ Watt went down with an injury in the first quarter of the team's 42-34 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday had their collective hearts broken on Monday, per Bleacher Report. After the Texans tweeted Sunday evening that Watt, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, had suffered a tibial plateau fracture in his left leg, head coach Bill O'Brien confirmed that the injury had ended Watt's season. Early Monday morning Watt tweeted, "I can't sugarcoat it, I am devastated. All I want to do is be out there on that field for my teammates and this city. I'm sorry." Watt's injury occurred at the seven-minute mark of the first quarter. While attempting to work his way around the Chiefs' offensive line he appeared to have his leg run into by his own teammate, causing him to fall to the ground. Watt was escorted to the sideline by Texans staff and eventually put into an ambulance and taken to a hospital, ESPN reports. Making matters worse for the Texans, Watts' teammate Whitney Mercilus was also forced to leave Sunday's game with a season-ending injury. Watt, 28, sat out most of last season with a back injury.


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– Sadly, it's beginning to look like the Loch Ness Monster does not have a cousin in Alaska, but a video shot by a Bureau of Land Management worker was fun all the same. In the original Facebook post, the BLM said the video "captured this strange 'thing' swimming in the Chena River in Fairbanks." The "thing" quickly became known as the Alaska Ice Monster, with all kinds of crazy theories from commenters about what it might be. NPR rounds up some of them, including a giant sturgeon, a lost shark, a "beavegator" (no idea), a Nessie-ish creature, and a "giant arctic crocodile." Mother Nature News took note of this one: "What is the likelihood that this is a whale that seriously lost its way from the Yukon river, transferring across other small river fjords into the Chena?" Alas, the BLM then updated with a less exciting explanation. "So far the most compelling explanation ... is that the video shows 'frazil ice stuck to a rope that is probably caught on a bridge pier.'" Frazil ice is "a kind of loose, slushy ice that forms on water," explains Alaska Dispatch News. "It looks like it's swimming upstream but it's actually stationary and just wading in the current," a biologist with the state's Department of Fish and Game says of the formerly mysterious subject of the video, adding, "it's not organic." Not that the fun is necessarily over. "Such a clear, scientific explanation isn't likely to stop the multiplication of more 'creative' stories about the Alaska 'ice monster,'" observes the Christian Science Monitor. (A drone hunting for Nessie had a weird false alarm.)

Alaskan 'Ice Monster' Sparks Imaginations Online

 Alaska's Bureau of Land Management regularly posts photos and videos of flying squirrels, scampering porcupines, majestic moose or dramatic landscapes.

 But the video that went up last week was different. It was ominous. It was mysterious. It was ... the Chena River Ice Monster, as captured by a baffled BLM employee.

 The video shows a strange, undulating icy shape appearing to move through the water. The video has a dramatic soundtrack and an overlay of a camcorder, but BLM insisted the footage itself was unedited.

 Previous videos posted to the Alaska BLM Facebook page have gotten a few hundred views apiece. This one quickly racked up half a million.

 After all, the Internet is rife with videos purporting to show strange creatures — and most are easy to dismiss as fakes. But this wasn't a random stranger with a Bigfoot story. This was footage from a government employee, posted on an official site of a land-management agency!

 The British tabloids loved it. People and Fox News picked it up.

 And everyone wanted to know: What was it?

 "We honestly don't know exactly," BLM employees said in the Facebook comments. In the absence of firm intel, the Internet immediately provided an abundance of speculation.

 A giant sturgeon?

 A lost shark, accidentally upstream? (BLM demurred, noting the river is "practically in the middle of Alaska.")

 A Nessie-like sea monster?

 A "beavegator," whatever that would be?

 A "chunk of moose hide" waving in the current?

 A "giant arctic crocodile"?

 A "zombie salmon" — which is an actual real-life thing, and we are not making this up — of an unusual size?

 A beaver towing logs?

 A "monkey disguised as a river monster"?

 A seal trapped in a fishing net?

 A pike, or a sheefish, or a muskie, or an eelpout?

 Well.

 No.

 BLM Alaska posted an update on Halloween, saying the enthusiastic responses online "show how captivating the mysteries of the natural world can be!"

 But the BLM concluded that experts at another federal agency — the Alaska Department of Fish and Game — have "the most compelling explanation."

 Which is ... a rope.

 An ice-covered rope caught on a pier.

 If you'd like to know more about this Alaska-sized letdown, the Alaska Dispatch News has the definitive coverage of the situation.

 One expert summed it up in a few blunt words, telling the newspaper that the video might look cool, but the truth is just "not that exciting." ||||| Can you figure out what Alaska's mysterious "Ice Monster" is?

 An employee for the Alaska Bureau of Land Management was checking ice conditions on the Chena River in Fairbanks last week when he noticed something moving against the current. The odd "creature," which spans 12-15 feet long, features an icy exterior covering what appears to be a submerged form.

 “Our employees did not investigate. It’s kind of far out in the middle of the river,” the Bureau of Land Management - Alaska explained on its Facebook page. “Video was taken right by our BLM Fairbanks District Office facing downstream. We’re not sure what it is. We’re letting you all be the judge.”

 In the spirit of the season, officials added some ominous music to the short clip and invited social media to take a stab at identifying the unusual creature. More than 700 people ventured a guess, with suggestions ranging from a lost shark to an Alaskan sturgeon to a rotting chunk of frozen moose hide.

 "What is the likelihood that this is a whale that seriously lost its way from the Yukon river, transferring across other small river fjords into the Chena?" wrote one commenter. "Massive barnacles with ice on its back...But we would need some reference for the size of the animal first..."

 As you might expect, there were several replies that what's shown in the video isn't a living creature at all, but just some trash caught between alternating currents.

 "So far the most compelling explanation, one shared by experts at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game - Official and others, is that the video shows "frazil ice stuck to a rope that is probably caught on a bridge pier," the group shared.

 Whatever "it" is, the Bureau of Land Management has enjoyed the speculation stirred up by the public.

 "We've been excited about the number and variety of explanations offered for our recent video of the strange river object," they shared. "Your responses show how captivating the mysteries of the natural world can be!" ||||| Ice monster in Alaska? When video appeared online of an ice-covered object that appeared to be swimming in the current of Fairbanks Alaska’s Chena River, viewers came up with theories ranging from sturgeon to shark to river monster. What is it really?

 Is the English language becoming less significant in Europe after Brexit?

 Why the new health-care bill may keep affordable care out of reach for some

 Throughout history, random appearances of seemingly odd and unusual sights have led to the creation and propagation of stories of paranormal activities, extraterrestrial visitations, and the existence of fantastic mythological creatures.

 The latest entry in this category: the Alaska ice monster.

 When a 22-second long video clip surfaced last week of a mysterious object floating in the partially frozen Chena River in Alaska, internet commentators were quick with theories ranging from realistic to fanciful.

 The video, which has been viewed more than 600,000 times, was filmed by an Alaska Bureau of Land Management employee in Fairbanks, Alaska, and shows an unidentified object moving about in the current of the Chena River.

 Craig McCaa, the BLM employee responsible for the footage, had been taking photos from the University Avenue bridge in Fairbanks in order to document the seasonal landscape changes as ice forms on the river, according to the Daily Mail. When he saw what appeared to be a 15-foot long object swaying in the current, he began filming.

 “I initially thought, and several people thought, it could be some rope that snagged on the bottom of the river with chunks of ice,” McCaa told the Alaska Dispatch News. “Other people have mentioned everything from sea monster to giant sturgeon.”

 And the theories, continued to get increasingly outlandish from there, with several linking the river object to Scotland’s famous Loch Ness Monster.

 Such behavior however is common surrounding the appearance of mysterious or suspicious sightings. For centuries the possible existence of wild, exotic, and previously undiscovered creatures or species have animated society.

 When a 1933 newspaper article appeared about a local Scottish couple who claimed to have seen an enormous creature on the surface of the deep and famous lake, a sudden fervor took hold with London newspapers sending correspondents to find the creature and a circus even offering a £20,000 reward for the capture of the lake monster.

