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The Western Bulldogs have today unveiled Katie Brennan and Ellie Blackburn as the Club’s marquee players for its inaugural National Women’s League team.
Opting for high talent and youth, the Club is thrilled to have secured the services of both Brennan and Blackburn as the first officially contracted Western Bulldogs Women’s team players.
Brennan, who is well-known to Bulldogs fans after five exhibition matches for the Club, is an elite, athletic key forward and has been touted as one of the game’s most exciting young players.
Originally drafted to the Club in 2013, Brennan has spent the past four years in the Club’s women’s side.
The 23-year-old was awarded the inaugural Susan Alberti Award in 2015, as the Club’s best and fairest player from the 2015 Exhibition Series.
Brennan announced herself as a force in women’s football after a breakout game in the Club’s second exhibition game of 2014, where she kicked five goals in a best-on-ground performance. Brennan has kicked over 150 goals in her past three seasons at VFL level for her local club Darebin.
Blackburn, also a rising star of women’s football will don the red, white and blue in 2017 after four exhibition games for the Melbourne Football Club since 2013.
Blackburn has established a reputation as one of the premier young midfielders in the Victorian Women’s Football League, playing locally at Melbourne University.
Possessing a raft of elite attributes including speed, poise and ferocious defensive pressure, the midfielder has averaged 20 possessions for Melbourne across her four exhibition matches.
Bulldogs Director of Football Chris Grant, who officially presented both players with their guernseys, said the Club was delighted to welcome the pair.
“We believe we have secured two of the most talented and exciting young players in the game in Katie and Ellie.
“After an extensive recruitment process, we are confident that not only have we obtained elite footballers, but players of strong character.
“We are confident both Katie and Ellie will help us to develop long-term success for our women’s side and we look forward to having them as Western Bulldogs players for a long time.”
The Club will complete their playing list in October’s National Women’s League draft.
Katie Brennan
Born: Brisbane, Queensland
Age: 23 Height: 174cm
Position: Key forward
Junior Club: Logan Cobras JAFC (QLD)
VFL Women’s Club: Darebin Falcons
Ellie Blackburn
Born: Berwick, Victoria
Age: 21
Height: 170cm
Position: Inside midfielder
Junior Club: Beaconsfield Youth Girls
VFL Women’s Club: Melbourne University
| 1,268,900 |
for the players working every single day to make things better, and I think it’s very challenging that they’re being forced out of their role without really knowing the data that they are choosing.
I think it’s hard. It’s really hard. I get it, and I respect wanting more, and I want more for every single player, every single day. My goal is to get that, but I just want to make sure we’re doing that in the way that’s most effective.
TIG: How optimistic are you that the PA, the NWHL, and the members of this strike can find common ground before the 2019-20 season begins?
Battaglino: That’s a really hard question.
I believe that our best chance of bridging this gap comes from a large vote of confidence from players that want actual change now. I think that there’s a hesitation in the market to forgo women’s hockey and allow it to collapse entirely and hope that the next start of it will be the best possible case. I think that players will think critically. I lived through the CWHL as it grew, and the NWHL as it grew, and growing pains hurt.
I wonder if we should find a way to present the best possible contract that we could possibly present to get people on board, even if we need to to use “if, then” statements— you know, like, “this sponsor will come on board if we all join, and then we are unified.” Things like that bring us a level of gravitas to say, “okay, person holding out, you will be part of what brings this six-figure deal across the line.”
You can’t have your movement just say, women’s hockey folds and then hopefully re-surges. But, if we have some amount of opportunities and move forward all together, maybe that’s how their movement can create change. There has to be a positive option on both sides of the fence. It can’t just be fold and then they’ve succeeded. I don’t know what the answer is, but I hope in some way we can find some kind of action plan that gives the movement what they want but also get players out of this retirement.
TIG: How’s the wedding planning going?
Battaglino: I think women’s hockey knows when Madison and I have anything exciting going on! The CWHL folded on a Sunday when Madison and I were going on vacation on Tuesday. Then this whole thing happened on Thursday and today Madison has her suit fitting. Tomorrow we have our wedding menu tasting, and Sunday I have my bridal shower.
I’m hoping by the wedding on August 16, this will all be sorted. If women’s hockey could just give me that one, I’ll be ecstatic! | 1,268,901 |
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images Progressive Democrat Russ Feingold is fighting to retake his former Senate seat from Republican Ron Johnson.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is giving a boost to Russ Feingold in his bid to return to the Senate. The Democratic presidential candidate sent out an email to his national list of supporters Thursday to raise money for the progressive Democrat.
“We are going to have to elect candidates up and down the ballot who recognize that it is too late for establishment politics and economics," Sanders wrote. "Candidates like my friend, former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold."
"Russ led the fight with me to make the Affordable Care Act much stronger in 2009. He voted against the USA Patriot Act and the war in Iraq," he added. "He authored and passed landmark campaign finance reform legislation and his campaign is powered by small-dollar contributions like ours.”
Feingold is running to retake his seat from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who was swept into office in the tea party wave of 2010. He's considered one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents in this election cycle, and HuffPost Pollster's average of polling in the race shows Feingold with a slight lead.
Feingold has not yet endorsed anyone in the Democratic presidential primary.
In April, Sanders' senior adviser Tad Devine told MSNBC that the senator's efforts to turn out young voters could help candidates like Feingold.
"I mean, look how many young people we had in Wisconsin -- more 18- to 29-year-olds than voters 65-plus," Devine said. "You know, if Russ Feingold wins in November, in part he should thank Bernie Sanders for registering all those young people."
Hillary Clinton frequently stresses her work in helping build the Democratic Party infrastructure, but Sanders has recently started to endorse progressive candidates up and down the ballot, including law professor Tim Canova, who is challenging Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) in a primary.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) advised Democrats eager to see Sanders drop out of the presidential race to "lay off" Tuesday, specifically noting his support of Feingold.
"I’m very happy that Sen. Sanders is supporting him big time," Reid said.
Johnson received a boost last week from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which released a TV ad supporting him. Johnson also recently launched his own podcast. The first episode was called "I'd love to be out fishing," and the latest is "Keep Vapin', Vicki."
Sen. Ron Johnson launched a podcast. Second episode's on vaping pic.twitter.com/AjY74ONbPJ — andrew kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) May 26, 2016
Want more updates from Amanda? Sign up for her newsletter, Piping Hot Truth.
Enter your email address: | 1,268,902 |
Facebook is banning promotions for protests that violate social distancing rules, the company has confirmed. CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan wrote this morning that promotions for anti-quarantine protests in California, New Jersey, and Nebraska had all been removed after Facebook consulted with state governments. The company is also reportedly seeking guidance for whether New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania protests violate current shelter-in-place orders. “Events that defy governments’ guidance on social distancing aren’t allowed on Facebook,” a spokesperson told The Verge.
Facebook emphasized that it’s leaning on government rules rather than editorial judgment. “Unless government prohibits the event during this time, we allow it to be organized on Facebook,” said the spokesperson. But organizers can’t advocate meetings that break health guidance, and they can’t discourage taking precautions against spreading the novel coronavirus.
It’s only banning events that state governments prohibit
Mark Zuckerberg reiterated the distinction in an interview on Good Morning America. “It’s important that people can debate policies so there’s a line on this, you know, more than normal political discourse,” he said. “I think a lot of the stuff that people are saying that is false around a health emergency like this can be classified as harmful misinformation.” Since January, Facebook has said it’s removing claims that are “designed to discourage treatment or taking appropriate precautions.” Facebook didn’t offer details about the specific events that were removed.
Several groups either planned or recently held protests over social distancing and shelter-in-place rules, egged on by President Donald Trump, who tweeted calls to “liberate” Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia last week. BuzzFeed notes that many of these events have been coordinated with help from the Michigan Conservative Coalition, which helped plan a sizable protest in Lansing, Michigan, last week. These groups’ Facebook pages call the coronavirus “a very real virus” and encourage appropriate hygiene measures like handwashing.
Protestors in Lansing disregarded requests that they stay in their cars during the event, however, raising the risk of contagion. Other events have been more dismissive of the virus’s threat, like a rally in Texas held by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has previously been censured for promoting fake COVID-19 cures.
More Americans are more worried about states lifting shelter-in-place rules prematurely than waiting too long, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. And some protests’ internet and news footprints may be larger than the events themselves. Kata Hall, communications director for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, claimed on Twitter that a demonstration had gotten more media inquiries than participants.
But Facebook has taken heat for not responding proactively enough to scams, hoaxes, and other misinformation related to the virus. Now, it’s trying to walk a delicate line between removing harmful content and avoiding censorship of political protests. | 1,268,903 |
The FBI has arrested one of its most wanted cybercrime suspects, an American who fled to Russia. Under what conditions Joshua Aaron suddenly returned to the US is unclear, but he will face 2015 charges related to the largest financial hack in US history.
Read more
Aaron, 32, will be in a Manhattan federal district court Thursday morning, according to a Wednesday announcement from the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. He is one of nine co-defendants in a case involving over 100 million hacked accounts from dozens of companies, including more than 83 million JPMorgan Chase & Co. accounts compromised, in a hacking and fraud operation run from 2007 to mid-2015.
Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara called the scheme “hacking as a business model,” in the announcement of Aaron’s arrest. Aaron is a native of Maryland who attended college in Florida.
The US Attorney’s Office also named Israelis Gery Shalon and Ziv Orenstein as co-defendants; they were extradited to the US by Israel earlier this year. Aaron and Shalon are charged in the “largest theft of customer data from a US financial institution in history,” which facilitated their “securities market manipulation schemes” perpetrated with Orenstein, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
As a result of negotiations with US authorities, Aaron agreed to fly to New York from Moscow, where he had been detained as an illegal immigrant under deportation orders, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter who wished to not be identified. One of those people reportedly claims that Aaron was “roused early [Wednesday] morning and dispatched to the airport” after arrangements were suddenly made this week.
Russia has no extradition treaty with the US, but court transcripts show Russia offered to trade Aaron to US authorities in exchange for a “reciprocal” act, to which the US Embassy gave no response, Bloomberg reported.
Aaron’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, says his client waived extradition and voluntarily reentered the US, according to Bloomberg. The news outlet also reports the possibility of another perpetrator and colluder still on the loose, an unnamed Russian-speaking hacker mentioned in court documents regarding the massive computer hacks. Aaron may have information about this unidentified hacker, it is speculated.
Fix ‘toxic’ relations: Ex-Trump adviser Carter Page in Moscow https://t.co/HePxxHS571pic.twitter.com/J46OBJbdh5 — RT America (@RT_America) December 12, 2016
Bloomberg’s sources said Aaron had requested asylum and may have reached a plea deal agreement, despite the fact that he was arrested upon arrival to the US.
Aaron, Shalon and Orenstein will be charged for schemes ranging from emailing fake promotions to boost stock prices to operating online casinos to running an illegal bitcoin exchange and money laundering through at least 75 shell companies and accounts worldwide, Reuters reported. | 1,268,904 |
DoubleLine buys in
Unlike most securitizations, Figure’s was not rated by an agency like Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s, nor was it registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As an unrated private placement, the bonds would be more difficult to sell in the secondary market should the investors ever want to unload them.
However, Figure did successfully sell the bonds to third-party investors: Jeffrey Gundlach’s DoubleLine for the $127 million of senior notes and Tilden Park Capital Management for the riskier $22 million subordinated tranche, according to a white paper from Figure. Previously, European financial institutions Santander and Societe Generale have issued bonds on the public Ethereum blockchain, but only to themselves.
DoubleLine will be paid a 4 percent coupon on the senior bonds, which are expected to be paid down in three years. That’s more than three percentage points higher than the current yield on three-year U.S. Treasury bonds.
Cagney said the pricing on the senior bond was on par with comparable products and the firm did not have to compensate investors extra for the novelty of a blockchain, which he said adds value.
“There wasn’t a premium we had to pay on the blockchain side,” he said.
Next steps
Provenance is different from the blockchains underpinning cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
For one thing, it is “public permissioned,” meaning that while anyone can view the ledger, only authorized parties may write to it. No one needs permission to send a bitcoin transaction, and while mining on that network is an expensive undertaking, theoretically it’s open to all comers.
Further, there are 12 nodes validating transactions on the Provenance network, and Figure would identify only one of the operators, mutual fund giant Franklin Templeton. Thousands of nodes run on the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks worldwide.
Figure developed Provenance in-house, using the consensus mechanism of Hyperledger, one of the three main open-source enterprise blockchain platforms (the others being R3’s Corda and private versions of Ethereum).
The firm aims to securitize another $200 million of HELOCs in the next four weeks and to issue its first student loan-backed bonds in the second quarter, according to Cagney.
And if Figure’s model catches on, it might ameliorate some of the problems that contributed to the global market meltdown of 2008.
“Securitization failed in the financial crisis because too many pools were originated without investors being able to efficiently understand what was in the pool and what they were lending against,” said Cohen, who made his name as a securitization lawyer and now specializes in blockchain work. “You could have detailed information without verification and you can have accurate information that may not be very granular.” | 1,268,905 |
Have we finally reached a point where the perpetual anger of Washington conservatives is no longer a threat to the republic? The budget deal announced yesterday suggests that it may well be, at least for the moment. It isn't that conservatives aren't raising a stink about it-they're displeased that it doesn't repeal the Affordable Care Act, slash Social Security and Medicare, and do more to punish food-stamp recipients, among other things-because they certainly are. Indeed, they were decrying it even before it was announced, which tells you how concerned they are about the details. But they seem to be just going through the motions. Send the press releases, say you'll vote against it, tell Fox News why it doesn't get to the real problems... and then we'll all move on. The budget will pass, mostly because it averts the possibility of a government shutdown (at least over the budget, though not over the debt ceiling) for two more years. And even the most conservative Republican knows that's a good thing for their party.
Just look at how John Boehner is acting. Boehner, who spent the entire period of the shutdown (and the weeks leading up to it) stepping gingerly around his party's right wing as though it were a Bengal tiger that could rip his throat out with a single swipe if angered, now feels free to attack the likes of Heritage Action, obviously without concern that they can make him pay for his insolence:
At a press conference Wednesday, a visibly angry Boehner said conservative groups who oppose the two-year budget deal struck by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) are "using our members and they're using the American people for their own goals. This is ridiculous." Moments earlier, during a closed-door meeting, Boehner told House Republicans that the well-funded and influential organizations "aren't acting out of principle, and they're not trying to enact conservative policies. They're using you to raise money and expand their own organization," he said, according to a source in the room.
Those are some pretty strong words. Meanwhile, primary challenges to Republicans who have sinned against purity aren't exactly looking formidable at the moment. Steve Stockman, who could well be the single nuttiest Republican in the House (and that's saying something), is mounting a challenge to already extremely conservative Texas senator John Cornyn, one that will produce some moments of comedy but is almost certainly doomed. There are other primary challenges in progress to high-profile Republicans like Lindsey Graham, but most of those will probably fail as well.
That doesn't mean that the Tea Party is irrelevant, or that events couldn't conspire to renew their power and influence over the Republican party. For the moment, however, it does appear that the shutdown provided everyone in the GOP a valuable lesson: there's only so far you can follow your extremists before they lead you off the cliff, and once you've plunged to the bottom, you don't much want to climb back up and hurl yourself off again. | 1,268,906 |
The Fairholme Capital headquarters and art museum is a bizarre thing. First of all, it's going to look like some sort of fortress from a dystopian sci-fi movie. Secondly, it will be part open-to-the-public art museum and part equity fund management offices (which unintentionally says a lot about the state of the commodification of art).
Though, New Times doesn't necessarily have anything against bizarre things, and we guess we're going to have to learn to love this thing, because it looks like it's nearing final approval from the City of Miami.
Fairholme Capital manager Bruce Berkowitz announced his plans for the eye-popping museum/office building about a year ago, but soon grew disillusioned with how long the City of Miami was taking to approve his plans. The city says it was having trouble squaring the odd building with guidelines set out by the Miami 21 building codes. Berkowitz grew so impatient that he almost threw in the towel, but according to the Miami Herald a host of Miami's art-loving rich people including Norman Braman (who funds the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami) and Martin Margulies (who has his own private museum as well) came forward to encourage Berkowitz to stay the path and put pressure on the city's planning board to approve the idea. And, well, what do you know, the city stopped dragging its heels and is expected to give Berkowitz the final green light sometime this week.
A few tweaks were made to the original plan. An underground parking lot has been nixed in favor of a surface lot in the back, and a raised platform at the front of the building has been eliminated to make the area more pedestrian friendly. Otherwise, the originally inverted pyramid structure of the five-story building remains. It will be located on what is currently a vacant lot at 2626 Biscayne Blvd. in the booming Edgewater neighborhood.
Offices for Berkowitz's fund management firm and his charity fund will be located on the top floors while the art museum will take up the bottom floors. The museum will include two giant works of modern art. Richard Serra’s 218-foot sculpture, Passage of Time, will sit outside, adding to the dystopian vibes. James Turrell’s trippy light installation, Aten Reign, originally designed in 2013 for New York City's Guggenheim Museum, will be the star inside. The rest of the work will be made up of pieces from the Berkowitz family art collection, though we can't find much information on what that includes.
The museum will be the latest example of the so call "Miami model," essentially the idea of museums being run by private collectors and mainly featuring their own personal collection of art. The Fairholme Capital museum will join the Rubell Family Collection, the Margulies Warehouse, the Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz’s Collection Contemporary Art Space, and Ella Fontanals-Cisneros’ CIFO Art Space as privately run museums in the city.
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Republicans blame each other after shutdown fiasco
Richard Wolf | USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Republicans began a new week pointing fingers at each other Sunday following a 16-day government shutdown and near-default that left the nation worse off and the GOP taking most of the blame.
If there was a theme to the round of Sunday morning talk shows looking back at the fiasco, it was the determination of most Republicans — from Senate leaders to past and potential future presidential candidates — to move on rather than focus on this month's failed battles.
Sen. John McCain called the effort to defund President Obama's health care expansion "a fool's errand." Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell vowed there will be no more government shutdowns. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush accused the party of stepping on its message.
"There will not be another government shutdown. You can count on that," McConnell said on CBS' Face the Nation. "Shutting down the government, in my view, is not conservative policy."
"What we need to do is move forward with immigration reform, get a positive agenda for America," said McCain, the party's 2008 presidential candidate, on CNN's State of the Union.
"Obamacare, flawed to its core, doesn't work," said Bush, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, on ABC.'s This Week. "But we don't even hear about that because we've stepped on that message."
That left Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who instigated the government crisis by demanding an end to Obamacare and getting the Tea Party faction among House Republicans to go along, in a somewhat lonely position — at least in the nation's capital.
Appearing on CNN and on ABC, the freshman senator blamed fellow Republicans for dooming the effort by speaking out against it rather than uniting behind it.
"I think it was unfortunate that you saw multiple members of the Senate Republicans going on television attacking House conservatives, attacking the effort to defund Obamacare, saying it cannot win, it's a fool's errand, we will lose, this must fail," Cruz said. "That is a recipe for losing the fight, and it's a shame."
Neither Cruz nor McConnell went after each other personally, but their sentiments were clear. McConnell, as he has done before, compared a second government shutdown following the one engineered by upstart Republicans in 1995-96 to a second kick of a mule. Cruz defended it as a valuable weapon in a tactical war.
There was little support for Cruz among other Republicans appearing on TV Sunday. Two fellow conservatives, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Roy Blunt of Missouri, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should testify before Congress on Obamacare but should not – at least not yet — be forced to resign, as Cruz and some other Republicans have suggested.
And Bush said the GOP needs to "show a little self-restraint" and let Obamacare play out, particularly since its government website has left thousands of Americans unable to sign up for health coverage. | 1,268,908 |
Animals in the Goldilocks zone -- neither too big, nor too small, but just the right size -- face a lower risk of extinction than do those on both ends of the scale, according to an extensive global analysis.
Reporting today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers who determined body masses for thousands of vertebrate animal species showed that the largest and smallest species face a greater risk of extinction than do mid-sized animals.
Disproportionate losses at the large and small ends of the scale raise the likelihood of significant changes to the way natural ecosystems function in forests, grasslands, oceans and even rivers and streams -- "the living architecture of the planet," the researchers wrote.
"Knowing how animal body size correlates with the likelihood of a species being threatened provides us with a tool to assess extinction risk for the many species we know very little about," said William Ripple, a distinguished professor of ecology at Oregon State University and lead author of the study.
Ripple and colleagues from the United States, Australia and Switzerland looked at the more than 27,000 vertebrate animal species assessed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in the so-called Red List. About 4,400 are threatened with extinction.
Among the groups of animals evaluated were birds, reptiles, amphibians, bony fishes, cartilaginous fishes (mostly sharks and rays) and mammals.
The largest animals are threatened principally with harvesting by humans. "Many of the larger species are being killed and consumed by humans, and about 90 percent of all threatened species larger than 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) in size are being threatened by harvesting," said Ripple.
"Harvesting of these larger animals takes a variety of forms including regulated and unregulated fishing, hunting and trapping for meat consumption, the use of body parts as medicine and killing due to unintentional bycatch," the authors wrote.
Meanwhile, threats to the smallest animals may be grossly underestimated. The smallest species with high extinction risk consist of tiny vertebrate animals generally less than about 3 ounces (77 grams) in body weight. These diminutive species are mostly threatened by loss or modification of habitat. Examples include the Clarke's banana frog, sapphire-bellied hummingbird, gray gecko, hog-nosed bat and the waterfall climbing cave fish. Small species that require freshwater habitats are especially imperiled.
Different conservation strategies will be needed to address threats to the largest and smallest animals, the scientists said. Well known mammals at the large end of the scale -- whales, elephants, rhinos, lions -- have been the target of protection programs, but conservation attention is also needed for large-bodied species that are not mammals. They include large fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles such as the whale shark, Atlantic sturgeon, Somali ostrich, Chinese giant salamander and the Komodo dragon.
Human activity seems poised to chop off both the head and tail of the size distribution of life, the authors added, which will fundamentally restructure many ecological communities. | 1,268,909 |
Drayton Dwayne Preston broke into the bedroom of a 17-year-old Calgary girl who was passed out after partying with friends, raped her and then returned an hour later to sexually assault her twice more, while using her phone to take photos and video, which he posted to Facebook.
The victim, who can't be identified because of a publication ban, was in court in Calgary on Tuesday as Preston was taken into custody by a sheriff to serve a 26-month prison sentence.
Those details of Preston's crimes are contained in an agreed statement of fact prepared by defence lawyer Rame Katrib and prosecutor Pam McCluskey. Preston pleaded guilty to sexual assault several months ago.
Broke into bedroom through window
Preston and a group of friends — which included his girlfriend, the victim, her boyfriend — were partying together on the night of July 29, 2016.
They were drinking, and when the victim became drunk, she and her boyfriend had sex in her bed and then passed out.
In the early morning hours, Preston removed a window screen and broke into her bedroom.
The victim woke up to him raping her but she passed out again in the middle of the rape.
An hour later, the teen woke up again. This time, Preston was on his knees at the side of her bed. She was scared and pretended to sleep while he continued to assault her twice more.
Once Preston left her room, the victim got out of bed and told a friend who had stayed the night about what had happened. While she was crying, Preston left the victim's apartment.
Video of assault posted to Facebook
Later that night, Preston's girlfriend confronted the victim. She had seen nude photos of the girl on her boyfriend's Facebook page and mistakenly believed the victim had sent them to him.
Preston had used the victim's own phone to take photos and video, which, after the third assault, he posted to his Facebook account and then deleted them from her phone.
The video shows Preston walk up to the victim's bed, remove the blanket and spread her legs, all while her boyfriend is asleep next to her. The minute-long video then depicts Preston sexually assaulting the teen.
There are also photos of her genitalia.
Judge admonishes Preston
"It's a fundamental lack of respect for others that you demonstrated," said provincial court Judge Gord Wong in handing down his decision.
"You're not satisfied with committing this sexual offence, you go ahead and use someone else's phone to take photos... send it back to yourself and post it to Facebook."
Preston will be on the sex offender registry for the next 20 years.
McCluskey noted that during a pre-sentence psychiatric evaluation with Dr. Patrick Baillie, Preston "talks about feeling sorry for himself."
Preston was on house arrest pending the sentencing hearing. He breached the conditions of his arrest three times and failed to attend court twice. | 1,268,910 |
won’t reform itself, why not allow a separate track—a competitive alternative that would run alongside the conventional FDA clinical testing track?
Madden suggests that “after a new drug has successfully passed safety trials and shows initial effectiveness in early clinical trials, a drug developer could request that the drug be available for sale. Such an arrangement would allow for new drugs to be available up to seven years earlier than waiting for a final FDA approval decision.” Surely patients for whom conventional drugs and therapies haven’t worked ought to have the freedom to choose a promising alternative. Whose body is it, anyway?
The result could be millions of lives saved.
Something close to the FTCM approach is already in place in the European community. An EU statute actually affirms a doctor’s “right to administer” an unapproved therapy so long as he or she files information on any negative effects. In fact, the Halford/Fernandez company, Rational Vaccines plans to soon make the Halford vaccines available in Europe, likely years before the FDA gets around to allowing their use in the U.S. It will, in effect, be able to offer people outside the U.S. the freedom to choose that we Americans presently don’t have here.
The Halford story and the persistent herpes epidemic are adding new urgency to the need for freedom of choice in medicine. If Congress endorses it, or if the new FDA head should embrace it, the result could be millions of lives helped, saved or both. It would be a well-deserved tribute to the perseverance and compassion of Dr. Halford and other frustrated medical innovators.
On August 24, 2016, Dr. Halford wrote, “I am confident that I can put the ball across the goal line before my time is up, and show my scientific colleagues and medical professionals that we have the power to (1) stop the spread of herpes with effective HSV vaccines and (2) reduce the amount of suffering herpes causes in those already infected with effective therapeutic HSV vaccines.”
Halford died ten months later, having carried the ball to within inches of the goal line. For the sake of the many who suffer from the disease of herpes, it’s now up to the rest of us. Where Halford left off, Free to Choose Medicine can pick up the ball and score a big one for humanity.
What are we waiting for?
For further information, see:
“FDA, Get Out of the Way: Free to Choose Medicine” by Ronald Bailey
“In Health Care, Freedom is the Only Way Forward” by Bartley J. Madden
“The Pathway to Faster Cures” by Bartley J. Madden
“Why Drug Companies Oppose ‘Free to Choose’ Medicine" by Max Kennerly
“Free to Choose Medicine: Better Drugs Sooner at Lower Cost” by Bartley J. Madden | 1,268,911 |
The heartbreaking story has emerged of a five-year-old boy who apologised to his mum on his death bed before he died, following his two-year battle with cancer.
Charlie Proctor was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer in 2016 and required a liver transplant. The story of his brave fight captivated the country after his parents launched an appeal to raise £855,580 for him to have an operation in the US.
5-Year-Old Cancer Patient Apologises To His Mum. Credit: Charlie's Chapter/Facebook
However, this wasn't a happy ending for little Charlie and his family, unfortunately, as the courageous little Lancashire boy passed away at the weekend.
