Native burial sites blown up for US border wall

Native American burial sites in Arizona have been blown up by construction crews building the US-Mexico border wall, according to lawmakers and tribal leaders.

Authorities confirmed that "controlled blasting" has begun in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a Unesco recognised natural reserve.

Raul Grijalva, a Democrat congressman, called the destruction "sacrilegious".

The government failed to consult the Tohono O'odham Nation, he said.

Environmental groups also warn of the damage being done to the local underground aquifer, as well as to migrating wildlife in the remote desert region about 115 miles (185km) west of Tucson.

Officials say the aim of the project is to construct a 30ft-tall (9m) steel barrier that runs for 43 miles on the national park land.

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🎬2020 Razzie Award Nominations Announced for the Year’s Worst Movies 🎬

The Golden Raspberry Award, given yearly for the worst movies, actors and directors

Just a day before Hollywood celebrates the best films of the past year at the 2020 Oscars, the nominees for some of the past year's worst films, the 2020 Golden Raspberry Awards, aka the Razzies, have been unveiled.

Three films tied for the most Razzie nominations. Cats, A Madea Family Funeral and Rambo: Last Blood each received eight nods, all three getting mentions for worst picture, supporting actress, screen combo and screenplay.

The 40th Annual Razzie Noms

Rambo: Last Blood, "assaulting to the senses/insulting to the intelligence," according to Razzie organizers, will compete for worst picture alongside Cats, A Madea Family Funeral, The Fanatic and The Haunting of Sharon Tate.

Tyler Perry, Multiple Nominee

Tyler Perry alone is mentioned five times in the nominations, one of which is for worst actress as Madea, a category where he'll compete against Hilary Duff (The Haunting of Sharon Tate), Anne Hathaway (The Hustle and Serenity), Francesca Hayward (Cats) and Rebel Wilson (The Hustle). Perry's also up for worst supporting actor for two parts in A Madea Family Funeral as well as worst screenplay and screen combo between Perry and himself.

Cats

See the rest of The Hollywood Reporter article Here:

Analysis: Congress should put an end to the State of the Union. For good.

President Trump during the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Congress, in the name of self-respect, should put an end to the State of the Union address.

It’s a made-up tradition steadily warped over time from an exercise in communication between equal branches of the government to a political sideshow in which Congress is a mere prop. It has become an annual measure of our dangerous decline from a nation that governs itself into a nation dependent on its chief executive. It feeds the cult of presidential personality, which is a bad thing regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.

Article II of the Constitution requires that the president “from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” That’s exactly what presidents did, usually in the form of a written report — typically as dull as dishwater — for most of the nation’s history.

“This year’s address was the logical endpoint of the long-gathering trend. President Trump made no pretense of communicating information to Congress. He used the time to unveil his reelection message. He repurposed his fellow elected Republicans as campaign rally acolytes (chanting, before he even began, “Four more years!”). He poked and prodded the Democrats into one indecorous breach after another: televised eyerolls, face-palms, counter-chants and walkouts, culminating in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s theatrical ripping of her copy of the speech. Trump’s reality-TV-style giveaways — a scholarship, a medal, a family reunion — had me wondering if, a la Oprah, he would dish out new cars at the end.”

See more of this Analysis in the Washington Post HERE; 

Fungi that EATS radiation found thriving inside the Chernobyl nuclear reactor could be used like a 'sun block' for humans to protect against deadly rays

A strand of fungi which spawned inside the Chernobyl nuclear reactor and eats radiation could allow humans to insulate against deadly rays.

In 1991, five years after the disaster which rocked Ukraine, the black fungi was found sprouting up the walls of the abandoned reactor which had been flooded with gamma.

Baffled how it managed to survive the extreme conditions, scientists examined the microorganism - and were even more excited with their findings.

In addition to not perishing, they discovered that the fungi actually grows towards the radiation, as if attracted to it.

