text
stringlengths 245
34.4k
| id
int64 0
1.27M
|
|---|---|
AUBURN, Ala. (WIAT) — When you watch Arryn Siposs practice, it sounds like he’s just a normal college punter.
But when you hear him talk, you know right away that there’s something unique about him.
“Kangaroos and then the other one’s koalas,” Siposs said.
He’s talking about the jokes his teammates make at his expense because he’s not from around here.
“A classic shrimp on the barbie comment,” he said during a recent practice at Auburn. “That’s been going on for over 12 months now and it doesn’t look like it’s gonna stop any time soon.”
The native of Melbourne, Australia is in his second year as the Tigers’ starting punter. Last year, he arrived three days before fall camp, so he admittedly did not know what he was doing. Despite that learning curve and the move to a place nearly 10,000 miles away from home, Siposs won the starting job before his first season playing American football. However, not everything was foreign to him.
“Obviously, my job is to make sure that I put it in the right spot so the returner can’t get any returning yards and my background of being able to play professional football back home,” he said during a recent press conference. “That was pretty much what I was doing back there.”
Siposs played five years of pro football with St. Kilda in Australia, which means that at 26 years old, he started college a little later than his fellow players. So what has it been like to be with a bunch of guys who are younger and a little less mature than him?
“It’s had it’s ups and downs, there’s no doubt, but I mean, I try to look like i’m a bit of a father figure for them, or the funny uncle, is probably what I like to go with even a bit better,” he said. “I just feel like, hopefully, they can come up to me and if they need a word of advice on just how to kind of handle situations, I’m a guy they can come and speak to about it.”
But Siposs is good for more than just the team chemistry. He was a Pro Football Focus All-american last year, thanks to his cannon of a leg, which can be a blessing and a curse. The last two weeks, he has been in a position to make a tackle. Take the season opener against Oregon, where he got smashed by 322-pound Jordan Scott.
“Hopefully, I’ll get lots of fair catches, which I know sounds boring, but that’s my job, so I’ve just got to do it,” he said. | 1,269,300 |
The Democrat-driven Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) revival may be a back door means of legalizing same-sex marriage, some legal experts say. The amendment passed both houses of Congress in 1973, but failed to be ratified by the necessary 38 states; it has been reintroduced each year since.
“It’s a real simple argument,” said long-time ERA opponent Phyllis Schlafly. “ERA would make all federal and state laws sex neutral. If two men show up and say we want a marriage license and [the person] says ‘you’re both men, I’m not giving it to you,’ that would be discriminatory.”
Schlafly said ERA would only apply to laws that are currently not sex-neutral such as marriage and the draft. But it would have no bearing on those such as employment laws, because they are already sex neutral.
Shari Rendall, the Director of Legislation and Public Policy at Concerned Women for America (CWA), agrees with Schafly, adding that she thinks ERA is just a front for a feminist agenda.
“[ERA] is not so much about rights as committing a feminist agenda, an attempt to create a gender neutral community,” Rendall said. One of those feminist agenda items, Rendall said, was the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Opponents argue that, under ERA, equality would not be denied on “account of sex” and therefore it would be illegal to ban two citizens of the same sex from getting married. Although it wouldn’t explicitly allow gay marriage, ERA would prevent it from being excluded because there would no longer be a separate legal definition for “man” and for “woman.”
Though no part of the amendment alludes to anything regarding sexual orientation, if the amendment passes, state or local bans on same-sex marriage could be held as unconstitutional in court, opponents say. (Abercrombie & Fitch faces another diversity lawsuit)
“If they can’t get their agenda through the legislative system, they’ll go to the courts,” Rendall said. “You see that even in court decisions it has been said that banning same sex marriage would be unconstitutional in light of ERA.”
Rendall said many feminist organizations and supporters of the ERA tend to downplay this aspect or even outwardly deny a relation. She added that feminist groups aren’t always forthcoming with potential side effects of their initiatives like this because they don’t always have full support for the entire scope of their projects.
“People generally aren’t there,” Rendall said. “If you look at where the votes are in the states that have same-sex marriage on the ballot — they haven’t won. Even in California where they had same-sex marriage on the ballot [as a ballot initiative], it didn’t pass.” | 1,269,301 |
tower block in east London, their reputation diminished further, causing people on the waiting lists to refuse them.
The social makeup of Grenfell Tower revealed clearly where the combined effects of class and race inequality meet
But that’s not to say other people don’t enjoy living there, for the astonishing views, and for their self-contained nature – which in the most successful cases creates a tight-knit community.
Problems mostly arise when housing managers fail to keep on top of repairs, safety issues, residents’ complaints and other bugbears, such as blocked bin chutes and noisy neighbours. On-site caretakers, when landlords decide they can afford to employ them, solve many of these issues. What they can’t change is the wider snobbery that has come to infect the public perception of high-rise blocks. The social makeup of Grenfell Tower revealed clearly where the combined effects of class and race inequality meet. The geographer Danny Dorling has shown that black and minority ethnic people in social housing are disproportionately housed in flats, to the extent that, in his words, ‘the majority of children who live above the fourth floor of tower blocks, in England, are black or Asian.’ This is not to do with a shortage of housing, but is a reflection of the fact that not only are ethnic minorities more likely to be working-class by wage and occupation, but they experience discrimination – tacit or outright – when allocated housing.
The lesson from Grenfell is simple: stop building residential towers | Simon Jenkins Read more
Yet not everyone who lives in tower blocks is poor: since the advent of right-to-buy, many professionals – particularly in the capital, where affordable housing is at a severe premium – have become private tenants on council estates. It’s the perception of social housing, particularly high-rise, as being “for poor people” that leads to the maltreatment of residents, regardless of their class or income. If poverty is an individual moral failing, as has been relentlessly argued by those in power for nearly 40 years, then anything associated with poverty must also be a sign of second-class status. Jeremy Corbyn and other Labour MPs are right to call for the requisition of empty homes in Kensington to rehouse locally those made homeless by the fire: such action would be a test of the government’s, and Kensington’s, willingness to acknowledge the extent of housing inequality.
Grenfell has to be the point where we recognise collectively the criminally destructive effects of Britain’s class inequality. When inequality is permitted to flourish, its effects bear down all the more on those at or near the bottom. The experience of material poverty is compounded by the assumption that you caused your own poverty through being stupid. The privileged can buy their safety, their security, their legal representation, and kid themselves that it’s because they’re clever and know the answers, so they don’t have to listen. Their wilful deafness has come to haunt them. | 1,269,302 |
In the years following the original Arrested Development run comedy nerds — yours truly included — have been going out of their way to point out to anyone who will listen just how brilliant the show is/was. One common way of going about that on the internet is the good ole easter eggs/buried joke/running gag/layered bit list. They’re everywhere. You can get lost for days in the AD Wikia. Even earlier this week our friends at Splitsider put together quite the comprehensive guide to buried jokes that is a must check out for anyone already nervous about their Instant streaming quality come 2013.
And now with David Cross telling Rolling Stone that what Mitch Hurwitz is doing with the revival of the show is so “layered” that it “makes Lost look like a Spalding Grey monologue” I officially have to get in on the action. But I’m not looking to put together a thesis, just an easily digestible crash course to the subtle, layered jokes that anyone who considers themselves a fan of the Bluths should be aware of going into their much-anticipated return.
Buster’s arm off foreshadowing to kick things off should require no explanation.
Sources: Rolling Stone, Splitsider, The Bluth Company, Unreality
When the narrator cuts over to the Spanish-to-English dictionary definition of “Hermano” in “Beef Consommé” the illustrations not only depict Michael and GOB as “hermanos,” they also use the likenesses of Lindsay for “hermosa” and Tobias for “hermafrodita.”
Ice’s bounty hunter ad in the Yellow Pages is conveniently adjacent from Gene Parmesan’s private investigator ad. You probably missed it the first time around, because, you know, GENE!
A nod to Winkler contributing to the coinage of “Jumping the Shark.” How is this the best GIF I could find?
Quick and subtle good times from “Staff Infection” referencing the fact that Tobias no longer has a desk and is no longer a doctor.
Arrested Development’s Charlie Brown moments are well documented. This doghouse was a nice touch, I always thought.
Schwarzenegger’s image replaced the state seal on George Michael and Maeby’s marriage certificate in “Family Ties.”
Playing off the “arm off” foreshadowing for Charlize Theron’s mentally challenged character, Rita.
The running yearbook quote gag. Always good times. Often made even more splendid by the quotes and nicknames of other classmates. Click to enlarge.
A full year before it was revealed in the season 3 finale, the show left this hint that Annyong (real name Hel-loh) would “one day” get the Bluths. | 1,269,303 |
David Fincher said "no hype, no nothing" to season two? Sure. Maybe. But the bigger point here is that dropping shows with no press and not much fanfare when you could be creating something sellable to new subscribers seems... unwise.
Look at it this way: Selling volume is great when you want market dominance over the early-days Hulu or the we-sell-TV-shows-in-addition-to-gadgets-era Amazon. But now both of those streamers have their shit together and are making really good TV series. That's already a problem. Then here comes Disney+, with Apple+ and HBO Max right behind. Then NBCUniversal soon after.
Volume? The whole streaming universe is going to be volume.
Sorry, but you can't sell excess to people who are about to be more overwhelmed with choice than they've ever been.
But you can sell recognizable, desirable, entertaining, quality TV series like Orange Is the New Black, Stranger Things, GLOW, Ozark, The Crown or Russian Doll (though I'd argue some of those later ones should have been marketed wider at release; Netflix would argue that viewers and Emmy voters found them anyway, validating its approach).
So it will be interesting going forward in the Streaming Wars (for everybody, really), but in particular Netflix, the one streaming service that sells ubiquity over specificity. Will it focus on fine-tuning its series to win more Emmys (the streamer is obviously heavily invested in getting nominations, but ultimately wins will start to matter as the competition for subscribers heats up). Will it start to change how it makes shows — a little more prestige mixed into the plentitude? Will it change how it markets them? How it promotes them to the press (Netflix is famous for oppressive review embargoes or just, you know, not making something available).
All of this, in various ways, matters. It would be nice if Russian Doll broke out at the Emmys, but it's really a dark horse. Ozark and Bodyguard got drama nominations and in any other year that might have mattered (it's probably going to be Game of Thrones, you know that). When They See Us did great in the nominations but might be facing too much competition.
With Amazon and Hulu upping their respective creative games, and with HBO and FX as long-standing stalwarts, more competition from Disney+, Apple+, etc. will just make it more essential that, if you want to use the Emmys as a marketing tool for subscriptions, curating and emphasizing individual series will be paramount.
Emmys — nominations and wins — aren't everything, of course. But notable content — as opposed to just content — certainly will be moving forward.
What Netflix does in the face of this looming competition will be kind of fascinating, and you can bet others are watching. At the moment it appears there's no evident strategy shift, which means Netflix probably has a new series premiering tonight, no matter what night you're reading this. | 1,269,304 |
Digitus Impudicus the Impudent FingerWe tend to take it for granted that the act of giving someone the finger is a contemporary obscene hand gesture. The strange fact of it is that this non-verbal way of telling people to “stick it where the sun don’t shine” has been practiced ever since ancient times!The name of the actual person who invented giving someone the finger may well be lost to the mists of time. But believe it or not, this offensive gesticulation has been named in ancient Roman texts as the “digitus impudicus” or “impudent finger,” and ancient Greek comedy has used the act of raising one’s middle finger as an insult. This is particularly mentioned in the comedy “The Clouds” by the Greek playwright Aristophanes. Even weirder is the superstitious belief in the first-century Mediterranean world wherein the middle finger is not an insulting gesture, but as a means of warding off the effects of a much more ominous hand signal, the “evil eye.”Giving someone the finger may well be the universally-recognized symbol of disrespect used as far across the globe as countries like India, Pakistan and other South Asian nations. But other cultures have also had their own variations on this vulgar act. For instance, the British version of the finger is to raise two, the middle and the index finger. The origins of this variant is actually not so much obscene, though still meant as an insult. This was back in medieval times when Britain was at war with France. Captured British archers would be punished by having their middle and index fingers cut off so that wouldn’t be able to pull the strings of their bows. So archers who’ve managed to evade capture would taunt their foes by showing off that they still had their digits intact. Of course today, the two-finger salute is generally placed in the same odious level as its crasser one-finger equivalent.The two-finger variation, delivered with the back of the hand facing the subject of the insult, is practiced in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand. Other international equivalents of giving someone the finger include the bent elbow, which is used in Russia, Poland, Italy and the Ukraine. In certain countries in Africa and the Caribbean, flashing not one but all five fingers at someone with the palm facing the recipient is akin to calling the person a bastard child with five fathers. A similar gesture (this one with fingers spread widely) is the “moutza,” which originates from Greece.It’s hard to believe that such a vulgar display would have so much history behind it. Obviously, the people who invented giving someone the finger would not have thought that they were contributing something profound to world culture. And in a sense they haven’t, and in another they have. But obscene as it is, the fact is that it has survived and evolved to the present day proves how lifting a single finger can make an impact on the rest of the world. | 1,269,305 |
, last_lon, total_distance, num_places) as ( select -- anchor member name, lat, lon, 0::float, 1 from places where name = 'San Francisco' union all select -- recursive member -- add to the current places_chain travel.places_chain ||'->'|| places.name, places.lat, places.lon, -- add to the current total_distance travel.total_distance + lat_lon_distance(last_lat, last_lon, places.lat, places.lon), travel.num_places + 1 from places, travel where position(places.name in travel.places_chain) = 0 )
The parameters in the CTE are:
places_chain : The list of places visited so far, which will be different for each instance of the recursion
: The list of places visited so far, which will be different for each instance of the recursion last_lat and last_lon : The latitude and longitude of the last place in the places_chain
: The latitude and longitude of the last place in the total_distance : The distance traveled going from one place to the next in the places_chain
: The distance traveled going from one place to the next in the num_places: The number of places in places_chain — we’ll use this to tell which routes are complete because they visited all cities
In the recursive member, the where clause ensures that we never repeat a place. If we’ve already visited Denver, position(…) will return a number greater than 0, invalidating this instance of the recursion.
We can see all possible routes by selecting all 8-city chains:
select * from travel where num_places = 8
We need to add in the distance from the last city back to San Francisco to complete the round-trip. We could hard code San Francisco’s lat/lon, but a join is more elegant. Once that’s done we sort by distance and show the smallest:
select travel.places_chain ||'->'|| places.name, total_distance + lat_lon_distance( travel.last_lat, travel.last_lon, places.lat, places.lon) as final_dist from travel, places where travel.num_places = 8 and places.name = 'San Francisco' order by 2 -- ascending! limit 1
Even though this query is significantly more complicated than the incrementer query earlier, the database is doing the same things behind the scenes. The top branch is the creating the CTE’s rows, the bottom branch is the final join and sort:
Run this query and you’ll see the shortest route takes 6671 miles and visits the cities in this order:
San Francisco -> Seattle -> Denver -> Chicago -> Boston -> New York -> Austin -> Los Angeles -> San Francisco
Thanks to recursive CTEs, we can solve the Traveling Salesman Problem in SQL! | 1,269,306 |
Michael Cohen, a former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, is scheduled to testify before the House oversight committee next month regarding his work for the president.
Cohen’s hearing is set for Feb. 7, according to the committee’s public schedule. Committee chairman Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) in a statement on Thursday thanked Cohen for agreeing to testify amid special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation.
“I want to make clear that we have no interest in inappropriately interfering with any ongoing criminal investigations, and to that end, we are in the process of consulting with Special Counsel Mueller’s office,” Cummings said. “The Committee will announce additional information in the coming weeks.”
Cohen pleaded guilty in November for lying to Congress during private testimony in 2017 about the timing and extent of discussions he had about a Russian real estate deal during Trump’s campaign. A federal judge in Manhattan sentenced him to three years in federal prison.
Cohen, who served as Trump’s attorney and fixer for years, came under scrutiny from federal prosecutors in New York over hush money payments he orchestrated during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, two women who alleged having extramarital affairs with Trump.
He pleaded guilty in August to charges that included violating campaign finance laws and claimed he made the payments to the two women at Trump’s behest.
In a statement on Thursday, Cohen said he was prepared “to cooperate and provide the American people with answers.”
“I look forward to having the privilege of being afforded a platform with which to give a full and credible account of the events which have transpired,” Cohen said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has denied that he directed Cohen to make the payments. Asked by The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker on Thursday whether he was concerned about Cohen’s testimony, Trump said: “I’m not worried about it at all.”
President Trump answers @PhilipRucker's question about next month's scheduled Michael Cohen testimony: "I'm not worried about it at all." pic.twitter.com/Zdjaj3V2zd — CSPAN (@cspan) January 10, 2019
Mueller’s scrutiny of Cohen has focused on the attorney’s role in Trump’s business dealings, particularly negotiations over a Trump Tower project in Moscow during the 2016 campaign. Cohen lied to federal prosecutors about the timing of his discussions with Russian officials.
Cohen also lied about whether he and Trump, referred to as “Individual 1” in the November court documents, discussed planning a trip to Russia during the campaign.
“COHEN asked Individual 1 about the possibility of Individual 1 traveling to Russia in connection with the Moscow Project, and asked a senior campaign official about potential business travel to Russia,” the documents said. | 1,269,307 |
click to enlarge Department of Mental Health
The Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital
An African American employee was repeatedly subjected to racist comments and actions by both patients and staff at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital, according to a state Human Rights Commission report.Ismina Francois, a mental health specialist, made repeated complaints about the widespread use of racial slurs and racial insensitivities at the facility in Berlin but a culture of intolerance persisted, a commission investigator found.For example — despite Francois' prior complaints — a hospital staffer assigned her to care for a racist patient with a swastika tattoo who had previously lunged at Francois and yelled "get that nigger away from me."Traveling nurses who worked temporary stints at the hospital reported being surprised at how often patients used racial slurs. And other employees used terms like "nappy hair," "hood car," "fried chicken," "colored people" and speculated about Francois being on "welfare," according to the report."A reasonable person could conclude that the offensive jokes, slurs, epithets, name calling, insults and put-downs by patients and coworkers were pervasive," Human Rights Commission investigator Bor Yang wrote in the 35-page report finalized in January. The commission ruled in a 5-0 vote on January 25 that "reasonable grounds" existed to find the Department of Mental Health discriminated against Francois.The commission suggested Francois and the state take three months to try to settle. Francois could also pursue a lawsuit.Francois, a single mother to two children, remains on the job, according to her attorney, Robert Appel. Francois, a Barre resident, was hired in May 2014 to work in the 25-bed facility, which treats involuntarily committed patients who have psychiatric disorders."She is trying to achieve a workplace that is safe and welcoming for her and for others who look like her," said Appel, a former executive director of the Human Rights Commission. "She is a professional; she does her work well."Melissa Bailey, the Department of Mental Health commissioner, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Another black employee, Tim McCants, said he had been assigned to "many racist patients who say 'nigger' continuously," according to the report. On one occasion, he asked for a new assignment but was refused.The hospital had been previously warned about racism. As far back as 2007, McCants said he found "Nigger" written on his windshield. He complained to a supervisor but nothing more was done. Other employees frequently used the term "nigger" and called him "chocolate boy," "the little black man," or "little Bill," for Bill Cosby, according to the report.Black staff members were routinely mistaken for one another by white coworkers, the investigation revealed.Francois complained to superiors about many of these incidents, but little came of it, Yang found. Word spread in some quarters of the hospital that Francois "plays the race card," according to the report.An October 2016 human resources training designed to address the racism inside the hospital was "uninspiring" and failed to fix the problem, Yang wrote. | 1,269,308 |
Pakistan on Saturday urged the World Bank to fulfil its commitment in regards to the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), reported Radio Pakistan.
The demand was made by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in a letter to the President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim.
Dar said in his letter that World Bank's earlier decision will seriously prejudice Pakistan's interests and rights under the terms of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960.
The finance minister said the 'pause' proposed by the World Bank will prevent Pakistan from approaching another competent forum to have its grievances addressed.
Dar, in his letter, said the IWT does not allow a party to pause its performance due to the obligations present in the treaty.
The letter also conveyed that the matter of appointment of a chairman for the Court of Arbitration has been delayed, and urged the institution to execute its obligations under the IWT.
Earlier this week, the World Bank on Monday announced a pause in arbitration between Islamabad and New Delhi on the matter of the two dams being constructed by India, calling on both countries "to consider alternative ways to resolve their disagreements".
In the aftermath of rising cross-border tensions following the Uri army base attack and an alleged Indian'surgical strike', Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November threatened to stop honouring the Indus Waters Treaty and block the flow of water into Pakistan.
India is constructing two hydropower projects on the Chenab River. Pakistan has objected to the construction of the 850MegaWatt Ratle and 330MW Kishanganga hydropower schemes, saying that both projects would have adverse impact on the flow of the Chenab and Neelum rivers.
Both countries had initiated separate processes in the World Bank under the IIWT, with India requesting the body for appointment of a 'Neutral Expert', and Pakistan calling for the appointment of the chairman of the Court of Arbitration.
The World Bank explained the pause saying: "Both processes initiated by the respective countries were advancing at the same time, creating a risk of contradictory outcomes that could potentially endanger the Treaty."
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said Pakistan and India should look to resolve the conflict mutually and within the bounds of the IWT.
WB urges India and Pakistan to agree to mediation
In November, the World Bank urged India and Pakistan to agree to mediation in order to settle on a mechanism for how the IWT should be used to resolve issues regarding the construction of the two dams along the Indus river system.
The IWT is seen as one of the most successful international treaties and has withstood frequent tensions between India and Pakistan, including conflicts. The bank is a signatory to the treaty.
The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers, known as the Permanent Indus Commission which includes a commissioner from each of the two countries.
It also sets out a process for resolving so-called "questions", "differences" and "disputes" that may arise between the parties. | 1,269,309 |
Of all the superhero shows around, this is by far the most improved between seasons. Who would of thought, going into the home run that we would be on such a high like we are now. Arrow is back and the world is a better place for it.
Usually I don’t do this but I’m actually going to start with some negatives I had with this episode. This episode fell into the same trap Supergirl did where they took focus away from what was important to help ARGUS. While it wasn’t to the extreme because there was a point to it and in the end they ended up with something they wanted, at episode 19 I wanted from here on out to be about Chase, rather than setting up a future threat in Helix.
However, that is where the negatives end. I really enjoyed this episode. The fact that it still had it’s foot in the door of the main story definitely made me feel as though this episode was worth something. I thought the heist story was really interesting considering that this is one of the only time Team Arrow are on the defence. Usually they are the ones breaking in so it was cool to see them staking a place out waiting for an attack to happen.
Moving onto Helix, them as a whole as been something I’ve often pushed to the back of my mind when think of Arrow. I don’t mind them around and I often wonder where they are heading in the show. This episode was the first time I felt they were a force. While I saw it as a bit of a negative that they choose to show Helix’s power rather than concentrate on Chase, on the flip side it was cool to see what they can do. I feel as though seeing them perform a heist like that needed to be shown, however if it was up to me I would of preferred for it to have happened in the early part of the season when the big bad is not in main focus yet.
Something I want to touch on which I do bring up sometimes is the relationship with Lance and Rene. They have quickly grown to be one of my favourite relationships on the show. I think they are written really well and they have great chemistry with shows on screen. By the looks of it, both of them look like they are hanging around for a while so that is always a great thing to look forward to.
Right before wrapping up this review I had a thought. This episode had no flashbacks. I’m not sure how I feel about it because I have really enjoyed this season’s flashbacks but they weren’t at all missed considering it took me a while to realise they were nonexistent.
Overall, another really great episode from Arrow. At this rate, this season is up there with seasons 1 and 2 and that is a great place to be. I’m excited to see them locked in for the back end of the season and of all the shows, this is the one I am most intrigued about.
9/10 | 1,269,310 |
Hillary Clinton won the second presidential debate, according to 44 percent of likely voters who watched or followed coverage of the face-off, which came in the wake of a controversy around vulgar comments Donald Trump made about women in 2005. Thirty-four percent of likely voters said Trump won the debate.
More voters thought Trump did better this time around, however, as Clinton’s 10-point margin of victory over Trump following the second debate is much smaller than the 31-point margin she held over him after the first presidential debate.
Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings. This site is protected by recaptcha
These results are according to an NBC News|SurveyMonkey debate reaction poll conducted Monday, October 10 following the second presidential debate.
Although Clinton is seen as the winner, a majority (59 percent) of debate followers said her performance did not change their opinion of her. Just under a quarter (23 percent) of likely voters said their opinion of the Democratic nominee changed for the worse after the debate, and 17 percent said their opinion changed for the better.
Compared to voters’ opinions after the first presidential debate, Clinton did slightly worse this time around; slightly more voters said their opinion of her changed for the worse after the second presidential debate than the first—23 percent after the second to 17 percent after the first. Slightly fewer likely voters said their opinion changed for the better after the second debate than said so after the first debate—17 percent after the second and 26 percent after the first.
In the first debate, a large majority of likely voters (60 percent) said their opinion of Trump did not change as a result of the debate. After Sunday night’s performance, just 48 percent said their opinion of Trump did not change. Slightly more said their opinion of him changed for the worse (29 percent) than for the better (23 percent) following Sunday night’s debate.
Overall, a majority of likely voters who watched or followed the debate have negative feelings about what Clinton (56 percent) or Trump (63 percent) would do in office if elected president. A plurality of voters, however, (44 percent) said they would be scared about what Trump would do in office. About a third (32 percent) said they would be scared of what Clinton would do.
Though more likely voters said they are excited about what Trump would do in office (13 percent for Trump to 9 percent for Clinton), more voters overall would feel positively about her presidency (43 percent) than Trump’s (36 percent).
The NBC News|SurveyMonkey Debate Reaction poll was conducted online immediately following the second presidential debate on October 10, 2016 among a national sample of 3,834 adults who are likely to vote. Respondents for this non-probability survey were selected from the nearly three million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. Results have an error estimate of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. For full results and methodology, click here. | 1,269,311 |
Even before pushing back its premiere and losing Bryan Fuller as showrunner, Star Trek: Discovery had a world of work to justify fans signing up for CBS All-Access to watch. CBS naturally sees the new Trek as a flagship attraction, but it seems bosses didn’t think Star Trek: Discovery would have survived broadcast demands anyway.
The new series will still premiere on CBS itself in May, before moving weekly premieres onto CBS All-Access, though it remains an open question if fans are willing to make the investment. CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone told Recode Media that even if the CBS All-Access platform has only moderate success, it still eclipses their expectations for Discovery having succeeded on CBS proper:
Sci-fi is not something that has traditionally done really well on broadcast. It’s not impossible, for the future, if somebody figures it out. And things like LOST and Heroes have had parts of sci-fi, but historically, a show like Star Trek wouldn’t necessarily be a broadcast show, at this point. So, you kind-of look at the other networks we might have, The CW and Showtime, it just fit the digital audience. And it’s something unique for All-Access that would bring subscribers.
That said, a digital space does allow for some redefinition of broadcast standards, so get ready for hardcore alien nudity!
“The showrunners were like ‘Oh yeah, we could do that,’” Lanzone recalled. “Of course, the response is, ‘As long as it serves the story.’ But yeah!” “Naked aliens, and humans?” Kafka asked. “Theoretically.” “And swearing?” “Whatever future swearing, 300 years in the future, would be.”
