“But by the time 2001 A.D. rolls around, things may be more fantastic than the picture shows.” The future is here. That’s the feeling you get when you leave the theater after seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey, the most realistic science-adventure movie ever filmed.
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Filmmaker Steven Spielberg is going into the future with his virtual reality adventure Ready Player One. Based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller of the same name, the film takes place in the dystopian world of 2045, while referencing 1980s popular culture. Set more than 25 years in the future, the characters are driven by overpopulation and poverty to escape into a digital universe. One of them is young Wade Watts, a poor orphan living in the stacks, a poverty-ridden area in Columbus, Ohio, who escapes to the Oasis through his virtual avatar, Parzival.
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Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney now faces a second assault charge in connection with a February incident at Franklin High School, WKRN reports: A victim provided sworn testimony to the magistrate, who issued a criminal summons for the defendant, charging Mike Looney with assault. It’s the second assault charge against Looney in the February 20 incident. Police confirmed to News 2 the second victim is the mother of the original victim. Dr. Looney’s attorney was notified about the new charge. At some point, Looney will have to appear for booking and processing, as directed by the summons. The Tennessee Star first reported the details of the story when it broke back in February: Late Wednesday, the Franklin Police Department issued this “statement in response to multiple media inquiries regarding today’s arrest of Dr. Mike Looney, Williamson County Schools Superintendent:” Yesterday, Franklin Police Officers and paramedics were dispatched to Franklin High School for a reported psychological emergency. While working with the student, the student’s mother, and school staff to transport the student to the hospital, Dr. Mike Looney, Williamson County Schools Superintendent, abruptly entered the conference room, grabbed the student by her arm, and forced her out of the school and to his…
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President Donald Trump is “really the first president to fight back” against China’s unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Wednesday on Fox Business Networks’ “Varney & Co.” “Blame China — not President Trump — because [the unfair trade practices] been going on for many years,” Kudlow said.
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New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald should do what his Republican counterpart in Arkkansas, Leslie Rutledge, and his Democrat counterparts Eric Schneiderman in New York and Xavier Becerra in California seemingly won’t – investigate the required state public filings of the charity started Oct. 23, 1997, and originally known as “The William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation.”
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By Natalia Castro For years, a bird has been the most expensive drain on the Midwest’s economy. The greater sage grouse is not listed as an endangered animal under the Endangered Species Act, but this has not prevented the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) from placing significant restrictions on business and lifestyle throughout the Midwest in an attempt to protect this notably flamboyant bird. One of few bright spots in Congress’s recently passed budget was a rider preventing the bird from being listed under the ESA due to its vast protections, but more must be done to ensure an overpopulated bird cannot undermine the economic development of several western states. Finalized in 2015 through the Obama Administration’s Department of Interior, the sage grouse protection plan was a large scale federal conservation plan to preserve a bird that was not even threatened enough to land on the endangered species list. At the time, Department of Interior Secretary Jewell called the plan “historic,” as it dedicated 5.5 million acres of land across ten states to conservation efforts. As it became quickly clear, environmentalists were the only ones singing praises to this plan. University of Idaho economist Neil Rimbey explained to the Capital…
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by Jeffery A Rendall Is #NeverTrump disappearing? It’s safe to say intra-party opposition to a certain candidate or platform isn’t a new concept. Conservatives, for example, have battled the Republican establishment for well over a hundred years trying to win control of the party and turn it into more of an ideologically driven movement (as first embodied by Barry Goldwater and then by Ronald Reagan) as opposed to a collection of politicians who generally favored sound (but big) government and vigorous national defense. Internal schisms were on full display during the 2016 Republican primaries with the “outsiders” (Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina) consistently polling at 60% or above versus the establishment (Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Chris Christie, et al) dividing the smaller pie of votes. From the outset it was apparent an “outsider” would win the GOP nomination – it just took months to determine whether it would be Trump or Cruz. Once Trump was a shoe-in for the nomination, however, a new phenomenon developed within the Republican Party that hadn’t manifested before. A small group of noteworthy conservatives banded with the shattered remnants of the Bush establishment to vow to never support Trump under…
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For years, the elites have mused that the co-founder of Facebook would run for president, but the table turned quickly against the Millennial face of the premier social media outlet after the most recent data scandal revealed the site was trafficking users’ personal information to political organizations.
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The most populous city in Orange County, California, has taken a big stand against illegal immigration. On Wednesday, Huntington Beach sued the state — and sued Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Xavier Becerra as well — over the California law that prevents the local police from alerting federal law enforcement when immigrants who are subject to deportation are about to be released from custody.
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If a teacher or administrator has done something that warrants a reprimand or suspension, then address that issue and allow due process to take place. When school districts try to avoid following the law, the recourse will eventually and most certainly end up in court.
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The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday asked courts to denaturalize two Bosnian Muslims who have been convicted in their native country of carrying out an execution-style massacre of Croatian villagers during the Balkan wars. Edin Dzeko, 46, and Sammy Rasema Yetisen, 45, both alleged former members of an elite Bosnian military unit responsible for carrying out the 1993 attack that killed 22 civilians, are accused of hiding their crimes on their refugee, permanent resident and citizenship applications.
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Donald Trump Jr. sent out a blunt tweet about the scrubbing of YouTube shooter Nasim Aghdam’s social media accounts, asking why her hate-filled rants were so quickly pulled, and wondering aloud if authorities would’ve acted with such speed had she been a member of the National Rifle Association member rather than a liberal activist and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals supporter.
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Former Gov. Phil Bredesen’s claim that his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate is not based on his opposition to President Donald Trump took a major credibility hit on Wednesday when The Tennesseean reported that former Vice President Joe Biden–who recently said he would have “beat the hell out of” President Trump–will be the guest of honor at a Nashville fundraiser for Bredesen next week. According to The Tennessean: Speaking during an anti-sexual assault rally at the private university in Coral Gables, the Democrat mentioned Mr. Trump’s infamous “Access Hollywood” recording that captured the real estate mogul talking in 2005 about being able to get away with groping women because of his fame. Former Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to headline a fundraiser for former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen’s Democratic bid for U.S. Senate during a swing through Nashville next week. The fundraiser for the Bredesen Victory Fund is set for Tuesday, April 10 at 1 p.m, according to an invitation obtained by the USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee. It’s billed as a “coffee and conversation” with the 47th vice president. A location is not disclosed. The fundraiser comes on the same day Biden will speak at Vanderbilt…
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