 "People don't like reality, they like crazy stories,” said Reinhold Messner in a 2015 article for the BBC about the fabled Himalayan Yeti. Mr. Messner, a famous Yeti-hunter who claims to have seen the creature in the mountains in the 1980s, said "[people] like the Yeti as a Neanderthal, the Yeti as a mix between a human and an ape." However, for Messner the explanation is much more simple, though albeit less thrilling. "All the Yeti footprints are all the same bear," says Messner. "The Yeti isn't a fantastic figure. The Yeti is reality."

 Similarly an Alaska Fish and Game Tanana River Management Biologist Klaus Wuttig has a very simple explanation for the object that has become known as the Alaskan river monster; the object is most likely a rope stuck to a bridge pier. According to Mr. Wuttig, cold nighttime temperatures in Fairbanks caused a type of loose, slushy ice known as frazil ice to form on the rope, causing it to float to the surface and seemingly "swim" in the current. "It looks like it's swimming but it's actually stationary and just wading in the current," Wuttig told the Alaska Dispatch News, "it looks like like it's swimming upstream, but it's not organic."

 Of course, such a clear, scientific explanation isn't likely to stop the multiplication of more "creative" stories about the Alaska "ice monster." ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| MYSTERY SOLVED....?

 It's a quiet #Halloween morning in front of the BLM office on the Chena River in Fairbanks. We've been excited about the number and variety of explanations offered for our recent video of the strange river object -- your responses show how captivating the mysteries of the natural world can be!

 So far the most compelling explanation, one shared by experts at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game - Official and others, is that the video shows "frazil ice stuck to a rope that is probably caught on a bridge pier."

 Thanks for your theories, and Happy #Halloween!

 Read the Alaska Dispatch News article at: https://www.adn.com/…/string-sturgeon-or-sea-monster-chena…/

 Photo of the same spot on the Chena River where the strange river object was sighted, taken this morning. As you can see, we've warmed up a bit and the ice and snow in the river on 10/18/2016 has melted. No sign of the mysterious "ice monster" or frozen rope. Photo by Craig McCaa (BLM) ||||| Update, 11:30 a.m. Thursday:

 For all those speculating over what the object might be, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Tanana River Management Biologist Klaus Wuttig has an answer.

 He thinks it's probably just rope stuck to a bridge pier. He said cold temperatures at night allowed frazil ice — a kind of loose, slushy ice that forms on water — to stick to the rope, which caused it to float to the surface.

 He admitted that the video looks "really cool" but the reality is "not that exciting."

 "It looks like it's swimming but it's actually stationary and just wading in the current," Wuttig said in a phone interview Thursday morning after watching the video. The ice looks segmented because of the current of the river.

 "It looks like like it's swimming upstream," he said. "But it's not organic."

 Wuttig has lived in the Fairbanks area since 1993. He said no giant sturgeons have ever been spotted in the Chena River.

 ***

 Original story:

 At various times of year, Bureau of Land Management Fairbanks District Office Public Affairs Specialist Craig McCaa likes to go down to the Chena River to share photos of changing Fairbanks weather.

 On Oct. 18, he decided to walk his camera down to the University Avenue bridge that crosses the river to snap a few pictures of ice forming on the water's surface.

 But instead of finding just snow and ice, McCaa saw a "strange thing" moving back and forth in the current of the murky river.

 "It never fully revealed itself," he said in a phone interview Tuesday.

 McCaa took a video and posted it to the "Bureau of Land Management – Alaska" Facebook page Tuesday afternoon. By evening it had been watched about 20,900 times. Speculation has run rampant on what the creepy object — or creature — swaying in the water might be.

 "I initially thought, and several people thought, it could be some rope that snagged on the bottom of the river with chunks of ice," McCaa said. "Other people have mentioned everything from sea monster to giant sturgeon."

 McCaa said there were some minor alterations to the video — it's slightly sped up, with a camcorder view screen and some minor sound effects added — but that the movement of whatever is in the water is not enhanced.

 He said he watched the object — which he said was between 12 to 15 feet long — swirl back and forth in the current for several minutes, though it remained stationary. McCaa, who has lived in Fairbanks since 1994, said he has yet to show it to BLM biologists to get their opinion.

 He did think the spotting of the object just before Halloween was "fortuitous." |||||


Article:

(CNN) -- Dozens of concertgoers were hospitalized during a show by superstar DJ Avicii in Boston on Wednesday night, CNN affiliates reported.

 Local media put the number of patients anywhere between 30 and 80.

 Massachusetts General Hospital told CNN it received 13 patients between ages 16 and 19. All of the patients are being evaluated, said Kory Zhao, a hospital public affairs officer.

 Most patients had a problem with dehydration, drugs and alcohol, authorities told CNN affiliate WHDH.

 Avicii, the Swedish artist behind the hit song "Wake Me Up," performed at the TD Garden as part of his True Tour.

 Dozens of ambulances lined up outside the garden venue as crowds spilled into the streets after the concert. Other ambulances zoomed off, red lights flashing, as frazzled parents waited.

 "I have a 15-year-old and her girlfriend that came to the Avicii concert ... we just heard about this, " Pam Jones told WHDH. "I'm very shocked. We have to find her."

 Chanel Andre, who also attended the concert, said the venue was hot.

 "These concerts should be outside ... I think it was a combination of heat and drugs, more of the latter," she said.

 The artist, whose real name is Tim Bergling, became an international star as a DJ and producer in electronic dance.

 His other hit songs include "Hey Brother" and "Levels," which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Recording last year.

 This is the latest incident involving concertgoers.

 A man collapsed and died after leaving the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas on Saturday morning, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Avicii was on the schedule of performers at that festival.

 It's unclear whether his death was linked to the festival. An investigation is under way.

 Police told the newspaper that nearly 800 people were treated for medical conditions, 25 of whom were transported to local hospitals.

 About 400,000 people attended the Las Vegas music event during its three-night run, the paper said.

 Avicii cancels Ultra Festival performance to undergo gall bladder surgery

 Electric Zoo music festival canceled after 2 deaths blamed on drugs

 10 indicted in deaths at 201 Love Parade music festival in Germany

 CNN's Tina Burnside contributed to this report. ||||| TD Garden cited after 80 receive medical treatment Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 10:54 PM EDT Updated: Wednesday, August 6, 2014 10:55 PM EDT Posted:Updated:

 TD Garden has been cited following a mass medical emergency that included more than 80 people during the Avicii concert Wednesday night.

 50 of those people were treated by paramedics at the Garden. Another 36 people had to be taken to local hospitals.

 "There was a lot of drinking and some drugs. It was really hot in there," a concert-goer said.

 Boston Police issued citations for intoxicated patrons and patrons consuming drugs on the premises.

 The Suffolk County District Attorney's office said that three men were arrested near the TD Garden. Each is facing drug charges and is expected to be arraigned Thursday. None have been linked to the hospitalizations.

 A video posted online shows a person being looked at by officers.

 "Everyone was having a good time but then when we left there was ambulances and police officers," a concert-goer said

 Boston EMS says none of the patients they saw were in serious condition, but dozens of ambulances were called to the concert shortly after it began at 8 p.m.

 "Mostly heat and alcohol related symptoms. There was a lot of underage drinking tonight and some illicit drugs. However, we can't identify anything specific," Boston EMS Deputy Superintendent Michael Bosse said.

 By the time the show ended at 11 p.m. a staging area had been set up on Causeway Street.

 "A good amount of people were under the influence of drugs. A lot of ambulances showed up to take away people who were not okay to stay at the concert," a concert-goer said.

 Concert promoter Live Nation says most of the people taken to the hospital were stopped before going in to the concert.

 Avicii, a Swedish disc jockey, posted a tweet online saying he hopes everyone is okay.

 Just hearing the awful news abt tonight. Its a terrible thing, I rly hope everyone is ok! My thoughts go to those affected & their families.

 — Tim Bergling (@Avicii) June 26, 2014

 Officials say heavy alcohol consumption at a concert like this one is all too common.

 "When you have this type of a concert, this techno-rave type thing, we kind of know it may be coming," Bosse said.

 "People go overboard, so I think this is what they did, they just went overboard," a concert-goer said.

 Boston EMS said most of the patients they saw were between the ages of 16 and 25-years-old and no injuries were serious.

