TODAY: Eastern portion of the nation awaits massive snowstorm: “A blizzard will threaten to bring travel to a standstill from Washington, D.C., to New York City as well as across the southern Appalachians by the weekend. Snow and wind will brush southern New England.”
2016 ELECTION: Trump spokesman defends his familiarity with the Bible: “As to the Bible mistake, Camerota noted that Trump blamed a recent flub (referring to Second Corinthians as “Two Corinthians”) on Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, saying that Perkins wrote out the name of the book for him, using the numeral “2” — hence the mistake. ‘Basically, Sam, he’s admitting that he had a cheat sheet,’ Camerota said. ‘Does that show that Donald Trump is not familiar with the Bible, and he can’t quote passages from the Bible, and he was pandering there?'”
HRC FOR HRC: How an early endorsement from the Human Rights Campaign may reveal Hillary’s worst fears: “Why didn’t they keep both candidates competing for the LGBT vote and promising more on a range of issues, from fighting to implement the teaching of queer history in schools to taking on issues uniquely affecting LGBT seniors and LGBT people of color? Why not push Sanders more, hoping to get him to speak out more, dangling that endorsement in front of him — he could, after all, become the Democratic nominee — and why not do the same with Clinton? The only answer to that question has to do with access to the White House, and perhaps what the Clinton campaign may have said to HRC, and to Planned Parenthood, the Brady Campaign on Gun Violence and other groups that have endorsed early, about the kind of access they might get — and what they might not get if they didn’t endorse now.”
AMERICA: Bernie Sanders has a new ad and it features Simon & Garfunkel: “The spot is set to hit airwaves Friday in Iowa and New Hampshire, states where the senator has seen increased support in polling amid recent skirmishes with Hillary Clinton’s campaign over policy issues like health care and general electability.”
FOOTBALL FINES: Napoli head coach Maurizio Sarri banned for two Coppa Italia games and fined £15,000 for using the words “poof” and “faggot” during a match on Tuesday night: “You have to ask Sarri what happened. Men like him shouldn’t be in the world of football. He is 60 years old and must be ashamed,” said Mancini. “The fourth official heard everything, but didn’t say a word, and I was sent off. This incident overshadows the rest of the match and is an embarrassment.”
SPORTS: Trans triathlete Chris Mosier may be banned from World Championships: “The International Triathlon Union, which oversees various multi-event sports and runs the World Duathlon Championships, has informed Mosier that he must fill out a Request to Participate form before getting clearance to compete. That form, according to Mosier, requires a transgender athlete to complete three steps of transition…While Mosier meets two of those criteria, he has not completed his gender-reassignment surgery so will fail to meet the requirements of the ITU and IOC. In reality, that part of the IOC policy was never intended to apply to trans men.”
NYC BOOK READING: Emily Bingham reads from Irrepressible: The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham – at 2 pm on Sunday at the Brooklyn Museum: “Long-ago love letters unearthed from attic trunks got the ball rolling; loads more writings and photographs presented a fuller and undeniable portrait of Henrietta as a risqué celebrity of her time, indulging in alcohol at elite social gatherings and challenging convention with her abundant sexual appetite for both men and (especially) women.”
GRIEF: Celine Dion lined up for seven hours to greet mourners at her husband’s funeral:
VOWS: Mariah Carey is engaged: “Mariah Carey has a brand new piece of jewelry — a massive engagement ring — ’cause her billionaire boyfriend James Packer just popped the question … and Mariah said YESSSSS!!!! It all went down in NYC — where Packer secretly rounded up a bunch of Mariah’s close friends for a private dinner at Eleven Madison Park … so he could get down on one knee and propose in front of the most special people in her life.”
THEATER: Cats is returning to Broadway: “The onetime longest-running show in Broadway history has booked the Neil Simon Theatre, with previews beginning July 14 and an official opening set for Aug. 2. A production spokesperson told Playbill.com that this will be an entirely new production based on the 2014 London Palladium revival, but with new dances by Broadway’s red-hot Andy Blankenbuehler, choreographer of Hamilton and In the Heights, based on the original choreography and associate direction by Gillian Lynne.”
SPACE: For the first time ever, NASA’s new class of astronauts is 50 percent female and in 15 years could all go to Mars. “Three of the four female astronauts who could go to Mars are married, and two are mothers. The hardest part of a Mars trip, according to them, would be being separated from their planet and families for so long.”
Would you go to Mars? Meet the four women astronauts who can't wait to go: https://t.co/NvlyzmyUfr Via @glamourmag pic.twitter.com/BRjoyZX1C3
— NASA (@NASA) January 7, 2016
SPACE VEHICLES: SpaceX just did a propulsive hover test of its Dragon2 vehicle: “Eight SuperDraco thrusters, positioned around the perimeter of the vehicle in pairs called “jet packs”, fired up simultaneously to raise the Crew Dragon spacecraft for a five-second hover, generating approximately 33,000 lbs of thrust before returning the vehicle to its resting position. This test was the second of a two-part milestone under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The first test—a short firing of the engines intended to verify a healthy propulsion system—was completed November 22, and the longer burn two-days later demonstrated vehicle control while hovering.”
URBAN DESIGN: Paris has some new solar street lamps made to resemble trees: “French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, has launched his first urban lighting collection named ‘Clover’, a series of ‘trees’ that have been digitally carved from wooden masts into a lamp and bench.”
TECH: Check out this drone landing on a moving vehicle: “An unmanned, electric, autonomous aircraft travelling at 75 kilometres per hour lands gently on the roof of a moving car. For the first time, researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) have successfully demonstrated a technique developed for this purpose. The system could be applied to ultralight solar-powered aircraft that complement conventional satellite systems while flying in the stratosphere. Eliminating the landing gear significantly increases the payload capability of a solar-powered aircraft – it is easier to land during crosswind conditions, making landings in unfavourable weather conditions possible.”
TECH: Google paid big to be the default search engine on iOS devices: “Apple receives a percentage of the revenue that Google earns from searches made on iOS devices, and in 2014, Apple’s payout from Google totaled $1 billion. That information mirrors a similar rumor from 2012 that also suggested Google was paying Apple upwards of $1 billion. ”
FRIDAY FLESH: South African dancer and fitness model Kyle Sellar:
