NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suggesting all players should stand during the anthem is not a wise idea.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suggesting all players should stand during the anthem is not a wise idea.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter obtained a letter written by the commissioner and posted it publicly to his Facebook this afternoon.
The subject reads “Fall Meeting/National Anthem.”
The letter is five paragraphs long and almost exclusively discusses the recent Anthem protests. Goodell is crystal clear in his opinion about player protests. He writes, “Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the National Anthem. It is an important moment in our game. We want to honor our flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us.”
It’s not exactly a compulsory either-you-stand-or-you’re- fired statement, but it’s darn near close. It’s also worth noting the league is debating instituting a rule that would make standing mandatory.
I can’t be the only one unhappy about this.
Like many other flag-loving Americans, I’ve been a huge critic of the anthem protests. I love my country and have been raised to respect its sacred traditions passed down from generation to generation. My father is among the countless US soldiers that have fought, bled, and died for this country.
And one of the things he died for was our sacred First Amendment. Our Constitution protects free speech at any cost. Even the bad stuff. Hate speech — though abhorrent — is protected.
While the First Amendment doesn’t directly apply to employees under contract in the work place, the spirt of the First Amendment absolutely should. Slurring the words to “Don’t Stop Believing” at 4 am in a karaoke bar falls under this spirt, and yes, speaking out against police brutality and kneeling during the national anthem falls under this banner.
It’s our God-given right as Americans to express ourselves and stand for what we believe in. It’s what makes our country so great.
Roger Goodell is getting dangerously close to actually mandating that players stand for the Anthem. That’s not American. It sounds more like a policy in China or Fascist Italy. Urging everybody to back a cause or an idea is not patriotic. It’s dictatorial.
I hardly believe Goodell’s letter is an attempt to protect the stars and stripes. It’s a ratings gamble. It’s no secret that Monday Night Football hit an all time ratings low last night. This policy is clearly the commissioner’s attempt to catch a falling knife and save the NFL from its free fall. He’s trying to win back viewers before the NFL makes the WNBA look like a blockbuster.

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Newly homeless residents of California wine country awoke to shattered lives a day after wildfires killed at least 15 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes and businesses.
In neighborhood after neighborhood, all that remains are the smoldering ashes and eye-stinging smoke from a day of utter devastation. Newly homeless residents of California wine country awoke to shattered lives Tuesday, a day after wildfires killed at least 15 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes and businesses. Hundreds more firefighters joined the battle against the blazes, which were still completely uncontained. And authorities began to identify the dead, including a 100-year-old man and his 98-year-old wife who died in their burning home. A thick, smoky haze cloaked much of Napa and Sonoma counties, where neighborhoods hit by the fires were completely leveled. In the Santa Rosa suburb known as Coffey Park, house after house was gone with only brick chimneys still standing. The flames burned so hot that windows and tire rims melted off cars, leaving many parked vehicles sitting on their steel axles. The only recognizable remnants at many homes were charred washing machines and dryers. Authorities hoped cooler weather and lighter winds would help crews get a handle on 17 separate fires, which are among the deadliest in California history.“The weather has been working in our favor, but it doesn’t mean it will stay that way,“ said Brad Alexander, a spokesman of the governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The extra firefighters came from throughout California and Nevada. Extra law enforcement officers will help with evacuations and guard against looting, Alexander said. At least 100 people have been injured and 100 were missing in Sonoma County alone, authorities said. The fires that started Sunday night moved so quickly that thousands of people were forced to flee with only a few minutes of warning, and some did not get out in time. Among the victims were Charles and Sara Rippey, who were married for 75 years and lived at the Silverado Resort in Napa.“The only thing worse would have been if one survived without the other,“ their granddaughter, Ruby Gibney told Oakland television station KTVU. More than 400 miles away, flames imperiled parts of Southern California, too. Thousands of people were displaced by a wildfire that destroyed or damaged 24 structures, including homes. Hot, dry Santa Ana winds swept fire along brushy outskirts of Orange County suburbs and equestrian properties southeast of Los Angeles. More than a dozen schools were closed. The blaze, which disrupted major commuter routes, spread over nearly a dozen square miles in less than 24 hours as a squadron of helicopters and airplanes bombarded it with water and retardant, and an army of firefighters grew to 1,100 by Tuesday morning. At the northern end of the state, residents who gathered at emergency shelters and grocery stores said they were shocked by the speed and ferocity of the flames. They recalled all the possessions that were lost.