from Featured Blog Posts - Data Science Central https://ift.tt/3l7E8B5
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
Friday, November 6, 2020
DSC Friday News, 6 Nov 2020
from Featured Blog Posts - Data Science Central https://ift.tt/3l7E8B5
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
Chicago rapper King Von dead at 26
The ‘Crazy Story 2.0’ rapper was killed in a shootout that involved police
Another young rapper is gone too soon.
King Von, who was born Dayvon Bennett, was among three men killed on Friday when an argument turned into gunfire in the early morning hours outside an Atlanta hookah lounge.
Read More: Rapper Loon to serve as fellow for Meek Mill’s REFORM Alliance
Two groups of men got into an altercation around 3:20 a.m. outside Atlanta’s Monaco Hookah Lounge. The Chicago rapper was wounded and taken to the hospital where he later passed away, per the Chicago Sun Times.
“He was a devoted father, a deeply loyal friend, and a man who took care of his people before himself,” said his publicist, Erin Ryan, in a statement. “We are heartbroken for his family, his friends, his team, and his fans. Long live King Von.”
Off-duty Atlanta police officers who were posted at the lounge as security and an on-duty officer patrolling nearby fired shots as well, while responding to the confrontation between the two groups. TMZ reports the bullet that hit King Von was not from an officer’s gun but the incident is being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Atlanta police. Six men were injured in total but no police officers were wounded.
“Part of the investigations will include determining which individuals were struck by gunfire from the suspects and whether any were struck by gunfire from the officers,” police said, according to the Sun-Times.
The up-and-coming rapper affiliated with Lil Durk and signed to his Only The Family label had just released his third album, “Welcome to O-Block” last week. He was 26 years old.
Fellow Chicago rapper Chance the Rapper was one of the musicians who mourned King Von’s death on social media as did Lebron James, who said he and his sons were fans.
“Wow. This year was so tough. rip von God bless him and his family I can’t believe it.”
Fellow young rap star YBN Cordae posted his condolences.
“Rest In Peace King Von,” R&B singer Jacquees posted.
“Damn Rest Easy Von! Bronny, Bryce and I rocked with his music and story telling! The kid had a damn good future ahead of him. My prayers and blessings to his family,” James said on Twitter.
Read More: John Legend says rappers supporting Trump are new supergroup ‘called the Sunken Place’
The scene was described as “chaotic” by Atlanta police Deputy Chief Timothy Peek, who said police believe all six men were involved in the altercation. Two men were detained at the crime scene and it’s possible there may have been more people shot, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“At this time, our investigators believe Mr. Bennett was shot during the initial shootout between the two groups of males, prior to police responding and attempting to stop the shooting,” Officer Anthony Grant, a police spokesman, said in a statement obtained by the AJC. “Additionally, Mr. Bennett was not located at the scene, but arrived at a hospital shortly after the shooting, via private vehicle. The investigation into this incident remains open and very active.”
King Von and Lil Durk, born Durk Derrick Banks, were facing multiple charges including attempted murder, in connection with a shooting outside The Varsity in Atlanta in 2019. In that incident, a man was “seriously injured” per the AJC. King Von was arrested in Atlanta again a few months later on an aggravated battery charge.
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
The post Chicago rapper King Von dead at 26 appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/3n2Q5c6
via Gabe's Musing's
Using Automated Computer Vision to See the Big Picture
Data comes in all shapes and sizes. Just like our daily decision-making processes, the more points of view we have, the better the potential outcome. For example, when considering a hospital readmission dataset, we can use traditional features, such as patients’ gender, readmission date, and the number of previous lab procedures. In order to strengthen the artificial intelligence (AI) models and get even better predictions, we can add, for example, an image of a patient’s MRI and raw text from doctors’ notes.
In the webinar DataRobot Visual AI: See the Big Picture with Automated Computer Vision, we explored these issues, discussing how deep learning and computer vision algorithms work and the way companies can apply DataRobot Visual AI for their daily operations.
Visual AI Demystifies Deep Learning
You don’t need to be an expert in data science and deep learning to understand the process of training neural networks and creating models by yourself. DataRobot Visual AI is extremely easy to use. Just drag and drop a zip file containing your images, their labels, and any other set of features you like into DataRobot to get started. You then pick your target feature and hit the Start button in the usual way.
The deep learning models DataRobot builds are just as easy to understand. Visual AI provides detailed blueprints to explain every pre-processing step and which algorithms were used and a variety of human-friendly visual insights to help you interpret results, including image activation maps and row-by-row prediction explanations.
Visual AI is part of DataRobot’s Automated Machine Learning product which is tightly integrated with DataRobot MLOps. MLOps makes it incredibly easy to deploy your deep learning model to your production environment of choice in just a few clicks. You are then able to monitor and manage your Visual AI models over its full production lifecycle in a tightly governed environment.
