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After what we heard over the weekend from Brent Peterson, this comes as little surprise, but our hockey notes this afternoon start off with confirmation from Jordin Tootoo's camp (through his agent Kevin Epp, appearing on Vancouver radio) that the longtime Pred will indeed hit the open market.
Looking back on his time in Nashville, what would you consider to be his top highlights? Share your thoughts on Tootoo's time as a Predator in the comments below...
Go to People & Places -> Best Blog & cast your daily vote for OTF in the Toast of Music City 2012!
Nashville Predators News
Epp also confirms Jordin Tootoo wil hit free agent market - no deal in Nashville. — News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) June 25, 2012
#MYSMASHVILLE Fan Challenge - Nashville Predators
Do you think you can come up with something snappier than "It Stays With You" or "Heroes Play Here"? Take your shot and see if you can win the big prize...
How Did My "20 Bold Predictions" Fare? A Look Back… | The Predatorial
Kris holds himself accountable.
Paul McCann - Development camp starts... UPDATE... No More Tootoo
Paul cites the four guys he's looking forward to seeing at Development Camp.
Comparing the new Predators’ arena deal versus the old one | In Session
Nate Rau compares the past and proposed financial arrangement between the team and the city.
Around the Wide Wide World of Hockey
Stage set for start of CBA talks between NHL and NHLPA - Yahoo! Sports
The Players' Association is meeting this week in Chicago to prepare for negotiations, so buckle up and prepare for a bumpy ride.
Isles Offered Entire Draft | BlueJackets Xtra
Another example of why the Blue Jackets are the laughing stock of the NHL, as Scott Howson turned down a ridiculously stacked offer for the #2 overall pick.
Down Goes Brown: Announcing "The Best of Down Goes Brown" - In bookstores this fall, available for pre-order now
Yup, you can pre-order this instant classic for delivery by Amazon (it's scheduled for an October release).
Wild Insider: Fletcher taking on the sales job of the century | StarTribune.com
Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher is (reportedly) getting ready for his run at both Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.
Fantasy Hockey: How did NHL Draft trades affect player impact for next season? | Puck Daddy
It's never to early to start looking ahead to next season's fantasy draft.
Something That Never Happened (June 19, 2006) | Backhand Shelf
E offers typically deep thoughts on how Edmonton fans have had to deal with a Game 7 Stanley Cup Final loss from six years ago.
Could we get an offer sheet in the NHL this year? - The Globe and Mail
I'm gonna stick with "no". | 1,270,100 |
Can a county judge tell you what to post on your Facebook page?
That question is at the heart of the interesting case of Mark Byron, a Cincinnati-based photographer who was ordered to post a court-approved apology to his soon to be ex-wife on his Facebook page every day for 30 days -- or spend 60 days in jail.
“The idea that a court can say, ‘I order you not to post something or to post something’ seems to me to be a 1st Amendment issue,” free-speech expert Jack Greiner, told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
In June 2011, Byron was found guilty of civil domestic violence against his Elizabeth Byron, and the court gave her a temporary protection order.
In November, he posted a nasty note about his wife on his Facebook wall, which read: “If you are an evil, vindictive woman who wants to ruin your husband’s life and take your son’s father away from him completely -- all you need to do is say you’re scared of your husband or domestic partner and they’ll take him away!”
“I just went on Facebook to vent,” Byron said in a televised interview with WLWT-TV. “I kind of likened it to having a drink with a friend at a bar and telling them about things.”
Byron had blocked his wife from seeing his Facebook page, but she still learned about the post and proceeded to file a motion stating that the post violated the protection order, which prohibited her then husband “from causing the plaintiff or the child of the parties to suffer physical and/or mental abuse, harassment, annoyance or bodily injury.”
On Jan. 25, magistrate Paul Meyers agreed that Byron had violated the protection order and offered him a choice: go to jail for 60 days and pay a $500 fine, or pay back child support and post an apology, penned by Meyers on his Facebook page for 30 days beginning in mid-February.
So far, Elizabeth Byron has stayed out of the media spotlight, but Mark Byron is busily posting all the news stories about his case on his Facebook page.
If there is a lesson in this story, we suggest it’s that Facebook is probably not a good place to vent your frustrations.
As Tommy Jordan’s daughter learned when a video of her father reading aloud from a bratty screed she wrote against her parents went viral (and ended with her father shooting up her laptop), you can try to block people from seeing your Facebook writings, but there’s no guarantee they won’t find them eventually.
[For the record, 2:48 p.m. Feb. 24: An earlier version of this post misspelled Cincinnati in two references.]
ALSO:
Pope to tweet one message a day for 40 days of #Lent
Dad puts bullet in teen’s laptop; parents worldwide applaud
Study: Facebook profile beats IQ test in predicting job performance | 1,270,101 |
Ah, the Desert Tech MDR: The rifle many (based on my comments and emails) believe will be the savior of bullpups, and the best rifle ever made, sweeping aside all others. Well, that’s a pretty high bar for it to clear, but Desert Tech was at the 2017 SHOT Show, and had brought some of their pre-production MDR rifles with them for display.
For those unfamiliar, the MDR is a multicaliber bullpup rifle designed to be convertible from 2.26″ length calibers like 5.56mm to 2.8″ calibers like.308 Winchester, and anything compatible with those two lengths. It is designed to have better ergonomics and handling than previous bullpup designs, and to be shot equally well by right and left handed shooters. For more information on the MDR, you can check out last year’s SHOT Show article on it, here.
The MDR, however, has been in development publicly for over three years now, and the rifle is increasingly getting a reputation as vaporware. If we’re being fair, development of new weapons platforms simply takes time, and three or four years is not at all unusual for a new rifle, especially one from a fairly small company. The MDR has received this reputation more because it has been in the public eye for so long and been delayed several times, not that development itself is taking an unusually long time. So then the big question TFB had for Desert tech was: When? They were a little reticent to give an answer beyond “when it’s done it’s done”, but they did tell us they are shooting for the first shipments to occur in March.
Versus the 2016 versions, the MDR has changed just a little: The ejection swapping procedure is now tool-less, requiring only a bullet tip. Desert Tech was also far more forthcoming this year about the design of the rifle and how its mechanism functions than in previous years.
MSRPs are expected to stay the same as those listed on Desert Tech’s website, that is $2,275 for the 5.56mm version, $2,525 for the 7.62 version, and between $749-$999 for a conversion kit.
I should make one final note of something that struck me as amusing: While at the Desert Tech booth, no less than three other showgoers looking at MDR rifles commented on how “heavy” they felt. Desert Tech quoted about 8lbs for the standard length rifle, which isn’t so unusual a weight, and which is a figure that sounds about right to me. I think the “heavy” comments were the result of the MDR’s balance point being a couple of inches behind the pistol grip, which torques the wrist pretty good and causes noticeable strain, hence the “heavy” feeling! I don’t think this balance point is unique to the MDR among bullpups, but I felt it was worth pointing out. | 1,270,102 |
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe also known as the Holocaust Memorial, is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, designed by American architect Peter Eisenman, was dedicated on May 10 2005 in central Berlin, Germany. The memorial is located 100 meters away from Berlin´s main architectonical symbol, the Brandenburger Gate, on a 19.073 m2 large field. It is composed of 2.711 stelae in high quality gray stone slabs. Each stelae is 0,95 m wide and 2,38 m long. The height varies from 4,7 m down to 0,2 m. There are no inscriptions on the stelae. An underground information center at the eastern side of the field houses an information center and an exhibition about the Holocaust which includes records from the Yad Vashem database about 3.5 millions of the Jews that were killed in the Holocaust.
In the center of Berlin, where the no-man’s land of the Wall had snaked through, the federal government designated a public space to be used for the planned memorial. The site is located right where the Nazi dictatorship’s hub of power had been, in direct proximity to Hitler’s former Chancellery of the Reich. Although the location was now decided, opinion was sharply divided over the form the memorial should take. The monument has been criticized for only commemorating the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, however, other memorials have subsequently opened which commemorate other identifiable groups that were also victims of the Nazis, for example, the Memorial to H0m0$exu@s Persecuted Under Nazism (in 2008) and the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialism (in 2012). Many critics argued that the design should include names of victims, as well as the numbers of people killed and the places where the killings occurred. Meanwhile, architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff claimed the memorial "is able to convey the scope of the Holocaust's horrors without stooping to sentimentality - showing how abstraction can be the most powerful tool for conveying the complexities of human emotion."
The history of the memorial dates back to 1988 when the publisher Lea Rosh took the initiative to build a Holocaust-memorial in Berlin. A competition was made in 1994 but the winning proposal was not well received by the German Government, which however decided to continue the work by initiating a second contest in 1997. In 1999 the jury decided to give the commission to architect Peter Eisenman and in 2003 the building started.
It is estimated that some 3.5 million visitors entered the memorial in the first year it was open, or about 10,000 every day. About 490,000 people also visited the underground Information Center, 40% of them non-Germans. The foundation operating the memorial considered this a success; its head, Uwe Neumärker, called the memorial a "tourist magnet".
Image credit mmccouch
Image credit mmccouch
Image credit mmccouch | 1,270,103 |
Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act. Tell them specifically about Ahed’s arrest, and urge them to act for her release. Tell them to pressure Israel to free Ahed and other detained Palestinian kids. Call the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak to your Representative’s office. CODEPINK has an action to highlight this case specifically. Take action around the world : From 10 January to 20 January, there is an international week of action to contact local parliamentarians in each country and urge the freedom of Ahed Tamimi and her fellow Palestinian prisoners. Find our sample letters and contact addresses in multiple languages here!
: From 10 January to 20 January, there is an international week of action to contact local parliamentarians in each country and urge the freedom of Ahed Tamimi and her fellow Palestinian prisoners. Find our sample letters and contact addresses in multiple languages here! Call your nearest Israeli embassy and let them know that you know about the detention of Ahed Tamimi in Nabi Saleh and other Palestinian child prisoners. Demand Ahed, her mother Nariman, and the other detained children be immediately released. Contact infomation here: https://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/israel
and let them know that you know about the detention of Ahed Tamimi in Nabi Saleh and other Palestinian child prisoners. Demand Ahed, her mother Nariman, and the other detained children be immediately released. Contact infomation here: https://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/israel Sign the petition. Over 150,000 people have already signed on to demand freedom for Ahed: https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/free_ahed/?feiNukb
Over 150,000 people have already signed on to demand freedom for Ahed: https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/free_ahed/?feiNukb Organize a protest for Ahed or join one of the many protests for Jerusalem and distribute this post and other news about Ahed and the Palestinian prisoners. Get others involved in the struggle for Palestinian freedom! Build the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel and complicit corporations like HP and G4S.
and distribute this post and other news about Ahed and the Palestinian prisoners. Get others involved in the struggle for Palestinian freedom! Build the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel and complicit corporations like HP and G4S. Write to Ahed and Nariman. While Zionist jailers frequently censor Palestinian prisoners’ mail, these letters can help bolster morale and even send a message to the jailers and censors themselves. Write to Ahed Tamimi or Nariman Tamimi (choose one and address your letter to one only) at: HaSharon prison
Ben Yehuda, P.O. Box 7
40 330 Israel
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| 1,270,104 |
Tupungato/Shutterstock The Windy City is famous for a lot of things, including the biting winter breeze off Lake Michigan and blowhard politicians.
Whether Chicago got its pet name from one or the other doesn’t really matter, since both fit.
But soon, the place also called the Second City will be known as something else: The municipal black hole.
It’s only a matter of when, not if, Chicago will consume itself financially, and will start sucking in the wealth of anyone and anything connected to it, just as black holes in space eat the energy of nearby stars.
It’s easy to lay the blame on runaway pension liabilities, not uncommon in cities and states across this country. But Chicago’s trouble is deeper than most, and recent decisions by the state of Illinois will only make things worse.
The Fiscal Times rates over 100 municipalities based on their fiscal strength. Chicago is dead last.
The city has little in reserve to cover unexpected expenses or a drop in revenue. Its general fund balance covers only 6.27% of annual expenditures. Meanwhile, Chicago carries a lot of debt. Its long-term obligations are almost 300% of revenue.
The city spends one-fifth of its budget covering required pension contributions, but it’s still not enough. As of 2015, one of the city’s larger pensions held just 33% of what it needs to meet its obligations. The Municipal Employee’s Annuity and Benefit Fund had $4.7 billion in assets and owed $14.7 billion in benefits.
Mayor Rahm Emmanuel raised taxes to address some of the shortfall, but it won’t right the ship. This pension, along with several others, will drag Chicago under.
The mayor tried to curb pension benefits, but the courts beat him back. Illinois views public pensions as constitutionally-guaranteed, so there will be no compromise. Beneficiaries can demand payments until the city’s bank accounts run dry.
Several states take this same stance, while others take a different view, which will lead to varying outcomes as pensions blow up around the country (I cover this topic in the August edition of Boom & Bust).
After that, who knows? There’s no provision in the bankruptcy code for states, so all we can do is look to previous examples to see how things might go.
History May Not Be in Chicago’s Favor
When we look at Puerto Rico, currently the largest near-state plodding through a near-bankruptcy, it’s ugly.
Bondholders, who are constitutionally-guaranteed their payments ahead of any other payment, including salaries, vendors, rent, etc., have been stiffed.
No one knows how things will end up, but it won’t be with investors receiving 100% of what they’re due, even those who bought dedicated streams of income. That should serve as a warning to investors contemplating bonds issued by Chicago in the months ahead. | 1,270,105 |
(The Feb. 8 story adds official clarification that ties partially, not fully, cut in paragraph 1, 4, 7)
Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda interact with slum dwellers during their visit to a slum area in Danapur near the eastern Indian city of Patna March 23, 2011. REUTERS/Krishna Murari Kishan
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A group backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that works on India’s immunization programs will now be partially funded by the health ministry, a government official said, a move in part prompted by fears foreign donors could influence policy making.
The decision is seen as part of India’s broader clampdown on non-governmental organizations to assert control over decision making in key policy areas. Last year, India ordered the dismissal of dozens of foreign-funded health experts working on public welfare schemes.
The Gates Foundation has for years funded the Immunization Technical Support Unit (ITSU), which provides strategy and monitoring advice for New Delhi’s massive immunization program that covers about 27 million infants each year.
A key unit of ITSU that assisted the country’s apex body on immunization will now be funded by the government as it felt there was a need to completely manage it on its own, senior health ministry official Soumya Swaminathan told Reuters.
“There was a perception that an external agency is funding it, so there could be influence,” Swaminathan said on Wednesday.
Swaminathan, however, stressed there were no instances of influence found and the decision was only in part prompted by a wider perception about foreign funding of the program.
Other operations at ITSU – such as tracking vaccination coverage and logistics management - would continue to receive funding from the Gates Foundation, she said. She had earlier said the entire ITSU funding would move to the health ministry.
A spokeswoman for the foundation said its grant for the ITSU ends this month. “We are in advanced stages of discussion with the ministry on the contours of the next phase of technical support,” she said.
Critics have in the past raised concerns the foundation should not have any association with the program due to apparent conflicts of interest. That’s because the foundation also backs GAVI, a global vaccine alliance that counts big pharmaceutical companies as its partners.
India’s immunization program vaccinates children to shield them from life-threatening conditions such as measles and polio, and is viewed by experts as crucial for improving public health.
A key win has been the successful eradication of polio, but more than a million Indian children still die every year before reaching the age of five.
“The government must ensure that universal immunization does not suffer in any way,” said Keshav Desiraju, a former federal health secretary.
BMGF, the charity funded by the personal wealth of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has enjoyed good relations with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. | 1,270,106 |
p.m. Thursday.
Evacuations remained in effect Tuesday for parts of Sonoma and Napa counties, and Santa Rosa police on Tuesday issued an urgent evacuation warning for anyone remaining in the Oakmont neighborhood. Officials also evacuated areas near the parklands in eastern and northern Santa Rosa.
Among those who lost their homes are Raiders legend Cliff Branch, who said he fled his Santa Rosa house at 1:45 a.m. Monday after an early-morning call from his lawyer warning him the fire was “raging like Usain Bolt.”
“I don’t know, man, the wrath of God is not very happy,” Branch said. “We’ve had hurricanes three weeks in a row, an earthquake in Mexico City, and then this fire.”
On Tuesday, several thousand homes remained threatened by the wildfires; their causes are still being investigated. In Sonoma County, there were 24 evacuation centers open as of Tuesday morning.
Reading this on your phone? Stay up to date with our free mobile app. Get it from the Apple app store or the Google Play store.
In neighborhood after neighborhood, Wine Country residents returned home Tuesday to find utter devastation. Bleary-eyed and clutching a styrofoam cup, Napa resident Justo Perez surveyed the contents of the car his neighbor loaned him as he fled flames surrounding his home on Atlas Peak Road.
There’s nothing left of his two homes in the area. Also gone, he said, are his 2016 Corvette, van, Harley motorcycle and other “toys.”
For Perez and his neighbor, Richard Clark, now comes the difficult task of rebuilding. There are insurance companies to call, doctors to visit and the pressing question of, “What now?”
With limited cell service and power down in many places, residents whose homes were spared are finding it hard to return, especially since most homes in the hills use wells. Without power, they have no water. That was the case with Atlas Peak Road residents Glenn and Maria Ng. They found their house standing on Monday but don’t know when they will be able to go home for good. Still, they said it was a relief to see their house spared.
“It was just plain lucky,” Glenn Ng said.
They spent the night in their camper, which they set up on a church’s property.
Another Atlas Peak Road resident, Richard Clark, said Tuesday he still hadn’t seen the fire’s destruction and has no idea what will be left of his home.
“I want to go up and see what’s there,” he said, “and I don’t want to go, you know?”
Staff writers Mark Gomez, Lisa Krieger, Denis Cuff, Jerry McDonald, Jason Green, The Press-Democrat and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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HOLLADAY, Utah -- For the first time in years, there are actual plans in the works for a new mall in Holladay. Back in 2008, the city demolished the Cottonwood Mall with plans to rebuild, but nearly eight years later there is just an empty lot.
Holladay Mayor Rob Dahle said they field questions about the site regularly.
“That site’s been empty now for eight years,” he said. “It's the number one question that comes up with myself and our council and city manager at virtually any meeting we attended, and everyone we bump into you on the street wants to know what's going on with the Cottonwood Mall site.”
Dahle said the redevelopment has had its share of ups and downs over the years.
"The economy really crashed and that really stalled the development at that point, and it's taken this long to get it really kick-started again,” he said.
Holladay residents, like Gilbert Martinez, spoke about the descent from shopping center to empty field.
"I was shopping here all the time when I was at the University of Utah as a student,” Martinez said. “About seven to eight years ago they tore everything down, and now all we have are fields and weeds.”
New life was brought to the redevelopment plans in 2014, when Smiths Food and Drug signed on to build a 78,000 square-foot store at the location, and there were also agreements to build from Miller Theater Group and Ivory Homes.
"They were critical announcements, and that there was an indication that after seven to eight years since the mall was torn down that there was significant progress being made towards actually beginning the new development,” Dahle said.
The development will total about 2 million square feet, and there are plans for a luxury movie theater and 600 residential units.
"Residences of various kinds, a mix between townhomes, single-family homes, and condominiums,” Dahle said of the plans for the area.
The redeveloped mall will be set up in a manner similar to Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City, as the mall will have space for people to live, eat, shop and play.
"That's valuable for everybody,” Martinez said. “We need those stores. We need a place to come and shop, it's valuable for all of the residents here.”
Dahle said he has conversations each month with the Howard Hughes Corporation, which is redeveloping the property. The Smiths Food and Drug location is expected to be finished in 2016.
Murray resident James Tran said he is excited to see the new stores open.
“For a long time really, all we have is awkward Macy's sitting here by itself,” Tran said.
Dahle said Tran isn’t alone.
"I think the general feeling of the community is probably one of frustration,” Dahle said. | 1,270,108 |
news, latest-news
A Canberra schoolteacher has been left with several broken ribs after vandals dumped several kilograms of rice on a busy bike path. Speaking to The Canberra Times from a hospital bed on Tuesday morning, Steve Audsley has told how his road bike slipped out from under him as it hit the rice on a bend in the path. Mr Audsley said he was travelling at about 30km/h when his bike hit a smooth layer of uncooked rice on the path, near the intersection of Athllon and Drakeford drives in Kambah about 8.30am. "I was on a bend that goes under the road, and I saw up ahead of me what looked like sand," he said. "The front wheel has hit the sand and it's skidded out from under me." Mr Audsley, an experienced cyclist of more than 20 years, said he had no time to react as he slammed into the railing on the side of the path, the force of the collision throwing him onto the ground and destroying his bike. A passerby who witnessed the incident rushed to his aid as he lay on the ground in immense pain. "I have no idea who [the passerby] was; I was in so much pain," Mr Audsley said. "It destroyed my bike and knocked me up pretty bad. The helmet saved my head." He said several other cyclists stopped and attempted to remove as much rice as possible from the track in a bid to prevent further accidents. Now lying in a bed at Canberra Hospital, Mr Audsley is left with weeks of painful recovery ahead of him – as well as being thousands of dollars out of pocket for his destroyed bike. He believes someone has targeted cyclists by dumping rice on the path, and smoothing it out evenly. "It was just spread across the path, there was no way it could have been an accident and for it to be spread out so smoothly," he said. "A few minutes afterwards I had a look back and there were probably about three trails through the rice." Mr Audsley said cyclists on mountain bikes, with more traction on the tyres, may have been able to get over the rice without incident but the smooth wheels on his road bike were too slippery. He said it wasn't until afterwards that he assessed the scene that he thought to look around for the culprit. "Looking at the damage on the bike, I'm surprised I wasn't more badly hurt,' he said. "I will recover: my bike will not." The incident has been reported to ACT Policing. Officers spoke with Mr Audsley on Tuesday morning, and a spokeswoman asked any one with information about the incident to call police on 131 444. The area has since been cleaned.
https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/6593f912-1e64-4e96-b689-66985e515d54.jpg/r2_0_728_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg | 1,270,109 |
A rally of support for Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun swarmed the country’s presidential palace on Sunday, a rebuke to broader protests that have demanded the wholesale ouster of the country’s elite and which have toppled the government.
Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri resigned on Tuesday following unprecedented nationwide protests, deepening a political crisis and complicating efforts to enact badly needed economic reforms.
A convoy of cars, some waving Aoun’s orange Free Patriotic Movement party flags and his portrait snaked across a main highway on Sunday while a sea of protesters marched to Baabda palace.
They were joined by Lebanese Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law and an object of ridicule by anti-government protesters, who addressed supporters at the rally and called on them to refrain from accusing everyone of corruption, Lebanese news outlets reported.
Some of the protesters demands are “destructive to the economy” and “uncompromising,” Bassil said, adding that “the slogan ‘everyone means everyone’ should be used to hold officials accountable and not for injustice.”
“Be careful, we have long and difficult days ahead of us. We were racing against time to prevent a collapse but the corruption, squandering (of resources) and public debt beat us,” he said.
Though no immediate estimate of the rally’s size was available, many thousands spread across a roadway leading to the palace.
It was the biggest counter protest to the wave of demonstrations that have gripped Lebanon since Oct. 17 and which have included Aoun’s removal among a set of sweeping demands.
A supporter of Lebanon's President Michel Aoun holds his pictures during a rally in Baabda near Beirut, Lebanon. (Reuters)
“We’re here to say to Aoun that we love you and renew our trust in you,” said Hiyam Khairat at the rally.
In a televised speech, Aoun, who must now hold consultations with members of parliament to designate a new premier, said a three-point plan had been drawn up around tackling corruption, restoring the economy, and building a civil state.
“These three points are not easily achieved, we need your efforts, and we need a square filled both by you and the (anti-government) protesters to defend your rights.
“Many are trying to be obstructive. This is why we need to make a huge effort,” said Aoun.
He described corruption, a primary protestor grievance, as having become “nested” in the state.
Wearing a shirt emblazoned with Aoun’s face, George Barbar said he had driven from northern Lebanon to show his support: “If people don’t join hands with the president, there will be no Lebanon,” said Barbar.
Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:56 - GMT 06:56 | 1,270,110 |
a rajdhani and the compartment will be fitted from an old mail train.” He shrugged. “Until it falls apart, they will make do.” He declined to be quoted.
The current number of trains can no longer cope with the increasing pressure from operating above capacity. Bookings open 90 days in advance and yet overcrowding and double-booking is still a problem.
After being assigned R.A.C., or reserved against cancellation tickets on an overnight train from Pune to Delhi, which mean passengers are guaranteed a seat but not a berth, I watched as fellow passengers coaxed the train ticket examiner into finding available berths, using 500-rupee notes slotted between their fingers. Unwilling to resort to bribery, my traveling companion spent the night sleeping in the laundry cupboard.
Rats and cockroaches are a severe problem, largely due to a lack of garbage cans and adequate cleaners. On a trip from Kottayam to Coimbatore, a friend who was traveling with me glanced down at the floor, wide-eyed, to my empty tea cup. “There’s a mouse at your tea bag,” he said. I reassured him that this was the norm and it scurried off, only to reappear at dinner to nibble the remains of chapattis under the seat.
Where money has been invested the positive effect is evident. The new fleet of Duronto express trains introduced in September 2009 is faster, offering more comfort and space with the added benefit of being derailment-proof. Executive class in the Chandigarh-Delhi shatabdi, a superfast train that leaves and returns to base in one day, looks no different than the Eurostar.
The second- and third-tier tickets that you need to buy to ride these new trains cost about six times the price of general class tickets, making them available only to the upper classes. Going from Pune to Delhi in a Duronto would cost 1455 rupees, while a general class ticket in the Jhelum Express, which has not been updated, would be 234 rupees. Train travel is still a bargain compared to airline travel, though. The most expensive train ticket between Delhi and Chennai, on the Duronto, is 4125 rupees compared with a flight at 7,375 rupees on SpiceJet.
On an overnight train from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, traveling in general class, two of the four toilets flooded, forcing 72 people to share two toilets over a period of six hours with no signs of repairs. More worrying, on three separate occasions the emergency windows in general class refused to open.
“There is too much politics in rail, and a trend to discourage any kind of modernization. It is a sad story,” Mr Trivedi lamented. “If the railway is not robust, the economy of India will not grow.”
Monisha Rajesh’s book Around India in 80 Trains will be published by Roli Books later this year. | 1,270,111 |
China is accused of locking 1 million people of the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority in detention centers or re-education camps in the country.
According to a new Human Rights Watch report, a Uighur man was detained for changing his watch to two hours behind Beijing time.
The man had reportedly changed his clock to Urumqi time, which follows the natural daylight schedule in the western region in Xinjiang.
China has just one official time zone, but is so big the natural daylight schedules differ across the country.
Changing clocks to "Urumqi time" is seen as a form of resistance against the Chinese government.
China detained a man of the Uighur ethnic minority because he set his watch to a different time from Beijing, Human Rights Watch has said in a new report.
The unnamed man was arrested for being a terrorist suspect and sent to a detention center in Xinjiang, western China, the nonprofit reported, citing a former detainee identified by the pseudonym Nur. The date of the arrest and detention was not clear.
The activist group's source, who was identified by the pseudonym Nur, said: "I know of a guy... who was taken away for having set his watch to Urumqi time — they say that's what makes him suspicious for terrorism."