Shooting in Toronto, the new 13-episode Star Trek: Discovery is officially said to take place 10 years before Kirk’s original Enterprise mission, as well to be “heavily serialized,” akin to a novel, more-so than episodic. The new series will also feature a non-captain female lead, with a Klingon captain and a British doctor, and explore the fallout of an event referenced, but never seen in the original series.
Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer has also joined alongside Gene Roddenberry’s son Rod, fan-favorite Voyager novel alum Kirsten Beyer, franchise vet Joe Menosky and Heroes writer Aron Coleite. So reads the initial synopsis for the series, which debuts on CBS in May 2017 before moving to All-Access:
The brand-new “Star Trek” will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.
Additional details will hopefully emerge within the next few weeks, but what do we make of CBS’ approach to Star Trek: Discovery so far? | 1,269,312 |
india
Updated: Apr 30, 2018 07:46 IST
The Indian Railways has imposed speed restrictions of 30kmph to 50kmph along several stretches of tracks in the Northeast to treat a jumbo-sized problem — speeding trains crashing into elephants.
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), which controls tracks in areas having the densest elephant population between Siliguri in West Bengal to deep inside eastern Assam, has identified stretches with a combined length of 207km where trains will slow down, according to officials familiar with the developments.
Railway data shows that 70 elephants have died after being hit by trains since 2013. NFR and the forest department records say train-hits killed 16 elephants in 2016, and at least a dozen last year. Four elephants were killed when a passenger train hit a herd crossing the tracks in central Assam this February, the worst tragedy after five elephants, including a pregnant female, died in similar circumstances last December.
The slowdown means trains will be delayed by 30 minutes to two hours in the region.
A train moving through the entire length of a restricted corridor would be delayed by three hours, but the delays will be less as alternative routes have been chosen, a railway official familiar with the plan said.
“It has been decided that signboards will be out up at all identified elephant corridors to warn train drivers,” said Pranav Jyoti Sharma, the NFR spokesperson.
The stretches where trains will slow down include 62 identified elephant corridors. Elephants are migratory by nature and move from one forest to another for food through these corridors, but trains hurtling down tracks that cut through natural habitat have become a rising threat for them.
As per the 2011 census, there are 5,620 wild elephants in Assam, the highest in the country.
According to Sharma, drivers and guards are briefed regularly by forest officials and they are asked to be cautious. Almost 90% of the accidents happen between 9pm and 7am.
“We are working closely with the forest department. There is a WhatsApp group for sharing information. It was decided that forest guards will send alerts at night about the movement of elephants and this information will be communicated to train drivers immediately,” Sharma said.
The railways has another plan to reduce elephant deaths on tracks - building ramps at locations frequented by elephants to let them cross without getting hit by oncoming trains.
“We recently had a meeting with the Assam chief secretary and the plan to build ramps was discussed. We are not sure how helpful it would be, but we are ready to build ramps if the forest department gives us funds,” said a railway official, requesting anonymity.
Also, the NFR is testing since last year a device near tracks that amplifies the buzz of swarming honeybees. Elephants are said to be afraid of bees, particularly of being stung on the sensitive trunk, and railway officials hope the sound of the stinging insects will stop the animals in their tracks. | 1,269,313 |
A Chinese climber was reportedly just a few thousand feet from reaching the summit of Mount Everest when he was forced back down the mountain for not having a permit.
Outside magazine reports that the unnamed climber, said to be a Han Chinese, was reportedly 25,500 feet up the mountain's North Col route when he was spotted camping alone, away from other expeditions.
That's when the climber was apprehended by members of the Tibet Mountaineering Guide School (TMGS), who forcibly removed him from the trail and physically assaulted him, witnesses say.
Two witnesses tell Outside that the TMGS members then subdued the hiker, who reportedly wielded his ice axe when confronted by them. In an email to Billi Bierling, the assistant to the Everest historian, one of the witnesses writes:
"I did see the permitless chap being ushered down the hill. The Tibetan rope fixers were sent up to get him. I saw them bringing him down the ropes from the North Col to [advanced base camp]. It was disgraceful. They literally kicked him down the ropes. It was a disgusting example of a pack of bullies egging each other on and literally beating him down the hill. It was absolutely unnecessary as he was offering no resistance and was scared out of his mind. The Tibetans should, and could, have just escorted him down the hill and let the authorities deal with him."
Permits for climbing Everest aren't cheap, with Outside reporting that they cost a minimum of $25,000 "on the low end." And that's not including other substantial costs such as gear and tour guides. The Everest K2 News site site provides more information on obtaining the proper paperwork before trying to climb the famous mountain.
Life's Little Mysteries writes that permits for climbing Everest typically cost upward of $70,000, though an expedition team of 7 to 10 climbers usually splits those costs. Despite the large expenses involved, and the inherent risks, there is a virtual "traffic jam" of aspiring climbers wanting to make the Everest ascent.
Story continues
Grayson Schaffer writes that the alleged treatment of the hiker could stoke further tensions between Tibetan and Chinese officials.
A second witness, Kari Kobler, claims to have filmed the beating but says he did not report the incident because he wanted to avoid igniting a confrontation between TMGS and the Chinese government.
"It's a tough one. It's really tough. I know all of them," Kobler says of his decision to not identify the TMGS members or release the video.
"The reason I made this video—If I don't have proof, nobody will believe me. [The TMGS grads] can lie and say nothing happened. But now I can go to them and say, 'Please, young boys.'
Kobler tells Outside he isn't sure exactly what became of the Chinese hiker but says he did voluntarily walk off the mountain.
"He's not killed," Kobler said. "They beat him only." | 1,269,314 |
In this post I will describe how to add a full size image cover to your blog posts.
Nice thing about Gatsby that we can handle this very nicely with plugins while not taking care about manually serving different images for different screen sizes. Each device will receive it’s optimized version of the cover. Neat!
Assumptions
I will assume that you’ve already have your markdown set up. This means that you’ve got this plugins being installed and configured:
gatsby-source-filesystem
gatsby-transformer-remark
Instruction
#1. Editing Config
Make sure plugins are set up in your config.
module. exports = { plugins : [ { resolve : ` gatsby-transformer-remark `, options : { plugins : [ { resolve : ` gatsby-remark-images `, options : { maxWidth : 620, }, }, ], }, }, ` gatsby-transformer-sharp `, ` gatsby-plugin-sharp `, ], }
#2. Updating Markdown file
Put your image near your markdown file.
Update your markdown file (in my case it is post.md ) to point cover field to an image.
--- title: 'How Failing With Pomodoro Technique Made Me 2x Better Programmer' date: '2019-03-27' cover: './cover.png' ---
Now let update your GraphQL queries.
#3. Updating GraphQL query
blog-post.js
const query = graphql ` query BlogPostBySlug($slug: String!) { markdownRemark(fields: { slug: { eq: $slug } }) { id html frontmatter { date(formatString: "MMMM DD, YYYY") title cover { publicURL childImageSharp { sizes(maxWidth: 2000) {...GatsbyImageSharpSizes } } } } } } `
Now you can edit your components code.
#4. Updating React Component
Make sure you have a gatsby-image installed. This is a component that will handle all the responsive magic.
yarn add gatsby-image
In order to display image full size I am passing cover data to my Layout component
< Layout location = { props. location } title = { siteTitle } cover = { data. frontmatter. cover } > { } < / Layout >
And then I am displaying that data in my Layout component.
import Img from 'gatsby-image'
Component usage is quite simple. This is how I do it:
!! cover? < Img sizes = { cover. childImageSharp. sizes } / > : null
The end
Now you can be happy with your cool looking cover that is optimized to load fast for every device. | 1,269,315 |
Sixteen people in Bangladesh were charged Wednesday in connection to the murder of a teenage girl who was burned to death last month after reporting sexual harassment.
Nusrat Jahan Rafi, 19, was reportedly doused with kerosene at school and burned to death after filing a complaint with local police in late March, alleging that the principal at her Islamic school, Siraj Ud Doula, inappropriately touched her repeatedly, according to the BBC.
Doula, who was reportedly targeted in the complaint, is among those charged. Police claim he ordered her murder from prison when she refused to drop the charges against him.
BANGLADESHI STUDENT BURNED TO DEATH BY FELLOW STUDENTS FOR REPORTING HARASSMENT BY HEAD TEACHER
Rafi’s family helped her file the complaint, which led to Doula’s arrest. Influential local politicians backed the principal, and ruling party members were also among those arrested.
Rafi reportedly told her brother that a fellow female student allegedly lured her to the roof of her school in the rural town of Feni on April 6th by telling her that one of her friends was being attacked. When Rafi got to the roof, 5 people clad in burqas allegedly demanded she drop the sexual harassment charges.
Rafi told her brother that when she refused, she was allegedly gagged and her hands were tied, then she was doused in kerosene and burned. She told her brother what happened in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and he recorded her testimony on his cell phone. In the recording she also identified some of her attackers, saying they were students at the school, according to the BBC.
Rafi suffered burns on 80 percent of her body and died 4 days later.
GRUESOME RAPE, MURDER OF KASHMIR GIRL RAISES TENSIONS
Police said the group had planned to make her death look like a suicide. Sixteen people accused in the case, including students at Rafi’s school and 2 local politicians who held prominent positions at the school, have been charged.
Investigators are asking for the death penalty for all of the suspects, and police reportedly said that Doula confessed in court that he ordered the murder. Police said 12 of those charged have confessed but the 2 local politicians have not admitted any involvement.
The incident sparked mass protests in Bangladesh from people demanding justice for Rafi. The case has shined a light on the vulnerability of victims of sexual assault in the conservative Muslim-majority nation of 160 million people where sexual harassment is often unreported.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vowed that every person involved in Rafi’s killing would be brought to justice.
"None of the culprits will be spared from legal action," Hasina said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
A trial date has not yet been set.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 1,269,316 |
Scottish parliament voted almost unanimously on Wednesday to provide "free" feminine hygiene products to anyone who needs them, by offering pads and tampons in certain public spaces to the tune of an estimated $31 million annually.
The move makes Scotland the only country in the world to offer "free" sanitary products to all women, and CBS News — citing a proposed bill by a Democratic congresswoman from last year — reported that "the U.S. could be next."
What are the details?
Reuters reported, "The Period Products (Free Provision) Scotland Bill passed through its first stage with 112 votes in favor, none against and one abstention." The second stage involves members offering amendments to the legislation.
As it stands now, the proposal would mean the Scottish government would pay to make sanitary products available free of charge at places like pharmacies and community centers "for anyone who needs them," according to the BBC. The country already has a federal policy of providing such products at schools and universities.
The bill's sponsor, Monica Lennon, celebrated the measure as a "milestone moment for normalizing menstruation in Scotland and sending out that real signal to people in this country about how seriously parliament takes gender equality," the Washington Post reported.
Scotland's new law is in response to the movement against "period poverty," the concept that not all women and girls can afford sanitary products. A gender-equality activist movement has taken hold of the issue, arguing that it is the government's responsibility to provide feminine hygiene products to the public or at the very least reduce or remove so-called "tampon taxes" on such items.
According to Reuters, one demonstrator participating in a rally outside Scottish Parliament on Tuesday held a sign that read, "Access to menstrual products is a right. Period."
CBS News reported Wednesday that:
In March 2019, Congresswoman Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, announced the Menstrual Equity for All Act, the first comprehensive bill to address the challenges that women and girls face in obtaining feminine hygiene products in America.
'The fact that there are people who aren't able to afford these products, and as a result, may miss school may miss work, face certain stigma — I think it's a human rights issue that, especially in the United States of America, women should not have to be dealing with,' Meng said.
Meng's bill would make menstrual hygiene products free for women in prison. It would allow states to use federal funds to supply pads to girls in school. And it would require that these products be covered by Medicaid.
What CBS News did not report is that the last action on Meng's bill was taken in May of last year, when it was referred to a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.
Nonetheless, CBS News wrote in promoting its story on the action of Scottish parliament's "plans to make period products free for all women": "Scotland is the first nation in the world to do so, and the U.S. could be next."
| 1,269,317 |
Since 2011, we have been serving avid Neopets players like yourself with the greatest deals from pure neopoints, to the coolest paint brushes around, and to the strongest weapons in the battledome.
Neopoints.in is the safest way to buy the items of your dreams and our prices are unbeatable so you can buy more with less! With our quick response customer support, we can handle any question or issue you might have.
Its time to get spiffy!
Why Do Thousands of Neopians Choose Us?
–
We Have The Widest Selection of Products.
Whether your hunting for that UC pet you always wanted, or the ultra rare attack pea, we have everything you seek.
Enjoy The Best Prices.
With our lowest price guarantee, we will match the price of any other legitimate site if it is lower.
We Offer Instant Delivery!
Qualifying products in the Instant Delivery section will be delivered instantly to your email. All other products are delivered within 24 hours.
Our Products Are Legit!
All of our neopoints and items are legitimately earned from years of restocking and investing.
Check out our popular collections!
–
Find Out How To Buy And Collect Your Items
Your Safety Is Our Priority
–
Buying millions of neopoints or your favorite items no longer have to be risky.
At Neopoints.in we follow a strict process when we prepare and deliver your order. Whether you are buying a main account, dozens of paint brushes or an extremely rare Hidden Tower weapon, we ensure you get your items safely. With hundreds of items a day being sold to our customers, we have mastered the correct and safest way to transfer your hard earned purchases without risk.
We have created a full guide to help you below. If you have any questions at all, we are happy to answer them. Just email us at [email protected].
Your Guide To Buying Neopoints Safely
Our Friendly And Awesome Customer Support Is Here For You!
–
Perhaps you need us to fulfill your wishlist of items…
It could be you seek advice on pairing battledome weapons to bring justice on your opponents…
Maybe you are seeking super rare items that might not be found on this site…
Or maybe you would like to buy our items and Neopoints in bulk and desire a bulk discount…
No matter what you want, we are more then glad to assist you and help you get the items you want. Its time to become a Neopets Millionaire with Neopoints.in!
Reviews
–
Our testimonial page has countless reviews spanning over the last seven years. If we haven’t won your business yet, we’ll let our past customers do the rest of the talking. Our testimonials page can be found here. | 1,269,318 |
Route 66 is iconic. One of the U.S.’s original highways, it was established on November 11, 1926 and has since become a common touch point in popular culture, referenced everywhere from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939) to Disney Pixar’s Cars (2006). Five thousand miles away, across the United States, the Atlantic Ocean, and up in the northern reaches of the Scottish Highlands, the thoroughfare has also exerted its influence, and has largely led to the development of what Scotland is calling its “answer” to Route 66: the North Coast 500.
Created in 2014 by the North Highland Initiative nonprofit, established by Prince Charles to raise awareness for less-visited parts of the northern Highlands, the North Coast 500 is a circular scenic route beginning and ending at Inverness Castle. Driven in full, its actual mileage is 516; its sections include Inverness-Shire, the Black Isle peninsula, the area of Easter Ross, county Caithness, county Sutherland, and Wester Ross. Looking for inspiration? You can focus your trip on what’s important to you—food and drink, say, or adventure—and choose from nine customized driving itineraries developed by the nonprofit, with varying lengths. (Note: Only some, available in full, are free.)
The North Coast 500 website promises “fairy-tale castles, beaches, and ruins,” and deliver it does. South of Brora you’ll find Dunrobin Castle, a French-style chateau inhabited since the 1300s, which served as a hospital during WWI. Near Durness, white-sand Balnakeil Beach looks like it belongs on a Caribbean postcard; the 200, 4,000-year-old stones at Hill O' Many Stanes near Lybster, Caithness, are reminiscent of a mini-Stonehenge. Other things not promised that you’ll find, anyway? The 12-mile, single-track Bealach na Bà (Gaelic for "pass of the cattle") route through the mountains to and from the coastal town of Applecross; some of the largest caves in the U.K. at Smoo Cave; award-winning pies from the Lochinver Larder; traditional dancing at Ullapool’s Ceilidh Place; and tipples at distilleries Old Pulteney and Glenmorangie.
Tips
Length: Expect to spend a minimum of 5-7 days along the route
Best times to go: May through September
Driving: Some of the roads are not suitable for large vehicles or inexperienced drivers, and many are single-track.
Walking and cycling: Both are popular ways to experience parts (or all) of the North Coast 500.
Where to stay: Most towns along the North Coast 500 are small, so booking in advance is necessary. Worst case scenario, free camping is also legal in Scotland. | 1,269,319 |
The Motion Picture Association of America has publicly registered its support for SOPA. Lobby shops mistakenly listed as SOPA supporters
Several prominent law and lobbying firms found themselves in a decidedly un-festive mood Friday when told the House Judiciary Committee listed them in official documents as supporters of the contentious Stop Online Piracy Act.
They’re nothing of the sort, officials of several firms say. And Judiciary Committee officials are scrambling to figure out what went wrong — and make amends — at the tail end of business before a long holiday weekend.
“It’s just incorrect. The firm has no position on SOPA,” Davis Wright Tremaine LLP spokesman Mark Usellis told POLITICO. “We’ve contacted the Judiciary Committee to correct that. Obviously, you’d rather this had not happened.”
Officials at two other firms named in the original document confirmed that their organizations do not and have never supported SOPA, also known as H.R. 3261 and sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas). The bill, which has unleashed a torrent of lobbying activity by supporters and opponents alike, aims to empower the government with new legal tools to combat online copyright infringement and sales of counterfeit goods.
“Firms are livid. This is a major screw-up, and it could hurt our reputation,” said one firm official who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak on the record. “Judiciary owes us an explanation.”
After reviewing the list, a Judiciary Committee aide confirmed that some firms were erroneously included. The aide said the list has since been updated on the committee’s website, although one version of it remained uncorrected as of press time.
“The listing of the law firms was a mistake made at the staff level of the committee,” the committee said in a statement to POLITICO. “Once we were made aware of the mistake, we immediately removed the list of supporters from the website and revised the document. Our staff has been in contact with several of the firms and made them aware of our efforts to remedy the mistake.”
While individual lawyers or lobbyists might, rarely do firms institutionally support a sweeping congressional initiative, particularly when their clients may disagree on whether to support or oppose it.
Among the firms listed in the original document are Covington & Burling; Lathrop & Gage; Morrison & Foerster; Shearman & Sterling; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and White & Case.
Lobbying powerhouses such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO, Motion Picture Association of America and Recording Industry Association of America have publicly registered their support for SOPA.
They’re countervailed by such entities as Google, Yahoo, Facebook and the American Civil Liberties Union.
This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 3:57 p.m. on December 23, 2011. | 1,269,320 |
It’s commonly known fact that if Barcelona/Spain ever lose a game then it’s because of the excessive grass on the pitch. So Xavi has taken it upon himself to cut the grass if it’s too lengthy,so that Spain can dominate possession and have a higher passing rate than Italy(Who have the highest passing rate in the World Cup at the moment). But Diego Costa is secretly worried,that the lack of grass will impact his chances of diving successfully.
Xavi mowing grass for Barcelona
Cristiano Ronaldo to change his hairstyle during half time
During the Euro 2012,Ronaldo famously changed his hairstyle during the half time. But sadly to the disappointment of millions of fans worldwide Ronaldo came out with the same hairstyle in the second half against Germany. Now that Pepe is jobless,he can become Ronaldo’s hair dresser while Bento’s giving his half time talk.
Wayne Rooney to submit a transfer request to The Fa
Wayne Rooney’s agent Paul Stretford will submit a transfer request to The Fa at the striker’s insistence. Wayne Rooney was upset at being played on the left by the England manager Roy Hodgson. Top executives at The FA are confused and have no idea what to with the request so they have enlisted Ed Woodward’s help.
Netherlands to become Red from Oranje
More Manchester United fans than Dutch fans are expected to tune in to the Netherlands’ next game as they hope to banish their memories of last season by watching their next manager and their star striker in the World Cup. Twitter and Facebook was fully dominated by Manchester United fans who were quite all year long during the Netherlands’ win over Spain.
Internet Servers to go down
With the amount of “Tactical Analysis” articles increasing day by day,internet servers went down as their maximum capacity had been reached. The articles and blogs reached an all time high when Van Gaal played a False One with two inverted Goalkeepers against Australia.
Television broadcasters to miss a goal
Fans across the world watching on Television will miss a crucial goal as cameramen on the field were intent on increasing the gender diversity on the screen by showing female fans in the stands.
Scolari to pair Fred and Jo
After coming in for criticism for not playing attacking football against Mexico,Scolari decides to play both of his world class strikers Fred and Jo in the next match by dropping Neymar. Backed up by a midfield of Paulinho,Gustavo,Ramires and Hulk,Brazil will look to win the world cup in front of their home fans.
Thomas Muller seals new contract
Thomas Muller had his hard work pay off as he signed a lucrative contract with A Band Apart Films which is Quentin Tarantino’s film company. Tarantino is following the World Cup closely as he was informed that the best of the acting talent in the world will be on display. | 1,269,321 |
Tesla heads back to court later this month to continue a trial over allegations from the National Labor Relations Board that the automaker’s management violated federal labor laws. When both sides meet in court, they’ll duke it out over a new, potentially thorny legal issue that emerged in late August: a tweet from CEO Elon Musk.
The NLRB accused Musk last month of violating federal labor laws when he sent out a tweet in May that said his employees would lose their stock options if they organized a union. The agency asked a judge overseeing the ongoing case to allow the tweet allegation to be roped into it as well.
Tesla had sought to have the request dismissed. But on Tuesday, a judge sided with the NLRB, and said Tesla has to prepare to defend the NLRB’s allegation that Musk’s stock-option tweet violated the National Labor Relations Act by “interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees” involved in union activity protected under the law.
The NLRB’s allegation followed an earlier complaint filed with the agency by the United Auto Workers, which has been attempting to organize a union at Tesla’s California assembly plant.
“Moreover, the relevant facts indicate that the Charging Party [the United Auto Workers] conducted a union organizing campaign for at least the past two years.,” wrote NLRB Administrative Law Judge Amita Tracy, in an order dated Sept. 11.
“This alleged unlawful [tweet] touches upon such activity. The General Counsel has not rested its case, and Respondent will have ample opportunity in its case-in-chief to address this additional allegation.”
A Tesla spokesperson referred Jalopnik to a statement issued last month about the NLRB’s tweet complaint.
“Elon’s tweet was simply a recognition of the fact that unlike Tesla, we’re not aware of a single UAW-represented automaker that provides stock options or restricted stock units to their production employees, and UAW organizers have consistently dismissed the value of Tesla equity as part of our compensation package,” the spokesperson said.
“We fundamentally believe it’s critical that all employees be owners of Tesla so that everyone is on the same team, with all sharing in the company’s success. This has been highly successful and led to Tesla compensation being the highest in the auto industry.”
Tesla had attempted to scuttle the NLRB’s bid to consolidate the tweet complaint into the current case, and in one filing, takes to citing a string of tweets that, it appears, are intended to contextualize what Musk meant. The filing includes screenshots of tweets, too, underscoring the novelty of a labor dispute sparked by social media.
Tesla filing Screenshot : NLRB
Exhibit 1: [tweet] Screenshot : NLRB
A NLRB spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The trial resumes Sept. 24. | 1,269,322 |
origin. Supporters of fair pay for women should strongly oppose any efforts to cap damages.
The bill would deter wage discrimination by strengthening penalties for equal pay violations. Women would be provided the option to proceed in an opt-out class action suit under the Equal Pay Act, and allowed to receive punitive and compensatory damages for pay discrimination. The bill's measured approach levels the playing field, ensuring that women can obtain the same remedies as those subject to discrimination on the basis of race or national origin. Supporters of fair pay for women should strongly oppose any efforts to cap damages. Increase Training, Research and Education: The legislation would authorize additional training for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staff to better identify and handle wage disputes. It would also aid in the efficient and effective enforcement of federal anti-pay discrimination laws by requiring the EEOC to develop regulations directing employers to collect wage data reported by the race, sex and national origin of employees. The bill would also require the U.S. Department of Labor to reinstate activities that promote equal pay, such as: directing educational programs, providing technical assistance to employers, recognizing businesses that address the wage gap, and conducting and promoting research about pay disparities between men and women.
Establish Salary Negotiation Skills-Training: The bill would create a competitive grant program to develop salary negotiation training for women and girls.
The legislation would authorize additional training for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staff to better identify and handle wage disputes. It would also aid in the efficient and effective enforcement of federal anti-pay discrimination laws by requiring the EEOC to develop regulations directing employers to collect wage data reported by the race, sex and national origin of employees. The bill would also require the U.S. Department of Labor to reinstate activities that promote equal pay, such as: directing educational programs, providing technical assistance to employers, recognizing businesses that address the wage gap, and conducting and promoting research about pay disparities between men and women. Establish Salary Negotiation Skills-Training: The bill would create a competitive grant program to develop salary negotiation training for women and girls. Improve Collection of Pay Information: The bill would also reinstate the Equal Opportunity Survey. The Survey would enable targeting of the Labor Department's enforcement efforts by requiring all federal contractors to submit data on employment practices such as hiring, promotions, terminations and pay. This survey, first used in 2000, was developed over two decades and three presidential administrations, but was rescinded by the Department of Labor in 2006.
The wage gap grows as women progress in their careers:The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was a good start to narrowing the wage gap. But it left some major loopholes that, after a half century, must be closed if we are ever to eliminate wage discrimination. This is why we need to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which will For women to achieve equality, their work must be valued equally too. It is time to fix the flaws of the Equal Pay Act and finally bring an end to wage discrimination.
Tell your senators to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.
This week's good, bad and ugly below the fold. | 1,269,323 |
-Scary Halloween Party ticket and it is not eligible for the Disney Dining Plan)
Time: 8:30 p.m. – 10:15 p.m.
How to book: Book online or by calling 407-939-3463
Cruella’s Halloween Hide-a-Way
Located at Tony’s Town Square, this is an event that guests can pop in and out of as they wish.
Guests dine on sweet and savory treats, along with both unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (as well as a festive atmosphere that runs until 12:30 a.m., which is after MNSSHP has ended).
There’s also a PhotoPass photographer at the party to snap some pics while you mingle.
And, the best part is that included with the price to this “party within a party” is access to a special reserved area to watch the 2nd Boo to You Parade.
Yes, this one is expensive but we have found it to be a lot of fun.
And, the expansive selection of food items offered makes it easy to use as a late dinner (which can help offset some of the price).
Cost: $99/person (that is in addition to the price of your Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween ticket and it is not eligible for the Disney Dining Plan)
Time: 9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.
How to book: Book online or by calling 407-939-3463
Is Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party worth it?
The party is worth it for groups that can stay up late, especially if you consider that you can think of your party ticket as your park ticket for the day but with special entertainment and shorter waits for rides.
For instance, if you’ll be in Disney theme parks for 7 days, you could get 6 day park tickets and also purchase tickets to the party.
On the party day, you could use the first part of the day to rest or visit Disney Springs, and then go to Magic Kingdom at 4 p.m. to use your party ticket.
It’s also worth it for people who will really enjoy party-exclusive offerings – exclusive characters, Halloween-themed fireworks, stage shows, etc., but you must pick just a few things and realize you will not do it all.
Halloween parties are often crowded, so if you do decide to attend, keep expectations in check and enjoy the party!
