John Glenn, a war hero who became the first American to orbit the Earth and later served four terms in the U.S. Senate, has died in his home state of Ohio. He was 95.
Glenn’s death was announced Thursday by officials at Ohio State University, where he was being treated at James Cancer Hospital. Glenn had experienced a number of health problems in recent years, including a stroke he suffered two years ago after having had heart valve replacement surgery.
“We are saddened by the loss of Sen. John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. A true American hero,” NASA said. “Godspeed, John Glenn. Ad astra [to the stars].”
The author Tom Wolfe wrote that Glenn, once a small-town American, became “the last true national hero America has ever made.”
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John Glenn worked as a payload specialist aboard the shuttle Discovery from Oct. 29 to Nov. 7, 1998. REX/Shutterstock / Shutterstock
The first arctic blast of the season has hit — blanketing parts of the Rockies and Plains with subzero temperatures early Thursday and heralding a bitter freeze that will affect more than 200 million people.
But meteorologists are warning about a second, perhaps even colder chill that could spread into the East Coast and possibly portions of the South late next week. A shift in a weather system known as the Polar Vortex may be partially to blame, according to The Weather Channel.
For now, parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and the Dakotas were bearing the worst of it, with temperatures as low as minus-14 overnight Wednesday. Heavy snow was also falling around the Great Lakes region, and parts of Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and New York could see up to 2 feet of snow.
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Before dawn, Rick Velasquez shovels fresh snow during a winter storm in Boulder, Colorado on Dec. 7, 2016. Brennan Linsley / AP
It was already clear that not all qualified job applicants are treated equally, but it turns out that the most mild differences in weight can be the difference in locking down a position. A new study published earlier this month in the scientific journal Plos One shows that even slight increases in weight can hurt an applicant’s prospects — especially if that applicant is a woman.
The researchers digitally modified photos of the same white, unadorned faces to look like they belonged to people of different weights, and then asked study participants to rate the people in the photos on their “hireability.”
Indigenous activists and their supporters celebrated Sunday night after the Obama administration halted construction on a segment of the Dakota Access pipeline that would cross under Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
For months, thousands of protesters have demonstrated against the pipeline, which they say threatened the reservation’s water supply and sacred land, occasionally in the face of harsh treatment by police.
In a statement, Dave Archambault II, tribal chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, praised the Obama administration’s decision and thanked tribal youth and the group’s supporters “around the globe” for their role in halting the pipeline.
Donald Trump has been elected to the presidency of the United States with virtually no checks or balances. The House of Representatives and the Senate are both in Republican hands. Trump will be able to name at least one, if not more, justices to the Supreme Court. A racist, sexist demagogue will have nearly unlimited power.
So what the hell is the point of arts and entertainment?
It’s tempting at a time like this to withdraw within yourself, to shut everything out and succumb to helplessness. Watching a movie, going to the theater or listening to music feels like a futile exercise right now, an inevitably unsuccessful attempt to escape the storm clouds barreling down upon us.
But as hard as it is to believe right now, the darkest moment in modern American history, art and the artists who create it are more important than ever. They are a voice and a home for the marginalized groups of this country.
Dateline NBC’s social and digital series ‘Missing in America’ began on December 5, 2013, following a question the night before to our Facebook community, “Do you know anyone who has simply vanished?” The response was overwhelming. Since that first post, every Monday, we have featured the story of a different missing person brought to our attention from a member of our online communities.
On this third anniversary of the series, more than a third of those we have featured are still missing. Several have had someone charged in connection with their cases. In others, a person has been convicted of their murder. But they still have not been brought home.
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This map shows all the locations across the country where those part of our Dateline Missing in America remain missing from.
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Click link belowfor article and photos with stories of persons still missing:
The California warehouse where at least 36 people died last week has been on regulators’ radar for almost two decades, according to government records.
A habitability investigation of the Oakland warehouse — which had been converted without permits into a hive-like artists’ collective known as the “Ghost Ship” — was still pending when the building erupted in flames Friday night during a regular weekly party, according to government records.
The records show that the city was looking into a complaint alleging an “illegal interior building structure” at the warehouse, a two-story, 86-year-old building taking up almost 10,000 square feet.
It’s just one of at least 10 complaints that have been recorded against the site, which includes an adjoining vacant lot, since the Ng family began purchasing the properties in 1997, according to Oakland and Alameda County records.
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This 2014 photo shows the interior of a portion of the ‘Ghost Ship’ warehouse, taken while he was on a tour as a potential tenant of the Oakland, Calif., building. Ajesh Shah / AP
It was dark as the car sped along a small road on the outskirts of the embattled Iraqi city of Mosul. The car was driving fast, but not so fast as to draw attention. That was essential. The lives of the two men in the front seat depended on their ability to keep a low profile and pass through undetected.