Example Visual AI Use Cases
How do companies use automated computer vision? In the webinar, we discuss some examples, including the early detection of forest fires from aerial photography or the assessment of hurricane property damage using images from drones in areas that inspectors on the ground cannot access. Another application discussed was the automated capability to distinguish people who are wearing masks from those who are not before being admitted into a building or office.
In the healthcare industry, providers can use more complex models with a wide variety of features to recognize types of skin lesion and the probability of skin cancer developing.
Conclusion
The different ways in which DataRobot Visual AI can be used is limited only by the human imagination. If you are interested in learning more about how Visual AI can add value to your business or organization, be sure to watch the whole webinar, DataRobot Visual AI: See the Big Picture with Automated Computer Vision.
The post Using Automated Computer Vision to See the Big Picture appeared first on DataRobot.
from Blog – DataRobot https://ift.tt/3euqzJH
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
The list of the world's 50 best bars is out — and the winner isn't in NYC
The World’s 50 Best Bars were announced on Nov. 5, with London’s Connaught Bar clinching the No. 1 spot.
from Wealth https://ift.tt/3523z1g
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
from Wealth https://ift.tt/3523z1g
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
Mistakes that most of the analysts do in their analytics
In the field of data science or analytical sciences, any solution can be potential to solve any problem. But, to derive such prospective solutions, the following are the top common mistakes in their practice.
- Unable to apply common sense and subject matter expertise for providing solutions to any given problem using analytical tools and techniques.
- The results are tremendously biased towards models such as AI and ML (tools and techniques), but incompetent to realize the significance of the problem.
- The results tend to ignore basic statistical sampling techniques, that will not have enough evidence to have inference.
- Analytical solutions are providing inadequate or fragmented solutions; it is due to ignoring root causes such as proper investigation, profound analysis of any designed problem.
- Funded projects results are dominant and influenced towards predetermined results and try to convince their investors. These results can mislead them to a great extent in the long run as they did not derive from the data analysis.
- The quality of data is being questioned in every analysis, as within the organizational structure have different functionalities will not be willing to share its data with the analytics or data science teams. (as they see the confidentiality is their high priority, but unable to understand data is taking part in the inside employees for the better results).
- If research results are baseless analytical results will always danger. Baseless arguments incur enormous cost and also lead to many adverse effects on the organizations or systems.
- Analysis should provide the results based on pieces of evidence from data. In many instances, analysts have the policy to promote acceptable and positives only. The major mistake by many analysts is to translate the negative numbers as acceptable or ignore the negative numbers.
- Analysts should never try to mislead the end-users by promoting predetermined results with anticipation of their personal growth and future aspirations.
- As an analytics expert, it’s their responsibility and integrity to provide the best achievable and acceptable results to their clients. Instead, they are anticipating their personal brand and their own image.
- Finally, with the above said mistakes, clients will have improper, undermined and biased results regarding to their business; hence their business decisions are not proper to the markets and also lead to the crisis in their business management.
from Featured Blog Posts - Data Science Central https://ift.tt/36cLf4S
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Java: What Makes it the Top Choice for Data Science
Data science uses algorithms, tools, and technologies to identify patterns in data and eventually glean valuable insights from the raw data. Simply put, it allows us to make sense of all that abundance of data that we seem to have all around us. We don’t have to tell you why data science has quickly gained popularity globally, with more and more companies and enterprises seeking to integrate it into their operations. It is by undertaking the development of relevant tools and software, of course. This, then, brings us to a vital question on this quest for data science: Which programming language to use?
Of course, there is absolutely no dearth of options here; Python, R, and many other programming languages that are widely used for data science. But there is one name that has carved quite a niche for itself in this particular market: Java. Despite being one of the oldest programming languages used for enterprise development, it has managed to not only keep up but stay ahead of the curve. It is thus successfully enabling the development of advanced apps and software. Why else do you think at least 21 percent of people working with data science use Java for it? It is because Java empowers with benefits such as interoperability, high levels of utility, etc. To help drive the point home, we have discussed some of Java's other data science services below.
- Quick pace: Admittedly, Python is one of the most widely used programming languages for data science. And yet, Java is 25x faster than Python! So, if you are going to build something that involves lots and lots of computing, Java is the right choice for you. Besides the processing speed, Java is also much quicker in the context of development time. It is due to its ability to integrate and facilitate the use of various tools that ease the development process to a significant extent compared to some of Java’s rivals.
- Plenty of frameworks: Of course, when the critical goal is data science, it always helps to have tools and features specifically aimed to ease that requirement, no? And Java does precisely that — it offers plenty of high-quality frameworks such as ND4J, Apache Mahout, Deeplearning4J, etc. Such frameworks render development work much easier and help programmers save precious time and money.