************************************
So what do you think? Will you be attending Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party? Or do you have questions that weren’t covered?
Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.
Want to read more about Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party?
Check out the following posts: | 1,269,324 |
What happened
We recently learned that a component of Android responsible for generating secure random numbers contains critical weaknesses, that render all Android wallets generated to date vulnerable to theft. Because the problem lies with Android itself, this problem will affect you if you have a wallet generated by any Android app. An incomplete list would be Bitcoin Wallet, blockchain.info wallet, BitcoinSpinner and Mycelium Wallet. Apps where you don't control the private keys at all are not affected. For example, exchange frontends like the Coinbase or Mt Gox apps are not impacted by this issue because the private keys are not generated on your Android phone.
What has been done
Updates have been prepared for the following wallet apps:
Bitcoin Wallet : Update 3.15 can be installed from Google Play or Google Code. Key rotation will occur automatically soon after you upgrade. The old addresses will be marked as insecure in your address book. You will need to make a fresh backup.
: Update 3.15 can be installed from Google Play or Google Code. Key rotation will occur automatically soon after you upgrade. The old addresses will be marked as insecure in your address book. You will need to make a fresh backup. BitcoinSpinner : Update 0.8.3b can be installed from Google Play or Google Code. On startup it will advise you on how to proceed.
: Update 0.8.3b can be installed from Google Play or Google Code. On startup it will advise you on how to proceed. Mycelium Bitcoin Wallet : Update 0.7.0 can be installed from Google Play or mycelium.com. A wizard will guide you through the process of moving your bitcoins to newly generated addresses, and put the old keys into archive mode.
: Update 0.7.0 can be installed from Google Play or mycelium.com. A wizard will guide you through the process of moving your bitcoins to newly generated addresses, and put the old keys into archive mode. blockchain.info: Update 3.54 can be installed from Google Play. Version 3.54 and above includes an automatic re-keying wizard. Simply update to the latest version and follow the onscreen instructions. Please make a fresh wallet backup after the process completes.
What you should do
In order to re-secure existing wallets, key rotation is necessary. This involves generating a new address with a repaired random number generator and then sending all the money in your wallet back to yourself. If you use an Android wallet then we strongly recommend you to upgrade to the latest version available in the Play Store as soon as one becomes available. Once your wallet is rotated, you will need to contact anyone who has stored addresses generated by your phone and give them a new one.
If you can't update your Android app, alternatively, you can send your bitcoins to a Bitcoin wallet on your computer until your Android app can be updated. You should make sure not to send back your bitcoins to your old insecure addresses.
This notice last updated: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 13:51:00 UTC | 1,269,325 |
President Donald Trump said he isn’t prepared to lose the 2020 presidential election. In the interview with NBC’s Meet the Press that aired Sunday, Trump also said he does not believe the official vote count of the 2016 election, illustrating how losing the popular vote is still a sore subject for the president.
“No. Probably not,” Trump said when asked whether he was “prepared to lose” in 2020. “It would be much better if I said, ‘Yeah.’ It would be much easier for me to say, ‘Oh, yes.’ No, I’m probably not too prepared to lose. I don’t like losing. I haven’t lost very much in my life.”
WATCH: Trump says he’s not prepared to lose in 2020 #MTP #IfItsSunday
Trump: “I'll say something that, again, is controversial. There were a lot of votes cast [in 2016] that I don't believe.” pic.twitter.com/EfgLEgwRJU — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) June 23, 2019
NBC’s Chuck Todd went on to ask Trump about an infamously sore subject for the president: “You didn’t like the fact that you lost the popular vote. That bothered you, didn’t it?” Trump then went on to cast doubt about the final vote tally in the 2016 election. “I’ll say something that, again, is controversial. There were a lot of votes cast that I don’t believe,” Trump said. He went on to say “there was much illegal voting” on Election Day. The president then switched talking points quickly, saying he didn’t “campaign for the popular vote.” If the election were decided by popular vote, “I would have done … even better.”
Trump expressed confidence in his reelection prospects in the interview that aired on Sunday, using it as an opportunity to disparage former Vice President Joe Biden, claiming he would be easier to beat than Hillary Clinton. “I actually think that Hillary Clinton was a great candidate. She was very smart. She was very tough. She was ruthless and vicious,” Trump said. When Todd brought up that Trump seems to spend an awful lot of time talking about Clinton, Trump pushed back saying he would rather run against Biden. “Sleepy Joe. He’s sleepy. She was not sleepy,” Trump said, before going back to talking about the Electoral College. “Let me just tell you something, the Electoral College is tougher for a Republican to win than the popular vote. At least me. I feel that I go to three places. I went to 19 or 21 states. I went to Maine four times because I wanted to get one. And I did get it. And that’s the beauty of the Electoral College.” | 1,269,326 |
Ket Kerr has a poor track record when it comes to getting natural disasters to heed her commands, but that’s not stopping her from calling upon God to “pull down Satan’s power,” i.e., Hurricane Dorian — which is threatening President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Kerr claims to have a direct line to God. She describes her website The Revelation Zone as a source for “continual revelation on Heaven, the spirit realm” and “how to operate” in the spirit realm. On her Facebook page, which has just over 40,000 followers, she describes herself as a “revelator,” which just another word for “prophet.”
In a Facebook video posted to her page this Wednesday, Kerr declared to her “weather warrior” followers that she and they are now “taking authority over the weather,” which something “we all know Jesus can do.”
“And in case you’re wondering why we even have violent types of weather? Satan,” she said. “He has the ability to jump into these storms or earthquakes because we don’t take our true power over him. But that’s changing.”
According to Kerr, Dorian turning from a tropical storm to a hurricane means nothing because “I have authority over it. I will not tolerate it.”
“I command the hosts of heaven to go in there, right now, and pull down all of Satan’s power which is using this storm, Dorian, to bring destruction.” (Tap the video below to watch)
Weather WarriorsStorm update Posted by The Kat Kerr on Wednesday, August 28, 2019
When it comes to the “different kinds of weather here on this earth,” Kerr said that “God never designed anything to be damaging.” She then held up a Weather Warriors pamphlet that purportedly contains content that is “very dangerous against hell.”
“And we’re adding the fires, because you know about Brazil and Alaska … the Weather Warriors have declared everywhere, not just here in America.” she said. “By the way … if you’re a born-again believer and you follow Jesus Christ, not just as a fan but literally follow him, then you have the right to speak against all these destructive things … that’ll give you power over all the power of the enemy.”
Kerr is a huge supporter of President Trump, so much so that sometimes it’s hard to know who she worships more, Jesus or the President. According to her, Jesus is one of Trump’s biggest supporters.
“I just happen to know him personally,” she said earlier this year. “He likes Trump.”
[JoeMyGod]
Featured image via screen grab/YouTube | 1,269,327 |
I love how easy raw desserts are, you can be as adventurous as you like and when you taste it along the way, you know that’s how it’s still going to taste when you serve it up. There’s been a few times I’ve baked pies and once it’s cooked I’ve thought, maybe I should have used a little more maple, or perhaps should have used more cinnamon…. but with raw desserts, what you see, is what you get and wow, is this Kiwi and Coconut Tart a great choice for something fresh, tasty and a little tart…(do you see what I did there…)
I just popped this in the freezer and when I was getting ready to serve, I took them out, made the chocolate drizzle and by that time they are just the right consistency to get stuck into. These are seriously yummy!
Raw Kiwi & Coconut Tarts with Dark Chocolate Almond Drizzle (Vegan & Gluten Free)
MyInspiration Feel The Difference Range
Makes 6 individual pies – ready in 30 – 40 minutes (includes freezing time)
For the tart cases
15 dates (soaked in warm water for 5 minutes then drained)
1/4 cup sultanas
1/2 cup oats (plus an extra 2 tbsp)
1/4 cup almonds
8 walnut halves
2 tbsp Maple Syrup
For the filling
2 large kiwis peeled and chopped
2 tbsp shredded coconut
For the Drizzle
20g vegan dark chocolate
1 tbsp Almond milk
Method
1. To make the base, pop the ingredients (but hold back the 2 tbsp oats) into a food processor and pulse until it starts to bind together, mix in the remaining 2 tbsp oats and stir together until it’s well combined (If you think you’re mixture is too sticky add a little more oats until you’re happy). Now using your hands split the mixture into 6 balls and press into your tart cases (I used my Christmas mince pie foil cases) making sure there is a nice dent in the center for the filling to go into. Pop these in the freezer while you make your filling.
2. For the Filling, add the kiwi to a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times until it breaks down slightly (you don’t want a puree) then mix through the coconut and spoon the filling into your ready made tart cases and pop back in the freezer while you make your drizzle.
3. For the drizzle, melt your chocolate in a bain marie, mix through the almond milk and allow to cool slightly so it thickens, then using a tea spoon drizzle over each of your tarts.
**I kept 2 of my tarts in the freezer over night and used them the next day, I just didn’t add the chocolate drizzle until I was ready to serve! | 1,269,328 |
News Abra’s Non-Custodial Bitcoin Backed Global Investment App is a World First
San Francisco-based Abra just made cryptos more accessible with their global investment app.
Lowering the Barrier for Investors
One of the greatest complaints that people have when it comes to cryptocurrency is usability. Well, San Francisco-based Abra just made cryptos more accessible with their global investment app.
The investment app lets anyone invest in traditional stocks and ETFs, as well as over 30 cryptocurrencies straight from their smartphones. It also provides non-custodial accounts with funds secured on the Bitcoin blockchain.
There are quite a few cool things about the Abra app that make it an interesting prospect. In a world with unequal wealth distribution and restricted access to investment opportunities, Abra makes investing possible to (almost) all. To start with, rather than having a high entry fee, investors can start with as little as $5.
This is to make investing in stocks and bonds more affordable. It also means that not only can investors own a fraction of a bitcoin or ether, but they can now own a fraction of a stock and high-priced ETF as well.
Some of the options on offer in the initial rollout are popular tech stocks like Google, Amazon, and Netflix. There are also commodities like SPDR Gold Trust.
Abra CEO Bill Barhydt said:
Investing in stocks can be a daunting, complex and decidedly exclusionary activity… We are building Bitcoin-backed investing products because, for the first time, we can truly democratize access to investment opportunities at global scale.
Secure and Private Technology
Even more interesting for Bitcoin fans is the fact that the Abra app is non-custodial. The funds are stored on the Bitcoin blockchain and the app uses smart contracts as the underlying technology for users’ investments.
This means that Abra users will never have to trust the company with their money or worry about losing their funds to hackers. Their transactions are also more private as they are not held in a centralized database.
Where Can I Get Abra?
The Abra app is already available for download on Google Play and the Apple Store. Users can create an account inside their phone and link it to their bank account, or send payments with cryptocurrencies.
They can send payments through bank transfers, credit cards, and cryptocurrencies to access any asset in the app. And also exchange all major fiat currencies for multiple cryptos and send instant transfers to other Abra users.
When you couple rising smartphone penetration around the world with a technology that allows almost anyone to gain a foothold in previously off-limits investments, Abra’s proposal is definitely worthy.
It’s also a world-first, attracting investment from the likes of American Express Ventures, Foxconn Technology, and First Round Capital.
What do you think of the non-custodial ability to invest in cryptocurrency? Let us know below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock | 1,269,329 |
Listen to Ben Carson's New Rap Ad Aimed at African-American Voters Dr. Carson is launching a new 60-second urban radio advertisement airing Friday.
-- To add to Ben Carson’s unconventional and unorthodox campaign style, his campaign is launching a bit of a different advertising strategy.
Rapping.
Yes, Dr. Carson is launching a new 60-second urban radio advertisement scheduled to air Friday in eight markets.
His new $150,000 radio ad buy, called “Freedom,” will air for two weeks in Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, Birmingham, Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi, Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas.
The ad, specifically targeting young black voters, uses rapper Aspiring Mogul and is interspersed with portions of Carson’s stump speech throughout the 60-second ad.
"America became a great nation early on not because it was flooded with politicians but because it was flooded with people who understood the value of personal responsibility, hard work, innovation and that’s what will get us on the right track now,” Carson says between Mogul’s rap.
“I’m very hopeful that I'm not the only one that’s willing to pick up the baton to freedom,” Carson continues. "Because freedom is not free and we must fight for it every day. Every one of us must fight for us because we are fighting for our children and the next generation."
The Carson campaign is convinced that if he gets 20 percent of the black vote, Hillary Clinton would not win if they are head to head in the general election.
The purpose of the new ad is to awaken, appeal to and motivate the urban market, specifically catering to younger black voters.
“Reaching them on a level they appreciate and follow and see if we can attract their consciousness about the election,” Carson campaign spokesman Doug Watts told ABC News. “They need to get involved and express their voice through their vote.”
It’s a break from Carson’s typically broad campaign advertisements, catering to Christians, younger families and women older than 40.
This advertising appeal is an "expressed articulation to another market, a non-traditional voting market for Republicans,” Watts said.
Most importantly, this new form of advertising allows the African-American retired neurosurgeon, 64, to communicate with these targeted black voters in what the campaign believes is their preferred style.
The campaign says “reaching out and talking to them in a language that they prefer and in a language that, and in a cultural format that they appreciate” is a way of broadening its appeal to the younger African-American vote.
“This happens to be a group that we feel pretty strongly is ready and prepared to start working for Ben Carson,” Watts said.
The campaign says it will pursue this medium and particularly this demographic aggressively, especially through the March primaries. | 1,269,330 |
University of Maryland guard Dez Wells filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking damages against his former school, Xavier University, and its president, Father Michael Graham, over what he asserts was his wrongful expulsion last summer.
View photos
The suit alleges Xavier failed to follow its own policies when deciding to expel him following a 2012 allegation of sexual assault. The local prosecutor investigated the case and not only declined to charge Wells but declared in media accounts the allegation "didn't reach anything close to a standard of proof" and "should never have gotten to the point where someone's reputation is ruined." A grand jury also declined to indict the basketball star.
The lawsuit, filed at the United States District Court in Cincinnati, seeks monetary compensation as well as an overturning of the expulsion to clear Wells' name of what he calls a false accusation.
Wells, according to his attorney, has no interest in returning to Xavier, but has suffered "severe emotional distress" for having been essentially deemed a rapist – and heckled as such while playing road games. This, Wells said, is his best chance to set the record straight with the public and hold Xavier accountable.
"From the moment this nightmare began, I've been trying to get everyone to understand that I am innocent," Wells said in a statement through attorney Peter Ginsberg. "The supposed leaders at Xavier destroyed my reputation. It needs to make this right. Xavier needs to set the record straight."
Xavier released a statement from Father Graham to Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday evening.
"We have read the complaint and the allegations of wrongdoing are unfounded and cannot be supported," Graham said. "The process used by the Xavier University Conduct Board (UCB) applies to all of our students and is the standard used in American universities. After members of the Conduct Board reached their decision, the matter was considered and upheld in an appeal. The sanction for the offense was expulsion.
"The University has never revealed the specific charge against Dez Wells other than to say he was found responsible for a violation of the Student Code of Conduct. The university will vigorously defend the process and the decision."
After being expelled in the summer of 2012, Wells transferred to Maryland. The NCAA, in a rare move, ruled on appeal to grant him immediate eligibility rather than make him sit out a season like most transfers. He started 37 of 38 games and led the Terrapins in scoring with 13.1 points a game. He will be a focal point of the team again this season.
It is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for an active, high-profile player to file a federal suit against another NCAA member institution. Adding to the uniqueness of the case, Wells' most powerful advocate is Hamilton, Ohio prosecutor Joseph Deters, who has forcefully and publicly, defended Wells and blasted Xavier's handling of the incident as "fundamentally unfair."
"If I thought [Wells] did this, he'd be in prison," Deters says in the lawsuit. "I wouldn't pull any punches."
View photos
Story continues | 1,269,331 |
’s a big part of the control. What [Anthony Rizzo] does at first that people are not aware of [including hand signals for pickoff calls], and also what Jonny does really well, subtle stuff. So we figured this out last spring. I finally had an epiphany where we never had any hard-and-fast rules… and finally arrived at some things.”
The Cubs, remarkably, have worked around the issue and are better than league average at controlling the run game when Lester is on the mound — even though opponents know he has little chance, or interest, in preventing a 20-foot lead. To have him worry less about the run game, Lester credited Ross and Contreras’s reminders to not worry about runners. Let them attempt to run, they told Lester, and they will throw them out. So even if Lester never beats the yips, he might have outflanked the issue.
But what’s also interesting is that the Cubs reduced Lester’s work on throwing to first and other bases this spring. There was less focus internally on remedying the issue and perhaps that has helped him. It was Beilock who told me too much practice, too much work, can be detrimental, as it places more focus and pressure upon the issue. Lester said he does not work on pickoff moves as much between starts, but I asked if the snap throw he demonstrated on June 3 could be a solution.
“Hopefully, yeah,” Lester said.
I suggested to Lester that, rather than a story of human weakness, his story could, perhaps should, be seen as one of creativity and resiliency in working around the issue.
“I like where your mind is there,” Lester said. “Usually everyone is more on the side of ‘Why can’t you do it? Why can’t you do it?’ That’s where my frustration comes.”
He was frustrated during the playoffs last season when there was more focus on the yips than his run prevention. (He allowed just two runs over his first three starts, covering 21 innings in the NLDS and NLCS.) What’s also remarkable about Lester’s condition is that he didn’t lose the ability to throw home, to carve up batters. He remains a quality starting pitcher.
“I feel like I have good enough stuff to get hitters out, so I just worry about getting the hitters out,” Lester said. “I make adjustments as we go and maybe we will get a few more [tosses] over there [to first base].”
There is also this: Lester has overcome much greater issues. He has beaten cancer. In contrast, the yips are meaningless. “I always have things in perspective,” Lester said.
And so while Lester does not quite understand what he is fighting, perhaps it is that perspective that will allow him to beat it. | 1,269,332 |
for their next opportunity, so you’re an afterthought. Off to go into the world and see what this degree can do for me but you come to learn a million years of experience is needed. You come to find out that while you were playing sports that others with the same degree were interning, networking, and gaining valuable experience. So you’re behind the 8 ball.
Many of college students may say we have similar struggles and I’ll say to you, at least you received the degrees you desired. Or, did the university or any other organizations benefit from your abilities? While athletes are grateful (I think), at least in the same manual labor job they’re working, they would have made supervisor by now if not for taking a four-year break to help make others money off of them just to have the same opportunities afforded to them when they graduated.
REAL LIFE
After there are no more lights or people chanting your name, there’s you. That banged up body. That degree. Figuring out what’s next. If we can be real, I know a number of prominent college players who left college with a degree and are back in the streets hustling. A number of them working manual labor and jobs that don’t require degrees. I have also attended a number of former athlete’s funerals (with degrees). I guess they should say thanks for prolonging their life for four years. You will say that’s their choice. It’s a hell of a choice when it’s all you know. When you’re dumped into the same jungle that you were pulled out of. When you don’t have parents or mentors to guide you elsewhere. Back to the same friends and habits.
I know the other side of the spectrum, too. There are ex-players going into significant debt to get post-graduate education or even undergrad degrees they actually want. Many may say it’s a personal issue. How is it fair that these individuals are not helped to be more when they were just working to help create a billion-dollar organization for four to five years? I don’t know any Fortune 500 company you leave empty-handed after five years of service. You gave your mind, your body, your time to a million-dollar institution and a billion-dollar organization and your assistance in becoming more than an athlete or coach is very limited. We grasp to old videos and pictures to tell the younger generation what we once were with no connection or dwindling connections to the institutions or organizations that we helped thrive.
SOLUTION
People will probably ask me what the solution is and I don’t have the answer. Current players can discuss compensation, nameless marketing, coaching ethics, schedules, useless degrees, etc... Former athletes could discuss post-graduate education, company partnerships, and resources to find careers. The possibilities are endless but the first thing is acknowledgment. If I knew what I know now, that Engineering degree looks a lot better. | 1,269,333 |
Evgeny Lebedev, the eldest son of the owner of the Independent and the Evening Standard, believes the Press Complaints Commission has not shown itself "fit for purpose" during the phone-hacking affair and that he and other newspapers should get together to propose regulatory and legal reform. The 31-year-old son of Alexander Writing in the Guardian today, Lebedev – who manages his father's newspapers day to day – describes the hacking affair as "one of the biggest scandals in public life for decades". He argued that the Metropolitan police also had questions to answer for the way it has investigated the affair.
Asked whether the PCC was "fit for purpose", he said: "Its recent conduct is not proof of that."
He also noted that the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, "recently said he would rather his men were investigating more serious crimes like robbery", and asked: "But isn't the theft of private information still theft?"
Last week Lebedev, who has recently taken British citizenship, made Chris Blackhurst the editor of the Independent. Blackhurst takes over from the long-serving Simon Kelner, who had been editor or editor-in-chief of the Independent for 13 years.
However, if Lebedev was critical of newspapers involved in hacking – he chose not to name the News of the World – he defended the tabloid media in their battles against the use of privacy injunctions by celebrities to conceal their identity, even if he "despaired" of the "sensationalism" of the news stories concerned.
"If red-top values are the price we pay for an open society," Lebedev said, "then I would rather that, with all the attendant controversy and prurience, over the closed minds bred by a less free press."
He added: "As a British-Russian son of an ex-KGB officer, I feel strongly that one of the best measures of a strong healthy society is its view of free speech." Twitter and Facebook, Lebedev argued, made "the idea of a privacy law … impracticable and naive". This was demonstrated by the Ryan Giggs affair, which saw him repeatedly named on social media sites even though he had won injunctions preventing his name appearing in newspapers.
Lebedev also argued that it was right that the public should be allowed to know about an alleged affair conducted by the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Fred Goodwin, when he ran the bank – even though Goodwin initially tried to use an injunction to keep his name out of the public domain.
The combination of the PCC's performance over phone hacking and the privacy injunction crisis meant that it was necessary to ensure that "our laws catch up with the digital revolution and that our journalists uphold the highest standards".
In the light of such issues, Lebedev said he "would like to take steps with other newspaper proprietors over the coming months to see if we can collectively improve things", although he was deliberately vague on what exactly might be reformed. | 1,269,334 |
of an effective strategy against misreporting and fake news would be to make sure that clearly factually wrong news and deliberate misinformation cannot be spread as easily through social networks. This is already happening, with Germany set to be the second country after the US to benefit from Facebook’s new ‘disputed’ model for reducing the power of fake news.
But the social media companies’ reluctance on this issue in the past suggests that governments may need to threaten regulation in order to encourage them to respond with appropriate urgency. One possibility would be to legislate a procedure under which anyone who has seen factually false information about them being spread through social media can ask for a correction to be displayed as prominently as the original post to all those who saw it. Such procedures are in place in many European countries for traditional media, and have worked quite well in getting rid of the most outrageous pieces of misreporting.
(2) Increase transparency
One of the best ways of establishing any given source’s credibility should be to understand its business model and, particularly, its funders. Many information sources (including think tanks) do not make money through market mechanisms but rather through support from various types of funders—corporate, foundations, individuals, and governments.
There is nothing inherently wrong with this. It makes perfect sense for people and institutions to compete in the important marketplace of ideas. But just as we need for national security reasons to understand who is moving money across borders even when it is legal, we need to understand precisely who is moving information. Regulation should be in place to make sure that information sources of a certain size provide information about their funding.
(3) Encourage quality journalism
One of the most effective counters for bad news is good news. And since markets are clearly failing to provide quality information, it makes sense for the government to invest in creating that infrastructure.
This means new policies for promoting quality journalism, such as publicly funding foundations which finance independent reporting, funding standards bodies that promote best practices, and creating independent bodies that grade news outlets on their quality and responsibility.
(4) More information education
A final element would be to improve the population’s awareness about misinformation and fake news. Just as its needs to be conveyed to the average internet users that “password” or “12345” are not secure passwords, the users need to learn the difference between high-quality and low-quality information. To this end, education about how to evaluate the quality of information found on the internet should be added to all school curricula.
These are just nascent ideas. There are many other possibilities and each idea will contain serious pitfalls. But the key point is the shift in the mind-set that is now required. Information integrity has become a national security issues for liberal democracies. And so compromises will need to be made. We need to understand that if we fail to protect information, we fail to protect our nations.
Read more on: European Power, Cohesion & Governance, European Elections, Anti-Establishment Parties | 1,269,335 |
or add a aria-labelledby attribute.
4. Add meaning to links
How many times have you found a website or blog with summaries of the posts and links asking to "Read more"? While that is a description of the action that the user will perform, it doesn't really provide actual meaning to the link. Are we going to be reading more about elephants, web programming, or brain surgery? Read more about what?
Don't do these things...
Read more Do these things instead...
Read more about Web Accessibility
One of these links provides actual information about the linked content
Now some may say: "But having a long meaningful link breaks the way in which our site is presented! There's only space for a 'Read more' caption!" And for them there is an alternative: use aria-label in your links. Modern screen readers will read the aria-label instead of the anchor text, so you could potentially leave your short link caption while providing a meaningful and accessible text:
<a href="#" aria-label="Read more about Web Accessibility"> Read more </a>
5. Organize content correctly
The content on each page should be structured semantically and organized correctly, using the right headings in an orderly way. This may sound like a no-brainer, but it is a really common mistake: over half of the analyzed home pages presented this issue.
Screen readers allow users to jump from heading to heading. A poorly organized document will resemble a Choose Your Own Adventure book for them! And the disorganization is also confusing for the rest of us as well as for website crawlers.
Heading 1 Heading 3 Heading 2 Heading 4 Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 Heading 4 Your document should be organized like the right column, never like the left one.
Also, don't forget to use the proper semantic tags; it is important to use headings ( <h1>, <h2>, etc.) instead of styling other elements to look like a title. They may be similar visually, but not all users rely on their vision.
Conclusion
The fact that 87% of the Web Accessibility problems found on the WebAIM analysis were really low hanging fruit errors may seem like great news, but we need to take these results with a grain of salt: the analyzed pages were just home pages, which normally don't include complex components subject to more complex accessibility issues.
Also, claiming that 85% of all the accessibility issues could be fixed with the 5 steps above is a bit of a stretch. (Sorry for the click-baity title.) Although, chances are that the actual percentage is not that far off from reality (which would make good the old 80/20 rule in computing).
The main lesson to take away would be that improving Web Accessibility may be challenging, but it is not as complicated as it seems, and every improvement, even the tiniest one, counts.
| 1,269,336 |
The first month of GDPR has seen a sharp increase in the number of complaints to regulators across Europe, showing strong public interest in the new rules.
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) told the Guardian it has seen a rise in breach notifications from organisations, as well as more data protection complaints following the activation of the law.
The French data protection regulator, CNIL, reported a 50% increase in the number of complaints since the legislation came into effect on 25 May, compared with the same period last year, according to Politico Europe. A further 29 cases are under investigation at the European level, the site reports.
Across Europe, the regulation has also sparked greater transparency from firms that have suffered a data breach, with notifications spiking over the same period. GDPR increases maximum fines for malpractice to €20m (£17.6m) or 4% of a company’s global turnover – whichever is higher – and companies are more likely to face higher fines if they delay reporting breaches.
In Austria, more than 100 complaints have been filed in the last month, along with 59 breach notifications – the same number that would typically be received in eight months.