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Only hours before the youngster passed away his mum, Amber Schofield, posted the final picture of Charlie on social media stating he'd said to her: "Mummy I'm sorry for this."
Heartbreakingly, Charlie died in the arms of his parents.
The brave boy had been fighting cancer for over two years. Credit: Charlie's Chapter/Facebook
His mum wrote: "He fell asleep peacefully cuddled in my arms with daddy's arms wrapped around us. Our hearts are aching. The world has lost an incredible little boy.
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"Charlie, you gave me chance to be a mum. You have been, not only our biggest inspiration but you have been an inspiration to thousands of people all over the world.
"You showed me what love really means Charlie. Now it's time to fly, I am so, so proud of you. You fought this so hard. My baby, I'm hurting so much. I will forever miss you baby bum. Sweet dreams my baby."
In the emotional post, where Amber shared the last photo of Charlie alive, she described some of the things the youngster was going through - saying the young boy was 'fed up and depressed' in his condition before his death.
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She wrote: "My heart broke! No child should feel the emotions Charlie is feeling. No Child! No parent should watch their child slowly go. Having to watch them deteriorate in this way is the most painful thing anyone will ever feel."
Amber also pleaded with people not to take life for granted, saying: "I miss his smile, knowing I won't see that smile again other than in pictures, I will never hear Charlie laugh again. Please pray for a miracle, hold your babies tight and cuddle and kiss them so much. You don't realise how lucky you are. We all take life for granted."
After this, his mum only posted photos of Charlie in his healthier and happier days - finally posting a photo of Charlie with angel wings to announce his death.
In 2016 he was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma - a rare tumour that begins in the liver - and last month he was told he had just two weeks, '366 hours' as his mum said, to live.
Advert | 1,268,912 |
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Alex Goligoski's decision to sign with the Arizona Coyotes could benefit longtime Coyotes blueliner Keith Yandle, who clearly is the top option on the unrestricted free-agent market and now has even less competition.
In a year in which the July 1 UFA crop actually presents a number of solid forward options, it's tangibly thinner on the back end, especially after Yandle.
Veteran Brian Campbell is available, although he’s going to be picky -- I think -- about where he goes for his last kick at the can, and then there’s Jason Demers and Kris Russell, among a few others.
It’s not deep in high-end talent on defense.
Which is also why the St. Louis Blues might get a nice return on Kevin Shattenkirk if they do trade him.
The Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres top the list of a number of teams who desperately need top-four defensive help.
In the meantime, the Florida Panthers are trying to convince Yandle to sign after acquiring his rights from the New York Rangers earlier this week.
"We've had talks yesterday and we're going to have additional talks today and just see how it progresses from there," Yandle’s agent Jerry Buckley said over the phone Wednesday morning.
Given the market, however, I think it would take a sizable commitment from the Panthers -- north of $6 million a year in my mind -- to get Yandle to pass up the chance to capitalize on his place in that thin free-agent defensemen crop come July 1.
"I mean, Keith is close to free agency but we continue to talk to Florida," Buckley said. "It’s not a case where he’s made up his mind 100 percent he’s going to free agency.
"We're still having discussions with Florida and we’ll see where it goes from there."
"I think they’re good," Panthers GM Tom Rowe said Wednesday afternoon after being asked about his chances of signing Yandle. "Obviously you don't totally know until you shake on it and move on. But we've been going back and forth since we got his rights. We like how he fits into what we’re trying to do.
"There’s a deal to be had there, that’s the best way to put it."
Rowe feels Yandle would greatly help the team’s 23rd-ranked power play.
"We need a mobile defenseman like Yandle that can help us on the power play," said Rowe. "Our goal next season is to be at least in the top 10 on the power play, hopefully top five, and we feel Keith would help us get there."
Could P.K. Subban be on the move before July 1? Steve Russell/Toronto Star/Getty Images | 1,268,913 |
Sale of the Week: The $1.4-million Junction home that proves sometimes you’ve got to sell it yourself
Sale of the Week: The $1.4-million Junction home that proves sometimes you’ve got to sell it yourself
Address: 66 Annette Street
Neighbourhood: The Junction
Agent: Solomon Misghina, Smart Choice Realty Solutions Inc., Brokerage
Previously sold for: $330,000, in 2005, prior to renovations
Listed at: $1,399,000
Sold for: $1,425,000
The property
A renovated 1871 Victorian near Keele and Dundas.
The history
The seller is a real estate agent who moved to the Junction in 2005, years before gentrification brought the likes of Playa Cabana, Starbucks and Freshii to the neighbourhood. He got married and started raising his first kid in this house, which he began renovating extensively in 2013. The 20-foot-high atrium in the dining room was inspired by a Moroccan hotel. Now the seller’s family is upsizing into a detached home in midtown.
The living room has a wall of exposed brick:
Here’s the dining area:
The sunroom has an overhead door that opens onto the backyard:
Here’s the atrium:
There’s an office on the second floor:
The office has a private terrace:
The master bedroom is also up here:
And here’s the main bathroom:
There are two more bedrooms on the third floor. Here’s one of them:
And another:
There’s a rec room in the basement:
The view from the rear:
The fate
The buyer is an executive in the tech industry. After living in Mississauga for years, he wanted a more downtown-focused lifestyle. He appreciated the renovations and the close proximity to High Park.
The sale
The seller listed the home himself after several real estate agents failed to sell the property at asking prices as high as $1,499,000. He set the price at $1,399,000 earlier this month and got two offers. He accepted the higher one.
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By the numbers
• $1,425,000
• $5,600 in taxes (approximately)
• 2,103 square feet (including the basement)
• 11 days on MLS
• 3 bedrooms
• 2 bathrooms
• 1 parking space
• 1-car garage | 1,268,914 |
Wilson
Jack Wilson poses with Oregon State coaches Wanye Tinkle, Gregg Gottlieb and Stephen Thompson Sr.
(Courtesy of Jack Wilson)
Oregon State men's basketball coach Wayne Tinkle has landed at least one four-star pledge in each of his first three classes.
Tres Tinkle, Stephen Thompson Jr. and Drew Eubanks kicked off the trend in the class of 2015, followed by Washington combo guard JaQuori McLaughlin in 2016 and Ethan Thompson in the 2017 cycle.
Tinkle didn't have to wait very long to extend that streak into the class of 2018, as Scout four-star center Jack Wilson (7-foot-1, 240 pounds) committed to Oregon State this weekend while on campus for his second unofficial visit this fall.
Wilson, rated the No. 91 prospect in the country and the No. 1 center in the West region, chose the Beavers over offers from Cal, Montana, Nevada and others, as well as heavy interest from several Pac-12 programs.
"I pretty much knew (earlier this month)," he said. "Everything was a huge piece for me - from the coaching staff to the players on the team to my fit. It was the perfect storm for a good fit for my future."
For the coveted big man, out of Junipero Serra High School (San Mateo, California), his first trip to Corvallis proved to be a major difference maker, as he connected with future teammates and the coaching staff.
"The first trip was great. I really, really enjoyed it. I got to play an open gym with the team. I really enjoyed that," he told The Oregonian. "I'm coming back October 22, I think, to check out a practice. "It's a great place and I'm just excited to go back up again. They are up in my top schools, for sure."
Adding to the experience was how at ease Wilson's mother, Shannon, was during the trip.
Oregon State made her a priority as well, and that meant a lot to the California post.
"She was where I was with it. It was very genuine and it wasn't like they were faking this kindness thing. Everything was exposed and they were proud of their guys," Wilson said. "They have a good group of guys and aren't afraid to show it. That's how my mom saw it. And she's loves Tinkle, too."
Tinkle is on the board in the class of 2018, and it comes in the form of a big-time talent at a position of need.
"I wouldn't have committed if I wasn't sure. I'm not going into it with any chance I'll be de-committing," he said. "I want to be a Beaver. What I have as core values is what they have as core values."
-- Andrew Nemec
[email protected]
@AndrewNemec | 1,268,915 |
Once upon a time, becoming an engineer was the ultimate goal for many. But the current crop of engineers are rewriting the rules. Jagmal Singh, Saurabh Mathur and Abhey Kumar, all in their late 20s, could be the poster boys for the new breed.The three IIT Delhi graduates were not content to rest on their laurels and left lucrative careers to start Rangiru.com in December 2011. The website, whose name is a combination of the Hindi word rang meaning ‘colour’ and the Japanese word ikiru meaning ‘to live’, sells handicrafts and lifestyle goods.But what made them quit comfortable jobs in Hyderabad, New Zealand and California and start a company from a rented flat at Sarita Vihar in Delhi? “We worked more as contributors rather than creators in our jobs and that was never challenging enough for us. We wanted to do something on our own, and which was a combination of fun and could change the lives of artists,” says Singh.Just a few months before Rangiru started, all three were experimenting with their careers: Kumar was working as a consultant with MNCs, helping them implement their CSR policies more effectively, while Singh was a project leader in a private hedge fund in Hyderabad and was also helping another friend with a start-up. Mathur had quit his job with Google in California and returned to India in July 2009 to start his own venture.One of Mathur’s ideas was Rangiru, an e-commerce platform that would sell handicrafts and lifestyle goods. By August last year, the ex-batchmates had got together and developed a business model. They began contacting artists and NGOs as well as built a network of people from whom they could source their products. Four months later, Rangiru was started with a capital of `2 lakh. Singh and Mathur used their expertise to develop the website, which helped them cut down costs.“We put a lot of thought while creating the products on our site, be it a traditional art form or a more contemporary design. From sourcing to supply, the responsibility is ours,” says Singh. They often pick up quirky stuff from Delhi and its suburbs to add to their collection. For every sale completed, they charge the artist a certain fee as commission. Currently, the three of them are taking care of everything on their own but plan to add staff once the business takes off.Two months into the business, things have started to look up for the trio. On an average, they receive almost 300 hits a day on their website, with a conversion rate of about 3-4%. Buyers can pay through debit/credit card or pay cash on delivery and the products are couriered to any place within the country. Like every other start-up, they have taken the free advertising route on Facebook.Though they are yet to make any money from their venture and have to depend on their savings to meet their daily expenses, Kumar, Singh and Mathur are proud of their first shot at entrepreneurship | 1,268,916 |
''The Australian public voted to terminate the carbon tax,'' Mr Hunt told reporters. ''The test for the ALP caucus today is whether or not they will listen to the Australian people or whether they will just continue to thumb their nose at the people of Australia who voted [to scrap the tax]. ''We will not stop until the carbon tax is repealed.'' Mr Hunt told reporters that when it came to repealing the tax, ''all options are on the table''. When pressed specifically on whether this included a double dissolution election, Mr Hunt repeated: ''All options are on the table.''
The Environment Minister added that the Coalition did not want to ''invoke other mechanisms'' to get rid of carbon pricing, explaining ''we want to get this done now''. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously said that the Coalition would do what was necessary to get rid of the tax, including using ''constitutional options''. On Monday morning, new Labor leader Bill Shorten said he did not have to support Mr Abbott's campaign to dump the carbon tax. ''He has a mandate to form a government of Australia, but there is nothing in Australian democracy that says that Labor has to be a rubber stamp for every Coalition proposition,'' he told Fairfax Radio. We will not stop until the carbon tax is repealed.
Mr Shorten said he would consult with the caucus before making a big policy statement but noted he backed a price on carbon pollution. ''I don't support the Coalition putting off until tomorrow and next week and next year tackling issues of climate change and carbon pollution and leaving this issue for our kids to solve.'' On Monday afternoon, Mr Abbott also put pressure on the new Labor leader to back his carbon tax plan. The Prime Minister said he had called Mr Shorten on Sunday night to congratulate him on his new job. "The difficulty is, [Labor] might have a new leader but they’ve got all the old policies, which caused them to be rejected by the people. They’re still in denial about the election result," he told reporters in Canberra.
When asked if a double dissolution was still on the table, Mr Abbott replied that if Mr Shorten was "fair dinkum about democratic politics" he would accept that the 2013 election had been a referendum on the carbon tax. Mr Shorten has already come under pressure from the Greens to hold his ground on carbon pricing. In a statement, Greens leader Christine Milne said the ''the writing is on the wall'' regarding climate change, with extreme fires, floods, droughts and heatwaves. ''Tony Abbott may have a mandate to lead the government of the nation, but he doesn't have one to stand by and watch it swelter and burn,'' she said. Under the constitution, if the Senate rejects the same bill from the House twice within the space of three months, the Governor-General can dissolve both houses simultaneously, bringing on full elections for both houses to resolve the matter.
Loading The move is considered an extremely drastic one - there have only been six double dissolutions since 1914, with the most recent one in 1987. With AAP | 1,268,917 |
A tank containing radioactive water is seen at the Asse nuclear waste storage facility on March 4, 2014 in Remlingen, central Germany. A former salt mine in the region, the Asse pit, is used as a deep geological repository for radioactive waste. Environmentalists and residents plead for the closure of the facility because of the pit's instability and the danger of the hazardous materials stored there. AFP PHOTO / POOL / JOCHEN LUEBKE (Photo credit should read JOCHEN LUEBKE/AFP/Getty Images)
By Harriet McLeod
CHARLESTON, S.C. June 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy said on Wednesday it will study the environmental risk of importing spent nuclear fuel from Germany that contains highly enriched uranium, a move believed to be the first for the United States.
The department said it is considering a plan to ship the nuclear waste from Germany to the Savannah River Site, a federal facility in South Carolina.
The 310-acre site already holds millions of gallons of high-level nuclear waste in tanks. The waste came from reactors in South Carolina that produced plutonium for nuclear weapons from 1953 to 1989.
The Energy Department said it wants to remove 900 kilograms (1,984 pounds) of uranium the United States sold to Germany years ago and render it safe under U.S. nuclear non-proliferation treaties.
A technique for the three-year process of extracting the uranium, which is contained in graphite balls, is being developed at the site in South Carolina, according to the Energy Department.
Some critics question whether the department has fully developed a clear plan to dispose of the radioactive waste.
"They're proposing to extract the uranium and reuse it as fuel by a process that has never been done before," said Tom Clements, president of SRS Watch, a nuclear watchdog group in South Carolina.
"There's no place to take high level waste in the U.S.," he said. "Uranium that is turned into commercial fuel is not contained inside nuclear waste. It's pure material."
A public environmental meeting on the proposed project will be held June 24 in North Augusta, South Carolina.
Clements said shipping the uranium to South Carolina would only add more nuclear waste to the Savannah River Site.
German and U.S. officials signed a statement of intent for the import in March and April. A feasibility study is under way, the Energy Department said.
"The Germans couldn't quite figure out what to do with it," Clements said.
German officials have been embroiled in a fight over who will pay for clean-up of nuclear waste from nine remaining decommissioned nuclear plants.
Sources told Reuters in May that German utilities were in talks with the government about setting up a "bad bank" for nuclear plants, in response to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to close them all by 2022 after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster. (Editing by Kevin Gray and Bill Trott) | 1,268,918 |
we’re all obligated to really help our fellow students in this situation here.
“ … I don’t want that to be a barrier,” she said. “I’m confused and discouraged as to why it is, and it’s a conversation that I hope the release of this information will help us really have on campus.”
In addition to assessing student attitudes and personal experiences, the questionnaire also provides a general assessment of student knowledge of University policy as it relates to sexual misconduct, harassment and assault.
In comparison to 2012, knowledge and understanding of consent — and who has the capacity to give it — has generally improved. The 2015 survey reported 94 percent of students said students in a current or previous dating or sexual relationship could not assume consent, compared to 84 percent in 2012. Additionally, 93 percent of 2015 respondents said a person “incapacitated by alcohol or other substances” was considered unable to give consent, compared to 88 percent of 2012 respondents.
However, the responses to the following question left many administrators perplexed: “Does a person’s level of intoxication change their responsibility to obtain consent to sexual activity?”
Thirty percent of the 2015 respondents said yes. University policy stipulates that a person’s level of intoxication does not lessen their burden to obtain consent for sexual activity.
Jenkins cited the statistic and its relevant policies as an area in which the University needs to focus education.
“The idea that intoxication diminishes one’s responsibility — we have to be clear that’s not true,” he said. “It’s not true, and it’s not going to be treated that way.”
Hoffmann Harding said the responses to that question would shape how the University trains students in the immediate future.
“It’s safe to say, we will incorporate that particular piece of information into every mandatory training that we have for students, now that we’ve learned that that’s a real point of difference in terms of policy awareness among the students,” she said.
In conjunction with the release of the survey results, Jenkins, Hoffmann Harding, Ryan and a number of other University administrators will participate in a town hall meeting Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in DeBartolo 102.
Jenkins said he hoped the town hall would continue the conversation about the survey results, and offer an opportunity to address students’ questions about the survey.
“This has to be a common effort, and, if I have anything to say, it’s to urge everyone to be aware and to do what they can to eliminate sexual assault from this community,” he said. “It is so profoundly at odds with who we are and what we stand for.”
Editor’s note: News Editor Katie Galioto and Managing Editor Kayla Mullen contributed to this story. | 1,268,919 |
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Derren Brown has once again disturbed Channel 4 viewers after concerning scenes in his latest programme saw an audience member eat glass.
His latest offering, Miracle - which saw the hypnotist, mindreader and real-life Jedi master try out a series of new tricks on an audience of theatre goers - involved Brown bringing a women out on stage before he convinced her to swallow glass.
Brown smiled away as he revealed to Sarah that this was "no trick" but a simple mind over matter exercise that anyone can do - if Brown is there to talk them through it.
After placing the glass in her mouth, Derren asked Sarah not to swallow before telling her to 'wash it down with some apple', leaving viewers stunned.
One viewer was so concerned, they considered the Government might need to keep the magic man on their watch list.
They posted: "Derren Brown just made a girl eat glass yet nobody is scared of him as a national threat."
Read a longer reaction below.
(Image: Channel 4) (Image: Channel 4)
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"This should go without saying but I will tonight as we're filming..." added Brown. "Don't go home and start doing it."
The segment ended with the audience stunned and those at home also questioning how it was done.
(Image: Channel 4) (Image: Channel 4)
There were also a host of stunts including the apparent curing of a woman's rheumatoid arthritis.
Brown also eased the pain of a man's aching wisdom tooth and restored the 20:20 vision of a glasses-wearing audience member.
Before the show aired the master of psychological Illusion took to Twitter to say it was his "fave show of the lot" but the TV experience could be ruined by sceptics.
(Image: Channel 4)
Brown said: "Aww very fond memories. My fave show of the lot."
Speaking of his last outing, Pushed To The Edge, he said: "It’s a psychological experiment about social obedience. The terrifying truth is that when confronted with authority, our instinct is to obey without question.
"To such an extent that even the most moral person can be made to commit the most horrendous act – in this case, pushing someone off a building – just because they are told to."
When asked about regrets, Brown said: "No, there really haven’t. I’m in touch with most of the people I’ve done shows with over the years and they tell me that the experience has been a very positive one, often a turning-point in their lives.
* Derren Brown Miracle airs tonight, Monday 10 October, at 9pm on Channel 4 | 1,268,920 |
Photo: USA Network
Spoilers for Psych: The Movie below.
Ask any Psych fan about the show’s holiday reunion movie — seriously, please do, we’re a friendly bunch — and you’ll experience a wave of emotions that begins with elation and ends with pause. Mere weeks after the film was announced last spring, news broke that Timothy Omundson, who portrays the unparalleled police chief Carlton Lassiter, suffered what he called “a wee touch of the stroke” and was hospitalized, effectively putting Psych: The Movie in small-screen limbo. As a result, major rewrites were required from the film’s co-writers James Roday and Steve Franks, and although fans were promised at least “one” scene with Omundson, the seriousness of his recovery obviously and understandably took precedence. Would we really not see our beloved Lassy and his tasteful suspenders again?
Psych: The Movie finally aired on Thursday night, and it was a great 90 minutes of pineapple-y fun. (You know that’s right.) Most poignantly, Omundson indeed gets a brief appearance in perhaps the most effective way it could’ve been staged given the unfortunate circumstances. Stepping into the spotlight more than halfway through the narrative, Juliet video-chats with her old pal to get advice about someone trying to kill her due to, let’s just say, a lack of ethical police work on her part. Lassy, propped up on a chair in what appears to be his office, is more than happy to oblige his old “partner,” although he dryly notes that he’s not her “priest.” What follows is how he rationalizes how cops are “not saints,” making her feel less repentant about her past indiscretions while working for the San Francisco police department.
Lassiter: Listen to me, I took an oath to put the lives of strangers before my own. Meanwhile, I have a daughter who says a little prayer every morning asking Jesus to please let her daddy make it home for dinner. So yes, I believe in a code, but I also believe in doing whatever it takes to make sure bad people don’t hurt good people. Sometimes, that means getting creative.
It’s a moving scene, and the effect of Omundson’s stroke is evident as the camera lingers on his face. Thankfully, that signature Lassy sass is still on full, glorious display: He signs off by simultaneously imploring Jules to take out that “son of a bitch” and commanding her to “tell Spencer to keep sucking it — like, keep at it, do not stop.” Because at the end of the day, all we really wanted from Psych: The Movie was a chance to see Lassiter hate-respect the hell out of Shawn Spencer. Even if it was just for 45 seconds. | 1,268,921 |
I am happy to share with you Lisbon in 100 Bites – The Ultimate Lisbon Food Guide!
As a Portuguese traveler and foodie, I would like to guide you and your taste buds, during your upcoming trip to Portugal. Lisbon in 100 Bites is not a listing of “where to eat” but, instead, an introduction to those items and dishes that are representative of what you are likely to come across around Lisbon.
If you travel to Lisbon and are eager to try the best dishes Portugal has got to offer, you may not always know where to get started. Fear not! Simply allow me to be your local friend who happens to love food, and I’ll show you around.
Divided into Appetizers & Snacks, Main Dishes (Meats and Seafood) and Desserts, Lisbon in 100 Bites contains everything you need to know to make the most of your foodie time while in Lisbon.
This Lisbon food guide includes a little background on our most iconic dishes, along with mouth-watering photos that will get your juices flowing. From well-known goodies such as Pastel de Nata and Seafood Rice, to those rare gems only locals truly know. Pork skin sandwich? A bacon dessert? Marinated pig’s ear salad? We’ve got you covered!
As a Portuguese traveler, I am proud to come from a country with what I believe to be a fairly democratic food culture. Our everyday dishes are not pretentious. They are down-to-earth and affordable for the regular pocket. We have amazing ingredients and a collective love for eating AND talking about food. So, if you like food, you’ll easily break the ice with locals around Lisbon!
You can enjoy a FREE preview of the book here!
Uncomplicated and fun, Lisbon in 100 Bites will take you on a tasty journey around Lisbon!
***
What Foodies Are Saying:
If you’re wondering where to eat when you’re planning a trip to Lisbon, you’re asking the wrong question. The really important question to ask is what to eat, and this book answers that. One-hundred bites, my friends, one-hundred bites.
Sandra Gajjar, Tripper.pt
Zara and her drool-worthy book are treasure troves of information for anyone interested in Portuguese food and food culture.
Laura Siciliano-Rosen, EatYourWorld.com
Don’t be fooled by the title of this Portuguese food book. Although the focus is on Lisbon, many of the dishes in this handy ebook are firm favourites all over Portugal.
Julie Dawn Fox, JulieDawnFox.com
Zara speaks of national delicacies with such enthusiasm and an appealing language that I think I gained a few extra pounds only imagining the elements she so well describes.
Marlene Marques, SurferGirlOnTheMove.com | 1,268,922 |
I saw a post from stopmakingliberalslookbad.tumblr.com that criticized the challenge from social justice extremists for straight white males to use our privilege to help. He rightly regarded that even when “privileged” people try to help, they’re often told to stay in their lane, or that they’re not needed, etc. etc.
I want to go a bit further, because I’m extremely cynical, and I think it’s worth pointing out to these idiots who don’t understand what the fuck the word privilege means.
Let’s assume I’m straight and/or white and/or male. What does it mean for me to use my privilege to help? Do these people truly think that these genetic aspects of myself have any sort of universal regard in the first world? It’s not as if I see a cop beating on a poor, young, innocent black kid that if I run up to them and tell him to stop, he’s going to listen to the reason of my whiteness.
I’m one piece of shit. I have no more influence over anyone else than the next person. People don’t like being told what to do, how to think, how to speak, how to act, no matter what the issue is, and generally no matter who it’s coming from. A white racist isn’t going to listen to my reasoning more because I’m white. They’re not going to convert to being a decent human being all of a sudden. I’ve criticized my male friends when I see them cat call, and it doesn’t make a difference. People will be shitty, am I supposed to just get ultraviolent on people because they say and do shitty things that may or may not hurt other people’s feelings?
I effectively can not use my privilege to help. The most I can use is my being, and that’s something that falls outside of the scope of privilege. Surely you realize that not all straight people, white people, and men, have money, influence, and other variables that can turn the tide of social injustices. I don’t live in a huge 4000 square foot house that was given to me on White People Appreciation Day. I don’t drive a Lexus. I barely have any money in the bank.
Trust me, I am all on the train of being able to help fight against bullshit. But if you think that I’m going to take orders from a fucking idiot who doesn’t understand how life works and what makes people tick, you’re going to find yourself in some array of disappointment. Also, if you pick and choose which demographics you believe are worth helping, or have no interest in taking action against true sufferers of misogyny in non-first world countries, then you can shut the fuck up and stop being a hypocrite. | 1,268,923 |
Solid Concepts, one of the world’s largest rapid prototyping outfits, just printed a gun. Unlike previous 3D printed guns like the Liberator, this 3D printed version of an M1911 is made out of metal. It’s a real gun, with rifling in the barrel – something the Liberator doesn’t have – and has the look and feel of what the US military has been using as a service pistol for decades.
The Solid Concepts 1911 was made using the selective laser sintering process, using a combination of stainless steel and nickel-chromium alloys. Every single part of the gun, save for the spring, was 3D printed without any machining. It’s an impressive feat of rapid manufacturing – firing.45 ACP rounds, this gun will see 20,000 psi every time the gun is fired. It’s already chewed through a few magazines so far, and it apparently shoots pretty well, to boot.
Here’s why you shouldn’t care.
Solid Concepts business is to make things using rapid prototyping. They make everything from plastic baubles, tooling for injection molds, architectural models, and stuff that doesn’t get past the prototype stage. This 3D printed 1911 is simply a demonstration of Solid Concept’s capabilities, nothing more.
The printer used to manufacture this printer is an EOS SLS printer that costs many tens of thousands of dollars. Our limited research can’t pin the price of the printer down more than that, but let’s just say you could buy a very, very nice sports car for the same price, and we’re not talking about that awesome ‘vette down at the Chevy dealership.
This is just a neat little advertisement, that’s it. Someone at Solid Concepts realized if they made a gun using 3D printed parts, it would be picked up by blogs and wire services. They were right. It’s an excellent demo of what Solid Concepts’ capabilities are, but that’s just about it. You’re still not able to manufacture an M1911 on a desktop 3D printer, and even if you could, you could set up a machine shop in your garage and end up with a similar product for less money.