 TD Garden released a statement, saying that it is taking the incident "very seriously."

 "We implemented increased precautions such as restricted alcohol sales, additional security and provided two cooling off areas for guests, in addition to the building maintained at normal temperature," the statement said.

 Commissioner Evans and Mayor Walsh are looking to meet with TD Garden officials next week to discuss the incidents.

 “If the young people were allowed in there intoxicated that should not be happening. It’s my understanding they did detain some kids going in and call their parents; I don’t know if it’s before or after. It’s hard to say be prepared, kids shouldn’t be drinking alcohol,” Mayor Walsh said.

 Officials say the TD Garden has been cited five or six times in the past few years for various issues. They say that number isn't unusual for an entertainment venue of any size.

  |||||
What is a summary?

– By the time an Avicii concert at Boston's TD Garden ended around 11pm last night, a staging area had been set up nearby to deal with all the concertgoers requiring medical attention—a total of more than 80, about 50 of whom were treated by paramedics at the scene and 36 of whom were hospitalized. "There was a lot of drinking and some drugs. It was really hot in there," one attendee explains to WHDH. An EMS official confirms they mostly saw "heat- and alcohol-related symptoms," and none of the patients were in serious condition. Still, dozens of ambulances were called. "Everyone was having a good time but then when we left there was ambulances and police officers," another concertgoer says. Another adds, according to CNN, "These concerts should be outside ... I think it was a combination of heat and drugs, more of the latter." But Live Nation, the concert promoter, says most of the people hospitalized were actually stopped before entering the venue. "When you have this type of a concert, this techno-rave type thing, we kind of know it may be coming," the EMS official explains. Avicii tweeted afterward, "Just hearing the awful news abt tonight. Its a terrible thing, I rly hope everyone is ok! My thoughts go to those affected & their families."


– Days before his death this summer, 39-year-old Max Spiers texted his mother these words: "If anything happens to me, investigate." The Brit just happened to be a well-known figure in the world of UFO researchers, and now conspiracy theories are running wild. Authorities in Poland, where Spiers died, say it was natural causes, and the British government has declined to investigate, reports the Independent. His peers in the UFO community, however, are more than a little skeptical. Kerry Cassidy at Project Camelot says "the entire circumstances are suspicious and I urge everyone to encourage [the release of details] about what really happened and call for an autopsy." Another UFO blogger says, per SFGate: "Healthy people don't just get sick and die, they get poisoned." According to the Telegraph, Spiers had been invited to Poland to speak about his theories at a conference. Friends say he had been staying with a woman in Warsaw ahead of the conference and was vomiting black liquid and suffering from migraines before being found dead on a couch. Spiers' mother, Vanessa Bates, describes him as a "very fit man who was in good health," and she fears her son made enemies after "digging into dark places." But UFO expert Nick Pope tweeted Sunday that the idea of Spiers being silenced is a little much. "Having run the UK government's UFO project I promise we don't go around killing UFO researchers." (Only in Roswell could police investigate a missing flying saucer.)

Expand this summary.

Ms Bates remarks have prompted fevered online speculation among conspiracy theorists. Scott C Waring of UFO Sightings Daily told Metro: “This is really strange. It does seem that UFO researchers are now being targeted, probably to slow the rate of information being leaked to the public.”

 However, author and journalist Nick Pope, who investigated the UFO phenomenon for the Ministry of Defence in the early Nineties, said on Twitter: “The death of Max Spiers was a tragedy, but having run the UK Government's UFO project I promise we don't go around killing UFO researchers.”

 Ms Bates described her son as a “very fit man who was in good health", adding: "All I have is a death certificate from the Polish authorities that it was from natural causes, but no post-mortem was done so how can they tell that?

 "They are also refusing to release any paperwork about it to me because, absurdly, I don't have his written permission.

 "He has a brother, Josh, and sister, Becky, who are both devastated, as are his two boys. We all want answers to this and I will continue to fight to get to the truth."

 North East Kent coroner's office said that an investigation into Mr Spiers’ death was in its “very early" stages. ||||| UK authorities will not investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of an British conspiracy theorist in Poland, the Foreign Office has revealed.

 Two days before he died, Max Spiers allegedly told his mother: "Your boy's in trouble. If anything happens to me, investigate."

 The father-of-two, from Canterbury, was found dead on a sofa in a Warsaw apartment on 16 July.

 Polish authorities said Mr Spiers died from natural causes, but his mother claims no post-mortem examination was carried out on his body in the country, which he had visited to give a series of speeches and interviews about his investigations.

 The 39-year-old was prominent in conspiracy theorist circles, and had made a career out of investigating UFOs and alleged cover-ups. His mother, Vanessa Bates, 63, said he had recently moved on to investigating politicians, business people, and celebrities.

 Friends of Mr Spiers said he died after vomiting a black liquid and complaining of migraines for several days. They believe the circumstances surrounding his death were suspicious.

 But the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) said it was not investigating the death as it happened abroad.

 A spokesperson told The Independent the FCO provided assistance to the family of a British national following his death, but explained the UK had no jurisdiction to investigate the death of British nationals overseas.

 They said investigations into Mr Spiers' death were the responsibility of the Polish government.

 It comes after Ms Bates gave an interview in which she said her son’s investigations into UFOs and government cover-ups may have made him enemies who wanted him dead.

 She said he was “exposing” who was “dangerous in the world of government [and] the entertainment world".

 “These people seemed to be involved in some very, very dark and dangerous areas of the world and I was afraid that as he was gaining popularity and fame that perhaps somebody would want him out of the way i.e. not alive any longer," she said in the interview posted on Youtube.

 Ms Bates described her son as “incredibly strong, incredibly fit, nothing wrong with him at all".

 She said he was "in incredibly good spirits” before he left Kent, where he had been staying with her, and suggested he was unlikely to have died of natural causes.

 In Warsaw, Ms Bates said: “He was staying with a woman who he had not known for long and she told me how she found him dead on the sofa.

 “But I think Max had been digging in some dark places and I fear that somebody wanted him dead.”

 Ms Bates said her son had suffered from migraines in the days before he died and was taking antibiotics when she last spoke to him on 14 July. He also complained on social media of being “way too tired” around this time, and cancelled an interview because of his health.

 He was found dead on 16 July.

 In the last interview he gave, Mr Spiers discussed the Fourth Reich with a Polish youtube channel. He claimed Nazis and Zionists were “working in alignment” after a war stretching back “50,000 years”.

 He said: “If you look at the word Zion you just change a vowel around and switch the letters around and you have the word Nazi.

 “I don’t believe they were always running with each other but I do believe they were at odds. This war stems back 50,000 years. They just weren’t called Nazi and Zion, that’s a modern-day nom.”

 Mr Spiers also spoke about Dulce, which he believed was a secret underground alien base in New Mexico.

 Mr Spiers said he had seen inside a base where he claimed children were being used for their “pure energy”.

 He said: “I have seen a vat of children in disassociated states, some crying, some not and some completely gone.

 “They also have female breeders down there constantly breeding children, thousands of them.“

 Although his theories appear farfetched, many of Mr Spiers online followers believe he may have been murdered because of his investigations.

 On one website, Project Camelot, a blogger wrote: “The entire circumstances are suspicious and I urge everyone to encourage the release of details about what really happened and call for an autopsy.”

 Another, Craig Hewlett, added: “If it wasn't true what he talks about then why would they kill him? Healthy people don't just get sick and die, they get poisoned.”

 Miles Johnson, who runs supernatural conspiracy theory group the Bases project and knew Mr Spiers personally, said in an interview with Project Camelot: “A person has died here and I don't think it's good enough [that] somebody who just took normal medication should end up vomiting, spewing black liquid, whatever it was. And then shortly after that, whatever length of time it was, he died.”

 Ms Bates said: “All I have is a death certificate from the Polish authorities that it was from natural causes, but no post-mortem was done, so how can they tell that?

 “They are also refusing to release any paperwork about it to me because, absurdly, I don't have his written permission.”