“All that good stuff, I’m never going to see it again,“ said Jeff Okrepkie, who fled his neighborhood in Santa Rosa knowing it was probably the last time he would see his home of the past five years standing. His worst fears were confirmed Monday, when a friend sent him a photo of what was left: a smoldering heap of burnt metal and debris. Some of the largest blazes burning over a 200-mile region were in Napa and Sonoma counties, home to dozens of wineries that attract tourists from around the world. They sent smoke as far south as San Francisco, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) away. Sonoma County established a hotline to help families looking for missing loved ones. It’s possible that many or most of the people reported missing are safe but simply cannot be reached because of the widespread loss of cellphone service and other communications. Much of the damage was in Santa Rosa, a far larger and more developed city than usually finds itself at the mercy of a wildfire. The city is home to 175,000 people, including both the wine-country wealthy and the working class. Former San Francisco Giants pitcher Noah Lowry, who now runs an outdoor sporting goods store in Santa Rosa, was forced to flee with his wife, two daughters and a son just over 2 weeks old.“I can’t shake hearing people scream in terror as the flames barreled down on us,“ Lowry said. His family and another evacuating with them tried to take U. S. 101 to evacuate but found it blocked by flames, and had to take country roads to get to the family friends who took them in. Driving around the area remained difficult Tuesday with many road closures and intense traffic on roads that remained open. Highway 12, which winds through the heart of wine country, was rendered unusable by the flames. The flames forced authorities to focus primarily on getting people out safely, even if it meant abandoning structures to the fire. October has generally been the most destructive time of year for California wildfires. But it was unusual for many fires to take off at the same time. Other than the windy conditions that helped drive them all, there was no known connection between the blazes, and no cause has been released for any of them.

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The New Yorker is reporting that Harvey Weinstein has previously raped 3 women, significantly intensifying the scandal surrounding the disgraced movie mogul.
An avalanche of allegations poured out Tuesday against Harvey Weinstein in on-the-record reports that detailed claims of sexual abuse and included testimonies from Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, further intensifying the already explosive collapse of the disgraced movie mogul.
Three women accused Weinstein of raping them in a story published online by The New Yorker, including the Italian actress Asia Argento and a woman who was an aspiring actress in college when she caught Weinstein’s eye. A representative for the mogul vehemently denied the allegations in a statement to the magazine.
In a follow-up to its earlier expose, The New York Times also reported Tuesday that many other actresses have in recent days added to the chorus of accusations surrounding Weinstein. Paltrow described Weinstein’s attempt to lure her, then 22, into giving him a massage in a hotel room. The incident prompted her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt to angrily confront Weinstein at a film premiere.
Both reports significantly ratcheted up the unfolding scandal surrounding Weinstein, who was fired Sunday from the Weinstein Co. They not only describe a mounting number of alleged incidents, but thoroughly document the systematic harassment, abuse and intimidation of women — almost always young actresses trying to succeed in movies.
Lucia Evans, then a senior at Middlebury College, said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004 at the Miramax offices in Tribeca. She had been brought in for a casting meeting with Weinstein. Argento, an actress and director, said Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999. A third woman spoke anonymously.
„I know he has crushed a lot of people before,“ Argento told The New Yorker. „That’s why this story — in my case, it’s twenty years old, some of them are older — has never come out.“
Attorneys for Weinstein did not immediately return messages Tuesday. The New Yorker quoted Weinstein representative Sallie Hofmeister responding that „any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.“
„Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. Mr. Weinstein obviously can’t speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual,“ said Hofmeister. „Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.“
The New Yorker story, written and researched by the NBC correspondent Ronan Farrow, claimed that thirteen women have said Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them between 1990 and 2015. The incidents described range from unwanted groping to forced sex. Some of those incidents overlap with the eight allegations of sexual harassment previously reported by The New York Times, all of which resulted in financial settlements.
But they also go much further. In the article, Rosanna Arquette and Mira Sorvino are among those who claim Weinstein sexually harassed them. Arquette described a 1990s incident at a Beverly Hills hotel in which Weinstein tried to make her give him a massage and then attempted to lead her hand to his penis. Afterward, the actress told the magazine, „He made things very difficult for me for years.“
Jolie also told the Times that she has „a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth.“ Since, she said, she has refused to work with him and „warn others when they did.“
Representatives for the actresses involved in both reports did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
The Italian news agency ANSA said it contacted Argento about the story, and said she responded with a text message that read: „It’s all true, everything is written in the New Yorker. Now leave me in peace.“
Actress Louisette Geiss („Two and a Half Men“) also came forward Tuesday, announcing in a press conference at Gloria Allred’s Los Angeles office that in a 2008 meeting at the Sundance Film Festival, Weinstein appeared nude in an open bathrobe and asked several times that she watch him masturbate.