As an aside, and this is just me throwing an idea out there, can we please stop using guns as an example of what 3D printing can do? I respect your right to manufacture, own, and operate a gun, but as I write this paragraph, I’m cringing at the thought of all the pro and anti-gun comments this post will see.
If you’re looking for a way to demonstrate your 3D printing prowess, how about something like an engine? Given the right design, they’re more complicated than a gun, and a really small Wankel engine would be really cool.
Video of the Solid Concepts 1911 available below. | 1,268,924 |
A light bulb appears over my head.
I finally get it.
For the democratic process to run properly it necessitates the voter to have some knowledge of what he is voting on.
For it to work properly it requires voters to cast their votes based on an educated opinion.
If you are going to vote on something like stem cell research you should at least know what it is, correct?
Sadly, that isn’t how many American vote, as is obvious when during an election year people are talking about whether or not someone “looks presidential” and whether the person looks “likeable”.
Well the question is, how can Americans vote on such things as global warming, stem cell research, cloning and what have you when basic scientific fundamental concepts fly right over our heads.
"American adults in general do not understand what molecules are (other than that they are really small). Fewer than a third can identify DNA as a key to heredity. Only about 10 percent know what radiation is. One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth, an idea science had abandoned by the 17th century." Said Jon D. Miller, a political scientists who directs the Center for Biomedical Communications at the Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, he regularly surveys Americans for his clients which include the National Science Foundation on the public’s knowledge and attitudes towards science in general.
I mean, lets be honest, if you don’t know what a fucking cell is how can you understand what stem cell research is enough to vote on it?
And according to this guy most Americans don’t know what a cell is.
Then it hit me.
There is a reason why people are fighting so hard to get creationism taught in the public schools along side evolution as a scientific alternative.
Like I said, it hit me. And it hit me hard.
Americans, on top of not having a clue what a cell is or what radiation is or even that the Earth revolves around the Sun are letting religious leaders dictate to them what to vote on issues that would take knowledge of basic scientific fundamentals, because I am assuming that they are assuming that since these religious leaders are supposedly moral and ethical “authorities” they should be qualified to figure out where we stand on these scientific issues, but who is to say that they even know these basic scientific concepts?
What a dangerous misstep.
Fact: Polls show that in general, people who adhere to fundamentalist views are not well educated.
Those things go hand in hand.
He says that every time he goes on the radio to talk about his findings he gets people from the listening area sending him cards in the mail saying that they will pray for him.
So I take it even though they don’t understand what he is talking about when he refers to “DNA” they know that people that use big words like that are most likely going to hell.
| 1,268,925 |
66 16 16MB 95W $488 Ryzen 7 2700X 8 / 16 3.7 GHz 4.3 GHz DDR4-2966 16 + 4 (NVMe) 16MB 105W $329 Core i7-9700K 8 / 8 3.6 GHz 4.9 GHz (1 Core)4.8 GHz (2 Core)4.7 GHz (4 Core)4.6 GHz (6 / 8 Core) DDR4-2666 16 12MB 95W $374 Core i7-8086K 6 / 12 4.0 GHz 5.0 GHz DDR4-2666 16 12MB 95W $425 Core i7-8700K 6 / 12 3.7 GHz 4.7 GHz DDR4-2666 16 12MB 95W $330 Ryzen 7 2700 8 / 16 3.2 GHz 4.1 GHz DDR4-2966 16 + 4 (NVMe) 16MB 95W $229 Core i5-9600K 6 / 6 3.7 GHz 4.6 GHz (1 Core)4.5 GHz (2 Core)4.4 GHz (4 Core)4.3 GHz (6 Core) DDR4-2666 16 9MB 95W $262 Core i5-8600K 6 / 6 3.6 GHz 4.3 GHz DDR4-2966 16 9MB 95W $279 Ryzen 5 2600X 6 / 12 3.6 GHz 4.2 GHz DDR4-2966 16 + 4 (NVMe) 16MB 65W $229 Ryzen 5 2600 6 / 12 3.4 GHz 3.9 GHz DDR4-2966 16 + 4 (NVMe) 16MB 65W $199
The new Core CPUs drop into existing 300-series motherboards after a BIOS update, though Intel's partners also have a slew of Z390 motherboards available, which you can see here. As we'll illustrate, the Core i9-9900K, specifically, draws enough power to make VRM selection an important factor in your motherboard purchase, especially if you plan on overclocking. Luckily, most high-end Z390 motherboards already employ beefier power circuitry than the Z370 models.
Plan on buying a beefy cooler for the Core i9-9900K, too. Its eight-core die hides beneath the same heat spreader used on previous-gen six-core models, meaning that even with Solder TIM, thermal density presents challenges. Intel's official spec sheet lists a 130W cooler as the entry-level solution. If you plan on tuning, open- or closed-loop liquid cooling is a must. Even then, thermal output could be what limits your overclock.
Let's see how the Core i9-9900K and its stablemates perform in our test suite.
Update 10/22: Corrected the recommended pricing for the Ryzen 7 2700X in our efficiency charts.
MORE: Best CPUs
MORE: Intel & AMD Processor Hierarchy
MORE: All CPUs Content | 1,268,926 |
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Two men and a woman remain in custody Saturday suspected in mail thefts in Laguna Hills and arrested in Downey after a nearly two-hour, televised chase.
Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched about 2:30 p.m. Friday to the 25000 block of Buckboard Lane in the Nellie Gail neighborhood after residents reported seeing two male suspects taking mail from their mailboxes, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
A sheriff’s helicopter spotted the suspects in a silver 2011 Honda Civic that was leaving the area, Hallock said.
The Honda was speeding along Alicia Parkway toward the Santa Ana (5) Freeway but failed to yield when deputies who attempted a traffic stop and the chase was on, according to Hallock.
It headed south into San Clemente before turning around and heading north, Hallock said.
“The suspect vehicle traveled northbound Interstate 5 and on surface streets through the cities of Irvine, Tustin, Santa Ana and Anaheim before getting back onto the freeway,” Hallock said.
At times, the driver was going at the speed limit, but other times the driving was erratic as the driver went on the wrong side of the street and over center medians, sometimes hitting speeds in excess of 80 mph.
The chase finally ended when the Honda stopped near Lakewood Boulevard and Florence Avenue in Downey, where the driver, identified as 45-year-old David Brown, and his wife, 55-year-old Jessica Brown, and another passenger, 22- year-old Corey Richardson, were taken into custody after brief foot chases, Hallock said.
All three, residents of Anaheim, were collared by Downey Police officers, who assisted in the chase along with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, Hallock said.
They were arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property and felony evading.David Brown remained in custody in lieu of $165,000 bail, his wife Jessica in lieu of $20,000 bail and Richardson in lieu of $33,500 at the Orange County Jail. Their respective court appearances have been slated for Tuesday, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Inmate Information.
“During the initial minutes of the pursuit, the suspects threw numerous bags and pieces of mail from the vehicle,” Hallock said. “Several items, some believed to be stolen, were located inside the vehicle.
“Investigators are continuing to inventory the vehicle and items located inside, to determine the suspect’s connection to the crimes in Laguna Hills as well as other jurisdictions.”
Additional allegations are possible, Hallock said.
—City News Service
Mail-theft suspects arrested after 2-hour OC chase ends in Downey was last modified: by
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Ashwin-Jadeja may be the foremost spinners in Tests at present. But that attacking instinct has been visibly absent in limited-overs’ cricket. If their statistics from the Champions Trophy are any reflection, they are defensive, holding spinners at best. Surely, team India does not need two of them in the same line-up, and a key rejoinder to this was seen in the Caribbean, when Yadav played all five ODIs with Ashwin-Jadeja used alternately.
“I cannot bowl to restrict runs. If I do that, I will end up conceding more runs. I like to flight the ball so the batsman can attack me, because that will give me more chances to get him out. Taking wickets should be a habit for bowlers. If you are not taking wickets, you are an ordinary bowler and of no use to the team. My thought process is very simple,” said Yadav, ahead of the fourth ODI in Colombo.
There is chutzpah about this young left-arm leg-spinner that has seen him snare 11 wickets in seven ODIs thus far at an average of 20.81. Cynics will argue that it is still early days for him, but the devil lies in the comparison. Jadeja’s last 11 ODI wickets have come in 15 matches. Meanwhile, Ashwin has taken his last 11 ODI wickets in 12 matches dating back to the 2015-‘16 season. That last factoid is staggering even when you consider that the off-spinner hasn’t played much limited-overs cricket in the past two seasons.
All eyes on the 2019 World Cup
Additionally, it is representative of the unorthodoxy that wrist spinners bring to the table. It is also why Kohli is keen to pick either Yadav or Chahal in the playing eleven, or even both as the case may be, ahead of his regular “Test spinners”. Then, there is the Patel angle, who does a holding job while the skipper can attack with a leg spinner from the other end, or indeed even game a tad by bringing on a part-timer (read Kedar Jadhav).
“We want to recognise our best combination for the World Cup as quickly as possible,” Kohli had said on Sunday, underlining the experiments against Sri Lanka as a success. Yadav and Chahal have given Kohli the control he desired, and there is merit in their elevation as contenders for that big tournament. As harsh it may sound, Patel and Jadeja seem to be interchangeable in terms of their bowling, alone. The added rider herein, of course, is fielding.
At this early stage on the road to 2019, it is a wonder where Ashwin stands in the pecking order thus. Guess we will know soon enough, if he continues playing county cricket whilst the Australian team arrives in India. | 1,268,928 |
The three major console manufacturers behind Switch, Xbox One, and PS4--Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony--have penned a joint letter voicing their opposition for tariffs that would impact Chinese goods including game consoles. The three say the proposed tariffs on video game consoles would cause harm to consumers, developers, retailers, and manufacturers, risk job losses in the industry, and stifle innovation.
"While we appreciate the Administration's efforts to protect U.S. intellectual property and preserve U.S. high-tech leadership, the disproportionate harm caused by these tariffs to U.S. consumers and businesses will undermine—not advance—these goals," the letter states.
The letter goes on to note that in 2018, more than 96% of video game consoles imported in the US were manufactured in China, and that moving 100% of manufacturing to the US or another country would cause "significant supply chain disruption" and increase costs "even beyond the cost of the proposed tariffs."
"Each video game console comprises dozens of complex components sourced from multiple countries," it says. "A change in even a single supplier must be vetted carefully to mitigate risks of product quality, unreliability and consumer safety issues. Tariffs would significantly disrupt our companies' businesses and add significant costs that would depress sales of video game consoles and the games and services that drive the profitability of this market segment."
The industry leaders also note that consoles are sold under very tight margins, sometimes at a loss. Increasing the cost of production would either need to add to the sales price ("console purchasers are extremely price sensitive") or cut into the companies themselves. A 25% price increase in consoles to match the tariff cost would "likely put a new video game console out of reach for many American families who we expect to be in the market for a console this holiday season."
It goes on to note the potential harm to third-party accessory makers, developers, and especially retailers. In particular it voices concern over these tariffs going into effect before the 2019 holiday season.
"Given that retail margins on video game consoles are generally very tight, we see no possible reasonable scenario for retailers other than passing tariff costs down to consumers," it states. "Any imposition of tariffs leading into the winter holidays—the strongest sales season for consoles—would have a significant negative impact on U.S.-based retailers and their employees, in particular because promotional offers on consoles are important to driving sales volume. Tariffs would make it especially difficult for both console makers and retailers to support the types of promotional offers typical of the holiday season."
The proposed tariffs would add a 25% tax on all imports from China. That tax is paid for by the importers--in this case, the console manufacturers themselves. But as pointed out in the letter, these increased costs would likely be offset with price increases on retailers and consumers. Nintendo has reportedly been preparing itself for the tariffs by moving manufacturing out of China ahead of the launch of rumored new Switch models. The United States Trade Representative held hearings on June 17, and now could put them into effect at any time. | 1,268,929 |
Eric Ciaramella
The Deep State is still covering for the anti-Trump CIA ‘whistleblower’ Eric Ciaramella and refusing to confirm nor deny the existence of records related to his communications with FBI officials involved in the conspiracy to take out President Trump.
Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch requested communications between Eric Ciaramella and former FBI CI chief Peter Strzok, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and the Special Counsel’s office.
The Department of Justice and the CIA both responded to Judicial Watch and refused to confirm the existence of records related to Ciaramella.
Via Judicial Watch:
TRENDING: Obama Statement on Ginsburg Demands GOP Senate Honors Her Dying 'Instruction' and Put Off Vote on Supreme Court Nominee Until New President Sworn In
Judicial Watch announced today it received letters from both the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) stating they will neither confirm nor deny the existence of emails and other communications related to CIA official Eric Ciaramella, who reportedly worked on Ukraine issues while on detail to both the Obama and Trump White Houses. The CIA letter stated: In accordance with section 3.6(a) of Executive Order 13526, the CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to the requests. The fact of the existence or nonexistence of such records is itself exempt from FO IA under exemption (b )(3) and Section 6 of the CIA Act of I 949, 50 U.S.C. § 3507, and, to the extent your request could relate to CIA intelligence sources and methods information, the fact of the existence or nonexistence of such records is exempt from FOIA under exemption (b)( I) and exemption (b)(3) in conjunction with Section 102A(i)(l) of the National Security Act of 1947, 50 U.S.C § 3024(i)( I). This completes our response to the above referenced cases. The Justice Department also refused to confirm or deny the existence of responsive records, citing, among other justifications, the personal privacy of Ciaramella.
Eric Ciaramella’s name appeared in the Mueller report in a footnote and his name also appeared in transcripts of witnesses who testified in the impeachment hearings so there really is no excuse for this type of response from the Justice Department.
“The CIA and Justice Department are covering up information about the alleged whistleblower behind the abusive impeachment of President Trump,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “CIA operative Ciaramella is documented to be involved in the Russia collusion investigation and was a key CIA operative on Ukraine in the both the Obama and Trump White Houses. The incredible secrecy about his activities shows that the DOJ and CIA are trying to cover-up rather than expose any agency abuses that led to unprecedented attacks on President Trump.”
You can support Judicial Watch and Tom Fitton by clicking here. | 1,268,930 |
Google is testing a new way for it and websites to profit from the Internet without using ads: Google Contributor. The program is basically a crowd funding subscription service with a touch of bribe thrown in so you don’t have to see ads. Currently, it’s in the experimental stage, with only a few websites taking part 1, and you have to join a wait list to be able to participate as a subscriber.
How it works
As of right now, subscribers can choose to pay between $1 and $3 a month, and for this small payment, they won’t see ads on sites that are in the Contributor network. Instead, they’ll either see a pixelated area where an ad would be or a thank you message. 2
Who gets paid and how
When The Register asked Google how much money websites would get for being a part of the Contributor network, a spokesperson said:
“We keep a portion [of the subscription fee] to operate our advertising network on which Contributor runs. This is the same amount we charge advertisers to show their ads.”
In other words, Google will make exactly what they make now, but websites that participate stand to see their revenue seesaw up and down depending on subscription and payment rates. If you’re wondering how Google can have any money left over for paying websites that participate, much less cover their own costs when people will only be contributing a few dollars a month, keep in mind that the average cost per 1,000 impressions for an ad is just $2.90.
I’m pretty sure this is doomed to failure
This sounds like a great idea in theory, but the reality is that while people may complain about ads, most aren’t willing to put their money where their mouse is. A number of articles say that if Contributor succeeds, websites could start looking to subscription services and paywalls as a way of making money instead of using ads. The thing is, there are already paywalls and subscription services, and they’re just limping along. If either was incredibly successful, they would already have been adopted as common practice.
The other thing is that people are used to ads. Look at sidebar ads on Facebook; they’re basically the no man’s land of ads because they’re essentially invisible. I suspect that one of the reasons that Facebook, LinkedIn and other platforms have started using sponsored posts is because people zone out ads that aren’t directly in their line of vision. Additionally, there are add-ons and programs that not only block popups but ads themselves. If advertising on websites bug you that much, you’ve probably already dealt with the problem and wouldn’t be interested in Contributor.
I can’t imagine that Google hasn’t already thought of all these things, which makes me wonder if they’re not just using Contributor as a way of proving the importance of Internet advertising. | 1,268,931 |
P).
EURACTIV asked Borissov if Bulgaria would expel Russian diplomats.
Earlier on Wednesday, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who is the number two in the GERB party and has served as interior minister, said Bulgaria was likely to expel Russian diplomats, because in his words the proofs of Russian involvement in the Skripal case were “much clearer now”.
Up to now, Bulgaria is one of the few EU members who didn’t expel Russian diplomats in relation with the alleged Russian covert operation in the UK.
‘Unplug machines from the sockets’
Borissov made no reference to the Skripal case, but said that cyberattacks and similar actions in Bulgaria had been recently exposed, “with the help of allied services”.
“You remember, in the Council of Ministers, and in other ministries, before the start of the Bulgarian Presidency [first half of 2018], the cyberattacks were terrible. I don’t remember the date, but it was a Friday, I asked [my staff] to unplug the machines from the sockets, to minimise damage”.
Actually such cyberattacks have never been publicly announced. The only time when officials said cyberattacks took place is during the 25 October 2015 local elections, which happened alongside a referendum for introducing remote voting.
Reportedly, the computer systems of four of the most important state institutions were targeted.
Former Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev said in a TV interview on Saturday that this referendum was targeted by Russia, because in his words it could have completely changed the political system in Bulgaria.
Plevneliev explained that the referendum, which remained invalid, due to low turnout, could have given the chance for two million Bulgarian voters living permanently abroad, whom he described as pro-West, to turn upside-down the results in national elections.
Borissov stressed that his country’s loyalty to the Western alliance was beyond doubt, adding that his country also strives to have pragmatic and mutually beneficial relations with Russia, mentioning spheres such as “gas, tourism, trade”.
He refrained from disclosing if Russian diplomats would be expelled, saying:
“Tsvetanov has always been more of a hardliner in this type of appeals, but the decisions will be taken by the government. The issue [of whether to expel Russian diplomats] is not on the agenda, but I repeat, with all the energy we follow up on every signal on all these issues.”
“I have never blamed anyone before having proof. But the fact is that there are entries into Bulgaria by people under surveillance by the Euro-Atlantic services”.
Last March Borissov said he wasn’t sure Moscow was behind the Salisbury poisoning case. EURACTIV asked Borissov if he was still of the same opinion. He said:
“I’m not going to return to this issue”. | 1,268,932 |
Dave Dodson, a businessman who fueled his Trumpian campaign with $1 million of his own money and attacks on Barasso’s Washington connections. The Trumpier candidate also fell short in Wyoming’s gubernatorial primary, as state Treasurer Mark Gordon defeated GOP megadonor Foster Freiss, despite the president’s weighing in Tuesday on Freiss’s behalf.
The Return of the Soccer Mom: Could soccer moms swing the House? Democrats hope so. Yahoo News’ Laina Yost reports that even though “that 1990s term for politically moderate suburban women has fallen out of usage lately,” soccer moms are “still around, and a key voting bloc in the upcoming midterms” because they are “frustrated with Washington and turned off by President Trump.”
Out of this World: Republicans in Florida’s 27th Congressional District — a seat that encompasses Little Havana, most of downtown Miami and Miami Beach — have a problem. In November 2016, Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump there by nearly 20 percentage points. In May 2017, longtime GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced her retirement. And with an Aug. 28 primary looming, no particularly credible Republican candidates have stepped forward to take her place.
Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, a former Doral city council member and the city’s first economic director, will run to replace retiring Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Congress in 2018. (Photo: Roberto Koltun/El Nuevo Herald/TNS via Getty Images)
And so, on Sunday, the Miami Herald’s editorial board took the bold step of endorsing Republican Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, a candidate who claims that she was once abducted by aliens.
According to the Miami New Times, “in 2009, Rodriguez Aguilera appeared on the Spanish-language program Experiencias Extradimensionales (Extradimensional Experiences), in which she said she zoomed around the universe with three giant, blond beings in a quartz-powered spaceship. She also said the aliens, who resembled Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer statue, told her there are 30,000 ‘nonhuman’ skulls hidden in Maltese caves, the ‘energy center’ of the world exists in Africa, and South Miami-Dade’s mysterious Coral Castle was built by aliens.”
Rodriguez Aguilera is not the Republican frontrunner; that would be Maria Elvira Salazar, a former CNN, Univision, and Telemundo reporter. But whoever they nominate next week, Republicans are likely to lose FL-27 to whomever the Democrats nominate — likely Donna Shalala, the former University of Miami president and a Secretary of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration.
Verbatim:
Up Next:
August 28: Arizona and Florida primaries; Oklahoma primaries runoff
_____
Read more from Yahoo News: | 1,268,933 |
Uncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing — and changing us.
Google workers signed a public letter asking their company’s management to cancel controversial plans to build a censored version of the company’s search product in China, referred to as Project Dragonfly.
“Our opposition to Dragonfly is not about China: we object to technologies that aid the powerful in oppressing the vulnerable, wherever they may be,” the letter reads. It goes on to state that the project “comes as the Chinese government is openly expanding its surveillance powers and tools of population control” and “would establish a dangerous precedent, at a volatile political moment.”
The letter is in support of Amnesty International’s public campaign against the project, which includes planned protests outside several Google offices today. About nine workers have signed the letter so far, including two of the organizers of the recent Google Walkout protests.
Update: 310 Google employees have signed the letter as of Tuesday evening.
This isn’t the first time Google employees have taken issue with Google’s ambitions to build a censored search app for China. But it’s the first time employees have publicly called for it to end. In August, around 1,400 employees signed a letter internally raising ethical concerns about the project. The app was reportedly designed to blacklist phrases such as “human rights,” “Nobel Prize,” and “student protest,” according to the Intercept, which first reported on its existence. Several employees including a senior research scientist resigned over the issue.
There has also been increasing pressure to end the project from U.S. politicians. Six senators have asked for more information about the project and Vice President Mike Pence publicly criticized the project, saying that it “will strengthen Communist Party censorship and compromise the privacy of Chinese customers” and called on Google to halt development.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has defended the company’s decision to enter the Chinese market, arguing that the company is always balancing its values when abiding by local laws in other countries.
“We are compelled by our mission [to] provide information to everyone, and [China is] 20 percent of the world’s population.” said Pichai speaking at the WIRED25 conference last month.
Google previously cancelled plans to expand its business to China in 2010 over concerns about the government’s involvement in cyber attacks and regulations on citizens’ free speech.
In the past year, Google employees have become increasingly outspoken about ethical implications of how the company’s technology is used. In April, thousands of employees criticized the company’s involvement in a project with the Pentagon to use Google artificial intelligence technology for military purposes. Two months later, the company decided not to renew that contract.
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Kevin Spacey Awarded Honorary Knighthood in Queen's Birthday Honors
“I thought, ‘Well, if you’re ever going to do [TV], this is the way to do it.’ It could all turn out to be the big bang that nobody heard around the world, but it felt to me like it was worth every ounce of risk,” says Spacey of signing on to do House of Cards for Netflix. He was photographed March 10 at Blixseth Mountain Park in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Acclaimed singer and songwriter Van Morrison was also among the honorees.
LONDON (AP) — Acclaimed singer and songwriter Van Morrison is joining a select group of music giants with a knighthood to their name.
The Belfast-born Morrison was honored Friday by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music and tourism in Northern Ireland, the inspiration for many of his classics. Many of his wistful, mystical songs are set on the streets of Belfast.
The musician, known for hits such as "Brown-Eyed Girl" and his unique take on American roots music, will join Sir Elton (John), Sir Paul (McCartney), Sir Mick (Jagger) and several others in the British pantheon.
Morrison is among more than 1,000 people recognized by the queen in her annual Birthday Honors list for their achievements and services to the community.
Recipients in entertainment include Academy Award best actor winner Eddie Redmayne, who was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE. Redmayne has enjoyed a stellar year with a slew of awards for his portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.
Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Twelve Years a Slave actor Chiwetel Ejiofor were both named Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE.
Kevin Spacey, who is finishing a 10-year run as artistic director at London's Old Vic theater, was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to culture and British theater.
Spacey said he was "honored and humbled" by the monarch's recognition and thanked Britons for supporting his work. "I feel like an adopted son," he said.
Others honored included people from a wide range of professions, from sports players to historians, women's rights campaigners and health workers. They include Will Pooley, the first British person to contract the Ebola virus, who was honored for his services in tackling the outbreak in Africa.
Almost three-quarters of the list of 1,163 recipients is made up of those away from the public eye who are honored for their work in local communities.
Knights are addressed as "sir" or "dame." Recipients of the other honors have no title, but can put the letters after their names. The ranks for the Orders of the British Empire are Commander, Officer and Member, in descending order. | 1,268,935 |
Donald Trump won the electoral college at least in part by promising to bring coal jobs back to Appalachia and manufacturing jobs back to the Rust Belt. Neither promise can be honored – for the most part we’re talking about jobs lost, not to unfair foreign competition, but to technological change. But a funny thing happens when people like me try to point that out: we get enraged responses from economists who feel an affinity for the working people of the afflicted regions – responses that assume that trying to do the numbers must reflect contempt for regional cultures, or something.
So the other day I mused about the dilemmas of dealing with regional backlash, and noted that even lavishly funded attempts to shore up declining regions don’t seem to work very well. Here’s what I said:
[T]he track record of regional support policies in other countries, which spend far more on such things than we are likely to, is pretty poor. For example, massive aid to the former East Germany hasn’t prevented a large decline in population, much bigger than the population decline in Appalachia over the same period.
In response, I get a long, furious piece from Lyman Stone denouncing me:
Krugman and those who believe him want to believe that the fears of Appalachians (or Rust Belters, or what have you) are overblown, that life has not been so bad for them as it seems.
Wait; did I say that? I don’t think so. In fact, if I thought everything was OK in Appalachia, I wouldn’t have used it as a comparator for Eastern Germany. The point was precisely that Appalachia is a byword for regional decline, which makes it striking that East Germany, which has received the kind of aid Appalachia can only dream of, is suffering an even faster demographic decline.
And for what it’s worth, I’ve spent decades writing and talking about the problems of rising inequality and stagnant wages, so characterizing me as someone telling workers that their problems exist only in their heads is pretty strange.
Now, if we want to have a discussion of regional policies – an argument to the effect that my pessimism is unwarranted – fine. As someone who is generally a supporter of government activism, I’d actually like to be convinced that a judicious program of subsidies, relocating government departments, whatever, really can sustain communities whose traditional industry has eroded.
But what we get instead is an immediate attack on motives. Apparently even suggesting that the decline in some kinds of traditional employment can’t be reversed, and that sustaining regional economies can be hard, is a demonstration of elitist contempt for regular people. You might think that people like me are potential allies for those who want to help working families, wherever they are. But if we can’t say anything without facing the hair-trigger tempers of regional advocates, without being accused of insulting their culture, that pretty much forecloses useful discussion. | 1,268,936 |
In the past year he's been painting pictures, singing songs, and demonstrating his expert judo moves. This week Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will complete a clean sweep of the artistic disciplines after turning his hand to writing. Mr Putin's first ever column for a Russian media outlet will be published on Friday, entitled "Why it's hard to fire people".
