text
stringlengths 245
34.4k
| id
int64 0
1.27M
|
|---|---|
LONDON: US website domain name provider GoDaddy is in exclusive talks to buy peer Host Europe Group (HEG) as it seeks to expand in higher-margin businesses beyond the initial set-up of websites, people close to the matter said.
Arizona-based GoDaddy, the world's largest website address registrar, has branched into hosting websites itself for small businesses and consumers.
Founded in 1997, the company became well-known in the United States for its sometimes outrageous TV marketing campaigns with celebrities or during the Super Bowl and other sporting events.
A purchase of HEG would help GoDaddy accelerate its shift into the more profitable web hosting business as well as broaden its customer base in Europe.
HEG, which serves mainly small and medium-sized businesses, is one of Europe's largest independent web hosting firms and could be valued at about €1.7bil (RM7.98bil), or over 12 times its forecast 2016 core earnings of €140mil (RM657.52mil), people familiar with the matter have said previously.
In 2015, HEG posted like-for-like adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €114mil (RM535.41mil) on sales of €280mil (RM1.31bil).
In 2017, Deutsche Bank estimates GoDaddy can generate nearly US$1bil (RM4.44bil) in revenue from domains, US$750mil (RM3.33bil) from hosting and another US$325mil (RM1.44bil) from selling applications to help customers run businesses on the sites set up through GoDaddy.
The US-based company, backed by private equity firms KKR and Silver Lake, trumped rival bids from German Internet service provider United Internet, which had teamed up with private equity firm Warburg Pincus, and a third bid by buyout firm Centerbridge, the sources said.
Deutsche Telekom this month withdrew from the bidding process, as did Permira, which teamed with Interoute, part-owned by investor Aleph Capital.
Cinven, GoDaddy and KKR declined to comment. Silver Lake and HEG were not immediately available to comment.
Cinven bought HEG in 2013 for £438mil (RM2.42bil) and expanded the business with acquisitions.
Banks, expected to include Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and RBC, are lining up debt financing to back a potential deal between the two parties, totalling around €1.5bil (RM7.04bil), or 4.5 times combined EBITDA, the sources said.
If a deal is struck, the financing could be launched before the year end. A financing of this size would be welcomed by Europe’s very liquid leveraged loan market, which has been eager for new paper and event-driven deals as demand has far outweighed supply so far this year. — Reuters | 1,268,800 |
Speed Kills MPG
Unfortunately, it's true. Your car's gas mileage decreases once it gets past its optimal speed. For most cars, this is around 55-60 mph. This means that every time you go over this speed, you're essentially wasting gas and money - and creating unnecessary greenhouse gases.
You'd be surprised to learn that a slight decrease in your highway driving speed can significantly reduce your gas consumption, while only adding a few minutes to your travel time.
How much?
According to studies backed by the department of energy, the average car will be at its advertised MPG at 55 mph. But as the speed increases:
- 3% less efficient at 60 mph
- 8% less efficient at 65 mph
- 17% less efficient at 70 mph
- 23% less efficient at 75 mph
- 28% less efficient at 80 mph
See the graph below (from fueleconomy.gov):
Use this calculator to determine your numbers:
MPG For Speed Calculator Your car's highway MPG: Don't know? Look it up here Miles driven per day: Highway only Price of gas: $
Speed Daily Travel Time Effective MPG Cost/day Cost/year 55 MPH 60 MPH 65 MPH 70 MPH 75 MPH 80 MPH
Which cars?
Regardless of your vehicle, engine, or size, the numbers hold true. Green Car Congress did a study comparing different car model against this topic.
Why?
This effect happens for two reasons:
1) Increasing air resistance. According to CNN, "Pushing air around actually takes up about 40% of a car's energy at highway speeds. Traveling faster makes the job even harder...The increase is actually exponential, meaning wind resistance rises much more steeply between 70 and 80 mph than it does between 50 and 60. "
2) Engines are designed for specific speed, temperature, and rpm ranges. Driving out of these ranges goes against the fundamental design of the engine.
Interesting Facts
If the national speed limit were reset to 55, it would save 1 billion barrels of oil per year.
The old national speed limit of 55 mph was created to address the energy crisis in the early 1970's - not safety purposes (although it did help safety).
Unmaintained engines can also add to poor mpg performance. Save Money with a new fuel pump assembly from Partsgeek.com
Other applications
This principle not only applies to cars, but other vehicles as well. Recently airlines have been slowing down their planes in an effort to ease fuel consumption. Most flights are being decreased by 10 mph, adding an average of 2-3 minutes more travel time in most cases.
The effect?
- Southwest Airlines will save $42 million in fuel costs per year.
- JetBlue will save $13.6 million per year
- United will save $20 million per year
| 1,268,801 |
Lombardy, the region in northern Italy where the coronavirus outbreak first took off in Europe, now has fewer per capita cases testing positive for the virus than some Swiss cantons.
© Aquanaut4 | Dreamstime.com
Recent data from Italy show there were 221 cases per 100,000 in Lombardy. In Ticino, Switzerland’s worst affected canton, there were 477 cases per 100,000, 116% more. Lombardy had 13 times as many cases (22,189 / 1,688 cases) but has 29 times the population of Ticino (10m/0.35m).
Geneva (352), Vaud (319) and Basel-City (312) had Switzerland’s next highest rates per 100,000 and were all higher than Lombardy.
Across Switzerland, the death rate so far, based on the number of deaths and recoveries to date, has dropped significantly. At midday on 27 March 2020 there were 198 deaths and 897 recoveries, a death rate of 18%. Four days ago the same figure was 48%.
Why this rate (18%) is so high compared to some Asian countries in unclear. Currently, the same rates in China (4%), South Korea (3%), Japan (12%), Hong Kong (4%) and Singapore (1%) are far lower than the 18% outcome-based fatality rate in Switzerland. One theory is that the number of cases testing positive in these countries is closer to the real number of infections, while in Switzerland cases testing positive are the tip of a large iceberg of actual infections. There are likely to be other reasons too, such as demographic and healthcare differences. But right now we don’t know.
Differing approaches to testing could significantly affect the number of recorded cases.
By 26 March 2020, South Korea had conducted 364,942 tests, a rate of 7,090 test per million, while Switzerland had conducted 91,400 Covid-19 tests, a rate of 10,665 tests per million.
However, a high per capita rate of testing by itself isn’t enough to control the spread of the virus. Testing needs to be timely and accompanied by thorough tracing of human contact.
There are significant differences in how Switzerland and South Korea have approached testing. South Korea tested earlier, more preemptively and included significant numbers of suspected cases. In Switzerland, testing has been more reactive and focused on high risk highly symptomatic individuals. Many in Switzerland with symptoms remain untested. Many others in close contact with untested symptomatic people have not been tested either.
This means South Korea’s 9,241 case number is likely to be far more complete than Switzerland’s figure, which is likely to be heavily understated and far from the actual number of people infected. In Switzerland it is likely there are far more undetected cases unwittingly spreading the virus than in South Korea.
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter. | 1,268,802 |
GB of RAM
Example Devices (not all-inclusive): iPhone 6S, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 4 and newer
Minimum Required (Required to receive and play the 1.3 Update)
Metal Enabled Devices (A7 or newer chipset)
iOS 8.0+
1GB of RAM
Example Devices (Not all-inclusive): iPhone 5S, iPad Air 1, iPad Mini 2
***Note that devices with higher specifications will naturally see better performance overall and have greater capability for hosting multiplayer sessions, using more intensive graphic settings, etc.***
------
Android
Recommended (Required for use of/playing on Large Worlds and for making full use of graphics settings, etc)
Android 4.3+
Open GL ES 3.0
1.5+ GB RAM
Example Devices (not all-inclusive): Google Pixel - Huawei Mate 10 Lite - LGE LG K20 Plus - Motorola moto g(6) - OnePlus 5 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 – Samsung Galaxy S7 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
Minimum Required
Android 4.3+
Open GL ES 3.0
1GB RAM
Example Devices: Asus Nexus 7 (2013) - Lenovo TAB 10 - Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - Samsung Galaxy S5 - Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2016)
***Note that devices with higher specifications will naturally see better performance overall and have greater capability for hosting multiplayer sessions, using more intensive graphic settings, etc.***
If your device does not meet the minimum specifications, then you will not receive the 1.3 update - however, your current 1.2.4 version of Terraria Mobile will continue to operate as it currently does.
Will this update cost me anything?
Only all of your free time as you get hopelessly drawn in to all of the amazing new content and features.
If you meant money, then Terraria 1.3 is free to all current owners of Mobile Terraria.
What about Mobile Exclusives?
As we shared in the May State of the Game, all current mobile exclusive content is being 100% removed from the game.
No Legacy items, etc. will exist - this is different from how this was handled on consoles.
In addition, the changes made to balance on current mobile have all been reverted to PC 1.3.0.7 standard.
For details, click here for the full list: MOBILE EXCLUSIVE CONTENT CHANGES
Is there a limit to the number of Worlds or Characters I can have at one time?
Currently, the system will hit some UI and other issues once you exceed 100 Worlds or 100 Characters (separately).
The team will continue to look at upping this limit, but - for now - we hope that will keep everyone satisfied.
Where can I get the Dedicated PC Server for Mobile Terraria? | 1,268,803 |
The amphetamine 2C-E or Aquarust was on Saturday given as the likely cause of Friday's mass intoxication, reportedly involving naturopaths, at Handeloh, a small town some 40 kilometers from Germany's northern metropolis of Hamburg.
Police on Saturday said they had begun investigations under Germany's anti-narcotics law on the grounds that persons had injured themselves, necessitating a medical emergency.
How the incident unfolded or whether those affected had wittingly taken the halluzinatory substance was still unclear on Saturday. Police said those intoxicated were still not fit for questioning. Laboratory tests to identify the substance were continuing.
"The questioning begins as soon as the persons are coherent and their statements are useable," said a police official quoted by the news agency DPA.
The psychedelic drug 2C-E or Aquarust was banned in Germany last year. It has an euphoric effect and, like Ecstasy and Speed, belongs to the group of synthetically-produced amphetamines.
Delusions, cramps
Some 160 rescue personnel in 15 ambulances and a helicopter converged on Handeloh on Friday afternoon and rushed the 29 to various clinics in the Hamburg area.
The patients, aged between 24 and 56, were found suffering from delusions, breathing problems, racing hearts and cramps, some in life-threatening conditions, according to the public broadcaster NDR.
Naturopaths, doctors?
The news magazine "Der Spiegel" described those affected as alternative and homeopathic practitioners. NDR said doctors were also among the seminar group and suggested that participants might have taken part in a drug experiment.
Fire service spokesman Mathias Köhlbrandt told NDR that he had never experienced such as situation.
"Men and women lay with cramps in the garden and in front of the building," he said, adding they did not seem to have knowingly taken a drug.
Some were suffering delusions and even psychoses, NDR reported. Some patients were administered sedatives en route to hospital, said the emergency response physician who headed the rescue operation, Dr. Kai Rathjen.
The seminar center's propreitor Stefka Weiland said her team distanced itself from "what has occurred."
"We didn't have anything to do with it," Weiland said, adding that most of the seminar participants were from the Hamburg area.
Norovirus infection at Red Cross center
The incident in Handeloh followed an unrelated mass infection of 110 participants at a Red Cross training center at Birkenfeld in Germany's southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate on Wednesday. They had eaten in its canteen.
The likely cause of the gastrointestinal outbreak was traced on Thursday to the norovirus, according to the state's health authority. Thirty patients were hospitalized but were later said to be recovering.
During the emergency, the local county administration sealed off the site.
ipj/se (dpa, AP) | 1,268,804 |
The device itself is very small. Its about the size of a USB external hard drive. It has absolutely no lights on it whatsoever. Valve was clearly going for a minimalist design, but I would have appreciated at least a tiny LED to let you know it's on.
There are 3 USB ports on the device for various controllers. I believe you can even connect a mouse and keyboard to the Steam Link, but I haven't actually tried it. Other than the USB ports, there is a HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and the power cord port and that's all. The device tucks in nicely behind your TV, so it can be completely out of sight.
The UI is pretty simple and straightforward. When powered on, it immediately searches your network for a PC running Steam. On mine, it found my gaming PC immediately. The first time it connected, it automatically updated it's firmware on it's own. It also detected the proper resolution of my Sony HDTV and my Xbox 360 controllers. There was literally no setup other than turning the device on and waiting for it to update.
Once everything was updated, I connected to my Steam library and was able to browse my library. The UI is designed to be readable from "couch distance". Everything is large and bright and easy to see. Valve did a great job with the UI as everything was intuitive and unobtrusive.
In terms of performance, I did not do any actual benchmarks, but I played a variety of racing and FPS shooters and I noticed no perceptible screen lag. My gaming experience was just as good as if I was sitting in front of the PC itself. Some reviews note a 10% loss in framerate, which may be true, but my PC is powerful enough that I couldn't see it.
I did notice some occasional artifacting in fast motion sequences, but it was no worse than the type of artifacting you see in some low bitrate fast motion video. It was barely noticeable and by no means compromised the gaming experience for me.
Simply, the experience was good enough that if you were to invite your friends over and just start playing a game and not told them what kind of device you were using, they would have no idea that you didn't have an actual console somewhere behind the TV.
Overall, I am extremely happy with the Steam Link. The fact that this thing costs only $50 is amazing to me. It would cost that much to get a very long HDMI cable and run it from a PC in another room to your TV. The fact that its a nicely designed piece of hardware with a great UI and it integrates seamlessly into your Steam library and is compatible with almost any modern gaming controller is one heck of a value!
As I said earlier in this review, it is very important to know what this device is not before you buy it. Assuming you meet all of the prerequisites to make it work, this is hands down, one of the best piece of consumer electronics I have ever used. | 1,268,805 |
the classmate in the video were suspended from school following the incident. She also said that she planned to homeschool him “because she doesn’t agree with how it was handled.” The two plan to clean out his locker on Friday.
"We need to stop bullying," Fillmore said. "Everyone's different, and we need to accept and respect people. Leave people in peace; there's no reason for constant hate and harassment."
Beverly Tillery, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, an organization that works to prevent violence against LGBTQ people and empower survivors of violence, compared the incident involving Steffy with that of Abel Cedeno. Cedeno, who came out as gay upon his arrest, stabbed a classmate to death and seriously wounded another at a Bronx high school in 2017 after he was allegedly bullied for his perceived sexuality. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for manslaughter, eight years for assault and 90 days for criminal possession of a weapon.
“No one should have lost their life or be injured. Too often, there’s so many people ignoring the situation — teachers, students, administrators — until things get physically violent,” Tillery said. “We need schools to step in and take this seriously, because right now they’re not doing their job to protect students.”
Both Tillery and Willingham-Jaggers called on schools to reimagine their approaches to addressing anti-LGBTQ bullying. For example, instead of focusing on disciplinary action, Willingham-Jaggers said schools might think of incorporating “restorative justice practices,” which tend to focus on finding a solution to the issue versus simply punishing students and can include setting “community agreements” in classroom settings to foster healthy relationships among peers.
They also cautioned against sensationalizing the violence in Steffy’s video or viewing it as a sport.
“The gut reaction to the video might be, ‘Yay, this is vindication for the bullying,’ but what happened is tragic,” Willingham-Jaggers said. “It points to a systematic failure.”
For students who don’t feel supported or safe at their schools due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, Tillery and Willingham-Jaggers recommend confiding in an adult or seeking support from a local advocacy organization. According to the Trevor Project, LGBTQ youth who report having at least one accepting adult were 40 percent less likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year.
If you or someone you know is being discriminated against for their sexual orientation or gender identity, or feeling hopeless or suicidal, contact The Trevor Project's Trevor Lifeline 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386. Counseling is also available 24/7 via chat every day at TheTrevorProject.org/Help, or by texting 678-678.
Follow NBC Out on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram | 1,268,806 |
pursuer men I work with. His distancer partner’s ability to maintain the status quo is confusing for him. She will stay in distancer mode for years while he keeps trying the same pursuer tactics. She feels powerless to turn toward him because she needs to feel a decrease of the intense pressure of his relentless pursuit.
The impact on a woman’s ability to trust from years of pursuit can be enormous. It’s hard for him to understand her fear about reconnecting. Rebuilding trust requires a consistent and dependable energy of acceptance and respect. She wants to feel less pressure, less judgment, and less anger.
When he chooses to understand and empathize with these critical needs, he can choose a new mindset: He can love her in ways that pull her toward him instead of pushing her away. He can choose to understand before providing advice on how to stop the pattern.
What if she is the pursuer?
Everything applies the same. She has the same responsibility.
The distancer’s dilemma
Dr. Lerner also gives a warning to distancers.
But distancers beware: Many partners, exhausted by years of pursuing and feeling unheard, leave a relationship or marriage suddenly. When a distancer realizes that a partner may actually walk out, he or she may flip into a position of intense pursuit. But it may be too late.
She must realize the power she holds in how she chooses to turn towards his desire for connection. A choice to create feelings of fear and insecurity in her partner also sabotages her own chance for a rewarding relationship.
She must be aware of what she is avoiding and why. Your partner is most likely pursuing you because they are scared of you abandoning them. While you are putting distance between you and them because you fear being controlled in the relationship.
The worst thing for a pursuer to feel is detachment. When they are given the gift of genuine reassurance they are able to relax. This is known as the dependency paradox.
Of course, a man who is distancing has the same responsibility.
Starting all by yourself
Must both partners do their work at the same time in order to escape the pattern?
No. And expecting that to happen will negatively affect their ability to start making their own changes.
Changes must be driven by a desire to be a better partner, not to get some instant result or reciprocation. Pursuers are known for being outcome dependent and have a hard time making changes without expectations. Distancers are known for being stubborn and have difficulty making the first move when under pressure.
When one partner makes a commitment to change their approach and their responses, on a consistent basis, their relationship will change.
The Marriage Minute is a new email newsletter from The Gottman Institute that will improve your marriage in 60 seconds or less. Over 40 years of research with thousands of couples has proven a simple fact: small things often can create big changes over time. Got a minute? Sign up below. | 1,268,807 |
don't want you to end up like my father, or Owen, do we?" "Owen?" Francis asked. "Who's Owen?" Michael gestured towards the corner of the room, where another headless yellow suit sat. Blood was slowly trickling out of the various openings in the suit, and messy brown hair could be seen through the hole where the head would be. Francis gasped as he realized that Owen was a child. "Poor kid," Michael taunted. "He was snooping where he shouldn't have, saw things he shouldn't have seen. And we can't risk anything getting out, now can we?"
"You're crazy!" Francis yelled. "Perhaps so. Guess it runs in the family, huh?" Mike grinned as he shut the door behind him, leaving Francis alone in the dark. Mike sighed as he made his way out of the Employees Only room, and next to the Show Stage. He checked his watch, 10:49 PM. "Was that needed?" Alice asked. "Yes, Alice, it was," Mike replied. "We need to lure them here, what better way than kidnapping one of them?" "Oh, I dunno...maybe it's cause THAT'S CRAZY STUPID!" "Oh, like you could have done better?" "I mean, she maybe could have," Ben said. "You don't know." "Thank you, Ben," Alice replied. "Both of you, shut up," Mike said. "We have work to do soon." "Yeah, because sitting around for six hours is 'work'." Alex said. "Shut up, Alex," Mike replied. "You know why we're here." "Oh yea, more dead kids. Because that really helps our situation, huh?" "It will, trust me." "Dude, no offense, but we hardly know you, save for Elizabeth. We've been stuck together for two years, and the only 'bonding' we have is when we talk like this, or when you're killing people." "It's all for a good cause." "That being what? Your father not having to worry about someone wanting revenge?" Mike drifted into silence. "You...you don't know why you're doing all of this, do you?" Alex asked. Mike sighed, "Doesn't matter. There's work needed to be done." "Mhm, if you say so." Mike made his way to the office, and sat in the swivel seat. Amazingly, the company decided to put in some lockers on the opposite wall of the desk so employees can put their stuff away fairly safely. Mike again checked his watch, 10:54 PM. "Now don't you guys do anything stupid," Mike said. "I'm in need of a nap."
"Uh huh," Alex sighed. "Go ahead." "Night, Michael!" Elizabeth said in a odd tone of voice. "Sweet dreams," "Gonna ignore the complete creep factor of that," Mike mumbled to himself as he dozed off. | 1,268,808 |
Liverpool is ‘likely’ to be awarded the 2019-20 Premier League title, with mounting fears it will be impossible to complete the season this summer.
The Telegraph reports there is “little opposition” from rival clubs for Jurgen Klopp’s side to be awarded the title, with Liverpool 25 points clear of second-placed Manchester City. As it stands, two more wins will hand the Reds the league.
English football has already suspended all fixtures until April 4, but the report suggests resuming play on that date — when experts believe coronavirus will be peaking — is extremely optimistic.
“You tell me whether you think there’s the remotest possibility that anything in the science is going to tell us that it’s going to be safer to play on April 3 than now,” a senior figure told Telegraph Sport.
That has seen radical plans drawn up which could include voiding the season - though with Liverpool so close to clinching the title, this seems unlikely.
Don't miss the latest sports news! Was $13 now $7 per week for 12 weeks* (Digital + Print) Enjoy unlimited access to thewest.com.au and everyday digital editions on any device. Thursday - Monday papers home delivered with all of the latest footy news! *T&Cs apply
Whether teams should be relegated and promoted from the Championship, and which sides should qualify for the Champions League, are also questions that need to be answered.
Camera Icon Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Credit: Darren Staples / PA
Instead of any teams being relegated, the Premier League could expand to 22 teams for one year.
“One proposal that could be made would be for the top two in the Championship, currently Leeds and West Brom, to be promoted and for 22 teams to compete in next season’s Premier League,” the Telegraph reported.
“The EFL Cup would be postponed for one year to allow extra space in the fixture list and five clubs, instead of three, would be relegated at the end of the season.”
There could also be an expanded qualifying phase for the Champions League.
“One suggestion regarding Champions League qualification would be to allow the teams who qualified for this season’s tournament to keep their places next season and then enter any additional sides currently in qualification positions into an expanded qualifying phase,” the report said.
“That would mean third-placed Leicester going into a qualifying round for the Champions League, with Liverpool, Manchester City — subject to the Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing — Chelsea and Tottenham holding on to their places in the tournament.
“But Manchester United, Wolves and Sheffield United, who are all above seventh-placed Spurs, would no doubt object to this.”
The English Premier League has suspended all fixtures until April 4 after Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for coronavirus. | 1,268,809 |
The twin developments—first the expose of Bangalore-based Twitter handler for ISIS propaganda, Mehdi Masroor Biswas and then the Sydney hostage crisis led by a self-styled Muslim cleric from Iran Haron Monis has put the Indian security agencies on the edge forcing them to review the threat perception that could be in store for India.
They are not discounting the possibility of "Lone Wolf" attack (could also be a small pack of wolves) by self-indoctrinated Jihadis that are roaming freely in the cyberspace and are well educated.
On a precautionary note the IB has put five states – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh including Telangana, Karnataka, West Bengal and the NCT of Delhi - on alert.
The threat so far was existed from the less educated and Madarsa bred youth, especially from economically backward families coming from the ghettos, who were easier to convert into Jihadis by way of indoctrination by fundamentalist Maulvis.
The repercussions ISIS threat were also discussed threadbare about a month-and-a-half ago by the Intelligence Bureau in a especially called meeting of all the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) chiefs of various Metros.
The trigger was the discovery that several thousands educated Indian youth based in Metros and big towns are getting hooked to the ISIS on different chat forums in the social media. The main lacuna that emerged was the inability of security agencies to monitor cyberspace constantly.
"As it has become clear now that ISIS supporters are behind the Sydney hostage crisis and the world is taking a notice of it, we also have to be prepared for the fall out of virtual world terrorism. This new dimension is still unfolding and the worry is how many of these virtual Jihadis can become real terrorists. Even if it is one in a thousand, it is big enough a danger to be prepared for," said sources.
Experts in intelligence agencies said the shrill noise made by the media, especially by the electonic media, in the case of @ShamiWitness twitter handle run by Mehdi has not helped the cause and has made it worse.
"The Media hype on @ShamiWitness and portraying Mehdi as a big recruiter and radicaliser has not gone well. It has rather helped the cause of the ISIS and may make it easier to get a foothold in India that was missing until now," said sources.
Had it not been for the media hype, we would have dealt with Mehdi in a different manner and instead of slapping serious charges on him would have tried to treat and de-radicalise him and bring back to the mainstream as a reformed person, sources added.
Mehdi, according to sleuths who have met him, appears to be a badly shaken person.
"He is a highly radicalised person but at the same time a timid one. When he met his mother he told her, "Ammi! Mera kya hoga, mujhe bachaa lo, please." | 1,268,810 |
Jammu and Kashmir's ruling coalition collapsed in June after the BJP yanked support from the PDP.
Highlights BJP sounded election bugle for Jammu and Kashmir
Ram Madhav said party will contest all 87 seats
He said some local parties afraid they will be doomed
Amid rumours that the BJP was averse to holding the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir along with the Lok Sabha polls due by May, the ruling party has sounded the election bugle for the state. Ram Madhav, the BJP general secretary, today announced the party will contest all 87 seats in the state and form a stable government with "some friends".
Without mentioning the BJP's former ally Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said some local parties are afraid if elections are held today they will be doomed.
"Rumours are doing the rounds that the BJP doesn't want Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and other parties are ready. But it's the other way round. I don't want to name anybody, but there are some parties that believe that if elections are held today they will be doomed. But we are ready, let that be clear," Mr Madhav said after meeting BJP leaders in Jammu.
Last week, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik had also said that except for the PDP, all other parties wanted Assembly elections. Mr Malik said while the state BJP wanted the polls to be held along with the national election, the National Conference wanted it to be held as soon as possible.
"The PDP wants it to be delayed," he had said.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, however, trashed such claims and said "we are always ready for elections".
The BJP would most likely go it alone, but due to the special circumstances in the state, Mr Madhav said "we have no hesitation in joining hands with others" to form the government.
"There is the least possibility of a pre-poll alliance with any party for the assembly elections in the state. The BJP will emerge (as) the largest party after the elections and will give a stable government to the people with some friends," the BJP leader told reporters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the BJP's campaign for both the elections in the state during his visit on February 3, Ram Madhav said.
Jammu and Kashmir's ruling coalition collapsed in June after the BJP yanked support from the PDP.
Governor Malik had on November 21 dissolved the state assembly after the PDP, supported by the Congress and the National Conference, staked claim to form the government.
The two-member People's Conference led by Sajjad Lone had also staked claim to form a government with 25 members of the BJP and other 18 unknown members.
The governor had listed horse-trading and lack of stability to form a government as the reasons for his decision.
The elections have to be held within six months after the dissolution of assembly. | 1,268,811 |
In a recent survey of divers and fishermen in Cyprus, researchers discovered that the invasive lionfish have colonized the eastern and southern shores of the island. Scientists worry that this advance could threaten the biodiversity of the entire Mediterranean.
The survey, published this week in Marine Biodiversity Records, identified at least 19 lionfish along the coast, some of which showed mating behavior.
The fish, Pterois miles, can grow up to 18 inches long, weighs around two pounds and has 18 venomous spines. It's a native of the Pacific and Indian Ocean, where natural predators keep them in check. But when the fish escape into waters outside of this range, the lack of natural predators means the invasives destroy populations of local creatures.