- Scalability: It is an understandably crucial consideration, is made effortless with Java. How? With a variety of components specifically aimed at addressing those concerns. As the processing requirements grow, it enables the seamless addition of new hardware, semi-transparent redistribution of load, etc.
Java may not be the most popular for data science in the world. However, it is quickly getting there, thanks to the countless benefits it delivers for anyone working with data science. Now, suppose you too want to take it up for your data science projects. In that case, you should get in touch with a trusted vendor forJava application development services.
from Featured Blog Posts - Data Science Central https://ift.tt/3k4ATcv
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
Fueling Digital Transformation with Service Design
One of the industry’s great debates (bigger than regular Cap’n Crunch versus Cap’n Crunch with Crunchberries) is “What is Digital Transformation?” Here’s my take:
Digital Transformation is the fundamental reinvention of an organization’s business model by synergizing advanced analytics (composable, reusable analytic modules) with empowered teams to create a customer journey-centric culture that is continuously-learning and adapting to new sources of customer, product and operational value.
To help organizations navigate their Digital Transformation journey, I introduced the Digital Transformation Value Creation Mapping in the blog “It’s Not Digital Transformation; It’s Digital “Business” Transformation! – Part I.” The Digital Transformation Value Creation Mapping provides a framework to help organizations 1) identify, 2) codify and 3)scale new sources of customer, product and operational value within a 4) customer journey-centric continuously-learningand adapting (via advanced analytics and empowered humans) business and operational environment (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Digital Transformation Value Creation Mapping
The starting point for the Digital Transformation Value Creation Mapping – identifying sources of value creation – requires a thorough and intimate knowledge of what your customers are trying to accomplish with respect to your products and/or services. As part of that effort, organizations must make the upfront investment to identify, validate, value and prioritize the customers’ sources of value as well as the impediments to their value realization. And that detailed, holistic understanding of your customers’ “journey” should start well before they engage with your products and/or services, and ideally extends beyond that engagement as well.
And that’s where the concept of Service Design comes into play.
Role of Service Design in Digital Transformation
Service Design, a methodology out of the Design Thinking toolkit, is instrumental in ensuring that companies thoroughly and intimately understand the entirety of the holistic, end-to-end journeys of their different customer segments.
The Interaction Design Foundation defines Service Design as a “process where designers create sustainable solutions and optimal experiences for both customers in unique contexts and any service providers involved. Designers break services into sections and adapt fine-tuned solutions to suit all users’ needs in context—based on actors, location and other factors.[1]”
The Nielsen Norman Group states that a Service Blueprint (similar to a Service Design) is a “diagram that visualizes the relationships between different service components — people, props (physical or digital evidence), and processes — that are directly tied to touchpoints in a specific customer journey.” See Figure 2.
Figure 2: Source: “Service Blueprints: Definition”[2]
Service Design provides that deep understanding of your customers’ value creation and associated impediments that serves as the foundation for any organization’s Digital Transformation. And since Digital Transformation is about the “fundamental reinvention of an organization’s business model”, a key part of that business model reinvention, for many organizations, includes transitioning your customers to more engaging, value-based “Capabilities-as-a-service” (or Xaas) business model.
Understanding the Xaas Business Model
Xaas refers to the delivery of specific capabilities as a service. For example, many of you use Gmail or Yahoo! for email. You don’t have to download and maintain an application on your laptop to get access to those email services. Instead, you “consume” email capabilities (composing emails, reading and responding to emails, sending group emails, scheduling meetings, managing contacts) “as a service”. The Xaas consumption model has the end user advantage of hiding the underlying technology complexities; the users only care about having access to their desired capabilities freed from worrying about the underlying technologies.
For example, Uber is leveraging their detailed understanding of consumers, drivers and traffic patterns to provide a new “transit-as-a-service” offering. The Transportation Authority of Marin (California) will pay Uber a subscription fee to facilitate requesting, matching and tracking of its high-occupancy vehicle fleet in support of local residents travel needs.
As more organizations rush to Xaas to find new and more predictable revenue streams, the lack of knowledge about how customers are using your products and services is striking. And that’s when the trouble begins.
To be successful with an Xaas business model requires (see Figure 3):
- Superior consumer product usage insights (product usage tendencies, inclinations, affinities, relationships, associations, behaviors, patterns and trends). Xaas providers must be able to quantify and predict where, how and under what conditions the product will be used and the load on that product across various usage scenarios.
- Superior product operational insights (product performance and product operational tendencies, inclinations, affinities, relationships, associations, behaviors, patterns and trends) to provide an “operational experience excellence” by reducing unplanned operational downtime and optimizing product performance across various usage scenarios (which requires use cases such as predictive maintenance, repair optimization, inventory cost reductions, logistics optimization, elimination of obsolete and excessive inventory, consumables inventory optimization, energy efficiencies, asset utilization, technician retention, remaining useful life, predicted salvage value, etc.).
