Month: August 2022

Categories
US

Alleged bias in Hunter Biden probe ‘deeply troubling’: FBI Director Wray

Alleged bias in Hunter Biden probe 'deeply troubling': FBI Director Wray

Allegations that biased FBI agents shielded first are Hunter Biden from criminal investigations are “deeply troubling,” FBI Director Christopher Wray was forced to admit Thursday under grilling from Republican senators — before cutting the Q&A short by claiming he needed to catch a flight.

The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) noted that Wray wasn’t flying commercial and pleaded in vain for the FBI chief to reschedule the departure of his government jet.

But before leaving, Wray was pressed by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) about whistleblower claims against Tim Thibault, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s DC field office, and FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten.

Kennedy confronted Wray with allegations against the two FBI workers that Grassley revealed last month.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill August 4, 2022.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Aug. 4, 2022.
Getty Images

“Isn’t it true that Mr. Thibault — Agent Thibault, excuse me — and [Auten] covered up derogatory information about Mr. Hunter Biden while working for the FBI?” Kennedy asked Wray point-blank Thursday.

“I want to be very careful not to interfere with ongoing personnel matters,” Wray replied. “I should say that when I read the letter that describes the kinds of things that you’re talking about, I found it deeply troubling.”

An image of Hunter Biden from his laptop.
Wray was questioned about alleged bias in agents’ probing of Hunter Biden.

Kennedy also cited to Wray a variety of Thibault’s social media barbs against Republicans, which resembled the anti-GOP attacks by FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page during the bureau’s investigation of possible Russian collusion with Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Grassley’s July letter to Wray said Auten and Thibault allegedly were involved in “a scheme” to “undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation.”

Auten “opened an assessment which was used by an FBI Headquarters (‘FBI HQ’) team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” Grassley wrote.

“[V]erified and verifiable derogatory information on Hunter Biden was falsely labeled as disinformation,” Grassley wrote, citing unnamed whistleblowers.

Thibault, meanwhile, allegedly tried to kill off a valid avenue of investigation of possible Hunter Biden criminality.

Sen. John Kennedy pauses for reporters as senators rush to the chamber for votes ahead of the approaching Memorial Day recess at the Capitol
GOP Sen. John Kennedy questioned Wray during the hearing at the Capitol Thursday.
AP

“In October 2020, an avenue of additional derogatory Hunter Biden reporting was ordered closed at the direction of ASAC Thibault… [when] all of the reporting was either verified or verifiable via criminal search warrants,” Grassley wrote.

“Thibault allegedly ordered the matter closed without providing a valid reason as required by FBI guidelines…. [and] subsequently attempted to improperly mark the matter in FBI systems so that it could not be opened in the future.”

Kennedy on Thursday cited some of Thibault’s social media messages and asked the FBI director, “Do you know how this looks to the American people?”

“I will tell you that what you’re describing is not representative of the FBI … where I see patriots working their tails off with tremendous integrity and objectivity,” Wray said.

Kennedy asked Wray to confirm whether or not Thibault was involved in the ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden for possible tax fraud, unregistered foreign lobbying and money laundering — but Wray wouldn’t directly answer.

“Did he or does he work on the FBI investigation of Mr. Hunter Biden?” Kennedy asked.

“The investigation that you’re referring to is going to — and I need to be a little bit careful because we’re talking about an ongoing investigation — is being run out of our Baltimore field office, working with the Delaware US attorney who’s a holdover from the prior administration,” Wray tried to deflect.

Sen. Chuck Grassley listens as the panel hears from election officials and Justice Department officials about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and candidates, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Sen. Chuck Grassley’s letter to Wray last month concerning conduct by FBI agents was discussed during the Thursday hearing.
AP

Kennedy followed up, “So I’m confused, Chris, with your answer. Did he work, or does he work on the Hunter Biden investigation?”

Wray again avoided a direct answer, saying, “As I said, that the Hunter Biden investigation is being run out of the Baltimore field office.”

Thibault’s alleged social media activity included a retweet of a Lincoln Project message that called Donald Trump a “psychologically broken, embittered and deeply unhappy man” and tweet saying that he wanted to “give Kentucky to the Russian Federation.”

