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And down one hallway, all the Celtics logos dating to the team’s founding in 1946 were splashed on the wall, each carrying the story behind its origin.
A couple of years ago, the Celtics turned their office on Causeway Street, near TD Garden, into a pseudo museum detailing the franchise’s history, with pictures and memorabilia covering nearly every square inch of space.
One version of the new Celtics logo the team will begin using this season.
Those stories sparked an idea for something new with a touch of the past, and after 18 months of work, that idea will debut this week: a new alternate logo.
Created in-house, the logo, which is known as the “Lucky Alternate,” pays homage to the early 1960s illustration created by Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach’s brother, Zang, a former editorial and sports artist for newspapers in Washington.
It features the classic image of Lucky the leprechaun spinning the ball on his finger, only in white silhouette against a green backdrop, encircled by the words “BOSTON” and “CELTICS” in white.
“It’s such an iconic silhouette that people, when they see it, they’ll know exactly what it is,” said Shawn Sullivan, the team’s chief marketing officer.
The logo will first be used on adidas team apparel and merchandise on sale through the team’s online store beginning this month.
Celtics season ticket-holders and corporate partners can also buy apparel featuring the new alternate logo two days before products are released to the general public.
Keith Sliney, the Celtics’ creative director and the logo’s designer, stressed that it won’t be replacing their main logo, nor are there immediate plans to place it on game jerseys.
“We think of it more as extending the Celtics brand,” Sliney said. “Our existing logos are not changing. This alternate is an additional emblem for us to use on everything from print to web to fabric. It’s very flexible.”
One of the reasons the Celtics decided to create a new logo was, Sliney said, it had been 16 years since the team had debuted its last new logo, a secondary shamrock.
“We thought it was a good time to create a mark, something new, something fresh, yet with a lot of history behind it,” he said.
They settled on re-creating the 1960s logo — Zang’s creation, featuring the leprechaun wearing a bowler, smoking a pipe, holding a shillelagh — only with a contemporary spin on a classic image.
Baxter Holmes can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BaxterHolmes. | 1,267,900 |
(Reuters) - Shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKa.N surged on Monday to their highest level since March after the conglomerate reported strong second-quarter results in several major business lines.
FILE PHOTO: Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, pauses while playing bridge as part of the company annual meeting weekend in Omaha, Nebraska U.S. May 6, 2018. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo
Berkshire on Saturday said operating profit rose 67 percent to $6.89 billion as the Geico car insurer won market share despite raising rates, and faster U.S. economic growth boosted shipping demand at the BNSF railroad.
Analysts expected operating profit of just $5.57 billion. Net income was $12.01 billion, including unrealized gains from a roughly 5 percent stake in iPhone maker Apple Inc AAPL.O that would now be worth more than $50 billion.
U.S. gross domestic product grew in the second quarter at a 4.1 percent annualized rate, the fastest in nearly four years, the Department of Commerce has estimated.
Berkshire’s Class A shares were up $9,619, or 3.2 percent, at $314,290 in Monday afternoon trading.
“Results have reflected a really robust U.S. economy,” Jim Shanahan, an Edward Jones analyst who rates Berkshire “buy,” said in a phone interview. “I expect that to continue, and given Berkshire’s large domestic footprint it would have relatively limited exposure to a trade war.”
Berkshire’s more than 90 businesses also include Marmon and Precision Castparts industrial parts, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Dairy Queen ice cream and Fruit of the Loom underwear.
Its other investments include stocks such as American Express AXP.N, Coca-Cola KO.N and Wells Fargo WFC.N.
Berkshire ended June with $111.1 billion of cash and equivalents, in part reflecting its lack of a major acquisition since Buffett bought Precision Castparts in January 2016.
That may prompt Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger to conduct Berkshire’s first stock repurchase since December 2012, under a new policy allowing buybacks when the stock price is below their “conservative” view of Berkshire’s intrinsic value.
The old policy forbade buybacks when Berkshire traded, as it long has, at more than 20 percent above book value.
Morgan Stanley analyst Kai Pan, who rates Berkshire “equal-weight,” on Monday wrote that the change means Berkshire will “likely” return some excess capital to shareholders.
Shanahan is not certain there will be buybacks soon.
“The question is the willingness,” he said. “With the results they reported and the stock price moving higher, it makes buybacks less likely.” | 1,267,901 |
SEOUL • The United States has temporarily deployed an additional Patriot missile battery in South Korea following North Korea's recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, US Forces Korea said.
The move came as China's Foreign Minister said Washington needs to proceed with caution on possible deployment of an advanced US missile defence system and not use this as an excuse to affect China's security.
"This deployment is part of an emergency deployment readiness exercise conducted in response to recent North Korean provocations," the US Forces Korea said in a press statement yesterday, referring to the temporary roll-out of a Patriot missile battery, which was flown from Fort Bliss, Texas, last week.
"Exercises like this ensure we are always ready to defend against an attack from North Korea," said Lieutenant-General Thomas Vandal, commander of the US Eighth Army.
The newly deployed Patriot battery is conducting ballistic missile defence training with the Eighth Army's 35th Air Defence Artillery Brigade at Osan Air Base, some 47km south of Seoul.
The brigade has its own two Patriot battalions.
One Patriot battalion is reportedly composed of four batteries.
The Patriot system is a high-velocity interceptor that defends against incoming ballistic and cruise missiles as well as aircraft.
Just hours after North Korea launched a long-range rocket that both condemned as a disguised ballistic missile test on Feb 7, South Korea and the US announced their intention to start discussions on deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence System (Thaad).
The Pentagon has since stressed that it would like the system to be deployed in South Korea "as quickly as possible".
A senior South Korean Defence Ministry official said last Friday that detailed discussions on the Thaad deployment would kick off as early as next week.
China and Russia argue that it would trigger an arms race in the region, with Beijing voicing its "deep concern" over the deployment.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed Beijing's opposition to the deployment of the Thaad system to US Secretary of State John Kerry in Munich, China's Foreign Ministry said late last Friday.
Mr Wang "demanded the US side must act cautiously, not use the opportunity to harm China's security interests and not add a new complicating factor to regional peace and stability", the ministry said.
South Korea had previously declined to formally discuss bringing in Thaad in deference to the sensitivities of China, its most important trade partner.
But North Korea's continued missile testing and frustration with Beijing's resistance to imposing harsh sanctions on Pyongyang apparently triggered a change in Seoul's stance.
Mr Wang also repeated China's stance in Munich that sanctions "are not the aim" and that everyone should think of ways to restart talks on the North Korean nuclear issue.
"This completely accords with the interests of all sides, including China and the United States," added Mr Wang, according to his ministry.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS | 1,267,902 |
WORCESTER - A second medical marijuana dispensary is on track to open in the city early next month.
The Board of Health Monday night issued a medical marijuana dispensary license to Prime Wellness Centers Inc. for a facility at 65 Pullman St. It will be located in a newly constructed 4,500-square-foot building.
John P. Glowik, chief executive officer of Prime Wellness, said the company received a 60-day occupancy permit from the city and plans to open the dispensary the first week of December.
He said the building has been inspected by the city and the only thing outstanding is that fire officials want to have a transmitter installed so a signal can be sent directly from the building to the Fire Department. He said the transmitter has been ordered and should be installed before the temporary occupancy permit expires.
"The building is completed and ready to go," Mr. Glowik told the Board of Health. "We're at the last point of where we've got to be. We are planning to have product available for patients during the first week of December."
The company tentatively plans to operate the dispensary from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week and closed on Sundays.
Worcester is one of three locations in Central Massachusetts where Prime Wellness has been licensed by the state Department of Public Health to operate a medical marijuana dispensary. The other locations are in Shrewsbury and Leominster.
The company also operates a 37,000-square-foot growing facility in Sterling.
Mr. Glowik said all the products sold at the Pullman Street dispensary will be pre-packaged. He said no product processing will take place there.
He added that extensive security is planned for the building, including the use of internal and external cameras, to ensure patron and community safety, and to eliminate unauthorized access to the premises.
Prime Wellness, which has been in business for about 4½ years, is the largest medical marijuana provider in Connecticut and New Hampshire. Mr. Glowik predicted that it would be one of the three largest providers in Massachusetts within a year.
Since early August, Good Chemistry of Massachusetts Inc. has been operating the only medical marijuana dispensary in the city, at 9 Harrison St.
The city has negotiated four community host agreements with companies that will operate medical marijuana dispensaries, but so far only two have applied for and received licenses from the Board of Health, the last stop in the local chain of approval.
While the state licenses medical marijuana dispensaries, the city Board of Health has adopted regulations governing their operation here. The regulations enable the board to evaluate the operations and intervene if issues arise.
Mr. Glowik said Prime Wellness plans to "co-locate" at its building, meaning it will sell both medical and adult-use or recreational marijuana at the same location. He said the company has submitted an application to the Planning Board seeking a special permit for that purpose. | 1,267,903 |
Judge: 'Under God' can remain in Pledge of Allegiance
Kathleen Hopkins | Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
FREEHOLD, N.J. — A New Jersey judge has thrown out a lawsuit against a school district seeking to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance recited daily by students.
State Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman in Monmouth County ruled that recitation of those words in the pledge in Matawan-Aberdeen schools does not violate rights guaranteed to individuals under the New Jersey Constitution.
Bauman's written opinion, made public Friday, dismissed a lawsuit filed last year by the American Humanist Association, an organization that works to protect the rights of atheists and other non-religious groups.
In his decision, Bauman noted that the nation was founded on a belief in God. He cited historical references to the nation's founding fathers, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, and the writers of New Jersey's constitution exhibiting faith in and reliance upon God.
"The words 'under God' are now as interwoven through the fabric of the Pledge of Allegiance as the threads of red, white and blue into the fabric of the flag to which the Pledge is recited," Bauman wrote.
Bauman said the Pledge of Allegiance, in its historical context, has never been viewed as a religious exercise, but as a vehicle to transmit "those core values of duty, honor, pride and fidelity to country on which the social contract between the United States and its citizens is ultimately based."
David Rubin, the school district's attorney, said he is pleased with the judge's decision, but expects the American Humanist Association will appeal it.
"We anticipate there may be an appeal but are confident that Judge Bauman's decision will be upheld," Rubin said.
The American Humanist Association said in a news release that its leaders are disappointed in Bauman's decision, but it did not say whether an appeal was planned.
"The daily pledge recitation is a core part of how we define patriotism for children on a daily basis, so the exercise is discriminatory if it associates patriotism with God-belief and suggests that atheists and humanists are second-class citizens," the association's attorney, David Niose, said in the news release.
Bauman noted that New Jersey law allows any child to abstain from reciting it for any reason, whether religious, political, moral or any other principle.
He added that there is no evidence to suggest that the unidentified child on whose behalf the lawsuit was filed has ever been required to provide an explanation for not participating in the pledge.
.
The American Humanist Association filed the lawsuit against the school district last year on behalf of an unnamed family with a child in the school system. The lawsuit claimed that the practice of acknowledging God in the Pledge of Allegiance discriminated against atheists, in violation of New Jersey's constitution. | 1,267,904 |
Startup Preeti Mishra 10 December 2018
One of the most opt asked questions from the startups in India that how to grow their business and how to promote?The most relevant answer by a digital marketing expert is ‘link building’. Now the thing you should know that, there are a lot of social media, directory submission and bookmarking platforms. Experts advice for genuine link building on non-PBN guest blogging sites and some of the best startup submission sites. So, if you are Startup and want to boost your business then this article is for you.
Outgoing trend of startup directory submission sites?
In the earlier two years startup directory submission sites was avoided by many people looking to arise their website. Why so? It is just because Google penalised many of the websites that used tricks of directory submission to exploit their websites’ ranking.
Now you should know why Google did so?
Main duty of Google is to show relevant and quality results on the top of the google ranking. Many of the people started their PBN sites just to make money in the network. They never work for google search. Second thing, as they know old algorithm of google increase ranking of the URL which has more external links. Thus, they started giving external links to the websites and increase their own traffic. A traffic means a lot for Google AdSense, Yahoo, Chitika, Adversal and many of the advertisement sites.
This money making trick is worthy for directory submission sites. Also it was giving multiple benefits to client sites. For this, most of the directory submission sites are ready to add irrelevant links too. Human started making fool Google by creating multiple bogus links. For Google an irrelevant link is not worth and also reduce search result quality of the google.
Thus, Google picked it up quickly and changed the algorithm. Algorithm coded to check a websites’ back-links properly. Google has also banned many of the PBN directory submission sites blow down the quality of the google search result.
Google never give value to a website with lower links and irrelevant submission.
Is Google banned directory submission?
No. Google never banned directory submission. Google just changed the algorithm so that SEO person can strictly follow the rules and don’t create irrelevant backlinks. You can still submit your startup as directory but need to review a proper directory submission site. It should not be a PBN site.
What is the solution for Startup submission?
Submitting your startup in an irrelevant directory will never work for google and Moz. You need to go with some quality and genuine startup submission sites in 2019. I’ve tried to find out some of the best free startup submission sites you can go without any worry.
So avoid PBN and let’s have a quality and genuine linking for your startup website.
So what are you waiting for? Go with these fresh list of startup submission sites in 2019 and boom your business in digital era. | 1,267,905 |
lentil quinoa tacos are easy, delicious, totally vegan and gluten-free! Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 25 minutes Total Time 35 minutes Servings 8 tacos Calories 358 kcal Author Alissa Saenz Ingredients 1/2 cup dried quinoa (I used red quinoa, but any color will do)
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 (14 ounce or 400 gram) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups cooked brown lentils (or a 14 ounce/400 gram can)
1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used Cholula) or red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
8 taco shells or corn tortillas
Toppings of choice, such as lettuce, avocado, salsa, guacamole, or vegan cheese US Customary - Metric Instructions Stir the quinoa and broth together in a small saucepan, then place it over high heat. Bring the broth to a boil, stirring frequently. Once the broth boils, lower the heat to a very low simmer and cover the pan. Allow the quinoa to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Once the quinoa has finished simmering, remove the pot from heat and let it sit with the lid on for at least 5 minutes. You can begin working on the rest of the filling while the quinoa sits. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with the oil and place it over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion. Cook the onion for about 10 minutes, until it softens up and begins to brown, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, cumin, and chipotle chile powder to the skillet. Cook everything with the onion for about 1 minute, until very fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes and quinoa, then raise the heat and bring the liquid to a simmer. Lower the heat and allow the mixture to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until most of the liquid from the tomatoes evaporates. Stir in the lentils and cook everything for about 1 minute more, just until heated throughout. Remove the skillet from heat and season the mixture with hot sauce or vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the cilantro. Divide the taco filling among the shells and top with toppings of choice. Serve. Nutrition Facts Quinoa Lentil Tacos Amount Per Serving (2 tacos) Calories 358 Calories from Fat 63 % Daily Value* Fat 7g 11% Saturated Fat 1g 5% Sodium 831mg 35% Potassium 760mg 22% Carbohydrates 61.8g 21% Fiber 13.8g 55% Sugar 8.1g 9% Protein 13.9g 28% Calcium 127mg 13% Iron 6mg 33% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Sharing is caring! | 1,267,906 |
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(Remarks begin at 4:10 mark)Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder unleashed a harsh anti-Israel diatribe on stage during his band’s concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in England on Friday.In a video clip posted on YouTube, Vedder begins to address the tens of thousands of spectators in attendance in the middle of his band’s rendition of the hit song “Daughter.”“What the f---? What the f---?” Vedder said, alternately taking sips of wine from a bottle he was holding on stage. “We can have this many people having a peaceful time. We can have modern technology. We can reach our friends. We know what they’re thinking before they’re thinking it. The advertisers know what we’re thinking before we’re thinking it. We have technology – all this in our hands.”“At the same time that something this positive is happening, not even that far away, people are f---ing dropping bombs on each other.”Although he never explicitly mentions Israel by name, Vedder denounces “those who go across borders and take over land that doesn’t belong to them.”“I swear to f---ing god, there are people out there who are looking for a reason to kill,” the famed American rocker said. “They’re looking for a reason to go across borders and take over land that doesn’t belong to them. They should get the f---out, and mind their own f---ing business.”“We don’t want to give them our money. We don’t want to give them our taxes to drop bombs on children.”It was this point that Vedder began belting out lyrics from Edwin Starr’s pacifist anthem, “War.”Vedder’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke from Israeli fans of Pearl Jam who had launched a social media campaign aimed at bringing the band here to perform a show.Ben Red, a rock disc jockey for Israel Radio’s music station 88FM and one of the campaign’s organizers, denounced Vedder on his Facebook page.“Eddie Vedder, your true face is finally being revealed,” Red wrote. “You are invited not to come here. I personally do not want to see you, and I will erase the Facebook page calling on bringing [Pearl Jam] to Israel, but not before I expose who you really are.” | 1,267,907 |
says the political rhetoric will begin to assume that the means justifies the ends.
"The rhetoric of violence as a defense, and this is not unique to Buddhism, is the idea of violence for the sake of peace," he said. "That although this is an infraction, although we are gaining negative karma, it's for the greater good -- prima facie anyway."
Buddhist nation states have historically sought to use Buddhist doctrine to justify war. During the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s, for instance, soldiers were told not only that they were defending Buddhism but that emptiness in Buddhism is the only true reality, therefore, in the end, nobody was being killed, Jerryson said.
Ultimately,added Jerryson, Buddhist countries battling insurgencies will find that their root problems are economic rather than sectarian.
"How many strong Buddhists states are we looking at in the world? How many of them are economically strong? Because with economic strength and vitality comes less likelihood of civil insurrections and wars.
"Of course, we see a lot violence with Islamic countries now, but we also see a lot of poverty with them too."
Identity crisis
For Thailand-based security analyst Don Pathan the problems in Thailand's south have less to do with religion than with identity.
"The fact that the Or Ror Bor is exclusively Buddhist, doesn't say anything about Buddhism in ethical terms; it's just something that sets them apart from other security units," Pathan told CNN. "The issue is not about religion."
He said that while there were many factors influencing the insurgency -- economic, historical and the fact, he says, that the violence has migrated from rural areas to the cities -- he had also noticed a generational dimension to the problems.
"My experience with the older generation is that I still sense a strong fabric of society that still gets along together -- people are still friends whether they are Muslim or Buddhist.
"But I don't get that sense very strongly with the younger generation."
He said that while older Buddhists generally speak functional Malay to communicate with their neighbors, younger people have little interest in learning the language, regarding it as something only their grandparents do. The state emphasis on speaking Thai at schools has created problems, he said, reinforcing differences between the two communities.
"And it's not just Thai, but Central Thai -- that's how ethnocentric the Thai nation state can be. But they don't seem to understand that's a problem; that we need to accommodate the local identity," Pathan said.
He said the confusion between culture and religion was one of the driving forces behind the violence.
"It's like (groups) that say they practice correct Islam, but what is correct Islam? Islam is a religion not a culture," he said. "The problem (in southern Thailand) is that they don't separate these things; for them it's two sides of the same coin." | 1,267,908 |
2015 wasn't the best year for Alexander Gustafsson.
After getting knocked out by Anthony Johnson in round one of their light heavyweight collision at UFC on FOX 14, "The Mauler" briefly contemplated retiring from the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). But, an unexpected title shot coming off a loss quickly derailed those plans.
Of course, Alex didn't have much luck against "DC," either, dropping a split decision to the 205-pound kingpin in Houston, Texas, at UFC 192. Four months removed from his back-to-back losses, "The Mauler" finds himself at a crossroad in his career, yet again.
As he revealed during his recent stop at The MMA Hour, the towering Swede talked about his fighting future and broke down a recent interview he gave in his native country of Sweden, one that prompted fans to question whether or not he's ever going to step back inside the cage.
"I'm just having a tough time with my motivations. Some days it's better, some days it's a little bit worse." explained Gustafsson. "I just tell my fans how it is and how it is to be a fighter on this level. That it's always tough with losses, 2015 was a tough year for me."
"So that's why I did that interview to tell them how I felt and how I feel. But, I feel better after I said it and now I'm in San Diego to change my environment a little bit. I'm feeling good," he added.
Admitting he needed to figure out what goes wrong in big fights after his defeat to Cormier, Gustafsson says quitting is not an option despite his roller coaster of emotions.
"I've been here before, it's hard to go from going one day being the best fighters in the world to stop doing what you love doing," he said. "I am a fighter and that's what I live for. Quitting is not an option if you put the cards on the table. It's just emotions, feelings, and thoughts that you battle everyday as an athlete."
His temporary move to San Diego to train at Alliance MMA, says Gus, is an attempt to find the happiness that training brings. After that, he'll look to get back into action, but only if it feels right.
"When I feel good in training, when I'm in peace and feel good in everything, we're going to look for a new challenge," declared "The Mauler," who insists he was not offered a Rashad Evans fight.
"Until then, I am just going to enjoy the training. I will fight in 2016. I just need a little bit of time to get on my feet and get my mind and motivation right. I just want to fight for the right reasons. You will see me fight this year," concluded Gustafsson.
When he does return to action, who would you like to see him face? | 1,267,909 |
), tantalum (inside the computer I am typing on), manganese (also critical to batteries), coltan (essential to computer circuits), as well as vast quantities of tin and gold. Major American tech companies have insisted that they no longer rely on “conflict minerals,” and the Dodd-Frank Act demanded that they track and curtail their use of such resources. But on-the-ground reporters find that the DRC still provides much of their supply, particularly of critical manganese and coltan, while miners are still mostly children who are rarely paid more than a dollar per day. Though the media still goes to surprising lengths to avoid acknowledging their facts, the violence of the Congolese president is extremely pertinent in our own understanding of our power as Americans and consumers.
Illuminating this relationship (not only what happens in the Congo, but how I and my country relate to what happens there) should be journalism’s central role. But such illumination of course asks us to challenge our core values with difficult questions. How does the enlightened West continue to justify bankrolling the most murderous regime of the modern world, a regime that is very likely slaughtering the people of Ituri with machetes as we speak? Why do our great institutions – the free press, the United Nations, NATO, etc. – fail repeatedly to curb his crimes? Why did the press celebrate his rise to power, why did UN Peacekeepers bolster his authority, why do the G7 smother him with cash, why did NATO arm his militias, why are his millions of victims (who outnumber Syrian Civil War casualties ten to one) kept invisible to Western eyes?
The answers are inconvenient but simple: those very institutions can not survive without unspeakable violence against huge numbers of people, violence Kabila provides on the cheap. The West, counter to its self-aggrandizing narrative, did not achieve global hegemony through the heroic purity of its ideals. The economic development of western Europe and North America (and their contingent philosophical modernization) was a direct consequence not of merit or hard work, but of the brutal extraction of value (in food, in gold, in human capital as chattel slavery) from the Global South that they colonized. As de jure colonialism fell out of style in the twentieth century, that need for free plunder remained. Our civilization is balanced precariously on top of an economic system that can only survive if the powerful take what they want from the powerless without compensation. The media will never value Congolese lives as long as the people of the Congo stand between capitalism and capital, whether that capital is slaves, or rubber, or coltan.
Without machete-severed hands in the Congo, there are no Great Nations of Europe. There is no roaring success of twentieth century capitalism. There is no liberal world order. There is no West.
Is Donald Trump and his populist tsunami out to destroy the old world order? Of course not, but I wish they were. | 1,267,910 |
European universities must make public the results of all their clinical trials in order to safeguard the interests of patients and taxpayers, an international coalition of health integrity groups demands today.
The groups have identified 778 clinical trials conducted by the 30 top European medical research universities that violate European transparency rules.
They warn that the true number of due trials lacking results on the public registry is likely to be far higher.
The results of many of these trials are in danger of being lost forever unless universities and regulators take action soon.
A joint report released by TranspariMED (UK), BUKO Pharma-Kampagne (Germany), Test Aankoop (Belgium) and Health Action International (Netherlands) today documents that:
A total of 778 clinical trials (83% of all due trials) run by European universities are verifiably in violation of EU transparency rules
In four countries, the top medical universities have not posted a single clinical trial result onto the EU public registry
National medicines regulators across Europe are failing to keep registry data up to date
Only three out of 30 universities assessed perform well:
Oxford University, King’s College London, and University College London.
Failure to fully report clinical trial results in a timely fashion has substantial negative consequences for patients and public health, and wastes public medical research funding.
Dr Till Bruckner, founder of TranspariMED, said:
“Failure to fully and rapidly report clinical trial results is not a victimless crime. When universities violate transparency rules, patients and taxpayers pay a steep price. Some universities have already posted over 90% of their trial results, showing that where there is a will, there is a way. Why are universities that break the rules still receiving public funds to run additional trials?”
Rachel Cooper, Director Transparency International Health Initiative, said:
“The recent improvements that some British universities have made in publishing the results of clinical trials demonstrate what is possible. But British universities still have some way to go. And the figures for European universities remain shameful. The recent improvements in the UK are no doubt related to renewed pressure from Parliamentarians, as well as civil society – but equally demonstrate that where efforts are made to improve transparency, progress can be quick. Patients must be able to trust the medical products they take reflect the fully disclosed history of all relevant research and development and that public money mitigates research waste and delivers full value for money.”
Jörg Schaaber from the German health integrity group BUKO Pharma-Kampagne said:
"Neglecting to publish clinical trial results is not a minor misdemeanor. This has direct consequences for patients, who due to evidence gaps may not receive optimal treatment. Results that remain unpublished are a waste of public health funds and of taxpayers' money."
The report contains guidance for universities and regulators on how to improve their performance.
Click below to access the full report: | 1,267,911 |
The Montfort Hospital is adding its name to the chorus of people expressing concern about the Salvation Army's proposal for a new shelter project on Montreal Road.
In a French-language letter – addressed to Planning Committee Chair Councillor Jan Harder and Salvation Army National Advisory Board Chairman Andrew Lennox – the Hospital says it doesn't believe the Salvation Army's plan fits with the City's housing strategy.
“The approach proposed by the project does not respect the City of Ottawa’s ‘Housing First’ program,” the letter says. “That program aims to direct people living on the street or in emergency shelters toward affordable housing throughout the city, while offering support based on their needs. The Salvation Army’s proposal takes a completely different approach.”
The Hospital is also concerned the plan would not contribute to the Francophone culture of the area.
“Historically, and in particular since amalgamation in 2001, Vanier has been recognized as an area that has kept its unique and distinct identity, thanks to the number of Francophones who live here.”
The letter cites the City of Ottawa’s Montreal Road Secondary Plan section 1.1.1, which states:
1. Foster development and redevelopment along the Traditional Mainstreets and Arterial Mainstreet which complements and improves upon the positive qualities of the existing character of the District.
