Ransone died in 2025 at the age of 46 in Los Angeles, California. His death was determined to be a suicide by hanging.

Early life and education
James Finley Ransone III was born on June 2, 1979, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Joyce (née Peterson) and James Finley Ransone II, a Vietnam War veteran. He was educated at the George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson, Maryland, and attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan for one year.

Career
In 2002, Ransone co-starred in the Larry Clark drama film Ken Park as Tate. In 2003, he appeared in 12 episodes of The Wire, as Ziggy Sobotka. He had a supporting role in Spike Lee’s 2006 heist movie Inside Man as bank robber, Steve-O. He starred in the 2008 miniseries Generation Kill as Cpl. Josh Ray Person. In 2010, he was cast in a recurring role in the HBO comedy series How to Make It in America, and the following year, appeared in a recurring role in the HBO drama series Treme. In 2012, he starred in the drama film Starlet. The following year, he starred in the AMC drama series Low Winter Sun as Damon Callis.

Ransone then appeared in the 2012 horror film Sinister in the supporting role of Deputy So-and-So. In June 2014, he joined the cast of the Western film In a Valley of Violence. Also in 2014, he starred in Small Engine Repair off-Broadway. In 2015, he had a supporting role in the comedy-drama film Tangerine. Following the success of Sinister, Ransone reprised his role in the 2015 sequel Sinister 2, this time as the film’s main character. In 2016, he appeared in Season 2 of the drama series Bosch as Eddie Arceneaux.

In 2019, Ransone portrayed the adult Eddie Kaspbrak in the horror film It Chapter Two, sharing the role with Jack Dylan Grazer, who played the younger version.

Personal life and death
By the age of 27, Ransone had developed a heroin addiction and a debt of $30,000, but became sober shortly after.

In May 2021, Ransone wrote on his Instagram account that he was sexually abused for around six months by his math tutor in 1992, and that this was a factor in the alcohol and heroin addictions he later struggled with.[14] He reported his allegations to the Baltimore County police in March 2020, but they declined to pursue the charges after an investigation. The Baltimore County School System was informed of the allegations, according to police; school officials acknowledged having been notified of a “concern” but declined to specify what actions had been taken.

Ransone was married to Jamie McPhee and had two children. He died by suicide by hanging in Los Angeles, California, on December 19, 2025, at the age of 46.

The protests were precipitated by the death of pro-reform Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Hu Yaobang in April 1989 amid the backdrop of rapid economic development and social change in post-Mao China, reflecting anxieties among the people and political elite about the country’s future. Common grievances at the time included inflation, corruption, limited preparedness of graduates for the new economy, and restrictions on political participation. Although they were highly disorganised and their goals varied, the students called for things like rollback of the removal of iron rice bowl jobs, greater accountability, constitutional due process, democracy, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech. Workers’ protests were generally focused on inflation and the erosion of welfare. These groups united around anti-corruption demands, adjusting economic policies, and protecting social security. At the height of the protests, about one million people assembled in the square.

As the protests developed, the authorities responded with both conciliatory and hardline tactics, exposing deep divisions within the party leadership. By May, a student-led hunger strike galvanised support around the country for the demonstrators, and the protests spread to some 400 cities. On 20 May, the State Council declared martial law, and as many as 300,000 troops were mobilised to Beijing. After several weeks of standoffs and violent confrontations between the army and demonstrators left many on both sides severely injured, a meeting held among the CCP’s top leadership on 1 June concluded with a decision to clear the square. The troops advanced into central parts of Beijing on the city’s major thoroughfares in the early morning hours of 4 June and engaged in bloody clashes with demonstrators attempting to block them, in which many people – demonstrators, bystanders, and soldiers – were killed. Estimates of the death toll vary from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded.

The event had both short and long term consequences. Western countries imposed arms embargoes on China, and various Western media outlets labeled the crackdown a “massacre”. In the aftermath of the protests, the Chinese government suppressed other protests around China, carried out mass arrests of protesters which catalysed Operation Yellowbird, strictly controlled coverage of the events in the domestic and foreign affiliated press, and demoted or purged officials it deemed sympathetic to the protests. The government also invested heavily into creating more effective police riot control units. More broadly, the suppression ended the political reforms which began in 1986 as well as the New Enlightenment movement, and halted the policies of liberalisation of the 1980s, which were only partly resumed after Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Tour in 1992. Considered a watershed event, reaction to the protests set limits on political expression in China that have lasted up to the present day. The events remain one of the most sensitive and most widely censored topics in China.

The EU-U.S. joint statement formalizing their tariff deal includes 11 words on cars that Washington has long hankered for: The U.S. and the EU “intend to accept and provide mutual recognition to each other’s standards.”

In other words, American cars that meet lower U.S. standards could be allowed on European roads.

It’s an about-face for Brussels, which insisted to a group of industry organizations in May that no such proposal was in the works.

“Let me assure you that neither EU safety and environmental performance standards nor citizens’ EU Treaty guaranteed rights and values are up for negotiation,” the Commission wrote in the May letter seen by POLITICO and signed by Leopoldo Rubinacci, the deputy director general for trade.

