The voice actor who plays the Indian character Apu in The Simpsons has said he is stepping down from the role, following years of controversy. White actor Hank Azaria has performed the voice of the Indian convenience store owner since the character was created in 1990. But the character has been accused of reinforcing racial stereotypes. It was not immediately clear if Apu would get a new voice or be dropped from the cartoon. “All we know there is I won’t be doing the voice anymore, unless there’s some way to transition it or something,” Mr Azaria told the website…
Author: mediahitman
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday has agreed to take up a dispute that questions whether an electoral college member is bound by the state to support the presidential candidate chosen by the popular vote. The top court granted a petition to review a pair of cases—from Washington state and Colorado—that will decide the enforceability of state laws that threatens to penalize a presidential elector if they refused to vote for the candidate they pledged to support, commonly referred to as “faithless electors.” The Supreme Court’s decision, expected later in the year, will likely have ramifications on this year’s presidential…
The US Department of Agriculture has announced new rules for school lunches, which could see the fruit and veggies championed by Michelle Obama replaced by pizza and fries. The changes were announced on ex-First Lady’s birthday. USDA Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps revealed the changes on Friday. Aimed at reducing food waste, the new rules will allow schools to cut the amount of fruit and vegetables served at breakfast and lunch, effectively freeing them up to make up the calories with pizza, burgers, fries and snacks. Food industry lobbyists have been pushing for such changes since the beginning of Donald…
Authorities at major airports in New York and California will screen passengers traveling from the Chinese city of Wuhan gripped by the outbreak of a new deadly pneumonia-like virus, which has since spread to Japan and Thailand. Starting Friday, passengers from Wuhan who arrive at San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles’s main international airports will undergo screening for the symptoms of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) that broke out in the Chinese city last month. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will carry out the checks, along with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents. The illness…
US officials may put an end to a civilian drone programme because of their concerns about the unmanned aerial vehicles that are made in China. The officials are apparently worried that the Chinese-made drones could be used to spy on people in the US. After a volcano exploded in Hawaii in May 2018, US scientists used drones to save a man from the lava: “Follow the drone,” they said. He made it through the jungle. Drones save people. They also map terrain, survey land and inspect pipelines. The scientists use drones for these and other purposes on a daily basis,…
Africa’s largest trading partner, China, which has invested heavily in Zimbabwe in recent years, has reached a currency swap agreement with the country aimed at strengthening trade. The deal, which follows a visit by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to the capital, Harare, will make it easier for Chinese businesses in Zimbabwe to move their funds out of the country. A currency swap involves exchange of money in one currency for an equal amount in another currency, and companies doing business abroad often use it to get more favorable loan rates. “We have entered into a currency swap arrangement; what…
Twenty-one members of the Saudi military are being expelled from the US after a cadet carried out a mass shooting at a air base last month. The servicemen are not accused of aiding the 21-year old Saudi Air Force lieutenant. But US Attorney General William Barr said the cadets were found to have had jihadist material and indecent images of children in their possession. Three sailors were killed and eight wounded in the 6 December attack. Training for Saudi servicemen was put on hold in the US after the attack. Mr Barr told a news conference on Monday that the…
Scientists have discovered the secret of how the ginkgo tree can live for more than 1,000 years. A study found the tree makes protective chemicals that fend off diseases and drought. And, unlike many other plants, its genes are not programmed to trigger inexorable decline when its youth is over. The ginkgo can be found in parks and gardens across the world, but is on the brink of extinction in the wild. “The secret is maintaining a really healthy defence system and being a species that does not have a pre-determined senescence (aging) programme,” said Richard Dixon of the University…
Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul accused former President Barack Obama of launching many military strikes without congressional approval following President Trump’s ordered killing of a top Iranian general last week. “Well, you know this is not a new trend,” Paul said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, continuing, “President Obama did hundreds and hundreds of targeted killings without asking for permission. So I think presidents of both parties have been trying to usurp the authority.” Paul did not cite any examples of Obama launching military action without congressional approval, but the Obama administration did order over 500 drone strikes…
