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In Beverly Crest, actress Donna Scott relists famed Bella Vista estate for $17 million - Los Angeles Times

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:06 PM PST

Inoculating against the spread of viral misinformation - EurekAlert

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:03 PM PST

In a year that has seen the largest measles outbreak in the US in more than two decades, the role of social media in giving a platform to unscientific anti-vaccine messages and organizations has become a flashpoint.

In the first study of public health-related Facebook advertising, newly published in the journal Vaccine, researchers at the University of Maryland, the George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University show that a small group of anti-vaccine ad buyers has successfully leveraged Facebook to reach targeted audiences and that the social media platform's efforts to improve transparency have actually led to the removal of ads promoting vaccination and communicating scientific findings.

The research calls attention to the threat of social media misinformation as it may contribute to increasing "vaccine hesitancy," which the World Health Organization ranks among the top threats to global health this year. This increasing reluctance or refusal to vaccinate threatens to reverse the progress made in halting vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, which has seen a 30% increase in cases globally.

The research team, co-led by UMD's Dr. Sandra C. Quinn, GW's Dr. David Broniatowski and JHU's Dr. Mark Dredze, examined more than 500 vaccine-related ads served to Facebook users and archived in Facebook's Ad Library. This archive, which became available in late 2018, catalogued ad content related to "issues of national importance." Their findings reveal that the majority of advertisements (54%) which opposed vaccination, were posted by only two groups funded by private individuals, the World Mercury Project and Stop Mandatory Vaccination, and emphasized the purported harms of vaccination.

"The average person might think that this anti-vaccine movement is a grassroots effort led by parents, but what we see on Facebook is that there are a handful of well-connected, powerful people who are responsible for the majority of advertisements. These buyers are more organized than people think," said Amelia Jamison, a faculty research assistant in the Maryland Center for Health Equity, and the study's first author.

In contrast, those ads promoting vaccination did not reflect a common or organized theme or funder, and were focused on trying to get people vaccinated against a specific disease in a targeted population. Examples included ads for a local WalMart's flu vaccine clinic or the Gates Foundation campaign against polio.

Yet, because Facebook categorizes ads about vaccines as "political," it has led the platform to reject some pro-vaccine messages. "By accepting the framing of vaccine opponents - that vaccination is a political topic, rather than one on which there is widespread public agreement and scientific consensus - Facebook perpetuates the false idea that there is even a debate to be had," said David Broniatowski, associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering at GW, and principal investigator of the study. "This leads to increased vaccine hesitancy, and ultimately, more epidemics."

"Worse, these policies actually penalize pro-vaccine content since Facebook requires disclosure of funding sources for 'political' ads, but vaccine proponents rarely think of themselves as political. Additionally, vaccine opponents are more organized and more able to make sure that their ads meet these requirements."

Facebook is a pervasive presence in the lives of many people, meaning its decisions about how to handle vaccine messaging have far-reaching and serious consequences, said Sandra Crouse Quinn, professor and chair of the Department of Family Science at UMD's School of Public Health, and a principal investigator on the study.

"In today's social media world, Facebook looms large as a source of information for many, yet their policies have made it more difficult for users to discern what is legitimate, credible vaccine information. This puts public health officials, with limited staff resources for social media campaigns, at a true disadvantage, just when we need to communicate the urgency of vaccines as a means to protect our children and our families," said Quinn.

The researchers note that the data gathered for this study from Facebook's Ad Archive was collected in December 2018 and February 2019, before Facebook's March 2019 announcement of updated advertising policies designed to limit the spread of vaccine-related misinformation. This study provides a baseline to compare how new policy changes may change the reach of ads from anti-vaccine organizations. Those standards, issued in response to the proliferation of anti-vaccination misinformation that coincided with measles outbreaks across the U.S.in early 2019, include that Facebook will block advertisements that include false content about vaccines and disallow advertisers from targeting ads to people "interested in vaccine controversies," as they were previously able to do.

Yet, the messengers may simply mutate their messages, virus-like, to avoid the tightening standards. "There is a whole set of ads that focus on themes of freedom' or 'choice' and that elude the Facebook rules around vaccine ads," Broniatowski said.

Jamison says that the research team will continue to study how anti-vaccine arguments are spreading on Facebook and how the company is responding to demands from public health organizations to clean up its act.

"While everyone knows that Facebook can be used to spread misinformation, few people realize the control that advertisers have to target their message," said Mark Dredze, a John C. Malone associate professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins. "For a few thousand dollars, a small number of anti-vaccine groups can micro-target their message, exploiting vulnerabilities in the health of the public."

###

The paper Vaccine-related advertising in the Facebook Ad Archive was written by Amelia M. Jamison, David A. Broniatowski, Mark Dredze, Zach Wood-Doughty, DureAden Khana and Sandra Crouse Quinn and published in the journal Vaccine online on November 13, 2019.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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"viral" - Google News
November 13, 2019 at 09:02PM
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Inoculating against the spread of viral misinformation - EurekAlert
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"Chutkara Chahiye": This Girl's Hilarious Rant Against Schools Is Viral - NDTV News

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 10:43 PM PST

A young schoolgirl's epic rant against the education system has left social media users in splits. A video that is going viral online shows the girl complaining about everything from having to wake up at 6am on weekdays, rushing to get ready, endless classes and more. The video was shared by police officer Arun Bothra on Twitter, who wrote: "The person who started schools in this world is in serious danger. This girl is searching for him."

In the video, the schoolgirl, talking in Gujarati, begins by saying that she needs "chutkara" or freedom from her school for a month. Looking extremely annoyed, she continues in the same vein and complains about all the classes that schoolchildren are forced to sit through.

"Poore mahine... Pehle prayer, fir English, fir Maths, fir EVS, fir Gujarati, fir GK" she exclaims in anger.

Then, in one of the funniest moments of the short video, the person recording asks the girl what she would do to the person who came up with the concept of schooling. "Main usse dho ke na, pure paani mein daal ke istri kar daalungi (I'll wash that person, put them in water and iron them out)" she says.

Watch the video below:

Since being shared online on Wednesday, the video has collected more than 2.4 lakh views and over 8,600 'likes'. Many people have called the video hilarious, while others, recalling their own school days, have said it is relatable.

What do you think of the video? Let us know using the comments section.

Click for more trending news

Get Breaking news, live coverage, and Latest News from India and around the world on NDTV.com. Catch all the Live TV action on NDTV 24x7 and NDTV India. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram for latest news and live news updates.

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"viral" - Google News
November 13, 2019 at 08:45PM
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"Chutkara Chahiye": This Girl's Hilarious Rant Against Schools Is Viral - NDTV News
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Calgary native Justin Dowling scores first career NHL goal in Stars win over Flames - The Dallas Morning News

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 10:38 PM PST

CALGARY, Alberta — Justin Dowling found his family during warmup.

Before the Stars beat the Flames 3-1 to climb above .500 for the first time this season and before Dowling scored his first career NHL goal in his hometown, he spotted his family. They were in the corner of the lower bowl, where they always sit.

"I knew where they were sitting the whole time," Dowling said. "I didn't realize my mom was in the beer line when I scored my goal so she didn't even see it."

Dowling's goal was as pretty as first goals can be, when he led a 2 on 1, kept the puck, dragged it past Flames goaltender Cam Talbot before stuffing in in the net. The goal gave the Stars a 2-0 lead, and turned out to be the game-winning goal.

"I kind of got to the blue line and realized no one was going to catch me," Dowling said. "I tend to do that a lot in practice, I don't know if it just comes natural. It's just something, it's like instincts almost to do that. As soon as I got to the blue line, I was like 'I got to try and do that same move,' because I've had success with it in practice."

Goaltender Ben Bishop said: "We work on those 2 on 1s every day in practice. He's done a great job. He deserves it."

For Dowling, it's been a long road to that moment.

He's 29 years old, and in his ninth season of professional hockey. He played parts of seven seasons with Texas in the AHL, earning the role of captain last season. He entered Wednesday with 435 games played in the AHL, 60 in the ECHL and 33 in the NHL. Dowling was a scorer at lower levels, but not in the world's best league.

"It's been a long time coming, had a lot of close calls with pucks sitting on goallines, hitting posts," Dowling said. "I think my first game last year, I had one disallowed. A long time coming, but it feels good. A lot of weight off my shoulders. … Tons of relief, big time."

Dowling was born in Calgary and grew up in nearby Cochrane, 30 minutes northwest of downtown Calgary. He bought a house in Cochrane. He attended Flames and Hitmen (Calgary's team in the WHL) games at the Scotiabank Saddledome. He played there when he was in the WHL with Swift Current.

"It took a long time, but it's nice that it happened here," Dowling said. "I think it was meant to be actually."

For the maybe the first time in his professional career, Dowling has a sense of stability, with his roster spot in Dallas a safe one for now, unlike past seasons where a call-up was the exception and not the rule. He now lives in an apartment in Dallas instead of a hotel. He and his wife Megan are expecting the couple's first child, a baby girl, in March.

After the game, Dowling got to meet with a large group of family and friends, including his parents Glen and Sherry.

"It's a dream come true for sure," Dowling said.

New look line: Dowling centered a line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin on his wings, a lineup shakeup that resulted in the team's two highest-paid players with an unfamiliar linemate.

Dowling scored, while Seguin had four shots on goal (five attempts) and Benn had two shots on goal (five attempts).

"That line was really good for us," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "I thought Seggy and Jamie both had great looks from really dangerous scoring areas, inner-slot area. They kept possessing pucks

"I thought we played well today," Dowling said. "I thought we had our chances. There was a couple plays there coming over the blue line on rush opportunities. I think we started to feel each other out a little more throughout the game."

Pavelski's pair: Stars forward Joe Pavelski scored twice on Wednesday night, his first multi-goal game as a Star. Pavelski now has five goals on the season, trailing just Roope Hintz's nine goals for the team lead.

Pavelski led the team with five shots on goal in his 17:02 of ice time. He has three goals and four assists in the last six games.

"I've been around the paint," Pavelski said. "Pucks have been bouncing around. It's always on the left when I need it on the right and vice versa."

Breathing room: For the first time this season, the Stars have a winning record, and their 8-1-1 mark in the last 10 games is tied with St. Louis for the best mark in the Western Conference.

"It's been a good little stretch, but we're not out of the woods my any means," Pavelski said. "We're one game [above .500]. This team's got higher standards than that. We've put in some good work to get to this position, give ourselves an opportunity to keep climbing a little bit."

The Stars limited the Flames to 16 shots on goal at 5-on-5 as the lone Calgary goal came on the power play.

"Everybody contributed," Montgomery said. "Everybody excelled at their roles. We could have had a lot of goals tonight, but we just kept playing. Even in the third when they were coming after us, I thought our poise in the d-zone, I thought we kept possessing pucks and we kept getting opportunities to score."

Cogliano hurt: Stars forward Andrew Cogliano left Wednesday's game during the third period with a lower-body injury, and Montgomery said the team thinks he will be available Thursday night in Vancouver.

Cogliano did not play the final 15:46 of the game Wednesday. He has only missed three games in his career due to injury.

Benn rings again: Benn hit another post on Wednesday night, his fourth post of the season. Only five players in the league have hit the frame more often than Benn this season.

Benn has only scored one goal this season and is now goalless in the last 14 games, a new career-long goal drought. His last goal was Oct. 10 against the Flames on a power play.

Radulov penalized: Alexander Radulov was called for tripping Johnny Gaudreau in the first period, an offensive zone penalty that was Radulov's 11th minor penalty of the season. That tied him for the most in the league among forwards with Boston's Brad Marchand.

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"Goal" - Google News
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Calgary native Justin Dowling scores first career NHL goal in Stars win over Flames - The Dallas Morning News
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Motorola Razr hands-on with the new foldable Android phone - The Verge

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 09:05 PM PST

The Razr is back, but now it's an Android smartphone that can fold in half. Motorola has officially announced its much-rumored (and much-leaked) modern spin on the iconic flip phone. The 2019 Razr keeps the same general form factor but replaces the T9 keypad and small LCD with a 6.2-inch foldable plastic OLED panel and Android 9 Pie. It'll cost $1,499 when it arrives in January 2020.

The new Razr is a fundamentally different take on the foldable phones that we've seen so far: instead of turning a modern-sized phone into a smaller tablet, it turns a conventional-sized smartphone into something much smaller and more pocketable.

This isn't the first time Motorola has tried to bring back the iconic RAZR branding. There was an entire line of fairly generic Droid RAZR phones a few years ago on which Motorola just slapped the name in hopes of reminding customers of its past glory. (You may remember that Motorola styled the old RAZR logo in all caps. For this new model, Motorola is doing the opposite with the lowercase "razr." Since I'm a human, I'm going to henceforth use "Razr" to refer to the new model.)

But the new Razr is much more than just a familiar brand name. This is a true heir to the original flip phone, with a design that's heavily inspired by its 2004 predecessor, right down to the big curved chin on the bottom (which now also hosts a more modern fingerprint sensor and a USB-C charging port).

But it's not just a modern-day throwback hoping to cash in on nostalgia, like we've seen from HMD's resurrections of classic Nokia hardware lately. It's Motorola's attempt at building a modern-day flagship phone the likes of which it hasn't tried to make in years.

Specifications:

  • Snapdragon 710 processor
  • 6GB RAM
  • 128GB internal storage
  • 6.2-inch foldable pOLED display (2142 x 876)
  • 2.7-inch Quick View display (800 x 600)
  • 16MP front-facing camera, f/1.7 with Night Vision mode
  • 5MP internal camera
  • USB-C
  • eSIM
  • Android 9 Pie
  • Fingerprint reader

The core of the phone is, of course, the display. It's a 6.2-inch 21:9 plastic OLED panel that folds in half along the horizontal axis. Unfolded, it's not dramatically bigger than any other modern phone, and the extra height is something that the Android interface and apps adapt to far better than a tablet-size screen. The screen does have a notch on top for a speaker and camera and a curved edge on the bottom, which takes a bit of getting used to, but after a minute or two, you barely notice it.

There's also a second, 2.7-inch glass-covered OLED display on the outside that Motorola calls the Quick View display. It can show notifications, music controls, and even a selfie camera mode to take advantage of the better main camera. Motorola is also working with Google to let apps seamlessly transition from the front display to the main one.

There are some concerns about durability for the folding display, especially after Samsung's Galaxy Fold issues. But Motorola says that it has "full confidence in the durability of the Flex View display," claiming that its research shows that "it will last for the average lifespan of a smartphone." There's a proprietary coating to make the panel "scuff resistant," and it also has an internal nano-coating for splash resistance. (Don't take it swimming, though.) Motorola says that the entire display is made with a single cut, with the edges entirely enclosed by the stainless steel frame to prevent debris from getting in. The company also points to its years of experience with plastic OLED panels (going back as far as 2011), noting, "We're not going to go out there and say, 'consumers should be cautious of how they use the phone.'"

Part of that confidence has to do with the hinge, which Motorola worked with Lenovo to make. It uses a complicated mechanism of multiple hinges and sliding plates to fold and unfold the phone. More importantly, it really does seem to live up to Motorola's promises: the device unfolds to a fully flat panel, with no visible or tactile creases, and then it folds up completely flush. (It's actually exactly the same thickness folded as the original RAZR.) Holding the folded Razr up to the sun, you can see a crack of daylight shining through, but otherwise, the gap is barely discernible. It's very impressive and the current high water mark in the still-fledgling foldable market.

With all of that out of the way, how does it actually feel to use the new Razr? The answer is great. It's been years since there's been a truly viable high-end flip phone, and it's easy to forget just how enjoyable that flip phone experience is. Picking up the new Razr immediately brings you back.

It's definitely a little hard to get used to folding it with one hand, though. I've got bigger hands than most, and it's still a bit of a juggling act to get it to fold just right. Opening it is easier, although it does take a fair bit of maneuvering to get a thumb in between the two screens (which I guess is a testament to how flat it folds). Once you've got it partially cracked open, though, you're able to just flick it open the rest of the way with your thumb, just like you used to all the time with the original RAZR.

The hinge is also a bit stiff so you won't be able to just whip it open with a flick of a wrist — closing it with one hand also involves some more finger contortions to start the closing action. It's just more practical to close it with your other hand.

Even with these caveats, the whole opening and closing mechanism is supremely satisfying to do, with crisp snaps in both directions. Snapping the phone shut to hang up on a call is a particular delight; there really is no better way to end a call than the classic flip phone snap, and it's excellent to see that Motorola has kept it alive here. The hardware feels great, too, with solid-feeling stainless steel and glass on the outside and a wonderfully textured back that's nice and grippy, which is essential for not dropping it while flipping it open and shut. (It is a fingerprint magnet, though.)

The design isn't just a novelty, either. The folding design actually solves a lot of the issues on hand with most smartphones today. Think phones are too big? The Razr folds up to fit in nearly any pocket. Worried about getting your screen scratched? The Razr's is protected at all times. Notifications too distracting? Deal with them on the more limited front display instead of falling down an internet rabbit hole.

Despite Motorola's assurances of the Razr's durability, the company is promising a "special world class service plan," with 24/7 chat support and 14-hour-per-day direct access to a customer service agent as well as 24-hour turnaround for repairs.

Additionally, the one-year warranty period will offer free replacement or repairs to the phone or display for "defects incurred during normal use." Once the warranty is over, though, replacing the foldable screen will cost $299. 

On the flip side, that Razr design is so core to the experience here that Motorola is compromising a lot in other areas. The processor is a Snapdragon 710; that's not a bad chipset, but it's not a flagship 855 either. The company says that the decision here for the weaker processor is to optimize battery life and heat: in order to have a day-long battery and the thin design, it had to go with a slower chip. The lackluster 16-megapixel camera is a similar decision. Motorola just couldn't fit a bigger or better camera module while keeping the design it had.

Those compromises are tough to swallow when you factor in the Razr's price. At $1,500, it's simultaneously the cheapest foldable phones on the market and dramatically more expensive than any flagship device from Apple, Samsung, or Google. That's a ton of money to spend on a single phone, much less one that's shipping with midrange specs. Preorders are set to start on December 26th, but the phone won't ship until January (although there are no exact dates announced for either). Lastly, it'll only be sold on Verizon in the US, at least for now. Motorola had nothing to say about an unlocked version.

After a few hours with the 2019 Motorola Razr, I'm still not sure if it's going to be a good phone, at least not in the conventional sense. It's too expensive, with specs that are too weak for the price, especially compared to the wealth of more powerful phones with better cameras and hardware that are available. And the foldable display technology is too untested to be truly reliable, even with Motorola's assurances.

But I'm still really excited by the Razr and the fact that it exists. It's a phone that looks and feels like the future of phones. We'll have to spend a lot more time with the device to see whether Motorola manages to stick the landing on its first attempt. But if nothing else, it's a bold idea that pushes the concept of what a smartphone looks like forward, and that's an exciting thing to see.

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キズナアイ「DIMEトレンド大賞」でエンターテインメント部門賞を受賞 - Mogura VR

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:56 PM PST

11月13日（水）、VTuber（バーチャルユーチューバー）のキズナアイさんが「DIMEトレンド大賞2019」のエンターテインメント部門賞を受賞しました。

「DIMEトレンド大賞2019」は小学館の情報誌「DIME」が毎年発表しているもので、その年のトレンドを映し出した注目商品やヒット商品、サービスに贈られます。キズナアイさんは贈賞式で「大変光栄に思っています」と喜びを語り、アカペラでオリジナル楽曲「AIAIAI」のワンフレーズを披露しました。

また「DIMEトレンド大賞2019」の大賞は「マネー部門」でノミネートしていたスマホ決済サービス「PayPay（ペイペイ）」が選ばれました。ほかにも「タピオカミルクティー」やローソンのコンビニスイーツ「バスチー」、俳優の横浜流星さんらが受賞。「特別功労賞」ではラグビー日本代表が選ばれ、ステージではトークセッションも行われました。

（参考）キズナアイ公式Twitter

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November 13, 2019 at 07:30PM
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Motorola Razr’s secret “Retro Razr” mode: party like it’s 2004 - Circuit Breaker

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:50 PM PST

Motorola is bringing the Razr back in the form of a foldable Android phone, but that doesn't mean that the company is leaving the classic design of the original behind. As a neat tribute to the OG RAZR, Motorola has included a secret "Retro Razr" mode that turns the $1,499 modern smartphone into the spitting image of its 2004-era predecessor.