Hunter Biden recently cut the IRS to check for about $2 million in an acknowledgment that he failed to pay taxes on a windfall of foreign income. The funds reportedly were provided by Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, but it’s unclear what strings are attached and the repayment doesn’t prevent prosecution.

The first son’s overseas dealings gained significant attention this year when the Washington Post and New York Times in March belatedly verified documents from a former Hunter Biden laptop that were first reported by The Post in October 2020.

Hunter Biden leaves after President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in July.
Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was discussed during the Senate Judiciary hearing Thursday.
AP

Joe Biden’s involvement in his son’s business deals generally is murky and they continue to present conflicts of interest for the president.

Emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop indicate that his father, then vice president, attended a 2015 DC dinner with a group of his son’s associates from Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. A photo depicts Joe Biden posing with the Kazakhstani group and one day after dinner, Vadym Pozharskyi, an executive at Ukrainian gas company Burisma, emailed the then-second son to thank him for the opportunity to meet his father. Hunter Biden earned a reported $1 million per year to serve on Burisma’s board while his father led the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy.

Russian billionaire Yelena Baturina, an alleged attendee of the 2015 dinner and the widow of a former mayor of Moscow, has not faced US sanctions this year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite Biden sanctioning many other members of Russia’s elite.

In China, Joe Biden allegedly was involved with his son’s dealings with CEFC China Energy, which the Washington Post reported paid Hunter Biden and his uncle Jim Biden $4.8 million in 2017 and 2018. Former Hunter Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski says that he spoke with Joe Biden in May 2017 about the deal and a May 13, 2017, email says that the “big guy” would get a 10 percent equity stake in a corporate entity established with CEFC. Bobulinski alleges that the president was the “big guy.”

Also in China, Hunter Biden cofounded an investment firm called BHR Partners in 2013 less than two weeks after flying with his father to Beijing aboard Air Force Two. Hunter introduced Joe Biden to BHR CEO Jonathan Li in the lobby of a hotel in China’s capital. The fund is controlled in part by state-owned entities. Hunter Biden’s attorney Chris Clark said less than a week after President Biden’s November summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the first son divested his 10% stake in BHR Partners, but Hunter Biden and the White House provided no further details and online business records indicate that Hunter Biden still owns the 10% stake.

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Categories
Technology

Everything Going Free On The Epic Games Store This Week

Free On The Epic Games Store: Mowing For Fun And Profit

Who doesn’t love a freebie? As most PC players are well aware, the Epic Games Store gives out free games each and every week. Once claimed, they’re bound to your Epic account and are yours to keep for good. Titles change each and every week, and you never know what Epic will pull out of its bag of tricks next.

This week’s game is Unrailed! It’ll be available free from today until August 12, 2022, at 1:00 am AEST.

This piece is updated weekly.

Unrailed!

Unrailed! is a co-op multiplayer game in the vein of Overcooked! where you have to work with friends to build a train track across endless proc-gen worlds. The idea is that you are laying the tracks before the train in an effort to get it from one side of a map to another. You’ll need to deal with mountains and rivers, forests and your own compatriots to get the job done. This one looks like a cute, if anarchic, little party game. One to throw at the natural organizers in your life.

next week

A little peek into the future: next week’s title is Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!, a restaurant management game where you are also the head chef. We’ll talk more about that one next week.

And that’s all for this week! You can grab this week’s titles at the Epic Games Store right over here. Will you be grabbing this week’s titles? Have you played them before? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.

Categories
Entertainment

Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton’s surprise encounter with young boy

Sports journalist and former Commonwealth Games champion Matthew Syed described his son’s surprise encounter with Kate Middleton.

In his Tuesday column in The Timesthe former table tennis player said he overheard a conversation between his son and a seemingly random woman while he was using the bathroom on a train on the way to the Commonwealth Games.

He only realized who his son was talking to right before he got off the train.

