Jefferson Graham , USA TODAYPublished 7:03 p.m. ET Jan. 4, 2017 | Updated 13 hours ago
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Five coolest gadgets seen @CES Unveiled
Jefferson Graham shows the 5 coolest gadgets on display at the CES Unveiled event, a press preview in Las Vegas. USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS — Levitating audio speakers. Virtual reality sneakers. The world’s thinnest iPhone charger.
Yes, it’s that time of the year again — CES has opened with press previews. Here are the five coolest gadgets and gizmos we've seen so far.
— Crazybaby Mars audio speakers. They look like the Amazon Echo, but with a floating ring atop the unit. The $329 unit features a Mars-like ring above, because why not. That, and the company says it offers better sound.
“Zero loss in audio transmissions,” explains Crazybaby’s Morong Su. The speakers are out now.
— Kado ultra-slim chargers. The credit-card sized unit fits into your wallet (or purse), and when pulled out, has two prongs and a smartphone cable to plug into A/C for a quick charge. The company makes a great point. Phones are getting slimmer, but chargers remain the same. “It’s time we have chargers that fit our mobile lifestyle,” says Kado chief marketing officer Yariv Ganor. Kado, which claims the phone charger would be the world's thinnest, is looking at a mid-2017 release.
--Virtual reality shoes: The Japanese company Cerevo came to CES with a novel concept: big, black and bulky $1,000 - $1,500 boots for the gamer who wants everything. These are Virtual Reality shoes to be worn while entering another Oculus or Vive dimension. “Once you kick the monster in a VR world, you can feel the monster kick back,” says Cerevo founder Takuma Iwasa of the Taclim VR shoes. He hopes to have them out in the fall.
--Trackr - We love the Tile Bluetooth gizmo for finding lost stuff. The folks at Trackr hope to take it on, with two new units, including that one emits a sound, like Tile, but also lights up. The Trackr Bravo is a round unit, selling for $29.99 that has a replaceable CR1620 battery for when the juice is gone. It can fit on any keychain.
--Hi-Mirror Plus - the $249 unit is pitched as “smart mirror, smarter beauty,” that helps assess skin conditions, and make makeup suggestions accordingly. A built-in camera and tracking system records your progress. The new edition, just out, has LED lights to simulate different lighting conditions.
We'll be off looking at more products today, and be back with more cool product write-ups. Stick with USA TODAY and sister publication Reviewed.com for the latest from CES.
My name is Gary Ozenne, in 2003 I lost my home of 26 years and my home based business Residential Fire Sprinklers when I could not close a new home loan I had applied for. That is because the title was not in my name, but rather, to the O'Neals, whom the banks had issued a deed to 16 months earlier, and failed to rescind. while I was protected by a bankruptcy 'automatic stay' 11 USC 362(a). The banks Chase Manhattan, beneficiary, and loan servicer, Ocwen Federal Bank F.S.B., issued a deed to O'Neal, which was recorded. I alerted the bankruptcy court November 2002, but the court dismissed the case, citing no jurisdiction once the case is dismissed the court ruled. This began over 15 years of pro-se appeals. Since I believed deeply that I was right, I never imagined that a law abiding typical citizen would have this much difficulty to gain a trial, where the facts could be proven. and justice could be rendered. But instead, the legal jurists debated jurisdiction issues. Now, in their latest legal impression of me, without oral argument, the November 9th decision, in Ozenne v Chase Manhattan et. all. and this was the en banc ruling, Ozenne, the victim, has become the bad guy. Trying to take shortcuts in his 15-year dispute. But denied his constitutional rights under the law. I am 67 years old. Either the US Constitution is a document, ignored, or its the bedrock to our rule of law, not men or women. or it isn't. Attorney General Lynch, Pease help me. Show the world that our constitution, and the rule of law, is sometime delayed, but never denied. God Bless You. firesprinklers@gmail.com 951-496-7525 www.garyo.info
On November 9, 2016, I was astonished to learn that the 9th Circuit court of Appeals, had again, denied my civil right to be heard. For now, over 15 years since violations of law, caused the loss of the family home of 26 years, bought new in 1976. And the loss of my start up home based business, Residential Fire Sprinklers, operated since leaving Microsoft in 1991.