China justifies its surveillance and crackdown in Xinjiang as preventing terrorism, and has repeatedly accused militant Uighurs of starting terrorist attacks across the country since at least the mid-1990s.
Former detainees have detailed both physical and psychological torture in China's political camps. Recent inmates also described being forced to sing patriotic hymns in Chinese, and deprived of food if they did not comply, The New York Times reported.
Uighur men pray before a meal in Turpan, Xinjiang, in September 2016. Kevin Frayer/Getty
Urumqi time, or Xinjiang time, is an unofficial time zone set two hours behind Beijing's.
China has one official time zone for the entire country — China Standard Time (CST) — which follows Beijing hours. But because the country is so big, Beijing is actually two hours ahead of the natural daylight schedule in Xinjiang, which is in the west.
Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China, merged all of the country's time zones into one to enhance "national unity."
Setting clocks to "Urumqi time" is therefore seen as a form of resistance against the Chinese Communist Party.
Xinjiang and Beijing are on opposite sides of the country, but are mandated to follow the same time zone. Google Maps; Business Insider
Chinese authorities have used various excuses to justify detaining Uighurs in recent months.
Earlier this week, authorities in Xinjiang arrested four Uighur journalists for being "two-faced," a term used to mean paying lip service to the Chinese Communist Party but privately criticizing its policies, Radio Free Asia reported.
The Chinese government has denied that internment camps exist, but have acknowledged a program of "resettlement" for people it refers to as extremists. | 1,270,112 |
President Donald Trump has reportedly ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open Alaska’s 16.7 million-acre Tongass National Forest — the planet’s largest intact temperate rainforest — to logging and other corporate development projects, a move that comes as thousands of fires are ripping through the Amazon rainforest and putting the “lungs of the world” in grave danger.
The Washington Post, citing anonymous officials briefed on the president’s instructions, reported late Tuesday that Trump’s policy change would lift 20-year-old logging restrictions that “barred the construction of roads in 58.5 million acres of undeveloped national forest across the country.”
The move, according to the Post, would affect more than half of the Tongass National Forest, “opening it up to potential logging, energy, and mining projects.”
The logging restrictions have been under near-constant assault by Republicans since they were implemented, but federal courts have allowed them to stand. As the Postreported:
Trump’s decision to weigh in, at a time when Forest Service officials had planned much more modest changes to managing the agency’s single largest holding, revives a battle that the previous administration had aimed to settle. In 2016, the agency finalized a plan to phase out old-growth logging in the Tongass within a decade. Congress has designated more than 5.7 million acres of the forest as wilderness, which must remain undeveloped under any circumstances. If Trump’s plan succeeds, it could affect 9.5 million acres… John Schoen, a retired wildlife ecologist who worked in the Tongass for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, co-authored a 2013 research paper finding that roughly half of the forest’s large old-growth trees had been logged last century. The remaining big trees provide critical habitat for black bear, Sitka black-tailed deer, a bird of prey called the Northern Goshawk and other species, he added.
Environmentalists were quick to voice outrage at the U.S. president’s reported move and draw comparisons between Trump and his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, who has rapidly accelerated deforestation in the Amazon.
As the Amazon rainforest burns and the planet’s lungs gasp for oxygen, Donald Trump has decided to lift logging restrictions in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest – a 16,000,000 acre rainforest along the Pacific Coast.https://t.co/PoueEJBuOW — Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 (@DemWrite) August 27, 2019
Gotta keep up with the Bolsonaros I guess — Brian Kahn (@blkahn) August 27, 2019
“If the planet could talk,” wrote volcanologist Jess Phoenix, “it would be screaming in agony or weeping in despair. Maybe both.”
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. | 1,270,113 |
Consumers nationwide should brace themselves for higher electricity tariffs, with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Monday approving a Rs. 1.90-lakh crore debt restructuring package for the State Electricity Boards to facilitate a turnaround of the State distribution companies (discoms).
The CCEA, which met under the leadership of the Prime Minister, approved the package that will force the distribution companies, which are in the red, to begin a fresh round of tariff increase.
“The restructuring by lenders is subject to certain steps to be taken by the State government/discoms and their commitment to fulfil mandatory conditions aimed at bridging the gap between the average cost of supply and the average revenue realised to restore the viability of the sector,” says a Cabinet note.
In other words, it will be mandatory for the State governments or distribution companies to revise their tariffs regularly to avail themselves of the package.
“For financing operational losses and interest for the first three years on a diminishing scale, a separate arrangement will be worked out in respect of focus States such as Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh after due consultations with the States concerned and the Ministry of Power,” the note states.
The scheme provides for 50 per cent of the outstanding short-term liabilities as of March 31, 2012 to be taken over by the States governments. This shall be first converted into bonds to be issued by the distributing companies to lenders and guaranteed by the State governments.
The State government will take over the liability during the next 2-5 years by issuing special securities in favour of the lenders in phases, keeping in view the fiscal space available till the entire loan is taken over. The State governments will also provide distribution companies full support in repayment of interest and principal. The rest of the short-term liabilities will be rescheduled by the lenders and serviced by the distribution companies with a three-year moratorium on principal.
The State governments will convert all loans into equity or defer their recovery, along with interest, until the loans rescheduled by banks/financial institutions are fully repaid. The State governments shall pay by November 2012 all their outstanding energy bills as on March 31, 2012, and the utilities shall give a certificate to this effect by December 31.
Furthermore, a road map for involving the private sector in the State distribution sector through franchisee arrangements or any other mode of private participation will be prepared within a year by distribution companies and submitted to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for approval.
The tariff order for 2012-13 will have to be notified before the financial restructuring package is approved, and for subsequent years, it should be notified by April 30 of each financial year as per the model tariff regulation. The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) shall be requested to allow revised tariff with effect from April 1 each year so that the impact of tariff revision is fully realised during the financial year.
The scheme also makes prepaid meters mandatory by March 31, 2013 for all government consumers and large consumers (1 MW and above), in whose cases defaults have occurred. | 1,270,114 |
Despite the fact that North America is India's biggest IT market, industry analysts believe that the growth of country's $108-billion IT industry in 2014 will be driven by the European region. "Europe is growing faster than the US. That is something we saw this year and this will only gain momentum. There is a lot of latent demand in the region, which will drive growth for the sector," Som Mittal, president of India's IT industry body Nasscom told PTI. Currently, North America accounts for over 60 per cent of export revenues of India's IT sector, while the European region's share is about a third of that with the UK accounting for the major chunk. "The share of the European region has been growing... The market is now more open to outsourcing and in the coming year, we will see a lot of new projects coming up, which is a huge opportunity for our domestic companies," Mittal said. Faced with rising uncertainties due to and stricter visa regulations and other issues in the US, their largest market, Indian IT companies have shown growing interest in Europe, as is evident from their European acquisitions and hiring in recent months, aimed at bypassing labour issues and enhancing client trust. In April, Indian IT giant TCS acquired French IT services firm Alti SA for 75 million to strengthen its presence in Europe (See: TCS completes acquisition of French ERP firm Alti). In January, Geometric Ltd bought German engineering services provider 3cap Technologies for 11 million (Geometric acquires Germany's 3Cap Technologies). Last year, Infosys took over Swiss management consulting firm Lodestone Holding AG, for about 270 million (Infosys to buy Swiss consulting firm Lodestone for Rs1,900 crore). US-based Congizant Technologies, which has three quarters of its workforce in India, said that it will buy French financial services firm Equinox Consulting, besides acquiring several small IT services firms in Germany. "For European companies, many of them which have seen prolonged economic slowdown, Indian IT firms not only offer cost advantage but also high quality of work," Mittal said. In 2012, TCS ranked 11th in IT revenues from Europe, climbing up from the 21st position in 2009. Indian rivals Wipro and Infosys improved their positions to 18th and 23rd during the year, according to German outsourcing advisory Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC). India's IT exports are likely to hit $86 billion in the current fiscal, registering an expected growth of 12-14 per cent, according to Nasscom. It is believed that with a relatively low market penetration, Europe provides a lot of headroom for growth. However, language problems, strict labour rules as well as data privacy issues remain in several European countries which need be overcome to achieve sustained growth. Countries like Germany and France which did not show willingness to offshore deals earlier are opening up and are even setting up centres in India and China. According to some analysts, overall business of top Indian IT companies in Europe is expected to grow about 16 per cent this year, against an expected 12-per cent growth in the US.
| 1,270,115 |
A giant video advertisement running in New York City's Times Square this week features powerful pro-life messages that Students for Life of America hope will grab New Yorkers' — including Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's — attention.
"The extremism of New York's new abortion law is a wake-up call to pro-life Americans to get active," SFLA President Kristan Hawkins said in a news release. "The Pro-Life Generation has arrived to vote out abortion."
The ad, which started its three-day run Wednesday, coincided with the group's annual gala, "Called to Bring Light to the Darkness," along with peaceful protests in Times Square.
What's the story?
The pro-life student organization is speaking out against the state's recently passed Reproductive Health Act, which allows a woman to abort her baby up to the point of birth.
"Late term abortion and infanticide for babies born during abortions are barbaric and represent the human rights issue of our day," Hawkins said. "The Pro-life Generation will not forget the least of these among us, mothers and their pre-born infants, who deserve our help and support."
Three women are featured holding pro-life messages in the 15-second video displayed on a 50-foot-tall screen. It runs about every three minutes in rotation with other ads.
"I reject abortion extremism," one sign reads, along with statistics that show only 7 percent of millennials support New York's new abortion laws.
"I don't trust Planned Parenthood," another sign reads. "Today, Planned Parenthood will end the lives of 910 human beings."
And, "I am the Pro-Life generation," reads the third sign. "The pro-life generation has arrived to vote out abortion extremism."
Tens of thousands of visitors in Times Square are expected to see the video which will be played at least 720 times during its run.
Students for Life demonstrators stood along the sidewalk on Thursday holding 910 pink crosses. The crosses that were linked together symbolized the number of babies killed through abortion each day by Planned Parenthood.
"When I asked our supporters if they wanted to send a pro-life message in Times Square, the answer was a resounding YES," Hawkins said.
The group's demonstration was part of its Planned Parenthood Truth Tour across 130 college campuses. The organization hopes to bring attention to the "abysmal standard of care that women endure in New York as a result of the Reproductive Health Act," according to the release.
What else?
SFLA said it had to fight to have its message featured in Times Square.
"We had to fight to have our message heard as twice companies pulled the plug on our custom-made ad after intensive negotiations," Hawkins said. "But we don't give up on college campuses, even when facing threats of violence, and we didn't give up on sending a message to the vast majority of New Yorkers who reject infanticide and are horrified by the abortion extremism recently legalized in New York." | 1,270,116 |
Seven years ago Joe Cannistraci and Mike Guerra opened Enoteca La Storia, a Los Gatos wine bar, restaurant and wine retail shop. The patio and bar are always hopping, with locals sipping exciting, international wines and noshing tasty small plates. Now they’re bringing the popular wine and food menu to San Jose’s Little Italy neighborhood.
Say hello to Entoeca La Storia Downtown, opening in early September. The neighborhood is a fitting home, reflecting the owners’ Italian heritage. Developer Barry Swenson purchased the vintage 1900’s bakery and the Enoteca team transformed it, expanding the concept by adding pizza ovens for New York style-pies and a soccer-themed sports bar, with beer and Italian cocktails. Think classic negronis, boulevardiers, amaros, limoncello; you won’t find trendy craft cocktails here.
Pay attention to the decor details. Cannistraci did much of the work himself, from refinishing the concrete floors and painting walls using a Venetian plaster technique to installing a linoleum-like wainscoting and applying and removing a silver metallic glaze three times, creating an impressive antiqued effect on the bar and wall panels. Original wood paddles used for making bread in the former bakery found during the renovations are on display. The main dining room features a large marble L-shaped bar and custom-made maple butcher block table tops; framed soccer jerseys line the sports bar walls. A courtyard patio will open spring 2018.
Two pizza ovens behind the wine bar are a focal point, and the Enoteca team takes pizza seriously. Cannistraci has fond memories of pizza growing up in New York, but not the by-the-slice stringy cheese kind. He sought out John Arena of Metro Pizza, renowned for his dough and his square Sicilian pies, to help shape Enoteca’s program.
Arena calls himself the pizza “rain man,” but we’re calling him the pizza whisperer. He’s giving the kitchen crew a five-day master class on pizza history and traditions, including the importance of long dough fermentations (for more complex flavors and textures), how to use their hands to extend the dough, what are the proper baking techniques and how to stay patient. Arena’s doughs can take five days to be ready.
Those pizzas will join Enoteca’s menu of crostini, focaccia, pasta and panini. Look for homemade cannelloni filled with ricotta di buffala, baked rigatoni, beef-pork polpette and panini topped with porchetta and cipollini onions or a muffaletta-style concoction with mortadella, finnocciona and proscuitto.
The San Jose Enoteca will be open daily from 11:30 a.m. 320 W. St. John Street, San Jose; www.enotecalastoria.com. | 1,270,117 |
Filming in west Belfast of new Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls. Picture by Mal McCann
IT'S NOT every day a nationalist area of west Belfast is bedecked in Union flags while Orangemen assemble for a morning march.
But that was the unexpected scene greeting bemused residents off the Springfield Road yesterday as filming got under way for a new Channel 4 sitcom.
Union and Ulster flags were flown and red, white and blue bunting strung between the terraced houses along Forest Street and Fort Street.
And men wearing Orange collarettes and bowler hats were seen lining up along one of the streets and surrounding a red car.
Filming in west Belfast of new Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls. Picture by Mal McCann
Curious residents peered out of their terraced homes as the area was transformed into a unionist enclave.
The scene was part of filming for Derry Girls, which tells the story of ordinary people in the 1990s in the run-up to the ceasefire through the eyes of a local teenager.
Comedian Tommy Tiernan and former Eastenders actress Tara Lynne O'Neill were among the cast on set for the busy day of filming.
Filming of a new sitcom in Forest and Fort street in west Belfast commisioned for Channel 4 called Derry Girls set in Derry in the eraly 1990s Picture Mal McCann.
The show is written by Lisa McGee, who has been inspired by many of her own experiences of growing up in Derry in the 1990s.
Speaking after the sitcom was commissioned last year, Ms McGee said she was excited to tell fresh stories from Northern Ireland and have a "varied cast of female characters".
"Anything set during the Troubles tends to be a bit grim and bleak, but that just wasn't my experience of Derry as a child and a teenager, it was a joyful place. I'd like to celebrate that," she said.
Comedian Tommy Tiernan on the set of a new Channel 4 sitcom being filmed in west Belfast. Picture by Mal McCann
Filming of a new sitcom in Forest and Fort street in west Belfast commissioned for Channel 4 called Derry Girls, set in Derry in the early 1990s. Picture by Mal McCann
Comedian Tommy Tiernan on the set of a new sitcom in Forest and Fort street in west Belfast for Channel 4 called Derry Girls, set in Derry in the 1990s. Picture by Mal McCann
Filming of a new sitcom in Forest and Fort street in west Belfast commissioned for Channel 4 called Derry Girls, set in Derry in the early 1990s. Picture by Mal McCann
Tara Lynne O'Neill filming of a new sitcom in Forest and Fort street in Belfast for Channel 4 called Derry Girls, set in Derry in the 1990s. Picture by Mal McCann
Filming of a new sitcom in Forest and Fort street in west Belfast commissioned for Channel 4 called Derry Girls, set in Derry in the early 1990s. Picture by Mal McCann | 1,270,118 |
Post, and I didn’t have to sign anything like this to write for them. Nor did I have to sign anything like this to write for Witches & Pagans. Or Gods & Radicals.
Finally, we are prohibited from “disparaging” Patheos “or any of its related companies”. This is potentially the most problematic part of the contract. For example, one of the other writers here brought to my attention that the American Centre for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a group founded by the televangelist Pat Robertson, is a partner with Affinity4, which is itself listed alongside Beliefnet and Patheos on the BN Media page. The ACLJ lobbies for the death penalty for gays in other countries. Under the new contract, ACLJ could be considered a “related company” that we’re not permitted to disparage. (And that’s just one related company that we’ve discovered in less than 24 hours.) Well …
FUCK THAT SHIT!
Oops, I used profanity. Actually, this whole post would probably be considered “disparaging” of Patheos. So don’t be surprised if this post is deleted soon.
[UPDATE: Here’s a list of some of the groups that may be considered “related” to Patheos and whom we cannot “disparage” under the new contract: National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Focus on the Family, Promise Keepers, Concerned Women for America, American Family Association. Citation here.]
While some of these contractual provisions are common in the industry, I’ve learned that “standard in the industry” is code for “we can screw you over and there’s nothing you can do about it.” And while some of these changes might be dismissed if considered in isolation, the fact that it all comes at once, the fact that it was sprung on most of the writers with little to no notice, the fact that it was written unilaterally by Patheos corporate without input from the writers, and the fact that it goes into effect tomorrow, makes it all seem pretty suspicious (not to mention draconian).
It’s difficult to avoid the observation that the situation at Patheos is a microcosm of some of what has been happening on the national stage recently, with the power of corporations expanding and those same corporations (through their political lapdogs) trying to put limits on our freedom of speech. It makes me wonder if the timing isn’t coincidental: An evangelical company acquires Patheos. Trump is elected and sworn in. A number of Patheos bloggers are critical of Trump. And now, the new owners of Patheos want to exercise more editorial control. Coincidence? Maybe.
Jason has assured us that Patheos will not be censoring its writers. But you know, it usually doesn’t happen … until it does. | 1,270,119 |
of marijuana.
The federal program is also part of an administration that has voiced a willingness to roll back marijuana guidance set by the Obama administration that urged federal prosecutors to refrain from targeting state-legal marijuana operations. While marijuana remains illegal under federal law, the Obama-era guidance has allowed for state marijuana regulation to take shape, and there’s concern that it could be reversed or altered in ways that could harm patients and cripple thriving industries.
“The federal agency and task forces requesting this data have a long and dubious history of misleading the public about marijuana and advocating against state-level medical marijuana laws,” Mason Tvert, vice president of public relations and communications at VS Strategies, told HuffPost. VS Strategies, a communications and government relations firm based in Denver, is focused on marijuana policy and was instrumental in the passage of Colorado’s recreational marijuana ballot measure. “It is not surprising that the state officials who have been entrusted with administering these programs and protecting patients’ rights have some qualms about handing over their data.”
Tvert also noted the irony of a federal agency asking state officials to facilitate their research and provide insights into their state programs, as federal agencies spent decades blocking marijuana research that could have informed state officials as they developed their medical marijuana programs.
“Apparently there is a lot the federal government could learn from the states, and hopefully it will opt to work with them rather than against them,” Tvert said. “The best path forward would be one in which patients’ privacy is protected, states’ rights are respected and federal priorities are reflected.”
The best path forward would be one in which patients’ privacy is protected, states’ rights are respected and federal priorities are reflected. Mason Tvert, vice president at VS Strategies
Tom Angell, chairman of drug policy reform group Marijuana Majority, said that in general he thinks it’s a good idea to track and report on public health outcomes, as long as no individually identifying patient information is compromised. But, Angell said, “with the anti-marijuana rhetoric coming from the Trump administration’s Department of Justice, and Quigley’s own past comments on the issue, you do have to wonder what the true motivation is here.”
Angell said he’s concerned about the request and hopes that states that do hand over data are careful it “cannot be used to support any ‘Reefer Madness’-induced enforcement efforts that Jeff Sessions may wish to launch.”
While Sessions’ task force has forwarded its recommendations on federal marijuana policy, he hasn’t disclosed what those are. However, The Associated Press reported last month that the task force largely reiterated the Justice Department’s current policy on marijuana and has not pushed for a crackdown.
National support for marijuana legalization has risen dramatically in recent years to historic highs. More than 90 percent of Americans support allowing adults to use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor prescribes it, according to a Quinnipiac poll this year. | 1,270,120 |
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have, for the first time, uncovered the complex interdependence and orchestration of metabolic reactions, gene regulation, and environmental cues of clostridial metabolism, providing new insights for advanced biofuel development.
“This work advances our fundamental understanding of the complex, system-level process of clostridial acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation,” explained Ting Lu, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Illinois. “Simultaneously, it provides a powerful tool for guiding strain design and protocol optimization, therefore facilitating the development of next-generation biofuels.”
Microbial metabolism is a means by which a microbe uses nutrients and generates energy to live and reproduce. It typically involves complex biochemical processes implemented through the orchestration of metabolic reactions and gene regulation, as well as their interactions with environmental cues. One canonical example is the ABE fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum, during which cells convert carbon sources to organic acids that are later re-assimilated to produce solvents as a strategy for cellular survival.
“Clostridium is very much like a factory during fermentation which converts carbon sources into renewable, advanced biofuels that can be directly used to fuel your cars,” added Lu, who is also affiliated with the Department of Physics and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois. “The complexity and systems nature of the process have been largely underappreciated, rendering challenges in understanding and optimizing solvent (ABE) production.”
“In this study, we developed an integrated computational framework for the analysis and exploitation of the solvent metabolism by C. acetobutylicum,” said Chen Liao, a bioengineering graduate student and first author of the paper, “Integrated, Systems Metabolic Picture of Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol Fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum,” appearing in this week’s Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
“To our knowledge, this framework elucidates, for the first time, the complex system-level orchestration of metabolic reactions, gene regulation, and environmental cues during Clostridial ABE fermentation,” Lu said. “It also provides a quantitative tool for generating new hypotheses and for guiding strain design and protocol optimization—invaluable for the development of efficient metabolic engineering strategies, expediting the development of advanced biofuels. More broadly, by using the ABE fermentation as an example, the work further sheds light on systems biology toward an integrated and quantitative understanding of complex microbial physiology.”
In addition to Lu and Liao, co-authors of the study include Seung-Oh Seo, Huaiwei Liu, Wentao Kong, Yi Wang, Hans Blaschek, Yong-Su Jin at Illinois, and Venhar Celik, Department of Bioengineering, University of Firat, Turkey.
___________________ | 1,270,121 |
3 player. This is a long-term problem for Apple, and suing people who use the word ‘pod’ to describe other devices isn’t realy going to help them. The challenge they have is that they invented a brand name for an item that needed a word. Of course, it’s not just a problem, it’s a huge advantage.
If you had the chance to work at Apple five years ago, knowing what you know now, what would you do? Pick a name like “The Deluxe Apple Brand MP3 player?” Would you hassle the folks who coined the term “podcast”? Not me. Yes, it’s a great idea to think big, to ensure that you don’t make mistakes early on that haunt you later. But no, I don’t think you should spend a lot of time imagining the bad things that will happen if you succeed and your idea and your name become intertwined.
You can Digg this article if you click here. Notice that Digg is a verb, because there’s really no easy way to say, “You can recommend this article in a branded social news service like Digg™ by clicking here.” So Digg gets the power of spreading their idea. Nobody says, “Reddit this article by clicking here.”
Back to the paradox. Would you rather be Digg or Reddit? Is it better to have Google’s problem (notice I used “Google” as a verb in the second paragraph?) or to be ask.com and never get talked about?
The best thing you can invent, as far as I can tell, is an idea that needs a name. When they invented the Jeep®, there was no such thing as the SUV. The Jeep became the name for that idea. The lawyers at Chrysler worked superhard to keep the brand from becoming generic. When the engineers cooked up the Xerox®, they had the same problem. Now, people are happy to call it a copier.
You can recover from impending genericide. What you can’t recover from is a clumsy name, or hindering your idea so it doesn’t spread or coming up with a slightly better idea for something that already has a quite good enough name and idea.
Disclaimers: I’m not a lawyer. I don’t even play one on TV. If you rely on my legal advice, you’re getting exactly what you paid for. I called this post “Godin on Trademark” as a riff on Nimmer on Copyright. The irony, of course, is that “Nimmer” became the almost generic phrase for expertise on the topic… you can look it up in Nimmer.
The Blake Project Can Help You Grow: The Brand Growth Strategy Workshop
Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Growth and Brand Education
FREE Publications And Resources For Marketers | 1,270,122 |
The Bulgarian blogger and digital rights activist who made headlines on Tuesday when he reported acquiring more than one million Facebook data entries for just $5, said Friday he is cooperating with Facebook as it conducts an internal investigation, but won’t comply with the company’s request to remove blog posts or not talk about the investigation.
Facebook Requested Silence
In an interview with ReadWrite, Bogomil Shopov said he had been contacted by Facebook’s Platform Policy Team after revealing on his blog that he had acquired the list, which included email addresses of active Facebook users who were primarily located in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Shopov said officials with the company were upset because they feared his public revelation would upend an internal investigation.
(Read Shopov’s new blog post: Mixed Feelings After Conversation With Facebook.)
Facebook declined elaborate on the details of its investigation.
“Facebook is vigilant about protecting our users from those who would try to expose any form of user information. In this case, it appears someone has attempted to scrape information from our site,” Facebook spokesman Chris Kraeuter said in an email statement. “We have dedicated security engineers and teams that look into and take aggressive action on reports just like these. We continue to investigate this specific individual.”
Facebook Wanted To Destroy The Data
In addition to requesting that he keep conversations with Facebook private, the company also requested that Shopov destroy the data after sending a copy to Facebook. Shopov said he complied with the request to destroy the data but was continuing to speak with news outlets to make Facebook users aware of the breach.
That didn’t sit well with Facebook, according to Shopov.
“Their version is [they are conducting] an ‘internal investigation’ and one of the reasons they are angry about my blog posts is that the seller can ‘go deep’,” Shopov said, explaining Facebook is concerned the seller will disappear before the investigation can figure out how the data was obtained.
A Black Market In Facebook Data?
Shopov provided ReadWrite with a cached link to the site where he purchased the data. The offer was removed within two days after his initial blog post on Tuesday, October 23, but the cached version shows that the seller obtained the data through an unidentified, third-party application. This raises the question of whether there’s an international black market where anyone can buy supposedly secret Facebook user data.
Shopov verified that some of the addresses were legitimate and had planned to notify people on the list that he had purchased the data. Facebook asked him to not notify people included on the list, Shopov said.
“We agreed with Facebook not to do that,” he said. “That was actually my first reaction, to tell them and to teach them about their rights.”
(Read Shopov’s original blog post I Just Bought More Than 1 Million… Facebook Data Entries. OMG!)
Lead image: 1000 Words / Shutterstock.com | 1,270,123 |
Survey is first to highlight universality of dangers faced by girls in cities across different societies and cultures.
Bogota is the worst city to live in for girls and young women when it comes to sexual harassment, a report by a humanitarian group says.
The report by Plan International, titled “Girls’ Safety in Cities across the World”, surveyed almost 400 experts in 22 cities across six continents, in order to examine the safety risks that girls and young women face on a large scale.
It found that Lima is the world‘s most dangerous city for girls to go out alone, either during the day or the night, while Johannesburg the most hazardous for theft, robbery and sexual assault or rape.
Stockholm is the safest city for sexual harassment and for girls to leave the house alone or use public transport, the survey found.
The poll is the first of its kind to highlight the universality of the dangers girls and young women face in cities and public spaces across different societies and cultures, which it says affects the lives of millions and yet remains ignored.
Plan International – Girls’ Safety in Cities across the World
According to the report, sexual harassment, which is described as hassling, eve-teasing, stalking, touching, flashing and staring, was found to be the number-one safety risk facing girls and young women.