READMORE: Prince Harry having ‘second thoughts’ about his family

Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge attend day 9 of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 05, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Journalist Matthew Syed’s son bumped into the Duchess of Cambridge on the way to the Commonwealth Games. (WireImage)

READMORE: Chrissy Teigen announces pregnancy after devastating loss

“‘Come on Ted,’ I say, ‘we have to get off!’ ‘Oh, and thanks for keeping him company…’ I say turning to the woman waiting for her turn from her when I am stopped in my tracks.

“My brow furrows, my face works. ‘Kate?’, I blurt out. There are no security guards in the vestibule; no armed guards. But here is the Duchess of Cambridge, chatting merrily with my son.”

After getting off the train, Syed asked his son if he knew who he was talking to, and he replied, “No idea, but she was really nice.”

The journalist said their interaction took place while he was in the bathroom.

Kate Middleton Buckingham Palace garden party
The Duchess of Cambridge was chatting to the boy while waiting her turn outside the train toilet. (Getty)

READMORE: X-ray photo silences footballer’s wife’s ‘milking’ claims

“Judging by the laughter, they are having a whale of a time,” he wrote. “I hear my son telling the lady that his father once won Commonwealth gold and sense that he is brandishing the medal he has brought along for the occasion.”

He says the group continued chatting right up until they arrived at the Birmingham New Street station.

Syed also praised Kate for her amicability to his son,

“The Duchess had no idea she was chatting to the son of a journalist so I take this to reflect her character and sense of duty.”

“The monarchy is in consummate hands.”

For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.

All the commoners who married into royal families

Categories
Sports

Australia news – Glenn Maxwell still hungry to succeed in Test cricket

Australia news - Glenn Maxwell still hungry to succeed in Test cricket

Glenn Maxwell has revealed he was “shattered” to miss out on selection for Australia’s most recent Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, but it has only reignited his desire to play Test cricket again with a tour of India on the horizon early next year.

Maxwell was close to playing in the first Test in Galle, but Head passed a fitness test and retained his place. He was even closer to playing in the second Test when it was revealed by skipper Pat Cummins that Maxwell was in line to play at No.8 in place of Mitchell Starc if the Galle pitch was going to be a duplicate of the surface used in the firstTest.

But conditions changed significantly with a much more placid batting surface presented, and Maxwell missed out.

“I was shattered when I got told,” Maxwell said about his exclusion from the second Test. “It wasn’t that I thought they made the wrong call, I was just genuinely disappointed.

“I really wanted to play. I loved being a part of it [Test cricket]and I loved the thought of playing again.

“Even not thinking about Test cricket for a couple of years, I felt like I was ready again. I loved working with the coaches and coming up with new tactics to deal with difficult spin bowling and balls exploding.

“I’m glad Heady got through his fitness test because I’d have hated to be in because of an injury to one of your players. Unfortunately, they changed the conditions. If it was the same conditions for both Tests, I probably would have played.But they made a slightly better wicket, and the selectors made the right call.

“I tried not to get too excited or get my hopes up too much because I know, having been in that situation so many times and been on the wrong side of it, the ups and downs of selection and the 50-50 calls … but yeah, I allowed myself to get a little bit too excited.”

Maxwell also revealed that he felt a lot more love and positivity around his possible Test recall than he had done in the past, even if he did regret that his batting style wasn’t more accepted when he was around the Test team between 2014 and 2017 .

“It’s certainly nice to have support, where I feel like I probably didn’t have that in the early days of my Test career,” Maxwell said. “It was probably the other way around, where it was just like, no, you can’t have this guy in the team. So it’s sort of nice to see it change. When I came back into the side in 2017, it felt like there was a real shift of positivity coming my way, which was rare.

“For so long, whenever I played a reverse sweep, it was frowned upon and it’s become a staple of Test cricket wherever you play in the world. Everyone plays it.

“So it’s like, where was this six years ago? It would have been nice when I was playing, if people would have looked at me and gone, oh, visionary [laughs]. uzzie [Usman Khawaja] plays 300 of them, and he’s a superstar, [he] get 150 and like, [we] bow down to him.”

