Good Morning America By mrralphworldwide. Good Morning America . View photo Big Game Hunter Rebecca Francis Opens Up About 'Kill' Photo Backlash (ABC News) When a controversial animal rights activist outed Dr. Walter Palmer as the hunter who killed Cecil the lion last month, the Minnesota dentist became arguably one of the most hated people in the world almost overnight. Soon after Cecil’s killer was made public, protesters showed up at Palmer’s dental office in Bloomington, Minnesota, waving signs that said things like “lion killer” and “justice for Cecil.” They started building a shrine of stuffed lions at his office front door. And last week, vigilantes vandalized his Marco Island, Florida, vacation home, covering his driveway with bloodied pigs’ feet. What Happened in the Harrowing Hours Before Cecil the Lion Was Killed See Photos of Black Bear Illegally Hunted by Dentist Walter Palmer Who Killed Cecil the Lion Cecil the Lion: Friend of Beloved Animal's Killer Speaks Out Palmer was the target of countless hateful and threatening Internet posts. Since then, the highly skilled bow hunter has remained out of the public eye. Rebecca Francis, a big-game hunter and bow-hunting expert from Wyoming, knows exactly how Palmer probably feels. Five years ago, Francis went to Africa and posed for a photo lying next to an adult dead giraffe she had just killed. She posted the photo on her personal website. In April of this year, comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted out her photo with the words, “What must’ve happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal and then lie next to it smiling?” Gervais’ tweet immediately set off a public firestorm. It has since been retweeted almost 50,000 times. Francis was slammed with thousands of hateful messages and posts. To this day, she still receives threatening messages. She says her life has been completely upended, even though her giraffe hunt was legal. “[The photo] wasn’t disrespect … it was to remember this experience,” Francis told ABC News’ “20/20.” “And there were people [locals] ready to take the meat … they used everything even down to the tail where they take the hairs and make jewelry to sell it.” Unlike Francis, Palmer shot and killed Cecil, one of the world’s most famous lions and the biggest dominant male black-maned lion just in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, in an area that was not approved for killing lions, according to Zimbabwean authorities. Palmer, who temporarily closed his dental office, admitted to killing the lion in a statement, but also said he didn’t know it was Cecil. “I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt,” Palmer said in a statement. “Again, I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion.” And yet, Goodwell Nzou, a Zimbawean who is pursuing a Ph.D. in molecular bio-sciences in North Carolina, is shocked by the U.S. outrage over Cecil the lion’s death. “How is it possible that anyone could, you know, cry or feel so sad about a dead lion?” he said. “We see animals as, you know, threats to us, not as ‘cute Simbas.’” In his home village of Chikasa, in Zimbabwe, Nzou said the news of the death of a dangerous lion would be celebrated. Francis said she witnessed such jubilation firsthand after she shot and killed a hippopotamus in Mozambique. “When I took that hippo down, everyone in the village came running … They were cheering… They were hugging me and kissing me and thanking me,” Francis said. “They all had their bucket and their knife, and they were all cutting up that hippo ... every single drop of that hippo was utilized to that village.” It’s proof, she says, that there is more to the story than a smiling hunter standing next to a bloody carcass for a photo. In fact, she considers herself an animal conservationist. She says the bulk of hunting fees in Africa go directly into animal conservation efforts. She cites Safari Club International, whose president, Larry Rudolph, claims that $200 million from hunting fees and government permits goes back into rural African communities every year. Francis asked, “Hunters bring in $200 million per year to the economy… If we eliminate hunting... how are we going to replace $200 million?” But Jeff Flocken, North American regional director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), disagrees with the premise that hunting is the best way to help animals. IFAW released a report in 2013 called “The $200 Million Question,” refuting the claim that so much money actually returns to African communities. The report claims that most of the money raised from hunting in Africa goes into a “black hole” on unaccountability and that only about 3 percent of hunting revenue goes into the local communities. “We know that we can save animals on the ground by working with local communities, and local communities have to be part of the solution,” Flocken said, “but killing the wildlife, throwing money at the issue and then calling yourself a conservationist just doesn’t stand up.” As for Palmer, Zimbabwe’s environment, water and climate minister, Oppah Muchiniguri, said at a news conference last month that the Zimbabwe government was seeking to extradite the Minnesota dentist for hunting without the proper permits. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has opened its own investigation.