The mode is basically a glorified skinned Android launcher that faithfully re-creates the original RAZR UI through software, right down to the classic boot animation. But Motorola has put in some serious work here: the skin is fully functional. Click the button for messaging, and it'll launch the Android messaging app. Click right to open settings, and the settings app will launch. The best part is dialing a phone number, which features the same pop-up UI as the original, including the sounds.

And while the entire 2019 Razr is a giant touchscreen, Motorola made the retro mode as authentic as possible. The only way to navigate it is by using the (software) buttons on the keypad. (You can't simply tap on the address book icon.)

The throwback mode is hidden away in Android's quick setting menu. To find it, you'll have to edit which items show up in the drop-down menu and then drag the Retro Razr button into the menu. Once it's there, just swipe down like you'd normally do to activate Airplane Mode or adjust the brightness and tap the newly revealed Retro Razr button instead to launch the Easter egg.

Is it useful? Not really. But it's a cute and clever way for Motorola to pay homage to the original RAZR, even as it moves boldly forward with this new, modern version. (Also, never underestimate the power of nostalgia.)

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New testimony against Trump as impeachment inquiry goes public - Al Jazeera English

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:40 PM PST

The top United States diplomat in Ukraine, testifying on Wednesday in the first televised hearing of the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, linked the president more directly to a pressure campaign on Kyiv to conduct investigations that would benefit him politically.

William Taylor was one of two witnesses who testified before the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee as a crucial new phase began in the impeachment inquiry that threatens Trump's presidency even as he seeks re-election in 2020.

Both Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent testified about their concerns regarding pressure by Trump and allies to get Ukraine to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden in a dramatic hearing that pitted Democratic and Republican politicians against each other.

More:

Although the hearing turned contentious at times - including sniping between committee members - it remains unclear if the testimony given by the two witnesses gave Democrats the ammunition they need to advance their argument that Trump has committed misdeeds worthy of removing him from office.

July 26 call

An important disclosure came from Taylor, acting ambassador to Ukraine, who pointed to the Republican president's keen interest in getting Ukraine to investigate Biden, a former vice president, and reiterated his understanding that $391m in US security aid was withheld from Kyiv unless it cooperated. 

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Taylor said a member of his staff overheard a July 26 phone call between Trump and Gordon Sondland, a former political donor appointed as the US ambassador to the European Union, in which the Republican president asked about those investigations and Sondland told him that the Ukrainians were ready to proceed.

"The member of my staff could hear President Trump on the phone, asking Ambassador Sondland about 'the investigations'. Ambassador Sondland told President Trump that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward," Taylor said.

William Taylor

Top US diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill [Andrew Harnik/AP Photo]

Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had been pushing Ukrainian officials to announce investigations of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter who had served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. There has been no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens. 

Following the phone call with Trump, Taylor's staff member asked what the president thought about Ukraine. Sondland responded "that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which Giuliani as pressing for," Taylor said. 

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Asked about the call by reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said he does not remember it.

Trump has labelled the impeachment inquiry a "witch-hunt" and a "scam". 

Competing narratives 

Taylor and Kent testified for more than five hours before the Intelligence Committee which is leading the Democrat-led House impeachment inquiry.

"The portrait that their testimony paints was one of an attempt that ran through the president, [Acting Chief of Staff] Mick Mulvaney, Ambassador Sondland, Ambassador [Kurt] Volker on down to Rudy Giuliani in which the president sought to advance his personal political interest at the expense of the United States national security," said Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the Intelligence Committee.

"The president did that by pressing this vulnerable ally to get involved in the next presidential election in a way that the president thought would advance his reelection prospects," Schiff told reporters after the hearing.

Ukrainian Ambassador William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent testify during the first public hearings held by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as part of the impe

Ukrainian Ambassador William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent testify during the first public hearings held by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as part of the impeachment inquiry into Trump [Saul Loeb/Reuters]

Republicans argued that Taylor and Kent's testimony did not directly involve the president, but was based on words of others and ultimately gave a false impression of Trump's actual actions and motives.

"Most of this was about hearsay, he said - she said and I presume," Representative Mark Meadows, one of Trump's key Republican defenders in the House, told reporters.

"When you use those qualifiers, the testimony becomes less compelling," said Meadows, who leads the House Freedom Caucus of conservative Republican members. "Based on my conversations with the president, it was not a directive from the president."

Democrats, however, found Taylor and Kent to be credible.

"Ambassador Taylor was an incredibly compelling witness," Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi told reporters after the hearing.

"You could tell he is not a political guy. He doesn't overreach. He took careful notes and he stuck to his notes with regard to calls," Krishnamoorthi said.

Krishnamoorthi discounted the Republican demands to call the whistle-blower to testify publicly before the committee.

"At this point, we have so many first-hand accounts, it's akin to trying to figure out who pulled the fire alarm when we are battling the smoke and flames," he said. "We are dealing with the heart of the scandal. There are so many witnesses coming forward. We have got to listen to them."

Ambassador William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent(L) arrive during the first open hearings in the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC on November 13

Ambassador William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent arrive for the first public hearing of the Trump impeachment inquiry [Caballero-Reynolds/AFP]

The impeachment inquiry will hear publicly on Friday from former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, a well-respected career diplomat who was recalled from Kyiv by Trump after a disinformation campaign against her by Giuliani.

Several additional witnesses are scheduled to testify next week, including Army Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Vindman, a Ukraine specialist and White House national security aide who listened to Trump's call with Zelenskyy and was alarmed by what was said.

With additional reporting by William Roberts in Washington, DC.

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Fourfold surge in number of school students held over protests - South China Morning Post

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:40 PM PST

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  1. Fourfold surge in number of school students held over protests  South China Morning Post
  2. Hong Kong police claim university has become 'refuge for criminals'  The Guardian
  3. Student protesters hunker down at Hong Kong campuses in anticipation of clashes with police  South China Morning Post
  4. Commentary: How violence and brazen actions in Hong Kong were normalised  CNA
  5. Hong Kong is trying to impose Tiananmen by stealth – Carrie Lam herself is now the 'enemy of the people'  The Independent
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'Law & Order' Actress Says Magician Ex Stalked and Assaulted Her, Maimed Her Pets - Daily Beast

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:36 PM PST

The first time actress Diane Neal saw the illusionist, she was at a ski resort in frosty Park City, Utah in December 2013. Neal had come for the 22nd Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest, an annual fundraiser for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Waterkeeper Alliance, involving several celebrity-themed events—Celebrity Poker Night, celebrity slalom races, a gala dinner, and a celebrity auction. This year, word had spread of a celebrity magician. Neal remembers her friends asking, "Did you know the world's best magician is here and he's doing a secret show in the private library?"

One night at dinner, RFK Jr. approached Neal. The auctioneer hadn't shown up for the auction, he said. Could she improvise and take bids? Neal, a natural fast-talker who played prosecutor Casey Novak in Law & Order: SVU for 11 years, agreed. She climbed onstage and helped raise $700,000 from stars like Dr. Oz, Cheryl Hines, Rachel Dratch, Jason Alexander, and Miranda Lambert.

As Neal vamped on stage, she won an admirer in the crowd that night: JB Benn, the so-called "world's best magician," who happened to be at a front table with her friends. A few days later, Neal prepared to leave the 5-star resort, chatting with a group of her friends. Benn approached her and interrupted. "He's very ballsy,"  Neal recalls. "He's like, 'Hi, do you live in New York or LA?" 

The magician was cute, the actress thought. He wore a dapper ski outfit, and seemed brave, flirting in front of her friends. "Didn't seem like a weirdo," Neal said. 

In a scene more rom-com than police procedural, Neal's friends cheered noiselessly behind him, pointing and mouthing, "That's the magician! Say yes! Say yes!" Neal, newly dating and in the middle of a divorce, told Benn, "Get my number from one of the ladies. I've got to go."

Within two months, Benn—who is friends with Hollywood A-listers and has family ties to the industry—was practically living with Neal at her New Jersey brownstone with her three small dogs. "It was romantic," Neal says. "It was a different kind of romance. It wasn't like hot-fire passion. But it was sweet and it was simple."

But Neal now believes Benn's love for her was more illusion than magic. According to litigation that started last year, she claims Benn was a dangerous con artist who targeted her, isolated her, physically and sexually abused her, and worked to dismantle her career. 

The accusations on both sides read like a saga ripped from a Law & Order episode. In an amended complaint filed today against Benn as part of a nearly two-year court battle, the 43-year-old actress describes him as a "manipulative and maniacal fraudster," who allegedly "defrauded her of millions" and "violently inflicted emotional distress" on her via "a campaign of isolation, terror and (physical and sexual) assault, and destroyed her reputation by doing so."

According to Neal's lawsuit, Benn refused to put her on the title to a secluded home they purchased together in upstate New York; sent emails and text messages impersonating her to her friends and entertainment contacts; threatened her; abused her; and intentionally harmed her pets. 

In the complaint, Neal says the magician slashed her beloved toy poodle's throat, and told her that a cat caused the injury. Benn, the complaint says, also allegedly "bragged that he 'bashed the cat's brains in.'" (Neal told The Daily Beast her feline vanished while it was nursing kittens.)

On another occasion, Neal's lawsuit states, she awoke to Benn sexually assaulting her while appearing to record the act on his cellphone. This alleged attack came days after Neal broke up with Benn in March 2018. 

In a January 2019 affidavit filed at an earlier stage of the litigation, Benn called Neal's accusation of sexual assault "completely false and outrageously interposed as a tactic to cloud the fact that, on the merits, [Neal] has no entitlement to the relief she seeks." Neal "will say whatever she believes is necessary to gain sympathy and to support her ongoing vendetta against me," Benn stated. 

"I fear that as this lawsuit progresses, [Neal's] accusations will grow increasingly outlandish, and will be even less tethered to the supposed matter at issue here—the ownership of the [upstate] Property," he added. 

Benn denied Neal's other accusations in court filings, chalking them up to a "bad breakup" that Neal was supposedly molding into a real-estate dispute. "The only thing that [Neal's] papers prove is that she is so beholden to her anger over our failed relationship that she will swear to anything, without regard to the truth, to paint me in a false light and to try get [sic] from this Court what she wants..."

On April 1, Benn was arrested by state troopers for misdemeanor stalking. A criminal complaint, filed in Ulster County by New York State Police, states Benn attempted to "initiate unwanted contact with Diane Neal via email on 3/15/19 and 3/23/19 causing harm to the mental and emotional health of Diane Neal." Benn also allegedly drove past her residence seven times in 15 minutes while Neal was in her driveway, and showed up at the Ulster County District Attorney's Office while she was there, "causing Neal to fear for her life," according to the charging document. 

When a Beast reporter approached the 44-year-old Benn in court on Wednesday—where he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a noncriminal violation, in a deal that came with $200 in fines and fees, and a two-year order of protection for Neal—he declined to comment. (Neither he nor his attorneys returned multiple messages left by The Daily Beast.)

The Actress

Diane Neal says her "high tolerance" for eccentricity comes from her upbringing and the entertainment industry. "The business is very weird. People that are the best at what they do are extra tasty crispy weird. And then—you're a magician, you're even weirder," she said of her initial attraction to Benn. "The image he was putting forth, I understood on a cellular level."

Neal trends eccentric herself, boasting a long resume as an actress; commercial model; stand-up comic who once opened for Louie Anderson in Vegas; amateur archeologist; and independent Congressional candidate in New York's 19th District. The 5'10" actress has a shock of red hair, a husky voice, and a labyrinthine storytelling instinct, prone to digressing into side tangents on her Jewish-Mormon upbringing, her extensive list of celebrity friends (she says Fred Armisen based an SNL character off her) and her knowledge of Biblical archaeology. 

As a self-described nerd growing up in Colorado, "no one spoke to me in high school unless they needed their homework done," she said. "I would literally go home from school and hang out in my closet and write treatises on the state of the American educational system."

The actress was 16 when her parents shipped her off to Brigham Young University–Hawaii. Her father, a federal attorney, and her mother, a math teacher, converted to Mormonism after an older sibling died of cancer. Neal dropped out of BYU, where she says she studied astrophysics, not long after another elder sister entered her into a modeling contest. 

Months later, she was signed with IMG, lived in Japan and traveled across Europe, but felt modeling was a bore. "All I ever wanted to do was go to school, so everything I was doing was just to make money to go to school," she said. She spent one semester with BYU in Egypt and Israel and returned home to find a pamphlet for Atlantic Theater Company Acting School—founded by playwright David Mamet and actor William H. Macy—on her dining room table. "I thought, 'Oh, my god, I cannot believe people get paid for this," she said. "Game on.'" 

Neal's first Law & Order: SVU break came in the 2001 episode "Ridicule," where she played a suspect accused of raping a male stripper. She returned to the show two years later, replacing prosecutor Alexandra Cabot, played by Stephanie March. "I was all these other people and then became [the character] Casey [Novak]. I loved Casey," Neal said. "She was fierce and she was intense." 

Neal Baer, a showrunner on SVU for 11 years, told The Daily Beast that Diane Neal's acting chops impressed series brass, so they hired her following March's departure. "I've always been a fan of hers. She's really bright," Baer said. "I think the intelligence is really critical. She is smart and sharp and fair."

"I could count on her to be there on time, to know her lines, and to act really well," Baer told The Daily Beast. "There were never problems as to her performing."

One actress, Alisha McKinney, lauded Neal in a 2006 essay about her SVU appearance for the Topeka Capital-Journal in Kansas. McKinney was struggling with a simple scene: opening a door and delivering her line to Novak. "You know, on my first day I thought I was going to poop my pants. Honest to God, I didn't think I was going to make it … [Neal's] generosity and sense of fun were infectious—it was clear the crew adored her," McKinney wrote.

Neal's last appearance as an SVU regular came in 2008, during a season nine subplot where ADA Novak was censured for Brady violations. Neal said she learned she was being axed from the series via the makeup room's tabloids. "It was a surprise to me that I was being let go. No one called me," she said. (NBC declined to comment for this article, while a source close to the show said, "It would be accurate to say that Diane was a valuable member of the family for a long time.")

In 2009, Neal decided to go back to college, enrolling at Harvard's Extension School. She returned to SVU for five episodes in 2011 and 2012, before going on to play Special Agent Abigail Borin in NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans, star in Hallmark drama This Magic Moment, and make a steady stream of smaller appearances on shows like Suits and Power.

Neal said she empathizes with those considered socially awkward, off-beat, misunderstood. It was with this mindset that she embarked on a first date, arriving to a friend's ugly sweater Christmas party with an enigmatic magician. 

The Magician

JB Benn specializes in what he calls organic magic. "Our magic," Benn toldPhilstar Global of his 2004 series, Mondo Magic, "is organic." He's said variants of this same quote countless times. "What I love about the magic we do," he told The Malaysian Star in 2006 for a Singaporean reboot of the same program, "is that it is organic." 

For Benn, organic means showing up with nothing—no props, no cape, no assistant—and crafting deceptions from whatever is available. "I can show up at somebody's house and have nothing with me," Benn says in his website bio. "I can borrow a cup. If I went into your kitchen and took a big coffee mug and told you to stare at this thing you're used to seeing every day, then I lifted a grapefruit out from underneath it, well, people have been known to run out of their houses."

It's a fitting specialty for a man who now stands accused of actually forcing someone from their house. Benn declined to be interviewed for this article, as did a few of his friends, including the artist Chuck Close. But those that did speak with The Daily Beast said the magician is somewhat organic himself—appearing to come from nothing and divulging little about his family, childhood, or social world, even with those close to him.

"I have never met his mom and stepfather, despite asking numerous times," Neal wrote in a timeline of their relationship submitted to local authorities. "He has never, since the first few weeks, ever spoken about his sisters again … He never talks about friends ... About past friendships, I only heard about how the other person blew them up."

One neighbor, who sees Benn on a regular basis in upstate New York, echoed Neal's analysis. "I don't even know that he has any friends," the neighbor said. "He lives in that house by himself without any furniture. There's not one piece of furniture in that house except for the bedroom." 

Even the opening of Benn's personal TV series, Magic Man, which ran on the Travel Channel in 2013, reveals stunningly little about its star. "I'm JB Benn and I've traveled to some of the most exotic and remote destinations in the world," Benn recites in the opening credits. "But the way I experience traveling is through magic, and the way people from all different backgrounds react when they see something amazing, something unreal." The voice-over plays behind photos of Benn in "exotic" locations as anonymous audience members croon: Are you real? You are awesome! Get out! Throughout the show's eight, 20-minute episodes, that's pretty much all the bio you get. 

But from interviews, court documents, and research, it's possible to piece together a rough outline of Benn's personal history. The magician is a short, unremarkably handsome man with a substantial collection of hiking boots—a dead ringer for George Stephanopoulos, if he wore more surf clothes instead of suits. According to Neal, his mother, a Dutch woman named Vera Krijn, met his father, an older man from Baghdad named Charles Benn, in Spain. They married, had Benn in 1975, and split when he was a toddler. Not long later, the magician then moved to New York with his mother, where she remarried a man named William Wood Williamson and sent Benn to boarding school. (Krijn and Williamson did not respond to requests for comment). 

By Neal's account, the magician was not close with his mother, father, or stepfather, but he did admire his stepfather's brother, Robert "Bob" Williamson. Williamson was a diminutive man with Coke-bottle glasses, a fascination with beetles, a photographic memory (he could recite long swaths of Finnegans Wake off hand), and no job. As a young man, Williamson had worked at a textbook publishing house, but he quit when he met his wife, model and actress Lauren Hutton. From then on, Williamson's job was managing Hutton and her finances—his hold over her was so intense and unwavering the actress nicknamed him "Bob God." While Williamson served as her accountant, Hutton estimates she once netted some $35 million. But in a 2001 Vanity Fair interview, the model revealed that after Williamson's death, she discovered he had squandered her fortune away on girlfriends and the stock market, leaving her with nothing. (In the same sitting, Hutton also claimed Williamson had pressured her not to have kids and spread rumors she was gay. She did not respond to requests for comment on Benn.) 

"'I've seen JB do magic at least 250 times," Moby said, according to Benn's website, 'and each time I'm just as stunned as the last. Some of his magic shouldn't be possible, and it makes my brain hurt in the best possible ways.'"

According to Neal, Benn knew Williamson as a charismatic traveler, always off on some adventure, who had helped him move to New York and pursue a career in magic. Once in New York, Benn has claimed in several articles, he trained under René Lavand, an Argentinian magician with one arm, who was well-known for his mastery of "close-up magic." Lavand specialized in intimate, meticulous sleights of hand—his catchphrase was: "It cannot be done any slower." Benn adopted that style, and by at least Hutton's account, he wasn't too bad at it. One of Benn's older work bios cited a quote of hers in Women's Wear Daily: "I'm from the South," Hutton allegedly told him. "Where I'm from, they'd burn you for being able to do that!"

Benn's career started with some luck. According to a 2013 article in the South Africa Sunday Tribune, the young magician performed his first show in 1991 at age 16, when he walked into a random restaurant in Gramercy Park, picked a table, flipped some cards, disappeared some silver coins—and then realized his audience was The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek and Czech model Paulina Porizkova. 

