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☆ Glenda Jackson, an Unnervingly Energizing Presence at Every Age
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Ben Brantley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

She didn’t so much enter the restaurant as erupt into it, a fast-burning blaze of psychic exasperation that seemed to set the silverware rattling. Glenda Jackson was five minutes late for our meeting, and she looked ferociously disgusted with herself, with the universe, with the “bloody” London transit system and, most likely, with the prospect of having to talk about herself. Such was my first in-the-flesh encounter with Jackson, who died Thursday at the age of 87 and who had seared herself into my teenage consciousness decades earlier as an uncompromisingly modern, sui generis movie star. Waiting for her five years ago in the restaurant of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, I had been prepared to be awed, intimidated, even terrified. What I hadn’t anticipated was how unnervingly energizing the presence of this 81-year-old woman would be.

Persons: Glenda Jackson, Jackson, seared, Edward Albee’s “, Ken Russell’s “, ”, John Schlesinger’s, — Organizations: Broadway Locations: London, Trafalgar

☆ 'Jurassic Park' still has bite at 30, and here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —It’s been 30 years since Steven Spielberg’s dinosaurs stampeded across the screen in the first “Jurassic Park,” but it feels more recent. Admittedly, I was the exact target audience for this creature feature, and even though I was already somewhat of a self-taught critic (note the aforementioned mouthiness), I was awed by what I saw that summer three decades ago, and my impressions of “Jurassic Park” remain to this day. Joseph Mazzello in "Jurassic Park." Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Joseph Mazzello in "Jurassic Park." Add to that the amazing and meme-worthy smaller performances from Samuel L. Jackson (“Hold onto your butts!”), Wayne Knight (“Ah ah ah!

Persons: CNN — It’s, Steven Spielberg’s, Rex, Martin Ferrero, ”, Joseph Mazzello, dino, Kong ”, Ian Malcolm, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Crichton’s, Spielberg, John Williams, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Goldblum, there’s Laura Dern, Sigourney Weaver, Sam Neill –, Samuel L, Jackson, Wayne Knight, Bob Peck, “, you’ve Organizations: CNN, Titans, Marvel

☆ Humanity has decided it can say 'no' to AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The latest development in AI: humanity has decided it can say "no." Elon Musk was one of more than 1,000 people to sign an open letter calling for a six-month pause on advanced AI development. The letter cited several potential risks to humanity and society, including the spread of misinformation and automation of jobs. Bosses have forgotten how to say "good job" — and it's driving employees to quit. Big Tech's big downgrade.

☆ An Amazon driver went viral on TikTok after delivering a package during a police standoff with an armed suspect
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A video of an Amazon driver delivering a package during a police standoff went viral on TikTok. The video shows the driver calmly strolling past several police cars and handing the package to an officer. Amazon drivers have notoriously high delivery quotas, and the company has faced scrutiny for working conditions. One commenter added insight saying: "I used to work as an Amazon delivery driver. Working conditions for Amazon delivery drivers have come under intense scrutiny in recent years over claims they are given unrealistically high quotas for deliveries.

☆ A Mexico soccer icon entered politics. Prosecutors say narcos followed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Cuernavaca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

Regional politicians, officials and military officers gathered in the Morelos state capital of Cuernavaca for breakfast in February 2022 to mark Mexico’s annual Army day. Mexican drug lords have a long tradition of buying off politicians in exchange for government protection of their illicit trade. Attempts to reach two of the alleged drug traffickers in the photo – Figueroa and Irving Solano Vera – were unsuccessful. Prosecutors in April asked the Morelos state congress to impeach Blanco so that he could be stripped of that shield. “He likes me very much because I’m not a politician,” Blanco told Reuters, in reference to the president.

☆ ‘FDR’s Gambit’ Review: Playing the Numbers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Adam J. White | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The judiciary, Alexander Hamilton warned, “is in continual jeopardy of being overpowered, awed, or influenced by” the political branches of government. That year, President Franklin Roosevelt waged political war against a Supreme Court that had stifled his ambitious New Deal policies. FDR was at the height of his prewar authority, and the court’s counter-majoritarian decisions had put the institution in genuine peril. In “FDR’s Gambit: The Court Packing Fight and the Rise of Legal Liberalism,” she seeks to “challenge the conventional wisdom” about FDR’s attacks. She sees not presidential overreach but “shrewdness.” And Ms. Kalman’s account is thorough: From congressmen to administration officials to judges to columnists to pollsters to interest groups, “FDR’s Gambit” recounts seemingly everyone who supported, opposed or analyzed Roosevelt’s war on the court.