My basic American civil rights have been ignored. Attempts to gain a trial on my charges have failed. The banks have been successful in their endeavor to stay out of court. The proof of their unlawfulness is undeniable, so staying out of court, is their only path to success, and paramount to the bank in their strategy of attrition has been successful for now 187 months.
The banks issued a deed to O’Neal despite my bankruptcy filing, which I filed to stop them from proceeding with their phony foreclosure based on a terribly flawed notice of default, asserting I was $10,539.69 behind, when, in fact, they had not yet accounted for the $3841.25 overpayment made two months earlier. Ocwen had made a simple addition error.
I simply wanted a trial, for the banks to face my accusations that cost me so much, by their violations of civil law 11 USC 362(a) for negligent and possibly criminal behavior, 18 USC 152 yet the facts of my case remain unexamined.
In 2001, the banks, Chase Manhattan, and Ocwen Federal Bank F.S.B issued a deed to my home while I was protected by a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. Then, instead of rescinding this deed by recording a document with the county recorder they proceeded for the next 16 months in this title deception, with legal rights vestedtothe titled owner; the O’Neal’s. The banks continued to collect payments from me, through the bankruptcy court, this may expose them to criminal sanctions under 18 USC 152 (1-9)
In early 2003, the banks sold my house, again, to a real estate investor. and since March of 2003, I have fought to get a trial to determine the facts. The courts have consistently denied me this basic law of our country.
The US Constitution guarantees this basic right to be heard and bring your grievances to a fair and open trial. For now, over 15 years, the banks have won by staying out of court ,to face my charges.
The banks have acted with impunity during this last appeal, for example, the banks did not file a response to my informal opening brief, ten months later, the court issued an order for the banks to file their response within 14 days. The banks continued to ignore ordered the court for over 3 years, finally responding when I changed my prayer to remanding the case to the US District court, for trial by jury!
That did it, they replied quickly, and then fairly quickly, the appeals court debates bankruptcy jurisdiction, then the en bank court, ruled that the victim was the bad guy, trying to take shortcuts with my petition for a writ of mandamus. Ign Now, at 67, I don't have the time to waste, while the courts argue about jurisdiction issues.
Can you help me by opening an investigation into my charges? Or order a trial for me, before the next administration takes over. Attorney General Lynch, while time remains, please order an investigation of my civil right to bring my grievances under the law of our United States Constitution, as well as bankruptcy fraud under 18 USC 152(1-9) I know time is short but my plea is wothy of the protections given by our constitution.
. Thank you for your service to our country, Happy New Year and best wishes to you and your family
Representative Robert Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, in 2014. Mr. Goodlatte announced on Monday that the House Republican Conference had approved a change to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics.CreditT.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — House Republicans, overriding their top leaders, voted on Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail.
The move to effectively kill the Office of Congressional Ethics was not made public until late Monday, when Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that the House Republican Conference had approved the change. There was no advance notice or debate on the measure.
The surprising vote came on the eve of the start of a new session of Congress, where emboldened Republicans are ready to push an ambitious agenda on everything from health care to infrastructure, issues that will be the subject of intense lobbying from corporate interests. The House Republicans’ move would take away both power and independence from an investigative body, and give lawmakers more control over internal inquiries.
It also came on the eve of a historic shift in power in Washington, where Republicans control both houses of Congress and where a wealthy businessman with myriad potential conflicts of interest is preparing to move into the White House.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority leader, spoke out during the meeting to oppose the measure, aides said on Monday night. The full House is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on the rules, which would last for two years, until the next congressional elections.
In place of the office, Republicans would create a new Office of Congressional Complaint Review that would report to the House Ethics Committee, which has been accused of ignoring credible allegations of wrongdoing by lawmakers.
“Poor way to begin draining the swamp,” Tom Fitton, president of the conservative group Judicial Watch, said on Twitter. He added, “Swamp wins with help of @SpeakerRyan, @RepGoodlatte.”