At least 78 percent of experts described sexual harassment as a high to extremely high risk for girls, and 77 percent said that it occurs either very or fairly often within public spaces in their city.
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Furthermore, 60 percent of experts said sexual harassment in their city is never or hardly ever reported to the authorities.
In Johannesburg and Bogota, all experts taking part in the survey agreed that the risk of sexual harassment is high to extremely high.
Plan International – Girls’ Safety in Cities across the World
When asked how Bogota could be made a safer place for girls and young women, one respondent said: “It is very important to change gender norms, especially those that make men believe that they own public spaces and women’s bodies. This would help women feel women more secure.”
Other respondents expressed a number of other solutions, such as tackling harmful gender norms by giving gender training and awareness-raising among boys and men.
Some pointed to the necessity of improving city infrastructure, such as “appropriate lighting at night” and a ban on drinking in public, while others referred to the need for more political will to change the status quo and for improved law enforcement.
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According to an expert in Toronto, more young girls and women are needed on government committees entrusted with safety planning.
“Of course, there should be a behaviour change of the society in looking at women’s and girls’ rights in general,” an expert in Jakarta said.
“The government and law enforcement should have the laws that protect and guarantee the safety of women and girls.” | 1,270,124 |
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The Australian government said on Tuesday it would introduce legislation to allow clean energy funds to back carbon capture and storage projects, a move that could see such money going to coal-fired plants even as the nation combats climate change.
Power lines are be seen in front of chimneys from the coal-powered Mount Piper power station near the town of Lithgow, located west of Sydney in Australia, February 26, 2017. REUTERS/David Gray
Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said the government was seeking to amend the mandate for the Clean Energy Finance Corp (CEFC), which up to now has been limited to giving loans to wind, solar, bioenergy and energy storage projects.
CEFC’s mandate is to help cut carbon emissions and promote new technologies.
“This amendment that we’re introducing only applies to carbon capture and storage,” Frydenberg told reporters in Canberra.
However, if carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is attached to a high efficiency-low emissions coal-fired power station, a gas-fired power plant or an industrial plant, that would be eligible for funding from the CEFC, he said.
CEFC would have the final say over what CCS projects get funding, he noted.
Australia’s conservative government wants a “technology neutral” approach to promoting stable power supply, seeing coal- and gas-fired power as essential to back up wind and solar energy when the wind is low and the sun is down.
“The decision that the government’s made is significant because it removes one of the barriers to CCS, which has been around the financing of it,” said Brad Page, chief executive of Melbourne-based Global CCS Institute.
He said CCS technology could be retrofitted to existing coal-fired, gas-fired and industrial plants, not just attached to new plants.
The Australia Institute, a think tank opposed to coal, said it did not make sense to take money from renewable energy to back CCS, as previous funding had not yielded much over the past two decades.
The announcement on the legislation comes about 10 days ahead of a highly anticipated report by Australia’s chief scientist on what steps the country needs to take to ensure power and gas supplies are secure, reliable and affordable, while also cutting carbon emissions.
The report was commissioned last year by the government following a string of blackouts and price spikes in the state of South Australia, which relies on wind and solar energy for more than 40 percent of its power.
After a decade of uncertainty over Australia’s carbon policy, major miners, like BHP, manufacturers and the power industry have called for a carbon price and emissions trading to help companies make investment decisions on new power stations.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull reiterated on Tuesday, however, that the government would not pursue an emissions intensity scheme, a system that would set limits on how much carbon a site could emit and give tradable credits to those that emit less than the limit. | 1,270,125 |
Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pennsylvania, is suspected of wrongdoing in the FBI's investigation into payments his campaign allegedly made to his opponent in 2012 to encourage him to drop out of the race, according to an approved search warrant application filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Two political consultants have already been charged in the campaign finance probe involving Brady's reelection campaign, but the recently unsealed search warrant application appears to be the first time Brady himself is mentioned as suspected of criminal wrongdoing in the probe. Federal prosecutors last month said Kenneth Smukler and Donald Jones planned a scheme for the Brady campaign to make an illicit $90,0000 campaign donation to Jimmie Moore, intended to pay down campaign debt.
Now, FBI special agent Jonathan Szeliga says in the search warrant application obtained by CBS News he has "probable cause to believe that Kenneth Smukler, Robert Brady, Donald "D.A." Jones, Jimmie Moore, and Carolyn Cavaness and others known and unknown have committed violations," involving conspiracy, false statements, and causing false campaign contribution reports, and violations related to limits on campaign contributions and expenditures. The search warrant is for all AOL accounts associated with Brady's email account, "[email protected]," and Brady's email is listed as the target. The search warrant application is signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Carol Sandra Moore Wells.
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Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the Program on Extremism at the George Washington University, first reported the existence of the search warrant request, and what it reveals about where the FBI stands in regards to Brady.
CBS News has reached out to Brady's office for comment. Brady's office directed CBS News to Brady's attorney, who, after reviewing the court documents, insisted Brady is not named as a target, and has never been listed as a target in the probe.
Brady is the ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee, and has been since 2007.
According to the special agent's claims in the search warrant application, "The investigation has uncovered evidence which indicates that Brady, Smuckler, and Jones utilized Smukler's and D.A. Jones' corporations to conceal payments from Brady's campaign to repay Moore campaign debts in exchange for Moore's agreements to withdraw from the 2012 Democratic primary race against Brady for U.S. Representative in Pennsylvania's 1st District. The evidence shows that these concealed payments were made for the purpose of removing Brady's primary opponent from the race and willfully undermining various provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) in the process."
"As discussed in detail below, these goals were accomplished by routing three payments totaling $90,000 from Brady's campaign through political consulting companies to the campaign manager for Moore's campaign, who used a portion of the funds to pay debts owned by the Moore campaign, keeping the remainder of the money for herself and Moore," the search warrant application continues.
Email Kathryn Watson at [email protected]. | 1,270,126 |
Workers at the some of the most popular Los Angeles area hotels could go on strike ahead of the holidays — possibly as early as Wednesday — if contract negotiations with management remain deadlocked, Unite Here Local 11 spokesman Andrew Cohen told L.A. Taco.
“We will have an action this Wednesday for sure. I can’t go into details but the locations will be [Downtown L.A.], Anaheim, and Santa Monica,” Cohen said.
Wednesday’s action will test the union’s strength in mobilizing its members, Cohen said. The union has not decided yet but, most likely, it will be at one of three landmarks: The Westin Bonaventure Hotel at 404 South Figueroa, Grand Sheraton Los Angeles at 711 South Hope Street, or the J.W. Marriott Los Angeles LA Live at 900 W. Olympic Blvd.
“The cost of living here in L.A. is really expensive. I don’t make enough to pay monthly bills like rent, babysitting, or my children’s schooling. That’s why if the company doesn’t listen to us, we are ready to go on strike,” said Dina Paredes, housekeeper at the Westin Bonaventure in Downtown L.A.
More than 20 labor contracts at hotel brands including Marriott, Hilton, and InterContinental ran out on Nov. 30.
‘The cost of living here in L.A. is really expensive.’
Some 7,500 cooks, dishwashers, housekeepers, and janitors are on the ready, poised to strike over a list of union demands that include boosting their pay to $25 an hour and implementation of panic buttons due to concerns by female hotel staff over sexual harassment.
With the holiday season drawing near, some hotels have already been the site of protests in a build-up to what has already become the largest series of hotel strikes in U.S. history. The vote comes on the heels of historic worker strikes at 20 hospitality chains in more than 10 cities across the country this year. The strike authorization vote also comes as workers settled a strike in San Francisco late last week.
“We are asking that this contract get workers to $25 an hour,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, “L.A. has one of the highest costs of living in the country, and our booming tourism industry can afford to pay its workers a living wage.”
Marriott International didn’t respond to a request by L.A. Taco for a comment.
Last year, Los Angeles welcomed 48.3 million visitors, the seventh consecutive year of record-breaking tourism numbers for the city. At the same time, median rent in the city rose to $1,760 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to the union.
RELATED: L.A. Teachers to Strike in January If There’s No Deal with District
| 1,270,127 |
he will be only 29. Pineda is coming back from TJ surgery and at only 30 years old will be looking to show he is healthy. He has incredible stuff but has never been consistent. We will see what he looks like this year having not pitched in the bigs since July 5th, 2017. The last spot is up for grabs but I suspect that Gonsalves will get the first shot. Romero has great stuff but he is a two-pitch pitcher at this point and may be better suited to let it fly for an inning or two rather than work on a third or fourth pitch. Mejia is a lefty and will likely be the long man in the bullpen.
Bullpen Projections
Who knows who the closer will be. May looks like the favorite after pitching well out of the bullpen last year. He was 3 out of 3 in save opportunities with a 36/5 K/BB rate. Addison Reed is the veteran of the crew and has closer experience but has not been good in that role only saving 20 out of his last 30 chances. As a setup man, he is solid and will likely be used for the 7th or 8th innings this year. Rogers and Mejia will be the lefties out of the pen and Duffey, Hildenberger, and newly signed Parker will fill out the rest. They combined for a respectable 159/49 K/BB rate last year but gave up 30 HRs in a combined 164.1 innings last year. If they can bump up that K rate and keep the ball in the yard the Twins bullpen can be very deep.
Predictions
If we look at the bright side, Buxton and Sano fulfill their promise and become the stars we thought they would be. Berrios becomes a legit ace and Kepler and Rosario become the raking OFs they can be. Trevor May embraces the closer role and the rest of the pen keeps the ball in the yard and learns to hold games.
Realistically, the Twins can fight for the division crown. The Indians have pitching but Lindor may miss some time and other than Ramirez their lineup, especially the outfield, doesn’t scare anyone. If the White Sox don’t sign Machado, they are still a year or two away from being a threat. The Tigers and Royals are not doing anything right now. This is the Twins’ time to strike for the division and this actually might be their year. I think it will be a great first year for rookie manager Rocco Baldelli and his crew and they do win the division at 92-70.
Check out our other Team Previews | Colorado Rockies | Toronto Blue Jays
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Main Credit Image: Embed from Getty Images | 1,270,128 |
for over a day following the show. A show which honestly sucked. Can Crown Jewel win two in a row?
Bray vs Seth HIAC
Hell in a Cell has served as the final bout in many timeless feuds in WWE history. Who could forget Mick Foley and Undertaker going at it in one of the truly legendary moments in company history? Well, take all that goodness and throw it out the window, because in 2019 we saw Seth Rollins get into the cell with Bray Wyatt. Well, actually we had a hard time SEEING anything at all, as the entire encounter took place in red light that made it nearly impossible to follow. Not that it mattered, because we wound up with a no contest as the finish.
Yes, a no contest in HELL IN A CELL.
It may also be no contest to see this walk away with the Gooker Award!
Maria and Mike Kanelis
So let me see if I have this right: Maria and Mike Kanellis both wind up seeing half million dollar annual deals with WWE, despite the fact that neither are regularly used. Following this, Maria discovers she is pregnant. Following THAT, the WWE storyline has Maria telling the world Mike isn’t the child’s father at all and is nothing but a total loser. Sounds like someone in creative has issues, doesn’t it?
Rusev – Lana – Lashley
If the above nominee didn’t have you believing that, then this one should remove all doubt. So real life husband and wife Lana and Rusev are thrown into an arc where Bobby Lashley swoops in and lures the Ravishing Russian into his bedroom. Each week the story makes less sense, culminating in a wedding on the final Raw of the decade wherein Liv Morgan of all people emerges and claims she and Lana had a lesbian love affair. This despite the fact that a similar storyline had been pitched to WWE creative by Sonya Deville (an actual lesbian) and was shot down due to it being too controversial.
All I can say, Sonya, is you should probably be thankful – with WWE at the helm of such a story for you, you may have just avoided becoming a Gooker winner.
Shorty G
An Olympic wrestler goes to WWE and becomes one of its biggest stars, winning multiple world titles and becoming a legend in the process. That’s what happened with Kurt Angle. Not so much with Chad Gable. Despite being an excellent technician, the company instead decides to have him lose to nearly everyone and then mock his height, dubbing him, and I am not making this up, SHORTY G. Want to know why this company has never had a break out star since John Cena? How they handled this guy would be a perfect example.
And there you have it, kids! A whole lotta horrible…but only one can be our feather flocked champion. Who will it be?
YOU DECIDE!
Voting ends January 11, 2020, so get to clickin’! | 1,270,129 |
What do designers and chemists have in common? They both have all the solutions.
Hopefully that got some sort of reaction. We’ll give you a moment to stop laughing before we let you know that the Swifticons team just designed a pack of 104 free science icons that you can download here. They’re perfect for corporate presentations, web apps, print designs, websites, or just for experimentation.
What’s included
Download the pack, and you’ll get 104 icons in the following formats: AI, EPS, JPG, PDF, PNG, and SVG—oh, and there are filled, flat, and outlined options for each format. Here are a few of the icons illustrated in the pack:
Toxic barrel
Alien
Bacteria
Bomb
Moon
Brain
Mouse
Ugly virus
Telescope
Spaceship
Get them before they argon—download your free science icons now
We wanted to find out more about the human beings behind these icons, so we asked the Swifticons team a few questions.
What’s your icon design process like, from idea to final design?
We normally come up with a category brief that’s typically based on customer requests. There’s often a few specific icon ideas in there, but then the designers have a lot of freedom to start creating some awesome ideas and begin the process of putting the pack together.
We try to think of icons that will be useful for designers to have at their disposal, whether that’s practical interface icons, fun characters, etc.
What design tools do you use?
We mainly use Sketch and Illustrator. To make things easier for developers, we design all our icons on a precise 60px x 60px grid for consistency.
Do you have any tips for designers who want to start making icons?
Try to come up with your own style. Think about what icons you’d like to own and then make them. If nothing ever happens, you’ll end up with a custom set of cool icons that you wanted!
Do you have a favorite scientist?
Marie Curie. She did pioneering work on radioactivity probably at a time where it wasn’t always easy for women to be respected for the work that they did. She also helped set up mobile radiology units in the first world war and in the end was awarded with 2 Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry. That’s talent.
Want more? Then grab the whole Swifticons library of 2,360 icons for 30% off with the coupon code INVIS30APP!
We’d love to see how you use these icons. Send us a screenshot @InVisionApp.
More free design resources
The big list of design and prototyping resources for mobile, Photoshop, and Sketch
Download 21 tasty food icons for free
Finding the best free fonts for numbers
Download 36 flat graphic design icons—free | 1,270,130 |
MPs have called upon police forces to suspend facial recognition trials amid concerns over privacy and the potential for bias.
In a report published this week, the House of Commons Science and Technology committee voiced serious concerns over the accuracy of the invasive technology and raised questions over bias – an issue which has been brought up repeatedly in discussions over the technology’s use.
The publication of the report comes just one week after Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced he would back police trials of facial recognition technology. Javid did, however, concede that in the longterm the technology’s use would require strict legislation.
Recommendations from the committee include a halt on trials of facial recognition systems to establish how they can be used appropriately and without risk to the public. In addition, the report suggests that stronger regulatory frameworks must be implemented before the technology can be safely deployed in public spaces through the UK.
“Automatic facial recognition should not be deployed until concerns over the technology’s effectiveness and potential bias have been fully resolved,” the report said.
“We call on the Government to issue a moratorium on the current use of facial recognition technology and no further trials should take place until a legislative framework has been introduced and guide on trial protocols, and an oversight and evaluation system, has been established,” it added.
Police forces are failing in their duty to edit custody image databases and remove pictures of unconvicted persons, the committee found. As such, MPs have warned that innocent people may be included in facial recognition watch lists which police draw upon to stop people in public spaces.
“It is unclear whether police forces are unaware of the requirement to review custody images every six years, or if they are simply ‘struggling to comply’,” the report pondered.
“What is clear, however, is that they have not been afforded and earmarked resources to assist with the manual review and weeding process.”
Concerns over the use of custody images were raised last year, the committee insisted. However, there has been little progress in this regard from the Home Office.
Lingering questions over the propensity for bias within facial recognition systems were also addressed in the report. In particular, the committee referred to research conducted by the Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group, which claimed that facial recognition systems could create in “inaccurate results” due to a lack of diversity within datasets that police forces or other authorities use to train algorithms.
In February this year, the advisory group said: “If certain types of faces – for example, black Asian and ethnic minority faces or female faces – are underrepresented in live facial recognition training datasets, then this bias will feed forward into the use of the technology by human operators.”
Police officers could begin to “defer to the algorithm’s decision” without following double-check procedures, the group added, procedures that are in place to ensure matches are confirmed before any action is taken by officers.
Like this: Like Loading... | 1,270,131 |
Planetary scientists have pinpointed the size of a near-Earth asteroid to be a mere 2 meters, one of the smallest ever characterized.
Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are the social members of the asteroid population. They buzz by Earth regularly to say hello. Unfortunately some of them are the type of friends you don’t want around — they can really invade your personal space. So far we know of more than 15,000 NEAs, 2,000-plus of which are less than 30 meters wide.
Scientists are doing their best to build up our inventory of NEAs, not only for the sake of planetary defense but also for scientific curiosity, because asteroids are the crumbs left over from planetary formation. Vishnu Reddy (University of Arizona) and colleagues have now pinned down characteristics of one of the smallest NEAs studied yet: 2015 TC25.
Arecibo observers discovered 2015 TC25 in October 2015. Within a day, astronomers ganged up on the little rock with three other scopes, assembling a portrait in optical, near-infrared, and radar.
The asteroid is very faint, with an absolute magnitude less than 29. But spectrally, it looks like a rare type of meteorite called an aubrite. Aubrites contain bright minerals, mostly silicates, formed in an oxygen-free environment hot enough to melt rock. Thanks to this information, the team determined that 2015 TC25 reflects about 60% of the light that shines on it — one of the highest reflectivities, or albedos, seen for asteroids.
Given its magnitude, this albedo means that 2015 TC25 is also very small; the team estimates the NEA is 2 meters (6.5 feet) across, or about the size of a professional basketball player. That makes it one of the smallest asteroids studied. But it’s hard to know if 2015 TC25 is in fact the smallest. There are more than 40 NEAs that are dimmer than 2015 TC25, but without knowing how reflective those rocks are, we can’t say whether they’re bigger or smaller, Reddy explains.
2015 TC25 is also one of the fastest rotators for its size, whirligigging around every 2¼ minutes. This speed, plus the diminutive girth, likely explains why 2015 TC25 seems to be dust-free — a very unusual state of affairs for an asteroid, which often are covered with the stuff. The little NEA just couldn’t hold onto any debris.
Such a small rock would have come from a larger one. The best match is 44 Nysa, a 70-km-wide asteroid in the inner main belt. An impact could have knocked 2015 TC25 off Nysa.
The result appears in the December Astronomical Journal.
Fun fact: Each month, about 1 NEA smaller than 5 meters flies close by Earth (by close, I mean on the scale of a lunar distance).
Shopping for the holidays? Don't forget to check out our online store. | 1,270,132 |
scope {{$labels.network}} is {{$value}}% full"
We found the syntax to define alerts easy to read and understand even if you had no previous experience with Prometheus or time series databases.
Oops! Turns out we have some bad uplinks, better run out and fix it!
Being proactive: dashboards
While alerting is an essential part of monitoring, sometimes you just want to have a good overview of the health of your network. To achieve this we used PromDash. Every time someone asked us something about the network, we crafted a query to get the answer and saved it as a dashboard widget. The most interesting ones were then added to an overview dashboard that we proudly displayed.
The DreamHack Overview dashboard powered by PromDash
The future
While changing an integral part of any system is a complex job and we're happy that we managed to integrate Prometheus in just one event, there are without a doubt a lot of areas to improve. Some areas are pretty basic: using more precomputed metrics to improve performance, adding more alerts, and tuning the ones we have. Another area is to make it easier for operators: creating an alert dashboard suitable for our network operations center (NOC), figuring out if we want to page the people on-call, or just let the NOC escalate alerts.
Some bigger features we're planning on adding: syslog analysis (we have a lot of syslog!), alerts from our intrusion detection systems, integrating with our Puppet setup, and also integrating more across the different teams at DreamHack. We managed to create a proof-of-concept where we got data from one of the electrical current sensors into our monitoring, making it easy to see if a device is faulty or if it simply doesn't have any electricity anymore. We're also working on integrating with the point-of-sale systems that are used in the stores at the event. Who doesn't want to graph the sales of ice cream?
Finally, not all services that the team operates are on-site, and some even run 24/7 after the event. We want to monitor these services with Prometheus as well, and in the long run when Prometheus gets support for federation, utilize the off-site Prometheus to replicate the metrics from the event Prometheus.
Closing words
We're really excited about Prometheus and how easy it makes setting up scalable monitoring and alerting from scratch.
A huge shout-out to everyone that helped us in #prometheus on FreeNode during the event. Special thanks to Brian Brazil, Fabian Reinartz and Julius Volz. Thanks for helping us even in the cases where it was obvious that we hadn't read the documentation thoroughly enough.
Finally, dhmon is all open-source, so head over to https://github.com/dhtech/ and have a look if you're interested. If you feel like you would like to be a part of this, just head over to #dreamhack on QuakeNet and have a chat with us. Who knows, maybe you will help us build the next DreamHack? | 1,270,133 |
try to be as helpful as possible, but I try to stay away from anything that’s not really related to the creative process or the effort to sort of preserve and promote Prince’s legacy through the music. I mean I do get sucked into some of the other stuff because of what I do but I try not to let it affect the overall complexion of what I’m doing on the creative side, which is much more satisfying to me, and, frankly, much more important than the sort of nonsense in the background.
SDE: Are you committed to this role for the long term. Do you think you’re going to be here in five or seven years’ time?
MH: I certainly would like to be. It’s by far, the most satisfying, creative pursuit I’ve ever undertaken. I mean I’ve had the good fortune of having worked with a number of pretty iconic artists in various and sundry capacities, but Prince was, in order of magnitude, more creatively evolved of anybody, really, that I can think of.
And it’s, you know, it is pretty special to be the guy doing what I do. I mean, I move through life with a lot of gratitude and as much humility as I can muster on a daily basis.
Michael Howe was talking to Paul Sinclair for SDE. Prince’s Originals is out now on CD. The vinyl and deluxe edition will follow on 19 July 2019.
First Released by (Artist: Album – year) followed by the year of Prince’s recording included on Originals
1. Sex Shooter Apollonia 6: Apollonia 6 – 1984 / 1983
2. Jungle Love The Time: Ice Cream Castle – 1984 / 1983
3. Manic Monday The Bangles: Different Light – 1985 / 1984
4. Noon Rendezvous Sheila E.: The Glamorous Life – 1984 / 1984
5. Make-Up Vanity 6: Vanity 6 – 1982 / 1981
6. 100 MPH Mazarati: Mazarati – 1986 / 1984
7. You’re My Love Kenny Rogers: They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To – 1986 / 1982
8. Holly Rock Sheila E.: Krush Groove (OST) – 1985 / 1985
9. Baby, You’re a Trip Jill Jones: Jill Jones – 1987 / 1982
10. The Glamorous Life Sheila E.: The Glamorous Life – 1984 / 1983
11. Gigolos Get Lonely Too The Time: What Time Is It? – 1982 / 1982
12. Love… Thy Will Be Done Martika: Martika’s Kitchen – 1991 / 1991
13. Dear Michaelangelo Sheila E.: Romance 1600 – 1985 / 1985
14. Wouldn’t You Love to Love Me? Taja Sevelle: Taja Sevelle – 1987 / 1981
15. Nothing Compares 2 U The Family: The Family – 1985 / 1984 | 1,270,134 |
Beer
First Place Black Hoof Brewing Company, Weissbier
Second Place Alesation Brewing Company, Das Weizen
Third Place Crooked Run Brewing, Best Days
Historical and Smoked Beer
First Place Blue Mountain Barrel House and Organic Brewery, Adambeor
Second Place Rock Bottom Restaurants and Brewery, Oh, Here is Gose-gain
Third Place Portner Brewhouse, Portne
IPA
First Place Final Gravity Brewing Company, The Doppler Effect
Second Place Final Gravity Brewing Company, Retrograde
Third Place Starr Hill Brewery, Looking Glass
Irish Beer
First Place Pale Fire Brewing Company, Red Molly
Second Place Old Busthead Brewing Company, Vixen
Third Place Ono Brewing Company, Black Pearl
Pale American Ale
First Place 6 Bears and a Goat, Mae West
Second Place 2 Silos Brewing Company, Mason Pale Ale
Third Place Three Notch’d Brewing Company, Ghost of the 43rd
Pale Bitter European Beer
First Place Bull Island Brewing Company, King Street Kolsch
Second Place Fair Winds Brewing Company, Quayside Kolsch
Third Place Backroom Brewery, Kiss-Me-Kolsch
Pale Malty European Lager
First Place Brothers Craft Brewing, Lil’ Hellion
Second Place Random Row Brewing Company, Not Yours Maibock
Third Place Beale’s Beer, Gold
Specialty Beer
First Place Center of the Universe Brewing Company, Brandt
Second Place Apocalypse Ale Works, Dreamsicle
Third Place Precarious Beer Project, Reve Du Jour
Spiced Beer
First Place Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery, Heir Apparent
Second Place Steam Bell Beer Works, Tiramisu
Third Place Old Ox Brewery, Kristin’s Passion
Standard American Beer
First Place Trapezium Brewing Company, Mexican Lager
Second Place Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Richmond Lager
Third Place Bald Top Brewing Company, Manor House Ale
Strong American Ale
First Place Precarious Beer Project, Everything Is Lava But the Swings Are Base
Second Place Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery, Citra Happens
Third Place Ballad Brewing, Home
Strong Belgian Ale
First Place Belly Love Brewing Company, 50 Shades of Gold
Second Place Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Singel
Third Place Reaver Beach Brewing Company, Oceanus Arum
Trappist Ale
First Place Barrel Oak Farm Taphouse, BOFT Dubbel
Second Place Blue Mountain Brewery, Marsedon
Third Place The Farm Brewery at Broad Run, Wes’ Maul
Wood Beer
First Place Brothers Craft Brewing, Resolute
Second Place Wasserhund Brewing Company, Bourbon Barrel Haywire Husky
Third Place Kindred Spirt Brewing, Barrel “The Goodness” Imperial Stout | 1,270,135 |
Experts have warned that a devastating global cyber attack is imminent.
The hack, called 'ExplodingCan', targets computers running on Microsoft Windows 2003, which means that it could be used to attack 375,000 computers worldwide.
This puts it in the same risk category as last month's WannaCry ransomware attack which caused mayhem around the world, crippling vital servers such as those used by the NHS.
Scroll down for video
The hack, called 'ExplodingCan', targets computers running on Microsoft Windows 2003, which means that it could be used to attack 375,000 computers worldwide (stock image)
WHAT IS EXPLODINGCAN? The ExplodingCan hack targets Microsoft Windows 2003 servers running the Internet Information Services version 6.0 (IIS 6.0) web server. The attack exploits a known flaw in the IIS 6.0 servers, triggering a buffer overflow. This can then be used for remote access to the computer, and could allow hackers to plant ransomware in a similar fashion to the WannaCry worm. And if you do find yourself a victim of the attack, not even Microsoft can help you, as the firm has declared Windows 2003 out of support. Advertisement
ShadowBrokers, the group behind the WannaCry hack, stole the ExplodingCan from the NSA, along with an arsenal of other cyber weapons.
