Apple’s decision to ban the conservative conspiracy theorist Alex Jones had everything to do with its longstanding belief that it should offer users curated services and nothing to do with either politics or acting in coordination with other tech companies, CEO Tim Cook said on Tuesday.

In an interview with Vice News Tonight, Cook declined to get into the specific reason why Apple decided in August to remove Jones’ podcasts from its Podcast app and, a month later, his Infowars app from its app store. But he said the decision came out of the company’s practice of reviewing, selecting, and editing the kinds of apps and other material available through its stores and apps.

“What users want from us and what we’ve always provided them is a curated platform,” Cook said.

Richard Drew/AP

He denied that the decision had anything to do with Apple’s political biases.

Because Apple and other tech giants are based in left-leaning Silicon Valley, conservatives have charged that the companies are prejudiced against them.

In the wake of Jones’ ouster, President Donald Trump and other conservative politicians have called for government regulators to scrutinize tech companies for not acting as neutral services.

Despite Apple’s ban of Jones, its users can still find material and apps found on its services that come from all over the political spectrum, Cook said.

“We don’t take a political stand,” he said. “We’re not leaning one way or the other.”

Cook also refuted the notion that Apple was working in coordination with other tech companies when it decided to ban Jones.

Right after the iPhone maker removed most of Jones’ podcasts from its app, Facebook, Spotify, and YouTube also removed his material from their services. But neither he nor, as far as he knows, has anyone else at Apple talked with any of those other companies about Jones, he said.

“​We make our decisions independently and I think that’s important,” Cook said.

If national hot tub sales drop this week, blame NCIS. Because when two kids attempt to sneak into a vacationing neighbor’s 102-degree hot tub, you just know they’re about to find human soup.

The house special is Navy Lt. Davis Mooney, who’d been cooking in that cauldron for about two weeks. When the team arrives on the scene, the Young Turks are horrified by the sight, but Gibbs is cool as a cucumber. Palmer suggests fetching buckets, but Gibbs tells him to load the whole hot tub onto a flatbed because it’s all evidence. Then he gives the most perfectly understated Gibbs face twitch, which tells us that the hot tub situation is … bad.

When the team starts canvassing the neighborhood, they discover the colorful residents of the cul-de-sac are out in force to collect gossip, including a divorcée on the prowl, a pair of soccer parents, and the pantsless neighborhood black sheep.

Back at HQ, Torres is uncharacteristically upset that he stepped on his favorite pair of sunglasses, which are immune to his superglue repair efforts. Those jackals McGee and Bishop are unsympathetic to his plight as they gather for the rundown on Mooney: a recently divorced part-time writer for the Navy Herald whose laptop and home surveillance system are missing.

This tracks with a previous neighborhood burglary in which soccer parents Dave and Kenna Reynolds had their home broken into and their nanny cam stolen. And then, to Sloane’s great delight, all the neighbors start spilling the tea. “Cul-de-sacs are a psychological gold mine,” she says.

On the team’s return, divorcée Loni accuses Kenna Reynolds of making eyes at Mooney, while neighborhood watch guy Gary (and his dog Darrin Stephens) witnessed the Reynolds’ break-in, complete with a glimpse of the tall, trim, athletic burglar. Then Torres takes it upon himself to lecture no-pants Edgar about the social compact of keeping your house up to ‘burb standards.

This earns him a time-out with the hot tub, where Palmer, Ducky, and Kasie are “harvesting” the larger pieces by hand, then draining the water to check the filter. Their level of unflappability is impressive, but then again, this is the team’s second hot tub case in recent memory.

“My God, it’s a slow cooker,” Ducky says, dubbing this even more disgusting than the meat puzzle, which is saying something. As their processing gets underway, Kasie finds a possible murder weapon in the broken tip of a box cutter.

The team also finds Mooney’s ex-wife, who’s been in Puerto Rico. She calls on her way back home to tell them Mooney was working on a book. Although he refused to divulge details for her own protection, she says it’s about a serial killer called The Dentist, who murdered nine victims — including Mooney’s cousin — before going dormant seven years ago. The Dentist’s MO varied, but each victim had a tooth taken as a trophy.

Meanwhile, Torres has continued to act moody and sulky about the sunglasses, which prompts Ducky to check his BP. He finds it high and tries prescribing rest, but Palmer invites Torres to blow off steam with him during a wine-soaked night on the town. I already love the sound of this.