Mr. Goodlatte defended the action in a statement on Monday evening, saying it would strengthen ethics oversight in the House while also giving lawmakers better protections against what some of them have called overzealous efforts by the Office of Congressional Ethics.
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“The O.C.E. has a serious and important role in the House, and this amendment does nothing to impede their work,” the statement said in part.
But Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House minority leader, joined others who had worked to create the office in expressing outrage at the move and the secretive way it was orchestrated.
“Republicans claim they want to ‘drain the swamp,’ but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House G.O.P. has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement on Monday night. “Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress.”
The Office of Congressional Ethics has been controversial since its creation and has faced intense criticism from many of its lawmaker targets — both Democrats and Republicans — as its investigations have consistently been more aggressive than those conducted by the House Ethics Committee.
The body was created after a string of serious ethical issues starting a decade ago, including bribery allegations against Representatives Duke Cunningham, Republican of California; William J. Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana; and Bob Ney, Republican of Ohio. All three were ultimately convicted and served time in jail.
The Office of Congressional Ethics, which is overseen by a six-member outside board, does not have subpoena power. But it has its own staff of investigators who spend weeks conducting confidential interviews and collecting documents based on complaints they receive from the public, or news media reports, before issuing findings that detail any possible violation of federal rules or laws. The board then votes on whether to refer the matter to the full House Ethics Committee, which conducts its own review.
But the House Ethics Committee, even if it dismisses the potential ethics violation as unfounded, is required to release the Office of Congressional Ethics report detailing the alleged wrongdoing, creating a deterrent to such questionable behavior by lawmakers.
Under the new arrangement, the Office of Congressional Complaint Review could not take anonymous complaints, and all of its investigations would be overseen by the House Ethics Committee itself, which is made up of lawmakers who answer to their own party.
The Office of Congressional Complaint Review would also have special rules to “better safeguard the exercise of due process rights of both subject and witness,” Mr. Goodlatte said. The provision most likely reflects complaints by certain lawmakers that the ethics office’s staff investigations were at times too aggressive, an allegation that watchdog groups dismissed as evidence that lawmakers were just trying to protect themselves.
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“O.C.E. is one of the outstanding ethics accomplishments of the House of Representatives, and it has played a critical role in seeing that the congressional ethics process is no longer viewed as merely a means to sweep problems under the rug,” said a statement from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an ethics watchdog group that has filed many complaints with the Office of Congressional Ethics.
“If the 115th Congress begins with rules amendments undermining O.C.E., it is setting itself up to be dogged by scandals and ethics issues for years and is returning the House to dark days when ethics violations were rampant and far too often tolerated,” the statement continued.
One Republican House aide on Monday disputed the suggestion that the Office of Congressional Complaint Review was a new entity, arguing that the current staff would largely remain and that the outside board overseeing it would also continue to exist.
“It’s the same office, same people, most of the same rules,” said the House aide, who was not authorized to speak on the record.
Among the most prominent cases brought by the Office of Congressional Ethics since it was created was an investigation into Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, who was accused of intervening with the Treasury Department to try to assist a struggling bank in which her husband owned stock.
Ms. Waters was ultimately cleared by the House Ethics Committee, but the committee criticized the actions of her grandson, who was then her chief of staff, and urged the House to consider broadening a ban on lawmakers’ hiring their relatives to include grandchildren.
By moving all of the authority to the House Ethics Committee, several ethics lawyers said, the House risks becoming far too protective of members accused of wrongdoing.
Bryson Morgan, who worked as an investigative lawyer at the Office of Congressional Ethics from 2013 until 2015, said that under his interpretation of the new rules, members of the House committee could move to stop an inquiry even before it was completed.
“This is huge,” said Mr. Morgan, who now defends lawmakers targeted in ethics investigations. “It effectively allows the committee to shut down any independent investigation into member misconduct. Historically, the ethics committee has failed to investigate member misconduct.”
from Toronto Ontario As a DNA agent, disguised as a bright Canadian college student and later a nightclub hostess, we have talked about cosmology, life, and consciousness.