The hack targets Microsoft Windows 2003 servers running the Internet Information Services version 6.0 (IIS 6.0) web server.
According to Manchester-based security company, Secarma, ExplodingCan exploits a known flaw in the IIS 6.0 servers, triggering a buffer overflow.
This in turn can be used for remote access to the computer, and could allow hackers to plant ransomware in a similar fashion to the WannaCry worm.
Paul Harris, managing director of Secarma, said: 'Ultimately this is in the same risk category as the WannaCry attacks.
'It's another way for cybercriminals and hacking teams to access your environment and, once they're in, the internal parts of these systems are wide open to a variety of different attack vectors.'
And if you do find yourself a victim of the attack, not even Microsoft can help you, as the firm has declared Windows 2003 out of support.
Worldwide, there around 375,000 IIS 6.0 servers that could be vulnerable, although an exact number is difficult to pinpoint.
ExplodingCan exploits a known flaw in the IIS 6.0 servers, triggering a buffer overflow. This in turn can be used for remote access to the computer, and could allow hackers to plant ransomware in a similar fashion to the WannaCry worm (stock image)
Mr Harris said that Secarma couldn't test exactly how many systems were vulnerable without breaking UK computer security laws.
But the firm has shared its findings with the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, and is advising users to upgrade their Windows 2003 servers to Windows 2008 or newer.
Secarma has also released a free tool for users to check for ExplodingCan. | 1,270,136 |
New evidence of babies starving to death in Yemen has emerged as the United Nations (UN) and aid agencies issue urgent calls for increased aid deliveries to feed 7 million people at risk of famine.
Key points: Children are so hungry they don't have energy to cry, Save the Children says
Children are so hungry they don't have energy to cry, Save the Children says Saudi Arabia, its allies prevent delivery of food and aid by sea, it says
Saudi Arabia, its allies prevent delivery of food and aid by sea, it says It calls on governments to put pressure on Saudi-led Coalition to unsure food aid
Charity Save the Children took the images this week in the Yemeni Capital Sanaa, in the wards of the Al Sabeen Hospital.
The NGO says its teams are seeing skeletal children in Yemen's hospitals on the brink of death, so hungry they do not even have the energy to cry.
"We are helping pregnant women who have starved themselves to feed their families, forced to choose between the living and the unborn," said Grant Pritchard, interim country director for Save the Children in Yemen.
"We are treating babies who have been sick since birth with diseases that are preventable and easily curable with the right medicines."
Forces loyal to the pro-Saudi President have been locked in an increasingly bitter war with Houthi rebel forces, who have conducted a decade-long campaign against the Government.
The conflict has devastated Yemen, collapsing the country's fragile economy and destroying critical infrastructure.
The NGO is calling on governments to put pressure on the Saudi-led Coalition to immediately ensure urgent food aid can be delivered through Yemen's main port on the Red Sea at Hudaydah.
Ships have recently been prevented from docking at the port due to bombed infrastructure and "security reasons" imposed by the Saudi Coalition.
"Right now the odds are stacked against us. We have had three shipments of life-saving medical aid delayed by the coalition so far this year, and our field teams tell us children have died as a result," Mr Pritchard said.
"By bombing and blocking Yemen's main port — the country's lifeline for essential supplies — Saudi Arabia and its coalition allies are preventing the delivery of food and aid by sea.
Currently, the Australian Government give no direct aid funding to Yemen. ( Supplied: Save the Children )
"This crisis is not an act of nature. It is man-made. Food and aid are being used as weapons of war."
Currently, the Australian Government gives no direct aid funding to Yemen despite the fact it has been classified as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
Aid agencies have called on the Turnbull Government to immediately allocate aid funds to the country.
Yemen is one of four current famine or near-famine situations, along with South Sudan, northeast Nigeria and Somalia.
Last month the UN said more than $5 billion was needed by the end of March to prevent more than 20 million people in the four at-risk countries starving in the next six months. | 1,270,137 |
NIAGARA FALLS, ONT.—Tory Leader Tim Hudak says the Liberal minority government is too Toronto centric at the expense of the rest of the province.
“It is not healthy for our province to have government that is overwhelmingly concentrated in the City of Toronto and its nearest suburbs,” an exhausted and somewhat chastened Hudak told a post election news conference Friday.
Hudak did not go into a lot of detail, but repeatedly said he wished his second-place party had broken through in Toronto.
“I am going to work hard in the weeks and the months ahead to earn the trust of more Toronto families, and to the City of Toronto I want you to know that the Ontario PC Party is there to fight for you,” he said.
The Tories won a few seats in the 905 area code but got shut out of Toronto. For the most part, their support is concentrated in southwestern and eastern Ontario. The party won 12 new seats for a total of 37, which together with NDP success puts the opposition in the driver’s seat with a total of 54 seats to the Liberals’ 53.
Hudak, who he won’t be resigning, acknowledged there will be soul searching among party brass about where the PCs went wrong.
Hudak insisted that Premier Dalton McGuinty’s minority government will last only as long as the opposition wants it to and that McGuinty can forget about raising taxes.
“Dalton McGuinty will remain as premier as long as he retains the confidence of the Legislature and no longer. He should take note in particular that it will be awfully difficult for him to get a tax hike,” he said.
“My message for Dalton McGuinty is very clear. Dalton McGuinty is on a short leash and we will hold that leash tight.”
Hudak did note he expects the Liberals to try to woo some of his members over to the government side in order to give it a majority.
Hudak said McGuinty has a reputation for doing “backroom deals.”
“From the Conservative Party point of view we have strong and dedicated MPPs,” he said. “They were elected because people want change and our goal is to keep Dalton McGuinty on a very short leash.”
“The difference between yesterday and today is simple. No longer can Dalton McGuinty make a unilateral decision without reaching out for support.”
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Hudak didn’t touch a question on plans for a new speaker, which is a significant matter because if he or she comes from the ranks the opposition, the two parties will be tied at 53 seats.
It was notable that Tory supporters were loath to criticize Hudak, with many noting that it took Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper several tries before he finally formed a majority government.
Read more about: | 1,270,138 |
China is leading the world in solar power installations by a long run. ASECEA is predicting that 50GW of solar power is well within reach of being installed this year. In June and July of 2017, China installed 25GW of solar power – and they’ll push the globe past 100GW total for the year.
At China’s ‘State of the Union address’ equivalent, just yesterday, president Xi Jinping said, “Any harm we inflict on nature will eventually return to haunt us… this is a reality we have to face.”
“Taking a driving seat in international cooperation to respond to climate change, China has become an important participant, contributor, and torchbearer in the global endeavor for ecological civilization,” said President Xi Jinping, and that China must “develop a new model of modernization with humans developing in harmony with nature.”
The report, by the Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory, said that by the end of September China had 42GW of solar power installed. Generally, October is a bit slower of a month followed by a strong November-December period.
Large growth occurred in the non-utility distributed solar sector. China made a point, through a new program called ‘Top Runner,’ to install higher efficiency solar panels and to also distribute them to many smaller projects versus only the large, utility-scale work.
China’s 2017 volume is huge compared to recent headlining totals. In September, upward revisions to China’s expected volume made the world celebrate as it pushed projections for global volume in 2017 over 100GW. Last year, China installed 34GW of solar power – by far, already, the largest volume of solar by any country ever in a year. The United States solar market grew by 100% – yet installed ‘only’ 14.6GW. Globally, about 58GW of solar power was installed in 2015, and 41GW in 2014.
For comparison’s sake – a larger than average residential solar system in the USA will be about 10kW. That’s 0.001% of 1GW of solar power.
Electrek’s Take
China has really taken over the solar industry. For a long while, many said China was simply exporting solar panels so they could get more foreign currency. Now, after a decade of heavy investment in the industry China is actually making use of a large majority of the total solar panels they manufacture. Somewhere around 80GW of solar manufacturing capacity exists in China, of 130GW global – using 50 of those 80 gigawatts is clear evidence that China is no longer focusing on exports
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Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast. | 1,270,139 |
National Geographic’s scripted/unscripted hybrid series Mars gives viewers both a real and dramatized quest to colonize the planet. The combination present-day documentary and scripted look at the future is what director Everard Gout described as a process in which “one hand fits in the other in terms of the knowledge and in terms of the emotion.” “It’s electrical” he added, “because you have that level of truthfulness on the documentary side but you also have an equal amount of beauty and truthfulness on the scripted side. It’s a very visceral experience.”
From Academy Award and Emmy-winning producers Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Michael Rosenberg of Imagine Entertainment; and Academy Award- Nominated and Emmy-winning producer Justin Wilkes and Dave O’Connor of Radical Media, the show aims to provide deep insight on historical moments, such as when Space X successfully landed its first reusable rocket. “Instead of science fiction, its science fact. Everything that you are seeing is real,” said Wilkes. “We were embedded in places like Space X and Nasa, and we hear from our big thinker giving content,” he said about the show’s effort to keep things authentic.
Why is Mars exploration is so important? According to Andy Weir, author of The Martian, “the reason why we want to go to Mars now is because we want to learn how to send humans to Mars. Right now, every human being is on earth, if there is a catastrophe, our species can clearly be wiped out. 65 million years ago there was a meteor strike that killed everything that didn’t burrow. 70 thousand years ago there was a super volcano that killed all but 10,000 humans. If mankind has two planets and if we have a self sufficient population on another planet, then our odds of extinction will drop to nearly zero.”
Stephen Petranek, author of the book How We’ll Live on Mars that inspired the series, offered the same sentiments. “We all have to face a certain reality, eventually our sun is going to die and consume the earth. Human beings will go extinct if you do not become a multi-planet and space bearing society,” he says. “And frankly, Mars isn’t the answer, Mars is just a stepping stone. We have to learn how to get out of this solar system and find another earth like solar system and that could be light years away.”
Also in attendance during the panel discussion were Ben Cotton (Ben Sawyer), Jihae (Hana Seung and Joon Seung), Sammi Rotibi (Robert Foucault), Clementine Poidatz (Amelie Durand), Anamaria Marinca (Marta Kamen), Olivier Martinez (Ed Grann), Dr. Mae Jamison (Astronaut and MARS Consultant), Dr. Robert D. Braun (Professor of Space Technology and MARS Consulting Scientist)
The series is set to premiere in November. | 1,270,140 |
Consumers shopping on the Obamacare exchanges are thriftier than the general public, with more picking health plans based on price rather than their choice of doctors, a study found.
While the general public prefers more expensive plans that cover a broader range of doctors and hospitals, 54 percent of those who are uninsured or who buy their own coverage select plans that cost less, even if they have less say in providers, the Kaiser Family Foundation found in a poll released today. Only 35 percent of that group -- the target audience of the exchanges set up by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- would pick a more expensive, broad-network plan.
"The individual market has always been more sensitive to costs," Dan Mendelson, chief executive officer of the Washington-based consultant Avalere Health, said in a telephone interview. "They're not used to relying on their employer to take care of them, they generally have less predictable income and they are more accustomed to paying out of pocket."
As millions of Americans join health plans created through the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare, consumers, insurers and providers are paying attention to the balance between cost and coverage. Insurers say "narrow network" plans, which limit the number of doctors and hospitals covered, help to keep premiums low, while providers left out of the networks are worried about lost patient volume.
Narrow Networks
Narrow network plans have proliferated on the public insurance marketplaces to cater to the preferences of Obamacare consumers. The government yesterday said 4 million people have now enrolled in private insurance plans for 2014 through the exchanges. Enrollment ends March 31.
About 70 percent of plans on the public exchanges are "narrow" or "ultra-narrow" plans, according to a December study by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The study also found that incumbent companies were offering three times as many narrow plans as they did prior to Obamacare.
The narrow plans have also caught the attention of small employers and will soon become a staple of the industry outside of the public exchanges, Mendelson said.
"They really do move the needle," he said. "When a small employer looks over at the rates quoted on the exchanges, they're interested."
A majority of small businesses would select a plan with a narrow network if they could save five percent of the costs, according to an October study of small businesses, published in health policy journal Health Affairs.
Expanded Coverage
Next year, insurers may be required to expand the number of doctors and hospitals included in their plans, increasing their coverage to 30 percent of "essential community providers" from 20 percent this year, the Health and Human Services Department said this month. The insurance industry argues this requirement may lead to a rise in premium prices.
"It is important to ensure patients can continue to benefit from the high-value provider networks health plans have established, which are helping to improve quality and mitigate cost increases for consumers as the new health care reforms are taking effect," Clare Krusing, spokeswoman for the America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's Washington-based lobbying group, said in a telephone interview. | 1,270,141 |
Yes, monitor overclocking is a thing. And it is glorious. Unlike GPU or CPU overclocks, monitor overclocks are, in general, very stable. If your monitor can handle an overclock, it will run at a higher refresh rate. There’s a good chance that you have a 60 Hz monitor like the majority of people. In most cases, 60 Hz monitors can be overclocked to at least, 75Hz.
What are the advantages of monitor overclocking? While a locked 60 is nice in games, it could always be better. Have you ever used an iPad Pro with the 120 Hz screen? Or a high-end 144 Hz gaming monitor? The higher your screen refresh rate, the smoother the action onscreen. It makes competitive shooters easier to play. And luckily, competitive titles often run the best, meaning they’re the most likely to actually run at 100+ FPS.
Are all monitors overclockable? Well, yes and no. Most monitors will do at least a few Hz. You should have no trouble going up to 75-80 Hz. Above that, it’s all luck of the draw. As a rule of thumb, TN panels overclock much better than IPS or VA panels. TVs tend not to play nice with overclocks, though.
So the only question remaining is this: how the heck do you overclock your monitor? It’s pretty simple. We’ll show you how.
Steps to Overclocking your Monitor:
1.) You’ll need to download the Custom Resolution Utility tool (CRU), from the MonitorTests forum here. Unzip it somewhere.
2.) Right-click on the main CRU app and run it as administrator.
3.) Click on “Add” under detailed resolutions.
4.) Enter your display resolution and your target refresh rate. We suggest starting with 75 Hz. Then click okay.
5.) Click okay on the main interface to close it
6.) Go back to the unzipped CRU folder. Right-click on “restart64.exe” and run as admin.
7.) Your screen should flicker and go black for a few seconds. If things have gone right, your screen will work as usual. If the overclock is too high, your display will black out for 10-15 seconds. If this happens, repeat steps 2-6, but reduce the refresh rate.
8.) You now need to apply the overclocked refresh rate. Click on start, then search for Display Settings.
9.) Click on Advanced Display Settings.
10.) Click on Display Adapter properties. This will open a new window.
11.) Click on the “Monitor” tab.
12.) Enter your custom refresh rate in the Screen refresh rate drop-down. The click apply.
That’s all there is to it. If you’ve followed these steps, you’ll be fragging like a boss like its 1997 in no time! | 1,270,142 |
In the past few months, especially during Google I/O, we’ve learned a great deal about Google’s Fuchsia OS and the types of devices it’s currently expected to run on. While Hiroshi Lockheimer urged fans to consider the possibility that Fuchsia may not necessarily be for smartphones, new evidence has come to light indicating that the Fuchsia team is working to support the Snapdragon 835 processor, found in phones like the Google Pixel 2.
Two years ago, our first real look at Fuchsia’s UI came from a demo app available for Android. Seeing that the Fuchsia team, at that early stage of development, was considering mobile devices and preparing a UI, it seemed likely that Fuchsia could be a successor to Android. A report from Bloomberg further alleged that Fuchsia would replace Android within five years.
However, up to this point, the overwhelming majority of hardware supported by Fuchsia has been IoT devices like the Google Nest Hub and more traditional computers like the Google Pixelbook. The only Android-related exceptions, the Honor Play and the Pixel 3 XL, were created by third parties, not Google itslef.
A new commit, posted last night to the Fuchsia Gerrit source code management, is set to change all of that. The commit, created by the same Fuchsia team member responsible for most currently supported hardware, is labeled to bring “Initial support for msm8998.” This may not sound familiar, but it’s actually the name of the processor portion of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC.
It’s somewhat strange that they’ve chosen to support the Snapdragon 835, as the chip is now two generations behind. Thus far, many of the chips in devices Google has developed Fuchsia support for had not even hit the market when development began. Perhaps supporting the Snapdragon 835 will act as a stepping stone toward newer chips like last year’s Snapdragon 845 or this year’s Snapdragon 855.
In any case, there’s no way to know for sure what device Google’s Fuchsia team is intending this Snapdragon 835 support to be used for just yet. The only other clue in the code is that our mystery device has 4GB of RAM. This lines up perfectly with the most obvious Snapdragon 835 phone for Google to bring Fuchsia to, the Pixel 2, but also matches a handful of other devices like the Galaxy S8 and the Essential Phone.
That being said, don’t expect to be running Fuchsia on your Pixel 2 (or other Snapdragon 835 phone) any time soon, unless you’re a hardware development expert. For the time being, according to the commit message, only the internal serial console is supported. This means important aspects of a smartphone like the display and the touch screen don’t work yet.
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Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: | 1,270,143 |
was rendered harmless by its transformation… With this transformation the potentially disturbing features of the original critique were successfully avoided and the dominant style of investigative practice could continue to be taken for granted. The issue became trivialized to a form of question that could be investigated within the framework of traditional practices. This was the usual fate of controversies that threatened to upset the methodological applecart.” (Danziger, 1990, p. 248)
In 1990, perhaps Danziger’s words might have been received more frostily, but in the light of the replication crisis I think his words deserve serious consideration. It is common to see psychologists shy away from or deride conceptual or philosophical matters in favour of ‘getting on’, being ‘pragmatic’, thereby transforming the theoretical problem into a technical one. I find little to disagree with from Machado, Lourenço and Silva (2000) who say “conceptual investigations have been dismissed as philosophical speculation alien or even inimical to science, as misguided attempts to circumvent empirical research, a sort of shortcut in the path to the truth, or as armchair speculation about the meaning of words.” Machado, Lourenço and Silva (2000), p.26.
We can see an example of this aversion to theoretical matters from high-profile psychologists: Tomasello, Carpenter, and Liszkowski (2007) might wish to discuss the matter of joint knowledge through pointing, but clarify that “[they] are not attempting to address the large and complex philosophical literature on the nature of mutual knowledge nor the philosophical use of the word ‘know’.” Ironically, the authors’ disavowal of any theoretical commitments in this fashion only serves to blind them to their unexamined assumptions about the phenomenon of joint attention (see Racine, Leavens, Susswein, and Wereha, 2008, for a discussion).
Alternatively, see Whitehead and Rendell (2015), who spend the opening chapter of their book on cetacean culture pouring scorn on the social scientists who offer criticism of their conception of ‘culture’, and feel their definition (socially transferred behaviours across individuals) allows them to ‘get on’ to look at empirical data. Despite this pragmatism, Whitehead and Rendell never seem to escape the problems inherent in their definition being so loose, repeatedly returning throughout the book to the controversy it causes, without the evidence they cite providing any further clarification. In miniature, Whitehead and Rendell provide psychology with an example of the futility of pressing ahead without conceptual clarity.
The replication crisis, if nothing else, has shown that productivity is not intrinsically valuable. Much of what psychology has produced has been shown, empirically, to be a waste of time, effort, and money. As Gibson put it: our gains are puny, our science ill-founded. As a subject, it is hard to see what it has to lose from a period of theoretical confrontation. The ultimate response to the replication crisis will determine whether this bout is postponed or not. | 1,270,144 |
(JTA) — To thank the 65 countries that did not support a resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s position on Jerusalem, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, invited her counterparts from those states to a reception.
Haley extended the invitation Thursday hours after the General Assembly passed a resolution condemning Trump’s Dec. 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the nrg news site reported.
Nine countries voted against the resolution, including Israel, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras and Togo, and 35 abstained, including the six EU member states Poland, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Latvia. The rest of the European Union was among the 128 nations that voted in favor.
The representatives of 21 countries were absent from the vote, which was the 10th time in U.N. history that the General Assembly was convened for an emergency voting. They included Kenya, which was the fifth-largest recipient of U.S. aid last year, Georgia and Ukraine, all of which have close ties with the United States.
Absenteeism is unusual in emergency session votes.
Prior to the vote, Trump wrote on Twitter: “We’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us, we’ll save a lot. We don’t care.” His words were widely interpreted as a threat to cut aid to countries that vote against the United States position on Jerusalem.
The resolution, sponsored by Yemen and Turkey, reaffirmed what has been the U.N. stand on the divided holy city since 1967: Jerusalem’s final status must be decided in direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Later Thursday, an invitation was sent around to the countries that did not support the resolution on Jerusalem to attend a reception with Haley in January. The event was labeled as a means to thank the countries for “their friendship to the United States,” according to a copy of the invite obtained by CNN.
In her speech at the emergency vote, Haley noted that the “United States is by far the single largest contributor to the United Nations and its agencies.”
Aid is given, she added, “in order to advance our values and our interests. When that happens, our participation in the United Nations produces great good for the world.” The United States does this “because it represents who we are. It is our American way.”
But, Haley said, “we’ll be honest with you. When we make generous contributions to the U.N., we also have a legitimate expectation that our good will is recognized and respected. When a nation is singled out for attack in this organization, that nation is disrespected. What’s more, that nation is asked to pay for the ‘privilege’ of being disrespected.”
Trump’s pronouncement on Jerusalem ended decades of U.S. ambiguity on the status of the city that both Israel and the Palestinians claim as their capital. | 1,270,145 |
.
“You’ll never have more political capital than you do now,” said A.B. Culvahouse Jr., former White House counsel to President Reagan and head of Trump’s vice presidential vetting effort last year. So for Trump, “the timing is just no good.”
Culvahouse recalled that the Iran-Contra scandal and its investigation “cost Ronald Reagan almost a year of his presidency.” Yet unlike Trump’s crisis, that one came at the end of Reagan’s second term, when his legacy was largely sealed.
Veterans of other administrations say Trump needs a bigger, more experienced team of advisors — and people who can stand up to him and warn against rash decisions — if he has hopes of rebounding. Yet attracting talent is likely to be more difficult after the way Comey was fired and then publicly criticized for several days by Trump and his aides.
“Now it will be even harder because some of the eligible people will say, ‘What am I getting into here?’” said Elliott Abrams, a foreign policy advisor in the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations. His own appointment to the No. 2 job in the State Department was vetoed by Trump because of Abrams’ criticism of him during the campaign.
Abrams said that many of the people who would fill top spots have lucrative careers and would have to sacrifice income and family time to serve in the administration. “When the administration seems to be in some disarray, the balance can shift from yes to no,” he said.
Trump’s relations with Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, have been damaged and will be difficult to remedy. He has little hope of winning the support of any Democrats, even those from conservative and swing states who are facing reelection next year.
As for Republicans, longtime party strategist Rick Tyler says Trump is threatening the political future of his allies in Congress and may find it harder to get top-level Republicans to speak on his behalf when they know the president is apt to contradict them at any moment. If his popularity in polls continues to slide, Tyler said, Trump will lose leverage to pass legislation the party has promised its voters for years.
“This is not how you win legislative victories,” Tyler said. “This is how you win ratings for reality shows.”
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Times staff writer Brian Bennett contributed to this report.
Twitter: @mikememoli
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In the aftermath of the healthcare vote, some Republicans are nowhere to be found while the ‘resistance’ prepares for 2018 | 1,270,146 |
Quantum computing could be the biggest thing to happen to computers since their invention, because it fundamentally changes how computing works. Instead of just using ones and zeros, a quantum computer can use ones, zeros, and a special quantum state called superposition that is kind of like being both a one and a zero at the same time.
If you’ve looked into futurism in the past, you may be familiar with Moore’s law. It’s not actually a law, despite the name, just a trend people working in technology have noticed: the fastest computers avilable tend to get twice as fast roughly once every two years. (This means the cutting edge of what computers we can build, obviously. An already built computer won’t magically get faster.) The trend isn’t perfect, it used to be a bit faster, and in the past few years people have started to suspect the trend will disappear entirely by 2025. This is a big deal, because it means that all the recent advances in technology, the way computers have been getting faster and more capable, it all might end. We might be stuck.
Quantum computing has been posited as the next step in computer development, promising the possibility of continuing progress as fast as or even faster than Moore’s law has given us so far. You see, quantum computers are much, much, much faster than normal computers for some special, difficult types of computation. There are problems which would take one of today’s normal computers millions of years to calculate, if they ever could at all, that a quantum computer could solve in minutes.
But quantum computers aren’t miracle machines. They won’t replace normal computers, at least not at first, just add to them. Quantum computers only help speed up certain types of problems, like factoring large numbers, and don’t offer any significant benefits for other types of problems. Also, quantum computers are probabilistic, which means that there’s always a small but real chance that they’ll give you the wrong answer. These problems are things that computer scientists can work around, but it’ll take time to master quantum computing, even after we can physically build nice, high-end machines.
Some simple quantum computers do exist already, though. IBM unveiled the first commerical quantum computer just this year (2019). It’s nine feet tall and nine feet wide, and only processes 20 qbits (quantum bits, or the equivalent of 1 or a 0 on a quantum computer), which means it’s still just a very small first step compared to the quantum computers we want to build, but it’s still a huge milestone in the history of computers. Somewhat more powerful quantum computers such as the 79 to 160 qbit IonQ have been developed but are still not available commercially.
We’re still in the very early days of quantum computing, but we have a wild ride to look forward to. Here’s hoping computers continue to get more powerful for a long while to come! | 1,270,147 |
Skirmisher
The Skirmisher excels in a unique combat style that favors fast movement and devastating attacks. Skirmishers are often found amongst the ranks of armies utilized for scouting and reconnaissance. However, many outlanders and hermits exemplify the skirmisher’s mobile prowess preferring to remain on the move.
Skirmisher Features Fighter Level Features 3rd Bonus Proficiencies, Skirmish (1d6), Trackless Step 7th Flawless Stride 10th Ambusher, Skirmish (2d6) 15th Improved Stride, Skirmish (3d6) 18th Freedom of Movement 20th Skirmish (4d6)
Bonus Proficiencies
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Acrobatics, Athletics, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Stealth, or Survival. You can choose to gain proficiency with thieves’ tools in place of one skill choice.
Skirmish
A skirmisher relies on mobility to deal extra damage and improve its defense. At 3rd level, you gain the following benefits when you move at least 10 feet away from where you start on a turn. You must not be wearing medium or heavy armor, and cannot be mounted in order to gain these benefits.
You deal an extra 1d6 damage on all weapon attacks. The extra damage applies only to attacks made during your turn. The skirmisher must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. The extra damage can apply to ranged attacks, but only if the target is within 30 feet. The extra damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 10th level (2d6), 15th level (3d6), and 20th level (4d6).
You gain a +1 bonus to AC. The bonus applies as soon as you have moved 10 feet, and lasts until the start of your next turn.
Trackless Step
Starting at 3rd level, you leave no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked. You may choose to leave a trail if so desired.
Flawless Stride
Starting at 7th level while you aren't wearing medium or heavy armor, your speed increases by 10 feet and moving through non-magical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement.
Ambusher
Starting at 10th level, you excel at leading ambushes and acting first in a fight. You have advantage on initiative rolls. In addition, You have advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn't taken a turn in the combat yet.
Improved Stride
Starting at 15th level while you aren't wearing medium or heavy armor, your speed increases by an additional 10 feet.