An ICO spokesperson said: “It’s early days and we will collate, analyse and publish official statistics in due course. But generally, as anticipated, we have seen a rise in personal data breach reports from organisations. Complaints relating to data protection issues are also up and, as more people become aware of their individual rights, we are expecting the number of complaints to the ICO to increase too.”
Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, the head of CNIL, told Politico: “The general public is interested about all the transparency obligations, consent and all the new rights.”
The bulk of the response to the legislation has been a substantial number of complaints against high-profile companies, such as those against Facebook and Google filed by privacy campaigners at the consumer rights organisation Noyb. Those complaints accuse the two companies of forcing consumers into providing “consent” for data processing in a “take it or leave it” deal, which Noyb argues is against the principles of the law.
“Considering the powerful position these companies have and the consequent pressure the data subject is put under, to agree to irrelevant processing/advertising purposes, we believe that any such consent obtained should be considered invalid,” a Noyb spokesman told the Guardian.
Fearing such complaints, other companies exited European operations entirely in May, and still hav enot worked out a way to re-establish themselves on the continent. Operations at the LA Times, Chicago Tribune and other papers owned by the Tronc media group are blocked to EU readers; the Pinterest-owned reading app Instapaper has been down for maintenance for a month; and USA Today has taken to offering those in Europe a slimmed-down, ad-free experience, hoping that will leave their title compliant with the law. | 1,269,337 |
New research published in the March issue of Psychological Science may help elucidate the relationship between religious indoctrination and violence, a topic that has gained renewed notoriety in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. In the article, University of Michigan psychologist Brad Bushman and his colleagues suggest that scriptural violence sanctioned by God can increase aggression, especially in believers.
The authors set out to examine this interaction by conducting experiments with undergraduates at two religiously contrasting universities: Brigham Young University where 99% of students report believing in God and the Bible and Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam where just 50% report believing in God and 27% believe in the bible.
After reporting their religious affiliation and beliefs, the participants read a parable adapted from a relatively obscure passage in the King James Bible describing the brutal torture and murder of a woman, and her husband's subsequent revenge on her attackers. Half of the participants were told that the passage came from the Book of Judges in the Old Testament while the other half were told it was an ancient scroll discovered in an archaeological expedition.
In addition to the scriptural distinction, half of the participants from both the bible and the ancient scroll groups read an adjusted version that included the verse:
"The Lord commanded Israel to take arms against their brothers and chasten them before the LORD."
The participants were then placed in pairs and instructed to compete in a simple reaction task. The winner of the task would be able to "blast" his or her partner with noise up to 105 decibels, about the same volume as a fire alarm. The test measures aggression.
As expected, the Brigham Young students were more aggressive (i.e. louder) with their blasts if they had been told that the passage they had previously read was from the bible rather than a scroll. Likewise, participants were more aggressive if they had read the additional verse that depicts God sanctioning violence.
At the more secular Vrije Universiteit, the results were surprisingly similar. Although Vrije students were less likely to be influenced by the source of the material, they blasted more aggressively when the passage that they read included the sanctioning of the violence by God. This finding held true even for non-believers, though to a lesser extent.
The research sheds light on the possible origins of violent religious fundamentalism and falls in line with theories proposed by scholars of religious terrorism, who hypothesize that exposure to violent scriptures may induce extremists to engage in aggressive actions. "To the extent religious extremists engage in prolonged, selective reading of the scriptures, focusing on violent retribution toward unbelievers instead of the overall message of acceptance and understanding," writes Bushman "one might expect to see increased brutality"
###
Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information. For a copy of the article "When God Sanctions Killing: Effect of Scriptural Violence on Aggression" and access to other Psychological Science research findings please contact Catherine West at (202) 783-2077 or [email protected]. | 1,269,338 |
�s walking on thin ice covered with a layer of egg shells.
Even characters who seem extraneous develop more and more layers as the series progresses. Shiv’s fiancé, Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), seems at first like a sycophantic bonehead. And he is. But as played by Macfadyen, he also reveals more sinister ways of using people: He’s a coward who can suddenly shock you by turning into a snake, as seen when he worms his way into a bigger title at Waystar Royko.
But the most delightfully ridiculous character of all is Greg (Nicholas Braun), Logan’s nephew who is so ill-equipped for employment that he can’t even make it through a day of dressing as a character at one of the Waystar amusement parks without getting so high that he barfs all over the inside of his mask. Greg’s mother insists that he go to Logan’s birthday party and manipulate his way into getting a job. Miraculously, he does wheedle his way into the inner family circle, mainly due to his willingness to serve as the lackey and inept errand boy of whichever Roy family member decides to use and abuse him next. By episode three and four, it’s so absurd that he’s able to hanging around (and Braun has such fun highlighting his lack of social skills), that every time Greg appears on screen you feel happy to see him.
The environs on Succession — the glass doors and windows of Waystar Royko’s Manhattan offices, the obviously expensive but sterile homes where each Roy lives — give the series a chilly prestige vibe. The vibrancy that counterbalances it comes from sharp writing, which is filled with great zingers and creative ways of bending the English language. When Kendall tries to make the case that a verbal agreement is not binding, he says, “Words are just nothing — complicated airflow.” When Tom sees his predecessor, a beloved figure in the cruises and travel division of the company, bidding farewell to his staff, he says ruefully, “It’s like Mandela fucked Santa and gave birth to Bill.” In moments like those, Succession can feel like a profane mix of Billions and Veep.
One thing that give me pause about the show is the fact that it’s yet another focused on the upper class. Succession doesn’t glorify the moneyed and merciless, of course. These characters are not only flawed and untrustworthy; most of them are completely unqualified for their jobs and only earned them because they happen to share the same blood as an old-guard member of the boys club. Succession is a funny, incisive portrait of the dynamics within a well-off family, but it’s also a cautionary tale about how dicey and unethical it is to employ too many relatives. That’s a message that at least a few people in power could benefit from hearing. | 1,269,339 |
Vacuum casting services offer the solution for making the master pattern as well as cast copied based on the CAD designs. The service provider not only offers high-quality molds but also the full line finishing services which include sanding, painting, pad printing and much more. The service providers create the parts for engineering test samples, showroom quality display reproduction and so on. However, these services vary from place to place and if you are in need of such services then first it is important to know what is vacuum casting and what is it used for?
Here, in this article, we will tell you about what is vacuum casting and things related to it!
Polyurethane vacuum casting is the process used to produce the optimal quality prototypes as well as low volume parts made from inexpensive silicon molds. Copies which are made using this process offer great surface details as well as fidelity to the real pattern.
Benefits of vacuum casting process:
Low price for molds
Molds are made within some days
Number of polyurethane resins available for casting consisting of over molding
Cast replica is highly accurate with good surface quality
Molds are apposite for twenty or further copies
Perfect for samples, an engineering model, bridge to production, rapid prototypes
Vacuum casting process
Total three steps are there which is involved in making polyurethane vacuum cast components: create the master pattern, make molds as well as cast the components.
1- Master pattern
Patterns are 3 dimensional solid of the CAD design. They are made by CNC machine or 3D plastic printing like SLA/ SLS. One can supply their own pattern or service provider can make it for you. Pattern requires withstanding heating of 40°C.
2- Make the mold
Casting mold is created from liquid silicone. The silicone is then poured around master pattern within the casting box as well as allowed to cure inside the oven for 16 hours. After it dries, the mold is cut and open then the master is removed, leaving an empty cavity in actual negative shape.
3- Casting copies
The casting resin of your choice is poured in an empty cavity to make a highly accurate copy of the real one. It is possible to overmold two or even three material. Silicone molds are usually good for 20 or more copies of the master pattern.
So, this is the process of vacuum casting, and the material which is used for this process are casting polymers which are commercially available to make conceivable hardness as well as surface texture. It is also likely to create parts that are translucent, opaque, and completely transparent and this depends on your application needs.
Now, you must have understood the need and the process of vacuum casting. If yes, then you can also use this vacuum casting service to meet your application need. There are many companies which offer these services at low rates to their customers. Hurry and find the suitable service provider today and avail the benefits of vacuum casting. | 1,269,340 |
Star Trek becomes reality as Microsoft 'Universal Translator' turns spoken English into any of 26 different languages
Software speaks in user's own voice
Can translate into languages from Spanish to Mandarin
Speaks smoothly in sentences, not individual words
Could be built into smartphone language apps
It has long been used by James T Kirk to speak to aliens and blue women from space - but n ow Microsoft is on the brink of making a real, working Universal Translator.
Frank Soong and Rick Rashid have created software which converts English language speech into any of 26 foreign languages - and which'speaks' in the user's own voice.
All the user has to do is speak English into the machine and it will convert it into anything from Spanish to Mandarin.
William Shatner as James T Kirk: The new device is similar to the Universal Translator used in Star Trek, and takes around one hour to get used to a person¿s voice then works by comparing the words that have been recorded with stock models for the target language
Frank Soong and Rick Rashid have created software which converts English language speech into any of 26 foreign languages - and which'speaks' in the user's own voice
The hope is that the device will one day allow visitors to foreign countries to have conversations with other people, even though they do not speak the same language - just like in Star Trek.
Mr Soong told Technology Review that his breakthrough could help language students and might also work with navigational devices.
In theory it could one day be installed into a smart phone meaning tourists have a ready made translation device sitting in their pockets.
Mr Soong said: ‘We will be able to do quite a few scenario applications.
‘For a monolingual speaker traveling in a foreign country, we'll do speech recognition followed by translation, followed by the final text to speech output in a different language, but still in his own voice’.
Mr Soong and Mr Rashid work at Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond, Washington.
They created the system with colleagues at Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, the company's second-largest research lab.
The two Microsoft researchers believe the technology could be used in smartphone translation apps
In Star Trek it was supposedly introduced in the late 22nd century and helped the crew of the Enterprise communicate with aliens as the explored the universe.
Mr Soong and Mr Rashid however have made their version today, even if the voice which comes out in the foreign language still sounds a little mechanical.
heir device needs around one hour to get used to a person’s voice then works by comparing the words that have been recorded with stock models for the target language.
The technology has been designed so that it does not just translate words, which would give it a computerised and disjointed sound.
Instead the sounds are carefully manipulated to mimic real speech as realistically as possible.
| 1,269,341 |
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezWells Fargo CEO issues apology after saying there was a 'limited pool of Black talent' Brand responds to Trump claim protesters throw tuna cans at police: 'Eat em, don't throw em' CNN's Don Lemon: 'Blow up the entire system' remark taken out of context MORE (D-N.Y.) repeated her call for Congress to impeach President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE after special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE’s public comments Wednesday morning.
“Mueller is playing a game of Taboo with Congress. His word is ‘impeach,’” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, citing a quote by Mueller in which he said “the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.”
Mueller is playing a game of Taboo with Congress.
His word is “impeach.” https://t.co/mS4K8faLCw — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 29, 2019
ADVERTISEMENT
The New York Democrat also cited a tweet by Rep. David Cicilline David Nicola CicillineClark rolls out endorsements in assistant Speaker race Races heat up for House leadership posts The folly of Cicilline's 'Glass-Steagall for Tech' MORE (D-R.I.), chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, in which he wrote “the next step is for the House Judiciary Committee to open an impeachment inquiry to formally begin consideration of whether or not articles of impeachment should be filed.”
In the appearance Wednesday morning, Mueller said his investigation was unable to exonerate Trump but that under Justice Department policy, charging Trump with a crime was never an option.
Ocasio-Cortez said last week that Congress “has to move forward” with impeachment proceedings. She also advised patience over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiHoyer: House should vote on COVID-19 aid — with or without a bipartisan deal Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose at Supreme Court McCarthy threatens motion to oust Pelosi if she moves forward with impeachment MORE’s (D-Calif.) reticence on the issue, telling CNN, “I trust the Speaker's taking a measured approach to ensure that we’re moving everyone forward. Being a Speaker is hard, and holding this party together is a difficult task, but I think we have to move forward.” | 1,269,342 |
Wall Street needs a lousy employment report on Friday.
The Labor Department will announce job growth for March then — and as much as the rest of America would love to see the job market’s cup running over, investors need to see the exact opposite.
One of Wall Street’s many concerns these days is that it would like to see put to rest the notion that the Federal Reserve needs to raise interest rates.
Experts are expecting March job growth to be about 170,000 and the unemployment rate to drop to 4 percent from February’s 4.1 percent. Job growth in February was a very strong 313,000, which gave the Fed a good excuse to raise interest rates in March.
And the Fed did raise rates at its last meeting. The next time the Fed has a chance to increase borrowing costs at a regular meeting is in early May.
A blockbuster jobs report would certainly put Wall Street on edge — probably causing stock and bond prices to fall and interest rates to rise in the open market, which the Fed doesn’t control.
The stock market already has lots of problems. The trade war heated up this week when China said it would impose tariffs on 106 American products in retaliation for actions the Trump administration took against Chinese goods imported to the US.
What China hasn’t done yet is pull out its big artillery — threats to stop buying US government bonds, or worse, to sell the more than $1 trillion worth they already own. There have been cautious words from Beijing about doing so, but thus far nothing has come through official channels.
A trade war will take its full toll on America if, or when, the Chinese make that announcement. As I’ve been saying for a long time, America has relinquished its ability to govern itself by allowing China to acquire so much of our debt. In essence, the Chinese are holding an ace in the hole that could decimate our financial markets, although most people are hoping that China would suffer more by taking such action.
The Dow Jones industrial average declined sharply in early trading Wednesday on the news of the tariffs on US products. But things changed after calming words from Washington, and the Dow closed up by 230.94 points, at 24,264.30 — after a day that featured a 700-point swing.
Another problem for the stock market: President Trump’s disdain for Jeff Bezos, who happens to own much of Amazon and all of the Washington Post. Trump’s attacks on Amazon have destabilized all technology stocks, helped along by problems that Facebook is having with customers and advertisers over the issue of trust.
So the next big hurdle for an already beaten-down stock and bond market is Friday’s employment report. On Wednesday, ADP, which conducts independent employment surveys of the private sector, said jobs grew by 241,000 in March.
Labor’s jobs report doesn’t necessary follow the ADP trend, but if it is too strong, Wall Street could have another serious concern on its hands. | 1,269,343 |
From left to right, Instagram and Facebook engineers Pedro Canahuati, Patrick Bozeman, Rick Branson, Nick Shortway, Chris Bray, and Michael Gorven–part of the team that moved Instagram. And then moved it again Ariel Zambelich/Wired
Your Instagram photos aren't where they used to be.
This spring, even as some 200 million people were using Instagram on their smartphones, a small team of engineers moved the photo sharing service from Amazon's cloud computing service -- where it was built in 2010 -- into a data centre operated by Facebook, which bought Instagram in 2012. "The users are still in the same car they were in at the beginning of the journey," says Instagram founder Mike Krieger, "but we've swapped out every single part without them noticing."
Facebook calls it the "Instagration," and it was an unprecedented undertaking for Mark Zuckerberg and company. Facebook has moved other acquired properties like FriendFeed into its data centres, but typically, they were small projects that involved shutting a service down before moving it into the Facebook universe. The Instagram switch was the live migration of an enormous -- and enormously popular -- operation. "The service couldn't take any disruption," says Facebook engineer George Cabrera. Facebook won't say how many virtual machines were needed to run Instagram on Amazon, but it was in "the thousands." And the service now stores over 20 billion digitals photos.
The users are still in the same car they were in at the beginning of the journey, but we've swapped out every single part without them noticing.
The move also means that Instagram can more easily -- and efficiently -- connect to other services running inside the facility and other Facebook data centres across the globe. Most notably, Facebook has built sweeping systems for analysing massive amounts of data, and Instagram can now benefit from this "Big Data" infrastructure much like any other internal Facebook service. The company can also take advantage of a "spam fighting" tool Facebook built to weed out bogus posts.
But Krieger says Instagram doesn't really share data with the wider Facebook operation. He indicates, for instance, that Facebook can't use your behaviour on Instagram to target ads on Facebook proper -- or vice versa. "One of the things we had to do was really silo the information, which ends up being important for privacy and other reasons," he says.
The Instagration is by no means typical. For Adrian Cockcroft, who once oversaw cloud infrastructure at Netflix and now follows cloud computing at VC outfit Battery Ventures, the world is moving onto the cloud, not off it. "If you get to be Facebook's size, you want your own data centres," he says. "It doesn't make sense for most little companies." But as they grow, some outfits, such as gaming company Zynga, have moved large parts of their operation off the cloud and into private data centres, mainly to improve costs. And you can bet that others will do so in the future -- particularly if they're acquired by Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Wired.com | 1,269,344 |
Antonio Tajani, European Parliament president since 2017, wants a second 2.5-year term, his spokesman confirmed to EUobserver in an email on Tuesday (22 January).
The spokesman confirmed the centre-right Italian hoped to be re-elected as MEP in the May 2019 elections, following which he would have to be elected president by his fellow MEPs.
Student or retired? Then this plan is for you.
His predecessor, centre-left German Martin Schulz, is the only parliament president to have served two terms until now.
Tajani was elected two years ago, following four rounds of voting.
He received the support of 351 MEPs - his centre-left rival for the post, Gianni Pittella, received 282 votes.
Pittella's candidacy had made an end to the implicit agreement between the two largest groups in the EU parliament to alternate the presidency between them every 2.5 years. Schulz had been the exception to that rule.
MEPs are elected for five years and it had been the centre-right group's 'turn'.
But national elections across the continent and polls so far suggest that the EU parliament will become much more fragmented, making such dealmaking more difficult.
Tajani has been praised for putting on the agenda the importance of EU's relationship with Africa, in the context of migration, and for hosting a series of debates with EU government leaders.
However, when compared to his predecessor Schulz, Tajani has left less of a mark on the presidency.
One MEP who hails from Tajani's European People's Party (EPP) said (on condition of anonymity) that Schulz - from the rivalling socialist group - had been much better than Tajani in raising the parliament's profile in the international media.
Eleonora Evi, an Italian MEP from the Five Star Movement, told EUobserver she did not have a high opinion of Tajani.
"He is very much interfering the political debate at national level in Italy," she complained.
"I believe that the role of the European parliament president should be very much impartial and neutral, in order to bring forward the entire views and positions of the entire parliament."
Tajani did indeed interfere several times in the debate about Italy's budget, put forward by the coalition government consisting of Evi's Five Star Movement and the far-right League party.
At a press conference last December, Tajani said that Rome's row with the EU commission was a "needless power game" which "wasted an awful lot of money", calling on the Italian government to be "a bit more serious".
For Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, a Swedish MEP with Italian roots, and fellow EPP member, Tajani was within his rights, because the proposed Italian budget violated EU rules.
"If you stand for the treaties, you are neutral," she said.
"It is not at all a ceremonial job," she added. | 1,269,345 |
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Monday confronted Donald Trump over his repeated attempts to cast former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as an “enabler” of her husband’s decades-old marital infidelities.
In an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” Cuomo told Trump that a panel of voters responded negatively to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s line of attack.
“We have a panel of independent voters, they are smart as heck, and most of them don’t like it,” Cuomo said, noting that the panel found the attacks “hypocritical” coming from Trump.
“What is your thinking on this line of attack?” he added.
Trump immediately criticized the anchor for not congratulating the real-estate mogul on his Republican presidential primary victory, which was made all but certain with last week’s victory in Indiana.
“Well, this is a nice way to start off the interview,” he said. “First of all, you should congratulate me for having won the race.”
When Cuomo noted that he congratulated Trump during a previous interview, Trump sarcastically thanked the CNN anchor and slammed the network, referring to it as the “Clinton Network.”
“Thank you very much,” Trump said. “So warm and so well felt.”
He continued: “You start off with this question, which is not surprising, because I understand CNN perhaps a lot better than you do.”
Cuomo restarted his line of questioning, saying he was “surprised” Trump chose to label the former secretary of state as “an enabler” of her husband’s past infidelities.
“Why waste time with that?” Cuomo said.
“She is playing the woman’s card to the hilt. I watched over the weekend, and everything is about women, and, ‘Donald Trump raised his voice,’” Trump said, imitating Clinton. “It’s all nonsense.”
Trump has faced backlash over gender-centric attacks on Clinton, who looks likely to be his opponent in November’s general election. The real-estate magnate maintains high unfavorable numbers among female voters, which may be attributable in part to his long history of controversial statements about women.
On Monday, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee accused Cuomo of blowing Trump’s comments about Bill Clinton out of proportion. But immediately after chiding Cuomo, Trump noted that the various 1990s scandals were a “big thing.”
“You took a small amount of the speech and you build it up like it’s the biggest thing in the world,” Trump said. “But it’s a big thing.”
Watch part of the exchange below:
More From Business Insider
| 1,269,346 |
you're saying your 3G network would fold like a cheap suit if these apps took off
it already has in some places
Sweating bullets over network saturation, are we? AT&T's obviously taking a good helping of heat today over Sling's rock-and-a-hard-place decision to remove 3G streaming capability from its SlingPlayer Mobile build for the iPhone -- a decision that gets at the very heart of several hot-button issues plaguing AT&T and Apple alike -- and the carrier understandably felt the need to release an official statement to address the situation. Unfortunately, it prompts as many questions as it offers answers. It starts off simply enough, stating that apps like SlingPlayer could create congestion on the network that denies services to others -- and while a truly trivial number of users own Slingboxes, we understand what they're getting at; no amount of tweaking or fudging of a modern HSPA network can withstand the traffic onslaught generated by wildly popular streaming video services.Here's where we start to lose our way, though. AT&T cites a portion of its wireless terms and conditions -- "Applications like this, which redirect a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service" -- and says that it considers "smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs." Sure, guys, but a RAZR shares 85 percent of its DNA with a PC and an iPhone shares 87 percent, so we're splitting hairs here -- never mind the fact that you've inexplicably labeled the S60-powered Nokia 6650 (which can run SlingPlayer, by the by) a dumbphone simply because it lacks a QWERTY keyboard. Furthermore, AT&T specifically points out that it doesn't restrict users from downloading streaming videos, which is the very problem SlingPlayer generates -- the upload from the user's TV on the far end is the ISP's concern, not AT&T's, and we figure that the network pressure generated by the download is roughly equivalent to watching a whole bunch of YouTube videos. It doesn't add up.Next, the carrier uses the opportunity to pimp its extensive WiFi network and says that you're welcome to use SlingPlayer there; that's all well and good, and yes, it's cool that AT&T gives iPhone users free access to the hotspots, but it's no substitute for the mobility of streaming Sling over the WWAN, which works really freaking well -- just ask countless BlackBerry, S60, WinMo, and Palm users who are using SlingPlayer as you read this. The only material difference is that they can't be touched -- not as easily, at least, as iPhone users who are bound to the whim of Apple's singular, all-powerful clearinghouse.Look, AT&T, just tell it like it is:. Thing is,-- trust us, we've experienced it firsthand -- so let's make sure the blame gets distributed appropriately here.Follow the break for AT&T's full statement. | 1,269,347 |
many people are dying with unanswered questions," she says.
A DNA test has now confirmed that Nathan and Dr Joshua's son are related, and they have since met for dinner in London.
Nathan is happy to have made the connection.
"It's the last piece of the puzzle, and there's some completeness," he says.
Even so, learning that neither of his grandparents was Jewish came as a shock.
"I still haven't worked out how it affects my identity," he says. "Being Jewish is such a fundamental part of me that I was rocked by it."
Having found no record of Margaret's adoption, Nathan can't be sure that she underwent a full conversion, but he still considers himself Jewish.
"It's cultural, for me," he says. "It's what you were taught about yourself from an early age."
Nathan's sister, Bernadette, wonders whether her mother's strong attachment to the Jewish identity had something to do with her tenuous status as white under the apartheid system.
image copyright Nathan Romburgh image caption Margaret never fitted in, says her daughter Bernadette
"I suspect, given the wounds that she carried, that she always felt on the outside," she says. "She could definitely pass for white, and she did - but can you imagine spending your whole life walking that thin line?"
Bernadette's paternal grandmother had warned her, when she expressed curiosity about who her mother's family was, to "let sleeping dogs lie".
Bernadette suspects her mother's non-whiteness must have been apparent to the adults in the family. Her grandfather, who espoused the nationalist political views of the time, did not get on with Margaret.
"He did not have time for my mother," she says.
Nevertheless, the die was cast, and Margaret's children grew up with the advantages of being white under apartheid - something Bernadette, who became politically aware as a teenager in the 1980s, is acutely aware of.
"Even though my parents were working class people, the enormous amount of privilege we had in terms of being white was astounding," she says. "The fact I went to university on the most mediocre set of results - and got a bursary - is because I was white, not for any other reason."
Bernadette has long since recovered from the cancer that set them on this journey. And although they have discovered something of a family history of cancer in the family, any alarm they felt about this has been outweighed by interest in their new relatives.
Alan Francis especially felt like family immediately, says Nathan.
He has more sympathy for his mother now that he understands some of what she went through.
"Her life was unfair," he says. "Norma and her half-siblings had much more opportunity than she did, despite her adoption.
"It's made me feel more kindly towards her."
You may also be interested in: | 1,269,348 |
of poor retention. Lt. Alan Kimura oversaw the dispatch center for a year and half before Fujitake took the post. During his time, he never had an entire class complete training. There would be classes of five where or only two or three completed training. Sometimes it was only one.
Applicants that pass a written exam are given a realistic job preview in both dispatch centers before they go any further into the training process. The preview gives applicants basic insight into what the job entails, shift work, hours and what it takes to do the job.
Once an applicant decides they still want to move forward, they go through two months of classroom training and seven months of floor training.
“The multi-tasking is unbelievable for what they do.” — Hawaii County police Lt. Robert Fujitake
Keeping staffing numbers up and retention in dispatch centers is a national trend, Fujitake explained. In conversations he’s had with supervisors and command staff across the country, dispatch centers everywhere have poor retention.
When she was hired in 2015, Badon-Dellomes was excited. It was also initially scary because of the type of calls “you experience every day.”
In the years she’s been at the police dispatch center, Badon-Dellomes has handled four shots fired calls, including one while she was still training.
Badon-Dellomes knows the job can be overwhelming.
“We all make mistakes, but how do you bounce back — it’s learning how to deal with each call,” she said.
Having this job has changed her perspective on life.
“It makes me appreciate my life more,” she said. “You go home and hug your kids a little tighter. You look at life differently.”
Unifying Police And Fire
Hawaii County has been working toward a unified police and fire dispatch center for more than 10 years. The planning of the project was initiated in 2007. The center comes with an estimated price tag of $30 million.
Perreira said both police and fire dispatch facilities are bad and they are need of new ones.
The current police dispatch center is about 1,700 square feet. The fire dispatch center is an office behind Hilo’s central fire station. The new facility would be 17,000 square feet.
Fire Dispatcher Jake Nixon agreed the new building is needed.
“Our building is in a tsunami zone,” he added. “Every time there’s a warning we have to pack up and go to Civil Defense (attached to the police department).”
Currently, the Fire Administration Support Complex is in the scoping and design phase, which is the construction of the fire and police dispatch center. The building will also house offices, a training center for firefighters as well as locker rooms and a kitchen.