According to Aidan Quigley at The Christian Science Monitor, the lionfish chows down on the fish that normally munch on algae. Without this natural janitor, the algae and seaweed will build up, smothering coral reefs to death. Lionfish spawn every four days year-round, releasing up to 2 million eggs per year, which float great distances on the ocean surface.
The fish has already destroyed parts of the Caribbean, where many aquarium owners release them into the wild. In one study, lionfish reduced reef fish by 65 percent in just two years.
Lionfish are also found in Florida. The fish first appeared there in the 1980s, but the population exploded after 2007, reports David Martin at AlJazeera America. The Florida lionfish now threaten populations of commercial fish like grouper and snapper. The state encourages divers to collect the fish, which do not fear humans, and has also begun an outreach effort to encourage people to eat the predator.
Even so, most efforts to control lionfish in the Western Hemisphere have failed. So halting the Mediterranean invasion is critical.
“This is the first scientific proof that they are invading, but we don’t know what the ecologic impact will be,” Jason Hall-Spencer, an author of the study and marine biologist at Plymouth University tells Quigley. “What would be best is to stop it now, instead of waiting to see what the environmental effects are.”
The researchers believe that two main factors led to the lionfish invasion. First, as the climate changes, the cold waters of the Mediterranean Sea have warmed enough to become attractive to the fish. Second, an expansion and deepening of the Suez Canal was completed last year. This change eliminated salty regions of the channel that prevented the fish from crossing. “With more flushing of water going through, it’s more conducive to the spread of invasive species,” Hall-Spencer tells Quigley.
In the press release, Hall-Spencer suggests that immediate action needs to be taken over the next month to control the fish, such as encouraging divers to spear them. Longer-term solutions could also include introducing natural predators like the dusky grouper. | 1,268,812 |
Democratic primary, it was an awkward pairing — representatives for special interests meeting with top Democrats while the party’s leading presidential candidates reject corporate PAC and lobbyist cash. But Democratic National Committee officials explained during the meeting how corporations can help foot the bill for the convention, regardless of who the nominee is, addressing some lobbyists’ worries that a crusading left-wing nominee like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren could try to reject corporate money, embarrassing convention sponsors. The DNC doesn’t plan to return any corporate money that is donated to the convention regardless of the nominee, convention CEO Joe Solmonese told POLITICO.”
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Markey comes out hot in Senate reelection campaign against Kennedy - Politico
Federal judge blocks Trump admin’s intention of fast-track deportations - Politico
AUDIBLE: QUAAAAAAAAAACK
“It appeared to perish.” – Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., talking about a duck she accidentally hit with a golf ball, per CNN.
Share your color commentary: Email us at [email protected] and please make sure to include your name and hometown.
DON’T GET SIDEWAYS WITH THIS BEAR
NY Post: “A black bear with a discerning palate was caught on camera munching on grapes in a California vineyard – but only picking out those used for Pinot Noir, according to a report. Video shows the refined mammal stomping around Navarro Vineyards in Philo, Calif., and stopping to pick at the Pinot Noir vines – ignoring the eight other grape varieties grown at the winery. ‘He will go for the premium fruit,’ Aaron Bennett, co-owner of the family business told the Los Angeles Times. The booze-loving beast has been using the vineyard as his personal snack bar for years, but the business only recently caught the fiend in the act on security footage. ‘Navarro’s taste-tester is back to ‘get it when the gettin’ is good,’’ the business posted on Facebook last week, along with security footage of the bear. … The bear may be drawn to the specific grapes because they are grown in a remote part of the vineyard. Or maybe he just has good taste, Bennett said.”
AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Meg Greenfield was a wonderful journalist, editor and writer. Washington, journalism and American politics will sorely miss her mind and pen. I will too. But, above all, I will miss her heart.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on May 24, 1999.
Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here. | 1,268,813 |
“Balancing chemical intake is huge,” he tells me via Facebook. “What I’ve learned after graduating is that time is fluid—working 24 hours is the same as working 12 hours twice. Exercise and nutrition are important not only to your health but to creativity and productivity too.”
everyone wants good design, but no one wants to pay for it“When I say chemical I mean alcohol, caffeine, nicotine etc.” he clarifies (in case you were imagining the more illicit substances known to haunt the halls of architecture academia). “But I also mean building a reward system for yourself to allow/regulate willpower, stress, lactic acid, dopamine and serotonin as well.”
Other architects that I queried had advice—and warnings—more tailored to life after graduation. “I wish I had known that everyone wants good design, but no one wants to pay for it,” states Sofia Borges, a faculty member at USC. “That realization in itself would have probably propelled me into law school.”
“Oh and the secret to getting work is to not hang out with other architects!” she advises. “Go to pilates, the flea market—places where people who aren't broke frequent.”
An independent urban planner likewise offered a few select warnings: “The best way to study architecture is not the same as the best way to create good architecture. I realized this while still in school, resulting in poor relations with my teachers who were trying to set up the studio as a professional arch office with themselves as the boss.”
He felt this disconnect from quality extendsSociety doesn't value your skills. At all. from academia to the profession. “In the architecture industry, the people who hold the power are not interested in hiring good architects,” he contends. “They are interested in hiring obedient architects.”
Even worse: “Society doesn't value your skills. At all.” According to the urban planner, while the general public tends to understand and value jobs in the pharmaceutical industry or harder sciences, architecture “takes on a reputation of a cozy pastime that people hardly need to pay for, because all designers have so much fun at the job that their bills somehow evaporate into thin air.”
Meanwhile, a few current and prospective architecture students took my Facebook query of advice for prospective students as, perhaps, an opportunity to relieve some school-induced stress with a bit of humor (or perhaps seriousness).
“Borrow 100k, forget all that Marxist shit we learned in college, work for 30 years to pay it back,” said one.
“Don’t do it,” said another. “It’s a trap.”
This feature is part of September's Learning theme, which focuses on all things related to architectural pedagogy. For more, click here. | 1,268,814 |
MIAMI, FL – OCTOBER 06: Brian Burns #99 of the Florida State Seminoles causes a fumble by N’Kosi Perry #5 of the Miami Hurricanes in the first half at Hard Rock Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) +
11 Brian Burns EDGE Florida State
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals have had some incredible struggles on the defensive side of the ball. If Brian Burns is available at 11, I think the Bengals would rush to the podium to select Burns. I think that a lot of people have been sleeping on the Florida State product, despite him having some of the best pass-rushing skills of anyone in the class. For the Bengals to turn the corner, they will need to become dominant on the defensive side of the ball and Burns helps them make that transition.
12 Devin Bush Jr. Linebacker Michigan
Green Bay Packers
As the Packers start to contemplate the final window of Aaron Rodgers‘ career, they will look to make the defense fast and athletic. Devin Bush Jr. makes Green Bay’s defense better as soon as he hits the field. With incredible speed and fluid hips, Bush is also very good in coverage. This would be an excellent pick for a team like the Packers.
13 Rashan Gary EDGE Michigan
Miami Dolphins
A lot of people have Rashan Gary going in the top ten. Personally, I don’t believe that he is a top 20 player; however, the NFL loves athletic pass-rushers. While Gary is not an immediate superstar, he has a ton of upside with his athleticism and that could definitely be attractive to a team that is rebuilding, like the Miami Dolphins.
RELATED PRODUCT Kansas City Chiefs Hibiscus Button Up Shirt - S Buy Now!
14 Greedy Williams Cornerback LSU
Atlanta Falcons
For Atlanta, keeping pace with the Saints is no simple task. With a very good offense, it seems likely that the Falcons will take the best defensive player available on their board. They would be wise to draft Greedy Williams. Although there are questions about Williams’ ability to tackle and his overall effort, he is probably the best overall coverage player in the draft. The Falcons desperately need a coverage guy and Williams fits the bill.
15 Montez Sweat EDGE Mississippi State
Washington Redskins
Washington has a lot of needs. With Drew Lock and Daniel Jones still on the board, I would not be at all surprised to see them draft the quarterback of the future. In fact, many expect them to take their guy here. I believe that Montez Sweat would fit in well with the team. Sweat’s tremendous athletic ability will make someone take him earlier than he belongs. I have serious questions about his pass-rush moves and bend, but when you are enormous and fast, you get drafted high. Washington has a history of being aggressive and I think that Sweat would make a lot of sense at 15. | 1,268,815 |
Muslim singer Zayn Malik admitted to quitting Twitter after being a victim of racist messages sent from sick-minded trolls.
Now a vile song blaming the One Direction singer for the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001 has sparked fury among fans.
The track called 'Zayn Did 9/11' features the singer's silhouette superimposed over an image of the September 11 attacks.
1D fans quickly defended their idol, 19, by holding up signs at the band's latest concert saying "Zayn's Not Racist," and similar supportive messages.
The hugely offensive track is still available to download from the official iTunes store for just 79p despite an online petition to have it removed already has more than 200 signatures.
It’s claimed to be the work of American rapper Rucka Rucka Ali who has since been branded “disgusting” among hundreds of unprintable tweets.
His Twitter account has since been suspended but the song itself remains free to play on YouTube.
The song is described as a 'parody' and is remixed with the instrumental of Selena Gomez's debut single Come & Get It.
Zayn has previously said of the racist abuse he receives on Twitter: “Nasty things were said like I’m a terrorist. How can you justify that?
"How can you call me that and get away with it?
“You can say whatever you want about me, I’m not bothered. But when it starts to upset people I care about or I hear about it from my mum, that’s a problem."
Internet trolls sent Zayn sickening racist remarks after picture emerged of him with Perri and his family celebrating Eid - a Muslim holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan.
The brutal remarks became too much for Zayn and eventually it forced him to quit the (anti)social-network Twitter.
He said: “I believe that your religion should be between you and whoever your belief is in.
“I don't think you should stick it in peoples faces. I think you should just keep it to yourself and that's how I've always been with it.
"I just had seen a few things that had annoyed me.
(Image: Twitter)
“I thought we had moved away from that and we're living in the 21st century and people could accept people from different religions. It shouldn't have wound me up but it did.”
He added his guilt for the real fans who were gutted that their idol had temporarily deleted his account.
He said: “At the same time there are so many fans on there who say nice things every day so why should they miss out?”
Are you the biggest 1D fan? Test your knowledge here.
You can buy your tickets to One Direction 2014 stadium tour We Are Here - right here - with Mirror Tickets, just click on a date below: | 1,268,816 |
s inauguration ceremony drew "the largest attendance ever," but also defended the claim by saying that modern online media platforms allowed a larger global audience to tune in.
When discussing his own role as Trump’s press secretary, he said "I was a spokesperson for an individual. My job is to go out and repeat the thoughts and views of whomever is the principal at the time. If they don’t like the answer or policy, that’s not my problem … That’s like if I blamed you, the reporter, for putting out a story and saying ‘how dare you bring it up as part of this story’ even though that’s your job."
Later, Brazile said that as a press secretary "you’re representing your bosses’ ideas … but hopefully you’re still representing the truth." Brazile also demeaned the media coverage of President Trump’s tweets and social media accounts as "dumbing down" news, after which Ponce told Spicer, "You said that the president’s tweets constituted official statements to the press. So there’s a reason to cover tweets if they are, in fact, official statements for the press."
As the discussion continued, protesters could be heard outside the auditorium. The group, which possibly numbered at more than 200 protesters, assembled outside of the building about an hour before the event before marching inside and shouting slogans such as "shut it down" and "no Spicer, no KKK, no racist USA."
"I hear that shouting outside. To me, that’s a sign of health," Ponce said. "People can be yelling and engaging in protest, and at the same time we have the ability to have a robust conversation in here."
Before Ponce had introduced Spicer and Brazile, a male student rushed the stage before being tackled by campus police officers, and cried "you’re hurting me" as he was handcuffed and dragged off stage. Another man, a faculty member in his 40’s or 50’s, climbed on-stage about midway through the event as Spicer "invited" him to the stage following taunts toward Spicer, and he sat cross-legged on stage and said some words before he was escorted out by campus security.
Neither man was charged or arrested, according to NEIU chief marketing and communications officer Mike Dizon.
Before the event, a letter written in protest to Spicer was penned and signed by a student-led coalition of about 500 people including NEIU faculty, students, alumni and the student government association, organizers from other groups, and Alderman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd).
"Dear (NEIU president) Dr. Gibson, we are appalled that former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has been invited to speak at Northeastern Illinois University. This is an insult to all NEIU students and employees who are members of groups targeted with violence and vitriol by the Trump administration," read part of the letter. | 1,268,817 |
Sweet, juicy mangos are at the peak of their season. In this dinner, I use them to make a quick, rum-flavored sauce for pork scaloppini. Simply buy a pork tenderloin and cut into 1-inch slices and flatten to 1/2-inch thick.
Serve the pork with a coconut-flavored rice to complete the meal. Make the rice first and set aside. The coconut milk with be absorbed by the rice.
ADVERTISING
The mango sauce calls for two mangos, one pureed and one cubed. Here’s a quick method for cutting mango cubes:
Slice off each side of the mango as close to the seed as possible. Take the mango half in your hand, skin side down. Score the fruit in a crisscross pattern through to the skin. Bend the skin backwards so that the cubs pop up. Slice the cubes away from the skin. Score and slice any fruit left on the pit.
Quick tip: It takes a few extra minutes to prepare the fresh mango. Some markets carry frozen mango pulp, which also works well in this recipe. Frozen mango can also be used when the fruit is out of season.
Pork scaloppini with rum-mango sauce
Serves 2
2 medium-sized ripe mangos (to yield 1 cup pureed and 1 cup cubed)
3 tablespoons dark rum
3/4 pound pork tenderloin
Vegetable oil spray
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Slice one mango in half around the pit. Scoop out pulp with a spoon and puree in a food processor or blender. Add rum and process a few seconds. Set aside. Cube the other mango (See method above.)
Remove visible fat from the pork and cut into 1-inch slices. Place pork between two pieces of plastic wrap. Flatten slices to about 1/2-inch thick with the palm of your hand or use a meat bat. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and spray with vegetable oil spray. Brown pork for 1 minute on each side. Season each cooked side with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and cook pork another 2 minutes to cook through. A meat thermometer should read 145 degrees. Remove to a plate and add mango puree to pan. Cook puree for about 30 seconds, scraping up brown bits of pork as it cooks. Add the mango cubes. Toss cubes in puree for another 15-20 seconds. Spoon sauce over pork.
Coconut rice
1 package microwaveable brown rice to make 1 1/2-cups cooked rice
1/2 cup lite coconut milk
1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
ADVERTISING
Salt and black pepper
Cook rice according to instructions. Measure 1 1/2 cups and set aside remaining rice for another dinner. Add the coconut milk, peas and salt and pepper to taste. | 1,268,818 |
Christ of Latter-day Saints is understood only through the lens of spiritual inquiry. President Ezra Taft Benson said, “Every [person] eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there … must make his stand.”23 Don’t be surprised when it happens to you!
By definition, trials will be trying. There may be anguish, confusion, sleepless nights, and pillows wet with tears. But our trials need not be spiritually fatal. They need not take us from our covenants or from the household of God.
“Remember, … it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”24
Like the intense fire that transforms iron into steel, as we remain faithful during the fiery trial of our faith, we are spiritually refined and strengthened.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson explained what he learned from a personal trial: “Though I suffered then, as I look back now, I am grateful that there was not a quick solution to my problem. The fact that I was forced to turn to God for help almost daily over an extended period of years taught me truly how to pray and get answers to prayer and taught me in a very practical way to have faith in God. I came to know my Savior and my Heavenly Father in a way and to a degree that might not have happened otherwise or that might have taken me much longer to achieve. … I learned to trust in the Lord with all my heart. I learned to walk with Him day by day.”25
Peter described these experiences as “much more precious than … gold.”26 Moroni added that a witness follows “the trial of your faith.”27
I began with the story of the Marriott family. Last week Kathy and I joined them at Georgia’s grave. Ten years have passed. Family and friends spoke of the love and memories they have of Georgia. There were white helium balloons to celebrate her life. Amid tears, Georgia’s mother tenderly spoke of the increased faith and understanding she has received, and Georgia’s father quietly told me of the promised witness that has come to him.
With faith come trials of faith, bringing increased faith. The Lord’s comforting assurance to the Prophet Joseph Smith is the very same promise He makes to you in your trial of faith: “Hold on …, fear not …, for God shall be with you forever and ever.”28 Of this I bear my sacred witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. | 1,268,819 |
The ACO has revealed that the 2020 LMP1 regulations will be “substantially altered” compared to what was announced at Le Mans in June, although remaining committed to hybrid technology, but “not at any price.”
Tweaks to the 2018 LMP1 regulations, which will see larger fuel allowances given to non-hybrid prototypes via Equivalence of Technology measures, were announced on Friday, along with the intention of rolling out with a revised set of LMP1 regulations for the 2020-2021 season.
FIA World Endurance Championship CEO Gerard Neveu confirmed that its proposed fast-charging plug-ins and 1km stretch of all-electric driving concept for 2020 has been abandoned, with an overall re-think of the future regulations now underway.
“The 2020 LMP1 regulations will be substantially altered as compared to the model that was presented at Le Mans,” Neveu said Friday during a media briefing in Mexico City.
“We cannot exactly say for sure because the current situation pushed us to modify, of course.
“The ACO and FIA are absolutely convinced that technology, including the hybrid system, must be kept in place in endurance racing, but not at any price.
“The budget invested in [current] LMP1 Hybrid is no longer sustainable; we know that now.”
Neveu said they must return to a “reasonable budget” to allow manufacturers to compete, following the excessive 150-200 million Euro annual budgets from both Audi and Porsche that ultimately spiraled the category out of control.
Toyota is the lone remaining LMP1 Hybrid entrant, with the Japanese manufacturer yet to make a decision on its plans for 2018 and beyond amid Porsche’s withdrawal announcement last month.
“Some potential manufacturers are still around the table and discussing,” Neveu said. “The technical working group from the FIA and ACO are altering now a new investigation.
“The question will be, ‘Where do we put the level of the costs of the budget [to be] acceptable.’ But nothing to compare with what’s going on today.”
Neveu said further details are expected to be presented “in the coming weeks” but stressed his desire to continue with some form of hybrid technology into 2020, although not yet fully defined.
“This is part of the discussion now, between the technical [people] from the FIA and ACO and the potential manufacturers,” he said. “Where is the level of the next hybrid? We have to keep a space for hybrid.
“You have hybrids in most championships now and this is the future considering the modernization of the road-relevant car.
“If you believe hybrid will disappear, you’re wrong. Hybrid has to stay in a reasonable budget position to make the rules compromise between the sport program and technology used.” | 1,268,820 |
Hong Kong (CNN Business) News anchors, beware. The robots are coming for your jobs, too.
China's state news agency has debuted a virtual anchor designed to be able to deliver the news 24 hours a day.
Xinhua unveiled its "artificial intelligence news anchor" Wednesday at an internet conference in the eastern city of Wuzhen.
"Hello, you are watching English news program. I am AI news anchor in Beijing," the computer-generated host announced in a robotic voice at that start of its English-language broadcast.
Xinhua AI anchor, launched on Wednesday, starts presenting news reports from Thursday. In this program, he takes you to have a look at what a Panama official and the Chinese businessman Jack Ma say about the ongoing #CIIE. pic.twitter.com/OZkRQtv1sQ
Developed by Xinhua and Chinese search engine company Sogou, the anchor was designed to simulate human voice, facial expressions and gestures.
The AI news reader "learns from live broadcasting videos by himself and can read texts as naturally as a professional news anchor," according to Xinhua.
The news agency said the simulations can be used on its website and social media platforms and will "reduce news production costs and improve efficiency."
It didn't say whether any of China's state-run TV channels have shown interest in acquiring the technology into for usage into the future.
The English-speaking anchor, complete with a suit and tie, is modeled on a real-life Xinhua anchor called Zhang Zhao.
"I will work tirelessly to keep you informed as texts will be typed into my system uninterrupted," it said in an introductory video
A Chinese-language version, which is based on another real-life Xinhua anchor, was also unveiled at the conference.
Users of China's micro-blogging site Weibo were not completely convinced by the virtual presenter.
"(His) voice is too stiff, and there are problems with the pauses," said one user.
"Apparently, news anchors have to lose their jobs," said another.
China operates one of the most aggressive media censorship regimes in the world and has tightened restrictions on domestic and foreign news outlets under President Xi Jinping. But that hasn't stopped its newsrooms from innovating.
While Xinhua claims the virtual anchor is a world first, it is not the first time that Chinese media has experimented with AI technology.
In 2015, China's Dragon TV used Microsoft's XiaoIce chatbot to deliver a weather report on its live breakfast show. The AI computer program delivered the forecast in a "cute" female voice, according to Xinhua.
Automated reporting has proliferated in recent years. The Associated Press wire service is just one major news organization that uses sophisticated computer algorithms to write thousands of automated stories a year.
Advanced software programs scrape sources like corporate earnings reports and baseball box scores and then transform the data into sentences that humans can understand. | 1,268,821 |
Image caption There is still domestic opposition to the international bailout in Cyprus
Cyprus has received the first instalment of a 10bn-euro bailout package from international creditors, which was agreed earlier this year.
Cyprus received 2bn euros (£1.6bn; $2.6bn) in loans, said a statement by the European Stability Mechanism.
Another 1bn euros will be transferred before 30 June, the ESM said.
Eurozone finance ministers are also expected to sign off the latest tranche of Greece's bailout, as it continues to struggle to reform its economy.
Another topic on the agenda at their meeting in Brussels is Slovenia, which is seen as potentially likely to follow Greece and Cyprus in seeking help from European authorities.
Concerns are growing despite a plan unveiled last week by Slovenia's government, aimed at avoiding a bailout.
The government plans to restructure the country's stricken banking system, raise taxes and privatise swathes of state-owned companies.
Meanwhile, Greece is expected to receive as much as 7.5bn euros in the latest payment of its massive 240bn-euro bailout, first agreed in 2010.
It needs the money to pay wages, pensions and bondholders.
Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of the "troika" of international lenders behind the bailout, said Greece had made "progress" in tackling its budget deficit over the last three years.
But it also said structural reforms to the economy had been "insufficient" and problems of tax evasion had not been addressed.
Further austerity measures have been a condition of Greece receiving the latest instalments of its bailout.
German caution
In a separate development, Germany's finance minister has warned again that a single EU bank rescue authority backed by a bailout fund was not viable without overhauling EU treaties.
Existing EU treaties "do not suffice to anchor beyond doubt a new and strong central resolution authority," Wolfgang Schaeuble wrote in the Financial Times on Monday.
European officials have called for a strong central authority, backed by a European rescue fund, to decide on what to do with failing banks.
This, they say, is key to establishing a "banking union" that would, in theory, stabilise the financial system in the region.
But Mr Schaeuble said that promises to create an authority quickly without changing treaties would cost the EU credibility.
"We should not make promises we cannot keep," he said. "Amending the treaties takes time."
Instead, he proposed that national agencies should co-operate with each other to oversee bank rescues.
This would result in a "timber-framed, not a steel-framed, banking union", but it would buy time until treaty changes are made.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is working on a proposal for a mechanism to deal with failing banks, which it plans to unveil next month. | 1,268,822 |
Share Facebook
Twitter
Stumbleupon
LinkedIn
Pinterest
On Sept. 16, during the Air Force Association’s annual National Convention in Washington, Raytheon unveiled the mockup of its new Peregrine medium-range air-to-air missile
According to a statement released by Raytheon, “the new, smaller Peregrine missile is faster and more maneuverable than legacy medium-range, air-to-air missiles, and doubles the weapons loadout on a variety of fighter platforms. Its sophisticated, miniaturized guidance system can detect and track targets at any time of day and in any weather condition.”
Developed to strengthen the capabilities of current fighter aircraft, the new, smaller Peregrine missile is faster and more maneuverable than legacy medium-range, air-to-air missiles, and doubles the weapons loadout on a variety of fighter platforms. Its sophisticated, miniaturized guidance system can detect and track targets at any time of day and in any weather condition.
“Peregrine will allow U.S. and allied fighter pilots to carry more missiles into battle to maintain air dominance,” said Dr. Thomas Bussing, Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems vice president. “With its advanced sensor, guidance and propulsion systems packed into a much smaller airframe, this new weapon represents a significant leap forward in air-to-air missile development.”
The Peregrine missile benefits from military off-the-shelf components, additive manufacturing processes and readily available materials to offer an affordable solution for countering current and emerging airborne threats.
Mark Noyes, a senior manager for Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems, said during the presentation that the missile will have a multi-mode, autonomous seeker which also includes infrared imaging, a “new, high-performance propulsion system”, a blast fragmentation warhead and a “new lightweight airframe and high-performance modular control system”.
The Peregrine will use military off-the-shelf components, additive manufacturing processes and readily available materials to obtain a missile that is both lighter and cheaper than current weapons in the U.S. Armed Forces inventory. The missile is in fact expected to be about 6 feet long and to weigh 150 pounds, that is shorter and lighter than both the AIM-120 AMRAAM (which is 12 feet long and weighs about 335 pounds) and the AIM-9 Sidewinder (which is 9 feet long and weighs about 190 pounds).
According to Noyes, the new missile is designed to be carried externally by all fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft, specifying that it will fit in the F-35’s weapons bays. However, he declined to say to reporters whether it will fit also in the F-22’s weapons bays, even if in an image released by Raytheon the missile can be seen launched by an F-22 which has its weapons bays open. | 1,268,823 |
Above you see two Blu-ray players. On the bottom is the Oppo BDP-83, a $500 machine. On top is the Lexicon BD-30, which will set you back $3,500. Can you spot the difference, apart from the price?
It's a trick question. There is no difference, at least not on the inside. In a daring matryoshka-like move, it appears that Lexicon simply bought a batch of Oppos and put them in new cases. Lest you think we are being picky here, or that Lexicon somehow took the guts of the Oppo and redesigned the surrounding circuitry, let us clarify. If you open up the $3,500 Lexicon, you will find an entire Oppo Blu-ray player inside, intact, with its original chassis.
These were the findings of Audioholics, the "Online A/V Magazine". Suspicions were raised after spotting the Lexicon at the 2009 CEDIA Expo in Atlanta: "Looking at the player, its button layout and, most importantly, it's [sic] rear panel, showed us that this product had the exact same layout as the Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player" writes Audioholics' Clint DeBoer. Clint called one in for review, and here's what he found:
When we received the player the first thing we did was open it up to get a look at the inside. Imagine my surprise when I found that not only did the Lexicon share the same boards and transport as the Oppo - it was in fact AN OPPO BDP-83 PLAYER, CHASSIS AND ALL, SHOVED INSIDE AN ALUMINUM LEXICON WRAPPER.
Oops. Audioholics didn't bother to actually review the machine, as the Oppo had already been tested. The reviewers did, however, run some audio analyses to check out the one real difference between the two players: the more expensive Lexicon has THX certification.
The test shed more light on the THX certification process than on the players themselves. The units tested almost identically, no different than had they been two examples of the same model (which, really, they are). So that's what an extra $3,000 buys you: a THX label and a new, aluminum faceplate. Audioholics has the whole scandal detailed, along with comparison pictures of the two Blu-ray players.
Update: THX's Graham McKenna wrote to point out that there was actually some modification of the Oppo hardware:
THX worked directly with Oppo to improve video performance during the testing of the Lexicon player and the benefits made their way to the Oppo platform as well. It’s also important to note that THX is solely focused on quality and performance. Product pricing is never a driving factor for receiving THX certification.