Freedom of Movement
Starting at 18th level while you aren't wearing medium or heavy armor, you can use your action to automatically escape magical effects or non-magical restraints that reduce your speed or cause you to be paralyzed or restrained. | 1,270,148 |
brush and man up and feed their family.”
There were 43,000 jobs created in the state between September and December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But are former welfare recipients getting jobs? No one knows.
Critics worried that families would become homeless, but that hasn’t happened so far.
Barb Ritter, project manager at the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, says there hasn’t been a large increase in people seeking shelter, and she doesn’t know if families who were kicked off welfare are among the families at shelters across the state.
Three months after losing cash assistance may be too early to tell what will happen to the families. “It normally takes a while for people to actually go homeless and both DHS and MSHDA (Michigan State Housing Development Authority) are trying to launch some bridge housing supports for the most vulnerable in the group,” Ritter said. “Homelessness is normally a lagging indicator.”
“There are always unintended consequences,” MLHS' Jacobs said. “I’m not sure we have enough data to know whether it makes sense to kick people off.”
Why not get the answers?
There are ways to monitor the impact, said Luke Shaefer, assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan. Many of the families kicked off cash assistance continue to be eligible for other assistance programs, such as food stamps, or child care assistance, that are also administered by DHS. Some of those programs, including food stamps, require recipients to report income. The department could cross-reference the data to analyze whether those who were kicked off welfare eventually increased their income. The same could be done with Child Protective Services to discover whether the loss of cash assistance increased child abuse.
Akerly said he knows of no plans to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the welfare reform on those who lost benefits. Akerly did say that DHS would examine the impact on a “case by case” basis.
Melissa Smith, senior policy analyst for the Michigan League for Human Services, said DHS is “very defensive” about tracking the families, but that monitoring is vital for policymakers to determine the true impact of the reform; when some are saying the families will flow seamlessly into the workforce and others are saying they’ll become homeless, data should be used to find the truth. Otherwise, “people are just going to disappear and they’re just going to not know what happened.”
Senior Writer Ron French joined Bridge in 2011 after having won more than 40 national and state journalism awards since he joined the Detroit News in 1995. French has a long track record of uncovering emerging issues and changing the public policy debate through his work. In 2006, he foretold the coming crisis in the auto industry in a special report detailing how worker health-care costs threatened to bankrupt General Motors.
* DHS Spokesman Dave Akerly's name was misspelled in the original edition of this story. | 1,270,149 |
Americans are buying organic products more than ever before, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports. This is great news for the an ever-growing organic movement dedicated to making the slow transition back to all-natural farming techniques. However, the reasoning behind this sudden surge in organic interest may have less to do with the movement, and a lot more to do with fear. (Photo : Pixabay)
Americans are buying organic products more than ever before, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports. This is great news for the an ever-growing organic movement dedicated to making the slow transition back to all-natural farming techniques. However, the reasoning behind this sudden surge in organic interest may have less to do with the movement, and a lot more to do with fear.
A recent USDA release revealed that the demand for organic products saw a 12 percent hike in 2013, compared to the previous year, resulting in $35.1 billion in sales.
A recent Organic Trade Association (OTA) survey for 2014 also revealed that eight out of every 10 American families now actively and regularly make organic products a part of their shopping list.
The USDA is pleased with these findings, knowing that interest in organic products must keep up with the rapid growth of the industry. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the total number of acres of US cropland used for organic farming has grown nearly eight times over since 1992, brining totals to well over three million acres by 2011. Pasture and rangeland dedicated to the grazing of organic livestock has likewise shot up to more than 2.2 million acres.
"The trend for organics is growth, more and more people are choosing organic produce and food products and especially in the last 10 years it's been growing at healthy rates," Miles McEvoy, organic program manager for the state of Washington, told the Organic Consumer Association. "In the last four years in Washington we've gone from 290 farmers to 520 because of the increased demand."
However, while the increase in demand is good, the USDA suspects it has less to do with a want to support organic farmers, and more-so with a want to avoid genetically modified crops (GMOs).
GMOs have been a hot topic recently as a debate about labeling and control procedures for these products rages on in the United States. Experts and health officials alike argue that GMOs are adequately controlled in the United States and pose no threat to consumers.
However, this hasn't stopped the public from growing increasingly concerned about GMO rumors.
According to the OTA, nearly 25 percent of surveyed parents reported this year that they actively avoid feeding their children GMO products, despite reassurances from the Food and Drug Administration that these products are not a health threat.
"Each year we see an increase in parents' self-described knowledge of organic topics. Parents have become more informed about the benefits of organic, and they have also become more aware of the questions surrounding GMOs," OTA CEO and Executive Director Laura Batcha said in a statement. "That heightened awareness is being reflected in their buying decisions." | 1,270,150 |
Israeli officials have confirmed that the country's air force carried out a strike against Syria and say it targeted a shipment of advanced missiles.
The officials said on Saturday the shipment was not of chemical arms, but of "game changing" weapons bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
They claimed, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the airstrike was early on Friday, but no mention was made of where it took place.
Following the strike, Defence Ministry strategist, Amos Gilad, said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad retains control of Syria's reputed chemical weapons and they are not sought by his Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
"Syria has large amounts of chemical weaponry and missiles. Everything there is under (Assad government) control," Gilad said in a speech.
"Hezbollah does not have chemical weaponry. We have ways of knowing. They are not keen to take weaponry like this, preferring systems that can cover all of the country (Israel)," he said.
Earlier this week, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said his group would assist Assad if needed in the effort to put down a 2-year-old uprising.
Israeli embassy spokesman Aaron Sagui would not comment on Friday night specifically on the report of an Israeli strike into Syria.
"What we can say is that Israel is determined to prevent the transfer of chemical weapons or other game-changing weaponry by the Syrian regime to terrorists, specially to Hezbollah in Lebanon," Sagui said in an email to the AP.
The Syrian UN Ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, told Reuters: "I'm not aware of any attack right now."
Intense overflights
It was not immediately clear where the airstrike took place, or whether the air force carried out the strike from Lebanese or Syrian airspace.
The Israeli air force has so-called "standoff" bombs that coast dozens of kilometres across ground to their targets once fired.
That could, in theory, allow Israel to attack Syria from its own turf or from neighbouring Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities reported unusual intensive Israeli air force activity over their territory on Thursday and Friday.
A Lebanese security source said his initial impression was that Israeli overflights were monitoring potential arms shipments between Syria and Lebanon, potentially to Hezbollah.
"We believe that it is linked to Israel's concerns over the transfer of weapons, particularly chemical weapons, from Syria to its allies in Lebanon," said the official, who asked not to be named.
Syrian opposition sources, usually quick to announce rumours of Israeli air strikes, said they had not heard of an attack on Syrian territory.
In January this year, Israel bombed a convoy in Syria, apparently hitting weapons destined for Hezbollah, according to diplomats, Syrian rebels and security sources in the region.
In 2007, Israeli jets bombed a suspected nuclear reactor site along the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, an attack that embarrassed and jolted the Assad regime and led to a buildup of the Syrian air defence system.
The Israeli strike also follows days of renewed concerns that Syria might be using chemical weapons against opposition forces. | 1,270,151 |
A recently published book published by the British Library charts the evolution of iconic sea serpents, mermaids and other mythical creatures found on world maps from the 10 th century through to medieval and Renaissance times. Despite their wild appearance, most of the creatures were based on true encounters with sea animals, shedding light on how mythology and folklore can evolve from real events.
Chet Van Duzer's " Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps" (British Library, 2013) depict a range of ‘sea monsters’ which cartographers used to illustrate mysterious, unexplored regions of the globe and the possible dangers of seafaring. Many have assumed that these mythical creatures were the results of illustrators having a bit of fun or exerting their imagination in their work. However, many of the ocean’s creatures, including whales, walruses and squid were rarely seen and were considered monsters in medieval and Renaissance times.
"The creatures look purely fantastic. They all look like they were just made up," Van Duzer, a map historian at the Library of Congress, said in a talk about his book. "But, in fact, a lot of them come from what were considered, at the time, scientific sources." For example, it was quite usual for the encyclopedias of the time to contain reference to strange looking terrestrial-aquatic-hybrid animals and mapmakers just took some poetic license in depicting them.
One example of a real sea creature being transformed into a legendary beast is that of the Kraken is a giant sea creature in Scandinavian mythology which was said to be 1 mile long. It was depicted as great beast that would attack ships and was so huge that its body could be mistaken for an island. It is first mentioned in the Örvar-Oddr, a 13th century Icelandic saga.
The Kraken was also mentioned in the first edition of Systema Naturae [1735], a taxonomic classification of living organisms by the Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist Carolus Linnaeus. He classified the Kraken as a cephalopod, designating the scientific name Microcosmus marinus.
The myth of the Kraken is believed by historians and scientists to relate to the giant squid, which can reach 18 meters in length and has been rarely seen by humans as it lives the very depths of the ocean.
By tracing the depictions of sea monsters throughout the centuries, Van Duzer presented an evolution from a world full of dangers lurking in distant oceans where gigantic octopuses and whales drag ships and sailors into the sea, to 17 th century maps showing ships exerting dominion over the beasts of the ocean. Eventually, the beasts disappeared from maps altogether.
The important message to take from Van Duzer’s fascinating depiction of sea monsters is that mythological stories and legends of the past are unlikely to be purely fanciful stories stemming from overly imaginative minds. Rather, it seems clear that most, if not all, the stories from our ancient ancestors evolved from real events that were portrayed according to the understanding and knowledge of the time.
By April Holloway | 1,270,152 |
San Diego Comic Con has already gone down this route with pre-registration and Member IDs. Now New York Comic Con is going that way as well, a sign of its success and the demand for tickets that severely outstrips supply.
They have issued the following letter,
We want the New York Comic Con 2016 Ticket buying experience to be as smooth and fair as possible, so this year we are requiring Fan Verification. What does Fan Verification mean? It means we are requiring anyone interested in attending NYCC to fill out a profile between Friday, May 20 and Monday, June 13. We recognize that this is an extra step before buying your Tickets and requires more commitment from you, but we also know that as true Fans of the Show, you won't mind making it tough for the supervillains out there. Here's a quick look at nine important points for this new process:
1. Fan Verification is required for NYCC 2016. Everyone who would like to attend NYCC (whether you are buying Tickets yourself or someone is buying them for you) must fill out a Fan Verification profile. 2. Kids who will be ages 6-12 at the time of NYCC 2016 and will be using a NYCC 2016 Adult Ticket or Sunday Kids Ticket do not need a Fan Verification profile for their NYCC 2016 Ticket. 3. Fan Verification will be open from Friday, May 20 at 12:00 PM EDT to Monday, June 13 at 11:59 PM EDT. Fill out your Fan Verification profile correctly and completely – there's no need to rush through it. 4. All NYCC 2016 Ticket Types will go on sale at the same time on a first-come, first-served basis. Fan Verification does not guarantee NYCC Tickets. 5. We will no longer be selling VIP Tickets for NYCC. 6. NYCC 2016 Tickets will only be sold online. NYCC Tickets will not be on sale at retailers or any events leading up to NYCC 2016. 7. All Fans who filled out a Fan Verification profile will be notified via email 48 hours prior to NYCC Tickets going on sale. 8. The email you receive with the NYCC on-sale date will include a unique link where you will have the opportunity to purchase Tickets first-come, first-served when they go on sale. There is a one transaction limit per link. 9. If you are purchasing Tickets for you and your friends or family, you must assign each individual Ticket to a person using the name and email address they created their Fan Verification profile with. If you are purchasing a Ticket for a kid ages 6-12, you will add their name and age to the Ticket.
These changes are being done with you in mind and the hope that more of you will get the opportunity to experience NYCC. Please visit NewYorkComicCon.com/ FanVerification for complete details on the NYCC Ticketing process along with other important NYCC Show news.
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Let us know how it goes – those wanting to attend NYCC for Bleeding Cool really should have got in touch by now… | 1,270,153 |
The winner of Super Smash Bros Brawl wins this well crafted Diamond Motif Trophy.
$100
*In order to receive any MLG points for WHOBO: MLG, you must have an account with MLG's main website. You can register here.
All Smash event top placements will receive medals alongside their winnings from the pot.
April 28th
"Please bring setups!" - Xyro
Possibly the best advice any player can take to support the community.
Espy Rose will be in full attendance at WHOBO: MLG. Stop by for a chat, or leave him a message on Twitter at EspyRose1 Click to expand...
As mentioned in a previous article, WHOBO: MLG marks the six year anniversary for the Texas-born series. Now less than two weeks remaining before day one (May 3rd) of the tournament, it's still anyone's guess as to who will become this year's champion of the main event. With every previous WHOBO bringing in hundreds of entrants for a variety of events, WHOBO: MLG promises some ferocious matches amongst the elite Smashers of each game.Hosted at the Zuma Fun Center in Houston, Texas, WHOBO: MLG is structured to appeal to every type of Smasher, be the preference, or. There will be teams and singles events in every game. In addition, there is a side event for, including 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, and even low tier! Xyro77 and Airbrush_King have also raised the stakes, each donatingto both theandprize pools!The player pool is something worth any Smasher's attention, bringing in some of the best talent, old and new. Special guest CT ZeRo will be in attendance, along with a majority of Texas finest in the last 6 years for Trela ), each with a huge influence over the evolution ofin Texas since 2008.also promises a strong showing, bringing Oracle Sethlon, and other high-calibur players to the table for some intense sets.rounds out the cast with a showing from two of the best, MaNg0 and Hax. Being an MLG Grassroots event, WHOBO: MLG grants seeding points for future MLG events to the top 32 players, providing many with opportunities to have a strong showing at MLG Anaheim. Point spreads for the WHOBO: MLG series and for the entire MLG Grassroots circuit can be found by clicking here All in all, plenty of high leveled action is to be expected from May 3rd-4th. Online registration is $35, and is available by clicking here. You have untilto register online; do it as soon as possible!Additional information, including a full list of events, nearby housing/hotels, event rules, etc. can be found by clicking here Even if you are unable to attend, you can help support this and future events by tuning in to watch the stream via MLG.tv, courtesy of ChiboSempai Hope to see you there, and happy Smashing! | 1,270,154 |
Philly Newspaper Apologizes for Calling Asians “Chinky Winky” and “Dinky Doo”
"An internal investigation is underway," they promise.
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UPDATE 8/25 1:10pm: The editor responsible for the Asian slurs has been fired. For the full story, go here.
ORIGINAL:
The Philadelphia Public Record newspaper has apologized for using racial slurs in a photo caption depicting City Councilman Mark Squilla with a group of Asians in Chinatown, referring to some in the photo as “Chinky Winky,” “Dinky Doo,” and “Me Too.”
Here’s the apology in full as posted on the newspaper’s website:
In our Aug. 21, 2014 issue an offensive slur was accidentally published in the Philadelphia Public Record. This shocking lapse of professional conduct occurred contrary to our editorial directives and in no way reflects the views of our staff or our organization. An internal investigation is underway to uncover the source of this intolerable abuse and to prevent it from ever happening again. We apologize whole-heartedly to the Asian American community and to all Philadelphians of this vibrant, diverse city who work together to make it the best place in America to live and to grow.
But when we spoke with Philadelphia Public Record publisher (and former City Councilman-turned-federal inmate) Jimmy Tayoun about the matter when we first broke the story, he was hardly apologetic, insisting it was merely a “proofreading error.”
And when we pressed him on it, Tayoun said, “Don’t make something out of nothing. Nobody is offended, so stop trying to start trouble.”
“I can’t believe they are still sticking to the story that it was accidentally published,” says Rob Buscher, the Japanese-American director of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival. “This is a total non-apology and unless they were to fire the person responsible for this, I doubt that the community is going to let up. … The worst part is, every time something like this happens our city gets further stigmatized as an intolerant place by outsiders.”
After we pointed out the newspaper’s racial slur, complaints rolled in from everyone from the Organization of Chinese Americans-Asian Pacific American Advocates Greater Philadelphia Chapter to schools advocate Helen Gym to LGBT activist and Pennsylvania State Representative Brian Sims.
Usually, if you want to make a newspaper feel your outrage, the only way to do so is by getting its advertisers to pull their ads. In the issue in question, those advertisers included the Carpenters Union, potential mayoral candidate Anthony Hardy Williams, local car dealers Piazza Honda and Pacifico Ford, and the Philadelphia Parking Authority.
“We could get a pretty convincing campaign put together in terms of boycotting advertisers until they divest,” promises Buscher. | 1,270,155 |
UPDATE: 30-year-old Kino Jimenez was arrested by San Antonio Police Thursday night on charges of felony theft of a person. Bail was set at $5,000.
The Universal City resident was apprehended “without incident” at his home, the Daily Mail reports.
A Texas mother claims her son was attacked at a Whataburger in San Antonio because he was wearing a Trump-supporting MAGA hat. The mother posted a video of the incident on Facebook.
The woman claimed a man became angry at her teenage son and his group of friends because one of them wore a “Make American Great Again” hat in support of President Donald Trump, KENS5 reported. The video shows the man throwing his fountain drink at the table and shouting a racial slur.
In her post on Facebook, that has since been taken down, Patricia Spittler asks for help in identifying the man she called “scum bag of the year,” the San Antonio CBS affiliate reported.
“His friend was wearing a patriotic hat, and this happened! It would be nice to know who he is for someone to let him know his actions are not okay!” Spittler reportedly wrote in her Facebook post. “Real tough guy… approaches a group of teenagers minding their own business just having a burger! He kept his hat, too.”
The video has since been re-posted in other locations. Twitter user, @ColumbiaBugle tweeted a message describing “the civility of the left on full display…”
Disturbing video of young Trump Supporter having his MAGA hat stolen and a drink thrown in his face. The civility of the Left on full display… pic.twitter.com/gUzBVRpP7X — The Columbia Bugle (@ColumbiaBugle) July 5, 2018
As the video begins, the man says, “… supporting the president. You ain’t supporting shit nigga,” and then throws the drink in the face of a 16-year-old boy. With MAGA hat in hand, the man walks away saying “Bitch ass motherf**ker.”
The boy, Hunter Richard, said the man also pulled his hair while taking the hat, News4SA reported.
“I support my President and if you don’t, let’s have a conversation about it instead of ripping my hat off. I just think a conversation about politics is more productive for the entire whole rather than taking my hat and yelling subjective words to me,” he told the local NBC affiliate.
A police report of the incident was filed, News4SA reported.
A local bar in San Antonio where the alleged attacker worked part-time posted a note on Facebook claiming they were made aware of the attack they said was committed by one of their part-time employees. Rumble officials claimed the man has been fired because his actions “go against everything that this establishment stands for.” | 1,270,156 |
Sorry, elephants: Dolphins have taken the top spot for best memory, at least for now.
New experiments show that bottlenose dolphins can remember whistles of other dolphins they'd lived with after 20 years of separation. Each dolphin has a unique whistle that functions like a name, allowing the marine mammals to keep close social bonds.
The new research shows that dolphins have the longest memory yet known in any species other than people. Elephants and chimpanzees are thought to have similar abilities, but they haven't yet been tested, said study author Jason Bruck, an animal behaviorist at the University of Chicago. (Also see "Chimps, Orangutans Have Human-Like Memory.")
Bruck came up with the idea to study animal memory when his brother's dog, usually wary of male strangers, remembered and greeted him four years after last seeing him. "That got me thinking: How long do other animals remember each other?"
I Remember You!
Bruck studied dolphins because their social bonds are extremely important and because there are good records for captive dolphins (as opposed to wild ones).
So he collected data from 43 bottlenose dolphins at six facilities in the U.S. and Bermuda, members of a breeding consortium that has swapped dolphins for decades and kept careful records of each animal's social partners. (Watch video: "Dolphin Talk Decoded.")
He first played recordings of lots of unfamiliar whistles to the dolphins in the study until the subjects got bored and stopped inspecting the underwater speaker making the sounds.
At this point, he played the whistles of the listening dolphins' old friends.
When the dolphins heard these familiar whistles, they would perk up and approach the speakers, often whistling their own name and listening for a response.
Overall, the dolphins responded more to animals they'd known decades ago than to random animals—suggesting they recognized their former companions, according to the study, published recently in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Cheeky Dolphins
Working with animals as intelligent as dolphins was a challenge, Bruck added. The animals loved participating in the experiment so much that they'd often hover over the speaker, blocking the noise. (See "The Secret Language of Dolphins.")
Others would begin "whistling directly at me as if I could understand them," he said.
And one set of cheeky young dolphins swam up to Bruck and started whistling the names of the dominant males in their group in order of rank, perhaps suggesting the names they wanted to hear, Bruck said.
Memory Linked to Smarts?
Why dolphins—which live an average of 20 years in the wild—need long-term memory is still unknown. But it may have to do with maintaining relationships, since over time dolphin groups often break up and reorganize into new alliances.
This sort of social system is called "fission-fusion," and it's also seen in elephants and chimpanzees—two other highly intelligent and social beings. (See pictures of intelligent animals in National Geographic magazine.) | 1,270,157 |
With three tubes of Prep H smeared all over his eye area to keep down the swelling he got from his ducts barfing up floods of sparkle tears, Robert Pattinson slid into the guest chair at The Daily Show last night to promote Cosmopolis and to nervously giggle about the lip-biting, lazy-faced, skank whore elephant in the room. I really thought that RPatt’z interview with Jon Stewart was going to be as awkward as a sudden fart jumping out of your butt while you’re getting your salad tossed, but it wasn’t at all. It was actually kind of charming. Yes, I was charmed by RPattz and yes, you can now make fun of me for riding side saddle on one of the unicorns frolicking through his enchanted forest hair.
Jon Stewart never brought up Kristen Stewart’s name and never asked RPattz how it feels to have his heart (or relationship contract) broken by his dead-hearted slut girlfriend thrusting her ass into married man crotch, but he did start the interview by giving RPattz some Ben & Jerry’s before saying (via Jezebel):
“The last time I had a bad breakup, Ben and Jerry got me through some of the tougher times. So I thought you and I could bond over this and talk about, ‘Boy you are better off. Kick her to the curb, whatever…’ When you are young and you break up, it’s powerful and it feels like the world is ending. This is the first time I have seen the world actually react that way. It’s insanity.”
I don’t know who told Jon Stewart that Ben & Jerry’s is the medicine for a broken heart, but who ever told him needs to receive an education from the most dumped trick in America Jennifer Love Hewitt, because it ain’t. Jon should’ve given RPattz a basket with a raw cookie dough log, a vajazzle kit, a copy of John Bobbitt’s porn (because nothing makes you feel good about your life like Jon Bobbitt’s frankendick) and a lyric sheet for Mary J. Blig’s “Not Gon’ Cry.”
And I really hope that Kristen Stewart’s first interview is with Nancy Grace. No, Kristen Stewart never killed a baby, but she did kill the hearts of a million crazed Twihards and ever since Casey Anthony got away, Nancy Grace has been waiting to chew on a trashy white girl who looks an albino rat’s soft peen.
Here’s RPattz at the NYC premiere of Cosmopolis last night and at the NYSE this morning. The black and blue ensemble is really, really subtle. You can’t tell from these pictures, but also at the premiere last night were dozens of Twihards screaming at RPattz to let them seal the cracks in his heart with their panty pudding. | 1,270,158 |
UK Survey Highlights Anticipation of a Bitcoin Collapse in the Next Six Months
It seems that nearly a third of people surveyed in the UK during November looking into Bitcoin think that the currency will collapse in the next six months due to high speculation.
Bitcoin is now widely known across the globe, and albeit public awareness of the technology has reached its all-time high, confidence in this new digital currency is still low as a study has suggested many investors and analysts think bitcoin will burst in the next six months.
The price of bitcoin has surprised a lot of people lately. It has already gone across the $7000 barrier but suffered a huge set back a few weeks later. Now the price is orbiting above the $7000 barrier again. However, a recently released survey by market research firm D-CYFOR, which had a sample size of 1,015, found that although 80 percent of the general public in the UK have heard of bitcoin, 58 percent said they would not invest in it while 30 percent predict the currency will be worthless within the next six months.
On the other hand, 54 percent of the inquiries were optimistic and firmly believe its value will go up over the next six months, while 15 percent said they were thinking of investing in it and another seven percent said they already had. More than 20 percent of the inquiries considered buying into the cryptocurrency, these were mainly ‘Millennials’ which have been traditionally the most open to investing in bitcoin. The survey also showed that only four percent of people aged 65 and above wanted to invest in bitcoin.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned about initial coin offerings (ICOs) in September where investors were cautioned that they should be prepared to lose all of their investments when participating in ICOs. China also started a campaign against ICOs and the US is now looking into a formal regulation over this kind of fundraising.
On November 14, the FCA released a warning alerting for the dangers of investing in cryptocurrency contracts for difference, calling the investments “extremely high-risk, speculative products.” China’s position towards bitcoin has also changed to a negative stance lately, and recent news about legal impositions to mining. With China being one of the biggest markets for bitcoin, this might be a sign that the bubble is about to burst.
In September, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon drove panic in the markets by claiming the cryptocurrency is a fraud. He argued that Bitcoin is in a valuation bubble that will eventually burst. This, it seems to have created a dark veil around the currency and now many analysts are also saying that bitcoin might eventually falter under government pressure. Bitcoin is having its glory moment, and its use is growing faster than ever before, with an astonishing number of wallets being created by the day.
Bitcoin finally reached the mainstream, but while that means more people are getting into digital currency, it also means that government scrutiny is going to increase and unwise regulation might stifle the market.
The full results of the survey conducted by D-CYFOR can be found here. | 1,270,159 |
Nearly every atmospheric science textbook ever written will say that hurricanes are an inherently wet phenomenon -- they use warm, moist air for fuel. But according to new simulations, the storms can also form in very cold, dry climates.
A climate as cold and dry as the one in the study is unlikely to ever become the norm on Earth, especially as climate change is making the world warmer and wetter. But the findings could have implications for storms on other planets and for the intrinsic properties of hurricanes that most scientists and educators currently believe to be true.
"We have theories for how hurricanes work at temperatures that we're used to experiencing on Earth, and theoretically, they should still apply if we move to a colder and drier climate," said Dan Chavas, an assistant professor of earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences at Purdue University. "We wanted to know if hurricanes really need water. And we've shown that they don't -- but in a very different world."
In the world we live in now, hurricanes need water. When they reach land, they die because they run of out the water they evaporate for energy -- but that doesn't have to be the case. The findings were published in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.
"Just because there isn't something changing phase between liquid and vapor doesn't mean a hurricane can't form," Chavas said.
In collaboration with Timothy Cronin, an assistant professor of atmospheric science at MIT, he used a computer model that mimics a very basic atmosphere and constantly generates hurricanes. In a general hurricane scenario, this looks like a box with ocean at the bottom, but Chavas tweaked it to dry out the surface or cool it below temperatures that usually generate hurricanes.
The coldest simulations were run at 240 degrees Kelvin (-28 F) and produced a shocking number of cyclones. These cold, dry storms were generally smaller and weaker than the hurricanes on Earth, but they formed at a higher frequency.
As the temperature drops, the air can hold less water, which explains why cold temperatures and dry surfaces yield similar results in experiments. At 240 degrees K, air can hold roughly 100 times less water vapor than at temperatures typical of the modern tropics.