Maxwell is now firmly in line to play in the four-Test tour of India next year, particularly after Head’s lean tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka where his highest score was 26 in five Tests. Head now averages just 21.30 in Asia from seven Tests and has passed 50 only eleven. Maxwell has played all seven of his Tests in Asia and averages just 26.07 there. He has also passed 50 just eleven, but he made a superb century in Ranchi on Australia’s last Test tour of India in 2017.

“Last year I had a preseason at Junction Oval, where we would use the same pitches, maybe four or five net sessions in a row and by the fifth net session they were basically India”

Glenn Maxwell on his preparations for the India tour

The balance of right and left-handers in Australia’s top seven will be important against the left-arm orthodox of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, and the right-arm offspin of R Ashwin.

Maxwell’s experience facing all three in India, across red and white-ball cricket, will no doubt give him an advantage from a selection standpoint. He revealed the Australia selectors have spoken to him about what specific preparation would be best for him ahead of the India tour and he stressed, as he has previously, that playing Sheffield Shield cricket on Australian pitches will not help.

“They sort of just asked what do you need to get ready and would Shield cricket make a difference? I said no, it won’t,” Maxwell said. “Because the conditions are just so different over there. It’s certainly hard to prepare for spinning tracks in Australia during our first-class games.

“I think we’re able to still get nets up in Melbourne that can spin and do some different things. Last year I had a pre-season at Junction Oval, where we would use the same pitches, maybe four or five net sessions in a row and by the fifth net session they were basically India. And it was awesome. They were the best net sessions I had. Because I was going away, I think at that stage, the next subcontinent tour, it might have been the IPL and it was awesome. It was the perfect prep, and I had no excuses, I suppose, going into the next series.”

Alex Malcolm is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Categories
US

‘Bizarre and uncomfortable’: Adams wants photos of city job applicants

'Bizarre and uncomfortable': Adams wants photos of city job applicants

Of current nine and past officials interviewed for this story, most voiced concern that the practice is already leading to staffing decisions based more on race and ethnicity than merit, even if they said they support a diversified workforce. And nearly all of them said it has added another obstacle to an already slow hiring process.

In two emails reviewed by POLITICO, mayoral staffers advised about a dozen high-ranking employees to submit pictures of people they want to bring on board for the mayor’s review.

“Flagging that the Mayor would love all agencies upper leadership in this type of style,” reads an email an Adams staffer sent on April 19, referring to an attached template of existing pictures and job descriptions of agency brass. “Clarifying also that the avatars in the attached should be actual photos as the Mayor likes to begin to recognize folks faces.”

The new protocol, described by officials across several agencies, is widely viewed as a measure to diversify the city’s workforce — a priority for the new mayor, whose slate of City Hall deputies predominantly comprises women and people of color.

“There’s no other way to interpret it,” said a high-ranking city official, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity to talk freely about an internal policy.

The person recalled receiving the instructions verbally, and being told by someone who works in the mayor’s office of appointments that Adams wanted agencies to hire people who “reflect the constitutions we serve.”

“Everyone knew what it was. There was no question. It was the first thing everybody said: ‘We’re going to start counting complexions now,’” one recently-departed City Hall employee said about the practice.

Others say it has slowed the hiring process at a time of increased job vacancies — 8 percent of municipal jobs were unfilled as of April, according to data from the Citizens Budget Commission. And some city staffers questioned whether it is appropriate to make hiring decisions based on demographics.

Adams spokesperson Fabien Levy stressed the policy is “about respect for our colleagues and knowing who they are when we arrive at an event.”

“City Hall reviews the summary of all final candidates for senior level positions at agencies to ensure the mayor and we at City Hall know who is point on projects when working with them,” Levy added. “The Adams administration is hiring the best people for the best jobs in the best city in the world. And we are committed to building a team that reflects the city they serve and the administration they represent. Every hire is judged on their qualifications and whether they will be able to deliver for New Yorkers day after day.”

One of the group emails reviewed by POLITICO, titled “Hiring Slide template,” instructs agency officials to submit to the mayor’s team organizational charts with the names and titles of existing staffers.

The April 15 missive states that Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi had recently met with Adams to discuss hiring and showed him a slide of his own proposed team.