This is because of its large amounts of melanin - the pigment which turns skin dark - and allows the fungi to absorb normally harmful rays which it then converts into chemical energy. 

In the same way in which plants convert carbon dioxide and chlorophyll into oxygen and glucose via photosynthesis, the fungi sapped up deadly rays which allowed it to produce energy.

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Virginia lawmakers pass protections for LGBTQ people

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia lawmakers passed comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation Thursday that advocates said makes the state the first in the South to enact such protections for LGBTQ people.

The measures advanced on bipartisan votes, 59-35 in the House and 30-9 in the Senate as newly empowered Democrats continued to advance bills that Republicans blocked for years. Each chamber still must take up the other’s measure in procedural votes before the legislation can be sent to the governor, who supports it, for final approval.

While opponents have raised concerns about impacts on religious freedom, advocates praised the passage of what they called urgently needed landmark human rights legislation.

“It’s important to know that discrimination is still happening in Virginia. It is time to drive it out,” bill sponsor Sen. Adam Ebbin, who is openly gay, said at a press conference ahead of the votes.

The legislation prohibits discrimination in housing, public or private employment, public spaces and credit transactions on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It also lays out causes of action that would allow individuals or, in certain circumstances the attorney general, to sue over alleged discrimination.

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GOP introduces resolution to condemn Pelosi for ripping up Trump’s State of the Union speech

Just hours after their colleagues in the Senate voted to acquit President Trump on the two articles of impeachment brought against him, Republican lawmakers in the House introduced a resolution to condemn House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for ripping up a copy of Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.

The privileged resolution, which was introduced Wednesday by Texas Republican Rep. Kay Granger, blasted Pelosi’s public shredding of the text of the address as “a breach of decorum” and said it brought “discredit on the House.”

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Actor Kirk Douglas, star from film's Golden Age, dies at 103

Kirk Douglas, the actor who helped usher in Hollywood's golden age, has died. He was 103 years old.

"It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103," his son, actor Michael Douglas, posted on Instagram. "To the world he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to."

Born Issur Danielovitch on Dec. 9, 1916, in Amsterdam, New York, Douglas changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the Navy during World War II. Prior to serving in the war, he made his Broadway debut in the musical "Spring Again." After he was injured and discharged from the Navy in 1944, he returned to acting in New York in the theater, commercials and radio.

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Tuskegee Airman honored at State of the Union address and by NASA

Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee was honored by NASA during their Black History Month program hours after being acknowledged by President Donald Trump at his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.


"Incredible story," Trump said Tuesday. "After more than 130 combat missions in World War II, he came back home to a country still struggling for civil rights and went on to serve America in Korea and Vietnam."

Ahead of the address on Capitol Hill, Trump signed a bill promoting McGee to brigadier general and pinned the stars on his shoulders in the Oval Office.

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Record-breaking astronaut Christina Koch return to Earth on Wednesday

The Soyuz MS-13 crew spacecraft is seen as it approached the International Space Station for docking on the 50th anniversary of NASA landing humans on the Moon for the first time. The Soyuz will return Expedition 61 crew members NASA astronaut Christina Koch, station commander Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency), and Soyuz commander Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos to Earth on February 6.

Record-breaking NASA astronaut Christina Koch and two of her colleagues will complete their missions aboard the International Space Station (ISS) this week and head back to Earth, and their departure and landing will be shown live on NASA TV.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch said Tuesday — her 319th day in a row in space — that taking part in the first all-female spacewalk was the highlight of her mission. She’s been living on the International Space Station since March and returns to Earth on February 6, landing in Kazakhstan with two colleagues aboard a Russian capsule.

Koch will have spent 328 consecutive days in space, during which she broke the record for the longest single-duration spaceflight by a woman, and also participated in the first all-woman spacewalk along with her colleague Jessica Mier. She is also seventh on the list of American astronauts who have spent the most time in space, and will have completed the second-longest single spaceflight stay by any American astronaut after Scott Kelly.

