Rival Sons have announced a reissue of their 2011 album, Pressure & Time, in honor of its 10th anniversary.
The package will be available on standard CD and vinyl, due out November 12, as well as a limited edition deluxe version, which will be released in March 2022.
In the deluxe, you’ll find Pressure & Time on a gold vinyl LP, as well as a bonus single and a 48-page photo book. If you pre-order it before November 12, you’ll also get a signed print of the band.
Earlier this year, Rival Sons announced that they’d be reissuing some of their earlier work via their newly launched Sacred Tongue Recordings. Prior to Pressure & Time, the band’s 2009 debut album, Before the Fire, and their 2010 self-titled EP have also received the reissue treatment.
Meanwhile, Rival Sons are embarking on a 10th anniversary Pressure & Time tour starting September 29 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
(NEW YORK) — When U.S. gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman testified before Congress Wednesday, they painted a portrait of a system that failed them when they reported sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics team doctor.
The gymnasts also shared a vivid picture of what it is like to recover emotionally from sexual abuse, and described how the system’s failures delayed their ongoing recovery.
“I personally don’t think that people realize how much experiencing a type of abuse is not something that one just suffers in the moment,” said Raisman, who testified against Nassar shortly before he was sentenced in 2018 to up to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting hundreds of girls and women. “It carries on with them, sometimes for the rest of their lives.”
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is investigating the FBI’s handling of the Nassar allegations, Raisman continued, “For example, being here today is taking everything I have. My main concern is I hope I have the energy even to just walk out of here. I don’t think people realize how much it affects us.”
Maroney, who testified Wednesday that the FBI delayed documenting her claims against Nassar and then made false claims, at one point apologized to the senators for not answering more questions, saying she was exhausted after sharing her experience with them.
When Biles, a seven-time Olympic medalist, began her testimony, she told the senators, “To be perfectly honest, I can imagine no place I’d be less comfortable right now than sitting here in front of you sharing these comments.”
Biles — who paused several times in her testimony to hold back tears — tied her performance at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics to her struggle to recover mentally after being abused by Nassar. She dropped out of several competitions in Tokyo because of a mental health issue.
“As a recent competitor in the Tokyo Games who was a survivor of this horror, I can assure you the impacts of this man’s abuse are not over or ever forgotten,” Biles said. “The announcement in the spring of 2020 that the Tokyo Games were to be postponed for a year meant that I would be going to the gym, to training, to therapy, living daily among the reminders of this story for another 365 days.”
“As I have stated in the past, one thing that helped me push each and every day was the goal of not allowing this crisis to be ignored. I worked incredibly hard to make sure that my presence could maintain a connection between the failures and the competition at Tokyo 2020,” she continued. “That has proven to be an exceptionally difficult burden for me to carry, particularly when required to travel to Tokyo without the support of any of my family.”
Biles has also spoken previously about suffering from depression and having to take anxiety medication in the fallout of the Nassar abuse.
Raisman has said in the past that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of being sexually abused. In her testimony before Congress, she described exactly how that has impacted both her physical and emotional health.
“I used to train some days, seven hours a day when I was training for the Olympics, and processing my abuse affected me so much and it is still something I struggle with,” she said. “When I first shared my story publicly … I didn’t even have the energy to stand up in the shower. I would have to sit on the floor and wash my hair because standing up was too exhausting for me.”
“I couldn’t even go for a 10-minute walk outside, and this is someone — I’ve competed in two Olympic games,” Raisman continued. “There are times where I feel like I forget what I’m saying. I feel like my mind isn’t working. I feel like I have no energy at all. I’m 27 years old and my 80-year-old grandfather has more energy than I do.”
Raisman said she has had to be taken by ambulance for medical care after passing out because she is “so sick from just the trauma,” noting that it can at times hit her, “out of the blue.”
“I think it’s important for people to understand how much — even if we’re not crying — we are all struggling and how much survivors are suffering,” Raisman said, adding that delivering her testimony on Wednesday may be something that will take her “months” from which to recover.
Surviving sexual abuse as a child or as an adult can have lasting mental health complications, experts say.
According to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, around 70% of rape or sexual assault victims experience moderate to severe distress after the assault, which they say is a larger percentage than for any other violent crime.
Mental health complications from sexual assault may include everything from self-harm and eating disorders to panic attacks, depression, flashbacks, PTSD substance abuse and suicide, according to RAINN.
If you or someone you know is in need of help, the National Sexual Assault Hotline — 800-656-HOPE — is free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also use the hotline’s chat online option.
(NEW YORK) — The United Nations Human Rights chief on Wednesday called for a moratorium on the sale of and use of artificial intelligence technology that poses human rights risks — including the state use of facial recognition software — until adequate safeguards are put in place.
The plea comes as artificial intelligence develops at a rapid clip, despite myriad concerns ranging from privacy to racial bias plaguing the emerging technology.
“Artificial intelligence can be a force for good, helping societies overcome some of the great challenges of our times. But AI technologies can have negative, even catastrophic, effects if they are used without sufficient regard to how they affect people’s human rights,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement Wednesday.