- Superior data and instrumentation strategy to know (and quantify) what data is most important for what use cases and where to place sensors and other instrumentation and data capturing devices to capture that data so as to balance the operational costs associated with False Negatives and False Positives.
Figure 3: Ingredients for a Successful Xaas Business Model
Xaas business model profitability can only be optimized when you tightly integrate and synergize your design, data and analytics strategies.
Role of Service Design with an Xaas Business Model
As organizations transition to an “as-a-service” business models, it requires an entirely new “product management” and “engineering” mindset:
“When you engineer a capability as a product, then it’s the user’s responsibility to figure out how best to use that product. But when your design a capability as a service, then it’s the designers’ and engineers’ responsibility to ensure that the service is capable of being used effectively by the user. This understanding of how users use your capabilities impacts revenue (usage-based revenue model), pricing (to thoroughly understand the value of that capability so as not to over or under price the capability) and SLA support agreements (so as to properly price service agreements based again upon the value of the capability).”
To help organizations to create the data and analytics strategy necessary to support their Xaas business strategy, I created the Data Science Journey Map canvas that identifies the data science (data and analytic) requirements necessary to 1) identify the customer requirements (as identified from the Solution Design) and 2) codify the customer requirements into analytic models (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Data Science Journey Map Canvas
Figure 4 shows the Data Science Journey Map for a Discrete Manufacturer who is trying to optimize inventory costs and inventory availability. The Data Science Journey Map decomposes each stage of the customer journey into key actions (or decisions), metrics against which progress and success will be measured, the different analytics that we will need to provide to support the journey, and what data might be useful in supporting the analytics.
Summary: Marrying Service Design with Data Science
As organizations pursue Digital Transformation, a key component to that effort is the transition to a customer-centric, value-focused “Capabilities-as-a-service” (Xaas) business model. Analytics is T-H-E most important competency as companies push into those Xaas business models.
Superior insights into consumer product usage patterns coupled with superior insights into product performance patterns enables Xaas providers to determine the optimal operational, pricing and customer service level agreements to ensure a viable and profitable Xaas business model.
And if you haven't first mastered customer usage and product performance data management and advanced analytics...SURPRISE (and that’s not the good kind of surprise).
[1] “What is Service Design?” https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/service-design
[2] “Service Blueprints: Definition” http://www.nngroup.com/articles/service-blueprints-definition/
from Featured Blog Posts - Data Science Central https://ift.tt/350eZ5S
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
Philadelphia police investigating alleged plot to attack convention center during ballot count
An unidentified armed man was taken into custody Thursday night after law enforcement received a tip.
A Philadelphia police investigation of an alleged plot to attack the Philadelphia Convention Center, where ballots are being counted in the highly-contested presidential election, has resulted in the confiscation of a gun and one man placed in custody.
Law enforcement received a tip that a group was driving up from Virginia in a Hummer to attack the convention center where workers and volunteers are currently counting the final ballots in Philadelphia county, reports local TV station WPVI. It’s believed the group consisted of a family.
Read More: Pennsylvania could be counting absentee ballots until Friday
An unidentified armed man was taken into custody Thursday night outside of the convention center, however, it is not clear if he was connected to the investigation. Philadelphia police say both the firearm and Hummer were recovered.
Earlier in the day, tensions were high as hundreds of Trump and Biden supporters clashed outside the building as ballots continued to be counted two days after the election. Since seeing his lead against Biden shrink in Pennsylvania as more mailed-in ballots were counted, Trump has falsely claimed fraud in the U.S. presidential election.
Read More: Trump doesn’t plan to concede if Biden is declared president-elect: report
The Biden camp has confidently said they believe the former vice president will win Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral college votes, which would end Trump’s chances of reelection. In Philadelphia county, where the convention center is located, Biden has a 62+ margin lead over Trump.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
The post Philadelphia police investigating alleged plot to attack convention center during ballot count appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/3p283Nt
via Gabe's Musing's
A storyteller dedicated to environmental justice
“What’s an important part of your identity?”
It was a simple question. Yet Mimi Wahid watched as the high school students in her workshop fell silent, their eyebrows furrowed in thought. It was clear that for many, this was the first time they had been directly asked this question before.
To Wahid, an MIT senior, questions about identity define her story. Growing up as a young woman in rural North Carolina to a white mother and a black father, Wahid often found herself thinking about race.
She soon learned she wasn’t alone. As a high school student, she was invited to attend the NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference, a national event that brings together 1,700 students from different backgrounds across the country. Wahid credits the experience as her first exposure to the importance of identity development.