But while the previous efforts, along with his skiing, tiger-shooting and bare-chested fishing expeditions, have been propaganda for personal abilities, the article seems to have a more serious point. Written for a niche monthly magazine, Russian Pioneer, it reads as the first admission by Mr Putin of the scale of infighting that raged in the Kremlin during his eight years as president.
"Conflicts within a team, especially within a big team, always arise," writes Mr Putin, in extracts leaked to a Russian news agency. "This happens every minute, every second – simply because between people there are always clashes of interest."
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Most analysts believe that during Mr Putin's presidency, a vicious battle was fought for power and influence between liberals and hardliners within and around the Kremlin. This continues today as the relatively liberal President Dmitry Medvedev and his close associates appear to be fighting off challenges from a hardline group of conservative former KGB officers. Mr Putin is sometimes lumped in with the latter group, but many analysts suggest that he actually played a delicate balancing act to stop the two groups from descending into all-out war.
The scuffles are rarely aired in public and Mr Putin himself has not made direct reference to them before. But now he seems to confirm the most radical of interpretations. "I can say honestly that while I was president, if I hadn't interfered in certain situations, in Russia there would long ago ceased to have been a government."
The magazine's editor Andrei Kolesnikov said he had not had to make any corrections as the article was written in excellent Russian, albeit with Mr Putin's famous idiosyncratic expressions in abundance.
For any corporate hotshots looking for tips on how to get rid of underachieving employees in times of economic crisis, the article lays out the "Putin method" of firing, which – on paper at least – sounds surprisingly humane. "Sometimes from outside it seems like someone should simply be swept aside with a broom," writes Mr Putin. "But I can assure you that it's not always like this. You should never bad-mouth someone behind their back, and it's impermissible to fire somebody and toss them aside just because somebody has told you something bad about them."
Mr Putin also claims that he always gives people the right to fight their corner. "In contrast to previous, Soviet rulers, I always do it personally. I usually call the person into my office, look them in the eye, and say: 'There are concrete complaints. If you think this isn't true, then please, you can fight against it; argue your case'." | 1,268,937 |
News organizations such as EURONEWS, CNN, ARTE and BBC have all started to experiment with virtual reality (VR). Interactive reports with 360-degree videos appear on the web and invite viewers to dive into the story. Whether in a battlefield or underwater with sharks, the audience is right in the scene. Journalists always strive to bring people closer to the reality of a story. Will the multimedia experience be an opportunity to reach this goal?
LET’S START WITH THE EXPLANATION OF VIRTUAL REALITY
Virtual Reality is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. The user does not sit in front of a screen anymore, instead he is immersed in the experience through a VR headset. While first ideas of VR were published in the mid 19th century with the purpose to revolutionize cinema, it has become popular in the gaming and entertainment scene, but also in education and a variety of industries, such as medicine, architecture and the military.
Major challenges are cost and consumer take-up of headsets. In the previous years production cost has come down through technological developments, among them cheaper cameras, VR-headsets and the optimization of post production software which today allow an easier entry point.
This is an example to get a first insight of the spatial 360-degree experience of virtual reality
More examples below ↓
VR allows people to get impressions and experience the atmosphere of places, where they normally wouldn’t go. Experts hope the user will have more empathy for, engagement with, and understanding of the subject.
Nonny de la Peña has been working in this field for more than a decade: “We believe that immersive journalism offers a profoundly different way to experience the news, and therefore ultimately to understand it in a way that is otherwise impossible, without really being there.”
The user’s stress level can increase and even feel uncomfortable through the intensity of VR, depending on the topic. In other research, users felt unwell, if the personal space was invaded by virtual people. In VR, compared to a TV experience, the person is immersed in the headset, there is no room for other activities, while with TV there is often a sense of disconnection that is caused by doing other things.
Nonny de la Peña also said: “Immersive journalism does not aim solely to present the facts, but rather the opportunity to experience the facts.”
Donghee Shin of the Chung-Ang University in South Korea evaluated how virtual reality stimulates empathy and the embodied experience. The data of the experiments show that the VR story successfully induced presence and flow as well as empathy during and after the story for the participants. The embodiment in the story scenes were high, despite substantial variation among the different test groups.
The results show the benefits of virtual reality for journalism, as well as for other sectors. Further technological developments will happen, and VR hardware will be taken up by customers, we will soon explore the growing world of immersive medias.
More examples | 1,268,938 |
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I've been at this blog for nearly 3 years now and have never asked for something like this—I hope I've earned enough trust to be able to ask something back from you. Above is a picture of Daniela and her family. Brandon, age 6, Daniela, age 9 and little Evelyn age 4. Daniela is divorcing her spouse after years of abuse. In recent years her mortgage went unpaid and she's lost her house.
As of this moment, Daniela's family is staying at our house and we are trying to help her find a one bedroom apartment for her family to live in. With Evelyn, her youngest having Down's Syndrome and Daniela herself being a Romanian immigrant with very little family support she literally has no one to turn to. Except us (all of us).
Daniela cleans houses when she can leave her family. I'm not even going to tell you what she gets paid—it's obscene. Right now her options are pretty limited, aside from an apartment, there is only a group shelter. Not very pretty.
Here's what we are asking. Right now, Belinda and I are opening our home, but it's tight as we have no basement. We've committed to giving as much as we can spare, diverting funds from other places. I'm asking if you could think about doing the same. Or at the very least, helping get the word out about this. We are looking to raise 5k for Daniela and her family. Enough so that she doesn't have to worry about a deposit or rent for a while.
I know this is the worst possible time to ask for anything. But would you consider the following:
1. Giving whatever you can ("Chip in" uses Pay Pal and it's very easy to donate and it's secure)
2. Spread the word. Please, please blog this, tweet this, re-tweet this.
3. Help find a donor (maybe a generous company or individual)
I don't have anything to offer back. Not an ego list or top donators directory. I can only hope that this thing we call "community" puts its money or heart where its mouth is. Please do whatever you can.
Respectfully, David and family
PS, if you don't feel comfortable using Pay Pal, please e-mail us here and we'll figure it out. And thank you. | 1,268,939 |
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem on Saturday demanded an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. and Turkish troops from his country and warned that Syrian government forces had the right to take countermeasures if they refused.
The United States has around 1,000 troops in Syria tackling Islamic State militants. Turkey has also launched military incursions into northern Syria, targeting Islamic State and Kurdish YPG fighters.
>> Read more: The first step in a 1,000-mile journey to rebuild Syria | Analysis ■ Syria's Idlib: The hot potato the U.S., Russia and Turkey are fighting over | Analysis
"Any foreign forces operating in our territories without our authorization are occupying forces and must withdraw immediately," al-Moualem said during an address to the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York.
"If they refuse, we have the right to take any and all countermeasures authorized under international law," he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump last year ordered the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria - only to later be convinced to leave some forces behind to ensure that Islamic State militants cannot stage a comeback.
The U.S. intervention in Syria began with air strikes in September 2014 under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.
While Syria did not approve a U.S. presence there, the Obama administration justified the military action under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, which covers the individual or collective right of states to self-defense against armed attack.
"The United States and Turkey maintain an illegal military presence in northern Syria," al-Moualem said, describing U.S. and Turkish efforts to create a "safe zone" inside Syria as a violation of the U.N. Charter.
Open gallery view Syria's Deputy Prime Minister Walid Al-Moualem addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, September 28, 2019. Credit: Richard Drew,AP
Turkey plans to build homes to settle 1 million Syrian refugees in the zone.
The United States and Turkey have started joint land and air patrols along part of Syria's border with Turkey, but Ankara remains angry with Washington's support for the YPG, which has been a key U.S. ally in fighting Islamic State in Syria.
A crackdown by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 led to civil war, and Islamic State militants used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq.
Assad's forces have been backed by Russian air power and have been waging an offensive in the Idlib region in the country's northwest, the last major chunk of territory still in rebel hands after more than eight years of war.
Western states have accused Russian and Syrian forces of targeting civilians in northwest Syria, a charge they deny. They say they are targeting militants.
"We are determined to continue our war against terrorism in all its forms until rooting out the last remaining terrorist," al-Moualem said. | 1,268,940 |
Large Hills of Trash on Egyptian Streets are about to Turn into Business Opportunities
Wherever you are in Egypt, the sight of garbage on almost every street has become the norm. Sewage and industry waste is still dumped in the Nile. With a population closing in on 100 million, the waste problem is not going away soon. While it can be a liability, IWEX turned it into an opportunity and launched the “Leeha 2eema – ليها قيمة” program, a waste management entrepreneurship program that aims at supporting 45 waste management startups, on a nationwide scale.
“Leeha 2eema – ليها قيمة”, meaning “it has value”, offers early stage waste management startups, from all governorates in Egypt, the opportunity to build companies that focus on local manufacturing and value addition products or services by offering them sector specific training, advisory and consultancy as well as access to finance, markets and service providers.
Egypt is a fertile country for startups in this specific sector. Almost 60% of Egypt’s total waste is organic waste, which can be used for numerous other projects instead of simply left to rot. In 2010, Egypt produced around 20 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste; Cairo alone produced 11,000 tons per day, that’s four million tons per year. Egyptian industries produce around 10 million tons of waste per year. The numbers are scary, but can definitely be made use of for both business and the environment.
Every one of us generates about one kilogram of waste per day, which can fuel almost one hour of cooking time on natural gas. Sorted recycables can be sold at a good price, along with many solutions to be presented by “Leeha 2eema – ليها قيمة”.
“Leeha 2eema – ليها قيمة” program will offer means of support to early-stage startups: a 20-day of technical and business training sessions, six workshops on business modelling, market research, prototyping and supply chain management, 10 prototyping grants for the top performing startups, Technical, financial, marketing and needs-based consultation sessions, networking opportunities with potential clients, suppliers, financiers and key entrepreneurship ecosystem stakeholders through a major public event, and access to debt and equity financing investors/entities.
Seven startups from outside Cairo will be supported to attend the program – travel and accommodation will be covered.
The deadline for the call is on April 14th.
IWEX Green Growth, Industrial Waste Management and SME Entrepreneurship Hub in Egypt, is one of the projects funded by the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Transition Fund in Egypt, through the African Development Bank (AfDB) and implemented by the Industrial Council for Technology and Innovation – Ministry of Trade and Industry – through the Egypt National Cleaner Production Center (ENCPC).
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In Super Bowl Interview, Trump Goes On Offense
Enlarge this image toggle caption Win McNamee/Getty Images Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Trump renewed his call for border wall funding and accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of "rigid" opposition, in an interview airing two days before Trump's State of the Union address.
The tone of the president's remarks in an interview taped Friday with CBS calls into question whether Trump will actually use Tuesday's primetime speech to appeal for compromise, as advertised.
"When you have drugs pouring in, and when you have people dying all over the country because of people like Nancy Pelosi who don't want to give proper border security for political reasons, she's doing a terrible disservice to our country," Trump said, during the interview with Face the Nation.
The president suggested he might declare an emergency in order to secure border wall funding without congressional approval. He also left the door open to another government shutdown.
Pelosi's spokesman responded, saying Trump's earlier shutdown had undermined security by denying paychecks to border patrol agents and other frontline personnel.
"The president's wild and predictable misrepresentations about Democrats' commitment to border security do nothing to make our country safer," spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement.
Trump also defended his plans to withdraw troops from Syria and reduce the U.S. deployment in Afghanistan, despite warnings last week from his intelligence experts that ISIS and al Qaida continue to pose a threat.
Senate Republicans also counseled the president to avoid a precipitous withdrawal. But Trump appeared unfazed, saying he was simply keeping his campaign promises not to act as the world's policeman.
"I ran against 17 Republicans. This was a big part of what I was saying, and I won very easily," Trump said. "I think people in our country agree. We've been fighting for 19 years."
Trump added the he plans to maintain a troop presence in Iraq, where they can respond rapidly to events in the surrounding area, while also monitoring Iran.
"We have very fast airplanes, we have very good cargo planes. We can come back very quickly," Trump said.
Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned last month after Trump announced his plan to pull troops out of Syria. The president insisted that Mattis did so at his urging.
"He resigned because I asked him to resign," Trump said. "I gave him big budgets and he didn't do well in Afghanistan."
In the interview, parts of which will air during the Super Bowl pre-game show, Trump repeated his argument that pro football players should not kneel during the national anthem to protest racial injustice. He suggested that new league rules against such demonstrations contributed to a rebound in the NFL's TV ratings this season.
Trump said he loves watching football but worries about the danger of the game and would not encourage his youngest son, Barron to play.
"Would I steer him that way? No, I wouldn't," Trump said, noting that Barron prefers soccer. | 1,268,942 |
Conjuring gemstones from thin air sounds like one of the alchemist’s more ambitious projects. But that is what a team of chemists from China is claiming to have achieved by making small diamonds from carbon dioxide.
“We are changing a waste gas into gems,” claims Qianwang Chen, head of the team producing the diamonds at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui province.
The team claims its method could be cheaper and more efficient than some existing methods of synthesising diamonds, which require pressures of up five million atmospheres and temperatures that reach 1400 °C.
Chen and his colleagues make their diamonds by reacting CO 2 with metallic sodium in a pressurised oven at only 440 °C and 800 atmospheres. “This is the lowest temperature reported so far for diamond synthesis,” he says. After 12 hours, the grains of diamond can be separated from the sodium carbonate, graphite and unreacted CO 2 that remain.
Small gemstones
Metallic sodium is a hazardous material, as it reacts violently with water vapour. To ensure that it all gets used up, the team starts with an excess of CO 2. “We have now undertaken the procedure more than 80 times without any safety problems,” says Chen.
In the online edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (DOI: 10.1021/ja035177) Chen’s team reports that the first diamonds reached diameters of about a quarter of a millimetre. While that is far too small for gems in wedding rings and necklaces, it is ideal for use in industrial cutting tools and abrasives.
But since the group’s paper was accepted by the journal, they have improved the process to the point at which it can be used to make small gemstones. “We can grow diamonds as large as 1.2 millimetres,” Chen says. “They are transparent and colourless, and so could be used as gems.”
“Horrifically nasty”
While the Chinese process works at a more reasonable temperature, 800 atmospheres is “still a horrifically nasty pressure to work at”, says Alison Mainwood at King’s College London, who chairs the UK’s Diamond Research Network.
She doubts whether the Chinese process will seriously challenge today’s industrial diamonds because the diamonds it yields are so small and gritty: “I’m sure it could be improved, but I doubt to the point where it could become a rival.”
De Beers, the largest diamond-mining company in the world, says that while it welcomes advances in the technology of diamond making, manufactured gems should be kept distinct from natural ones.
“We hope that any organisation involved in diamond synthesis would openly and transparently declare any such product as being synthetic and clearly distinct from natural gem diamond,” the company says. | 1,268,943 |
An analysis by the Checks & Balances Project finds that 60 major newspapers frequently quote fossil fuel-funded think tanks on energy and environmental issues without disclosing their industry ties. Further research by Media Matters finds that the Wall Street Journal's lack of disclosure has been especially glaring.
The Checks & Balances Project found that between 2007-2011, industry-funded organizations like the Heartland Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Heritage Foundation were cited or quoted over 1000 times in 60 publications, often to attack environmental regulations or renewable energy technology. Their ties to fossil fuel interests were disclosed only 6 percent of the time, despite the fact that 17 percent of mentions promoted fossil fuels. The analysis concluded that “a transactional relationship of contributions in exchange for national media traction is playing out” between these groups and their corporate benefactors.
Expanding on these results, Media Matters found that the Wall Street Journal cited, quoted or featured these think tanks on energy issues more than 100 times between 2007-2011 -- more than any of the other other major papers evaluated by Checks & Balances. But the Journal -- which has a history of failing to disclose fossil fuel ties - mentioned the funding sources for these groups just under 4 percent of the time, slightly worse than the average disclosure rate for the other 60 publications.
The following chart illustrates what proportion of print coverage disclosed fossil fuel ties:
Data for Washington Post, Politico, Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and AP is courtesy of Checks & Balances Project
The few times the Journal did disclose industry ties include a 2007 editorial that defended front groups against charges of bias. That editorial, by AEI president Chris DeMuth, sought to minimize the significance of Exxon's contributions to his organization. A second acknowledgment of fossil fuel funding came in a letter to the editor written by climate scientist Michael Mann. But that letter was written in response to an op-ed by the Cato Institute's Patrick Michaels, which did not disclose Cato's funding. The Journal featured just two hard news accounts noting that some of its prolific energy contributors (and fossil fuel defenders) were recipients of polluter largesse.
Notably, about 17 percent of the think tank mentions undermined the scientific consensus that human activity is driving harmful climate change, frequently referring to those urging emissions cuts as “alarmists.” The Cato Institute cast doubt on climate change five times, the most of any think tank.
Earlier in 2012, the Union of Concerned Scientists found that climate change coverage in the Journal's opinion section was “overwhelmingly misleading,” noting that 81 percent of the representations of climate science were inaccurate. This was no surprise given the Journal's long history of casting doubt on established environmental science to undermine regulatory action. Earlier this year, the Journal published an op-ed by non-experts that misled readers on climate science, but declined to publish an op-ed by a physicist who studied the issue and re-confirmed the temperature record. Science columnist Matt Ridley has been an especially fertile source of climate misinformation. | 1,268,944 |
Garrison Keillor won't be leaving "A Prairie Home Companion" for another four months, but Saturday's show had all the ingredients of a retirement party, with the sold-out crowd falling just short of serenading their folk hero with "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."
Up until the afternoon rehearsal, the staff and crew were unsure how much Keillor would acknowledge that the broadcast would be his last from the Fitzgerald Theater, his home base for more than 35 years. Turns out the boss was in a sentimental mood.
The versatile Vern Sutton, a guest on the very first "PHC," joined him on a personalized version of "Old Shep" with the loyal dog persuading his reluctant owner to pursue a career in radio — and then subsequently informing him when it was time to call it quits. In one sketch, Keillor imagined a trip to Mickey's Diner being interrupted by the director of the Beloved Old Broadcasters Home, where the temperature has been turned up to 79 and new roomie Bob Dylan has started to mistake the closet for the bathroom.
Keillor reworked a 1978 original into a tribute to the Fitz, dropping in nods to the late sound-effects man Tom Keith and guitarist Chet Atkins, whose appearance in 1982 helped make the show welcome grounds for other acts with international reputations. He also tipped his hat to the city of St. Paul in a marching song that celebrated a place where you could shoot off a cannonball at noon and not worry about hitting a Republican. (The digs at the Grand Ole Party ran throughout the night, most courtesy of Tim Russell who does a killer Donald Trump impression.)
In his ode to St. Paul, Keillor pitied a character that looked for answers in New York City and Paris, an obvious nod to his own wanderlust ways.
The live broadcast concluded with Van Morrison's "Irish Heartbeat," a song guest vocalist Taj Mahal crushed, despite just learning it a couple of hours before show time. The line, "Don't rush away from your own ones" had to make die-hard fans wonder: Is Keillor really ready to say goodbye?
Last week, he announced plans for a mid-May show in Minneapolis, and there are rumors that he might squeeze in some kind of street party in St. Paul before his bow in Los Angeles on July 1. Chris Thile is scheduled to take over in the fall.
The question of Keillor having second thoughts hung heavy in the air during the 10-minute encore, which did not air on public radio. While the crowd stayed on their feet, Keillor led his guests, including Robin and Linda Williams, Peter Ostroushko and Dean Magraw, into one "farewell" song after another, including "Goodnight, Irene" and "Happy Trails."
The medley also included "Red River Valley," the folk ballad in which a cowboy begs his true love to "not hasten to bid me adieu." | 1,268,945 |
Skipping breakfast can increase your risk of a heart attack or fatal coronary heart disease by as much as 27 per cent, a new study has found.
While the benefits of having a regular breakfast for daily energy levels and weight control are well known, researchers at Harvard University found that it was also crucial for good heart health.
Regularly skipping breakfast put people at high risk of a number of conditions – such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol – which can lead to heart disease, said the lead author of the report, Dr Leah Cahill, from the School of Public Health at Harvard.
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People who missed breakfast were more likely to be smokers, unmarried and drink more alcohol than those who eat their morning meal, the study found. But the scientists were able to look at the impact of skipping breakfast in isolation of these other factors, which might have a negative effect on health.
“We ruled out everything except for the timing of the meal – the actual breaking of fast,” Dr Cahill told The Independent.
“When your body is fasting it goes into a protective drive, raising your blood pressure, raising levels of insulin and cholesterol. If you don’t breakfast in the morning you’re putting an extra strain on your body after it’s already been fasting all night,” she said.
“Over many years of doing this, you can develop insulin resistance – which leads to diabetes – or high cholesterol or high blood pressure, which can all lead to heart disease,” Dr Cahill added.
The study tracked the eating habits and health outcomes of 27,000 male health professionals aged between 45 and 82, over 16 years. A parallel study looking at the impact of skipping breakfast on women is still in progress, but Dr Cahill said it was unlikely there would be any difference between the sexes.
Late-night snacks were found to be even worse for heart health than skipping breakfast in the morning, with the small number of men who reported eating after going to bed having a 55 per cent higher chance of heart disease.
“We think the effect with late-night eating is similar, but opposite,” said Dr Cahill. “It is overloading your body. It doesn’t let the body digest properly. That could cause the same things, high blood pressure, weight gain, changes in blood sugar levels.”
During the study, 1,572 of the men had a first-time cardiac event. Dr Cahill said that the benefits of a healthy breakfast were beyond doubt, given the results of her report.
“Your body is programmed to be in a fasting state and then a fed state,” she said. “If you’re not timing that well throughout the day, it can lead to all these intermediate conditions, like diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, which in turn can lead to heart disease.” | 1,268,946 |
in person. The key design element that stood out to me was a pronounced crease starting in the doors and curving up over the rear wheelwell. I'm assuming it was intended to lend the car an image of strength, but I felt that it comes across as a little bit overdone. Also notable (and possibly a little overdone) is a Hoffmeister kink in the C-pillar. Otherwise, it's a good looking vehicle, with finishing details that give it a nice European (yeah, mostly Audi) look and feel. The ILX features a relatively long nose and a stubby rear deck and a high beltline. The front doors are fairly long - almost like a coupe, while the rear doors appear considerably shorter. The taillights are clearly Acura shapes, but for some reason when I was looking at the rear of the car I kept getting a little bit of an Audi A5 vibe. The general proportions probably reminded me most of the previous generation Mazda 3. The prototype had appropriately sized wheels which filled up the fenderwells very nicely. While our assumption is that this car is based upon the Civic platform, Acura never mentioned it, and from the styling and proportions there is essentially no hint that this car is related to the Civic. Acura announced the basic powertrain specs, confirming the rumors that it would be offered in hybrid form (1.5L IMA). Additionally, for those seeking an automatic transmission, the ILX will be offered in a 2.0L 4-cyl flavor (for now we're operating on the assumption that the engine will be an R20), and for the more sporting-minded, a 6-speed manual will be offered, paired with a 2.4L 4-cylinder. Beyond these basic specs, Acura would not comment on power levels or anything of that nature. We're expecting this car to hit showrooms in late spring or early summer of 2012.There have been rumors that the TSX would be going away once the ILX is introduced. And depending upon how you look at it, those rumors could be considered true. Now that Acura has stated the "clearly defined" 3-sedan strategy, one of the 4 models has to go. While it wasn't directly confirmed that the TSX would be eliminated, we were told that something would obviously be slotted somewhere in-between the new ILX and "flagship" sedan. Will it be the TSX or the TL? It seems like it will come down to semantics, as whichever vehicle eventually fills that middle slot will be something different from both current TL and TSX models.Acura has been getting beat up online (here, and elsewhere) for quite some time, and for now it seems like their response is measured and strong. If they follow through on their plans and deliver on their promises, the future of Acura appears much less cloudy than it did even a month ago. December 12, 2011 01:25JeffXTOV NewsNot Specified Last edited by JeffX on December 12, 2011 13:04
| 1,268,947 |
Aborted is a death metal band featuring members from Belgium, The Netherlands and the United States. It was started by the only remaining founder, Sven de Caluwé, all the way back in 1995. Since then, the band has seen increasing mainstream success over the course of 8 studio albums, shifting through various subgenres from brutal to melodeath to deathcore. This is now #9: Retrogore. For years I have given this band little attention, in fact I have actually been more interested in guitar-player Mendel's solo albums, which have been featured on the site. But they definitely caught my ear with the new single, "Divine Impediment" (below) featuring the vocalist from Cattle Decapitation. So will Retrogore finally see me accept enlistment in Aborted fandom?
Oh yeah, I think so. I can't put my finger on exactly what causes this album to draw my attention more so then their previous discography, but then there it is. Needless to say, this band is heavy as f@#k. The title track kicks your legs out from under you and never lets you get back up. It's an extremely consistent barrage of ineffable drum speed, demonic growls, and groove-ridden death riffs. I especially love when the grunts, growls, and shrieks are layered to add to the otherworldly effect.
The closest comparison for those not familiar with the group would be The Black Dahlia Murder: a band that is a bit too capable in their musicianship to be called deathcore, and yet a little too polished and catchy to fit nicely in a full-fledged "death metal" label. For me, this balance is perfection. Songs are filled with more hooks than a bait shop and never allow me to release my claw to the air, "invisible orange" pose. It's permenantly frozen this way now.
And in addition to the "fun" aspects of the album, I still get to contemplate the finer technical standpoint of the musicianship. So many solos! And not just "we need another solo in this one," but perfectly-placed, well-timed, appropriate use of killer shredding. That's not all, either. The speed of the other riffs is an accomplishment in itself along with the always impressive work on the kit from Ken Bedene. Even when things slow down into more of a blackened, ominous build (again, see personal favorite "Divine Impediment), the choice of melodies and vocal intonation is always engaging.
Yep, I think Aborted have earned a new fan indeed. I have desperately tried to limit the number of new groups I add to my roster to follow. My pockets only run so deep, and my listening time is always highly limited. But once again, I can't deny myself a bit of death metal hedonism when it presents itself just oh so right. Album of the year? Probably not. Most enjoyable album from a major label? Possibly. You decide. | 1,268,948 |
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A motorist who left a cyclist in a coma after crashing into her works as police constable in the Metropolitan Police, it has been revealed.
Louise Callaghan, 39, from Walton, was left in a medically-induced coma for four days and suffered multiple broken bones after she was hit by a car while cycling with her partner in Addlestone on June 8, 2018.
Matthew McGahan, 35, was fined £485 and had seven points placed on his licence earlier this month after pleading guilty to careless driving, a sentence that was met with outrage from the victim.
Now the Metropolitan Police has confirmed PC McGahan works in its division responsible for policing roads and dealing with other transport related incidents.
Louise says she was "horrified" to find out that the person who hit her was a police officer responsible for ensuring motorists follow the rules of the road.
Louise says she was cycling with her partner, Craig, around the roundabout with St Peter's Way, Chertsey Road and Woburn Hill, when PC McGahan pulled out without looking.
"I'm quite horrified that someone who didn't look while he was joining a roundabout is policing motorists," she said. "It doesn't really reflect well on them."
