Alyssa Milano puts a point on #WhyIDidntReport in a powerful new essay

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The #MeToo movement received a jolt this weekend with the new hashtag #WhyIDidntReport, prompted by Donald Trump’s pushback on allegations raised by Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

Actress Alyssa Milano was among the staggering number of people who tweeted heartbreaking personal stories of being sexually assaulted and choosing not to report it for any number of reasons. In a new essay for Vox, Milano unpacks the stigma of reporting sexual assault and how reactions like Trump’s and Kavanaugh’s are exactly why survivors are so scared to come forward. Read more…

More about Watercooler, Celebrities, Donald Trump, Sexual Assault, and Activisim

Next time someone annoys you on Tinder, rock this Halloween ‘ghosted’ costume

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Ghosts are everywhere — in haunted houses and on our most popular dating apps.

That’s why Party City has developed an adult ghosting costume for women. Plenty of women have encountered someone who just won’t stop bothering them on dating apps or over text.

Might as well “ghost” them in real life.

SEE ALSO: Here’s a sexy ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Halloween costume that no one asked for

The costume is now available for $24.99 on the Party City website. As of now, there is only a women’s costume.

“If someone’s blowing up your phone, ghost them in a Ghosted Costume for women!” the Party City description reads. “The costume is a hooded white dress designed to look like a ghost with a series of unanswered texts on the front.” Read more…

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Tim Cook reportedly behind Apple’s lame, sanitized television production plans

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Apple has all the money in the world, but as the disastrous Planet of the Apps proved, money is no substitute for good taste. 

The 2017 reality show from the makers of your favorite $1,449 phone pitted app developers against each other for the approval of their celebrity ring masters, and in doing so kept clear of all the hallmarks of many of today’s most popular shows: Sex, drugs, profanity, and violence. That appears to have been very much by CEO Tim Cook’s design, who the Wall Street Journal reports has made it very clear that shows produced by Apple should be wholesome affairs. 

SEE ALSO: Apple’s ‘Planet of the Apps’ totally gets kids are just a speed bump on the road to will.i.am Read more…

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This Tesla key fob looks like, you guessed it, a mini Tesla Model 3

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Tesla likes to do things differently. 

So when Electrek reported last month that the electric car company was allegedly working on a new key fob for its Model 3, we should have known it wouldn’t be just your standard blob of a BLE device. Thanks to newly released documents filed to the FCC, we now know that’s exactly right. 

SEE ALSO: Your Tesla is probably vulnerable to hackers, but there’s an easy fix

According to the filing, the as-of-yet-unreleased fob is actually shaped like a mini Model 3. Basically, it looks like the most expensive Hot Wheels car you never owned. 

Vroom.

Vroom.

Image: tesla / fcc Read more…

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Watch this brave lil’ raccoon climb up building, leap off, and survive

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Sorry cats, but when it comes to climbing tall buildings, you’ve got nothing compared to raccoons.

In Ocean City, New Jersey Friday, a raccoon was spotted a jaw-dropping nine stories up a building. The raccoon proceeded to leap off the building, hit the soft sand with its little raccoon feet, and scamper away.

SEE ALSO: A carb-loving raccoon broke into a woman’s home and ate all of her bread

Watch this little acrobat in action:

DAREDEVIL RACCOON: Incredible video shows a raccoon climbing roughly nine stories up a building off the Ocean City Boardwalk. It then appears to turn around and jump from the building, spiraling toward the ground. Then it gets up and walks away…

MORE: https://t.co/a7MU4FnFDT pic.twitter.com/njbzrFcWTF

— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) September 21, 2018 Read more…

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Google is trying, and failing, to cover its creepy Chinese search engine tracks

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Google wants the world’s information to be universally accessible, unless that information just so happens to relate to its reported efforts to build a censored Chinese search engine that tracks its users.

According to the Intercept, which first broke the story of the project codenamed Dragonfly in early August, the Mountain View-based search and advertising giant is going to great lengths to keep information about its plans secret — even from its own employees. 

SEE ALSO: Google’s secret China censorship project shares a name with Sergey Brin’s mega-yacht

The latest example of the company’s attempt to squash even internal debate about the heavily criticized plans comes in the form of an internal memo. Specifically, the forced deletion of it. The memo, reportedly written by a Google engineer, detailed how the Chinese search engine would track users’ locations, force them to login, and give “unilateral access” to a third-party Chinese partner. Read more…

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Ted Cruz’s latest dig at Beto O’Rourke on Twitter might be his vilest yet

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Ted Cruz’s social media team has reached a dark new low.

Right before Senate hopeful Beta O’Rourke’s debate with Cruz last night, where the sitting Senator skirted the question about whether police violence against African-Americans was a problem, Cruz released a seemingly innocuous video on Twitter featuring O’Rourke.

In it, Beto denounces the murder of Botham Jean, who was mysteriously killed in his apartment by an off-duty police officer.

SEE ALSO: Internet roasts Texas GOP for allegedly sharing this ‘edgy’ photo of Ted Cruz

Botham Shem Jean, who is black, was unarmed at the time of his death. It’s unclear why his neighbor, a white off-duty police officer, entered his apartment and proceeded to shoot himThe case is ongoing. Read more…

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Jane Fonda throws the debate around comebacks for #MeToo men into sharp relief

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Do guys like Louis C.K. or Charlie Rose deserve a comeback? Does any disgraced sexual predator? What has to happen before such a comeback is even possible?

These questions have been rattling around online for some time, though C.K.’s recent attempted return to stand-up raised the volume. Now, Jane Fonda has some advice for all those disgraced men to consider before they start mulling a comeback.

SEE ALSO: The Louis C.K. apologists are missing the point

“Guys are trying to make a comeback and they haven’t done the work,” Fonda said during an event for her upcoming HBO documentary, Jane Fonda in Five Acts. Read more…

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Watch this dad expertly help his kid pretend to be Spider-Man

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This is One Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.

Nothing like a little wholesome parent-child bonding. 

In this extremely cute video, a little kid dressed like Spider-Man acts out every child’s superhero daydream with some much-appreciated help from dad.

SEE ALSO: ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man’ Review: You really can do whatever a spider can

Can we talk about the sound effects dad added to make this a truly authentic experience? Incredible. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention this kid’s on-point Spidey movements. We’ve got a Spider-Man star in the making, folks. Read more…

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‘Child’s Play’ creator disavows new ‘Chucky’ remake with a meme

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Chucky is back — and not everyone’s happy about it.

On Friday, MGM announced it had started production for the reboot of Child’s Play, the legendary 1988 horror film. The original’s story creator Don Mancini, who won’t be involved in the new production, proceeded to let his feelings be known with a subtweet.

SEE ALSO: ‘American Horror Story: Apocalypse’: Everything we know about Season 8

Mancini has produced six sequels to the original’s Child’s Play, six times as a screenwriter and three times as a director. He’s currently working on a Child’s Play TV series featuring the voice of the original Chucky. This is all through Universal, which owns the rights to all but one of the Child’s Play sequels (MGM, meanwhile, owns the original and 2004’s Seed of Chucky). Read more…

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