A New York judge on Friday ordered former President Trump to pay nearly $355 million in penalties in a civil fraud case that has dealt a stark blow to his family’s business empire.  Judge Arthur Engoron’s 92-page decision came just weeks after closing arguments in the case following a months-long trial last year during which Trump frequently lambasted the judge and the prosecutor who brought the case.  New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) sued Trump in 2022‚ alleging he...

A New York judge on Friday handed Donald J. Trump a crushing defeat in his civil fraud case‚ finding the former president liable for conspiring to manipulate his net worth and ordering him to pay a penalty of $355 million that could wipe out his entire stockpile of cash. The decision by Justice Arthur F. Engoron caps a chaotic‚ yearslong case in which New York’s attorney general put Mr. Trump’s fantastical claims of wealth on trial. With no jury‚ the power was in Justice Engoron’s hands...

He didn’t have to go. In August 2020‚ Russian dissident Alexei Navalny had been poisoned‚ probably at the direction of Russian president Vladimir Putin‚ who saw in Navalny one of the vanishingly few legitimate threats to his reign. Navalny went to Germany to recuperate. While there‚ he managed to confirm that the poisoning had been carried out by Russian security services by calling one of his would-be executioners and pretending to be a fellow Kremlin goon. Mother Russia wanted one of her...

Alexei Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021. Right before he boarded the plane‚ he posted a film titled “Putin’s Palace: The Story of the World’s Largest Bribe” on YouTube. The video‚ nearly two hours long‚ was an extraordinary feat of investigative reporting. Using secret plans‚ drone footage‚ 3-D visualizations‚ and the testimony of construction workers‚ Navalny’s video told the story of a hideous $1.3 billion Black Sea villa containing every luxury that a dictator could imagine: a...

Alexei Navalny was one of the bravest men of our time. He stood up to one of the most evil men of our time: Vladimir Putin. Navalny has now died‚ a political prisoner‚ at 47. He was widely known as “the leader of the opposition” — the Russian political opposition to Putin. Life expectancy is not terribly long in that job. The previous leader‚ Boris Nemtsov‚ was gunned down within sight of the Kremlin in 2015. Navalny and his allies have been particularly good at exposing Putin’s corruption....

Former President Donald J. Trump has told advisers and allies that he likes the idea of a 16-week national abortion ban with three exceptions‚ in cases of rape or incest‚ or to save the life of the mother‚ according to two people with direct knowledge of Mr. Trump’s deliberations. Mr. Trump has studiously avoided taking a clear position on restrictions to abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned in the middle of 2022‚ galvanizing Democrats ahead of the midterm elections that year. He has...

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers released a $66.3 billion foreign aid and border package Friday that backers hope will be an alternative to the Senate-passed national security supplemental.  The newly unveiled legislation includes military-only assistance for Ukraine‚ Israel and Taiwan — a departure from the $95.3 billion bill championed by senators that also has money designated for humanitarian and economic support.  The House bill excludes the Senate bill’s $10...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday temporarily halted the Boy Scouts of America's $2.46 billion settlement of decades of sex abuse claims‚ which is being appealed by a group of 144 abuse claimants. Alito's brief order freezing the settlement gives the court more time to decide a Feb. 9 request by these abuse claimants to block the settlement from moving forward. They contend the deal unlawfully stops them from pursuing lawsuits against organizations that are not bankrupt...

This one's for the girls who know you don't have to chose between sparkles and sports.For too long‚ girls have been sent the message that they have to be either/or. You're either a girly-girl or a tomboy. You're either into sparkly princesses or sports practices. From the early days of childhood‚ we're told in bold and subtle ways to squeeze ourselves into separate boxes. But those boxes are bullspit‚ and most of us know it. Girls don't have to choose between feeling beautiful and being badass. We can be both at the same time.Perhaps that's why a portrait shoot shared by HMP Couture Imagery showing girls dressed up in fancy dresses and sports equipment has gone insanely viral. The shoot is called "Because you can do it all‚" and in just a few days it has already been shared 175‚000+ times. The woman who photographed the shoot says a comment from a fellow mom sparked the idea.Heather Mitchell‚ the photographer from Alabama who runs HMP Couture Imagery‚ told Upworthy how the portrait shoot came about."My youngest daughter is 8 and she is trying softball this year for the first time‚" said Mitchell. "We were at practice a few weeks ago and I was talking with the other moms. I was saying that I hoped Paislee learned to love the game because she was athletic. One of the moms told me that she was not athletic‚ that she was a girly-girl." "I couldn't sleep that night‚" Mitchell continued. "All I could think was‚ 'Why does she have to choose?' I played every sport my school offered and wore lipstick to every game. So the next day we went to the studio and created her shot."Mitchell says she only spent about three minutes shooting because she knew exactly what she wanted to create. After she posted the photos of Paislee to her personal Facebook page‚ she got a ton of requests from other parents for the same kind of shoot. After adding two days to the schedule‚ they sold out in an hour—and the requests just keep on coming.Mitchell hopes that girls see these photos and realize that they don't have to choose one identity. The idea that crinoline and cleats can't exist in the same mental space is silly‚ but common. Girls (and boys for that matter) can love pretty things and kick butt at sports. They don't have to be one thing or the other. "My parent taught me that I could be anything I wanted growing up‚" Mitchell told Upworthy. "I didn't realize till I was much older that everyone is not that blessed." These photos are an excellent reminder to questions our assumptions and not place unnecessary limits on anyone—and an empowering example for girls who don't fit neatly into a socially constructed box."I hope that every little girl that sees this series can see that there is no box‚" says Mitchell. "Whatever their dreams are they can achieve." This article originally appeared on 4.17.19

