lol646 casino online games philippines withdrawal
lol646 casino online games philippines withdrawal
The swift sinking of former Rep. Matt Gaetz as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general showed Thursday that Republicans are still capable of finding fault with Trump’s choices, and even pushing back . Whether they will flex that muscle often — or again at all — is anyone’s guess. Heading into a second White House term with both chambers of Congress in his party’s control, Trump nonetheless had to acknowledge defeat on Gaetz after Senate Republicans balked at the embattled MAGA firebrand becoming the nation’s top law enforcement official. Both Trump and Gaetz, in separate statements, said Gaetz was withdrawing his name because he didn’t want to be a “distraction” for the Trump transition. Gaetz said there “is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle.” Such a scuffle would probably have been stacked heavily against Gaetz, amid blockbuster leaks from an ethics investigation into allegations that Gaetz engaged in drug-fueled sex parties involving underage girls. Those reports increasingly raised alarm bells not just among Democratic detractors of Gaetz and the president-elect, but among Senate Republicans — who met his withdrawal with what appeared to be an intentionally understated shrug. After Gaetz announced his withdrawal, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the decision was “appropriate.” Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said he respected Gaetz’s decision and looked forward to confirming “qualified” nominees moving forward. Ronna McDaniel, former Republican Party chair, told CNN that Gaetz’s nomination had appeared doomed to fail. “It was hard for some of these senators and others,” she said. “He trolled them. He went after them. He wasn’t going to win a congeniality contest.” Bob Shrum, director of the Center for the Political Future at USC, said “we don’t know the final answer” yet as to whether Republican senators will continue to push back against Trump or other nominees. But clearly with Gaetz, Trump was given a clear — if “back channel” — message that the nomination was “not going to work.” “Even though the Republicans want to be loyal to Trump,” Shrum said, “you can push them too far.” Norman J. Ornstein, a left-leaning emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who has written extensively about the Senate’s dysfunction, said Senate Republicans scuttled Gaetz’s nomination because they anticipated more evidence of sexual misconduct by Gaetz coming out. But such a stand should hardly be viewed as an indicator of more robust pushback against Trump in the future, he said. “This does not mean that the Senate Republicans will now give the appropriate scrutiny and judgment to other ethically challenged or utterly unqualified nominees,” he said — before naming several of Trump’s recent Cabinet picks, including Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and military veteran who Trump has nominated for Defense secretary and who is facing fresh questions about a 2017 allegation of sexual assault . “They may reject one, but Trump knew that if he flooded the zone with deplorables, the Republican Senate would end up confirming most of them,” Ornstein said. Democrats, meanwhile, cheered Gaetz’s withdraw. Sen.-elect Adam B. Schiff of California said Gaetz was a “terrible choice for the nation’s top law enforcement agency,” a position that requires someone devoted to the rule of law, “not the person of the president or partisan agenda.” Some also suggested it should not prevent the release of the House ethics report about Gaetz — the same argument they made after Gaetz’s decision to resign from the House following Trump’s nominating him last week. What will happen next — not just for Gaetz but for Trump’s efforts to stand up a government of nontraditional appointees — is unclear. Gaetz, who was previously the subject of a federal sex trafficking investigation, could still get a post in the Trump administration that does not require Senate confirmation, an action presidents of both parties have taken to retain loyalists who are too controversial to win jobs that require approval. Stephen Miller, the author of some of Trump’s harshest immigration enforcement tactics, including family separation during his first term, was chosen last week as his deputy chief of staff. Neera Tanden, who directs President Biden’s domestic policy council, has held a number of jobs in the administration after withdrawing from a job to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Some in Washington on Thursday wondered, too, if Gaetz might try to reclaim his seat in the House, to which he had just won reelection. Florida state Rep. Joel Rudman, a Republican who announced this week that he would run for Gaetz’s House seat, said on X on Thursday that if Gaetz “wants to come back to Congress, I will support him 100%.” More broadly, Gaetz’s withdrawal marks an important moment in defining the limits of Trump’s power in a second term with a more pliant Congress and Supreme Court than during his first term — when his takeover of the Republican Party was still in its early stages. Gaetz was the most objectionable among a group of nominees who would have faced immediate disqualification during an earlier era. The ethics investigation — details of which have been leaking out in a steady drip since his nomination last week — was only the most salacious aspect of his dossier. He also lacked significant management and criminal law experience and had repeated numerous false conspiracy theories. Still, the factor that may have been most harmful were his relationships with fellow Republican lawmakers, who regarded him as an empty showboat willing to hurt the party to gain attention. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Bakersfield Republican, has made his ire for Gaetz clear since Gaetz played a central role in McCarthy’s ouster last year. And many members of the Senate in recent days said they wanted to know more about his ethics investigation before casting votes, an objective that ensured a messy confirmation hearing. In a post illustrating the depth of contempt for Gaetz in GOP congressional circles, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) posted a photo of McCarthy lifting a wooden gavel, with the caption, “Justice has been served.” By withdrawing, Gaetz may clear an easier path for whomever Trump nominates next, given that many senators are wary of bucking the president-elect, who has threatened retaliation in his second term while some allies have warned of primary challenges for even the slightest sign of disloyalty. His withdrawal also raises uncomfortable questions for other Trump nominees who face questions in the Senate, including Hegseth. Late Wednesday, officials in Monterey released a police report from 2017 outlining a woman’s claim that Hegseth took her phone, blocked her from leaving his hotel room and sexually assaulted her. Hegseth’s attorneys have acknowledged he paid the woman as part of a settlement. Hegseth has vociferously denied the allegations, saying Thursday that “the matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared,” and some Republicans appeared to be rallying to his side. After meeting with Hegseth, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, described Hegseth Thursday as “a strong nominee.” “Pete pledged that the Pentagon will focus on strength and hard power — not the current administration’s woke political agenda,” Barrasso said in a statement. “National security nominations have a history of quick confirmations in the Senate. I look forward to Pete’s hearing and a vote on the floor in January.” Influential right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, whose nonprofit Turning Point Action largely ran Trump’s ground game in swing states such as Arizona and Wisconsin, had been rallying his millions of social media followers to support Gaetz’s nomination. On Thursday, Kirk seemed to offer those senators who blocked it a warning — saying his group would start a lobbying initiative in support of Trump’s remaining Cabinet nominees, holding rallies in conservative states where senators might need extra “encouragement” to approve them. “We will bring this road show, on the ground by the way, potentially to Rapid City, South Dakota; to Sioux Falls, South Dakota; to Boise, Idaho; to Fayetteville, Arkansas; to Topeka, Kansas; to Tupelo, Mississippi,” Kirk said. “You picking up what I’m throwing down?” Only if senators expressed unwavering public support for Trump’s picks, he said, would he consider standing down. Times staff writers Hailey Branson-Potts and Jenny Jarvie contributed to this report.NoneSouth Korean President Forced to Rescind Right-Wing Martial Law Declaration
Haiti's destiny 'bright' despite terrifying escalation of violenceBy LINDSEY BAHR Do you have a someone in your life who plays Vulture’s Cinematrix game every morning? Or maybe they have the kitchen television turned to Turner Classic Movies all day and make a point of organizing Oscar polls at work? Hate to break it to you: They might be a hard-to-please cinephile. But while you might not want to get into a winless debate over the “Juror No. 2” release or the merits of “Megalopolis” with said person, they don’t have to be hard to buy gifts for. The Associated Press has gathered up some of the best items out there to keep any movie lover stylish and informed. “Interstellar” 4K UHD While Christopher Nolan dreams up his next film, fans can tide themselves over by revisiting his modern classic “Interstellar,” which will be back in IMAX theaters on the weekend of Dec. 6, followed by the home release of a new collector’s edition on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray ($59.95). A third disc in the set, available Dec. 10, contains more than two hours of bonus content, like a never-before-seen storyboard sequence, and new interviews with Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and famous fans Peter Jackson and Denis Villeneuve . A biography of Elaine May Elaine May does not give interviews anymore. But thankfully that didn’t deter writer Carrie Courogen, who did a remarkable job stitching together the life of one of our culture’s most fascinating, and prickly, talents. “Miss May Does Not Exist” is full of delightful anecdotes about the sharp and satirical comedian who gained fame as one half of Nichols and May and went on to direct films like “The Heartbreak Kid” and “Mikey and Nicky.” Courogen writes about May’s successes, flops and her legendary scuffles with the Hollywood establishment. It’s a vital companion to Mark Harris’ biography of Mike Nichols . Macmillan. $30. A “Matrix” hoodie The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has an exclusive new “Matrix” sweatshirt for sale in conjunction with its Cyberpunk exhibition. Brain Dead Studios designed and created several items, including the black hoodie ($140), a white rabbit tee ($54) and a pint glass ($18). An Academy Museum exhibition catalog If you can’t make it to Los Angeles to check out the “Color in Motion” exhibit for yourself, the Academy Museum also has a beautiful new companion book for sale ($55) charting the development of color technology in film and its impact. It includes photos from films like “The Red Shoes,” “Vertigo,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and images of rare prints from the silent era. The Academy Museum Store is having a sale (20% off everything) from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2. A status tote Related Articles Things to Do | US airports with worst weather delays during holiday season Things to Do | The right book can inspire the young readers in your life, from picture books to YA novels Things to Do | These holiday gifts change the game when building fires, printing photos, watching birds and more Things to Do | Beer pairings for your holiday feasts Things to Do | Make these Tahini-Roasted Sweet Potatoes for Thanksgiving Want to look like a real film festival warrior, the kind who sees five movies a day, files a review and still manages to make the late-night karaoke party? You’re going to need the ultimate status tote from the independent streaming service MUBI . Simple, to-the-point and only for people in the know. $25. The Metrograph magazine Film magazines may be an endangered species, but print is not dead at The Metrograph . Manhattan’s coolest movie theater is starting a biannual print publication “for cinephiles and cultural connoisseurs alike.” The first issue’s cover art is by cinematographer Ed Lachman (“Carol”), and contributors include the likes of Daniel Clowes, Ari Aster, Steve Martin and Simon Rex. There’s also a conversation with Clint Eastwood. It’s currently available for pre-order and will be in bookstores Dec. 10 for $25 ($15 for Metrograph members). Director style This is not a book about filmmaking styles, camera angles and leadership choices. It’s literally about what directors wear. “How Directors Dress: On Set, in the Edit, and Down the Red Carpet” ($40) has over 200 archival photos of filmmakers in action: Spike Lee in his basketball caps, Sofia Coppola in her Charvet button-ups, Steven Spielberg’s denim on denim and many more. With a forward by the always elegant Joanna Hogg and writing from some of the top fashion journalists, it’s a beautiful look at how filmmakers really dress for work — and might even be a source of inspiration.How dogs are making 6th grade better at Bessemer Middle School