 Obama the antichrist? Global warming a myth? Lizard people controlling the world? Conspiracy theory research reveals bizarre beliefs prevalent in US

 14 show all Obama the antichrist? Global warming a myth? Lizard people controlling the world? Conspiracy theory research reveals bizarre beliefs prevalent in US

 1/14

 2/14 Seven per cent of voters think the moon landing was faked Getty Images

 3/14 Fourteen per cent of voters believe in Bigfoot Getty Images

 4/14 Twenty-eight per cent of voters believe Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attacks while 36 per cent of Romney voters believe Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11, 41 per cent do not. Getty Images

 5/14 Nine per cent of voters think the government adds fluoride to our water supply for sinister reasons (not just dental health) Getty Images

 6/14 Four per cent of voters say they believe 'lizard people' control our societies by gaining political power Getty Images

 7/14 Twenty per cent of voters believe there is a link between childhood vaccines and autism, 51 per cent do not Getty Images

 8/14 Twenty-nine per cent of voters believe aliens exist Getty Images

 9/14 Fifty-one per cent of voters say a larger conspiracy was at work in the JFK assassination, just 25 per cent say Oswald acted alone Getty Images

 10/14 Fifteen per cent of voters think the medical industry and the pharmaceutical industry 'invent' new diseases to make money Getty Images

 11/14 Fourteen per cent of voters say the CIA was instrumental in creating the crack cocaine epidemic in America's inner cities in the 1980s Getty Images

 12/14 Twenty-one per cent of voters say a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 and the US government covered it up. More Romney voters (27 per cent) than Obama voters (16 per cent) believe in a UFO cover up Getty Images

 13/14 Six per cent of voters believe Osama bin Laden is still alive Getty Images

 14/14 Thirty-seven per cent of voters believe global warming is a hoax, 51 per cent do not. Republicans say global warming is a hoax by a 58-25 margin, Democrats disagree 11-77, and Independents are more split at 41-51. While 61 per cent of Romney voters believe global warming is a hoax Getty Images

 Mr Spiers was buried in Canterbury cemetery after his mother arranged to have his body flown home a week after his death.

 Because Mr Spiers' body was repatriated, a UK coroner's investigation could be initiated and a post-mortem examination was carried out by a pathologist in Kent. However, Ms Bates said she still did not know the result more than two months later, or whether there would be an inquest.

 She said: "Apparently, he had not suffered any obvious physical injuries but he could have been slowly poisoned, which is why the results of toxicology tests from his post-mortem are so important." ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| UFO hunter texted 'If anything happens to me, investigate' before he died

 A 39-year-old British conspiracy theorist and UFO phenomenologist who was found dead in Warsaw in June sent his mother a text days before his death telling her, "If anything happens to me, investigate."

 Max Spiers, who was in excellent health according to his family, was discovered dead on a couch by a woman he was staying with ahead of a conference he was due to speak at in Poland. Polish authorities attributed the death to natural causes, but no post-mortem was performed at the time.

 "I think Max had been digging in some dark places and I fear that somebody wanted him dead," his mother, Vanessa Bates, told the Telegraph.

 Scott C. Waring of UFO Sightings Daily told the Metro, "This is really strange. It does seem that UFO researchers are now being targeted, probably to slow the rate of information being leaked to the public."

 Adds another UFO blogger, Craig Hewlett "If it wasn't true what he talks about then why would they kill him? Healthy people don't just get sick and die, they get poisoned."

 But British UFO expert Nick Pope denied there was any any clandestine campaign by the so-called Men in Black or other government agents to eliminate UFO hunters who get to close to "the truth."

 "The death of Max Spiers was a tragedy, but having run the UK government's UFO project I promise we don't go around killing UFO researchers," he said via Twitter.

 Bates said her son had made a name for himself among investigators of UFO sightings and alleged cover-ups. She vowed to get to the bottom of her son's death.

 After Spiers' body was returned to England, an autopsy was carried out by a pathologist in east Kent, according to the Metro, but Bates said the results will not be known for several months.

 The North East Kent coroner's office confirmed the death was at the "very early" stages of investigation.

 Spiers, the father of two boys, was buried in a Canterbury cemetery.

 Among his beliefs, compiled by the Mirror, include these:

 Zionists and Nazis: "I believe because they have the same agenda — they both want to put into place the New World Order."

 Extraterrestrials: "We are receiving all kinds of help from masters, ETs and extra dimensional type angelic beings, and learning very quickly to go inward."

 Information downloads via sex: "A lot of women were being used to be set up with very important politicians or entertainers - people in high positions - and sleep with them. They would seduce these people in high positions. And when they sleep with them this information would be downloaded through the act of sex, and it would go back to whoever is controlling them." |||||


INF

 By Jen Heger

 Radar Legal Editor

 The Californian Attorney General will conduct what’s being termed an “inquiry” into former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s alleged misuse of tax payer funds to cover up sexual liaisons.

 In a bombshell exclusive, RadarOnline.com has learned the Office of the Attorney General, a branch of the Department of Justice, is conducting a preliminary evaluation into the scope of Schwarzenegger’s double life, which allegedly included using his state-funded security details to cover up women being escorted into his hotel room.

 PHOTOS: The Costliest Celebrity Divorces

 Veteran hotel security officer William Taylor said he witnessed the “Governator” using California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers and vehicles to ferry scantily-clad women in-and-out of his suite at the Sacramento Hyatt Regency where he and wife Maria Shriver often stayed.

 “It makes me very angry just to think of what was going on at that time,” Taylor, who passed a polygraph test about his claims, told the latest edition of the National Enquirer.

 PHOTOS: Hollywood’s Dirtiest Divorces

 "On three differed occasions after the governor arrived alone at the Hyatt Regency, CHP Dignitary Protection Services arrived in their official vehicles, black Ford Crown Victoria sedans - about one to two hours later with one or two young females.

 "They'd hurriedly escort the women through the service entrance on the second floor parking garage to the elevator that went to the governor's private wing... the women would usually stay for two to four hours and either leave through the hotel's main entrance or be driven away by the CHP in the same official vehicles."

 PHOTOS: Arnold Schwarzenegger & Maria Shriver Through The Years

 The Attorney General's office told RadarOnline.com "there will be no comment" about the probe, a criminal matter, however multiple department sources have confirmed the decision.

 Taylor was head of security at the hotel and is almost certain to be interviewed.

 PHOTOS: The Hottest Divorcees in Bikinis

 As RadarOnline previously reported, top lawmakers have already called for an investigation into the explosive sex scandal, after Republican Schwarzenegger admitted fathering a love child with his former housekeeper.

 Eric Bauman, Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party and Chair of the Los Angeles Democratic Party, has demanded an official inquiry into the actor-turned-politician's finances to determine if he used state or campaign money to fund his extra-marital affairs.

 Schwarzenegger has hired a public relations firm in the wake of the scandal. In a statement to RadarOnline.com, the firm denies Taylor’s charges. The release also included statements from various CHP officials and one executive from the hotel in question.

 PHOTOS: Hollywood's Power Couples

 RadarOnline.com has learned that Taylor is not backing off his charges.

 Schwarzenegger served as California Governor from November 2003 until January 2011.

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 Secret DNA Test Proved Arnold Was Father Of Maid's Son

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 Arnold's Maid Cleans Up, Disappears & Hires A Lawyer ||||| Report: Schwarzenegger Possible Criminal Inquiry Over Alleged Misuse of Public Funds

 WPA Pool/ Getty Images

 Did former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger misuse tax payer funds to cover up sexual liaisons?

 Radar Online claims the Californian Attorney General is launching a preliminary evaluation, being termed an "inquiry," to determine whether the former governor used his state-funded security details -- California Highway Patrol officers and vehicles -- to cover up women being escorted into his suite at the Sacramento Hyatt Regency.

 A source tells "Entertainment Tonight" that "The whole thing has been proven false. The Attorney General isn't doing anything."

 advertisement

 According to The National Enquirer, veteran hotel security officer William Taylor said he witnessed Schwarzenegger using the security details at his disposal "to ferry scantily-clad women in-and-out of his suite" where he and wife Maria Shriver often stayed.

 Schwarzenegger's attorney, Martin Singer, calls the Enquirer story "completely false." Singer tells ET, "Today's story from The National Enquirer is totally and completely false. Unfortunately, the media's relentless desire for new information has some outlets running stories that are made up by paying sources that have zero credibility. My client stated from the beginning that he takes full responsibility for his actions and deserves the public and media criticism. This does not entitle some in the media to be totally irresponsible."