In the years since, Benn has had several celebrity run-ins. The magician's website cites a motley crew of high-profile endorsements, from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, to filmmaker J.J. Abrams, to masked singer Sia, to Moby. "I've seen JB do magic at least 250 times," Moby said, according to Benn's website, "and each time I'm just as stunned as the last. Some of his magic shouldn't be possible, and it makes my brain hurt in the best possible ways." (All but Schmidt confirmed their quotes to The Daily Beast; Moby declined to explain how, exactly, he came to see Benn 250 times.) 

It's hard to say how Benn broke into the fringes of Hollywood, but he did have some TV exposure himself. In 1995, Benn made a cameo appearance in the Harrison Ford remake of Sabrina, playing a dinner party magician. In 2004, he got a bigger break co-starring alongside magician Chris Korn in A&E's Mondo Magic, where the pair performed street magic in different countries. The show got mixed reviews in the magic community ("I feel JB Benn's performance skills lack," one guest user wrote on a Genii forum). Some critics even devised a drinking game for Benn's awkward tics, at times nervous or intense: "Every time Benn takes someone by the arm and drags them to a different location or camera angle (seemingly against their will)," user Dave1216 wrote on a Magic Cafe forum, "you drink." 

But the show did well enough to get renewed for a second season, this time funded by the Singapore Tourism Board to air on AXN-Asia. Mondo Magic Singapore, which debuted in 2006, is a wild ride of mid-aughts graphics, time-lapse montages of crowded streets, and fairly generic magic tricks. Still, it ranked "Highly Commended in the Best Entertainment Program" at the 2006 Asian Television Awards.

In the following years, Benn worked corporate gigs and private events, racking up a client list with names like Warren Buffet, Bono, Oprah, Nelson Mandela, Donna Karan, HBO, Goldman Sachs, and Vanity Fair. In 2013, Benn returned to cable again, this time as the star of his own series, Magic Man. The Travel Channel production was nearly identical to Mondo Magic, but with more domestic destinations—like Miami and San Francisco. (While performing at the Giants' baseball stadium, one player told Benn, "Quit looking at me with the creepy face." Later, after Benn performed a card trick in his mouth, the player added: "That's kinda creepy, I can tell ya.") 

The series did well enough that, the same year, Fox ordered a reality special called Unreal with JB Benn, where he would perform for celebrities, touring star-studded events, and pulling coins out of famous ears. It was Unreal that brought Benn to the Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest in December of 2013. And it was there that Benn laid eyes on a red-haired woman in a strapless black dress named Diane Neal. 

The Relationship

The year leading up to the Park City meet-cute in 2013 was laden with challenges for Neal. That May, she fractured her spine in a car wreck with an uninsured drunk driver in Los Angeles. The motorist sued her, she claims, even though she says she wasn't at fault. She was also in the midst of an acrimonious divorce with her former husband, Irish model Marcus Fitzgerald, and her lawyer advised her to move from Studio City back to the East Coast. She'd been renting out her renovated brownstone in Jersey City, only to discover the tenants had allegedly caused thousands in damages, leading to more litigation.

"It was the first time I remember being exhausted. The first time I remember being depleted," Neal told The Daily Beast. Benn became "the most comfortable place in what had become a very uncomfortable life," Neal recalled. "It was sweet and comfortable and it was easy. He would just listen and talk." They escaped the high-octane world of stardom, laying in bed watching Netflix with her dogs—Winnie and Father Ted, two toy poodles, and Charlie the Maltipoo.

While Neal traveled for NCIS, Benn would stay at her Jersey City home and watch the pups. Although Benn owned an apartment in Manhattan's East Village, he stayed at her townhouse almost full-time. Looking back now, Neal claims Benn enjoyed "unfettered access" to her home office, her computer, and even her finances.

Two months into their budding relationship, Benn talked about moving upstate. He would also tell her "the world's craziest stories," she says, though she recalls he seemed to have photos to back them up. "So he would tell me, after Bob [Williamson] died, he wandered around Papua New Guinea for like a year," Neal said. "He goes to this tribe and does all this magic. They want to kill him and then they want him to run for parliament representing them eventually."

Neal said Benn didn't seem to have many friends and didn't invite her to visits with his family. Within the first two years of dating, Neal claims she only met Benn's godmother, the writer Jane Lancellotti—who's married to Dexter showrunner Clyde Phillips—and his friend, artist Michael Kramer. One New Year's was spent at Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany's place in Vermont. "But no one there really knew him. He was there to do magic," Neal said. Benn would also send Neal pictures while visiting Moby's house, and "Sia would call and be like, 'Hey can you do the wedding? I got your number from Moby.'" (Neither Lancellotti, Phillips, Kramer, Connelly, nor Bettany responded to requests for comment). 

The longer the relationship went on, Benn became more entangled in Neal's friendships and business affairs. If a friend was trying to reach her, they'd call Benn and he'd say "Oh, Diane's on set. Just tell me and I'll pass it on." But he never relayed the messages, Neal says. Sometimes, he'd tell her friends that Diane was suicidal, homicidal and an alcoholic and he needed to get her help.

According to Neal, the couple planned to move upstate, putting offers on homes as early as June 2014. That fall, according to Neal's lawsuit, Benn was "aware of Neal's considerable assets" and "successfully persuaded Neal to consider purchasing a residential property in the Hudson Valley." One year later, they bought a $529,900 home in the woods, on a winding, dead-end country road. 

"What was supposed to be their forever home quickly became a source of contention."

The crux of Neal's original lawsuit, filed in April 2018, hinges on that house. It claims Benn agreed to add her name to the title once her divorce was finalized and after she reimbursed him for her portion of the house. Neal says that she repeatedly asked Benn to put her on the title, and he lied about meeting with a lawyer to do so.

Neal's divorce was resolved and her Jersey home sold in January 2016. In the complaint in the original lawsuit, Neal claimed she wired $100,000 to Benn for her share of the purchase price and spent over $259,000 on renovations on the property, believing she'd be made co-owner. (For his part, Benn claimed the hundred grand was payback for a loan, an allegation Neal denies.)

In an affidavit in response, Benn countered that Neal had merely helped him look for his own upstate home. She "was also helpful in moving the purchase of the property forward, and did participate in emails with counsel related to that purchase," Benn claimed, but added that he never agreed that Neal "would be a co-owner."

What was supposed to be their forever home quickly became a source of contention, according to one of Neal's longtime friends. Neal felt insecure in her own home, the friend said, while "JB was able to hold over her head this sword that he could kick her out at any time." The confidant became involved as a mediator in the couple's crossfire over their property. The situation, he said, "undermined any chance of them having a successful relationship."

The friend said Benn phoned and texted him constantly. "I think part of it was him trying to create a narrative and win the favor of Diane's friends," he said. During one call, Benn allegedly told him Neal was "suicidal, crazy and narcissistic." 

"I thought about that afterward," the friend said. "I know Diane isn't suicidal. She's almost empathetic to a fault. She gives so much of herself to others, it's the opposite of narcissism. I felt JB was off the mark. I blocked his number."

After the purchase of the rural home in June 2015, Neal agreed to take a six-month break from acting for back surgery and physical therapy. She said that around this time, Benn persuaded her not to rent her Jersey City house to her friends and to sell it instead.

Eddie Applebaum, a music executive and friend of Neal's, said he was supposed to rent her brownstone two months before his wife was due to give birth. "We already agreed to move in. JB started sabotaging that, telling me that he was just doing Diane's dirty work," Applebaum said of the conversation that caused a years-long rift between him and Neal.

Even before the fight, Benn would call and text Applebaum at 4 or 5 a.m., warning that Neal was having a meltdown. "This was constant," Applebaum said. "I said, 'If you really think there's something going on with her, call the police.'" When Applebaum would speak to Neal separately, she seemed okay and would tell him, "I'm a little stressed out here and JB and I had a little tiff, but I don't know why he's bothering you with this stuff."

While Benn and Neal were on a trip to Iceland in February 2015, Applebaum says, the magician called him and said, "Diane is in the woods and I don't know when she's coming back." He added, "He was incessantly texting me. I had to tell him to stop."

Benn's calls and texts indicated he was concerned for Neal's safety. "I would say, 'Why? What is she doing? He would say, 'Nothing, but she just seems like she's on the edge.' It was a very strange situation. I will never be able to make sense of it."

"I've always said it's life imitating art," Applebaum said of Neal's relationship with Benn. "It's a Law & Order: SVU story that's playing out in real life."

By May 2017, renovation on the couple's upstate home was complete—but their relationship was becoming increasingly volatile. For one, there was the alleged animal abuse. "Benn—in order to deter Neal from leaving him or crossing him—slit the throat of Neal's dog, Father Ted," Neal's lawsuit states. "Benn's explanation was incredible: claiming Neal's cat had attacked Father Ted."  

Father Ted survived after Neal rushed him to a vet. Kitty Kyle, a nursing mother cat that Neal took in as a stray, vanished soon afterwards. The kittens started to disappear, too, Neal claims in her lawsuit. In January 2018, the lawsuit adds, "Benn broke the back of Neal's other dog, leaving the dog severely handicapped." Neal told The Daily Beast her vet ruled Winnie, the toy poodle, had suffered a severed spine from blunt-force trauma. (The vet did not respond to requests for comment.) 

More disturbingly, Neal claims Benn physically and sexually abused her on several occasions. In August of 2017, Neal's amended complaint states, "Benn instigated an argument with Neal, then violently assaulted her, repeatedly kicking her. Benn left Neal bruised on the floor. After Neal begged that Benn leave the home, Benn refused and spent the remainder of the evening in the driveway [in] order to prevent her from fleeing."

In an interview, Neal said, "I'm so upset because it's the first time that anyone has raised a hand to me … and it wasn't a hand by the way. He never uses his hands. He kicks." (Neal told The Daily Beast that Benn often wore gloves to protect his hands for magic.)

Neal told The Daily Beast she thought Benn had left. She was livid, she says, and grabbed a golf club from the garage and smashed a set of exterior lights on the house. Benn, who was allegedly watching from a vehicle in the driveway, flashed the car's lights and revved the engine while filming her. "I thought he was going to run me over," Neal said. "I'm screaming, 'Leave! Just leave!'"

According to Neal, Benn physically attacked her a second time that Thanksgiving, as they planned to drive into the city to spend the holiday with friends. "Benn offered to drive her, and encouraged Neal to take a muscle relaxant," the amended complaint states, but then "refused to drive Neal to the gathering … after a brief verbal argument, Benn again attacked Neal, again kicking her until she was black and blue." 

Neal told The Daily Beast she later learned Benn was texting her friend, from Neal's phone, saying "D's a disaster. She's not going to make it." 

"I'm so upset because it's the first time that anyone has raised a hand to me … and it wasn't a hand by the way. He never uses his hands. He kicks."

Neal's lawsuit alleges Benn abused her on a third occasion in February 2018, kicking her repeatedly while wearing a pair of hiking boots—an attack that caused "widespread contusions and/or hematomas" on both of her legs. (In a reply to Neal's original complaint, Benn denied abusing her and countersued her for defamation, but withdrew his counterclaims a month later as part of a stipulation that also consolidated two of Neal's lawsuits against him.)

In an interview, the actress said that this last alleged incident occurred as she plotted her run for Congress. Her mother, Colleen, had traveled to New York to watch the dogs. Evelien Kong, a producer friend, was visiting, too, and prepared to film video clips of the actress discussing her political platform.

Neal told The Daily Beast that Benn sent Colleen and Kong away for a long lunch, then physically assaulted her in their absence. "He kicks the bejeezus out of me. I'm begging, 'Why? What do I have to do to get away from you?'" Neal recalled. 

According to the actress' lawsuit, Benn later contacted Kong and told her that "Neal was suicidal." 

In a written statement about the incident that Colleen provided to Neal's attorneys, she said her daughter needed more time to get ready for the video interviews, so she and Kong left. "While we were eating the producer got a phone call from JB saying Diane was trying to kill herself and we needed to get back to the house immediately," Colleen stated, adding that Kong was "really upset."

"We hurried back to the house and found Diane still sitting in the chair in the living room exactly where we had left her. JB told the producer to leave. He did not want Diane to have a campaign interview. He was lying to the producer to upset her and have her leave and she did leave and Diane has not been able to do that interview since."

Neal says that when Kong and her mom returned from lunch, "Evelien and I sit there and she wants to talk. I'm upset but it's almost more humiliating to just admit that you'd just take it and not run ... I didn't tell anyone that he kicked the shit out of me. I just said we got into a huge argument. I was humiliated for anyone to know I'd literally had my ass kicked three times and had taken it." 

To Neal, the relationship was over. But she said she'd soon unearth more disturbing revelations about the man who'd been her partner.

"In early 2018, while Benn was traveling, Neal discovered documentation in Benn's home office in the [upstate] Hurley Residence that revealed that Benn—without Neal's knowledge or consent —had fraudulently transferred monies from her bank accounts, stolen her personal checks, and used her credit card accounts to pay for his personal expenses," Neal's amended complaint alleges. "In total, Benn has robbed Neal of hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Neal would also discover that Benn had secretly transferred the title of her car to himself in October 2014,  the complaint states. In an interview, Neal said she was vacationing in Peru with a friend when Benn allegedly stole her vehicle.

And Benn changed the trigger locks to her firearms, "stripping her of any means of protecting herself," the complaint alleges.

Finally, in March 2018, Neal's complaint alleges, the actress woke to Benn sexually assaulting her. She said the magician was digitally penetrating her vagina with one hand, while holding a cellphone in another. She screamed and woke her sister, Leigh, who was visiting the house on Neal's request for protection. Leigh ran downstairs to Neal's room. "Mr. Benn was smirking and laughing and it appeared to me he was enjoying the fact he had done something to hurt Diane," Leigh stated in an affidavit, which Neal sent to Ulster County investigators. "Diane told me she and Mr. Benn had not been intimate in a long time and he did not treat her like a girlfriend. This was also apparent to me by Mr. Benn's words and actions."

Neal fled to a house she was renting for her Congressional campaign. Soon after, she phoned Tim Hardiman, a former NYPD commander and private investigator whom she'd befriended during her SVU days, to discuss how she should report the alleged attack. Hardiman began looking into which law enforcement agency would have domain over the alleged assault. In an interview with The Daily Beast, Hardiman confirmed Neal called him for help "before she went to the police" and said the sexual assault probe is with the Ulster County District Attorney's Office. "I gave her some advice on gathering some evidence, preserving her phone and doing stuff like that," Hardiman said. "She had determined that her electronics were compromised."

"Mr. Benn was smirking and laughing and it appeared to me he was enjoying the fact he had done something to hurt Diane."

After the actress fled, Benn refused to allow her to recover her belongings and furniture from their upstate home and his New York apartment, her lawsuit states. (The owner of the moving company that Neal hired said his men were also stymied by Benn.) Neal told The Daily Beast some of those prized possessions include a collection of loose gemstones and a Salvador Dali painting called The Black Devil.

When Neal's mother, Colleen, intervened to collect her daughter's items from the upstate property, as she later told Neal's legal team in a written statement, Benn at first wouldn't let her in the house, then relented and confided that he worried that Diane was suicidal, claiming she'd tried to hang herself from climbing ropes she used to hang ceiling lights.

"Diane is way too smart to use a climbing rope and, anyway, would never kill herself," the mother wrote, adding that she was shocked by Benn's persistence in his wild claims. "If he had really been worried about her, he would have called 911 or her parents as he had our phone numbers. He continued to get me alone and pump me for information and tell me again and again that Diane had tried to hang herself and he had rescued her and I should be grateful."

Colleen told The Daily Beast that Benn had previously called her and argued Neal shouldn't run for Congress. "If she runs for Congress, she's going to get killed," Benn said, according to Colleen, who added that he claimed he wouldn't put Neal on the title to their home because she could lose it to creditors. Colleen said Benn also suggested that Neal should draft a will and leave everything to him in case his election prophecy came true. 

At one point, Colleen said, Benn informed her he'd "gotten rid of the mother cat," referring to Kitty Kyle. Colleen added: "I didn't ask how he got rid of her."

Neighbors say they were also roped into the pair's convoluted conflict. One neighbor told The Daily Beast both Benn and Neal "just wanted to vent about" each other. He said the magician "tends to go around videotaping people and taping phone conversations, and obviously not telling you and trying to use this against you. Even though I repeatedly told him I didn't want to see any of the stuff he recorded about Diane, he would just put the phone in your face."

In one of the recordings, the neighbor said, Benn was egging Neal on when she was having a rough day. "She was upset, and he was videotaping it," the resident said. "He showed it to me. I just found it sad."

"He comes over frequently at very strange hours," the neighbor added. "I think he thinks she's here, which she never is. He just shows up at my house unannounced."

A second neighbor told The Daily Beast that more than a year ago, Benn tried discussing the conflict, asking whether he'd seen any strange cars cruise past Benn's home. "He explained that their relationship blew up, police got involved, he starts to elaborate and I was like, 'I don't want to get involved,'" the neighbor said.

"I don't know who the hell to believe," he said. "Either one of them could be telling the truth but I would never know."  

The Aftermath

In the spring of 2018, days after Neal picked up some of her belongings from the house, the actress and magician each filed for restraining orders. Family Court granted both requests, ensuring the couple maintained a legal distance from one another until the end of 2018. Benn and Neal weren't talking, but they were still connected through the upstate house. Neal tried to get a judge to name her as an equal owner of the property, as Benn put the house on the market in April 2018.

Meanwhile, Neal's acting career had imploded and she'd fallen off the Hollywood audition circuit. Her longtime agent, Ro Diamond, declined to comment for this article, but said they had not worked together for some time. Another of Neal's talent agencies, Osbrink Talent Agency, also said they no longer represent her. Neal blamed Benn—she claimed in the lawsuit he had secretly blocked contacts from her phone, impersonated her in texts and phone calls, and spread rumors she was a suicidal alcoholic—and believed she'd been "blackballed."

So Neal threw herself more deeply into a project that had been percolating for months: running for Congress. On May 2, 2018, Neal filed for candidacy in New York's 19th Congressional District. It was a competitive race—several Democrats, including progressive wunderkind Antonio Delgado, were running to oust one-term incumbent John Faso, a Republican. Neal's campaign got off to a rocky start. In August of that year, the New York State Board of Elections rejected 1,852 of the 4,181 signatures on her petition, leaving her 1,171 short of the mandatory number. Neal appealed to the courts, which ruled in her favor a month later. 

But the campaign struggled to take off. Neal had never been especially clear about her platform—in one of the few TV interviews she gave about her campaign, the actress described herself as "mostly liberal with a bit of libertarian." When pressed about her issues, Neal responded: "Well, it's all the issues." Elsewhere, she elaborated on her platform: a unified single-payer health care system; universal pre-K; protecting "the First Amendment at all costs"; and supporting "responsible gun ownership." Under her Second Amendment plank, she elaborated: "The dude who perpetrated the massacre in Las Vegas had 47 guns. No one needs 47 guns. No one needs 47 American Girl dolls. No one needs 47 anything! We could set a reasonable limit. If you want more, you can have them, you just have pop down to your local police station to check in. Not a big deal, but a smart idea."

On another occasion, the actress described her key concern for upstate New York as telecommunications infrastructure—specifically, Wi-Fi. "I'm embarrassed to say this, but I've been back in school, because I couldn't do much with this back injury," Neal told newscaster Katy Tur. "And I got a C-. I was like, ugh, a C-? I don't get a C-! No one gets a C-! And it's because the internet—the maximum I could pay for—was three megabytes per second." 

If Wi-Fi was a key concern in her district, it didn't register with voters. "She definitely does not have a clear agenda on issues," Amy Dooley, a member of the New Paltz town Democratic Committee, told the Daily Freeman. "It was kind of Trumpian how she just kind of threw out these populist type of ideas that don't really work." 