The New Yorker also reported that 16 former and current executives and assistants at The Weinstein Co. and Miramax either witnessed or knew of Weinstein’s unwanted sexual advances. „All sixteen said the behavior was widely known within both Miramax and the Weinstein Company.“
Representatives for The Weinstein Co. didn’t immediately respond to messages.
The New Yorker also revealed an audio recording made by the New York Police Department in 2015 in which Weinstein says he groped a model named Ambra Battilana Guitierrez. At the time, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced that an investigation didn’t support criminal charges.
„If we could have prosecuted Harvey Weinstein for the conduct that occurred in 2015, we would have,“ Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, chief assistant district attorney, said Tuesday.
„While the recording is horrifying to listen to, what emerged from the audio was insufficient to prove a crime under New York law, which requires prosecutors to establish criminal intent,“ she added. „Subsequent investigative steps undertaken in order to establish intent were not successful. This, coupled with other proof issues, meant that there was no choice but to conclude the investigation without criminal charges.“
Weinstein was fired Sunday by the Weinstein Co., the studio he co-founded, three days after a bombshell New York Times expose alleged decades of crude sexual behavior on his part toward female employees and actresses, including Ashley Judd.
Weinstein responded to the report in a lengthy, rambling statement in which he pleaded for a second chance and apologized for the pain he had caused.
Since his firing, much of Hollywood has reacted with disgust and outraged, including Meryl Streep, Lena Dunham, Jennifer Lawrence and George Clooney. Congressional Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, have given charities thousands of dollars in donations they had received from Weinstein.
„I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades,“ Ben Affleck wrote in a statement Tuesday. „The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick. This is completely unacceptable, and I find myself asking what I can do to make sure this doesn’t happen to others.“
Matt Damon, who collaborated frequently with Weinstein, and won a co-writing Oscar for „Good Will Hunting“ with Affleck, said he didn’t know about Weinstein’s behavior.
„This morning, I just feel absolutely sick to my stomach,“ Damon told the trade website Deadline Tuesday. „This kind of stuff can’t happen.“
Weinstein has not publicly commented since Thursday.
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During today’s trading, a series of stories showed up on the Dow Jones newswire reporting that Google was buying Apple for a tidy $9 billion. Apparently, a technical glitch caused the fake news.
Google and Facebook are not the only ones spreading fake news these days. The phenomena has now hit the Dow Jones newswire, courtesy of a „technical error.“
Earlier today, stories started showing up on the business news service that tech giant Google was buying even bigger tech giant Apple for a rather paltry $9 billion. Needless to say, the stories turned a few heads, particularly with headlines like „Google Says Yay“ and „Google Says Steve Jobs Suggested This in His Will.“ Stories also claimed the deal was supposed to close tomorrow, and part of the deal was Google taking over Apple’s new headquarters.
Dow Jones issued a mea culpa soon after:
Despite the fact that the stories were obviously fake, Apple stock quickly jumped to $2 to around the $158 level. After the Dow Jones statement, shares are now back to the normal $156 price from before the bogus news hit.
Source: 9to5Mac | 2nd Image: Trader 53 Twitter

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Catalonia’s leader stepped back from a formal declaration of independence from Spain on Tuesday, claiming a mandate to launch secession but saying he would delay doing so to allow time for talks with Madrid on the region’s future.
BARCELONA (Reuters) – Catalonia’s leader stepped back from a formal declaration of independence from Spain on Tuesday, claiming a mandate to launch secession but saying he would delay doing so to allow time for talks with Madrid on the region’s future.
Carles Puigdemont’s speech to the autonomous region’s parliament disappointed thousands of pro-independence supporters gathered outside in hopes of hearing the assembly adopt a unilateral proclamation of independence.
Puigdemont had been under intense pressure from all sides. The Spanish government had threatened tough action, possibly including imposing direct rule on Catalonia from Madrid, if he had gone ahead with breakaway moves.
Both Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government and European Council President Donald Tusk had urged Puigdemont not to proclaim independence. And French President Emmanuel Macron rejected Puigdemont’s call for European Union mediation, saying he was confident Madrid could handle the situation.
Puigdemont’s government has been locked in a confrontation with Madrid since holding a referendum on Oct. 1 that was declared illegal by a Spanish high court.