Their wild night turns out to be a sip-and-paint event at a place called Vincent van Grape, where two men painting nearby start hassling them, calling Torres “amigo” and referring to them as boyfriends.

The soundtrack switches to ominous when Torres takes off his apron and asks, “What if we are a couple?” Palmer then stands, drains his wine, and removes his glasses. And look, I abhor violence as the answer to a problem, but the lead-up to this altercation was … um … hot. ANYWAY, one of the dunderheads shoves Palmer, who throws a punch, and the scene devolves into a huge brawl that ends with bruised, paint-splattered mug shots for Team NCIS.

While it seems odd that two racist, homophobic dudes would choose a paint-and-sip joint as a bro-hang, it brought us to a moment where Gibbs got a 3 a.m. call to bail out two of his people, so I’ll allow it. When Gibbs arrives, Palmer’s pumped and shadowboxing, and Torres is frustrated. This compounds when Gibbs takes Torres to task for getting into a bar fight when he possesses his particular set of skills. (Next page: The serial killer next door)

It’s Villain Week here at Mashable. In honor of the release of Venom, we’re celebrating all our favorite evildoers from film and TV all week long. Spooky, scary!

Turns out actual journalists don’t love this weird story about a journalist. Across the board, reviews for director Ruben Fleischer’s Venom are ranging from mixed to vicious. 

The Marvel-based supervillain flick chronicling the takeover of reporter Eddie Brock by alien Symbiote Venom is expected to score big at the box office this weekend — but could fail to deliver on its promise to launch Sony’s fledgling Marvel Universe.

Critics agree Tom Hardy committed big time to his parasitic role. However, they also contend that the film’s uneven tone and laughably thin story kept it from achieving full potency. 

Before you confirm that Venom ticket purchase this weekend, check out critics’ takes below.

Venom is decidedly unsure and unimaginative

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly:

Venom isn’t quite bad, but it’s not exactly good either. It’s noncommittally mediocre and, as a result, forgettable. It just sort of sits there, beating you numb, unsure of whether it wants to be a comic-book movie or put the whole idea of comic-book movies in its crosshairs. It never rises above bombastic and busy — which is something I never thought I’d say about a movie starring three aces like Hardy, Ahmed, and Williams.

Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter: 

The only startling moment in the thoroughly irredeemable Venom that makes you sit up and take notice comes at the 71-minute mark, when the sight of a disheveled, stubbly, sweaty and bloated Tom Hardy jolts you with the realization that here is the perfect actor to one day play Harvey Weinstein. For that insight and that insight alone, this film is valuable. Notwithstanding the guaranteed profits stemming from any film with the Marvel brand attached to it, those involved should reflect upon the truth of the film’s advertising tagline: “The world has enough Superheroes.”

The Eddie/Venom relationship is pretty funny

Michael Nordine, IndieWire:

As much a body-horror thriller as it is a comic-book movie, “Venom” is also akin to a buddy comedy in which one of the buddies has to prevent the other from wantonly biting people’s heads off. If that sounds ridiculous, it is — but “Venom” both knows it and leans into it, playing up the dark humor until it’s pitch black. Not all of Eddie and Venom’s exchanges land as intended, but those that do are genuinely funny; over time, their relationship even becomes endearing in its own way, which comes as such a pleasant surprise it’s almost enough to recommend the movie on its own.

Michelle Williams gets totally sidelined 

Hugh Armitage, DigitalSpy: 

Poor, talented Michelle Williams is given the thankless task of the film’s resident girlfriend. Anne is a lawyer, allegedly, but her chief role is to grope for any sort of chemistry with Hardy, an ultimately doomed endeavour. At one point she says to Eddie, “I’m sorry about Venom” – it’s meant to be in sympathy, but could just as easily be directed to the audience, or herself.

Perri Nemiroff, Collider:

Williams’ character Anne Weying is our lawyer, but failing to sell her as a capable one is the least of Williams’ worries. It may have gotten a laugh on the internet and seem trivial, but yes, that terrible wig is very distracting and even worse, Williams doesn’t get all that much to do in the movie. The amount of screen time isn’t the issue; it’s what she gets to do with it. Williams and Hardy have zero chemistry and when the script lets her step beyond her romance with Eddie and take charge, it often cheapens her actions with a quippy line to pat herself on the back for her accomplishment.