Two military parachute jumpers were hospitalized today after they collided midair at the Chicago Air and Water Show.
One jumper is a Navy sailor, whose team is nicknamed the Leap Frogs, and the other is a member of the Army parachute team, nicknamed the Golden Knights. The two parachutists collided midair, according to Lt. Christine Gargan of the Navy.
One jumper crashed onto the beach while the other landed in the 1400 block of North Lake Shore Drive and Schiller Street during the show Saturday afternoon, police said, according to ABC station WLS-TV in Chicago.
The Navy sailor suffered a lower leg fracture and was in stable condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Gargan said.

All three people on board a hot air balloon suffered electrical shock after the balloon struck a power line in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening, authorities said.
The pilot, 55-year-old Robert Fisher, of Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, landed the balloon safely in a field, the New Holland police said. Then, as air was released from the top of the balloon, the balloon blew over the top of power lines, police said.
All three people on board suffered injuries from electrical shock, police said.
The passengers were identified as 53-year-old Robert Spencer, of Eldersburg, Maryland, and 48-year-old Melyndia Davis of Sykesville, Maryland, police said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, police said.
"I saw we were getting really close to the power lines,” said Stallworth, “when I realized we were gonna hit…it was too late.

For one Tennessee teen, Siri isn't just a personal assistant -- it's a lifesaver.
Sam Ray was working underneath his truck in his family’s driveway in Murfreesboro over a month ago when it fell and pinned him as he tried sliding out from underneath, reports ABC affiliate WKRN-TV in Nashville. At the time, he was home alone.
“This arm was above my head, tangled up,” he said. “I know it was on the exhaust because it was burnt from here up.”
Ray, 18, had been speaking with his dad on his iPhone before the truck fell and said he suddenly heard Siri's voice. Pushing up on his hip, he activated Siri from the phone in his back pocket and requested her to call 911.
Ray was connected to a dispatcher and later taken for treatment by emergency responders. He suffered broken ribs and a bruised kidney, said Dr. Richard Miller of the Vanderbilt Trauma Center.

NEW YORK (AP) — The squad in stop-sign-red jackets and berets strode through Central Park, on guard for signs of crime.
It was a familiar sight a generation ago, when New York was plagued by lawlessness that police have worked for years to dispel. Yet Guardian Angels volunteers made a pointed return this month to Central Park for the first time in over two decades, citing a 26 percent rise in crime there so far this year.
"We realize things are much better than they were" in the crime peak of the 1980s and early '90s, founder Curtis Sliwa says, but "we want it to stay that way."
City officials stress that crime is down citywide, and the park is far safer than it once was. Still, the renewed patrols by the Guardian Angels — known for both crime-fighting and controversy over their 35 years — are bright-red signals of unease about whether New York, touted for years as the nation's safest big city, is slipping.
Sliwa and eight other Guardian Angels, ranging from graying long timers to a 20-year-old woman, trooped along roadways, paths and rocky, dark trails for hours one night this week, shining flashlights into thickets, asking people whether they'd had any trouble and eyeballing a quartet of teenagers who quickly took off on bicycles.
Onlookers' reactions ranged from thumbs up to raised eyebrows. "Time warp!" one passing jogger exclaimed.
"I didn't even know they were still in business," Harlem resident Christine Adebiyi said, but "it's great to see them here."
After years of celebrating crime drops, the nation's biggest city has seen killings rise by 9 percent so far this year, though serious crime overall is down 5 percent. Forty-six percent of city voters in a recent Quinnipiac University poll said crime was a "very serious" problem, a record going back at least to 1999.
A quarter-century after the "Central Park jogger" rape case made the park a symbol of urban danger, officials boasted in recent years that the 842-acre expanse was one of the safest urban parks of its size worldwide.
Despite this year's increase — largely a result of robberies going from 11 at this point last year to 22 so far in 2015 — overall crime in the iconic park is down more than 80 percent compared with two decades ago, the New York Police Department said. Even with the recent spike, crime is lower than just two years ago, NYPD statistics show.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says the park remains "absolutely safe" and suggests police need no help from the Guardian Angels. "The NYPD is the best-qualified force to handle the situation," he said this week.
Police circulating in patrol cars and shining high-powered lights maintain a visible presence in the park at night. But Sliwa says officers don't penetrate into the secluded spots where criminals could lurk, an argument he underscored as the Guardian Angels passed an unilluminated NYPD light stanchion on a foot trail. Police later said the light is fully operational.
Guardian Angels feel much of their function is deterring crime, but if they see it, they're ready to make citizens' arrests, call police and defuse potential problems. This week, they prompted some young men to move on amid reports that the youths had been throwing rocks at people in the park and broke up a shoving match between two other men, Sliwa said.
A talk-radio host, Sliwa is an untrammeled critic of the first-term Democratic mayor, whom he accuses of hamstringing police. De Blasio has emphasized changing policing to build trust in minority communities and says the overall drop in crime shows his approach works, though he has had a fraught relationship with the NYPD.
To some extent, the Central Park patrols signal that those "unhappy with the direction that he wants to take the city are starting to mobilize," said Queens College political science professor Michael Krasner.
The Guardian Angels began in 1979 and quickly expanded to other cities, welcomed by some people as a tough-minded neighborhood watch, derided by others as loose-cannon, publicity-seeking vigilantes.
By the mid-1990s, some chapters folded and the Guardian Angels' reputation took a hit when Sliwa acknowledged fabricating some of their early exploits. Meanwhile, Sliwa was nearly killed in a 1992 kidnapping and shooting that mob scion John "Junior" Gotti was charged with ordering; prosecutors gave up after four juries deadlocked.
But the Guardian Angels endured and evolved: By 2006, they had a $200,000 New York state grant to do online safety education. They now count about 5,000 members in 18 countries, Sliwa says.
In New York, Guardian Angels still patrol parts of Brooklyn and the Bronx regularly. But shortly after Rudy Giuliani's mayoralty began in 1994, they felt policing had intensified enough that they weren't needed to fight crime in Central Park, Sliwa says.