The Catalan government said 90 percent of those who voted backed independence but turnout was only 43 percent as many opponents of independence stayed at home. Hundreds were injured as Spanish police intervened to close polling stations.
Puigdemont told the Barcelona regional parliament that the result provided a popular mandate for independence.
“I assume … the mandate that Catalonia become an independent state in the form of a republic,” he said to prolonged applause in the assembly, which was tightly guarded by Catalan police.
“I propose suspending the effects of the declaration of independence to undertake talks in the coming weeks without which it is not possible to reach an agreed solution.”
He and other regional politicians later signed a document proclaiming “full sovereignty” for Catalonia, but it was unclear whether the move had any legal value.
“We call on all states and international organisations to recognise the Catalan republic as an independent and sovereign state. We call on the Catalan government to take all necessary measures to make possible and fully effective this declaration of independence and the measures contained in the transition law that founds the republic,” the document read.
The Catalan standoff is Spain’s worst political crisis since an attempted military coup in 1981.
Rajoy’s conservative government planned to decide on next steps over Catalonia at a meeting on Wednesday, and he was in consultations with other parties about how to proceed.
STOCKS RISE AFTER PUIGDEMONT‘S SPEECH
After Puigdemont’s speech, stocks around the world rose as Wall Street eked out record highs ahead of earnings season, while U. S. Treasury prices pared gains.
Some analysts, however, said Puigdemont’s stance would prolong the uncertainty and risk from the Catalan impasse.
The Catalan crisis has deeply divided the northeastern region as well as the Spanish nation. Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of residents in Catalonia backed independence.
The stakes are high – losing Catalonia, which has its own language and culture, would deprive Spain of a fifth of its economic output and more than a quarter of exports.
Some of Catalonia’s largest companies have moved their head offices out of the region this week and others were set to follow if he had declared independence.
Thousands of supporters of independence, many waving the separatist Catalan flag, watched Puigdemont’s speech on large screens set up outside the 18th-century parliament building.
Initially, people chanted “independence”, cheered and kissed each other. But as it became clear there would be formal declaration of independence by Puigdemont and no parliamentary vote, some people whistled, shook their heads and tutted.
“I AM DISAPPOINTED”
Disappointed activists began folding up their Catalan flags and walking away.
Julia Lluch, an 18-year-old student who had come from Girona to hear the speech, was tearful. “I am disappointed. I hoped for a declaration of independence and it didn’t happen,” she said. “Independence is our future and depends on us, young people.”
Pensioner Marisol Rioja, 65, said: “We would have liked more. But he (Puigdemont) couldn’t do it.”
Eric Martinez, a 27-year-old manager, also wept as he watched the speech with his girlfriend. “There is no solution through mediation with Spain. Mediation with Spain is useless,” he said.
The Spanish government appealed to Puigdemont earlier on Tuesday to reflect and not take an irrevocable step.
“I want to ask Mr. Puigdemont not to do anything irreversible, not to take a path of no return, not to carry out any unilateral declaration of independence and to return to legality,” Madrid government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo told reporters. EU APPEALS FOR RESTRAINT
Tusk, the European Council president, asked Catalan leaders to ”respect, in your intentions, the constitutional order and not to announce a decision that would make such a dialogue impossible.
“Diversity should not, and need not, lead to conflict, whose consequences would obviously be bad for the Catalans, for Spain and for the whole of Europe,” Tusk said in a speech in Brussels.
There were also splits within the pro-independence parties in the Catalan parliament, with some wanting radical action and others calling for a conciliatory approach.
It is not clear whether the far-left, pro-independence CUP would maintain its key support for Puigdemont’s government.
CUP leader Anna Gabriel said her party believed the Catalan parliament should have proclaimed a Catalan Republic on Tuesday. “Perhaps … we have missed an historic opportunity,” she said.
She however signed the document declaring independence.
“We can’t suspend the effects of nothing. You say we are suspending the effects because we are going to negotiation and mediation. Negotiation and mediation with whom? With a Spanish state that continues to harass and persecute us?” she said.
Puigdemont said various mediation initiatives had been put forward since the referendum and proposals for talks at a national or international level. “Some of these (initiatives) are public and other aren’t yet,” he said.
However, Rajoy has ruled out mediation and has said he will not talk to Catalan leaders unless they abandoned their ambition of declaring independence.
Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Barcelona against independence at the weekend, waving red-yellow Spanish flags through the city centre.
That rally occurred a week after police fired rubber bullets and stormed crowds with truncheons to disrupt the referendum.

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