 According to The National Enquirer, Taylor claims, "They'd hurriedly escort the women through the service entrance on the second floor parking garage to the elevator that went to the governor's private wing... The women would usually stay for two to four hours and either leave through the hotel's main entrance or be driven away by the CHP in the same official vehicles." The National Enquirer also says that Taylor passed a polygraph test concerning his claims.

 Others are speaking out on behalf of the former governor and this alleged situation. Retired CHP Sergeant Mark Hammond says, "I can say without a shadow of a doubt as a supervisor of his protective detail that at no time did I see Governor Schwarzenegger say or do anything that could be deemed inappropriate, and I was at his side for 7 years. As a supervisor, if anything had occurred, I would have been notified, even if it was technically off the record on his private time."

 Retired CHP Officer Manny Trevino says, "I was an officer on Governor Schwarzenegger's protective detail for 7 years. During that time, I was at his side in California and abroad, and I can report that the claims in the National Enquirer regarding allegations about the governor's detail covering for him during any illicit activity are completely untrue. In all the time I worked with him, I never witnessed the governor acting in a less than honorable manner. I also never heard any other officer discuss any such claims. Governor Schwarzenegger always treated the officers on his detail with respect, and we had nothing but respect for him in return."

 And Hyatt Regency Sacramento General Manager Ulrich Samietz adds, "We are not familiar with William Taylor, who claims to be a former head of security at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento in the National Enquirer article. As far as Governor Schwarzenegger is concerned, he was always respectful to our associates during his stays here." |||||

Write a summary.

– California's attorney general will investigate accusations that Arnold Schwarzenegger used state-funded security personnel to help arrange and cover up his extra-marital activities, according to Radar. William Taylor, a former law enforcement officer who claims to have been head of security at the Sacramento Hyatt Regency, has told the National Enquirer that he witnessed Schwarzenegger using California Highway Patrol officers and vehicles to ferry scantily clad young women to and from the suite where he often stayed. "They'd hurriedly escort the women through the service entrance on the second-floor parking garage to the elevator that went to the governor's private wing," Taylor told the tabloid. Schwarzenegger's attorney Martin Singer, however, tells Entertainment Tonight that the Enquirer story is "totally and completely false." Former CHP officers who served with Schwarzenegger's protective detail have also branded the Enquirer story a fake, and the hotel's general manager says he's never heard of Taylor.


Article:

I appreciate what PETA does, but when they take it too far, they really take it too far. They recently sent a letter to the founder of the National Buffalo… ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. |||||
What is a summary?

– PETA loves to get normally-clothed celebrities to strip down for ad campaigns, but with the addition of Sasha Grey to the stable, the animal rights organization “is basically a porn site now,” writes Jen Carlson on Gothamist. Grey is, of course, “the charming young lady you've seen in films such as Fuck Slaves”—ie, an actual porn star. Check out her ad, as well as a few other recent naked ladies courtesy of The Frisky and PopEater, in the gallery.


WASHINGTON (AP) — Three days after voters registered their sourness about the U.S. economy, the government said Friday that employers added a solid 214,000 jobs in October, extending the healthiest pace of hiring in eight years.

 In this Oct. 28, 2014 photo, Shantel Howard, 29, of Miami, right, makes an appointment for a job interview with Calvin Klein employee Melina Mikhalices, left, after submitting her resume during a job... (Associated Press)

 The Labor Department also said 31,000 more jobs were added in August and September than it had previously estimated. Employers have now added at least 200,000 jobs for nine straight months, the longest such stretch since 1995.

 The burst of hiring lowered the unemployment rate to 5.8 percent from 5.9 percent. It's lowest rate since July 2008.

 Along with the job gains, economic growth has accelerated this year. Yet despite the improvement, voters identified economic anxiety as their top concern in Tuesday's elections. That suggests the improvement hasn't yet been felt by many Americans.

 Nearly 60 percent of voters said they thought the economy was stagnating or worsening. Only one-third saw it as improving.

 The picture has still improved enough that the Federal Reserve announced last month that it was ending its bond purchase program, which had been intended to lower interest rates and stimulate economic growth.

 At the same time, better hiring and growth have barely boosted paychecks for the vast majority of earners. Adjusted for inflation, average hourly pay rose just 0.3 percent over the 12 months that ended in September, according to government data.

 And what wage gains have occurred have benefited mainly the wealthiest. Average income grew 10 percent from 2010 through 2013 for the wealthiest one-tenth of Americans, after adjusting for inflation, according to the Fed. For everyone else, incomes stagnated or declined.

 Analysts say the economic expansion remains strong enough to support the current pace of hiring. Over the past six months, the economy has grown at a 4.1 percent annual rate.

 U.S. manufacturers are expanding at the fastest pace in three years, according to a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group. A measure of new orders showed that factory output will likely continue to grow in coming months. A separate survey by the ISM found that retailers, restaurants and other service companies grew at a healthy pace last month.

 Home sales rose in September at their fastest rate this year, a sign that housing could pick up after a sluggish performance for most of this year.

 Still, faltering global growth could create trouble for the U.S. economy in the months ahead. Exports fell in September, the government said this week, widening the trade deficit. That led many economists to shave their predictions of economic growth in the July-September quarter to an annual rate of 3 percent or less, down from the government's initial estimate of 3.5 percent. ||||| Associated Press

 Yes, it was that time again, folks. Jobs Friday, when for one ever-so-brief moment the interests of Wall Street, Washington and Main Street are all aligned on one thing: jobs.

 The economy added 214,000 jobs in October, below the 233,000 estimate that economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.8% from 5.9%.

 Here at MoneyBeat HQ, we crunched the numbers, tracked the markets and compiled the commentary before and after the data crossed the wires. Now that we’re done, feel free to weigh in yourself via the comments section. And while you’re here, why don’t you sign up to follow us on Twitter. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– The unemployment rate ticked down from 5.9% to 5.8% last month, its lowest level since July 2008, the AP reports. And 214,000 jobs were added; 233,000 had been expected, per the Wall Street Journal's forecast, with the unemployment rate expected to stick at 5.9%. August and September numbers were also revised upward: August saw 203,000 new jobs added (up from 180,000), and September saw 256,000 (up from 248,000). That means the economy has added 200,000 or more jobs per month for nine consecutive months, the longest stretch since 1995, the AP notes. Even though the new jobs number for October doesn't look great when compared to what was expected, the AP points out that it extends "the healthiest pace of hiring in eight years." And Michael J. Casey at the Journal explains why today's jobs report is actually pretty good news: "Unemployment dropped, including in the U-6 broader measure of joblessness. And it came with a higher participation rate. Along with the upward revision in the September payrolls number, all of this means the net takeaway ain't as bad as the headline jobs number suggests."


News article:

UPPER DARBY, Pa. (AP) — A suburban Philadelphia transit worker who found $15,000 and turned it in to police has been given the cash since no one ever claimed it.

 Bob Tracey was driving home from work last March when he spotted a black bag in the middle of the road. When he opened it, he saw dozens of $100 and $20 bills and immediately called police.

 The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (http://bit.ly/2odkaL8) a judge on Monday ordered the money returned to Tracey.

 Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said some people claimed the money was theirs, but they had no proof. He said it was unlikely the real owners would come forward since the bag also contained drug paraphernalia.

 Tracey had to petition the court under a law dealing with finders of lost property.

 ___

 Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com ||||| On 9 shot at N. Philly party: 'In Bensalem, it would be called a mass shooting'

 On 9 shot at N. Philly party: 'In Bensalem, it would be called a mass shooting' May 28

 Stephanie Farr has been a reporter with the Daily News since 2007. She covers everything from crime to basic human decency.

 Michael Chitwood, Upper Darby superintendent of police, and Bob Tracey, right, who found $15,200 and turned the money in to police, at a news conference last year

 For Bob Tracey, it pays to be honest – it pays $15,200, to be exact.

 Last March, Tracey, 62, found a bag full of $15,200 in cash in the middle of State Road in Upper Darby. He immediately called police and turned the money in to authorities.

 Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood was so impressed by the good deed, he said at the time that he believed the money should go to Tracey, a SEPTA worker, if nobody claimed the cash.

 And this week – after more than a year – a judge agreed with him.

 On Monday, Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Charles Burr II ordered the money returned to Tracey, according to court documents.

 Although Chitwood believed the money should have been returned to Tracey within 90 days if the owner did not come forward, Tracey was forced to petition the courts in September to get the money returned, as was first reported by the Delaware County Daily Times.

 According to Tracey's petition, under state law "a finder of lost property has a valid claim for title of that property against all persons except the true owner."

 It's unclear why Tracey's legal battle dragged on for six months. A listed number for him was not operational, and calls to his attorney were not immediately returned.

 "The bureaucracy was a nightmare for the guy," Chitwood said. "He had to jump through a lot of hoops for being honest. Most people would have taken the money and kept on going."

 Tracey was driving home from work at SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line around 11:45 p.m. March 7, 2016, when he noticed a Wells Fargo bank bag in the road in Delaware County.

 He parked his car, grabbed the bag, and opened it. Inside he found "multiple stacks of cash-money wrapped in bank wrapping," according to the petition.

 Chitwood said police also discovered a digital scale, a crack-cocaine pipe, and a vial of unidentified liquid in the bag.

 After news broke of Tracey's find – and his subsequent good deed – Chitwood said police received a couple of calls from people claiming the money was theirs, but they had no proof. Plus, it was unlikely the real owners would come forward, given that the bag contained drug paraphernalia. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– A suburban Philadelphia transit worker who found $15,000 and turned it in to police has been given the cash. Bob Tracey was driving home from work last March when he spotted a black bag in the middle of the road. When he opened it, he saw dozens of $100 and $20 bills and immediately called police. Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said some people claimed the money was theirs, but they had no proof, the AP reports. He said it was unlikely the real owners would come forward since the bag also contained drug paraphernalia, including a crack pipe. Chitwood says Tracey, 62, should have been allowed to keep the money after the real owner failed to come forward within 90 days, but he ended up having to petition a court under a law dealing with finders of lost property. "The bureaucracy was a nightmare for the guy," Chitwood tells the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He had to jump through a lot of hoops for being honest. Most people would have taken the money and kept on going."


Write an article based on this summary:

– It might not be the first thing that comes to mind after the word "hackathon," but organizers of an upcoming one at MIT say the world is long overdue for a better breast pump. Engineers, designers, moms, and health experts will gather later this month for reasons spelled out by organizers at their website: "The motor is loud. There are too many parts. They are hard to clean. You can’t lay down and pump. There is no good space to pump. It’s hard to keep track of what you pump. Your colleagues think pumping is weird. People are skeeved out by breastmilk. People are embarrassed by breasts." The Sept. 20-21 hackathon is an offshoot of a smaller brainstorming session in May that was in itself prompted by this article in the New York Times lamenting the baffling lack of progress on breast pumps. By and large, they remain complicated and sometimes painful. It's about time, writes Melissa Malamut at Boston Magazine. "Let’s not forget that you just pushed a baby out of your body. You’d think that would be the hardest part of being a new mom. But no, then you also have to deal with the annoyances of pumping." Business Insider calls it "one of the biggest issues for working mothers," and NBC News notes that half of all new mothers breastfeed for six months, meaning that most require pumps for at least parts of that stretch. The public health benefits of breastfeeding are "huge," say organizers, making the current pump designs all the more frustrating. Hackathon participants will split into teams and pitch prototypes at the end of the session. (A new issue: Moms who breastfeed while using medical marijuana.)

Volunteer Li Zhiai, 30, pumps breast milk to donate, to support breastfeeding at the Guangzhou Women and Children's medical centre in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu On September 20 and 21, MIT will attempt to solve one of biggest issues for working mothers — the breast pump.

 MIT is hosting a "Make the Breast Pump Not Suck" hackathon to improve the design and technology behind breast pumps and make the act of pumping less awkward.

 The site lays out all the current problems with the breast pump:

 The motor is loud. There are too many parts. They are hard to clean. You can't lay down and pump. There is no good space to pump. It's hard to keep track of what you pump. Your colleagues think pumping is weird. People are skeeved out by breastmilk. People are embarrassed by breasts.

 That's why MIT is bringing together 150 engineers, designers, parents, public health researchers, and lactation consultants to brainstorm some new innovations.

 After seeing an article in The New York Times about the lack of innovation in breast pumps, a group of five researchers at MIT got together to take action.

 "Maternal health is a field that has sorely lagged behind, and it affects women's ability to work at the level they want to," Alexandra Metral, a research affiliate at MIT Media Lab Fluid Interfaces Group and one of the hackathon organizers, told Business Insider. "A lot of us were parents ourselves and had bad experiences."

 So they decided to do something about it.

 In May, the five researchers hosted a mini hackathon, where they began throwing around ideas for how to improve the breast pump, but they decided to turn it into a larger hackathon to develop the ideas further.

 Participants at the May hackathon. MIT Media Lab

 At that hackathon, ideas ranged from integrating robotics into breast pumps to how to lower the cost on a global scale. They also discussed how to impact policy so that women have better access to private rooms for breast pumping during the workday.

 Possible innovations include:

 Smarter interfaces and guided experiences: Pumps that can interface with your phone; pumps that can inform mom and also reinforce her commitment to her baby.

 Data collection: Could pumps anonymize and transmit data about the milk collected? This could serve to set a research agenda for breastfeeding research, which is often neglected due to lack of data. ||||| On Sept 20-21, 2014, 150 parents, engineers, designers and healthcare givers gathered at the MIT Media Lab for the "Make the Breast Pump Not Suck" Hackathon. Though the hackathon is over we are still accepting ideas for improving the breast pump. Send them to us here .

 Compress Express : A breast pump that mimics the natural and age-old art of hand expression, instead of archaic vacuum technology that dominates the market. Inspired by the simplicity of blood pressure cuffs, this project's gentle compression technology enables efficient milk expression and creates a discreetly wearable, virtually silent and hands-free breast pumping experience. This project, led by Susan Thompson, has been under development for two years and received the Pioneer Award for early and persistent innovation. Contact the team via Susan Thompson

 Second Nature is a breast pump that mimics the way that a baby suckles with massage and compression. This team also designed soft, low-profile flanges to be worn discreetly. Contact the team via Kristy Johnson

 PumpIO : An open software and hardware platform to make the breast pumping experience smarter, more data-rich and less isolating. PumpIO puts pumping women in touch with lactation consultants and communities as they are pumping, when they have questions and to help reinforce their commitment to their baby. Contact the team via Max Metral

 Helping Hands : a sturdy, easy to clean, minimal parts, hands free compression bra designed by nursing moms. The bra helps women manually express breastmilk (a technique proven to be as effective as electric pumps) without their hands. Contact the team via Katherine Ong

 Mighty Mom utility belt is a fashionable, discrete, hands-free wearable pump that automatically logs and analyses your personal data. Contact the team via Erin Freeburger or Robyn Churchill

 1st Prize, $3000 (sponsored by Vecna Technologies ) and a trip for two team members to Silicon Valley to pitch their ideas to investors (sponsored by Pejman Mar Ventures )

 We welcome you using these images for your articles and stories.

 You can see all of the awesome projects that were prototyped at the hackathon here on ChallengePost: http://breastpumphackathon.challengepost.com/submissions

 What do you want to accomplish? We want to seed ideas, connections and projects that will make the breast pump experience not suck so much. Covening talented people for a weekend is a first step. We also see this as an opportunity to catalyze innovation in maternal and pediatric health more generally.

 What's a hackathon? A hackathon is a high-energy, collaborative event that seeks to bring together a diverse group of people to explore key issues and challenges in a particular field. Traditionally, hackathons have been mostly technical in nature, focusing on software engineering and, occasionally, on hardware development; our goal is to reach out to a wider range of talents and skills to investigate creative solutions for the maternal and neonatal healthcare space.

 Who's coming? 150 people that will self-organize into teams of 5-10 people per team. For our hackathon teams, we are looking for a mix of breastpump users, engineers, designers, health care and lactation specialists, and educators. Registration is free and open to the public but space is limited. You must register in order to attend and unfortunately all of our space is now full.