The uneven visual effects don’t save the story

Sean O’Connell, CinemaBlend:

The special-effects work is sporadically impressive, and the symbiote, in general, looks great. Time and money went into creating Venom’s look, and fans simply looking for an improvement over Topher Grace’s atrocity will be comforted by the fact that Fleischer’s CGI team brought Venom to life. But at the same time, the action is choppy, a motorcycle chase through downtown San Francisco uses a laughable amount of green screen (I’m convinced Tom Hardy wasn’t on set on the days those scene were filmed), and the final confrontation between Venom and Riot disappoints.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety: 

Venom” is a textbook case of a comic-book film that’s unexciting in its ho-hum competence, and even its visual-effects bravura. Make no mistake: The effects can be dazzling. The alien matter splattering itself around like random tentacled liquid, the way Venom cross-breeds Spider-Man’s skyscraper-hopping agility with the Hulk’s dynamo destructiveness — it’s all diverting eye candy. But to what end? This gateway into the Sony Universe of Marvel Characters (get ready: there are 90!) may not sputter as badly as Tom Cruise’s “The Mummy,” but it could turn out to be a similar case of a franchise kickoff that doesn’t fully attain franchise liftoff.

Venom can’t hold up to the MCU

Justin Chang, LA Times:

Directed with flat, joyless competence by Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland,” “Gangster Squad”), “Venom” brings with it a laborious, decades-spanning development history. A movie this long in the works should arrive on-screen feeling like more than just an afterthought. But next to the much more visually and narratively elaborate entertainments that make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe — or even compared with other snarky anti-superhero movies like “Deadpool” — “Venom” feels like pretty weak poison.

Laura Prudom, IGN:

Perhaps the most disappointing part of Venom is all of its untapped potential; it’s easy to imagine an actor of Hardy’s caliber seamlessly sliding into the MCU, and at the very least, he has enough fun with the role that you can’t help but want to see him face off with Tom Holland’s wide-eyed Spider-Man. If he gets the chance, here’s hoping the wind will have blown away the lingering whiff of this stinker by then.

Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, Lena Dunham and other celebrities are joining forces to protest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday.

Organizers say the main #CANCELKAVANAUGH Protest will be held outside the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 4 at 12:30 EDT. 

“We anticipate a vote on the Senate floor to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as early as Friday,” the group’s organizer, Party Majority PAC, wrote on the event’s website. “It is critical we make our voices heard on the ground in Washington on Thursday.”

The website continues: “If there was ever a moment when the voice of the people can come together in concert to change the fate of our nation, this is it. Arm in arm, organized and ready, every child, woman, and man, must take to the streets to protest this nomination.”

Other musicians, actors and activists scheduled to participate include Erykah Badu, Maggie Gyllenhaal and husband Peter Sarsgaard, Norman Lear and Michael Stipe, among others. Don’t look for them all to be in D.C., though. According to the site, “We will not all be in DC but ask you to walk out wherever you are.”

Organizers urge participants to join the demonstration in Washington or locally, and also call on people to phone key senators, such as Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. 

Related: Alyssa Milano: It was ‘difficult’ to attend Kavanaugh hearing amid phone fiasco, outfit shaming

More: Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Ford hearing: Celebrities react to the emotional testimony

 

 

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Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, reportedly organized an annual high school outing to a beachfront condo that was expected to include “loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers,” according to a letter Kavanaugh wrote in 1983, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

A note, written in advance of the excursion by a teenage Kavanaugh, hints at the planned debauchery he expected during the beach outing. The note could bolster growing scrutiny around the Supreme Court nominee’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.

Kavanaugh rented a condo in Ocean City, Maryland, for the “Beach Week” event in 1983. He explained to his classmates from Georgetown Preparatory School that he would be away when the the lease started, The Times reported. He went on to order his friends to “warn the neighbors that we’re loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers among us.”

“I think we are unanimous that any girls we can beg to stay there are welcomed with open….,” Kavanaugh wrote.

“The danger of eviction is great and that would suck because of the money and because this week has big potential. (Interpret as wish.),” he added.

Kavanaugh, through his attorneys, admitted he wrote the note “to organize ‘Beach Week’ in the summer of 1983,” according to The Times.

Tom Kane, a former classmate who regularly attended “Beach Week,” downplayed the significance of the note and described it as a “script of ‘Revenge of the Nerds,’” The Times reported.