Oppo on the Inside, Lexicon on the Outside [Audioholics] | 1,268,824 |
VanDarius Cowan, the talented transfer from the University of Alabama, has been suspended for the first four games of the regular season, 247Sports has learned.
A source said the linebacker is sidelined by NCAA eligibility issues and will not play in games against James Madison, Missouri and North Carolina State in non-conference play and against Kansas to begin Big 12 competition. The Mountaineers are off the Saturday following the game against the Jayhawks, so Cowan's eligible to play his first game at home on Oct. 5 against Texas.
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Cowan had been playing the bandit position for WVU in camp. He started off the spring as a middle linebacker and volunteered to move to the important pass rush position in the final week of the spring as the Mountaineers dealt with injuries there. Cowan stayed put during the summer and camp, but defensive end Quondarius Qualls moved to bandit late in camp and started to earn consistent and positive reviews for his play.
Qualls, who coach Neal Brown called the team's best natural pass rusher, junior Zach Sandwisch, senior Adam Hensley and true freshman Jared Bartlett are the team's other bandits.
Cowan was a four-star prospect with a 0.9628 grade in the 2017 recruiting class. The 247Sports Composite ranked him No. 4 among outside linebackers and No. 78 among all players. He was a third-team Class 8A all-state players a senior at Florida's Palm Beach Gardens high, and he finished with 104 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, seven sacks and four fumble recoveries. However, Cowan was also kicked off the team before the season ended. He signed with the Crimson Tide over scholarship offers from LSU, Ole Miss, Florida State, Miami and Oregon and played in seven games as an edge defender. However, he was dismissed during his first college offseason following an arrest for assault. He joined the Mountaineers late last summer and sat out last season.
This is yet another setback, and evidently not his first with the team. Cowan strayed during the winter, and the staff wasn't sure he'd be for spring practice. He wasn't suspended, but he wasn't in everyone's good graces, either.
"There are still some things he's got to work through to see if he can use that ability," defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said at the time. We're waiting on him, but there's progress.
Cowan's commitment and progress during the spring was a pleasant development, and the earliest reviews from camp at the beginning of the month brought about more good news. Inside linebackers coach Blake Seiler said Cowan was starting to look like the player the staff thought he could be.
"He's been great," Seiler said. "It's been good to see him with the whole summer under his belt at that position. For the first week of fall camp, he's really starting to feel comfortable and play up to his capability." | 1,268,825 |
Club Puebla has had a very interesting offseason, to say the least as it was announced that it would need to change its name very soon and is now under new ownership as well. This Monday Los Camoteros announced their official transfer list that included five players, here is a rundown of this list.
Jeronimo Amione
The 27-year-old striker played nine Liga MX games with La Franja in this Apertura 2017 but only three were as a starter. Amione also played in one Copa MX, the Mexican striker did not have any goals in the Liga MX but did contribute with one assist. The Mexico City native can be a decent role player off the bench and his teammates in the past have said that he can be a fun person to be around. Certain teams in the Liga MX could definitely use him especially with the 9/9 rule in place and he could add chemistry to any locker room as well.
Felix Micolta
The Colombian is the most notable player on this transfer list as he can be skillful and has an immense amount of pace as well. Micolta’s best trait is that he is very versatile as he can play as a fullback, midfielder and even as a striker. The 28-year-old played in 12 games for La Franja in the Liga MX, seven as a starter and contributed with two goals. There are certainly other Liga MX teams that can use Micolta as well as teams in his native Colombia or across South America.
Oscar Rojas
It seems like Enrique Meza will pursue a right back in this transfer window as both Felix Micolta and Oscar Rojas are transfer listed. “El Kevin” played seven games in this Apertura 2017 but at 36 years old it is hard to imagine that another Liga MX team could use his services. Perhaps, Mexico’s second-tier league the Ascenso MX is a more likely destination for the defender that made his professional debut in 2001.
Carlos Salom
Puebla has a really solid striker in Lucas Cavallini but with both Jeronimo Amione and Carlos Salom listed, it seems that “El Ojitos” will pursue another striker in this transfer window. The Palestinian international only played two games as a starter this season and it seems like a move out of Mexico is more likely for him. Salom did show flashes of potential but struggled severely to finish scoring opportunities. The Argentine-born striker also made controversial comments after the Mexico City earthquake, which basically kept him off the matchday roster for most of the Apertura.
David Toledo
The 35-year-old midfielder played in five Liga MX games and one Copa MX fixture with Los Camoteros in this Apertura 2017. Toledo is a leader as he has sported the captain’s armband for Puebla before but he is starting to show his age and maybe the Ascenso MX will be a likely destination for him. | 1,268,826 |
Patrick Fitzpatrick, who played Zumo Bishop in Fair City, has pleaded guilty to the assault on Theresa Gannon
A Fair City star has admitted biting his ex-partner's arm and punching her in the face in a drunken attack at his Dublin home.
Patrick Fitzpatrick (33) set upon the woman after he had been drinking at his house in the north of the city.
The actor, who played Zumo Bishop in the hugely popular RTE soap, pleaded guilty to assault and his case is due to be finalised before the courts today.
Fitzpatrick admitted a charge of assault causing harm to Theresa Gannon at his home at Hollytree Terrace, Ballymun, on September 4, 2015.
Previously, Dublin District Court heard the victim was at the accused's home on the day in question, when he became aggressive.
Punches
He threw two punches at her face and bit her right upper arm.
The court heard Ms Gannon was left with bruising to her face. The bite did not break her skin.
A medical report on Ms Gannon's injuries was presented to the court and this was read by the judge.
Fitzpatrick had already entered his plea and was on bail when his case came before the court yesterday.
His barrister told Judge Grainne Malone the accused had already pleaded guilty before Judge John Lindsay, and the case would have to go back to that judge for finalisation.
A pre-sentence probation report had been ordered and the court heard this was favourable to Fitzpatrick.
His barrister said the issue of compensation had also been "canvassed".
Judge Malone said she was agreeing to a one-day adjournment only because Judge Lindsay had specifically noted that he would be dealing with the case.
She asked Garda Niall Carolan, of Ballymun Garda Station, to explain the position to the victim.
Gda Carolan said, however, that Ms Gannon was in court for the hearing.
"Thank you very much for coming to court," the judge told Ms Gannon.
"I am sorry that this has happened, that the judge who was supposed to be here isn't available."
Fitzpatrick, wearing a navy blazer, blue jeans, grey waistcoat, white shirt and navy tie, remained silent during the brief proceedings.
He was remanded on continuing bail.
The charge against him is under Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
Quitting
Fitzpatrick was last seen on Fair City in 2016, when he returned to the popular soap for one episode.
He was a cast member between 2007 and 2013 before quitting the show.
Fitzpatrick's acting career started with the Roundabout Youth Theatre in his native Ballymun before he auditioned for Fair City.
He has recently spoken about having given up drinking and losing weight since his time on the show. | 1,268,827 |
(CN) – More Republicans are showing support for President Donald Trump’s policies, the Pew Research Center reported Thursday, but a majority of Americans say they don’t like the way he conducts himself as president.
The Pew report found that 80 percent of Republicans now say they agree with Trump on many or all of the issues, up from 69 percent who said the same last August.
No fewer than 75 percent of Republicans today have confidence in Trump’s ability to make good decisions about economic policy, use military force wisely, make good appointments to the federal courts, and negotiate favorable trade agreements with other countries, according to the study based on a national survey of more than 1,500 American adults conducted at the end of April.
The survey found that Republicans have grown significantly more confident in Trump to handle an international crisis. In January, 73 percent of Republicans expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to handle such a crisis, but 84 percent say the same today.
Although Republicans are finding more common ground with Trump on a wide range of issues today, fewer than half say they like the way he conducts himself as president. Only 38 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners say they like Trump’s conduct.
Democrats overwhelmingly disapprove of the way Trump conducts himself as president and the ethical standards of his administration. Eighty-five percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaners say they dislike Trump’s conduct, and 86 percent say the ethical standards of key administration members are “not good or poor.”
However, the share of Democrats who say there are “no or almost no” issues on which they agree with Trump has dropped from 77 percent in August to 58 percent today, indicating that Democrats are also warming up to Trump’s stance on some issues.
Overall, 41 percent of Americans said they agreed with Trump on many or all issues, compared to 57 percent who said the opposite.
Sixty-four percent of Democrats say their party has “high ethical standards” while 66 percent of Republicans say the same. Independents, including equal shares of Republican-leaners and Democratic-leaners, are most likely to say neither party has high ethical standards.
Although Americans are more likely to agree with Trump on one or more of the issues today than at any previous point in his administration, the public’s evaluation of the way he handles his job has changed little in recent months. Only 39 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s conduct in office, while 54 percent disapprove.
There is a significant gender gap in Trump’s approval ratings. While 48 percent of men approve of the way Trump handles his job, only 30 percent of women say the same.
Pew researchers also asked survey respondents about their interest in the 2018 midterms and their voter preferences. Only 19 percent of Americans say they are following news about candidates and campaigns in their state or district very closely, while 49 percent say they are not following the news too closely or at all. | 1,268,828 |
Still, those who study elections point out that relying on past data has its limits, particularly after a presidential election that was standard-breaking in so many ways.
“Every little bit of conventional wisdom was overturned in 2016,” says Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a fellow at the USC Price School of Public Policy who has followed California politics for decades. “This is a far different political landscape than we have ever seen, and [Republicans] can’t take anything for granted.”
While Republicans have identified four Democrats they want to unseat in California, it isn’t clear they’ll be able to play both defense and offense in a state where the GOP has struggled at multiple levels.
If Trump’s job approval ratings in California remain in the gutter (a recent poll showed just 1 in 4 Californians approve of the job he’s doing), Republicans could face depressed turnout that will put more seats in play, says Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at UC San Diego. That could worsen further if the California GOP fails to field a viable candidate for governor and other statewide offices open in 2018.
The glut of promising Democratic candidates — one district already has eight — could actually increase awareness and turnout among left-leaning voters. For months, voters in many GOP districts have been holding “empty chair” town halls organized by liberal activists, protesting weekly outside Republican members’ offices and walking neighborhoods to register new voters.
It’s a stark contrast from this time two years ago, when the party’s national campaign committee struggled to recruit candidates in many of those places.
“We think that there is a perfect storm brewing for Republican incumbents,” says Drew Godinich, a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman.
He, of course, says hitting Republican members for their support of key parts of the Trump agenda, including votes on healthcare, immigration and the border wall, could be devastating.
“This is not going to be a usual year. The energy and anger is on the Democrats’ side,” Jacobson of UCSD says. “If you’re ever going to invest in a long shot, this is a good year to do it.”
Get more information about the 13 congressional races that will make a difference in the midterms at latimes.com/CAHouserankings. Be the first to learn about changes to The Times’ rankings of the hottest races by signing up for the free Essential Politics email newsletter at latimes.com/essentialpoliticsemail.
[email protected]
For more on California politics, follow @cmaiduc.
ALSO
Updates on California politics and 2018 races
California could flip the House, and these 13 races will make the difference
These political newbies are stepping up to run for Congress, and many say it’s because of Trump | 1,268,829 |
Pat Riley isn't often interested in much of a development project. Especially when the project is found deep in the second round of a draft. Especially when that draft is widely considered a weak one. As such, when the Miami Heat had no draft picks in the 2013 NBA Draft, it seemed reasonable to think that Riley would let the day pass without any movement.
That's why when it was announced that the Heat had acquired the athletic wing James Ennis, a senior out of Long Beach State, who the Atlanta Hawks had selected with the 50th pick, it was far more exciting for Heat fans than a usual late second round acquisition. It appeared that Riley clearly saw something of value in Ennis.
Just a few months later, Ennis made his professional debut for the Perth Wildcats in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). His performance may not have received much recognition at all in NBA circles, but it was certainly felt in Australia. A member of the Miami Heat was bringing great excitement to the NBL through thunderous dunks, athletic blocks and lights-out long range shooting. This theme continued throughout the season, with his gaudy stat line (22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists) drawing comparisons by Australian fans to another fairly significant Miami Heat basketballer - someone by the name of LeBron James.
As the 2013-2014 NBA season wore on and just about every single veteran role player on the Heat lost form or broke down at some stage, it became clear that the Heat were going to need an infusion of youth and athleticism if they were to continue to compete for championships. The defense looked tired and disinterested at times, a far cry from the high intensity spurts which were instrumental in delivering the 2012 and 2013 NBA titles to South Florida.
In Australia, we were constantly reminded of Ennis's athleticism, length, hunger and intensity as he guided the Wildcats to the NBL championship. While there was no guarantee that his skills would translate to the much tougher NBA, it became increasingly apparent that it was a matter of when, and not if, Riley would be asking to see him back over in the US.
Fast-forward to today, and it is clear through his dominant Summer League performances that Ennis is ready to give the NBA a shot.
So how exactly does he fit in the post-Lebron Heat? Of course he isn't expected to repeat his NBL stats in the NBA. He isn't expected to be a starter or even necessarily a vital bench player, but he can certainly make a difference on this new-look Heat roster. And after seeing him outplay many of the top rookies in Summer League, don't be shocked when his name appears on the Rookie Ladder on occasion throughout the season.
In an exciting new era of Heat basketball, fans can expect to see a new face ready to make an impact on both ends of the court and perform well above his draft position. Oh, and there will definitely be some highlight plays. Heat fans, prepare to be pleasantly surprised. | 1,268,830 |
! I actually got a chapter finished!
As you can probably notice, this one came in at about 2/3k words shorter than the previous one, and this is for a few reasons:
- First chapter was the intro chapter, meaning it ended up longer than I planned.
- This is the'middle' chapter of the Initiation arc, a lot of it is bridging last chapter to the next chapter, and linking up all the characters.
- Been busy so I've had less time to write.
Now onto the more general stuff; I'm fairly happy with how this chapter turned out. Some hopefully not super ham-fisted dialogue, some exposition, few odd skirmishes here and there. Let me do some more character development on quite a few of the characters.
In terms of next chapter, I'm not gonna lie, I have my super huge-deal exams coming up from the 10th of June through to the 21st that decide whether I go to university or not, so as you can imagine they'll be my main focus for the next month and a bit. But once those are done, I have 2-3 months of free time! Isn't that great? So I'm going to place a fairly reasonable time-frame for the next chapter at very late June or early-mid July, I won't be committing to intensely writing it until after my exams, only really working on it before that when the urge hits me in my downtime. So yeah, cool. Cool cool cool.
As far as longer-term goes, I have a reasonably good plan for how the story will progress for quite some time (internal shipping, angst, watershed events, etcetera) and I I've worked out how it'll probably be structured:
- 3 chapters for the arc (4 for super important ones or if I feel like it needs it. Pacing!)
- A Fireplace
- One-Shot chapter (usually some kind of comedic piece (spoilers, first one will probably be Mr. Introvert Cyrus realising he's on a team with three girls.)) These will be canon but not always chronological.
- 'Volumes' will probably be 3-4 arcs long, usually where the last one is a big and defining event.
Lastly, as you may have noticed, there's a cover image now! Using the miracle that is school computers having photoshop, I created a little banner/card for Cyrus, including his symbol. It isn't perfect and I whipped it together very quickly, but hey, it's better than nothing, right? I'll probably eventually make them for the other three too, but this'll be it for at least a while.
I think that's about it. Until next time;
- Nyx
(PS; if anybody actually cares enough, I'm open to any questions you want to ask, and if I get any I'll do a little Q&A section in the next Fireplace) | 1,268,831 |
Indy Lights championship leader Oliver Askew made a definite impression during his first NTT IndyCar Series test with the Chip Ganassi Racing team.
Driving Scott Dixon’s No. 9 Honda, the lanky Floridian spent Wednesday lapping Portland International Raceway alongside all four Andretti Autosport Hondas and Indy Lights rival Rinus VeeKay, who made his IndyCar debut in an Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy.
“Oliver had a great amount of poise and total, immediate awareness of his surroundings,” CGR managing director Mike Hull told RACER. “I really liked what he did on used tires, and he wanted to understand the total process of how things work in IndyCar from the start of the test. No surprise at all how he’s gotten to this point in his career on merit. Oliver’s certainly ready for the next rung of the ladder.”
Askew also impressed Dixon’s race engineer Chris Simmons, who praised his chassis feedback. Dixon, the reigning and five-time series champion, was also in attendance to observe and guide the 22-year-old during his first taste of big power and handling.
“I have to say a massive thanks to Chip Ganassi Racing and Mike Hull, and to Scott Dixon for letting me borrow his race-winning car straight from Mid-Ohio!” Askew said. “It was a privilege to have him here looking at my video and data and giving feedback. It was a fun day. Our pace was pretty competitive, and we made some good changes with Chris Simmons.
“I didn’t get to take much of it in as it happened because I was in the car all day trying things and working with the team. But it was very cool and a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Askew credited all he’s learned this year in Indy Lights, where he’s earned six wins from 13 races — including the last three in a row — with Andretti Autosport for making the test a success.
“The steering was heavier in the high-speed corners and lighter in the low-speed than what I’m used to, and there’s some extremely fast corners here,” he added. “At first, I didn’t realize how much downforce and grip it had. The two biggest things were learning the braking potential and the aero potential. I think what I’ve learned this year in Lights has carried over to preparing me for this day.”
Next up for Askew and VeeKay is the race at Gateway, the final oval of the year, and then it’s on to Portland and Monterey as the 2019 Indy Lights title — along with the advancement prize of three IndyCar races, plus an entry for the Indy 500 — will likely be settled between the two young chargers. | 1,268,832 |
Djordje Kojadinovic/Reuters Archaeologists in Serbia have unearthed skeletons that were buried with tiny scrolls covered in mysterious inscriptions.
KOSTOLAC, Serbia, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Archaeologists are trying to decipher magic spells etched onto tiny rolls of gold and silver that they found alongside skeletons of humans buried almost 2,000 years ago.
“The alphabet is Greek, that much we know. The language is Aramaic - it’s a Middle Eastern mystery to us,” Miomir Korac, chief archaeologist at the site in eastern Serbia, told Reuters.
The skeletons were found at the foot of a massive coal-fired power station where searches are being carried out before another unit of the electricity plant is built on the site of an ancient Roman city.
Djordje Kojadinovic/Reuters They believe the inscriptions are magic spells, taken to the grave to invoke divine powers to perform good or evil.
Last week, after carefully brushing away soil from the bones, Korac’s team found two amulets made of lead that, when opened, were each found to contain rolls of precious metal - silver and gold - covered in symbols and writing.
They believe the inscriptions are magic spells, taken to the grave to invoke divine powers to perform good or evil.
“We read the names of a few demons, that are connected to the territory of modern-day Syria,” archaeologist Ilija Dankovic said at the dig, as more skeletons from the 4th century A.D. were being uncovered.
The fragile, golden and silver scrolls - which once unrolled look like rectangles of foil similar in size to a sweet wrapper - may never be fully understood.
Djordje Kojadinovic/Reuters "May your body turn dead, as cold and heavy as this lead,’” one reads.
They are the first such items discovered in Serbia but resemble amulets of “binding magic” found in other countries, Dankovic said.
“They were often love charms, ordering someone to fall in love, but there were also dark, malignant curses, to the tune of: ‘may your body turn dead, as cold and heavy as this lead,’” he said.
Magic charms tended to be buried with dead children or adults who had suffered a violent death, Dankovic said, because of a belief that “souls of such people took longer to find rest and had a better chance of finding demons and deities and pass the wishes to them so they could do their magic.”
Djordje Kojadinovic/Reuters The skeletons were found at the foot of a massive coal-fired power station where searches are being carried out before another unit of the electricity plant is built on the site of an ancient Roman city.
(Reporting by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) | 1,268,833 |
For liberals hoping to see Democrats retake the House will be sadly disappointed next year, as House Republicans look pretty solid going into 2016. In January, Stuart Rothenberg had this to say about the chances Democrats might take back the lower chamber:
…30 seats is a big number. Since 1950, gains that large have occurred six times during midterm elections, when partisan waves often appear, but only twice in presidential years, in 1964 and 1980. And that’s an important reason why the GOP starts as the clear favorite to retain control of the House in 2016.
According to Roll Call, Democrats do have something going for them that will allow them to at least gain some seats. It’s a presidential year, Hillary is still the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination, and that means higher voter turnout.
This means absolutely nothing if Democrats have no one to run in competitive districts, and right now; there’s about a dozen races where they don’t have anyone to challenge the sitting Republican. Case in point, Illinois and New York would be prime pick-up opportunities for Democrats if they could find a sentient being to put on the ballot:
Places where Democrats are finding it challenging to find top recruits include New York’s Syracuse-based 24th District. Freshman GOP Rep. John Katko won here in the 2014 GOP wave, despite President Barack Obama having carried it by a 16-point margin two years earlier. In a presidential year, the district would have a strong Democratic lean. But Democrats have yet to find a nominee to take on Katko. Recruitment is also proving problematic in Illinois. GOP Reps. Rodney Davis and Mike Bost both hold seats in districts with an even partisan split, making them prime pick-up opportunities. But Democrats still don’t have top-tier recruits in place there.
Additionally, the New York Times’ Nate Cohn noted after the 2014 midterms that given how the House is set up, it’s not inconceivable to have a solid Republican majority there for the next generation. Rob Simms, executive director of the National Republican Campaign Committee, commented that Democrats might have problems recruiting people to run against Republicans in these deep-blue states because they’re already in power in their respective localities.
“Why would you give that up … to come to D.C. to be in the minority for what could be several cycles,” said Simms. He has a point, and Democrats are exactly strong at the state-level either.
As for the Senate, it’s more shaky for Republicans. It’s possible that they could retain the majority, but Democrats just needs to focus on the states that Obama has won twice, though the odds that Republicans retain control increase if Sen. Pat Toomey can hold on in Pennsylvania. Yet, the executive director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Ward Baker, is promising a fight. They’ve already begun spending to defend their majority in the upper chamber: | 1,268,834 |
On Thursday, 26 March 2015 at 00:19:44 UTC, Jakob Ovrum wrote: > As I know Gary is sometimes (often?) on these forums I'll post some critique here. Misrepresenting Go in a comparison with D doesn't reflect well on the D community, so please have a look at the following issues: You describe these as issues forming part of a critique and suggesting the substance of what he wrote is wrong, but are these substantive in the context of a quick blog post (where it is more important to say something generative than to be perfect in its expression). I don't claim to know Go, but is his basic point off the mark? > In the first code example, the Go version returns 1 on failure and 0 on success, while the D version always returns 0. Also, the Go version correctly uses stderr for error messages while the D version uses stdout for everything. stderr.writeln(text); return 1; correctness is important, but does this change much? > In the second example maybe you should print four lists to be equivalent of the Go code. I think it's misrepresentative to shorten the D example by making it do less work. surely people can see beyond a difference of three lines? would this change his point? >> auto text = source.byLine. join.to! (string); > > This is not safe as byLine reuses the same buffer for every line. It may or may not work depending on join's implementation. Also, it's idiomatic to omit parantheses when a template argument list consists of a single token: source.byLine.join.to!string; fair point if true (I will let others who know better say whether.array. or something is needed). > >> With all that said, I honestly think Go’s design a disservice to intelligent programmers. > > s/design a disservice/design is a disservice/ What he wrote is correct English, and he is an Englishman living in England. >> I guess by now Go programmers reading this will be frothing at the mouth >>shouting “Your doing it wrong!”. > That could be misconstrued as a jab at the intelligence of Go programmers, which I don't think serves your cause. Again, nobody English would think this was more than mildly humorous (and by no means insulting). To suggest somebody is rabid is not to insult their intelligence, but merely to tease them about their likely strong emotional reaction. But what is one to do when making the trade-off between being blandly corporate and acceptable to everyone, versus writing with some character and spirit and offending the sensitive. It's a personal choice, but not easy to criticize another for theirs. I personally find the world too bland these days. One cannot police the forms of expression of people who do not speak for a community or claim to be acting as such (apologies if I am mistaken and he does have an official position within D). And perhaps one ought not to try. Laeeth. | 1,268,835 |
Morrison's comments came as funds raised online by an Australian charity to pay for the infant's medical care rose above $180,000 after a flood of international goodwill for the infant's plight spurred donations from more than 4,500 people.
The boy, Gammy, and a twin sister were born to Thai woman Pattaramon Chanbua in December after she was reportedly paid Aus$16,000 (US$14,900) to be a surrogate.
An unnamed Australian couple took the sister, who was healthy, but left Gammy behind, according to media reports.
The baby boy also suffers from a life-threatening heart condition, and 21-year-old Pattaramon had earlier said she could not afford to pay for the medical treatment he needs.
"I think this is an absolutely heart-breaking story, it really is," Morrison told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"I think perhaps this may fall more into the territory of what people's moral responsibilities are here.
"I note there was a comment earlier that the mother of this child, baby Gammy, wants the child to remain in Thailand and that mother's wishes also have to be absolutely respected."
Pattaramon told Fairfax Media late Saturday she wanted to take care of the boy in Thailand, saying: "I'll take care of Gammy on my own. I'll not give my baby to anybody.
"I wish they will love my baby... I forgive them for everything. That is the best thing I can do, forgive... it is best for everybody," she said of the Australian couple.
"I want to see all my children back together again. I don't really think too much about the Australian couple. I can't blame them... I don't feel upset or angry about them anymore. They might have their own problems too."
Morrison said the surrogacy case had some "serious issues" that needed to be managed very carefully.
"But this whole issue I think is fraught with all of these difficulties and I can understand the longing and anguish of parents in this situation who want to be parents, but equally there are some serious issues here that have to be managed very carefully," he said.
Fairfax Media earlier reported that a surrogacy agent who helped coordinate the agreement between Pattaramon and the Australian couple told her to abort the pregnancy after doctors learnt one of the twins had Down Syndrome.
Pattaramon told the newspaper she refused the abortion because of her Buddhist faith.
Commercial surrogacy, in which a woman is paid to carry a child, is not permitted in Australia but couples are able to use an altruistic surrogate who receives no payment beyond medical and other reasonable expenses.
However, Surrogacy Australia said more couples choose to go overseas than find an altruistic surrogate at home, with 400 or 500 each year venturing to India, Thailand, the United States and other places to do so. | 1,268,836 |
Less than one pint of beer in the system will be enough to see motorists banned, as part of a "sustained attack" on drink-driving.
Transport Minister Shane Ross plans to overturn the penalty points and fines system for drink-driving introduced in October 2012, where motorists caught slightly over the limit paid a fine and had three points imposed on their licence.
Under the new rules, drivers caught with more than 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood will be hit with an automatic ban, likely to be three months.
It means that one drink - a pint of beer, glass of wine or measure of spirits - would put many people over the limit.
The move comes amid increasing concern about the death toll on our roads, with an average of 152 people arrested for suspected drink-driving every week.
"Clearly, this is not acceptable," Mr Ross told the Dáil Transport Committee. "We are launching a sustained attack on drunk drivers. We are committed to taking action."
Research from the Road Safety Authority suggests that alcohol was a contributory factor in 38pc of collisions between 2008 and 2012. The Garda Christmas drink-driving campaign, which ran from December 1 to January 8 last, resulted in 961 arrests for drink-driving, up 35pc on the same period of last year.
Under the current rules, motorists caught with more than 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, but less than 80mg, receive an on-the-spot fine of €200 and three penalty points. This only applies to a first offence. These drivers will now be hit with a fine, and three months' disqualification.
If the motorist has more than 80mg of alcohol, the existing rules apply - fines, and a minimum six-month ban.