Bachelet’s warnings accompany a report released by the U.N. Human Rights Office analyzing how artificial intelligence systems affect people’s right to privacy — as well as rights to health, education, freedom of movement and more.
“Artificial intelligence now reaches into almost every corner of our physical and mental lives and even emotional states,” Bachelet added. “AI systems are used to determine who gets public services, decide who has a chance to be recruited for a job, and of course they affect what information people see and can share online.”
The report warns of the dangers of implementing the technology without due diligence, citing cases of people being wrongly arrested because of flawed facial recognition tech or being denied social security benefits because of the mistakes made by these tools.
While the report did not cite specific software, it called for countries to ban any AI applications that “cannot be operated in compliance with international human rights law.” More specifically, the report called for a moratorium on the use of remote biometric recognition technologies in public spaces — at least until authorities can demonstrate compliance with privacy and data protection standards and the absence of discriminatory or accuracy issues.
The report also slammed the lack of transparency around the implementation of many AI systems, and how their reliance on large data sets can result in people’s data being collected and analyzed in opaque ways as well as result in faulty or discriminatory decisions. The long-term storage of data and how it could be used in the future is also unknown and a cause for concern, according to the report.
“Given the rapid and continuous growth of AI, filling the immense accountability gap in how data is collected, stored, shared and used is one of the most urgent human rights questions we face,” Bachelet said.
“We cannot afford to continue playing catch-up regarding AI — allowing its use with limited or no boundaries or oversight, and dealing with the almost inevitable human rights consequences after the fact,” Bachelet said, calling for immediate action to put “human rights guardrails on the use of AI.”
Digital rights advocacy groups welcomed the recommendations from the international body, especially as many nations lag in implementing federal laws surrounding artificial intelligence.
Evan Greer, the director of the nonprofit advocacy group Fight for the Future, told ABC News that the report further proves the “existential threat” posed by this emerging technology.
“This report echoes the growing consensus among technology and human rights experts around the world: artificial intelligence powered surveillance systems like facial recognition pose an existential threat to the future [of] human liberty,” Greer told ABC News. “Like nuclear or biological weapons, technology like this has such an enormous potential for harm that it cannot be effectively regulated, it must be banned.”
“Facial recognition and other discriminatory uses of artificial intelligence can do immense harm whether they’re deployed by governments or private entities like corporations,” Greer added. “We agree with the UN report’s conclusion: there should be an immediate, worldwide moratorium on the sale of facial recognition surveillance technology and other harmful AI systems.”
Multiple studies have indicated that facial recognition technologies powered by artificial intelligence have the potential of racial bias and false negatives. Just last summer, a Black man in Michigan was wrongfully arrested and detained after facial recognition technology incorrectly identified him as a shoplifting suspect.
A sweeping 2019 study from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology found a majority of facial recognition software on the market had higher rates of false positive matches for Asian and Black faces compared to white faces. A separate 2019 study from the U.K. found that 81% of suspects flagged by the facial recognition technology used by London’s Metropolitan Police force were innocent.
Cleveland Browns star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will be held out against Houston this week, head coach Kevin Stefanski announced Wednesday.
“[I] just felt like that was the right thing to do,” he said. “Last week, I thought we had a good plan. He was close, working very hard on the side, but felt like it made more sense to have clarity early in the week from a game-planning [and] practice standpoint.
Stefanski said Beckham has not had a setback and will continue to practice this week on a limited basis.
Beckham has been recovering from knee surgery after he tore his left ACL last season.
He was a game-time decision for the team’s week one game against Kansas City but was ruled inactive for the game.
“He was pushing to get there, just didn’t feel like he could play a significant number of snaps,” Stefanski said. “I just felt like this for this week, the prudent thing to do was let those other guys get all those reps, although they got a bunch last week and, let’s game plan accordingly.”
Reba McEntire is speaking out after the fire department had to rescue her from the second floor of a building in Oklahoma, when the stairs collapsed while she and her boyfriend, Rex Linn, were inside.
“While my team and I were in Atoka, OK yesterday checking out an old historical building, a staircase collapsed,” Reba shared on social media. “Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. We were safely evacuated from the building thanks to the quick response from the Atoka fire and police departments.”
In a tweet posted by KTEN reporter Lisanne Anderson, Reba can be seen coming down a ladder, with help from a member of the fire department.
“Close call for [Reba] in Atoka, Oklahoma Tuesday,” Lisanne wrote. “Sure glad she and boyfriend Rex Linn are ok! While touring an old building, a staircase collapsed. They were among seven people inside. Atoka’s finest came to the rescue. No one hurt, just some bumps and bruises.”
Reba’s Revived Remixed Revisited box set will be out on October 8.
AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
(DENVER) — A 14-month probe into the actions of the Aurora Police Department in Colorado found the department “has a pattern and practice of violating state and federal law through racially biased policing, using excessive force, and failing to record legally required information when interacting with the community,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Wednesday.
Investigators found that Aurora Police have used force against people of color almost two and a half times more than against white people based on their relative percentage of the population, according to the attorney general’s report.