Today, Wahid is a faculty member for the conference, helping to build and facilitate the annual events, and she has led other identity workshops at MIT, including through MIT’s Office of Engineering Outreach Programs (OEOP). In this work, she aims to help students better understand how social environment, experiences, and self-definition work together to shape a person’s identity, and how exploring categories such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status can help people understand and discuss their own identities.
“I’m constantly viewing things through a lens that’s been shaped by my identity,” says Wahid, who is double-majoring in urban studies and planning and in writing. “My racial identity taught me a lot growing up about the contrast of power and privilege. It affects the way I see the world. It affects what I care about most.”
Wahid cites her identity as the source of her passion for environmental justice. Both her parents are landscapers, and from a young age, she often accompanied them on jobs around town. It was through these experiences that she developed a love for nature and an understanding of the different economic divides in her community.
“I would read in the newspaper about how only certain neighborhoods were affected by harmful water quality in my town. It was clear that it was happening more in poor communities,” says Wahid.
The fact that residents of these communities often were people of color didn’t escape Wahid’s eye. Her father had raised her on stories about his childhood that were entangled with historical social movements. Born in 1950 and raised in South Carolina, Wahid’s father was familiar with the impact of segregation and wanted his children to be educated about their surroundings.
“When you’re in North Carolina, the remnants of the Civil Rights movement are everywhere,” she says. “But the effects of segregation are still there today. People of color are disproportionately exposed to the worst parts of the environment.”
Wahid came to MIT knowing that environmental justice was the issue she wanted to tackle. In her first year, she enrolled in the graduate-level course 11.401 (Introduction to Community Housing and Economic Development). While she lacked the working experience of her older peers, Wahid still found ways to excel. “I could draw evidence from our readings and connect it to what I’d seen in my past. The class helped me value the importance of what I had grown up observing,” she says.
Wahid also credits the class for giving her a new perspective on ways to solve problems. Her original plan was to pursue a degree in environmental engineering, but over time, her interests in reading and writing grew. Inspired by students in her class that were urban planners and community organizers, Wahid realized that she could instead use her words to fight for environmental justice.
She continued to take advanced courses and eventually accumulated enough credits to pursue a double major in urban studies and writing. While the number of students majoring in MIT’s Comparative Media Studies/Writing program is relatively small, many students from other majors often join the classes and write about their unique scientific interests. For Wahid, this meant taking the opportunity to share her longstanding appreciation for trees, among other topics. Her early childhood knowledge of tree identification was brought back to light in a whole new way.
In a science writing class, she wrote a short story about the importance of urban forestry in cities most at risk from climate change. Her work earned her the DeWitt Wallace Prize for Science Writing for the Public.
“Science writing was something that helped me bridge what I was learning in school and explain it to my friends and family back home,” she says.
Wahid also channeled her talent for communicating environmental science through her work at the Center for Coalfield Justice. Based out of a rural coal-mining town in Pennsylvania, the nonprofit organization works with individuals who are most directly affected by resource extraction.
As an intern and PKG Fellow, Wahid helped write resource documents that informed community members about their rights in relation to coal companies and how changes in the fossil fuel industry would affect their futures. The information was eventually compiled into a public workshop.
“The town that I was working in was, in some ways, similar to my hometown,” says Wahid. Although she was hundreds of miles away, Wahid’s memories helped her to create questions for the workshop that she knew would be on the minds of community members. Her work opened important discussions and gave locals a chance to discuss new opportunities.
In addition to her work in Pennsylvania, Wahid has also participated in a variety of other efforts on campus focused on social justice. She currently serves as a program facilitator for OEOP’s outreach program MOSTEC, whose mission is to build a diverse and supportive community for high school students interested in STEM fields. During her time at MIT, she has also volunteered as a coordinator and counselor for the PKG Center’s first-year pre-orientation program focused on social justice, and has served in roles with the SPXCE intercultural center, the MIT Admissions Multicultural Recruitment Team, and the Black Students Union, among other projects.
As she continued to interlace her knowledge of science with stories from her own life, Wahid found a passion for writing memoirs, including one that received MIT’s Isabelle de Courtivron Prize for 2020. She is currently working on a writing thesis that is a reworked collection of her previous essays, many of which focus on the theme of intersectionality.
One piece expands on the concept of human migration through the journeys in her own family’s history. She is connecting stories from her parents and grandparents to the histories of the places they’ve called home.
“I’m doing research on what was happening at those moments to paint their fuller history. I’m really curious about all the ways my different family stories intersect with larger narratives,” Wahid explains.
Through telling these stories, Wahid believes that she can better serve as an advocate for environmental justice. She credits her science writing course for teaching her that the challenge of communicating science can be improved through framing it with personal experiences.