4. Provide open spaces or other areas for public functions, publicly accessible landscaped open spaces and public art that reflects the history of the District.
The letter also cites section 1.4.1, which states:
The area of the Central Sector along Montreal Road has historically been referred to as the French Quarter and its role has been to act as the focal point of the cultural identity of the former City of Vanier. Public art, street furniture and infrastructure, and contemporary interpretation through building design are some elements that can be used to reflect the French Quarter’s history.
The following policy applies to those lots with frontage on Montreal Road:
Policy:
1. Development and redevelopment will include building, site design and streetscaping elements which acknowledge the history of the French Quarter.
The letter is dated November 9 and was signed by Hospital CEO Dr. Bernard Leduc and Board of Trustees chair Suzanne Clément. Councillor Harder has told Newstalk 580 CFRA she has not received the letter, nor has the Planning Committee's coordinator heard anything from the Hospital. Montfort communications director Geneviève Picard has confirmed to CFRA the note was indeed issued by Dr. Leduc and Ms. Clément.
The letter ends by saying the Hospital respects the “remarkable work” the Salvation Army does for the vulnerable and the homeless, but they hope the Salvation Army respects the City’s plan for Montreal Road and the unique, Francophone nature of Vanier. | 1,267,912 |
Delicious may go down in tech history as the company everyone wanted to own, but no one wanted to keep.
The social bookmarking service, founded in the early 2000s, announced Thursday that it has been acquired by Science Inc., an L.A.-based incubator. This marks the third time Delicious has been sold off in less than a decade.
In late 2005, Delicious was acquired for the first time by Yahoo, which promised to give the startup "the resources, support and room it needs to continue growing," just as Yahoo had promised with Flickr, another company it acquired that year.
See also: 10 Startups to Watch in 2014
A little more than five years later, in 2011, Yahoo decided to focus its efforts on core products and sold off Delicious to Avos, the company started by YouTube cofounders Steven Chen and Chad Hurley. At the time, Hurley promised to "take Delicious to the next level."
Three years later, Avos decided that it, too, needed to focus its efforts on core products and agreed to sell Delicious once again to Science Inc.
Michael Jones, CEO of Science and a former CEO of MySpace, believes there is potential in the Delicious community. However, given the history of Delicious acquisitions, he is careful not to over-promise for what he and his company will deliver.
"I'm not going to have delusions of grandeur," Jones told Mashable. "We are going to start with some changes, understand the audience base and over time if we are strong and diligent with that, we will build a great service."
Jones first approached Chen and Hurley about buying Delicious three months ago. He was attracted to Delicious by what he describes as a "very stable" community — there are about two million active users currently — and a trove of social data.
"It has an incredible amount of data with all the links that get submitted into the Delicious system. It has substantial daily traffic," he says. "For us, that felt like something that was stable and exciting to work on."
No staff was brought on as part of the deal, just the web property. The existing team at Science will handle the day-to-day operations. Jone says his team has already removed some of the advertising products on Delicious and plans to talk with top users on the service to help decide on new features and user experience changes.
Ultimately, Jones says any changes to Delicious will be "slow and steady." At least in that sense, the team at Science may be learning from the mistakes of some of Delicious's previous owners.
"We wanted to reposition Delicious to a new set of users and hopefully jump start growth," Hurley, the YouTube cofounder, told Mashable in a 2012 interview. "As we've learned throughout this experience, it's hard to just introduce that stuff right off the bat with an existing community."
Terms of the latest Delicious acquisition were not disclosed. | 1,267,913 |
Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Quarterback prospect Josh Rosen participated at UCLA's pro day Thursday evening, showing off the impressive arm and throwing motion that has him in the running to be the top overall pick in this year's NFL draft.
Sportscaster Bryan Fenley shared Rosen making a throw over the middle:
Bruin Report Online capture footage of Rosen hitting his receivers on a go route and deep post:
Alden Gonzalez of ESPN added more video of Rosen throwing a variety of routes:
"Rosen threw it well today, by all accounts," Mike Garafolo of NFL.com noted.
That shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
"I think [Rosen's] the most natural thrower of the football (among this draft class)," NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock told Fenley on Thursday. "He throws a beautiful ball. When he has clean feet and clear vision, I think he's the best thrower in the draft."
A number of NFL coaches and decision-makers were in attendance for the session. Per Gonzalez, the head coaches he saw included Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals, Vance Joseph of the Denver Broncos and Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers, while the general managers he observed included John Elway (Broncos), Mike Maccagnan (New York Jets) and Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons).
More likely would have been in attendance had his Pro Day come on a different date:
While Rosen wasn't expected to do any of the various athletic tests Thursday, according to Gonzalez, the folks in attendance were there primarily to see him throw in the first place. Getting him into meeting rooms and picking his brain will be a big part of Rosen's evaluation as well.
At the moment, he remains a contender to be the top overall pick in this year's draft and is arguably the top quarterback in a deep and interesting class that also includes players like Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Mason Rudolph and Lamar Jackson, among others.
Rosen's scouting report has always taken on a consistent theme. He's the most polished thrower in this class, hands down, but there are question marks about his leadership and personality.
"He's as talented as they come. He can make every throw that you want to see and it's easy for him," an NFC scout told Bucky Brooks of NFL.com. "I know the personality will turn some people off, but the kid can play."
"He wasn't the guy everyone rallied around in college and you don't have to dig around for too long to find people who said he was hard to coach," an NFL executive added. "He's definitely talented. Nobody questions that. But he's going to have to get grown men to buy into him as their leader. That is not a given."
On Thursday, at least, his elite throwing mechanics and arm were on full display. | 1,267,914 |
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Baylor investigates antibiotic use, children’s improved autism symptoms
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Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine initiated a study in collaboration with the non-profit N of One: Autism Research Foundation to investigate the relationship between antibiotic use and improved symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder, according to a press release.
“The question of why some children’s autism symptoms improve is important to me scientifically and personally,” John Rodakis, founder of N of One: Autism Research Foundation, said in the press release. “It was stunning to me that there was a frequently reported phenomenon of improvement that was not being used as a clue to guide further research. Today we begin that process.”
As parents of affected children, Rodakis partnered with Ruth Ann Luna, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and immunology at Baylor College of Medicine and director of medical metagenomics at the Texas Children’s Hospital, to understand why and when these changes happen in some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and how these findings can help with future interventions.
“Because we have both witnessed the antibiotic effect in our own children, we knew this was a natural starting point targeting a gap in published autism research,” Rodakis added in the release.
The 2-year study will compare differences in gut microbiome and metabolome during antibiotic use among children who experience a change in symptoms and those who do not. Previous research suggested that abnormalities in the gut bacteria of children with autism caused by antibiotics may be behind the changes, usually improvements, in symptoms detected in some children.
Although numerous reports exist on children with ASD improving while taking antibiotics, and the growing recognition that the microbiome impacts autism, no other systematic investigation exists on this antibiotic effect.
“The support of N of One is enabling a much-needed study that would have been unlikely to be funded elsewhere,” Rodakis said in the release. “Our goals reach far beyond this first study and include using these initial data to more effectively subtype autism and thereby develop and deliver more effective microbial-based interventions.” – by Savannah Demko
Disclosure: Infectious Disease News was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication. | 1,267,915 |
A staffer inside Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign used a private Gmail account to dismiss questions from the New York Times about Clinton’s private emails as “ridiculous,” according to a possible email leak from the Clinton campaign.
Clinton staffer Marissa Astor confessed to using her private Gmail account in an email dated March 17, 2015. “Responding from my gmail as I’m having iCloud email issues. Can folks get on the phone at 5:15pm today?,” the email read.
Although using a private email for campaign business isn’t an abuse of federal law, the fact that Astor used the Gmail account to discuss questions from The New York Times about Clinton’s legally problematic private email accounts at the Department of State smacks of extreme irony to many observers.
“We’ve learned that Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills, Philippe Reines, Jake Sullivan and Monica Hanley, used personal email accounts to correspond with her on her personal account,” Mike Schmidt with The New York Times wrote Clinton staffer Nick Merrill. “She also corresponded with Sidney Blumenthal about inside information he had about Libya.” “Why did the advisers use private email accounts – instead of government ones – to correspond with Mrs. Clinton? Was this the normal practice?” the email continued.
“When we talked over the weekend you noted that it was fairly irresponsible for them to cherry pick leaked emails and write it up as representative. And some of the questions below are a little ridiculous to say the least,” Merrill replied.
For Clinton staffers, The New York Times reporter is “ridiculous” for asking about the security of so many private email addresses with access to a government server, a line of questioning that many would view as mild and necessary for the reporter to write a balanced article. In point of fact, it appears that the reporter had already decided to discredit leaked Clinton emails, if Merrill is to be believed.
Other Clinton staffers got in on the act. “There is nothing wrong with anyone having personal email addresses or her emailing someone’s private account or vice versa. Maybe she was wishing Jake a happy birthday,” Clinton staffer Philippe Reines added.
“Or I was sending her a note about her mom. Or she asking Monica about Oscar disappearing. We’re allowed to have personal lives,” Reines asserted.
The Clinton campaign scheduled a meeting to discuss possible responses to The New York Times. Clinton staffers Marissa Astor, Jennifer Palmieri, Robby Mook, John Podesta and Huma Abedin were all included in the invite.
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An obesity expert says mocking the overweight'should be illegal'. Stock photo
Poking fun at fat people should be treated as seriously as racism and sexism, researchers have said.
Obesity expert Dr Sarah Jackson said that the law should protect against weight discrimination, in the same way at it prohibits singling out people based on their age, gender or race.
Dr Jackson, of University College London, spoke out after conducting two studies into the physical and psychological effects of fattism.
Her latest study, of more than 5,000 British adults found that those who were made to feel ashamed of their size suffered more symptoms of depression.
They also had a lower quality of life than those who didn’t feel victimised.
Examples of fattism included being treated disrespectfully, including being the butt of jokes, receiving poorer services in shops, restaurants, hospitals and doctors’ surgeries, being threatened and being assumed to be stupid.
She previously showed shaming fat people into losing weight is counterproductive.
Far from shocking people into slimming, it actually leads to them piling on the pounds.
It is thought fattism drives those who are already sensitive about their weight to comfort eat. Fear of ridicule may also mean they avoid exercise.
With two-thirds of British women overweight or obese, jibes, taunts and simple thoughtlessness could be having a huge effect on the nation’s mental and psychological health.
Dr Sarah Jackson, the lead author of both studies, said that people may believe that weight discrimination is socially acceptable because unlike ageism, sexism and racism, it is not covered by law.
She said: ‘In the United Kingdom, the Equality Act 2010 legally protects individuals from discrimination on the basis of age, sex, race, disability, religion or beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, or gender reassignment; making it clear that discriminatory behaviour of this nature is not to be accepted.
‘However, our results indicate that discriminatory experiences contribute to poorer psychological wellbeing in individuals with obesity, but there are currently no laws prohibiting weight discrimination.
‘This might send the message to people that weight discrimination is socially acceptable.
Dr Sarah Jackson said that the law should protect against weight discrimination, in the same way at it prohibits singling out people based on their age, gender or race. Stock photo
‘If weight was a protected category it might help to reduce the prevalence of weight-related discrimination and thereby improve quality of life and wellbeing for a significant proportion of obese individuals.’
Researcher Professor Jane Wardle said: ‘Combined with our previous work showing that weight discrimination does not encourage weight loss, we can see that weight discrimination is part of the obesity problem and not the solution.
‘Weight bias has been documented not only among the general public but also among health professionals; and many obese patients report being treated disrespectfully by doctors because of their weight. | 1,267,917 |
for the second half
"I've seen the team grow in so many ways over the last few years and it's been a pleasure and an honour to be part of it. They've taken ownership of their team and are proud to have their own identity in a club that is inclusive to every member.
"It's an exciting time for women's rugby, and I hope that the growth in the sport continues. Rugby has been a huge part of my life, it's rewarding both physically and mentally. I would recommend that anyone becomes involved in the sport - becomes part of a community that will welcome you in with open arms."
They play in all weathers and Sophie Small, who plays second row, is just as happy in the wind and rain as on a good day.
image caption Sophie Small and the team in the dressing room
"The play is slightly slower, there's a lot more ball carrying as opposed to playing through the hands with width," says Small.
"They say forwards decide if you win or lose and backs decide by how much, but that all goes out the window in weather like this. It has to be a team effort to get the win. The only downside is more handling errors equal more scrums."
At 32, Hanna Al-Khaldi has been playing for 15 years and is often the oldest player in the teams for which she plays. In addition to Sutton & Epsom she turns out for Surrey County and the newly-formed Lebanon women's team, because she is half-Lebanese.
"It's a really exciting time for women's rugby, and the opportunities that are out there nowadays are so exciting," she says. "But I love that Lebanon, in particular, is breaking down international views of women's rights and opportunities in the Middle East through an incredible sport."
image caption Ahead of the game, Hanna Al-Khaldi warms up
The sport is growing rapidly with new leagues springing to life, but victory in the Women's National Challenge London & SE 1 league for Sutton & Epsom's Ladies RFC seals an amazing turnaround of fortune over the past five years.
Back then, because of a lack of players, they were barely able to field a team each week, but this year have sealed promotion.
"When I left university to come back home, my dad joked he wouldn't watch me play if I wasn't playing in the Sutton & Epsom black-and-white", says inside centre Alicia Harries.
"I knew he wasn't really joking; the club means everything to him after playing for years in his youth, and his stint as captain. Three years down the line I share the exact same love and passion my dad always had for the club. It isn't just a rugby club, it's another family for all of us."
image caption Alicia Harries (second from right) with very muddy but happy team-mates
Written and photographed by Phil Coomes | 1,267,918 |
but they didn't analyze by sex, maybe that drug was actually beneficial for one sex, but not the other. But because the dataset was collapsed we've lost information that way.
Do you know any cases where a sex bias has had a negative impact on humans?
This has happened with the drug Ambien. Work that was done on Ambien was primarily optimized in male subjects. When doctors started prescribing Ambien for men and for women, women were suffering from more adverse effects and were at higher risks for overdosing. This is because the way the drug is working throughout the body is actually different for [cis] men and women. Researchers we weren't aware of that until serious errors and problems had come up in the clinical population. And so now we can look back on that and say "OK, research supports that [cis] men and women should be given different doses of Ambien." But it took errors being made and actual human lives being affected before we thought to reconsider.
How can we improve the current model of research only focusing on males?
There are two sides to that. First of all, I think that funding agencies need to appreciate that we need to study both males and females. The other side is that researchers need to see this as more of an opportunity and less of as an inconvenience. If it's true that some treatments act different between males and females, then there's an opportunity there for discovery and for innovation for what we know about treating diseases. We should be getting excited instead of becoming frustrated by it.
Were you worried that the results of your study could be misinterpreted?
There are some people who misconstrue any study about a sex difference as some sort of biological basis for misogyny, which is unfortunate. There’s also a lot of pushback. I find it exciting when we find a sex difference because it means that we can better understand how to help male subjects as well as female subjects. But there are those who argue that they don't see sex differences so they don't believe there is a point to studying it. That's frustrating for researchers.
What would you tell a person that was completely unaware about this gap in the research?
If you're wondering "why don't we have the cure for Alzheimer's disease, why don't we have the cure for depression, why don't we have the perfect cure for any disease currently out there?" It is partly because we have been biased towards using male subjects. Depression affects twice as many women than it does men. Alzheimer’s is also characterized by a sex difference in that it affects more women than men. And yet, a large amount of knowledge on drug treatments for these diseases has been from research on male subjects only. This is part of the reason why we don’t have the best treatments out there. So if you're wondering why as scientists we're not "done yet" with a disease, it may be because we didn't actually think about male subjects versus female subjects. | 1,267,919 |
White House misspells Theresa May's name three times ahead of Trump meeting
Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY
Show Caption Hide Caption White House misspells British Prime Minister's name The White House press office misspelled the name of British Prime Minister Theresa May in a memo, accidentally referring to a very different woman. Matt Hoffman has more.
LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May will become the first foreign leader to meet face-to-face with President Trump on Friday, continuing her offensive to strengthen the “special relationship” between the two nations.
The proceedings didn’t get to a good start however, when the White House misspelled May’s first name three times in a schedule sent out about the impending meetings.
The White House writes: "Teresa May, Prime Minister of United Kingdom." Correct version: "Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom" pic.twitter.com/K1yw6jaMtI — สมเกียรติ อ่อนวิมล (@somkiatonwimon) January 27, 2017
One spelling error referenced a “bilateral meeting” between Trump and “Teresa May,” and the gaffe was repeated while informing readers of a “working luncheon” between the two. Teresa May is also the name of a British former soft porn actress and model. The errors were later corrected.
The British leader and Trump are expected to discuss topics Friday including terrorism, ending the almost 6-year-old civil war in Syria, relations with Russia, NATO cooperation and a bilateral trade deal when the U.K. leaves the European Union following a vote to quit the alliance at a referendum in June. Trade between the two countries is worth about $187 billion, and the U.S. is the largest single investor in the U.K.
May referenced the historic “special relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States eight times during a speech at a congressional Republicans retreat in Philadelphia on Thursday.
"The leadership provided by our two countries through the'special relationship' has done more than win wars and overcome adversity. It made the modern world," May said.
"It is through our actions over many years, working together to defeat evil or to open up the world, that we have been able to fulfill the promise of those who first spoke of the special nature of the relationship between us. The promise of freedom, liberty and the rights of man."
May has come bearing gifts for Trump and the first lady, including apple juice from her country house in England, marmalade, cookies and an engraved Quaich — a Scottish cup of friendship — reflecting Trump's links to the U.K. The president's mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, came from the Scottish island of Lewis. | 1,267,920 |
After months of speculation, SiriusXM satellite radio host Howard Stern confirmed on Thursday (December 15) that he will join the judging panel of one of his favorite reality TV shows, NBC's "America's Got Talent."
"I'm going to be Piers [Morgan] on steroids," Stern promised, in reference to the former lead judge. "It's going to be a no-nonsense judge... I'm going to go there as a serious judge... It's gonna be something else... I am very excited."
On his satellite show on Thursday, Stern was joined by his long-time agent, Don Buchwald, who made a rare on-air appearance to present the show's host with the official contracts for his new gig. Stern took great pleasure in joking about how he was going to be back with NBC, the company that famously fired him in 1985 for his lewd on-air behavior on his WNBC radio show.
"I am very happy for you because I know how much you love this show," said longtime sidekick Robin Quivers. "I will find the next superstar," Stern promised.
Stern said Buchwald got a call several months ago from the producers of the show asking if the radio icon would be interested in joining the program's judging panel, which also includes his good pals Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel.
"I get a lot of offers, so when Don called me he said, 'I don't know why I'm even telling you this... I know you watch the show.'" But to Buchwald's surprise, Stern said he was very interested in joining the cast of the show that he has obsessed over and dissected many a morning on his satellite broadcast, often bragging that he would be a superior judge on the series.
"This nonsense of Howie and Sharon putting through less-than-talented people has got to stop," Stern thundered. "Under my administration there will be no Frank Sinatra impersonators winning for the year. If people think I'm the crazy man, I am not. I am the voice of reason," he said, railing against some of the acts that have gotten through in the past that he would not abide by. "Goofy acts are not going through."
One of the biggest questions was how Stern -- who famously does not like to travel or fly -- would handle taping the Los Angeles-based show and still host his New York-based radio program. "I think the show's going to be even more exciting from New York," said Stern, confirming that the production would move across the country to accommodate his desire to stay on the East Coast. "It will not interfere with here," he promised, saying that he would fly around the country for auditions, but would not be interrupting his morning routine on SiriusXM on a regular basis.
He said he will start taping the first audition episodes in February. A spokesperson for NBCU could not be reached for comment at press time. | 1,267,921 |
Sex with ex-girlfriends might not seem like the best idea in the world, as it can stir up old memories and feelings, leaving things complicated or awkward. But, for all the drama and over-thinking we all put into it (potentially) happening, as it turns out, banging out with a former girlfriend isn’t actually all that bad for you, per a new research.
According to two new studies that were published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, sex with ex flings or girlfriends won’t do as much damage as we all migh thing, with the research even going as far as saying that getting down and dirty together won’t stunt the process of moving on at all — even for those heartbroken or in a bad place.
Both of these sex with ex-girlfriend studies were conducted by researchers at Wayne State University, Western University and the University of Toronto Mississauga, which had 113 newly single (and dumped) people to complete an online survey to determine if they had any physical contact with their ex, how attached they felt to them and how they emotionally felt at the end of the day.
In the other study, the same research group had 372 people explain if they had sex with ex partners or attempted to try, seeing how they still felt emotionally tied to them.
The results? Both studies showed that no additional heartache came from those who did, in fact, sleep with a former partner. To support this notion even more, the study also showed that those who felt the most emotionally tied to exes and sought sex with one, only did so to help fill a hole that was previously filled by an ex.
That’s all good and well, but the best news about this study is this: sex with ex-girlfriends didn’t leave any of the heartbroken people feel worse about the breakup at all, instead making them feel even more positive about the situation by providing a bit of emotional healing. Uh, yeah, that’s awesome.
Here’s what one of the lead researchers in the study, Stephanie Spielmann of Wayne State University, had to add from the results.
“The fact that sex with an ex is found to be most eagerly pursued by those having difficulty moving on, suggests that we should perhaps instead more critically evaluate people’s motivations behind pursuing sex with an ex.”
We’re not saying sex with ex-girlfriends should be a common theme for you, but, hey, if she’s blowing up your phone and giving hints that she may want to come sneak between the sheets with you, it might be worth giving it a try — seeing as how it won’t impact feelings or the healing process. That said, if your ex-girlfriend is a psychopath who cheated on you and treated you like dirt, well, proceed with caution, no matter how wild the sex was and might be.
(H/T Maxim) | 1,267,922 |
Enlarge By Jae C. Hong, AP A U.S. Marine keeps a bag full of sample tubes between his feet while taking psychological tests at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., on Sept. 29, 2009. ON THE RISE ON THE RISE The number of soldiers forced to leave the Army solely because of a mental disorder has increased by 64% from 2005 to 2009 and accounts for one in nine medical discharges, according to Army statistics. Last year, 1,224 soldiers with a mental illness, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, received a medical discharge. That was an increase from 745 soldiers in 2005 or about 7% of medical discharges that year, according to personnel statistics provided to USA TODAY. The trend matches other recent indicators that show a growing emotional toll on a military that has been fighting for seven years in Iraq and nine years in Afghanistan, the Army and veterans advocates say. DATABASE: U.S. lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan AFGHANISTAN: U.S. steps up Kandahar operation REPEATED DEPLOYMENTS: Weigh heavily on U.S. troops "These numbers really just validate the mental health communities' concern about multiple deployments," says Adrian Atizado, who specializes in health issues as assistant national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans. "Mind and body are both taking a beating." Soldiers discharged for having both a mental and a physical disability increased 174% during the past five years from 1,397 in 2005 to 3,831 in 2009, according to the statistics. Army Lt. Col. Rebecca Porter, an Army behavioral health official, says research shows "a clear relationship between multiple deployments and increased symptoms of anxiety, depression and PTSD." Aggressive efforts to identify and treat mental illnesses by medical officials, Porter says, are also why more soldiers are being discharged. But veterans groups argue that the failure of early detection and treatment allow mental illnesses to fester into problems so severe that a soldier must be discharged from the service. "The military is excellent at treating visible wounds," says Joe Davis, a spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars. "The military and entire medical community at large still have a long way to go to effectively and reliably screen and treat wounds to the head and mind. Before discharging troops for behavioral reasons, it is absolutely imperative that commanders first ask 'What caused this?' " A Pentagon analysis in May reported that in 2009, for the first time in 15 years, mental health disorders caused more hospitalizations among U.S. troops than any other medical condition, including battle wounds. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more | 1,267,923 |
Presumably the rulers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are currently locked in negotiations regarding the exact terms that will be attached to a “bailout” for Dubai World. We’ll never know the details but if, as seems likely, the final deal involves creditors taking some sort of hit (perhaps getting 75 cents in the dollar, at the end of the day), does that matter?
Dubai probably has around $100bn in total liabilities, if we include off-balance sheet transactions, so total credit losses of $30-50bn need to be assigned. The direct effects so far seem small. HSBC leads the pack, in terms of exposure, but our baseline estimate is a 3 percent loss relative to its equity – not good, but manageable (and the stock already fell 5 percent on the news). The impact among other financial institutions that lent to Dubai seems fairly spread out and mostly within continental Europe.
Korean construction companies and Ukrainian/Russian steelmakers are also affected by the likely fall off in construction activity, but the broader boom in emerging markets is unlikely to be disrupted. The repricing of risk so far does not apply significantly to East Asia or Latin America.
However, there is a worrying impact on Ireland.
The credit default swap spreads for Irish banks have widened signficantly — even relative to HSBC, with its direct Dubai involvement. In part, this is hedge funds betting that others will want to insure against the rising risk of an Irish default, but what’s the connection?
The thinking is that a partial bailout – with creditor losses – for Dubai from Abu Dhabi implies something about how Ireland will be treated within the European Union (and the same reasoning is also more vaguely in the air for Greece). This may make sense for three reasons.
If Dubai can effectively default or reschedule its debts without disrupting the global economy, then others can do the same. If Abu Dhabi takes a tough line and doesn’t destabilize markets, others (e.g., the EU) will be tempted to do the same (i.e., for Ireland and Greece). “No more unconditional bailouts” is an appealing refrain in many capitals. If the US supports some creditor losses for Dubai (e.g., because of its connections with Iran), this makes it easier to impose losses on creditors elsewhere (even perhaps where IMF programs are in place, such as Eastern Europe).
The main effect will be to strengthen the hand of Ben Bernanke in Fed policymaking discussions – so US interest rates will stay low for a long while. If financial intermediaries draw the appropriate lessons from Dubai, Ireland, and Greece (and Iceland, the Baltics, Hungary, etc), they will be more careful about extending credit to places that are becoming overexuberant – even when it is cheap to increase debt levels.
But an outbreak of caution and care on the part of our biggest banks (and other investment managers) does not seem likely.
By Simon Johnson | 1,267,924 |
One way of reporting on Clinton’s statement is to weigh its political cost, ask what it means for her campaign, or attempt to predict how it might affect her performance among certain groups. This path is in line with the current imperatives of political reporting and, at least for the moment, seems to be the direction of coverage. But there is another line of reporting that could be pursued—Was Hillary Clinton being truthful or not?
