In an extraordinary post on Medium, Jeff Bezos has revealed threatening emails he received from attorneys for The National Enquirer, after Bezos refused to call off an investigation into how the paper got access to his private text messages.

"In the AMI [owner of the National Enquirer] letters I’m making public," writes Bezos, "you will see the precise details of their extortionate proposal: They will publish the personal photos unless [my lead investigator] Gavin de Becker and I make the specific false public statement to the press that we 'have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces.'"

From: Howard, Dylan [dhoward@amilink.com] (Chief Content Officer, AMI) Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2019 3:33 PM To: Martin Singer (litigation counsel for Mr. de Becker) Subject:. Jeff Bezos & Ms. Lauren Sanchez Photos

CONFIDENTIAL & NOT FOR DISTRIBIUTION

Marty:

I am leaving the office for the night. I will be available on my cell — 917 XXX-XXXX.

However, in the interests of expediating this situation, and with The Washington Post poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors of The National Enquirer’s initial report, I wanted to describe to you the photos obtained during our newsgathering.

In addition to the “below the belt selfie — otherwise colloquially known as a ‘d*ck pick’” — The Enquirer obtained a further nine images. These include:

· Mr. Bezos face selfie at what appears to be a business meeting.

· Ms. Sanchez response — a photograph of her smoking a cigar in what appears to be a simulated oral sex scene.

An Australian woman is in stable condition after a massive freeway sign toppled onto her car near Melbourne. The dashcam video, captured by the driver behind her, is absolutely terrifying.

(I wonder if this will fit in J.K. Simmons' insurance-claim wunderkammer.) Read the rest

My Grandfather used to say that Ford stood for "Found Off Road, Dead." It was funny to a kid growing up,  but it isn't true: Ford makes some damn fine vehicles.

Mostly.

According to The Washington Post, Ford announced, earlier this week, that they were recalling 1.4 million vehicles for what's really just a minor defec--OH MY GOD STEERING WHEELS ARE FALLING OFF. If you're behind the wheel of a Ford Fusion or Lincoln MKZ made between 2014 and 2018 sold in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, you might want to swing by your local Ford dealership, provided you can steer, and have them sort it out.

The problem with the faulty steering wheel stems from a simple source: some of the bolts that they used to attach the steering wheels to the steering column were shit. Ford's solution to the problem is to replace these bolts with ones that aren't shit. Why they didn't use ones that weren't shit in the first place is anyone's guess, but here we are.

If reading about Ford's concerns that you could die in a slap-stick-inspired, fiery death isn't enough to drive you into action, you'll be happy to hear that USA Today has a compelling list of 10 instances where Ford drivers have had their steering wheel separate from their car's steering column while driving. My personal favorite from the collection:

“While driving on interstate, steering wheel came loose and car veered off interstate. I regained control but steering wheel is still loose.

In his first television interview since assuming power last Friday, Donald Trump compares himself to Peyton Manning. Everything else was even weirder. Construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border may begin within a few months. Read the rest

Scientists managed to link the brains of a conscious human and an anesthetized rat, allowing the human to wiggle the rat's tail with his thoughts. And all God's creatures said, "Holy shitballs!" Read the rest