She added that she did not want PC McGahan to lose his job, but that she would like him to be aware of the "full extent of my suffering and be genuinely sorry" as well as being retrained.
"I'm cross his licence hasn't been revoked," she said. "I'm really surprised he hasn't got in contact to apologise. I actually don't think he realises how much damage he's done."
The crash left her with a brain bleed, a fractured skull and breaks to her collarbone, scapula, elbow and pelvis, while subsequent surgeries have left her with nerve damage.
(Image: Surrey Police)
"I've got significant nerve damage," she said. "I've been in a really acute pain. I literally haven't left the house in a month apart for hospital appointments."
She says she would like to thank a first aider who identified himself as Tim, who "took charge" of the scene until ambulance crews got there.
"Craig said Tim was a former emergency responder," she said. "Basically I just wanted to thank him as he was really integral to keeping me alive."
A spokesman for Metropolitan Police confirmed PC McGahan, who was sentenced at Guildford Magistrates Court on March 1, works for the force and is attached to its Roads and Transport Policing Command.
"He pleaded guilty to careless driving and was awarded seven penalty points and handed a fine. The Directorate of Professional Standards will pursue misconduct proceedings."
The spokesman added that he has been placed on "restricted duties" but refused to comment further. | 1,268,949 |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption An analysis of what happened in the classroom at Spring Valley High School and how the community reacted
The US justice department is looking into why a female pupil in South Carolina was pulled from her desk by an officer and dragged across a classroom.
Spokeswoman Dena Iverson said the investigation will look into "the circumstances surrounding the arrest" to see if a federal law was broken.
The incident occurred at Spring Valley High School in Columbia when the unnamed pupil refused to leave class.
Video shows the officer knocking her down and pulling her across the floor.
The officer, Ben Fields, has been placed on leave and there has been an outcry from various civil rights and parents' groups.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told a news conference that in one video the girl could be seen trying to hit the officer as she was being pulled to the floor.
However, he said the investigation would focus on the officer's actions.
"I think sometimes our officers are put in uncomfortable positions when a teacher can't control a student," he added.
The FBI, which will carry out the probe, said in a statement it would "collect all available facts and evidence".
'Egregious'
Tony Robinson, another pupil who recorded the video, told local media that the altercation began when the girl took her mobile phone out during class and would not put it away when asked.
School administration then summoned an officer, who asked the girl - who is African-American - to move. She replied that she had done nothing wrong, and then Mr Fields grabbed her.
"When I saw what was going to happen, my immediate first thing to think was, let me get this on camera. There's no justifiable reason for him as to why he did that to that girl," Mr Robinson said.
Mr Fields had been assigned to the school and was meant to protect pupils and teachers.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said such "egregious use of force" against young people in class was "outrageous".
South Carolina's education superintendent expressed concern and the state's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has said the officer should be charged.
The incident comes at a time of increased scrutiny of police and their use of force against African Americans.
One group, the Richland Black Parents Association, said the video "revealed what many African American parents have experienced in this district for a very long time".
What does a 'School Resource Officer' do?
places an officer in a school full-time as part of a "community policing" practice
offers programmes to reduce "crime, drug abuse, violence and provide a safe school environment"
accompanies school groups to athletic events and school trips
for younger children, they provide anti-drug programming
described as having schools as their "beat"
source: Richland County Sheriff's Department | 1,268,950 |
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| 1,268,951 |
So I was viral for a while yesterday.
A few years ago, I had a conversation in an elevator with George R.R. Martin, made a joke, and blogged about it here. “Hodor is short for ‘Hold the door’.”
Sunday night’s episode made everyone think I had made some grand prediction, and the next thing I knew, I had over 300,000 hits on this blog (and quite a few on my author blog as well — let’s hope I sold some books).
I was just making a joke! Years earlier, I had posted that “Hodor was his sled” but somehow that never got the same amount of attention. Then again, what people were really reacting to was Martin’s reply to my comment that “Hodor is short for ‘Hold the door’.” — “You don’t know how close you are!” Without that response, the story isn’t half as good.
So I was interviewed by Buzzfeed and the Philadelphia Inquirer and soon was mentioned all over the place. Philly.com even ran a big picture of me. The Observer came up with a huge theory about how I am really a time traveler planting ideas in George R.R. Martin’s head. I was mentioned in Newsweek!
The best part? This weekend, I am a writer guest at a science fiction convention in Baltimore with — you guessed it — George R.R. Martin.
Let’s see if we end up on an elevator together again.
Anyway, here are links to some of the internet articles (I left out all the foreign ones I can’t read):
Buzzfeed: This guy unknowingly learned Hodor’s secret from George R.R. Martin years ago
The Onion’s AV Club: One guy predicted last night’s Game of Thrones twist three years ago
Newsweek: This fan predicted the meaning of Hodor years ago
Philadelphia Inquirer: Poconos lawyer predicted heartbreaking Games of Thrones shocker years ago
Daily News: George R.R. Martin told a guy the truth about Hodor years ago
Nerdist: George R.R. Martin was behind that Game of Thrones revelation
Metro (UK): Someone guessed that Game of Thrones Hodor reveal two years ago
Business Insider: We finally know how Hodor got his name
The Verge: How did three different Game of Thrones fans predict that Hodor surprise?
Pocono Record: Tannersville Attorney Predicts GoT episode twist in advance
EDIT/ADDITION: Here’s George reacting upon meeting me the weekend after the episode aired.
And a meme I made about our autographing session:
EDIT/ADDITION #2: Here we are, more than a year later, and Cracked is still talking about it. | 1,268,952 |
HAMPTON, Va. -- With a win over Australian Steve Moxon tonight (Feb. 6, 2015) in the featured match of GLORY 19's "Superfight Series" -- which will air next Friday on CBS Sports Network at 11 p.m. ET (more details here) -- Andy Ristie will most likely earn a the next crack at Lightweight champion, Robin van Roosmalen, next.
"I think I get a chance because I know it belongs to me already," the soft-spoken fighter told MMAmania.com this morning at Embassy Suites Hampton Roads Hotel. "But, now they give me a fight before the title."
In his first crack at the GLORY lightweight title at GLORY 14: "Zagreb," Ristie looked great early, but faded late and lost via technical knockout to Davit Kiria in a "Fight of the Year" candidate. Ristie bounced back with a vicious knockout win over Ky Hollenbeck at GLORY 17: "Los Angeles," while Kiria would go on to lose the belt to van Roosmalen at GLORY 18.
For Ristie, the title is a high priority, but he would like to face Kiria again at some point down the road.
"For now, I go only for the title because that is the most important thing," said Ristie, who defeated Samuel Paiva in his last bout in Dec. 2014 in his home country of Suriname. "I would still like a fight with Kiria because I know I had this guy for 4.5 rounds. It doesn't matter if we fight 10 rounds, I win them all. Maybe he wins one, but I know I can beat him."
The Surinamese fighter said he learned his lesson from the loss to Kiria and he has "trained harder and better" since then. "I changed my conditioning work and now I train for more rounds, too," he said.
"The Machine," who is now 7-1 in GLORY and 44-4-1 overall has "taken his rest" and "he is ready" for his battle with Moxon, he said.
"I don't take him by the look," he said, not underestimating his opponent. "I know his style and I think it will be a good fight."
Moxon is 38-10-1 and most recently defeated Aikpracha Meenayothin. The fight versus Ristie will be his promotional debut.
This will be the No. 1-ranked GLORY lightweight's fourth trip to the United States. He called the fans "great" and said "it is a very nice place."
When told of the news that CBS Sports will air his fight next week, he was happy to hear that more Americans will now be able to see him fight.
"That is very nice that people can see who I am and know me and I'll gain more fans." | 1,268,953 |
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Formula 1 drivers Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz Jr believe Formula Renault 3.5 has been undervalued in the FIA's new superlicence points system.
Motorsport's governing body announced earlier this year several changes to the requirements to earn a superlicence to race in F1, including a set number of points a driver must earn through racing in various series.
Renault's sub-F1 category was ranked below a 'future FIA F2 championship', GP2, European F3, the LMP1 division of the World Endurance Championship and IndyCar, and was scored equal to GP3.
Vettel, Ricciardo and Sainz all graduated from F1 from FR3.5 (Sainz as champion), and all three have questioned the FIA's positioning of the Renault championship.
"I drove the old car but I thought it was a great car, a great championship," said Vettel.
"You get a lot of track time which is obviously very important. I think it should be appreciated more."
The four-time F1 champion also questioned the need to create a superlicence points system in the first place.
"I don't see the reason why young drivers have to score points," he said.
"It's clear when someone is ready, someone has the talent to make the step.
"It doesn't matter where he comes from, so I guess it's just another thing implemented to confuse [people]."
Ricciardo, like Vettel a race winner in FR3.5 earlier in his career (below), feels the series should not be ranked below the main FIA F3 championship.
"When I was doing World Series [FR3.5] it was the old-spec car so it wasn't even as fast as they are now and I thought that was already a good stepping stone," said the Red Bull driver.
"The car taught me a lot to prepare me well for Formula 1 and now I believe [the current car, introduced for 2012] is quite a lot closer.
"I would say it should be closer than that, it should get a few more points.
"Judging on the speed of the car, and the field is good in World Series so I would expect it to have at least the same amount of points as Formula 3."
Reigning FR3.5 champion Sainz added the latest version of the car makes FR3.5 a worthy place to prepare for F1.
"Judging by my experience I can only say that 3.5 prepared me very well for Formula 1," he said.
"It's a very quick car, especially the last spec, has a lot of downforce and I felt when I stepped up to Formula 1 I was ready.
"So probably more points would have been - in my opinion - I would give it more points."
| 1,268,954 |
Qt for MCUs 1.0 is now available
We are out of Alpha and Beta! Qt for MCUs first release is now available.
To visit the Qt for MCUs product page, click here.
Qt for MCUs enables creation of fluid graphical user interfaces (GUI) with a low memory footprint on displays powered by microcontrollers (MCU). It is a complete graphics toolkit with everything needed to design, develop, and deploy GUIs on MCUs. It enables a unified technology approach for an entire product line to create a consistent and branded end user experience. Watch the Qt for MCUs video showcasing different use cases.
Qt for MCUs 1.0 has already been adopted by lead customers in Japan, Europe and the US, who have started developing their next generation product. This release has been tested on microcontrollers from NXP, Renesas and STMicroelectronics. The software release contains Platform Adaptations for NXP i.MX RT1050 and STM32F769i as the default Deployment Platforms. Platform Adaptations for several other NXP and STM32 microcontrollers as well as the Renesas RH850 microcontroller are available as separate Deployment Platform Packages. On request, Qt Professional Services can provide new Platform Adaptions for additional microcontrollers.
Qt for MCUs comes with the new QML rendering engine, Qt Quick Ultralite (QUL), that facilitates reuse of engineering competencies and QML assets with the upcoming Qt 5.14. QUL allows applications to run on bare metal or on a real-time operating system and within the internal memory of an MCU. Those familiar with earlier technology previews will now find localization for left-to-right languages and UI styling and theming in addition to the documentation and sample apps as part of this release.
Have questions? Sign up for the following upcoming webinars and live Q&A sessions
Curious? Download Qt for MCUs demo binaries.
Qt for MCUs 1.0 currently supports Windows as Development Host. Support for MacOS and Linux will be coming soon.
Step by step to try out Qt for MCUs.
Go to the Qt for MCUs page and click 'Try Qt for MCUs'. On the following 'Get Qt' page, under 'Try Qt', click 'Download Qt now' and enter your details. Download and run the installer Sign in to the Qt installer using your Qt Account the login details you have created during the download process (or use your existing Qt Account login details) In 'Select Components', Select 'Latest releases' and hit 'Refresh' Select the dropdown option for Qt for MCUs 1.0.0 Select Qt Quick Ultralite Evaluation and complete the installation
Commercial Qt for Device Creation license holders already have access to the evaluation package and can skip steps 1 and 2 and use the Maintenance Tool in step 3.
Want to start developing applications? Contact Us to purchase the full engineering package. | 1,268,955 |
who were will stand trial.
While Liberians recognized her election as a milestone and say that it has encouraged other women to rise throughout government, the novelty has worn off, says Elwood Dunn, a retired professor living in Tennessee who is serving on Liberia’s constitutional reform committee.
“Over time, the emphasis has been more on her performance in office, the public policies she has advanced, and how she has fared in terms of trying to lead a post-conflict country,” says Dunn, “... more than her person.”
Is that a form of progress?
Sirleaf inspects an honor guard in Monrovia with a visiting President George W. Bush in 2008. “There is not another woman that you can huddle with and plan your strategies with,” she says of many gatherings with world leaders. “You’re not going to go out and have beer together.” (Jim Young/Reuters)
Despite Trump’s talk of a “woman’s card,” the irony in 2016 is that the potential history-making moment of Clinton clinching the Democratic nomination and possibly ascending to the presidency is barely noticed anymore. Pollsters have found that Clinton’s gender is not a determining factor for U.S. voters.
“The reasons that people find [Clinton] unappealing are not because she’s a woman. The reasons people find her appealing are not because she’s a woman,” says Jennifer Lawless, the director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University. “That’s not to say that for some segment of the population [gender is] not relevant, but we’ve reached the point where it is usually not decisive.”
Sirleaf understands that American voters are operating in a different context than the environment in which she rose to power. She is of a generation in Africa in which rule by “strong men” and warlords wreaked havoc on women’s lives. Women were victims in the war — their children forced to fight as boy soldiers, their daughters raped, their livelihoods threatened. When she ran for office the rallying cry in the streets was “Ellen, She’s Our Man!” recalls Levinson. The slogan was a clear rebuke of the men who ruled before her.
Now, the early stages of the campaign for Liberia’s next president have begun, and nearly two dozen are expected to compete. At this point not one candidate is female. Sirleaf, rising from the sofa in her hotel suite, says she is not bothered by this.
“With the freedoms we have created, Liberia cannot retrogress,” she says. “The tradition of male domination in Liberia has been punctured.”
With that, Madam President takes her leave.
Correction: An earlier version of this article refered to Chancellor Angela Merkel by an incorrect title. | 1,268,956 |
ites, ornamentation of the ozopore, and chaetotaxy and number of articles of the posterior gonopods.' Pictured are the four gnopods of I. tobini
I. tobini has four penises (pictured) that evolved from limbs. It transfers sperm using four modified legs, which are called gonopods— a term that means 'genital legs'
They surveyed 63 other locations in the Sierra Nevada foothills and El Dorado National Forest.
Experts have turned coutless over stones, flipped decaying logs and rearranged leaf litter with the hopes of discovering more of this new species, but have not found another like it.
The new millipede species transfers sperm using four modified legs, which are called gonopods— a term that means 'genital legs'.
The first time an I. plenipes was seen by scientists was 1928, a species that can sport as many as 750 legs – the most ever recorded in history. However, after it was first discovered, it took another 80 years before experts found it living in the wild. This maps shows where I. plenipes and I. tobini were discovered, which is just 150 miles away from each other
Since the discovery in 2006, the team has been on the hunt for another I. tobini. They surveyed 63 other locations in the Sierra Nevada foothills and El Dorado National Forest -but have yet to find another. In addition to its many legs, the I. tobini has bizzare-looking mouthparts (pictured) that experts have yet to determine their function
In addition to its many legs, the I. tobini has bizzare-looking mouthparts that experts have yet to determine their function.
Researchers explain the male millipede also lacks sharp teeth, but instead has finger-like rounded teeth.
Its body is covered in long, long silk-secreting hairs and 200 pores that stretch along its body.
Its body is covered in long, long silk-secreting hairs and 200 pores (top row) that stretch along its body. Researchers explain the male millipede also lacks sharp teeth, but instead has finger-like rounded teeth (bottom row)
The new species may possess 'only' 414 legs, compared to its relative's 750, yet, it has a similar complement of bizarre anatomical features, including a body armed with 200 poison glands, silk-secreting hairs, and 4 penises. It was discovered in 2006, which is when then preserved, dissected and analyzed
The team also found nozzles that have an 'unidentified secretion extruded from the opening,' which the scientists believe secretes a defensive poison.
Since only the one specimen has ever been found, the team can't note decimeter who widespread the I. tobini is, but the believe it has a very limited range.
They conclude that the area should be explored and surveyed in more detail to understand the environment with the hopes of finding more specimens. | 1,268,957 |
Re: The Fire This Time—Pat Buchanan on Flash Mobs, August 12, 2011
Picture above from a black mob raid on a Philadelphia Walgreens, July 4, 2019
From: John in Philly [Email him]
This ABC report from Philadelphia is titled
Video captures frightening attack on man by group of students in Center City, by Bob Brooks, November 20, 2019
What they mean is black students. Nobody else acts like this here in Philly. Cops are not on post every afternoon in Center City (the one nice part of town, since most blacks can't afford to live there) because of any other racial group.
Wanted: Suspects for Commercial Robbery in the 17th District [VIDEO] https://t.co/KDfl4UGop8 pic.twitter.com/IZSawRxLvl — Philadelphia Police (@PhillyPolice) July 9, 2019
Of course, with their usual cowardice, professional conservatives would rather wax hysteric about "white racism" or "anti-Semitism" (the latter being especially important to the “Religious Right” ) than deal with a real, politically incorrect issue such as black on white violent crime, this national but unspeakable epidemic.
There has been a problem of teenage flash mobs in Philly this year. Invariably black, and mostly male, the teenagers storm into Rite Aid, Wawa, and other stores, taking what they want and destroying merchandise. [‘They’re So Disrespectful’: Philadelphia Police Investigating After Several Teens Throw Ice At Wawa Customers, by Kimberly Davis, CBSPhiladelphia, July 10, 2019] Small wonder, then, that for some years now, every afternoon, starting at around 3 p.m. when the schools let out, Center City has been full of cops on the street. It is their task to maintain order amid the sometimes-unruly youth.
As it happens, those youth are disproportionately black, but social order is not any less important for that reason. And it would be no virtue, but rather a terrible vice, to read “racism” into this context and therefore fail to maintain order. Teenage flash mobs indicate a need for internal reform from communities themselves, but such reform is much less likely to happen if people can shirk the consequences of their actions via mindless cant about “racism.”
James Fulford writes: We did a lot of “flash mob” reporting in 2010-11 and Pat Buchanan’s column from that time, linked above, reported a stem-winding speech by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter criticizing the black youths involved in explicitly racial terms, which he has permission to do because he is himself black.
In general, crimes like these respond to punishment (we use the phrase "ruthless coercion") and to shaming the participants. However, it is nowadays regarded as racist to do either of these things to black youth, so this will likely continue.
| 1,268,958 |
President Donald Trump has consistently pointed to the stock market as an example of economic success through his first year in office.
US stocks have had a historically bad stretch over the past few days, for reasons that have little to do with Trump.
It shows why Trump tying his success to the market is a bad idea: he has little control over it.
President Donald Trump really likes to tie his success to the stock market. The past three trading days showed why it could come back to bite him.
The president has touted the market’s rise consistently since his election and throughout the first year of his presidency – in speeches, tweets, official statements, press conferences, and pretty much everywhere else. Both Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have even said the stock market was a fair report card for the administration.
Monday’s monumental drop in the major US stock indexes show why that can be not such a great idea.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 665.75 points on Friday, its sixth-largest single-day decline ever. It followed that up with a 1,170.46 drop on Monday, the largest point decline ever. (The declines were less dramatic, comparatively, on a percentage-point basis.)
The decrease can be explained by a variety of factors – improving wage growth leading to increased fears of Federal Reserve interest rate tightening, bond yields surging, a weakening dollar, animal spirits, the need for a “healthy correction” – and these reasons have little to do with Trump.
That’s because the stock market is in its essence a reflection of the expectation of profit growth at individual companies and macroeconomic conditions more broadly. And the president’s economic policy is only one part of a complicated calculus that factors into investors’ actions.
Trump can influence both the macroeconomic situation – and even the bottom lines of corporations (see: tax cuts) – for good or bad, but the president only wields so much power.
International factors, commodity prices, central bank moves, and a plethora of other moving pieces can bring down the major indexes, none of which Trump could do a thing about.
For instance, Monday’s monumental drop was exacerbated by technical selling from algorithmic trading programs and the collapse of a popular bet against market volatility. Trump has no control over those elements of the market.
The administration is doing their best to reiterate this argument, consistently pointing to the strong “fundamentals of the economy” during the meltdown. But backtracking on the stock market is hard to do given the deluge of reminders about the surge in stock prices to which Trump previously pointed.
Using the example of an economic report card, Trump is accepting the performance of the entire class as his personal grade. So even if he passes every test, mistakes from others could cause him to fail.
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Major changes heading towards ARAM
After many months, if not years, Riot has finally decided to change ARAM up a fair bit, and doesn’t consist of just a few minor tweaks here and there.
Champion select changes
Gone are the days of having to type “rr”, also known as reroll, before actually rerolling your champion. Now, you can free reroll without having to worry about getting flamed when someone wants the champion you discard. Whenever a champion is rerolled, the option will be sent into the “Available champions pool”, where teammates can then freely swap out their champion there. This pool can fit up to ten champions, so even if everyone rerolls twice on your team, you will get access to all the option. This change will not only quicken the champion selecting process, allowing more time for other activities like runes, but completely remove the potential for flaming when rerolling.
Rerolls
Riot will be increasing the rate of which reroll points are recovered with each game. This change is much needed considering there are simply times where you get bad champion not only multiple times in a game, but multiple games in a row. Right now, Riot has stated players will get around one reroll for every two games played, the frequency increases as more champions are bought.
Wider champion pool
In an effort to increase champion diversity, especially for players who own very little champions, the number of free champs for ARAM will increase. The pool will now rise to not only the current patch’s pool, but the previous three free champion rotations. This will make the champion pool for ARAM a minimum of 42 champions.
Mastery
Getting a S ranking has always been extremely hard on ARAM. Riot will now change the game’s ARAM mastery algorithm to better distribute well deserved ranked to players who perform well. This will overall increase the number of S’s distributed on the mode.
Starting experience
The starting experience will increase to 662. This will ensure a faster and smoother leveling process and transition to level 4, and reduce the insane snowball from the early game.
Surrender time
Finally, Riot has listened to the outcries of players in ARAM. As ARAM games are generally faster than Summoners Rift, it is no surprise the mode should get a much lower surrender time, since it is easier to determine if the game is a win or a loss. A unanimous surrender vote can now be passed through at eight minutes, meaning everyone has to vote ‘yes’ in order for the vote to pass. A normal surrender vote that requires four out of five players, or generally over 65% can now be done at just 12 minutes into the game.
Aram has been known to house less serious players, many of which exit mid game. The change will make it easier and faster for other players to get out of a lost game/game with much less delay. | 1,268,960 |
In a new letter, Kim Jong-un requests US president to meet again and efforts under way to make it happen.
US President Donald Trump received a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday asking for a second meeting and the White House is preparing to schedule one.
The two leaders have been discussing North Korea’s nuclear programme since their unprecedented June 12 summit in Singapore, which has been criticised for being short on concrete details about steps towards complete and verifiable denuclearisation.
“It was a very warm, very positive letter,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said at a press briefing.
“The primary purpose of the letter was to request and look to schedule another meeting with the president, which we are open to and are already in the process of coordinating that.”
‘Good faith’
Sanders told reporters the letter exhibited “a continued commitment to focus on denuclearisation of the peninsula”.
She said a military parade in Pyongyang on Sunday was “a sign of good faith” because it did not feature any long-range nuclear missiles.
Trump and Kim held a landmark summit in Singapore in June that raised prospects of a breakthrough on curtailing North Korea’s nuclear programme.
Despite follow-on negotiations hitting a snag and leading Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel a planned trip to North Korea late last month, the new letter showed signs discussions remain alive.
“We think it’s important and we’re glad that we’re making progress,” Sanders said, adding Trump deserves the “credit” for bringing the two parties to the negotiating table.
“At the end of the day, ultimately, it’s always going to be best when you can have the two leaders sit down,” she added.
Washington, DC, meet?
The White House has pointed to a series of accomplishments in recent months – a release of US hostages, the repatriation of war remains believed to be of US service members, a pause in North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests, and the recent military parade through Pyongyang that did not show off the country’s intercontinental missiles.
Sanders was asked whether the next Trump-Kim meeting would take place in Washington, but she demurred, saying, “we’ll let you know when we have further details”.
Trump’s national security adviser said Monday the United States is still waiting for action on denuclearisation.
“President Trump can’t make the North Koreans walk through the door he’s holding open. They are the ones that have to take the steps to denuclearise. And that’s what we are waiting for,” John Bolton said on Monday.
“If they would denuclearise, as they committed to do in Singapore, they could have a very different kind of life in North Korea.” | 1,268,961 |
ors Pvt Ltd. The registered office of the firm is 618, Nariman Point in Mumbai, which is also the office of NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd, the company promoted by Deepak Kochhar. Quality Techno Advisors is now an advisory firm owned by Deepak Kochhar.
RoC documents show that Quality Appliances was set up in 2008 with Vilas Salunke and Kavishwar Patil holding 5,000 equity shares each. The firm’s registered address was in Andheri in suburban Mumbai, which was also the head office of Videocon Telecommunications Ltd.
Both Salunke and Patil have been directors of various Videocon Group firms such as Videocon Industrial Finance Ltd, Videocon VCR Securities Ltd, Videocon Mining Ltd, Videocon Securities Ltd, Pacific Appliance Manufacturing and Trading Ltd, Dhoot Entertainment and Gaming Solutions Ltd and V N Communication Systems Ltd.
According to the RoC documents, in 2009-10, Quality Appliances acquired an office premises for Rs 3.54 crore, and changed its registered office address in the official records from Andheri to 45, CCI Chambers in South Mumbai.
In March 2010, three companies promoted by Videocon Industries — TekCare India Pvt Ltd, Evans Fraser & Co Ltd and Nippon Investment and Finance Company Pvt Ltd — together were allotted equity shares of 1 lakh at a premium for Rs 3.5 crore and became the majority shareholder of the company holding 90.91 per cent stake. The remaining stake was held by Salunke and Patil.
The company, according to its 2011 annual report, said that it “gave performance guarantee in favour of Supreme Energy Pvt. Ltd on behalf of NuPower Renewables Ltd worth Rs 7 crore” that was valid up to March 31, 2013. Quality Appliances also said that the purchase of the office premises in 2009-10 is shown as an investment in its accounts.
In 2012, the TekCare India, Evans Fraser & Co and Nippon Investment and Finance Company sold their 90.91 per cent stake to Patil and exited Quality Appliances. This took the total shareholding of Patil to 95.45 per cent.
In 2013, Quality Appliances changed its name to Quality Techno Advisors Pvt Ltd and Patil continued to hold 95.45 per cent stake in the firm until March 2016, according to RoC documents.
According to the latest available financial documents of March 2017, the firm is owned completely by Deepak Kochhar through Quality Advisors (Trust). The company has also made a provision of Rs 3.5 crore (50 per cent liability) towards the Rs 7 crore guarantee that it gave in favour of Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd on behalf of NuPower Renewables Ltd in 2010-11.