Much like Trump’s alleged opposition to the Iraq War, this not an impossible claim to investigate. We know, for instance, some nearly 60 percent of Trump’s supporters hold “unfavorable views” of Islam, and 76 percent support a ban on Muslims entering the United States. We know that some 40 percent of Trump’s supporters believe blacks are more violent, more criminal, lazier, and ruder than whites. Two-thirds of Trump’s supporters believe the first black president in this country’s history is not American. These claim are not ancillary to Donald Trump’s candidacy, they are a driving force behind it.
When Hillary Clinton claims that half of Trump’s supporters qualify as “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic,” data is on her side. One could certainly argue that determining the truth of a candidate’s claims is not a political reporter’s role. But this is not a standard that political reporters actually adhere to.
Determining, for instance, whether Hillary Clinton has been truthful about her usage of e-mail while she was secretary of state has certainly been deemed part of the political reporter’s mission. Moreover, Clinton is repeatedly—and sometimes validly—criticized for a lack of candor. But all truths are not equal. And some truths simply break the whole system.
Open and acknowledged racism is, today, both seen as a disqualifying and negligible feature in civic life. By challenging the the latter part of this claim, Clinton inadvertently challenged the former. Thus a reporter or an outlet pointing out the evidenced racism of Trump’s supporters in response to a statement made by his rival risks being seen as having taken a side not just against Trump, not just against racism, but against his supporters too. Would it not be better, then, to simply change the subject to one where “both sides” can be rendered as credible? Real and serious questions about intractable problems are thus translated into one uncontroversial question: “Who will win?”
It does not have to be this way. Indeed, one need not even dispense with horse-race reporting. One could ask, all at once, if Clinton was being truthful, how it will affect her chances, and what that says about the electorate. But that requires more than the current standard for political media. It means valuing more than just a sheen of objectivity but instead reporting facts in all of their disturbing reality. | 1,267,925 |
For a long time it has been thought that all eukaryotes – organisms in which the DNA is enclosed in a membrane including almost all life we can see – had to contain mitochondria. Known as the “power house” of the cell, these little subunits within the cell provide the organisms with energy and were thus thought to be essential. But it now seems that actually they might not be that essential, as researchers describe the first eukaryote known that lacks mitochondria.
Other eukaryotes had been previous contenders for the title, such as the microbe Giardia intestinalis from the gut, but further investigations had found that they simply contained highly reduced mitochondria difficult to observe. But after checking another candidate from the genus Monocercomonoides, isolated from a sample retrieved from the gut of a chinchilla owned by one of the lab members, the researchers of this latest study found no trace of the organelles at all after a genetic analysis looking for mitochondrial genes.
“In low-oxygen environments, eukaryotes often possess a reduced form of the mitochondrion, but it was believed that some of the mitochondrial functions are so essential that these organelles are indispensable for their life,” explains Anna Karnkowska, co-author of the study describing the new finding published in Current Biology. “We have characterized a eukaryotic microbe which indeed possesses no mitochondrion at all.”
Because the gut is such a low oxygen environment, many microbes that call it home already have reduced mitochondria. Coupled with the fact that they are living in an environment surrounded by nutrients, the researchers think that the Monocercomonoides merely has no need for the organelles, and so have lost them. They think instead that the microbes simply absorb the nutrients directly from their surroundings, and then break them down with enzymes in order to get energy.
Yet they also face another problem, because mitochondria do another task as well as provide the cell with energy: They also give the cell vital clusters of iron and sulfur that are needed by various proteins. To solve this, it seems like the Monocercomonoides microbe has “borrowed” genes from bacteria to give them a “cytosolic sulfur mobilization system,” which fulfils the mechanism usually found in the mitochondria.
While all the evidence seems to stack up, others suggest that the researchers will need to double check. Either way, it’s looking more and more likely that textbooks may have to be rewritten, as the researchers suspect that there are probably other microbes that also lack the organelles. “This amazing organism is a striking example of a cell which refuses to adhere to the standard cell biology textbook, and we believe there may be many more similar examples in the so far hidden diversity in the world of microbial eukaryotes, the protists,” says Karnkowska. | 1,267,926 |
“I have to tell you that I listened to all this. And I feel it so personally,” first lady Michelle Obama said Thursday in remarks about the sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Donald Trump at a campaign appearance for Hillary Clinton in Manchester, New Hampshire.
“It has shaken me to my core," she said.
That’s no wonder. She’s been the victim of sexist attacks — often intertwined with racist themes — since her husband’s 2008 run for the White House.
Obama made clear in her speech that what makes Trump’s statements particularly outrageous and uniquely unacceptable is that he bragged about behavior that could constitute sexual assault. She also lamented the sexist attitudes behind the treatment of women that his comments and conduct represent, and the day-to-day ways women are degraded, saying:
It's like that sick, sinking feeling you get when you're walking down the street minding your own business. Some guy yells out vulgar words about your body. Or when you see that guy at work that stands just a little too close, stares just a little too long. You feel uncomfortable in your own skin.
She continued:
I have to tell you that I listened to all this. And I feel it so personally. And I'm sure that many of you do, too. Particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect. The belief that you can do anything you want to a woman. It is cruel. It’s frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It hurts.
Obama’s speech was emotional, and that makes sense. She knows firsthand that Trump’s infamous remarks, and the underlying views of women they reflect, are all too common.
When she talks about “vulgar words” and “shameful comments” that equate women’s value with their physical appearances, she could just as easily be referring to things that have been said about her, often with a dose of racism mixed in to increase the insults. Just a few examples:
Obama didn’t speak out in response to any of these attacks, but it’s not hard to read her speech as partly catharsis about the pain she’s endured and what it says about how women — and black women in particular — are demeaned in this country.
After the speech, Politico reported that the White House warned Trump not to attack Obama. “I can’t think of a bolder way for Donald Trump to lose even more standing than he already has than by engaging the first lady of the United States,” principal deputy White House press secretary Eric Schultz told reporters during a gaggle aboard Air Force One.
The political calculation is accurate, but for the first lady, it wouldn’t be anything she hadn’t heard before.
Watch: Michelle Obama addresses Trump allegations | 1,267,927 |
cloud cover, decreasing average temperatures (likely the result of night time temperatures falling more than day time temperatures increased), and decreasing precipitation, all of which conspired to melt the glacier. The observed evidence from Chacaltaya is thus inconsistent with the Anthropogenic Greenhouse Warming (AGW) theory, or, at least, if there is an AGW signal, it is completely drowned by other climatic changes unrelated to AGW. It is ironic that the melting Chacaltaya glacier has become such an important symbol of the AGW theory, when in fact the evidence from Chacaltaya seems to refute this theory. (In contrast, the evidence from Chacaltaya is fully consistent with Svensmark’s cosmic ray theory (5), but that is another story). Related articles:
- Now you can off-set both carbon and infidelity
- How We Know What Isn't So
- Does the World Benefit from Being Deceived?
- Tipping Points
- Fighting Climate Change: Cures worse than the disease?
- Managing Change
- The Cynical Economist: Getting Our Priorities Straight
(*) Director, Institute for Advanced Development Studies, La Paz, Bolivia. The author happily receives comments at the following e-mail: [email protected].
(1) Figure 1 of this newsletter is a reproduction of Figure 1.1 of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report from Working Group 2. It has been reproduced countless times before in climate change studies and presentations all over the world.
(2) According to the NCDC Monthly Climatic Data for the World Data Base, which starts in 1948 (http://www7.ncdc.noaa.gov/IPS/mcdw/mcdw.html).
(3) For NASA cloud data, see: http://isccp.giss.nasa.gov/climanal1.html.
(4) See Hoffmann, G., E. Ramirez, J. D. Taupin, B. Francou, P. Ribstein, R. Delmas, H. Dürr, R. Gallaire, J. Simões, U. Schotterer, M. Stievenard & M. Werner (2003) “Coherent isotope history of Andean ice cores over the last century.” Geophysical Research Letters, 30(4): 1179-1182.
(5) See Svensmark, H. & N. Calder (2007) The Chilling Stars: The New Theory of Climate Change. Totem Books. Ó Institute for Advanced Development Studies 2009. The opinions expressed in this Newsletter are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute or of the sponsors.
If you would like to receive the Monday Morning Development Newsletter by e-mail, please fill in your information here: Name: E-mail: | 1,267,928 |
There are certain markets that are led by one or few big companies, thus forming a monopolistic, or oligopolistic, structure. Those enterprises themselves are quite happy to be in such position because of the profits and bargaining power they possess. However, there are quite a few reasons why this is not good for the economies. In some cases, even, the work of government is influenced, which, as a result, causes some disturbance for its efficiency. SMS marketing aggregators are a great example of such cannibalisation — there is a handful of leaders, that don’t treat the business right and prevent new players from entering. Here, we look into the situation a little deeper.
The Power Of Big Players
When companies grow to a certain size and have great profits, they too gain a lot of power. Because they are taxpayers as well as employers, they give a lot of money for the governments as taxes. Creating jobs is also something often praised by the authorities. Such situation gives them a positive image from the political point of view. Politicians, then, turn very friendly to such firms, and often amend the laws in a manner that’s beneficial to those monopolies only. Sooner than someone in power realises, they are being manipulated and get in a vicious cycle of constantly supporting the huge companies only. What’s left behind is the damage it has for small businesses when in fact, if those could survive, they would create much more added value than one monopoly can.
The Dirty Corruption
What’s even worse about such situation is that those decisions favourable for the big companies are usually made behind the closed door. Such way, the decision makers can ensure they get some benefit, too. The benefit, however, is for the most part highly personal, and, more often than not, comes in a shape of huge sums of cash. Thus, corruption is thriving, and universally useful decisions are being held up.
Never Enough Of Money
As if lobbying and corruption weren’t enough, requirements for incentives come into the picture, too. As mentioned before, monopolistic and oligopolistic companies hold a lot of bargaining power because of their position as high taxpayers and big employers. Thus, they make it look as if they are entitled to some extra support. In such case, the money is spent further encouraging the huge firms, and not showing any support for small companies.
No Place For New Players
Finally, in a situation where the market is dominated by one or a few huge companies, it becomes nearly impossible for new players to join. First, dominators create incredibly high barriers for them. If that’s passed, then the leaders cannibalise prices, so that new entrants simply wouldn’t be able to afford to match the prices, and thus forced to close down. Lastly, market leaders are capable of shaping people’s opinions in a way that would make new entrants seem unreliable, and consumers are forced to stay with the old service provider. | 1,267,929 |
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It’s time to buy low on Chip Kelly, who is 3-10 at UCLA and sinking to his lowest point as a coach.
Kelly still can coach, and the Bruins, who returned 19 starters from last year’s team, still can be one of the nation’s surprise teams. With Oklahoma on deck, the Bruins desperately need to beat San Diego State on Saturday at the Rose Bowl. Competent quarterback play certainly would help. Dorian Thompson-Robinson turned in a disastrous performance — completing 8-of-26 passes with two interceptions — in a 24-14 loss at Cincinnati on Aug. 29. Kelly nevertheless remains optimistic about his sophomore QB.
Thompson-Robinson must play at a much higher level, and star running back Joshua Kelley must return to the field. Kelley, who rushed for 1,243 yards as a junior, missed the season opener with a nagging knee injury, but is probable to play Saturday.
Rocky Long has had strong teams, but this is not one. San Diego State opened with a 6-0 win over Weber State as Ryan Agnew passed for just 108 yards and Juwan Washington rushed for 55 yards on 22 carries. Again, the opponent was Weber State, not Alabama or Clemson. UCLA’s defense showed improvement at Cincinnati. This line opened -7 and is rising because the Bruins should be the right side at -8¹/₂.
Texas (+6½) over LSU: Tom Herman is 13-2-1 against the spread as an underdog, including 8-2-1 as Texas coach. In those 16 games, Herman has 10 outright wins, the latest over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Over the summer, this game was posted in the pick-’em range, so why the major line move after one game?
The Longhorns have the better quarterback, Sam Ehlinger, and a coaching edge with Herman, who upset Oklahoma as a seven-point ’dog last year. The Tigers unveiled their spread offense in a 55-3 blowout of Georgia Southern, but this is a much tougher road test against a real defense.
Fresno State (+3) over Minnesota: The Bulldogs are 22-7 straight up and 20-6-1 ATS the past three seasons under coach Jeff Tedford, who’s 9-0 ATS as a ’dog.
The Gophers were outgained and got lucky to hold off South Dakota State 28-21 in the opener. Fresno put a serious scare into USC in a 31-23 loss as senior quarterback Jorge Reyna passed for 256 yards and rushed for a team-high 88.
Last week: 0-3 | 1,267,930 |
newspapers. Later, he sold vending machines and set out on a round-the-world sailing voyage from London. He made it as far as Cornwall before turning back.
For a time, Mr. Knightley ran a successful Viennese-style restaurant in London that featured a yodeler. He became a wine connoisseur and, from his experience as a restaurateur, offered this advice to diners: Never order cooked oysters because they’re likely to be spoiled.
During the early 1960s, he lived in Mumbai, where he was the managing editor of a magazine — only to discover years later that it was a front for the CIA.
In 2010, Mr. Knightley put up bail money for his fellow Australian, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. His 25,000 pounds were forfeited when Assange sought sanctuary at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London.
In his 1997 autobiography, “A Hack’s Progress,” Mr. Knightley described his misadventures as a journalist, including a visit to the Punjab territory of India to interview Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as the “Muslim Gandhi.”
“I sat, notebook poised,” he wrote, “while he had a nap. Then he woke up, looked at me and said to his major-domo, ‘Who is this guy?,’ turned over and went back to sleep.”
Survivors include his wife of 52 years, the former Yvonne Fernandes of London; three children; and four grandchildren.
In addition to his interviews with Philby, Mr. Knightley spent so much time with spies that many people suspected he may have been one himself. He published a well-received book, “The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century,” in which he suggested that many spy agencies had been ineffectual at understanding the world’s problems.
Still, he was impressed by the skill and tactics of some of the people he met in the field. He described one meeting with a U.S. spy in “A Hack’s Progress,” saying he introduced himself as “George Knight.”
After an hour in which Mr. Knightley could elicit little information, the American politely escorted him to a taxi and told the driver, “Take Mr. Phillip George Knightley back to The Sunday Times.”
An earlier version of this story incorrectly credited Mr. Knightley with helping to reveal that Kim Philby was a Soviet spy. Journalists and the British intelligence service identified him as a spy in 1963, and Mr. Knightley subsequently described the extent of his activities. Mr. Knightley’s role in revealing the damaging effects of thalidomide was also overstated. His investigation called for British officials and the drug’s distributor to compensate people harmed by thalidomide. | 1,267,931 |
still doing the same thing as the original. And while they parcelled their genes into separate cells, the total amount of bacterial DNA has increased. Each part became smaller, but collectively, their genome got bigger.
So are the Hodgkinia circles different species or lineages? Is the Hodgkinia genome the total of the circles in a single cicada, or does each distinct lineage have its own genome? It’s really hard to say. “The problem is that when we write a paper, we have to use words, and words mean something,” says McCutcheon. “It is very hard to put labels on this stuff, and I will not just give this a new name willy-nilly, because I don’t think we understand it well enough.”
There are other mysteries too. The cicada also has another bacterial symbiont called Sulcia, which shows no sign of this ridiculous fragmentation. There’s just one Sulcia and it’s the same in all cicada cells. Why has this microbe stayed whole, while its neighbour rent itself asunder? No one knows. A reasonable guess is that Hodgkinia evolves much faster than Sulcia, and more quickly builds up mutations that disable its genes.
Also, why has Hodgkinia fractured into many lineages within cicadas, when other insect symbionts have not in their respective hosts? McCutcheon thinks the answer lies in the insects’ long lives. Most sap-sucking bugs are lucky to make it past their first birthday. They lead short, fast lives, and if their symbionts developed detrimental mutations, they and their hosts would be weeded out by natural selection. Cicadas, by contrast, can live for 2 to 19 years, and for most of that time, they’re barely moving or growing. During those slow years, their symbionts aren’t that important, and are free to build up detrimental mutations without affecting their hosts or falling foul of natural selection—at least, not in the short term.
The long-term outlook may not be that rosy. Partnerships with microbes often furnish animals with incredible and valuable skills—in this case, the ability to drink plant sap without becoming deficient in important nutrients. But with great opportunity comes great risk. Once host and bacterium become dependent on each other, they can enter into a kind of symbiotic trap—or, as Nancy Moran puts it, they could jointly “spiral down the symbiosis rabbit hole”.
Take Hodgkinia. If it continues to fragment and degenerate, it—they?—may eventually be unable to sustain the cicada. “It just looks like it’s going off the rails,” says McCutcheon. “It’s like watching a train wreck or a slow-motion extinction event. It makes me think differently about symbiosis.” | 1,267,932 |
and Sereena Abotsway.[9] He would be brought up on charges again on April 2 for three more victims and again for a sixth on April 9.
Nine more murder charges would follow over the remainder of 2002. Later, in 2005, 12 more counts of murder would be raised against Pickton as the evidence seemingly began to pile up. In 2007, one charge was dropped due to lack of evidence, and Pickton’s six convictions came in December. Authorities would eventually stay the remaining 20 cases in 2010. Pickton only saw six convictions in the end.
2 Unknown Victims
In total, there was a massive discrepancy between the amount of people Pickton claimed to have killed, not to mention the amount of DNA of missing persons found on the pig farm, and the total number of convictions he ultimately received. The vast majority of the families of the victims of this pig-farming serial killer would never get closure, and most of the victims’ bodies would never be found. This is a testament to the power of the pigs and their gluttonous appetites.
In all, the DNA of one woman would be found on Pickton’s saw, the belongings of 20 missing women would be found on his property with no other trace of the victims, the DNA of ten women would be found in Pickton’s freezers, and ground meat containing the DNA of several others would be even found frozen inside the freezers.[10]
1 Robert Pickton: Twist Of Fate
In a bizarre twist of fate, Pickton would unwittingly give a confession while in custody after his arrest on February 22, 2002. At this point, Pickton had only killed 49 women, or so he said when he began talking. In a video-taped interaction, Pickton started confessing to all of the horrific murders that had taken place on the pig farm to his cellmate. Little did he know that the cellmate was actually an undercover officer.[11] Pickton was angry, furious, and disappointed with himself that he had only killed 49, saying he wanted to take one more life and “make the big five-O.”
Even more disturbing is that after officers withdrew the undercover cop who was posing as his cellmate for a few minutes, he stripped naked and began to masturbate after having discussed his sick, disturbing crimes in detail. Often, serial killers become sexually aroused after thinking about or remembering their past murders. All in all, Robert “Willie” Pickton, the man who is also known simply as “The Butcher,” was one of the most terrifying and brutal serial killers to ever walk the face of the Earth.
I like to write about dark stuff, horror, murder, true crime, serial killers, philosophy, and history. This will definitely go on the two pages I own and operate, Serial Killer Memes and Murderworks Horror, which have a collective following of nearly 30,000 people. | 1,267,933 |
The key to stopping the ratcheting tension between North Korea and the U.S. could be North Korea's biggest ally, China, the top U.S. general said Sunday.
Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during his trip to Asia that "effective military-to-military" ties between the U.S. and China are key. He added that he would continue building his relationship with Gen. Fang Fenghui, the head of the People's Liberation Army's joint staff department.
"As a military leader, I’ve got to make sure that the president does have viable military options in the event that the diplomatic and economic pressurization campaign fails," Dunford said, according to VOA News. Still, he added, "We’re all looking to get out of this situation without a war."
Dunford is expected to meet with leaders in China, South Korea and Japan during his trip. He added that he wanted to underscore the United States' "ironclad commitment" to its alliance with Seoul and Tokyo.
Beijing is North Korea's biggest economic partner and source of aid.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, President Trump's national security adviser, tried to provide assurances that a conflict is avoidable, while also supporting Trump's tough talk. They said the United States and its allies no longer can afford to stand by as North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un pushes ahead with the development of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.
CIA CHIEF DEFENDS TRUMP ON NORTH KOREA
Pompeo said "there's nothing imminent today," in response to a question about how worried should people be over the escalating tensions, on "Fox News Sunday." He told Chris Wallace the U.S. has a "pretty good idea" of North Korea's intentions, but Pompeo declined to provide specifics. The CIA chief described Kim as "rational" and responsive to "adverse circumstances."
"The reaction in North Korea that we are intending to get is an is an understanding that America is no longer going to have the strategic patience that it's had that has permitted him to continue to develop his weapons program," Pompeo said. "It's that straightforward."
"We're not closer to war than a week ago but we are closer to war than we were a decade ago," McMaster said on ABC News' "This Week," adding that the Trump administration is prepared to deal militarily with North Korea if necessary.
But he stressed that the U.S. is pursuing "a very determined diplomatic effort" led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that's coupled with new financial sanctions to dissuade North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from further provocations.
"The U.S. military is locked and loaded every day," McMaster said, repeating Trump's threat.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 1,267,934 |
Betai Koffi, a software engineer at YouTube and a San Francisco resident, perhaps consumed more LSD than he should have while on vacation in Bodega Bay — downing an extra couple hits, according to friends, after initially freaking out on his first two. And he is now charged with multiple counts of attempted murder, and suffered a life-threatening gunshot wound from police.
The 4th of July holiday brought 32-year-old Koffi and five of his friends to Bodega Bay to rent a house on the beach and enjoy the long weekend. As the Press Democrat reports, it wasn't until around 8 p.m. Thursday when things got out of control. Around that time, Koffi had consumed two additional hits of LSD, after already appearing delusional after consuming two hits earlier in the day.
During this time, Koffi tried leaving the house but was stopped by friends who were trying to keep him inside. The friends say he then proceeded to punch a woman in the stomach and side, stab a man in the chest with a pencil, and choked another man, as ABC 7 reports.
At this point, he jumped into the group's rental car and crashed it into the garage of the rental home, before taking off running down the street. A security guard in the area tried stopping him, but Koffi allegedly stabbed him in the chest with the pointed end of a landscaping stake.
According to authorities, Koffi then stole the security guard's pick-up truck and started driving through the Bodega Bay neighborhood, attempting to run over pedestrians who were walking by. He then reportedly managed to hit three additional people and drive through yards before finally being confronted by the Santa Rosa Police Department.
As Santa Rosa Police Capt. John Cregan tells the Press Democrat, "He was driving through the neighborhood and ran over several pedestrians who were just walking and enjoying the evening."
The police and sheriff's deputies were blocking the street and standing outside of their vehicles when Koffi allegedly accelerated into the officers' cars. One of the deputies was able to fire several shots into the pick-up until it stopped. An injured Koffi, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
He is facing two counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of carjacking, per ABC 7.
The injured pedestrians and security guard are being treated for their injuries. Two of the female pedestrians that were hit by Koffi are suffering from serious injuries, but both are expected to recover. None of Koffi's friends required medical attention.
Incidents like this are unusual for Bodega Bay, which is normally a quiet coastal town north of San Francisco. However, most residents were not startled by the gun shots because it was July 4th, they came in a cluster, and most thought the noise was from fireworks going off in the area. | 1,267,935 |
As a Muslim youth choir sang and leaders from more than a dozen faith organizations lit candles, members of the Jewish community in Salt Lake City called for love and kindness Tuesday in the face of anti-Semitic violence.
“We will not stop fighting for others,” Rabbi Samuel L. Spector told hundreds of mourners gathered at Congregation Kol Ami for a vigil in remembrance of 11 people killed in a shooting Saturday at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. “Those that have tried to eliminate us are no longer here, but we still are.”
Refugee advocate Eric Goldman noted that the alleged shooter, Robert Gregory Bowers, had focused his anti-Semitism on Jewish refugee aid, posting conspiracy theories that Jews were supporting caravans of Central American immigrants whom President Donald Trump has attacked on social media as they move toward the U.S. border. Goldman urged mourners to let detractors know that “we are committed to the Jewish obligation to welcome and love the stranger.”
Jay Jacobson, president of the United Jewish Federation of Utah, warned mourners to remain vigilant in the face of escalating hate speech and violence.
“We confront a rising wave of anti-Semitism,” Jacobson said, pointing to hostilities toward Jewish people in Russia and Ethiopia. “We never thought that those values would come again to our shores.”
Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Members of Utah's Jewish and interfaith communities hold a vigil and prayer service at Congregation Kol Ami, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018 for the 11 people killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Speaker Amy Ireland reminisced on her childhood in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, site of the Tree of Life Synagogue, where Bowers allegedly burst in on worship services and opened fire on the congregation, shouting “All Jews must die.” The rabbi who conducted Ireland’s parents' funerals was involved in memorials Tuesday for some of Bowers' victims.
Before Saturday, Squirrel Hill was home to neighborly chit-chat on people’s porches, multiple Jewish congregations and schools, and acclaimed children’s television host Fred Rogers, Ireland said.
“This was Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood,” she said.
But, she added, “in [this] political climate, I am not as surprised as I should be.”
Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Congregation Kol Ami cantor Wendy Bat-Sarah wipes tears from her eyes during a vigil and prayer service at Congregation Kol Ami, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018 for the 11 people killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Language that mocks, demeans and incites bigotry “creates fertile ground for seeds of hatred,” she said.
The only solution, Ireland said, is to persist in kindness. | 1,267,936 |
On Tuesday 17th November 1807 a bricklayer going about his business in Bishopsgate Street spotted a young sailor sitting in a doorway near the Black Bull pub, soaked to the bone with rain and weeping bitterly. He asked what the matter was, and found that the sailor had recently arrived in London on board a northern coal ship, and had run away due to ill treatment.
Taking pity on the shivering figure, the bricklayer took them into the Black Bull and offered some refreshment. The heat of the pub proved too much for the poor sailor, who fainted almost immediately after crossing the threshold. The landlady and bricklayer, loosening the sailor’s clothing to aid revival, discovered to their surprise that the sailor was a young woman.
Image taken from page 232 of Memorials of Old Whitby, etc. via the British Library Flickr Commons
Originally from Whitby, Marianne Rebecca Johnson was the daughter of a seaman who died whilst serving in the Navy. Her mother remarried, and her stepfather forced Marianne into work. When she was thirteen, her stepfather showed up at her place of work and made her dress as a sailor boy, threatening to kill her if she revealed her true identity to anyone. She was then apprenticed, under the alias William Johnson, to the coal ship Mayflower, on which she served for four years.