Neal told The Daily Beast, "I don't enjoy politics; I enjoy governance." To prep for her candidacy, Neal says she read Plato's Republic and works by "Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Paine, Hamilton…" taking notes and writing a draft of her own unpublished book, "Empathy and Reason: a Non-Psychokiller Manifesto." ("Empathy & Reason" became her campaign slogan.)

After Delgado secured the Democratic nomination, Neal announced she would run as an Independent, opening her to charges that she was trying to split the vote. (Neal claims she actually helped Delgado's campaign by siphoning votes from Republicans: "You're welcome Antonio!") But on November 6, it appeared her campaign had little effect at all. Delgado won with 51.4 percent of the vote; Neal came in with just 1 percent. 

On February 15, 2019, a year and a month after Neal and Benn broke up, the actress filed her second civil lawsuit against the magician, accusing him of 10 charges including sexual battery, assault, fraud, defamation, identity theft, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 

Two months later, Benn responded in court, vigorously disputing all charges, and accusing his ex-girlfriend of spinning "a web of half-truths and outright misrepresentations." Neal, Benn's lawyer claimed, "seems incapable of telling the whole truth (despite being under oath), no matter how important or unimportant the matter at hand." 

Meanwhile, Neal reported Benn to local law enforcement for behavior she described as "stalking." On March 28 of this year, Benn was charged with misdemeanor stalking for "driving by Neal's residence 7 times in 15 minutes for no legitimate purpose while Neal was in her driveway," according to the charging documents. 

Neal claims Benn had been "hunting" her since the day the order of protection expired in December 2018. "I would wake up in the middle of the night to pee, he would be outside the bathroom window. I pull around the curve, he's there in my stolen car," she said, adding that Benn once called her shrink 20 times, from four different numbers, over a two-day period. According to her lawsuit, Neal "noticed that Benn's car repeatedly would patrol her home on a nightly basis."   

And, in a handwritten deposition filed as part of Benn's stalking case, Neal said Benn "parking outside, sneaking into the yard to look through the windows, emailing, calling my doctor, my vets, my family, my friends—many times a day…"

Yesterday, during Benn's court appearance at which he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, his defense attorney A.J. Iuele, told The Daily Beast that prosecutors "did their due diligence" in investigating Neal's claims. "She came out with some horrible accusations and the result was akin to a parking ticket."

Before the magician showed up in court, one of his supporters, a septuagenarian who said his name was Hank Williams, chatted up Tim Lawson, the Ulster County assistant prosecutor on the case. The men were discussing The Daily Beast's forthcoming story when a reporter approached. Williams muttered that Neal was trying to resurrect her career through her litigation against Benn. He declined to comment further. 

When The Daily Beast asked about Lawson's friendly chat with Benn's supporter, the ADA said, "I have never met them before this." But later, he recanted and admitted, "We have met each other at a previous court appearance. He had wanted to tell me his perspective before."

When Benn arrived, he was quiet and collected, whispering to Williams and giving a thumbs up to his lawyer while seated inside the tiny town hall—a building that also houses the tax collector, town clerk and assessor. At one point, a divider-on-wheels was pulled out to separate the criminal proceedings from a local government meeting.

After the magician signed his paperwork and headed out, Lawson patted Williams' arm. "Good luck! And I hope to never see you again. Especially you." Benn declined to comment to a reporter, answering with a smile: "Got litigation pending, so I'll have to contact my lawyers."

Lawson told The Daily Beast that securing an order of protection for Neal and "making sure the parties stayed away from each other" was the prosecution's "primary interest" in the plea agreement. Asked if Neal knew about this deal, Lawson said the DA's office had discussed potential violations months ago. (For her part, Neal says she tried repeatedly to reach Lawson for an update "since the one, non-final, discussion in early June.")

Indeed, Neal says her relationship with local authorities has become fraught. Since moving out in March 2018, she had been in an extended correspondence with the Ulster County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney, requesting an investigation into Benn's activities. Neither the Sheriff's Office nor the District Attorney responded to multiple requests for comment on this story, but Neal forwarded dozens of emails she sent over the course of 2018, recounting her story in excruciating detail. She claims they responded with minimal action. "I know you guys are busy, and that my case is not a priority," Neal wrote in a November 29, 2018 email, "but I've been reaching out, leaving messages, for months, trying to get ahold of you guys so that I can know what is, or isn't, going on and take action based on that." 

In another email, she wrote, "Estranged from loved ones, always honest but painted as a liar, I am not by the bedside or shouldering the burden of family members in need, unable to work for a thousand reasons and thereby unable to help others financially. Homeless so I cannot offer shelter to the many who have called my homes theirs freely and without cost. Everyone's most capable, loyal and true friend reduced to wracking sobs…"

In March of 2019, the Ulster sheriff reached out to Neal's sister, Leigh, who had witnessed the aftermath of the alleged sexual assault, for a statement to aid the investigation. She provided a sworn affidavit. "In my opinion, [Benn] is a kleptomaniac and master manipulator," the sister wrote in her statement, "Tools of a trade he's perfected since childhood as a now professional magician." The following month, authorities arrested Benn on a second charge of misdemeanor stalking.

Neal went so far as to request a meeting with the New York Attorney General Leticia James (that didn't pan out), and less official legal figures, like her former co-worker, actress Mariska Hargitay, who plays New York Police Department Captain Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU. 

In an email (subject line: "Joyful Heart"), Hargitay responded to Neal: "I'm so very very sorry for what happened to you and what you've gone through and have had to endure. I send you love and care and comfort and courage." In an unfortunate coincidence, Hargitay then signed off, "With much love, Mariska Sent with magic!"

Frustrated by a lack of movement on her case, Neal visited the Ulster County DA's office on a whim in March of this year and broke down in the rotunda. "I'm here to ask why my life doesn't mean a thing to you guys," Neal cried. A secretary offered to look up Neal's case—but according to Neal, it didn't exist. "There were no complaint numbers in the computer," Neal said. "Not one complaint number, not one case number. Nothing. Not a record of me," she said." 

"And guess who walks in? JB Benn," Neal said. "He comes upstairs. He has no appointment to be there. Do you know what excuse he gave to be there? 'Oh, I just came to get her forwarding address.'" 

Trooper Steven Nevel told The Daily Beast that according to his agency's reports, Benn flagged down a postal worker and asked for Neal's forwarding address. A trooper spoke with a detective from the Ulster County DA's office, who stated the postal employee did not give Benn that information but told him how he could likely obtain it.

Neal first came to state police barracks to report the alleged stalking on February 28, 2019, Nevel said. Afterward, troopers told Benn to stay away from the actress, and his lawyer, A.J. Iuele, told troopers Benn would comply with the request.

Since the break-up, Neal has gone through five different lawyers, all of whom she claimed had wronged her in some way and run off with her money. Her restraining order had expired, her request for a second one was rejected, and her attempt to get listed as an equal owner of the house proved ineffective. 

Benn has all but disappeared from the public eye, though he emerged briefly for a TV appearance this past summer. The segment was for an ABC game show called To Tell The Truth, where a panel of celebrity judges hears from three guests—two of whom are imposters—and votes on whom they believe is telling the truth. In the July 14th episode, Benn pretended to be a professional hypnotist, but not very well; only one judge believed him. 

Today's amended complaint, filed by Neal's new legal team, Sarmad Khojasteh and Danielle Gill of the Kasowitz Benson Torres firm, captures the actress' story in greater detail. "As a result of Benn's depraved and unconscionable conduct against Neal, and his attempts to continue the campaign of terror and intimidation against her, Neal—fearing for life and her safety, and at great personal cost—has been forced to live in hiding rather than pursue her professional career," the complaint alleges.

"Ms. Neal has suffered a devastating ordeal—as a victim of domestic abuse that robbed her of her personal security, as a victim of a fraudulent scheme that robbed her of the financial security that she earned during an extremely successful acting career, and as a victim of lawyers and prosecutors who have served her extremely poorly," Khojasteh told The Daily Beast in a statement. "This lawsuit is a first step towards Ms. Neal reclaiming her life and obtaining justice. We will be taking all necessary steps, including working with law enforcement, to ensure Ms. Neal is protected and vindicated."

Hardiman, the private eye, said at least some of Neal's accusations have a chance of being prosecuted. "Relationships are complicated," Hardiman said. "The things she's told me, some of the specific incidents I have investigated or gathered information about, I have found there to be supporting evidence."

"That there are exceptional crazy details in her story does not mean that it's unbelievable," Hardiman told The Daily Beast, adding, "Just because it sounds like something out of a novel, doesn't mean it's not true."

"The real question this is going to become: Was this a good honest relationship and people parted ways? Or was this relationship a fraud from the outset?" 

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Trump: 'I don't recall' newly revealed conversation with EU ambassador Sondland - CNBC

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:20 PM PST

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump walks along the colonnade after greeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan upon his arrival at the South Portico of the White House on November 13, 2019 in Washington, DC.

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President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he could not recall a phone call he allegedly had with his ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, on July 26, one day after Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for "a favor."

The call was first revealed on Wednesday by Trump's top diplomat in Ukraine, William Taylor, who testified about it before the House Intelligence Committee. The committee is holding impeachment hearings into the president's decision to freeze foreign aid to Ukraine while his administration pressured the country to launch investigations that would benefit Trump politically.

"I know nothing about that, first time I've heard," Trump said of the newly revealed call. "The one thing I know about Sondland is that he did speak to me for a brief moment, and I said 'no quid pro quo,'" Trump told reporters during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Erdogan.

"I've never heard this," Trump continued. "In any event, it's more secondhand information, but I've never heard it."

Asked by a reporter whether he recalled the conversation, Trump responded, "No, I don't recall, not even a little bit. The only thing, and I guess Sondland stated with his testimony, is there was no quid pro quo."

Taylor testified Wednesday that during the alleged call, an aide to Taylor, David Holmes, heard the president ask Sondland about "the investigations."

According to Taylor, Holmes was sitting with Sondland at a restaurant in Kyiv on July 26 and heard Sondland tell the president "that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward" with the two investigations.

Taylor added: "Following the call with President Trump, [Holmes] asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden" than about Ukraine itself.

Holmes is scheduled to testify behind closed doors to House investigators in the coming days. Sondland has already given a deposition, in which he said Trump told him in a later phone call that there were no conditions being placed on military aid to Ukraine.

But Sondland later revised that testimony, to say that there were, in fact, conditions on the aid, namely, that Ukraine's president publicly announce the launch of two investigations into Trump's political rivals. In his revised testimony, Sondland said he conveyed the specifics of Trump's demands to a top Ukrainian official, in person, on Sept. 1.

Sondland is scheduled to testify in public before the committee on Nov. 20, an event which should offer members of Congress an opportunity to ask him specifically about this alleged phone call with Trump.

Trump has tried to distance himself from Sondland in recent weeks, after Sondland reversed his initial testimony. Asked on Nov. 8 about his relationship with Sondland, Trump told reporters at the White House, "Let me just tell you: I hardly know the gentleman."

A month before that, on Oct. 8, Trump said in a tweet that Sondland was "a really good man and great American."

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T-Mobile Black Friday 2019 deals unveiled early, ahead of Friday launch - BGR

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:50 PM PST

One of the items that may be on many consumers' shopping lists this holiday season is a new phone, something the major carriers will be scrambling to sell you in the weeks leading up to (and even after) Black Friday as the discounts, deals, and offers keep piling up for buyers to choose from.

T-Mobile, which has been in the headlines in recent days over its pending merger with Sprint and for the various incentives it has been promising to try and get that deal over the finish line, has now stepped up to the plate and rolled out a series of holiday deals that launch in just two days, on Friday, November 15th. The deals include Buy One, Get One Free offers on Samsung flagships, and T-Mobile promises even more deals will roll out as the month progresses.

Smartphones

  • Samsung BOGO: Buy one Samsung Galaxy S10e, S10, S10+, S105G, Note10 or Note10+ and get a second free when you join T-Mobile and activate both new smartphones (or add a voice line onto an existing qualifying rate plan).
  • LG G8 BOGO: Buy one LG G8 ThinQ and get a second free.
  • iPhone 8: Get an iPhone 8 free — or up to $450 off an iPhone 8 Plus by trading-in a qualifying older iPhone and activating a new voice line on a qualifying rate plan.

Smartwatches

  • Samsung Watch BOGO: Buy one Samsung Galaxy Watch and get a second of equal or lesser value free by activating a smartwatch line (one for existing customers, two for new customers).
  • Apple Watch BOGO: Buy one Apple Watch Series 3, 4 or 5 and get $200 off of a second of equal or lesser value by activating a smartwatch line (one for existing customers, two for new customers).

Tablets

  • Tab A: Get a Samsung Galaxy Tab A for free by activating a new 6GB or higher mobile internet line.
  • Half off a Samsung Tab S6: Get 50% off of a Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 by activating a new 6GB or higher mobile internet line.

As we said, the offers launch starting on Friday, and you can get a rundown on everything that will be available here. "At T-Mobile, we want you to enjoy your holidays, not spend them stressing and waiting in long lines, so we're starting our deals early this year, and we went big … like FREE Samsung smartphones big," John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, said in a statement about the holiday deals. "We can't do anything about how crazy the holidays are, but we can cut your shopping stress with loads of early deals, so you can cross everyone off your lists early, kick back and binge some Netflix holiday movies with me!"

Image Source: Utrecht Robin/action press/REX/Shutterstock

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Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:35 PM PST

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Waffle House Sued For Discrimination By Woman In Viral Arrest Video - TMZ

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:33 PM PST

Waffle House is being sued for discrimination by a black woman whose arrest went viral ... and she's claiming the restaurant treats black customers like crap.

The woman behind the lawsuit is Chikesia Clemons, and she says she went to the WH in Saraland, AL with 2 friends in April 2018 -- a visit that ended with her in handcuffs following a scuffle with police ... all of it recorded by a friend.

In the suit, Clemons claims within 2 minutes of walking in, the manager told a Waffle House employee to call 911 and tell the dispatcher the group was intoxicated and refusing to leave. Clemons claims the 911 operator asked if the customers were male or female, but the employee responded, "They're black."

According to the docs, Clemons claims a white waitress told her she would be charged 50 cents for plastic utensils, which sparked an argument because Clemons says white customers don't get hit with that charge. Clemons says the waitress then refused to serve the table.

Another waitress -- also white -- tapped in, but things didn't go any smoother ... according to Clemons who claims the woman said, "You're racist," and "You need to learn your place."

The viral video shows 2 cops showing up, one grabbing Clemons and throwing her to the ground. One of the officers told her, "I'm about to break your arm," as they tried to put cuffs on her.

In her lawsuit, Clemons claims the only reason the officers roughed her up was because Waffle House employees falsely reported her and her friends as being drunk. She wants Waffle House to serve up some money -- as in, damages -- and to stop the alleged discriminatory treatment.

We reached out to Waffle House for comment ... no word back, so far.

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24-year-old 'lone wolf' suicide bomber dies in attack on police HQ in Indonesia's Medan, 6 injured - The Straits Times

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:31 PM PST

JAKARTA - A 24-year-old "lone wolf" suicide bomber died and six people were injured when he blew himself up at the police headquarters in the Indonesian city of Medan on Wednesday (Nov 13), national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said.

In a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Dedi said the Medan-born man, initialled RMN, was identified based on fingerprints.

"The attacker has been identified. Based on our preliminary investigation, he was a lone wolf," Mr Dedi told reporters.

"On the type of bomb, we are still investigating. We found a 9-volt battery, metal sheet, nails in different sizes, wirings, an on/off switch."

The bombing happened on Wednesday morning when the perpetrator allegedly walked into the compound at around 8.40am local time (9.40am Singapore time) after a police morning briefing and then blew himself up in a parking lot near a building where certificates of clearance, known as SKCK, are processed.

"We still don't know if it was a high explosive. The team is working with Inafis (Indonesia Automatic Fingerprint Identification System) and forensic laboratory to examine the crime scene," another national police spokesman Inspector-General Muhammad Iqbal said earlier.

He added that the suicide bomber was killed, while the six people – five police officers and one civilian – were injured and several vehicles were damaged.

All the victims were taken to a police hospital, local media reported. Medan is the provincial capital of North Sumatra.

The police and the anti-terrorism squad Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) are investigating the incident, including looking into which group might be behind the attack, Insp-Gen. Iqbal said.

Singapore condemns the act of terror, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement issued on Wednesday night, adding that it wishes the injured a speedy and full recovery. There were no reports of any Singaporeans affected by the incident, the statement said.

Police are investigating three members of the suicide bomber's family, including his cousin, and have begun looking into the bomber's activities after finding nothing when ransacking his parents' house in Sei Putih Barat village in the Medan Petisah sub-district in Medan, said North Sumatra police spokesman Tatan Dirsan Atmaja.

RMN used to be a driver at a ride hailing service, he added.

"His affiliation after quitting from the ride hailing service is still unknown," he told reporters in Medan.

RMN's cousin, Maya, who goes only by one name, said that the man had moved to parents-in-law's house in another sub-district after getting married last year. She described him as a "nice guy" who once worked as a mobile grilled meatball vendor.

A number of Indonesian television channels showed footage of people rushing out of buildings around the headquarters.


National police spokesman Brig Gen Dedi Prasetyo (middle) says a lonewolf initialed RMN, age 24, was behind the attack on the Medan police headquarters that injured six. ST PHOTO: WAHYUDI SOERIAATMADJA

Eyewitnesses told local media they heard a loud explosion and saw puffs of white smoke as they rushed out of the building.

A witness named Lila Mayasari told MetroTV news station that she was queueing to get her paperwork done inside the police headquarters when she heard a loud blast.

"There was an explosion. I felt as if I was lifted off the ground, like there was an earthquake. It was loud and then I saw white smoke. I panicked and shouted 'Bomb!' Everyone panicked and started running," she said.

Another witness, Mr Jones, told MetroTV that he saw a brown-skinned man, about 1.7m tall,  in the parking area at the headquarters.

"He carried a bag... and I was suspicious of his facial expression...  (as) if he wanted to commit a crime," Mr Jones said, adding the man was wearing a jacket belonging to a ride-hailing service.

A police source who refused to be named said the perpetrator walked into the compound after a briefing there, and one of the police officers, Police Commissioner Abdul Mutolip, tried to chase the man, who was clad in a ride-hailing service jacket and made "suspicious movements".

The man exploded the bomb at the location before Com Abdul could reach him, the source said.

The source also added that splinters could be found near a food stall about 200m from the police headquarters.

The police, with the assistance of a sniffer dog, were trying to find explosive materials that might have spread in the location, MetroTV reported.

In recent years, radicals, some tied to the ISIS-inspired militant group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), have targeted police in a series of attacks.

The latest attack comes a month after a suspected militant stabbed and wounded Mr Wiranto, Indonesia's former security minister, who uses one name.

In August, Indonesian authorities shot and arrested a suspected militant who attacked police officers at a station in the country's second-biggest city, Surabaya.

In June 2017, two terrorists brazenly walked into North Sumatra's police headquarters, also in Medan, and killed a policeman with knives. The attackers wanted to steal guns from the police for use in even bigger atrocities. 

On Sept 22, 2010, at least 10 militants killed three of the five officers on duty in a bloody assault at around 12.45am on the remote Hamparan Perak police station in the Deli Serdang regency in North Sumatra. This came after anti-terror police launched major raids on the militant groups in the region who were suspected of being behind a series of bank heists, including the CIMB Niaga bank branch in Medan, to raise money to fund their terror activities.

Additional reporting by Adi Prasetia in Medan

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Apple's new 16-Inch MacBook Pro: Everything you need to know - AppleInsider

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:31 PM PST

  After months of rumors, the revamped 16-inch MacBook Pro is official. Here is everything you need to know about the new machine.


The updated 16-inch Late-2019 MacBook Pr

This redesign follows a minor spec bump in mid-2019 and the large redesign that happened in late 2016. While the external appearance is about the same, it is a bit larger in every dimension, in part to pack in a larger display.