“If I can share my own story, I can relate with people through that,” she says. “We all have experiences that shaped us — that made us who we are. When we create these connections, then we can finally start to have really impactful conversations.”
from MIT News https://ift.tt/2TXYUHv
via Gabe's Musing's
Trump doesn’t plan to concede if Biden is declared president-elect: report
The incumbent president would be the first presidential candidate to refuse the ceremonious concession in
As Donald Trump faces the possibility of being a one-term president, the boorish leader is reportedly planning not to concede to his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, if the former vice president is victorious in the 2020 general election.
According to CBS News, Trump may break a 124-year American tradition by not giving a concession speech in the now likely event that Biden is elected the 46th president of the United States.
Read More: Judge nixes Trump bid to stop Philly vote count
The Associated Press currently has Biden with 264 electoral college votes (other outlets have him at 253) to Trump’s 214. If Biden reaches the 270 mark, he will be declared president-elect.
Trump, who declined to a peaceful transfer of power in the weeks leading up to Election Day, would do away with a long tradition of acknowledging defeat by their political opponent. While it’s not a part of U.S. law or the Constitution, the conventional gesture has been employed by presidential candidates as far back as 1896, according to USA Today.
Essentially, concessions are meant to preserve American democracy and unite the country after a hard-fought contest.
Trump caused shock on Thursday night after holding a press conference at the White House where he fabricated accusations in an attempt to sow doubt on the legitimacy of the election.“We’re hearing stories that are horror stories. … We think there is going to be a lot of litigation because we have so much evidence and so much proof,” Trump said.
As AP reports: “Trump has produced no evidence of systemic problems in voting or counting. In fact, the ballot-counting process across the country has been running smoothly for the most part, even with the U.S. in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic.”
When asked in July about Trump possibly not conceding if defeated by Biden, House Speaker U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi said, “Whether he knows it yet, or not, he will be leaving.”
“Just because he [does] not want to move out of the White House does not mean we won’t have an inauguration ceremony to inaugurate the duly elected president of the United States.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
The post Trump doesn’t plan to concede if Biden is declared president-elect: report appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/3evVHrY
via Gabe's Musing's
Simone Biles will ‘always’ support LGBTQ community after campaign hate
The Olympic gold medalist appears in the Uber Eats ‘Tonight I’ll Be Eating’ campaign alongside ‘Queer Eye’ star Jonathan Van Ness
Simone Biles has clapped back at the haters of her new Uber Eats ads featuring Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness.
The Olympic gold medalist appears in the “Tonight I’ll Be Eating” campaign alongside the reality TV star, who shows off his gymnast talents in the promos. The duo even wear matching leotards.
“Anything Simone Biles can do, Jonathan Van Ness can do … in his own, amazing way,” the tagline on the ad reads.
Read More: Simone Biles debuts new NFL boyfriend Jonathan Owens on Instagram
In response, conservative Christian group One Million Moms launched a petition to end the campaign for “pushing the LGBTQ agenda” and “attempting to brainwash viewers,” PEOPLE reports. They also blast Van Ness, who identifies as non-binary, for being a “crossdresser.”
“In one commercial, she gives him a strange look and tells him he can keep her leotard because she doesn’t want it back now that he has worn it. In the other commercial, she asks him if he wants to split her food order by saying, “Splitsies?” Confused by her request, he does the actual splits instead,” the petition reads.
“Casting a cross-dresser in its ads screams liberal agenda and turns off potential Uber Eats customers,” the statement continues.
“Instead of making audiences lose their appetite by glamorizing a LGBTQ lifestyle, Uber Eats should focus on what it does and remain neutral on controversial issues,” the petition goes on to state. Adding, “For anyone curious or struggling with his or her sexual identity, watching someone prance around in the opposite sex’s clothing is not the answer.”
Read More: Simone Biles hesitant to compete in 2021 Tokyo Olympics
On Monday, Biles, 23, responded to the petition, writing, “the world we live in makes me sad, but I’d do x1000000 more commercials with you just to p— everyone off!”
She made clear that the “LGBTQIA will always have my support and feel welcome on my socials,” she she wrote in a post on Twitter.
In a statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Uber responded to the backlash by noting, “At Uber Eats, we’re unapologetically committed to representing the flavor spectrum. From tacos to talent, we like it spicy.”
Adding, “JVN and Simone serve gymnastic prowess and ferosh self-confidence, qualities millions of moms everywhere can—and do—support.”
As of Thursday, the petition has over 7,000 signers.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
The post Simone Biles will ‘always’ support LGBTQ community after campaign hate appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/3p2sav2
via Gabe's Musing's
Televangelist who blamed COVID-19 on premarital sex dies from virus
The reverend previously claimed the president was ‘messing up’ satan’s plan for creating a one world government
The Rev. Irvin Baxter Jr., who once blamed premarital sex for the COVID-19 pandemic, died this week after a weeklong battle with the virus. He was 75.
Baxter Jr. was a prominent Trump-supporting Evangelical pastor who claimed the president was “messing up” Satan’s plan for creating a one world government. He often took aim at Trump’s critics, who he called “satanic.”