Image taken from page 373 of The History and Description of Fossil Fuel, the collieries, and coal trade of Great Britain. By the author of the “Treatise on manufactures in metal” in Lirdner's Cabinet Cyclopædia [J Holland], via British Library Flickr Commons
It later transpired that Marianne’s stepfather had dealt with her mother in the same terrible manner, forcing her to take a position on a ship-of-war disguised as a sailor. Marianne did not hear from her mother for seven years, until her mother wrote to a friend and explained the circumstances of her own life at sea. Her mother had reportedly served several years on board different ships, before being mortally wounded in action during the battle of Copenhagen in 1807.
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, The Terrible Bombardment of Copenhagen, via Wikimedia Commons
These details have come from the Proceedings of the Lord Mayors Court, which were reported in several newspapers at the time. Having heard Marianne’s tale, the pub hostess had resolved to present her before the Lord Mayor in order to provide her with some form of relief. The Lord Mayor initially intended to have Marianne transported back to Whitby on board a coal steamer, but after Marianne raised her fears about travelling in such a manner now that her true identify was revealed, the Lord Mayor reconsidered.
It was eventually ordered that Marianne be taken care of, and fresh clothing provided, until a different and more suitable mode of transport could be obtained for her journey back to Whitby. | 1,267,937 |
NBA All-Star Kevin Love has revealed he suffered a panic attack during a game this season as he seeks to bring attention to mental health issues.
In an article for the Players’ Tribune, the Cleveland Cavaliers star said he suffered the attack during a game against the Atlanta Hawks in November.
“I was having trouble catching my breath,” wrote Love. “It’s hard to describe, but everything was spinning, like my brain was trying to climb out of my head. The air felt thick and heavy. My mouth was like chalk. I remember our assistant coach yelling something about a defensive set. I nodded, but I didn’t hear much of what he said. By that point, I was freaking out. When I got up to walk out of the huddle, I knew I couldn’t reenter the game – like, literally couldn’t do it physically.
“Coach Lue came up to me. I think he could sense something was wrong and blurted something like, ‘I’ll be right back,’ and I ran back to the locker room... The next part was a blur. Someone from the Cavs accompanied me to the Cleveland Clinic. They ran a bunch of tests. Everything seemed to check out, which was a relief. But I remember leaving the hospital thinking, ‘Wait... then what the hell just happened?’”
Love said he has since started seeing a therapist and was afraid to reveal his story out of fear of being seen as “weak or weird or somehow less reliable as a team-mate.” The 29-year-old, who won the NBA title with the Cavs in 2016, said he had been inspired to talk about the panic attack after the Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan discussed his struggles with depression last week.
“I’ve played against DeMar for years, but I never could’ve guessed that he was struggling with anything,” said Love. “It really makes you think about how we are all walking around with experiences and struggles... and we sometimes think we’re the only ones going through them. The reality is that we probably have a lot in common with what our friends and colleagues and neighbors are dealing with. So I’m not saying everyone should share all their deepest secrets – not everything should be public and it’s every person’s choice. But creating a better environment for talking about mental health … that’s where we need to get to.”
It is unclear whether the panic attacks had anything to do with an incident in January when Love left a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with an unspecified illness. ESPN reported at the time that several Cavaliers players doubted the veracity of Love’s reasons for leaving the game.
Love has been sidelined since the end of January with a broken hand but is expected to return in the next month.
| 1,267,938 |
Former Home Secy GK Pillai’s explosive revelations: Congress intervened in the Ishrat Jahan Case
“Ishrat was a cover," he said
news Ishrat jahan
In an exclusive interview with Times Now, Former Home Secretary GK Pillai said the Congress party intervened in the investigation of the Ishrat Jahan case.
When asked about contradictory affidavits filed by MHA on Ishrat, Pillai said that it was not done at his level but at a political level.
“We enticed the LeT operatives to come to India and target PM Narendra Modi (then Gujarat CM) and we laid a trap and killed them,” Pillai told Times Now’s Prema Sridevi.
Pillai added, “IB had enticed and trapped them and then targeted them. We used a source who they (LeT) thought was their source. It is always better to know your enemy as he is coming in rather than wait for him to plan an operation on his own without our knowledge. Our source had in fact told that ‘look if you come in you can target Modi and other high profile people’ and the LeT decided to come in.”
He went onto say that the matter was politicised and a CBI inquiry was not required.
He added, “CBI had indulged in leaks. They should have exercised extreme discretion. If i was the home secretary, I would have called the director CBI and said look this is unacceptable. I personally would have not recommended a CBI probe into this case.
On Ishrat, he said, “Ishrat was a cover. This was an intel operation involving the LeT. If it was an intel operation, then you should not talk about fake encounter. We should make that distinction. We can't mix up the two. Ishrat knew that something was wrong. An unmarried Muslim girl went with a married person, spent nights with him as husband and wife. She was a cover for them.”
He further added, “It's true that morale came down of the IB. IB operations are not strictly within the ambit of the law. That's how it is all around the world.”
Ishrat Jahan was killed along with Javed Sheik alias Pranesh Pillai besides two Pakistani nationals viz. Amjad Ali and Jishan Johar Abdul Ghani who were all alleged LeT terrorists on June 15, 2004.
The matter had been a contentious issue since then.
The issue again came into prominence when David Headley during his deposition via video conference from a US prison in regards with a 26/11 court in Mumbai earlier this month said Ishrat Jahan was a member of the Lashkar-e-Toiba's women's wing.
The BJP had since then said the Congress party had used the Ishrat Jahan case for electoral benefits. | 1,267,939 |
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The streets of Paris have erupted into inter-migrant strife as North African youths have targeted 'rich' Chinese migrants amid growing tensions. Police in France recorded more than 200 attacks on Chinese immigrants last year, mostly from hostile migrant gangs. This comes amid a growing perception that recent migrants from North Africa have become "too demanding" and consider themselves "victims" who deserve pity.
DW The streets of Paris have erupted into inter-migrant strife
Pictures that shocked the world Mon, February 20, 2017 Our selection of the most controversial and heartbreaking photographs of the day. Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 10 Kampala: The pig heads were left as part of a protest organized by jobless youths who were demonstrating against a 'presidential handshake' payment of $1.7M in bonuses to officials who won a legal dispute with oil companies.
Contrary to this, the long-standing Chinese community in Paris has gained a reputation for being "hard-working and managing without taxpayer help". In a report from German channel DW, a Chinese migrant named Woo described how a gang of North African youths attacked him in his home last November. He said that the yobs threatened him and his wife with a knife and smashed his head, after which broke in and stole his valuables. He added: "I am scared. I don’t feel safe anymore."
DW A gang of African migrants mugged these young children and threatened them with a knife
DW Guylain Chevrier, a French sociologist, said a pattern have quickly emerged following refugee crisis
I am scared. I don’t feel safe anymore Woo, a local Chinese resident in Paris
Yvon Sun, who works as a liaison for the Chinese community in Paris, echoed these remarks and said among a rise of recent assaults, a gang of African migrants had robbed a pair of young children under 10 years old and threatened them with a knife. In August last year, a Chinese man was killed in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers after being attacked during a botched robbery. While the crime rate grows, local migrants from North Africa have been unafraid to voice their prejudices. One told the programme: "That’s the way it is. I don’t like the Chinese." Another added: "The Chinese have become too rich in France. That’s not fair. They have nice clothes and big cars." Despite this visible hostility, police have largely refused to intervene while locals have complained that security services rarely investigate many of the crimes.
DW Local migrants from North Africa are unafraid to voice their prejudices
DW The Chinese community has gained a reputation for being "hard-working and managing without help | 1,267,940 |
Image copyright Arran Whiteford Image caption Martínez was described as an experienced climber
A lone Argentine mountaineer has been rescued, four days after she was trapped on Canada's highest peak after avalanches triggered by an earthquake.
Natalia Martínez, 37, had faced -20C (-4F) temperatures and winds of up to 140km/h (85mph) on Mt Logan. The rescue operation lasted three hours.
"Natalia is back with us safe and sound," the expedition website said.
Martínez had been in touch with her partner Camilo Rada, describing "crazy" intense winds and heavy snow.
Mountain pilot Tom Bradley, who dropped her off last month to begin the ascent, had earlier told the BBC the ordeal had been "a real rollercoaster for her".
Image copyright Lance Goodwin, Icefield Discovery Tours Image caption Picture posted on 27 April shows Martínez on the eastern ridge of Mount Logan
The strong winds had made it impossible for her to light her stove to cook food or melt snow to drink, said Mr Bradley, Chief Pilot at Icefield Discovery Tours.
"She was getting pretty weak over the last couple of days," he said.
She had been "feeling a little down on it" on Thursday morning, but had been able to make a hot meal later in the day, which had helped her recover some strength and boosted her spirits, he said.
Mr Rada, also an experienced mountaineer, had been in contact by satellite phone and text. According to earlier reports from her team, she had become increasingly tired, after having to leave her tent every few hours to shovel snow piled around her camp.
"The rescue team (sic) was launched around 7:30pm local time, heading for a successful operation that ended at 22:30 pm, with Natalia showing again her beautiful smile at the Icefield Discovery base in Kluane Lake!!! Well done Nati!!!! YOU MADE IT!!!!," the update on the expedition website said.
Ms Martínez started a solo ascent of the 5,959m (19,551 ft) peak last month.
The magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck the western Yukon territory early on Monday. A few hours later, another tremor, of magnitude 6.3, hit.
For Ms Martinez, it felt as if "the mountain was falling apart," Mr Rada was quoted by CBC News as saying.
"She felt that all the ground under her camp subsided and moved a lot, and of course she was very scared," he said.
She then moved her camp to a safer area, Mr Rada said.
The Argentine was described as an experienced climber, who had been on Mt Logan before and faced extreme conditions in Patagonia.
An average of 25 climbers try to reach the summit of Mt Logan every year. | 1,267,941 |
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Hacker group Anonymous have declared war against ISIS after the attacks in Paris on Friday night.
Posting a video on YouTube, the group said it would use its knowledge to "unite humanity" and warned the terrorists to "expect us".
Behind their signature mask, a spokesperson speaking in French said: "Anonymous from all over the world will hunt you down.
"You should know that we will find you and we will not let you go.
"We will launch the biggest operation ever against you.
Read more Anonymous say ISIS have issued these instructions on how to avoid being hacked
"Expect massive cyber attacks. War is declared. Get prepared.
"The French people are stronger than you and will come out of this atrocity even stronger."
Read more:
It isn't the first time the hackers have made threats against ISIS as they made similar threats after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January.
The 'hacktivists' run an operation publishing a list of Twitter accounts it claims are spreading propaganda in support of ISIS.
Read more
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ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Friday night attacks.
The death toll in Paris currently stands at 129 people while another 415 people were admitted to hospital of which 42 are in a critical condition.
Terrorists targeted seven locations in Paris including restaurants and cafes where people were enjoying a Friday night out and Stade de France where France was playing a friendly football match against Germany.
Eighty-nine people were killed when gunmen burst into Bataclan concert hall and started firing into the crowds who were half-an-hour into a gig by US rock band Eagles of Death Metal.
(Image: Steve Parsons/PA)
Among the many victims was Brit Nick Alexander who worked with the band's merchandise team.
France has officially named four of the suicide bombers in Friday’s attack.
Belgian national Ibrahim Abdeslam, 31, blew himself up outside the Comptoir Voltaire restaurant.
His brother, 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam has been declared wanted by French Police - it is believed he is on the run but it is not known if he is dead or alive.
(Image: Getty Images)
Also named is 29-year-old French national Omar Ismail Mostefai, who was identified from a severed finger among the carnage at the Bataclan concert hall.
A third attacker was Ahmed Almuhamed, a Syrian who reportedly arrived in Greece on a refugee boat.
A fourth attacker has been named as Bilal Hadfi, also from Belgium. | 1,267,942 |
- MAY 23: Naomie Harris attends Chelsea Flower Show press day at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 23, 2016 in London, England. The show, which has run annually since 1913 in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, is open to the public from 24-28 May. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images) UK Press via Getty Images The women who could play Bond Olivia Colman < > attends The Moet British Independent Film Awards 2015 at Old Billingsgate Market on December 6, 2015 in London, England. 2015 Getty Images The women who could play Bond Rachel Weisz LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 15: Rachel Weisz attends a screening of "Youth" during the BFI London Film Festival at Vue West End on October 15, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage) WireImage The women who could play Bond Rebecca Hall CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 14: Rebecca Hall attends 'The BFG (Le Bon Gros Geant - Le BGG)' photocall during the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals on May 14, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/FilmMagic) FilmMagic The women who could play Bond Rosamund Pike LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 23: Rosamund Pike attends Chelsea Flower Show press day at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 23, 2016 in London, England. The prestigious gardening show features hundreds of stands and exhibition gardens. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images) UK Press via Getty Images The women who could play Bond Sienna Miller LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 09: Sienna Miller attends a screening of "High Rise" during the BFI London Film Festival at Odeon Leicester Square on October 9, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) WireImage The women who could play Bond Thandie Newton attends the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 22, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. 2015 Jon Kopaloff The women who could play Bond Vicky McClure < > arrives at The Moet British Independent Film Awards 2015 at Old Billingsgate Market on December 6, 2015 in London, England. 2015 Getty Images
“As for Adele, she’s more of an unknown quantity but loved being part of Bond, so the signs are positive.”
Earlier this year, it was reported that Tom Hiddleston - a contender for Craig's replacement - was deemed “too smug and not tough enough” by franchise producer Barbara Broccoli, daughter of producing stalwart, Albert.
It was previously reported that Craig was offered up to £120 million to return as the spy for two more films despite attention surrounding fellow candidates Idris Elba, James Norton and Poldark star Aidan Turner. | 1,267,943 |
for children in the past. “We live in a day where it’s tough to talk about these kind of things. People honestly want to believe that there are gender specific roles... but if we can get rid of the stigma behind it and tell them they’re going to have a great time and make a difference — I’m not saying one is better than the other, I’m just providing families with an alternative.”
For 29-year-old Dorsea Palmer, an actor living in New York, his first ‘mannying’ gig came about in 2011 purely as a means to pay the bills.
Friends suggested he create a profile on a nannying website as the job would give him the flexibility to go to auditions and classes. “I made a profile and literally within two days I had a family asking me to be their manny,” he told news.com.au.
“The dad was a GM of a huge restaurant in New York so he was out of the house at 7am till 8pm. He first had a female nanny but wanted someone to be active with his boys, take them to the park, play catch with them, pick them up from school. He felt as though having a male babysitter would help his two boys grow up into young men.”
Dorsea has since cared for families with infants, toddlers, boys and girls, and is still working as a manny today. “Now I’m an expert at changing diapers, bed time, feeding time, I even know the perfect song to put child to bed.”
The actor said he’s had families offer him six-figure salaries for fulltime work. “You can very well make a living with just being a manny. It’s a lot bigger [salary] than what a lot of people make... I just got offered $100,000 a year and all I have to do is go to the Hamptons every other weekend, with full benefits.”
He added: “When I first got into it I honestly never thought I would be any sort of babysitter or manny, but I’m very outgoing, I love to have fun and at the end of the day these kids, they are wanting to have fun, they’re very active.
“And I think in every guy, we all like to play with cars, we all like video games, we all like to act silly — the things your girlfriend complains about,” he joked.
“I’m 29 years old, I am a big kid at heart. When I realised what this job entails, not only being a big brother or a mentor but I get to be someone who gets to play Xbox and to wrestle and to jump on a bed and use my imagination — it really is a dream job.” | 1,267,944 |
a more reliable source on the state of his health than his own lawyer, however.
It has long been an established fact that Assange was in failing health while trapped in the Ecuadorian embassy in London; doctors who visited him published an article with The Guardian in January 2018 titled “We examined Julian Assange, and he badly needs care – but he can’t get it.”
Renata Avila, an activist and author who has worked with and written about WikiLeaks, tweeted in response to the new revelations, “He needed urgent assistance after his expulsion from the Embassy. Instead, he was not allowed to receive adequate medical treatment. In the case of Emin Huseynov (1 y @ Swiss Embassy) it took at least a month of treatment to go back to normal. Imagine after 7 years! Brutal.”
He needed urgent assistance after his expulsion from the Embassy. Instead, he was not allowed to receive adequate medical treatment. In the case of Emin Huseynov (1 y @ Swiss Embassy) it took at least a month of treatment to go back to normal. Imagine after 7 years! Brutal. https://t.co/9fxV3Dz4Iw — Renata Avila (@avilarenata) May 28, 2019
We have been watching the slow-motion assassination of Julian Assange. They have been choking him to death by tactical psyops, siege tactics, and willful neglect as surely as if they placed a noose tied around his neck, not just in Belmarsh prison but in the embassy as well. The only difference between his execution and someone on death row is the same as the difference between covert and overt warfare, which makes sense because the intelligence, judicial and military agencies carrying out his death sentence operate within the same power structure that carries out war. First came the smears (propaganda), then came the siege (sanctions), and they staged their coup (dragged him out of the embassy) and now they’ve got him in their clutches and they can do what they want behind closed doors. That’s how you kill a nation while still looking like a nice guy, and that’s how they’re killing Assange.
Shout this from the rooftops. Whether this media blackout is self-imposed or perhaps the result of the malicious use of a D-notice, we have to use everything in our power to get this information into the mainstream, and get people asking questions of the press and their local members about what the Dickens is going on in Belmarsh prison right now. Assange’s life may depend on it.
Caitlin Johnstone is a rogue journalist, poet, and utopia prepper who publishes regularly at Medium. Follow her work on Facebook, Twitter, or her website. She has a podcast and a new book “Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.” This article was re-published with permission. | 1,267,945 |
I wouldn’t call myself well-informed about politics. But I pay attention when I can. My best guess is that I’m in the top 20% of informed citizens. Yet I don’t know the political definition of conservative.
Neither do you, in all likelihood.
Under the 2D filter of life, conservatives are united by a common ideology that is supported by reason. But under the Master Persuader filter, conservative is a word created for the purpose of identity persuasion. Nothing more. According to my filter, conservative has no logical or coherent reason for existing. While I assume it once had a noble birth, at this point it is just a hodgepodge of ideas that disagree with Democrats. Some of the individual ideas have merit, but they don’t belong together in the same bag for any reason that is obvious to me.
A year ago I could not have said what I just said without being drummed off of the Internet. But Trump has laid bare the ridiculousness of the conservative label. In 2016, the word conservative can be seen as a tool of influence – a shaming tool – used by the party elites to bring people together under their handpicked puppet. Conservative doesn’t have a normal definition that is useful and widely understood. That’s why it works so well for persuasion. If it had a rigid definition, lots of people could find a reason to disagree. But by leaving the definition of conservative in ambiguity, people see nothing with which they can disagree. That is classic persuasion.
Trump uses the same form of strategic ambiguity. It’s a thing.
Some of you will write coherent definitions of conservatism in the comments. I’m sure that definition exists. But if you walk out on the street and ask random Republicans to define what conservative means, they will probably say something about “small government” before voting for whoever is likely to increase its size, such as any of the Republican candidates still in the race.
Donald Trump has tried to game the system by labelling himself a “common sense conservative.” When you add common sense to the front of conservative you can effectively drop the conservative part. Trump correctly treats the word conservative as a throw-away, because it is. It has no independent meaning in people’s minds. Conservative is a word used by con men to maintain their power.
So, Is Marco Rubio correct that Trump is a “con man”? Yes, Rubio is 100% right. Trump is a con man in a party of con people running against another party of con people.
He’s just better at it.
P.S. – What is a progressive? I have no idea what that is either. Same argument applies. It is a word of persuasion, not reason. You can test that by adding “common sense” to the front of it and seeing that progressive instantly becomes the throw-away part. | 1,267,946 |
realized there’s this entire constituency out there that’s to the left of the Democratic Party, that rejects its foreign policy. They’re mocking the resistance. They set up this cutout site Resistancehole to mock the kind of Russiagate, Maddow-style resistance.
And the Onion has, its audience is growing because of that. It means there’s this whole constituency and group of people out there who not only don’t feel represented by Democratic Party politics on Israel-Palestine and across the board, but that they’re not organized, and that their only response is through humor and satire. And the question is will they be just driven into cynicism? Or will they be organized, and who’s going to organize them? And right now, you know, one of the places where they can organize is the BTS movement.
So there is a lot of hope on the outside, even though inside the militarized frontiers of Israel, what we would call it, Dan and I would call the Jewish state in Israel and the Levant, or JSIL, the situation looks incredibly hopeless. The American Jews who are liberal-minded have to look at this spectacle in Jerusalem, where as you mention, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, this completely clueless, out of touch, hovercraft elite couple are being blessed by a fanatical and fascistic rabbi who called black people monkeys in a sermon, they’re going to have to look at that and say, do I want that to be part of my identity? And I think increasingly they’re just going to turn away in disgust. And I really, I’m grateful for any part I could have played in weakening any any American Jewish support for Israel, and I think it’s the job of any journalist who’s there to not just cover events day after day, but to paint a picture of the atmosphere that Palestinians and Jewish Israelis live in, because it’s an atmosphere that’s been, that the U.S. is responsible for, that Israeli security services and military are cultivating, and it is fascistic. It is absolutely fascistic.
Israel also, finally, we need to not see it as something that is uniquely evil. We need to see it as a representation of imperialism under a false Jewish cover, and as the most extreme, as the West’s most extreme vision of itself, and the realization of its harshest contradictions coming to the surface. We need to reflect on the U.S. when we think about Israel, and the U.S.’s role in the Middle East.
AARON MATE: We’ll leave it there. Max Blumenthal and Dan Cohen are independent journalists. They have just come out with a new film called Killing Gaza. It’s available at KillingGaza.com. Max and Dan, thanks to you both.
And thank you for joining us on the Real News. | 1,267,947 |
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world and one of these most recognizable names in the space, is looking to step up its game once again. After the launch of its native blockchain, Binance Chain, and their decentralized exchange, Binance DEX, the exchange is all set to introduce a native stablecoin, Binance GBP Stablecoin.
According to a tweet by CryptoBatman, the exchange has already “issued” its stablecoin, rumoured to be backed by the Great Britain pound [GBP], with the rest of his tweet mulling the positive price effect this would have on the exchange’s native cryptocurrency, Binance Coin [BNB]. BNB is currently the seventh largest coin on the market. The tweet read,
BIG NEWS!
It looks like @Binance has issued their Stable Coin $BGBP on Binance Chain!
It’s incredible how fast Binance moves. I can’t say enough how big this is for Binance and Binance Chain.
Expect $BNB to skyrocket from here! pic.twitter.com/FAEdvMG2tF
— CryptosBatman (@CryptosBatman) June 3, 2019
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the exchange, attested to the above tweet and stated that this project is currently in a “testing phase.” He added that only £200 of the stablecoin has been “minted” thus far, but hinted that more will come, “slowly but surely.”
The Binance CEO’s reply read,
This is in testing phase still, only £200 minted so far. Slowly, but surely…
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) June 3, 2019
Further, as per the explorer page on Binance, the official asset name for the stablecoin is BGBP-CF3, with 200 in supply, as confirmed by CZ. The time stamp on the same indicated that the coin was introduced 2 days and 5 hours ago, based on the recorded date and time.
Binance has been an ardent supporter of the stablecoin movement, currently supporting the likes of Tether [USDT], USDC Coin [USDC], TrueUSD [TUSD], Paxos Standard [PAX] and StableUSD [USDS].
With many in the cryptocurrency community foretelling the implications this will have on Binance Coin, at press time, the native coin was trading in the red. It was recording a 3.28 percent decline against the US Dollar on a 24-hour basis. However, on the back of several adoption implementations on Binance’s part, the coin has skyrocketed by triple-digit figures in 2019 alone.
The post Binance launches GBP-backed stablecoin BGBP on Binance Chain appeared first on AMBCrypto. | 1,267,948 |
The Bitcoin bungler - a salutary tale Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent
@BBCRoryCJon Twitter Published duration 27 November 2013
Here's a cautionary tale for anyone thinking of climbing aboard the Bitcoin bandwagon. You could lose your entire investment in a moment of carelessness. Then again, you would have to be as daft and forgetful as me.
Here's how it happened. Back in the spring I acquired some Bitcoins - well about half a Bitcoin - to carry out an experiment on behalf of Radio 4's PM programme. I wanted to see how easy it was to use the virtual currency to buy something real - in this case a pizza.
My mission succeeded, although I found it quite a tricky and cumbersome process. I first needed to set up a Bitcoin wallet on a mobile phone, then acquire some currency, paying for it on an exchange using a mobile money app. But having succeeded in getting my lunch delivered, I decided to top up my Bitcoin balance again, so that I still had 0.5 Btc in my mobile wallet.
A few months later I went to a conference about the currency, where I tried out the world's first Bitcoin ATM, putting in £10 and topping up my account to 0.7Btc. So now I had about £43 at that day's exchange rate. At the conference I winced sympathetically when an early adopter explained how he'd lost 7,000 Bitcoins (then $200,000) because he hadn't backed up his private key to his computer.
For months, I thought little about the small investment sitting in an app on my phone. Then I looked at the Bitcoin exchange rate - now pushing towards $900 in the latest extraordinary bubble - and realised it had turned into a rather big investment.
But then I remembered what I'd done with the phone containing the currency. Wanting to make sure it was somewhere I could get easier access, I'd transferred almost my entire Bitcoin holding to a new wallet on another phone that I was testing back in the summer.
Then, a few weeks ago, I offered this phone - supplied by the manufacturer - as a prize in a charity fundraising effort. And before handing it over to the winner I had of course restored it to factory settings, wiping all of my personal data and apps, including my Bitcoin Wallet.
So my Bitcoin holding - now worth upwards of £400 - had vanished into thin air. The record of the transaction sending 0.7 Btc to the wiped phone was still on the original handset, and when I tapped on the app up came a message: "If you lose your device you lose your Bitcoins. This means you need to back up your private keys!"
Of course, I had not done that. so my money had disappeared into the void - and as Bitcoin is by its nature an unregulated currency with no central bank or ombudsmen, there was nobody to whom I could appeal for advice or recompense. | 1,267,949 |
to give, not only to demand."
The Palestinian leadership, meanwhile, declared the summit a failure due to a lack of preparation by the U.S., personality clashes between Barak and Arafat, and Israel's negotiation tactics.
"Israelis and Palestinians are destined to live side by side, destined to have a common future. They have to decide what kind of future it will be. Though the differences that remain are deep, they have come a long way in the last seven years, and, notwithstanding the failure to reach an agreement, they made real headway in the last two weeks," Clinton said at the close of the summit.