One strange reality of life is that there's a lot that happens behind the scenes of…well‚ everything…that people simply never know about. I'm not talking about deep state conspiracies here or anything‚ just normal run-of-the-mill industry secrets that only people who work in those industries knows. Some of these "secrets" are actual secrets meant to be kept sacred‚ like how certain magic tricks work. Some are things we don't really want to know‚ like how the sausage gets made. And some are simply things that industry folks know but don't bother to inform the rest of us about‚ like the fact that the average movie theater employee really doesn't give a hoot if you sneak in candy as long as you're not obvious about it. We're all curious‚ though‚ about what goes on in the back room‚ behind the counter‚ under the radar‚ etc. So when someone on Reddit asked "What industry 'secret' do you know that most people don’t?" people flocked to answer—and to see what people said. To be clear‚ there's no way to officially verify these insider secrets‚ but it's still fun to see what people who work in various industries reveal. Do you know who actually wrote that nonfiction book you loved?"Most—probably 80 percent or more—of the books on the nonfiction bestseller list (autobiographies‚ memoirs‚ political/business books‚ etc.) are ghostwritten.Source: am ghostwriter." – RSquared787The ghostwriter added an encouraging caveat‚ though: "Most (good) ghostwritten books are a true collaboration: somebody with an amazing story (or great idea/argument or whatever) who genuinely has the 'goods‚' so to speak… but not the major league-level writing chops it takes to execute the best/most effective/most entertaining version of their story. So they bring in a specialist who knows the craft of storytelling and how to structure and execute something on the scale of a book‚ and—together‚ over the course of a year or so of deep collaboration—they bring the story to life. It’s the only way these voices would be heard in book form‚ in a lot of cases‚ and (IMHO‚ as someone who collaborates on these books)‚ there’s no downside as long as the author genuinely invests time and effort."The house always wins‚ but especially on slot machines"I saw how slot machines for casinos were designed... don’t play slots." – Eliza_Lisa"I had a buddy that was in the casino industry and claimed that 80% of their profits came from slot machines. This was the older mechanical types. The newer computerized ones can be programmed to do anything." – Mo_JackThat security guard? Not all that helpful if the ish hits the fan."I'm an unarmed security guard.Every now &; then I'll get a comment from someone about how they're glad I'm around in case there's an active shooter or something.Yea; if that happens? We're not doing anything aside from getting ourselves to safety and calling the cops.We're literally told in training that if we try to intervene directly with an active shooter we'll be fired." – disinfo_bot_47·"'Detect‚ Deter and Report' was the slogan at Securitas back in the day.We were frequently told we were there for insurance purposes and were expected to NOT take action beyond calling the cops and getting ourselves to safety.Great student job." – IBorisWant to see a study that's behind a paywall? Just ask the researcher. "I'm an academic researcher and I can speak for a huge number in my field when I say:If you want access to our studies and they're behind a paywall‚ you can email us and we will send you the study.We are genuinely delighted to share and if you want further context for the results or what have you‚ I'll always try my best to oblige.The only limiters on that last bit is that:the original data for the study might have reached the end of our right to keep it‚ in which case it will have been destroyed.I might have forgotten details or I might have written that paper during a particularly hectic time and my file system might be total shit.Also a lot of us are on ResearchGate and various social media things so you can contact us through there. If you can't contact us directly or we're being slow‚ one of the other authors on the paper might be contactable." – and_so_forthBestsellers might be bestsellers because people buy their own books"The New York Times best seller list has a lot of people on it who buy massive numbers of their own books." – Ibringupeace"Apparently‚ there is a symbol that indicates that while it did make best seller status‚ there was a bulk buy. A footnote‚ if you will‚ or similar to an asterisk." – spoda1975"It’s a dagger! †" – Tarledsa(It's true.)Private messages aren't 100% private‚ in case you hadn't figured that out yet"Worked in online community management and social media for years - Admins CAN read all of your PMs. Private only means private from the masses‚ not from administration‚ we had to be able to read them to check reports of abuse‚ grooming‚ illegal activity etc. I can't tell you how much cringeworthy shit I had to read through‚ especially from guys trying to hook up." – will_write_for_tacosYou may not have actually witnessed your baby's first steps"If your baby goes to a nursery/daycare‚ chances are those weren't their 'first' steps/words etc that you witnessed. Industry standard is to not tell parents when these things happen as it makes them feel bad. I've seen kids up and walking about the room for weeks‚ even months before their parent proudly announced at drop off that they 'Took their first steps last night.'" – by_the_way_mateBeing extra nice can get you some sweet free upgrades"If you’re nice to hotel staff they are more likely to give you free sh*t." – Archibald_Thrust"A good friend of mine (Korean) visited las Vegas for her honeymoon. The husband was just a student at the time and she worked at a call center to pay their bills. When they were checking in at the hotel‚ the man at the front desk asked where they were from. She told them we are from Korea! And the man responded‚" oh I love Korean food!". They were a bit early to check in so they left their bags and went out to get some food at a local Korean restaurant. When they came back they bought some food for the front desk guy and when they handed the food over the guy was shocked and upgraded them to the penthouse. Little did my kind friends know‚ the guy was a manager and the penthouse was available. Friend sent me pics after they got in their room and wow... Las Vegas penthouse is probably a room I will never be able to afford in my lifetime... All for a little Korean food they got a memory they will never forget." – GroovinBaby"Oh for sure. I worked in hospitality for years‚ and all my favorite guests got upgrades‚ free snacks‚ etc. And the awful guests got the exact opposite lol." – PalerEastMadeIt