“Even Republicans have not been hated like this guy [Trump],” Baxter said last year on the Jim Bakker Show. “And it’s because he was against their one-world government and this hatred is deeply inhuman. It’s satanic. Satan hates it that Trump is messing up his plan. That’s what’s really going on.”
Read More: North Dakota candidate who died from COVID-19 wins election
The reverend is best known for his television program End of the Age, which reaches 100 million households in North America and millions more globally, per Christian Post. He founded Endtime Ministries in 1991, and later published several books, a magazine and his radio program has aired on several AM and FM stations.
Endtime Ministries confirmed that Baxter died on Nov. 3, days after he tested positive for the coronavirus and was hospitalized.
“Irvin went on to his great reward. We celebrate his life, but at the same time, there is sorrow, there is grieving,” said Dave Robbins, co-host of End of the Age.
Robbins said the ministry will “continue in his legacy, sharing the message and good news.”
Read More: Judge nixes Trump bid to stop Philly vote count
Baxter Jr. previously preached about the sin of fornacaton and linked it to the pandemic as a punishment from God, TheWrap reports.
“I was thinking, as I was putting all this together in my mind, about the sin of fornication. I thought about fornication and I did a little research. There are 7.5 million couples living together in the United States, this is not worldwide, just in America. 7.5 million couples. That means 15 million people that are living together unmarried,” Baxter Jr. said.
“And that’s increased over the last 10 years by 138%. Now, in addition to that — I hope this research is not correct, but I got it straight from the encyclopedia — it says that 5% of new brides in America now are virgins. That means 95% have already committed fornication!” he added.
“If we think we can just ignore God and live a sinful lifestyle, well, we cannot do it. You know, I believe in what you’re saying, that God may be using this as a wake-up call. This coronavirus may be a privilege, because I’ll tell you right now, there’s a much bigger judgment coming. It’s in the Bible.”
Baxter reportedly leaves behind his wife, three children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
The post Televangelist who blamed COVID-19 on premarital sex dies from virus appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/3mXa1wW
via Gabe's Musing's
LeBron James asks for help in murder of childhood friend’s sister in Akron
James posted an appeal on social media to ask for help.
Basketball star and NBA champion LeBron James is pleading for help.
James is asking for the people of Akron, Ohio to help him find the person responsible for murdering his close friend, Brandon Weems‘ sister, Ericka Weems.
Read More: LeBron James officially endorses Biden after Trump rally attacks
Weems, 37, was found dead in her Hardesty Avenue residence in Akron from a gunshot wound to the head around 3 p.m. on Monday. Family members asked police to conduct a wellness check after they had not heard from her or been able to reach her, according to Cleveland.com.
James and Brandon Weems are childhood friends who played together on two of the three state high school championships James won at St. Vincent-St. Mary where James was one of the most publicized high school players in the country. Weems’ mother, Brenda Lewis Weems, was James’ godmother. James dedicated his first career playoff game to her after she died of cancer in 2006.
“AKRON OHIO!! My brother family need answers to why and by whom,” tweeted James. “My city I need y’all to go to work and find out who did this awful, shameful, disgusting thing to such a caring, loving angel!”
Weems received her master’s degree in teaching from Kent State University and owned a daycare in Columbus, Ohio, per Cleveland.com.
Brandon Weems joined the the Cleveland Cavaliers as a scout in 2015. The organization is offering their support in light of the tragedy.
“The entire Cavaliers organization was terribly saddened to learn about the recent tragic death of Brandon Weems’ sister Ericka,” said general manager Koby Altman in a statement on Wednesday. “Our hearts are heavy and filled with pain over this senseless act. We express our deepest condolences to Brandon, the entire Weems family, their loved ones, and the Akron community. We will be with Brandon throughout this extremely difficult time and will offer our assistance and resources to help find justice for Ericka.”
Read More: Barack Obama joins LeBron James and Maverick Carter in ‘The Shop’
Weems also posted on social media to pay tribute to his sister.
“To my beautiful sister, we were just talking about celebrating your birthday and now I can’t believe you are gone!! Taken from me, the family, and your friends way too soon,” Brandon Weems wrote on Instagram. “You were truly our moms child. You had such a kind heart and a warm soul. So open to care for, help and love whoever crossed your path. You recently just found your ‘glow’ and it looked amazing on you!! I was so proud of you and happy that you finally found peace and happiness in your life. Why would anyone want to do this to you?? I’m so angry, sad and heartbroken. My life will never be the same without you!! But I’m happy you and mom are back together! Watch over us from up there and I promise we got you down here!! Love you forever and always!!”
Lt. Michael Miller of the Akron police department says no arrests have been made and detectives have not yet discovered a motive.