According to a trilateral statement on the summit released by the United Nations, while the three leaders were "not able to bridge the gaps and reach an agreement, their negotiations were unprecedented in both scope and detail."
At the close of the summit, both Israel and Palestine agreed to open-ended commitments, including a promise to "continue their efforts to conclude an agreement on all permanent status issues as soon as possible."
To this day, the Middle East peace process is still a puzzle that has been left unsolved. Mr. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been spearheading the Trump administration's Middle East peace plan, which has not yet been revealed. According to the Associated Press, Kushner has said he plans to release details of the plan sometime after Israel's April 9th election.
Kushner has said his plan will address all "final status" issues, including borders, and require compromises by all sides. The plan apparently makes no mention of the creation of a separate Palestinian state but would focus heavily on offering economic "opportunities" to the Palestinian people.
What history can teach Trump
While the latest stab at talks with North Korea appear to have fizzled out, William Hitchcock, a history professor at the University of Virginia, says if past presidents' efforts of summit diplomacy have shown us anything, it's that real diplomacy requires "years of patient behind-the-scenes work" and that nations' "tangled problems" can't be solved with a simple handshake and the stroke of a pen.
"President Trump wanted a quick solution to a complex problem: you give up nukes, we lift sanctions. But North Korea has learned that possessing nuclear weapons gives them immense prestige and leverage in the world so they're unlikely to give them up. What's needed is a long term framework to manage nuclear weapons, and that needs to be worked out over years, not at a single meeting," said Hitchcock.
He suggested that despite Mr. Trump's failure to deliver a concrete deal this time around, the meeting was still "very important."
"Eisenhower, Reagan and Clinton all endured disappointments at summits but their efforts were part of managing complex and dangerous relationships. Signaling a willingness to talk is vitally important even if the final deal is elusive. Trump should be given credit for breaking the ice." | 1,267,950 |
In a move sure to excite millennials everywhere, the University of Texas police issued a disorderly conduct citation to a preacher for the heinous crime of “offending someone.”
What’s more, the preacher in question was not even ON campus, he was just near campus and directing his voice TOWARDS the campus.
The preacher named Joshua, who was an intern with Campus Ministry USA, was standing outside off campus loudly speaking out against STDs and homosexual sex. In the interest of full disclosure, I have no idea who Campus Ministry USA is, nor do I care to know. I don’t need convincing that this intern was obnoxious and over the top, and is likely doing his cause more harm than good. But what’s really striking here is how confident the police officer seems to be that what he’s saying is absolutely true.
Watch it for yourself here:
Officer: Alright so basically, what I was saying earlier, we had somebody that was offended by the gestures you were making. And that’s our job, is to make sure that that doesn’t happen, because these are students just walking in this wall right here. I know you’re not on campus…but you’re right off campus offending students on the- on the campus. So, the job here is to write you up as a citation- disorderly conduct- for offending someone. Intern: Um, does freedom of speech protect offensive speech? Officer: Does freedom of speech do what? Intern: Uh, protect offensive speech? Officer: It doesn’t matter, freedom of speech. Someone was offended, that’s against the law. I- I don’t wanna argue with you—it’s against the law…. Intern: I’m sorry, can you say that again, it’s against the law to offend somebody? Officer: Yes.
A longer version can be found at The Daily Caller, who originally reported the story. Use discretion, as it does use language some may find offensive.
To give credit where credit is due, this officer seems like a very patient, nice guy just trying to do his job. Unfortunately he is charged with enforcing law that he does not seem to understand. That’s a problem.
Now, it is important to note that the citation was reportedly withdrawn and an apology issued after the intern’s lawyer called the chief of police to complain. But if this guy wasn’t lucky enough to have a lawyer to put pressure on the department? I’m sure there are plenty of others who didn’t or don’t have the forethought to question the legality of an authority figure who is supposed to understand the law he is enforcing.
There are officers being sent out into the streets with the absurd idea that they are here to protect us all from being offended. Apparently they promote safe spaces in police academies now, too. | 1,267,951 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House trade adviser Peter Navarro apologized on Tuesday for saying there was a "special place in hell" for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after last week's Group of Seven summit, the Wall Street Journal reported.
At an event hosted by the Journal, Navarro said he had made a mistake, according to the newspaper.
"My mission was to send a strong signal of strength," Navarro said at the event, according to the Journal. "The problem is that in conveying that message I used language that was inappropriate."
The admission was a rare act of contrition from U.S. President Donald Trump's White House, where public apologies are few.
Canada reacted coolly to the apology, with Trudeau declining to answer when reporters asked him whether he accepted it.
"We will continue to conduct our diplomacy the Canadian way, that is, being positive and constructive and firm in defending the interests of our industries... in diplomacy it doesn’t really matter about personal feelings and personal comments,” said Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne when asked about the apology.
Navarro condemned Trudeau following the Canadian leader's news conference after his summit meeting with Trump and other world leaders from the Group of Seven.
"There is a special place in hell for any leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door and that’s what bad-faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference. That’s what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did," Navarro said on the "Fox News Sunday" program.
A day before, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow had also lashed out at Trudeau.
Both aides accused Trudeau of betraying Trump, a Republican, at a news conference held after the U.S. president had departed Canada. That was when Trudeau said Canada would take retaliatory steps in response to steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by Trump on Canada and other allies.
Before the apology, some U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday questioned the strong language the White House and Trump have used toward Canada in contrast to the praise he gave North Korea at Tuesday's summit in Singapore.
Chris Coons, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations, told MSNBC Trump had welcomed authoritarian leaders in other countries even as he "picks fights as he just did at the G7 with our longest, oldest closest allies: democracies, developed Western countries like Canada."
Republican U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, however, said North Korea's leader could also face harsh words.
"If Kim Jong Un reverses his commitments... then what the president said about Justin Trudeau will be repeated 10-fold about Kim Jong Un," Cotton told the Hugh Hewitt syndicated radio talk show.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, David Ljunggren and Andrea Hopkins in Toronto; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Tom Brown) | 1,267,952 |
Wayne council meeting
Dozens of police officers supported fired police officer Erik Ferschman after he was fired for eating without permission.
(Sara Jerde | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
WAYNE -- A number of retired police officers insisted to city officials Wednesday that the officer who was fired after he was late to respond to a dispatch because he was eating was inappropriately punished.
Dozens of officers attended the Wayne city council meeting where they stood in the back of the room to support former officer Erik Ferschman. Ferschman filed a civil lawsuit against the township last month, claiming he was improperly fired and requesting his job back.
Ferschman earned $86,393, according to state pension records.
Erik Ferschman, left, and his father, Peter, right
Among the people who spoke in his favor was his father, Peter Ferschman, who served in the Wayne police force for 31 years and retired as a sergeant.
"It seems to everyone here that Erik was overcharged," Peter Ferschman said, after he addressed the council.
Peter Ferschman said his son had served in the Wayne police force for about seven years and had been a dispatcher for four years. Ferschman said this was his son's first offense, and that the department could've handled the incident "through other disciplinary measures."
An internal investigation found that Erik Ferschman was eating in September 2015 without permission at Park Wayne Diner, which was outside his patrol zone.
It found that he was dining with four other police officers when he received a call about a person in cardiac arrest and was reportedly delayed in responding, after paying for his share of food and continuing to eat.
The person died before he left the diner.
A hearing officer hired by the police department determined that the offenses were enough to fire him. On Nov. 21, Erik Ferschman was given a notice of payroll change which stated that he was terminated from his position.
"I hate to see my son having difficulties here," Peter Ferschman said. "But we're going to get through it the best we can."
Erik Ferschman, who attended the meeting, hugged his father after he was done speaking, but otherwise showed little emotion as others vouched for him. Erik Ferschman declined to comment and referred questions to his lawyer, who has not returned multiple requests for comment.
Other retired officers who spoke at the meeting painted the police department as a tumultuous place for its employees with ineffective leadership, saying that it was run on harassment and coercion.
The town's lawyer, Matthew J. Giacobbe, said at the meeting that the township wouldn't comment on pending litigation.
Sara Jerde may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde. | 1,267,953 |
of the 7 million who sign up.
The website’s video featuring Paris Hilton’s response to Sen. John McCain’s 2008 campaign ad framing Obama as “the biggest celebrity in the world” snagged 11 million views.
And as one healthcare law advocate noted, it would be difficult for the Department of Health and Human Services to match the punch of singer-songwriter Derulo’s Twitter message directing his 2.3 million followers to sign up at healthcare.gov (especially now that his single “Talk Dirty” is knocking Katy Perry’s “Roar” off the singles charts).
Those celebrity efforts, of course, only augment what the administration and health insurance industry-allied groups are doing in churches, drugstores, clinics and beauty and barber shops across the country.
Though the administration will not detail the full budget, it has announced pieces: a multimillion-dollar ad buy this fall, the $150 million parceled out to community health centers for outreach and $67 million in grants for so-called navigators, who are helping consumers enroll in health coverage.
Competition for the support of the young may be the most fierce.
Enroll America is using campaign-style data tools to identify the uninsured through census and consumer marketing data and then going door-to-door to find them. Young Invincibles has developed mobile phone apps to connect elusive younger people with the resources they need to sign up, basing the technology on Pew survey findings that African Americans and Latinos — groups with higher rates of uninsured — tend to use their phones more than other devices to get information about services available to them.
On the other side, Generation Opportunity this fall plans a college bus tour to 20 campuses across the country. It hopes to counter Enroll America’s efforts with “good-looking” ambassadors bearing their message, according to the group’s president, Evan Feinberg.
In Hollywood, Farah and his creative team will be seeking those same eyeballs — guided by the Teddy Roosevelt quote that is framed on his office bar cart, which attests that credit belongs to the man “in the arena.”
He is loath to reveal the celebrities who will be joining him there, not wanting to deprive his audience of the element of surprise.
But he agrees to show one video, which makes the case to sign up for insurance with the laugh-cringe moments you might expect from Funny or Die: a little girl tumbling head-first off her rocking horse, a skateboarder’s ill-fated trick, a boy attempting a jump on his bike and ending up limp on the asphalt.
“Valerie Jarrett loved this video,” Farah said, referring to Obama’s trusted aide. But the test will come with a far tougher audience than that.
[email protected] | 1,267,954 |
Netflix is facing a backlash from film-makers over a new test feature that allows viewers to watch their content at different speeds.
After tech sites spotted the new option on the app, the streaming giant confirmed that it was trialling the feature which would mean downloaded films and shows could be watched at either a slower or faster pace on a smartphone.
The move has caused anger from film-makers including Judd Apatow and Brad Bird. Trainwreck and Knocked Up director Apatow, who co-created the Netflix series Love, tweeted his concerns earlier on Monday.
“Don’t make me have to call every director and show creator on Earth to fight you on this,” he wrote. “Save me the time. I will win but it will take a ton of time. Don’t fuck with our timing. We give you nice things. Leave them as they were intended to be seen.”
Bird, whose films include The Incredibles and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, tweeted that it was “another spectacularly bad idea” as well as “another cut to the already bleeding-out cinema experience”. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse co-director Peter Ramsey also tweeted: “Does everything have to be designed for the laziest and most tasteless?”
Ant-Man director Peyton Reed wrote: “This is a terrible idea, and I and every director I know will fight against it.”
The Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul also shared his dismay over the news. “There is NO WAY Netflix will move forward with this,” he tweeted. “That would mean they are completely taking control of everyone else’s art and destroying it. Netflix is far better than that. Am I right Netflix?”
The platform has previously received backlash over its option to skip the intro of certain titles.
Netflix playback speed settings on Android Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The new trial feature, captured above and currently only available on a small subset of Android devices, allows viewers the opportunity to play content from 0.5x, the regular speed, all the way to 1.5x. It is more widely used in podcasting, allowing listeners to consume episodes at a greater speed.
“We’re always experimenting with new ways to help members use Netflix,” a Netflix spokesperson said. “This test makes it possible to vary the speed at which people watch shows on their mobiles. As with any test, it may not become a permanent feature on Netflix.”
The news arrives just weeks before their longest original film to date, Martin Scorsese’s 210-minute crime drama The Irishman, which Vanity Fair now points out would now be consumed in under three hours. Netflix, which has recently increased its release of viewing data, counts more than 70% of a movie or episode as a watch. | 1,267,955 |
A Texas man has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting a postal worker on a Dallas highway for “making a hand gesture” that “angered him.”
The Department of Justice formally announced Thursday that Donnie Arlondo Ferrell, 25, had been charged with one count of murder of an officer or employee of the United States “while such officer or employee was engaged in or on the account of the performance of official duties.”
Ferrell was arrested Wednesday after a standoff in Hutchins, about 11 miles southeast of Dallas, FOX4 reported, citing multiple law enforcement sources close to the investigation.
Dallas police have said 58-year-old Tony Mosby was shot Monday about 2:30 a.m. while driving a postal truck just before the Margaret McDermott Bridge near downtown. When authorities arrived at the scene, they found Mosby dead in the cab of the 11-ton box truck, which had struck a guardrail.
US POSTAL WORKER KILLED IN SHOOTING ON DALLAS HIGHWAY
According to the DOJ, two people approached the FBI’s office in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday with information related to the shooting.
They reportedly told investigators that they met Ferrell and another person on Sunday at restaurant in Dallas. After making several stops, all four individuals left a pool hall around 1:30 a.m. They went on to say that the unidentified driver of the vehicle began driving erratically, trying to pass the Postal Service truck on its left side. It was then that Ferrell, sitting in the passenger seat, fired several shots at the truck.
The two individuals told investigators that they saw the truck crash into the barrier.
According to the DOJ press release, when one of the occupants of the vehicle asked Ferrell why he had fired his gun, he reportedly responded that “the driver of the USPS truck had made a hand gesture towards their vehicle and that angered him.”
Ferrell could face life in prison and a fine of $250,000 if found guilty.
Family members have described Mosby as a dedicated worker, as well as a trustworthy father and grandfather.
POSTAL WORKER KILLED IN DALLAS HIGHWAY SHOOTING CALLED 'ROCK OF THE FAMILY'
"He was the rock of the family and part of that glue is gone. And I think that's what's going to help heal his children and his brother and his sister is bringing this person to justice," Sylvia Mosby, his sister-in-law, told FOX4.
Authorities said the deadly shooting happened 11 days after someone shot at two Dallas police officers in a squad car about a mile away from Monday's episode, at about the same time of the morning. In that encounter, the officers were not seriously injured.
Police said there's no evidence linking the two crimes; there have been no arrests for the attack on the officers. | 1,267,956 |
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Monday slammed the FBI's investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign as a “criminal enterprise” that got off the rails.
Graham delivered his remarks during a news conference in which he reacted to the long-awaited review concerning the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
“Let’s assume for a moment it started out okay. It sure as he-- didn’t end okay,” Graham said referring to investigators' efforts to seek a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in the early months of the Russia investigation.
“I believe there will be no debate among reasonably minded people, particularly lawyers, about how the system got off the rails, but in my view became a criminal enterprise to defraud the FISA court, to deny American citizen Carter Page his constitutional rights, and to continue an operation against President Trump as president of the United States,” he said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., giving his take on the FISA report during an earlier news conference, said the report put to rest any notion that the FBI’s investigation of Trump’s 2016 campaign was politically motivated.
“This report conclusively debunks the baseless conspiracy that the investigation into Mr. Trump’s campaign and its ties to Russia originated with political bias.”
Schumer again reiterated that the FBI investigation was “valid and without political bias.”
Anticipating that his Republican colleagues will do their “level best to reject the report’s conclusions,” Schumer pointed out that FBI Director Christopher Wray – a Trump appointee – has “already embraced the central findings.”
US ATTORNEY DURHAM OBJECTS TO IG FINDINGS ON RUSSIA PROBE ORIGINS IN STUNNING STATEMENT
He quoted Wray as saying he did not believe the FBI unfairly targeted the Trump campaign.
Schumer also said it was “ironic” that officials including Attorney General William Barr and Graham, who have praised Horowitz in the past, later questioned the report.
“Because the IG issued a report whose conclusions he doesn’t like, Senator Graham ought not to question what he upheld last week,” Schumer said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The report listed multiple errors by the FBI in its efforts to obtain a FISA warrant. The IG probe identified at least 17 “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in the Page applications and said a new audit into the FISA process would take place.
Horowitz and his investigators were at times critical of the bureau’s handling of the cast, including for failing to share information that would have undercut claims in those warrants.
Fox News' Ronn Blitzer and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. | 1,267,957 |
WARNING: COARSE LANGUAGE
THE Northern Territory’s government is considering legal action over controversial travel merchandise spruiking the Top End as a tourist destination.
A group called NT Official — which has no connection to the government’s actual tourism arm, Tourism NT — is selling shirts and souvenirs emblazoned with the words “CU in the NT”.
We don’t need to tell you what’s wrong with this picture.
Apparently the issue is not the lewd slogan itself, but the use of official Tourism NT photos for commercial purposes without proper attribution. The the design is very similar to the Territory’s official “Brolga” logo, but it’s different enough to avoid infringing trademark laws.
The identities of the people behind the campaign are yet to be revealed, however, in a statement they described NT Official as a “guerilla group of people with the aim of promoting travel awareness to the NT region, specifically targeting younger markets”.
Its Facebook and Instagram pages are filled with wanderlust-inducing images.
The design caused quite a stir on social media, with lovers and haters alike.
“C u next Tuesday!” Felishia Richardson wrote on Facebook, to which CN in the NT replied: “Come any time you want!”
“That’s f en bonza mate. That’s better than “Where the bloody hell are ya” campaign for Qld. Well done lads,” commented Paul Bastian.
“Trashy campaign guys. Won’t be seeing any Top End spenders anytime soon with this campaign. You’ve lost me!” wrote David Richards.
“National disgrace. Australia where they use absolute filthy language and call it tourism promotion. How many tourists are you going to attract when you refer to it as a vagina. I hope this is retracted and fast,” commented Jody Ellis.
THE LATEST MARKETING WEAPON FOR THE TERRITORY HAS BEEN REVEALED pic.twitter.com/hyoGCFVUG6 — The NT News (@TheNTNews) November 5, 2016
NT News reports the government has been unable to contact anyone from NT Official.
However, a spokesman from the guerilla group told the newspaper they’d been inundated with orders, and he was “flat out like a lizard drinking”.
Let’s face it: humour and a laid-back attitude is what we love about the Top End.
“We want people to recognise that if they want to go to the NT they shouldn’t hesitate,” the group said in a statement. “They should just go and tell their friends to ‘CU in the NT!’” | 1,267,958 |
Pilot whales use synchronized swimming when they sense danger
Related images
(click to enlarge)
An international team of scientists have observed the behavior of various groups of cetaceans in the Strait of Gibraltar and Cape Breton in Canada belonging to the Globicephala melas species, which are also known as long-finned pilot whales. These results show that these whales use synchronized swimming when they identify the presence of an external threat. There are 300 pilot whales inhabiting the Straight of Gibraltar. Here these cetaceans remain throughout the entire year in the water of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. But, little is known about their social structure.
Headed by the University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom) in collaboration with the Doñana Biological Station (CSIC) and Conservation, Information and Study on Cetaceans (CIRCE) group, the study analyzed the patterns of association between individuals within this whale community. The aim was to provide a long-term vision of their social system.
"The important point is that we compared two different populations: one inhabiting the Strait of Gibraltar which is exposed to predators (boats in this case) and another with an ecotype where there are not so many boats (Cape Breton in Canada). The pilot whales are social species and we were interested in seeing how mothers teach their young, for example. We observed that they use synchronized swimming when in danger," as explained Renaud de Stephanis, researcher of the Biological Station of Doñana and coauthor of the study published in the journal behavioral Processes.
Between 1999 and 2006 the scientists gathered samples in an area of 23,004 km in the Strait of Gibraltar and took 4,887 images of the dorsal fins of whales to compare them with those in Canada.
"They swim in complete synchrony both in the Strait of Gibraltar and Canada. When sea traffic or whale watching vessels are nearby, the whole group collectively reacts to such external stimuli. When we arrived at the watching area they were swimming at their normal rhythm but after 10 or 15 minutes near to them, the mothers and their young began to swim in a synchronized manner in alert position. This is a sign of affiliation to the group," adds the expert.
According to the researcher, these cetaceans also have a social structure formed by permanent partnerships. This means that they spend their life with the same whales and they do not interchange between different groups, as in the case of bottlenose dolphins.
Thanks to the study we now know that the presence of vessels also disturbs diving behavior. "As such, when we began observing the whales up close, they tended to spend quite some time on the surface. However, the longer we spent nearby, the longer they stayed under water. This behavioral change could affect their energy levels, since they then have to make more of an effort to protect themselves and their young. In turn this limits hunting time, which means that they cannot feed their young properly," concludes the researcher. | 1,267,959 |
After leaked in Press renders, also spotted on AnTuTu and Geekbench scores, the Razer Phone 2 has been officially launched in the USA. It is high-end gaming smartphone comes with a 5.72-inch Quad HD 120 Hz UltraMotion display, Snapdragon 845 with Vapor Chamber Cooling and 8GB of RAM.
Razer Phone 2 Price in USA and Availability
The Razer Phone 2 price in USA has been set at $799.99 for 64GB storage Mirror version, while the Satin version will be available later. The device is already available for pre-order via Amazon and BestBuy online store. The handset comes in Mirror and Satin versions.
Razer Phone 2 Specifications
[amazon box=”B07H9V6PHZ” /]
The Razer Phone 2 features a 5.72-inch Quad HD IGZO LCD UltraMotion display delivering fastest refresh rates and smooth graphics suitable for gaming, same as the predecessor, but this has 645 nits, making it brighter than the predecessor. The screen is also protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and has a Razer Chroma RGB logo on the back that glows in different colors for notifications.
The handset is powered by a 2.8 GHz octa-core processor which supported by Snapdragon 845 64-bit 10nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU and Vapor Chamber Cooling system that allows heat to spread throughout the phone via a custom vapor chamber which vastly increases the surface area for heat to dissipate. It packs 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM along with 64GB of inbuilt storage which can be expanded via microSD card up to 2TB.
On the camera front, the device flaunts a dual 12-megapixel rear camera, one with /1.75 wide-angle lens, OIS, Dual PDAF and secondary camera with f/2.6 aperture telephoto lens, Sony IMX Sensors, and dual-tone LED flash. For selfie, there is an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture. The Razer Phone 2 has a side-mounted Fingerprint sensor and comes with IP67 ratings for Water Resistance up to 1 meter.
The device runs on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box, but also upgradable to Android 9.0 Pie. It packs a 4000mAh battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ as well as Wireless Charging. It has stereo front-facing speakers and Dolby Atmos. This doesn’t have a 3.5mm audio jack but comes with 24-bit DAC Audio Adapter. For connectivity includes 4G VoLTE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 5, NFC and USB C. The device measures 158.5 x 78.99 x 8.5 mm 156.8 x 75 x 7.6mm and weighs 224 grams. | 1,267,960 |
Atrax, is an inexpensive crimeware kit that comes with a slew of capabilities including browser data extraction, Bitcoin mining and the capability to launch DDoS attacks.
Yet another commercial crimekit has been spotted making the rounds on the underground malware forums that uses the anonymity network Tor to stealthily communicate with its command and control servers.
While it isn’t the first of its kind to use Tor, the kit, nicknamed Atrax, is cheap and comes with a slew of capabilities including browser data extraction, Bitcoin mining and the capability to launch DDoS attacks.
Named after an Australian subfamily of spiders, Atrax runs for about $250 – Bitcoin only – making it one of the more relatively affordable kits available. Atrax comes with a few add-ons, including a plugin stealer ($110), an experimental add-on for coin mining ($140) and a form grabber ($300), according to Jonas Mønsted of the Danish security firm CSIS, who described the kit in depth in a blog entry earlier today.
While some of the add-ons, notably the form grabber, cost more than the actual kit, Atrax comes with free updates, support and bug fixes, perks that could catch an attacker’s eye.
In the Atrax rundown, Mønsted writes that “communication over TOR is already encrypted, so no extra communication encryption” is needed and that the kit doesn’t use “suspicious Windows APIs.”
The kit’s author claims Atrax’s size (1.2 MB) is due to “TOR integration and x64/x86 code.”
The plug-in stealer looks to have a wealth of functionality, boasting the ability to steal information from Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer and Opera browsers.
Atrax has opened its arms to the burgeoning world of Bitcoin as well as the kit’s author claims, it can steal information from users’ Bitcoin wallets (such as Armory, Bitcoin-Qt, Electrum and Multibit) and also mine for Bitcoin and a lesser known alternative, Litecoin.
While CSIS has yet to track down an active sample of the Atrax kit, it sounds like it should fit alongside other recently discovered botnets and malware tools that also rely on the Tor network to propagate.
Mevade, one of the more popular Tor-based botnets gained unwanted publicity when it shifted to the covert communication protocol at the end of this past summer. Tor saw a gigantic uptick in users, up to 2.5 million from 500,000 in August thanks to the botnet, something that got it detected but didn’t prove to be its complete undoing.
Activity stemming from MEvade was later spotted in September by Microsoft lending a hand to Sefnit, a long thought dead strain of malware that was revived after it found a new component to carry out click fraud. | 1,267,961 |
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About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. EA has more than 300 million registered players around the world.
In fiscal year 2016, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.4 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster brands such as The Sims™, Madden NFL, EA SPORTS™ FIFA, Battlefield™, Dragon Age™ and Plants vs. Zombies™. More information about EA is available at www.ea.com/news.
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Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. "PlayStation" is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
About Club Nomadic
Club Nomadic is the ultimate entertainment experience that travels to marquee events and destinations across the United States. With over 20 years of experience, Club Nomadic offers a one-of-a-kind setting with first-in-class hospitality and world-class entertainment. Visit http://clubnomadic.com/ for more information.
1 All NFL- related trademarks, including NFL and the NFL Shield design, are trademarks of NFL Properties LLC. All team-related trademarks, including team names, logos, and uniforms designs, are trademarks of the respective NFL Member Clubs. | 1,267,962 |
The flurry of post-convention polling released over the past week shows Clinton establishing a lead approaching double-digits in most national surveys and forming consistent advantages in swing states from Michigan and Pennsylvania in the Rustbelt to Virginia and Florida across the Sunbelt.
Some of Clinton’s surge may recede as the afterglow of the widely praised Democratic National Convention fades. But national and battleground-state polling shows enormous internal consistency—and portrays a race whose underlying structure is solidifying. In that emerging structure, white-collar whites loom as the fulcrum between blue-collar whites still rallying around Trump and the voters of color coalescing in potentially record numbers against him.