"Walking to 11," he said, "it was now or never."
It turned out to be now.
And here it came: birdie on 11, birdie on 12, birdie on 13.
Birdie on 16.

The 17th hole slopes up evenly from the water like a bunny hill for first-time skiers. That allows rows and rows of fans to line up and overlook the green. It's a sweet view for everyone, unless the pin is tucked to the side away from the water, which it was Saturday. So in order to see a shot at that pin, people have to jump.
The ball landed and the fans erupted.
Birdie on 17.
Now people started moving. The suite goers tumbled down the carpeted stairs, past the two-drinks-per-person sign at the exit. (Who takes three drinks out of a suite?) Other fans had already sprinted ahead, looking for a spot along the rope line at 18.
Spieth scorched his drive and walked up the fairway, shrugging his shoulders just slightly in what might be a nervous tic but looks like a bit of a swagger. He nodded to the crowd and looked out at the last pin in the twilight. One fan said, "He's gonna flag it."
A moment later, that burst of sound went up again. Spieth landed 6 feet away.
Birdie on 18.
Spieth's scoring average this year is actually better in major rounds than in non-major rounds. Considering where he's played – Augusta, Chambers Bay, St. Andrews and now Whistling Straits – that is some kind of feat.
And the best feat, the American Slam, could be his tomorrow.
Spieth's mindset isn't quite what you might think. This could be a valedictory for him, a fun final lap in what's already been an epic season.

To jam out like POTUS, check out his daytime and nighttime playlists on Spotify.

  I’m pretty sure 95% of the world’s population know about GoT, love GoT and are borderline, insanely, obsessed with GoT. I sometimes forget that the characters actually have REAL lives in the REAL world (Sorry Emilia Clarke, you will always be the mother of dragons to me). So here are some familiar faces that don’t look so familiar anymore…

 

By Alastair Macdonald and Lefteris Papadimas
DEBT BURDEN
REVOLT IN ATHENS

(REUTERS/Carlo Allegri) A team of geneticists made headlines a few months ago after its mission to document all the bacteria on the New York City subway turned up nearly 600 different species of microbes crawling around on all those greasy rails. They found some icky stuff, including the bacteria that give people food poisoning, and the bugs that can cause meningitis.
But before opting for an Uber, keep this in mind: Almost all of the germs they found were completely harmless.
In fact, those creepy-crawlies might actually be good for people.
Some research has suggested that the idea could partially explain why children who grow up around animals and in rural areas appear to develop conditions like asthma less often than children who don't. More studies, however, are necessary.
And even for people other than young children, the hygiene hypothesis makes intuitive sense: After all, literally every surface in the world is covered in bacteria. The idea that things can be "perfectly clean" is a myth — humans need bacteria to live.