Andrew Harnik/AP

During his testimony, Kavanaugh admitted to drinking during his high school and college years, but denied that it affected his judgement and actions to prompt the allegations of sexual assault claimed by numerous women.

“I liked beer. I still like beer,” Kavanaugh said during his testimony.

“But I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out, and I never sexually assaulted anyone.”

“There is a bright line between drinking beer, which I gladly do, and which I fully embrace, and sexually assaulting someone, which is a violent crime,” Kavanaugh added.

Chad Ludington, a former friend of Kavanaugh’s, disputed the claim that Kavanaugh never blacked out from drinking: “I can unequivocally say that in denying the possibility that he ever blacked out from drinking, and in downplaying the degree and frequency of his drinking, Brett has not told the truth,” Ludington told multiple news outlets on Monday.

Other classmates recounted house parties that contradicted Kavanaugh’s efforts to downplay drinking habits from his high school and college years.

In one incident, Kavanaugh lifted an empty beer keg over his head to commemorate his group’s progress toward finishing off 100 kegs during the school year, classmates said to The Times.

Kavanaugh’s note comes amid numerous reports in which the Supreme Court nominee has been scrutinized for the behavior in which he engaged while intoxicated. In 1985, during his junior year at Yale University, Kavanaugh allegedly threw ice on another person “for some unknown reason” at a bar.

According to a police report, Kavanaugh was reluctant to say whether “he threw the ice or not.”

Kavanaugh has denied the sexual assault allegation from Christine Blasey Ford, a 51-year-old research psychologist who said that a “stumbling drunk” Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her at a house party when the two were in high school in the 1980s.

Kavanaugh also denied the allegation made by Deborah Ramirez, a former classmate at Yale, who alleged he had exposed himself to her.

The Voice‘s blind auditions continue on tonight four, and all four coaches are starting to feel pretty confident in their team selections, even if things are starting to get a little lopsided in the ladies’ favor. Tonight, we don’t get to see any dramatic block maneuvers or snarky showdowns between the usual suspects, but it’s clear these coaches are in it to win it. Adam Levine believes he’s due for the W this year, but Kelly Clarkson seems to be stacking her team pretty strategically, doesn’t she?

Let’s take a look at who the coaches round out their teams with from tonight’s crop.

Reagan Strange (13 – Memphis, TN)
“Meant to Be” by Bebe Rexha (feat. Florida Georgia Line)

You might think a pop starlet in the making like Reagan Strange here might inspire Kelly Clarkson to throw her hat (er, red jacket) in the ring, since she took Brynn Cartelli all the way last season. But it’s the fellas who are most excited about the high schooler’s potential. Her voice, while bubblegum in some spots, has some points of real poise, especially when she starts throwing in some head range runs that no one sees coming. Reagan considers herself more in the soul-pop sphere than country music, which is what draws her to Team Adam, and that might be just who she needs to take her from quaint to keeper.

Team: Adam Levine.

Fousheé (28 – Harlem, NY)
“Redbone” by Childish Gambino

Adam Levine is right that there is something undefinable about Fousheé’s timbre. Perhaps it’s owed to her myriad inspirations — her mother was in an all-girls reggae band, and she’s grown up surrounded by all the Big Apple has to offer — but she vacillates from an achy, old-school R&B sound to errant scream runs that have everyone checking their tuners to see which notes she’s just hit. Adam calls it an “outer space voice,” and he’s delighted by the fact that she doesn’t sound like a cover artist the way so many auditioners do. However, we’ll have to wait and see how well she knows her own sound and if he can help guide her in the right direction, song choice-wise, to make sure things don’t get too chaotic.

Team: Adam Levine.

Wyatt Rivers (22 – Durham, NC)
“River” by Leon Bridges

Does it seem like the coaches are being a little choosier with the folk-rock gents this season? Last time, there were about a half-dozen male singers of his ilk who could easily be swapped for Wyatt Rivers without making much of a difference, but it looks like this future med student has come out for the wrong season. Although he has a nice, gentle rasp, his too-calm approach to the song doesn’t seem to impress anyone much this time. By sticking strictly to his comfort zone, the song becomes a little too dry and boring, and whenever he does decide to try for a big note, he can’t seem to break through the ceiling of his range. But Kelsea Ballerini sees more potential for him than simply becoming “Dr. Steamy” (to borrow a phrase from Clarkson), and he’s chosen as the night’s comeback artist for her digital competition to earn a spot in the lives.