Taken together, the surveys show Clinton pushing the boundaries of the traditional Democratic advantage among nonwhite voters. Since 1984, according to calculations by ABC pollster Gary Langer, every Democratic nominee has carried between 78 and 82 percent of the combined two-party vote among minority voters (except for John Kerry, who carried only 71 percent of them against George W. Bush in 2004).
The latest polling gives Clinton reason to hope she can breach that upper limit. In last week’s NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, she led Trump among African Americans by 91 percent to 1 percent; in Sunday’s ABC/Washington Post survey, her advantage was 92 percent to 2 percent. New state polls in Michigan and Virginia also put Trump’s African American support at 2 percent and 1 percent respectively. In early July, NBC/WSJ/Marist Polls placed his African American support in Ohio and Pennsylvania at literally zero. Even Mitt Romney carried 6 percent of African Americans nationally against President Obama, according to exit polls.
The results among Hispanics in national surveys have oscillated more, partly because most polls survey relatively few of them (and often don’t conduct interviews in Spanish). But two recent large-scale surveys of Hispanics by the Spanish-language television networks Telemundo and Univision both put Trump’s support in that growing group below 20 percent. That’s well below even the meager 27 percent Romney attracted in 2012 according to exit polls. Some of the latest national surveys show Clinton potentially on a path to draw as much as a combined 85 percent among voters of color.
Conversely, even with all the turbulence buffeting him, Trump still appears positioned for a strong showing among the group that has been his foundation from the start: whites without a college education, especially men. In the first national polls immediately after the Democratic National Convention, Trump’s margin among blue-collar whites sagged (dropping by 13 points in the NBC/WSJ survey and by 15 points in a Marist/McClatchy poll). But Trump led among white men without college degrees by 42 points in Sunday’s ABC/Washington Post poll and by 31 points in a national Monmouth University poll released Monday; his advantage among white women without a degree stood at 11 points in the former and 17 in the latter. | 1,267,963 |
A California prosecutor is in hot water for a series of posts on social media, including referring to Democratic lawmaker Maxine Waters as a 'c***' and wondering why she hasn't been shot.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Selyem, who is lead gang prosecutor in the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, also targeted former first lady Michelle Obama and immigrants in his posts on Facebook and Instagram.
There have been demands for his dismissal, according to the San Bernardino Sun.
He wrote of Waters: 'Being a loud-mouthed c#nt in the ghetto you would think someone would have shot this bitch by now …'
Maxine Waters has been a target of criticism since she called on members of the public to assail Trump administration officials when they seem them
Deputy District Attorney Michael Selyem is under investigation for his posts on social media
He posted a doctored picture of Michelle Obama holding a sign that read 'Trump grabbed my penis.'
Selyem's position makes him the lead attorney on criminal gang activity. Most of those gangs consist of members who are of Latino descent.
One of Selyem's posts consisted of a photo of a man in a giant sombrero with the words: 'Mexican word of the day: Hide.'
Waters has been a target of criticism since she called on members of the public to assail Trump administration officials when they see them over her anger the President Donald Trump's 'zero tolerance' immigration policy.
Selyem, 50, is under investigation by the district attorney's office for his posts. Both his Facebook and Instagram account have been deleted. He is on paid administrative leave.
San Bernardino District Attorney Mike Ramos said the office does not condone hate.
Michael Selyem's posts criticized Maxine Waters and Michelle Obama
Michael Selyem also criticized immigrants
'The San Bernardino County District Attorney's office does not condone hate, discrimination or the incitement of violence. Our community and the entire criminal justice system depend on having a fair, ethical and unbiased prosecutor,' he said.
He also said the office must balance an employee's First Amendment rights with the office's integrity within the community, according to the New York Daily News.
Another one of Selyem's posts shared a Breitbart News story about the Budweiser Super Bowl ad that celebrated the success of the company's immigrant founder, Selyem wrote: 'I am all for white males immigrating here legally and starting a business. It is the terrorist a–holes sneaking in here wanting to kill me an my family that I am opposed to. I cannot believe how shallow democrats are. They must really think people are stupid. I guess that is evident because they actually thought Hilary Clinton could win a presidential election… TWICE!!! LMFAO!!!'
Selyem's posts on social media also consisted of photos of family, friends, and food. They also indicated his support for Trump. | 1,267,964 |
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The final days of summer are just around the corner but it is not too late to enjoy and explore new spots in the city.
The City of Vancouver has added five new public spaces across the Lower Mainland and they want people to stop by one – or all – of the recently installed spaces.
Robson and Bute Pilot Plaza (Bute Street at Robson Street, Downtown)
Bute-Robson Plaza / Photo by Paul Krueger.
This space features modular seating and a public piano for people who want to sit and socialize, relax, and hold small events. Until October, the City is working with the Robson Street Business Improvement Association to test different uses of the space, measure traffic impacts, hear feedback and see how the community might adopt it as a potential permanent plaza.
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Meet the Parklet (Main Street at East 27th Avenue, Main Street)
Meet the Parklet.
The newest addition to the City’s suite of parklets, Meet the Parklet adds a touch of green to Main Street and East 27th Avenue with lush railing plantings. Designed and built by locals, you can sit, relax and enjoy a local snack while taking a break on your Main Street stroll.
Vernon Plaza on the Adanac Bikeway (Intersection of Union, Vernon, and Adanac, East Vancouver)
Vernon Plaza on the Adanac Bike Route / City of Vancouver.
The City recently created this “double triangle” plaza at the intersection of Union, Vernon and Adanac. It’s a place to sit, hang out, and watch the world roll by.
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WATCH: Vancouver closer to building floating pool in False Creek
2:09 Vancouver closer to building floating pool in False Creek Vancouver closer to building floating pool in False Creek
Arbutus Greenway (False Creek to the Fraser River, Kitsilano, Kerrisdale and Marpole)
Arbutus Greenway / Photo by Alison Boulier.
Explore the Arbutus Greenway and travel seamlessly along a nine-kilometre corridor, connecting False Creek to the Fraser River. Along the way you will experience vibrant gathering spaces mixed with quiet spaces of tranquility, bustling commercial districts, beautiful parks, and breathtaking views.
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Maple Tree Square (Water Street and Carrall Street, Gastown)
The City is currently relocating the barriers at Maple Tree Square to create more space for walking in a very busy area, allowing for more public seating and patios. In this space, you can sit back and enjoy people watching in the heart of Gastown.
Officials say they are creating these spots to provide spaces for people to connect with their city and each other.
Here’s a map of the new public places: | 1,267,965 |
SingleUnix is quite verbose about EOVERFLOW :
Value too large to be stored in data type The user ID or group ID of an IPC or file system object was too large to be stored into appropriate member of the caller-provided structure. This error will only occur on implementations that support a larger range of user ID or group ID values than the declared structure member can support. This usually occurs because the IPC or file system object resides on a remote machine with a larger value of the type uid_t, off_t or gid_t than the local system.
EOVERFLOW seems to be intended to signal a subsystem incompatibility, i.e. some system returned a larger value than another subsystem can handle.
EOVERFLOW is explained in more detail in the rationale:
Most of the uses of this error code are related to large file support. Typically, these cases occur on systems which support multiple programming environments with different sizes for off_t, but they may also occur in connection with remote file systems. In addition, when different programming environments have different widths for types such as int and uid_t, several functions may encounter a condition where a value in a particular environment is too wide to be represented. In that case, this error should be raised. For example, suppose the currently running process has 64-bit int, and file descriptor 9223372036854775807 is open and does not have the close-on- exec flag set. If the process then uses execl() to exec a file compiled in a programming environment with 32-bit int, the call to execl() can fail with errno set to [EOVERFLOW]. A similar failure can occur with execl() if any of the user IDs or any of the group IDs to be assigned to the new process image are out of range for the executed file's programming environment. Note, however, that this condition cannot occur for functions that are explicitly described as always being successful, such as getpid().
Thanks to @rici for the pointer
ERANGE is more like this won't ever fit. strtol() is one example. Another, less clear one: Trying to increment a SYSV semaphore past its configured limit returns ERANGE.
With EOVERFLOW that data is there, it just does not fit into the local data structure(s).
For example, lseek() can return EOVERFLOW. This happens, e.g. when off_t is only 32bit but the file system can support larger files and you try to seek past the range the OS can handle. Why isn't this ERANGE? Because the system can handle the operation in principle, it just cannot return it to you in the data type available.
Trying to map more than 2G using mmap() on a 32bit system on Linux returns an EOVERFLOW (other systems return EINVAL ). | 1,267,966 |
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writes Jazz on a Saturday (and Sunday) Afternoon
I wasn’t planning to go to this year’s Chicago Jazz Festival, but fate allowed me the opportunity to head downtown to catch at least some of it. And I’m very glad I did – I enjoyed it so much I went back the next day. Chicago’s free summer music festivals are a critical part of the city’s cultural life. I’ve never been disappointed going to one, and this was no exception. The weather was great and the vibe was chill. No lines to wait in, no worrying about tickets or not being allowed back in. Just come on down, have a seat (or throw down a blanket) and listen.
Starting this year the festival had relocated to the north side of Millennium Park, with the headliners performing in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion/Great Lawn space. The sound quality was outstanding, and thanks to a giant LCD screen there were no problems seeing the performers as well as hearing them.
Unfortunately, I missed a couple of outstanding artists who have appeared on CHIRP Radio, the Chicago Underground Duo on Saturday and Jason Adasiewicz’s Sun Rooms on Sunday. Such is the nature of having too much quality music to enjoy in just so many days. But I did see a group of stunningly talented musicians including as the Ari Brown Quintet, vibraphonist Gary Burton, the Bobby Broom trio, Miguel Zenon Quartet, and brilliant young vocalist Cécile McLorin.
And I’m glad I stuck around for the festival’s closing performers, the Sun Ra Arkestra, who put on an electrifying performance. Although he passed away 21 years ago, the prolific Avant-Garde composer and bandleader left behind mountains of material along with a philosophy of using music to explore new horizons while keeping rooted firmly in the structures of Blues and Jazz. “Space is the Place!” the band declared, and they made it impossible not to agree with them.
Here are some pictures from the weekend:
The Great Lawn, Millenuim Park, Chicago
Gary Burton (vibraphones)
Tom Harrell
Esperanza Spalding (bass) and Jaleel Shaw (alto sax) of Tom Harrell's "Colors of a Dream"
Bobby Broom (guitar)
The Bobby Broom Trio
Miguel Zinon (alto sax)
Cécile McLorin Salvant
The Sun Ra Arkestra
The Sun Ra Arkestra
The Sun Ra Arkestra
Just another summer weekend evening in Chicago...
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comments powered by Disqus | 1,267,967 |
. Instead, she merely said Jews shouldn’t be offended by her attacks on the Israeli “regime.”
The problem here is that far from being pilloried for her hate, Omar is still being feted as a progressive heroine in the mainstream media, as Amanpour’s softball interview demonstrated. While, as Amanpour prompted Omar to say, criticism of Israel’s government isn’t anti-Semitic, accusing Jews of hypnotizing the world and supporting the elimination of the only Jewish state is anti-Semitic.
But instead of being placed in the dock alongside King, Omar (who, in a separate CNN interview given last week, also spread slander about Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) without providing any evidence) is being rewarded by her party with a seat on the Foreign Relations Committee. She will be just one voice on a panel whose new chairman, Representative Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.), is an ardent supporter of Israel. But she will be able to use her place there as the sort of bully pulpit for attacks on the Jewish state that a BDS movement that is dedicated to its destruction has lacked up until now.
Democrats dismiss complaints about either Omar or Tlaib as merely diversionary tactics by Republicans who have largely shrugged their shoulders at Trump’s various offensive comments about a wide variety of targets. But that sort of “whataboutism” is as disingenuous as attempts to excuse King. If he doesn’t deserve any committee assignments — and he doesn’t — then neither do they.
Omar and Tlaib’s seeming immunity from accountability for their anti-Semitic comments and position stems from the Democratic leadership’s fear of offending their left-wing activist base. The Left’s embrace of intersectional ideology that falsely conflates the struggle for civil rights in the United States with Third World conflicts such as the Palestinian war against Israel has made anti-Semites like Women’s March leaders Tamika Mallory a leader in the anti-Trump resistance.
Since the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre in October, many on the left have — in spite of the president’s close connections to Jews and exemplary support for Israel — attempted to connect the dots between Trump and anti-Semitism on part of far-right extremists. But the same people who blame Trump for Jew-hatred have placed partisanship over principle and effectively exempted Democrats from the same scrutiny even when it involves, as is the case with Omar and Tlaib, overt expressions of anti-Semitism. Those who rail at Trump or King but are willing to tolerate Omar and Tlaib’s hate in the name of inclusiveness for immigrants or solidarity with fellow progressives aren’t merely being hypocritical. The Democrats’ fear of their left-wing base is so great that they aren’t willing hold anti-Semites on their side of the aisle accountable in the way that Republicans have just done with King. | 1,267,968 |
Oprah Winfrey makes a surprise cameo in the latest episode of 'The Handmaid's Tale' It turns out Winfrey is a major fangirl of Hulu's Emmy Award-winning series.
Viewers of "The Handmaid's Tale" heard a familiar voice on the latest episode of Hulu's Emmy Award-winning series.
[Be warned, fans: spoilers ahead.]
Oprah Winfrey loaned her voice to the 11th episode, titled "Holly," to play a radio host. In the episode, the show’s protagonist Offred, played by Elisabeth Moss, is struggling to decide whether to escape Gilead, the theocratic regime that has overtaken the United States, when she comes across a car.
Turning on the car, she is surprised to hear a voice coming from the radio.
It's Winfrey, as an unnamed, uncredited character, "broadcasting from somewhere in the Great White North." Winfrey's character reveals that economic aid is coming to the American government in Anchorage while the United Kingdom has announced additional sanctions against Gilead "as well as plans to raise the cap on American refugees relocating from Canada."
While Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" plays, Winfrey's voice continues, "Now a tune to remind everyone who's listening -- American patriot or Gilead traitor -- that we are still here. Stars and stripes forever, baby."
Showrunner Bruce Miller explained in a statement shared with ABC News that Winfrey was down for the role.
"We'd heard Oprah was a fan of the show, and had a story idea, and thought, wouldn't it be wonderful if... So we asked and she said yes, and it was a lovely, easy process," Miller said. "The radio segment she recorded was inspired by the free radio of the Allies from World War II. It was an absolute honor to have Oprah featured on the show, and especially thrilling as she was the one who presented us with the Emmy last year."
While presenting the Emmy for best drama series, Winfrey embraced Moss who was first on stage to accept the award.
The pair first spent time together for The Hollywood Reporter's Drama Actress Roundtable in 2017. It was then that Winfrey showed what a fangirl she was, peppering Moss with questions about the series.
"She was in the dressing room next to me and she kept popping back into the room to ask questions about the show or to make comments or ask what was coming up for a specific character," Moss told THR in an interview earlier this year. "Then she'd leave and I'd close the door and have a silent freak-out moment, just screaming silently, that Oprah Winfrey even knew what the show was and then she would pop back up with more questions."
Episode 11 is currently available on Hulu. The series' second season will wrap up with the finale, which premieres Wednesday, July 11. | 1,267,969 |
Legislation designed to reduce federal prison sentences for some non-violent crimes and to help prisoners prepare for freedom is inching its way toward the Senate floor. And it just got a big boost from an unlikely ally: rank-and-file police.
What's happening: The Fraternal Order of Police — the largest law enforcement labor organization in the U.S. — announced Friday its support of a bipartisan Senate criminal justice reform bill, which would lower certain mandatory sentences, incentivize prison rehabilitation programs, provide sanitary products to women and potentially release around 4,000 people.
Why it matters: Part of the challenge for reform advocates like Jared Kushner has been persuading hard-liners such as Sen. Tom Cotton and President Trump that the bill could win the support of law enforcement and wouldn’t undermine public safety, a person familiar with the negotiations tells Axios. FOP's endorsement clears a significant hurdle.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is also supportive of the bill, according to a source close to the negotiations, and publicly endorsed the House version of the bill earlier this year.
Update: Law Enforcement Leaders, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the National District Attorneys Association have also sent letters in support of the bill.
Another advantage: Jeff Sessions was arguably the administration’s single-most effective opponent of this kind of legislation. His departure means reformers have one less barrier.
The big picture: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he would have a whip count on the bill after the midterm elections and has indicated he would bring it to the floor if can get more than 60 votes. Republicans close to leadership believe criminal justice reform could pass the Senate during the lame duck, but this is far from certain and hard-liners like Cotton will be difficult if not impossible to win over.
Trump has previously expressed openness to the Senate's approach. But he has also expressed concerns the bill could anger his base, as he ran as the tough-on-crime candidate, according to one person familiar with negotiations.
to the Senate's approach. But he has also expressed concerns the bill could anger his base, as he ran as the tough-on-crime candidate, according to one person familiar with negotiations. Kushner and his allies have been arguing that these prisoners will be released anyway, so they should have the best chance to get jobs and build new lives after their incarceration.
Criminal justice reform is one of only a few policy issues that can win broad bipartisan support. A narrower version of the bill focused on rehabilitation and re-entry programs passed the House 360-59 in May.
Since then, four provisions addressing harsh federal sentencing guidelines have been added during Senate negotiations at the insistence of Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Senate Democrats and others — though the final language of this version of the bill has not yet been released. Including those changes makes it less likely some hard-line conservatives will get on board.
Go deeper: | 1,267,970 |
New insights into animal patterns around extinct submarine volcanoes could inform measures used to protect marine ecosystems from human activities, such as trawling and deep-sea mining. These insights have been published today in Nature Scientific Reports, and show that the structure of marine life communities depends on depth and small-scale features on the sea floor.
Lissette Victorero, the PhD- student who led this research, from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and the University of Southampton, said "The approaches used in the study have previously mainly been used to investigate ecosystems on land. However, I found them especially useful for prioritising areas worth protecting by pinpointing unique animal communities on the seamount. This can be a powerful tool for conservation and management. For example, monitoring the impacts of trawling and future mining on deep-sea biodiversity."
Extinct deep-sea volcanoes, or seamounts, are biodiversity hotspots, hosting substantial coral and sponge communities and abundant fish stocks. The study used video footage from a robotic remotely operated vehicle (ROV) up to 3 km deep, collected during a research expedition. From the video, Lissette and her fellow researchers from the NOC and the Universities of Bristol, Essex and Newfoundland identified over 30 000 animals living on the surface of the Annan Seamount in the Equatorial-Atlantic, including spectacular cold-water coral colonies.
By applying statistical models, the scientists were able to tease apart how changes in the biological communities are structured and what drives these patterns. They found that the structure was controlled by small-scale changes on the sea floor and that the key difference between the marine life communities was the identity of species, rather than the number of species. This finding suggests that any human activities that alter the seafloor, such as potential deep-sea mining, could have a big impact on communities of marine life around the seamount. "I am especially excited about our results, since seamounts are really poorly studied, and now we can investigate whether these patterns hold in other seamounts and regions and continue forming links between local and regional deep-sea biodiversity patterns," Lissette continued.
On this seamount researchers found that animals clustered in certain areas, either as a cluster of one species, or as dense groups of different species. In one area the team found hundreds of sea urchins coming together to mate, which has rarely been observed. An area of deep-sea near the seamount was also found to be full of soft corals. These findings can be used to prevent human activities from disrupting or destroying these communities of important marine species.
This research is part of the ERC funded CACH project (Starting Grant no 278705), and forms part of the NOC's on-going research into deep-sea ecosystems, as well as investigating the potential impacts of marine resource exploration.
Footage of the soft corals can be found by following this link https://youtu.be/jIgUqa5wmGE | 1,267,971 |
Kraftland
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR
For a long time, walking through Richard Kraft's house in Los Angeles was like walking through an amusement park. The original Dumbo car in the living room, the Submarine Voyage Sea Serpent by the pool. Or the tennis court in the background filled with original ride vehicles from Disney. Not to mention the original Disneyland boats, ticket booths, and signage that sat in storage for years. But after decades of riding the thrill of ultra collecting, Kraft decided it was time to clean house and sell the collection. All 10,000 piece of it.
Kraft started collecting Disney artifacts shortly after his brother, David, died from complications from Crohn's disease in his early 30's. Kraft was in a fog of grief when he found himself driving to Disneyland. It was a place that their parents would take them when David was well enough and money was good. Walking down Main Street and following the path of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride — the first ride he and his brother always went on as kids —Kraft felt connected to his brother again. He bought his first Disney collectibles at an auction soon after that first visit.
But Kraft admits, he doesn't understand the meaning of limits. Once he started collecting, he wanted to become the top Disney collector. His grief became the fuel for his already competitive spirit as he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on original Disneyland pieces. It soon became intertwined with his identity, something all his friends and colleagues associated him with — the eccentric, nutso Disney collector.
In 2008, when his first child left for college, Kraft walked around the house packed with all this stuff and felt a chill. This bizarre monument of a home felt creepy — the glory days of nostalgia were over. Now, he was an empty nester with Dumbo.
So, in August of 2018, Kraft brought all the pieces together for the first and only time, transforming an old Sports Authority location in Sherman Oaks, California into "Kraftland." All the pieces were refurbished and grouped into themes, much like how the attractions at Disneyland are laid out. The exhibit ran for a month and was followed by a multi-day auction. Kraft says it felt like shedding a skin.
Here is a selection of photographs from the exhibit and auction.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morgan Baker for NPR Morgan Baker for NPR | 1,267,972 |
UPDATED with analysis: Comcast, after being spurned in its initial pursuit of 21st Century Fox, apparently is preparing to challenge Disney’s $52.4 billion deal to acquire most of the studio’s film and TV assets, according to reports.
Reuters reports that Comcast is speaking with investment bankers about obtaining bridge financing for an all-cash offer. It’s waiting for a federal judge to issue a ruling next month in the Justice Department’s challenge to the AT&T-Time Warner merger before making its move, the news organization says.
Media analyst Rich Greenfield predicted Comcast would make another run at Fox, in part because the deal would give Disney “unprecedented control” over the legacy media landscape. The combined film studios account for more than 40% of the domestic box office, and Disney’s control of ESPN and Fox’s regional sports networks would give it serious leverage in negotiations with pay TV companies. This calculus doesn’t even take into account the competitive threat of the tech giants, which have direct relationships with consumers and billions to spend on content.
“With AT&T acquiring Time Warner and Viacom/CBS highly likely to merge in the coming weeks, there is no other obvious way for Comcast to scale their content assets, expand their distribution presence globally and stymie Disney beyond renewing their efforts to acquire Fox at a meaningful premium to Disney,” Greenfield wrote. “If AT&T-Time Warner is ruled legal and closes, we expect a new Comcast bid for Fox immediately. But before we get to if/how that is possible, let us first analyze why their prior efforts to buy Fox failed in second half 2017.”
Last fall, Comcast laid out a substantially richer bid for Fox than the one Disney proposed: $34.41 a share, according to regulatory filings. But Fox’s board, mindful of potential regulatory obstacles, ultimately chose the Disney offer.
Comcast telegraphed its intentions to disrupt Disney’s plans for Fox when it announced it would mount a challenge to Fox’s $16 billion bid to take full control of Britain’s pay TV giant Sky, with its international distribution and film and television production capabilities.
Disney CEO Bob Iger once described Sky as a crown jewel among Fox’s assets, telling Bloomberg, “Sky is just an amazing platform. Not only does it provide a great consumer experience in terms of access to the programming but also creates a lot of great programming from sports to news to all forms of entertainment.”
However, Fox’s bid for Sky has faced regulatory hurdles in the UK because of fears that it would give the Murdoch family too much control over British media.
Comcast formally notified European Commission today of its plans to bid for Sky, starting the clock on a regulatory review. It also disclosed details of its approximately $30 billon bid in its recent quarterly earnings report. | 1,267,973 |
FLASHING ROMS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY AND COULD POTENTIALLY DAMAGE YOUR PHONE -- WHILE I MAKE EVERY ATTEMPT NOT
TO
LET THIS HAPPEN, IT'S STILL A RISK THAT YOU'RE TAKING. IF SOMETHING BAD SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOUR PHONE, PLEASE DON'T BLAME ME -- HENCE THIS WARNING.
- Rooted- Running a Motorola ICS leak (.206,.208,.211, etc)- I recommend that you run Safestrap v2.00 to install this. Here's how to use Safestrap And you can download Safestrap for the Droid 4 (v2.x for ICS-leak users) here:- 4G and basic phone function- All sensors- Camera, Panorama and Face-unlock- Video Recording- HD YouTube- Netflix- Data connection is a work in progress. It's MUCH better than it used to be in the old ICS builds, however there is always room for improvement. Due to the "global" data connection style of stock Motorola ICS, this problem will probably continue to be worked on. Feedback is always appreciated, but if you see it posted already then there's a good chance I know about specific issues.- Currently, there is a bug in the rotation display of the phone. What I mean is, that when you take the phone and rotate it, the display will squeeze in on itself and then pop back out. This is a *known* issue and I'm working very hard to fix it.- The CM9 built-in Wifi Tether won't work. You need to use the "Wifi Tether" app that's bundled into the ROM. Once you open it, hit [menu] and "Settings". Select "Change Device-Profile" to "Generic ICS".Myself and @DHacker29 work as a team to build AOSP-based ROMs (and device setups) for several Motorola phones. Typically, I do the coding work in C, C++ or Java while DHacker maintains the blobs, runs merges with CM/AOKP sources, and solves device issues which require less coding.It's an automated build ran from a script. It basically: deletes the current set of output files, sync's with github, and then attempts to do a brand new build. It can break at times, in which case we'll fix it (usually this happens when there are framework changes which didn't get merged).- Since we work on several devices, this is how we decided to start keeping builds up-to-date. Rather than spend several hours a week on builds and uploading. This happens automatically every night around 2am PST.- It's up to you the community to identify good "stable" builds.Feel free to follow me on Twitter as I do sometimes make announcements there before I do forum postings:We maintain all of our code at github:Screenshots:[ COMING SOON ] | 1,267,974 |
Alabama authorities issued a warrant Thursday for a man in the suspected of kidnapping the 19-year-old stepdaughter of UFC star Walt Harris.
Ibraheem Yazeed, 30, was already out on bond for kidnapping and attempted murder charges when the Auburn Police Department issued the first-degree kidnapping warrant.
Yazeed was identified by authorities as a person of interest after video surveillance showed him inside the convenience store where Aniah Haley Blanchard was last seen.