Project construction is slated to start in 2020 with building completion in 2021. | 1,269,349 |
India has done well to decry Pakistan’s unwarranted belligerence over Kashmir, with the government’s spokesman exhorting it on Thursday to become a “normal” country, stop exporting terrorism, and stop its top leaders from making incendiary statements against India, that include talk of “jihad” and the use of violence. What interest can Pakistan possibly have in Kashmir? No part of the domains of the last maharaja belonged to Pakistan after its creation. It seized what is PoK now from Maharaja Hari Singh in violation of the Standstill Agreement and sent its forces to the Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan).
When the maharaja, in desperation, acceded to India, Indian forces were able to oust the invaders from the Kashmir Valley entirely, and parts of Jammu and Ladakh. That still leaves Pakistan illegally occupying about 40 per cent of the erstwhile maharaja’s realm, a part of which it made over to China in an off-book transfer. There is little doubt that Kashmir is a wholly internal matter of India’s, and it is entirely for Indians to endorse or criticise the Narendra Modi government’s recent action of abrogating parts of Article 370 of the Constitution and related provisions.
At the level of domestic politics, it is an understatement that the government has thoroughly alienated the Valley’s population, a perception it is seeking to change by announcing 50,000 jobs in three months, besides lifting some restrictions. Will this be enough to heal wounds? That’s anyone’s guess. Educated unemployment is a major issue in Kashmir, but J&K as a whole, and the Valley in particular, have higher development levels than most of India. Thus, the development argument for the constitutional annexation of Kashmir is, at best, artificial and self-serving.
As for the security aspect, J&K’s geographical location on Pakistan’s periphery will not change even if it's made a part of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, leave alone a Union territory, in effect bypassing Kashmir’s mainstream politicians. Even so, reports of human rights violations cannot be brushed aside when there is an information and communications blackout. So far, we only have the government’s reassertion that not a single live bullet has been fired in Kashmir and not a single death at the hands of the security forces since the lockdown began.
None of this can be grounds for Pakistan PM Imran Khan to raise the spectre of a nuclear exchange or for one of his ministers, Sheikh Rashid, to predict a war in the coming October-November, as Mr Khan readies to leaves for the UN General Assembly session next month. There can't be many takers for this. Scare-mongering as currency is now pretty much dead.
Since the Pakistan military runs the politics of that country and running terrorists as policy is still Islamabad’s valued enterprise, an alert by India at the right level is necessary. But no dramatics all over television, please. | 1,269,350 |
Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht says more needs to be done to "halt irregular migration" into Canada.
"Waterloo region is home to a large immigrant population – it is part of what makes our community the best in Canada," Albrecht said in a release Thursday.
"My fear is that as a result of Liberal inaction, this growing backlog will delay legitimate private sponsorship, and refugee applications."
Albrecht, a Conservative, made the comments after a report was released Thursday by Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux which looked at the cost of irregular migration across the border between the United States and Canada.
Irregular migrants are defined as migrants who cross the border between official ports of entry.
The report said the average cost for each "irregular migrant" who entered Canada in the last year was $14,321 for a total cost to Canada of $340 million, and it's expected to grow to $16,666 per person in 2019-2020, or $396 million, due to case backlog.
Giroux said the $173 million the federal government set aside in the budget to cover additional costs related to asylum seekers over the next two years won't be enough.
"Our estimates suggest that they have not budgeted enough, which will result in increased backlog at the Immigration and Refugee Board," he said.
Harold Albrecht is the MP for Kitchener-Conestoga. He says he has personally housed refugees and believes it's not right for irregular border crossers to be given priority over asylum seekers and immigrants who follow the proper channels. (Harold Albecht/Facebook)
'Not facing persecution in upstate New York'
While many seeking asylum may be fleeing Albrecht said people who are coming from the U.S. to seek asylum are not under duress when they cross the border illegally.
"They are, however, in a safe, third country and certainly they're not facing persecution in upstate New York, so I have difficulty accepting that argument," he said in an interview.
He said immigrants he has spoken to in Waterloo region, and particularly those who have been refugees, agree with him. He has received emails, phone calls and he's talked to people at events.
"Many people are raising this with me. Absolutely. They're concerned that our immigration system is not following clearly defined rules," he said.
"I'm all for immigration, I'm all for resettling refugees, especially privately sponsored," he added.
"I personally have housed refugees in my home, helped them find housing, helped them find OHIP coverage. All of these things are important to me personally, and to my community."
But, he said, it's not appropriate for "irregular, or I'm going to say illegal border crossers to be given the priority that they're currently being given, and then expecting the average Canadian to foot the bill for this when they're not even going through the regular channels." | 1,269,351 |
Vivek Oberoi was served a notice by the National Commission of Women for the meme
Highlights Vivek Oberoi has been sent a notice by Women's Commission for the meme
He said he had not done anything wrong and he only laughed at the meme
Many on Twitter, including celebrities, roasted Vivek Oberoi for the meme
Shredded over a meme featuring actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, actor Vivek Oberoi dug in his heels on Monday, saying that he had not done anything wrong. Earlier in the day, the actor was sent a notice by the women's commission for the post that was deemed offensive by many including celebrities on Twitter.
"I have no problem in apologising, but tell me what wrong have I done? If I have done something wrong I will apologise, I don't think I have done anything wrong," the actor told news agency ANI.
The meme in question featured three pictures of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan - one with actor Salman Khan, one with Vivek Oberoi and the last with her husband Abhishek Bachchan and daughter Aaradhya. The pictures were captioned "opinion polls", "exit polls" and "results".
Within minutes, Twitter skewered the actor for the meme which he captioned, "Haha! creative! No politics here...just life."
Vivek Oberoi went on to say that people are making a "huge issue out of it" and said he just "laughed at the meme". He also said he was "appreciating the person for the creativity".
"Those in the meme don't have a problem, but everyone else has," he claimed. Aishwarya Rai has not responded to the controversy yet.
Linking the controversy to his yet-to-be released biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the actor said people who could not stop the release of his movie, were trying to put him behind bars.
Taking a shot at Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the actor said she put "someone behind bars for a meme" referring to the arrest of BJP activist Priyanka Sharma who had shared a morphed picture of the chief minister.
Along with the National Commission for Women, the Maharashtra State Commission for Women also said they will issue a notice to the actor. Mr Oberoi had a message for them too.
"I'd like to meet them, I'll also like to explain myself because I don't think I have done anything wrong," he said.
Many including actor Sonam Kapoor, sportsperson Jwala Gutta and various politicians criticised the actor.
The defiant actor, however, had some advice for Ms Kapoor who called the meme "disgusting and classless".
"Stop overacting in your films and stop overreacting on social media. I've been working in women empowerment for 10 years now. I don't think this is hurting anyone's sentiments," Mr Oberoi told news agency ANI. | 1,269,352 |
Fooch's Update #2 - There's an update on the Aldon Smith case as well. I can't figure out if this means the DA won't consider a plea with Aldon, or if DA simply won't discuss it with the media:
#NEW: #49ers legal journey continues. Santa Clara Co. Assistant DA "both of #AldonSmith's cases have been put over to 4/29." — Nick Smith (@nicksmithnews) April 11, 2014
Fooch's Update - Matt Barrows had this update:
Multiple sources re: Kaepernick investigation: The calls from the Viceroy hotel to the police were made by the players. — Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) April 11, 2014
The San Francisco 49ers had a busy Friday with off-the-field happenings across the board. We have some minor updates in the Colin Kaepernick/Quinton Patton/Ricardo Lockette situation, we've got an update in Chris Culliver's legal situation, and Aldon Smith also had another court date. Good times indeed.
Colin Kaepernick
We've heard about the police report, but now the Miami Herald (h/t Matt Barrows) has some updates. According to the Herald, the Miami Fire Department is who actually took the girl to the hospital:
"At 12:32, Miami Fire Rescue was dispatched to the Viceroy and transported a 25-year-old female from the Viceroy to the Jackson Memorial Hospital emergency room," Miami Fire Lt. Ignatius Carroll said.
According to Barrows, Miami Fire and Rescue was summoned to the Viceroy by Miami PD. The woman woke up the next morning not knowing how she got to the hospital:
"We have to examine evidence and wait for some tests to come back, including toxicology reports," Police Chief Manuel Orosa said Friday. "We can present it to the state attorney and they can decide whether to continue." The chief added: "It's too early to determine what the evidence indicates."
The Herald is reporting the woman was administered a rape kit, but any results have not been made public. We also don't know if the results have been finalized at this point.
Chris Culliver
The 49ers cornerback had a court date related to his two misdemeanors and one felony. He pled not guilty to all three charges, which include felony possession of brass knuckles, misdemeanor hit and run with injury, and misdemeanor hit and run. The judge granted a 977 motion, which means he would not need to return to court until a preliminary hearing. There will be a variety of hearings in the meantime, with the next one scheduled for May 14
Aldon Smith
The 49ers outside linebacker is dealing with his gun possession and DUI case. He had a discovery hearing scheduled for today. There is no word on what went down in the discovery hearing, and we don't yet know of the next court date. If anything comes down I'll update this. | 1,269,353 |
Estonia's contingent in a French-led anti-terrorist operation in the West African country of Mali is set to double, Baltic News Service reports. The move comes as part of a wider strategy of increasing Estonian military participation in various international operations and missions.
Estonia has been involved in Operation Barkhane, an ongoing anti-insurgent operation covering several countries in Africa's Sahel region, since August 2019, sending mechanized infantry platoons and support personnel on a rotational basis.
Personnel strength had been up to 50 until now; the defense ministry is reportedly going to ask the Riigikogu if that can be almost double, to 95.
The boosted capacity would add medical and explosives disposal capabilities, which the ministry wants in order to free up the core infantry platoon to carry out troop protection tasks more independently, according to BNS.
Special operations unit(s) are also planned as part of the increase, mainly in training Malian units.
"Due to the great cooperation to date, France has made a proposal to Estonia to increase the contribution of Estonia to Operation Barkhane and to commence cooperation between special operations units in training Mali's armed forces," explanatory remarks in draft documents on the matter say, according to BNS.
The initiative for the move comes from the French side, which has also made similar proposals to other nations including the Nordic countries, BNS says.
The cooperation on Operation Barkhane has already strengthened Franco-Estonian relations and the two countries' strategic relationship and military cooperation.
"Members of the French government and high-ranking military are highly appreciative of the Estonian contribution to the operation and voiced appreciation of the job done by Estonian defense personnel in the framework of the operation. Interaction between the units of the defense forces of the two countries in the ongoing military operation has increased the interoperability of the units," the draft document explanatory remarks say, BNS reports.
"Contribution to Operation Barkhane helps to deepen the strategic relationship between Estonia and France, which in addition to the shared realm of values is based on a common understanding of the security environment and the threats affecting it. France is actively taking part in strengthening the deterrence posture of NATO by contributing its units towards greater presence of allies in the Baltic countries, including Estonia," the remarks continued.
Part of a wider strategy
The Mali step-up is part of a proposed wider increase in Estonia's military presence internationally.
According to BNS, the defence ministry is to request permission from the Riigikogu to send a further 485 Estonian troops to other global trouble spots, including Iraq and the Mediterranean. As well as cooperation with France, the missions will bring further participation in NATO and EU-led initiatives. The defence ministry also wants further Estonian personnel to be involved in the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force, which carried out large-scale exercises on the Baltic Sea through the summer.
Download the ERR News app for Android and iOS now and never miss an update! | 1,269,354 |
A German psychologist has published testimonies from police reports of the New Year’s Eve Cologne sex attacks showing the victims’ fear and the total lack of police presence.
None of the 1,300 victims of sexual assault, rape, and theft are present at the formal investigation into the New Year’s Eve Cologne sex attacks that is currently underway in Dusseldorf.
However, Rudolf Egg, a Wiesbaden legal psychologist, is trying to give victims a voice by quoting from over 1,200 different police reports of 1,000 of the victims that tell a story of fear, sexual victimisation, and a failure of the police to protect women on New Year’s Eve last year, reports Die Welt.
One woman, who had been the victim of migrants groping her, gave testimony that blasted police saying: “Unfortunately, the police were there but not very helpful. An official said to me, ‘You’re from Cologne – you know you can’t celebrate here’.”
“It is intolerable that some women were given the feeling that they asked for this,” Egg noted. He said that police on the night had created a “legal vacuum” that allowed the migrant perpetrators free reign to act with impunity.
The psychologist gave his testimony, on what is now day 47 of the hearing, saying that he found over 200 direct claims of sexual assault, while the hearing had previously only addressed 11.
The quotes from the police reports paint a shocking picture with one woman describing how she witnessed consecutive and incessant attacks on women in the square next to the Cologne train station and cathedral. “They shot firecrackers at mothers with prams,” she said.
Another report described the situation as a “state of emergency”, and added that there were no police to be found in the area. One woman who did see police claimed that they stood by and did nothing to prevent or stop the assaults.
Mr. Egg went on to say that the reason for the attacks and the frequency was largely due to police inaction. He claimed that the migrants saw an opportunity to act in that manner because no one was stopping them. Egg said that the view of the migrants was simply: “Today, everything is permitted.”
Of the 1,200 complaints to police that night, 500 were sexual assaults or rapes. A total of 1,300 victims have been accounted for and of the multiple attackers so far only a handful have been either caught or put on trial. One migrant tried in court was given a suspended sentence and laughed as he walked free.
Breitbart London previously reported on the analysis of Rudolf Egg when he spoke out about the Cologne New Year’s Eve attacks, remarking they were not spontaneous and had been arranged by the migrants in advance. The psychologist said the meeting of so many migrants in one place at one time was not down to chance, and had been achieved by word of mouth, and planning by Facebook messenger. | 1,269,355 |
More than 1,000 jobs at a Verizon Wireless call center in Rancho Cordova will be affected by the closure of the center at the end of the year, according to Verizon officials.The Verizon Wireless customer service and telesales call center is scheduled to close on Jan. 27.The 700 customer service and about 300 telesales positions will be given the opportunity to transfer to other Verizon call center locations."To tell 1,000 people that this office will be closed in less than four months, that’s a pretty dramatic change to have to process in what is the big family time of the year,“ Assemblymember Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, said.Employees who visit the other center will be offered a $500 stipend to offset the travel cost. The company is offering $10,000 in relocation assistance for those who decide to transfer."If you have a home that's your principal asset, and one rule is don't sell your home in the winter if you can avoid it, “ Cooley said.Eligible employees unable to relocate or who do not secure other assignments with the company will be offered individualized separation packages and outplacement help, Verizon officials said."They're sort of shocked with the turn of events to get that news, and I would say they're still trying to process it,” Cooley said.The Rancho Cordova call center is the only one located in California.No additional details have been released.
More than 1,000 jobs at a Verizon Wireless call center in Rancho Cordova will be affected by the closure of the center at the end of the year, according to Verizon officials.
The Verizon Wireless customer service and telesales call center is scheduled to close on Jan. 27.
The 700 customer service and about 300 telesales positions will be given the opportunity to transfer to other Verizon call center locations.
"To tell 1,000 people that this office will be closed in less than four months, that’s a pretty dramatic change to have to process in what is the big family time of the year,“ Assemblymember Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, said.
Employees who visit the other center will be offered a $500 stipend to offset the travel cost. The company is offering $10,000 in relocation assistance for those who decide to transfer.
"If you have a home that's your principal asset, and one rule is don't sell your home in the winter if you can avoid it, “ Cooley said.
Eligible employees unable to relocate or who do not secure other assignments with the company will be offered individualized separation packages and outplacement help, Verizon officials said.
"They're sort of shocked with the turn of events to get that news, and I would say they're still trying to process it,” Cooley said.
The Rancho Cordova call center is the only one located in California.
No additional details have been released. | 1,269,356 |
open source deployment was unthinkable 10 years ago.
Monetization models are working
With cloud-based delivery, open source monetization models have finally gone mainstream. Freemium models now being used by most software firms and app developers were pioneered by the open source community. The tenet of open source has always been to give away the “open core” for free, and then charge for additional features. Enterprise customers are clearly willing to pay for extra features, such as management, monitoring, dashboards and security. Even when customers buy these add-ons, open source solutions still cost a fraction of what traditional “packaged” products do. Open source companies can also charge for consulting, training, service, connectors and components, much like SaaS vendors do. These dual revenue streams will generate revenue and profits for today’s open source leaders.
Open source startups now control their destiny
The first wave of open source leaders, including Red Hat, relied almost entirely on the community to build their products. Their product development was truly communitarian. Today’s most promising open source companies do about 80 percent of their development in-house, with some contributions from the community. This gives the companies more control over their product features and roadmaps, enabling them to provide personalized, enterprise-class support to customers.
Adoption has reached critical mass
Spurred by all the elements above, we’ve reached an unprecedented level of adoption of open source in the enterprise. Some 86 percent of companies in non-technical industries now use open source, and that number is probably 100 percent within technology companies. The try-before-you-buy freemium model has done much to propel open source to new heights. Companies can try a simple version of an open source app for free, and if they like it, can pay for value-added enterprise features. There is virtually no risk with this model, and most companies that try open source tend to stick with it. And, lastly, the cloud has enabled open source companies to have their software rapidly deployed into production. They can get instant visibility into what’s not working, gather valuable data on how customers use their products, and fix snafus as they occur. Quite simply, open source apps are now not just good, but great.
Index has backed more than 20 open source companies over the years. We believe open source will be a dominant software development and distribution strategy of the future, especially in certain categories such as big data and infrastructure, and will generate billions of dollars in equity value for investors and entrepreneurs alike.
Mike Volpi is a partner at Index Ventures, a multi-stage international VC firm with offices in San Francisco, London and Geneva. He currently serves on the boards of Big Switch Networks, elasticsearch, Fuze, Hortonworks, Lookout, Mashape, Path, Pure Storage, Sonos, SoundCloud, Wealthfront and Zuora. Previously, he held a number of executive positions, including chief strategy officer at Cisco. Reach him @mavolpi. | 1,269,357 |
It can happen to any of us: reckless hedonism of your 20s gives way to the whole-grain realities and sobering responsibilities of your 30s. And suddenly, if you're the 32-year-old psychedelically groovy L.A. gangsta rapper Schoolboy Q, you may find yourself under the spell of a more serene (if no less addictive and expensive) habit: golf.
“I had all these people telling me, ‘Why are you playing golf!? Why you playing a lame-ass sport? You a loser!’ ” the rapper born Quincy Hanley says, warping his box-cutter baritone into the high-pitched mockery of an ignorant hater, one who knows nothing of the joys of manicured fairways and glen plaid. “But like I tell everyone, ‘Bruh: Golf is life.’ ”
From left On Brock Korsan: Blazer, $2,895, by Giorgio Armani / Pants, $390, by Goodfight / His own shoes, by J.Crew / Socks, $3, by Uniqlo | On Schoolboy Q: Sweater, $425, by Canali / Pants, $1,195, by Giorgio Armani / Shoes, $445, by Boss / Sunglasses, $1,075, by Jacques Marie Mage / His own watch (throughout), by Rolex / Cap and cuff, stylist's own | On Cole Young: Cardigan, $600, by Goodfight / Pants, (price upon request), by Études / Watch, $2,626, by Tudor / Shoes, his own
They love Q here. “Here” being the Calabasas Country Club, a postcard expanse of glimmering emerald turf, gently sloping mountains, and a 21-acre lake, a few minutes' drive from Q's home in the same ritzy neighborhood. “They” being everyone from the 19-year-old caddies who want photos to flex on Instagram to the baronial white-haired titans of commerce who greet him by name, slap high fives, and give him jovial biceps taps like he just closed a deal to bring in the Underhill account.
Unburdened from the demands of a nine-to-five existence, Q hits the links daily. This morning, he took to the course with Brock Korsan, the senior vice president of A&R at Warner Bros. Records, and Cole Young, the brand director for Malbon Golf, an insurgent streetwear-inspired golf label, for the photos you see here. But his partner for nine holes in the afternoon is Adrian, a fit older Mexican-American man with wind-swept gray hair and black shades, who has become Q's adoptive golfing padre.
Watch:
10 Things Schoolboy Q Can't Live Without... On the Golf Course | 1,269,358 |
per from Germanwatch said.
Climate lawsuits on the rise
Listen to audio 07:49 Share Setting a precedent Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/1FriI Setting a precedent
The families bringing the People's Climate Case aren't the only citizens suing governments to take action against global warming. More and more citizens across the world see legal action as a path for climate action.
In fact, more than 1,000 climate lawsuits are currently active around the world. In the US alone, more than 800 climate court cases are ongoing.
Climate court cases can drag on for a long time, and often fail.
Environmental groups suing the Norwegian state for opening up an area in the Norwegian Arctic to oil and gas drilling lost their case when the court ruled for the government earlier this year.
But there have been some success stories, too.
In 2015, 900 Dutch citizens, represented by the Urgenda Foundation, took their government to court to cut greenhouse gas emissions. It was the first time a group of citizens sued their own government over climate change action — and they won.
The lawsuit resulted in a Dutch court ordering the government to cut greenhouse gas emissions nationwide by at least 25 percent by the year of 2020 (compared to 1990 levels), forcing it to take further measures against climate change.
The landmark ruling is the only case in the world thus far to define a government's obligation to control climate change.
The Dutch landmark case laid the foundations for similar lawsuits around the world, for instance by a group of American youths, who are currently suing the US government for failing to curb climate change.
Listen to audio 09:50 Share Living Planet: Kids sue the US government Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/1IiOi Kids sue the US government
In a suit similar to the People's Climate Case, 21 American plaintiffs aged between 10 and 21 who have been personally impacted by climate change are currently suing the US government. Some live on farms affected by drought, others have lost their homes due to floods, or face health issues as a result of forest fires.
The teenagers accuse the federal government of violating the younger generations' constitutional rights to life and liberty by failing to take action against global warming. They argue that the government is failing to protect essential public trust resources like air and water, which are vital to survival.
The goal of court cases like this is not necessarily just to win, but also to raise awareness of the negative impacts of climate change.
"Even if the plaintiffs of the People's Climate Case don't win, just handing in the case was already a step in the right direction,” Küper said, "because it draws attention to the issue and shows other people suffering from the negative impacts of climate change that they are not alone and that there are people out there fighting for positive change." | 1,269,359 |
As a urological surgeon, the main challenge I see for patients probably isn’t what you’d think it would be.
It’s not a diagnosis of erectile dysfunction or Peyronie’s disease (they can be treated), it’s not the risk of complications from surgery (less than 1%), and it’s not the recovery process (3-6 weeks). It’s actually coming in and making an appointment. Here are some of the most common reasons patients don’t get help.
The Embarrassment Factor
Men in “polite” society tend to not talk about their penises or sex life, and it can be extremely difficult for men to admit that they’re experiencing difficulties with their sexual performance. While prescriptions for erectile dysfunction have helped remove much of the stigma surrounding it, the inability to maintain an erection is still a very personal and a potentially embarrassing problem. This can be made even worse in the event that prescriptions don’t work and surgery may be necessary. Some men would rather suffer in silence than speak candidly with a physician or surgeon.
Talk with your spouse / partner / loved ones and encourage them to seek help and get regular check-ups. Share your experience if you’ve dealt with ED in the past. The discomfort in talking about ED and related issues pales in comparison to being able to lead a fulfilling sex life.
Not Knowing There’s Treatment
Urologic surgery is a highly specialized field that’s advancing all the time. The average person probably isn’t going to be familiar with the treatments that are available to them – even a physician may be working with outdated information.
This is where the internet comes in handy: I (and my colleagues) put as much information online as possible about diagnoses and treatment, including the latest advances and research in urologic surgery. There’s a wealth of information out there about the whole range of men’s health issues and how they can be treated, if not fixed entirely.
A well-informed patient should be able to know their options, and know when to contact a specialist.
Fear of Surgery
Some people are just plain afraid of going into surgery the same way they’re afraid of going to the dentist (like myself): it conjures up gruesome images of being cut open and being put back together again, long and painful recoveries, and the potential risk of complications. This is one of the reasons why awareness of minimally invasive surgery is so vital: most of the surgeries I perform are done through small incisions, and in the case of penile implants, are completed within minutes. Checking out surgical videos on Youtube can go a long way toward alleviating your anxiety.
Don’t let shame or fear keep you from taking care of your health – know your options, the treatment that’s available to you, and most importantly, take the first step by reaching out to a medical professional. | 1,269,360 |
A new malware campaign has been discovered in over 1 million Android devices, according to a new report from the security firm Check Point. Dubbed “Googlian” by the firm, the campaign first emerged in August, and is currently compromising devices at a rate of roughly 13,000 per day.
The malware targets vulnerabilities in Android versions 4 and 5 (Jelly Bean and Kit Kat), and spreads through seemingly legitimate apps in third-party app stores. More than half the infections are in Asia, where third-party app stores are particularly popular.
A full list of infected apps is included at the bottom of Check Point’s report, which ranges from simple games like “Slots Mania” to a more suspicious app called “Sex Photo.”
Google says the malware isn’t accessing personal data
The malware takes advantage of two known vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel, allowing it to take control of a user’s device once a malicious app has been installed. From there, the malware compromises the device’s Google authorization token, giving it broader access to the user’s Google account including Gmail, Drive, and Photos.
According to Google, the malware isn’t accessing any personal emails or files. When the Android Security team scanned the affected accounts, it found no evidence of the malware accessing data or otherwise using the token for fraud. There was also no evidence of the malware targeting any particular people or organizations.
Instead, the malware authors seem to be using their powers to game the Google Play app rankings. Instead of downloading inboxes or Drive accounts, the malware installs non-malicious apps from the Google Play Store, leaving five-star rankings for each app. With over a million devices in on the scheme, the result is a huge boost in the Play Store rankings for the targeted app, potentially worth far more than a stolen credit card.
Using malware to boost app rankings
It’s not the first time online criminals have used malware to boost an app’s ranking. Last year, a family of apps called Brain Test tried a similar tactic, only to be removed by Google after the scheme was made public. Google actively scans for potentially harmful apps in the Play Store, but since the apps being boosted aren’t malicious, they’re able to evade the scans.
You can check if your device has been infected by using a tool built by Check Point. If there’s evidence of an infection, reinstalling the system software will completely remove it.
Typically, malware campaigns can be stopped by a quickly deployed software fix — but in Googlian’s case, that fix has already been sent out. The two exploited vulnerabilities date back to 2014 and 2013, respectively, and both have already been patched by Google. Any devices running a version of Android released in the past year are already protected. Unfortunately, because of Android’s fragmented ecosystem, that only covers a quarter of Android devices overall, leaving the vast majority of devices vulnerable to the attack. | 1,269,361 |
� The impacts were severe. “A 2,000-employee beef plant north of Lubbock has become a casualty of years of drought, which has led to the smallest U.S. cattle herd in 60 years,” the Houston Chronicle reported in 2013.
But now imagine that years of drought routinely turn into decades of drought, so-called mega-droughts, thanks to climate change. That will devastate cattle and crops.
And this isn’t a scenario for the distant future. In December, the Weather Channel reported that “the Southwest may currently be enduring its first mega-drought in over 500 years.”
As Columbia University hydro-climatologist Park Williams told The Atlantic, “The last 19 years have been equivalent to the worst 19 years of the worst mega-droughts on record.” He added that the current drought was “substantially worse than it would have been without global warming” — some 62 percent more severe.
And the worst is yet to come, especially if the ongoing efforts by Trump and the Republican leadership to undermine or reverse U.S. climate action continues.
In 2017, the White House approved the definitive National Climate Assessment by America’s top scientists, which also projected that most of the country would see serious to devastating drops in soil moisture most of the year.