Stephen Kessler | Recovering from the rubble what was lost
Judge weighs whether to order Fani Willis to comply with lawmakers' subpoenas over Trump case
NoneLuigi Mangione, the hero? The disturbing reaction to healthcare CEO’s killing
White House says 'early indications' point to Russia in Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash
Doctored images have been around for decades. The term "Photoshopped" is part of everyday language. But in recent years, it has seemingly been replaced by a new word: deepfake. It's almost everywhere online, but you likely won't find it in your dictionary at home. What exactly is a deepfake, and how does the technology work? RELATED STORY | Scripps News Reports: Sex, Lies, and Deepfakes A deepfake is an image or video that has been generated by artificial intelligence to look real. Most deepfakes use a type of AI called a "diffusion model." In a nutshell, a diffusion model creates content by stripping away noise. "With diffusion models, they found a very clever way of taking an image and then constructing that procedure to go from here to there," said Lucas Hansen said. He and Siddharth Hiregowdara are cofounders of CivAI, a nonprofit educating the public on the potential — and dangers — of AI. How diffusion models work It can get complicated, so imagine the AI – or diffusion model – as a detective trying to catch a suspect. Like a detective, it relies on its experience and training. It recalls a previous case -– a sneaky cat on the run. Every day it added more and more disguises. On Monday, no disguise. Tuesday, it put on a little wig. Wednesday, it added some jewelry. By Sunday, it's unrecognizable and wearing a cheeseburger mask. The detective learned these changes can tell you what it wore and on what day. AI diffusion models do something similar with noise, learning what something looks like at each step. "The job of the diffusion model is to remove noise," Hiregowdara said. "You would give the model this picture, and then it will give you a slightly de-noised version of this picture." RELATED STORY | Scripps News got deepfaked to see how AI could impact elections When it's time to solve the case and generate a suspect, we give it a clue: the prompts we give when we create an AI-generated image. "We have been given the hint that this is supposed to look like a cat. So what catlike things can we see in here? Okay, we see this curve, maybe that's an ear," Hiregowdara said. The "detective" works backward, recalling its training. It sees a noisy image. Thanks to the clue, it is looking for a suspect — a cat. It subtracts disguises (noise) until it finds the new suspect. Case closed. Now imagine the "detective" living and solving crimes for years and years. It learns and studies everything — landscapes, objects, animals, people, anything at all. So when it needs to generate a suspect or an image, it remembers its training and creates an image. Deepfakes and faceswaps Many deepfake images and videos employ some type of face swapping technology. You've probably experienced this kind of technology already — faceswapping filters like on Snapchat, Instagram or Tiktok use technology similar to diffusion models, recognizing faces and replacing things in real time. "It will find the face in the image and then cut that out kind of, then take the face and convert it to its internal representation," Hansen said. The results are refined then repeated frame by frame. The future and becoming our own detectives As deepfakes become more and more realistic and tougher to detect, understanding how the technology works at a basic level can help us prepare for any dangers or misuse. Deepfakes have already been used to spread election disinformation, create fake explicit images of a teenager, even frame a principal with AI-created racist audio. "All the netizens on social media also have a role to play," Siwei Lyu said. Lyu is a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor at the University of Buffalo's Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and the director of the Media Forensics Lab. His team has created a tool to help spot deepfakes called "DeepFake-o-meter." "We do not know how to handle, how to deal, with these kinds of problems. It's very new. And also requires technical knowledge to understand some of the subtleties there," Lyu said. "The media, the government, can play a very active role to improve user awareness and education. Especially for vulnerable groups like seniors, the kids, who will start to understand the social media world and start to become exposed to AI technologies. They can easily fall for AI magic or start using AI without knowing the limits." RELATED STORY | AI voice cloning: How programs are learning to pick up on pitch and tone Both Lyu and CivAI believe in exposure and education to help combat any potential misuse of deepfake technology. "Our overall goal is that we think AI is going t impact pretty much everyone in a lot of different ways," Hansen said. "And we think that everyone should be aware of the ways that it's going to change them because it's going to impact everyone." "More than just general education — just knowing the facts and having heard what's going to happen," he added. "We want to give people a really intuitive experience of what's going on." Hansen goes on to explain CivAI's role in educating the public. "We try and make all of our demonstrations personalized as much as possible. What we're working on is making it so people can see it themselves. So they know it's real, and they feel that it's real," Hansen said. "And they can have a deep gut level feel for tthe impact that it's going to have." "A big part of the solution is essentially just going to be education and sort of cultural changes," he added. "A lot of this synthetic content is sort of like a new virus that is attacking society right now, and people need to become immune to it in some ways. They need to be more suspicious about what's real and what's not, and I think that will help a lot as well."