 Who organized this? We are a group of MIT Media Lab students and researchers who are also parents: Tal Achituv is a Research Assistant in the Fluid Interfaces group. His background is in hardware and software engineering and he has founded several companies. He is the father of Shira (2), and Lior who was born just last month. (@achituv) Catherine D'Ignazio is a Research Affiliate in the Civic Media group. She is also an Assistant Professor of Civic Media and Data Visualization at Emerson College and a Fellow at the Engagement Lab. Her background is in the arts, data visualization and software development. She likes making fun, magical things with social impact. She has three kids and has pumped for all three. Her youngest is 14 months old and hung out at the Media Lab for the first 6 months of her life. (@kanarinka) Alexis Hope is a Research Assistant in the Civic Media group. Her background is in human-centered design, qualitative research, and maternal health. Prior to coming to the lab, she worked on a project to build a low-cost, easy-to-use ultrasound system for midwives in Kenya and Uganda. She has no kids yet, but hopes that by the time she does there is a better breast pump! (@alexishope) Taylor Levy is a Research Assistant in the Playful Systems group. Her background is in industrial design and graphics. She had a baby named Pau ("POW") just six weeks ago. Alexandra Metral is a Research Affiliate in the Fluid Interfaces group. (The irony of the groupâ€™s name is not lost on her.) She is an artist/designer/local politician/stylist/educator, and also has experience running start-up ventures. Idea Translation, Life-Extension and Fun are common features of her work. She has nursed her three young children, the first with chronic illnesses which presented in nicu. Also pumped for an adopted neighbor. Alexandra and her family are bi-coastal, silicon valley is her other pod. (@alexmetral) Dave Raymond is an honorary member of the Civic Media group and the Director of Training and Business Development for Vecna Technologies. He manages their multimillion dollar digital technology rollout to the VA Hospital System and loves improving health care for veterans. He has three kids and embraces the insanity by playing in a heavy metal band. Che-Wei Wang is a Research Assistant in the Playful Systems group. He is baby Pau's dad and a whiz with hardware design and development.

 Why is this awesome? As one of the midwives at our first hackathon said, "Maternal health lags behind other sectors for innovation." We are bringing together people from diverse fields, sectors and backgrounds to take a crack at making life better for moms, babies and new families. We see our role as a catalyst for new connections and new ideas that will inspire participants and highlight maternal and pediatric health as a vibrant, exciting space to be working in for the design and engineering leaders of tomorrow.

 Why is breastmilk magic? The health benefits of breastfeeding (both to mother and baby!) are numerous and include the reductions of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, female cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis. Despite the overwhelming data and worldwide endorsement of breastfeeding for at least two years, many women do not breastfeed at all or wean after several months. In particular, low-income, working women are rarely able to take extended maternity leave, to afford the cost of a pump, or to pump breastmilk at their workplace. In emerging economies around the world, women who go back to work wean their babies rather than using a breast pump.

 Why does breastpumping suck? Read our blog post about our prior hackathon that went viral.

 I'm a nursing mom/lactation expert. How can I help? The Breast Pump User and Health Care slots are full but there are a couple ways you can still help this effort. Submit your ideas! Click here to send us your best ideas. We are compiling an amazing, open data set of hundreds of creative, awesome ideas from pumping moms (and trans-dads). Teams will be reading about your responses and ideas at the hackathon. Donate your breast pumps. Bring your old pumps to the third floor of the MIT Media Lab, corner of Ames & Amherst St, in Cambridge. There is a donation box for pumps we can use at the hackathon. Get some media attention for the event in your locale. Part of this is about raising the profile of maternal health and bringing public attention to the idea that there are so many ways that our society could better support families and children. Show up. If in Boston, you can come by the hackathon at 5pm on Saturday to give teams feedback on their ideas. You can come listen to the final team pitches from 4pm - 6:30pm on Sunday and see who wins the grand prize, too. Connect with us post-hackathon. We are a little overwhelmed right now but afterwards we will be looking for ways to keep the momentum going.

 I'm a coder/hacker/designer. How can I help? The Engineering and Designer tickets are all sold out, but there are a couple ways to help from afar: Help us analyze and visualize the user-submitted ideas. Do you have data visualization or NLP skills? Email us and we'll send you the data set of amazing, creative ideas submitted by pump users. We'd love some innovative visualizations and ways to group and categorize the unstructured text. We can print out your work to be shown at the hackathon if it helps give insight into the user perspective. Connect with us post-hackathon. We are a little overwhelmed right now but afterwards we will be looking for ways to keep the momentum going.

 What's the structure of the event? Our program will begin with introductions and inspirational talks from our sponsors and guest speakers. Next, hackathon registrants will provide brief â€śrocket pitchesâ€ť about any idea they want to work on, inviting attendees to join their teams and share their skills. Once teams are created, the hacking begins. Problems are explored, ideas are shared, and innovative solutions are crafted. All meals, water, coffee, and tea will be provided to properly fuel our collaboration. We'll also have a bunch of awesome tech on hand - 3D printers, wearable prototyping materials, arduinos, Raspberry Pis and more. What teams create is theirs to keep. At the end of Day 1, each team will provide a brief update of their progress before adjourning for the evening. Additional venues for collaboration will be provided for teams that wish to collaborate past the official Day 1 wrap-up time of 7pm. Day 2 will feature continuing collaboration through most of the day. Teams will present their ideas before a panel of expert judges, who will award prizes for the four most promising projects before the event comes to a close.

 Is it free? Do you have to register? Yes. And Yes. It's free but space, materials and food are limited and we can't allow in people that are not registered. Unfortunately all the slots are now filled and we can't accept any more participants..

 What are the prizes? First prize - $3,000 (Vecna Technologies) and a trip for two team members to Silicon Valley to pitch your idea to VCs (Pejman Mar Ventures)

 Second prize - $2,000 (Medela)

 Third prize - $1,000 (Naia Health)

 Outstanding User-Focused Design prize - $500 (Moxxly)

 Who is supporting this effort?

 Vecna Technologies, Inc., is a healthcare IT company based in Cambridge MA. Vecna Medical's products include a suite of patient self-service products (Patient Portal, Patient Kiosk, and Patient Queuing), QC PathFinder (electronic infection surveillance software), and QC Bot (healthcare delivery robot). Vecna is sponsoring the First Prize. Pejman Mar Ventures is an investment firm located in Silicon Valley. Pejman Mar Ventures is sponsoring two members of the winning team to fly to Silicon Valley and pitch their idea to investors. Medela, Inc. Founded in 1961 in Zug, Switzerland by Olle Larsson, Medela continues to grow under the ownership of the Larsson family today. Medela serves its customers through 18 subsidiaries distributing to over 90 countries worldwide. Medelaâ€™s U.S. subsidiary, Medela, Inc., has been serving the American market for nearly 30 years. Medelaâ€™s Breastfeeding Division exists to enhance mother and baby health through the life-giving benefits of breastmilk. Our destiny statement guides all that we do, and inspires us to find new ways to support mothers on their breastfeeding journey. Medela is sponsoring the Second Prize. Naia Health Inc., is a seed stage company developing digital, consumer-focused health products that will revolutionize the well-being and lifestyle of mothers and babies. Our initial product is a first-of-kind, radically improved breast pump for nursing moms that is hospital grade, yet fits into your favorite handbag. Naia Health is sponsoring the Third Prize. Lasinoh. Founded by a breastfeeding mom in 1984, Lansinoh has been helping moms breastfeed for more than 30 years. Our family of products is designed for those who know that breastfeeding is one of the greatest gifts they can give their baby, but may need a little help along the way. Lasinoh is underwriting the catering for the event. Simple Wishes was founded in 2008 by four sisters who had a â€śSimple Wishâ€ť...make the experience of using a breast pump easier. Their Signature Hands Free Pumping Bra, is often described as a â€ślifesaverâ€ť. Pumping Essentials is a boutique medical supply business that helps moms navigate the often confusing process of getting their breastpump covered by insurance. Simple wishes and Pumping Essentials are sponsoring scholarships for attendees who work with low-income mothers to be able to attend the event. Moxxly is a consumer products company designing for modern women. We work at the crossroads of user-centered design, branding, and technology to create products that empower women. Our first product is an elegant pump system that allows women to breastfeed with their shirt on while receiving real-time data about their supply. Moxxly is sponsoring a prize for Outstanding User-Focused Design. Mamajamas. The goal of Mamajamas is to help new and expecting parents buy only stuff they need â€” to help them spend less time thinking about stuff and more time enjoying pregnancy and new parenthood. Ameda Inc. Todayâ€™s Ameda breast pumps combine founding engineer Einar Egnellâ€™s innovative technology with the features a 21st century mother expects. Everything Ameda offers â€“ breast pumps and products, breastfeeding education, support of lactation professionals â€“ reflects our passion for breastfeeding. Since 1942, Ameda has been the leading innovator and has delivered unmatched quality and service to lactation professionals, institutions and most importantly, mothers. Ameda is sponsoring scholarships for attendees who work with low-income mothers to be able to attend the event. The MIT Center for Civic Media works hand in hand with diverse communities to collaboratively create, design, deploy, and assess civic media tools and practices. The MIT Center for Bits and Atoms is an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the boundary between computer science and physical science. CBA studies how to turn data into things, and things into data. It manages facilities, runs research programs, supervises students, works with sponsors, creates startups, and does public outreach. iKatun is a non-profit organization that supports cultural events, exhibitions and conferences at the intersection of civic engagement and innovation. iKatun is an organizing partner for this event.