“The Mayor really liked the org chart and he asked that all DM teams use this as a template moving forward as it relates to team structures,” the City Hall staffer wrote. “I’ve attached a template here for all of you — I’m happy to help for slide design if you need support in this. Note, the avatar are space for you to provide a photo of the team member.”

Two agency employees who are tasked with hiring staff said they are not required to ask job candidates for photos, so long as they can provide images to the mayor. They said they often scour social media sites like LinkedIn for headshots. Once obtained, they must paste the picture into their agency’s organizational chart — which includes photographs and job descriptions of existing officials — and highlight the would-be newcomers in yellow, according to a copy of the PowerPoint reviewed by POLITICO.

“The whole hiring process this City Hall set up is difficult enough, and the photo requirement just takes it from hard to bizarre and uncomfortable,” another high-ranking agency official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A New York City-based employment attorney said no law prohibits hiring decisions based upon race and ethnicity if it furthers a goal of diversifying a workforce.

“If a company called me and said, ‘Hey listen we really want to increase the diversity at our company, especially at senior levels, do you think it would help us if we used photos in order to increase it,’ I don’t see how that would be a problem if it actually helped,” lawyer Jeanne Christensen, a partner at Wigdor Law LLP, said in an interview. “They’re entitled to take steps to try to fulfill that diversity goal, providing that in doing that they’re not running afoul of the existing law.”

Her one note of caution: Job candidates should not be required to present photographs, though there is nothing legally barring officials from searching for headshots online. “I would say you better be sure you have their permission and they’re doing this voluntarily,” she said.

In fact, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission addresses this matter, noting on its website: “Employers should not ask for a photograph of an applicant. If needed for identification purposes, a photograph may be obtained after an offer of employment is made and accepted.”

When asked about his rationale for the policy on Thursday, Adams reiterated a desire to recognize city workers’ faces.

“Nothing I think is more disrespectful than when people work for you on your executive team and you don’t know who they are. I should know my employees, I should walk up to them and say thank you, I should know what they look like,” he said after an unrelated press conference in Queens, before arguing that people who believe otherwise are merely angry that he enjoys being elderly.

“Now, for those who have other reasons that I decide that I want an org chart, that’s up to them. You know, a lot of people just start their day with saying, ‘Let me see what I can think hateful about.’ You know, I start my day off saying, ‘Wow, I’m lucky to be the mayor of New York City,’” he added.

“You know, I’m amazed at how many people are upset that I’m happy that I’m older.”

Categories
Technology

The New Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Courses Are Now Live And Coconut Mall Got Its Much Requested Fix

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 2

The second wave of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course tracks just dropped including the very first Australian themed track in Sydney Sprint as well as some absolute banger such as Kalimari Desert and Mushroom Gorge.

These include:

  • Sky-High Sundae (New)
  • Kalimari Desert (Nintendo 64)
  • Mario Circuit 3 (Super Mario Kart)
  • Mushroom Gorge (Mario Kart Wii)
  • Sydney Sprint (Mario Kart Tour)
  • Waluigi Pinball (Mario Kart DS)
  • Snow Land (Mario Kart Super Circuit)
  • New York Minute (Mario Kart Tour)

You can watch a race through Sydney Sprint below:

You can get access to the courses by either being a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack member or purchase the pack separately. There are still 32 more courses to be released before the end of 2023.

Something that wasn’t expected at all is the fact that Coconut Mall has been updated to once again include moving cars. In the original Wii version of the track, the cars moved back and forth and provided one last roadblock for players, but everyone was disappointed to see that they were static on the Switch version.

Nintendo has not only fixed this, but also taken it to a whole new level as they now drive and spin and are almost impossible to miss as you drive through.

We’d expect there’s likely to be one more drop of courses this year and obviously we’ll let you know as soon as we have more information on these.

Categories
Entertainment

How to make ANYONE like you: Michelle Bowden’s How to Persuade helps you boost charisma

Michelle Bowden, a certified speaking professional, has delivered her Persuasive Presentation Skills masterclass for more than 12,000 people

A communications coach has revealed her go-to tricks for improving your ‘likeability’ and charisma – and says limiting jerky movements having clean fingernails, wearing flattering clothing and projecting ‘warmth’ are key to success.