Team: N/A.

Chris Kroeze (27 – Barron, WI)
“Pride and Joy” by Stevie Ray Vaughan

Also bringing back memories of last season is Chris Kroeze, who sounds like a pleasant cross between Wilkes and Pryor Baird. His croaky southern style is made all the better by his energy and control. Blake likens him to Ricky Skaggs, and it’s clear that the wheels are already turning as to what he thinks he can do with him as a contestant. Kroeze might not favor flying much, but if he keeps this up, he might just find himself jet-setting to the live rounds soon enough.

Team: Blake Shelton.

MaKenzie Thomas (20 – Wallingford, KY)
“Big White Room” by Jessie J

You gotta love MaKenzie Thomas’ realness here. She didn’t make it through the blind auditions last season but was encouraged to try again by the coaches, and she’s not afraid to say just how disappointed she was and how worried she is about reliving the rejection. Luckily for her, she’s done enough in the off-season to earn a one-chair turn — even if it is from the one coach who wasn’t around to hear the first time, Jennifer Hudson. This time, her voice is more seasoned and emotionally fluid, and if she was as discouraged as she said she was coming into tonight’s audition, it should be really interesting to hear what she can do when she’s got a bit more confidence on display.

Team: Jennifer Hudson.

Sandyredd (35 – Chicago, IL)
“River” by Bishop Briggs

This evening’s closer has the coaches in just as much of tizzy as the last three, and it’s easy to see why. Like the others, Sandyredd’s coming into this thing with some brute vocal strength that’s peppered with everything from a Macy Gray-style gravel to Tracy Chapman’s simple steez. As Kelly Clarkson rightly points out, there’s a lot to work with here because she seems to transcend traditional genres, which means she can probably capitalize on the element of surprise from week to week if she’s smart about her song choices. Her energetic delivery has all four coaches putting up offerings onto the stage — from both of JHud’s shoes to Kelly’s coat to Adam’s sneaker … even Blake parts with his precious cup (after taking a quick swig, of course) to pay his respects. Ultimately, Sandyredd lands on Team Kelly, who’d had a rare moment of speechlessness in the wake of the performance, thanks to her promise that she wouldn’t let the lady get boxed in so long as she was in her care. So, now she has two of the early frontrunners (with Kymberli Joye), and the session’s not even done yet. Queen Kelly might just be a two-term monarch after all.

Team: Kelly Clarkson.

TEAM STANDINGS:

Adam Levine – Tyke James, Radha, DeAndre Nico, Steve Memmolo, Anthony Arya, Reagan Strange, Fousheé.
Blake Shelton – Mercedes Ferreira-Dias, Kameron Marlowe, Keith Paluso, Michael Lee, Dave Fenley, Rachel Messer, Chris Kroeze.
Kelly Clarkson – Sarah Grace, Mikele Buck, Claire DeJean, Chevel Shepherd, Delaney Silvernell, Kymberli Joye, Sandyredd.
Jennifer Hudson – Tyshawn Colquitt, Patrique Fortson, Kennedy Holmes, Franc West, Audri Bartholomew, Natasha Greycloud, MaKenzie Thomas.

It’s kind of obvious if you think about it.

Apple as driven a lot of the conversation in the “smart” headphones space in the past couple of years thanks the AirPods. The untethered white earbuds are well on their way to becoming ubiquitous, leading everyone in the headphone space to go smaller, and “true” wireless to catch some of the ripples caused by Apple’s big splash.

But that leaves a gap — at least in attention — on the other side of the spectrum: large-size, over-the-ear headphones with more immersive sound. 

Certainly, that category hasn’t exactly been dormant ever since Beats arrived on the scene almost a decade ago, but there is no go-to smart pair of cans that are anywhere near as iconic as AirPods.

Image: Pete Pachal/Mashable

Microsoft just put in its bid to be that product. The Surface Headphones are, in a nutshell, Microsoft’s answer to Apple AirPods: a smart headphone that integrates with a digital assistant, but in an over-the-ear design that incorporates high-end features like noise cancellation.

I got a chance to try out Microsoft’s Surface Headphones shortly after they were unveiled, and I came away really liking them. They sound great, the controls are intuitive, and they have a nice finish, although the actual color is a little meh.