The drink-driving limit was lowered from 80mg to 50mg in October 2012. A lower limit of 20mg applies for novice and professional drivers. They are automatically disqualified if caught over the limit.
The move has been met with concern from some rural TDs, with Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae warning about rushing through changes, saying they needed to be carefully considered.
Two members of the Dáil Transport Committee, chair Brendan Griffin of Fine Gael and Kevin O'Keeffe of Fianna Fáil, asked if there was evidence of collisions being caused by people with alcohol in their system the "morning after".
The minister said he understood they were still impaired, and that there could be no exceptions made for those living in rural Ireland.
"If you're over the limit in Dublin, you're over the limit in rural areas as well," he said.
Road Safety Authority chief executive Moyagh Murdock later said an examination of 1,000 collision files revealed that 330 involved alcohol. Of these, 30pc of victims had alcohol levels below the legal limit.
"Our message is: any level impairs driving. One drink starts to impair," she said.
Irish Independent | 1,268,837 |
BEREA, Ohio -- It was not a grand opening for Johnny Manziel at Cleveland Browns training camp Thursday.
The results of the second-year quarterback's first four dropbacks went like this: sack, sack, pass nearly intercepted, pass batted down at the line.
The Browns' practice was like an extension of their minicamp, without pads and with limited contact. (Plays were stopped and considered sacks when the defender was near the quarterback.) But Manziel and the other QBs could drop back, read and throw.
Josh McCown did that and generally performed well on Thursday. Manziel eventually did it a couple of times, but his overall performance did not jump out to the eye.
McCown worked exclusively with the first team, and Manziel with the backups.
"It's hard to say," coach Mike Pettine said when asked to evaluate the pair.
Pettine said both had good throws, and he liked their command in the huddle and knowledge of the offense. Manziel's body language did not ooze confidence, though. He walked a lot with his head down, as if he was not pleased with the way things were going.
The Browns have been patient with Manziel and insisted during the offseason that he not be judged on the results of plays because they were not called for specific situations.
Pettine had said earlier in the week that Manziel could win the starting job for the season opener. Based on the first day, he has a long way to go -- even if it was a practice without pads.
Quarterback-turned-receiver Terrelle Pryor, meanwhile, showed the proper amount of confidence and realism.
"I believe I can do it," he said of making the position switch in camp. "It's just going to take a lot of hard work and focus."
Receiver Brian Hartline said Pryor faces a "pretty tall task."
"I've been playing since I was 16, just like the majority of guys in the NFL," Hartline said. "Now he has to make up years of learning and work in a couple weeks."
From the sideline, Pryor looks the part. He's tall, has good hands and runs extremely well after the catch. He showed that when he caught some slants and ran past people, working backups vs. backups.
Pryor said the details will be his biggest challenge. Cornerback Joe Haden described those details as getting in and out of breaks and going after the ball.
"He looks great in a uniform, I can tell you that," Pettine said.
McCown walked over to Pryor after his first full practice and told the receiver he looked "real good" and to "keep stacking the days."
As for his Ohio State days, Pryor said this: "Loud fans, beautiful stadium, great coach, great tradition." And about the end, when he was suspended and left the program early? "Painful, but I've seen worse." | 1,268,838 |
Exactly 75 years ago, the Golden Gate Bridge opened in San Francisco, comedian Bill Cosby was born and Spam first appeared on shelves.
To celebrate 75 years of the Spam brand, Hormel Foods Corp. is launching its first campaign spokescharacter, Sir Can A-Lot, a two-and-a-half-inch tall embodiment of the brand, which Hormel officials say will “begin a crusade to rescue the world from routine meals.”
Sir Can-A-Lot will appear throughout the 75th anniversary campaign in TV and online ads, and will serve as the guide for the redesigned www.spam.com, which scrolls up instead of down to experience engaging brand content.
“The introduction of the Sir Can-A-Lot Spokescharacter provides an engaging presence that highlights the playful and down-to-earth personality that makes the Spam brand both unique and timeless,” said Nicole Behne, product manager of the Spam family of products. “The campaign features him ridding not only mealtimes of boredom, but also helping consumers ‘Break the Monotony.’”
Sir Can-A-Lot comes to life in various elements and can be viewed at here. Also look for the miniature spokesman at the following:
• Television spots: Three, 30-second, animated TV ads feature Sir Can-A-Lot introducing Spam into meals in surprising ways, such as catapulting Spam into a potato casserole or hiding in an egg carton. Each spot also condenses into a shorter, 15 second version.
• Online banner ads: Online banner advertisements depict Sir Can-A-Lot proudly showcasing his love for Spam products, using affectionate nicknames for his inspiring dishes, such as “TaTerrific” to describe potatoes and Spam Classic, “MacNificent” for Spam Mac ’n‘ Cheese, and “EggCellent” to describe Spam and eggs. Users will also be introduced to the character in a 15 second spot online.
• Redesigned Spam.com: Providing a peek into the origins of Sir Can-A-Lot, the Spam website has been redesigned.
Creation of the TV and online advertisements was managed by BBDO Minneapolis. TV ads were produced by Laika House. Website and design was created by Proximity Minneapolis, with Proof Integrated Communications managing web development.
In addition to the campaign, the month of July will contain important milestones as the brand recognizes its 75th birthday on July 5. Hormel Foods will honor the community and home of the Spam brand in Austin with a late-month festival full of entertainment and history. The brand will also bring the Sir Can-A-Lot Spokescharacter to New York to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
For more information, visit www.spam.com or www.facebook.com/spambrand. | 1,268,839 |
The Handmaid's Tale
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie
Alexander Skarsgård, Big Little Lies
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
This is Me, The Greatest Showman
Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Best Animated Feature Film
Coco
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
A huge congratulations to the wonderfully written, @3Billboards, awarded Best Screenplay - Motion Picture! #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/3UGZt232rQ — Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 8, 2018
Best Foreign Language Film
In the Fade
Best Actor in a Limited-Series or TV Movie
Ewan McGregor, Fargo
Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Cecil B DeMille Award
Oprah Winfrey
Best Director - Motion Picture
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Best TV Limited-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Big Little Lies
We are honored to announce 'Big Little Lies' as our winner for Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television! #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/DdsKM5v3BY — Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 8, 2018
Best Actress - Musical or Comedy
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Best Film - Musical or Comedy
Lady Bird
Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Motion Picture - Drama
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Watch highlights from the Golden Globes and the Red Carpet on RTÉ2 tonight from 9pm
More Golden Globes:
Big Little Lies wins big at Golden Globes
Stars take stand against harassment at Golden Globes
Golden Globes: Red Carpet Arrivals
Oprah Winfrey calls out sexual abusers in powerful Golden Globes speech
Men in Black: The men who joined the 'black dress' protest
Where did Saoirse Ronan get her Golden Globe dress?
Time's Up: Hollywood paints the red carpet black at Golden Globes | 1,268,840 |
In classic Soviet style, a Communist party candidate was elected head of the Republic of Khakassia after running with no other candidates on the ballot. The candidate defeated the incumbent from United Russia in round one.
During runoff elections for the head of the Siberian Republic of Khakassia, voters were asked to mark if they were for or against Communist Party candidate Valentin Konovalov, the only one on the ballot. After votes were tallied on Sunday, the Central Election Commission declared Konovalov the winner with 57.5 percent of the vote. Despite being the sole candidate, Konovalov needed to receive at least 50 percent of voters' support to be named the winner. 41.1 percent of participants voted against the 30-year-old politician.
Read more
The vote went on without serious violations and there were no grounds to declare it invalid, the electoral body reported.
"We came up with a constructive program. Our whole team and our candidate did well. Valentin Konovalov has won. Now, we're going to fulfill the plan we offered the people," Communist Party leader, Gennady Zyuganov, said.
The first round of the election was held in the republic on September 9, with Konovalov (44.81 percent) beating the incumbent head of republic and member of the ruling United Russia Party, Viktor Zimin (32.42 percent), by around 12 percent. A runoff was then declared as neither candidate had crossed the 50 percent threshold.
While the runoff was initially scheduled to be held on September 23, it was delayed after Zimin withdrew from the race due to poor health.
The two other contenders – Aleksandr Myakhar from the Party of Growth and Fair Russia's Andrey Filyagin – also decided to skip the second round, leaving Konovalov as the single option.
Read more
The young Communist isn’t the only opposition figure who unseated long-time governors from the ruling party during the September vote.
Sergey Furgal of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) won the race to lead the Khabarovsk Region in Russia’s Far East, beating the incumbent governor Vyacheslav Shport.
Another LDPR contender, Vladimir Sipyagin was triumphant in the Vladimir Region in central Russia, finishing ahead of the incumbent Svetlana Orlova. Both Lib Dems defeated their opponents in a runoff vote with a fair bit of margin.
Meanwhile, the results of a highly-contested governor’s race in the Primorsky Region, also in Russia’s Far East, were annulled due to massive voting irregularities. The final tally of the runoff vote showed United Russia’s Andrey Tarasenko edging out the victory from Communist candidate Andrey Ishchenko by just 1.5 percent of the votes. The new elections are scheduled for December.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! | 1,268,841 |
The PSA Group, incorporating the Peugeot, Citroën and DS brands, is to make a return to the North American car market that will take ten years to implement.
The plan for the French car giant to return to the US was revealed as part of the ‘Push to Pass’ strategy laid out by company boss Carlos Tavares, who described it as “a very significant decision for us”.
Citroën exited the American market in 1974, while Peugeot pulled out in 1991. However, the company has had a corporate presence there up until just three years ago.
PSA is plotting a three-stage comeback which will start in 2017, when it will enter the North American market as a “mobility provider” - essentially providing car-sharing schemes - albeit not necessarily with Peugeot, Citroën or DS products.
It is considering a collaboration with Bolloré Group, an existing strategic partner. The two companies already build a Bolloré-badged electric car at the PSA plant in Rennes, and it is likely that a similar model would be used to reintroduce PSA to North American and enable it to conduct customer research.
“This is a way for us to understand the customers, the stakeholders, the regulations, to ensure we completely feel the pulse of that big market,” said Tavares.
The second phase of the North American return would be to introduce PSA Group vehicles into the car-sharing schemes.
“If we are successful as a mobility operator, from there we will have the opportunity to put in our own fleets of cars, as soon as they are compliant with US regulations. Of course those fleets will remain under our control, as is normal in car-sharing activities. We will be able to ensure that our own cars are meeting the expectations of the local consumers,” explained Tavares.
“That’s the second step and eventually, if we are successful, if our products in our fleets are well appreciated by consumers, we will go to the third step, which is to sell our own brands’ products in North America, eventually with local sourcing."
Tavares didn’t divulge long-term sales expectations for the PSA Group in North America, but said: “We will return to North America because we believe this is a place where we can make significant profit for PSA.
“This is a very thoughtful, progressive approach with a long-term perspective. We are doing this for the future generations of the company, starting from a very simple point, which is that if you want to be profitable and sustainable, you ought to do business in the three major markets in the world.
It is thought that the upmarket DS brand will lead the firm's relaunch in the USA, because its qualities as the only upmarket French car maker give it an opportunity to stand out in a market dominated by premium German brands. | 1,268,842 |
Video: We Speak To Man Who Triggered 99p Shop Story
This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Jan 22nd, 2014
A story we ran on Monday exploded nationally over the past two days, with both on and offline with coverage. So we went to have a chat with the man who started it all!As you may have already heard, on Monday a promotion held at the 99p Shop on Regent Street got a little out of hand, prompting several people to get in touch with us about the ‘chaos’ that was happening in store. We popped up and live tweeted events, and produced this report online.
The story went pretty crazy with several hundred concurrent readers throughout the evening, with nearly 80,000 reads of Wrexham.com. The following day it made local headlines in the Leader, and Radio Wales started the national coverage early in the morning. Online we saw people reading from Reddit.com, Pistonheads.com and various other sites and forums as the story spread.
By the afternoon the national news websites had run the story in various guises, South Wales Evening Post, iBtimes, Daily Star, The Guardian, Daily Mirror, Joe.ie, The Metro, The Express, itv.com, The Independent, Yahoo.com, The Gulf Times etc. The story was perhaps depressingly, or amusingly, at one point the ‘most read’ on the BBC News website. The nation’s marmite publication The Daily Mail also chose to run it (article here) with their comments section providing its usual delights.
Today has seen the story appear in print (as pictured above), with Wrexham becoming famous or infamous depending on your viewpoint. National radio and television have also mentioned it, again showing it in a jokey light, mockery or using it as a representation of modern day life.
Alex Jones from The Bank Bar & Bistro on the High Street was the first to get in touch with us, so we popped up to ask him on his thoughts to the story, his views on the media reaction, and the power of his tweet from a news tip to an international story within 48 hours*. The video also has teaser about a new nightclub opening in town…!
The coverage has also been commented on via our Wrexham.com Forums (thread here) with a similar mixed verdict, with some seeing it as amusing whereas others seeing it as a negative view of the town.
As always we would encourage you to get in touch via our ‘Your Story’ system – that you can find http://www.wrexham.com/yourstory to get your articles on Wrexham.com. We cant promise they will all go viral, but they will get read by a decent audience!
(* This was the first ‘interview’ we have conducted using Google Glass, so is of minor note as we think it could be one of the first if not the first in the UK!) | 1,268,843 |
The controllers do this by sequencing and coordinating planes in a vast ballet of the sky, so airliners can line up dozens of miles out from the approaches to LaGuardia or SFO or LAX or O’Hare, and then can touch down safely one right after the other, pushing these finite amounts of takeoff-and-landing space toward their theoretical maximum capacity. Controllers do this with the unflappable calm that we’d all like to think we’d exhibit in times of stress—and that controllers virtually always do. I say this based on reading articles about controller training, like this and this, having visited control centers around the country, and dealing with controllers over the decades as a pilot myself, leading to articles like this one (about the sangfroid of the team at LaGuardia, when one plane had a landing problem that closed a runway and the controllers immediately had to reroute the dozens of other planes headed toward the same spot).
Read: Will the government ever reopen?
These men and women are doing America’s work, they’re doing it skillfully and safely, and they’re doing it with constant reminders of the very high stakes if they should screw up.
And right now, they’re doing it without paychecks. For reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with any controller as an individual nor all controllers as a group, they’re all being told to show up, keep millions of passengers as safe as ever, and worry about their back pay some other time.
As the Airline Pilots Association said this past weekend, in a letter urging an end to the shutdown, the controllers and other workers “are dutifully providing safety of life services while facing increasingly difficult financial pressures to provide for those dependent on their paycheck.
“The pressure these civil servants are facing at home should not be ignored.”
Will some airliner crash because of the shutdown? I don’t think so. The system is so triply redundant in its safety awareness and practices that a catastrophic failure, while always possible, remains improbable. But what will happen, and no doubt already has, is that the air-travel system as a whole will further slow down, precisely because people are aware of the additional safety risk.
If you’ve ever traveled in China’s commercial airline system, you know how modern its airplanes are—and how slow its operations are, compared with those in Europe or North America. That’s partly because China has so many people, so few airports, and so little airspace that’s not under military control. But it’s also because the air-traffic control system there has so much less experience on which to draw than North America’s or Europe’s, and therefore builds extra safety buffers into everything it does. (For instance: Planes might land every 60 seconds at the busiest U.S. airports, versus every three or four minutes at a busy Chinese airport.) | 1,268,844 |
The rocket will use commercially available components and a fuselage that can be mass produced, lowering launch costs to about half of the current price tag of approximately 10 billion yen ($88.6 million). The new, more powerful engine will allow the H-III to carry a midsize to large satellite weighing up to 6.5 tons -- 60% more than the H-IIA.
JAXA is working with the country's leading heavy machinery makers, such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and IHI, on rocket development. The total cost will likely reach about 190 billion yen.
With the powerful engine and lower launch costs, the government and space agency hope that the new rocket will garner more orders for satellite launches. They expect to send an average of about six H-IIIs into space from the Tanegshima Space Center every year.
Meanwhile, other countries are also working to roll out new rockets by around 2020. Russia currently launches on average some 30 rockets every year, while the U.S. sends up about 20 and China approximately a dozen. Japan launches only about three per year.
Unlike its competitors, Japan lacks launch centers. This puts it at a disadvantage as a work delay could affect the entire launch schedule of a satellite project. To compete with other countries, Japan has to improve its launch environment, including the capability for more frequent launches, and expand rocket development.
Japan's space agency is developing the main engine for its next-generation H-III rocket, which could see service in fiscal 2020. The H-III will be key to Japan expanding its presence in the global satellite launch market, which has been dominated by the U.S., Europe and Russia. This marks the first time in about 20 years that Japan has been developing main rocket engines. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, began the first round of firing tests for the LE-9 engine on the southern island of Tanegashima in late April. A total of 11 ground tests are scheduled through June to check performance and durability. The LE-9 is a liquid cryogenic rocket engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in an expander bleed cycle. After completing another round of firing tests in fiscal 2018 starting next April, developers will construct the actual engine that will be installed in the H-III. The H-III will succeed the country's current H-series rockets, H-IIA and H-IIB. The H-III is designed to use three LE-9 engines when configured without strap-on solid rocket boosters, and two LE-9 engines when configured with them. The rocket is designed to launch with zero, two or four strap-on boosters, allowing it to deliver between two and seven metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit. IHI Aerospace, manufacturer of Japan’s Epsilon small launcher, is MHI’s supplier for the strap-on boosters for the H-2A and future H3. Kawasaki Heavy Industries provides the payload fairings. | 1,268,845 |
President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE in a tweet on Sunday promoted Republican Pennsylvania congressional candidate Rick Saccone, touting five GOP congressional wins in the first year of his presidency.
“The Republicans are 5-0 in recent Congressional races, a point which the Fake News Media continuously fails to mention,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I backed and campaigned for all of the winners. They give me credit for one. Hopefully, Rick Saccone will be another big win on Tuesday.”
The Republicans are 5-0 in recent Congressional races, a point which the Fake News Media continuously fails to mention. I backed and campaigned for all of the winners. They give me credit for one. Hopefully, Rick Saccone will be another big win on Tuesday. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018
The president appears to be referring to the victories of Reps. Karen Handel Karen Christine HandelHouse Democrats' campaign arm reserves.6M in ads in competitive districts Black Lives Matter movement to play elevated role at convention QAnon backer Marjorie Taylor Greene wins Georgia GOP runoff MORE (R-Ga.), Greg Gianforte Gregory Richard GianfortePence seeks to boost Daines in critical Montana Senate race On The Trail: How Nancy Pelosi could improbably become president Supreme Court denies push to add Green Party candidates to Montana ballot MORE (R-Mont.), Ron Estes Ronald (Ron) Gene EstesRestoring America's police force and taking back our cities Encouraging research and development can drive America's recovery House GOP lawmakers urge Senate to confirm Vought MORE (R-Kan.), Ralph Norman Ralph Warren NormanHouse Dems introduce bill to require masks on planes and in airports Bipartisan bill introduced to require TSA to take temperature checks House Republicans urge White House to support TSA giving travelers temperature checks MORE (R-S.C.) and John Curtis (R-Utah). All five House members were elected in special elections last year.
Democrat Doug Jones defeated Trump-backed Roy Moore Roy Stewart MooreVulnerable Senate Democrat urges unity: 'Not about what side of the aisle we're on' Sessions hits back at Trump days ahead of Alabama Senate runoff Judge allows Roy Moore lawsuit over Sacha Baron Cohen prank to proceed MORE last December, however, in the Alabama special election to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status MORE’s former U.S. Senate seat.
Trump’s latest remark comes ahead of the heated Pennsylvania 18th Congressional District race on Tuesday, when Saccone faces off against Democrat Conor Lamb in a district Trump won by 19 points in the 2016 election. | 1,268,846 |
While swimming in the frigid ocean off the coast of Maine a few days ago, I entered what psychologists call a flow state. It felt like a million bucks.
Here’s what happened: On a hot Sunday afternoon, I walked into the Atlantic off Cape Elizabeth. Although the water was painfully cold, it was sparkling and exhilarating. I began to swim. The activity absorbed all my attention. It completely squelched other thoughts and worries. And it made me happy for hours afterward.
Experts in the burgeoning field of positive psychology hold that people usually guess wrong about what will bring them happiness. Money, for example (beyond enough to cover life’s basic needs) doesn’t predict happiness. Instead, according to the new edition of Positive Psychology, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School, researchers are identifying a number of elements they say contribute to a sense of happiness and well-being. One is engaging in flow experiences, a term coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, professor of psychology at Claremont Graduate University in California.
To experience flow is to achieve a state of intense absorption in which you lose awareness of time. It occurs when you strike the right balance between challenge and skill. If the task is too challenging for your level of skill, anxiety creeps in. If your skill level exceeds the challenge, boredom sets in. Swimming in the cold surf of Maine posed a challenge for me, but I’m a competent swimmer and had experience in cold water. I swam with a partner for only a short time to avoid hypothermia. It was fun. It made me happy. (You can read more about flow in the online excerpt of the Positive Psychology report.)
The happiness‑health connection
Achieving happiness may be more important to your health than you think. In a 2008 review of studies on happiness and longevity, Dutch sociologist Ruut Veenhoven found that happiness appears to protect against illness. In 19 research projects involving populations chosen independently of their health status, ratings of mood, happiness, and life satisfaction at the beginning of a study had a large and positive impact on the chance a person was alive at the end of the follow-up period. The most satisfied people gained an extra 7.5 to 10 years of life. That life extension is equivalent to giving up cigarettes by age 35.
In Positive Psychology: Harnessing the Power of Happiness, Personal Strength, and Mindfulness, Harvard faculty editor Ronald Siegel and contributing psychologist Steven M. Allison explore both time-tested and modern avenues to happiness. The report describes many paths to happiness (curiously, swimming in a cold ocean isn’t among them), including:
Expressing gratitude
Living life with meaning
Finding and using your inner character strengths
Putting mindfulness to use toward well being
Savoring pleasure
Achieving flow experience
Developing self compassion
The report is available at www.health.harvard.edu/PP. | 1,268,847 |
appreciation for them took much longer to gestate; not so much the Rhum Rhum line done with Capovilla, since they remain something of a niche market, however popular; and certainly not the one-offs like the Basseterre 1995 and 1997 or the Courcelles 1972, which were too small and individualistic). The Age’s rums did not create all the trends noted above single-handedly. But certainly they had a great influence, and this is why we can correctly refer to an Age, even if it is just to mark the time when a series of exceptional bottlings were made.
It is my belief that what the Demerara series of rums did was to point the way to possibilities that were, back then, merely small-scale, limited or imperfectly executed ideas, waiting to be taken to the next level, like Birth of a Nation and Citizen Kane did for movies in 1915 and 1941. Velier came in, took a look around and re-imagined the map, then went ahead and showed what could be done. Certainly, like most innovators, Luca built on what came before while amending and modifying it to suit his own personal ideas; others contributed, and Velier did not work outside the great social and spirituous trends of its time. But somehow, Luca more than most gathered the strands of his imagination and used them to tie together all the concepts of rum making in which he believed. In doing so he produced rums which remain highly sought-after, and used the credibility they engendered to put his stamp firmly on the industry. We live in the world that he and his rums helped to bring about. Whatever your opinions on the influence of the Age, we had what we had before they appeared, and now we have what we have which is better. The work is worth acknowledging, and respecting. It is to our regret that the Age was over before we even properly acknowledged its existence.
In closing, I should mention that the Age of Velier’s Demeraras was only called that when it was over (and for the record, it was by the Danish blogger Henrik Kristoffersen who first used the term in a Facebook post in early 2016). And even if you don’t believe the Age was so central, or had the sort of rum-cultural impact as I think they do, I believe there’s no gainsaying that the sheer quality of rums that were issued for those nine years supports the idea that there was once an Age, that it really did exist…and the current crop of rums from this company remain at a similar level of quality as those first old and bold ones which were once considered too expensive. It’s great that even now with all their rarity, we can sometimes, just sometimes, still manage to drink from the well of those amazing Demeraras, and consider ourselves fortunate to have done so.
***
This series elicited an interesting discussion on Reddit regarding topical ageing vs continental, here. | 1,268,848 |
. 13.
Brandon Woodruff - (MIL, SP): 8% owned
There’s no doubting that Woodruff’s Major League debut rightfully turned some heads. 6 1/3 shutout innings should do that! And while we can’t forget that he posted a 4.46 ERA/1.35 WHIP/8.67 K/9 in 15 Triple-A starts this season, he’s just one year removed from a 3.01 ERA/1.04 WHIP/9.82 K/9 Double-A campaign and has some real pedigree to him.
Edwin Jackson - (WAS, SP/RP): 3% owned
With Washington’s offense behind him, Jackson stands a good chance at nabbing you the win against the Giants in his next start on Aug. 11. While Mr. Edwin is far from a bastion of consistency, he’s shown healthy control with only nine walks in 29 innings while allowing eight long balls. Luckily, the Giants are the lightest hitting team in the Majors and stand as the best matchup for what Jackson has shown himself to be in 2017. Fresh off of an eight-strikeout, zero-walk game, the 33-year-old could provide a nice short-term jolt.
Andrew Heaney - (LAA, SP): 1% owned
Heaney has look strong in five rehab starts thus far, striking out 27 against just three walks with a 3.05 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. On the heels of his most recent Triple-A rehab outing, manager Mike Scioscia said that the club is still evaluating Heaney’s next step but that a start against Seattle this weekend might be in the cards. Don’t start him right off the bat unless you’re extremely desperate and/or like to party, but his strikeout upside is worth a stash.
Austin Pruitt - (TB, SP/RP): 1% owned
Pruitt has built himself a home in Tampa Bay’s rotation thanks to posting a 3.12 ERA/1.15 WHIP with 15 K’s over his last three starts (17 1/3 IP). Navigating the AL East as a young arm is a tall order, but this is a guy who has held his own against the Yankees, Astros and Red Sox thus far. He’ll need to continue adjusting as Major Leaguers get the tape out on him, but the 3.38 ERA in his most recent four starts at Triple-A help flesh out the optimism here. He’ll face the Indians at home next on Aug. 13.
More Waiver Wire Pickups and Adds
Premium Tools & DFS Research
Get a free trial of our powerful MLB Premium Tools. Our famous DFS Optimizer & Lineup Generator, daily Matchup Ratings, expert DFS Lineups/Cheat Sheets, and more.
Sign Up Now! | 1,268,849 |
Google Images
As part of the evidence seized by the NYPD on Anthony Weiner's now infamous laptop, there was allegedly a sex video involving Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin and a minor and/or minors. This video is supposed to contain behavior so disgusting and perverse- including murder and cannibalism- that it made grown men cry and seasoned officers, who had "seen it all," get sick to their stomachs, not to mention require psychological help after viewing it. In a tweet by journalist Liz Crokin a preview of what the video is supposed to contain was disclosed... and if this in fact accurate it could spell the end for both Clinton and Abedin...
Courtesy: Liz Crokin- Twitter
During the election questions arose as to whether or not Hillary was using a stand-in. One day she would appear looking "normal" and the next she would appear wan and looking years older. Questions also arose about her strange behavioral tics being a result of Kuru, a disease peculiar to cannibalism.
It's no secret that elites have been using the blood of young people as an "elixir of youth" for years if not considerably longer. Countess Elizabeth Bathory in the late 16th Century was supposed to have bathed and drunk the blood of young women to maintain her youthful appearance. If the rumors and testimony of the times can be believed. There has been some question to the veracity of the stories as having politically manufactured to seize her vast estates. More recently, billionaire Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal is said to be one of those elites currently using treatments of this sort. I wrote about Hillary and the possibilities of her being involved in this practice back during the Pizzagate investigation by independent researchers.