The following map shows the key projections for change in soil moisture by century’s end in the “higher emissions” (business as usual) case, the one the Trump administration’s policies would lead to.
PROJECTED CHANGES IN SOIL MOISTURE IN “HIGHER EMISSIONS” SCENARIO. DOTS INDICATE WHERE CHANGES WOULD BE LARGE COMPARED VARIATION. CREDIT: NCA.
This would be the “new normal” climate, a near permanent state of drought over large segments of our country, including much of the California and Great Plains breadbaskets. In such a world, the United States — and indeed, a great many countries — would routinely suffer mega-droughts as intense as the 1930s Dust Bowl, but lasting many decades and much hotter.
This is not a world where many cattle survive. In fact, trying to feed what will then be 10 billion people with such a sharp reduction in both arable land and potable water means that livestock — which require much more of both than most food sources — would become a luxury item.
To get to the more manageable “lower emissions” scenario, America and the world must far exceed the emissions reduction goals agreed to in Paris in December 2015. In short, we need something approximating a Green New Deal.
House Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee mockingly tweeted that they need to eat hamburgers now before they disappear.
Thanks to their blinkered denial of the climate crisis, that may be more prescient than they realize. | 1,269,362 |
HIV may be modified by the immune system
A team at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, in Antwerp, compared HIV-1 samples from 1986-89 and 2002-03.
They found the newer samples appeared not to multiply as well, and were more sensitive to drugs - some other studies argue they are becoming more resistant.
The researchers, writing in the journal Aids, stressed their work in no way meant efforts to prevent the spread of HIV should be scaled down.
HIV is still a life-threatening infection
Keith Alcorn
They were only able to compare 12 samples from each time period, and they were unable fully to tease out any effect that drug therapy may have had on the virus.
Hope for future
Researcher Dr Eric Arts said: "This was a very preliminary study, but we did find a pretty striking observation in that the viruses from the 2000s are much weaker than the viruses from the eighties.
"Obviously this virus is still causing death, although it may be causing death at a slower rate of progression now. Maybe in another 50 to 60 years we might see this virus not causing death."
Keith Alcorn, senior editor at the HIV information charity NAM, said it had been thought that HIV would increase in virulence as it passed through more and more human hosts.
But the latest study suggested the opposite is actually true.
"What appears to be happening is that by the time HIV passes from one person to another, it has already toned down some of its most pathogenic effects in response to its host's immune system," he said.
"So the virus that is passed on is less 'fit' each time.
"This would suggest that over several generations, HIV could become less harmful to its human hosts.
"However, we are still far from that point - HIV is still a life-threatening infection."
Similar trend
Dr Marco Vitoria, an HIV expert at the World Health Organization, said other diseases - such as smallpox, TB and syphilis - had shown the same tendency to weaken over time.
"There is a natural trend to reach an 'equilibrium' between the agent and the host interests, in order to guarantee concomitant survival for a longer time," he said.
However, Dr Vitoria stressed that the latest findings should not lull people into a false sense of security.
"This kind of change cannot be adequately measured in years, but in generations," he told the BBC News website.
He also questioned whether it was possible to draw firm conclusions from such a small study.
Will Nutland, of the charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "This latest study adds to the debate on an apparently confusing and contradictory issue.
"Some studies suggest recent strains of HIV are more sensitive to drugs while others claim strains are becoming more resistant.
"The study adds to the body of evidence but HIV is showing no signs of dying out in the near future." | 1,269,363 |
Rapper San E has yet again managed to put himself in the headlines after offending the audience with his comments about feminism during a concert over the weekend.
While onstage at the concert Brand New Year 2018 on Sunday, San E used an expletive before rapping in English before an audience of 5,000: “Womad is poison. Feminist, no. You’re a mental illness.”
In another politically charged comment, the rapper said he supports “normal women” before criticizing radical online feminist communities Womad and Megalia as “male-bashing.”
San E criticizes controversial online feminist communities during a concert Sunday. (San E's YouTube)
The comments came during a break in Sunday’s concert after some audience members chastised the rapper for his views on gender issues, holding up placards criticizing him during his performance and throwing a stuffed toy with an offensive message at him.
Last month, San E faced criticism after releasing his single “Feminist” over lyrics that many saw as sexist and ignorant of what feminism stands for.
Part of the lyrics go, “I don’t understand that men and women aren’t equal at this point. It’d make sense if my grandmother said so, but what was so unfair when you grew up?”
His remarks about Womad and Megalia caused outrage from the audience, briefly halting the concert at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul.
Sexually insulting placards held by some audience members read, “San E the 6.9 cm boy.“ (San E’s YouTube)
“Even if you continue to attack me, I have zero interest. No matter what you lot say, I just go my way,” the rapper said during the concert.
In a video shared on social media, fans appeared confused and some were visibly angry, shouting comments at the rapper like “Just do your job,” and “Get off the stage.”
San E continued, saying, “Just because you paid and went into a restaurant, it doesn’t mean you can cause havoc.”
Following the controversial remarks, Rapper Rhymer, who heads the hip-hop label behind the event Brand New Music, apologized on behalf of San E.
“To those who were offended, I apologize on his behalf,” Rhymer said onstage as he bowed to the audience.
Despite Rhymer’s apology, San E’s attitude provoked mixed reactions online after the concert.
“He lacks professionalism. Not all audience members are from Womad and Megalia, yet he lost his cool during the performance and caused chaos,” one angry user on Naver wrote.
(San E’s Twitter) | 1,269,364 |
Android Pie introduced a new security feature called Android Protected Confirmation for performing critical transactions, like banking and controlling medical devices. The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are the first to support the new functionality, with Google continuing to detail the security features on their latest phone this week.
According to Google, Android Protected Confirmation is the “first major mobile OS API that leverages a hardware protected user interface (Trusted UI) to perform critical transactions completely outside the main mobile operating system.”
For example, a banking application might invoke a Trusted UI to verify a large monetary transaction or transfer. The interface is somewhat reminiscent of the bootloader with a stark white background noting that you’re in Android Protected Confirmation and the exact nature of the transaction to approve.
This confirmation provides an extra layer of security for the action you’re about to take.
To confirm, users are asked to double-press the power button with the prompt appearing next to the physical button, with cancel done by clicking the volume up key. This provides an assurance that an end-user originated the command, with Protected Confirmation resistant to fraudulent apps or compromised operating systems.
Once confirmed, your intention is cryptographically authenticated and unforgeable when conveyed to the relying party, for example, your bank. Protected Confirmation increases the bank’s confidence that it acts on your behalf, providing a higher level of protection for the transaction.
Protected Confirmation can also be used to bolster One Time Passwords or Transaction Authentication Numbers. These existing methods are again not protected against compromised devices that can corrupt or intercept one-time confirmation text messages.
Once the user approves a transaction, Protected Confirmation digitally signs the confirmation message. Because the signing key never leaves the Trusted UI’s hardware sandbox, neither app malware nor a compromised operating system can fool the user into authorizing anything.
Android Protected Confirmation can be adopted by any third-party app, with banking and medical partners showing off various examples at I/O 2018:
Royal Bank of Canada person to person money transfers; Duo Security, Nok Nok Labs, and ProxToMe for user authentication; and Insulet Corporation and Bigfoot Biomedical, for medical device control.
The latter use case sees Google working with the FDA as part of a medical industry standard to “safely control medical devices, such as insulin pumps” from smartphones. Meanwhile, the company noted earlier this week that Google Pay is working to take advantage of this feature as well.
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are the first devices to support Android Protected Confirmation, with backing from the Titan M security chip. The feature is still considered optional in Android Pie because it requires low-level hardware, but Google is working with other manufacturers to adopt these features.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: | 1,269,365 |
Terry Crews—the father from TV's Everybody Hates Chris and the president in Idiocracy—was proudest of his role in McG's Terminator Salvation.
What, you don't remember him?
That's because his role, short as it was, was almost cut out of the film, except for the kicker: There's a shot of Crews as a corpse.
Crews—who had been talking about the movie for months and even confirmed Arnold Schwarzenegger's much-rumored cameo in the film—wasn't even told his role had been cut and didn't find out about it until he screened the finished film. As you can imagine, he's not too happy about it.
Terry Crews in Everybody Hates Chris
"No, no. I had no clue," he said in an exclusive interview at Comic-Con last week in San Diego, where he was promoting his upcoming sci-fi movie Gamer. "No clue. And you know,... after it came out, and I was like, 'Dude!' You know?... I had people coming up to me in the street, like, 'What was that?' You know what I mean? And they were like, 'Well, uh, well, McG was supposed to call you.' And I was like, 'This is bull.'... When I saw it, I was like, 'You've got to be kidding. You guys. You don't know what you're doing.'
"The problem, where they messed up, is that they had me laying there dead, and the whole movie, everybody was wondering what that meant," Crews added. "And it didn't mean anything, because originally it was just a cameo. And I thought, that's the last time. You have to be careful who you trust things with. You know what I mean? You don't have to do everything, but I trusted them, and that was wack. And it was pretty bad, and I was like, apparently they didn't think I had a base or whatever, but you can look at your movie, and look what happened."
Still, Crews insists he's not bitter. "But I'm like, 'Yo. I've got to explain this thing to everybody every five minutes,'" he said. "I mean, you know, what do I do to my fans? And I'm a trouper, you know? It's all about the film. It's all about what's going on. But not good. But, again, that's Hollywood. What can I say?"
Crews blamed the situation on too many cooks. Back in the day, "really, just one guy... would decide what the movie is going to be about, but now you have movies by committee," he said. "That's what happened with Terminator. I ended up as a corpse in the movie. It was committee. And it was like, 'What was that?' I was like, 'Why didn't you just cut me all the way out?' It was disappointing." | 1,269,366 |
“We got paintings! We got industrial lamps! We got Vodka!”
This slogan was chanted as dozens of people roamed the world’s largest art complex. Located just a few blocks away from Big Art Labs, the open studios here surround a worn-down Pabst Blue Ribbon beer brewery. This scene is the center landmark associated with the free, educational, public arts event that is held twice a year where food, art, and creativity gushes from every corner here.
The lofts that are there are a part of what has become a uniquely vibrant and creative community. With so many different ways to show off their work, each artist-in-residence has come up with their own approach to displaying their art. Here are just a few:
1) Teach the kids!
Children tend to latch on to bright colors, odd shapes, and intriguing sounds; all of which show themselves during the art creation phase. To get the kids interacting with the art, several artists developed games and fun little projects to keep them interested.
2) Be in the right place at the right time
Checking out the photography of the legendary Bruce Talamon led to the idea that it is critical to position yourself when trying to capture a moment. Looking at the pictures that he took of Rick James, Isaac Hayes, and many other well-known musicians shows that it takes a lot of organization in order to record an event as it is happening.
3) Work with metal and heavy machines
Technology is everywhere now. It is intertwingled in our very existence, starting with the metals that are used to structure the frames of our smart devices. Combining the bright colors of spattered paint with the mechanical nature of steel, zinc, and aluminum produces a beautiful clash of two worlds.
4) Observe the world from above
At the very top of the tallest building in the art complex is a space where clay makers sit and watch the world go by. You can see all the way out to the edge of the horizons where mountains, cities, and railroads align. It is peaceful and tranquil allowing the mind to relax, right before diving into the molding process.
5) Go psychedelic
My favorite approach is the method of altering the mind and environment in a way that challenges what you think you know. One good example of this is a Bad Ass 3D Mural Artist by the name of Debi Cable who creates the hottest black light art in the city. Her work is best seen wearing 3D glasses. The kids love her art, all while the parents reminisce of the times when everything seemed so new.
Links:
Brewery Art Walk Website: http://breweryartwalk.com/about
Two Bit Circus: http://twobitcircus.com/event/april-artwalk-2014/
Bruce Talamon: http://www.brucetalamon.com/
Debi Cable: http://www.debicable.com/ | 1,269,367 |
This is a set of photos showing different ways of smuggling drugs across the US-Mexico border.
The more difficult for them it becomes to smuggle, the more ingenious methods they invent.
Similar posts:
Where Smugglers Attempt to Transport Drugs (24 pics)
Two people hidden in the engine compartment of a van.
Illegal immigrants found in compartments in the floor of a car.
An illegal immigrant hidden behind the back seat of a passenger car.
A man is discovered sewn into the upholstery of a van seat
A woman was discovered hidden in the side panel of a car
In June 2009, Border Patrol agents discovered 73 illegal immigrants crammed in the back of a tractor trailer
Customs officers arrested a 36-year-old Mexican truck driver after finding more than half a ton of marijuana into the United States inside concrete furniture that he was transporting into the U.S.
The man drove the truck into the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, hauling a load of concrete benches, tabletops, pillars and decorative blocks.
After X-raying the load, officers broke apart the concrete goods.
They found 140 packages of marijuana embedded in the concrete pieces, weighing a total of 1,335 pounds.
Marijuana found hidden inside oxygen tanks
The garden hose reels were in the back of a landscapers truck, along with gardening tools.
Marijuana was discovered hidden inside the reels.
A woman was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 17, 2009, when federal officers staffing San Ysidro Port of Entry found a nine-pound stash of marijuana inside her daughter's stroller.
In June 2009, a 30-year-old Mexican man was arrested while trying to smuggle 24 pounds of marijuana ashore on a surfboard in Imperial Beach.
A 16-year-old boy was caught trying to smuggle drugs across the border by taping packets to his body.
Drugs concealed in a lawn mower
Drugs found hidden under the seat of a motorcycle
Marijuana hidden inside a roll of plastic
Border Patrol agents arrested two Los Angeles women in June 2009 after finding 166 pounds of marijuana hidden in their minivan. Authorities estimated that the drugs had a street value of more than $100,000. The women were carrying two children in the Dodge Caravan
Drugs found hidden in the shoes of a 24-year-old man trying to cross the border in February 2010
Border agents arrested a 22-year old Chula Vista man after they found 112 pounds of marijuana hidden in a big screen TV in the cargo area of the vehicle he was driving.
Packets of methamphetamine hidden under the chassis of a car
Methamphetamine hidden in secret compartments under a vehicle
Drugs concealed in a body panel of a Mercedes Benz
Heroin hidden in the differential of a vehicle
Heroin hidden in the differential of a vehicle
Source | 1,269,368 |
RAMSEY- Tommy DeVito has been absolutely on fire this summer. And with his recent success, colleges are certainly taking notice.
The
Don Bosco Prep
senior wrapped up a strong showing at The Opening in Beaverton, Ore., over the weekend,
7-on-7 all tourney team @TheOpening
QB Tommy DeVito
WR Amari Rodgers
WR Jerry Jeudy
WR Tyjon Lindsey
TE Colby Parkinson
TE Grant Calcaterra — Sanjay Kirpalani (@SanjayKirpalani)
July 11, 2016
" target="_blank">earning 7-on-7 All-Tournament Team honors. DeVito earned his invite to The Opening following a strong showing at the Elite 11 finals last month.
RELATED: Don Bosco Prep's Tommy DeVito named Elite 11 finalist
And shortly after that showing, DeVito was contacted by the coaches at Texas A&M, who showed strong interest in the Garden State quarterback.
"They contacted me after I got back from L.A. and the Elite 11," DeVito said. "They wanted to see how strong my commitment was with Syracuse."
DeVito committed to Syracuse in April over 14 other college tenders. What did the 6-2, 185-pounder tell the Aggies' coaches?
"I told them thank you, but no thank you," DeVito said. "They were trying to see if I would consider them despite my commitment. I'm 100 percent solid with my commitment to Syracuse, though."
PLUS: DeVito breaks down his decision to pick Syracuse
The Ironmen senior signal caller returned to New Jersey from Oregon early Monday morning, just in time for Bosco's first summer practice of the 2016 campaign.
"I can't wait to get started," he said. "Everything is out of the way now. I'm done with the camps and I've got my college decision made. Now I'm ready for my senior season and hopefully we can go out and win another state championship."
He added that participating at The Opening in Beaverton will help Bosco out in a big way down the road.
"We went up against teams with a great caliber of players," DeVito said. "Every team was loaded with five-star players and the defenses were stacked. You don't get to go up against teams like that often. This was a huge stepping stone for me and will help me prepare for the next level."
#Cuse QB commit Tommy Devito to WR Devonta Smith down to the 1-yard line. Score on the next play. 14-13 #LunarBeast pic.twitter.com/zKC2c2JCUU — Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) July 9, 2016
Braulio Perez may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BraulioEPerez. | 1,269,369 |
By Oona McGee, SoraNews24
Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne has a huge following of loyal fans in Japan, who have been interested in her and her music even before she filmed her “Hello Kitty” music video here and her sister married a Japanese rock star.
So it’s no surprise that Lavigne is now appearing on our TV screens in Japan, in a new nationwide commercial for fabric and air care brand Laundrin’. And as an added treat for local viewers, the 34-year-old opens the ad by speaking Japanese, throwing in a konnichiwa, before saying yokoso (“welcome“) as she invites us into her palatial mansion.
While the TV ads run for 15 or 30 seconds, there’s a web-exclusive two-minute long version, which can be viewed below.
In the ad, Lavigne can be seen sniffing the Laundrin’-scented air in different rooms around the home and using the brand’s laundry detergent in her laundry room.
At one point she says “Laundrin’ daisuki” (“I love Laundrin’“). She also stops for a cute phone moment, where she says moshi moshi, the Japanese phrase used to say hello when answering the phone.
While filming the ad, Lavigne also gave a short interview, sending out a message to her Japanese fans.
The making-of video shows her receiving a huge kimono-clad Hello Kitty plushie after the shoot.
The ad comes shortly after the February release of Lavigne’s sixth studio album, Head Above Water. One of the singles from the album, “Dumb Blonde” featuring Nicki Minaj, can be heard playing in the background throughout the clip.
With no upcoming tour dates lined up to promote the new album, Lavigne’s fans are happy to have her on their screens promoting Japanese products for the time being. And given that Katy Perry was the last big name celebrity to promote Laundrin’ in Japan, we have a feeling that more famous faces from the international music world will be appearing in commercials for the brand in future.
Source: PR Times
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- Avril Lavigne’s younger sister marries Japanese rock star
-- Japanese vocaloid Hatsune Miku takes the reins from Scarlett Johansson in new shampoo commercial
-- Handsome sunblock studs show off their muscles, lack of sunburns in sizzling Shiseido ad【Video】
External Link
https://soranews24.com/2019/06/06/avril-lavigne-speaks-japanese-in-new-commercial-for-laundrin-%E3%80%90video%E3%80%91/
© SoraNews24 | 1,269,370 |
. In it will be a breakdown of the past month’s post as well as any new tips and possibly even some cool stuff like new brushes or icon sets. So you’ll be sure not to miss any of my future posts on shading from imagination, where I get into detail about some of these tricks.) I will throw out a few quick tips here though:
1. FIGURE DRAWING. Until you’re at the point where your shading is on point and it’s time to start learning about material properties and specularity, forego the wine bottles and coffee cups for the natural curves angles and shapes of the human body. That is definitely the place to start learning about light sides and dark sides and hard and soft edges.
2. USE A TONED CANVAS. This mostly applies to digital painting, but starting with a mid-tone as an all-over base can really help grease your ability to perceive contrasting values. When you’re starting with a white page, there’s nowhere to go except darker, and that makes the process more difficult.
3. TOP-LEFT LIGHTING. When you start trying to apply what you’re learning to your own drawings, just stick with the time-tested artists’ favorite lighting source. It gives you everything you need to work with in learning to describe form. Save the fancy stuff, like backlighting and ambient lighting for once you have a firmer grasp on things.
CONCLUSION
I just want to remind you all that I am far, far away from where I’d like to be with my own understanding of light and shadow and I’m writing these to you as a fellow traveller, inviting you to come on the journey and sharing what I’ve learned already, as I’m learning it. I think this has two advantages: firstly, that we can all compare notes, share our experiences and make this an enriching, enjoyable process as well as potentially deepen all of our understanding in the way that comes only from shared experience and conversation. Secondly, as I pointed out earlier, it seems like once people cross a certain threshold they can no longer speak (helpfully) about the process of light and shadow. They’ve reached the baking point and come out of the kiln, you might say. Thirdly, they probably wouldn’t use amazingly terrible art puns and metaphors, and that makes learning fun. But for real —sometimes the best learning comes from your fellow student, and that’s what I’m offering you here.
So get motivated, get to practicing, and stop by here periodically and I’ll do my absolute best to provide you guys with more material and encouragement. And please, please, feel free to comment, share your work, link to your site or post with any questions you might have. I hope we can get as many people moving in the right direction as possible, together.
Thanks for reading and good luck!
-Brad | 1,269,371 |
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake that rocked Cushing, Oklahoma, on Nov. 6 damaged part of the city’s downtown district, but left no major damage to bridges or highways.
Early reports indicate the damage is not insignificant. A 16-block area in the hard-hit downtown has been sectioned off because of the danger posed by unstable structures and broken glass. No serious injuries or fatalities have been reported, however. Power in Cushing was out for less than an hour following the quake, and several gas leaks were taken care of.
The city, which has a population of 7,900, is noted as the world’s largest oil storage terminal and has experienced 19 earthquakes in just the past week, raising safety concerns. As of last week, the town’s tank farms held 58.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The number of earthquakes in the area has also risen exponentially. During the first half of this year, 618 temblors of M2.8 or greater have shaken Oklahoma.
Swiss Re noted in its September 2016 report The Link Between Hydrofracking, Wastewater Injection and Earthquakes: Key Issues for Re/insurers:
Since 2008 the number of magnitude 3.0 earthquakes per year has grown from roughly 2 per year to an average of nearly 3 per day. This now makes Oklahoma the most seismically active of the lower forty-eight states. It’s highly likely that this dramatic rise in earthquake occurrence is largely a consequence of human actions. Along with the increase in seismicity, Oklahoma has seen a growth in its oil and natural gas operations since 2008, specifically hydraulic fracturing (often referred to as “hydrofracking” or “fracking”) and the disposal of wastewater via deep well injection.
A number of states that have increased wastewater injection activity have seen increases in the number of induced earthquakes, the study said, but the reason for such a large increase in Oklahoma is still unclear. Because of the large amount of crude oil storage in the Cushing area, strong shaking is worrisome and has led some to proclaim that induced earthquakes are a national security threat.
According to AIR-Worldwide, it is not clear whether the occurrences of the small and intermediate size earthquakes being seen, and the stress changes from wastewater disposal could trigger larger and more damaging earthquakes. As a precaution, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered four new Arbuckle disposal wells to be shut and 10 to reduce their volume by 25%. In Osage County, 32 wells will have reduced volume.
Experts believe limiting injection volumes is helpful because of the link between high-volume injection and earthquakes, but Swiss Re’s report concluded that while, most companies participate in the suggested reductions following a detected earthquake, economic pressure to continue wastewater injection often prevails. “Changing regulations, and how the oil and gas industry respond, remain the biggest contributor to uncertainty of how the risk will change in the future,” Swiss Re said.
Similar Posts: | 1,269,372 |
Intense media speculation around Kristen Stewart’s love life began when she starred in the Twilight films alongside her former boyfriend Robert Pattinson. A highly publicised split and paparazzi snaps with rumoured girlfriends followed, but no matter how rapidly speculation has grown, Stewart has refused to discuss her relationships with the media.
The actress adopts the same mantra when it comes to being asked about her sexuality.
“Me not defining it right now is the whole basis of what I’m about,” Stewart told Variety. “If you don’t get it, I don’t have time for you.”
Stewart also highlighted the increasing amount of young people who are choosing not to label their sexuality and adopt a more fluid approach, a movement she says is important. “There’s acceptance that’s become really rampant and cool. You don’t have to immediately know how to define yourself.”
Despite being firm on the matter now, the 26-year-old explains she used to feel pressured to define her sexuality.
People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Show all 10 1 /10 People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Caitlyn Jenner People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Miley Cyrus Getty People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Kristen Stewart People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Cara Delevingne People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Keegan Hirst People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Ruby Rose People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights St Vincent (who's in a relationship with Cara Delevingne) People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Annie Lennox People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Ellen Page People who made 2015 a landmark year for LGBT rights Justice Anthony Kennedy
“I had to have some answer about who I was,” she says. “I felt this weird responsibility because I didn’t want to seem fearful. But nothing seemed appropriate. So I was like ‘F**k, how do I define that?’ I’m not going to."
Last year when questioned on her sexuality, Stewart replied: “Google me, I'm not hiding anything.” This is a point she's reiterated again while affirming that her relationships are something she continues to keep private. “When I was dating a guy, I would never talk about my relationships to anyone,“ she says. ”I feel the same way now. I’m not hiding sh*t.”
She has also previously spoken about the advancement of the sexually fluid movement, saying: “I think in three or four years, there are going to be a whole lot more people who don’t think it’s necessary to figure out if you’re gay or straight. It’s like just do your thing." | 1,269,373 |
In recent years, Somalia’s al-Shabab militia has banned smoking, playing soccer, watching movies, wearing bras, anything it deemed Western. Now, the al-Qaeda-linked group has targeted something else common in most of the rest of the world: the Internet.
In a statement — published on the Internet, of course — the militia said it has disallowed the use of the Internet in areas it controls and gave 15 days for telecommunications operations to comply. To those who refuse, the militia vowed retaliatory measures.
“Services known as mobile internet and fibre optics must be stopped in Somalia,” the militia said in a statement issued on the Facebook page of its al-Andalus radio station, according to a translation by the BBC. “Any firm or individual who does not comply will be seen to be working with the enemy and will be dealt with in accordance with Islamic law.”
For the past seven years, al-Shabab has sought to overthrow Somalia’s Western-backed government, imposing strict interpretations of sharia, or Islamic law, in areas it controls. Today, the militia has lost control of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and other key cities but remains a potent threat and still controls large swaths of the countryside. It continues to wage an insurgency, marked by suicide attacks and car bombings. In September, al-Shabab asserted responsibility for the siege of the Westgate Premier Shopping Mall in Nairobi, killing and injuring scores.
The Internet ban could very well hurt the militia’s ability to address its followers and spread propaganda. The militia frequently uses Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to disseminate its views, including during the assault on the Westgate, where it used Twitter to provide real-time commentary on the militants and the situation inside the mall.
What is al-Shabab, and are they a high priority in the U.S. war on terror? Daveed Gartenstein-Ross of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies explains. (The Washington Post)
Somalia, a country of about 10 million people that has been besieged by war and famine for more than two decades, has more than 126,000 Internet users, according to Internet World Stats, a Web site that provides data on Internet usage around the world. That figure is expected to grow, as fiber-optic cables are set to be introduced in the country and sizable numbers of the Somali diaspora have returned to seek economic opportunities.
Previous efforts to ban Somalis from using fundamental products of modern life, such as music, cellphone ring tones and money transfer services, have failed. Still, al-Shabab has attacked those who refused to comply with its decrees. In 2010, the militia staged bombings in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, that killed scores of people watching the soccer World Cup.
More recently, the militia set off a bomb outside Somalia’s largest bank last year after it refused to stop its operations in areas under the militia’s control. | 1,269,374 |
be used exclusively by that class. Alternatively, if you have lots of authentication-related work spanning more than one class or more than one framework, you could have them all use a category name like Authentication, which would help you see authentication activity across your entire application.