Let’s start there, shall we? The Surface Headphones are the same color as the recent Surface Pros: silver. Which is fine, but to me it lacks personality. Even Apple’s bright white EarPods and AirPods, as basic as they are, are more distinctive. When I talked to Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay after the event, he hinted that we might someday see a pair with a matte black finish like the new Surfaces, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Comfort is a big deal for any headphone, and the Surface Headphones scored highly here. The fit wasn’t too snug, but it wasn’t too loose either. I didn’t wear them long enough to get in a space where I forgot I was wearing headphones (the ideal), but I could see me getting there. 

They weren’t quite as comfy as, say, a high-end Bose pair like the QuietComfort 35’s (Bose has been perfecting headphone comfort for decades), but they were pretty close.

Image: Pete Pachal/Mashable

There are dials on either earcup for controlling volume (left) and the level of noise cancelation (right). Noise cancellation first: The control works very well. Microsoft says there are 13 levels of noise control, and you need a decent-size dial to give you the fine level of manipulation you need.

When I turned the dial, it was dramatic to go from hearing the loud din of the entire demo room in my ears (clearly, the four dedicated mics were being used to enhance sound on that end of the scale) to whisper-quiet on the other end. If I concentrated, I could still make out most of the conversation the two people right next to me (noise cancellation isn’t full sound cancellation), but I could finally appreciate the music I was streaming from the Surface Pro in front of me.

The sound made an impression. 

The sound made an impression. On the first tune I listened to, Drake’s “In My Feelings,” the bass was strongly present, almost overpowering. I thought maybe the headphones might have been tuned to be a little too bass-heavy (common in over-the-ear headphones, unfortunately), but then I listened to a track by Adele and those fears went away as I was fully captivated by her crystal-clear voice.

Image: Pete Pachal/Mashable

Finally, there’s the smarts, which in Microsoft’s case means Cortana integration. A tap on the right earcup calls up Microsoft’s digital assistant, or at least it appeared to. Cortana’s blue halo appeared on the Surface Pro screen in front of me, complete with the suggestion to call up a timer, but it never responded to any command I uttered after that.

Perhaps the sound preferences were set wrong or there’s a bug to be worked out. It’s also unclear just how effortless the Surface Headphones’ setup process is, or whether they automatically pair across all your Microsoft devices when you activate them for the first time — two big reasons why the AirPods experience is so good.

I look forward to giving the Surface Headphones the full review treatment to answer those questions. Because if all Microsoft has done here is create a nice-sounding pair of premium Bluetooth headphones, it’ll have missed a great opportunity to finally give an answer to AirPods that doesn’t just look like an imitation.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police have arrested four people suspected to be involved in more than two dozen celebrity home burglaries over the last several months, amounting to stolen property valuing millions of dollars.

Police made the arrests through a vehicle stop in south Los Angeles after the suspects allegedly ransacked the home of Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Robert Woods on Sept. 27, LAPD Capt. Lillian Carranza said at a Tuesday press conference. In the vehicle, police said they found property determined to belong to Woods as well as a firearm.

Police believe the suspects are also responsible for burglaries of homes belonging to Rihanna, Christina Milian and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig. Investigators suspect they planned the burglaries by monitoring the celebrities’ social media accounts and travel schedules, Carranza said. 

At one suspect’s house, police discovered a list of more than 12 potential future targets, including homes of Viola Davis, LeBron James and Matt Damon. Carranza said the department has contacted each of them.

Police also recovered more than $50,000 in cash, as well as a vehicle, firearm, jewelry, designer purses, watches and other luxury items.

Police said they believe a small group of gang members and associates scouted homes of athletes and celebrities, driving luxury cars and wearing button-down shirts in efforts to avoid attention. They allegedly would return later in a larger vehicle and wearing hoodies to carry out the burglaries, police said.

Police believe one suspect would knock on the front door to see if anyone would answer. Once inside, police said, the suspects would typically head to the master bedroom to find easy-to-carry valuables including cash, jewelry and safes. They usually exited within minutes before alarm systems notified the homeowner or law enforcement, Carranza said.     

More: Rams WR Robert Woods’ home burglarized during Thursday night’s game in Los Angeles

More: Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig burglarized for the fourth time

Residences owned by Puig have been burglarized four times since March 2017 while he was out for Dodgers games or other responsibilities. In the first burglary, about $170,000 in jewelry was stolen. The most recent incident happened on Sept. 18, when three African-American suspects in their 20s fled the scene, according to LAPD public information officer Jeff Lee. 