Interestingly, there is a range of moderate temperatures and moisture levels in which no cyclones formed at all. From 250 to 270 degrees Kelvin (-10 F to 26 F), no hurricanes formed, although the researchers aren't sure why. At 280 Kelvin (44 F), the atmosphere filled again with cyclones.
"Maybe that means there are ideal regimes for hurricanes to exist and the current world we live in is one," Chavas said. "Or you could be in another world where there's no water, but it's still capable of producing many hurricanes. When people are considering whether we could live on a dry, rocky planet like Mars, this could be something to consider."
Such a planet could have even more hurricanes than occur on Earth. Because it's difficult to study the atmospheres of other planets, scientists have to work with their knowledge of Earth and fundamental understanding of how atmospheres function. | 1,270,160 |
South America’s most progressive country on LGBTQ rights is set to take another major step forward.
In the early hours of Friday morning, lawmakers in Uruguay’s Chamber of Representatives passed one of the most progressive trans rights bills of any nation in history. After a 10-hour debate, the legislation passed with more than 70 percent of the vote in the lower house of the General Assembly of Uruguay.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle came out in favor of the bill.
Known as the Comprehensive Law for Trans People (“Ley Integral de Personas Trans”), the bill passed the Chamber of Senators earlier this month.
The legislation mandates federal hiring quotas for transgender people. Modeled after a then first-of-its-kind bill passed in Argentina three years ago, it sets aside one percent of government jobs for trans workers.
The Comprehensive Law for Trans People also orders the government to pay reparations to transgender people persecuted during Uruguay’s military dictatorship, which lasted from 1973 to 1985. During that 12-year period, more than 5,000 people were imprisoned under a regime of political persecution — and many tortured.
Individuals born before 1973 will be eligible for the restitution.
Although Uruguay has allowed trans people to change their name and legal gender on official documents without a surgical requirement, the Comprehensive Law for Trans People expands the ability of youth under the age of 18 to transition.
In order for minors to undergo gender confirmation surgery, they must have parental consent. If a guardian does not give permission, a judge may allow them to do so.
The legislation must be approved by President Tabaré Vázquez, who has held the office since 2015. He is likely to sign the bill. During a previous five-year term as president, his government lifted the ban on gay recruits serving openly in the military.
If enacted, the Comprehensive Law for Trans People stands to have a major impact on the lives of trans Uruguayans.
Although Uruguay is often cited as one of the world’s most LGBTQ-friendly countries, its emerging trans population remains severely marginalized. According to statistics from Uruguay’s Ministry of Social Development, more than three-fifths of transgender people in Uruguay have engaged in survival sex work.
The average life expectancy for a trans resident of Uruguay is 35 years.
Despite more than 40,000 conservatives signing a petition against the legislation, it’s proven widely popular. Last month, thousands of people participated in a “Diversity March” through the streets of the national capital of Montevideo calling for its passage.
Signing the bill into law would further cement Uruguay’s status as a trailblazer for LGBTQ rights in South America.
Uruguay decriminalized homosexuality in 1933. In 2003, it became one of the first South American countries to pass a federal law banning anti-LGBTQ discrimination. It moved to allow same-sex couples to adopt in 2009. A marriage equality bill co-authored by Uruguay’s first trans senator passed four years later. | 1,270,161 |
The German region of North Rhine-Westphalia has seen 188 marriages of migrants who are underage, some as young as 14, as calls grow for the government to stop the practice.
The migrant crisis has brought to Germany practices that have long been outlawed or at the very least considered taboo. One of these practices is the marriage of girls under the age of consent.
One region in Germany has so far seen the recognition of 188 cases of underage girls that have been married overseas, at least three of which are only 14 years old, reports Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.
The region of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is now faced with having to deal with the cultural practice of child brides due to the influx of migrants from parts of the world where it is accepted. The state government, after being questioned by German media, was forced to admit that the child marriages do not violate German law because they were conducted overseas, rather than in Germany.
The vast majority of the underage brides are from Syria where, according to NGO Girls not Brides, 13 per cent of all girls under 18 are married and three per cent by the age of 15. The effect of the civil war has seen a dramatic increase in child marriages among Syrians.
The organisation says that the marriage of child brides is even more prevalent in migrant camps in neighboring countries like Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey were mothers marry off their young daughters in hopes it will protect them from sexual violence in the camps.
Iraqi child brides come a distant second with 23 cases, almost tied with Afghanis at 21. Of the 188 total cases 18 girls were aged 15, 54 were 16, and 113 were 17 years old.
Susanne Schneider of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) expressed concern at the government’s admission saying: “188 cases in NRW alone is very worrying.” Ms. Schneider said that the welfare of the girls must take precedence over any marriages that have occurred abroad saying: “I expect that the state government is doing everything to protect married refugee minors. It should also ensure that marriages may be concluded only under German law in Germany.”
In Germany the marriageable age is 18, or 16 with court permission and parental consent.
The issue may be a hard one for law makers to tackle after a landmark ruling last month by a judge in Bamburg, Bavaria, recognised the marriage of a 14-year-old Syrian girl to her 20-year-old cousin. The question arose after the 20-year-old wanted to be recognised as his cousin’s legal guardian after she was moved to a home for teenage migrant girls.
The issue has also arisen in Scandinavia where earlier this year Norwegian officials revealed dozens of child marriages among incoming migrants, some as young as eleven. The total number of child marriages for all of Norway was around 60, a figure that is dwarfed by North Rhine-Westphalia alone. The total national figure will be even higher when combined with the rest of Germany’s regions. | 1,270,162 |
Bautista says Gunn had turned in the script for the next "Guardians" movie ahead of being fired by Disney.
Dave Bautista is continuing to speak out about his “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn being fired by Disney. Following a critical tweet in which he said it was “nauseating” to work for Disney after Gunn’s removal from the next “Guardians” sequel, Bautista is now threatening to quit the franchise all together if Disney trashes Gunn’s script. The actor spoke to ShortList ahead of the release of his September film “Final Score” and said his focus is now on making sure Gunn’s script is maintained.
“Where I’m at right now is that if [Marvel] don’t use that script, then I’m going to ask them to release me from my contract, cut me out or recast me,” Bautista said. “I’d be doing James a disservice if I didn’t.”
Bautista previously wrote on Twitter that he would only be reprising the role of Drax the Destroyer in “Vol. 3″ because of his contract obligation. “I will do what I’m legally obligated to do, but ‘Guardians’ without James Gunn is not what I signed up for,” Bautista said. “‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ without James Gunn just isn’t ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’”
Bautista was the first actor to speak publicly about Gunn’s firing when he wrote on Twitter he was “no OK” with the decision hours after Gunn was let go. Disney severed all ties with Gunn on July 20 after jokes about pedophilia, rape, and more controversial topics that the director made several years ago resurfaced on social media. The actor also joined his co-stars Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff, Michael Rooker, and Karen Gillan to sign an open letter supporting Gunn.
When asked by ShortList if he thought the letter could result in Gunn being rehired, Bautista did not appear confident. “I don’t think [it] will get him re-hired,” Bautista said. “But I hope it opens people’s eyes to James’ character.”
Gunn directed Bautista on the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie and its sequel. Marvel has sent a tentative 2020 release date for the next sequel, although that could be pushed back depending on how long it takes to hire a replacement director. According to Bautista, Gunn turned in his draft for “Vol. 3” before he was fired.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. | 1,270,163 |
This gave the government the ability to avoid having to answer for its barbarism. According to an ACLU profile of Ethiopian native Binyam Mohamed, who was a plaintiff in the case, he was rendered from Pakistan to Morocco on an aircraft, which received flight and logistical support services from Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.
Mohamed was handed over to interrogators in Rabat, Morocco, where he was detained and tortured for eighteen months. He was routinely beaten, “sometimes to the point of losing consciousness.” He “suffered multiple broken bones.” His genitals were once “cut 20 to 30 times.” In another instance, “hot stinging liquid was poured into open wounds on his penis as he was being cut.” He was threatened with rape, electrocution, and death, forced to listen to loud music for long periods of time, and “placed in a room with open sewage for a month.” Mohamed also was “drugged repeatedly.”
Suleiman Abdullah Salim, Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, and a representative of Gul Rahman’s estate sued Mitchell and Jessen. Salim and Soud were kidnapped by the CIA and suffered torture and experimentation. Rahman was captured by the CIA and tortured until he died at a secret prison referred to as COBALT in the Senate intelligence committee’s report on the torture program.
According to the ACLU, Salim and Ben Soud live with lasting psychological and physical damage from being subjected to “solitary confinement, extreme darkness, cold, and noise, beatings, starvation, stress positions, prolonged sleep deprivation, confinement in coffin-like boxes and water torture.”
The lawsuit alleges the CIA immediately established conditions for “learned helplessness” by cutting off all of Salim’s clothes and then forcibly inserting “an object into his anus,” causing Salim “excruciating pain.” They took photos, put Salim in a diaper, pants, and a short-sleeved shirt. He then had earplugs stuffed in his ears, a hood put over his head, and a pair of goggles and headphones placed over his hood and earplugs. Then, he was cuffed and shackled. He was “disoriented and terrified” and brought on board an aircraft, where he was chained to the floor and flown for at least eight hours.
These techniques for creating “learned helplessness” in a person like Salim were developed by Mitchell and Jessen. They played a role in their administration at several “black sites.”
The civil case against CIA psychologists involved in the torture program will not be the last time the Trump administration invokes the “state secrets privilege.” And, unfortunately for victims of human rights abuses, there are plenty of precedents, where Obama and Bush convinced federal judges to block victims from getting their day in court. The Trump administration has that history to embolden their efforts in thwarting these cases brought by the ACLU. | 1,270,164 |
I MAGINE THAT you are driving a car during a torrential downpour. You hit a puddle and start to aquaplane. Some drivers would instinctively slam on the brakes. But some petrolheads claim that the best course of action is to accelerate out of trouble. Make the wrong decision and your car could end up skidding off the road.
The Bank of England may soon face a similar dilemma. In the event that Britain leaves the European Union with nothing agreed, should it raise or lower interest rates? Shortly after the referendum in 2016 the bank cut the base rate of interest and launched a round of quantitative easing (printing money to buy bonds). But now it argues that “[t]he monetary-policy response to Brexit, whatever form it takes …could be in either direction.” On September 19th the bank is expected to keep rates at 0.75% for the 14th month running. It may also offer some clues about what it would do if the storm of a no-deal Brexit swept over Britain.
One impact of no-deal would be to damage the demand side of the economy (ie, how much stuff people want to buy). Worries about the future would prompt households to trim their spending. Unemployment might start to rise. Companies would postpone or cancel their investment plans. By cutting interest rates, the bank would lower the cost of borrowing and make saving less rewarding, thereby helping to stimulate demand.
However, rate-setters have less room for manoeuvre than they did after the referendum. Back in mid-2016, consumer prices were growing at 0.5% a year. Now the inflation rate is slightly above the bank’s 2% target. Following a no-deal Brexit, sterling would almost certainly fall, further pushing up prices as imports became more expensive. A depreciation of 10% or more in the value of the pound is likely—which, according to a rule of thumb, would increase prices by 2-3%. All else equal, that calls for tighter monetary policy.
There is another reason why bringing out the playbook from 2016 would be tricky. The referendum did not change anything fundamental about the British economy. All laws and regulations in place on June 24th 2016, the day after the vote, were the same as they had been on June 23rd. A no-deal Brexit would be different. Britain’s trading relationship with its biggest market would change overnight. The imposition of non-tariff barriers would make it more difficult to do business with the EU market. Ports would gum up.
The shock to the supply side of the economy (ie, what it can produce) could be inflationary. In a speech in 2017 Ben Broadbent, a member of the bank’s monetary-policy committee ( MPC ), suggested that with the European market less accessible, British households and firms might try to source products closer to home. They might buy British cheese, say, instead of the foreign stuff. But domestic producers would not be able to satisfy all that extra demand right away. Faced with more customers for their wares, they might simply raise their prices. | 1,270,165 |
This is a guest post from Mike Collins of Saving Money Today. I've written about keeping up with the Joneses myself in Why Do We Try to Keep Up with the Joneses? and Thou Shalt Not Keep Up with the Joneses.
When I was a little kid my friend Tony always got whatever he wanted from his parents. He always had the newest video game, the cool sneakers, and pretty much anything else he asked for. And whenever I would ask my parents for something that Tony already had they’d respond with the old line, “If Tony jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you jump too?”
Each time my mom or dad said that, I’d always walk away rolling my eyes and grumbling to myself about how cheap they were. But now that I’m an adult with kids of my own I can finally understand the wisdom that my parents tried to instill in me. I only wish I had learned that lesson sooner.
Of course, I’m not the only one who could benefit from my mom and dad’s wisdom. Our society has become completely obsessed with instant gratification and “keeping up with the Joneses.” We constantly compare ourselves to our neighbors and try to one up each other. Failure to keep up means you’re a failure at life.
Here’s a real life example of what I mean. I have two friends who are extremely competitive and always trying to top one another. When Dom bought a big, flat-screen TV Paul ran out and bought a bigger one. When Paul got a backyard swing set for his kids, Dom ran out and bought a $2,000 playground with swings, monkey bars, and a gigantic slide. Where does it end?
In private conversations with each of my friends, I’ve come to learn that they’re both up to their eyeballs in debt. Yet instead of putting an end to their foolish spending, they just keep the cycle going indefinitely as they each get closer and closer to the poorhouse.
Does their competition sound a little familiar? Maybe you don’t compete with someone in particular, but how many things do you buy just to make yourself look or feel good? Do you buy a new cell phone every few months and jam it full of apps and a data package costing $120 a month? Do you trade in your cars every few years just because you get tired of driving an “old” car? Do you always get the most expensive, top of the line gadget with the most features even if you don’t even know what half of those features do? If so, you may be trying too hard to keep up with the Joneses instead of focusing on your own goals.
Remember, the Joneses might not be as well off as they appear to be. As the story of Dom and Paul demonstrates, perceived wealth is often no more than a smokescreen for deep financial problems. And if you spend all your time and energy worrying about what other people have, you could wind up just as broke as them. | 1,270,166 |
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The #14 Chattanooga Mocs punched their ticket to the conference championship game with a convincing 37-7 win over the #21 Eastern Tennessee State Buccaneers this week. The Atlantic Sun Game of the Week presented by Publix has seen it’s fair share of excitement and this week was no exception.
Chattanooga jumped out to a hot start by forcing a three-and-out and then scoring on their opening drive. Another defensive stand and another quick touchdown put the Mocs up 14-0 by the end of the first quarter. Coach Bilbo Baggins was thrilled with his team’s performance on the day.
“The defense picked up on some ETSU tendencies during scouting and really put together a great game plan. Defense and special teams won us the game.”
Both defenses woke up at this point and the second quarter was slug fest until Chattanooga scored again. ETSU answered back with a long drive to cut the lead to 14 and then the strangeness descended on Finley Stadium.
The Buccaneers began standing around on offense after forcing the Mocs to punt to start the third quarter. Chattanooga’s defense was ready to play but ETSU’s players quit in the middle of a drive and walked off the field. Eventually the referee issued a penalty against visiting team and awarded Chattanooga a touchdown and the ball. Once again, the ETSU offense stayed off the field and their coach was nowhere to be found.
After the second penalty which put the Mocs up 37-7, ETSU’s coach suddenly appeared at the commissioner’s office and issued an impromptu press conference stating his reasons for his team not continuing to play. He claimed to have lost his keys and been forced out of the stadium by a group of people he referred to as “mods.” Included in his statement was a tearful ‘thank you’ to his wife and a declaration to return once the season was over.
Coach Baggins was nonplussed about the situation when the game was called in favor of the Mocs and shrugged his shoulders when asked about it afterwards.
“Wish we could’ve played the full game to get some work in before the CCG, but we’ll get back to the film room and prepare for Bethune-Cookman.”
Chattanooga improves to 8-3 and will face a hot 6-3 Bethune-Cookman team next week in the conference championship game. Clemson University in Clemson, SC has agreed to host the game and will open Clemson Memorial Stadium to the public at 10:00 a.m. EST next week. Parking lots will open at 8:00 a.m.
The Moc’s coach was confident in his team’s playoff chances but admitted that they still have work to do next week.
“I think we get a bye with a win in the CCG but a higher non-bye seed with a loss.” | 1,270,167 |
Two weeks ago, the Baltimore Ravens community expected the team to sign, at minimum, one of their three key free agents heading into the offseason. The community accepted the Ravens couldn’t hang onto three players who produce at the top of their respective position. Kyle Juszczyk is the best fullback in the league. Brandon Williams is the best 3-4 nose tackle in the league. Ricky Wagner is a top five right tackle. Hanging onto all three, as I already mentioned, was a foregone conclusion. But the community expected to salvage the loss with a signing of another. The most accepted scenario included Brandon Williams receiving top dollar elsewhere, while the Ravens re-signed Kyle or Ricky, but hopefully both. By today’s end, the opposite unfolded.
All Losses:
No doubt this team offered contracts to each and every one of their players, but the team is under cap hell. A multitude of bad contracts and not extending their players early buried them under these circumstances. Joe’s record breaking deal, Dennis Pitta’s and Lardarius Webb’s to name a few. But now, it’s time to pay the piper, and the Ravens are out of money. Meanwhile, other teams pockets are overflowing.
The Bad News:
Baltimore just lost three of their best players. They’ll absolutely need to re-invest in these positions. Some have depth already in the area (ex. Michael Pierce, Alex Lewis). It won’t be the same, but the team can adjust.
The Good News:
Compensatory selections. Juice’s contract looks to net a fifth round comp pick. Rick Wagner’s will bring in a third round comp pick. Brandon Williams, if he signs elsewhere, will surely snag another third round comp pick. This isn’t what we’d like, but the Ravens will now have room to breath with their cap, while also receiving compensatory selections to sign more cheap rookie players, with some picks on day two as opposed to day three. By the 2018-2019 season, Baltimore’s books will be clear of dead money and ugly contracts, will have an influx of rookie contracts to give more room and also have money left to spend on pending free agents of their own, let alone others.
Update:
Tony Jefferson expected to sign with the Baltimore Ravens
The numbers aren’t out, but this makes things more interesting. First, the Ravens have a safety tandem! No longer are they fielding one great player while the other fails repeatedly. Two safeties capable of making plays is important, especially in this league. Next, the contract numbers for the Ravens lost free agents are important; The league will match up the Tony Jefferson signing with the lost free agents contract numbers and the league will take a Ravens comp pick away. Hopefully Baltimore signed Jefferson on the lower end, and the Ravens lose Juszczyk’s comp. pick, rather than Wagner’s, or possibly Williams if he leaves. Either way, the numbers now matter. | 1,270,168 |
^2*P(WOT)) + P(O2)*min(P(WOT), (1-P(O2))*(1-P(O2) + P(O2)*P(WOT)))).
The chart:
The fact that failure is an automatic loss (assuming the opponent scores three touchdowns) makes kicking usually the correct play, but when the opponent is good enough at two-point conversions to go for best two-out-of-three instead of just kicking for overtime if you kick, it can be worth the risk. That said, for typical two-point conversion rates, it's almost always right to kick.
Up 15
If you kick, the opponent needs one two-point conversion (with a backup plan of making the next two after failing the first) to tie. If you go for two and fail, they can tie with all kicks; if you succeed, they need two successes to tie (with no second chance). If the opponent follows the conventional strategy of attempting only as many two-point conversions as they absolutely have to, this case simplifies to a question of whether you are more likely to make your own two-point attempt or stop the opponent (going for it either forces them to try an extra one if you succeed or permits them to skip it if you fail). If the opponent follows the smart strategy, it gets messy; I'll spare you the full set of equations here, because it's significantly messier even then the up-14 case. But the graph is as follows:
Since the opponent has to attempt a two-point conversion unless you fail, it is often better to kick. When the opponent follows the smart strategy, the advantage of kicking is increased, as it gives the opponent fewer chances to try to win in regulation.
Up 16
If you kick, the opponent needs two two-point conversions. A successful conversion of your own bumps that number up to three, but failure reduces it to one and allows them a second chance (by making two in a row after missing the first). You should only consider going for two if you are extremely likely to make it, your opponent is extremely likely to make theirs, you are a huge favorite in overtime, and you are worried about the possibility of the opponent making three conversions in a row to win in regulation.
Up 17
As in the up-1 and up-9 cases, a successful two-point try forces an extra score at the expense of potentially removing one forced two-point try from the opponent. The break-even point is the same, although the extra information of knowing they need an extra score once again skews things in favor of kicking if it's a close decision.
Note that when leading, it's generally rarer to attempt a two-point conversion than when trailing. This is because the extra information about what they need is of more use to your opponent than to you. While trailing, on the other hand, you are usually the one to benefit from that information and thus it pays off to go for two more often. A summary: | 1,270,169 |
A team of campus professors and researchers received a grant from Microsoft for its work with human-robot interaction, the company announced Wednesday.
As part of the grant, the team received $100,000 and two Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition devices — headsets that allow the user to interact with three-dimensional holograms integrated into real-world surroundings — to conduct its research. This interaction is called “augmented reality,” in which the user perceives other HoloLens users, all physical objects in the real world and the hologram data at the same time, allowing multiple researchers to interact simultaneously with each other and their data.
S. Shankar Sastry, dean of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering and one of the award recipients, started this multidiscipline research initiative to improve human-robot interfaces three years ago, partnering with researchers and students from the electrical engineering, computer science, chemical engineering and psychology departments at UC Berkeley, Stanford University and UCLA. The grant adds to the funding that the team already receives from NASA and the Office of Naval Research.
One of the researchers’ goals is to introduce a new, simple user interface that would allow people to control robots and drones without an advanced degree, according to campus researcher Allen Yang, one of the recipients of the award.
Yang said this less complex interface would improve robot control and safety. While older technology requires the user to remain stationary at a computer, the HoloLens headset allows the user to be mobile while controlling a robot.
Applications of this improved technology that researchers plan to create include widespread use of search-and-rescue drones after fires and earthquakes. Rescue teams could send in a drone to make sure the first responders do not enter a dangerous situation.
Yang also emphasized that his team is working closely with graduate students in the robotics laboratory and undergraduate students in the Virtual Reality at Berkeley club.
“It’s really a collaboration,” Yang said. “It’s a very balanced project between research and education.”
Four other research groups in the United States also received the grant from Microsoft. Many of the proposals are part of larger initiatives at their respective institutions.
The winning proposals include Open-Source Investigations in Mixed Reality at Carnegie Mellon University, Augmenting Reality for the Visually Impaired at Dartmouth College, Collaborative Analysis of Large-scale Mixed Reality Data at Virginia Tech and HoloLens Curriculum for Trade-based Education at Clackamas Community College.
“Microsoft did a good job of selecting a diverse number of topics,” Yang said.
Microsoft is holding a HoloLens launch event Dec. 2-3, where the research teams will receive HoloLens training that is specific to their respective proposals. Yang will attend this launch event with Daniel Pok, president of Virtual Reality at Berkeley, and Rohit Swamy, project leader of the student club. Project leads Will Huang and Kevin Yin will attend Google’s fall 2015 Dean’s Society Event on Dec. 2 to present their project.
Contact Emma Soldon at [email protected]. | 1,270,170 |
The leader of a criminal gang involved in a feud, which lasted over a decade and cost 16 lives, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for killing a rival gang leader.
Brian Rattigan, 39, admitted stabbing Declan Gavin to death outside a fast-food restaurant in Crumlin on 25 August 2001, a killing that began the so called 'Crumlin-Drimnagh' feud.
Rattigan went on trial for Gavin's murder twice in 2009. The first jury could not reach a verdict, but a second jury convicted him. However, that conviction was successfully appealed in 2017.
He was due to go on trial for the crime again this month, but the State accepted his plea of manslaughter when he entered it on arraignment last October.
Rattigan said on the same occasion that he was sorry to the victim's family and anyone else he had hurt through his actions.
He is also serving a 17-year sentence after he became the first person convicted of dealing drugs from inside an Irish prison.
Rattigan’s fingerprints were found next to the victim's blood on the door through which he had tried to chase him.
He was imprisoned shortly after the murder for a separate offence of shooting at gardaí and has been in custody since for a variety of other offences.
He remained a gang leader in prison and became the first person convicted of dealing drugs from inside.
Rattigan has been in custody since 2003 and is currently serving a 17-year sentence imposed in 2013 for controlling the possession of drugs for sale or supply from "within the prison walls".
This was backdated to 2008 and the expiration date was May 2025, but allowing for remission, Rattigan was due for release this November.
The so called Crumlin-Drimnagh feud claimed 16 lives over a ten-year period, including Rattigan's brother Joseph and his sister's partner Shay O'Byrne.
Rattigan's plea to manslaughter was his first admission to killing Gavin.
He also apologised to the family and wrote to the victim's mother that he had "regretted that night in silence ever since".
The Gavin family acknowledged the letter, but noted that the apology was "a little late, it's timing a little too convenient".
Mr Justice Michael White said the apology had come too late to be a mitigating factor and he sentenced him to nine years in prison to date from when he pleaded guilty on 1 October 2018.
Garda Chief Superintendent Brian Sutton has said this is "the first time he (Brian Rattigan) has put his hand up for the killing of Declan Gavin".
Speaking outside the court, Chief Supt Sutton described the investigation as difficult because there were a number of "reluctant witnesses", some of whom had to be arrested to be brought before the court to give evidence.
He said the Gavin family was happy "not only for the sentence, but the fact that it's closure and they're happy to move on with their lives".
| 1,270,171 |
Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó confirmed on Thursday he sent a team of diplomats to Sweden to negotiate with other world powers towards a solution to the country’s ongoing political and humanitarian crisis.
The talks, which took place in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, were attended by representatives of Russia, the Vatican, Cuba, and the European Union. The United States was invited but declined to attend.
None of the state actors participating recognize Guaidó as the nation’s president.
“As we have said at all times, the whole world already knows the product of that meeting, that we Venezuelans have many options for the transitional government,” Guaidó said Thursday during a visit to Mérida state.
Guaidó also responded to warnings from various Venezuelan figures against participating in the talks with the regime or its international backers, claiming that “all the spaces that approximate the cessation of usurpation, transitional government, and free elections are valid for the government of Venezuela.”
The 35-year-old, who the Venezuelan National Assembly swore into office in January, went on to argue that the talks were “proof that there is a worldwide consensus that there must be a free presidential election in Venezuela, and that the usurpation must stop.”
Last week, Guaidó claimed that “nobody who is straight in the head would sit across from a dictator thinking he is negotiating in good faith” after several rounds of talks in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, with the Maduro regime ended in deadlock.
The majority of Venezuelans strongly opposed Guaidó’s past willingness to negotiate with the Maduro regime, which increasingly operates as a military dictatorship similar to Cuba. Many see the talks as a sign that Guaidó’s efforts to remove the Maduro regime from power have failed. A nationwide survey taken last month found that 87.6 percent of Venezuelans opposed any form of dialogue with the regime, while little over ten percent of respondents said they were in favor of talks.
Following the initial round of talks last month, the Norwegian government said that the two sides had agreed to “move forward,” although Guaidó quickly denied the existence of any positive outcome.
“The mediation meeting that we attended at the invitation of the government of Norway in Oslo has concluded,” he wrote in a statement on Twitter. “We have ratified our route: the end of the usurpation, a transition government, and free elections as the way to solve the tragedy that our Venezuela suffers today.”