In addition to the slightly larger size, Apple has reduced the bezels on all sides to provide more usable screen real estate for pro users.

In regards to that size increase, it is so subtle that it likely won't be noticeable unless side-by-side. The new MacBook Pro also weighs a bit more, mostly due to the new battery that is absolutely the largest that the TSA allows, that can provide an additional hour of use.

Improved keyboard

Also new on the updated MacBook Pro is an improved keyboard. The new Magic Keyboard-derived design also returns the inverted "T" arrow keys and dissociates the escape key from the Touch Bar.


A redesigned keyboard has a dedicated escape key, Touch ID sensor, and an inverted 'T' for arrow keys

Apple's Phil Schiller talked at length about designing the new machine and how much effort went into making it comfortable and stable to type on, while still being reliable. With the redesign, we are excited to try out the 1mm of key travel, and see how it differs from the 2019 15-inch MacBook Pro.

More power GPU and better cooling

Thanks to the new GPUs, it can support up to two displays with 6016by3384 resolution at 60Hz or up to four displays with 4096by2304 resolution at 60Hz. That includes two Apple Pro Display XDRs when they launch this December.

Other improvements include better cooling for longer sustained maximum performance, and a faster 96W USB-C charger.

Improved speakers

After much-improved audio came to its recent products such as the Beats Solo Pro, AirPods Pro, and even the iPhone 11 Pro, the MacBook Pro also has better audio reproduction from the six on-board speakers.


Updated MacBook Pro

Looking at the specs, the new machines start at the same $2,399 price point as the base 15-inch MacBook Pro but are more powerful overall. The base model starts with a 2.6GHz 6-core 9th-generation Intel Core i7 processor. It can be upgraded to a 2.4Ghz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9.

It starts with 16GB of RAM, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory, and 512GB SSD storage. Maxed out with an i9 processor, 8TB of storage, and 64GB of RAM, the new machine could run you over $6,000.

How to save on Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro

B&H Photo, an Apple Authorized Reseller, is accepting orders for the new 16-inch MacBook Pro with a variety of incentives. Shoppers can select between no interest financing when paid in full within 12 months with the B&H Financing Card or a sales tax refund in eligible states with its Payboo Credit Card. The latter can save many shoppers anywhere from $200 on the standard configuration to $500 on a maxed out model on average.

Stay tuned to AppleInsider in the coming days for full analysis and breakdown once we get our hands on the new machines. And be sure to check out the AppleInsider 16-inch MacBook Pro Price Guide for the latest deals and product availability on Apple's newest hardware.

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VH1 slammed for 'sick' decision to cast El Chapo's wife - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 06:25 PM PST

VH1 is taking some heat for casting Emma Coronel, wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, in the second season of "Cartel Crew," a docuseries that examines how the narcotics ring impacts people who have been in its circle.

The cable network announced the news Wednesday to a wave of backlash from skeptics accusing the program of "glamorizing" the ugly and violent history of Mexican cartels and their most infamous kingpin. Many also pointed out Coronel's reputation for being complicit in her husband's crimes.

"This is a sick and terrible decision by VH1 to have El Chapo's wife, Emma Coronel, on its reality show 'Cartel Crew,'" tweeted Mexico-based journalist Ioan Grillo. "There is a humanitarian catastrophe in Mexico from cartel violence. This is not a glamorous reality show."

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Another Twitter user attributed the controversial move to a twisted demand for crime-based content in the U.S., expressing sympathy for cartel victims and their loved ones.

"I wonder how the families of cartel victims feel about this glorification of their criminal enterprise," the person wrote. "I'm sad that this is what America demands as entertainment. We're the romans, cheering for the lions. 'Are you not entertained?'"

A new teaser trailer sees Michael Corleone Blanco, son of "Cocaine Godmother" Griselda Blanco, and costar Marie Ramirez De Arellano respond to a call from Coronel, who apparently agreed to meet with them for the project. Coronel makes her grand entrance at the very end of the footage, looking blasé behind a stylish pair of sunglasses on a lavish yacht.

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Throughout the remainder of the season, Coronel, 30, will discuss how Guzmán, 62, has changed her life, as well as her ambitions as a businesswoman.

Following years of run-ins with the law, Guzmán was most recently convicted in February 2019 of selling hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana; conspiring to murder a slew of rivals; and running one of the world's largest drug networks.

The Sinaloa cartel leader gained international notoriety by repeatedly evading police capture during several prison breaks that spanned more than 10 years thanks to his Houdini-style escape methods, involving secret tunnels, mountain hideouts and seaside apartments. Through his many arrests and escapes, Coronel has been by his side and even has been accused of aiding him in his breakout plots.

A former teen beauty queen, Coronel has hardly shied away from the spotlight. She triggered similar outrage earlier this year when she announced plans to launch a clothing line called El Chapo Guzmán, inspired by her and her husband's style. Guzmán signed a contract from behind bars to help get the brand started.

"I am very excited and hope I can create things that everyone likes," Coronel wrote on Instagram in April in a post that has since been deleted.

Prosecution Close To Finishing Arguments In El Chapo Drug Conspiracy Trial

Emma Coronel arrives at the U.S. District Court in January 2019.

(Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

The pair's fashion choices became a topic of conversation during Guzmán's trial, when Coronel donned several high-fashion looks that suggested she might be preparing to step onto a runway rather than into a courtroom. At one point, the duo even arrived at an appointment in matching velvet blazers.

Coronel will make her first appearance on "Cartel Crew" in its Nov. 18 episode.

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'Law & Order' Actress Says Magician Ex Stalked and Assaulted Her, Maimed Her Pets - The Daily Beast

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 06:21 PM PST

The first time actress Diane Neal saw the illusionist, she was at a ski resort in frosty Park City, Utah in December 2013. Neal had come for the 22nd Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest, an annual fundraiser for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Waterkeeper Alliance, involving several celebrity-themed events—Celebrity Poker Night, celebrity slalom races, a gala dinner, and a celebrity auction. This year, word had spread of a celebrity magician. Neal remembers her friends asking, "Did you know the world's best magician is here and he's doing a secret show in the private library?"

One night at dinner, RFK Jr. approached Neal. The auctioneer hadn't shown up for the auction, he said. Could she improvise and take bids? Neal, a natural fast-talker who played prosecutor Casey Novak in Law & Order: SVU for 11 years, agreed. She climbed onstage and helped raise $700,000 from stars like Dr. Oz, Cheryl Hines, Rachel Dratch, Jason Alexander, and Miranda Lambert.

As Neal vamped on stage, she won an admirer in the crowd that night: JB Benn, the so-called "world's best magician," who happened to be at a front table with her friends. A few days later, Neal prepared to leave the 5-star resort, chatting with a group of her friends. Benn approached her and interrupted. "He's very ballsy,"  Neal recalls. "He's like, 'Hi, do you live in New York or LA?" 

The magician was cute, the actress thought. He wore a dapper ski outfit, and seemed brave, flirting in front of her friends. "Didn't seem like a weirdo," Neal said. 

In a scene more rom-com than police procedural, Neal's friends cheered noiselessly behind him, pointing and mouthing, "That's the magician! Say yes! Say yes!" Neal, newly dating and in the middle of a divorce, told Benn, "Get my number from one of the ladies. I've got to go."

Within two months, Benn—who is friends with Hollywood A-listers and has family ties to the industry—was practically living with Neal at her New Jersey brownstone with her three small dogs. "It was romantic," Neal says. "It was a different kind of romance. It wasn't like hot-fire passion. But it was sweet and it was simple."

But Neal now believes Benn's love for her was more illusion than magic. According to litigation that started last year, she claims Benn was a dangerous con artist who targeted her, isolated her, physically and sexually abused her, and worked to dismantle her career. 

The accusations on both sides read like a saga ripped from a Law & Order episode. In an amended complaint filed today against Benn as part of a nearly two-year court battle, the 43-year-old actress describes him as a "manipulative and maniacal fraudster," who allegedly "defrauded her of millions" and "violently inflicted emotional distress" on her via "a campaign of isolation, terror and (physical and sexual) assault, and destroyed her reputation by doing so."

According to Neal's lawsuit, Benn refused to put her on the title to a secluded home they purchased together in upstate New York; sent emails and text messages impersonating her to her friends and entertainment contacts; threatened her; abused her; and intentionally harmed her pets. 

In the complaint, Neal says the magician slashed her beloved toy poodle's throat, and told her that a cat caused the injury. Benn, the complaint says, also allegedly "bragged that he 'bashed the cat's brains in.'" (Neal told The Daily Beast her feline vanished while it was nursing kittens.)

On another occasion, Neal's lawsuit states, she awoke to Benn sexually assaulting her while appearing to record the act on his cellphone. This alleged attack came days after Neal broke up with Benn in March 2018. 

In a January 2019 affidavit filed at an earlier stage of the litigation, Benn called Neal's accusation of sexual assault "completely false and outrageously interposed as a tactic to cloud the fact that, on the merits, [Neal] has no entitlement to the relief she seeks." Neal "will say whatever she believes is necessary to gain sympathy and to support her ongoing vendetta against me," Benn stated. 

"I fear that as this lawsuit progresses, [Neal's] accusations will grow increasingly outlandish, and will be even less tethered to the supposed matter at issue here—the ownership of the [upstate] Property," he added. 

Benn denied Neal's other accusations in court filings, chalking them up to a "bad breakup" that Neal was supposedly molding into a real-estate dispute. "The only thing that [Neal's] papers prove is that she is so beholden to her anger over our failed relationship that she will swear to anything, without regard to the truth, to paint me in a false light and to try get [sic] from this Court what she wants..."

On April 1, Benn was arrested by state troopers for misdemeanor stalking. A criminal complaint, filed in Ulster County by New York State Police, states Benn attempted to "initiate unwanted contact with Diane Neal via email on 3/15/19 and 3/23/19 causing harm to the mental and emotional health of Diane Neal." Benn also allegedly drove past her residence seven times in 15 minutes while Neal was in her driveway, and showed up at the Ulster County District Attorney's Office while she was there, "causing Neal to fear for her life," according to the charging document. 

When a Beast reporter approached the 44-year-old Benn in court on Wednesday—where he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a noncriminal violation, in a deal that came with $200 in fines and fees, and a two-year order of protection for Neal—he declined to comment. (Neither he nor his attorneys returned multiple messages left by The Daily Beast.)

The Actress

Diane Neal says her "high tolerance" for eccentricity comes from her upbringing and the entertainment industry. "The business is very weird. People that are the best at what they do are extra tasty crispy weird. And then—you're a magician, you're even weirder," she said of her initial attraction to Benn. "The image he was putting forth, I understood on a cellular level."

Neal trends eccentric herself, boasting a long resume as an actress; commercial model; stand-up comic who once opened for Louie Anderson in Vegas; amateur archeologist; and independent Congressional candidate in New York's 19th District. The 5'10" actress has a shock of red hair, a husky voice, and a labyrinthine storytelling instinct, prone to digressing into side tangents on her Jewish-Mormon upbringing, her extensive list of celebrity friends (she says Fred Armisen based an SNL character off her) and her knowledge of Biblical archaeology. 

As a self-described nerd growing up in Colorado, "no one spoke to me in high school unless they needed their homework done," she said. "I would literally go home from school and hang out in my closet and write treatises on the state of the American educational system."

The actress was 16 when her parents shipped her off to Brigham Young University–Hawaii. Her father, a federal attorney, and her mother, a math teacher, converted to Mormonism after an older sibling died of cancer. Neal dropped out of BYU, where she says she studied astrophysics, not long after another elder sister entered her into a modeling contest. 

Months later, she was signed with IMG, lived in Japan and traveled across Europe, but felt modeling was a bore. "All I ever wanted to do was go to school, so everything I was doing was just to make money to go to school," she said. She spent one semester with BYU in Egypt and Israel and returned home to find a pamphlet for Atlantic Theater Company Acting School—founded by playwright David Mamet and actor William H. Macy—on her dining room table. "I thought, 'Oh, my god, I cannot believe people get paid for this," she said. "Game on.'" 

Neal's first Law & Order: SVU break came in the 2001 episode "Ridicule," where she played a suspect accused of raping a male stripper. She returned to the show two years later, replacing prosecutor Alexandra Cabot, played by Stephanie March. "I was all these other people and then became [the character] Casey [Novak]. I loved Casey," Neal said. "She was fierce and she was intense." 

Neal Baer, a showrunner on SVU for 11 years, told The Daily Beast that Diane Neal's acting chops impressed series brass, so they hired her following March's departure. "I've always been a fan of hers. She's really bright," Baer said. "I think the intelligence is really critical. She is smart and sharp and fair."

"I could count on her to be there on time, to know her lines, and to act really well," Baer told The Daily Beast. "There were never problems as to her performing."

One actress, Alisha McKinney, lauded Neal in a 2006 essay about her SVU appearance for the Topeka Capital-Journal in Kansas. McKinney was struggling with a simple scene: opening a door and delivering her line to Novak. "You know, on my first day I thought I was going to poop my pants. Honest to God, I didn't think I was going to make it … [Neal's] generosity and sense of fun were infectious—it was clear the crew adored her," McKinney wrote.

Neal's last appearance as an SVU regular came in 2008, during a season nine subplot where ADA Novak was censured for Brady violations. Neal said she learned she was being axed from the series via the makeup room's tabloids. "It was a surprise to me that I was being let go. No one called me," she said. (NBC declined to comment for this article, while a source close to the show said, "It would be accurate to say that Diane was a valuable member of the family for a long time.")

In 2009, Neal decided to go back to college, enrolling at Harvard's Extension School. She returned to SVU for five episodes in 2011 and 2012, before going on to play Special Agent Abigail Borin in NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans, star in Hallmark drama This Magic Moment, and make a steady stream of smaller appearances on shows like Suits and Power.

Neal said she empathizes with those considered socially awkward, off-beat, misunderstood. It was with this mindset that she embarked on a first date, arriving to a friend's ugly sweater Christmas party with an enigmatic magician. 

The Magician

JB Benn specializes in what he calls organic magic. "Our magic," Benn toldPhilstar Global of his 2004 series, Mondo Magic, "is organic." He's said variants of this same quote countless times. "What I love about the magic we do," he told The Malaysian Star in 2006 for a Singaporean reboot of the same program, "is that it is organic." 

For Benn, organic means showing up with nothing—no props, no cape, no assistant—and crafting deceptions from whatever is available. "I can show up at somebody's house and have nothing with me," Benn says in his website bio. "I can borrow a cup. If I went into your kitchen and took a big coffee mug and told you to stare at this thing you're used to seeing every day, then I lifted a grapefruit out from underneath it, well, people have been known to run out of their houses."

It's a fitting specialty for a man who now stands accused of actually forcing someone from their house. Benn declined to be interviewed for this article, as did a few of his friends, including the artist Chuck Close. But those that did speak with The Daily Beast said the magician is somewhat organic himself—appearing to come from nothing and divulging little about his family, childhood, or social world, even with those close to him.

"I have never met his mom and stepfather, despite asking numerous times," Neal wrote in a timeline of their relationship submitted to local authorities. "He has never, since the first few weeks, ever spoken about his sisters again … He never talks about friends ... About past friendships, I only heard about how the other person blew them up."

One neighbor, who sees Benn on a regular basis in upstate New York, echoed Neal's analysis. "I don't even know that he has any friends," the neighbor said. "He lives in that house by himself without any furniture. There's not one piece of furniture in that house except for the bedroom." 

Even the opening of Benn's personal TV series, Magic Man, which ran on the Travel Channel in 2013, reveals stunningly little about its star. "I'm JB Benn and I've traveled to some of the most exotic and remote destinations in the world," Benn recites in the opening credits. "But the way I experience traveling is through magic, and the way people from all different backgrounds react when they see something amazing, something unreal." The voice-over plays behind photos of Benn in "exotic" locations as anonymous audience members croon: Are you real? You are awesome! Get out! Throughout the show's eight, 20-minute episodes, that's pretty much all the bio you get. 

But from interviews, court documents, and research, it's possible to piece together a rough outline of Benn's personal history. The magician is a short, unremarkably handsome man with a substantial collection of hiking boots—a dead ringer for George Stephanopoulos, if he wore more surf clothes instead of suits. According to Neal, his mother, a Dutch woman named Vera Krijn, met his father, an older man from Baghdad named Charles Benn, in Spain. They married, had Benn in 1975, and split when he was a toddler. Not long later, the magician then moved to New York with his mother, where she remarried a man named William Wood Williamson and sent Benn to boarding school. (Krijn and Williamson did not respond to requests for comment). 

By Neal's account, the magician was not close with his mother, father, or stepfather, but he did admire his stepfather's brother, Robert "Bob" Williamson. Williamson was a diminutive man with Coke-bottle glasses, a fascination with beetles, a photographic memory (he could recite long swaths of Finnegans Wake off hand), and no job. As a young man, Williamson had worked at a textbook publishing house, but he quit when he met his wife, model and actress Lauren Hutton. From then on, Williamson's job was managing Hutton and her finances—his hold over her was so intense and unwavering the actress nicknamed him "Bob God." While Williamson served as her accountant, Hutton estimates she once netted some $35 million. But in a 2001 Vanity Fair interview, the model revealed that after Williamson's death, she discovered he had squandered her fortune away on girlfriends and the stock market, leaving her with nothing. (In the same sitting, Hutton also claimed Williamson had pressured her not to have kids and spread rumors she was gay. She did not respond to requests for comment on Benn.) 

"'I've seen JB do magic at least 250 times," Moby said, according to Benn's website, 'and each time I'm just as stunned as the last. Some of his magic shouldn't be possible, and it makes my brain hurt in the best possible ways.'"

According to Neal, Benn knew Williamson as a charismatic traveler, always off on some adventure, who had helped him move to New York and pursue a career in magic. Once in New York, Benn has claimed in several articles, he trained under René Lavand, an Argentinian magician with one arm, who was well-known for his mastery of "close-up magic." Lavand specialized in intimate, meticulous sleights of hand—his catchphrase was: "It cannot be done any slower." Benn adopted that style, and by at least Hutton's account, he wasn't too bad at it. One of Benn's older work bios cited a quote of hers in Women's Wear Daily: "I'm from the South," Hutton allegedly told him. "Where I'm from, they'd burn you for being able to do that!"

Benn's career started with some luck. According to a 2013 article in the South Africa Sunday Tribune, the young magician performed his first show in 1991 at age 16, when he walked into a random restaurant in Gramercy Park, picked a table, flipped some cards, disappeared some silver coins—and then realized his audience was The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek and Czech model Paulina Porizkova. 

In the years since, Benn has had several celebrity run-ins. The magician's website cites a motley crew of high-profile endorsements, from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, to filmmaker J.J. Abrams, to masked singer Sia, to Moby. "I've seen JB do magic at least 250 times," Moby said, according to Benn's website, "and each time I'm just as stunned as the last. Some of his magic shouldn't be possible, and it makes my brain hurt in the best possible ways." (All but Schmidt confirmed their quotes to The Daily Beast; Moby declined to explain how, exactly, he came to see Benn 250 times.) 

It's hard to say how Benn broke into the fringes of Hollywood, but he did have some TV exposure himself. In 1995, Benn made a cameo appearance in the Harrison Ford remake of Sabrina, playing a dinner party magician. In 2004, he got a bigger break co-starring alongside magician Chris Korn in A&E's Mondo Magic, where the pair performed street magic in different countries. The show got mixed reviews in the magic community ("I feel JB Benn's performance skills lack," one guest user wrote on a Genii forum). Some critics even devised a drinking game for Benn's awkward tics, at times nervous or intense: "Every time Benn takes someone by the arm and drags them to a different location or camera angle (seemingly against their will)," user Dave1216 wrote on a Magic Cafe forum, "you drink." 