“Talking with people not just in the family, but in the community, she was the last person someone would expect this to happen to,” Miller told Cleveland.com. “She didn’t have an adversarial relationship with anyone in her life. It looks like another unfortunate and senseless murder.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
The post LeBron James asks for help in murder of childhood friend’s sister in Akron appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/3p29AmM
via Gabe's Musing's
Georgia presidential count tightens in scan of last ballots
Trump had a narrow lead, but with thousands of ballots still being tallied in counties that tend to vote blue, Democrats had reason for optimism
ATLANTA (AP) — Vote counting continued in several Georgia counties on Thursday as Americans watched to see whether the state gives Democrat Joe Biden the electoral votes he needs to become president.
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in Georgia, because the race between President Donald Trump and Biden is still too early to call. Trump had a narrow lead, but with thousands of ballots still being tallied in counties that tend to vote blue, Democrats had reason for optimism.
Read More: Judge nixes Trump bid to stop Philly vote count
The secretary of state’s office announced that as of 7:15 p.m. there were about 18,936 absentee votes in seven counties remaining to be counted. Gabriel Sterling, who has overseen the implementation of Georgia’s new electronic voting system, said the secretary of state’s office has long said counting could take several days.
During an afternoon news conference in the state Capitol, Sterling did not offer an estimate for when he expected counties to finish tabulating their results. He said officials are working diligently and he emphasized his confidence in the legitimacy of the process.
“I think if anybody was going to try to rig a system they might have seen something a little less close than this,” Sterling said. “In this state in particular we take security very seriously. … We’re going to have a recount for president more than likely and the people will see that the outcome will stay essentially the same.”
The roughly 19,000 outstanding absentee ballots don’t include provisional ballots and ballots that need to be “cured” before being scanned. Sterling also noted that ballots cast before Election Day by military voters and citizens living overseas and received by 5 p.m. Friday will be tallied.
“I think all of us would agree that having an accurate count is much more vital – an accurate and fair count – is much more vital than having a fast one,” Sterling said.
A software problem that occurred on Election Day was delaying the counting of about 6,000 ballots in Gwinnett County outside of Atlanta, county spokesman Joe Sorenson said. The error is forcing officials to rescan roughly 80,000 ballots to identify ones where voters made errors in marking them by hand. An adjudication panel will then examine those ballots to try to determine voter intent over the next two to four days, Sorenson said. Once that’s done, the outstanding ballots – mostly absentee ballots received on Election Day – can be counted.
Adjudication panels will then review any that were flagged electronically. These panels, including representatives from both the Democratic and Republican parties, study each ballot for marks indicating voter intent. After each county certifies their total, the state will perform an audit before certifying the results, Sterling said.
With margins so narrow in Georgia, Democrats, Republicans and voting advocacy groups are scrambling to encourage people to fix flaws in already submitted ballots before a Friday deadline to ensure they are counted. There are two categories of ballots where voters may need to fix or “cure” flaws.
One is in mail-in ballots, where voters may have forgotten to sign their ballot or elections workers may have decided that the signature doesn’t match.
The second category is provisional ballots, where voters encountered a problem in person at a polling place and cast their vote with the understanding that officials would later determine whether it’s eligible. Some will be counted without further action, but if a voter didn’t present a photo identification, they will have to present ID to officials to cure their ballot. Advocates also say that in some cases, voters may need to go to a county elections office if they didn’t show up on the rolls at a polling place to make sure their ballot is counted.
Cam Ashling, a Democratic activist, said she spent Thursday canvassing Gwinnett and Hall counties northeast of Atlanta door to door, although she said she found few voters. She said volunteers are flooding in on the Democratic side to seek out missing ballots.
“I guess they’re waking up to the reality that we can flip Georgia,” Ashling said.
State officials couldn’t immediately provide the number of uncured absentee ballots. Provisional lists are kept at the county level, and there are thousands outstanding statewide that county officials will decide on whether to count by Friday.
With 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, Georgia’s 16 electoral votes would clinch it for the Democrats.
In Fulton County, one woman sang “All Night Long” as election workers opened, flattened, stacked and scanned ballots inside Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.
Donald Trump Jr. spoke Thursday evening at an event in Atlanta, along with several Georgia elected officials and decried the process.
Earlier in the day, roughly a hundred Trump supporters gathered outside the arena. They carried signs that read, “Foolton County=Fraud” and chanted “God bless Trump” and “Stop the steal.” Several Atlanta police officers monitored the scene.
On Thursday, Chatham County Judge James Bass dismissed a lawsuit by the Georgia Republican Party and the Trump campaign that essentially sought to ensure state laws are being followed on absentee ballots. The suit had raised concerns about 53 absentee ballots; county officials testified that all had been received on time.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
The post Georgia presidential count tightens in scan of last ballots appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/2Jw4VsT
via Gabe's Musing's
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)