As far back as the Bosnia Conflict CIA cutout companies such as DynCorp and Deagel Inc have been involved in human trafficking as well as organ harvesting. The same thing has happened throughout the conflicts in the Middle East- as well as after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti where Clinton associate Laura Silsby was arrested attempting to smuggle 31 children into the Dominican Republic. What better way to get blood, especially from live children who can be terrorized in order to boost their adrenochrome levels. I'm the first to admit I'm no expert on SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse) except to say I'm aware of its existence. What I do know about is child sex trafficking and the links to it between the Clinton Foundation, USAID and DynCorp... in that context, this makes perfect sense.
Too many people inside the NYPD have confirmed the existence of the video and its effects on the people that saw it for it to be a hoax. The only thing new that this adds is the content... and if what Liz Crokin tweeted (and she's far too honorable and meticulous to be involved in a hoax) turns out to be accurate, or even similar- the likelihood of any of us seeing it are exceedingly slim. It may be used as evidence, bit I doubt that it will be released to the public. | 1,268,850 |
The hands of a New Zealand man detained on Christmas Island have been badly bruised after he was bound for more than 18 hours, his mother says.
RNZ News has been told that at least four New Zealanders were among a group from the Villawood centre in western Sydney who were flown to the island.
Ana Head's son Pita Mclachlan was one of them.
Originally from Hamilton, she moved to Sydney with her son in 2006.
Photo: SUPPLIED
Mr Mclachlan spent eight months in jail on a breaking and entering charge and three months at Villawood, before unexpectedly being moved to Christmas Island.
Ms Head was looking forward to her weekly visit to Villawood to see her son, but he sent her a message on social media on Thursday saying he had been sent away.
He told her his wrists were bound with cable ties for an hour and half while he waited to be transferred to the airport and then to the island, she said.
"From there the cable ties were taken off by scissors and he was put into handcuffs and they were left on all the way through to Christmas Island.
"He was then put into cable ties again and by the time he got [to the detention centre] he's had no feeling in his hands or wrists and he's got bruises all over them."
Mr Mclachlan repeatedly asked to sign the paperwork to allow him back into New Zealand but was refused, she said.
"Three times while he was in Villawood, twice when he was at the airport here in Sydney and he's been asking every day he's been on Christmas Island, so roughly about 10 to 15 times."
The process has left her devastated.
"When Pita told me on Thursday night, I was at work. I broke down that bad that I had to leave...I haven't been able to keep it together. Villawood still hasn't told me he has been transported to Christmas Island," she said.
"Our boys and families that are detained are being mistreated and the families left in the dark."
A New Zealander who had been at Christmas island for about five months, who wanted to be known as Ariki, said his new room-mate told him the group was handcuffed with cable ties at 6am at the start of the transfer.
"They were cuffed for 20 hours or so, maybe longer, from the centre to the plane to here - right up until they were inside the detention centre."
They were then put into a segregation cell for the night, he said.
Photo: Wikicommons
Australia's Department of Immigration and Border Protection would not comment, saying such matters were operational.
Christmas Island achieved notoriety last year when riots broke out after an escaped inmate was found dead.
Conditions in the island's detention centre have been widely criticised and one former Australian insider said the way the prisoners were being kept made riots inevitable. | 1,268,851 |
I’ll make this quick. I have one question and one observation about Mitt Romney’s visit to Israel. The question is this: Since the whole trip was not about learning anything but about how to satisfy the political whims of the right-wing, super pro-Bibi Netanyahu, American Jewish casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, why didn’t they just do the whole thing in Las Vegas? I mean, it was all about money anyway — how much Romney would abase himself by saying whatever the Israeli right wanted to hear and how big a jackpot of donations Adelson would shower on the Romney campaign in return. Really, Vegas would have been so much more appropriate than Jerusalem. They could have constructed a plastic Wailing Wall and saved so much on gas.
The observation is this: Much of what is wrong with the U.S.-Israel relationship today can be found in that Romney trip. In recent years, the Republican Party has decided to make Israel a wedge issue. In order to garner more Jewish (and evangelical) votes and money, the G.O.P. decided to “out-pro-Israel” the Democrats by being even more unquestioning of Israel. This arms race has pulled the Democratic Party to the right on the Middle East and has basically forced the Obama team to shut down the peace process and drop any demands that Israel freeze settlements. This, in turn, has created a culture in Washington where State Department officials, not to mention politicians, are reluctant to even state publicly what is U.S. policy — that settlements are “an obstacle to peace” — for fear of being denounced as anti-Israel.
Add on top of that, the increasing role of money in U.S. politics and the importance of single donors who can write megachecks to “super PACs” — and the fact that the main Israel lobby, Aipac, has made itself the feared arbiter of which lawmakers are “pro” and which are “anti-Israel” and, therefore, who should get donations and who should not — and you have a situation in which there are almost no brakes, no red lights, around Israel coming from America anymore. No wonder settlers now boast on op-ed pages that the game is over, they’ve won, the West Bank will remain with Israel forever — and they don’t care what absorbing all of its Palestinians will mean for Israel’s future as a Jewish democracy.
Image Thomas L. Friedman Credit... Josh Haner/The New York Times
It is into this environment that Romney wandered to add more pandering and to declare how he will be so much nicer to Israel than big, bad Obama. This is a canard. On what matters to Israel’s survival — advanced weaponry and intelligence — Defense Minister Ehud Barak told CNN on Monday, “I should tell you honestly that this administration under President Obama is doing in regard to our security more than anything that I can remember in the past.” | 1,268,852 |
Researchers uncover origins of cattle farming in China
Posted on 8 November 2013
An international team of researchers, co-led by scientists at the University of York and Yunnan Normal University, has produced the first multi-disciplinary evidence for management of cattle populations in northern China, around the same time cattle domestication took place in the Near East, over 10,000 years ago.
The domestication of cattle is a key achievement in human history. Until now, researchers believed that humans started domesticating cattle around 10,000 years ago in the Near East, which gave rise to humpless (taurine) cattle, while two thousand years later humans began managing humped cattle (zebu) in Southern Asia.
However, the new research, which is published in Nature Communications, reveals morphological and genetic evidence for management of cattle in north-eastern China around 10,000 years ago, around the same time the first domestication of taurine cattle took place in the Near East. This indicates that humans may have started domesticating cows in more regions around the world than was previously believed.
A lower jaw of an ancient cattle specimen was discovered during an excavation in north-east China, and was carbon dated to be 10,660 years old. The jaw displayed a unique pattern of wear on the molars, which, the researchers say, is best explained to be the results of long-term human management of the animal. Ancient DNA from the jaw revealed that the animal did not belong to the same cattle lineages that were domesticated in the Near East and South Asia.
The combination of the age of the jaw, the unique wear and genetic signature suggests that this find represents the earliest evidence for cattle management in north-east China; a time and place not previously considered as potential domestication centre for cattle.
The research was co-led in the Department of Biology at the University of York by Professor Michi Hofreiter and Professor Hucai Zhang of Yunnan Normal University.
Professor Hofreiter said: “The specimen is unique and suggests that, similar to other species such as pigs and dogs, cattle domestication was probably also a complex process rather than a sudden event.”
This is a really exciting example of the power of multi-disciplinary research Johanna Paijmans
Johanna Paijmans, the PhD student at York who performed the DNA analysis, said: “This is a really exciting example of the power of multi-disciplinary research; the wear pattern on the lower jaw itself is already really interesting, and together with the carbon dating and ancient DNA we have been able to place it in an even bigger picture of early cattle management.”
As well as researchers from the Departments of Biology and Archaeology at York, the research team also included scientists from Yunnan Normal University, Kunming; Peking University, Beijing; Northwest A & F University, Yangling, and the Museum of Haelongjiang in China, Trinity College, Dublin and the Natural History Museum in Copenhagen. | 1,268,853 |
�s numbers from when he was 42 in 1970-71. Howe scored 52 points in 63 games. If he scored at that pace for an 82-game schedule, that adds up to about 67 points, or about the same as Jagr. When adjusting for era however, Howe goes down to 48 points.
Even if you dismiss era-adjusted numbers altogether, Jagr is comparable to Howe at the same age. To win the Hart Trophy as league MVP is rare, but to do what the likes of Howe and Jagr have done in their 40’s is even rarer.
1. 1998-99, Pittsburgh Penguins, 26 years old
Out of all of Jagr’s 1,700-plus games played, the 1998-99 season was easily his most impressive and dominant. It’s not just that he scored an NHL-leading 127 points that season. It’s that Teemu Selanne, who finished second in NHL scoring, only had 107. To repeat – Jagr led the NHL in scoring by 20 points.
Paul Kariya finished third with 101 points, Peter Forsberg finished fourth with 97, a full 30 points behind Jagr, while Joe Sakic rounded out the top five with 96. I should point out at that each of those players, who are all legends in their own right, were in their 20s and all of them played in at least 75 games that season except for Sakic.
Jagr played with a bunch of Hockey Hall of Fame players in their prime and blew them all out of the water.
This season also marked Jagr’s one and only Hart Trophy win as the NHL’s MVP as, unfortunately for Jagr, his best hockey came while Lemieux was still kicking around and Dominik Hasek decided to become the world’s most flexible brick wall.
Speaking of which, and maybe most impressively, Jagr put up those incredible numbers that season entirely without the help of Lemieux. In fact, the Penguins’ second-leading scorer was Straka with 82 points while their third-highest scorer was German Titov with 56. Jagr was no longer the Robin to Lemieux’s Batman; he was practically Pittsburgh’s one-man Justice League.
When adjusting for era, Jagr’s 127 points shoot up to an astounding 145, the highest total of his career. Why do his numbers go up? Scoring was down in the late 90s — but it looks like Jagr never got the memo.
Jagr’s best season was 18 years ago, which means that if that season were a person, it would be eligible for the upcoming NHL draft. While’s Jagr’s best hockey is well behind him, he has shown that there’s still a few more salutes left in the tank. Let’s see how the mullet-wearing wonder keeps the flame lit in Calgary. | 1,268,854 |
On Monday, a U.S. District Court judge sentenced a Muncie, Indiana married couple to nearly six years in prison apiece for stealing more than $1.2 million in consumer electronics from e-commerce giant Amazon.
It's the end to a con that Erin and Leah Jeanette Finan, both 38, had been perpetrating for years.
"Their Amazon scheme was their 'job,'" the federal government said of the Finans in its press release. "Fraud had become a way of life."
Between 2014 and 2016, the Finans created hundreds of fake online identities and Amazon accounts. They then used them to order more than 2,700 electronics products — GoPro digital cameras, Microsoft Xboxes, Apple MacBooks, Microsoft Surface tablets and more, federal authorities said in a press release announcing their sentencing.
After ordering the products, the Finans would tell the company that the products had arrived damaged or that they did not work.
Amazon's famously friendly customer service policy allows customers to "receive a replacement before they return a broken item," in some cases, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Indiana.
Amazon keeps a close eye on customers' accounts to track any potential fraud. But the government said the Finans were able to get away with receiving the replacement products before returning the supposedly damaged goods by using their long list of false identities to simply abandon each fake account before their fraud was discovered.
So the Finans would ask Amazon to send replacement products at no charge. Once Amazon would comply, the Finans then sold the stolen merchandise to an accomplice, Danijel Glumac, 29, who sold the items to an entity in New York that would sell the products to the public.
The Finans even sometimes requested multiple replacement products per order — in one instance receiving two replacement Samsung smartwatches after claiming that both the initial smartwatch delivered, and its first replacement, were damaged, according to the Finans' plea agreement. By doing this, the Finans were eventually able to sell all three Samsung smartwatches (with retail value of roughly $180 apiece) to Glumac despite only actually paying Amazon for one of the items.
The Finans also often paid for products using gift cards in order to further cover their tracks.
In total, the full value of the stolen consumer electronics reached $1.2 million in a little over two years. The Finans netted roughly $750,000 from the scheme in that period, the government said. Glumac made roughly $500,000 as the middle-man selling the items.
But "Amazon closely monitors customers' accounts and orders for possible fraudulent activity," according to the U.S. Attorney's press release.
Eventually the Finans' con was discovered, and each pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and money laundering in October 2017. Glumac, who pleaded guilty to money laundering and fencing the stolen items, was sentenced to two years in prison. | 1,268,855 |
“Whether you agree or not with this initiative, this is not the way democracies are supposed to work,” billionaire Silicon Valley VC Tim Draper said in an email, after the California Supreme Court decided unanimously last month to remove from the November ballot a measure aimed at dividing California into three states. “This kind of corruption is what happens in Third World countries.”
As a reminder, Draper had gathered more than 402,000 signatures when he submitted Prop. 9 in April to qualify for the November ballot. He argued that California had become too large to govern and would better represent its population by dividing into three separate states.
On July 9, California’s Supreme Court pulled Prop. 9 from the midterm ballot because of “significant questions regarding the proposition’s validity.”
Cal 3 was originally drafted as an amendment to the state constitution, but the environmental group Planning and Conservation League filed a lawsuit, maintaining that Draper’s proposal amounted to a “revision” that would require support from two-thirds of the state Legislature before appearing on the midterm ballot, the San Francisco Chroniclereported.
Draper was given a 30-day window to argue whether the proposal should be placed on the 2020 ballot.
Draper contended the court’s decision to remove the measure meant “the desires of hundreds of thousands of Californians who signed the initiative petition have been disregarded because of some ‘potential harm’ that would befall the voters if they were even presented an opportunity to discuss the failings of their government.”
And now, in a letter to the court dated Aug. 2, Draper said the court's decision last month to remove Cal 3 from the 2018 midterms, “effectively put an end to this movement,” and that he does not intend to appeal the decision, the Sacramento Bee reported, adding that “the political environment for radical change is right now."
The letter was made public by his opponents Thursday, who gloated that Draper’s decision not to appeal as evidence “that (Draper) has no serious interest in the policy implications of his foolish idea, but that he just wanted to piggyback on what he thinks is a political trend.”
Draper, who spent more than $1.7 million to qualify his initiative for the ballot, which required gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures, noted that he had “no idea” if his initiative would have passed or if Congress would have given the necessary approval for the split but that the ballot measure would have spurred debate over government failings.
“I wanted to let the voters debate, discuss and think about a different way forward — essentially a reboot. And, I wanted the political class to hear and witness the frustration of California’s voters with decades of inaction and decay,” he wrote. “I believed there was significant benefit to our democracy in that.”
Even billionaires cant always get their way... especially in California. | 1,268,856 |
When you come right down to it, State Senator Ralph Shortey of Oklahoma is articulating the core value of politicians everywhere: this is America, dammit, and a complete lack of evidence or logic should be no barrier to passing legislation banning or regulating something.
In Senator Shortey's case, the thing in question is the grim prospect of corporations serving us human fetuses to eat as food, or in novelty items like ring-pops. Concluding that this is a real threat that Americans face, Shortey has introduced Oklahoma Senate Bill 1418:
No person or entity shall manufacture or knowingly sell food or any other product intended for human consumption which contains aborted human fetuses in the ingredients or which used aborted human fetuses in the research or development of any of the ingredients.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2012.
Shortey delayed the bill's effective date until November because, though serving fetuses to unsuspecting consumers is a real and palpable threat, banning it isn't something you want to just rush into.
What caused Shortey to conclude that there was a need for a don't-serve-us-fetuses-you-big-bad-corporations law? He read it someplace. I'll give you one guess as to where.
Freshman Sen. Ralph Shortey said his own Internet research led him to believe such a ban is necessary and prompted him to offer the bill aimed at raising "public awareness" and giving an "ultimatum to companies" that might consider such a policy. Shortey said he discovered suggestions online that some companies use embryonic stem cells to develop artificial flavors, but added that he is unaware of any Oklahoma companies doing such research.
America needs leaders like Shortey — leaders willing to scour the internet for any hints of threats from fetus-peddling corporations or possibly Lizard People. Who else is going to protect us? Our so-called regulators?
In an e-mail to The Associated Press, U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Pat El-Hinnawy said: "FDA is not aware of this particular concern."
Of course the FDA is not aware of this concern. The FDA hasn't read nearly enough Geocities pages.
Some might see Senator Shortey's actions as bizarre, unbalanced, or indicative of poorly chosen priorities. I prefer to see them as noble. Why? Well, if Ralph Shortey is legislating against things that don't exist, he's not micromanaging real-world industries or regulating to help rent-seeking donors or passing stupid anti-bullying laws or otherwise interfering with the affairs of real humans that others can see and hear. Let's encourage more state legislators to be like Ralph Shortey. Let's tell them to spend more of their time legislating against the horrors of jenkem and bonsai kittens and the like. It keeps them busy.
Via Consumerist, courtesy of Amy Alkon.
Last 5 posts by Ken White | 1,268,857 |
Azraels-Art/Vimeo When someone wants to get male-to-female sex reassignment surgery, doctors can actually turn a penis into a vagina by basically flipping it inside out.
We first saw this incredible video on Cosmopolitan's website, and we decided to find out a bit more about what was going on in the animation, which demonstrates a surgical technique described by a team of urologists at the University of Tübingen in Germany.
Plastic surgeon Dr. Gary Alter, who has practices in both New York and Beverly Hills, explains on his website how he does the procedure.
First, patients have to undergo electrolysis treatments to permanently remove their pubic hair so it doesn't grow inside the vagina. Then, they go under sedation and the surgery, which lasts three to seven hours, begins.
Surgeons remove the testicles, then turn the head of the penis into the clitoris, since they actually develop from the same embryonic cells.
"A portion of the glans (head of the penis) with its nerve supply is converted into the clitoris," Alter writes. "This sensitive clitoris maintains normal erogenous sexual sensation and allows my patients to have orgasms."
Alter said he then inverts the penis skin to create the vagina, as you can see in the GIF below. The head of the penis, still attached to the nerves, is threaded through a newly made hole in the penis skin to make the clitoris:
The urethra is then pulled through the other hole, and the entire inverted penis is pulled into the body to create the vagina, like this:
Sometimes, Alter writes on his website, inverting the penis doesn't result in a deep enough vagina.
"Traditionally, the depth of the vagina is determined by the amount of shaft skin," he explains. "Since many patients with a smaller penis did not have adequate depth for satisfactory intercourse... I routinely use a skin graft from extra scrotal skin and attach it to the deepest part of the penile skin to make the vagina deeper."
Then, Alter writes, he uses what's left of the scrotum to form the outer lips of the vagina, and adds some finishing touches to reduce scarring.
Patient satisfaction "is highly dependent on sufficient neovaginal depth and neoclitoral sensation to achieve orgasm, as well as an attractive cosmetic result that fulfills the patient's aesthetic expectations," the University of Tübingen researchers wrote, after analyzing the results of the surgery in 24 patients.
Here's the full, five-minute animation of the entire procedure, which was first published as part of a 2013 paper by the German researchers in the journal European Urology. The scissors and scalpels might make some people a bit squeamish, but the procedure overall is an impressive surgical feat.
Uniklinikum Tübingen: Sex-Reassignment: Male to Female Surgery 2009 from Azraels-Art on Vimeo. | 1,268,858 |
A crowd recently gathered on the set of the long-running television show "Desperate Housewives" to hear about Tesla's new solar roof tiles. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is working to create a roofing product that is more durable and insulative than a traditional roof, yet with a lower installed cost and the added value of solar electricity.
The textured glass roof tiles conceal the solar cells and come in a variety of styles and colors, potentially making them more attractive than asphalt shingles. Musk then announced on Friday that Tesla will likely offer solar roofs on future cars as an option for running the defroster and generating energy.
Some Tesla critics scoffed at the roof tile announcement, asking why a car company wants to manufacture roofing products. Musk is the chairman and the largest investor in both Tesla and SolarCity. Given Tesla's $2.6 billion proposed merger with SolarCity, the announcement seems timely. Tesla and SolarCity shareholders will vote on the merger on Nov. 17, and some are having trouble understanding the advantages of a solar company and an automaker joining forces.
To proponents, Musk is a visionary who has a unique way of conducting business. The 80 percent vertical integration of Tesla highlights this point. While most other auto companies use lean manufacturing techniques, Tesla strives to manufacture most of its own components. But the company is struggling to ramp up production of its electric vehicles and is often criticized for missing production targets. Tesla is in the unique position of having products with a much higher demand than it anticipated.
SolarCity is also becoming more vertically integrated by manufacturing high-efficiency solar panels. With the five-year extension of the investment tax credit for residential and commercial solar systems, demand will certainly be strong for solar panels in the upcoming years. And Tesla's 'gigafactory' uses the most advanced solar manufacturing equipment and relies heavily on robotics, helping to keep manufacturing costs down.
“One of the reasons we can do this in North America as opposed to Asia is that we can be cost-competitive because of our equipment knowledge and we can design the plant in such a way that it can be very, very efficient,” says Steve James, Tesla senior vice president of operations.
Tesla is dedicated to producing products for the clean-energy ecosystem. Within this context, the merger with SolarCity makes sense. The company will then offer products in solar electricity generation, energy storage, and electric vehicles and is consistent with the vision of vertical integration.
If Tesla can produce a solar roof tile that is cost-effective, attractive and able to keep up with demand, it has the potential to take solar energy production to the next level. The opportunity to cross-sell solar to electric vehicle owners seems like a natural fit. Selling an attractive residential solar product fits with the Tesla brand of sophistication, innovation and performance.
Elon Musk is certainly a risk taker, a dreamer and an innovator. It will be fascinating to see the results he produces in the upcoming years.
Image courtesy of Tesla Motors (press use only) | 1,268,859 |
Democratic 2nd District House candidate Kara Eastman is hugged by her campaign manager Ben Onkka, in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday, May 15, 2018, as she holds a slim lead over Brad Ashford in the primary election.
"Far-left progressives are winning the war for the soul of the Democratic Party, and it appears they have their first scalp in former Congressman Brad Ashford," National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Jack Pandol said in a statement.
November's 2nd District election figures to be competitive. Incumbent Republican Rep. Don Bacon beat Ashford by only 1 percentage point to win the Omaha-area seat in 2016. But the GOP got the result it desired Tuesday, as Republicans think a candidate further to the ideological left will have a tougher time winning the swing district.
Social worker and political newcomer Kara Eastman declared victory Tuesday night over ex-Rep. Brad Ashford in the Democratic primary for Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District. Eastman ran to the left of Ashford, supporting Medicare for all and other policies championed by leaders and organizations that bill themselves as progressive.
Republicans hope a former Democratic congressman's loss in a Nebraska swing district primary will help them hold on to the chamber in November.
He said Eastman's policies "are a better fit for San Francisco than Nebraska." Michael Byerly, a spokesman for the House GOP-linked super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund, also said the group "looks forward to informing voters" about Eastman's policy goals.
In many competitive congressional districts that sit on the ideological center or right, national Democrats have put their weight behind more moderate candidates in a push to better compete in the November midterms. The tactic has worked in several early primary elections but did not in Nebraska.
At least one nonpartisan election analysis site thinks the Democratic primary result helps Bacon in November. Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia moved its rating of the race to "leans Republican" from "toss-up."
The site's managing editor Kyle Kondik wrote that "basically the NRCC got what it wanted and the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] didn't."
Kondik tweet
Eastman harnessed an energized Democratic Party on her way to Tuesday's victory. Aside from supporting Medicare for all, she supports raising the minimum wage and universal background checks on gun purchases.
The Democrat says she thinks her policies are consistent with her district, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
"People need health care," Eastman said, according to the newspaper. "They deserve health care. Income inequality is outrageous and we need to address it because there's far too many people living in poverty and struggling."
Eastman's allies also disputed the notion that she cannot compete in a swing district. Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which endorsed Eastman, said backing policies such as Medicare for all and higher minimum wage "is how Democrats can win in red, purple and blue districts and maximize a wave in 2018." | 1,268,860 |
Tuesday. Sit down Shut up. America made their choice. Stop being a sore loser! #TrumpProtest #PresidentTrump — Bree Kinney (@Bree_kinney) November 10, 2016
Has anyone told them you can't change the results of a democratic election by throwing a temper tantrum? #TrumpProtest — Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 10, 2016
The anti-Trump protests also sparked a backlash among supporters of the president-elect, who called demonstrators "sore losers" who are throwing "temper tantrums" and "whining" because things didn't go their way.
"The reality is they are a bunch of spoiled crybabies," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a prominent Trump supporter, said on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
Protesters gather at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday. Cory Morse / AP
But the protests are much deeper than simply not accepting a presidential outcome, said Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University in North Carolina who said it's the manifestation of true fears and concerns many have with a Trump presidency.
Especially for those who felt attacked during his campaign.
"Trump ran his campaign on very hateful and racially divisive rhetoric that is very worrisome for a lot of people," he said.
When his campaign capitalized on the isolation and fears of half the country, it came at a cost of alienating and demonizing the other half, cultural commentators said.
Less than 36 hours after the election: Swastikas juxtaposed with Trump's name along with the Nazi phrase "Hail Victory" were spray-painted on a Philadelphia building, and "build a wall!" was chanted in front of Latino students by students at a middle school in Michigan. In Wellsville, New York, the phrase "Make America White Again" appeared on a wall near a softball field.
It's those images that trouble minorities.
While Trump garnered a slightly larger share of the the minority vote than Mitt Romney did in 2012, according to the NBC News Exit Poll, two-thirds or more of Asian, black and Hispanic voters have deep reservations about Trump as the next president. More than two-thirds of blacks and 45 percent of Hispanics said they were "scared" about a Trump victory.
Trump ran a polarizing campaign, and many young people are deeply disturbed that his polices will turn back the clock on their civil rights, said Alvin Tillery, an associate professor of political science at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, near Chicago. "That's something to protest."
"We are a nation of protesters, and critics need to remember that," he said. The idea that people will immediately accept and normalize Trump is naïve, he said.
"While the numbers suggest a certain mandate, you are not just the president of the people who voted for you, or the people who voted. You are now president of entire nation of people," Neal said. | 1,268,861 |
One More Point’ published by the Palace fans were really famous in London. The club have their old rivalries against Millwall and Charlton Athletic. Two internet forums named ‘The BBS’ and ‘Holmesdale.net’ are also formed by the club management to communicate with the fans.
[/nextpage]
[nextpage title=”3″ ]
3. Millwall
Embed from Getty Images
Millwall F.C. is commonly known as ‘The Lions’ who have the motto “We Fear No Foe Where E’er We Go.” They were previously known as ‘The Dockers’. The South East London side who currently play in the Championship usually possesses a huge fan base locally.
They are considered to be in the eighth position in terms of having the highest number of rivals all over the World. Their most significant rivalry is against West Ham United and South London Derbies against Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace are also in the list of the exciting occasions for the fans to turn up to their level best.
2. Arsenal
Embed from Getty Images
Having 13 League Titles and 13 FA Cups in the club’s trophy cabinet always denotes sign of good history of a club and Arsenal are one of the clubs who have a rich history in their back.
The Arsenal fans are generally known as ‘The Gooners’. They had won their last Premier League title 2003-04 but their fans are still loyal to their club and their manager Arsene Wenger. The all home Match tickets for Arsenal are sold out most of times and in 2007–08 Arsenal had the second-highest average League attendance for an English club. They have seventh highest attendance record in terms of the whole European fan base. The supporters publish fanzines like ‘The Gooner’, ‘Gunflash’ and the satirical ‘Up The Arse!’. They have several domestic fan clubs and supporters’ clubs all over the World who are always behind the club.