But the show did well enough to get renewed for a second season, this time funded by the Singapore Tourism Board to air on AXN-Asia. Mondo Magic Singapore, which debuted in 2006, is a wild ride of mid-aughts graphics, time-lapse montages of crowded streets, and fairly generic magic tricks. Still, it ranked "Highly Commended in the Best Entertainment Program" at the 2006 Asian Television Awards.

In the following years, Benn worked corporate gigs and private events, racking up a client list with names like Warren Buffet, Bono, Oprah, Nelson Mandela, Donna Karan, HBO, Goldman Sachs, and Vanity Fair. In 2013, Benn returned to cable again, this time as the star of his own series, Magic Man. The Travel Channel production was nearly identical to Mondo Magic, but with more domestic destinations—like Miami and San Francisco. (While performing at the Giants' baseball stadium, one player told Benn, "Quit looking at me with the creepy face." Later, after Benn performed a card trick in his mouth, the player added: "That's kinda creepy, I can tell ya.") 

The series did well enough that, the same year, Fox ordered a reality special called Unreal with JB Benn, where he would perform for celebrities, touring star-studded events, and pulling coins out of famous ears. It was Unreal that brought Benn to the Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest in December of 2013. And it was there that Benn laid eyes on a red-haired woman in a strapless black dress named Diane Neal. 

The Relationship

The year leading up to the Park City meet-cute in 2013 was laden with challenges for Neal. That May, she fractured her spine in a car wreck with an uninsured drunk driver in Los Angeles. The motorist sued her, she claims, even though she says she wasn't at fault. She was also in the midst of an acrimonious divorce with her former husband, Irish model Marcus Fitzgerald, and her lawyer advised her to move from Studio City back to the East Coast. She'd been renting out her renovated brownstone in Jersey City, only to discover the tenants had allegedly caused thousands in damages, leading to more litigation.

"It was the first time I remember being exhausted. The first time I remember being depleted," Neal told The Daily Beast. Benn became "the most comfortable place in what had become a very uncomfortable life," Neal recalled. "It was sweet and comfortable and it was easy. He would just listen and talk." They escaped the high-octane world of stardom, laying in bed watching Netflix with her dogs—Winnie and Father Ted, two toy poodles, and Charlie the Maltipoo.

While Neal traveled for NCIS, Benn would stay at her Jersey City home and watch the pups. Although Benn owned an apartment in Manhattan's East Village, he stayed at her townhouse almost full-time. Looking back now, Neal claims Benn enjoyed "unfettered access" to her home office, her computer, and even her finances.

Two months into their budding relationship, Benn talked about moving upstate. He would also tell her "the world's craziest stories," she says, though she recalls he seemed to have photos to back them up. "So he would tell me, after Bob [Williamson] died, he wandered around Papua New Guinea for like a year," Neal said. "He goes to this tribe and does all this magic. They want to kill him and then they want him to run for parliament representing them eventually."

Neal said Benn didn't seem to have many friends and didn't invite her to visits with his family. Within the first two years of dating, Neal claims she only met Benn's godmother, the writer Jane Lancellotti—who's married to Dexter showrunner Clyde Phillips—and his friend, artist Michael Kramer. One New Year's was spent at Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany's place in Vermont. "But no one there really knew him. He was there to do magic," Neal said. Benn would also send Neal pictures while visiting Moby's house, and "Sia would call and be like, 'Hey can you do the wedding? I got your number from Moby.'" (Neither Lancellotti, Phillips, Kramer, Connelly, nor Bettany responded to requests for comment). 

The longer the relationship went on, Benn became more entangled in Neal's friendships and business affairs. If a friend was trying to reach her, they'd call Benn and he'd say "Oh, Diane's on set. Just tell me and I'll pass it on." But he never relayed the messages, Neal says. Sometimes, he'd tell her friends that Diane was suicidal, homicidal and an alcoholic and he needed to get her help.

According to Neal, the couple planned to move upstate, putting offers on homes as early as June 2014. That fall, according to Neal's lawsuit, Benn was "aware of Neal's considerable assets" and "successfully persuaded Neal to consider purchasing a residential property in the Hudson Valley." One year later, they bought a $529,900 home in the woods, on a winding, dead-end country road. 

"What was supposed to be their forever home quickly became a source of contention."

The crux of Neal's original lawsuit, filed in April 2018, hinges on that house. It claims Benn agreed to add her name to the title once her divorce was finalized and after she reimbursed him for her portion of the house. Neal says that she repeatedly asked Benn to put her on the title, and he lied about meeting with a lawyer to do so.

Neal's divorce was resolved and her Jersey home sold in January 2016. In the complaint in the original lawsuit, Neal claimed she wired $100,000 to Benn for her share of the purchase price and spent over $259,000 on renovations on the property, believing she'd be made co-owner. (For his part, Benn claimed the hundred grand was payback for a loan, an allegation Neal denies.)

In an affidavit in response, Benn countered that Neal had merely helped him look for his own upstate home. She "was also helpful in moving the purchase of the property forward, and did participate in emails with counsel related to that purchase," Benn claimed, but added that he never agreed that Neal "would be a co-owner."

What was supposed to be their forever home quickly became a source of contention, according to one of Neal's longtime friends. Neal felt insecure in her own home, the friend said, while "JB was able to hold over her head this sword that he could kick her out at any time." The confidant became involved as a mediator in the couple's crossfire over their property. The situation, he said, "undermined any chance of them having a successful relationship."

The friend said Benn phoned and texted him constantly. "I think part of it was him trying to create a narrative and win the favor of Diane's friends," he said. During one call, Benn allegedly told him Neal was "suicidal, crazy and narcissistic." 

"I thought about that afterward," the friend said. "I know Diane isn't suicidal. She's almost empathetic to a fault. She gives so much of herself to others, it's the opposite of narcissism. I felt JB was off the mark. I blocked his number."

After the purchase of the rural home in June 2015, Neal agreed to take a six-month break from acting for back surgery and physical therapy. She said that around this time, Benn persuaded her not to rent her Jersey City house to her friends and to sell it instead.

Eddie Applebaum, a music executive and friend of Neal's, said he was supposed to rent her brownstone two months before his wife was due to give birth. "We already agreed to move in. JB started sabotaging that, telling me that he was just doing Diane's dirty work," Applebaum said of the conversation that caused a years-long rift between him and Neal.

Even before the fight, Benn would call and text Applebaum at 4 or 5 a.m., warning that Neal was having a meltdown. "This was constant," Applebaum said. "I said, 'If you really think there's something going on with her, call the police.'" When Applebaum would speak to Neal separately, she seemed okay and would tell him, "I'm a little stressed out here and JB and I had a little riff, but I don't know why he's bothering you with this stuff."

While Benn and Neal were on a trip to Iceland in February 2015, Applebaum says, the magician called him and said, "Diane is in the woods and I don't know when she's coming back." He added, "He was incessantly texting me. I had to tell him to stop."

Benn's calls and texts indicated he was concerned for Neal's safety. "I would say, 'Why? What is she doing? He would say, 'Nothing, but she just seems like she's on the edge.' It was a very strange situation. I will never be able to make sense of it."

"I've always said it's life imitating art," Applebaum said of Neal's relationship with Benn. "It's a Law & Order: SVU story that's playing out in real life."

By May 2017, renovation on the couple's upstate home was complete—but their relationship was becoming increasingly volatile. For one, there was the alleged animal abuse. "Benn—in order to deter Neal from leaving him or crossing him—slit the throat of Neal's dog, Father Ted," Neal's lawsuit states. "Benn's explanation was incredible: claiming Neal's cat had attacked Father Ted."  

Father Ted survived after Neal rushed him to a vet. Kitty Kyle, a nursing mother cat that Neal took in as a stray, vanished soon afterwards. The kittens started to disappear, too, Neal claims in her lawsuit. In January 2018, the lawsuit adds, "Benn broke the back of Neal's other dog, leaving the dog severely handicapped." Neal told The Daily Beast her vet ruled Winnie, the toy poodle, had suffered a severed spine from blunt-force trauma. (The vet did not respond to requests for comment.) 

More disturbingly, Neal claims Benn physically and sexually abused her on several occasions. In August of 2017, Neal's amended complaint states, "Benn instigated an argument with Neal, then violently assaulted her, repeatedly kicking her. Benn left Neal bruised on the floor. After Neal begged that Benn leave the home, Benn refused and spent the remainder of the evening in the driveway [in] order to prevent her from fleeing."

In an interview, Neal said, "I'm so upset because it's the first time that anyone has raised a hand to me … and it wasn't a hand by the way. He never uses his hands. He kicks." (Neal told The Daily Beast that Benn often wore gloves to protect his hands for magic.)

Neal told The Daily Beast she thought Benn had left. She was livid, she says, and grabbed a golf club from the garage and smashed a set of exterior lights on the house. Benn, who was allegedly watching from a vehicle in the driveway, flashed the car's lights and revved the engine while filming her. "I thought he was going to run me over," Neal said. "I'm screaming, 'Leave! Just leave!'"

According to Neal, Benn physically attacked her a second time that Thanksgiving, as they planned to drive into the city to spend the holiday with friends. "Benn offered to drive her, and encouraged Neal to take a muscle relaxant," the amended complaint states, but then "refused to drive Neal to the gathering … after a brief verbal argument, Benn again attacked Neal, again kicking her until she was black and blue." 

Neal told The Daily Beast she later learned Benn was texting her friend, from Neal's phone, saying "D's a disaster. She's not going to make it." 

"I'm so upset because it's the first time that anyone has raised a hand to me … and it wasn't a hand by the way. He never uses his hands. He kicks."

Neal's lawsuit alleges Benn abused her on a third occasion in February 2018, kicking her repeatedly while wearing a pair of hiking boots—an attack that caused "widespread contusions and/or hematomas" on both of her legs. (In a reply to Neal's original complaint, Benn denied abusing her and countersued her for defamation, but withdrew his counterclaims a month later as part of a stipulation that also consolidated two of Neal's lawsuits against him.)

In an interview, the actress said that this last alleged incident occurred as she plotted her run for Congress. Her mother, Colleen, had traveled to New York to watch the dogs. Evelien Kong, a producer friend, was visiting, too, and prepared to film video clips of the actress discussing her political platform.

Neal told The Daily Beast that Benn sent Colleen and Kong away for a long lunch, then physically assaulted her in their absence. "He kicks the bejeezus out of me. I'm begging, 'Why? What do I have to do to get away from you?'" Neal recalled. 

According to the actress' lawsuit, Benn later contacted Kong and told her that "Neal was suicidal." 

In a written statement about the incident that Colleen provided to Neal's attorneys, she said her daughter needed more time to get ready for the video interviews, so she and Kong left. "While we were eating the producer got a phone call from JB saying Diane was trying to kill herself and we needed to get back to the house immediately," Colleen stated, adding that Kong was "really upset."

"We hurried back to the house and found Diane still sitting in the chair in the living room exactly where we had left her. JB told the producer to leave. He did not want Diane to have a campaign interview. He was lying to the producer to upset her and have her leave and she did leave and Diane has not been able to do that interview since."

Neal says that when Kong and her mom returned from lunch, "Evelien and I sit there and she wants to talk. I'm upset but it's almost more humiliating to just admit that you'd just take it and not run ... I didn't tell anyone that he kicked the shit out of me. I just said we got into a huge argument. I was humiliated for anyone to know I'd literally had my ass kicked three times and had taken it." 

To Neal, the relationship was over. But she said she'd soon unearth more disturbing revelations about the man who'd been her partner.

"In early 2018, while Benn was traveling, Neal discovered documentation in Benn's home office in the [upstate] Hurley Residence that revealed that Benn—without Neal's knowledge or consent —had fraudulently transferred monies from her bank accounts, stolen her personal checks, and used her credit card accounts to pay for his personal expenses," Neal's amended complaint alleges. "In total, Benn has robbed Neal of hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Neal would also discover that Benn had secretly transferred the title of her car to himself in October 2014,  the complaint states. In an interview, Neal said she was vacationing in Peru with a friend when Benn allegedly stole her vehicle.

And Benn changed the trigger locks to her firearms, "stripping her of any means of protecting herself," the complaint alleges.

Finally, in March 2018, Neal's complaint alleges, the actress woke to Benn sexually assaulting her. She said the magician was digitally penetrating her vagina with one hand, while holding a cellphone in another. She screamed and woke her sister, Leigh, who was visiting the house on Neal's request for protection. Leigh ran downstairs to Neal's room. "Mr. Benn was smirking and laughing and it appeared to me he was enjoying the fact he had done something to hurt Diane," Leigh stated in an affidavit, which Neal sent to Ulster County investigators. "Diane told me she and Mr. Benn had not been intimate in a long time and he did not treat her like a girlfriend. This was also apparent to me by Mr. Benn's words and actions."

Neal fled to a house she was renting for her Congressional campaign. Soon after, she phoned Tim Hardiman, a former NYPD commander and private investigator whom she'd befriended during her SVU days, to discuss how she should report the alleged attack. Hardiman began looking into which law enforcement agency would have domain over the alleged assault. In an interview with The Daily Beast, Hardiman confirmed Neal called him for help "before she went to the police" and said the sexual assault probe is with the Ulster County District Attorney's Office. "I gave her some advice on gathering some evidence, preserving her phone and doing stuff like that," Hardiman said. "She had determined that her electronics were compromised."

"Mr. Benn was smirking and laughing and it appeared to me he was enjoying the fact he had done something to hurt Diane."

After the actress fled, Benn refused to allow her to recover her belongings and furniture from their upstate home and his New York apartment, her lawsuit states. (The owner of the moving company that Neal hired said his men were also stymied by Benn.) Neal told The Daily Beast some of those prized possessions include a collection of loose gemstones and a Salvador Dali painting called The Black Devil.

When Neal's mother, Colleen, intervened to collect her daughter's items from the upstate property, as she later told Neal's legal team in a written statement, Benn at first wouldn't let her in the house, then relented and confided that he worried that Diane was suicidal, claiming she'd tried to hang herself from climbing ropes she used to hang ceiling lights.

"Diane is way too smart to use a climbing rope and, anyway, would never kill herself," the mother wrote, adding that she was shocked by Benn's persistence in his wild claims. "If he had really been worried about her, he would have called 911 or her parents as he had our phone numbers. He continued to get me alone and pump me for information and tell me again and again that Diane had tried to hang herself and he had rescued her and I should be grateful."

Colleen told The Daily Beast that Benn had previously called her and argued Neal shouldn't run for Congress. "If she runs for Congress, she's going to get killed," Benn said, according to Colleen, who added that he claimed he wouldn't put Neal on the title to their home because she could lose it to creditors. Colleen said Benn also suggested that Neal should draft a will and leave everything to him in case his election prophecy came true. 

At one point, Colleen said, Benn informed her he'd "gotten rid of the mother cat," referring to Kitty Kyle. Colleen added: "I didn't ask how he got rid of her."

Neighbors say they were also roped into the pair's convoluted conflict. One neighbor told The Daily Beast both Benn and Neal "just wanted to vent about" each other. He said the magician "tends to go around videotaping people and taping phone conversations, and obviously not telling you and trying to use this against you. Even though I repeatedly told him I didn't want to see any of the stuff he recorded about Diane, he would just put the phone in your face."

In one of the recordings, the neighbor said, Benn was egging Neal on when she was having a rough day. "She was upset, and he was videotaping it," the resident said. "He showed it to me. I just found it sad."

"He comes over frequently at very strange hours," the neighbor added. "I think he thinks she's here, which she never is. He just shows up at my house unannounced."

A second neighbor told The Daily Beast that more than a year ago, Benn tried discussing the conflict, asking whether he'd seen any strange cars cruise past Benn's home. "He explained that their relationship blew up, police got involved, he starts to elaborate and I was like, 'I don't want to get involved,'" the neighbor said.

"I don't know who the hell to believe," he said. "Either one of them could be telling the truth but I would never know."  

The Aftermath

In the spring of 2018, days after Neal picked up some of her belongings from the house, the actress and magician each filed for restraining orders. Family Court granted both requests, ensuring the couple maintained a legal distance from one another until the end of 2018. Benn and Neal weren't talking, but they were still connected through the upstate house. Neal tried to get a judge to name her as an equal owner of the property, as Benn put the house on the market in April 2018.

Meanwhile, Neal's acting career had imploded and she'd fallen off the Hollywood audition circuit. Her longtime agent, Ro Diamond, declined to comment for this article, but said they had not worked together for some time. Another of Neal's talent agencies, Osbrink Talent Agency, also said they no longer represent her. Neal blamed Benn—she claimed in the lawsuit he had secretly blocked contacts from her phone, impersonated her in texts and phone calls, and spread rumors she was a suicidal alcoholic—and believed she'd been "blackballed."

So Neal threw herself more deeply into a project that had been percolating for months: running for Congress. On May 2, 2018, Neal filed for candidacy in New York's 19th Congressional District. It was a competitive race—several Democrats, including progressive wunderkind Antonio Delgado, were running to oust one-term incumbent John Faso, a Republican. Neal's campaign got off to a rocky start. In August of that year, the New York State Board of Elections rejected 1,852 of the 4,181 signatures on her petition, leaving her 1,171 short of the mandatory number. Neal appealed to the courts, which ruled in her favor a month later. 

But the campaign struggled to take off. Neal had never been especially clear about her platform—in one of the few TV interviews she gave about her campaign, the actress described herself as "mostly liberal with a bit of libertarian." When pressed about her issues, Neal responded: "Well, it's all the issues." Elsewhere, she elaborated on her platform: a unified single-payer health care system; universal pre-K; protecting "the First Amendment at all costs"; and supporting "responsible gun ownership." Under her Second Amendment plank, she elaborated: "The dude who perpetrated the massacre in Las Vegas had 47 guns. No one needs 47 guns. No one needs 47 American Girl dolls. No one needs 47 anything! We could set a reasonable limit. If you want more, you can have them, you just have pop down to your local police station to check in. Not a big deal, but a smart idea."

On another occasion, the actress described her key concern for upstate New York as telecommunications infrastructure—specifically, Wi-Fi. "I'm embarrassed to say this, but I've been back in school, because I couldn't do much with this back injury," Neal told newscaster Katy Tur. "And I got a C-. I was like, ugh, a C-? I don't get a C-! No one gets a C-! And it's because the internet—the maximum I could pay for—was three megabytes per second." 

If Wi-Fi was a key concern in her district, it didn't register with voters. "She definitely does not have a clear agenda on issues," Amy Dooley, a member of the New Paltz town Democratic Committee, told the Daily Freeman. "It was kind of Trumpian how she just kind of threw out these populist type of ideas that don't really work." 

Neal told The Daily Beast, "I don't enjoy politics; I enjoy governance." To prep for her candidacy, Neal says she read Plato's Republic and works by "Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Paine, Hamilton…" taking notes and writing a draft of her own unpublished book, "Empathy and Reason: a Non-Psychokiller Manifesto." ("Empathy & Reason" became her campaign slogan.)

After Delgado secured the Democratic nomination, Neal announced she would run as an Independent, opening her to charges that she was trying to split the vote. (Neal claims she actually helped Delgado's campaign by siphoning votes from Republicans: "You're welcome Antonio!") But on November 6, it appeared her campaign had little effect at all. Delgado won with 51.4 percent of the vote; Neal came in with just 1 percent. 

On February 15, 2019, a year and a month after Neal and Benn broke up, the actress filed her second civil lawsuit against the magician, accusing him of 10 charges including sexual battery, assault, fraud, defamation, identity theft, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 

Two months later, Benn responded in court, vigorously disputing all charges, and accusing his ex-girlfriend of spinning "a web of half-truths and outright misrepresentations." Neal, Benn's lawyer claimed, "seems incapable of telling the whole truth (despite being under oath), no matter how important or unimportant the matter at hand." 