Ibraheem Yazeed. Auburn Police Division
The 30-year-old man was seen in the video wearing a camouflage colored jacket with “Vans” in white writing across the back and driving a late 2000’s model Lincoln Town Car that appeared to be either silver or grey.
Auburn Police Chief Paul Register told reporters Thursday that they were looking into whether Blanchard might have known Yazeed.
"We don't have any reason to know that she was familiar with him, but we can't rule out completely that there would have been some knowledge," Register said.
Register emphasized that Yazeed should be considered armed and dangerous. The public is asked to contact authorities immediately upon sighting Yazeed or Blanchard.
Blanchard, a student Southern Union College, was last seen on Oct. 23 in Auburn, Alabama. Her car was found damaged in Montgomery, about an hour away from Auburn, just two days later.
Authorities have said they believe Blanchard has been harmed and suspect foul play in her disappearance after the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences examined evidence from Blanchard’s 2017 Honda CR-V.
It's unclear why Yazeed, who has a residence in Montgomery, was in the Auburn area on the night Blanchard was last seen.
“It’s very concerning to know that someone that committed this kind of crime... was out in our community," Register said about Yazeed's arrest for kidnapping and attempted murder. "It’s a difficult job keeping our communities safe and to know that that person was here, it’s a reminder to all of us that we just have to be vigilant in being safe."
Aniah Haley Blanchard. Auburn Police Department
Walt Harris withdrew on Friday from a scheduled Dec. 7 UFC heavyweight event amid the search for his stepdaughter, multiple industry publications reported.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and UFC president Dana White have announced rewards totaling $30,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in Blanchard’s disappearance.
“While she’s been gone, I’ve been holding on to hope,” Blanchard’s biological father Elijah Blanchard previously told NBC News. “The hardest part is knowing that she’s not just a phone call away.”
The public is asked to contact authorities immediately upon sighting Yazeed or Blanchard | 1,267,975 |
film and the humans inhabiting it the bridge to an impenetrable form of organic calligraphy. Ultimately, Arrival is as much about the aliens as it is about how mankind would realistically respond to such an incomprehensible event.
2. Green Room - Vanyel Harkema
Director Jeremy Saulnier has a firm grasp on making mean spirited indie films that cut his audience to the core. Much like his Blue Ruin, he pushes all the right buttons, driving us to the edge of insanity. Green Room ended up being a very important film for me this year. Aside from it being a stand out thriller with an amazing white-knuckled, slow burn pace. I connected quite a bit with the main characters, each scrappy punk as like-able, charming, and competent as they ever could be, particularly Anton Yelchin’s character. As always, he brought his quirky A-game to the production, and seeing his name on the movie poster turned the film into an instant must see for myself. I found that he played incredibly well off of Imogen Poots and Sir Patrick Stewart. I just wish it wasn’t the last leading role of my favorite up and coming actor. At the end of the year, this film still stands out from the many other thrillers and horror films produced. The action and gore is visceral, the situation is more than plausible, overall it’s a wonderfully grounded piece of tense cinema.
1. Moonlight - Michelle Kisner
Every once in a while there comes a film that completely envelops me and allows me to enter the mindset of a radically different individual. I forget about camera work, lighting, editing, and cinematography and just live in another world for ninety minutes. Moonlight is not just a cinematic experience, it's a revelation and an affirmation of love and life. One of the hallmarks of great writing and directing is the ability for a film to make an audience member empathize with a character that they do not have anything in common with. While their lifestyle may be alien to them, things like suffering, fear, regret, compassion, and love are all things that the human race experiences in solidarity regardless of where they come from. Moonlight is important because it highlights an often unspoken facet of the black community, one that is openly negative towards gay individuals—especially males. The look of this film is sumptuous and somewhat mellow. I loved the camera work as it feels like its own entity, swirling around in circles or cropping up in unusual angles. The lighting and the color use is masterful with stark contrast between the bright white concrete ghetto and the soft pastel lights of the more intimate moments. Director Barry Jenkins was able to coax amazing performances out of all three actors that portrayed the main protagonist Chiron. This is one of the must see movies of 2016.
| 1,267,976 |
life was headed. But murder and mayhem never once crossed my mind, that was never an answer to me."
Of course, we know how the court ruled. The prosecution pushed for a six-level enhancement, which resulted in Pillault's lengthy sentence. Pillault appealed his case on the grounds that the sentence failed to account for "the nature and circumstances of the offense," but it never bore fruit. Not long after his appeal failed, he was sent to his second prison.
Pillault says he spent most of his sentence reading and playing music. "All of the prisons I attended had musical equipment programs and each had a band room," he said in his video. "I spent many hours playing instruments—drums, bass, piano, guitar. I also read approximately 1,000 books, many of them multiple times. I've got every single detail of the entire Harry Potter series memorized."
"I read the autobiography of Malcom X, which was a very influential book on my life," he said. "He said 'turn your cell into your school and your monastery.' I was trying to look at it as a form of self-improvement, and I really think I did get my mind together in there, and in a lot of ways that I might not have at such a young age were it not for my incarceration. Don't get me wrong: I'll never thank the prosecutor and judge for what they did to me … To be honest, it ate my soul out of my chest. Prison is demoralizing, it is heartbreaking, and it is brutal."
Old School Runescape
Even leaving prison wasn't easy. "I basically laid around doing nothing," Pillault tells me, "scared of seeing my old friends due to their negative habits and the things I had at stake, returning once a week to take a [urine test] at the halfway house and receiving random visits from them." But with help from the folks at Dismas Charities Residential Re-Entry, who Pillault can't say enough good things about, he's slowly been getting back on his feet.
Pillault is now 25, a (relatively) free man, and staying with his mother once again. He's learning to drive. He plans to start college this year, which he hopes will help him find a career in the music industry. He'd also like to dabble in YouTube while he looks for a more stable job. And yes, he's still playing Runescape (now Old School Runescape).
"I want to continue attending AA and NA meetings and make sure that I never get back where I was, because the clarity that I managed to find through meditation and introspection during my time incarcerated has given me an entirely new outlook on life," Pillault says. "I'm not 100 percent positive about the longer-term desires, but freedom is at the core of them, because I would hazard a guess that I value it more than the average American 20-something." | 1,267,977 |
September, gener8tor gathered representatives from more than 200 startups to meet one-on-one with 20 major corporations at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Among the topics: tech's disruption of old-line manufacturing.
“They took a bit of risk,” Vosseller says of WMC.
Vosseller got his start selling his Wisconsin-themed Sconnie Nation apparel line out of his dorm room. He holds a law degree and master’s in business administration from UW-Madison, but it's computer science that holds his attention these days. He feels the best thing his alma mater could do for the tech scene is elevate its well-regarded computer science program from a department to a separate college or school offering a variety of degrees.
The state is woefully short of tech talent, Vosseller says, citing the argument of Brad Smith, the Appleton native who is Microsoft's second in command and a faithful Badger booster. Smith has pointed out that Wisconsin higher education produces less than 900 computer science graduates a year, while having about 7,700 unfilled computing jobs.
Actually the situation is even worse. Less than half of the UW's 2015-16 Computer Science class said they planned to work in Wisconsin. UW's grads get snapped up by Google, Facebook, Amazon, Intel and the other West Coast tech companies, reports Jennifer Smith, the department's communications and outreach manager.
For Vosseller it's a no-brainer that the role of computation will only increase in the economy. He marvels over a tour he took of the computerized John Deere plant in Horicon: “It's space-age shit like you would not believe exists right here in Wisconsin.”
Computer science is now one of 55 departments and programs in the UW College of Letters and Science. Vosseller points to how economic concerns prompted the transformation of the UW's business program from a mere department to a separate school with multiple degrees in the 1940s. He feels the same sort of promotion is needed for computer science.
Preliminary discussions are underway at UW-Madison, says computer science chair Guri Sohi. He says other top-ranked departments have already taken the step to college or school status, including at the University of Washington, Carnegie Mellon, University of Georgia and University of Massachusetts.
Sohi envisions an expansion of UW computer majors to include bioinformatics, robotics, human-computer interactions, autonomous transportation, machine learning and computational medicine.
He also sees the expanded program serving the employment needs of Foxconn's advanced-manufacturing plant in Racine County, which, as Wired magazine put it, will require engineering skills “that are sorely lacking in the American workforce.”
Sohi cautions that inertia will have to be overcome on campus and that the discussion will take time. “I am leading the effort, because the future is going to be so dependent on computing.” | 1,267,978 |
There are times when you have to give KUDOS to a brilliant project! This movie was not only amusingly smart but extremely fun! Thanks to (PITCH PERFECT’s) own Anna Kendrick and the amazingly beautiful Blake Lively, “A SIMPLE FAVOR”, is everything entertainment! Okay, yeah I’m pretty sure, it is silly & far-fetched. But and that’s a huge BUT, it was intelligently done, well paced with no gaping plot holes, and almost completely void of Hollywood agenda. This movie was perfect in its own perfect way! In fact, the role the obligatory (hidden and unusual) dad played at the end of the movie justified the character. Some unforeseen twists and aptly low-brow observations of parenthood all lent to a somewhat keen sense of humor.
I’ve read the book by Darcey Bell and although the movie was quiet different, their differences were well done and not disappointing! Brought to life and amazingly portrayed, Blake Lively was the perfect person to play Emily it’s like the role was written for her, such talent and beauty and Anna Kendrick was also very good.. it’s full of twists turns and pure comedy with a twist of darkness, CAT AND MOUSE at its finest.
“A Simple Favor” can be described as a thriller or suspense drama as watching things turn and twist as no one is who they seem to be. Again “FUN” is how I can describe this movie, smart is the outcome. I give this movie a 4.8, greatest of the greatest burgers of all time. This movie is up there and I don’t say this often but it will be a classic, something that you can watch multiple times. The characters are believable, the tone of the movie draws you into its atmosphere and you feel every feeling. Also along the way all of the themes of lust, trust, anger, fear, and denial are felt. As when Emily (Lively)goes missing the game gets complex as things are spiced up by sex, death, discovery, and many twist and turns are found as the plot is drama filled. Overall well done suspense thriller that keeps a viewer guessing as to who and what as nothing and no one is whom they seem to be.
Great film! So get up off the couch get your significant other and you must head to the theater and see this movie!!!!! Make sure you come back to me THE MOVIE MAN and provide me with your feedback and keep it locked to JustFilms and Justgrubbin for everything you need for food and entertainment!!!!
** Burgers: 4.8**
If you enjoyed this, check out more posts from the Just Grubbin team here! Also make sure to listen to The Just Grubbin podcast to hear us go into further detail about this and to hear all of our random irreverent takes on food, drink and whatever else. | 1,267,979 |
The West beat the East, 14-10, in Saturday’s East-West Shrine Game, an NFL draft prospect showcase in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The game-winning play: a 34-yard touchdown pass in the final two minutes from Texas Tech’s Nic Shimonek to Houston’s Steven Dunbar.
Here’s a full box score.
The game offered almost nothing in the way of standout offensive performances, including from Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett, the highest-profile player in the game. Barrett was 5-of-13 passing for 69 yards and a touchdown for the East.
Barrett’s touchdown pass:
The East finds the end zone!
J.T. Barrett Finds Marcus Martin for the TD!
: #ShrineGame | NFL Network pic.twitter.com/PpGzN5hHYH — NFL Network (@nflnetwork) January 20, 2018
Memphis’ Riley Ferguson split time with him and played much of the middle of the game. Barrett returned at the end of the game but couldn’t lead a comeback drive after Dunbar’s TD.
The West’s quarterbacks were Shimonek, Colorado State’s Nick Stevens, and Sam Houston State’s Jeremiah Briscoe. Nobody on either side was able to move the chains much. Some takeaways from around the draft world, on an NC State defensive end:
Good week and good game for Kentavius Street. — Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 20, 2018
And a Northern Iowa receiver:
The UNI WR Daurice Fountain really was outstanding this week. NFL size, 6'2" 210 and 34" arms. Supposedly going to be a workout warrior too. Just under 14 YPR career in college #ShrineGame — Justin (@afc2nfc) January 20, 2018
Colorado running back Phillip Lindsay had 12 carries for 51 yards for the West. Oklahoma receiver Jeff Badet led that side with five receptions and had 42 yards. Dunbar, who caught the game-winner, had 52 yards on his three catches.
On the East team, UNI’s Daurice Fountain had a team-high 61 yards receiving on three catches. Old Dominion’s Ray Lawry and South Florida’s D’Ernest Johnson both rushed for over 5 yards per carry, which represented an offensive explosion.
The Shrine Game was also a defensive struggle in 2017, which the West won, 10-3. It turns out it’s hard to run an offense with a bunch of players who’ve never played together before and mostly never will again.
The draft begins April 2. The biggest event on the pre-draft calendar is the league’s scouting combine, beginning Feb. 27 in Indianapolis. | 1,267,980 |
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Wes Anderson’s film work is often described by folks as “quirky,” “unique,” and “offbeat.” And while those descriptors do get thrown around quite often in the world of cinema, there is probably no other filmmaker alive with projects that fit those adjectives so clearly and obviously. So, when you have a director with such a singular vision and style, it’s often intriguing to ask them what types of film and TV series get them excited. Surely, Wes Anderson is able to name some works that you’ve never heard of that will open your eyes to his earliest influences, right?
READ MORE: Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’ Moves To October, ‘Artemis Fowl’ Goes Straight To Disney+
Speaking to the French agency, Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, Anderson was asked to provide some suggestions for what films and TV series he thinks people should watch.
On the film side, Anderson mentioned filmmaker Marco Ferreri’s 1973 movie, “The Big Feast.” The filmmaker admits that he “discovered” the film years ago, but “I hadn’t really gotten into it.” But upon a recent rewatch, Anderson “loved it.”
In addition to “The Big Feast,” he also recommends two more Ferreri films, “The Conjugal Bed” and “The Ape Woman.” If you’re looking for films that aren’t directed by Ferreri, Anderson suggests checking out William Wyler’s “The Westerner” and Seth Holt’s “Station Six-Sahara.”
READ MORE: ‘The French Dispatch’: Wes Anderson Wanted His Cast & Crew To Study Films From Godard, Clouzot & More
As for TV series, the “Grand Budapest Hotel” filmmaker only has one recommendation, “Better Call Saul.” And why does he suggest everyone check out the “Breaking Bad” spin-off series?
“It’s simply my favorite series,” Anderson explained. Well, that really does say it all, huh?
READ MORE: ‘The French Dispatch’ Trailer Breakdown: Analyzing The 4 Sections In Wes Anderson’s Short Story Anthology Collection
Anderson’s newest film, “The French Dispatch,” was originally set to be released on July 24. However, due to the closure of cinemas and the production stoppages because of COVID-19, the filmmaker’s latest has been rescheduled for October 16. Good thing he provided some film and TV recommendations because we now have a lot longer to wait for his next film. | 1,267,981 |
Carbotubulus waloszeki gen. et sp. nov.
Etymology. “Carbo,” L. referring to the stratum Carboniferous; “tubulus,” L. “small pipe,” referring to the form of the appendages; in honor of Dieter Waloszek, University of Ulm, Germany, in recognition of his work on arthropod evolution.
Holotype and Only Known Specimen. Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) 47514, part and counterpart, Invertebrate Palaeontology collection, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
18 Johnson R.G.
Richardson Jr., E.S. A remarkable Pennsylvanian fauna from the Mazon Creek area, Illinois. 19 Baird G.C.
Shabica C.W.
Anderson J.L.
Richardson Jr., E.S. Biota of a Pennsylvanian muddy coast: habitats within the Mazonian Delta Complex, northeast Illinois. Stratigraphic Horizon and Locality. Carbondale Formation, Francis Creek Shale Member, Mazon Creek area, Pit 11, Essex fauna [], Illinois, USA.
Diagnosis. Lobopodian with prominent cylindrical head region comprising one-third of body length, nine pairs of long, tube-shaped walking limbs (lobopods), and an additional pair of small appendages associated with head region; body surface smooth.
Measurements. Body nearly seven times longer than wide (total preserved length 35 mm, diameter 4.8 mm); limbs at least 11 mm long (the appendage length may vary in different body areas, so we based this measurement on the longest preserved appendage, number 8) and 2 mm in diameter (the diameter of appendages 7 and 9 appears greater, but this is interpreted as an effect of a very oblique breakage plane).
Figure 1 Comparison of New Long-Legged Lobopodian and Associated Short-Legged Ilyodes inopinata Show full caption (A–E) Carbotubulus waloszeki, ROM 47514. (A) Part (counterpart in Figure S1 ); legs numbered. Note lack of body annulation and presence of longitudinal wrinkles. (B) Anterior region with two pairs of circular spots (arrows). (C) Lateral body region; lobopods 3 and 4 showing smooth surface. (D and E) Legs sticking out of the nodule (arrows). (F and G) Ilyodes inopinata, ROM 47978. (F) Part (counterpart in Figure S2 ); arrow points to putative slime papilla. (G) Annulated skin with papilla-like structures.
Figure 2 Three-Dimensional Model of Carbotubulus waloszeki Show full caption Presumed life position, with anterior end to the left; surface color hypothetical. | 1,267,982 |
But woe unto them that were with him, at the valley gate, and at the University of California at Berkeley.
— kingjamesprogramming.tumblr.com
June 20, 1970
San Francisco
LSD became illegal in California in 1966, two years before the real world got so hallucinatory that it became redundant.
Certain elements missed both developments and continued to experiment sporadically with a substance that was becoming increasingly dangerous. It wasn’t just law enforcement. Ever since the cracks had appeared in the sky, there were scattered reports of weird things happening on psychedelics. The reports from peyote users in Mexico almost strained credibility. Even those unpatriotic enough to doubt the Nixon administration’s ever more strident warnings about drug abuse were starting to take notice.
Not the Merry Pranksters, and not Ken Kesey. He lay on the floor of an unfurnished San Francisco apartment, watching the swirling colors gently distort the malleable plane of the ceiling. Beside him, his friend Paul occasionally glanced up from the book he was reading and fulfilled his promised role of trip-sitter. It was pretty boring. Ken had been lying pretty motionless ever since taking the LSD tab, saying little. Still, the formalities needed to be observed.
The colors began to swirl a little brighter. The pulsing fractals started to expand, simultaneously growing out and gathering in.
When he reached the end of the chapter, Paul gave another cursory glance back at Kesey.
His friend was standing upright. No, not standing. Hovering. He was hovering about a foot about the floor. His face was expressionless. His eyes had lost all features, all signs of pupil and iris, and were radiant silver.
Paul screamed.
“DO NOT BE AFRAID,” said Kesey, but it was not his voice.
“What…what’s going…who…what are…help!”
“DO NOT BE AFRAID,” said Kesey, and it was definitely not his voice. “I AM THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. I BRING YOU ETERNITY. ALL THE WALLS WILL FALL AROUND YOU.”
Paul tried to stand. He took a second to catch his breath. Kesey – the thing in Kesey’s body – seemed content to let him. He just stood there, hovering.
“W…who are you?” asked Paul.
“KNEEL,” said the thing in Kesey’s body.
“But…who…what are you?”
“KNEEL,” said the thing in Kesey’s body, somewhat more forcefully.
Quivering from head to toe, Paul knelt. | 1,267,983 |
Police are using surveillance video to try to identify a tractor-trailer after a deadly crash killed a woman in downtown Ottawa Friday.
Police say the victim had been crossing Waller at the intersection of Rideau St., shortly after 6 a.m. She was well-dressed, seemingly on her way to work -- wearing a jacket to keep the rain off, and a large upright hood.
Investigators are looking for the driver of a B-style transport truck -- that's one pulling two trailers.
It is unclear if the driver was aware someone was hit.
Witnesses watched as cops reached into the 26-year-old's large, blue purse and fished out her identification. The purse sat upright in the roadway for hours, alongside the body which lay in the Waller St. crosswalk, covered with a yellow tarp.
Two witnesses spoke to investigators -- one who only saw the aftermath and another who claims to have seen the horrific sight as the woman's body came out from behind the back wheels of the truck.
The tragedy does not surprise some area residents, who have long been fighting to divert truck traffic from the city core.
"The City of Ottawa basically created the perfect storm of pedestrian deaths," said Nathan Davis, co-chair of the King Edward Avenue Task Force. "They're saying commuter convenience comes ahead of pedestrian safety."
Concerned residents want to see some type of traffic-calming measures put in place, which could include concrete barriers or raised crosswalks. But ultimately, they want truck traffic out of the area, especially along the cramped corridor which includes Waller and Rideau.
An estimated 3,500 trucks pass through downtown Ottawa each day, according to Davis, and that number is projected to rise to 5,000 by 2015. With new condo construction planned within blocks of the crash, in an already pedestrian-heavy area, it's a recipe for disaster, Davis said.
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury has also long wanted trucks out of the area. A feasibility study of a truck-only tunnel will be done this year, looking at one idea to re-route big rigs away from pedestrians.
"We want this done sooner rather than later," said Fleury, adding other options are also being looked at. "We need to solve this. We recognize trucks aren't adequate (downtown).
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Twitter: @ottawasundbell
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Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man shot on the Saskatchewan farm of Gerald Stanley, who was later acquitted by an all-white jury.
"We want to make sure that the same thing doesn't happen that happened with Colten's case in Saskatchewan," Levi-Peters said, "where the RCMP did a lot of wrong in their investigation … I don't know what seems to be the delay here."
According to Rogers-Marsh, "the RCMP is in contact with the family of Brady Francis on an ongoing basis."
#JusticeforBrady stickers are now circulating in the Elsipogtog community. (Facebook)
"The RCMP can certainly appreciate this has been a very difficult time for Brady Francis's family, the community, and his friends.
"We want to reassure the public that investigators are actively investigating the file, what happened, and what took place that night."
Still seeking tips
The truck believed to have struck Francis has a camouflage-coloured wind deflector on the hood, camouflage window deflectors over the windows, a Browning decal over the front windshield, and more camouflage decals on the tailgate and rear window.
"It would be quite a noticeable vehicle," Rogers-Marsh said.
Police know the owner of the vehicle but not who was driving it when Francis was struck. (RCMP)
Rogers-Marsh said the focus of the investigation at present is to "speak to anyone who has information about the truck."
"We want people to look at the photos of the truck that we posted and see if they may have seen it back on Feb. 24. Our investigation is still continuing and our investigators are continuing to actively pursue this file."
She declined to discuss whether RCMP have interviewed the registered owner of the 2003 GMC Sierra.
Justice 'for all our kids'
The 'Justice for Brady' rally will take place Saturday at 1 p.m.in front of Moncton City Hall.
The rally, according to Levi-Peters, "really helps us to feel like we're doing something, because we feel like nothing is being done."
A ‘Justice for Brady’ rally will take place Saturday at 1 p.m. in front of Moncton City Hall. (Facebook)
The push to find the driver that killed Francis transcends race, she said.
"It's a child, a youth that was run over right on the street, and no one is coming forward and nothing is coming out of it," Levi-Peters said. "We need answers.
"This rally is going to show that it's not just an Elsipogtog child. It's a New Brunswick child. I think the rally is going to unite us. … For me, I feel like I'm going to be doing something to find justice for Brady, and for all our kids." | 1,267,985 |
this village, I would like you to tell me what it was like to have strange guests coming to your home and they ask you so many questions, write something on your door and leave you with a card with a number.
Christine: It is true I never expected such a visit from anybody. When they [GD] first came, I was away from home. I had taken my child to the hospital. They found two of my children, whom are in school now. They requested the children to provide them [GD] with my cell phone and national identification number. All those were within reach and the children gave them. When I came back, my children informed me that some two ladies, in the company of the Village Elder came and requested us to provide them with my identification and cell number. They wrote on the door and left behind a card with a number printed. They promised to come back soon. I patiently waited for them and hoped they would find me at home the next time they came visiting. That was around August last year. They actually came back and we talked. I just became patient and hoped to see what goodies they would come back with the next time they would show up.
Interviewer: What did they tell you when they came back the second because as you said, they did not find you the first time they came?
Christine: Am not sure whether that was day they brought a phone or not…they came numerous time that I could not recall clearly. They talked to us and we chatted on many things.
Interviewer: What exactly did you chat about?
Christine: They told us that there is some cash that will be sent to us. The first would be KES 7,000 followed by the second transfer and so on and so forth.
Interviewer: Ok…how did you react to this news?
Christine: After they had brought us phones, I said that it could be actually true that the cash being talked about will come. I had initially doubted the whether cash would be sent.
Interviewer: Why did you doubt?
Christine: I could not believe it was possible.
Interviewer: What made doubt that it was not possible…?
Christine: Personally, I have never heard of such a thing happening anywhere. They began with my home as they spread to other parts of the village. So I did not believe that there would be any truth to it.
Interviewer: What was this ‘such a thing’?
Christine: The cash…whether the cash would truly be sent to us. The cash that they told us about. However, the cash later sent and I was happy.
Interviewer: What did you think would happen anyway? Now that you had doubted whether the cash would be sent.
Christine: You know somebody may say something and it never happens. I did not give it a deep thought that anything serious would happen. | 1,267,986 |
While volunteering in refugee camps in Greece, Laura Samira Naude and Esther ten Zijthoff realised that the people they met needed more than food and shelter: they wanted to study, to work for their future and to find a sense of purpose. Naude and Zijthoff were determined to provide a quiet space, amid the upheaval and uncertainty, where people could use their time rather than just fill it. The pair decided to launch Education Community Hope and Opportunity (Echo) and open a library on wheels.
Friends in London and Belgium did the fundraising and fitted out an old minibus with shelves and computer points for internet access, then drove it to Greece. The two then appealed for books in Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi, French, Greek and English, slowly filling the shelves and finally opening in November. They now have about 1,300 books – including some in storage because they don’t fit into the van – and welcome an average of 115 readers a week. So far, they have loaned out 904 books. “We have also lost many books along the way, as they inevitably go missing, and sometimes, especially with language-learning books, we let people keep them and then make copies to keep up with the demand,” says Zijthoff.
Visitors either sit inside the van or on benches outside, although this depends on the weather, says Zijthoff: “In the freezing winter we had in Thessaloniki, the van was sometimes warmer than the tents, and people would come inside just to get warm.” Now, in the summer, the heat is scorching, so readers come for night-time sessions. “The van has often been hijacked as a party bus, but we do try to keep the library sessions peaceful,” she says.
The mobile library on the road. Photograph: David Lohmueller
When the authorities don’t allow access to camps, they park the bus outside and let the word spread inside, although they are often shut down without warning. But those who come to the library love it: children say it feels like home; a Syrian economics professor used it to translate his work into English and young Afghans keen to learn English started informal classes. Those leaving the camp have even donated their own books.