1. West Ham United
Embed from Getty Images
The East London club fans are really loyal to their club. Despite not winning any glorious trophies in last 2 decades the support towards clubs remained the same from the fans. The Hammers are famous for their chants, hooliganism and rivalries with other London clubs.
The team’s anthem, “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” is always chanted by the supporters during the match. They are also known as the Academy Of Football as their football academy have given rise to many star players like Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson and in recent times Mark Noble who is now the captain of the West Ham.
[/nextpage]
Share this: Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr
Email
Print
Reddit
WhatsApp
LinkedIn
| 1,268,862 |
and
It helps in reducing MTTR by gathering mandatory information normally done by a human worker
3. Ability to Fulfill Service Requests
Underneath the covers of an AI bot, workflows must be in place to execute relevant tasks and business processes. There are two ways to create these workflows for AI Workers to fulfill back-office requests:
Use an FAQ Knowledge Base Use Robotic Process Automation(RPA) and APIs
FAQ Knowledge Base vs RPA/API
In order for an AI Bot to truly understand a service request, the ELM alone will not suffice. Many IT Help Desk tickets involve extracting multiple complex entities (parameters associated with the request) from the ticket and calling RPA/APIs to do a backend function.
Here is a service request involving an FAQ knowledge base:
“I need to exchange my phone”
An AI Bot would extract the intent “exchange phone” and provide the relevant support link from the enterprise’s knowledge base. The AI Bot can go one step further by extracting phone entities (iPhone, Galaxy S6, Pixel 2, etc) in order to guide the user to more specific support articles or higher level support engineers.
Here is a service request involving RPA:
“Please give me access to the channel scrum in slack”
This involves extracting entities “scrum” and “slack” from the request, the username from the ticket, and then calling an RPA to fulfill the request.
Parlo can seamlessly connect with enterprise knowledge bases, RPAs, and APIs to fulfill routine IT Help Desk requests and create the appropriate workflows within our chatbot platform.
Conclusion
AI-powered bots and cognitive automation are quickly becoming the driving force for digital transformation across all enterprises. Now is the time to embrace this technology and use AI bots for IT Help Desk automation.
Getting started is always a challenge, so be sure your AI bot solution covers the three essentials:
Enterprise language understanding using both sparse and dense data Interactions with users through an independent AI Worker or dialogue with an AI assistant Ability to fulfill back-office requests using FAQ knowledge bases, RPAs, or APIs
If done correctly, your users will see a quicker resolution of their incidents and you can significantly decrease your operational costs. So what are you waiting for! The time to create your AI Workforce has arrived. Talk to us to learn why Parlo is the preferred AI chatbot platform for our largest enterprise clients and technical service partners.
—
If you found this article useful, please let us know your thoughts below. We regularly publish content like this on our blog in our mission to bring smarter AI to smarter enterprises.
Parlo builds smarter bots for smarter enterprises. We build AI chatbots that employ cutting-edge machine learning to seamlessly integrate with your business. They’ll support your human workforce, delight your customers, and save you time and money. | 1,268,863 |
of his brotherly affection for her and his desire to always serve her. Catherine was gracious, dignified and self-possessed and seemed very pleased. James was impressed with her gentleness and kindness.
The interview being over, all the English nobles were introduced to Catherine and kissed her hand. Then she presented the Portuguese grandees to the English. James received them with great courtesy. It was time to end the ceremony and Catherine stood up and walked toward James. He tried to stop her, protesting that she must remember her rank. Catherine smiled and replied that she wished to do out of affection what she was not obliged to do. The Duke was delighted. Catherine had made an excellent first impression.
Charles was involved in London with the business of Parliament and therefore delayed in greeting his new bride. It was a week before he arrived in Portsmouth. James visited Catherine on board the ship every day and the two became very friendly. On May 14th, the fleet was seen from the Portsmouth forts sailing up the Solent, including the escort of the Duke of York’s ships. Catherine disembarked from the “Royal Charles” and James handed her from the barge to the steps to shore. She wore English clothing and seemed very happy. She was driven in a gilded state coach through the streets of the town so the people to could see her and taken to the residence of the Governor of Portsmouth which was called the King’s House.
Catherine received her new ladies-in-waiting here and sat down to write a letter to Charles. He was still unable to leave London and so they exchanged letters until he finally got away and arrived in Portsmouth on May 21. After a change of clothing the long-awaited meeting of the couple took place. Catherine had fallen ill with a cold and had a sore throat so she met Charles in her bed. The meeting went well. Even though she was not feeling her best, her kindness and graciousness impressed the King. Charles would say of Catherine that although she was not a beauty, her eyes were excellent good and there was not anything in her face that in the least degree could shock anyone.
The wedding took place that same day. There was a secret Catholic service to satisfy Catherine and then a public Church of England service. Although the marriage was childless and had a great many ups and downs due to Charles’ many mistresses and affairs, they were married nearly twenty-three years. Catherine would be attacked for her lack of children and her Catholicism and the subject of divorce would rear its ugly head many times. But Charles stood by her through it all and they were only parted when he died in 1685. After several years, Catherine returned to Portugal and acted as regent for her brother Pedro until she died herself in 1705 at the age of sixty-seven.
Further reading: “Catherine of Bragança: Infanta of Portugal and Queen Consort of England” by Lillias Campbell Davidson, “Catherine of Braganza” by Janet MacKay | 1,268,864 |
With World No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s fourth-round win on Monday at Roland Garros, the Big Three of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam together for the 23rd time. When that happens, history has been on their side.
On 19 of the previous 22 occasions when the Big Three has made the last eight at a major, one of those superstars has gone on to lift the trophy. Leading the way has been Nadal, who has triumphed 10 times — a rate of 52.6 per cent — under those circumstances.
Nadal has won seven of his 11 titles on the Parisian terre battue when Djokovic and Federer have also made the quarter-finals. This is the ninth time the trio has made the last eight together at the clay-court Grand Slam.
Djokovic is not far behind Nadal when the Big Three makes the quarter-finals, emerging with the trophy more than his rivals at the Australian Open (three titles) and Wimbledon (two titles). Federer has gone on to wear the crown on three of 19 occasions at all four majors combined.
Big Three Grand Slam Titles When All Reach The QFs
When Djokovic, Nadal and Federer advanced to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year, it was the first time each of the legends reached the last eight at the same major since 2015 Roland Garros.
In 11 of the 19 Slams in which they've made the quarter-finals, the Big Three has battled to the last four. The only time one of them did not lift the trophy in that scenario was at the 2009 US Open, when Juan Martin del Potro emerged victorious. Del Potro beat Nadal in the semi-finals and Federer in the championship match.
Nadal and Federer could potentially play in the semi-finals, but they will need to get through tough matches in the last eight first. Nadal on Tuesday faces seventh seed Kei Nishikori, who has shown his toughness by winning back-to-back five-setters, while Federer plays fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who defeated World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in five hours and nine minutes Sunday.
Djokovic will be the last of the trio to try to advance to the last four, as he battles reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev on Wednesday.
The Last Time The Big Three Made The QFs Together At The...
Australian Open: 2014
Roland Garros: 2019
Wimbledon: 2018
US Open: 2011
Did You Know?
The only other players to win a Grand Slam when the ‘Big Three’ all made the quarter-finals are Stan Wawrinka (2014 Australian Open, 2015 Roland Garros) and Del Potro (2009 US Open).
- Research courtesy Greg Sharko | 1,268,865 |
A TX man, who was in the process of moving to Maine, made a very simple mistake, and never made it to his hew home. Dustin Reininger is serving a 3-5 year prison sentence in the Garden State because he made a mistake, he stopped to take a nap in NJ during his multi day drive from Texas to Maine.
Police approached Reininger’s car when he was taking a nap near a bank in Readington, NJ.
Police then searched the suspect’s vehicle after seeing gun cases laying in the back seat and found the man’s personal gun collection, which was being transported in the car. This included 14 rifles, 4 shotguns and 3 handguns along with hollow point ammunition (which is extremely illegal to possess in public in NJ). Reininger was arrested, convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison, with a chance for parole after 3.
Reininger would not have been arrested if his guns were simply in locked cases, or if he possessed a NJ Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, which not being a resident of NJ, he obviously did not possess.
Reininger’s attorney has serious issues with the way the search was conducted on his client’s vehicle and he is also upset that jurors were not told about a federal law which allows people who are traveling to transport guns through states which may have more restrictive gun laws. Although the transportation exemption also requires guns to be locked and inaccessible.
Based on the source article it is unclear if Mr. Reininger was unaware of New Jersey’s extremely strict gun laws.
Reininger’s case is in the news once again because he just lost his appeals case. The only further step he and his attorneys can take is to petition the New Jersey Supreme Court.
According to lehighvalleylive.com via the AP Reininger’s attorney made the following statements,
“All the officers saw were cases,” Nappen said. “The court is essentially saying the plain view of a gun case is a basis for a warrantless search. That means every law-abiding gun owner in New Jersey is subject to warrantless search if they transport their firearms in a gun case. “My recommendation to all gun owners is to transport all firearms in guitar cases,” he added. “If he’d had [a firearms owner ID card], he wouldn’t have been guilty of this offense,” Nappen said. “He didn’t have one because he didn’t live here. He was in transit and all the guns were lawfully his. So you have a situation where he is, in effect, turned into a criminal by New Jersey’s gun laws”
As if you you need any other reasons not to visit NJ, even in passing, here you go. An otherwise law abiding American citizen has had his life ruined due to the draconian gun laws of a single state. | 1,268,866 |
Barack Obama repeatedly suggested executive amnesty would not be legal or ethical.
Obama said passing executive amnesty “would not conform with my appropriate role as president.”
Last night Obama passed executive amnesty.
Here are the Top Ten Lies from his speech.
Conservative Review put together the Top 10 Lies from Barack Obama’s executive amnesty speech.
Lie #1: Every President has Taken Executive Action on Immigration: No other president has ever issued an amnesty of anywhere near this scope, created it out of thin air, or built it upon a prior executive action instead of a statute. And in the case of President Eisenhower, his executive action was to deport 80,000 illegal immigrants.
Lie #2: Illegal Immigrant Crossings are Down: Actually, this is the third straight year that border crossings have gone up, not to mention the entirely new wave from Central America.
Lie #3: It does not grant citizenship or the right to stay here permanently: Under the royal edict, the work permits can be renewed every three years, and most likely, they will be renewed at the same 99.5% acceptance rate as DACA applications. And once they get Social Security cards, they are going nowhere. So yes, this is permanent. And yes, they will be able to get green cards, which puts them on an automatic path to citizenship: “we are reducing the time that families are separated while obtaining their green cards. Undocumented immigrants who are immediate relatives of lawful permanent residents or sons or daughters of US citizens can apply to get a waiver if a visa is available.”
TRENDING: BREAKING: Omaha Bar Owner Charged For Killing Rioter Who Attacked Him and His Business Has Committed Suicide
Lie #4: Only 5 Million: Make no mistake about it. Obama’s illegal amnesty will not just apply to 5 million individuals. It will apply by default to all 12-20 million illegals in the country as well as the millions more who will now come here to enjoy the permanent cessation of borders and sovereignty. Given the numerous options for people to become eligible for amnesty, ICE and CPB will be restricted from enforcing the law against anyone because each individual has to be afforded the opportunity to present themselves and apply for status. There is no way those who were here for less than 5 years will be deported and there’s no way the new people rushing the border and overstaying their visas will be repatriated.
Lie #5: Deport Felons: Obama claims he is going to focus on deporting felons. Yet, he has done the opposite. 36,000 convicted criminal aliens were released last year, 80,000 criminal aliens encountered by ICE weren’t even placed into deportation proceedings, 167,000 criminal aliens who were ordered deported are still at large, 341,000 criminal aliens released by ICE without deportation orders are known to be free and at large in the US. Again, this is cessation of deportations for everyone. They are leaving no illegal behind. | 1,268,867 |
Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
The Monkees bassist and singer Peter Tork died Thursday, according to his sister and bandmates. He was 77.
“It is with beyond-heavy and broken hearts that we share the devastating news that our friend, mentor, teacher, and amazing soul, Peter Tork, has passed from this world,” read a statement on Tork's official Facebook account. "Please know that Peter was extremely appreciative of you, his Torkees, and one of his deepest joys was to be out in front of you, playing his music, and seeing you enjoy what he had to share."
The statement is attributed to “the team of Peter’s friends, family and colleagues” who maintained his social media presence.
Tork’s sister, Anne Thorkelson, confirmed the musician’s death to The Washington Post. Tork was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer a decade ago.
Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings. This site is protected by recaptcha
The Monkees, Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz, with their Emmy award on June 4, 1967. AP file
His bandmate Michael Nesmith also reflected on his passing in a statement Thursday.
"Peter Tork died this AM. I am told he slipped away peacefully," Nesmith said. "Yet, as I write this my tears are awash, and my heart is broken. Even though I am clinging to the idea that we all continue, the pain that attends these passings has no cure. It's going to be a rough day."
The popular 1960s made-for-TV band the Monkees was established for a show of the same name. The group consisted of Davy Jones, who died in 2012, Nesmith, Tork and Micky Dolenz. The NBC sitcom ran from 1966 to 1968.
Dolenz reacted to news of his bandmate's death on Twitter.
"There are no words right now...heart broken over the loss of my Monkee brother, Peter Tork," he said.
Peter Tork at a news conference at the Warwick Hotel in New York on July 6, 1967. Ray Howard / AP file
Tork played a lovable wisecracking character on "The Monkees" television show. He wrote several of the group's songs, including “Can You Dig It?” and “For Pete’s Sake.”
The group sold millions of records and its recording of "Daydream Believer" became a No. 1 single. Their recording of “Last Train to Clarksville" and cover of Neil Diamond’s "I'm a Believer" also topped the charts.
The Monkees disbanded in the early 1970s. | 1,268,868 |
We have failed to move the Oscars into the modern age, despite decades of increased competition and declining ratings. Instead, we have kept to the same number of awards, which inherently means a long and boring show, and over the past decade we have nominated so many smaller independent films that the Oscars feel like they should be handed out in a tent. Big is not inherently bad and small is not inherently good. Moving into the modern age does not mean competing with the Emmys for non-theatrical features.
We have failed to solve the problems of the Museum, which is ridiculously over its initial budget and way past its original opening date. Despite having the best of the best inside the Academy membership, we have ignored the input of our Governors and our members.
We have failed our employees. Over the past seven years, we have watched dedicated employees of the Academy be driven out or leave out of frustration. Certainly, some freshening of an organization is a good thing, but that doesn’t seem the case here; this seems more like a “purge” to stifle debate and support management as opposed to the needs of the Academy.
We have failed to provide leadership. Yes, that includes the Presidency, which with a one year term creates instability, but moreover the CEO role has become much broader and far reaching, and the results are erratic at best. It also includes 54 Board of Governors, which is so large it makes decision-making difficult and makes it way too easy for the silent majority to stay silent.
Many of the problems I’m talking about come not from malfeasance but rather from the silence of too many Governors. A vocal few people are insistent that the problems are not really problems or would be too damaging to the Academy to admit. Not facing your problems means you are not addressing those issues and, guess what, problems don’t go away — they simmer under the surface and, if anything, get worse.
You can’t hide the drainage of employees, the cataclysmic decline in the Oscar ratings, the fact that no popular film has won in over a decade; that we decided to play Moral Police and most probably someone inside the Academy leaked confidential information in order to compromise the President; that the Board doesn’t feel their voice is being heard with regard to the Museum; that we have allowed the Academy to be blamed for things way beyond our control and then try to do things which are not in our purview (sexual harassment, discrimination in the Industry).
Perhaps I’m wrong about all of this and if so my resignation will simply make things better. If that’s the case, so be it. If it’s not, then I truly hope the majority of Governors will take action. Check in with our membership and get their input. If they respond as many have with me, then change the leadership of the Academy and put the Academy’s interests above any personal likes or dislikes.
Respectfully,
Bill Mechanic | 1,268,869 |
once they are absent of male influence, whether that influence is hormonal, personal or societal. In other words, we are considering theoretical, antipodal strategies denoted as male or female according to whether the strategy is evolutionarily advantageous for the female or the male.
Making things hard for males
Having got some of the basics out of the way, I shall now turn to a vital evolutionary mechanism, an elementary symbiosis between males and females. Females instinctively make life hard for males. Why has this mechanism evolved? Because it is advantageous. Indeed it may account in large part for humans’ exceptionally rapid evolutionary development. The female makes the environment adverse, and encourages competition between males (a separate but associated mechanism), to increase fitness in the male. The male must become more robust to prevail in the adverse environment, and from this both sexes shortly benefit. We see this mechanism in primitive form in the ovulatory behaviour of lionesses.
The domestic cat ovulates in response to copulation. With this, conception is practically assured, and this is one reason why cats are so abundant. Its much larger cousin the lioness however withholds ovulation until many matings have taken place. The male must copulate every twenty minutes or so for up to four days to trigger ovulation. The lion that is unhealthy, weak, ageing, incapable of protecting the progeny from another predatory lion – unfit, in the evolutionary sense – fails to procreate.
With humans, this process is applied psychologically. This is all very well within a homogeneous population but, like many female instincts, it becomes completely anachronistic in a modern setting.
Regarding “sex equality,” we can only marvel at the arrogance of a political class who think they can defy God, nature and every other historical test simply by making a decree or passing a law. After aeons of only having power over children, we are supposed to believe that womankind is going to shed millions of years of evolutionary refinement and suddenly acquire the powers of objective thought and rationality which men have developed over millennia. However many do believe it, because this absurd notion is given legitimacy using the propaganda techniques outlined in my last article, especially the inculcation of a false normality.
During those evolutionary aeons, any female who failed in her biological role of securing a mate and procreating became extinct. The genes of a female expressing male characteristics would have faded away, just as surely as if she had been born barren. For this reason, I contend, all female instincts derive from either mate-selection or child-rearing – female behaviour is always in the final analysis sexual. To allow these instincts to be applied to wider society is profoundly damaging to it. To give one example: the selection of political candidates who “look good on telly” and who must on no account be bald. According to the political dogma, women are to miraculously blossom into great composers and artists, competent scientists and strapping navvies. It would be comic if the effects were not so disastrous. | 1,268,870 |
Fatima Fardous has been jailed for four and a half years (Picture: Ross Parry)
A mother-of-four stabbed her partner after becoming convinced he was having an affair because he had a shave and a haircut.
Fatima Fardous repeatedly contacted her partner, Mirza Raza, with ‘vitriolic’ phone calls while he was at work.
Millions unable to get flu jabs after 'unprecedented demand'
When the carpet fitter returned to their home, he discovered Fardous had smashed up the television and a mirror before she lunged at him with a kitchen knife during an argument.
Prosecutor Nick Adlington told Bradford Crown Court, West Yorkshire, that the victim was able to move to avoid being stabbed in the chest but the knife dug into left upper arm, hitting the bone and causing the handle to break.
It was revealed Fardous, who has no previous convictions, became convinced Mr Raza was seeing someone else after she discovered he had had a haircut and a shave before the attack in April.
As Mr Raza fled following the attack, his 29-year-old partner threatened to get another knife.
During the trial, following Fardous’ denial of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, Mr Raza claimed the wounding had been an accident.
McDonald's exempt from 10pm curfew as drive-thru and delivery remain open
Mr Adlington said he was not surprised he had not provided a victim impact statement nor placed a restraining order application.
Despite this, Judge Neil Davey, QC, jailed Fardous for four-and-a-half years and told her via an interpreter he was satisfied she had worked herself up into a jealous rage at the thought that Mr Raza might be seeing someone else.
He said: ‘Your anger had already boiled over by the time he got home from work.
‘He discovered that his home was in disarray with the television and the mirror both broken. That much he could see. What he could not see was the kitchen knife with which you had already armed yourself.
Traffic-light lockdown system reveals areas that need red zone restrictions
‘An argument started straight away. You quickly produced the knife and tried to stab him in the chest.’
Mitigating for Fardous, Stuart Field said his client appeared to have been involved in a number of relationships that had problems.
He said the prison term would be her first custodial sentence and it would be harder for her because of language and cultural difficulties.
Judge Davey, QC said Fardous’ threat to get a second knife made it plain that she intended to hurt him even more badly than she actually did.
Judge Davey said the wound to Mr Raza’s arm had caused some nerve damage which led temporarily to reduced sensation in his hand, but the injury was repaired and a full recovery was expected. | 1,268,871 |
�ve still got some trust issues that I think we need to sort out.”
Former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine also appears briefly in a scene in which, as part of Lars Ulrich‘s therapy, he confronts the guitarist on September 13, 2001, regarding the decision to fire him early in the band’s career for his excessive drinking. On top of the core relationship issues discussed during this meeting are two considerations specific to the date that it took place that will help aware viewers understand the tension and frustration in the room. First, the scene with Mustaine and Ulrich was filmed precisely two days after September 11th. This also just happened to be Dave Mustaine’s 40th birthday. For many years, until the burying of the hatchet between him and Metallica, Mustaine would grouse that he would much rather have spent his 40th birthday in Arizona with his wife and kids rather than on a couch in the Bay Area talking to Lars, even though the two had not had any serious personal contact for many years. In the meeting, Mustaine speaks frankly about his resentment stemming from his dismissal without the opportunity to redeem himself with an alcoholism treatment program; a point of view that Ulrich concedes he had never considered before.
In a scene where Hetfield, Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and several others are discussing titles for the album, Hetfield suggests to use the name of the song “St. Anger.” Many of the other people in the scene agree that it is a good title; however, Ulrich prefers “Frantic,” which would become the first track on the album. Ulrich is eventually convinced that “Frantic,” as an album title, would suggest a perceived lack of focus by the band.
The film contains many excerpts from the studio of unreleased tracks, such as “Shadows of the Cross”, “Dead Kennedy Rolls”, “Riff” and “More Than This (Whipping Boy)”. The only unreleased song that can be heard fully is “Temptation”.
The movie also addresses the early 2001 departure of longtime member Newsted. He is interviewed, and both rehearsal and concert footage of his own group, Echobrain, is shown. Footage is shown from public auditions the band held to find a replacement bass player. In a scene after Robert Trujillo‘s audition, guitarist Hammett notes that he uses his fingers to play, rather than a pick and mentions that it “hasn’t been that way since Cliff Burton“, Metallica’s bassist before Jason Newsted. The band members later concur not only that Trujillo was the only bassist who didn’t appear to be struggling with Metallica’s material, but that playing with him forced the other three to tighten up their own parts. In a sense, Trujillo “made us play better.” | 1,268,872 |
Last updated on.From the section Championship
Souleymane Doukara has scored three goals in four games after 12 games without a goal
Souleymane Doukara scored the only goal as Leeds stretched their unbeaten home run to six matches with victory over struggling Bristol City.
The French striker struck his third goal in four games midway through the second half to condemn the Robins to a fourth defeat in five games.
City's Jonathan Kodija was bright and had two good chances, but keeper Marco Silvestri kept him at bay.
Aden Flint missed a close-range header to leave City in the relegation places.
Leeds had won their last three league matches against the Robins at Elland Road but nearly went behind after 25 minutes.
Liam Bridcutt lost possession on his own goal-line and Nathan Baker forced Silvestri into a save with a powerful shot from a narrow angle.
Kodija was proving to be a handful for the Leeds defence and City's top scorer headed just wide before slipping past two defenders inside the penalty box and seeing his low shot blocked by Leeds' last line of defence.
The hosts went ahead when Stuart Dallas' low cross cannoned off substitute Chris Wood to Doukara, who fired the ball past goalkeeper Richard O'Donnell.
City should have equalised in the 79th minute, but Flint somehow contrived to head wide from six yards despite rising unchallenged.
Steve Evans' side held on to the whistle, with their only shot on target moving them up to 16th and ending a run of five league games without a win.
Leeds head coach Steve Evans:
"The first half was like going to the dentist. It wasn't pleasant and it was a long 45 minutes.
"It was a scrappy game. We were poor in quality all over the pitch in that first half - it was lazy and sloppy.
"I told them to find a moment of magic in the second half and they did that with Souleymane Doukara's goal.
"He is a player who needs to be loved and valued. He is getting the rewards for all the hard work he has put in."
Bristol City interim boss John Pemberton:
"The one Aden missed near the end he would have buried last year. I was expecting the net to ripple and I couldn't believe it when the ball went wide.
"We are disappointed with the scoreline because we didn't deserve to lose, but we can get out of the trouble we are in. We have a stronger foundation now and are looking harder to beat.
"We probably need a bit more experience in the middle of the park and a bit more composure with our final ball.
"I was at Leeds for four years so I know what it is like to play here. Some of my players were experiencing the mental test of playing at Elland Road for the first time." | 1,268,873 |
In the summer of 1942, Jack Kerouac followed in the footsteps of Joseph Conrad and Eugene O'Neill and went to sea. After dropping out of Columbia University the previous Fall, the 20-year-old Kerouac signed up for the merchant marine and shipped out aboard the U.S. Army Transport ship Dorchester.
Although World War II had broken out at about the time of his departure from Columbia, Kerouac's motives for going to sea were more personal than patriotic. "My mother is very worried over my having joined the Merchant Marine," Kerouac wrote in his journal at the time, "but I need money for college, I need adventure, of a sort (the real adventure of rotting wharves and seagulls, winey waters and ships, ports, cities, and faces & voices); and I want to study more of the earth, not out of books, but from direct experience."
In October of 1942, after completing a voyage to and from an Army command base in Greenland (which he would later write about in Vanity of Duluoz), Kerouac left the merchant marine and returned to Columbia. That was lucky, because most of the Dorchester's crew--more than 600 men--died three months later when the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat. But the restless Kerouac lasted only a month at Columbia before dropping out again and making plans to return to sea. In December of 1942 he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He wanted to join the Naval Air Force, but failed an aptitude test. So on February 26, 1943 he was sent to the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island. That's apparently when the photograph above was taken of the young Kerouac with his military haircut. It would have been right around the time of his 21st birthday.
Kerouac lasted only 10 days in boot camp. As Miriam Klieman writes at the National Archives, "The qualities that made On the Road a huge success and Kerouac a powerful storyteller, guide, and literary icon are the same ones that rendered him remarkably unsuitable for the military: independence, creativity, impulsivity, sensuality, and recklessness." According to files released by the government in 2005, Naval doctors at Newport found Kerouac to be "restless, apathetic, seclusive" and determined that he was mentally unfit for service, writing that "neuropsychiatric examination disclosed auditory hallucinations, ideas of reference and suicide, and a rambling, grandiose, philosophical manner." He was sent to the Naval Hospital in Bethesda Maryland and eventually discharged.
For more on Kerouac's brief adventure in the Navy, read Kleiman's Article, "Hit the Road, Jack! Kerouac Enlisted in the U.S. Navy But was Found 'Unfit for Service'"
Related content:
Jack Kerouac Reads from On the Road, 1959
Jack Kerouac's 30 Revelations for Writing Modern Prose | 1,268,874 |
The Acer Chromebook Spin 13 is still one of my favorite 2-in-1 Chromebooks, perhaps even more so than the Google Pixelbook. And if you’re looking for a high-powered version beyond the Core i5 model, Acer now has one. The Acer Chromebook Spin 13 can be had with an Intel Core i7-8550U processor and 16 GB of RAM.