But the language in this month’s agreement is alarming consumer organizations. They warn that bringing EU and U.S. rules into conformity would threaten the bloc’s emissions standards and lead to more road deaths, given that American cars are heavier and larger than their European counterparts.

The EU’s safety regulations, meanwhile, are more stringent and are aimed at reducing pedestrian deaths with things like advanced emergency braking that warns drivers of an impending collision, which the U.S. recently instituted but won’t apply until 2029.

Not so fast
But any changes to the bloc’s laws would require the unraveling of the EU’s vehicle approval process and would require sign-off from both the European Parliament and EU capitals — something that is politically difficult to envisage.

The U.S. and the EU have vastly different processes for allowing cars on the road.

In the U.S., “the manufacturer simply puts its vehicle in the market and declares that it is compliant with all the relevant U.S. regulations,” said Dudley Curtis, communications director with the European Transport Safety Council.

Cars in the EU, however, must be submitted to a national type approval body in one of the member countries that is responsible for certifying the car and alerting other capitals should a recall be needed.

“It’s a long and complex process,” Curtis said.

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, wants to see American pickup trucks in Europe — and has denounced the dearth of U.S. cars as a sign of protectionism. | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
American cars do make it onto European roads, but they have to be approved on a case-by-case basis. A broader exemption would allow for much larger — and quicker — exports.

Adding to the regulatory difference is the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which sets global car standards — something the EU abides by but the U.S. does not.

Because the U.S. does not adhere to the U.N. regulations, “the EU cannot simply start recognizing them without undertaking legal changes — for example, by amending existing regulations or adding new ones,” Lawrence Freeman, an automotive-focused lawyer at Bird & Bird, said in an email.

The Commission has so far declined to give further details on what U.S. standards it plans to recognize and when.

Work between Washington and Brussels “includes the possibility towards recognising some of each other’s standards or streamlining procedures linked to conformity assessment,” a Commission official said in an email statement.

The U.S. has long pushed for the EU to match its auto standards. The issue was a source of contention during discussions a decade ago on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Negotiations for the deal dissolved in part because of divisions over car standards.

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, wants to see American pickup trucks in Europe — and has denounced the dearth of U.S. cars as a sign of protectionism.

But opening the door to U.S. cars doesn’t guarantee consumers will buy them. American automaker Ford has long manufactured and sold cars in the bloc but focuses on SUVs and hatchbacks instead of the F-150 pickup trucks that are a top seller in the U.S. market.

Buyers on both sides of the Atlantic prefer SUVs, but those sold in Europe are smaller; the American versions measure over 5 meters on average, while European ones come in at about a meter shorter, according to automotive consultancy JATO Dynamics.

Beyond the legal and consumer hurdles is EU autonomy, which critics warn the trade deal undermines. Despite the EU-U.S. deal being finalized just days ago, Trump is already threatening to impose additional tariffs on countries he believes have digital rules that discriminate against American companies.

European automakers are already under pressure from the 25 percent tariff on vehicle and auto part imports Trump put into effect in April.

As part of the recent trade deal, those tariffs will be lowered to 15 percent, but only after the EU eliminates its own industrial tariffs, including a 10 percent tariff on vehicles. The Commission is expected to put forward a measure this week that would eliminate the tariffs, but only after approval from the European Parliament and EU capitals.

If the trade war reignites thanks to Trump’s latest tariff maneuvers, that could make it difficult to get those agreements.

The flip-phone smartphone could soon shed its reputation as the toe shoe of cellular devices, especially now that Apple is getting involved. The iPhone-maker is widely reported to be releasing its first foldable phone next year, capitalizing on a niche trend right as it’s gaining momentum.

Similar to the Galaxy phones you always see advertised but rarely encounter IRL, Apple’s foldable iPhone (code-named V68) will open like a book, transforming from a phone to a small tablet, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Since The Information broke the news about Apple’s origami foray last year, multiple analysts have predicted that it’ll launch in September 2026 for ~$2,000.

Androids greased the wheels. Apple’s foldable would come seven years after Samsung’s and Motorola’s respective first attempts, and three years after Google’s. Foldables—which now represent 1% to 2% of the smartphone market—have made major strides since the early, clunky days:

Samsung’s new Z Fold 7 launched this year to the best types of reviews a foldable can ask for—it reportedly feels just like a regular smartphone, but with more screen.
A fast-growing Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Honor, just released the world’s thinnest book-style smartphone—it’s 0.1mm slimmer than the Z Fold 7.
Sign of the times: First-week sales for Honor’s Magic V5 in Western Europe and the UK roughly doubled that of its previous iteration, the company said, suggesting that the world may finally be warming up to foldables.

Where there’s opportunity, there’s Apple: The iPhone-maker isn’t afraid to be a follower. It pulled the rug out from Pebble, Garmin, Fitbit, and Samsung and ended up leading the global smartwatch market with a 20% share. But the wait-and-release tactic doesn’t always work—Apple reportedly slashed production of its Vision Pro headset after realizing barely anybody wanted a wildly more expensive version of the Meta Quest.