Meanwhile, Neal reported Benn to local law enforcement for behavior she described as "stalking." On March 28 of this year, Benn was charged with misdemeanor stalking for "driving by Neal's residence 7 times in 15 minutes for no legitimate purpose while Neal was in her driveway," according to the charging documents. 

Neal claims Benn had been "hunting" her since the day the order of protection expired in December 2018. "I would wake up in the middle of the night to pee, he would be outside the bathroom window. I pull around the curve, he's there in my stolen car," she said, adding that Benn once called her shrink 20 times, from four different numbers, over a two-day period. According to her lawsuit, Neal "noticed that Benn's car repeatedly would patrol her home on a nightly basis."   

And, in a handwritten deposition filed as part of Benn's stalking case, Neal said Benn "parking outside, sneaking into the yard to look through the windows, emailing, calling my doctor, my vets, my family, my friends—many times a day…"

Yesterday, during Benn's court appearance at which he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, his defense attorney A.J. Iuele, told The Daily Beast that prosecutors "did their due diligence" in investigating Neal's claims. "She came out with some horrible accusations and the result was akin to a parking ticket."

Before the magician showed up in court, one of his supporters, a septuagenarian who said his name was Hank Williams, chatted up Tim Lawson, the Ulster County assistant prosecutor on the case. The men were discussing The Daily Beast's forthcoming story when a reporter approached. Williams muttered that Neal was trying to resurrect her career through her litigation against Benn. He declined to comment further. 

When The Daily Beast asked about Lawson's friendly chat with Benn's supporter, the ADA said, "I have never met them before this." But later, he recanted and admitted, "We have met each other at a previous court appearance. He had wanted to tell me his perspective before."

When Benn arrived, he was quiet and collected, whispering to Williams and giving a thumbs up to his lawyer while seated inside the tiny town hall—a building that also houses the tax collector, town clerk and assessor. At one point, a divider-on-wheels was pulled out to separate the criminal proceedings from a local government meeting.

After the magician signed his paperwork and headed out, Lawson patted Williams' arm. "Good luck! And I hope to never see you again. Especially you." Benn declined to comment to a reporter, answering with a smile: "Got litigation pending, so I'll have to contact my lawyers."

Lawson told The Daily Beast that securing an order of protection for Neal and "making sure the parties stayed away from each other" was the prosecution's "primary interest" in the plea agreement. Asked if Neal knew about this deal, Lawson said the DA's office had discussed potential violations months ago. (For her part, Neal says she tried repeatedly to reach Lawson for an update "since the one, non-final, discussion in early June.")

Indeed, Neal says her relationship with local authorities has become fraught. Since moving out in March 2018, she had been in an extended correspondence with the Ulster County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney, requesting an investigation into Benn's activities. Neither the Sheriff's Office nor the District Attorney responded to multiple requests for comment on this story, but Neal forwarded dozens of emails she sent over the course of 2018, recounting her story in excruciating detail. She claims they responded with minimal action. "I know you guys are busy, and that my case is not a priority," Neal wrote in a November 29, 2018 email, "but I've been reaching out, leaving messages, for months, trying to get ahold of you guys so that I can know what is, or isn't, going on and take action based on that." 

In another email, she wrote, "Estranged from loved ones, always honest but painted as a liar, I am not by the bedside or shouldering the burden of family members in need, unable to work for a thousand reasons and thereby unable to help others financially. Homeless so I cannot offer shelter to the many who have called my homes theirs freely and without cost. Everyone's most capable, loyal and true friend reduced to wracking sobs…"

In March of 2019, the Ulster sheriff reached out to Neal's sister, Leigh, who had witnessed the aftermath of the alleged sexual assault, for a statement to aid the investigation. She provided a sworn affidavit. "In my opinion, [Benn] is a kleptomaniac and master manipulator," the sister wrote in her statement, "Tools of a trade he's perfected since childhood as a now professional magician." The following month, authorities arrested Benn on a second charge of misdemeanor stalking.

Neal went so far as to request a meeting with the New York Attorney General Leticia James (that didn't pan out), and less official legal figures, like her former co-worker, actress Mariska Hargitay, who plays New York Police Department Captain Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU. 

In an email (subject line: "Joyful Heart"), Hargitay responded to Neal: "I'm so very very sorry for what happened to you and what you've gone through and have had to endure. I send you love and care and comfort and courage." In an unfortunate coincidence, Hargitay then signed off, "With much love, Mariska Sent with magic!"

Frustrated by a lack of movement on her case, Neal visited the Ulster County DA's office on a whim in March of this year and broke down in the rotunda. "I'm here to ask why my life doesn't mean a thing to you guys," Neal cried. A secretary offered to look up Neal's case—but according to Neal, it didn't exist. "There were no complaint numbers in the computer," Neal said. "Not one complaint number, not one case number. Nothing. Not a record of me," she said." 

"And guess who walks in? JB Benn," Neal said. "He comes upstairs. He has no appointment to be there. Do you know what excuse he gave to be there? 'Oh, I just came to get her forwarding address.'" 

Trooper Steven Nevel told The Daily Beast that according to his agency's reports, Benn flagged down a postal worker and asked for Neal's forwarding address. A trooper spoke with a detective from the Ulster County DA's office, who stated the postal employee did not give Benn that information but told him how he could likely obtain it.

Neal first came to state police barracks to report the alleged stalking on February 28, 2019, Nevel said. Afterward, troopers told Benn to stay away from the actress, and his lawyer, A.J. Iuele, told troopers Benn would comply with the request.

Since the break-up, Neal has gone through five different lawyers, all of whom she claimed had wronged her in some way and run off with her money. Her restraining order had expired, her request for a second one was rejected, and her attempt to get listed as an equal owner of the house proved ineffective. 

Benn has all but disappeared from the public eye, though he emerged briefly for a TV appearance this past summer. The segment was for an ABC game show called To Tell The Truth, where a panel of celebrity judges hears from three guests—two of whom are imposters—and votes on whom they believe is telling the truth. In the July 14th episode, Benn pretended to be a professional hypnotist, but not very well; only one judge believed him. 

Today's amended complaint, filed by Neal's new legal team, Sarmad Khojasteh and Danielle Gill of the Kasowitz Benson Torres firm, captures the actress' story in greater detail. "As a result of Benn's depraved and unconscionable conduct against Neal, and his attempts to continue the campaign of terror and intimidation against her, Neal—fearing for life and her safety, and at great personal cost—has been forced to live in hiding rather than pursue her professional career," the complaint alleges.

"Ms. Neal has suffered a devastating ordeal—as a victim of domestic abuse that robbed her of her personal security, as a victim of a fraudulent scheme that robbed her of the financial security that she earned during an extremely successful acting career, and as a victim of lawyers and prosecutors who have served her extremely poorly," Khojasteh told The Daily Beast in a statement. "This lawsuit is a first step towards Ms. Neal reclaiming her life and obtaining justice. We will be taking all necessary steps, including working with law enforcement, to ensure Ms. Neal is protected and vindicated."

Hardiman, the private eye, said at least some of Neal's accusations have a chance of being prosecuted. "Relationships are complicated," Hardiman said. "The things she's told me, some of the specific incidents I have investigated or gathered information about, I have found there to be supporting evidence."

"That there are exceptional crazy details in her story does not mean that it's unbelievable," Hardiman told The Daily Beast, adding, "Just because it sounds like something out of a novel, doesn't mean it's not true."

"The real question this is going to become: Was this a good honest relationship and people parted ways? Or was this relationship a fraud from the outset?" 

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Cheetah Mobile Inc. (CMCM) Q3 2019 Earnings Call Transcript - Motley Fool

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 06:20 PM PST

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Image source: The Motley Fool.

Cheetah Mobile Inc. (NYSE:CMCM)
Q3 2019 Earnings Call
Nov 13, 2019, 8:00 a.m. ET

Contents:

  • Prepared Remarks
  • Questions and Answers
  • Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good day and welcome to the Cheetah Mobile Third Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions].

I would now like to turn the conference over to Helen Zhu, Investor Relations Director of Cheetah Mobile. Please go ahead ma'am.

Helen Zhu -- Investor Relations Director

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Cheetah Mobile third quarter 2019 earnings conference call. With us today are our Chairman and CEO, Mr. Sheng Fu; and our CFO, Mr. Vincent Jiang. Following management's prepared remarks, we will conduct a Q&A session. Before we begin, I refer you to the Safe Harbor statements in our earnings release, which also applies to our conference call today as we will make forward-looking statements. At this time, I would now like to turn the conference call over to our Chairman and CEO, Mr Sheng Fu, please go ahead.

Sheng Fu -- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Helen. Hello everyone. In the quarter, our utility product business continue to face headwinds due to an unfavorable macro environment in both overseas and the domestic markets. In overseas markets the recent global business environment had brought some difficulty to Chinese enterprise in the process of going abroad to deal [Phonetic]. We continue to face challenges that results from the misleading statements made by our third party last November.

We have not yet resumed business relations with the Facebook, despite an independent review of these misleading statements, our -- by outside [inaudible] and at the use of Facebook's pre-approved independent data auditing firm, AlixPartners. This audit -- this audit does does identify any information in consistent with our previous disclosure.

In the domestic market, we continue to see softer than expected ad demand due to macro headwinds. Additionally, handset makers have increasingly integrated mission-critical feature for cleaning security and battery management into their operating system. The impacts from our external operating environments on our business is more significant than we expected. We expect those headwinds to continue affecting our business in the short term.

In spite of these short term challenges, Cheetah Mobile remains fundamentally strong. In the third quarter of 2019, revenues from our mobile entertainment business grew by 7% year-over-year to RMB532 million and the revenues from our AI-related business grew by 88 year over year to RMB35 million. Despite the challenge of suspending revenue growth for our utility product business, we still earned almost RMB353 million in revenue and more than RMB24 million in operating profits from this business in the quarter. In the quarter, we continued to implement cost control measures for both our utility product business and our mobile entertainment business. During the quarter, our cost and expense for our utility products business and our mobile entertainment business were reduced by almost 12% year-over-year. In the Third quarter, we began to experiment with several new channels to acquire users and to monetize our traffic in the overseas market. While this deal take some time, we have already seen some encouraging results.

In addition, we began to introduce several new premium features within our existing utility products and the game for users to subscribe to. The initial results have being very encouraging. Our user subscription model diversified our revenue source, particularly in the overseas markets where we do not have the direct sales team for our ad business. The decline in operating profits in this quarter was largely attribute to our increase in environment for AI, which amounts to roughly RMB140 million in the quarter and the one-time non-cash asset impairment of about RMB50 million.

In the third quarter of 2019, we amended LiveMe's share incentive plan to give LiveMe's current management team more flexibility and incentive to run the business independently, increasing competitive market environments. As is the result, Cheetah Mobile will no longer hold its majority voting power in LiveMe and we will not consolidate LiveMe's financial from 4Q 2019. We are confident in LiveMe's management team and that believe they will lead the team to execute it's long-term growth strategy. Cheetah Mobile will in turn benefit from LiveMe's growth as a major shareholder. Besides, as LiveMe generates the majority of the loss.

For our mobile entertainment segment in the past, our margin for segments under the corporate level were, again, as [Indecipherable] left starting in the fourth quarter of 2019. Importantly, Cheetah Mobile has a very strong balance sheet. As of September 30, 2019, we had net cash of US$337 million, and the long-term equity investments of US$348 million which includes Bytedance, WiFi Master, Codemao, and other well-known assets in which we made early round investment. In the future, we will continue to use our cash to grow our business. At the same, we will look at capitalizing our product [Phonetic] investments and using these funds for business development and shareholders returns.

Overall, we remain confident that our utility product business and the mobile game business will resume their growth. As a result, we will continue to invest in our AI-related business to build long-term growth for Cheetah Mobile. Our AI-related business made substantial progress in the term of consumer adoption and the user engagement in the quarter. Our AI business is a joint effort with Beijing Orion Star.

Our service robots, which are powered by our preparatory voice and [Indecipherable] interactive knowledge that are now being used in many in place such as a shopping malls, museums, schools and subways. Our surveys robots cover more than 20 industries, surveys more than 800 enterprise customers and having attracted users to use more than 130 million times. In addition, daily voice carried [Phonetic] from our robots has recently surpassed 2 million. As more enterprise customers adopt service robots, we believe service robots will become the next traffic gateway in the post smartphone era.

As of today, we are already one of the largest service robots providers in China. And we are confident in both growing our market share and our ability to become a market leader in the coming quarter. In the third quarter, Beijing Orion Star signed a series B funding agreement with an outside investor. At the same time, Cheetah Mobile will also fully exercise its balance [Phonetic] in Beijing Orion Star. We expect the deal to close by the end of November. Post transaction, Cheetah Mobile, will remain a major shareholder of Beijing Orion Star. Importantly, this transaction will give us more flexibility in the execution of our AI strategy and it will take time for us to educate customers, build business models and generates material revenues from our AI business. However, we do believe we are on the right track.

And as the development of 5G technology we will speed up this progress and at the same time, our experience in developing tool-base consumer products, our knowledge of how the Internet works and our sophisticated voice and visual interactive technologies will enable us to capture the opportunities going forward.

With that, we'll now turn the call to our CFO, Vincent Jiang to go through the details of our third quarter financial results.

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Thanks. Mr. Fu Sheng and hello everyone. I will now walk you through our financial results. Unless stated otherwise, all money amounts are in RMB and our gross comparisons are made on a year-over-year basis.

For the 3rd quarter, total revenues decreased by 32% to RMB920 million. Revenues from our mobile entertainment business increased by 7% to RMB532 million. Mobile game revenues increased by 4% to EUR297 million, driven by the boost in popularity of Bricks n Balls, which we launched in early 2018.

LiveMe Revenues increased by 11% to RMB235 million, primarily driven by higher average revenue per paying user. Revenues from utility products and related services decreased by 58% to RMB353 million in the third quarter of 2019, primarily due to the slowdown in our mobile utility business in overseas markets.

Headwinds in the domestic online advertising market also affected our mobile utility product business in China.

Moving to our cost expenses, to help facilitate the discussion of the Company's operating performance without the effect of non-cash share-based compensation expenses, the following discussion will be on a non-GAAP basis, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses. For financial information presented in accordance with US GAAP, please refer to our press release which is available on Cheetah Mobile's website at www.cmcm.com.

Cost of revenues decreased by 4% to RMB366 million in the third quarter of 2019 due to reduced cost associated with our utility product business which were partially offset by the increases in channel costs related to our mobile games business and other costs associated with our AI business.

Gross margin in the third quarter of 2019 decreased by 43% to RMB554 million and gross margin was 60% compared to 72% in the same period last year.

R&D expenses increased by 27% to RMB212 million in third quarter of 2019, primarily due to increased R&D personnel for our mobile games and AI-related business, offset by a decrease in the number of personnel for our utility products and related services. Selling and marketing expenses decreased by 30% to RMB397 million in the third quarter of 2019. This decrease was mainly due to reduced promotional activities for our utility products and related services business, which was partially offset by the increased marketing expenses for our mobile games business. G&A expenses increased by 78%, RMB167 million in the quarter which was primarily due to the one-time asset impairment charges, increases in employee benefits and other administrative expenses. Non-GAAP operating loss was RMB222 million for the third quarter of 2019 compared to a non-GAAP operating profit of RMB154 million in the same period last year.

Moving to each reporting segments. Operating profit for utility product and related services was RMB24 million in the quarter, a decrease from RMB264 million in the third quarter of last year, mainly due to decrease of revenues and a one-time increase in allowances for doubtful accounts as the Company periodically review its accounts receivable and other receivables. Operating loss for the mobile entertainment business was RMB142 million in the quarter, an increase from RMB74 million in the third quarter of last year, mainly due to increased amount of investment made into our mobile games business as we continue to launch new titles.

Operating loss for AI and other business was RMB103 million in the quarter, an increase from an operating loss of RMB36 million in the third quarter of last year, mainly due to additional amount of investments made into our AI-related business. LiveMe's amended its Share Incentive Plan on September 30, 2019. As a result, we no longer hold the majority voting power in LiveMe and we will deconsolidate LiveMe's financial results starting from the fourth quarter of 2019.

Now let me provide you with our fourth quarter revenue guidance. We currently expect total revenues for the fourth quarter to be between RMB610 million, and RMB650 million. This amount has reflected the fact that LiveMe's revenue will no longer be included in the Company's revenues. Please note this forecast reflects the Company's current and preliminary view and is subject to change. This concludes our prepared remarks.

Operator, we are now ready to take questions. Thank you.

Questions and Answers:

Operator

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]. The first question comes from Hillman Chan of Citigroup. Please go ahead.

Hillman Chan -- Citigroup -- Analyst

[Foreign Speech] So, my first question is on fourth quarter guidance. Could management provide more granular color on the guidance for fourth quarter for the mobile entertainment, mobile games and utility products? And my second question is on the product roadmap for the AI products. Could management share more color related to that and how we should think about monetization and profitability for the AI products going forward? Thank you very much.

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Hello, Hillman, this is Vincent. I will take the first question. Regarding the guidance for the fourth quarter, first of all, we want to point out that LiveMe's revenue is no longer included in the guidance. So, you can see a substantial decrease in amount compared to last quarter and previous quarters. And secondly, in terms of the utility products and mobile entertainment, which is now just games now, and current today we expect that both the utility products and games will have a slight decrease in the fourth quarter, which is mainly because for the utility products we still see the soft reaction in our advertisers and the softness for our utility products.

And for the game business, we do have a large pipeline and we are promoting new games in various channels, since those new games hasn't really pick up the momentum yet. So the fourth quarter will be relatively soft, but we do hope that by next year we will see significant increase in the mobile games business.

Sheng Fu -- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

[Foreign Speech]

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Okay. Let me interpret now. So our Q4 guidance is a quite conservative from our point of view. For example, as I just mentioned, the -- we do have our new games in the pipeline. We are promoting those games, but we haven't account considerable amount of revenues contribution from those new games. That has been reflected in our guidance. And also, we are taking a conservative stance because in our earlier call, we mentioned that the overseas revenues and overseas business partners still haven't resumed the business relationship with us and the impact that has a cost is actually much more significant than we originally expected. That's why we are, again, we are trying to be more conservative in our guidance.

Hillman Chan -- Citigroup -- Analyst

[Foreign Speech]

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Okay. There are two aspects of the AI business. First of all, in terms of the Cheetah Mobile GreetBot, which is a product we have been selling to business and enterprise. And this is a relatively -- it's a relatively longer-term process, because you are -- we're not selling to the consumers. We have to sell into enterprises and the decision processes is longer than the -- selling to the consumers.

We do have seen some transactions in which the enterprise has been coming back to us. We have seen recurring orders from those enterprise. And we hope that by next year we will see a more meaningful increase in this part of sales for the -- for our robotic products. For the second part, we have been experimenting and exploring a new business model, which we have been placing thousands of robots in larger shopping malls and those robots will provide some kind of inquiry to the customers in those shopping malls.

And those shopping malls all have a large foot traffic and we are trying to experiment new advertising model through which to monetize the ad inventory through the large traffic [Indecipherable] the larger the traffic.

Sheng Fu -- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

[Foreign Speech]

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Okay. So the AI technology actually involve many different aspects of technologies and upstream, downstream, it's a long value chain. In terms of making AI products and providing related Internet services and providing the [Indecipherable] experience that an enterprise customer would want is actually a very challenging job. And for us, we have been able to -- we do have a long -- along the value chain, we do have our full suite of technologies. So in terms of the customer experience, our enterprise customers, we do believe that we are in a leading position in the industry.

Sheng Fu -- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

[Foreign Speech]

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Okay. Yes.

Hillman Chan -- Citigroup -- Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. The next question comes from Thomas Chong of Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Unidentified Participant

[Foreign Speech] Hi management, this is [Indecipherable] asking on behalf of Thomas, and thank you for taking my questions. I have two questions. Could management provide some colors on utilities and entertainment 2020 outlook, and any color on revenue contribution of AI initiatives in 2020? That would be helpful. Thank you very much.