Michelle Bowden, a certified speaking professional, has delivered her Persuasive Presentation Skills masterclass for more than 12,000 people and works with the who’s who of international business to help them win multi-million-dollar bids and projects.

Now, she’s written her new book How to Persuade to equip readers with the skills, tips and actions you need to get exactly what you want and improve your charisma.

Michelle Bowden, a certified speaking professional, has delivered her Persuasive Presentation Skills masterclass for more than 12,000 people

Michelle Bowden, a certified speaking professional, has delivered her Persuasive Presentation Skills masterclass for more than 12,000 people

‘It’s a fact that likeable people are the ones who get the furthest in life. Even if you’re not the smartest or most experienced, if you are the most likeable, you’ll often be the most persuasive at the moment,’ Michelle says.

‘In contrast, unlikeable people are a turn-off. They destroy the joy and can make people feel uncomfortable, judged and fearful.

‘The four most unlikeable behaviors in others were unsatisfactory grooming, killing the fun, and ignoring or talking over others.’

chicken

What is the biggest turn off?

  • 1. Unsatisfactory grooming 7 votes
  • 2. Killing the fun 5 votes
  • 3. Ignoring people 14 votes
  • 4. Talking over others 11 votes

1.Be attractive

Whether you like this fact or not, attractive people get more breaks in life than their ‘plain’ counterparts.

Business psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic reported in 2019 that people who don’t fit a society’s dominant aesthetic criteria simply don’t get the same breaks in life as those who do.

And psychologist and researcher at Harvard University Nancy L Etcoff and her colleagues published a 2011 study that found that groomed women who were wearing makeup were seen as more attractive, competent, likeable and trustworthy than women who presented with a bare face. Pretty convincing!

The good news is that ‘attractiveness’ doesn’t really relate to your ‘natural’ beauty. Whatever you look like, you can certainly make the most of your qualities and features.

Whether you like this fact or not, attractive people get more breaks in life than their 'plain' counterparts

Whether you like this fact or not, attractive people get more breaks in life than their ‘plain’ counterparts

You don’t have to spend a lot of money making yourself attractive. Ask yourself the following:

• Is your hair styled the best way for your face? Is it well kept and stylish?

• Do you keep yourself clean and tidy?

• Are you wearing clothes that flatter your body type?

• Are your nose and ear hairs trimmed?

• Do you smell good?

• Are your teeth clean?

• Are your fingernails well kept?

• Do you have clean shoes, and are your clothes laundered and ironed without food stains and mess?

• Did you tuck in your shirt?

You may think this is fussy and no-one else’s business, and the bad news is that you think that at your own peril. This stuff counts when it comes to persuasion.

The three ways to boost your charisma – and why it matters

Why be charismatic?

Charismatic people are attractive, likeable, and respected. They convey a contagious confidence for their point of view and can win people over with their magnetic personality and charm. When someone is charismatic, people want to be like them, and they also want to spend time with them. And when someone is charismatic, they are automatically more believable, no matter their point of view. You will most definitely be more persuasive if you can develop your perceived charisma.

There are three areas to work on if you want to build your perceived charisma with others:

1. Presence

Presence is about a smoothness of activity. Imagine a swan gliding along the water. They seem calm, serene, and controlled. Under the water their legs are kicking and paddling furiously, but you don’t see all that commotion.

To ensure you seem smooth on the surface it’s important to limit stressful behavior such as jerky movements, closed body language, and impulsive comments, or actions.

You can demonstrate power by holding an upright, commanding posture and maintaining direct-connected eye contact

You can demonstrate power by holding an upright, commanding posture and maintaining direct-connected eye contact

2.Power

Power is all about your self-belief and how much you like and back yourself. It’s about an inner confidence that radiates from you and implies success.

You can demonstrate power by holding an upright, commanding posture, maintaining direct-connected eye contact, and by your superior ability to articulate your point through excellent structure and clever storytelling.