It doesn’t matter how many brownie bites he’s leaving on the table, Jerry Greenfield, half of the famous Ben & Jerry’s ice cream duo, announced yesterday that he is leaving the company after almost 50 years, claiming its British owner, Unilever, is silencing the brand.

Greenfield accused Unilever, which bought the brand in 2000, of stifling the company’s political activism, specifically about Gaza and President Trump.

The acquisition agreement allowed Ben & Jerry’s to maintain an independent board responsible for making decisions regarding its social mission. But tensions escalated in 2021 when the ice cream maker said it would stop selling pints in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Last November, Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever for allegedly threatening to break up its board for voicing support for Palestinian rights and a Gaza ceasefire.
In March, the brand claimed Unilever illegally fired its CEO.
Unilever denied Ben & Jerry’s allegations. A spokesperson for Magnum, which will become the new parent company of Ben & Jerry’s once Unilever completes a spinoff of its ice cream brands, thanked Greenfield for his work “over many decades.”

What next? Ben Cohen, the other co-founder of the iconic brand, appears to be staying with the company. Unilever’s ice cream spinoff, which will combine brands worth about ~$9.3 billion, is expected to close by the end of the year. Unilever will retain a minority stake in Magnum for up to five years as it sells off its remaining shares.

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If you have nothing but a rag-doll stuffed with sawdust, while one of your more fortunate little playmates has a costly China one, you should treat her with a show of kindness nevertheless. And you ought not to attempt to make a forcible swap with her unless your conscience would justify you in it, and you know you are able to do it.

You ought never to take your little brother’s „chewing-gum“ away from him by main force; it is better to rope him in with the promise of the first two dollars and a half you find floating down the river on a grindstone. In the artless simplicity natural to this time of life, he will regard it as a perfectly fair transaction. In all ages of the world this eminently plausible fiction has lured the obtuse infant to financial ruin and disaster.

If at any time you find it necessary to correct your brother, do not correct him with mud—never, on any account, throw mud at him, because it will spoil his clothes. It is better to scald him a little, for then you obtain desirable results. You secure his immediate attention to the lessons you are inculcating, and at the same time your hot water will have a tendency to move impurities from his person, and possibly the skin, in spots.

If your mother tells you to do a thing, it is wrong to reply that you won’t. It is better and more becoming to intimate that you will do as she bids you, and then afterward act quietly in the matter according to the dictates of your best judgment.

You should ever bear in mind that it is to your kind parents that you are indebted for your food, and for the privilege of staying home from school when you let on that you are sick. Therefore you ought to respect their little prejudices, and humor their little whims, and put up with their little foibles until they get to crowding you too much.

Good little girls always show marked deference for the aged. You ought never to „sass“ old people unless they „sass“ you first.

CHAPTER I 

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her. 

She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate, indulgent father; and had, in consequence of her sister’s marriage, been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembrance of her caresses; and her place had been supplied by an excellent woman as governess, who had fallen little short of a mother in affection. 

Sixteen years had Miss Taylor been in Mr. Woodhouse’s family, less as a governess than a friend, very fond of both daughters, but particularly of Emma. Between them it was more the intimacy of sisters. Even before Miss Taylor had ceased to hold the nominal office of governess, the mildness of her temper had hardly allowed her to impose any restraint; and the shadow of authority being now long passed away, they had been living together as friend and friend very mutually attached, and Emma doing just what she liked; highly esteeming Miss Taylor’s judgment, but directed chiefly by her own. 

The real evils, indeed, of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her. 

Sorrow came—a gentle sorrow—but not at all in the shape of any disagreeable consciousness.—Miss Taylor married. It was Miss Taylor’s loss which first brought grief. It was on the wedding-day of this beloved friend that Emma first sat in mournful thought of any continuance. The wedding over, and the bride-people gone, her father and herself were left to dine 

together, with no prospect of a third to cheer a long evening. Her father composed himself to sleep after dinner, as usual, and she had then only to sit and think of what she had lost. 

The event had every promise of happiness for her friend. Mr. Weston was a man of unexceptionable character, easy fortune, suitable age, and pleasant manners; and there was some satisfaction in considering with what self-denying, generous friendship she had always wished and promoted the match; but it was a black morning’s work for her. The want of Miss Taylor would be felt every hour of every day. She recalled her past kindness—the kindness, the affection of sixteen years—how she had taught and how she had played with her from five years old—how she had devoted all her powers to attach and amuse her in health—and how nursed her through the various illnesses of childhood. A large debt of gratitude was owing here; but the intercourse of the last seven years, the equal footing and perfect unreserve which had soon followed Isabella’s marriage, on their being left to each other, was yet a dearer, tenderer recollection. She had been a friend and companion such as few possessed: intelligent, well-informed, useful, gentle, knowing all the ways of the family, interested in all its concerns, and peculiarly interested in herself, in every pleasure, every scheme of hers—one to whom she could speak every thought as it arose, and who had such an affection for her as could never find fault.