☆ Monarch butterflies made a historic rebound this year, but my photos from 'Butterfly Town, USA' are disappointing and sad
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

California's monarch butterflies made a miraculous rebound from nearly disappearing in 2020. I visited Pacific Grove, AKA "Butterfly Town, USA," to see the monarch migration for the first time. Monarch butterflies fly at the Sierra Chincua butterfly sanctuary in Angangeo, Michoacan state, Mexico. Monarch butterflies fly at the Sierra Chincua butterfly sanctuary in Angangeo, Michoacan state, Mexico. When I was a child, I didn't see monarch butterflies, but they were already in decline.

☆ 'Avatar' sequel earns film critics' praise for visual spectacle
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Lisa Richwine | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Fans attend a premiere for the film Avatar: The Way of Water, at Dolby theatre in Los Angeles, California, U.S., December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLOS ANGELES, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The long-awaited sequel to groundbreaking movie "Avatar" won praise on Tuesday from movie critics who said they were awed again by director James Cameron's visual artistry. The sequel offers more advanced 3D images, showcasing aquatic creatures on the lush moon of Pandora. "'Avatar: The Way of Water' is such a screen-popping visual feast it earns the 3-hour, 12-minute running time," said Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times. Studios split ticket sales with theaters, and Cameron told GQ magazine that "The Way of Water" will need to make $2 billion just to break even.

Watching even one half of a World Cup soccer game is enough to become awed by the players’ athleticism. They sprint, constantly changing direction, for two 45-minute halves, using a combination of power and agility. “The game has gotten so much faster and more explosive over the last few years,” says Eric Gorman , strength and conditioning coach for the New York Red Bulls, where U.S. World Cup captain Tyler Adams cut his teeth. “Our training programs put a huge emphasis on sprinting.”

☆ A new children’s book about glaciers aims to make activism second nature
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Terry Ward | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN: What do you think might surprise young readers to learn about glaciers in the book? Sanchez: To keep it relevant to young readers, I keep bringing the focus back to the animals that depend on glaciers. CNN: What are some of the tools your book gives young readers to take action to save the glaciers? CNN: What’s the most important message you hope young readers will take away from your book? They really need to be active, and there are so many things they can do.

☆ Day before FIFA World Cup, Qatar faces overcrowding troubles
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

He and his friends had got a rare day off from Hamad Port to walk 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) to the fan zone before being turned away. “There’s nothing we can do.”Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, which oversees the World Cup, said in a statement to The Associated Press it was “absolutely delighted” with the opening of the Fan Zone. People dance at the Souq Waqif marketplace ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Doha, Qatar on Nov. 19, 2022. Just after 8 p.m., however, crowds thronged the Fan Zone, hoping to attend a concert featuring Lebanese singer Myriam Fares and Colombian singer Maluma. But as hundreds squeezed inside a holding pen, thousands more waited outside the venue.

☆ Felix Baumgartner: 10 years on, the man who fell to Earth is still awed by experience
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Alasdair Howorth | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —After six years of preparation, struggle and sacrifice, Felix Baumgartner found himself quite literally on the edge of the world. “I’m standing there on top of the world outside of a capsule in space and in the stratosphere. "The only thing that I didn't know when I landed was: did I break the speed of sound," says Baumgartner. “Once I was on my way, I slowly started to spin in one direction, then I start spinning in the opposite direction, and then I really started spinning faster and faster and faster,” Baumgartner explained. I was reconnected to the outside world, and that was a very happy moment.

☆ William Shatner describes space travel in new book "Boldly Go"
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN interviewed him in June about the book, his trip to space with the Jeff Bezos-backed space tourism company Blue Origin, and what’s next for the 91-year-old. William Shatner: Fifty-five or 60 years ago I read a book called “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson. Shatner: The whole idea here is to get people accustomed to going to space, as if it’s like going to the Riviera. The song “So Fragile, So Blue,” is very much about my experience in space. And then I have my book, called “Boldly Go,” coming out in the fall.

☆ 'If it blows up, it's cool': The far-out philosophy that explains why Elon Musk won't let a few baby sea turtles stop SpaceX's quest to get to Mars
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-05 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

In the case of Elon Musk v. Charismatic Megafauna, the agency intends to publish its final report in late April. Musk went on: "Either explicitly or implicitly some people seem to think that humans are a blight on the Earth's surface. Musk is talking about existential risk, the idea that something — an asteroid, a rogue artificial intelligence — might kill every human on Earth. And if you assume that future human minds will "mainly be implemented in computational hardware instead of biological neuronal wetware," as Bostrom does, you end up with a mind-boggling 1054 human lives. Musk has made the defense of "future life" his mission.

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