In the passenger seat, Khaleel Al-Dhaki was focused on the secret mission he was leading to rescue a Yazidi woman and her child, both of whom were taken by ISIS and dragged into Mosul.
“This kind of operation can’t be done during daytime,” he later told NBC News. “We are basically going in there to kidnap them back from ISIS.”
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The night of her rescue from ISIS Leila reunited with some of her and her husband’s relatives who had also been previously rescued from ISIS captivity. Marc Smith / NBC News
Transgender visibility in media is at an all-time high. There are celebrities like Laverne Cox, who has a starring role on Netflix’s hugely popular Orange is the New Black. There have been award-winning movies and television shows focused around trans people including Tangerine and TLC’s I Am Jazz. At the Democratic National Convention this year, Sarah McBride made history by being the first out transgender person to address a major political party’s convention.
But amidst all this progress, perhaps the less discussed shift is the obvious surge of transgender models walking the runway and booking campaigns. This past fashion week saw more transgender models booked than ever before.
To get a peek into this ever-growing industry, Mic spoke with a number of trans models working today. In the previous edition of this series on trans modeling, the models talked about why 2017 will be their year. This time around, they speak out on why it’s so important for them to be seen right now.
The debate over electronic cigarettes rages on, despite the vaping industry’s best efforts to promote its value in decreasing the use of tobacco cigarettes. Proponents of e-cigs argue that the technology is safer than traditional cigarettes and can be used to quit smoking altogether. The scientific community is beginning to see things differently, however. Its consensus: vaping is a scam.
The myth of e-cigarettes as a safe alternative
“The evidence consistently shows that, while some people successfully quit smoking with e-cigarettes, most people using e-cigarettes have their chances of quitting conventional cigarettes reduced by about 30%,” Dr. Stanton Glantz, Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco’s Center of Tobacco Control Research and Education, told Mic. “The most dangerous thing about e-cigarettes is that they keep people smoking cigarettes.”
Dr. Glantz conceded the possibility of e-cigs as a way to transition from tobacco cigarettes, but argued that the bulk of e-cig users are what are referred to as “dual users” — consumers who smoke both e-cigs and traditional cigarettes.
In the world, human beings are facing various problems. People who are full of greed, anger, and ignorance are seen to be fighting with each other in words and deeds. As the fighting continues, various problems such as civil wars, wars of aggression, and wars of aggression are occurring. As world peace is being destroyed, humans are facing unbearable problems. Innocent children and women are not getting the rights they deserve and deserve. I can't think of one thing every time. What is it? The United Nations. If we look at the responsibilities and duties of the United Nations, I think it is not suitable for solving the problems that are happening in the world today. In fact, the United Nations and the World Security Council, such an organization must rule the world, must be able to give orders, and must have various ways to obey orders. There must be no organization that can influence more than that organization. There should be experts from each country. They can even dominate the superpowers like the US, China, and Britain. Only then will global peace be achieved quickly. Now, if a country with power develops more militarily, economically, or socially than its own country, then powerful countries will jealously seek out enemies and wage war. Or they will attack with fighter jets. In this, innocent people are losing their lives. No one understands the value of a life. You should think about how to achieve global peace by controlling these. If the US continues to be the permanent president of the UN, world peace will never be achieved. If you think carefully, no one sees that they are working for the common good, but for their own benefit, for the benefit of their own country. The permanent president of the UN and the Security Council has rejected this, As a young Rohingya, I have come to realize that only by electing the president and secretary from among the countries in the world through a secret ballot system and governing the world fairly can we achieve global peace. The United Nations and the Security Council are organizations in which any country must govern, give orders, and make them obey their orders. For example, only when a defendant is tried in court can we hold the leaders of the countries in check and control them, can we achieve global peace smoothly. Otherwise, it will not be easy for powerful countries to use various excuses to end this war every year, every year, for the benefit of themselves and their countries. No country's leaders pay any attention to the words of the United Nations and the Security Council. If we look at it in practice, look at the Rohingya issue. Myanmar is a small country. Even that country has been under siege for 8 years. What action can be taken? Why is the UN and the Security Council Powerless? Without such Power, how can the organization bring about global peace? Everyone should think about it. Whether there is a veto or a strong one, all countries in the world can only achieve global peace if they are subject to the UN and the Security Council. Seek peace in the quiet embrace of nature. Peace is an indispensable need of the human race. It is not as if one person can kill another person, and it is as if one country can attack another country, but instead of trying to build peace, we must try to destroy the peace now, and the world is getting hotter and is on the verge of collapse. I especially appeal to all the world experts to urgently try to bring about peace in all parts of the world. Mr, Noor Muhamed Arkhan Rohingya Youth Myanmar
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
John Glenn worked as a payload specialist aboard the shuttle Discovery from Oct. 29 to Nov. 7, 1998. REX/Shutterstock / Shutterstock