“That meeting ended without agreement. We have insisted that mediation will be useful for Venezuela so long as there are elements that allow the advance towards a true solution,” he continued. “Therefore, we remain in the struggle until we resolve the crisis all Venezuelans suffer. Thus, the process does not deter efforts through all constitutional avenues.”
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at [email protected]. | 1,270,172 |
Milwaukee Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo has quickly become one of the most likable, fascinating, and downright fun players in the NBA. While he's still a work in progress, the Greek Freak has displayed varied skills and a consistently high motor. While this season has been a horrific one for the NBA-worst 12-47 Bucks, the franchise at least knows that they found one player who should be a part of their plans for some time.
Antetokounmpo's success has been all the more remarkable for the fact that he had arguably the greatest adjustment to NBA life of any player in his rookie class. The 19-year-old Athens native had never played above the second-tier of Greek professional basketball, wasn't even on NBA radars until a few months before the draft, and isn't done growing.
Apparently adjusting to NBA life impacted his plan for getting to one Bucks game, too. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated profiled Antetokounmpo for this week's issue of the magazine. In reporting the piece, Mannix learned about one peculiar incident early in the season (via SLAM):
Favorite--of many--anecdotes from @G_ante34 reporting. Early in the season, Giannis took a cab to Western Union to send money home... — Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) March 5, 2014
…after sending all the money he could to Greece, he realized he didn't have enough left for cab fare. It was game day, so he started running — Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) March 5, 2014
…he got about a mile before a couple stopped, asked if he was the Bucks rookie. He said yes. They picked him up and dropped him at the arena — Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) March 5, 2014
Imagine, for a moment, that you were a member of the couple who saw a 6-10 athletic marvel bounding down a Milwaukee road towards the Bradley Center. Would you stop to pick him up? Before answering the obvious "yes," consider if your car has enough room for someone of this size. I am not sure mine does.
It's telling, I think, that Antetokounmpo ran out of money because he was sending it to his family in Greece and also decided to deal with the issue by exerting physical effort to get to the game on time. This kid is thoughtful, independent, and willing to put in the work. Bucks fans have reason to cheer. Please offer Antetokounmpo a ride if you see him running down the street. He deserves it.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
Follow @FreemanEric
Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL and "Like" BDL on Facebook for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more. | 1,270,173 |
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So how did SAS get to be the big gorilla in the first place? By doing the right thing in the right place at the right time. The SAS of 1980 was well ahead of its competitors, SPSS and BMDP, in data management capabilities and programmability. And the decision in the early 80s to migrate from the IBM mainframe-only platform to a portable one written in C suitable for the soon-to-be-exploding mini/micro/pc market was nothing short of brilliant. SAS saw the opportunity and grabbed it with gusto.
Indeed, thirty years ago, the SAS programming paradigm of data steps, proc steps and a macro glue to tie them together was innovative. In 2011 though, the same paradigm seems old and ugly, especially in contrast to the extensible object-orientation of R. My big complaint about developing with R is that I often program functions that are similar to those already available, discovering the pre-built R answers only after the fact. SAS certainly leads in documentation and training, while the number of excellent R teaching books is skyrocketing.
Another strategy that's served SAS well over the decades, affirmed by several writers, is winning over statistics students while they're in school. For years, SAS "owned" statistics graduate programs in the U.S. and abroad, with SAS the platform for teaching/learning the latest methods. When those students graduated and entered commerce, they naturally sought to work with what they knew – SAS. And once the analysts were in the fold, SAS did a marvelous job cultivating relationships with user groups to secure its position.
Alas, SAS is no longer king of academic statistics. That title now belongs to R. R students are quite enthusiastic about the platform they've trained in. SAS programmers approaching retirement will be replaced by R-trained new grads. And these R afficionados will increasingly demand the platform they know and love when they reach the work world. My bet is that Revolution Analytics will be the benificiary of this trend to R in the commercial world.
The obsession with big data and the emergence of data science as a "competitor" to traditional business intelligence/analytics also favors R. Big data software innovators, such as Google, Amazon, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, et. al., prefer open source components, including R, in the platforms they build. They also increasingly choose Hadoop instead of relational databases to address their big data challenges.
In the short run, with its huge lead, SAS will continue to rule the business predictive analytics landscape. But look for that dominance to erode. One astute discussion observer sees the encroachment of R as similar to that of Linux a dozen years ago: "I see R and other open source software... as being at the at stage that Linux was 10-12 years ago when Sun Microsystems still had robust business. We know what's happened to Sun and to Linux over those 10-12 years. I'm going to stick my neck out and predict the same fate for many commercial statistics software providers..." I think he's right. | 1,270,174 |
Clint Dempsey served up the Seattle Sounders' first points of 2016, scoring off a late corner kick for a 1-0 win Saturday night over Montreal Impact at CenturyLink Field.... (3:53)
United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann said Jordan Morris is going through a learning curve as he adjusts to playing at the professional level, but that the Seattle Sounders forward is definitely in the plans for the senior national team in the future.
Morris, 21, is just four games into his professional career with the Sounders, after having left Stanford following his college team's successful march to the 2015 national championship.
In his first four games with Seattle, Morris has started three times and been used as a substitute once by coach Sigi Schmid. And Klinsmann said that it's all part of the process for a young player like Morris, who the coach calls a quick study.
"Jordan is going through a huge learning curve right now which is really cool," Klinsmann said in a Facebook Q and A he conducted on Tuesday. "He started the first three games for the Sounders and then he was coming off the bench in the last game.
"Now for Jordan it's a game-by-game learning curve to really understand what the professional game demands. It's a lot more physical, it's a lot faster compared to what he was used to coming from the college system.
"Jordan is a personality that learns very quickly, so obviously will watch him now and see how he gets his feet wet in MLS and how he's coming through and we are very confident his learning curve will [progress] really fast and we definitely see him continuing to be a part of the senior national team."
Jordan Morris has played four games with the Seattle Sounders in MLS, but has yet to score a professional goal. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Morris was not in the U.S. squad for its latest pair of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers vs. Guatemala. Klinsmann's team got back on track last Tuesday with against Los Chicanes. However, that game was preceded by a disappointing loss to the same team just five days earlier in Guatemala City.
Now the U.S. team will focus on a busy summer as it gears up to participate in the Copa America Centenario, which will be held at venues across the United States.
The German-born manager is excited for the upcoming tournament and told fans to expect some nice surprises from the team, despite being drawn in a tough group that includes Colombia, Costa Rica and Paraguay.
"It's a little bit like the World Cup in 2014," Klinsmann said. "We know that it's a very difficult group we were drawn into, but you can beat any given team at any given moment. It will be very difficult but it is doable, so we'll definitely give it a go.
"I think this is a tournament where we can show a lot of people that we can do special things like we did in Brazil two years ago."
Watch the full Facebook interview here: | 1,270,175 |
Weekly Swift 3, Interfaces and CoreData Published by on
This is the third post I'm writing about my swift adventure and it's been great so far. I feel like I've been able to learn a lot about Swift and UIKit. I did miss two days because I was extremely busy those days, so that's a bit of a shame.
In week three I focused on learning UI stuff rather than focusing on building Arto App, I decided to do this because a better understanding of UIKit might be very important in the process of developing it. I also took a peek at CoreData which was interesting.
UIScrollView
I used the UIScrollView this week for making a zoomable/scrollable image and a slideshow. This was useful because I got to learn that a tableview actually subclasses the scrollview. It's also pretty easy to get started with a scrollview and it seems like an awesome way for creating good user experiences. It just feels good to use, especially because it's so easy to implement.
Sidescrolling menu
Many apps today use a navigation pattern where there's a menu hidden underneath the content of a page. Using a great tutorial from raywenderlich.com, I was able to create one of these menus and again I was amazed at how flexible and natural a lot of programming in UIKit feels. I'm only scratching the surface so there's a lot more to be explored and probably there's many things that aren't as easy and straightforward as what I've done so far.
CoreData
If you need a database to store objects in, then CoreData is what you need. This week I have used CoreData to save a list of names and birth dates. CoreData uses a database model that you can query. You access the models from CoreData through an NSManagedObject. This object is obtained through the AppDelegate which seems strange but it's just how it works.
Actually using CoreData for something simple as this was not too hard and quite easy to understand. In the CoreData example I did, I actually found that using user input is very strange actually. When a user selects a text input field a keyboard pops up, which makes sense. But when the user taps outside of the text input, essentially taking the focus away from it, you'd expect the keyboard to disappear. But it doesn't, because you have to manually tell the keyboard to stop responding.
No more daily projects
Starting this week I will finish one thing a day anymore. I do intent to push something to github every day but it's my goal to make more useful things that are hard to squeeze into a single day. So my intent is to make the daily Swift something I do every other day. That way I can try to make more interesting projects that are a bit more complex than the ones I'm doing right now.
This week's repositories
As always, if you want to follow my progress you can do so on Twitter and Github. | 1,270,176 |
The online news outlet that unwittingly outed the Georgia woman who has since admitted to providing them with classified National Security Agency documents may not be the dumbest entity in this story.
Reality Winner, 25, whose top-secret clearance gave her access to the now-leaked NSA information, has been coaching family members via jailhouse phone calls, which are monitored, on how to manipulate investigators and the press, according to prosecutors. Her plan, they said, is to portray herself as some sort of scared, doe-eyed neophyte.
For emphasis: Jailhouse phone calls are monitored. This is 100 percent normal, and it should come as a surprise to exactly no one.
If it's true she has been openly discussing the PR angle with family members over monitored phone calls, it suggests she is a lot dimmer than originally estimated.
WSB-TV in Atlanta reported:
[Prosecutors] said in recorded jailhouse calls, she told her mother how to play her side of the story in the media— as someone who was scared she'd disappear from an interrogation room in her Augusta home after Saturday's raid.
[…]
Prosecutors said a phone call to her sister expressed Winner's confidence in how to play the court during her bond hearing.
"I'm pretty, white and cute," she allegedly told her sister. Prosecutors said Winner told her sister she would braid her hair and cry in court.
As you grow old, there are all sorts of things you can do to maintain the "pretty and cute" parts of your identity.
But you can't fix stupid. Stupid is forever.
Winner also allegedly told her mother that she would, "go nuclear to the press if I don't get what I want" during her bail hearing.
She was denied bond this week after entering a not-guilty plea. She will remain behind bars until trial. Winner has not yet gone "nuclear to the press."
Winner was arrested this week after the online news group the Intercept published NSA materials she provided to them. In the course of authenticating the information she leaked, the Intercept may have accidentally given away her identity to the federal sources they contacted for confirmation.
As boneheaded as all that seems, it still isn't as ridiculous as openly discussing a phony PR strategy with family over monitored jailhouse phone calls.
Prosecutors said they could not grant Winner bond because it would free her up to being recruited by terrorist groups.
Though the bit about joining terrorist groups sounds crazy, the concern is reportedly based on evidence that investigators found in her home. Winner schemed about burning down the White House, fleeing to Afghanistan and joining the Taliban, according to prosecutors.
A federal grand jury indicted Winner this week on only one charge, but prosecutors are likely going to add several more to the list. And all of this on top of the fact that she already allegedly told investigators in reference to the leaked NSA documents, "I screwed up."
Clever enough to secure a top-secret clearance, but apparently not clever enough to keep her mouth shut. | 1,270,177 |
A University of Virginia dean has sued Rolling Stone over her portrayal in the discredited story about an alleged frat house gang rape.
In her complaint, UVA associate dean of students Nicole Eramo asserts that she suffered significant professional harm from both the magazine and the author of the story, Sabrina Rubin Erdely.
Erdely's story, "A Rape on Campus," portrayed Eramo and the UVA administration as insensitive to a young woman who had allegedly been the victim of a horrific sexual assault. The story also included an unflattering photo of Eramo.
"As a woman who has dedicated her life to assisting victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse, Dean Eramo saw herself tarred in the national press as the chief architect of a conspiracy to suppress Jackie's assault in order to protect UVA's reputation," the complaint said.
The woman at the center of "A Rape on Campus" was identified only as "Jackie," and the story was told almost entirely from the alleged victim's perspective.
The story generated shock and outrage across the country immediately after it was published in November. But it quickly unraveled.
Rolling Stone retracted the story last month after Columbia Journalism School's review of the discredited story found sweeping failures in the magazine's reporting. Separately, police in Charlottesville found no evidence to support Jackie's claim that she was gang-raped at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house on the UVA campus.
Despite those findings, no one at Rolling Stone was fired over the story. Erdely, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, will continue to write for the magazine.
Related: UVA dean hires attorney and blasts Rolling Stone
Eramo's lawsuit comes a little less than a month after she sent a blistering letter to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, dismissing the magazine's apology as "too little, too late." She is being represented by Libby Locke, a Virginia-based attorney who specializes in defamation cases.
The lawsuit has been brought against Rolling Stone, Erdely and Wenner Media (the publisher of the magazine). Eramo is seeking a minimum of $7.5 million in compensatory damages.
"Erdely and Rolling Stone acted with actual malice when they published 'A Rape on Campus,'" the complaint said. "Erdely and Rolling Stone knew that Jackie was not a reliable source for truthful information about her interactions with Dean Eramo. They had serious doubts about the truth of the disparaging claims they planned to make about Dean Eramo, but intentionally violated commonly accepted journalistic norms and consciously failed to investigate sources and information that they believed would have revealed the falsity of the charges they leveled."
Rolling Stone might soon have another lawsuit to address, too. The day after Columbia's report was released, a spokesperson for Phi Kappa Psi said the fraternity planned to "pursue all available legal action" against the magazine. More than a month later, there have been no further announcements from the fraternity.
Rolling Stone and Erdely both declined to comment. | 1,270,178 |
When the call went through, Carmen Colon Rodriguez could not hold back her tears.
She had been worried sick about when she would be able to reach family in Pennsylvania to tell them about the devastation that Hurricane Maria brought on her home in Guayama, Puerto Rico.
This weekend she was finally able to use a satellite phone provided by a CNN reporter to call her son and relay her harrowing experience.
"I lost my house, I lost my house," she told him in Spanish. "You don't know the suffering that we have gone through."
She and her boyfriend, Natividad Figueroa, were alive. But their lives were in disrepair. The roof of her house had been ripped off by the storm. She had to convert her laundry room into a makeshift bedroom. Relief workers were nowhere to be seen.
And without reliable communication lines, she had been cut off from the outside world.
"I didn't have any way of communicating with you," she told her son. "If it weren't for these girls, I wouldn't have been able to call."
Nearly two weeks after Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory is still reckoning with the aftermath. And among the biggest obstacles is a paralyzing inability for many people on the island to call anyone else.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, about 88% of cell sites on the island were still out of service on Monday. Only 40% of people on the island have wifi, cell service or internet access, according to Puerto Rican officials.
Related: Trump's FCC criticized for hurricane response
Cell phone companies are working to restore service. T-Mobile (TMUS) told CNNMoney on Sunday that it is "making progress with repairs and seeing more sites coming back online, but it's going to be a long road to recovery."
Sprint said Monday that it has sent equipment to the island, including a chartered cargo flight this week that delivered generators, satellite equipment and other supplies.
AT&T (T) has sent at least four chartered planes with supplies and personnel to the island, and plans to send more soon.
The company added that it is powering its equipment using more than 50 generators on the island. AT&T said Monday that it is connecting more than 8 million calls and 4 million texts a day over its network on the island.
(AT&T has agreed to acquire Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. The deal is pending regulatory approval.)
The island faces an immense challenge to get the power back on and communications up again.
Cell sites in Puerto Rico are running on generators that need diesel fuel. In at least one case, fuel was stolen out of a generator, Luis Romero, the vice president of the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Alliance, told CNNMoney in an interview last week.
Workers also need gasoline to drive between work sites and their homes, and they risk being held up at gunpoint on the road.
--CNNMoney's Jackie Wattles and Seth Fiegerman contributed to this story. | 1,270,179 |
While Midsommar and Hereditary are very different, and not directly connected, Ari Aster – the filmmaker responsible for both horror films – says there’s definitely a thematic connection at work. In fact, Aster goes as far as calling Midsommar a “companion piece” to Hereditary. Watch Aster explain the connection in a new Midsommar featurette below.
Midsommar Featurette
Just one year after rewriting the horror playbook with @HereditaryMovie, @AriAster is back with a dread-soaked fairytale unlike anything you’ve ever seen. #MIDSOMMAR? — July 3! pic.twitter.com/fXJg44fy80 — Midsommar? (@MidsommarMovie) June 11, 2019
I loved Hereditary, and I’m very excited for Midsommar, director Ari Aster’s follow-up to last year’s horror hit. Once again, Aster appears to be going for something unconventional – a move that will likely make some casual horror viewers cry out “That wasn’t a real horror movie!” as they did with Hereditary. You know I’m right – it’s just a thing that happens now anytime a horror film doesn’t rely on jump-scares.
But just how similar is Midsommar to Hereditary? According to Aster, the two movies definitely have a lot in common. “Both films are very much about family,” the director says in the video above. “And I also feel that both films deal with codependency in a way – although this film goes deeper into that. In fact, I’ve described the film as a horror movie about codependency.”
Sounds good! Also, I want to point out that Aster was sure to clearly state that Midsommar is, indeed, a “horror movie” – so please keep your claims that it’s not to yourself. Aster’s new comments reflect things he’s said about Midsommar in the past. “It’s a breakup movie, in the same way that Hereditary is a family tragedy,” the director told Vulture. “It’s less overtly a horror movie, but it’s still working in that same space. It’s very macabre. But people shouldn’t go in expecting Hereditary.”
In Midsommar, “A couple travel to Sweden to visit their friend’s rural hometown for its fabled midsummer festival, but what begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.” Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Archie Madekwe, Ellora Torchia, and Will Poulter star.
Midsommar opens July 3, 2019. | 1,270,180 |
President Trump is likely to sign the congressional border agreement that falls far short of the wall funding he previously demanded -- and it’ll be pretty difficult for him to “spin” this as a victory, National Review senior editor Jonah Goldberg argued Tuesday.
The agreement reached by a bipartisan committee includes $1.375 billion for physical barriers, 55 miles of fencing, no cap on immigrants detained in the U.S., more resources to immigration programs, and a path to reduce Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention beds. Trump told reporters he wasn’t “happy” with what was presented to him just days before Friday’s deadline that would have triggered another government shutdown.
On Tuesday's "Special Report" All-Star panel, Goldberg -- along with Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway and National Journal politics editor Josh Kraushaar -- weighed in on the political pros and cons for the president regarding the deal made by Congress.
TRUMP SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR BORDER SECURITY DEAL AFTER MEETING WITH SHELBY
Goldberg began by telling the panel that the agreement was “not a great triumph” for the president, especially since the amount of money he’s getting for the wall is smaller than what was agreed to before the partial government shutdown.
“I think that he has probably no choice into signing it because either you get a shutdown, if you try to go to the continuing resolution amount that’s pegged to current spending levels, he’ll get even less money,” Goldberg said. “He’s gonna sign it and I would suspect he either declares an emergency or starts moving money around [and] creates a new fight. If he declares an emergency, the courts will stop it, but he gets to say ‘I tried.’ That would be a political win for him, but it’s not a great deal.”
While Goldberg expressed that the Trump administration “should have gotten its $5 billion, he noted that the shutdown didn’t sway public opinion and led to less money for the wall.
“I don’t think you can spin that as a political win,” Goldberg added.
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Hemingway declared the deal a “genuine compromise bill,” but noted that’s a compromise between “people who actually want to do something about border security” and “people who want to do nothing about border security.”
“The issue is not just about Trump, it’s not just about politics, but it’s about national sovereignty and our borders and whether they mean anything. And for people who care about those issues, it’s a loss,” Hemingway told the panel.
Kraushaar agreed with Goldberg and Hemingway, adding that for Trump to agree with the deal would allow him to “argue other issues that are more favorable to him.” | 1,270,181 |
CONCORD, N.H. — Officials in the state of New Hampshire have voted to defund the abortion giant Planned Parenthood on Wednesday, canceling its $650,000 contract.
The 3-2 party line vote by the State Executive Council comes as a result of a series of videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, showing that the organization harvests the organs of aborted babies donated by their mothers, and sells them to scientific companies who pay the organization for the body parts.
The majority vote comes despite objections from Gov. Mary Hassan, who also released a statement decrying the decision.
“The council’s vote to defund Planned Parenthood will hurt the health and economic well-being of thousands of Granite Staters,” she said. “Moving forward, I will continue to fight to ensure that women and families have access to the important health services that are essential to the economic security and vitality of our families.”
But the the State Executive Council is calling for an investigation into Planned Parenthood, and the Republican State Committee is backing the proposition. The Committee is also requesting that funding be reallocated to other women’s health organizations.
“The appalling videos showing Planned Parenthood executives discussing the sale of human body parts have raised serious and legitimate concerns,” said Chair Jennifer Horn in a statement. “Instead of calling for an investigation of Planned Parenthood’s potentially criminal activity, Governor Hassan has turned a blind eye to this controversy and tried to give more taxpayer dollars to this scandal-plagued organization.”
“It’s time for Governor Hassan to put politics aside and work with the Commissioner of Health and Human Services and the Executive Council to identify alternative health care providers to cover the services that were included in this contract,” she stated.
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The legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) also applauded the council for its move.
“The people of New Hampshire should not be forced to fund a billion-dollar corporation that was caught on camera negotiating the sale of baby body parts,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. “The New Hampshire Executive Council should therefore be commended for ending the use of state taxpayer dollars for such barbarism.”
“No one should miss the horrific reality of what Planned Parenthood does behind closed doors, as revealed in the recently released undercover videos,” he continued. “Our tax dollars should fund local public health clinics, not corporate welfare for Planned Parenthood. We join the call … for New Hampshire’s attorney general to thoroughly investigate Planned Parenthood.”
The state of New Hampshire has contracts with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in the amount of $385,000; Planned Parenthood NNE-Claremont in the amount of $253,900; Weeks Medical Center in the amount of $117,100; Joan Lovering Health Center in the amount of $134,200; and Concord Feminist Health Center in the amount of $179,800. | 1,270,182 |
New Delhi, April 22
The Art of Living (AoL) foundation on Friday expressed its inability to pay the “remaining green fine” of Rs4.75 crore, imposed on it for alleged environment destruction caused during World Culture Festival last month, to the National Green Tribunal.
The foundation said it could only give a bank guarantee for it.
Sanjay Parikh, lawyer of petitioner Manoj Misra, alleged that the foundation did not intend to pay the penalty and was only “beating around the bush” since beginning of the case. “They are doing so consistently from the very beginning. First, they lied to the court by saying that they don’t have money to pay for the environment destruction their event had caused. Although the Ministry of Culture had released Rs1.5 crore for the event, they told the court that they don’t have any money and got away by paying just Rs25 lakh in place of Rs5 crore,” Parikh said.
The development comes amid reports of Islamic State threats to AoL head Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Parikh also expressed the apprehension that AoL was trying to get the March 9 NGT order nullified. The NGT in its judgment had established that there was “environment destruction caused to Yamuna floodplains by the World Culture Festival” and instructed a principal committee” to verify the quantum of destruction occurred after inspection”.
“AoL knows that principle committee’s report will be against them. So, they are creating hurdles in their inspection. Now, they are saying that they will decide on their own if at all any destruction has been caused to the floodplains by their event,” Parikh said.
Meanwhile, officials from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) confirmed they were not ready with the inspection report yet.
The NGT committee comprised officials from DPCC, National Pollution Control Board, ministry of Environment and Forest Conservation and Union Water Resource Ministry.
AoL, though, countered the allegations insisting they had no hesitation in paying the fine. “We have only asked for a change in the modalities of payment.”
“We have no objection to pay the penalty if at all any damage has been done to the floodplains. We have just informed the NGT that we may like to pay in the form of a bank guarantee than cash in this case,” AoL lawyer Akshama Nath said.
On creating hindrance in the way of NGT committee’s inspection, Nath blamed the delay in preparing the report on “inter-departmental miscommunication”. “There was some confusion among the officials who visited the site for inspection and the higher-ups in the hierarchy of their department,” Nath said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Development Authority also expressed apprehensions that AoL may not pay the penalty to restore the damage done to the floodplains. They said a bank guarantee was not enough. — IANS | 1,270,183 |
Pedestrians pass the entrance to the new headquarters building of Goldman Sachs Group at 200 West Street in New York. Photo: Bloomberg News
INVESTMENT bank Goldman Sachs is snapping up discounted Quinn Group debt on behalf of clients while simultaneously advising the Government on Anglo Irish Bank's Quinn dealings.
The Irish Independent has learned that Goldman Sachs has been retained by the National Treasury Management Agency (Ntma) to run the rule over various plans submitted by Anglo.
This role includes examining Anglo's proposal to buy embattled Quinn Insurance to improve the bank's chances of recouping a €2.7bn debt owed by the wider Quinn Group and family, sources confirmed.
Separately, Goldman Sachs traders have also been actively buying up Quinn Group bonds on behalf of its clients.
It is understood that Goldman has taken a "small portion" of the €50m or so of Quinn debt that's been traded recently.
This €50m is less than 4pc of the €1.2bn in Quinn Group bonds outstanding.
The small level of debt that's been bought by Goldman means the bank's clients could not have a deciding say in the way the Quinn Group's debt is ultimately restructured.
However, the value of Goldman's clients' Quinn debt could rise or fall depending on the way Anglo's outstanding issues with Quinn are resolved.
A spokesman for Goldman last night said she couldn't comment on the identity of the bank's advisory clients, or on the specifics of any trading carried out on behalf of Goldman clients.
"All investment banks have Chinese walls in place to avoid and manage potential conflicts of interest [in general]," she added. "We are highly confident of the effectiveness of our Chinese walls."
A spokesman for the Ntma declined to comment.
It is understood, however, that the agency is aware of Goldman's limited dealings in Quinn Group debt.
The news comes as the Quinn Group's main lenders prepare to meet over the coming days to discuss the Cavan group's financial restructuring.
Senior lenders in the cohort include AIB, Barclays, Bank of Ireland and HSBC, who are all believed to be advised by Deloitte and Clifford Chance.
The Quinn Group has enlisted restructuring expert Murdoch McKillop of Talbot Hughes McKillop to advise it on the process.
Anglo believes its best chance of securing repayment from the Quinn Group and Quinn family is by taking over embattled Quinn Insurance, which has been under administration since April.
The bank last week lodged an expression of interest in the takeover, and is expected to submit a full offer in October.
Several insurance industry players have also submitted expressions of interest in Quinn Insurance, as have a number of private equity vehicles.
If Anglo does not take over Quinn Insurance, the wider Quinn Group has relatively little to gain from the sale, since it would only get a payment for the Quinn Health brokerage which is not in administration.
The level of the Quinn Health payout is likely to be less than €20m, according to insurance industry sources.
Irish Independent | 1,270,184 |
(Image credit: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
Here it is. The answer to a perennial question of what on earth does "Auld Lang Syne" mean?
The confusion over the song is arguably almost as much of a tradition as the song itself. As revelers stumble and mumble through the verses-singing the "auld lang syne" part much louder than the rest of the song because it's really the only part people know-someone always asks what the words mean.
The title of the Scottish tune translates to "times gone by" and is about remembering friends from the past and not letting them be forgotten.