Sheng Fu -- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

[Foreign Speech]

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Okay. In some of the utility products, honestly the challenges we are facing in this quarter is beyond our expectation. And as we said earlier, the user acquisition channels in overseas markets and in the domestic market, all -- we're all facing some issues in those channels. And the -- but we still think that next year we do have a growth potential here because we are rolling out new products and we're exploring new channels. For example, in our PC business, which is our kind of traditional business and many people think that there would be continued decline in PC-related business, but what we have seen today is that that part of business has been stabilized. And I also want to add a point that for example for our PC business, with the new -- one of the new product we provided is actually the previous premium model, which is the user will subscribe for membership fees, and in return, they will have all the services provided by our products and without having to bother with ads. And this is kind of a reverse of the recent years' trend in Internet, especially in mobile internet companies because previously all the utility products and also on the safety-related products was a paid model. And then, of course, when the industry evolves, that model has been overthrown and replaced by the total free model supported by advertising industry and advertising budgets.

But now we tried back to the previous model using the user subscription model and we found that actually, with the current generation of users, that model is very receptive to our users. So that's just one example.

And now let me go back to interpretation about the second part of Mr. Fu Sheng's second part of our answer, which is about the AI business. And for that we are very confident about -- because as we mentioned earlier, our product is very competitive. When we -- comparing the other player in this industry. And if you think about the macro environment, we can see a lot of customers and our business partners coming to us, order custom-made products to sell to their users.

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from Robert Cowell of 86 Research. Please go ahead.

Robert Cowell -- 86 Research -- Analyst

[Foreign Speech] My question is about the warrants. After exercising the warrants, what is our shareholding percentage going to be in Beijing OrionStar. And then also in our cooperation with Beijing OrionStar, how do we split up the work? What areas are Cheetah investing in? And what areas does Beijing OrionStar invest? Thank you.

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Hello, Robert. I'll take the first question. After the exercise of the warrants and also with the new round of series B financing, Cheetah Mobile will still have -- still be the largest shareholder of OrionStar, but it will no longer be the -- well, it will not be the controlling shareholder of OrionStar, just mainly because of the dilution by the new investments. But it will remain the largest one. [Foreign Speech]

Sheng Fu -- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

[Foreign Speech]

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Okay. The relationship between Cheetah Mobile and OrionStar is as follows. First of all, for some of the products, such as Cheetah GreetBot, Cheetah Mobile is the exclusive distributor for OrionStar so that will sell the product to its customers mainly to the business customers, and there will be some profit sharing arrangements between the two companies. And for the other part, OrionStar will provide the hardware and the basic -- or the lower level AI capabilities and Cheetah Mobile will develop the high-level applications and also will be responsible for the implementation and deployments in the actual usage scenario. So it's kind of like Cheetah Mobile is developing mobile apps for Android-operated phones. Okay. Yeah.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Helen Zhu for any closing remarks.

Helen Zhu -- Investor Relations Director

Thank you all for joining us today. If you have any further questions please, do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you so much. Bye.

Operator

[Operator Closing Remarks]

Duration: 39 minutes

Call participants:

Helen Zhu -- Investor Relations Director

Sheng Fu -- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

Vincent Jiang -- Chief Financial Officer

Hillman Chan -- Citigroup -- Analyst

Unidentified Participant

Robert Cowell -- 86 Research -- Analyst

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Song Review: Billie Eilish’s ‘Everything I Wanted’ (Listen) - Variety

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 06:10 PM PST

Virtually everything about Billie Eilish's career has been against the grain, unusual or at least unlike basically everyone else, and that's also the case with "Everything I Wanted," her first new song since July's "Bad Guy" remix with Justin Bieber.

Frankly, it couldn't be much further from "Bad Guy": Neither a menacing banger like that song or a ballad like "I Love You," the new track is low-key, midtempo and melancholy, with lyrics that could well reflect some of her feelings about the chaos of fame, although she says in a press release accompanying the song that it's also a statement of love and support to and from her brother, cowriter, producer and bandmate Finneas: "This song is one my brother and I wrote about each other." she said. "No matter what happens, we always have been and will be there to make it better."

"I had a dream: I got everything I wanted," she sings in almost a murmur at the song's beginning. "Not what you think, and if I'm being honest/ It might have been a nightmare to anyone who might care."

The song's key lines come in the middle. "I tried to scream but my head was underwater/ They called me weak, like I'm just somebody's daughter… It feels like yesterday was a year ago, but I don't wanna let anybody know/ 'Cuz everybody wants something from me now," she continues, before concluding in a whisper, "And I don't want to let them down."

The song, which is driven by a gentle beatbox and soft, hazy keyboard riffs and loaded with echo, seems to conclude on a positive note, before turning ambivalent.

"And you say, 'As long as I'm here, no one can hurt you/ Don't wanna lie here, but you can learn to/ If I could change the way that you see yourself/ You wouldn't wonder why you hear, 'They don't deserve you.'"

The ambivalence comes in the closing lines: "If I knew it all then, would I do it again?/ If they knew what they said would go straight to my head/ What would they say instead?"

Both musically and lyrically, it advances the work she and Finneas have done, and suggests an intriguing and, as usual, unexpected new direction for the new songs they've been cooking up.

There's no certainty yet what the song is addressing, but if it's a musing on fame, it's a deep one — and apparently we'll find out soon enough. Posting the song on Instagram, Eilish wrote: "'everything i wanted' OUT NOW EVERYWHERE 😊😊 dis one is special to me i'll tell you why soon."

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Golden Globes 2020 Predictions: Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series, or TV Movie - IndieWire

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 05:11 PM PST

Last Year's Winner: Patricia Clarkson, "Sharp Objects"
Still Eligible: No.
Hot Streak: Actors in HBO series have won the category in back-to-back years — Patricia Clarkson in "Sharp Objects" and Laura Dern in "Big Little Lies" — while cable companies have been represented in the winners' circle four years straight and in six of the last eight. Streaming giants like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have found success elsewhere at the Golden Globes, but they've yet to win the Best Supporting Actress race.
Notable Ineligible Series: Patricia Clarkson, "Sharp Objects"; Thandie Newton, "Westworld"; anyone from the "American Crime Story" and "Fargo" franchises.

At the bottom of this page are IndieWire TV Critic Ben Travers' predictions for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series, or TV Movie at the 2020 Golden Globes. This article will be updated throughout the season, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for all the latest buzz from the 2020 race, and read predictions in the rest of the categories, as well. The 2020 Golden Globe Award nominees will be announced Monday, December 9 at 8 a.m. ET. The 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be held Sunday, January 5 in Los Angeles and be televised live on NBC.

Related

Related

The State of the Race

With all the TV shows in competition together — dramas, comedies, limited series, and TV movies — the supporting categories are always an intense fight between too many choices. Suddenly, frontrunners from other awards shows are relegated to dark horse status at the Globes, as only the brightest stars can shine through the cloud of options. (Or, one can imagine, the small group of HFPA voters producing surprising picks across-the-board are made even more surprising when choosing from so many names.) There are a lot of actors to consider, and that makes nominations' morning plenty surprising.

So who should be expecting a call? Probably only a few people can bank on it. Helena Bonham Carter joins "The Crown" as a seven-time nominee, and the Globes already like the show; she could even be in line for her first win, given her early acclaim, but let's not put the cart before the horse. Meryl Streep is also a top contender, as even most of the "Big Little Lies" Season 2 skeptics were enamored by what she brought to the role. Right next to her is co-star Laura Dern, who's expected to be a dual nominee this year given her fierce work in HBO's "Big Little Lies" and Noah Baumbach's Netflix film, "Marriage Story."

From there, the likely nominees get a little harder to pinpoint. Olivia Colman is fresh off a win for "The Favourite" in 2019 (and she won for "The Night Manager" in 2017 to boot), and she could see another nomination for her work in "Fleabag." Sian Clifford could benefit from a little "Fleabag" love as well, which would pair nicely with her Emmy nod, and Emily Watson is hoping the "Chernobyl" buzz remains strong (s she could land her fifth Golden Globe nod after receiving her first Emmy nomination earlier this year). Patricia Arquette is up for "The Act" after winning a Golden Globe for "Escape at Dannemora" just last year.

That still leaves Emma Thompson, who could reach double digits in Globe nominations with a nod for "Years and Years" (and even hit 11 if she gets a film nomination for "Late Night," too); Jean Smart, who made a helluva debut in HBO's "Watchmen"; Naomi Watts, who stood out in Showtime's "The Loudest Voice" as Gretchen Carlson; Anna Chlumsky in the final season of "Veep"; D'Arcy Carden in the final season of "The Good Place"; and never forget about Betty Gilpin's outstanding work in "GLOW." Who could make the short list? The fight will be over soon enough.

Power Rankings

  1. Helena Bonham Carter, "The Crown"
  2. Meryl Streep, "Big Little Lies"
  3. Laura Dern, "Big Little Lies"
  4. Olivia Colman, "Fleabag"
  5. Emma Thompson, "Years and Years"

Spoilers: Emily Watson, "Chernobyl"; Patricia Arquette, "The Act"; Jessica Lange, "The Politician"; Sian Clifford, "Fleabag"; Naomi Watts, "The Loudest Voice"

In a Perfect World: Jean Smart, "Watchmen"; Betty Gilpin, "GLOW"; Anna Chlumsky, "Veep"; D'Arcy Carden, "The Good Place"; Susan Kelechi Watson, "This Is Us"

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Phil Schiller says kids with Chromebooks in classrooms are ‘not going to succeed’ - The Verge

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 04:40 PM PST

Apple has a new laptop out today, the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and so Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller is out and about, talking trash about the competition.

In an interview with CNET, Schiller is asked about the growing popularity of Chromebooks for education, an important battleground for Apple where it's been losing ground to Google's machines. Schiller gives a particularly spicy answer, saying that while iPads are the "ultimate tool for a child to learn on," kids with Chromebooks are "not going to succeed."

Here's Schiller's take:

"Kids who are really into learning and want to learn will have better success. It's not hard to understand why kids aren't engaged in a classroom without applying technology in a way that inspires them. You need to have these cutting-edge learning tools to help kids really achieve their best results.

Yet Chromebooks don't do that. Chromebooks have gotten to the classroom because, frankly, they're cheap testing tools for required testing. If all you want to do is test kids, well, maybe a cheap notebook will do that. But they're not going to succeed."

So there you have it. If you want your child to do their best in school, ignore the cheap and cheerful Chromebooks and go for a pricier Apple product they'll find more engaging.

Schiller later tried to clarify the comment on Twitter, saying that Apple also provides "content, curriculum and tools" for kids, framing his remarks more as a comment on Google and Chromebook manufacturers than the children using them.

It's not a particularly nuanced rebuttal to the success of Chromebooks, but it is part of a wider strategy for Apple. Over the past few years it's attempted to counter Google's rise by reaching out to educators and highlighting the multimedia potential of the iPad.

When you ask teachers which device they prefer, though, the answer is more nuanced. Yes, the iPad is more portable, durable, and, with its stylus and touchscreen, better suited to a certain sort of classroom activity. But if you need a keyboard and mouse, or if price is a factor (and more often than not, it is in education) then the Chromebook wins out.

Success sometimes depends on more than just what's cutting-edge.

Update November 13th, 4:25PM ET: This story has been updated to include Schiller's tweet expanding his comments.

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Protesters vow to 'defend' university campus after fierce clashes - Al Jazeera English

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 04:25 PM PST

Hong Kong, China - After a night of tear gas and bullets, demonstrators gathered at the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong waited in anticipation for a confrontation with police as a tense week of protests continued.

After two days of fiery demonstrations at the prominent institution, anti-government protesters continued to occupy the Sha Tin-based campus late on Wednesday.

Until recently, protests largely remained off university properties, but that changed on Monday when violence engulfed the Chinese University's campus, morphing into a showdown between security forces and demonstrators. Police fired rubber-coated rounds and water cannon while protesters hurled petrol bombs and fired slingshots.

Stephen Chan, a 20-year-old politics student, said Tuesday's battle was significant because he considers Chinese University a prestigious institution in the city, and it should be a safe space for young people in Hong Kong.

"It is the home of all students," Chan told Al Jazeera.

At the campus on Wednesday, there were few signs protesters were planning to vacate any time soon.

Volunteers shuttled in bags of supplies from Tai Po Road, including paper towels, cans of Red Bull, and soap. The items were stockpiled in various locations around campus, with a group of volunteers handing out provisions in front of Number-Two Bridge, which became one of the main sites of the previous night's standoff.

Near the bridge, protesters sat on the curb next to a makeshift roadblock made from a burned-out car.

Some were armed with javelins - more usually used on the athletics field - while others had bows and arrows. Petrol bombs were rolled underneath a white university vehicle in preparation for any police charge.

Hong Kong [Betsy Joles/Al Jazeera]

A man climbs off a spray-painted university bus used by protesters [Betsy Joles/Al Jazeera] 

'Long-time fight'

Chung Yi Cheng, who has taught philosophy at Chinese University for 25 years, said the protests there marked a new stage in the uprising against China's influence over the semi-autonomous territory.

"It seems they want to use the university campus as the venue for a long-time fight," he said of the occupiers.

The events follow a particularly violent start to the week after police shot a 21-year-old protester on Monday. In a separate incident, a demonstrator set a pro-Beijing supporter on fire. A network of roadblocks were erected for a mass general strike as calls went out for students and other Hong Kong citizens to boycott classes and skip work.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday called protesters' actions "selfish" and condemned their attempts to bring the city to a halt. Hong Kong police said demonstrators threw objects onto Tolo highway, a major expressway in Hong Kong, and MTR tracks to block traffic.

Chinese University issued a statement on Wednesday announcing it was ending the term early, citing the disruption to public transportation and damage to the campus.

Several other universities, including Hong Kong Baptist University, announced they would conduct lectures and exams online for the next two weeks.

'Defensive and prepared'

While classes have stopped, the demonstration at the campus does not appear to be. Two Chinese University alumni sat on Wednesday in the stadium - now equipped with a makeshift catapult consisting of metal poles held together with zip ties and bolts.

"We don't know when the police will come again so we have to be defensive and prepared," Jacky, 24, one of the former students, told Al Jazeera.

"We are already graduated and we are trying to protect the students here," he said, noting the university's location was strategic for disrupting traffic.

Hong Kong [Betsy Joles/Al Jazeera]

Volunteers gather supplies in the university's sports centre [Betsy Joles/Al Jazeera]

Others who came to join the protest from off-campus said they did so in solidarity as former Hong Kong students.

Katniss, 23, arrived in the early hours of Wednesday after seeing messages on social media from students asking for reinforcements. "We're just coming for support," she said.

Spencer Ho, 39, who has volunteered as a medic at protests since late July, said this round of violence felt like something he hadn't experienced yet on the streets.

"They are just students. It's different. It's different than the outside," he said.

The escalation of this week's protests, including those at the Chinese University, catalysed school closures around the city. Hong Kong's Bureau of Education - which initially said school attendance was for parents to decide - announced classes for primary and secondary schools would be cancelled on Thursday for safety reasons.

Hong Kong's anti-government protests started in June in response to a proposed extradition bill to China. Peaceful protests later turned into a call for widespread government reform, including the right to directly elect Hong Kong officials and an independent investigation into alleged police brutality against demonstrators.

Violence between protesters and police has increased in scope and intensity over the past six months.

Hong Kong [Betsy Joles/Al Jazeera]

A protester sleeps on a sofa at the Chinese University on Wednesday [Betsy Joles/Al Jazeera]

What next?

How police will respond to the university's occupation remains unclear.

Jacky So, president of Chinese University's student union, applied for an injunction on Wednesday to stop police from entering the campus. It was later denied by a Hong Kong court.

Despite the heightened violence, one 21-year-old social work major - who asked to remain anonymous - said protesting at the campus provided a certain comfort level compared to street demonstrations. "It felt different because this is a school," she said.

Camped out with a group of friends on the floor of the university's empty canteen, she said she sees the coming together of so many students as a breakthrough - but she has no idea how things will play out.

"I don't know if we can win. I don't know the definition of winning. We are just trying our best to defend."

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田中みな実、宇垣美里……“戦国時代”を生き残りそうな「フリー女子アナ」ランキング｜サイゾーウーマン - サイゾーウーマン

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:35 AM PST

田中みな実、宇垣美里……"戦国時代"を生き残りそうな「フリー女子アナ」ランキング｜サイゾーウーマン - サイゾーウーマン

　各局の人気女性アナウンサーが次々とフリーへ転向している昨今。彼女たちはニュース番組やワイドショーにとどまらず、バラエティー番組やドラマ、はたまたグラビアに登場するなど、女優やタレント顔負けのマルチな活躍で注目を集めている。2019年だけでも1月にはTBSから吉田明世アナ、3月末日にはテレビ朝日の宇賀なつみアナとTBSの宇垣美里アナ、4月にテレビ朝日の小川彩佳アナと、局のエース級が続々フリーに。世はまさにフリー女子アナ戦国時代だけに、人気を維持し続けることは難しいはず。そこで今回、男女100人に、「今後、生き残りそうなフリー女子アナ」を予想してもらった。

　

田中みな実公式プロフィールより

　1位は元TBSアナウンサーの「田中みな実」で、20票を獲得。

「すでに女子アナというよりタレントという感じ。ファンもアンチも多いイメージなので当分の間は需要があると思う」（30代／男性／正社員）
「はじめは、ぶりっ子キャラが嫌われると思っていたが、考えがしっかりしている上に、見た目もかわいく、女性ファンが増えてきたように感じるから」（20代／女性／正社員）
「学力的なことだけではなく、自分の立ち位置をわかっていそうという意味でも頭が良い。フリーになってから女性の好感度が上がったのは、そういう部分が生かされているからだと思う」（40代／女性／パート・アルバイト）

　TBS時代は"ぶりっ子キャラ"で一躍注目を集めたため、女性からの人気は低かった田中。しかし、フリー転身後は"闇キャラ"や"ぼっちキャラ"など、華やかな女子アナのイメージとかけ離れた素顔を披露したり、最近は、女性誌などでこだわり美容法を明かすなどして、女性ファンを急増させている。

　このような、キャラクターの使い分けのうまさから、今後も生き残っていくと感じた人が多い様子。「自分に自信があり、過去にいじめられていたことも悲観することなく前向きに生きている」（40代／男性／個人事業主）「生き残るためなら、どんな仕事でも頑張りそうなイメージがある」（30代／女性／正社員）など、田中の仕事に対するストイックな姿勢を好意的に捉えている視聴者も多いようで、そのあたりも今後の需要を感じさせるようだ。

　ただ、「アナウンサーとしてではなく、バラエティータレントとして生き残っていくと思う」（40代／男性／パート・アルバイト）というのが、あらかたの意見ではあった。

次のページ　「高橋真麻」は親の七光りではないという意見　＞

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2019-11-13 12:00:00Z
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Artis Price Changed by -2.81 percent - ICO Brothers

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:04 AM PST

Artis Price Changed by -2.81 percent - ICO Brothers

As at 2019-11-13 average Artis price is 0.00396914 USD, 0.00000045 BTC, 0.00002130 ETH.

It's noteworthy that is issued into circulation Artis.

Artis average change within 24 hour is -2.81 against USD, 0 against BTC, -0.79 against ETH. Weekly report: -3.8 against USD, 4.65 against BTC, -3.01 against ETH. Monthly report: 2.79 against USD, -2.22 against BTC, -0.87 against ETH.

In this regard, 24 hour trading volume is 3231.71544722 USD or 0.36639472 BTC. At the same time Artis market capitalization is 160935 USD or $18 BTC.



2019-11-13 13:09:55Z
https://icobrothers.media/2019/11/13/artis-price-changed-by-2-81-percent/


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