The price seems a tad high to me, however. Full retail price is $1,569.99. And if you didn’t already know, there’s been a Chromebook option with a slightly faster Core i7-8650U chip: The HP Chromebook X360 14 can be configured with such a beast. And as of this moment, that model is priced at $1,248.87 direct from HP.
Both devices are equipped with the same 16 GB of memory while the Acer option doubles up on the local storage: 128 GB vs 64 on the HP. The Acer’s 2256 x 1504 display resolution is higher than the 1920 x 1080 on the HP option as well. Even so, those differences are worth the $300 premium.
Clearly, most people don’t need to spend this much on a Chromebook, nor do they need a Core i7 processor and 16 GB of memory for basic Chromebook use.
Truth be told, however, I’ve been thinking about a replacement for my Core i5 Pixel Slate and if I do make the switch it will likely to be a Core i7 device.
Don’t misunderstand me: I love the Pixel Slate. It’s still my daily driver and has been since I ordered it last fall. However, I started considering an upgrade when Google listed its recommended devices for Android Studio and all of them had U-Series processors compared to the less powerful Y-Series chips found in the Pixel Slate.
For day-to-day Java and Python coding in my CompSci classes, the Slate has been a champ. Then again, my homework assignments and class projects are relatively small: Very few apps are more than four or five hundred lines of code. Once I move on to development outside of class – likely for Android apps – I think the Slate may be overwhelmed by Android Studio, numerous libraries and frameworks, and much larger codebases. Implementing a linked list stack in Java on the Pixel Slate – yay!
I’m still on the fence because for now, the Slate is fine. But I am trying to think ahead on some projects I’ve been planning.
As much as I like the Acer Chromebook Spin 13, nearly $1,600 for the new high-end model is a big stretch when that HP Chromebook X360 14 can probably fit the bill for $300 less.
Regardless, there are now two good options in the “super-powered” Chromebook space so if you’re computing requirements are similar to mine, you’ve got a pair of choices to consider. | 1,268,875 |
This week, we’re joined by the Mycroft AI team, and we’re getting deep into designing and developing on the open source alternative to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
If you’ve tried creating voice apps on platforms such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, then you’ll do doubt be familiar with their current limitations. Push notifications, monetisation and all-round flexibility generally leave plenty to be desired.
What if there was an alternative? A platform that really did let you create whatever you wanted. Something that’ll let you monetise. Something completely open to being used in a way that you want to use it.
Well, that’s what the team at Mycroft AI have built.
What is Mycroft AI?
Mycroft AI is the world’s first open source voice assistant that runs anywhere. On desktop, mobile, smart speakers. In cars, fridges, and washing machines. You name it. You can put it where you like and do with it what you like as well.
One member of the Mycroft community has hooked the platform up to a webcam and created a facial recognition feature that uses a persons face instead of a wake word. When you look at the camera, the speaker wakes and is ready for you to speak to it!
As well as being open source and flexible, if you create something exceptional, then it could even become the default skill for that feature on the platform. That’s like you creating a really great weather skill on Alexa and Amazon using that as the default way to tell people the weather!
Plus, your personal data is kept totally private.
And Mycroft aren’t just creating cool software, they have a range of smart speakers as well. The Mark I speaker is on sale now and the Mark II is on Indiegogo right now.
Our Guests
Today, we’re joined by Joshua Montgomery, CEO; Steve Penrod, CTO; and Derick Schweppe, CDO, to talk all things Mycroft AI.
We’re also joined again by co-host, Dustin Coates, and we’re getting into detail about:
Where Mycroft AI came from and the company’s vision for voice and AI
The differences between Mycroft and the other players such as Alexa and Google Assistant
The value of an open source voice assistant
About the platform (how it works, how you can get up and running)
About the range of smart speakers
Privacy and security
The Mycroft community and what people are building
Incentives and reasons to develop on Mycroft AI
Dev Chops with Dustin: a new feature where Dustin gets into the dev details of the Mycroft platform
a new feature where Dustin gets into the dev details of the Mycroft platform Voice design techniques and processes
The future of voice
Links | 1,268,876 |
The little tent of the Democratic Party just got smaller, as DNC chairman Tom Perez has called for all Democrats to walk in lockstep with Planned Parenthood on the question of abortion rights, effectively ruling out the possibility of “pro-life Democrats.”
“Every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health,” Perez said in a statement. “That is not negotiable and should not change city by city or state by state.”
“At a time when women’s rights are under assault from the White House, the Republican Congress, and in states across the country,” he added, “we must speak up for this principle as loudly as ever and with one voice.”
Although the Democratic Party’s radically pro-abortion platform was galvanized in 1992, when the Party refused to allow the late Governor Robert P. Casey of Pennsylvania to give a speech against abortion at its National Convention, it has continued to harden into a fundamental pillar of the Party.
Yet in his address Friday, DNC leader Tom Perez became the first chairman of the party to demand absolute ideological purity on abortion rights, promising to only back Democratic candidates who embrace a woman’s right to choose.
The official 2016 platform of the Democratic Party was called “the most pro-abortion platform in history,” and the President of NARAL Pro-Choice America Ilyse Hogue called the 55-page document “far and away the most progressive platform on reproductive health, freedom and justice in the history of the party.”
“If platforms are statements of collective values and a blueprint for candidates to follow once elected, the choice could not be more clear,” said Hogue, an ardent supporter of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
At the time, Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life, registered her outrage at the Party’s exclusiveness on the abortion question.
“This platform’s language just says (to abortion opponents) you are no longer welcome,” Day said.
On Friday, Perez declared that every candidate who runs as a Democrat should stand by abortion rights, “because every woman should be able to make her own health choices. Period.”
Abortion rights advocates applauded Perez’s remarks as an important milestone for the movement on Friday.
“Kudos to Chair Tom Perez and the DNC for recognizing that we are a stronger party when we stand for our core values,” Ilyse Hogue told The Huffington Post.
“Women across the country who are, and have always been, the heart and soul of the Party, are breathing a sigh of relief to know that the DNC has our backs, and we look forward to a day when we don’t have to fight this fight again.”
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome | 1,268,877 |
30 Best Songs to Listen to When You Vote
How Naomi Osaka Is Honoring BLM at the US Open
What Will College Look Like in Fall 2020?
Seventeen picks products that we think you'll love the most. We may earn commission from the links on this page.
Completely gratuitous and totally hot. Enjoy! View Gallery 11 Photos 1 of 11 Harry's Hot Abs Harry's hair and sweet smile are typically known as his best features, but hello six pack! Oh Harry, "what makes you beautiful"? Basically everything. PacificCoastNews.com 2 of 11 Niall's Poolside Pose Ireland's hottest export was snapped shirtless while vacationing in Spain. Hey Niall, if you ever need help toweling off, we can help. Grey Wasp/blue wasp/Splash News 3 of 11 Zayn Through The Windowpane So soulful, so brooding, so...hot. Wearing your heart on your sleeve is so passe — long live the hip tat! Grey Wasp/blue wasp/Splash News 4 of 11 Lusting For Liam If Liam's fishing for compliments, we'll gladly indulge him. Between his abs and his biceps, this photo is almost too hot to handle! Grey Wasp/blue wasp/Splash News 5 of 11 No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem Harry, Louis, and Zayn chilled out on a boat while vacationing in Australia. If this is what it means to "live while we're young," we approve. YOLO on, guys! Splash News 6 of 11 Playing In The Sand It would be pretty hard to focus during a game of beach volleyball with Harry's abs distracting you! But we'll still be up for that match any day! 7 of 11 Swim Sesh With Zayn One Direction's "Kiss You" music video will always be a fave obviously because of the awesome shirtless scenes! How perfect does Zayn look and his cute floaties make it so much better! INFphoto.com 8 of 11 Model Duty Soo Louis and Liam could totally double as models with their smoking bods! Could this be a future career change for them? We vote yes! Via @OneDirection Instagram 9 of 11 Backstage Chillin' Niall hangs out backstage before he goes on stage for a concert and lucky for us he's shirtless! FAMEFLYNET PICTURES 10 of 11 Surf's Up Hello abs and hello biceps! Liam enjoys some downtime in Australia with a nice surf session. Two words for Liam—thank you! INFphoto.com 11 of 11 Pool Adventures Niall and Harry have some fun in the sun during their trip to Miami earlier this summer! They totes wouldn't mind if we joined right?! Next 7 Hot Guys We're Thankful For Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io | 1,268,878 |
The quasi-investigations of Kaysing and Sibrel share similarities to the ones we see today. Dawson, like his predecessors, is a collage artist. All three men are personal essayists, too, unspooling their theories as tales of each man’s journey toward skepticism.
But the mood has shifted.
Kaysing and Sibrel were sincere kooks. Self-publishing a book through great personal expense requires a steadiness of conviction. So does making an almost-feature-length movie that you sell, for money, as a DVD. When Sibrel finally accepted his belief in the moon hoax, he told The New York Times in 2003, he wept.
But today, it is no longer necessary to commit to the cause to help spread it around. You can just type it into Reddit, or blurt it out on a podcast, or drag a crying-laughing emoji onto a picture of the lunar lander and post it on Instagram.
In recent years, the specter of a fake moon landing has been raised by figures as disparate as the Infowars founder Alex Jones (who treated it as a deathly serious issue), Rogan (who conjured it as a trippy thought experiment) and the N.B.A. star Stephen Curry (who tossed it out as a joke, prompting a NASA invitation to visit its moon rock collection). Dawson, YouTube’s conspiracy king, channels all of those moods at once, modulating his perspective line by line and shot by shot. He represents a new archetype: the ambivalent conspiracy theorist.
In Richard Hofstadter’s 1964 diagnosis of “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” he described paranoid thinkers as “angry minds” addled by “heated exaggeration, suspiciousness and conspiratorial fantasy.”
But today’s more fashionable conspiratorial figures are not mad at all. You won’t find them crying over the moon. Rogan has cultivated a persona as an easygoing bro, willing to entertain out-there ideas before swatting them aside. And though Dawson is preaching from among the internet’s largest platforms — his channel surpassed 20 million subscribers this year — he acts as if he is bumbling through the dark corners of the web and reacting with wonder at whatever freaky idea pops up, as if he is watching a scary movie with millions of his closest friends.
At the end of his moon investigation, he decides, “I kind of believe it.”
Emotional ambivalence may be contemporary internet culture’s dominant mode. It is the hallmark of the internet troll, who blurs the line between sincerity and jest to wreak havoc online. It is the posture of the alt-right, which recycles old ideas about white nationalism into the language of internet memes, cloaking its seriously held beliefs with an ironic sheen. But it is a feature of the sunny YouTube personality, too. | 1,268,879 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Thursday to broaden sanctions against North Korea by imposing stiffer punishments on international companies that do business with Pyongyang.
“In the wake of the state-sponsored cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, the bipartisan legislation targets North Korea’s access to the hard currency and other goods that help keep the regime in power,” the bill’s co-sponsor, U.S. Republican Representative Ed Royce said.
“Additionally, it presses the Administration to use all available tools to impose sanctions against North Korea and on countries and companies that assist North Korea in bolstering its nuclear weapons program,” Royce, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said in a statement.
Current sanctions are focused largely on Americans and U.S. companies.
The initiative responds to concern in Congress about last year’s cyberattack on Sony Pictures, which was blamed on Pyongyang, as well as what lawmakers see as the international failure to rein in the reclusive state’s nuclear weapons program.
The measure is co-sponsored by Republicans and Democrats, including the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Royce, and Democrat Eliot Engel, which handles sanctions legislation in the chamber.
A similar bill is likely in the U.S. Senate. It is expected to enjoy strong bipartisan support in both chambers.
The bill would authorize U.S. officials to freeze assets held in the United States of those found to have direct ties to illicit North Korean activities like its nuclear program, as well as those that do business with North Korea, providing its government with hard currency.
It would also target banks that facilitate North Korean proliferation, smuggling, money laundering, and human rights abuses, and target people who helped in the cyber attacks against the United States, Royce said.
North Korea is already heavily sanctioned by the United States and United Nations for its arms programs and nuclear tests. President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions last year aimed at cutting the country’s remaining links to the international financial system. [ID:nL1N0US2FR}
The vast majority of North Korea’s business dealings are with companies in neighboring China.
The bill is intended to push the Obama administration, which contends the president already has sufficient authority to punish Pyongyang.
“The activities of the Kim Regime threaten regional security through reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly deploying offensive cyber capabilities, and a range of other illicit activities,” Engel said.
He added that effectively enforcing sanctions against North Korea “is not something that the United States can do alone - it requires our allies, our partners, and the rest of the global community to join in this effort.”
Sony said on Thursday that Amy Pascal would step down as co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment after the hackers, angry about a movie she championed mocking North Korea’s leader, exposed a raft of embarrassing emails between her and other Hollywood figures. | 1,268,880 |
Bomb Iran, majority of Americans says in new poll Nick Juliano
Published: Tuesday October 30, 2007
del.icio.us
Print This Email This Despite President Bush's perpetually abysmal approval ratings, it appears his increasingly hostile rhetoric against Iran has drummed up enough fear of a "nuclear holocaust" or a World War III that a majority of Americans are in favor of a US strike against the country aimed a curtailing its apparent nuclear ambitions, a new poll shows. The Zogby International survey shows 52 percent of Americans would support a strike on Iran, while 53 percent expect President Bush to launch such an attack before the end of his second term. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is voters' No. 1 choice to deal with Iran, with 21 percent saying they would like to see her take on Tehran from the White House. Republican Rudy Giuliani was voters' second choice, with 15 percent. Just 29 percent of Americans think the US should not attack Iran, with one in five people unsure about military action. Of those who would support a strike, 28 percent believe military action should wait until the next president is in office, while 23 percent want to see Bush let lose US missiles against Iran. The poll results were viewed with a "Here we go again" attitude from bloggers chagrined at the apparent lack of lessons learned by Americans as the war launched against another hostile Middle Eastern regime stretches towards its fifth year. "It is utterly stunning that, after the great difficulties we have clearly faced in Iraq (a situation far from finished, by the way), that an absolute majority would favor a strike on Iran at this time," writes Dr. Steven Taylor at PoliBlog. "Even if we assume that the die-hard 25%-30% who still approve of the way the President is doing his job also are in favor of such a strike, where do the other 27%-22% come from to get the pro-strike total to 52%?" The support for an Iranian strike coincides with substantial fears of further terrorist attacks demonstrated in the Zogby poll. More than two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) believe another terrorist attack is likely on US soil and nearly one-in three believe such a strike will come before 2010. Polls conducted prior to the invasion of Iraq showed larger majorities of Americans in favor of military action, and around 80 percent of Americans believed Iraq posed a threat to the United States in late 2002 and early 2003. Don Surber, blogging for West Virginia's Charleston Daily Mail compared the speculation over a strike on Iran to another showdown over nuclear proliferation nearly half a century ago. "I was in grade school when the Cuban Missile Crisis happened 45 Octobers ago. I was gung-ho for taking Castro out. Wiser heads prevailed in the Soviet Union as well as the United States," he writes. "The security of the world rests on American shoulders. Id bet against a military strike. There are enough wiser heads on both sides."
Advertisements Want a gift card? Participate in a presidential frontrunner survey!
| 1,268,881 |
The past month has been a rough one for Carrie and all of us in her circle of friends, family and caregivers. We've been in and out of hospitals in two states, and have battled faulty equipment, conflicting medical advice, denial of medical services, infections, complications and all of the other stress and strain that comes with travelling and providing care to a disabled spouse while also raising a family, trying not to get fired or lose the house.
In the chaos of the past few weeks, I haven't had much time to get my thoughts down in any kind of format other than garbled, repetitive ranting. But February finally brought us some relief... things seem to have finally settled down to a manageable recovery period, and her latest treatment plan appears to be working.
I never fully breathe a sigh of relief anymore, but I'm sleeping again. And my brain and schedule have just enough room in them to post this update.
I also took a bit of a break to rethink things... I'm honestly a little sick of hearing myself complain. As much as my primary intent for this blog is to anonymously process and vent about topics that would be too painful, graphic or easily-misinterpreted to express otherwise, I'm also making this public as a way to work my way out of that darkness. So I want to be careful not to just publish raw bile.
For whatever reason, it's too easy for me to focus on negative thoughts in the comfort of a private journal (although journaling in any way helps)... but a public blog forces me to think a little bit harder about what I'm really trying to say, and which problems really rise to the top. I'm not sure why, but it helps me be less bleak. And hopefully it can help someone else out there in a similar situation.
With that in mind, I need to express my overwhelming feelings of gratitude and love for the friends, family, coworkers and everyone else who has been there for us through all of this... who have always been there and continue to be there, beyond all sense of duty or reason. When you have a disorder like Carrie's, you end up asking more from people than you might otherwise feel comfortable. Sometimes you ask too much, and you lose people. It always hurts, but it can be hard to prevent... her condition is complicated labyrinth of phases and complications, and is an ongoing challenge to explain to anyone in our lives. We end up being flaky and inconsistent friends, and many favors are impossible for Carrie to repay physically. Our explanations and justifications end up sounding like feeble excuses. Half the time I understand why we've lost people... I might want to ghost us too. We can be a LOT.
But to everyone who has stuck with us over the years, I am grateful beyond my ability to express in words. Suffice to say that Carrie would very literally not be alive today if you had not been there for us, time and time again.
I'll leave it there before I get too mushy. Thanks for reading - Mike | 1,268,882 |
Missing North Carolina teacher found shot to death on dirt road, Mexican officials say Patrick Braxton-Andrew, 34, never returned to his hotel after taking a walk on.
A North Carolina teacher who disappeared in Mexico last month has been found shot to death on a dirt road, according to Mexican officials.
Patrick Braxton-Andrew, 34, never returned after leaving his hotel in Urique, a municipality in Mexico's northwestern state of Chihuahua, on Oct. 28, the hotel owner told his parents, according to a Facebook post his father wrote on an alumni page for Braxton-Andrew's alma mater, Davidson College.
Braxton-Andrew's body was found about a mile away from the road leading to the village of Guapalayna to Las Lajas in Urique, according to a press release by the Chihuahua state government. The area had already been searched, so officials believe his body was placed there. His body had traces of reddish dirt and pine leaves, but had been placed on a stony surface in an area that lacked vegetation, officials said.
Autopsy result showed that Braxton-Andrew died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the release. Local authorities are continuing to investigate his death.
The state's attorney general's office told ABC News last week that investigators found a blood trail during the search and his family had submitted DNA to perform a test.
Last week, Javier Corral, the governor of Chihuahua, wrote that Braxton-Andrew had been "assassinated" at the hands of drug trafficker Jose Noriel Portilo Gil, known as El Chueco. Corral described Braxton-Andrew as an innocent victim who suffered the misfortune of crossing paths with El Chueco.
Over the weekend, the family wrote on Twitter that it was "a sense of relief" that his body had been found and that they would soon be able to bring him home.
Braxton-Andrew's parents last had contact with him at 2:51 p.m. on Oct. 28. He was supposed to meet his brother in Mexico City two days later but "did not show up," his father wrote in the Oct. 31 post. He had left North Carolina for Mexico on Oct. 24 and boarded a train toward Cooper Canyon National Park the next day before arriving in Urique on Oct. 26 or Oct. 27, according to the family.
Braxton-Andrew was an eighth grade Spanish teacher at the Woodlawn School in Mooresville, a private school for kindergarten through 12th grades, according to the school's website. He had previously worked for the Davidson College study abroad program in Peru, his biography stated.
He was fluent in Spanish and traveled to Central America "regularly," his family said.
Braxton-Andrew was believed to have been hiking at the Copper Canyon National Park, ABC North Carolina affiliate WSOC reported.
ABC News' Ben Gittleson contributed to this report. | 1,268,883 |
, you act as though you speak for God authoritatively and uncompromisingly and as though your view is the only Christian one (eliding the existence of very real dissent from other Christians, including unapologetically gay ones). And the substance of your views has nothing to do with objective evidence on common standards that all rational people could accept and be persuaded by. Rather your entire arguments are just Bible thumps.
Why is a secular audience or a non-reactionary Christian audience to take your complete reliance on Bible verses seriously? Why should we hold off on giving gays equal moral respect and equal treatment any longer because of your prima facie preposterous claim that fulfilling one’s (often lifelong) sexual and romantic orientation is more harmful to gay people than either being celibate or trying to sexually love those they’re not fundamentally attracted to? Why should we dismiss the testimony of the overwhelming majority of gays about the harm done to them when they tried desperately to conform to your insistence they make themselves heterosexual or sexless because you have Bible verses that assert without evidence that they’re wrong?
You believe the Bible by faith. That means your trust in it is a belief willfully adhered to despite an admitted lack of sufficient rational evidence for it. Such non-evidential moral claims are worthless against the testimony of living, breathing, loving, suffering real life gay people who have tried things your way and been damaged.
Pastor: As a Christian, I am to love my neighbor and seek his good, even when I don’t see eye to eye with my neighbor. Furthermore, the picture of Christ on the cross dying for His enemies necessarily affects the way I think about this and other issues.
And now gays are no longer “just like any other sinners” after all but enemies. I’m sure they can really feel the love now.
Your Thoughts?
If you enjoy reading my philosophical blog posts, consider taking one of my online philosophy classes! I earned my PhD and taught 93 university classes before I went into business for myself. My online classes involve live, interactive class discussions with me and your fellow students held over videoconference (using Google Hangout, which downloads in just seconds). Classes involve personalized attention to your own ideas and questions. Course content winds up tailored to your interests as lively and rigorous class discussions determine where exactly we go. Classes are flexible enough to meet the needs of both beginners and students with existing philosophical background
My classes require no outside reading or homework or grades–only a once weekly 2.5 hour commitment that fits the schedules of busy people. My classes are university quality but I can offer no university credit whatsoever. New classes start up every month and you can join existing groups of students if you want. Click on the classes that interest you below and find the course descriptions, up-to-date schedules, and self-registration. 1-on-1 classes can be arranged by appointment if you write me at [email protected].
| 1,268,884 |
without THC.
Products containing only THC or CBD aren’t always sufficient for many medical conditions. Which is why strength in numbers is true with cannabinoids. The interactive synergy between cannabis compounds has been coined the “entourage effect.”
The entourage effect is a major benefit of consuming CBD flowers vs a pure isolate like a concentrate. It’s important to note that this isn’t such a cut and dry case, and some people do find better relief with a pure CBD isolate.
However, the majority of people will end up looking for what is called full-spectrum CBD, and CBD flowers by definition are just that. You may also see the term “Whole plant” used to describe products that utilize the full spectrum of therapeutic compounds cannabis has to offer.
The thing is, this isn’t just a 2-sided discussion about CBD and THC. Ethan Russo, M.D., a cannabis expert who wrote “Taming THC: potential cannabis synergy and phytocannabinoid-terpenoid entourage effects,” in the British Journal of Pharmacology thoroughly map out how cannabis compounds influence each other’s mechanisms.
Russo emphasizes that there is more to this entourage effect, as even a low amount of terpenes can make a difference. Up until then, most people understood terpenes to merely be the source of fragrance in the cannabis and hemp plants. Russo highlights how all these different parts of the plants work together to produce those positive effects.
So while some people may need higher levels of THC to help with their treatment, even having 0.3% of THC along with other endocannabinoids and terpenes can make a big difference.
If THC isn’t legal in your state, or if it is and you simply don’t want to get the “high” associated with marijuana, choosing CBD flowers might be the choice for you.
Final Questions?
Congratulations you’re now an informed consumer when it comes to CBD flowers! As you’ve learned, while THC and CBD are both major components of cannabis, there are very distinct differences between the two. If you are looking for some of that “high” feeling and live in a state where it is legal, the Harlequin strand is one of your top options.
You can buy CBD buds online as long as the THC content is no more than 0.3%. CBD flowers still retain major advantages to help with conditions such as pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and many more.
Even in CBD flowers with minimal THC, the different cannabinoids and terpenes work together to create an Entourage Effect to more effectively treat your condition.
That about wraps up our guide. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to type those below. We love getting feedback and answering questions, and we’ll do it as quickly as humanly possible. Until next time, enjoy your CBD flower! | 1,268,885 |
One of the 21st century’s greatest heroines is behind bars again, held in contempt by federal judge Claude M. Hilton for refusing to help prosecutors trump up charges against the journalists who published information she paid dearly for giving them.
Chelsea Manning spent more than six years in prison — 854 days of it in pretrial confinement, violating the military’s “speedy trial” maximum of 120 days — for the fake “crime” of showing the American people evidence of actual crimes committed in our name by the US government.
President Barack Obama commuted her sentence three days before he left the White House. That, however, turned out not to be the end of her mistreatment at official hands.
Manning, who testified about her interactions with WikiLeaks during her illegal 2013 court-martial, refuses to do so again before a grand jury targeting WikiLeaks and its founder/leader, Julian Assange, for their work in bringing hidden truth to light. Under Hilton’s order, she may be held for up to 18 months, or until the grand jury’s term ends, or until she gives in. Her history says she won’t do that.
Grand juries usually function in harness to the wishes of prosecutors. A defense lawyer famously told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in 1979 that “the district attorney could get the grand jury to indict a ham sandwich if he wanted to.”
But in actuality, grand juries enjoy sweeping powers to look beyond what prosecutors show them. Should that ham sandwich — or that prosecutor — happen to attract their negative notice, they can indict the sandwich, or the prosecutor, whether the prosecutor likes it or not.
Federal prosecutors and judges are weaponizing the grand jury system to attack freedom of the press and freedom of information in support of a fortunately dying ethic of government secrecy. This particular grand jury should punish that behavior instead of rewarding it.
The grand jury should indict federal prosecutors Tracy Doherty-McCormick (who represented the government at the contempt hearing) and Gordon D. Kromberg (who requested the Manning subpoena) as well as their bosses for, among other crimes, conspiracy against rights (US Code 18, Section 241) and deprivation of rights under color of law (US Code 19, Section 242).
In the meantime, those who value truth, justice, and the American way owe Chelsea Manning a massive debt. One way to partially repay that debt is to contribute to her legal fund at https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/chelsea-manning-needs-legal-funds-to-resist-a-grand-jury-subpoena. I hope you’ll join me in doing so.
Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter: @thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.
PUBLICATION/CITATION HISTORY | 1,268,886 |
Couples who suffer a drop in their happiness in the first year after becoming parents are less likely to go on to have more children.
Scientists have found the larger the perceived loss in wellbeing, the smaller the chance of a second baby.
And their findings suggest for some parents the dip in happiness after having a baby is greater than that experienced after divorce, unemployment or even the death of a partner.
The investigation, carried out at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany, found the effect is especially pronounced in mothers and fathers who are well educated and older.
Scientists in Germany and Canada found the greater the perceived drop in wellbeing after having a first child, the smaller the chances a couple would go on to have a second child
Their study focused on the taboo subject, that parents often experience a considerable loss of happiness in the wake of welcoming their first child into the world.
Mikko Myrskylä, demographer and new director at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, who worked with Rachel Margolis from the University of Western Ontario, said: 'Parents' experience with and after the first birth help predict how large the family will be eventually.
'Politicians concerned about low birth rates should pay attention to the wellbeing of new parents around and after the birth of their first child.'
In order to explore the impact of the birth of a first child on parental happiness, researchers made use of self-reported life satisfaction in the German Socio-Economic Panel Study.
Each year 20,000 people assess their contentedness with life, on a scale from zero to 10 - with 10 indicating maximum wellbeing.