Don’t: Hide your logs behind conditionals.
Because the rendering of the logs is done after the fact by Console.app, there’s no need to filter your log messages programmatically through #if directives or other conditionals. Log everything simply and directly, using an appropriate type, and let the system take care of the rest.
Do: Practice gathering a sysdiagnose.
Get really good at obtaining a sysdiagnose from hardware out in the wild. Full instructions are available here, but the gist of the process is:
Press and hold a bunch of buttons.
Wait ten minutes.
Navigate to a screen deep inside Settings.app
Tap the zipped sysdiagnose and AirDrop it to your Mac (it’ll be ~300MB in size).
Once you have the sysdiagnose on your Mac, you can open the.logarchive file it contains in Console.app and see a dump of all the logs on that device. If you’ve heeded my advice on categories and subsystems, you should be able to filter down to the information you need in short order.
[record needle scratch] Hold on. Did you say I have to wait ten minutes?
Yes, it can take up to ten minutes for sysdiagnose to appear after one has been requested. Because of that delay, you don’t want to make sysdiagnoses part of a daily debugging routine. Instead, sysdiagnoses are useful in situations like this:
A minimally tech-savvy customer reports a bug in production within a few minutes of the event. Walk them through the sysdiagnose steps and find a way for them to send it to you.
You or someone on your team encounters a bug while away-from-keyboard. Trigger a sysdiagnose immediately, and then grab it from the device once it’s back in the office.
Don’t: Force all format arguments to a public scope.
If you are used to reading all your log output in plain text, it can be a real jolt to have to deal with the Unified Logging system’s private-by-default policy. Resist the temptation to force all your format arguments to a {public} scope. Not only does that risk disclosing your customers’ private information (say, if they send a sysdiagnose to another company), but it also risks exposing your company’s secrets. It’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where an error log accidentally reveals your OAuth credentials in plain text in production logs.
Do: Watch these WWDC videos.
Both of these are required material for anyone interested in Unified Logging:
Departing Note | 1,269,375 |
only took them a year to confirm the breakout (or form a nasty, long-term double top, of course). Gang of 12 Member DB said the US economy would grow 6% in 2010 on Jan 14th and we went into that weekend bearish with Monday being Martin Luther King Day and that Tuesday, the 19th, I warned that the markets were "shell-shocked" and unable to hear bad news or, in the very least "comfortably numb." Here’s what happened next:
Like Cramer, I could almost say the same exact thing I said last year now and for pretty much the same reasons and, like Cramer, I would have pretty much the same fool saying the exact opposite as I am at the same time. I wonder who will "win" this round? In "news for the numb" this morning we have US GDP at 2.6%, less than one-half of DB’s prediction for the year yet we’re STILL at 11,500 on the Dow. We also have Q3 Corporate Profits off a whopping 25% of estimates at 2.4% (vs. 3.2%) yet we’re STILL at 11,500 on the Dow and MBA Mortgage Applications fell 18.6% this week after falling "just" 2.3% last week despite the fact that the 30-year rate flatlined at 4.85% yet we are STILL at Dow 11,500.
Phil
www.philstockworld.com
Philip R. Davis is a founder of Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com), a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders. Mr. Davis is a serial entrepreneur, having founded software company Accu-Title, a real estate title insurance software solution, and is also the President of the Delphi Consulting Corp., an M&A consulting firm that helps large and small companies obtain funding and close deals. He was also the founder of Accu-Search, a property data corporation that was sold to DataTrace in 2004 and Personality Plus, a precursor to eHarmony.com. Phil was a former editor of a UMass/Amherst humor magazine and it shows in his writing -- which is filled with colorful commentary along with very specific ideas on stock option purchases (Phil rarely holds actual stocks). Visit: Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com)
© 2010 Copyright PhilStockWorld - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.
© 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.
| 1,269,376 |
National reciprocity should have had an easy time of it. After all, the stars were as aligned in favor of pro-gun legislation as you were going to find. The entire government leans right politically, which should have made it a slam dunk.
Then Las Vegas happened, and everything got turned upside down.
Now, it appears the House is set to move on two gun bills heading out of committee. One of which is national reciprocity.
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider two gun measures Wednesday, including one measure that is a top priority of the National Rifle Association. The committee will vote on a bill that allows gun owners with permits to carry concealed weapons reciprocity to travel to other states with their firearms. It will also take up another measure that updates the federal background check system after problems were exposed following a mass shooting at a Texas church earlier this month. Congress hasn’t moved stand-alone legislation after the massacre in Las Vegas in October, when a shooter killed at least 58 people and injured hundreds more. Lawmakers from both parties said it was time to regulate bump fire stocks, accessories that the gunman used to allow his firearms to fire similar to automatic weapons. But top Republican leaders suggested new legislation may not be needed on bump stocks because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives could address the issue administratively. So far the agency hasn’t publicly stated whether it plans to take action on the accessories and bipartisan legislation has been introduced to ban them, but hasn’t advanced yet in the House or Senate. The new House legislation addressing the background check does call for a study on the devices. The bill directs the Bureau of Justice Statistics to determine how many times a bump stock was used during a crime in the United States and report back to congressional committees in six months.
A study on bump stocks is hardly the worst thing that could happen on that front.
With regard to the background check proposal, this is actually welcome news. While many get annoyed at background checks–and I tend to as well–that’s the program in place now. Having it work correctly means it becomes harder for gun grabbers to make a play for our firearms down the road. After all, it’s the idiots with the guns that are causing the problems, not the guns.
But the big boy is national reciprocity. While I tend to believe constitutional carry should be the law of the land, it’s not. National reciprocity will make it easier for those with concealed carry permits to carry while traveling outside of their home state. As it stands, carriers have to navigate a byzantine labyrinth of reciprocity between states that invariably creates holes because one state doesn’t like the way another state issues their permits.
National reciprocity clears up the whole process for everyone involved.
The fact that it also means states like California that recognize no other permits and won’t issue out-of-state permits can no longer deny individuals from other states their right to keep and bear arms while visiting is just a major bonus. | 1,269,377 |
�A full year, and a great year. After that, it’s for Greg [Daniels] and NBC to decide.” Lieberstein declined to discuss the previously reported and ongoing negotiations between NBC and key cast members and writers, except to acknowledge they’re taking place. “There are negotiations going on, but I don’t think they feel different than other shows that have negotiations in their later years,” he says. “I’m optimistic.” Would Lieberstein like to know in advance if next season is the last for The Office? “Well, it’s not like we’re Lost, or one of those shows where you kill people off or something,” he laughs. “But we do do these season-long arcs. And there’s a lot of stuff we’ve talked about that we could do if it were the last season. But again, that’s not my call.”
A (minor) legend from The Mary Tyler Moore show, and a veteran of The Wire and True Blood, will make guest appearances this season.
Chris Bauer, from the above-mentioned HBO dramas (Andy Bellefleur on True Blood, Frank Sobotka on The Wire), will soon visit Scranton as “a manager of another branch who’s angry at Jim and Dwight over clients that they’ve been stealing,” according to Lieberstein. Then, as part of the Florida arc, MTM regular Georgia Engel — Georgette! — will guest for three episodes. “Erin gets a job in Florida helping out an older lady, and she’s played by Georgia,” he says. “The younger people on the show, having not grown up with Mary Tyler Moore, didn’t feel the same sort of excitement I did. But I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ Her delivery is still fantastic.”
An upcoming episode will blend Office politics with the politics of fund-raisers.
“Angela’s husband is honored by an animal-rights group” in one episode, Lieberstein says. Robert California buys a table at the charity dinner, resulting in Pam and Phyllis duking it out for the rights to the table’s floral centerpiece. Also: “Dwight has a poor understanding of the concept behind a silent auction and ends up buying everything.”
It could be a while before we know if Dwight really is a father.
While this year’s season finale won’t have many true cliff-hangers, Lieberstein says one thread that will be addressed in the episode is the matter of just who is Angela’s baby daddy. “We will resolve it, definitively.” Lieberstein promises. “You won’t see the answer this season. You will see how it’s resolved.” | 1,269,378 |
Turkish Cypriot authorities trying to identify Greek Cypriot boy in flag incident during pilgrimage in the north
A video published by Turkish media shows a person, purportedly a Greek Cypriot teenager, pulling down a Turkish flag in a local schoolyard during a pilgrimage in the north.
According to local media, over 2000 Greek Cypriots visited on Sunday their village of origin in Lysi/Akdogan in the north, where they were able to hold a church service for the first time in 45 years.
The visit was coordinated with Turkish Cypriot authorities that granted special permission, while local police were also on site according to reports.
A known social media influencer in the south strongly condemned the teen’s behaviour after a video emerged of the incident
According to Turkish Cypriot media, one of the visitors described as a 16-year-old male, was captured on security camera pulling down a Turkish flag while he is also believed to have stolen a photograph of the late Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.
The boy is believed to have managed to jump over the fence at the village’s primary school where he allegedly went inside a classroom and tried to take down photographs that were hanging on the wall, managing to remove only one.
He was then seen on video approaching a flag pole in the schoolyard and using a knife to cut the flag ropes. He was then able to pull down the Turkish flag and run away.
A Greek Cypriot peace activist, originally from Lysi, initially posted a comment on Facebook dismissing allegations that the perpetrators were Greek Cypriots, saying it could be the work of Turkish nationalists who wanted to stir up trouble. He went on to explain that there was a large crowd and police presence in the area, making the task unthinkable.
But the Facebook user, a known social media influencer in the south who later deleted the original post, strongly condemned the teen’s behaviour after a video emerged of the incident.
“A spoiled brat, who was caught in a moment of nationalistic exhilaration, destroyed efforts of cooperation and mutual respect that took a year and half to build and yield results,” he wrote.
Isolated incident
But another Greek Cypriot representative from Lysi, Andreas Kaouris, told the Cyprus News Agency that Sunday’s visit could not be be overshadowed by an isolated incident.
“A tsunami of love was demonstrated by the Lysiotes on Sunday, as over 2000 came to their birth land on the occasion of the Feast of the Virgin Mother, and this could not in any way be overshadowed by an isolated incident carried out by a 16-year-old,” Kaouris said.
Turkish Cypriot officials said they were investigating the incident and trying to determine the identity of the teenager, while media reports said Greek Cypriot officials would be asked to pitch in.
Unconfirmed reports said the boy later showed remorse and apologised over the incident. | 1,269,379 |
Facebook Support is the means by which Facebook helps their customers with issues arising as they make use of the service every day.
Some individuals know it as Facebook Support while and some Facebook Customer Services or even Help Center.
This is an easy way to receive answers to your Facebook-related problems. It can be done without consulting anyone but the experts who actually created it.
Most people consider this to be a waste of time but I assure you it’s the best. I personally have made mistakes because of my unawareness. I have even lost a Facebook account as a result of being ignorant of this fact.
Now, I don’t want you to make such mistakes so I will tell you how you can contact Facebook Customer Service directly and get your problems resolved.
About Facebook Support
I have briefed you on the use of Facebook Support but most importantly, I will like you to understand you can do a whole lot with this service.
It is relevant to users and it gives you the opportunity to ask questions only the service providers can answer. Examples of these questions are;
What to do if you suspect your account has been hacked
How to verify your Facebook page
How to customize your own page
Way to control received contents
These are just a few. Even more, questions are asked in areas of publishing. That is, questions related to the publishing of videos, contents, and photos.
The beautiful thing about Facebook Support is that it’s available to you 24hours every day and as long as you are Facebook users, you have the right to access it and get a response on anything about Facebook.
It is of great interest to users who are new to the social media platform because it makes Facebook your personal guide on matters arising.
How to Contact Facebook Support
Contacting Facebook Support can be done in two different ways. These are both ways I contact Facebook to rectify problems. They are reliable at any time.
The first is;
Facebook Help Center website
This is question and answer based. The website presents to you questions frequently asked even before you ask them. But if your question is not in any of the suggested questions presented to you, you can ask by using the function available to you on the site
The second is;
Facebook Customer Support number
The number is available on the Facebook help center. The number transfers you directly to an agent. For me, it is preferable because it allows me to express yourself and have a one on one conversation with the agent.
The agents themselves can even enlighten you on other service provided by Facebook and teach you how to approach issues easily for the sake of time. This is even more flexible than the Help center website.
Am sure I have been able to answer your questions on Facebook Support and hope to do even more.
Do not hesitate to apply this if you at any point in time you have issues with your Facebook account or Facebook usage. Please share to help your friends who might need this. | 1,269,380 |
UAW hosts poker run to VA Sunday
By MELINDA WILLIAMS
[email protected]
Military veterans from United Auto Workers (UAW) 2069 in Dublin will host its 14th annual poker run to the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in Salem Sunday.
Mark Peterson, UAW Veterans Committee chairman, said motorcyclists throughout the New River Valley are invited to join in the poker run. Registration will be held at the union hall at 9 a.m. Riders leave precisely at 10:30.
Poker run participants enjoy in a countryside journey through Eggleston, Newport and New Castle, en route to the VA Hospital.
Committee member Eric Patton said, “The VA Hospital poker run promises to be a celebration of great spirit as we recognize and pay tribute to the service and sacrifices of the veterans/patients at the medical center.
The veterans at the VA are humble but proud of their service. When we recognize the service branches, it’s turns into a competition of who can hoot and ooh-rah the loudest!” he added
The recognition program includes certificates of appreciation, tokens of gratitude and lots of hand clapping and singing, according to Patton. The veterans committee also provides a pizza party and speakers comment on the veterans’ honorable service.
“We particularly enjoy sponsoring activities at the Veterans Hospital in Salem. Over the years, the committee has gained a good reputation at the VA for providing a very festive and party-like atmosphere with the patients and staff. It’s a tremendous and fun-filled day for everyone!” said Mark Peterson.
Each year, the committee schedules three or four events at the Veterans Hospital, including a huge catfish fry and an inspiring and warm-hearted Christmas party.
Peterson added, “We have a great support base around the NRV, our closest friends are the NRV Christian Motorcycle Association (CMA), at the union hall the CMA will provide bike blessings and offer any help needed. They’re a great group that supports God and Country.”
Many white and blue collar workers and public servants will be involved in Sunday’s run. Peterson said they are appreciative and are privileged to have the opportunity to host an event that brings so many good people together.
“At the VA Hospital, we are reminded of the problems that afflict those who answered the call of duty on and off of the battlefield. Their problems range from the terminally ill to outpatient care. We are reminded that many veterans do without, because they, too, suffer from stringent budget cuts,” said Peterson. “All across America, we find some of the oldest and most disabled, yet charming and wonderful veterans that eagerly look forward to a fun filled day and a little new camaraderie. For sure … it will be a blessed day.”
Written by: Editor on August 14, 2014.
Comments
comments | 1,269,381 |
Thrasher Font – Thrasher, is a top-quality Destroy font that’s designed by Billy Argel and is accessible without spending a dime obtain and private use. The free model gives all uppercase and lowercase letters and some particular characters too. Thrasher is a month-to-month skateboarding journal primarily based in 1981 offering skateboard and music-related articles, footage, interviews, skatepark critiques, and so forth. The font used for the emblem of the journal is Banco, a keen titling typeface initially designed by utilizing Roger Excoffon for the Fonderie Olive factory in 1951.
Thrasher Font
However, as quickly because the journal decided its cultural legs inside the West Coast skate scene and previous, the font changed into rapidly disambiguated from its island roots and re-contextualized as a picture and signifier of skate tradition and all that it stood for. Aside from skateboarding, Thrasher has often held marijuana customized close to its chest as inspirations, dub, and reggae, so the utilization of Banco typeface on its masthead is wise.
Free Download Thrasher Font
Thrasher is essentially skateboarding’s Bible: editorially communicate me, its voice has often been via skaters for skaters. Caring little for the acceptance and understanding of outsiders, present-day editor-in-leader Jake Phelps has constructed the information’s status on its honesty and unmerciful insurance coverage of the approach to life and all of its surrounding ephemera. As everybody is aware of that, the Thrasher is a perfect platform for rising video games, and it permits their clients to create their very personal video games. You could even play video games developed by totally different clients as properly. The developer members make use of some normal Thrasher Fonts of their video games for giving the sort to their video games. All such Thrasher fonts play a major place in highlighting one factor inside the video games, or it would even use to look at the game theme. Click on the below link/Button to Obtain the Thrasher font.
Download
You can practice this free font family for enormous designing approaches thus far. Create attractive logos, brochure layout, book covers, banners designs, title designing, posters making, invitations. Also, as wedding card texts, printing within the fabric industry, and lots of others. Moreover, using that elegant font for printing magazines is the best idea.
Final Words
Get in touch with us today for more information and start your journey with us. If you have some words you want to shares or if you have any Questions Related to us, you can Contact Us. We replay to you as soon as possible. You can also follow us to stay tuned and get the latest updates first on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. If you like this font, then share it with your friends and colleagues at your social networks. And tell us your experience with it in the comments below.
Related Posts | 1,269,382 |
The controversy surrounding One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen witnessed yet another turn on Saturday with the veterans deciding to continue their protest in the form of relay hunger strike.
Hundreds of army veterans held a 'Sainik Ekta' rally on Saturday to press for "honest and truthful justice" as they rejected the OROP scheme announced by the government even as some ex-servicemen groups dissociated themselves from the demonstration. The rally, which began at 10.00 AM at Jantar Mantar in the national capital, was attended by ex-servicemen from different parts of the country. Also Read: Soldiers don't do politics, call off OROP rally: Government to veterans
Various ex-servicemen groups had come under the common banner of United Front of Ex-Servicemen Movement (UFESM) to hold protests across the country for nearly three months demanding implementation of OROP.
However, cracks appeared in the front this week as its various factions levelled allegations against each other. While a section of the veterans were against holding the 'Sainkik Ekta' rally, others feel they have been let down by the government, which had announced OROP on Saturday last. Also Read: PM Modi's assurance fails to break OROP deadlock, veterans to continue stir
On Wednesday, Lt Gen (retd) Balbir Singh, a key member of the front, had announced the exit of his group, Indian Ex- Services League, citing lack of cohesion and the continuance of protests. Other participants in the agitation, including Maj Gen (retd) Satbir Singh, have rejected the government's version of OROP and have now put forward seven points of dissent.
"The government has created avoidable confusion by including VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) in their announcement as it does not exist in the defence forces. However, those who have taken premature retirement must come under OROP," Satbir said.
The veterans have also objected to the government's taking of the calendar year 2013 instead of financial year 2013-14 for fixing the base.
"The defence minister had earlier assured that the pensions would be taken from the top of the pay scales, but now the government seems to have gone to an unknown concept," he said.
The ex-servicemen are also opposed to the formation of a one-man judicial commission and demanded that it should be composed of three ex-servicemen, one serving officer and a bureaucrat. Also, the deadline for the commission to come out with a report on the implementation of the OROP should be one month instead of the six proposed by the government.
The protesting veterans have also demanded that the OROP should be independent of the Central Pay Commission and the concept should be in perpetuity.
Rejecting the government's proposal of pension revision every five years, Satbir said, "We had agreed to even two years, but now we seek our original demand of revision every year. | 1,269,383 |
Many NJ Democrats who voted against Phil Murphy claim that he bought this election, but the truth is, both 2017 Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates won because they started their campaigns years ago.
Murphy has been working rooms from here to D.C. since he returned from Germany, and Guadagno has been doing photo ops in soup kitchens across the counties in Christie’s shadow for the past 7 years.
The truth is, elections are won by the candidates who work the hardest to win. The candidates who start to plan to be governor in 2018 in 2010.
Elections are not won by money alone. They are not won by any single dirty trick or amazing speech.
Case in point: the 2016 presidential election. By September 30, 2016, Donald Trump had spoken to 337,995 rally attendees to Hillary Clinton’s 13,970. Trump would not be president now had he not had 24 times more rally attendees than Clinton.
Don’t get me started on rally attendance, either. Trump’s rallies were like Bonnaroos to Clinton’s Fyre Festivals. Clinton’s message moved through social media, sure, but it was not on the street.
Of course, Trump’s inauguration attendance was mediocre compared to Obama’s, but being president is much more difficult, and a much less forgiving job than being a candidate.
Speaking of Obama, he shared the same conclusion about Clinton’s loss during a news conference in the wake of Trump’s triumphant victory: “How we organize politically I think is something that we should spend some time thinking about. I believe that we have better ideas, but I also believe that good ideas don’t matter if people don’t hear them.”
“You know, I won Iowa not because the demographics dictated that I would win Iowa. It was because I spent 87 days going to every small town and fair and fish fry and VFW hall, and there were some counties where I might have lost, but maybe I lost by 20 points instead of 50 points,” spake Obama.
So when you shake your progressive fist at Phil Murphy, a candidate for whom Levy Sanders campaigned while his father Bernie declined to endorse his own former state campaign chair, know that Murphy won because he’s been working toward this job for years, hiring key county operatives and glad-handing in the Chamber train since 2015.
Congrats Phil, and good luck.
Congrats Kim, you beat the surging Ciat-heads and you beat them with class. With your boss’s numbers, you’ll need more than luck to pull this off.
You’d better have some Russian friends…
Nick West is a political junky, writer, and Jersey-based app developer who just can’t keep his mouth shut. You can follow him on Twitter @n1ckw3st
(Visited 1,996 times, 1 visits today) | 1,269,384 |
We never got to read the Jimi Hendrix cook book. If these photographs of his stay at Ringo Starr’s flat at 34 Montagu Square, London, in 1966 are pointers, Hendrix’s recipes would have featured tea and cigarette ash as essential ingredients. Moreover, the Jimi Hendrix guide to interior design remains unpublished, featuring a section on how to redecorate an ex-Beatles property: 1. Buy acid; 2. Buy whitewash; 3. Take acid and throw whitewash over everything. You’d suppose Starr would’ve thanked Hendrix for sprucing up the hum-drum pad decorated in miserable colours, with sauna-styled pine walls and sparse furniture. But, no. Starr threw his lodger out. Some people, eh, no appreciation of a true artist.
“There were guitar players weeping. They had to mop the floor up. He was piling it on, solo after solo. I could see everyone’s fillings falling out. When he finished, it was silence. Nobody knew what to do. Everybody was dumbstruck, completely in shock” – Vocalist Terry Reid recalls Hendrix’s 1966 show at London’s Bag O’Nails
“I remember thinking that here was a force to be reckoned with. It scared me, because he was clearly going to be a huge star, and just as we are finding our own speed, here was the real thing… “I remember thinking that here was a force to be reckoned with. It scared me, because he was clearly going to be a huge star, and just as we are finding our own speed, here was the real thing” – Eric Clapton recalls Hendrix joining him on the stage of Portland Hall in Regent Polytechnic in 1966 to play an impromptu version of Howlin’ Wolf’s Killin’ Floor
“I was just having a pre-gig pint in a pub across the road and in comes this guy who turns out to be Jimi Hendrix. Now, we had already heard about Jimi on the grapevine. Jimi came up to me and said: “Hi. I would like to sit in with the band”. I said it was fine with me but he’d obviously have to check it out with Eric and Ginger. So we went across to the gig, and Eric immediately said yes and Ginger said: “Oh, dunno about that” [laughs]. So he came on and plugged into my bass amp, and as far as I can remember he just blew us all away.” – Cream’s Jack Bruce
“Two weeks after The Bag O’Nails, when Cream appeared at The Marquee Club, Clapton was sporting a frizzy perm and he left his guitar feeding back against the amp, just as he’d seen Jimi do” – Johnny Black
Images by Petra Niemeier. | 1,269,385 |
, Elizabeth, Douglas Hall, David Cooper, and Vincent Palacios. 2012. Pulling Apart: A State By State Analysis of Income Trends. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute. http://goo.gl/siYAV
Mishel, Lawrence, Josh Bivens, Elise Gould, and Heidi Shierholz. 2012. The State of Working America, 12th Edition. An Economic Policy Institute book. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Myrdal, Gunnar. 1944. An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. New York: Harper & Bros.
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Various years. Taxpayer data provided to the author at the author’s request.
Piketty, Thomas. 2001. Les Hauts Revenus en France au 20e Siècle: Inégalités et Redistribution, 1901-1998 [France’s Top Incomes in the 20th Century: Inequality and Redistributive Issues, 1901-1998]. Paris: B. Grasset.
Piketty, Thomas, and Emmanuel Saez. 2001. Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998. NBER Working Paper 8467.
Piketty, Thomas, and Emmanuel Saez. 2003. “Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 118, no. 1.
Piketty, Thomas, and Emmanuel Saez. 2004. “Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-2002.” In Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century, edited by A.B. Atkinson and Thomas Piketty. New York: Oxford University Press. http://goo.gl/HA5O7v
Piketty, Thomas, and Emmanuel Saez. 2012. Downloadable Excel files with 2012 data updates to tables and figures in Piketty and Saez (2003). http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~saez/TabFig2012prel.xls
Saez, Emmanuel. 2012. Striking It Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States. Unpublished working paper, March. http://goo.gl/Eqw5r
Sommeiller, Estelle. 2006. Regional Income Inequality in the United States, 1913–2003. PhD. dissertation, University of Delaware.
Tcherneva, Pavlina R. 2014. “Reorienting Fiscal Policy: A Bottom-Up Approach.” Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, vol. 37, no. 1.
Thompson, Jeffrey, and Elias Leight. 2012. “Do Rising Top Income Shares Affect the Incomes or Earnings of Low and Middle-Income Families?” B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, vol. 12, no. 1, 1–38. | 1,269,386 |
FDA label, which was approved 13 years ago. Since then, studies by the World Health Organization and independent scientists have found that the drug is equally effective at a third of the original dose. What’s more, the drug can be used nine weeks into pregnancy, rather than just seven, as its label states. Both the WHO and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommend a lower dose and fewer doctors’ visits than outlined by the FDA. In its Monday ruling, the Texas court explained why the FDA-recommended approach has fallen out of favor:
[T]he FDA protocol is assuredly more imposing and unpleasant for the woman, requiring at least one additional visit to a clinic and allowing less control over the timing and convenience of the medically induced miscarriage. It also requires more of the physician’s time, as the physician must administer the second dose. The FDA protocol is also marginally more expensive, due to the increased dosage, notwithstanding any additional cost of travel, time off of work, and childcare. Most importantly, the FDA protocol removes medication abortion as an option for any woman who discovers she is pregnant or decides to terminate a pregnancy after [7 weeks].
Still, the court found the law was constitutional, except in cases where a woman’s life was endangered by lack of access to abortion medications.
When the FDA approved RU486 in 2000, some predicted it would lead to a surge in abortions and make it more difficult for opponents to fight—no more picketing abortion clinics. In fact, the overall number of abortions has dropped, and a greater share of women are getting abortions in the first weeks of pregnancy, thanks partly to abortion drugs, which can be used earlier than other readily available abortion methods. (One in five early abortions in the United States today are performed with medication.)
Abortion drugs can make it easier for rural women, in particular, to access early abortions. As New York magazine has reported, in 2008, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland launched a program to improve access in far-flung parts of Iowa by allowing doctors to prescribe abortion drugs remotely. Women could walk into any of the state’s 17 clinics, get an ultrasound, and consult with a doctor at one of Planned Parenthood’s larger, urban offices using internet video conferencing, after which the doctor would push a button and dispense the first dose.