None
GRAP-IV measures to continue for three more days in Delhi-NCR
Given Donald Trump’s history of making false or misleading statements — and his fixation on people’s physical appearance and size — it’s not a reach to think that he’d exaggerate his height. The president-elect has long claimed that he stands a commanding 6-foot-3, the Daily Mail reported . But the 78-year-old didn’t appear to measure up to that height, not while standing next to Prince William, who also is said to be 6-foot-3. The height discrepancy of an inch or two was visible when Trump met the heir to the British throne at the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris on Saturday. Trump and William appeared to enjoy a cordial exchange as they shook hands inside the cathedral, though the prince had to bend his head to meet the shorter man’s gaze. Trump and William later posed for photos at the residence of the British ambassador to France, as an exercise of soft diplomacy. Trump, again, looked somewhat shorter than the son of King Charles III and the late Princess Diana. Incidentally, the former reality TV star once claimed that he could have “nailed” Diana, and he also insisted in 2023 that William’s mother was among the celebrities who wanted to “kiss” up to him before he went into politics, People reported. The latter claim was fiercely denounced by Diana’s brother, Charles, 9th Earl Spencer, who said that the princess once likened Trump to a very bad sore in “the arse,” in the one and only time he said she mentioned him. It’s not likely that William brought up Trump’s boasts and insults at the Notre Dame event. After all, he was there to represent his father and British government. If there’s any consolation, he appeared to tower above the man who once spoke disrespectfully about his mother — even as he also appeared to have a friendly chat with the incoming U.S. president. Trump, for his part, praised William, quipping to reporters: “Good man, this one.” In a later interview with the New York Post , Trump had more positive things to say about the future king, saying they had a “great” 40-minute chat. “I asked him about his wife and he said she’s doing well,” Trump told the Post, referring to the Princess of Wales’ treatment over the past year for cancer. Trump also referred to Charles’ cancer battle, saying, “And I asked him about his father and his father is fighting very hard, and he loves his father and he loves his wife, so it was sad. We had a great talk for half an hour, a little more than half an hour. We had a great, great talk.” Meanwhile, it’s possible that Trump has become shorter than his stated 6-foot-3. It’s known that men can begin to shrink as they age. Some health experts say that men can lose an inch in height between ages 30 and 70, and lose another inch after they turn 80. Trump is almost 80. According to the Daily Mail, Trump remains sensitive about his height, as he has boasted about the beauty and stature of his oldest daughter Ivanka Trump . He also has expressed pride in the fact that his youngest son, 18-year-old Barron, has grown to a towering 6-foot-7. But “rumors have long swirled” that Trump relies on “lifters” — insoles in shoes — or taller heels to give him an additional height, the Daily Mail reported. Unfortunately for Trump, he has begun to appear shorter than he might like when he has recently posed besides other world figures and business leaders, according to the Daily Mail. For example, Trump didn’t look much taller standing next to the 5-foot-7 French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace on Saturday. Trump also has been somewhat dwarfed physically by his fervent new supporter, the 6-foot-2 Elon Musk, the Daily Mail said. When the Tesla and Space X founder joined Trump at his campaign appearances, or when he hosted the 47th president to the Nov. 19 launch of his SpaceX Starship rocket, he stood “significantly” taller than the new president, the Daily Mail reported. ©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at mercurynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Many Americans Blame Insurance Profits and Claim Denials for CEO Killing: Poll