They found that after a first child, parents reported a loss of wellbeing that averaged 1.4 units on the happiness scale.
The decline was noted during the first year of parenthood compared to the two years before the birth.
Only just under 30 per cent of participants reported not feeling any decline in wellbeing.
And more than one third experienced a decline of two or more units of happiness.
And their findings suggest for some parents the dip in happiness after having a baby is greater than that experienced after divorce, unemployment or even the death of a partner
This is notable compared to what international find for unemployment or the death of a partner - both with an average loss of one happiness unit - or divorce - minus 0.6 units on the same scale.
Calculations done by the team of researchers show how parental experience influences their wish for more children.
They noted only 58 of 100 couples who reported a drop in wellbeing of three units of more had a second child within 10 years.
Meanwhile, among parents who did not feel a reduction in happiness, 66 of 100 hundred couples had another baby.
Therefore, the share of families with at least four members was almost 14 per cent larger if happiness did not decline.
These results are independent of income, place of birth, or marital status of the couples. | 1,268,887 |
* * *
* * *
If you were a Metroid fan watching the E3 Invitational in the July of 2014, these words from Smash director Masahiro Sakurai were a godsend. For the past 3 iterations of the series, Samus had been at best, a mid-tier character. Her fans had it rough.Finally though, Samus was getting some love; or so it seemed. In a deja vu situation, she was again what she once was:Come release-time, the character had an extremely limited set of options. She wasn’t performing well at tournaments. While specialists for other characters had access to strings, assured combos and kill set-ups, the Samus community was stuck with a two-hit jab combo that wasn’t even a true combo.Really, who could make a kit as disheveled as that work?Enter-- “The Strategist”.Finding his start on YouTube back in early 2014, Danish’s was originally focused on let’s plays and random gameplay videos, and although he’d go on to make some Super Smash Bros. Brawl videos, he describes it as having been “nothing serious”. He cites watching Rush Hour Smash’s Falcon Mixclip as the real reason he decided to dedicate himself to making Smash content:Early into his channel’s lifespan, his most popular videos were in his “Moveset and Guides” series, which demonstrated all of a character's moves and explained how they could be applied to battle in a very basic fashion.From that point forward, Danish would see significant growth on YouTube, with his montages, tutorials and plays gaining quite a bit of traction -- but it wasn’t until he started tinkering with a character the meta had left behind that he would finally find his call to fame.And while The Strategist 1 was met with a fair amount of fanfare, Danish would describe it’s sequel as the real moment where his channel blew up.Tell me, what’s your creative process? How long does a video take to make, and what are the steps involved?What about your "For Honor" series? For the people that don't know: What’s it about, how is it made and when can we expect more of it?What does the future of your channel look like? Do you have anything planned you’d like to tell us about?How can people who enjoy your content support you?If you wish to enjoy more of Mr. Danish Butter Cookie’s content, be sure to check out his YouTube or Twitch channel! You can also follow him on Twitter for further updates on when videos are being uploaded and when he’s assisting tournaments. If you wish to further support him, consider visiting his Patreon Smashboards would like to thank Danish for giving us permission to make this article, as well as for allowing us some of his time for an interview. | 1,268,888 |
At its event last week, Apple previewed a new version of Filmic Pro running on the iPhone 11 Pro. It was a compelling demo, with the app able to record from multiple cameras simultaneously, like recording the front and back camera together, or filming using the new ultra-wide and standard wide cameras for additional coverage.
However, the good news is that simultaneous multi-cam sessions are not only available on the iPhone 11. The feature is also supported by the iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and the 2018 iPad Pro…
The multi-cam recording relies on new API introduced in iOS 13. At the WWDC session on the subject, Apple stressed that this required significant reworking of the hardware pipeline of their devices, but that the necessary changes have been made in the iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and the new iPad Pro models.
The new APIs allow developers to initiate multi-cam sessions while being conscious of performance and power costs.
This is great news for prospective customers of iPhone 11 and existing iPhone XR/XS owners. If you own the 2018 flagships, you will be able to take advantage of the new multiple camera apps hitting the store in the coming months.
This app ecosystem should be strong, as Apple announced the API back in June, giving developers the entire summer to work on incorporating the feature into their camera apps, so it shouldn’t be a long wait before iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 buyers can start trying it for themselves. For its part, Filmic Pro said that their multi-cam app update will be launching later this year.
However, recording from multiple cameras is strenuous, and there are some imposed limitations. For iPhone XS and iPhone XR, only certain combinations of cameras can be active simultaneously. Developers may also have to use lower-quality camera feeds, depending on how much work the rest of their own app logic wants to do.
As you can see from the compatibility matrix, the iPhone XS can record (or take photos) from the back wide and front camera together, or the back telephoto and the front camera, or the back wide and back telephoto. Three-camera recording is not supported. It’s not yet clear what combinations of simultaneous camera streams the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro will be capable of. In the Filmic demo, though, the preview screen appeared to show live feeds from all four of the iPhone 11 Pro’s cameras at the same time.
The multi-cam API is a feature of iOS 13, which launches publicly on September 19. Apple uses the multi-cam technology in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Camera app, showing image data from the wider scene in the toolbar areas of the viewfinder interface. However, the Camera app does not directly support recording multiple streams. For now, iPhone users will have to rely on the third-party app ecosystem for that functionality.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: | 1,268,889 |
France's Total announced two significant wind deals in recent days, becoming the latest oil company to push into floating offshore wind as it builds on its existing momentum in the solar market.
Total this week bought an 80 percent share of the 96-megawatt Erebus floating wind project in the Celtic Sea from developer Simply Blue Energy.
Then on Friday, the company confirmed its Total Quadran subsidiary had acquired developer Global Wind Power (GWP) France from its Danish parent, adding a 1-gigawatt portfolio of wind projects in France.
Fellow European oil majors Shell and BP have built-up gigawatt-scale renewables portfolios, but the pace of Total’s recent activity could see it outshine them both.
Total has 3 gigawatts of renewables within its 7-gigawatt portfolio of low-carbon projects. By 2040, the company aims to derive 15 to 20 percent of its revenue from its low-carbon business.
Earlier this year, Total bought a 50 percent share of Adani’s 2.1-gigawatt portfolio of operational solar assets in India for $510 million. In February, it signed two solar deals in Spain, including an outright acquisition of developer Solarbay’s 1.2-gigawatt development pipeline. And Total was part of the winning partnership in Qatar’s most-recent solar tender for an 800-megawatt project.
Floating offshore wind gains more momentum
The Erebus project off the coast of Wales will utilize floating foundations from Principle Power, the same technology used by the Engie- and EDP-led Windplus consortium. Windplus is behind the WindFloat Atlantic pilot off the coast of Portugal, which includes the world's largest floating turbine.
The Erebus project will be built in water depths of 70 meters. According to WindEurope, the average depth for offshore wind projects with fixed foundations is 33 meters. Being able to exploit greater depths also means more viable seabed and more gigawatts of deployment.
Expertise in subsea engineering developed by the North Sea oil industry has a number of overlaps with the technology and project management required for floating wind.
“Floating offshore wind is an extremely promising and technical segment where Total brings its extensive expertise in offshore operations and maintenance. Total has the appropriate skills to meet the technological and financial requirements that determine the success of future floating offshore developments,” Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné said in a statement.
Pouyanné's view is shared by many of Total’s peers in Europe's offshore oil industry. Equinor has led the way with the 30-megawatt Hywind Scotland project installed back in 2017. It is now developing the 88-megawatt Hywind Tampen site that will power two of the company’s North Sea drilling operations.
Shell acquired the offshore wind developer Eolfi last year. Repsol is a junior partner in the Windplus consortium. | 1,268,890 |
MORRISTOWN, AZ — Maricopa County is placing restrictions on park usage in hopes of stopping the spread of coronavirus in Arizona.
According to a press release from Maricopa County, the new restrictions include:
Mountain parks are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lake Pleasant Regional Park is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the Hassayampa River Preserve is now open Thursday through Sunday.
Facility closures: The nature centers, group picnic areas and park playgrounds are closed. Restrooms in closed areas remain locked. The northern entrance/area at Lake Pleasant Regional Park, Waterfall Trail at White Tank Mountain Regional Park and Goldmine Trailhead at San Tan Mountain Regional Park are also closed.
Camping: Primitive, shoreline or boat camping at Lake Pleasant Regional Park is prohibited. Reserved campsites are still available but residents are strongly encouraged to secure a reservation before heading to a park. It is anticipated that campgrounds will be full this weekend.
Limited day-use capacity: Once a park has reached limited capacity, the entrance into the park will be restricted to a one-out, one-in practice or close completely and reopen when capacity is at a safe number again. Visitors should expect delays and long lines.
“We come out here to get away but it looks like everybody has the same idea," says William Garcia, one of many spending the weekend on the water at Lake Pleasant.
Garcia says the restrictions are far from a burden, “It gives everybody the chance to get their social distancing in right now and I think 8 o’clock is a sufficient time to get back in at your house.”
Other lake visitors agree. Kris Nielsen is a frequent lake goer. He says, “The flow kind of seems the same. Same amount of people out here.”
Across the shore, Sami Kiel, who doesn’t visit Lake Pleasant often says, “There's definitely more people than I anticipated there would be," adding, “We’ve definitely been keeping our distance, staying home as much as possible and, if not, doing stuff like this where we can get out, get the kids out and stay apart.”
Allowing Arizonans safe opportunities to get outside is Maricopa County's ultimate goal. In a press release Board of Supervisors Chairman Clint Hickman, District 4 says, “Exercise and fresh air play an important role in keeping us healthy and everyone is anxious to get outside."
However, Dr. Sunenshine and experts at Public Health have reminded all of us that we have to be responsible about the threat of spread outdoors as well.
"We urge people to do their research, be responsible when seeking outdoor areas and have a backup plan in case the location they’ve selected is congested. Please don’t put yourself or others at risk.” | 1,268,891 |
Activists to launch national campaign to ensure Aadhaar is not made mandatory
Independent activists came together under the banner of Rethink Aadhaar on Friday demanding that Aadhaar not be made mandatory for the entitlement of any service.
The activists, who met at the Mumbai Press Club, also claimed that enrolment and production of a unique number must be made strictly voluntary.
Raghu Godavarthi, one of the conveners of the meeting, said the event was part of a national programme and similar groups were being formed in Delhi and Bangalore. Mr. Godavarthi said, “Our goal is to expose the flaws in the Aadhaar project in the lead up to the Supreme Court hearing scheduled for January 17.”
The speakers included the first petitioners in the case: Vickram Crishna, Dr. G. Nagarjuna and Kamayani Bali Mahabal. They highlighted issues such as the denial of basic entitlements and services, coercive tactics to ensure enrolment, technological issues with the project. The project has been riddled with problems in fingerprint and retinal scans, security of data, potential for surveillance and the lack of transparency and grievance redress system.
“Aadhaar is entering its ninth year and yet it is being called a project that is in its infancy,” said Mr. Godavarthi. He added that media and citizens have not been very successful in tracking Aadhaar’s failure. “We feel that Aadhaar in its current form is unconstitutional and flawed by design. The problems linked to the programme have expanded with its expansion.”
Activist Dr. Nagarjuna said the core issue is the centralisation of power, which goes against the idea of democracy. He said, “It is very important to fight together against this crime that is being committed under the name of social justice. It is all a lie. There is potential for a leakage in information every time we link it some agency.”
Ms. Kamayani Mahabal, who filed a petition in the Supreme Court, said, “The gender biases within the system came out only after I filed the petition. There have been several instances where women have been denied family planning options, as they did not posses an Aadhaar card. Linking of services to the project has been criticised by all.”
Welfare researcher Sakina Dhorajiwala narrated three cases from Jharkhand where people had starved to death as they were denied rations because their Aadhaar card was not linked to the Public Distribution System.
Krishnakant Mane, who is visually impaired, said, “My impairment is due to a faulty retina and hence I have been denied an Aadhaar card.” He said people with disabilities faced difficulties in obtaining an Aadhaar card.
Mr. Mane said, “I have seen cases where people who have been affected by leprosy have been denied a card as their fingerprints could not be read. Are they not eligible for such public services?” | 1,268,892 |
his response, Trump shifted gears, expressing words of encouragement to first responders and those of sympathy for hit victims.
Nature and humans share blame for the wildfires, but fire scientists are divided as to whether forest management played a major role. Nature provides the dangerous winds that have whipped the fires, the state has been in a drought and human-caused climate change over the long haul is killing and drying the shrubs and trees that provide the fuel.
When Trump was asked during an interview set to air on “Fox News Sunday” whether climate change played a role in the number of serious fires, he said “maybe it contributes a little bit. The big problem we have is management.”
Before departing Saturday, Trump outlined what he planned to discuss with California Gov. Jerry Brown and Gov-elect Gavin Newsom, both Democrats: “We will be talking about forest management. … The one thing is that everybody now knows that this is what we have to be doing and there’s no question about it. It should have been done many years ago, but I think everybody’s on the right side.”
In Northern California, Trump’s skepticism about the impact of climate change on the wildfires was on display when he, Brown and Newsom spoke to reporters. Asked if he thought climate change played a role in the fires, Brown responded: “Yes. Yes. And we’ll let science determine this over a longer period of time.”
A reporter asked if climate change was discussed with the president, but Trump jumped in to say, “We didn’t discuss it.”
A reporter then said, “Well, you obviously disagree on this issue.” Trump answered, in part: “Maybe not as different as people think. Is it happening? Things are changing. And I think most importantly we’re doing things about. We’re gonna make it better. We’re going to make it a lot better. And it’s gonna happen as quickly as it can possibly happen.”
Brown and Newsom said they welcomed the president’s visit, with the governor suggesting they set aside political differences since it “now is a time to pull together for the people of California.”
Brown, a fierce advocate of addressing climate change, pointed to several causes and they need to deal with them.
“If you really look at the facts, from a really open point of view, there are a lot of elements to be considered,” Brown said. “The president came, he saw and I’m looking forward over the next months and beyond to really understand this threat of fire, the whole matter of drought and all the rest of it. It’s not one thing, it’s a lot of things and I think that if we just open our minds and look at things we’ll get more stuff done.”
Source: AP | 1,268,893 |
brought out the pitchforks from the pointy-heads. In a July interview, Bill Nye “the Science Guy” said the climate tribe just needs a little help from the Grim Reaper to make more progress: “Climate change deniers, by way of example, are older. It’s generational. So we’re just going to have to wait for those people to ‘age out,’ as they say. ‘Age out’ is a euphemism for ‘die.’”
After the March for Science earlier this year, bullet holes were discovered near the office of Dr. John Christy, a leading climatologist at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. Christy refutes much of the government-generated data on global temperatures and is a target of climate activists.
Democrats are imposing a climate change litmus test for Trump appointees, including Sam Clovis, Trump’s pick for a top post in the Department of Agriculture. Senate leaders are demanding the president “withdraw the Clovis nomination immediately—not only because he is a proud ‘skeptic’ of climate change and wildly unqualified for the position of USDA chief scientist—but also as a gesture to the American people that this administration is serious about rooting out the most hateful voices in our society.” (Clovis has said disparaging things about former Attorney General Eric Holder, so of course that means he’s a racist.)
But it’s not just Trump appointees who should be judged. One activist wants all Americans to go on record with their position on climate change. Charles Wheelan, a writer and economist, recently suggested this:
I have a modest proposal: a climate change “registry.” This would be a simple petition, albeit with a twist: Each of us would be asked to sign our name to one of two statements: Yes, I believe that the risk of climate change is significant enough that we ought to take action now to reduce the possibility of future harm. No, I do not believe that we should take any action now to prevent climate change. Why do I want to circulate this petition? Because I believe history is a powerful judge. Those who are standing in the way of sensible climate action ought to be held to account, if only in the eyes of their grandchildren who are at risk of paying the price for our inaction.
Wheelan then wondered “what some petitions might have looked like in the past,” including declarations on civil rights and the Vietnam War.
These are not the signs of a vigorous, science-based movement. They are the nervous spasms of a malevolent crusade that has less to do with ecology and more to do with ideology, beating into submission anyone who dissents. Now, it’s leading voices are aligned with the same folks who wear black masks and tell you it is OK to punch Nazis. Wonder who is next?
element_content=””] | 1,268,894 |
legal. It is estimated that the initiative to legalize marijuana—if passed—would generate about $1 billion in tax revenue annually, most of which would be directed toward substance abuse prevention and treatment. Among likely voters, 43 percent say that spending the revenue this way is very important.
. A majority (60%) of likely voters say that, in general, marijuana use should be legal, and 37 percent say it should not be legal. It is estimated that the initiative to legalize marijuana—if passed—would generate about $1 billion in tax revenue annually, most of which would be directed toward substance abuse prevention and treatment. Among likely voters, 43 percent say that spending the revenue this way is very important. Extension of the Proposition 30 tax on high-earners. A majority of likely voters (58%) favor extending the tax on earnings above $250,000 for 12 years to fund education and health care (39% oppose).
. A majority of likely voters (58%) favor extending the tax on earnings above $250,000 for 12 years to fund education and health care (39% oppose). Increase in cigarette tax. A strong majority of likely voters (67%) favor increasing the tax on the purchase of cigarettes to fund health care (31% oppose). Majorities across parties are in favor.
“California seems poised to show its blue state credentials in the fall,” Baldassare said. “Voters today are signaling their early support for Democratic statewide candidates, tax initiatives, and marijuana legalization.”
About the Survey
The PPIC Statewide Survey was conducted with funding from The James Irvine Foundation and the PPIC Donor Circle. Findings are based on a telephone survey of 1,704 California adult residents—half (853) interviewed on landline telephones and half (851) on cell phones—from May 13 to 22, 2016. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish, according to respondents’ preferences.
The sampling error, taking design effects from weighting into consideration, is ±3.3 percent for all adults, ±3.8 percent for the 1,338 registered voters, and ±4.3 percent for the 996 likely voters. It is ±5.7 for the 552 Democratic primary likely voters and ±7.4 for the 284 Republican primary likely voters. For more information on methodology, see page 23.
Mark Baldassare is president and CEO of PPIC, where he holds the Arjay and Frances Fearing Miller Chair in Public Policy. He is founder of the PPIC Statewide Survey, which he has directed since 1998.
PPIC is dedicated to informing and improving public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research on major economic, social, and political issues. The institute was established in 1994 with an endowment from William R. Hewlett. PPIC does not take or support positions on any ballot measure or on any local, state, or federal legislation, nor does it endorse, support, or oppose any political parties or candidates for public office. | 1,268,895 |
from wearing religious symbols.
“All the other leaders got a pass on it,” a senior campaign official told me last week. “They refused to get involved. But the guy with the turban on was especially criticized for taking the same position. What an infuriating double standard.”
Then Singh suffered the same fate many NDP leaders experience: many voters abandoned him the weekend before October 21 because their fear of a Conservative majority government was more intense than their desire to vote NDP. The Liberals were the beneficiaries, and the NDP had to say goodbye to its aspirations for picking up seats in Ontario.
Despite all this, Singh is currently not in a terrible spot. Unlike Scheer, who received the most votes on election night and improved his party’s seat count significantly, he doesn’t appear to be facing obvious attempts to remove him as leader.
Furthermore, when the House of Commons reconvenes, he’ll find himself holding the balance of power in a minority parliament. The Liberals will depend on his 24 seats to push much of their agenda through Parliament. Having said that, Singh got 15 fewer seats than in the last House, his share of the total vote dropped 4 per cent, his party is broke, and he’s in no position to pressure the government if he doesn’t get his way on things.
Meanwhile, with the election out of the way, Ontario New Democrats will refocus their efforts on enhancing provincial-party leader Andrea Horwath’s chances of winning the 2022 election. Horwath has already led her party through three general elections. But, unlike Mulcair, Horwath has always managed to beat back all potential challengers when these reviews happen. She has certainly grown in the job since she won it 10 and a half years ago, appearing more confident and communicating better. Her performances during question period (clips on the nightly news presumably being how most people see her) are calmer, stronger, and less annoyingly sanctimonious than those of other NDP leaders in the past.
Another measure of Horwath’s confidence is the fact that she’s given significant responsibilities to the caucus members most likely to run for her job when she ultimately steps aside. Catherine Fife (Waterloo) gets plenty of ice time as the critic for jobs, employment, research and innovation. Sara Singh (Brampton Centre) is deputy leader and the attorney general’s critic. And Marit Stiles has been a frequent presence during question period as education critic.
Having just turned 57 (making her nearly two decades younger than many candidates running for the American presidency), and barring something totally unforeseen, Horwath seems set to equal Donald C. MacDonald and Bob Rae’s record of leading the party through four elections — a rare feat in Canadian or Ontario politics.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Tom Mulcair had said that Andrew Scheer had won the English-language leaders' debate. TVO.org regrets the error. | 1,268,896 |
The House of Representatives voted Thursday in favor of a resolution to encourage Attorney General William Barr to release Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s full report to both Congress and the country amid fears information about the investigation would not be made public.
The resolution enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support and passed in a floor vote 420-0. Four Republican lawmakers voted present.
“Congress will not accept any effort to bury this report,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of House Intelligence Committee, said on the House floor Thursday. “Anything less than full transparency would be unacceptable.”
Since the measure is a non-binding resolution, Mueller, Barr and President Trump cannot be forced to release more information to Congress and the public than the Justice Department and federal law require. Republicans were quick to point out that – despite their support for the resolution – because the resolution was non-binding, it had little sway over whether or not the report is released to the public.
ROSENSTEIN, FMR FBI DIRECTOR MCCABE NEED TO TESTIFY ABOUT APPARENT PLOT TO REMOVE TRUMP, GOP SAYS
Barr testified during his confirmation hearings in February that, as he understands the regulations governing the special counsel, the report will be confidential – and any report that goes to Congress or the public will be authored by the attorney general.
Some Democrats sounded the alarm after Barr's testimony, with Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal charging that Barr indicated he'd exploit legal "loopholes" to hide Mueller's final report from the public and to resist subpoenas against the White House.
"I will commit to providing as much information as I can, consistent with the regulations," Barr had told Blumenthal when asked if he would ensure that Mueller's full report was publicly released.
Mueller's team is still leading several prosecutions, including against longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone on charges of witness tampering and lying to Congress, and against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who awaits sentencing on charges he lied to FBI agents during the Russia probe. Flynn is cooperating as part of a separate Foreign Agents Registration Act case regarding lobbying work in Turkey as part of his plea deal.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Thursday’s resolution vote came on the same day it was announced that one of Mueller’s top prosecutors in the Russia investigation will soon leave his post – prompting more speculation that the probe is wrapping up.
Andrew Weissmann, who will leave the investigation reportedly to teach at New York University, helped build the case against President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was recently sentenced to more than seven years in prison following two cases related to the Mueller probe.
Weissmann has been a frequent target of conservative legal interest groups and supporters of the president. Author Michael Wolff said former Trump advisor Steve Bannon told him that Weissmann was like "the LeBron James of money laundering investigations."
Fox News’ Gregg Re and Luis Casiano contributed to this report. | 1,268,897 |
hired, Koppelman said he disclosed his associations with Cambridge and Proussaloglou to Roelof van Ark, the rail authority’s chief executive at the time.
“I told him I had this relationship with Kimon Proussaloglou and may have mentioned Cambridge Systematics in a throw-away line,” Koppelman said. “He asked me if it would color my judgment. I assured him it would not.” Van Ark has been unavailable for comment since he left the agency last month.
Koppelman said the rail authority did not ask him to file a statement disclosing income and economic interests, which are usually required of government officials and contractors in decision-making positions.
Cambridge officials and Proussaloglou declined to comment. The firm boasts that dozens of state, federal and international agencies depend on its planning and forecasting models, but it has remained silent about attacks on its ridership figures, except for a sharp retort to the Berkeley report.
Over the years, the bullet train’s passenger estimates have fluctuated from a high of more than 100 million passengers annually for an 800-mile system between San Diego and Sacramento to about 30 million for a 500-mile network linking Anaheim and San Francisco.
In a series of agency reports over the years, Cambridge’s ridership estimates have dropped sharply. The 2008 plan estimated an initial 500-mile system would carry 55 million passengers annually by 2030. In 2009, the number was adjusted to 41 million by 2035. In November, a draft plan put the number in a range as low as 29.6 million by 2040. And the business plan issued last week dropped the middle of the range to 26.4 million and said it could go as low as 20.1 million in 2040.
Koppelman is quoted in the latest report as saying the numbers are “reasonable, possibly even conservative.”
Koppelman acknowledged that it is difficult to predict how many riders the California bullet train would serve because the state lacks a developed conventional rail network. In contrast, France and Japan were operating conventional rail lines at or near capacity before introducing high-speed trains along the same routes. In those cases, planners needed to estimate only how much the new service would increase ridership.
Koppelman said he is among a few consultants in the transportation industry with expertise in travel forecasting. As such, he said, it would be difficult for the high-speed rail authority to hire anyone for his position who does not have past business relationships similar to his.
Kenneth A. Small, professor emeritus of economics at UC Irvine and a member of the ridership review panel, agreed, adding that Koppelman “has shown no coziness toward Cambridge Systematics. He’s objective and fair. He is completely professional about it.”
[email protected]
[email protected] | 1,268,898 |
World of Warcraft's next expansion, Battle for Azeroth, launches August 14, and will bring with it new dungeons, raids, progression systems and—perhaps most excitingly—new PvPvE Island Expeditions, which could provide a refreshing alternative to dungeon grinding. It's also making big changes to PvP, including a rework of talents, a new War Mode and a bounty hunter system, all of which Blizzard detailed in a blog post this week.
The new talent system is designed to encourage more customisation and to stop your early forays into PvP becoming too overwhelming. In Legion, the latest expansion, you gain talents as you earn Honor Levels, which you get from taking part in PvP. It "puts players looking to get into PvP for the first time at a disadvantage until they earn the tools everyone else already has", Blizzard said.
In Battle for Azeroth, PvP talents will simply become available as you level up. At level 20, you'll earn a "special crowd-control-breaking talent", and by level 110 you'll have unlocked all talents. The system is more flexible, too: in Legion, PvP talents are arranged in rows of three, so you can only pick one at each level. In Battle For Azeroth, you'll be able to pick whatever talents you like from a large pool. "This system offers more options for customizing your character to suit your play style or your environment," Blizzard said.
War Mode is Blizzard's attempt to make PvP more open. If you toggle it on, which you'll be able to do at level 20, you can jump into PvP from any realm, and you'll only play with others that want to play in War Mode. The idea is to stop players feeling "locked" into one style of realm—every realm can now be PvP or PvE, depending on what you want at the time. In War Mode, you'll get access to all your PvP talents wherever PvP can occur, and you'll also get an additional benefit to experience gains as you level up to reflect the "added danger from other players".
Some War Mode features will be specific to the new zones added in Battle for Azeroth. The first is a bounty hunter system. If you kill a certain number of players of the opposite faction—Horde or the Alliance—you'll earn the 'Assassin' status, which grants you 15% extra damage and healing. But the more players you kill, the more likely you are to show up on the zone map for other players, and if they kill you they'll receive Conquest points and other rewards.
The new zones will also have air drops that the factions will fight over. Once a faction has gained control of a crate, any player in the area will be able to open it to collect personal loot.
If you can't wait for Battle for Azeroth, then I suggest reading the full blog post, which contains a tonne of detail. The expansion is out on August 14, but a pre-patch will introduce changes before that. | 1,268,899 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.