The report, which was conducted in response to the death of Elijah McClain, also found Aurora Police arrested people of color “1.3 times more than whites based on population percentage alone.”
“That multiplier was even greater for Black community members, who were arrested over two times more than whites,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
The Aurora Police Department didn’t immediately return messages to ABC News for comment.
The report highly recommends the city of Aurora enter a consent decree with the department to require changes to training, policies and record-keeping.
Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is number five onRolling Stone‘s newly updated list of the 500 Best Songs of All Time.
The publication “completely remade” its previous ranking, which was originally published in 2004 and slightly updated in 2010. On that first list, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was ranked number nine.
Naturally, a number of newer songs that weren’t out when the original list was unveiled are now included. For example, Lorde‘s breakout hit “Royals” is ranked at number 30, while Billie Eilish‘s “bad guy” comes in at number 178.
Additionally, several tracks that were eligible for the original 2004 list or the 2010 update but weren’t included now show up on the 2021 ranking, including The Killers‘ “Mr. Brightside” at 378, Foo Fighters‘ “Everlong” at 409 and Pearl Jam‘s “Alive” at 416.
Meanwhile, The White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army” made a big leap on the list, from its initial ranking of 286 all the way up now to 36.
As for the number-one greatest song of all time, that’d be Aretha Franklin‘s rendition of the Otis Redding-penned song “Respect.” It takes the title from Bob Dylan‘s “Like a Rolling Stone,” which now occupies the number-four spot.
Rolling Stone has published a brand-new list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time — it’s first since 2004 — and the top-ranked tune is Aretha Franklin‘s classic 1967 version of Otis Redding‘s “Respect,” moving up from #5 on the previous tally.
Explaining how the Queen of Soul’s version of the song differed from Otis’ original 1965 rendition, Rolling Stone notes, “In Redding’s reading, a brawny march, he called for equal favor with volcanic force. Franklin wasn’t asking for anything. She sang from higher ground: a woman calling for an end to the exhaustion and sacrifice of a raw deal with scorching sexual authority. In short: If you want some, you will earn it.”
Other songs by veteran acts in the list’s top 10 include Sam Cooke‘s “A Change Is Gonna Come” at #3, Bob Dylan‘s “Like a Rolling Stone” at #4 — it topped the 2004 tally — Marvin’s Gaye‘s “What’s Going On” at #6, The Beatles‘ “Strawberry Fields Forever” at #7, and Fleetwood Mac‘s “Dreams” at #9.
Also ranked high on the list are The Beach Boys‘ “God Only Knows” at #11, Stevie Wonder‘s “Superstition” at #12, The Rolling Stones‘ “Gimme Shelter” at #13, The Kinks‘ “Waterloo Sunset” at #14, The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at #15, Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody” at #17, Prince‘s “Purple Rain” at #18, and John Lennon‘s “Imagine” at #19.
Rolling Stone‘s ranking was determined by more than 250 artists, musicians, producers, music industry figures, critics and journalists, who all submitted in their top 50 choices, which the magazine then tabulated. More than half of the songs on the new list weren’t present on the 2004 list.
(LONDON) — Duchess Kate made her first public appearance in more than two months on Wednesday.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, visited RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England, to meet with those involved in the United Kingdom’s evacuation of thousands of people from Afghanistan.
In the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of the country, the Royal Air Force undertook the largest humanitarian aid operation in more than 70 years as the UK ended its 20-year military campaign in Afghanistan.
Operation PITTING saw the RAF fly out more than 15,000 people from Kabul between Aug. 14 to Aug. 28. More than 850 people arrived in the country via RAF Brize Norton.
During her visit, the duchess met with everyone from military personnel, including RAF aircrew and medics, to civilians and volunteers who helped evacuees in Operation PITTING through a repatriation center at the base. In addition to the RAF, the Royal Navy, the British Army and aid organizations assisted in the mission.
This is the first time Kate has been photographed in public since appearing at two major sporting events on July 11.
The duchess attended the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship with her husband, Prince William, and their oldest child, Prince George, and attended the 2021 Wimbledon Championship finals.
Luke Combs was one of the numerous artists who participated in Loretta Lynn’s Friends: Hometown Rising concert. The star-studded show was planned by Loretta Lynn to raise money for those affected by the devastating floods in Middle Tennessee last month.
Luke, who sang “Forever After All” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart” at the show reveals it was Loretta who called him personally to ask him to participate — a request he knew he could not deny.
“I live in midwestern Tennessee myself… and I started seeing all the devastation that happened out where I live,” Luke shared from stage. “When I got the call from Loretta, I said ‘Whatever I need to do, I’m there. I want to help.’”
Luke was joined by Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, BRELAND, Little Big Town, Chris Janson and Brittney Spencer for the show, which was held at the Grand Ole Opry.
A final tally of money raised has yet to be announced. Two autographed show posters netted $20,000, while a guitar strap signed by Keith and his wife, Nicole Kidman, raised $75,000. All proceeds go directly to the United Way of Humphreys County.