Perhaps you could begin to improve your power and charisma by participating in the conversations around you. Try to inject a short story, an example, or a metaphor (even in a small way) into every conversation.

3.Warmth

Warmth is about your perceived care and acceptance of the other person. If you are a charismatic person, you put people at ease and you make people feel amazing!

You make others feel important and as though they matter. This of course can be very alluring and addictive to the people around you. People want to spend time with someone who makes them feel worthy.

If you’re keen to develop this capability aim to do all the activities that build rapport easily, care about others, remember key facts about them.

Interestingly warmth is also very much conveyed through the eyes and facial expressions. If you’d like to improve your warmth and therefore your charisma you could practice looking at people in the same way you would look at a person you care for deeply (don’t be weird about this though!).

2. Smile and ‘smize’

Smiling is a winning behavior recognized internationally as a sign of positivity. Did you know that babies are born with the ability to smile? People who smile are seen by others as confident, positive and attractive.

You appear younger when you smile a lot because of the way smiling affects the muscles in your face. Smiling is even good for you because it releases endorphins and other chemicals that help you relax and feel good.

Unsurprisingly, an American Association of Cosmetic Dentistry study found that people were more likely to remember your smile than the first thing you said.

A wonderful strategy for persuasion is to not just smile but ‘smize’ – or smile with your eyes. This is a term coined by supermodel Tyra Banks.

Over 50 different types of smiles are possible, but the one that is considered the most sincere is the smize – it pushes up into your eyes, your eyes sparkle and you look genuinely happy.

Unsurprisingly, an American Association of Cosmetic Dentistry study found that people were more likely to remember your smile than the first thing you said

Unsurprisingly, an American Association of Cosmetic Dentistry study found that people were more likely to remember your smile than the first thing you said

3. Laugh and use humor to negotiate

Laughing is a wonderful way to build rapport with people because playful communication triggers good feelings and a positive emotional connection.

You probably know that a sense of humor is one of the first things people look for in a life partner – because people who can laugh are more likely to let go of defensiveness, act more spontaneously and release inhibitions.

Funny people are likeable. People who laugh freely are thought of as joyful, light and fun to be around. Who wouldn’t want that?

Humor that’s working for both parties can also help you negotiate more effectively, resolve conflict and move people forward. It’s true that laughter unites people during difficult times. Befriend funny people and watch and read funny things daily.

Whether you are standing or sitting down, aligning your shoulders with the other person and keeping your hands open and obvious suggests that you are interested and engaged in the conversation

Whether you are standing or sitting down, aligning your shoulders with the other person and keeping your hands open and obvious suggests that you are interested and engaged in the conversation

4. Show your hands and don’t fidget

Showing your hands signals safety – the people around you have nothing to fear.

Whether you are standing or sitting down, aligning your shoulders with the other person and keeping your hands open and obvious suggests that you are interested and engaged in the conversation.

Turning away, twisting your body or hiding your hands means either a lack of interest or disagreement.

You also shouldn’t do a whole lot of other things with your hands if you’re aiming to be trustworthy. For example, don’t cross your arms, put your hands in your pocket, hold your crotch, clasp your hands behind your back, hold your fingers in a steeple position, touch your face or hair, or fidget with your rings or clothes.

These distracting hand movements stop your stakeholder from listening properly. They may even start to distrust you.

Turning away, twisting your body or hiding your hands means either a lack of interest or disagreement

Turning away, twisting your body or hiding your hands means either a lack of interest or disagreement

Michelle has written her new book How to Persuade to equip readers with the skills, tips and actions you need to get exactly what you want and improve your charisma.

Michelle has written her new book How to Persuade to equip readers with the skills, tips and actions you need to get exactly what you want and improve your charisma.

5. Listen and don’t talk about people

Bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen Covey, wisely said, ‘Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply’.

Isn’t it just so irritating when you are talking and someone speaks over the top of you? Doing so implies that the person doesn’t value what you’re saying. It breaks rapport and prevents the formation of goodwill.

Try to do what you can to listen when someone is talking. Take a moment of pause before adding your point.

If you focus on these five actions, you’ll be even more likeable than you already are and look out world – because this is one of the skills you need to get what you want!