During her time on the ISS, Koch participants in six spacewalks, including walks to upgrade the station’s power system and to fix the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a dark matter detection instrument which has far outlived its originally planned lifespan and was previously considered unserviceable.

See the rest of the story Here in Digital Trends Science:  Check additional information in the Washington Post:

Nancy Pelosi rips up copy of State of the Union speech from Trump

In a moment that bookended an already divided night at the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore in half a copy of the State of the Union address given to her by the president just as he finished speaking.

President Donald Trump didn't appear to notice as Pelosi, standing behind him in the gallery, ripped up the papers.

When asked after the event why she ripped up the speech, Pelosi told reporters it was "because it was a courteous thing to do considering the alternative. It was such a dirty speech."

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Photos show woman getting dangerously close to grizzly bear while taking pictures

Bears don’t care about getting the perfect shot.

A photographer shared shocking photos he took of a woman who got dangerously close to a grizzly bear in Montana while taking pictures. In the images, the woman is standing only a few feet away from the bear, which is looking directly at her.

Brian Curtice recently shared the photos with Kennedy News. According to him, the woman was with her friends and family at the time, but he says they all quickly moved away when the bear showed up. The woman, however, continued to look through her camera as the large predator approached.

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Iowa Democratic Party releases majority of caucus results

The Iowa Democratic Party released the majority of caucus results late Tuesday afternoon--a highly anticipated move following a problem-plagued night of voting.

With 62% of precincts reporting, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg had 27% of the vote and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had 25%, according to the Iowa Democratic Party. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren had 18%, former Vice President Joe Biden 16% and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar had 13% of the vote.

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Live Stream: President Donald J. Trump will deliver his third State of the Union Address, Feb. 4, 2020 , 9 p.m. ET

President Trump is set to deliver his third State of the Union address Tuesday night, less than a day before the U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on two articles of impeachment against him.

While the scene on Capitol Hill has been tumultuous during the impeachment trial, a senior administration official told reporters last week that Trump's address would be themed around "the great American comeback" and would put forth a vision of "relentless optimism."

NPR will also provide live fact-checking and analysis of Trump's address and the Democratic response on NPR.org.The speech is set to begin around 9 p.m. ET. You can listen to NPR's simulcast of the speech on NPR.org, the NPR One app or on your local member station. Find your station here.

What's Trump expected to talk about?

A senior administration official told reporters that Trump would highlight promises he has kept as president and would highlight the strength of the U.S. economy and military.

Trump is expected to touch on five areas in his remarks.

1. Issues related to the economy, including a Phase 1 trade deal with China, the recently signed USMCA trade deal and Opportunity Zones.

2. A range offamily issues , including school choice, paid family leave and expanding access to child care.

3. Lowering the cost of health care, including surprise billing and transparency in costs. Trump is also expected to draw a sharp contrast between his health care plan and that of Democrats.

4. Immigration, including work on the southern border and sanctuary cities.

5. National security.

It's unclear whether Trump will address impeachment during the speech. While the president has slammed the trial in tweets and at his campaign rallies, it remains to be seen whether he will broach the subject during the formal address to Congress.

Who are the guests?

The White House has revealed two guests so far, both of whom highlight priorities Trump will mention in his speech: Tony Rankins, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who got a job working on a project in an Opportunity Zone in Cincinnati; and Raul Ortiz, the deputy chief of U.S. Border Patrol.

Who is delivering the Democratic response?

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is set to deliver the Democratic response to Trump's speech. She'll speak from East Lansing High School, where her daughters attend.

Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, will give the Spanish-language response."Democrats across the country have a plan to improve education, fix our infrastructure, expand and protect health care coverage, and build an economy that works for everyone," Whitmer said in a statement released ahead of her remarks. "Our nation deserve[s] this type of leadership, and we are ready to take action to get it done."
Source: NPR

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