 What if I need financial support to attend? We are pleased to offer hackathon scholarships of $500 to people from the Boston area who can speak to the challenges that lower income women face in breastfeeding or pumping breastmilk for their babies. Scholarship recipients might be parents, pumps users, caregivers, community health providers, or other technical or non-technical professions. Each scholarship recipient receives $500 to cover costs of childcare for the two days and transportation to the event. These scholarships are generously underwritten by Simple Wishes, Pumping Essentials, Mamajamas and Ameda. To apply for a scholarship, write an email to breastpump-organizers@media.mit.edu with a couple sentences describing your how your work engages with lower income breastfeeding or pumping women. Email us at breastpump-organizers@media.mit.edu. ||||| MIT Is Hosting a Breast Pump Hackathon

 Yup, you read that right.

 When the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a competition to improve the condom, it was impressive that an organization decided to take an intimate problem and expose it globally. Now, MIT wants to tackle another under-the-radar, yet needs to be addressed issue—breast pumping.

 MIT says that maternal and neonatal health is a space that “lags behind others” in innovation, and they want to change that. Plus, breast pumping flat-out sucks. As MIT points out on its website:

 The motor is loud. There are too many parts. They are hard to clean. You can’t lay down and pump. There is no good space to pump. It’s hard to keep track of what you pump. Your colleagues think pumping is weird. People are skeeved out by breastmilk. People are embarrassed by breasts.

 Also, let’s not forget that you just pushed a baby out of your body. You’d think that would be the hardest part of being a new mom. But no, then you also have to deal with the annoyances of pumping.

 That’s why the MIT Media Lab is holding a “Make the Breast Pump Not Suck Hackathon” September 20 and 21 in Cambridge, where they’re bringing together 60 to 80 engineers, designers, parents, public health researchers, and lactation consultants to bring innovation to maternal health and make “the breast pump not suck.”

 MIT says on its website that they’re holding the challenge because improving breast pump technology can save lives and money:

 Breast pumping is an experience many women hate, yet it saves the lives of premature babies and permits working women to continue a nursing relationship with their baby. The health benefits of breastfeeding, both to mother and baby, are numerous and include the reductions of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, female cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis. Despite the overwhelming data and worldwide endorsement of breastfeeding for at least two years, many women do not breastfeed or wean after several months. In particular, low-income, working women are rarely able to take extended maternity leave, to afford the cost of a pump, or to pump breastmilk at their workplace. In emerging economies around the world, women who go back to work wean their babies rather than using a breast pump. The breast pump is the rallying cry for the event because it is a symbol of a technology that could be vastly improved in order to save lives, save money and lead to healthier and happier families. At the same time, our goal is to make space for innovation in family life more broadly and support a wide variety of different kinds of projects at the event.

 Tickets are free; Starts Saturday, September 20, 10:00 a.m.; eventbrite.com ||||| Photo

 I made my way upstairs, drawn by a strange sound emanating from our bedroom. It was rhythmic, like the sound of an old dot matrix printer. As I opened the door, I was confronted with the image of my wife holding two plastic funnels over her breasts with a big frown across her face. I immediately thought of Madonna’s cone-shaped bra from the 1980s and let out a gasp.

 Courtney: John wasn’t laughing at me, he swore up and down. He was laughing at the ridiculousness of the contraption: a standard mechanical breast pump. New motherhood already felt like a battle to stay standing on ground in perpetual tectonic shifts. Now I realized that I was effectively dependent on a badly designed, embarrassingly loud device for any chance to leave the house. Let’s just say, I didn’t feel like Madonna. I felt like a cow at an industrial farm, awaiting a humanizing visit from Temple Grandin. It turns out, even Wikipedia describes the breast pump as “analogous to a milking machine used in commercial dairy production.”

 Since our first encounters with the breast pump, we wondered how women had been duped into settling for such bad design. The pump is a symbol of the modern work-life conundrum. In theory, women have the freedom to honor the wisdom that “breast is best,” while still pursuing their own careers. And yet, to do so, they’re forced to attach themselves, multiple times a day, to a loud, sometimes painful machine that makes one feel anything but powerful.

 No doubt inspired by the ubiquitous public service announcements about how healthy breastfeeding is for mother and baby, 77 percent of new mothers do it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2013 Breastfeeding Report Card. In fact, a crucial provision of the Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to cover lactation services, with the pump being the most obvious purchase. The average electric pump costs approximately $250. According to market research firm Global Industry Analysts, the breast pump market will reach 5.63 million units by 2015.

 Photo

 And yet, despite the lucrative market possibilities as well as the health benefits, the modern pump remains largely unchanged since it was first invented. Edward Lasker, an engineer, produced the first mechanical breast pump and secured the patent in the 1920s. In 1956, Einar Egnell created the Egnell SMB breast pump, a more efficient answer to Lasker’s original design. Nearly 60 years later, little has changed about the fundamental design of the mechanical pump. Suffice to say that neither man, despite building their legacies on lactation, had ever breastfed a baby.

 Once we were confronted with the appallingly outdated design of the breast pump, we started asking other parent friends about their experiences. One friend, an executive in Washington, described pumping in an airport bathroom in San Juan, P.R., holding the plastic funnels to her breast as women touched up their makeup and gave her dirty looks. The only electrical outlet was next to the sinks.

 Another friend needed to pump during a conference call; she crossed her fingers that the client on the other line wouldn’t ask about the incessant and curious sound in the background. The noise isn’t the suction, as one might expect, but the motor. Our half-ton hybrid car is quieter.

 Another friend commented on the transparent plastic funnels: What product designer actually thought I would want to see my nipples getting sucked into small tubes over and over again?

 We believe that all mothers deserve a better, more dignifying breast pump. It’s a critical, daily tool for the working mother and a no brainer investment for early childhood health (thus, the federal government subsidizing its use at such a significant level).

 And beyond the health benefits of a better breast pump, there is a lot of money to be made by the company that attempts to really understand what would make the lives of working mothers easier and more pleasant. One pregnant friend put it in stark relief, “There were approximately one zillion different kinds of baby carriers to choose from when I was registering, but breast pumps? About three, and none of them looked significantly different from one another.”

 We are reminded of Gloria Steinem’s “If Men Could Menstruate,” an article published in Ms. Magazine in 1978, in which she used satire to point out how different the world would be if gender roles were reversed: “Men would brag about how long and how much.” If men could breastfeed, surely the breast pump would be as elegant as an iPhone and quiet as a Prius by now.

 It’s high time someone redesigned the breast pump. There’s dignity to be regained and a whole lot of money to be made.

 Courtney Martin is the author of multiple books, including “Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists.” John Cary is the author of “The Power of Pro Bono.” They are partners in life and in work. |||||