Edited extracts from How to Persuade: The skills you need to get what you want (Wiley $29.95, 1 Aug 2022) by Michelle Bowden.

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Categories
Sports

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell names his top contenders for this year’s premiership

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell names his top contenders for this year's premiership

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has named who he believes are the top contenders for this year’s premiership.

The Hawks great was asked by David King on SEN Breakfast to run his eye over who he thinks can win the flag, given his side is out of the race.

I think gelongthey’re perennially top four, and just the way they’re able to handle games this year, I know their finals record is not as good as their home-and-away record over the last few years, but I think they’ re still formidable,” Mitchell said.

“Sometimes we forget about them. I have a chuckle to myself every January when people say they’re going to be the team that slides and they never are.

I think Brisbane are quite similar, they’ve had a loss or two more than you’d think, but they generally lose some games, but they’re always thereabouts and I think they’re quite a formidable side.

“They’re not playing very well at the moment, Brisbane, but their best is excellent.

“Obviously melbourne are the third one and Collingwoodwho feel like they’ve got their nine lives and maybe they’ll just never run out.

“I think those four. We don’t play those teams so I haven’t been looking at them too closely, but they’re the four you’d consider to be right at the top-end.”

Mitchell’s Hawks host Gold Coast this weekend in Tasmania, before finishing the season with Richmond and the Western Bulldogs.





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Categories
US

House GOP tried to remove rape, incest exceptions

House GOP tried to remove rape, incest exceptions

Categories
Business

Southwest passenger shares shock as plane window appears to shatter on flight

A passenger has shared her shock online after it appeared her plane window shattered during a recent flight in the US.

In a viral video shared to TikTok, the traveler Mia can be seen clasping her hand over her mouth, while zooming in on her window, showing it cracked and broken. Watch above.

She doesn’t say anything in the clip, but posts a subsequent video to explain the situation, revealing that in the end it wasn’t as serious as what it appeared.

READMORE: Plane passengers stunned by shocking barefoot act

Passenger shares video of broken window on Southwest Airlines flight
A passenger shared video of broken window on Southwest Airlines flight. (Tik Tok)

Traveling on a Southwest flight from Tucson, Arizona, to Las Vegas, Mia said they had just taken off and flight attendants were taking drink orders when she went to rest her arm on the window sill.

“As soon as my elbow applied any kind of slight pressure, as soon as that happened, the whole window just broke, shattered, the whole thing,” she said in the second video sharing the story.

“So obviously I immediately hit the flight attendant button… she comes over her jaw drops. She’s looking at me, I’m looking at her, she’s looking at the window. She hits a 180 and runs over to the pilots’ cabin and she gets the 4-1-1 from them.”

Mia was then assured there were no issues with cabin pressure and they were safe to complete their flight to Las Vegas, but she was able to change seats.

“Good thing, there are two, three windows. I don’t know how to build plans, but you know, good thing that was there. Everything was fine and we were good for a safe landing in Vegas.

“The plane was originally supposed to continue on to another airport, but obviously the plane needed maintenance after that.”

READMORE: Disney World visitors stuck on ‘It’s a Small World’ ride for over an hour

Passenger shares video of broken window on Southwest Airlines flight
She said pilots assured her the cabin pressure was fine as it was only the inside plastic layer. (Tik Tok)

Indeed it was only the inside plastic layer of the window that broke, though the footage still went viral being viewed over 12.3 million times.

“I would instantly cry thinking that I was going to get sucked out the window,” one person commented.

“This would cause me to never fly again tbh,” another said.

Though others weren’t concerned, with one pointing out: “Plans have two windows that’s just the tint.”

Joaquim Martins, a professor at the University of Michigan and expert in aircraft design, confirmed as much, telling Insider the cracked plastic didn’t pose any safety threat as its the outside glass window absorbs all the force.

Non-structural items breaking on planes is “perfectly normal”, he said, adding if it had it been the actual glass panel, “stuff would be getting sucked out, and she would have had to put on an oxygen mask.”

The passenger said she received a US$300 flight voucher from Southwest following the incident.

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