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines
For all the latest Business News, download Indian Express App. | 1,268,962 |
A Democratic super PAC is launching a second wave of digital ads urging GOP Sens. Dean Heller Dean Arthur HellerOn The Trail: Democrats plan to hammer Trump on Social Security, Medicare Lobbying World Democrats spend big to put Senate in play MORE (Nev.) and Jeff Flake Jeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeRepublican former Michigan governor says he's voting for Biden Maybe they just don't like cowboys: The president is successful, some just don't like his style Bush endorsing Biden? Don't hold your breath MORE (Ariz.) to support an independent investigation into President Trump Donald John TrumpHR McMaster says president's policy to withdraw troops from Afghanistan is 'unwise' Cast of 'Parks and Rec' reunite for virtual town hall to address Wisconsin voters Biden says Trump should step down over coronavirus response MORE’s Russia ties.
American Bridge 21st Century is targeting two GOP senators up for reelection in 2018, pressing them to back an independent probe investigating Russian interference in the U.S. election and whether Trump allies communicated with Russian officials during the campaign.
“Donald Trump is putting our national security at risk, praising Putin and ignoring Russia’s aggressions,” one of the ads says. “We deserve to know why, but Sen. Dean Heller is turning a blind eye.”
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The digital spots will run in Arizona and Nevada for two weeks on YouTube and other video platforms. The ads call on voters to contact both GOP senators and tell them to sign a petition that urges Heller and Flake to back an independent investigation.
Heller and Flake are two of the most vulnerable Republican senators who are facing reelection races in 2018. Democrats will largely be on defense in the midterm elections, needing to protect 25 seats, including two seats held by Independents who caucus with the party.
"While Dean Heller and Jeff Flake ignore the questions surrounding Trump's ties to Russia, Donald Trump himself continues to put America's national security and the interests of the American people at risk,” said American Bridge president Jessica Mackler. “It's time to launch an independent investigation, senators."
Sen. Ben Cardin Benjamin (Ben) Louis CardinPPP application window closes after coronavirus talks deadlock Congress eyes tighter restrictions on next round of small business help Senate passes extension of application deadline for PPP small-business loans MORE (D-Md.), the leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and other Democrats have called for an independent commission to probe Russia’s interference.
The New York Times reported earlier this month that some of Trump's campaign staffers had repeated contact with members of Russian intelligence. But Trump and his team have denied those claims, with the president tweeting this week that reports about Russia are “fake news.”
The House Intelligence Committee is investigating Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election, as well as any ties between campaign officials and Moscow. Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Monday that he has seen no evidence that Trump officials had regular contact with Russian officials. | 1,268,963 |
La Liga president Javier Tebas has threatened legal action if UEFA fail to properly investigate what he feels are clear breaches of the organisation's Financial Fair Play rules by Paris Saint-Germain.
The grounds of Tebas' complaint are not made clear in an interview with Mundo Deportivo, but he said PSG's desire to pay Neymar's €222 million buyout clause is not his only issue.
"We will [make a complaint about PSG] because they infringe UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules and also the European Union's competition rules," Tebas said.
"We will make a complaint to UEFA and if they don't do anything we will take it to the competition tribunals in Switzerland and Brussels. And, from there, we don't rule out going through the courts in France and Spain.
"It's not [just to do with Neymar]. We planned [to make the complaint] earlier. If we've not done it sooner it's because we planned to take the problem to UEFA's people first and I said that to president [Aleksander] Ceferin, but there hasn't been time.
"What worries me is La Liga can't just sit around with its arms crossed. It's not about Barca, it's about Spanish football. Today it is Barca but tomorrow it could be Real [Madrid], Atletico or another team."
La Liga president Javier Tebas says they may take legal action against PSG over FFP. Gerard Julien/Getty Images
Asked if he'd already made the complaint, Tebas added: "We're going to make it immediately."
The La Liga chief also confirmed that he's already informed PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi of his intentions.
"Two months ago I received the president of PSG at La Liga's offices and I told him what we were going to do and the reasons why," he added.
"He was angry with me and said that he did not understand. We have a relationship because don't forget that [BeIn] manage the television rights for Spanish football, but La Liga must defend our clubs in these situations."
UEFA have previously punished PSG for falling foul of FFP legislation.
The Ligue 1 club were ordered to play past editions of the Champions League with only 21 players in their squad and spending on new signings was capped at around €55 million one year as punishment for breaching the rules.
They were also fined €20m a year for three years totalling €60m, but only the first year's fine was imposed.
However, UEFA's FFP head has said that PSG will have "done their sums well" to ensure a potential world-record move for Neymar keeps them within financial fair play regulations.
In addition to paying the Brazilian's buyout clause, PSG also have to work out how to fit the forward's reported €30m post-tax annual salary into FFP regulations. | 1,268,964 |
Fearing violence, Hyderabad cops force organisers to cancel play titled ‘Jihaad’
Sending a notice, police stated that while the festival of Bonalu is going on, “a play like ‘Jihaad’ is not advisable.”
news Controversy
A play titled Jihaad - A Seldom Love Story scheduled on Sunday 7.30 pm had to be cancelled, after the Banjara Hills police sent a notice to Lamakaan — the venue, fearing violence. Police stated that while the festival of Bonalu is ongoing, “a play like Jihaad is not advisable.”
Police claimed that the play could create law and order situation in the city.
The organisers describe Jihaad as a love story between a Hindu middle class girl and a reserved Muslim boy who suppresses his identity in college. “The story also deals with the bomb blast, riots, political issues, communalism, terrorism, fascism, myths, intolerance and patriotism,” the synopsis adds.
On Saturday, after checking the event, police sent a notice which read, “This is the festival season of Bonalu, going on till the end of the month of July, 2019. People in large numbers will congregate near temples and also take out processions. In view of prevailing situation, organising a play like Jihaad is not advisable, as a small untoward incident can cause disturbance to the public order and peaceful environment of Hyderabad city which is being maintained all these years.” (sic)
Speaking to TNM, the play’s director Suhas Barve said, “There is nothing controversial about the play. It is a story which happens in the backdrop of Mumbai riots. The title of the play could have alarmed the police. They said that some miscreants could create a scene, and as a precautionary measure asked us to postpone it until the Bonalu ends, which we oblige. We respect their views.”
The show has been now postponed to August 1.
Amar Sankrit, one of the actors in the play said, “A lot of people had booked their tickets and turned up on that day for the play; we had to apologise to them, and ask them to come back on August 1 or else take a refund. We were practising for nearly two months for the play and when it got cancelled, we were a bit disappointed.”
This is the second time in less than a month that the police have disrupted the events held at Lamakaan. Lamakaan is a cultural space where free thinkers and activists gather to express their political views.
On June 27, police disrupted a talk ‘Fascism is still Resistable’ reportedly after a BJP leader tweeted to them that the talk was an “anti-Hindu programme”. However, police left the venue after the organisers demanded the police to state this in writing. | 1,268,965 |
In this lesson – how to draw a koala… I’d like to show you a really simple way to draw the animal in sort of a ‘two for one’ fashion.
Koala’s are fairly simple animals with respect to their shape. Their most defining features would be their big fluffy ears and their big black noses. Aside from this… just make sure it’s grey, fluffy-looking and cute!
With these ideas in mind – drawing two koalas (both mother and baby) is simple as basically – the smaller version can be drawn as a small replica of the larger version.
OK, here’s how to draw a koala… err – koalas!
First Step – How to Draw a Koala Framework
If drawing a framework is something you find to be of help, here’s a quick and simple way to go about it. Notice how a koala can be broken down into a series of simple circles – six in total when drawn in this position.
Here’s how to do it…
Looking at the finished framework above, you can see that drawing a koala is much easier when you keep the ‘big picture’ in mind. The baby – in this lesson and position, can be drawn as a small replica of the original, as it really helps to simplify things, letting you focus on the fun part – drawing your koala to look as cute and unique as ever!
Of course – if you only want to draw one, then do so. Ok, here’s how to draw the actual koala now…
Second Step – Let’s Draw Some Koalas!
Beginning with the little guy – if of course you’re going to be drawing two koalas… go ahead and draw in the eyes and nose. The eyes, nose and ears of a koala are its key defining features. Add a mouth too if you like, but here – keeping to simplicity… I decided to avoid the extra details.
Here’s how to draw a koala – both baby and mother…
Well, what do you think? Looks pretty cute, doesn’t it! Actually – here – we’ve really kept our animals nice and simple. Maybe even a bit too simple for your liking? If so, it’s really quite easy to add some more details to your koalas, and make them look even better. The ears for example. If you were to redraw them, you could add quick ‘whispy’ lines coming off each side to achieve a closer likeness. You could also add a mouth, some claws, etc.
And other than that – you’re all done! Congratulations. Next up – grab some pencil crayons and give your animal some color. Or if you like… redraw your koalas so that they take on a look that’s unique to you!
| 1,268,966 |
Volkswagen’s Škoda division is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1000 MB. Designed to replace the Octavia, the 1000 MB was a monumentally important car for Škoda because it blazed the path that all of the company’s subsequent models followed up until the late 1980s.
The sedan was initially called NOV internally (an acronym that stood for Nový Osobní Vůz, or new passenger vehicle) but the name 1000 MB was quickly adopted as a reference to the engine displacement and a brand new factory called Mladá Boleslav.
The 1000 MB was designed to be drastically different from the outgoing Octavia because state-owned Škoda needed a modern car capable of fighting head-to-head against western Europe’s best-sellers in order to expand its presence beyond the Iron Curtain. Many of the most popular cars in Europe during the early 1960s were rear-engined, so Škoda opted to ditch the Octavia’s front-engined / rear-wheel drive layout and install the 1000 MB’s four-banger behind the rear axle.
The engine in question was a brand new 998cc water-cooled unit that sent 37 horsepower to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual transmission, enough to propel the 1,665-pound (755-kilo) 1000 MB to a top speed of 75 mph (120 km/h). Both the engine block and the transmission casing were built using aluminum die-casting, a novel process at the time.
Visually, the 1000 MB wore a rounded design with bulging headlights and a long hood that hid a spacious cargo compartment. The spare tire was accessed via a small panel located just above the front bumper, a setup similar to the one found on the Renault Dauphine in late 1950s. Around back, a wrap-around rear window helped visibility while the rear quarter panels were fitted with large vents that routed cool air to the engine.
The 1000 MB immediately became one of the most popular cars in Czechoslovakia, encouraging Škoda to expand the lineup with upmarket trim levels that boasted a generous amount of standard equipment and more powerful engines. A sporty two-door model dubbed 1000 MBX appeared about halfway through the production run, and a station wagon variant was envisioned but killed at the embryonic stage of development after a single prototype had been built.
Over 443,000 examples of the 1000 MB were sold by the time production ended in the spring of 1969. More than half of that number were exported to neighboring countries, and some examples went as far as Australia and New Zealand.
Interestingly, Škoda offered the 1000 MB in the United States in 1966 and 1967. The MB cost $1,480 in 1966, making it cheaper than the $1,585 Beetle and other struggling rear-engined imports like the Renault 8 and the Simca 1000. The smaller Fiat 600D cost $1,237. | 1,268,967 |
The United Kingdom seems to be hypocritical with respect to its marijuana policy. The same government that claims cannabis has no medicinal function is now the leading medical marijuana exporter on the planet. This discrepancy has drug reform groups searching for answers. They are trying to understand why this country bans cannabis while exporting the most in the world.
UK Leads the World in Cannabis Export
Last year, the United Kingdom produced 95 tons of legal cannabis, according to a report from the United Nations’ International Narcotics Control Board.
Incidentally, the data shows that the United Kingdom dominated in cannabis exports—accounting for nearly 45 percent of the action. Its closest competitor is Canada. That country is responsible for 81 tons of cannabis.
In addition, the report shows two tons of cannabis was exported from the United Kingdom. That amounts to 68 percent of the world total. Coming in at second place was the Netherlands, with 16.4 percent.
Cannabis Advocates Are Miffed
Cannabis advocates have criticized the government of the United Kingdom for the double standard. They argue it has “consistently refused to allow medical cannabis” on the “basis that it has ‘no therapeutic value'”. They are especially incensed that this is going on when children like Alfie Dingley are denied life-saving cannabis medication in their home country.
“It is scandalous and untenable for the UK government to maintain that cannabis has no medical uses, at the same time as licensing the world’s biggest government-approved medical cannabis production and export market,” said Steve Rolles, senior political analyst for Transform.
“Countries with proper access to medical cannabis do not have this problem,” he added.
Big Pharma Is to Blame
A large part of the UK’s cannabis production goes to supply GW Pharmaceuticals. The company has been working for years to bring cannabis-based medicine to the U.S. market.
It already produces cannabis drugs for other countries. It is available by prescription.
The word on the street is that GW Pharma will soon market its epilepsy drug Epidiolex to patients in America.
In fact, the FDA recently gave the drug the green light.
Final Hit: This Country Bans Cannabis While Exporting The Most In The World
An estimated 1 million people in the United Kingdom are buying medical marijuana from the black market. This does not sit well with Rolles.
He finds the government’s actions “profoundly unethical.”
Furthermore, he says preventing patients from cannabis medicine is a “violation of the fundamental right to health.”
“The government must relax restrictions that grant a monopoly for a single product to a single company. It must allow access to cannabis-based medicines that serve patients need—what they don’t need is the government’s cruel and misguided war on people who use drugs,” he said. | 1,268,968 |
They started at the bottom, and now they’ve made it to the top.
After losing 9 of their first 11 games, the Washington Capitals were in the Southeast Division cellar. Alex Ovechkin had only three goals, and new coach Adam Oates’ system didn’t settle in as quickly as he had hoped.
However, following Sunday night’s 4-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington has marched all the way back into first place, riding a four-game winning streak and wins in 8 of their last 10 to pull into a two-point lead over the Winnipeg Jets.
Ovechkin even scored two goals against Tampa Bay to pull into a tied with Steven Stamkos for the league lead with 25.
“The beginning of the year was a pretty hard time for our whole organization,” Ovechkin said. “Right now, we’re back on track, and it’s good.”
Washington scored the final three goals against the Lightning to improve to 12-3-0 in the division. Michael Neuvirth made 28 of 30 saves in the game.
The game was hotly contested throughout, as Tampa Bay opened the scoring with Vincent Lecavalier’s power-play goal (8) less than two minutes into the game, courtesy of Martin St. Louis, who is second in the NHL with 38 assists.
Ovechkin (24) tied the game with a tip in goal at 3:14 in the second before Alex Killorn (7) scored on a breakaway at 6:37 to get Tampa Bay the lead right back.
John Carlson (6) beat goalie Ben Bishop with a slap shot to his glove side, an area Bishop has shown to be less skilled at than others. Bishop played well, making 32 of 35 saves, including some incredible goal-saving acrobatics, but he wasn’t good enough.
Joel Ward (8) scored on an odd-man rush for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Ovechkin fought through interference from the Lightning bench to cap off the game with an empty-net goal, his 25th.
All in all, it was a well-matched game, but the Capitals were the better team on the ice. Washington seems to be getting hot at just the right time, with a favorable schedule lined up down the stretch as well.
The Capitals will head to Canada to face the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Tampa Bay, all but out of the playoff race, will host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game marks the first time Cory Conacher will return to the Tampa Bay Times Forum in a different uniform, making for what should be an interesting night as Ben Bishop will also be facing his former team for the first time since last week’s trade. | 1,268,969 |
. It's using the local community to create better experiences in terms of health but also using their voice in how it's shaped.
Another initiative is a smart inhaler app for those who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is using data to help them understand the changes in their activities. So how often are they using the inhaler? Is there a sharp increase or decrease in their usage? It's trying to understand how that data can be visualised through mobile or web technology to improve people's experiences of having this experience. Feimatta: Quite a lot of people who suffer from COPD are elderly, so people who aren’t really familiar with technology or necessarily comfortable with the idea of having sensors in their house. We participated in a really interesting user research workshop where these three sufferers of COPD were saying how they're not comfortable using smartphones and how do they use that technology?
It's about gathering those insights and feeding them into the team who are designing the app so they can really understand how to make the technology in a way that’s going to be user-friendly for people who aren't overly comfortable with using technology.
Gaining trust When involving people who aren’t as tech-savvy, how do you make them feel like they can trust you throughout this process? Mahnaz: There's always a great response when you're very transparent and open about your approach and what you’re trying to create. In terms of sharing personal insights, how open as a participant am I going to be in giving you real stories that I experience? But there's also trust around apps and technology. We try to start conversations in different ways. One is through play and activities, not just creating a Q & A kind of environment. We create engaging experiences and through them, we're able to gather real insights that people want to share. Often times, those are insights that we might not want to hear, but it's really relevant to how you develop a product or service that's going to be used by other people. Could you describe what a workshop is like for one of these projects like the smart inhalers or Bee Active? Mahnaz: We’ve had workshops where we've invited people to have a general discussion around how they feel about technology and we've had lots of interesting conversations. We then unpick a lot of the insights. Sometimes it's reading between the lines and then using that piece of insight and going forward with that conversation. One of the workshops for Bee Active was a workout workshop where we had a facilitator carry out workout activities. It was like an aerobics class and with a little bit of yoga. There was a bit of discussion and a small treasure hunt involved as well. Through those activities, we tried to gather people's feedback on their lifestyles and their approach to health and keeping active by understanding their motivations behind it. So it's really immersive and it was through a combination of discussion and activity that we were able to have those conversations and gather that feedback for the Bee Active team. | 1,268,970 |
marathon-gas-station-cleveland.jpg
Six Cleveland patrol officers were disciplined for their misdeeds earlier this year at the Marathon gas station on the 3900 block of St. Clair Avenue.
(Brandon Blackwell, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Patrol Officer John Hotz hung out with the clerk at a gas station and helped himself to smokes and scratch-off-tickets, according to the store's co-owner, Dawn Phillips.
"He would sometimes throw away losing tickets instead of paying for them," Phillips said. "[The clerk] would pretend to sell him cigarettes, then void out the sale and just give him the pack."
Hotz, who is among six officers recently found to have violated department rules, spent parts of his late-night shifts between Jan. 1 and March 3 loitering and gambling at the Marathon gas station at East 40th Street and St. Clair Avenue, according to city officials.
Phillips and her co-owner husband learned of what Hotz was doing in March.
They fired the woman and reported Hotz to police, sparking a six-month investigation into police activity at the gas station.
The investigation expanded beyond Hotz. Officials in October found six patrol officers guilty of offenses ranging from leaving a patrol area without permission to testing Tasers at the Marathon.
Phillips fears reprisals from police, she said.
The six officers -- Charles Boddy, Nicole Corea, Hotz, Robert O'Brien, Orville Taylor and Dustin Vowell -- were given unpaid suspensions ranging from six to 30 days for misconduct at the gas station.
According to disciplinary letters issued by Chief Calvin Williams and Safety Director Michael McGrath:
Hotz, the only officer of the six to receive a 30-day suspension, was found guilty of gambling while on duty, soliciting or accepting gratuities and falsifying daily duty reports.
Investigators found Hotz also abused sick leave and forged a return-to-work slip issued by a Parma hospital.
Corea and Taylor were suspended for 10 days and were found guilty of falsifying daily duty reports, gambling while on duty and other infractions.
Corea and Taylor "inappropriately conducted spark tests" at the gas station with their police-issued Tasers.
Boddy, O'Brien and Vowell each received six-day suspensions.
All three were found guilty of leaving an assigned patrol area without permission, falsifying daily duty reports, and soliciting or accepting gratuities.
Internal affairs investigators cleared the six officers of breaking any laws, said police spokesman Sgt. Ali Pillow.
Jeffrey Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, said the union will contest the suspensions of Boddy and O'Brien.
Both officers at one time served as Hotz's partner, but requested reassignment once they learned of Hotz's activity at the gas station, Follmer said. | 1,268,971 |
like Fantastical or Sunrise, but provide the best Facebook Events experience, since that’s what people are using to track of events they’re attending. It’s also worth noting that Facebook is still the place most people check to keep up on birthdays — a sorely undervalued and essential functionality that Sunrise duly steals.
A third potential gold mine for Facebook is mobile search. Facebook’s Graph Search product, which has yet to make its way to mobile, struggles with the real world largely because it’s not always with you. Searching for "Sushi restaurants my friends like" isn’t nearly as valuable at a computer as on your phone when you walk out of a movie at 7 PM. Foursquare’s repeated emphasis on mobile is further proof that users search for places to eat and drink on their phones, but Facebook’s local recommendations search has been a no-show. Foursquare hasn’t exactly hit it big, but with the help of your friends' Likes, a Facebook mobile search product could potentially be very compelling.
Facebook Graph Search on the web.
Facebook has, of course, already tried this fragmented approach before with apps like Facebook Camera and Poke, but I’ve heard from sources over the last year that these apps functioned more as experimental testing beds than anything else. Poke was a glorified hackathon project and Camera was a misguided hedge against Instagram, but both showed Facebook is willing to break pieces of its service apart to see if they work. New, separate apps might throw a wrench into Facebook’s News Feed-based ad model, but it’s a sacrifice the company will have to make. It can figure out that part later, just as its free competitors plan on doing.
Buried no more
When Square Cash launched, I asked product manager Brian Grassadonia why Square didn’t put Cash inside of its existing Wallet app. He laughed as he explained that doing so could doom Cash to a role as a "feature" and not as a product unto itself. With Messenger, Facebook has shown that it understands this principle, and it seems clear that it will act on its learnings in 2014. In fact, Zuckerberg plans to appear for the first time at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress next month. Perhaps with separate apps, it can not only be more agile, but more focused, dumping apps that underperform while pulling resources into apps that catch on without constantly reorganizing its main site.
In September Zuckerberg compared ten-year-old Facebook to electricity. "Maybe electricity was cool when it first came out but pretty quickly people stopped talking about it because it’s not the new thing. The real question you want to track at that point is, are fewer people turning on their lights because it’s less cool?" Zuckerberg made Facebook an indispensable utility on the desktop, and after years chasing the coolest apps in the market, it’s time to see if he can repeat the success on mobile. | 1,268,972 |
KITCHENER - The owner of the derelict former Electrohome building at 152 Shanley St. has opted to repair the crumbling building rather than tear it down.
Owner Andrew Spylo has obtained a building permit to address significant structural problems with the building, said Mike Seiling, Kitchener's chief building official. The permit pegs the cost of the work at $600,000 and stipulates that work must begin by Aug. 14.
The 132-year-old building, which is in the middle of a residential neighbourhood, has major structural problems, including large sections of collapsed floors on three of the building's four storeys, as well as damaged beams and columns.
In May, the city declared the building unsafe and ordered the owner to take immediate action to either address the structural problems or safely demolish the building.
The city's engineering inspection report, which is available on the city's website, outlines a number of problems with the building that need to be addressed by the end of September. The roof is letting in rain and snow, causing the building's supports to deteriorate. Wood columns, beams, joists and decking have failed, and 10-by-15-foot sections of the floors on the second, third and top storeys have collapsed.
The report by Tacoma Engineers says the building is not in immediate danger of collapse, but "it is imperative" that remedial work be done before winter.
It also says that repairing the building presents "significant challenges" and estimates that repairs to ensure the building is structurally sound are estimated to cost at least $1.5 million. Restoring the building for a new use could cost $6.5 to $10 million, it says.
The city's building department hasn't set a deadline for the repair work to be completed, but "I'm very aware of what the engineer from Tacoma said, that the building can't go through another winter," Seiling said. The city will be closely monitoring the progress of the repair work, he said.
The property has been neglected for decades, and the owners have a history of not paying property taxes or carrying out basic maintenance. Kitchener twice tried to force a tax sale to recoup $1.2 million in unpaid property taxes, and the city has taken over sidewalk shovelling and grass cutting, adding those costs to the site's tax bill.
If the structural repairs aren't done before winter, the city could step in, order the work done and bill the cost to the owner, Seiling said.
Spylo, a real estate agent and landlord, bought the property in 1998.
The city is keen to see the site improved, and developed a vision for the property to try and kick-start redevelopment. The vision calls for a six-storey residential building, with retail on the ground floor and underground parking.
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Twitter: @ThompsonRecord | 1,268,973 |
Information
Hey guys, I've been laddering this month and I noticed an interesting deck lurking around the edges with TPS colors. It was effective against my Skycraggro list, so I decided to build a control deck inspired by it. The general game plan here is removal, removal, removal. The lack of Harsh Rule doesn't hurt you since not many decks right now necessitate that kind of answer- either they're too fast like Praxis Tokens and Skycraggro, or they're decks that can be answered with single-target removal, like Argenport Midrange. Your win conditions are twofold and recyclable in the way of Channels and the Last Word. The recent popularity of Praxis Midrange is entirely to our advantage, as we have 2 ways to permanently rid ourselves of Dawnwalker: Vara's Choice and Feeding Time.
Your win conditions are Channel the Tempest and the Last Word. It might not sound like a lot, but they're recyclable thanks to Excavate and Disjunction, and fetchable thanks to Celestial Omen and all the card draw we have. I would opt for using Channel versus midrange and aggro since they don't usually have face aegis or negation, and the Last Word against control since you yourself have six sources of face aegis in order to protect your asset. Word of warning: this deck is geared mostly against Midrange and aggro, so I don't expect it to perform 100% against control decks thanks to all the useless removal we're packing.
Here's something cool that can help you on longer games: the Last Word makes every one of your spells Deadly. What this means is that Hailstorm becomes a 3-cost Harsh Rule, Extract becomes a Slay with Lifesteal, and Lightning Strike kills any attacking unit.
I'll be testing this deck extensively and changing it as needs arise, so your feedback and advice is greatly appreciated!
Edit: This deck has gone 11-6 in Master's rank as of now. I'll be updating this as I keep going.
Edit 2: Rain of Frogs wasn't pulling its weight so I replaced it. I was also never happy to see Eylin's Favor so I removed that. I replaced both with Seek Power because we're running a triple influence deck after all, and getting triple influence by turn two is important. Eye of Winter is a decent tech as well since it acts as pseudo-removal to buy you time while you draw into a more permanent solution. The fact that it's a relic and can be used once per turn means that we'll always be able to gum up at least one fatty or pop 1 aegis that the enemy has.
Matchups: Argenport Mid and Praxis Tokens fold to this like wet paper. Aegis units, Dawnwalker, and endless fatties are the bane of this deck, so expect a tough fight against Feln and Time midrange if they have great hands. | 1,268,974 |
New guidelines released Wednesday recommend U.S. adults start colon cancer screening earlier, at age 45 instead of 50.
The American Cancer Society's advice puts it out of sync with guidelines from an influential government advisory group, which kept the age at 50 in an update two years ago.
Cancer society officials acknowledge the shift to 45 could cause confusion for doctors and patients but felt strongly that they needed to act now. The advocacy group was influenced by its study, published last year, that found rising rates of colon cancer and deaths in people younger than 50. Experts aren't sure why there has been a 50 percent increase in cases since 1994.
The guidelines are for men and women ages 45 to 75 of average risk for colon cancer; recommendations are different for people with certain conditions, like Crohn's disease, or a family history of colon cancer. The group endorses six kinds of screening exams, from inexpensive take-home stool tests performed every year to colonoscopies done every 10.