As for the future, Zijthoff and Naude have high hopes for their library on wheels, which they both run full time and for no salary, with the help of a couple of volunteers. “When we started the project, we had a vision of duplicating the library setup in multiple regions in Greece,” says Zijthoff. “We are looking for people to hand over the project to, but many volunteers and organisations, not only in Greece but Serbia, Italy, Palestine and Lebanon, say the set-up could work very well. So, even if we are not the ones starting, we hope that the concept will spread.” | 1,267,987 |
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JODY CUNDY launched a furious X-rated tantrum at the Paralympics yesterday after the British cyclist was sensationally disqualified.
He was the big favourite to follow in the golden tread marks of training partners Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton and was unbeaten in the 1km time trial since 2006.
However, Cundy’s title defence was over before it began as the start gate appeared to delay the release of his wheel before spitting him out and sending him sliding off the track.
It seemed merely a hiccup on another day of triumph for British cycling, with a four-medal haul highlighted by Mark Colbourne’s world record gold medal ride in the 3km individual pursuit.
Cundy, a veteran of five Paralympics and one of our most decorated athletes, calmly raised his arm to signal a false start and prepared for a re-ride.
But the clock did not stop and when DNF appeared by his name, the 33-year-old lost the plot.
“I fell out of the gate because the f***ing thing didn’t open,” he raged at the officials. “Everybody else gets the f***ing re-ride. You can’t do this, I’ve worked all my life for this.
“I’ve wasted four years of my life to ride in front of a 6000 home crowd and I’m in the shape of my life. I’ll never get this opportunity again. Never, ever.”
That much was clear as Cundy, who won three golds in swimming before switching to the velodrome and winning two more in Beijing, lashed out in anger.
Even above the roar of a crowd angered by what they too saw as an injustice, Cundy’s expletive-laden rant could be clearly heard before he was pulled away by two team officials.
Up in the stands his mum condemned a ruling she claimed had “ruined his life”. His girlfriend said her piece too, but officials were having none of it.
UCI technical delegate Louis Barbeau said: “Our interpretation is that the rider put too much weight on the front wheel and as a result the back slipped.”
The episode overshadowed not only Jon-Allan Butterworth’s silver medal in the same event, but Colbourne’s feat in adding a gold medal to his silver 24 hours before.
Cundy, who races again today in the individual pursuit, attempted to limit the damage by later apologising publicly for his bad language.
He said: “Hopefully the youngsters had their hands over their ears.” | 1,267,988 |
Former mTw talent Oliver "minet" Minet has formed a new team which includes other known players from the Scandinavian scene.
It was early this February that Oliver "minet" Minet, a former mTw player in the days CS 1.6, announced his return to competitive play in CS:GO. The player boasts illustrious finishes under his belt such as 1st place at DreamHack Summer 2010, 2nd place finishes at DreamHack Winter 2009 & 2010, and a 3rd place finish at IEM V.
minet has now officially announced a new project, featuring his Danish cohorts from back when he returned to CS:GO, Jack "wazorN" Henriksen and Morten "suraNga" Jensen. Joining the three players will be two other talents, the first being Danish Hemen "xanzir" Nawros who was last seen playing for CPLAY.
minet's Airwalkers brings in xanzir & MODDII
The fifth and final player will be none other than Swedish Andreas "MODDII" Fridh, who has experience playing with xanzir on a previous roster earlier this year. MODDII, himself a CS 1.6 household name, has had a turbulent history in CS:GO, ranging from stints on the early fnatic lineup to inactivity to playing on the Danish scene.
minet prepared a lengthy explanatory statement for HLTV.org in order to explain the team's formation:
"For some time now, suraNga, wazorN and I have been playing with various players and trying to "create" something that would have the potential for something great. We feel we've found it in xanzir & moddii, from the first second communication was spot on and creative ideas were overflowing. Everything harmonized pretty quickly - since our ideas of how to play this game and how to progress are quite similar. And to do so we've recruited a well known face for us at least. He's been behind me since I played in PlayZeek and even when I was in mTw at WCG in L.A: Mostly known for his full time coaching at FullGaming in 1.6: MarcK, who will be assisting in our progress. Sury, waz and I are exclusively known from 1.6 whereas both moddii and xanzir have been actively playing in cs:go and doing so well. We're all very motivated with this project, especially our coach and we are currently practicing every day and all hunger for blood. We're are trying to reach out to various orgs, where we are looking for a long term relationship. We can be contacted at: [email protected]," Minet said.
The Airwalkers lineup is therefore as follows:
Follow HLTV.org's stich on Twitter | 1,267,989 |
US air strikes have destroyed four Islamic State (Isis) tanks in the eastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zour, US central command has said.
It said 10 air strikes were carried out in Iraq and Syria targeting the extremist group on Thursday and Friday.
US central command’s announcement came hours after a UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Isis bases and oilfields had been hit in overnight sorties.
The US military said that in Iraq it wiped out three Isis Humvees as well as another vehicle with five air strikes in Kirkuk, in the north, while an air strike west of Baghdad destroyed a guard shack, armed vehicle and bunker. Another air strike destroyed four armed vehicles, an Isis command and control node and a checkpoint in Qaim, in north-west Iraq, near the Syrian border. There were three strikes in Deir al-Zour, eastern Syria, where US-led forces started bombing Isis militants on Tuesday.
The US has been bombing bases of the al-Qaida splinter group in Iraq since last month.
Also on Friday, Turkey raised the prospect of joining the international coalition amid growing pressure from its western allies. Ankara has frustrated the west with its failure to commit to concrete action and to stop foreign jihadis entering Syria through its border.
Isis militants are just a few kilometres south of the Turkish border, having advanced on the mainly Kurdish Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobani. Turkey’s caution had been attributed, partly at least, to the fact that dozens of its citizens were being held hostage by Isis in Iraq but they were freed last weekend.
The Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, told a meeting of his ruling party in Ankara: “If any military operation or a solution carries the perspective of bringing peace and stability to the region, we will support it. We will take whatever measures our national security requires.” He did not give any details about what such measures could entail.
Meanwhile, Denmark announced that it was sending seven F-16 fighter jets to take part in air strikes against Isis in Iraq. The deployment, which will last for 12 months, includes 250 pilots and support staff. Britain and Belgium were debating their involvement in the coalition on Friday.
The Friday morning air strikes hit Isis bases and positions on the outskirts of the city of Mayadinm, the Observatory said.
Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq, is almost entirely controlled by Isis militants and was a major oil-producing province before the Syrian conflict began more than three years ago.
Oil has been a top source of revenue for Isis militants, and air raids on Thursday targeted refineries controlled by the group. The strikes also seem to be intended to hamper Isis’s ability to operate across the border in Iraq, where it also controls territory.
The Observatory said there were casualties from the earlier strikes but did not give details. | 1,267,990 |
The UK security firm Prevx has released details into a major botnet shutdown that netted the firm an unusual find—a command-and-control server loaded with the private details for some 160,000 individual
computers and/or persons. Although that server has since been shut down and the appropriate authorities notified, the server's repository of data is a first-rate example of how data from a
melting pot of sources ends up indiscriminately fused together.
The report in question comes courtesy of the Associated Press; the private information Prevx found may or may not have been drawn from computers infected by the Zeus malware the company details in a blog report from Sunday, March 15. In its blog entry, Prevx describes Zeus as brand-new; the company tracked the malware in action as it spread across a number of locations worldwide, as shown below:
Based on the fact that both the AP story and blog post make reference to a data breach at a "mid-size financial institution" (possibly Metro City Bank), both seem focused on the same threat. In many cases, breaching a personal or work PC is merely one step towards a larger prize; Prevx security researchers recovered login/password data to banking credentials and personally identifiable information (PII) for customers at the aforementioned Georgia bank as well as login/access details for state health insurance systems in Texas and a government human resources site in North Carolina. The company states it notified appropriate authorities in all cases, including state government officials and the FBI.
As for Zeus, Prevx describes it as available for just $4,000, a price which also buys you an incorporated rootkit. The new Olympian malware has multiple tricks up its sleeve, and leverages its rootkit to do end-runs around current antivirus/antimalware solutions. Zeus also includes what Prevx calls "advanced 'form injection capabilities," which can be used to modify or seamlessly insert seemingly authentic requests for additional data. Such capabilities could be used, for example, to make a banking website appear to request one's login, password, and social security number rather than simply the login/password.
Prevx's blog post makes the rather disheartening claim that "today no single vendor (ourselves included) and no single product, maybe even all security vendor and products together, will stop more than 60% or so of modern malware." The number may or may not be accurate, but it's definitely true that stories of payment processor data breaches are just one example of how customers are left wondering if they can trust the system that supposedly serves them.
Joe Stewart of SecureWorks told the AP that the threat such malware poses is growing all the time. "The level of amateurness [of the malware] speaks to how widespread it is," Stewart said. "Literally anybody with a little bit of computer knowledge at all, if they have the criminal bent, can get access to one of these Trojans and get it out there and start stealing people's data." | 1,267,991 |
Rishi Sehgal
Last week, MLS Commissioner Don Garber, during a visit to Vancouver, suggested that the NASL’s decision to follow the USL and make all Canadian players domestic — no matter if they played for American teams or Canadian teams — was illegal under U.S. labour law.
On Friday, NASL Commissioner Rishi Sehgal issued the following response regarding his league’s new policy.
“The limitation on foreign players is a rule issued by U.S. Soccer, and one that we’re subject to as a league. We view our new policy to consider Canadian players as domestic as a change that increases opportunities for all players.”
Basically, Sehgal’s response is that the entire concept of teams having only a limited number of international slots is entirely based on a policy set by the federation — not lawmakers. For example, no NHL team is required to carry a set number of Canadian or Americans. If the Minnesota Wild wanted to have 20 Russians on its roster, it could. The Edmonton Oilers are free to have Connor McDavid surrounded by Slovaks, if the team’s brass so wished. Likewise, the Los Angeles Dodgers could field a team of Dominicans. The idea that a team is limited in the number of foreigners it can carry — therefore creating a “domestic” designation for some players and an “international” designation for others — is totally a construct of soccer politics.
Remember that former NASL commissioner Bill Peterson went on the record stating that he wished for a change in the rules to allow teams to sign whatever players they wanted, regardless of nationality. Peterson was replaced by Sehgal, who is a lawyer with experience in international contracts.
After Sehgal took over from Peterson at the helm of NASL, the league changed its policy, and will now treat Canadians as domestics no matter where they play. USL, which has teams affiliated with MLS, has the same league-wide Canadians-as-domestics policy. In the past, many Canadian players have struggled to find work on American NASL and MLS teams because they would take up one of the limited international roster slots. Meanwhile, Canadians knew they could lose their jobs on Canadian teams to American players who were getting domestic status north of the border.
After the 2016 season, MLS loosened the restrictions that allow for Canadians to be domestic players if they satisfy the following requirements:
• Sign with an MLS Academy or sign with an academy approved by MLS and the Canadian Soccer Association before the age of 16
• Sign first pro contract with an MLS team or a USL affiliate of an MLS side.
Garber said that, in the coming years, as more and more Canadians enter approved academies and sign with MLS sides, more Canadians in the league will have domestic status. But, as it stands, the majority of Canadian players still don’t have the same domestic status in MLS that they would get in NASL or USL. | 1,267,992 |
quite a criminal history.
Sayoc was arrested several times for theft in the 1990s. And in 2002, he was collared for threatening to blow up the Florida Power & Light utility company, warning a representative that the attack “would be worse than September 11th,” according to a police report.
He also “threatened that something would happen to the FP&L representative if they cut his electricity,” the report alleged.
Sayoc pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to one year of probation.
Two years later, he faced felony charges for possession of a synthetic anabolic-androgenic steroid. The charges were dismissed.
In 2012, he filed for bankruptcy, telling the court he had $4,175 in personal property and more than $21,000 in debts.
“Debtor lives with mother, owns no furniture,” his lawyer wrote in a court document.
Valentine says he vouched for Sayoc a few years later in a grand-theft auto case.
“I met him a million years ago, and he got caught stealing and wanted me to write a letter to the judge down in Florida,” Valentine told the Miami Herald. “I never should have done that.”
At the time, Sayoc told the court he was a road manager for traveling male revue shows, including “Chippendales, International Gold Productions, Cesar Palace Royale Burlesque Show, etc.”
He became an ardent supporter of the commander in chief in recent years.
In addition to driving around in his sticker-adorned van, he left a long trail of social-media posts praising Trump and denigrating Democrats — including many posts about the alleged targets of his packages.
“Hey slime scum U like make threats run your hole.Do not worry your cover up Fast Furious with your b—h Obama not forgotten about our very close friend of we Unconquered Seminole Tribe.See u soon Tick Tock 4,” he recently tweeted to former Attorney General Eric Holder.
He called Waters a “poverty pimp” and said Soros “worked for Hitler.”
In other tweets, he railed against news organizations — including CNN, where two of the packages were sent.
“More lies con job Propaganda bye failing failing CNN garbage,” he tweeted July. “They have nothing left but more lies. CNN needs to be abolished once for all.”
He also posted images of himself at Trump’s inauguration and from a rally a month later, CNBC reported.
At the time of his arrest, he was living out of his van after being kicked out of his parents’ home, a law-enforcement official told CNN.
Additional reporting by George Willis, Chris Perez, Lia Eustachewich and Wire Services | 1,267,993 |
Few appendices have made as big a splash in gaming history as Gary Gygax's Appendix N. (I thought Cosmo's appendix bursting at Gen Con that one year might have it beat, but he reminded me that was technically a gallbladder removal, so it's OUT OF THE RUNNING!) That formative list of novels hit in 1979, in the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide. In it, Gygax laid out some of the works that had made the largest impact on him in the creation of Dungeons & Dragons, from Leigh Brackett and Robert E. Howard to Jack Vance and Andre Norton. In doing so, he created a reading list for an entire generation of gamers and fantasy fans, and had a tremendous impact on the genre as a whole.
When we created the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook in 2009, we gleefully took the opportunity to publish our own version of Appendix N, keen to introduce fans to our new favorites like Clive Barker and China Miéville, along with grand masters like C. L. Moore. Yet it was ultimately still a fairly small list—just a single column of text—and cribbed heavily from Gygax, focusing solely on novels.
When I first sat down to paginate the Starfinder Core Rulebook, I knew that space was going to be at a premium. I had, by some estimates, 800+ pages of content to cram into something even smaller than Pathfinder's 576 pages. Yet I also knew that just one page of inspirational media wasn't going to be enough. In order to make a game like Starfinder, we had to stand on the shoulders of innumerable giants, both childhood heroes and our friends and peers. We couldn't in good faith restrict ourselves to just literature, either. How could you have Starfinder without Star Wars and Alien? Without Shadowrun and Warhammer 40,000? Without Starcraft and Mass Effect? It just wouldn't be the same.
So here, in its entirety, is the Inspirational Media list from the back of the Starfinder Core Rulebook. These are just a few of the science fiction and science fantasy works that most influenced us in our creation of Starfinder's rules and setting. Staff members from many different departments contributed their nominations, and believe me, cutting the list down to just two pages was brutal. I also want to give a particular shout-out to the folks in the Tabletop RPG section. It was really important to us to include not just the games we grew up playing, but also our favorite modern games like Numenera and Eclipse Phase. There's no question that there are some brilliant SF games out there at the moment, and we're excited to be joining their party.
So what are you waiting for? From Illuminae to Hyperion, Saga to Serenity, there's a world of amazing speculative fiction waiting for you—and hey, you've still got a month to kill until Starfinder launches!
James L. Sutter
Creative Director | 1,267,994 |
version of doc2vector. This program is an extension of word2vec that constructs word embeddings from scanned documents of text. The model is commonly used to reconstruct linguistic context from document inputs, essentially allowing neural networks to understand written language.
Roadmap and Milestones
In January 2018, DeepBrain announced a partnership with a Disney licensee on a series of Mickey Mouse toys that listen and respond to speech input. The educational robot shipped more than 3 million units in 2017. DeepBrain will assist in upgrading its learning capabilities for its next product run.
The most notable upcoming event is the launch of DeepBrain Chain’s testnet scheduled for the end of June. With the success of the initial tests, the team feels the product is ready to accept public applications. The mainnet release will follow months later with a scheduled October 2018 launch.
The Skynet Project was opened in mid-June 2018 to help strengthen the network in preparation for going public. Users that meet the hardware requirements can apply to join Skynet and earn mainnet mining priority rights, extra consensus node points, and free use of DeepBrain resources while Skynet Project is operational.
DeepBrain Chain has forged a partnership with SingularityNET, an open, decentralized AI stack solution that aims to democratize access to artificial intelligence. The alliance will allow the sharing of data and processing services between both platforms through a framework the teams are currently building.
DeepBrain Chain’s roadmap carries the platform through the mainnet launch in October 2018 and includes testing and refinement throughout 2019.
Future of DeepBrain Chain
DeepBrain Chain is the world’s first blockchain-based AI computing platform, and it arrived just in time to capitalize on a booming industry.
Tech giants Google and Baidu have spent between $20-30 billion on AI development. The industry itself could be worth over a trillion dollars by 2035. To put that in perspective, OPEC’s net oil export revenue hit its modern-day peak at $917 billion in 2012 and has fallen by nearly half since then.
DeepBrain Chain currently focuses much of its efforts on enterprises in China, a country poised to become a world leader in artificial intelligence. DeepBrain CEO He Yong attributes this to how easy it is to collect and utilize data in China compared to other countries.
There are some concerns about DeepBrain’s ability and willingness to expand into other territories, most notably Europe and the United States. As the partnership with SingularityNET suggests, DeepBrain Chain doesn’t intend to stay a China-focused project forever.
So far, the future looks bright for DeepBrain Chain. It landed a spot in our features on exciting NEO projects and promising AI blockchain projects earlier this year. If the testnet and mainnet launches go smoothly, DeepBrain Chain could be the first project that companies turn to when sourcing AI partnerships.
Related: Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence: The Benefits of Decentralized AI | 1,267,995 |
What is SecureDrop?
The Washington Post’s SecureDrop is a discreet way for readers to share messages and materials with our journalists. It offers greater security and anonymity than conventional e-mail and Web forms.
How do I use it?
SecureDrop relies on Tor, an application designed to encrypt your communications and obscure your computer’s IP address.
In order to use SecureDrop:
Go to a place with a public Internet connection, one that you don't normally frequent.
Download and install the Tor browser bundle from https://www.torproject.org/.
. Open the Tor browser and copy this url into the browser address bar: https://jcw5q6uyjioupxcc.onion.
. From this url, you will be able to send messages and files to a secure dropbox that we will check periodically.
You will be provided with a codename that you will use it to log in to check for replies from The Post.
Keep the codename you are provided safe and secure. We will not know your codename, and you should never share it with anyone. If you forget your codename, we will have no other way to contact you.
What steps are taken to protect my privacy and anonymity?
Nearly all digital communications can leave a trail. The Washington Post's SecureDrop is designed to minimize these digital trails using best practices, such as:
limiting collection of information logged about your browser, computer or operating system;
using Tor to encrypt and anonymize your communications with us;
using HTTPS. You will notice a certificate bearing our name in your browser in a similar way as you would with other HTTPS websites;
storing submissions in encrypted form on our systems;
physically isolating SecureDrop from the rest of our network.
However, no system is 100 percent secure, and even with these measures, there might be a risk of someone discovering who you are or what you are sending. In addition to using SecureDrop, we recommend that you:
use a secure computer to communicate with us - one that does not maintain enterprise software or malware that might be used to record your activities;
use an operating system that helps preserve your privacy and anonymity, such as Tails;
delete trails of communication that you store on your computer, such as copies of messages or your secure codename assigned when using the service;
run any files you sent to us through a metadata-scrubbing tool to minimize the risk of unintentionally sending us information embedded in the documents, such as an author's name.
Other fine print:
The Washington Post works diligently to protect the identities of our sources and keep the information they give us confidential. We do not make any warranties as to SecureDrop; use of the system is on an "as is" basis, at your own risk.
Last updated: 12/12/2017 | 1,267,996 |
Attorney General Eric Holder, left, and Rev. Al Sharpton, host of MSNBC's "Politics Nation." (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – Attorney General Eric Holder praised left-wing activist Rev. Al Sharpton at the opening of the National Action Network (NAN) convention on Wednesday, and also stressed that the Justice Department is conducting a thorough investigation of the fatal Trayvon Martin shooting that “will examine the facts and the law.”
Sharpton, president of NAN and host of MSNBC’s Politics Nation, has led several rallies demanding the arrest of George Zimmerman, who reportedly shot Martin on Feb. 26. On Mar. 30 in Sanford, Fla., where the shooting occurred, Sharpton pledged that his group would “move to the next level if Zimmerman isn’t arrested.”
At the opening of NAN’s 14th annual convention in Washington, D.C., the attorney general first thanked MSNBC’s Rev. Sharpton “for your partnership, your friendship, and your tireless efforts to speak out for the voiceless, to stand up for the powerless, and to shine a light on the problems we must solve, and the promises we must fulfill.”
Concerning Trayvon Martin, Holder said, “I know that many of you are greatly -- and rightly -- concerned about the recent shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a young man whose future has been lost to the ages."
"As most of you know, three weeks ago, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into this incident, which remains open at this time, and prevents me from talking in detail about this matter," he said.
“Although I cannot share where current efforts will lead us from here, I can assure you that, in this investigation – and in all cases – we will examine the facts and the law,” said Holder. “If we find evidence of a potential federal criminal civil rights crime, we will take appropriate action. And, at every step, the facts and the law will guide us forward.
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The National Action Network, which Sharpton founded, has held multiple rallies about the Martin shooting, largely critical of shooter George Zimmerman, irrespective of an ongoing investigation.
Zimmerman, who has not been arrested in the case, said he acted in self-defense after following Martin on Feb. 26, the night Martin was killed. A Florida special prosecutor announced on Monday that the case will not be taken before a Florida grand jury, though the investigation will continue. The FBI and Justice Department are also pursuing their investigations.
MSNBC’s Sharpton has led several rallies, shouting “Arrest Zimmerman Now!” and has called for civil disobedience and an “occupation” in Sanford, Fla., if an arrest is not made. | 1,267,997 |
The Oscars ceremony is no stranger to the act of protest, but this year will see arguably its most unique demonstration yet, because it won’t be taking place outside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles but inside the telecast itself.
Not-for-profit initiative Give Her A Break has created an online portal that allows viewers to watch the awards as normal, but one with one key difference: every ad break will be replaced with a showcase for a female-directed film.
“There’s millions of women who create incredible films, but just don’t get the same break by this misogynistic industry,” said Mo Said, the project’s founder. “We wanted to fix that.”
The campaign has already seen support on Twitter from Alma Har’el, the director of Honey Boy.
The idea came from of frustration at the lack of visibility for women within the best director category. Last month’s nominations were criticised for yet another all-male set of nominees and what was seen as an egregious snub for Little Women’s director, Greta Gerwig. When announcing the nominations, Insecure star and creator Issa Rae quipped: “Congratulations to these men.” In its history, the Academy has only nominated five female film-makers.
“Greta, since she started, has made two perfect films, and I hope when she makes her next perfect movie, she gets recognized for everything, because I think she’s one of the most important film-makers of our time,” said Saoirse Ronan, Little Women star and best actress nominee, to Deadline.
Her co-star and fellow nominee Florence Pugh also shared her frustration: “I think everybody’s angry and quite rightly so. I can’t believe it’s happened again, but I don’t really know how to solve it.”
The lack of women in the category came after a record-breaking year for female film-makers, who were behind 10.6% of 2019’s 100 highest-grossing films, up from 4.5% the year before, according to a study by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.
“2020 will be an extraordinary year for female directors,” said Stacy L Smith, one of the authors of the study. “We’re seeing women being given opportunities to direct action movies and not just smaller, independent films.”
This week saw the release of Birds of Prey, a $97m budget DC caper, which was the first major Hollywood superhero movie to be directed by an Asian American woman. Other big films from female directors in the next year include superhero films Wonder Woman 1984, Marvel’s The Eternals, Disney’s live-action Mulan and Black Widow, a solo adventure for Scarlett Johansson’s Avenger. | 1,267,998 |
Representatives from the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the union whose members are currently engaged in a weeks-long strike against Verizon for its "corporate greed," say they discovered this week that the communications behemoth has publicly lied about the extent of its offshoring of jobs.
"When our members uncovered how Verizon is padding its incredible profit margins by replacing good paying American jobs with poverty-wage jobs abroad, Verizon sent armed guards and a SWAT team after them."
—CWA President Chris Shelton
The union representatives, including CWA staff, a representative of UNI (global labor federation) and representatives of KMU (a Filipino union), traveled to the Philippines for four days this week to investigate a report from local Verizon employees who sent word that the corporation was lying to its American workers about the size of its offshore operations in the country.
"Verizon is offshoring work far beyond what has previously been reported and what the company publicly has claimed. Verizon is offshoring customer service calls to numerous call centers in the Philippines, where workers are paid just $1.78 an hour and forced to work overtime without compensation," wrote the CWA in a statement.
When Verizon got wind of CWA's discovery on Wednesday, according to the union, rather than meet with union representatives the company sent a SWAT team and armed guards after them.
"Terrified that the public might find out about what has happened to the good middle-class jobs the company has shipped overseas, Verizon sent private armed security forces after peaceful CWA representatives and called in a SWAT team armed with automatic weapons," the CWA said.
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Verizon dismissed CWA's investigation in the Philippines wholesale, describing the representative's fact-gathering trip as a "fancy vacation" in a statement to Fortune.
"Verizon has doubled down on its deception, claiming workers were on a 'vacation,'" CWA president Chris Shelton responded to the jibe. "Let's be clear: being on strike, exposing Verizon’s lies about off-shoring and being harassed by Verizon armed security guards is no vacation. Striking men and women from Massachusetts to Virginia are standing up for their families, their customers and to save middle class jobs for all Americans."
Verizon officials at the company's headquarters in the Philippines refused to meet with the CWA when representatives attempted to confront them on Wednesday, the union said. After the representatives left Verizon headquarters, they were pulled over by armed security guards and then surrounded and threatened by a SWAT team armed with semi-automatic weapons.
"Presumably, it is difficult to justify paying workers $1.78 an hour when the company's CEO made $18 million last year," wrote the CWA, "and the company has piled up $1.5 billion a month in profits for the past 15 months." | 1,267,999 |
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