The three men arrested for burglary were Tyress Lavon Williams, 19; Damaji Corey Hall, 18; and Jshawne Lamon Daniels, 19. Hall’s mother, Ashle Jennifer Hall, 34, was arrested for grand theft in association with stolen property and a firearm recovered from the vehicle. Police said they are anticipating additional arrests. 

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying stolen property displayed at the press conference.

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Spoiler alert! The following contains spoilers from Season 3, Episode 2 of “This Is Us,” “A Philadelphia Story.”

Things are tense for the Pearsons.

They were tense in the past and they’re tense in the present. Things are not tense, however, for William (special and always welcome guest star Ron Cephas Jones). William is a big, beautiful ball of light in the dark hours of “This Is Us.” 

Tuesday’s episode of the family drama focused mostly on the darkest period in the Pearsons’ lives, the aftermath of Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) death in the ’90s, and the challenges of the present, with a little bit of vintage William mixed in for fun. 

The flashbacks served mostly to show how much the issues of the Big Three and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) stem directly from Jack’s death, from Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) substance abuse to Kate’s (Chrissy Metz) weight to Randall’s (Sterling K. Brown) rash decision-making to Rebecca’s bad relationship with Kate and Kevin.

The family is living in temporary housing while they look for a new place, and everyone is having a tough time. Rebecca is a shell of her former self, hearing Jack as she goes through her day and unable to engage with her kids. Kevin is taking out his grief for his father and the football career he lost by binge-drinking, and he shows up completely wasted to meet with a Realtor. Kate is binge-eating, and self-sabotages her admission to Berklee College of Music. 

Randall, of course, thinks it’s his responsibility to keep the family together. Even though he got into Howard University, his dream school, he can’t help but lecture his mom and siblings rather than celebrate himself. And when it comes down to it, he can’t extricate himself from their lives. He turns down the spot at Howard to stay closer to home, which in retrospect feels like such an adult-Randall move that I can’t believe I was shocked. 

In the present, rash Randall is trying to help Deja, who is having trouble adjusting to her majority-white new school and misses friends from her old neighborhood. Randall takes her to William’s building in Philadelphia to meet a girl who’s her age. While he’s there he sees that the rec center his tenants use is in disrepair, so he seeks out the city councilman responsible for the neighborhood to try to fix it. He talks a good talk, but the maintenance crew the councilman promises never shows up. Randall is taken to task by one of the tenants, who in the flashback we saw was a good friend of William’s, for trying to fix the neighborhood instead of trying to be a part of it. 

Things aren’t going any better for Kate and Toby (Chris Sullivan). Last week, we saw that Toby went off his antidepressants cold turkey and the withdrawal isn’t pretty. He’s having deep mood swings and anxiety and taking it out on the world. On the way to Kevin’s big premiere, Rebecca finds out the couple is trying IVF and gets in a big fight with Kate. Toby blows up at his mother-in-law and then disappears for hours. 

Eventually Rebecca gets over her fears about Kate undergoing the fertility treatments, saying it’s leftover anxiety from when Jack died. She helps Kate with one of her hormone shots and the pair both take the blame for Kate’s weight gain after Jack’s death, in a truly cringe-inducing turn. The show has always been quite cliched when it comes to talking about Kate’s body and health, but the un-nuanced scenes of teen Kate stuffing her face recall this summer’s vile “Insatiable” on Netflix.

It is, however, one of the few times we actually see Rebecca and Kate’s relationship implode, as opposed to just hearing about it. Rebecca is so laser-focused on her own concerns she doesn’t see the pain she’s inflicting on Kate. Despite the bad writing, Moore and Metz do a great job in the scene, finally adding the layers to that relationship that have been missing. 

Kevin is, for once, the most stable of the three siblings, mostly just figuring out exactly how to define his relationship with Zoe, who wants to keep things casual. It’s clear Kevin wants a little more and maybe after skipping his premiere and regretting it, Zoe is ready for a little more, too. 

Kevin’s big mistake is, of course, when he recounts the fight to Randall, telling him that Kate said that she was the “only one” who could pass on their Dad. Randall is clearly deeply, deeply hurt by that comment, especially as he’s having a crisis about where he fits in. The woman at William’s building said he wasn’t one of them, and now his sister essentially said he wasn’t a real member of his family. 

Can’t we have just one Pearson family gathering in peace? No, of course not. If we did, it wouldn’t be “This Is Us.”

 

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