"All of these tests are good tests, and the choice should be offered to patients," said the cancer society's Dr. Rich Wender. "The best test is the test that gets done."
The same tests are recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a panel that reviews evidence and issues advice for a variety of screenings and treatments. It updated its colon cancer guidelines in 2016 and its next review isn't expected until around 2021.
That panel's recommendations drive what screening is covered by insurance under the Affordable Care Act, although 20 states have laws that link coverage to the cancer society guidelines. It's not uncommon for groups to have slightly different guidelines although those for colon cancer have been about the same for decades.
Most colon cancer occurs in adults 55 and older, and the good news is rates of cases and deaths have been falling for decades. Colon cancer, combined with rectal cancer, is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. This year, more than 140,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with it, and about 50,000 will die from it.
Doctors will probably look to specialty medical societies to sort out the different guidelines, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. But it may take a little while before they offer clear advice.
Some experts have worried about pre-50 risks of colon cancer in some racial and ethnic groups, and at least one specialty society for gastroenterologists has urged screening of black adults starting at age 45.
Others argue that instead of lowering the age for routine screening, more effort should be put into getting more people tested. Only about two-thirds of people 50 and older have been following screening guidelines.
"It's hard enough to get people to do it at all," Plescia noted.
Dr. Andrew Wolf, the lead author of the latest guidelines, said they considered and rejected that reasoning.
"We should be able to do both," said Wolf, a University of Virginia internist. | 1,268,975 |
Poor Sean Hannity’s head nearly exploded. He settled on calling Mulvaney “dumb,” adding, “I don’t think he even knows what he’s talking about.”
And it was reportedly Republican pressure that forced Trump to reverse course on his decision to host the next Group of 7 summit at his own Doral resort in Florida, despite the fact that he blamed the change on “Do Nothing Radical Left Democrats” and the “Fake News Media.” Republicans told the president, according to news reports, that they were defending him on so many fronts that his desire to hold a meeting of world leaders at his struggling property in June, one of the muggiest months in South Florida, was an emolument too far.
The cracks in Trump’s Republican support may be few, but they are widening. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) risked withering scorn to announce he is open to Trump’s impeachment and removal. Retiring Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) compared Trump to Nixon: “I’ve been real mindful of the fact that during Watergate, all the people I knew said, ‘Oh, they’re just abusing Nixon, and it’s a witch hunt.’ Turns out it wasn’t a witch hunt. It was really bad.”
A spate of news stories have noted that influential aggregator Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report, who vaulted to fame and fortune pushing Clinton’s impeachment, appears to have “soured” on Trump, and has been highlighting pro-impeachment commentary.
Is it any surprise that Trump is unraveling in full view?
On Monday, in a Cabinet meeting that devolved into a 71-minute rant against his critics, he carped about accusations that hosting the G-7 meeting would violate the U.S. Constitution: “You people with this phony emoluments clause.”
On Tuesday morning, as a top American diplomat testified to House impeachment investigators that Trump’s threat to withhold military aid to Ukraine was conditioned on Ukraine’s commitment to investigate the Bidens, the president compared the impeachment inquiry to a “lynching,” an analogy so revolting that he has made clear, again, there is no bottom to his clueless self-pity.
::
Pollsters began regularly quizzing Americans about impeaching Trump over the summer. In August, only 41% approved of an inquiry.
That number has jumped to 51%, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.
Not all polls are registering such a dramatic shift, but the trend is clear. For example, the website FiveThirtyEight has just launched an impeachment polling tracker. The aggregated poll is frequently updated; Monday afternoon, it found, 49.6% of Americans support impeachment, while 43.7% oppose it.
Could the snowball finally become an avalanche? | 1,268,976 |
Is there a No. 1 tight end on Indiana's roster?
If Indiana's wide receiver two-deep is fraught with uncertainty, then its positional neighbor, tight end, can empathize.
IU hasn't been able to find a clear-cut No. 1 tight end since Ted Bolser's departure in 2013. While replicating Bolser's record-setting career probably isn't realistic, finding a legitimate blocking/receiving threat here would be a significant boost.
Kevin Wilson should not want for options. Whether open competition breeds improved production remains to be seen.
NAMES TO KNOW
Michael Cooper, 6-5, 257 pounds, R-Sr.
Anthony Corsaro, 6-3, 250, Sr.
Sean Damaska, 6-7, 250, R-Jr.
Danny Friend, 6-5, 261, R-So.
Jordan Fuchs, 6-6, 233, So.
Austin Dorris, 6-5, 225, Fr.
IS THERE A FRONTRUNNER?
First, it's worth mentioning that Tevin Coleman probably doesn't rush for 2,000-plus yards in 2014 without good tight end play. So it's not like Indiana is starting from scratch.
The question is whether one of the aforementioned six players -- and that's every tight end on Indiana's roster at present -- can couple consistent blocking with some receiving threat.
Last season, three players (Corsaro, Fuchs and Cooper) combined for 10 catches, 95 yards and one touchdown (Fuchs). That encompasses the entire receiving output of the position group in 2014. Indiana's limitations in the passing game certainly extended beyond tight end, but improvement here would bolster the Hoosiers' options through the air, perhaps significantly.
Seniority and experience could give Corsaro the early edge. His contributions as a blocker last season are noted in his official team biography.
Fuchs' athleticism makes him an attractive choice, invoking some comparisons to Bolser's style of play at the position.
But, just as with Indiana's receiver corps, there are no guarantees anywhere on the roster right now.
FINAL WORD
Bolser was a crucial piece of an offense that led the conference in passing two seasons consecutively. His absence last season was equally impactful.
Again, this group deserves praise for helping build a record-setting rushing attack for Coleman last fall. And there's potential at numerous spots.
But with Nate Sudfeld healthy and back for one more season, Indiana's passing game must carve the path offensively if IU wants to play into the postseason.
So we return to the question: Is there a No. 1 tight end on Indiana's roster? If so, how quickly will he show himself?
OTHER POSITION PREVIEWS
Quarterback
Running back
Wide receiver
Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman. | 1,268,977 |
windfall of about $700 million. That can buy a lot of shitposting. Peter Thiel showed America what happens when you mix radical ideology with heaps of money. Palmer Luckey is the last piece of the puzzle for this domestic technology-driven group. He provides opportunity for members to genuinely devote their time to strategizing and executing on their power. There are a lot of man-hours that go into any sophisticated technical undertaking and Luckey makes this much more possible through funding.
Palmer Luckey, by casually funding actions that are perhaps not illegal or treasonous in and of themselves and by not organizing these undertakings himself, somewhat extinguishes himself from personal consequences from these actions.
With established means, motivations, and relief from consequences, it is this technically-inclined alternative domestic group that is most likely to engage in this sort of discourse tilting automation behavior. And this is what they are doing.
A new world
The social issues that underpin any election are at play, but they are manifesting themselves in different and dramatic ways. With unprecedented distribution of “power” by way of network technology, this election, and all future events of national influence, must be examined through the lens of potential for mass manipulation like is at play here. The reason the election is being hit harder than other events, is that for the most part the motivation is not quite as strong to do so, but as this technology advances, the bar for motivation will drop.
We are in a uniquely experimental phase in history of these technologies. It is not enough for government and organizations in the know to deal with this in secrecy. The Edward Snowden NSA leak and all the revelations that have followed, notably the recent Yahoo email spying, speak to that notion. We need transparency and open centralized discussion about the technology that is shaping our lives. The concerns should be spoken to, but technology also needs to be presented in an optimistic light for this country's well being, as sensationalization and fear mongering for political gain will only hurt us as we strive to stay ahead of international rivals.
Notably absent from this article is any discussion about how Hillary Clinton may be using and benefiting from this kind of behavior. I am supporting Clinton in this election which biases me, but I truly think the story is on Trump's side in terms of the scale and magnitude of this behavior. Trump benefits uniquely from this radical, unfocused disruption. Technology has been a huge part of the Clinton campaign, for better or worse, but I don't think the motivations specified in this assertion apply the same to the powerful Clinton campaign.
It appears the Trump campaign is fizzling out despite all of this, but the story is not about Trump, or Luckey, or 4chan or Putin or ISIS. The discussion is about the scale and power of this kind of automation and the impact it can have on a country's dialogue. These issues are not in the public conscious in any grounded capacity. Without a collective understanding about the impact of bots, our model of the world is skewed away from reality. | 1,268,978 |
illegal) coup d’état on American soil … for an international crime syndicate known as the NWO globalist cabal that has already stolen U.S. tax revenues for a well over a century … and counting!
______________________________________________________________
Special Note:
The transparently “fake news” produced by The Washington Post just reached a crescendo with their many bogus “Russian hacking” stories. The more they publish on this burgeoning scandal, the more they become a central player in Electorgate. Together with the other newspaper of record — The New York Times — they have contributed so much fake news about Donald Trump’s relationship to Russia and the false election hack that it’s even becoming quite obvious to those addicted to MSM fake news. The main perps in Electorgate can’t even get their stories straight anymore. That’s what happens when there is so much prevarication and lying going on by the MSM and the C.I.A.
(The CIA Says They Did NOT TELL The WASHINGTON POST That “Russia Hacked Election In Favor Of Trump”!)
______________________________________________________________
Conclusion
There is no question that the cabal will not rest until they have deprived Donald Trump of his high office. There has never been such an all-out smear campaign conducted by the MSM … IN WORLD HISTORY. TPTB really do not want him “Making America Great Again” at a time that they are determined to wreck and ruin the nation from within. And here’s how they are doing it—>40 Electors Demand Russian Interference Briefing Before They Vote.
Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that the body politic be vigilant from now until Inauguration Day. Both sides of the political aisle have a very strong interest to not see democracy subverted. Yes, the Founding Fathers birthed this country as a constitutional republic, but the election apparatus and voting procedure has evolved into a democratic process which cannot be so profoundly undermined lest the USA no longer exist.
For the United States of America is first and foremost established as a nation governed by the rule of law, where no man — president or pauper — stands above that law. Hence, it’s high time that We the People take back our American Republic from those who have stolen it.
We can begin by preventing TPTB from stealing the 2016 presidential election. Let’s get busy!
The Millennium Report
December 14, 2016
Recommended Reading
WASHINGTON POST-CIA CONNECTIONS DESTROY POST’S “ELECTION HACK” CLAIM
Reference
EXPOSED: Faithless Elector Chris Suprun Paid for Ashley Madison While Bankrupt & Married With 3 Kid
___
http://themillenniumreport.com/2016/12/was-the-anti-trump-elector-blackmailed-or-bribed-or-both/ | 1,268,979 |
team
The first set of documentation contains more technical details on test implementation, while the second describes the same tests from the product point of view.
The final stage is configuring reports: we determined what report formats to use, who would receive different types of reports, and so on.
Supporting autotests
Once autotests are implemented, the next task is to think about how to ensure their continuous support. While our tests are based on a GUI, they’re quite stable, mostly because the interface of the application under test doesn’t change that often.
Still, there are a number of things we need to do to support autotests and the environment they’re running in:
Keep existing virtual machines up to date
Add new versions of operating systems and exclude old ones from the testing environment
Fix tests that stop working due to changes in the GUI
Refactor tests to improve performance and increase stability
It’s also noteworthy that our case is rather an exception. Most GUI tests are unstable due to the rapidly changing interface as well as issues with the recognition of controls and GUI elements and interactions with them.
In general, if you want to implement stable autotests, here are three recommendations:
Make sure that most of your tests are API tests Try avoiding GUI tests if possible For interacting with the GUI, choose the library that best fits your product’s interface
By following these recommendations, you can significantly improve the stability of your autotests.
Conclusion
Autotesting is a great way to improve overall product testing, get more accurate test results, and save time that you would have otherwise spent on manual tests. In particular, test automation for enterprises can save a lot of time (and thus money) by automating regression tests.
In this article, we took a detailed look at the process of selecting, implementing, and supporting automated tests using the example of one of our current projects. When we implemented autotests in our client’s enterprise desktop application, we saw a number of significant benefits:
With the help of autotests, we could get actual information about the state of the tested build before it even made it to manual testers.
We found (and were able to fix) a few dozen bugs before the build was tested by manual testers, saving a lot of time.
We excluded the human factor from regular tests like checking file signatures after the build process.
In the end, autotests became an essential part of the testing process in this project, and we continue to benefit from their implementation. In the future, we plan to expand the scope of autotests for current features and continue automating tests as new functionalities are introduced to our client's application.
At Apriorit, we have a team of skilled QA specialists who will gladly help you make your product even better and get the most out of test automation. Get in touch with us to start discussing your project. | 1,268,980 |
At least forty-seven people, including several Christians, have been arrested today (15 April) while peacefully blocking entrances to the Faslane nuclear base in Scotland.
They were calling for Trident nuclear weapons to be scrapped and the estimated £100 billion that the UK government plans to spend on them to be directed to welfare, pensions, disability benefits, green jobs and other human needs.
All gates were blocked with the base completely shut from 7am until 10am. The entrance was filled with people singing and in good spirits. The action was backed by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Trident Ploughshares, the Scottish Green Party, the Scottish Socialist Party, the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre and other groups.
The blockade is one of more than a hundred actions on the Global Day of Action on Military Spending, calling for deep reductions in military spending, currently at $1.74 trillion annually, and follows a demonstration in Glasgow on Saturday (13 April) when thousands of protesters called for the government to scrap Trident.
Activists from a dozen campaign groups and political parties laid down in the entrance to the base and locked themselves together with metal and plastic tubes, chains and thumb cuffs. Police used specialist cutting equipment to cut them out before they were able to lift them out of the road.
Briain Quail, 70, a retired teacher from Glasgow was reportedly the first to be arrested. Others included Green MSP Patrick Harvie and CND chair Dave Webb.
Krista van Velzen, a former MP in the Netherlands and Christian peace activist, was also arrested, shortly after declaring “It's appalling that the UK spends £3 billion per year on weapons of mass destruction, while refugees in Syria struggle even to have a piece of tarp to make a shelter.”
Those arrested are reported to have ranged in age from 19 to 83 and came from across Scotland, Wales, England and possibly beyond. Older participants amongst those arrested include veteran Quaker campaigner Sylvia Boyes, 69, from Yorkshire, and Caerphilly Labour councillor Ray Davies, 83. They were joined by younger people including theology student Duncan Logie from Glasgow and Dominic Lindley, 20, from Yorkshire CND.
Lindley said he was “taking action to stop the breach of the peace” committed by the UK government in “owning and refusing to disarm weapons of mass destruction”.
Sheffield University student Sara Moon said, “Sheffied University Student Union has a firm commitment to the belief that money should not be spent on funding the arms trade and supporting war but instead be spent on fundamental social goods such as education.”
She added, “It would take a fraction of the cost of the Trident nuclear programme to fund free education for all in the UK. At a time when the worst off in our communities have been stripped of their access to education we have to demand that public money is not wasted on something as unnecessary and devastating as Trident”
[Ekk/1] | 1,268,981 |
What to Know The vote of no confidence will be held by the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association.
The vote comes as Israel and his agency have been heavily criticized for their response to the Parkland school shooting.
Seventeen people were shot dead in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HIgh School.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel will face a no-confidence vote following numerous failures that have "crushed morale through the agency," the Broward Sheriff's Office Deputies Association said.
The move comes as Israel and his agency have been heavily criticized for their response during and after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in which 17 people, mostly teenage students, were shot dead.
In a statement, the deputies association said it scheduled the vote after "many instances of suspected malfeasance, misfeasance, failure to maintain fiduciary responsibility by the Sheriff, failure to properly investigate possible criminal conduct by members of his senior command staff and the lack of leadership that has crushed morale through the agency."
The president of the deputies association, which is represented by the International Union of Police Associations trade union, said the no-confidence vote lasts up to a week. Members of the association can vote electronically, while non-members can vote in person at its headquarters.
The vote would be a largely symbolic move that would not relieve the sheriff of his duties if passed. The starting date of the vote has not yet been revealed.
In response, BSO said that Jeff Bell, the president of the association's Local 6020 chapter, told Israel during a recent phone conversation that with the Parkland tragedy being prevalent in news coverage, that it would be an opportune time to settle contract issues.
“It is unfortunate and appalling that the IUPA union boss – in the midst of ongoing labor contract salary negotiations – is trying to use the Parkland tragedy as a bargaining tactic to extort a 6.5 percent pay raise from BSO through this ‘vote of no confidence’ ploy,” Israel said in a statement.
Bell said Israel has "gone into hiding mode ever since he got humiliated," referring to criticism Israel faces.
The association president also criticized Israel's quick condemnation of the school resource officer who the sheriff said did not run into the school as the shooting occurred.
"You always wait for all the facts to come out first in case," Bell said. "He violated that trust between the deputies and the sheriff... he should have our back at all costs unless we’re proven to be wrong."
The president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #53, Eddison Ricketts, sent a letter to Israel saying his group has "complete confidence" in the sheriff.
Ricketts said the group had ratified their CBA with the department and looked forward to working with Israel.
BSO has about 5,300 employees and the association represents about 1,300 of them. | 1,268,982 |
When Congress held hearings following the breach of the systems of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2015, one of the issues that caused great consternation among lawmakers was that the OPM had failed to implement two-factor authentication for employees, particularly when using virtual private networks. Federal information security standards in place at the time called for strong user authentication for any federal information system, but the OPM hadn't figured out how to implement two-factor authentication principles—something users know (a password), plus something they have (which, in government, is typically a "smartcard" ID with digital authentication keys programmed onto a chip).
The OPM wasn't alone. While the Department of Defense began issuing Common Access Cards in 2008 to be used for two-factor authentication on DOD systems and to control physical access to DOD facilities, most of the civilian agencies of the US federal government still hadn't implemented their own smartcard (Personal Identity Verification, or PIV) systems at the time of the OPM breach.
The Government Accountability Office repeatedly warned of gaps in federal information security, including the lack of two-factor authentication on critical federal systems like those at OPM. And during President Barack Obama's "cyber-sprint," many more agencies did roll out smartcards for authentication.
But apparently Congress never took its own advice. A letter from Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to the Senate's Committee on Rules and Administration last week pointed out that while many executive branch employees now have PIV cards with chips embedded in them, Senate employees get ID cards with a picture of a chip on them:
By mid-2016, eighty percent of all agencies were using PIV cards to log into federal IT systems. Today, the Senate neither requires nor offers two-factor authentication as an additional protection for desktop computers and e-mail accounts. The Senate Sergeant at Arms does not require two-factor authentication for staff who wish to log into Senate IT systems from home, using a Virtual Private Network... Moreover, in contrast to the executive branch's widespread adoption of PIV cards with a smart chip, most Senate staff ID cards have a photo of a chip printed on them, rather than a real chip. Given the significant investment by the executive branch in smart-chip based two-factor authentication, we should strongly consider issuing our staff real chip-based ID cards and then using those chips as a second factor.
Senate staff members frequently have access to classified information. And members of the House of Representatives and Senate and their staff have already been affected by cyber-espionage. In March, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida revealed that his presidential campaign staff was targeted by hackers operating from Russia twice—in July of 2016 and again in March. Also in March, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb,) reported that there had been hacking attempts on "basically every device, every platform, personal and government" associated with him or his office following his criticism of WikiLeaks. So having more than a photo of a chip on ID cards might be a prudent security measure. | 1,268,983 |
We hear a lot about what could be done with the Blockchain, this decentralized ledger which record permanently and almost instantly information from all around the world. This is the first time in our history that we created such a ledger, it's not about chatting with someone else, it's about agreeing on facts with everyone else every couple of minutes.
However we don't hear much about the actual projects the big corporations are working on. Let's see the 7 most important:
1. IBM and Samsung - IoT
Would you like to see your fridge, your phone and your car transact with other things? IBM and Samsung are working on a project unveiled at CES 2015 called ADEPT which will serve as a ledger of existence for billions of devices that will autonomously broadcast transactions between each other’s.
2. NASDAQ, NYSE – Stock Exchange
Or how to bypass Automated Clearing House which take days to record wall street transactions. "As Blockchain technology continues to redefine not only how the exchange sector operates, but the global financial economy as a whole, Nasdaq aims to be at the center of this watershed development." said Bob Greifeld, CEO, Nasdaq
3. Deloitte - Audit & Consulting
Real time auditing, land registry and reconsolidation between trading partners, this is just the top of the iceberg Deloitte is building with its new platform called Rubix.
Deloitte is also working internally on a stealth solution to automate some of its auditing processing
4. BNP, Barclays, City, UBS, Société Générale, Goldman Sachs, Santander - Banks
Do you know that your banks depends heavily on some protocol to transfer money? Using the Blockchain will allow them to get rid of VISA, Mastercard and SWIFT.
5. Minecraft - Games and Virtual reality
Every game has it's own currency system and some become so important that you can find a stable exchange rate with fiat currencies. This is the case with World of Warcraft gold or Second Life Linden dollars. Blockchain bring to these world a currency that they can use inside the game and trade on Amazon at the same time. Some servers of Minecraft already implemented such systems.
6. Western Union - Money transfer solutions
The famous dinosaur of money transfer is facing a big threat with the new Fintech startup and want to face it with the same weapon. They already set up a lab with Ripple to study the Blockchain technology and improve their cross border payment. Will they adapt?
7. Honduras, Isles of man - Governments
We would expect the Blockchain to be used for a voting system, but it seems the first aspect interesting for government is registries. Registry of lands in one case, registry of companies in the other one, notaries might not be such an important job in the future.
If you want to know more and discuss details, let me some comments or send me a private message. I would also be pleased to hear some more examples! | 1,268,984 |
NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover recently detected a high amount of methane in the planet’s surface air, a gas that’s often found as a byproduct of microbes. The team behind the mission is now running follow-up experiments over the weekend, the results of which are expected by Monday, according to an internal email obtained by The New York Times. Scientists working on other Mars missions, to include the Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiters, are also working with Curiosity’s team to verify the data and determine what the broader implications could mean.
The discovery of significant amounts of methane on the Martian surface may indicate recent life on the planet due to the way the gas interacts with sunlight and other chemicals, as also noted in the Times’ report. Any methane produced would only survive a few centuries, so amounts measurable today point to more recent emissions, or more specifically, ‘recent’ in terms of the huge time frames involved in planetary evolution.
Spikes in methane gas have been detected on Mars before, but the current readings demonstrate some of the highest levels indicated. Specifically, 21 methane parts per billion (ppb) were detected this week by Curiosity verses the 7 ppb detected in a 2013 spike and 1 ppb detected when the rover initially arrived on the red planet. The highest reading thus far was found in 2009 at 45 ppb using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility and the telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
Seasonal cycle of methane on Mars as detected by NASA’s Curiosity rover in the Gale Crater. | Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The presence of methane on Mars has been a bit of a mystery as readings dedicated to the gas have varied in major ways. While telescopes and rovers have indicated its presence on the planet numerous times, results from the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter in December last year showed no sign of methane even down to 50 parts per trillion. This in itself could also be a positive indicator, though, albeit initially confusing. Variations in surface-level readings that stand in contrast to orbit-based atmospheric readings could be evidence that the methane is coming from the ground rather than space-faring visitors like comets.
Other theories that would explain the presence of methane without current biological life include geological processes. Cold Martian temperatures could mean that methane produced much earlier in the planet’s timeline was simply trapped in ice and is being released periodically by geological activity. Data analysis by Curiosity’s team earlier this year found a seasonal cycle of methane release near Mars’s Gale Crater which is full of ice and thought to be a dried lake bed.
Regardless of the source, the detection of methane on Mars indicates some sort of geological or biological activity. Earth itself is full of life in the most interesting places, to include inside very deep layers of ocean sediment, and we can likely look forward to exciting discoveries from our red neighbor no matter what’s ultimately determined about its methane source. | 1,268,985 |
The Scottish government’s 50p minimum unit price for alcohol, which comes into force on 1 May 2018, will have a dramatic impact on prices, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Some cider products will rise in price by as much as 90%, according to the IFS briefing note, which also found prices would increase across all alcohol types. The price of a 20 x 440ml pack of Strongbow would double, while a bottle of Tesco cream sherry would increase by 20%.
The minimum pricing policy, which comes into force after a five-year legal battle between the Scottish government and the Scotch Whisky Association, is intended to stop the sale of cut-price, high-alcohol drinks such as cider.
The IFS found that almost 70% of the alcohol units bought in supermarkets and off-licences across the UK between October 2015 and September 2016 were priced below 50p per unit. With a 50p minimum unit price, the cost of these products would increase on average by at least 35%, with lager and cider most affected.
The per unit price of cider products currently priced below 50p would rise by 90%, while for lager the equivalent would be 44%. The majority of wines and spirits are also currently priced at less than 50p per unit, but alcopops would be unaffected because almost none are sold below that unit price.
Last month, the Scottish government’s health secretary, Shona Robison, told Holyrood it had been estimated that a minimum price of 50p would cut the number of alcohol-related deaths in Scotland by 392 in the first five years and reduce hospital admissions by 8,254 cases.
The IFS also found that minimum unit price was reasonably well targeted at problem drinking, because heavy drinkers tended to purchase the kinds of cheaper, stronger alcohol affected by the new pricing policy.
Martin O’Connell, an associate director at the IFS and co-author of the briefing note, said: “Heavy drinkers are more inclined to buy cheap units, so this suggests a minimum unit price may well be reasonably well targeted at this group. However, the impact of the policy will depend crucially on the price sensitivity of different types of drinkers, and how much less alcohol they consume in response to a rise in price.”
He added: “Minimum unit pricing is not the only policy that a government has at its disposal. We also show that heavier drinkers tend to buy stronger alcohol, suggesting that redesign of the current system of alcohol excise duties could also help target problem drinkers. Tax reform is likely to avoid the main drawback of minimum unit pricing, which is that it boosts the profits of the alcohol industry by creating a price floor.”
The introduction in Scotland of minimum pricing, which was declared legal under EU law by the UK supreme court in November, comes as the Welsh government consults on the policy, fuelling fears among the whisky industry that minimum pricing in the UK will increase the likelihood of higher tariffs imposed on whisky exports, hitting sales. | 1,268,986 |
New court documents reveal that tech giant Facebook reportedly began cutting off access to user data for app developers in 2012 to squash potential rivals. The company internally called this the “Switcheroo Plan.”
Reuters reports that new court documents appear to show that Facebook cut off app developers’ access to user data in2012 in an effort to squash possible rivals. Facebook publicly claimed that this was done in efforts to protect user privacy, with executives referring to the privacy-focused explanation for the move as the “Switcharoo Plan.”
7,000 pages of company emails and executive documents were filed as Facebook faces multiple investigations related to possible antitrust violations by regulators worldwide. The emails are valuable evidence to regulators, including a U.S. House of Representatives panel which sought records from Facebook in Septemeber relating to the company’s decision to ban apps from its social graph which generates a map of relations between users.
The documents come from a lawsuit filed in 2015 by Six4Three, the developers of a bikini photo app that lost access to Facebook user data as a result of the changes, the app has since been discontinued. Six4Three alleges that Facebook’s data policies were anticompetitive and that the firm misrepresented those policies to developers and the public.