But that model is slowly disappearing. Seventeen states—including Iowa—have laws on the books requiring the doctors who prescribe abortion drugs to be physically present. Like the Texas law requiring abortions to be performed in a particular kind of surgical center, the abortion-drug measures are ostensibly meant to protect women’s health. But in practice they block access. If the US Supreme Court moves ahead with the Oklahoma case, Greely of Stanford says it could be a litmus test for this strategy of restricting abortion through piecemeal legislation based on dubious concerns. “Any Supreme Court decision upholding one of these measures,” he says, “makes all the others that much more viable.” | 1,269,387 |
THE PENTAGON — The Defense Department has announced plans to repeal a long-standing policy that barred Democrats from serving in the military, sources confirmed today.
“Democrats, liberals, and swing voters will now be able to serve openly in the armed forces,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement. “As long as they meet readiness standards.”
“I can’t believe this day is actually here,” said Spc. Wade Serkis, a Democrat from California who enlisted in 2016. “It feels like I’m no longer living a lie.”
Not everyone was pleased with the announcement. Several Pentagon officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, condemned the decision.
“The military shouldn’t be used as a social experiment to see if communists and conservatives can work together,” one official said. “This is bad for unit cohesion, bad for morale, and it’s just plain wrong.”
Originally instituted in 1951 to target communists and socialists, the military political-orientation ban found new life under President Richard Nixon in 1971 as a way to ensure those “damn dirty hippies won’t be dragging down our troops in Vietnam,” Nixon said in one taped White House conversation.
But the policy had its drawbacks, since many draftees claimed they voted for Hubert Humphrey in an attempt to be rejected from service.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton attempted to push a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, allowing liberals to enlist as long as they didn’t share their abnormality with others. His changes were never formally enacted.
“It was a half measure,” said Joshua Nand, a political science professor at George Washington University. “Clinton would lose a large part of his base if he spoke out against Democrats serving, but he also knew there was no good way to allow them to serve without changing the culture of the military itself.”
This latest move from the Pentagon comes after years of in-depth studies and policy discussions. Meanwhile, critics of the ban have often pointed out its ineffectiveness.
For example, Green Party members are free to enlist, though none have. In addition, the percentage of service members who vote in elections has decreased sharply since the 1990s, despite constant complaints about government ineptitude and the corruption rampant in Washington, D.C.
The Pentagon estimates that roughly 10 Democrats currently serve in the uniform, albeit secretly. And a 2014 study by the Marine Corps cautioned that, “although Democrats may be useful in support roles, they should not be permitted in combat roles.”
“That’s the next fight,” Serkis said. “It’s ridiculous to think we can’t serve in combat. I personally know two liberals who are in the artillery, and one of them voted for Bernie Sanders.” | 1,269,388 |
The jam band Twiddle was born in Vermont in 2004 and has been touring aggressively in recent years. The group's slated to play an upcoming concert at Red Rocks on May 2, where the musicians will be joined by regular tour mates and fellow neo jammerati Pigeons Playing Ping Pong.
Westword recently spoke with Twiddle's Mihali Savoulidis while the vocalist and guitarist was on his way to Philadelphia for a solo gig.
Westword: Did Twiddle start in Vermont?
Mihail Savoulidis: Yeah, I went up to Castleton State College from New Jersey. Ryan Dempsey, our keyboard player, is from Burlington, and we both met there. Our drummer and original bassist went to a local high school near the college, but it all started in Castleton for sure.
I think you might know The Samples, who spent their early years in Vermont before moving out to Boulder in the later '80s?
Yes, I definitely know the Samples. My wife's father helped them out with tour managing for a while. I've known Sean [Kelly] for a while. We keep in touch.
Are you mostly an instrumental band?
We have a lot of jams that don't have vocals for sure, but we have a lot of vocals, too. It's probably 70/30 vocals-to-instrumentals now. In a live show, we definitely take our jams out and get loose.
Do you do most of the singing?
Yes, and I primarily write most of the songs.
Marijuana Deals Near You
Do you do any covers, or is it all original music? We do some covers. Sometimes we'll just come up with a cover that day, but we also have covers that have been in our catalog for a long while. We do "Mad World," the Donnie Darko tune, "Rocky Raccoon" by the Beatles, "I Want You Back" by the Jackson Five. "Funky Town." Those are songs we've been playing for a long time, and we'll sprinkle them in from time to time. We also do "D'yer Mak'er" by Led Zeppelin. The list is super long because there are a lot of covers we've just done once and then we never touched them again. So the band got going in 2004? Yeah, our first official show was in January of 2005, but before that we were rehearsing and writing together. Have you only had one person turn over so far in the band? Yeah, our original bass player Billy left in 2007. He wanted to go to Berklee [College of Music] and do some other stuff. The guy who replaced him, Zdenek [Gubb], is the youngest guy in the band. He had an interesting senior year of high school. He was playing shows with us in New York City and Boston and crashing on the spare bed in my room. Then his alarm would go off, and he would have to go to high school. | 1,269,389 |
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has ruled out making a deal with the Greens, saying the party has a “toxic cultural problem” around women.
Speaking to reporters while campaigning in the outer suburbs of Melbourne on Sunday, Andrews categorically ruled out striking a minority government deal with the Greens should Labor fail to win a majority at Saturday’s state election.
“For eight years I have been very clear,” Andrews said, “no deal will be offered and no deal will be done” if Labor fails to win majority government.
“I will not sit down, never sit down and negotiate with people who refuse to call out denigration of women.”
His comments come after a Greens candidate, Angus McAlpine, came under fire last week for previously releasing rap music that included misogynistic lyrics including date rape.
The Victorian Greens leader, Samantha Ratnam, told the ABC her party would work with Labor in the event of a hung parliament.
Ratnam said there were different ways a government could be formed, including granting confidence and supply agreements or having positions in government.
“All options are on the table, we would enter the negotiations with all those options on the table and we would see what would deliver us the best policy for the state,” Ratnam told the ABC.
“It’s very hard to imagine us working with the radical right wing, working with the Liberal party whose policies seem to be moving more towards the right wing every single day, they are fanning the flames of division, hatred and fear.”
Labor currently holds 45 out of 88 seats in the Victorian parliament. The Coalition holds 37, while the Greens have three seats and there are two independents.
While polling has shown Labor is slightly ahead, the party faces a significant challenge to hang onto seats from both the left and right.
In inner-city seats such as Richmond and Brunswick the government is facing a significant challenge from the Greens, while in Melbourne’s south-east the marginal seats of Bentleigh, Carrum, Frankston and Mordialloc – all of which Labor won off the Liberal party at the last election – remain key.
Both major parties made competing policy commitments on Sunday, with Andrews announcing Labor would spend $396m to provide free dental checks and treatment for the state’s 620,000 public school students.
The Liberal party leader, Matthew Guy, who has campaigned on a law and order platform, told the Herald Sun newspaper he would give magistrates the power to send non-violent teens to a 12-week bootcamp instead of sentencing them to youth justice centres.
The so-called “tough love” pilot program would be established for low-level offenders in order to “break the cycle of repeat offending”, he told the newspaper.
Participants would have to cook meals, learn trades such as carpentry and participate in team sports such as football and cricket, the Herald Sun reported. | 1,269,390 |
that our metrics were reported there successfully. To do so, open the InfluxDB command line interface again and use this command:
> influx > USE jmeter > SHOW MEASUREMENTS > SELECT * FROM “jmeter. all. a. avg ”
We should find metrics with a timestamp and an appropriate value:
Now that we see that all metrics were reported successfully from JMeter to InfluxDB, we are ready for out the last step - visualize reported metrics using Grafana.
Monitoring Performance Metrics in Grafana
First of all, let’s install Grafana on our local machine. Installation steps based on your system can be found through this link. For OS X the installation is very similar to the InfluxDB installations steps. Installation can also be performed via the brew package manager:
> brew install grafana
And another one to start the service:
> brew services start grafana
After that, Grafana should be available on http://localhost:3000. Use ‘admin’ as a default username and password to log in.
First of all, we need to specify the data source with our metrics. Click on “Add data source” on the welcome page:
On the next page put the appropriate configuration based on our previous steps, and click on the “Add” button to verify that Grafana can connect to InfluxDB:
Now we can create our first dashboard in Grafana. Open the Grafana menu by clicking on the top left button and go to Dashboards -> New:
I would definitely recommend going over Grafana documentation to understand the main principles and to learn how to create detailed graphs for different needs. You can use this link as an intro step.
But to explain briefly, you can create different dashboards and specify multiple rows that represent time series metrics, in each dashboard. Grafana takes the data from InfluxDB which was collected there from JMeter. By clicking on the top of each row, you can choose which metric that row should represent.
Grafana enables you to customize your metrics and graphs in any way you want. This makes it very flexible for your needs. You can combine all the useful information into one dashboard and use it for real-time monitoring of your performance scripts.
In addition, since all metrics are stored on your server database, you can keep these metrics forever and create performance patterns analysis during your next test executions. Just add more graphs. This will ensure you’re on top of JMeter monitoring!
Congratulations! You now know how to monitor JMeter non-GUI results with Grafana. To start testing and analyzing with BlazeMeter, just put your URL or JMX file in the box below and your test will start in minutes.
To learn JMeter, check out our free JMeter academy.
Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. | 1,269,391 |
METAIRIE, La. -- A year ago, running back Khiry Robinson was being touted as a breakout candidate. This summer, he appears to be more of an odd man out after the New Orleans Saints invested heavily in fellow backs Mark Ingram and C.J. Spiller.
But Robinson insisted that he hasn’t let any of those outward projections get him too high or too low.
Khiry Robinson has proven he can make key plays, including this TD run in overtime to beat the Bucs last season. AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman
“It’s all good. It’s never low,” said Robinson, who is excited to be back to “100 percent” after an arm injury sidelined him for seven games last year.
“I’m the type of person, I’m gonna get what I get and do what I do with it. So whether it’s 20 carries or one carry, I’m gonna do the best of my ability every play,” said the third-year pro, who cracked the Saints' roster as an undrafted tryout player out of West Texas A&M in 2013.
Robinson, 25, has proven an ability to seize his opportunities so far.
When Ingram was injured early last season, Robinson ran for a total of 245 yards in three games -- including a game-winning 18-yard touchdown run in overtime against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5.
In 2013, Robinson stepped up big in the playoffs when Pierre Thomas was hurt, running for 45 yards on eight carries as he helped run out the clock in a playoff win at Philadelphia. That’s when Saints coach Sean Payton revealed that his mentor, Bill Parcells, compared the hard-running, 6-foot, 220-pound Robinson to Hall of Famer Curtis Martin.
But Robinson’s rise stalled last year because of the broken arm, which limited him to a total of 12 carries for 32 yards over the final 10 weeks.
Worse yet, Ingram spent those final three months of the season proving he could be an every-down, No. 1 type of back. Instead of letting Ingram go in free agency, the Saints re-upped in a big way, signing Ingram to a four-year, $16 million contract.
The Saints did let Thomas go, but they replaced him with Spiller, who will likely split time as a runner and receiver out of the backfield.
Robinson insists he’s undaunted, though.
“I just gotta keep working,” said Robinson, who needs to keep developing other areas of his game like pass protection and receiving. “It’s all love in the backfield. We all work together, try to help each other. So I think it’s a good thing we’ve got a full backfield again. So if anybody goes down, we’ve got another player right up there to do the same thing.” | 1,269,392 |
tl;dr: the means determines the ends
Jay Gould famously said that “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.” Nothing would suit the banksters more than a shoot out between Proud Boys and Antifa. In fact, it is impossible to dismiss the possibility that Antifa was created for the purpose, complete with manual and logo.
Violence is the kleptocracy’s solution to everything — war (regime change), prison, torture, and pervasive surveillance. So the kleptocracy sells guns to fascists and whoever is foolish enough to get into a shoot-out with them. Then they make money on the anti-riot gear they sell to the police to suppress the incident, and then they make money on for-profit prisons when the survivors on both sides get shipped off to prison. So the kleptocracy is fine with punching Nazis, in fact, they are all for it.
I am old enough to remember the riots of April 1968. After Martin Luther King’s assassination there were riots in almost every major American city. Entire neighborhoods were burnt out. Those buildings that survived remained boarded up for decades, but the banks only increased their wealth and power. Capitalism is well adapted to civil disturbances and even civil war. Capitalism is not a plate glass window and you cannot smash it. You can, however, dismantle it.
If workers play by bankster rules on the bankster’s ground, workers will lose.
Let us consider unhappy Afghanistan. In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded for the purpose of installing a puppet government. Nine years later the Soviets evacuated Afghanistan, but the fighting continued, until the attack on 9/11, which was soon followed by the American phase of the war which continues as I write this. So how did violence work out for the Afghans?
Now let us consider Czechoslovakia, the Soviets drove the Nazis out, and never left. The people of Czechoslovakia did resist, but non-violently. Thousands perished in prison, but there was no armed resistance, not even in the aftermath of the 1968 Soviet invasion. There was an active human rights movement, which eventually formed the basis of the Velvet Revolution.
Ultimately the Czech Republic and Slovakia would separate, but peacefully.
Consider the situation in Prague or Bratislava and compare that to the situation in Kabul. I know where I would prefer to live. Violence begets violence. Violence is how you get meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Everywhere sustained non-violence has been employed, from India, to Alabama, to the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, to the Snap Revolution, to the fall of the Berlin Wall not only has non-violence succeeded in over-throwing dictatorships, but more importantly, replacing them with something better.
You can’t have a revolution without having a revolution, it is necessary to destroy your enemy’s base of power. It is not necessary to employ, indeed in necessary to avoid, violence. | 1,269,393 |
Only 30% of Rust developers use the programming language at work, according to a survey from the Rust Programming Blog.
The top 3 programming languages developers actually use Watch Now
Rust is steadily growing in popularity among developers, according to a Tuesday survey published by the Rust Programming Language Blog. Some 75% of programmers surveyed globally reported that they now use the language, up from 67% last year; however, it should be noted that since the survey was conducted by the Rust Programming Language Blog, it likely includes answers from a disproportionately high number of Rust users.
Named developers' most loved programming language by Stack Overflow, Rust is becoming an increasingly popular language to learn, the survey found: 23% of Rust users said they have been using it for three months or less. About 24% said they started using the language one to two years ago, while another 23% said they have been using it for more than two years.
The survey also examined how long it took Rust users to become productive coding in the language. More than 40% said they felt productive in the language in less than a month of use, and 70% said they felt productive in their first year. However, 22% said they do not yet feel productive at all, which could be a challenge to adoption, the survey noted.
SEE: IT Hiring Kit: Programmer (Tech Pro Research)
Rust projects are continuing to grow larger, with greater overall investments, the survey found. Medium to large investments in Rust--projects with over 10,000 and 100,000 lines of code--grew from 9% in 2016, to 16% in 2017, to 23% this year.
Regular Rust usage also increased in the past year. Daily usage of the language rose from 18% in 2017 to 24% in 2018, while weekly usage increased from 61% to 66%, according to the survey.
Rust usage in the workplace continues to grow steadily as well: While only 9% of developers surveyed said they work with Rust full time, this is an increase from 4% last year. Another 21% said they work with the language part-time, up from 17% last year.
In terms of the programming languages developers are most comfortable with, Rust actually ranked in the no. 2 spot, falling behind Python. The other top languages the developers surveyed said they were most comfortable with were C, JavaScript, Java, and C++.
For more information on how to become a developer and which programming languages to learn, check out this TechRepublic cheat sheet.
The big takeaways for tech leaders:
23% of Rust users said they have been using it for three months or less. -- Rust Programming Language Blog, 2018
Daily developer usage of the language rose from 18% in 2017 to 24% in 2018. -- Rust Programming Language Blog, 2018
Executive Briefing Newsletter Discover the secrets to IT leadership success with these tips on project management, budgets, and dealing with day-to-day challenges. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays Sign up today
Also see | 1,269,394 |
9.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard
Advertisements
For the second time this year MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has defeated Fox News in the coveted age 25-54 demographic, while Chris Matthews also defeated Fox News with younger viewers at 7 PM.
Maddow’s win wasn’t much of a surprise. Her coverage of Chris Christie and Bridgegate has led to a resurgence in her ratings with younger viewers. For the week, Madddow’s show averaged 341,000 viewers age 25-34, while Fox News’ The Kelly File averaged 335,000 viewers. Maddow also defeated Fox News for an entire week in January as well. The big surprise came with Chris Matthews beating Fox’s On The Record. For the week Matthews averaged 285,000 younger viewers, and Greta Van Sustern averaged 282,000. Matthews delivered the first win for MSNBC against Fox News since the 2012 Democratic convention in Charlotte.
Advertisements
Fox News’ big primetime lineup shakeup that was designed to attract younger viewers is looking like a bigger and bigger flop as the weeks go by. Fox just can’t young people to watch their ideology driven news network. By covering stories that Fox News won’t touch, MSNBC is winning over a demographic that is vital to their long term growth. One week ago, Maddow, Matthews and Lawrence O’Donnell all beat Fox News with younger viewers on Monday night. That one night of victory snowballed into an entire week of wins for Maddow and Matthews.
Fox News still doesn’t get it. The problem isn’t the hosts, or their timeslots. The problem is that the Republican talking points that they are pushing are wildly unpopular with the majority of the country. Fox News leads the cable news ratings because they have been able to keep other potential conservative competition off of the airwaves, and because Roger Ailes has convinced the conservative cable news audience that the only channel they can trust is Fox News.
It is interesting that Chris Hayes was given the 8 PM slot because it was assumed that he could attract younger viewers, but it is Chris Matthews who is winning his timeslot. The move to 7 PM, and the dropping of the replay of his show have both been a godsend to Matthews. He is no longer doing his show live when most people aren’t at home, and splitting his audience with a 7 PM replay.
Fox News will continue to dominate in terms of overall viewers until they get some real competition for their conservative audience, but MSNBC has stumbled on to a formula that works. Just as Fox News made their name with their coverage of the Lewinsky scandal in the 1990s, MSNBC is reaching new heights thanks to Chris Christie’s scandals.
As Fox’s audience continues to age, MSNBC is building a core audience of younger viewers. Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews are leading a revival at MSNBC, as younger viewers continue to reject the Republican agenda being pushed by Fox News. | 1,269,395 |
University of Tennessee collaborates in study: Dire drought ahead, may lead to massive tree death
Evidence uncovered by a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, geography professor suggests recent droughts could be the new normal. This is especially bad news for our nation's forests. For most, to find evidence that recent years' droughts have been record-breaking, they need not look past the withering garden or lawn. For Henri Grissino-Mayer he looks at the rings of trees over the past one thousand years. He can tell you that this drought is one of the worst in the last 600 years in America's Southwest and predicts worst are still to come.
Grissino-Mayer collaborated with a team of scientists led by Park Williams of Los Alamos National Laboratory and others from the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Arizona and Columbia University to evaluate how drought affects productivity and survival in conifer trees in the Southwestern U.S. Their findings are published this month in Nature Climate Change.
Tree rings act as time capsules for analyzing climate conditions because they grow more slowly in periods of drought and the size of rings they produce vary accordingly. Widely spaced rings indicate wetter seasons and narrow rings indicate drier seasons.
"Using a comprehensive tree-ring data set from A.D. 1000 to 2007, we found that the U.S. has suffered several'mega-droughts' in the last 1,000 years in the Southwest," said Grissino-Mayer. "But the most recent drought that began in the late 1990s lasted through the following decade and could become one of the worst, if not the worst, in history."
The researchers created a tree-ring-based index that catalogs the drought stress on forests which resolves the contributions of vapor-pressure deficit -- the difference between the moisture in the air and how much the air can hold -- and precipitation. They linked this information to disturbances that cause changes in forests, such as bark-beetle outbreaks, mortality and wildfires and compared these data with their model projections.
"Looking forward to 2050, our climate-forest stress model suggests we will see worse drought and increased tree mortality than we've seen in the past 1,000 years," Grissino-Mayer said. "This drought will be exacerbated by increasing temperatures globally, foreshadowing major changes in the structure and species composition of forests worldwide."
Increasing temperatures impact the water balance because they exponentially influence how much water evaporates into the atmosphere. More water in the air means less water in the ground. Trees need that water to survive, especially in water-limited areas like the American Southwest.
"We have nothing comparable in the past to today's environment and certainly tomorrow's environment," Grissino-Mayer said. "With increasing drought stress, our forests of tomorrow will hardly resemble our forests of yesterday."
Grissino-Mayer suggests forest management practices will need to adjust to the changes, noting the increased danger for wildfires even in East Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains. | 1,269,396 |
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 (H.R. 38) would provide relief for America’s 14.5 million permit holders who want to be certain of their carry rights across state lines. Their need is acute: The number of concealed carry permit holders has tripled since Congress first attempted to pass a reciprocity bill in 2008. Donald Trump, our permit-holder-in-chief, has announced his support for an interstate reciprocity law. But is the proposed statute constitutional? Reciprocity for nearly all types of licenses—even driver’s licenses—depends on voluntary arrangements among states, a practice that comports with the Tenth Amendment. Can the federal government compel reciprocity for concealed carry permits?
To find an answer, we must look in an unlikely place: the Constitution’s Commerce Clause. The clause empowers Congress to regulate interstate commerce, but since the 1930s, legislators have used it as a pretext to regulate—well, almost anything you can imagine. Worse yet, the U.S. Supreme Court, under the flag of loose constructionism, has largely upheld these laws, creating increasingly Orwellian definitions of both “interstate” and “commerce.” In 1942, for example, the Court ruled that under the Commerce Clause, Congress may regulate how much wheat a farmer is allowed to grow on his own farm, even if his produce never leaves the state (see Wickard v. Filburn). It only got worse from there.
After decades of dissipating the original meaning of the Commerce Clause, the U.S. Supreme Court went for broke in Scarborough v. United States. Scarborough held that there need only be a minor connection between firearms and interstate commerce—such as guns having once been shipped across state lines from the factory—for the firearms to be regulated forever afterward under the Commerce Clause. In the wake of Scarborough, several legal scholars ridiculed the theory that “federal power forever infects anything that contacts interstate commerce” (as law professor David Engdahl phrased it). Nevertheless, Scarborough’s precedent today offers genuine constitutional pedigree to concealed carry interstate reciprocity. This fact was not lost on the framers of the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, who refer to all handguns as having been “shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce”; that language creates a jurisdictional hook that guarantees the statute will pass constitutional muster under the Commerce Clause.
Let this be a lesson to gun prohibitionists and living constitutionalists (mostly the same crowd): Given enough time, loose constructionism produces ironic and unintended consequences. Scarborough, a spent shell in the war on original meaning, will become a nuclear bomb in any judicial review of reciprocity under the Commerce Clause.
With a concealed carry permit holder now president of the United States, we have cause for new optimism—interstate reciprocity is probably around the corner. It’s just profoundly ironic that the rudderless ship of loose constructionism now will be the vessel that returns us to liberty’s shore. | 1,269,397 |
A straightforward way to integrate some of New York City’s elementary schools would be to redraw zone lines so that schools pull students from a mix of neighborhoods.
But it is almost guaranteed that the city will not seek to boost school diversity that way, for a series of political and economic reasons Mayor Bill de Blasio spelled out on Friday.
“You have to also respect families who have made a decision to live in a certain area oftentimes because of a specific school,” de Blasio said when a reporter asked what is stopping the city from creating new zones to promote school integration.
Those families, he said, have “made massive life decisions and investments because of which school their kid would go to.”
School performance and property values are closely tied: Families who can afford to will pay a premium to live near a high-performing public school, which benefits local property owners. Redrawing the zones around such schools would mean fewer spots for the families who paid extra to live near them, which could also lower their property values.
And, of course, no mayor wants to suffer the wrath of irate middle and upper-class parents and property owners.
But that is exactly the scenario the city faces on the Upper West Side, where overcrowding at high-flying P.S. 199 has forced officials to propose a rezoning. Many 199 parents who would be rezoned for nearby P.S. 191, which has struggled with low test scores and reported discipline problems, are in an uproar. Not only would the zone change send their children to what many consider an inferior school, but it could also depress the value of their homes.
Parents have made both points in private conversations and public hearings that have roiled the community in recent weeks.
In the Upper West Side case and a similar one in Brooklyn, the city did not float the zone changes to spur integration. Rather, parents and officials decided that overcrowding at the sought-after (and largely white, middle-class) schools had become unsustainable.
Recently, de Blasio and top education officials have proposed less provocative means of promoting diversity.
Those include creating in-demand programs at schools to attract more middle-class families and having rich and poor schools form partnerships. (A deputy education chancellor recently touted school choice as a solution to segregation, but that applies mainly to high schools and some middle schools, whose enrollments are not limited by geographic zones.)
Critics who argue that those suggestions are insufficient have called for other measures, such as creating “super zones” that try to circumvent segregated neighborhoods or enrollment policies that let high-performing schools reserve some spots for needy students.
So far, de Blasio has appeared unconvinced. In his view — and many other people’s — the city’s deeply rooted segregation defies any quick education-policy fixes.
“This is the history of America,” he said Friday. “This is something much deeper than some kind of push-a-button solution.” | 1,269,398 |
all parents receive a snowsuit in a box for their newborns, so they can introduce them to snow from a very young age.
Milo. Our Finnish/Australian snow bunny. This is our 8 month old boy Milo. He is having his first play in the snow while wearing his government issue 'baby box' snow suit. In Finland, people let their babies sleep outside (in the pram) in sub zero conditions. It helps them sleep better apparently.
And from the snow of Finland to the mountains of Pakistan...
The Biafo Glacier The Biafo Glacier is the world's third longest glacier outside of the polar regions The Biafo Glacier is a 67 km (42 mi) long glacier in the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan
As we asked you to show us aspects of your country that we don’t often see in the media.
Observer New Review are now running a weekly photography assignment. Three of your photos are published in the magazine every Sunday and a selection in an online gallery. We particularly liked your photos on the theme of ‘ruin.’
December
After the death of several black men at the hands of the police in America, our team in the US asked for your stories and photos of your protests against police violence.
People of all races come together for #phillydiein Two protesters join hands for die in during Philadelphia protest against police brutality.
As the year drew to a close, you shared your memories of the Indian ocean tsunami that killed so many people, 10 years ago. One contributor, Andy Chaggar reflected on how he eventually managed to turn the terrible tragedy he experienced that day, into something positive:
As the ten year anniversary of the tsunami approaches I’m reflecting on my journey since and trying to raise awareness of International Disaster Volunteers work. Since IDV started we’ve raised over £500,000 and supported the recovery of over 12,000 disaster survivors. It’s been quite a journey, with some massive ups and downs. Ultimately though, it all comes down to that day in Khao Lak 10 years ago and my own personal experiences of disaster. I lost the woman I loved and was lucky to survive myself. As a result I’ve spent virtually every day since trying to make the most out of life and do what I can to make a difference. After all, I know more than most that anything could happen tomorrow.”
We’d just like to leave you with an image from Weather view, the monthly assignment where your photos are chosen by the picture desk for the Guardian’s weather page – this one shows the simple joy of winter sledding.
Winter Scene The joy of winter - sledding in the park. Photo taken in Markkleeberg, Germany (near Leipzig) on December 29th, 2014.
Many thanks for all your contributions to GuardianWitness in the past year and we wish you the very best for 2015.
| 1,269,399 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.