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Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

The following statistics seem impossible to believe. While I wonder how accurately the UK has been tracking these numbers historically, the enormous spread seems much too large to ignore, and is a national embarrassment that should be dealt with immediately.

From the Free Thought Project:

A new report by ThinkProgress.com unearthed disturbing figures when it came to the number of police-related deaths that occurred in America in the month of March alone.

 

Just last month, in the 31 days of March, police in the United States killed more people than the UK did in the entire 20th century. In fact, it was twice as many; police in the UK only killed 52 people during that 100 year period.

 

According to the report by ThinkProgess, in March alone, 111 people died during police encounters — 36 more than the previous month.

 

This high number in March increased the average for police killings from every 8.5 hours, to nearly 1 police killing every 6.5 hours in the US.

 

China, whose population is 4 and 1/2 times the size of the United States, recorded 12 killings by law enforcement officers in 2014.

On average, US police kill people at a rate 70 times higher than any of the other first world countries as they “protect and serve” the American citizens.

This is not what freedom looks like.

submitted by Cydoniagenesis [link] [1598 comments]

Retail copies of the upcoming PC version of Grand Theft Auto 5 will presumably ship in a 7-disc box set.

Originally posted on Reddit, the image below shows the 7 DVD set in all its glory. The source of the image isn't yet known, but the 18+ ratings marking on the front of the box doesn't match the standardized ESRB symbols, suggesting a non-US market.

Another photo of the box set was posted the Twitter account Grand Theft Auto Feed as well:

Continue reading…

submitted by jonathan6405
[link] [199 comments]

You might not think of Dell as a big name in tablets -- not on the level of, say, Apple or Samsung. In fact, though, the once-stodgy PC maker sells one of our favorite Android tabs, the Venue 8 7000, which won a Best of CES award and earned a strong ...

The dog shown in the photo above decided to play it safe and lie down when his owners did the same during a drug bust. The raid occurred this past Thursday in Santa Catarina, a state in southern Brazil. At first the male dog was barking at police, but when his humans hit the floor of their house in compliance with police orders, the intelligent, ever loyal pup lay on his back next to them. The New York Post quoted Barnie Rico, an animal psychiatrist and dog trainer, who said a dog exposing its belly is a sign of submission:

“By exposing its soft underbelly to any potential attacker it is showing that it doesn’t mean any trouble. “The dog is also turning its head away as looking at the potential enemy can also be seen as a sign of aggression to another dog. It is clearly a very clever animal because it saw the rest of its pack give in, and decided to copy them.”

Read more about the drug bust here.

Image: Europics | Via: Uproxx

submitted by mmmmpork [link] [232 comments]

Sharknado deserves accolades for one thing: knowing it sucks and having fun with that. Sometimes a good D-level movie can really pump up our mood. As we know, there have been two Sharknado movies now, and with this banner being teased all around the web this weekend, seems the weather threat of another Sharknado seems at hand.

I will admit, that subtitle is exactly how most people probably feel, so well played.

[Image, story via ToplessRobot]

The post ‘Sharknado 3′ Is Coming (and Wants You To Embrace It’s Awful) appeared first on Geeks are Sexy Technology News.

submitted by nobletruths [link] [82 comments]

What’s better then a monster machine? A meta machine. Here are a bunch of machines that really took the advice “Just do you!” to heart.

Read more...

It was almost a year ago when we noted that as a result of its net leverage surging to levels that had started to threaten its Investment Grade (IG) rating, that it was only a matter of time before IBM would have no more "dry powder" on its balance sheet, or said otherwise, be able to issue more debt and use the proceeds solely for stock buyback purposes.

The culprit for IBM's stock buyback malaise was shown in the following chart which indicated the relentless surge in Big Blue's net leverage.

 

As predicted, IBM's buybacks subsequently slowed to a trickle...

...and the stock has gone only downhill since.

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon, when Viacom revealed that as part of its "Strategic Realignment to Create Efficiencies and Drive Long-Term Growth" it would do something which the market loathes: it would stop its buybacks. Specifically it said that "Viacom will temporarily pause share purchases under its current $20 billion stock repurchase program in order to stay within its target leverage ratio."

What Viacom meant was that just like IBM, its net debt ratio had likewise soared in the past several years, and had reached a level where the Baa2/BBB-rated company was on the verge of being cut to junk status.

It was therefore not surprising that in order to "stay within its target leverage ratio" yet another major stock repurchaser was forced to give its primary share-price boosting strategy an indefinite break.

But is Viacom a harbinger for the broader market, a market which as we reported previously only, had a tremendous month of February only because of a record $100 billion in announced stock buybacks?

The answer is a resounding yes, because IBM and Viacom are not alone.

As Citigroup showed in a recent report, contrary to false and misleading reports of corporate deleveraging, median leverage for both Investment Grade companies and recent fallen angels is the highest it has ever been!

 

As Citi sarcastically notes "if leverage is going up today because it’s funding tomorrow’s growth that might not be a bad thing. Unfortunately, that’s not what’s going on."

In other words, all this record debt issuance is not used to fund capex, but as in the case of IBM and Viacom, is used exclusively for shareholder friendly activities, such as stock buybacks and dividends.

Which means that as soon as the buyback quiet period ends in the first week of May, the next catalyst concerned shareholders will focus on will be which company will follow in Viacom and IBM's footsteps, and likewise announce that in order to preserve their IG rating, will be "forced" to halt stock buybacks for the indefinite future.

To make our readers' lives easier, here is a quick and dirty CapIQ screen looking at the largest S&P companies which have repurchased $2 billion or more in stock in the last 12 months, and whose net debt/EBITDA is dangerously close to the "fallen angel" category. Not surprisingly, the top 20 results feature both IBM and Viacom. Expect many more companies on this list, especially those with higher net leverage, to announce that their stock buybacks are also put on hiatus until further notice, leading to a sudden and sharp air pocket in their stock price.

submitted by ceepington
[link] [50 comments]

submitted by thesupergeek42
[link] [52 comments]

For those of you who prefer to watch from the sidelines or simply check out what moves are possible with your roster, we've got a cheery video showcasing seven minutes of Mortal Kombat X Fatalities and X-Ray moves.

My poor delicate constitution.

Mortal Kombat X: All Fatalities and X-Rays So Far in 1080p 60fps [IGN]

Scott Cawthon's wildly successful Five Nights at Freddy's could be coming to a movie theater near you. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has picked up the rights to Five Nights at Freddy's with the intent to adapt the horror game series into a feature film.

Producer Seth Grahame-Smith says the filmmakers want to turn the indie horror game into an "insane, terrifying and weirdly adorable movie." Cawthon is quoted as saying he believes the story of Five Nights at Freddy's, in which the player must survive nights trapped in a Chuck E. Cheese's-like pizza joint inhabited by murderous animatronic mascots, "really lends itself to being a movie."

The original Five Night's at Freddy's was released on Steam in the summer of...

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Google is known to release April Fools' Day pranks and gimmicks, and it looks like one of this year's gags has come out a day early.

Google Maps now presents you with an option to play Pac-Man, right in your browser—with the world as your level.

Here's Times Square, where Pac hopefully won't be devoured by ghosts or tourists:

Even San Francisco's wavy Lombard Street is fair game:

Head on over to Google Maps and waste your day playing Pac-Man. You know you want to.

[h/t Gizmodo]