Europe’s novel wind-measuring satellite, Aeolus, has reached a key milestone in its mission. The space laser’s data is now being used in operational weather forecasts. Aeolus monitors the wind by firing an ultraviolet beam down into the atmosphere and catching the light’s reflection as it scatters off molecules and particles carried along in the air. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts says the information is now robust enough for routine use. The Reading, UK-based organisation is ingesting the data into its numerical models that look from one to several days ahead. Forecast improvements are most apparent for the tropics…
The NRA will be handing out 1,000 30-round magazines in the Virginia Capitol City of Richmond Monday as part of the fight against Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) gun grab. The NRA used a Sunday night tweet to explain that Magpul Industries — a renowned magazine and firearm accessory maker — sent 1,000 magazines to the gun rights organization in order to have them given out to pro-Second Amendment Virginians on Monday. Monday is January 13, the day on which the NRA has asked its members to flood into Virginia Senate meetings and ensure that pro-Second Amendment voices drown out those…
A Thursday evening software update at Facebook accidentally allowed anyone to view exactly who is posting under the accounts of public figures, businesses and other entities, according to Wired. 8The result? For starters, some 3 million followers of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg have been reading posts written by her father, Svante Thunberg, and a climate activist in India who serves as a delegate at the UN’s Climate Change organization, Adarsh Prathap. Thunberg, Inc. claims Greta is still the one writing the content. Greta, Inc. explained this in a Saturday Facebook post purporting to be the young climate activist. “Some…
Lumi by Pampers is a smart sensor that attaches to your infant’s diaper and sends you a notification when they go to the bathroom. Pampers showed off the sensor — which also tracks sleep — at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. Lumi by Pampers is described on the company’s website as “the world’s first all-in-one connected care system that helps parents track day-to-day developments, and monitor their baby, 24/7, so they can see emerging patterns and establish a suitable routine.” The Lumi system uses an HD night vision camera capable of monitoring temperature and humidity,…
When transgender model and activist Kenny Ethan Jones experienced his first period, he faced both physical and psychological pain. Initially, Jones, who had not yet come out as trans at the time, felt like he was losing control and didn’t understand what was happening to his body. However, one thing was clear: He didn’t feel like himself. “I didn’t believe that having periods would be a part of my lived experience,” Jones told NBC News. “I felt isolated; everything about periods was tailored to girls, yet me, a boy, was experiencing this and nothing in the world documented that.” He…
Graphic new photos of Jeffrey Epstein’s autopsy have again raised doubt that the wealthy pedophile killed himself inside a New York prison. According to one coroner, Epstein’s injuries are consistent with murder. Photos shown on CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday show the inside of Epstein’s cell, following his death in August. In them, multiple bedsheets have been fashioned into two nooses. A note on the sex offender’s bed gripes about the conditions at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC). Photos of Epstein’s body show a thin, bloody line across the middle of his throat. According to former New York City…
Scientists studying the underlying mechanisms which formed the universe have made a startling and terrifying discovery, which they believe indicates that there are more black holes out there than we thought – and they’re moving. The team from Montana State University targeted dwarf galaxies, which are 100 times less massive than our own Milky Way, for study as these are the smallest known to possibly host black holes. Given the size of the galaxies, it follows that their black holes would also be relatively small, though still somewhere in the region of 400,000 times the mass of our sun. The…
The escalating situation in the region following the assassination of a top Iranian military commander has given the yellow metal its highest rates in nearly seven years, and raised oil to prices last seen in mid-2019. Gold, which is considered a safe haven investment amid political and economic turmoil, gained around 1.5 percent on Monday. At one point the precious metal hit $1,579.55 per ounce, the highest price since April 2013. As of 08:07am GMT it was already down to $1,571.95 per ounce – still around 1.3 percent more than in the previous session. Rising US-Iran tensions could further boost…
Iranians have reported being harassed by US border officials amid diplomatic tensions following last week’s US assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. Several travellers of Iranian heritage told BBC News they faced inappropriate questions about their views. One group said they were stopped for hours at the Canadian-US border at the weekend. Democratic US lawmakers condemned the alleged incidents. Around 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans said they were stopped for up to seven-and-a-half hours on Sunday while trying to cross into the US at the Peace Arch Border Crossing near Blaine, Washington. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), the largest Muslim…