Facebook has claimed that the lawsuit is baseless and told Reuters that recent documents were “taken out of context by someone with an agenda against Facebook” and made public “with a total disregard for U.S. law.” The newly published documents contain exchanges between Facebook executives discussing cutting off access to user data for developers who could be potential competitors to Facebook.
At the time of these discussions, Facebook was portraying itself as an open and neutral platform. As part of a project to restrict user data, dubbed “PS12N” in 2013 one executive described dividing apps into “three buckets: existing competitors, possible future competitors, [or] developers that we have alignment with on business models.”
Those that fell into the third category could regain access to user data by agreeing to make mobile advertising purchases or provide their own user data to Facebook under “Private Extended API Agreements.” Executives decided to announce the change to user data access publicly, but decided to link what they called the “bad stuff of PS12N” to an unrelated update to the Facebook login system.
An email from one executive states that the agreed-upon “narrative” for the announcement “will focus on quality and the user experience which will potentially provide a good umbrella to fold in some of the API deprecations.”
In another email from February 2014, colleagues were invited to review the “Switcharoo Plan,” calling it “a good compromise” that will enable them “to tell a story that makes sense.” The same executive said in an email one month earlier: “My concern is around the perception that we can’t hold our story together.” | 1,268,987 |
Republican opponents of a framework agreement with Iran received millions in campaign donations in 2014 from pro-Israel billionaires and other influential American donors, according to a report.
Republicans, now in control of both chambers of US Congress, are more ardently pro-Israel than ever before as they collected more money during the 2014 election from individuals and political action committees considered pro-Israel than their Democratic counterparts, the New York Times reports, citing data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The GOP opponents of the nuclear talks are echoing concerns by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warned American lawmakers in a congressional address early last month that the White House was negotiating “a very bad deal” with Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of the US Congress on March 3, 2015 in Washington, DC.
Sen. Tom Cotton, who earlier penned a warning letter to Iran in a bid to undermine the administration’s efforts in the nuclear talks, swiftly denounced the framework agreement reached on Thursday between Iran and the P5+1—the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany.
Cotton has vowed to block the outline which he described as “a list of dangerous US concessions that will put Iran on the path to nuclear weapons.”
The freshman Republican from Arkansas received huge sums from pro-Israel donors in 2014.
The Emergency Committee for Israel, led by William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, contributed $960,000 to Cotton’s campaign in the 2014 election cycle, while a firm associated with Paul Singer, a leading pro-Israel donor from New York, spent $250,000 to support him.
William [Bill] Kristol, the founder of the Emergency Committee for Israel
Seth Klarman, a pro-Israel billionaire from Boston, donated $100,000 through his investment firm.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a fierce opponent of diplomacy with Iran, also saw his donations from pro-Israel billionaires rise to $285,000 in 2014 from less than $100,000 in the 2008 cycle.
US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Political donors acknowledge that campaign spending is at least partly responsible for inspiring strong support for Israel in the Republican Party.
“Absolutely, it is a factor,” Marc Felgoise, who manages the Philadelphia Israel Network, a campaign fund-raising group, told the Times. “They are trying to cater to people who are ultimately going to support them.”
“The very, very limited set of people who do their politics simply through the lens of Israel — that small group is tilting more heavily Republican now,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a nonprofit pro-Israel advocacy group, told the Times.
“But it is dangerous for American politics as too many people do not understand that of the six million American Jews, this is only a handful,” he added.
HRJ/HRJ | 1,268,988 |
Announcing.NET Core 3.0 Release Candidate 1
Richard
September 16th, 2019
Today, we’re announcing.NET Core 3.0 Release Candidate 1. Just like with Preview 9, we’ve focused on polishing.NET Core 3.0 for a final release. We are now getting very, very close. We intend to release the final version on September 23 at.NET Conf.
Download.NET Core 3.0 RC1 on Windows, macOS, and Linux, available now.
Details:
Why RC1?
The.NET Core 3.0 Preview 9 post stated that Preview 9 would be the last release before the final GA one. We, or at least the tireless writer of these blog posts, were mistaken. And now for the explanation.
For technical and historical reasons, the.NET toolset (compilers, NuGet client, MSBuild, …) is duplicated between Visual Studio and the.NET Core SDK. Important changes were made in the toolset as part of Visual Studio 2019 16.3 Preview 4, also released today. It is critical that the.NET Core SDK version that is part of any Visual Studio release includes the same toolset in order to deliver a compatible experience in all scenarios.
We should have realized that there was a high likelihood that we might need to release changes to accomodate another Visual Studio preview. Making fixes in the.NET toolset like this is standard operating procedure. We could have released a new.NET Core SDK and only delivered it via Visual Studio, however, we’ve broken people in the (now distant) past with that approach. As a result, when we release a new.NET Core SDK, we make it available for everyone in all the places.
Visual Studio Support
.NET Core 3.0 is supported with Visual Studio 2019 16.3 Preview 4 and Visual Studio for Mac 8.3, which were also released today. Please upgrade to it for the best (and supported) experience with.NET Core 3.0 Preview RC1. See Visual Studio 2019 16.3 release notes for more information.
The C# Extension for Visual Studio Code is always updated to support new.NET Core versions. Make sure you have the latest version of the C# extension installed.
Go Live
NET Core 3.0 Preview RC1 is supported by Microsoft and can be used in production. We strongly recommend that you test your app running on Preview RC1 before deploying into production. If you find an issue with.NET Core 3.0, please file a GitHub issue and/or contact Microsoft support.
Closing
The.NET Core 3.0 release is coming close to completion, and the team is solely focused on stability and reliability now that we’re no longer building new features. Please tell us about any issues you find, ideally as quickly as possible. We want to get as many fixes in as possible before we ship the final 3.0 release. | 1,268,989 |
Having trouble viewing this email? Click here Good News: The coach training programs of Noble Manhattan Coaching just became even better. More accreditation, more training, more content, more practical experience. DISCOVER A COURSE Noble Manhattan runs 18 separate programs- from a one-day introduction up to Executive MBA and Doctor in Coaching Master Degree. Our Swiss Faculty is open and you can enroll right now in the following Diplomas –>Practitioner Coach Check Here: https://www.noble-manhattan.com/training-courses/coaching-courses/ When you train with us, you receive coach specific training at the highest international accreditation in the coaching industry. Our courses are accredited and/or endorsed by independent international accreditation bodies such as the: IAPCM, ICF and endorsed by the ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) If you are interested in this opportunity, please, contact us and let us know of your interest. –>> Executive and Corporate Practitioner Coach Check Here: https://www.noble-manhattan.com/training-courses/for-organisations/ ✔ Commence your studies by undertaking a good overview of coaching in the workplace. ✔ You will look at methods, models and tools, business coaching, executive coaching, the manager as coach, and team coaching. ✔ You will learn a practical step-by-step approach that supports your understanding and development as a coach in the business and corporate environment. Contact us and let us know of your interest. ▶ METHOD – BLEND LEARNING Distance earning modules
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United Kingdom | 1,268,990 |
Here is what you need to know on this Sunday, March 25, 32 days before the NFL draft.
Redskins with opportunities
The Redskins have made some free agent moves and there are some moves they have not made. Both the signings and non-signings have ripple effects on the rest of the roster. Here are some of the young the players who are most affected so far.
OLB Ryan Anderson—Even though the Redskins may sign Pernell McPhee they still need Anderson, their second-round pick last year who logged no sacks as a rookie, to play a role. The coaches have confidence that Anderson will put in the work and be a factor this year.
S Deshazor Everett—DeAngelo Hall apparently won’t be back and the Redskins have made no effort to replace him with a veteran free agent. That could mean that Everett will be the first safety off the bench, a key role given that Montae Nicholson has yet to demonstrate that he can stay on the field consistently.
G Arie Kouandjio—He’s going into his fourth year and he hasn’t established himself as a starting caliber player. The 2015 fourth-round pick is at the top of the depth chart at left guard right now. There has been talk that the Redskins are looking for a low-priced veteran option and Kouandjio likely would get an opportunity to compete for the starting job.
CB Fabian Moreau—The Redskins did sign Orlando Scandrick but his contract does not indicate that he is being counted on to be more than a role player. He and Moreau, a third-round pick last year, likely will compete for snaps. Joshua Holsey, a seventh-round pick in 2017, also will be in the mix for playing time.
WR Maurice Harris—The top three receivers are set with Josh Doctson, Paul Richardson, and Jamison Crowder. Right now, the fourth spot is wide open. Harris, who has had some playing time over the last couple of years but never a consistent role, will have his chance to earn a good share of the 600 snaps that the departed Ryan Grant played last year.
Stay up to date on the Redskins. Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page Facebook.com/TandlerNBCS and follow him on Twitter @TandlerNBCS.
Tandler on Twitter
Vita Vea?
That dude could be exactly what Washington needs on the defensive line, @TandlerNBCS says. You agree? #AuthenticFan pic.twitter.com/aLd0tzdsWS — NBC Sports Redskins (@NBCSRedskins) March 24, 2018
Timeline
Days until:
—Offseason workouts begin (4/16) 22
—Training camp starts (approx. 7/26) 123
—2018 NFL season starts (9/9) 168
In case you missed it | 1,268,991 |
Development Update Martin Wimpress
We are delighted to announce the release of Ubuntu MATE Alpha 2.
Ubuntu MATE Remix Alpha 2 Download Join the fun and experience a retrospective future. Download
What works?
Most things, more than in Alpha 1 at least.
The.iso image should boot (from DVD or USB), the Live session should work, the installer should work and the installed system should also work. Notice the heavy use of “should”, YMMV.
What changed since Alpha 1?
Added support for booting UEFI computers. LP #1337604
Added “out of the box” accessibility for blind or visually impaired individuals. LP #1337824
Added language-selector-gnome as per community request.
as per community request. Added ubuntu-mate-settings package to provide sane defaults.
package to provide sane defaults. Added an Ubuntu-like panel layout.
Added Ambiance and Radiance themes to Pluma.
Added Rhythmbox and Totem plugins.
Added Release Notes to Ubquity.
Added support for Marco to Ubiquity.
Fixed Network Manager applet.
Fixed inconsistent theme in live session installer.
Fixed default icons in LibreOffice.
Created custom livecd-rootfs package that tracks upstream.
package that tracks upstream. Improved the seeds and meta packages.
Improved Ambiance and Radiance themes.
Improved mono-icons to better integrate with MATE. LP #1337577
to better integrate with MATE. LP #1337577 Improved font rendering.
Removed remmina as per community Remmina poll.
as per community Remmina poll. Removed caja-image-converter.
. Removed caja-share. LP #1342206.
. LP #1342206. Removed mate-user-share.
Known Issues
Ubuntu MATE 14.10 is currently an alpha distribution and we are aware of the following issues:
Upgrading from Ubuntu MATE Alpha 1 using apt-get is not supported. We Recommend that you install a clean Alpha 2.
is not supported. Most Shotwell online publishing plugins do not work. LP #1314904 This can be resolved by installing unity-control-center-signon but doing so installs a number of Unity packages which add duplicate functionality to the MATE Control Centre.
Reporting issues
If you spot any other issues please report them on the project’s bug tracker.
Testing
Ubuntu MATE is in alpha and therefore we need people installing and using Ubuntu MATE and reporting any issues you may find on the project’s bug tracker.
Is there anything you can help with or want to be involved in? Maybe you just want to discuss your experiences or ask the maintainers some questions. Please come and talk to us. | 1,268,992 |
haven’t influenced us in any way,” Korn bassist Fieldy told Chuck Klosterman. “Nobody in the band ever listened to that stuff. Our musical history starts with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and early Faith No More. As a band, that’s where we begin.” For Deftones, it was Faith No More and Primus. “I always thought that Northern California had all the integrity,” according to Cheng.
On the other side of the U.S., the Strokes and White Stripes were bringing their version of sex and drugs back to rock’n’roll. Of course, New York’s “New Rock Revolution” recodified the de rigueur critical theory that Velvet Underground, Television, the Ramones, and, of course, New York City were at the center of the universe. For all of the legitimate criticism of nu-metal’s dopey lyricism and intolerable misogyny, there was always a rather blatant, though underlying classism that often came with it; these bands emerged from Des Moines, Memphis, Jacksonville, and some of the most unglamorous parts of California’s interior. Nu-metal was also a welcoming arena for musicians of color, though it was mocked as suburban white-guy music by no less of an authority on the subject than Ben Folds.
It’s understandable for Deftones to run from their rap-metal past, but it allowed White Pony to be seen for what it is—a model of personal evolution that was aspirational and relatable compared to what came next. The Strokes attended Swiss boarding schools, Julian Casablancas’ father ran a modeling agency, and Interpol showed up in suits on their very first day. Meanwhile, here’s Deftones, who, at least until the stylized vampirism of White Pony, didn’t strike an image of cool or even conventional anti-cool. They were five skateboarders from Sacramento with dreads and risible facial hair, inspired by bands that critics reliably misunderstood—the early work of the Cure and Depeche Mode had about as much credibility as nu-metal.
Even if White Pony didn’t sound that much like the Cure or Depeche Mode or Smashing Pumpkins, Moreno understood how each band was never meant to be reality programming. Nu-metal was smothered by the stench of its own machismo and stale beer, and Deftones recognized that separating nu-metal from rap wasn’t as important as allowing it to be a platform for romantics and dreamers—its rallying cries were “I feel like more!” and “I could float here forever!” bravely and enthusiastically embracing the possibility of transcending the mundanity that pervaded their lives in Sacramento and cities just like it. White Pony was the change Deftones wanted to see in themselves and they watched you change right along with them. | 1,268,993 |
The free-market Heartland Institute has moved to contain the damage from explosive revelations about its efforts to discredit climate change and alter the teaching of science in schools, claiming on Wednesday it was the victim of theft and forgery.
In its first detailed response to Tuesday's leak of documents purporting to show a well-organised campaign to cast doubt on climate change, the institute warned in a statement posted on its website: "Some of these documents were stolen from Heartland, at least one is a fake, and some may have been altered."
However, the statement from Heartland communications director, Jim Lakely, identifies only one of the eight documents posted online on Tuesday night by the DeSmogBlog website as a "total fake". That document, two pages headlined "Confidential Memo: Heartland Climate Strategy", largely duplicates information contained in the other documents.
Those documents – containing details on future projects such as a $100,000 campaign to "dissuade teachers from teaching science", as well as fundraising efforts – have been confirmed, in part, by Heartland itself, corporate donors such as Microsoft, and climate sceptic blogger Anthony Watts, who hoped to benefit from Heartland fundraising this year.
DeSmog, in its response to Heartland's charges, stood by its initial report.
"DeSmogBlog has received no direct communications from the Heartland Institute identifying any misstatement of fact in the "Climate Strategy" document," it said.
The nature of the "theft" charges by Heartland was also not immediately clear. Lakely, in his statement, explains that a staff member, persuaded by "an unknown person", mistakenly sent the documents to an unfamiliar email address.
Heartland's statement said the "stolen documents appear to have been written by Heartland's president for a board meeting that took place on January 17."
However, in an email to the Guardian later on Wednesday, Lakely backtracked on this apparent confirmation that some of the documents were genuine.
"Considering the fact that the individual who committed fraud and identity theft in correspondence with a staffer yesterday also created a fake Heartland document out of whole cloth, we cannot authenticate any of the documents," he wrote.
"At any rate, our standing policy is to not discuss confidential documents. We are also in the process of taking legal action, so our previous statements are all we have to say about the matter at present."
The exchanges over the provenance of the documents are bound to deepen the comparisons to the 2009 hacking of scientists' email at the University of East Anglia's climate research unit. At the time, Heartland said the theft of those personal emails created "an opportunity for reporters, academics, politicians" to revise their belief in climate change.
On Wednesday, however, Heartland said DeSmog and others should be "ashamed" of writing about the documents before the thinktank could comment. Lakely also asked bloggers and journalists to take down the documents and refrain from quoting them. | 1,268,994 |
A new study by renowned Wits University archaeologist Prof Christopher Henshilwood provides first detailed summary of South African Middle Stone Age cultural periods known as the Still Bay techno-tradition (75-71 K years) and the Howiesons Poort techno-tradition (65-59 K years), and establishes the region as the primary center for the early development of human behavior.
“These periods were significant in the development of Homo sapiens behavior in southern Africa,” said Prof Henshilwood, who reports the findings in a paper published online in the Journal of World Prehistory (Wits version).
“They were periods of many innovations including, for example, the first abstract art (engraved ochre and engraved ostrich eggshell); the first jewelry (shell beads); the first bone tools; the earliest use of the pressure flaking technique, that was used in combination with heating to make stone spear points and the first probable use of stone tipped arrows launched by bow.”
“All of these innovations, plus many others we are just discovering, clearly show that Homo sapiens in southern Africa at that time were cognitively modern and behaving in many ways like ourselves. It is a good reason to be proud of our earliest, common ancestors who lived and evolved in South Africa and who later spread out into the rest of the world after about 60,000 years,” Prof Henshilwood said.
The study also addresses some of the nagging questions as to what drove our ancestors to develop these innovative technologies. According to Prof Henshilwood, answers to these questions are, in part, found in demography and climate change, particularly changing sea levels, which were major drivers of innovation and variability in material culture.
Prof Henshilwood and his team’s results revolutionize the idea that modern human behavior originated in Europe after about 40,000 years ago. There is increasing evidence for an African origin for behavioral and technological modernity more than 70,000 years ago and that the earliest origin of all Homo sapiens lies in Africa with a special focus in southern Africa.
“In just the past decade our knowledge of Homo sapiens behavior in the Middle Stone Age, and in particular of the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, has expanded considerably. With the benefit of hindsight we may ironically conclude that the origins of ‘Neanthropic Man‘, the epitome of behavioral modernity in Europe, lay after all in Africa,” Prof Henshilwood wrote in the paper.
_______
Bibliographic information: Christopher S. Henshilwood. 2012. Late Pleistocene Techno-traditions in Southern Africa: A Review of the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, c. 75–59 ka. Journal of World Prehistory, vol. 25, issue 3-4, pp 205-237; doi: 10.1007/s10963-012-9060-3 | 1,268,995 |
You might call us silly. There is a safe haven in this internet where adults and children, male and female, rich and poor, people from the five continents and from many different religions, gather and convive peacefully. Not the mainstream internet full of trolls, but a real community striving to help each other. This safe haven has seen the birth of countless friendships. This community gathers around a mobile game, Chain Chronicle Global. You might call us silly, but please keep reading. You know how the world lost David Bowie early this month and then Alan Rickman? Maybe you sang Starman to farewell David, or raised your magic wand in honor to Alan Rickman's Severus Snape. You loved them and mourned them. As we did too, but we have not even stoped mourning them and now they intend to euthanize our beloved game, Chain Chronicle Global. Unlike David and Alan, we are still in time to save Chain Chronicle Global. A game? you might call us silly. But keep reading. Chain Chronicle is a tower defense game developed by SEGA and published by GUMI outside japan. The game differs from other games in its collaboration features and true casual gameplay, but it truly shines with its beautiful anime art and hundreds of characters, whose lives and stories develop in the world of Yggdra which has been taken by the Dark Army. Today, the world of Yggdra is facing an enemy bigger than the Dark Army. On January 18th, 2016, GUMI announced that they will be shutting down the game as soon as February 29th, 2016. Captains, it is now time to hold our real world weapons to save Yggdra. Don't call us silly. We are not passively asking for pity for the game. As previously stated, our community is composed by people from all backgrounds: Engineers, Programmers, Project Managers. This is not only a petition for SEGA but also a call for all CAPTAINS: LET US SAVE CHAIN CHRONICLE GLOBAL. We are willing and capable of setting up a team which can make Chain Chronicle Global profitable. So, don't call us silly. We need SEGA to help us understand these issues so we can solve them. GUMI announced the game closure without further details on its reasons. As SEGA is the owner of the rights for Chain Chronicle, we need the help from SEGA to know what is the current business and copyright situation on the game, so we can agree on business goals and organize the community to gather new players and bring profit again for the game. NEXT STEPS: CAPTAINS: Sign and Share this petition. Make this noise so SEGA notices us. Save the game we love. SEGA: Make a public statement on why is Chain Chronicle Global closing. We have people in the community used to reading financial statements and legal notices. Let us know the problem so we can help you to save the game we love. DON'T CALL US SILLY. CALL US CAPTAINS. LET US SAVE CHAIN CHRONICLE GLOBAL. | 1,268,996 |
course and didn’t charge residents for using it, and the lure of free golf became the first step in drawing tens of thousands of new residents. By 1986 they were selling 500 homes a year and adding still more golf courses, pools, clubhouses, recreation centers, theaters, even a hospital. They put up a statue of Schwartz in a Disney-esque pose. After he died, his ashes were deposited inside the statue. Schwartz used to circulate and glad-hand, but not Morse. He’s as approachable as the Wizard of Oz.
For Morse, the Villages has been akin to a private mint. He not only sold the residents their houses. He also owned the mortgage company that financed them. He’s the landlord of all the commercial buildings. He owns all or part of pretty much everything worth owning in the Villages, including the bank, the hospital, the utilities, the garbage collection company, the TV and radio stations, and the newspaper, where never is heard a discouraging word about life in the Villages. (Also never mentioned: the numerous sinkholes that open up because of all the water pumped out of the ground to keep all those lawns and golf courses looking green.)
Thanks to the Villages, Morse is now a billionaire, and he’s built a powerful political base. Morse and his family donated more than $1 million to Mitt Romney. They’ve already given $80,000 to Gov. Rick Scott’s re-election committee. All the politicians he supports make sure they come to the Villages for a flag-waving campaign stop.
But here’s where it gets really interesting. According to the Internal Revenue Service, the way Morse has built this grand empire may be about as rock-solid as the sinkhole-prone ground beneath it.
Like many Florida developers, Morse financed a big chunk of construction using something called a community development district, or CDD for short. The district levies fees on the homeowners to pay for roads and other improvements and under state law can borrow money using tax-free bonds. The CDDs in the Villages paid Morse millions of dollars to buy golf courses, guardhouses, and other amenities from him. But the IRS ruled last month that the Villages’ CDD bonds did not deserve to be tax-exempt. Why? Because everyone who sits on the district board—like everything else in the Villages—is controlled by Morse. Those seats are supposed to be filled by residents, the IRS said.
So far Morse has politicians from both parties going to bat for him to make the IRS back off. But his most potent argument against the IRS comes from the Villages’ residents themselves. According to Blechman, most show little interest in seizing control of their community from a leader they never see. Like most Americans, they’re not interested in local politics. Maybe they’d feel differently if, instead of spending millions of dollars, the board was in charge of dispensing draft beer and Viagra. | 1,268,997 |
ISP Think Tank Urges FCC to Kill Ban on Charter Usage Caps
A think tank funded by major broadband providers is pushing the FCC to remove a condition barring Charter from imposing usage caps. As part of Charter's $79 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, the FCC broke from a long tradition of hollow merger conditions and banned the company from imposing usage caps for a period of seven years. That was a notable hit on Charter, given that other cable providers like Comcast have been rapidly expanding such arbitrary and unnecessary restrictions as the amount of telco competition in many markets decreases.
Now, the broadband industry funded think tank known as the Conservative Enterprise Institute is pushing new FCC boss Ajit Pai to kill the condition.
In a recent petition to the FCC and a corresponding blog post (pdf, hat tip, Stop the Cap), the think tank repeats the long-standing claim that usage caps are all about fairness -- and not, as most of us realize, about giant broadband providers raising rates on uncompetitive markets, while protecting their TV revenues from streaming video competitors.
"As then-Commissioner Pai wrote in 2016, this condition is neither “fair” nor “progressive," claims the group. "Instead, he called this “the paradigmatic case of the 99% subsidizing the 1%,” as it encourages Charter to raise prices on all consumers in response to costs stemming from the activities of a “bandwidth-hungry few."
Right, but even many broadband CEOs have acknowledged that usage caps aren't an effective way to manage network congestion. They're also in no way tied to financial necessity, since flat-rate broadband has proven very profitable. What usage caps are: a glorified price hike on uncompetitive markets with a very real, anti-competitive impact on competing streaming video providers. In short, imposing confusing price hikes on all customers (even if some don't reach the cap initially) isn't about fairness, it's about making more money off of all Charter customers.
Usage caps aren't the only Charter merger condition the industry is trying to have killed. As part of the conditions Charter was also required to provide a low-income broadband option, adhere to net neutrality for a period of seven years (even if ISPs are successful at killing the FCC's net neutrality rules during that period), and build out broadband to two million additional households (1 million of which needed to be overbuilds into competing ISP territory).
Pai is already looking to eliminate overbuild conditions that were part of the deal, but the CEI wants the entire condition package scrapped. To, uh, help consumers.
"These four conditions, among several others imposed by the Commission in its Order, will hurt consumers and are contrary to the 'public interest, convenience, and necessity'", the CEI argues in its petition. "The Commission should therefore reconsider these conditions and remove them from the Order."
Surely Charter customers appreciate the CEI's "help" and are eagerly awaiting paying more money for the same broadband, right? | 1,268,998 |
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into the deal made between the Miami (neé Florida) Marlins, the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County for the building of the Marlins new stadium.
In short, the deal called for the city and county to pay for 80 percent of the new stadium through $500 million in bond sales. By the time the bonds are paid off, the city and county will have paid $2.4 billion over 40 years for the new stadium, with the Marlins paying less than $200 million.
At the time, the Marlins claimed they were breaking even and couldn’t afford a new stadium. However, when the Marlins financial documents were leaked on Deadspin.com, it painted a different picture.
[for a more in-depth look at how the Marlins played the system, read THIS and THIS by Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports]
So, how does this impact the Rays?
The Rays want/need a new stadium. And back in 2007, when the Rays proposed the waterfront ballpark, the Rays were expected to contribute $150 million of the approximately $400 million for the new stadium.
That was a lot considering that in 2008, Matt Silverman said the Rays were losing money (his exact words were “we’re cash-flow negative”). And earlier this year, Stuart Sternberg said, “[the Rays] can’t lose money year in and year out, hand over fist.” But like the Marlins, the Deadspin.com docs showed the Rays were actually turning a profit.
When it comes to finally getting a new stadium, we have seen glimmers of hope for the Rays in recent months. If the Rays could somehow convince the city of St. Pete to let the team move across the bay, Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa may be willing to fork over some money for a new stadium.
But now, if that ever does happen, the city and county are going to want proof that the Rays can’t afford to contribute more to the cost. And to do that, the Rays will have to open their books. And that is just not going to happen. Even if Stuart Sternberg was willing, Major League Baseball won’t allow it.
In the end, Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami may have gotten swindled into paying $2.4 billion for a stadium at a time when the city is “working so hard to get back on its feet financially.” And now, the Marlins will receive almost all of the revenues, including non-baseball events.
Now that the SEC is investigating the deal, you can be sure that the people of both Tampa and St. Pete are going to make sure the same doesn’t happen to them. And that means the hopes for a new stadium just took a big hit. And if there is no stadium, the Rays will be gone, one way, or another. | 1,268,999 |
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