Despite its strong association with New Year's Eve, "Auld Lang Syne," written by Robert Burns in the 1700s, was never intended to be a holiday song. Guy Lombardo is credited with popularizing the song when his band used it as a segue between two radio programs during a live performance at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York in 1929. By coincidence, they played "Auld Lang Syne" just after the clock hit midnight, and a New Year's tradition was born.
The song, and the confusion that comes with it, has been immortalized in countless movies and TV shows.
In "When Harry Met Sally," Billy Crystal's baffled Harry wonders, "What does this song mean? My whole life, I don't know what this song means. I mean, 'Should old acquaintance be forgot?' Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances. Or does it mean that if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot them?"
"Well, maybe it just means that we should remember that we forgot them or something," Sally reasons. "Anyway, it's about old friends."
So as you surround yourself with friends old and new tonight, sing on.
And if you really want to impress people, here are the lyrics to the English translated version of the song you'll probably hear:
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?
CHORUS: For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne. And surely you'll buy your pint cup and surely I'll buy mine! And we'll take a cup o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
CHORUS We two have run about the slopes, and picked the daisies fine ; But we've wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.
CHORUS We two have paddled in the stream, from morning sun till dine; But seas between us broad have roared since auld lang syne.
CHORUS And there's a hand my trusty friend! And give us a hand o' thine! And we'll take a right good-will draught, for auld lang syne.
CHORUS | 1,270,185 |
Ben & Jerry's, Patagonia, Lush and Seventh Generation to take part in global climate strikes
Major US firms Ben & Jerry's, Patagonia, Lush Cosmetics and personal care firm Seventh Generation have agreed to close stores on 20 September to join the worldwide day of climate strikes.
The four companies have agreed to take part in the Global Climate Strike, organised by a host of green groups including 350.org, Greenpeace, SEIU, and March On and Extinction Rebellion.
The 20 September climate strikes are expected to create peaceful protests across the globe, acting as an unofficial prelude to the UN Climate Summit in New York the following week.
The four businesses have committed to taking a “break in business as usual” in order to answer the calls of previous climate strikes, which called on businesses to get involved in the movement and ramp up sustainability efforts to combat climate change.
"As a business that's long fought for the environment, we are acutely aware of the climate crisis and recognise both the indisputable science behind it and the need for strong, tangible action to address it," Lush Cosmetic’s North America chief executive Mark Wolverton said.
"We are committed to disruptive, transformative change. That means a break in 'business as usual,' holding our global leaders accountable and answering the call of the youth activists to join them on the streets this September."
Clear message
Since the first school climate strike was held by teenage activist Greta Thunberg in August 2018, what started out as a solo protest in Sweden’s parliament has grown to a global phenomenon. More than 70,000 children and young adults, across 270 towns and cities globally, have been walking out of their schools, colleges and universities every Friday since February.
The message behind the strikes is to urge national governments and large corporations to align themselves with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C trajectory. This is a feat which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has claimed will require global carbon-neutrality by 2050.
In May, Thunberg urged workers and adults across the globe to join students in creating the single largest strike movement on 20 September.
Patagonia’s president Rose Marcario added: "The climate crisis is a human issue—affecting all of us. We are inspired by the youth activists who have led a global movement, and Patagonia is calling for urgent and decisive action for people and our home planet.
“We invite the business community and all those concerned about the fate of our planet and humankind to answer with action and join us."
The news arrives as the Extinction Rebellion protests look set to occupy Manchester this weekend. Hundreds of climate protesters will flock to one of the city’s busiest streets for four days to highlight the “contradictions” of declaring a regional climate emergency while also planning to expand its airport.
A similar movement took place in April across various sites in London, including Oxford Circus, resulted in more than 1,000 arrests.
Matt Mace | 1,270,186 |
SALT LAKE CITY — A documentary about a Utah-based aerospace company, a horror movie directed by a Utahn and a second season of a Disney+ series are among the cinema projects that earned state approval this week.
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development on Tuesday announced four new projects that have been approved. The projects are estimated to generate $25.8 million in economic impact and 280 local jobs, according to a press release from the Utah Film Commission.
Most of that estimated economic impact will come from one project: The second season of Disney’s “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.” The series will resume filming in Salt Lake City starting in February 2020.
The first season of the show premiered earlier this month on Disney+. Production of the second season is estimated to bring a $24 million into Utah, according to the release.
"(Executive producer Tim Federle) and this talented cast have delivered a first season that is uplifting, funny, touching and relatable across generations,” Ricky Strauss, president of content and marketing for Disney+, said in the release. "We are confident that the world, like us, will want much more of these characters, incredible songs and moments of joy.”
“All Hallows Day Eve,” a horror movie written and directed by Utahn Nick Jensen, was also approved for filming under the state’s Community Film Incentive Program, according to the release. The program supports smaller, local projects.
Filming on the project starts in November in Davis County, and it is estimated that the production will spend $66,000 in Utah.
“For us, this project is the culmination of years of hard work and passion,” Jensen said in the release. “To be able to make this project here, in our home state of Utah, with Utah-grown talent, is a dream come true. I am excited to show off all that this state has to offer.”
The documentary “Rocketboy” was also approved as part of the Community Film Incentive Program, according to the release. The film will document Steve Heller and Riley Meik as they prepare to launch a commercial rocket through the Utah company Sugarhouse Aerospace.
“Rocketboy” will be directed by Allyse Clegg and will film through spring in Salt Lake and Utah counties, the release said. It’s estimated to spend about $47,000 in the state.
The fourth project is a narrative feature called “Wireless,” starring “Ready Player One” actor Tye Sheridan, according to the release. The production will start shooting in December in Salt Lake and Weber counties and will spend about $1.3 million in Utah, the release said.
More information about the projects is available at film.utah.gov.
Editor's note: The content of this article was taken from a press release sent out by the Utah Film Commission. This is not information gathered by a KSL.com reporter. | 1,270,187 |
Gingrich’s debt grew by over $50,000 in the third quarter of 2012. | AP Photo Former GOP candidates still in debt
A gaggle of former Republican presidential candidates dedicated to slashing the national debt have failed to pay off their own.
Chief among them: Newt Gingrich, whose campaign owed more than $4.9 million as of Sept. 30 to dozens of different creditors, new federal records show.
Unpaid bills for telemarketing, travel, advertising, ballot fees, event production, Web hosting, equipment rentals and consulting and legal services rank among the reasons for the debt.
Remarkably, Gingrich’s debt grew by over $50,000 in the third quarter of 2012 despite his having long dropped out of the presidential race. Gingrich campaign expenses of late ranged from salaries and travel to consulting and telecom services.
Compared to Gingrich, ex-Sen. Rick Santorum finds himself in better shape financially. The former Pennsylvania senator’s campaign still owes 14 vendors a combined $1.13 million — about half of that to consulting firm Brabender Cox for media consulting and placement services. That’s an improvement from the $1.51 million in debt Santorum’s campaign reported through July.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) made some progress paying down debt in the 3rd quarter, reducing her liabilities from $934,930 as of June 30 to $607,218 on Sept. 30 thanks in large part to more than $211,000 in transfers from her congressional committee, federal records show.
Herman Cain is also owed $450,000 from his presidential committee in the form of outstanding loans and unpaid travel expenses.
But recent presidential candidates aren’t the only ones struggling to balance their books.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s ill-fated 2008 presidential campaign remains $1.5 million in debt — not including $1.1 million in loans the campaign has yet to repay Giuliani himself, according to his third-quarter filing, submitted Monday.
Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential committee still owes political consulting firm Penn Schoen Berland $73,000 for polling and mail services.
Other presidential committees still under water through September include those of Alan Keyes in 2000 ($301,144), Gary Bauer in 2000 ($108,557), former Sen. John Edwards in 2004 ($333,586); Rep. Dennis Kucinich in 2004 ($493,910) and 2008 ($52,503) and Libertarian candidate and former Rep. Bob Barr in 2008 ($157,000).
Bill Clinton’s 1996 primary committee remains $100,000 in the red — the committee disputes this — for consulting and polling-related debt, more than 16 years after incurring the expenses. Separately, the Clinton/Gore ‘96 General Committee reported another $14,815 in disputed debt.
Perhaps they should all consult with Ron Paul: The Texas congressman’s most recent presidential committee report indicated a $2 million surplus and no debt. | 1,270,188 |
The NASA-employed Science Definition Team has been crafting a plan to launch a mission that would search for alien life on Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
Europa
The extraterrestrial world of Europa is considered as among the most likely places in the solar system to have the ability to support life as we know it. Scientists have gathered evidence that the salty ocean that lurks beneath the icy crust of the moon could be hospitable to life. Recent models also hint that the icy world can produce oxygen and hydrogen, which suggests it may have the necessary energy to support life.
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, the 21-member SDT submitted a report detailing the concept of sending a lander to Europa to determine if the moon harbors life. The report proposed a mission that could launch by 2030 to search for life on Europa by drilling toward the moon's subterranean ocean.
While there has been strong evidence of the existence of the ocean - based on data gathered by NASA's Galileo mission that explored Jupiter and its moons in the 1990s - no sample has yet been collected from the ocean itself, which is believed to be buried beneath 11 to 15 miles of ice layers. The liquid water could be 62 miles deep. Scientists estimate that the large global ocean has about twice as much water found in the Earth's oceans, albeit this is protected by hard ice.
Probe To Drill Into Europa's Icy Crust
SDT members worked with NASA engineers to design a probe that can drill about 4 inches into the icy crust of Europa to collect samples for analysis on the spacecraft for signs of extraterrestrial life. If the mission is successful, a future Europa mission could drill even further and possibly even reach the subterranean ocean. Scientists noted that the best chance of finding life on the moon would be to drill beneath the crust, but this would not happen with the first mission, which would drill only a few inches down into the crust.
"This mission would significantly advance our understanding of Europa as an ocean world, even in the absence of any definitive signs of life, and would provide the foundation for the future robotic exploration of Europa," the report reads.
Team members also proposed that besides having a drill or cutter for extracting samples, the lander should include a camera system that could see what is going on outside, instruments that can analyze the chemistry of the icy crust of Europa, as well as a device that would monitor geologic activity.
Researchers are particularly keen on finding biosignatures such as isotopes or molecules that can hint at past or present life on the moon. NASA said that the report proposed three science goals for the mission.
"The primary goal is to search for evidence of life on Europa," the U.S. space agency said in a statement. "The other goals are to assess the habitability of Europa by directly analyzing material from the surface, and to characterize the surface and subsurface to support future robotic exploration of Europa and its ocean."
TAG Jupiter, NASA, Europa, Moon
ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. | 1,270,189 |
Awesome DTrace
A curated list of awesome DTrace books, articles, videos, tools and resources.
Contents
Learn
Recommended reading for learning DTrace.
Books
Other
Articles
Interesting articles about DTrace and real-world use cases.
PID Provider
USDT provider
Understanding DTrace ustack helpers - DTrace ustack helpers.
USDT Providers Redux - Reference for building USDT providers in custom applications.
Sysevent provider
DTrace sysevent provider - Solaris/illumos sysevent provider for DTrace.
Ruby and DTrace
Using DTrace to measure mutex contention in Ruby - Mutex contention measuring in Ruby.
Visualization methods
Flamegraphs - A visualization of profiled software, allowing the most frequent code-paths to be identified quickly and accurately.
Heat Maps - Heat maps allow three dimensions of data to be visualized, similar to weather radar maps where color is used as a dimension.
Videos
Interesting videos about DTrace.
DTrace review - Bryan Cantrill explains how to significantly improve debugging both for development and live systems with DTrace.
dtrace.conf
Software
List of software with DTrace support.
Programming languages
Erlang
Erlang - DTrace and Erlang/OTP.
Lua
lua-usdt - Libusdt bindings for Lua.
Node.js
node-dtrace-provider - Native DTrace probes for Node.js apps.
Perl
perl-Devel-DTrace-Provider - Perl wrapper for libusdt.
PHP
PHP - Using PHP and DTrace.
Python
Python - DTrace patch for Python 2.7.x and 3.x.
python-usdt - Libusdt bindings for Python.
Ruby
Ruby - Ruby DTrace probes.
ruby-usdt - Native DTrace probes for ruby apps.
Databases
MySQL - MySQL DTrace probes.
PostgreSQL - PostgreSQL DTrace probes.
Webservers
Visualization
FlameGraph - Stack trace visualizer.
node-stackvis - Stack trace visualizer.
DTraceToolkit - A collection of useful documented DTrace scripts.
dtrace-cloud-tools - DTrace tools written for the SmartOS/SmartDataCenter cloud (illumos-based).
pgsql tools - Report top-level PostgreSQL stats.
portsnoop - Trace event port activity.
storage tools - Report NFS, CIFS and iSCSI stats.
Community
Contributing
Contributions are more than welcome! Please see contribution guidelines first. | 1,270,190 |
The pilot who carried out the sarin gas attack which killed 87 Syrian civilians is an Assad General who carried out a similar attack last month, it is reported.
General Mohammed Hasouri, a squadron commander in Assad's army, was pictured being congratulated for the raid in Khan Sheikhoun last Tuesday on Twitter.
Fares Shehabi, the MP for Aleppo and a high-ranking member of the Assad regime, posted an image on social media of Hasouri shaking hands with General Ali Abdullah Ayoub, the chief of general staff of the Syrian Arab Army.
Fares Shehabi, the MP for Aleppo, posted an image on Twitter of General Mohammed Hasouri (left) at Shayrat airbase being congratulated for a raid on Khan Sheikhoun
It is thought that General Hasouri dropped the sarin gas bomb which killed 87. Assad's regime claims it bombed al-Qaeda weapons dumps which released the nerve agent
Shehabi captioned the image: 'Syrian army chief of staff thanks General Haytham Hasouri for destroying Qaeda's weapons facilities in Khan Sheikhoun, Edlib.'
It is thought Shehabi used a false first name to try and protect the General's identity, though the image matches previous pictures of him. A source also confirmed to The Times that the man in the picture was Mohammed Hasouri.
Assad's regime maintains that it did not drop chemical weapons on Khan Sheikhoun, a farming village near Homs, and says it bombed Jihadi weapons stores which released the deadly nerve agent.
But experts have rubbished that theory, saying sarin gas would be destroyed by an explosion, rather than dispersed.
The Times also claims that General Hasouri was behind another gas attack in the village of Latamineh, 15 miles from Khan Sheikhoun, on March 30.
General Hasouri is also believed to have taken part in another gas bomb raid last month which sickened 70 in a town around 15 miles from Khan Sheikhoun
President Trump carried out a Tomahawk missile attack against Shayrat airbase after aides say he was horrified by images of the gas attack victims
Around 70 people were sickened in that attack, with doctors describing victims as suffering spasms and foaming at the mouth. Fortunately nobody was killed.
Experts also said that General Hasouri would almost certainly have known he was dropping chemical agents, as the target area would have differed from a conventional bomb attack.
Chemical weapons have to be dropped upwind of the target area, with ideal weather conditions so the gas does not evaporate too quickly or blow away too fast.
There were reports on Monday that General Hasouri had been killed in a carbomb attack, though these could not be verified.
The General is chief of staff for air force brigade 50 and originally from the town of Talkalakh, near the Lebanese border, which has seen heavy fighting between rebel forces and those loyal to Assad.
General Hasouri is an Alawite, a Shia Muslim sect that counts Assad himself as a member. Most of the dictator's high-ranking officials are also Alawite. | 1,270,191 |
The Trump administration is sounding the alarm against vaping products as health officials scramble to determine why some consumers are suddenly becoming sick from them.
But while the administration’s pending bans on flavored e-cigarettes will no doubt influence the legal nicotine marketplace, they will have virtually no impact on the counterfeit cannabis vaping products associated with the recent outbreak of serious lung illnesses.
Why? Because nicotine is a federally regulated product, and several licensed large-scale corporations operate in this space. They’ll have little choice but to abide by the FDA’s new rules and restrictions. But we have virtually no idea who makes those unregulated cannabis oils, so they can continue business as usual.
This gray market exists because cannabis and cannabis-derived products remain almost entirely prohibited under federal law — which classifies the plant in the same category as heroin and LSD. This federal prohibition has made it difficult to clinically study the safety of these cannabis-oil delivery devices and all but impossible to regulate them.
As a result, while the feds can certainly arrest people involved in these rapidly growing markets, the FDA is powerless to provide regulatory standards, oversight, or quality control.
Instead, this heavy burden falls on state regulators that have legalized cannabis use. But these regulations are not consistent from state to state, and far from comprehensive. Often they’re unable to keep up with rapid changes in the industry’s manufacturing practices.
For instance, New York State officials have suggested that many of those sickened in their state became ill from inhaling vitamin E oil, which was added to unregulated vaping fluids as a thickening agent.
But until this latest outbreak, regulators had never tested products for the presence of vitamin E. And according to many experts, underground players only began adding these contaminants in the past few months.
While state regulators can and should do their part, the burden of establishing industry standards and regulatory oversight ought to fall on the FDA — the very same agency that, under marijuana prohibition, is forced to take a “hands off” approach.
Plainly these wildly popular products need to be better regulated at the federal level. And that means that cannabis need to be legalized.
Without legalization, consumers of these cannabis-oil vape products aren’t going to know whether they’re getting a safe, tested product or some unlicensed knock-off. Similar issues have plagued the commercial CBD market for years now, as the lack of a federal regulatory framework has led to CBD-infused extracts and oil products of variable quality, purity, and safety flooding the market.
Rather than use these unfortunate incidents to further drive these markets into the shadows, the administration should officially legalize cannabis at the federal level — and empower the FDA to study, regulate, and oversee these emerging THC and CBD delivery devices.
The irony is that, because of decades of prohibition, the agency is only now beginning to scrutinize these cartridges and the questionable compounds, additives, and agents in them. Had cannabis been legalized years ago, they would have done so much sooner.
And Americans would be safer because of it. | 1,270,192 |
Clearly, this implies a high level of trust that you wouldn’t typically extend to a stranger or non-relative.
7. Use Chase QuickPay
Some critics of Chase’s new no cash deposits policy have suggested that the bank made the switch in order to get users to sign up for its online service, QuickPay.
With Chase QuickPay, you can send money to another person — virtually anyone with an email address, the bank says — or request money from someone else without cash or checks using a smartphone, tablet or computer.
There are no fees for users and you don’t need a Chase account to use the online service, but the big downside is that at least one person involved in the transfer must have an account at the bank.
While using QuickPay is instant, the actual transfer of funds isn’t always quick. The deposit still must be cleared before going through.
If you want to avoid going to a bank or ATM and your recipient doesn’t need the funds right away, QuickPay might be a good option for you.
Using Chase QuickPay it’s very easy for Bank of America and Wells Fargo customers to send money to Chase accounts.
8. Use another peer-to-peer service
PayPal is the most popular person-to-person online payment service, but funds aren’t always immediately available.
If the sender already has the funds in his or her PayPal account, the money is available to the recipient immediately.
But if the money has been sent via eCheque — which might happen if you don’t have a card and bank linked to your account — it will take 3-5 business days for the funds to show up.
If you send money to someone through PayPal but have no balance left in your account, you can send money via your checking account.
However, the transaction might take a few days. It depends on the bank and whether both accounts linked to PayPal have been verified.
Plus, depending on how you transfer money, you might get hit with a fee.
PayPal isn’t the only person-to-person online payment service. Other alternatives include Venmo, Google Wallet, Amazon Payments, Skrill, and Payoneer.
But just like with PayPal, these online payment services have pros and cons including cost and ease of use.
Suzanne Ryan, a spokeswoman for Chase, told us what she recommends people do if they want to deposit money for someone else.
“They can deposit personal checks, cashier’s checks and money orders. They can use Chase QuickPay online. They can add an authorized user to their account.”
While each of these eight options listed might allow you to sidestep Chase’s no cash deposit policy, if you’re spending too much time or money trying to circumvent the problem, you might consider switching banks.
Frustrated with your bank? Check out these new top online banks that people are talking about: | 1,270,193 |
March 2012 on a charge of being a felon in possession of a Smith & Wesson.40 caliber pistol during a June 20, 2009 arrest in Winston County.
The indictment cited Johnson’s previous criminal convictions: a June 6, 2001 conviction in Cullman for possession of a forged instrument; an Aug. 15, 2001 conviction in Cullman County for second degree forgery; and a May 17, 2005 conviction in Cullman County for first degree theft of property.
Johnson pleaded guilty to the gun charge. He was sentenced to a year and one day in prison and a supervised release term of three years.
Johnson was arrested on January 11, 2016, for violating the terms and conditions of that supervised release. The next month, a federal magistrate judge sent him to federal prison for 12 months and a day.
According to the federal magistrate’s order: “After being placed on supervised release, defendant Johnson admitted to use of methamphetamine in January 2015. He was later placed in the Color-Code Random Urinalysis Program for drug testing. Defendant never showed up for the first drug test. He failed to report for drug testing in June, July, August, September, and October 2015. Defendant Johnson failed to appear for his test in August 2015 after having been specifically told to attend.
“Defendant Johnson is also supposed to report to his U.S. Probation Officer each month. He reported in October 2015, but he has failed to report since that time.”
“We’ve had numerous dealings with him over the years and our community is familiar with him,’’ Sheriff Gentry said of Johnson. “My heart and prayers go out to the family” of the Kimberly officer, he added.
Law enforcement officials from around the state are mourning O’Rear’s death.
“This tragedy is yet another heartbreaking reminder of the dangers all law enforcement face while we enjoy the safety they provide us,'' said Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Jay Town. "We must ask ourselves how we can all join together to bridge the respect deficit for law enforcement that is directly and indirectly leading to violence against our brave men and women of the badge. Enough is enough.”
One of O’Rear’s co-workers, Kimberly police Sgt. Shawn Jones, said it’s tough but those on the force are handling as best they can. "The danger is always there,'' Jones said. “We know that going in.”
Chief Horn said O’Rear’s death is on the minds of other officers as they report for their shifts. His message to them is this: “Just be safe. Go ahead and do your job the best you can, but the No. 1 rule is go home at night.”
"You have to be a very special person to do this job,'' Horn said. “It’s not for everybody.”
AL.com managing producer Kent Faulk contributed to this report. | 1,270,194 |
Iranian crude oil exports in January were higher than expected, while February shipments so far have been holding steady or even higher compared to last month, as several of Iran’s customers are using up their U.S. sanction waivers to continue importing Iranian oil, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing industry sources and shipping data.
According to tanker-tracking data from Refinitiv Eikon and a source at a company tracking Iranian oil flows, Iran’s exports in February have averaged 1.25 million bpd so far, while the January exports were between 1.1 million bpd and 1.3 million bpd, higher than the previously expected below 1-million-bpd level, which was seen in December.
While tracking Iran’s oil exports has become an increasingly difficult task after the U.S. sanctions returned in early November, some of the key Iranian oil customers that received U.S. waivers resumed buying Iran’s oil in 2019 or increased imports to their respective ceiling allowed under the waivers, after an initial ‘wait-and-see mode’ for November and December purchases amid uncertainties who is getting waivers.
Iran’s key Asian customers—Japan, South Korea, India, and China—are all buying Iranian crude once again, but at much lower rates than they did before November when U.S. sanctions kicked in, S&P Global Platts estimates showed at the end of January.
According to the S&P Global Platts calculations, the rate at which India, Japan, and South Korea are importing Iranian crude at the moment, is at least half lower than the rate from before the sanctions went into effect.
India and China are Iran’s largest crude oil buyers, accounting for 80 percent of the country’s oil exports to Asia, which, in total, constituted half of Iran’s overall oil exports. Now, as the sanction waiver window narrows, S&P Global Platts analysts expect Iran’s oil exports to fall to 1.2 million bpd over the first four months of 2019, and further slump to 860,000 bpd in the fourth quarter of the year. This compares with an average 2.7 million bpd in the first few months of 2018, before President Trump pulled the United States out of the so-called Iran nuclear deal last May.
As the ‘waivers window’ will be shrinking ahead of the end of the 180-day waiver period in early May, buyers could be rushing to buy what they can before April in order to be able to complete transactions before May in case waivers are not extended, according to analysts.
The U.S. has signaled that Iranian customers shouldn’t rely on waivers extensions, but the Trump Administration has not yet officially said if it would stop granting waivers. Some observers say that the decision would depend on the price of oil at the time the U.S. needs to decide about exemptions, because, despite the pledge for ‘zero’ Iranian exports, the Administration will not be willing to drive up oil prices too high. | 1,270,195 |
Lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday on a proposed constitutional amendment that would create an independent commission to draw boundaries for state elections.
Current law leaves the responsibility of redistricting to the New Hampshire Legislature. Supporters of this measure say that allows for gerrymandering, or the ability of the majority party to draw boundary lines in its favor.
Democratic State Rep. Ellen Read, a supporter of the measure, said she's mentioned limiting gerrymandering to members of her party in the past.
"And this person within my own party said, 'Oh no you don't, the other guys did it, so we're going to do it to them when it’s our turn,'” Read said.
This bi-partisan-backed update to the state constitution would set up a seven-member commission made up of members of the public. “The President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the minority leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate shall each appoint one member,” the measure reads. The remaining three members would be selected by the initial four appointees, in a process administered by the Secretary of State.
Several voters as well as members of progressive groups in the state spoke in favor of the proposed constitutional amendment.
"Demand an end to gerrymandering and restore the confidence not only in the sanctity of the vote -- that there are fair districts being created -- but also restore the confidence in the legislature," said Liz Tentarelli, President of League of Women Voters of New Hampshire, a non-partisan coalition that advocates for voting rights.
Yurij Rudensky, Redistricting Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan group that has advocated for redistricting reform, said he’d worked closely with the amendment’s sponsors to “make sure that these proposals advance best redistricting practices.”
Rudensky recommended that lawmakers update the amendment so that the commission would have at least nine members. “It worries me that there are only two Democrats and only two Republicans and three unaffiliated members,” Rudensky said. “We heard from jurisdictions like Arizona, Washington state that use small commissions -- that use five member commissions -- that a slightly larger one in many instances would make it easier to reach compromise and work because there were times when there was one obstinate member.”
Other states, including California, Arizona and Washington have adopted independent redistricting commissions.
“Courts provide a robust backstop against unfair and unconstitutional legislative maps, and judges have recently not hesitated to strike down maps that truly create an uneven playing field,” Governor Sununu’s spokesman Ben Vihstadt said in an email. “Governor Sununu believes the current system works well.”
For passage, a proposed amendment to the New Hampshire Constitution needs a three-fifths margin of approval in the Senate and House. If one meets that threshold, it is passed directly to the voters for ratification, where voter approval needs a two-thirds vote. | 1,270,196 |
This lukewarm world would still suffer many of the consequences of climate change. There would be more deadly heat waves, more heavy rainstorms, and more intense and frequent droughts. Yet some of the phenomenon’s most catastrophic symptoms, including dozens of feet of sea-level rise and planet-wracking extinctions, might be averted.
The report, in other words, lays out humanity’s last best hope for managing climate change. But it does so against a backdrop of generational failure.
More than a quarter century ago, the countries of the world hammered out the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In language signed by President George H. W. Bush and ratified by the Senate, that document—which later gave rise to both the IPCC’s reports and the Paris Agreement—laid out the goal for all of the UN’s future work on climate change. “The ultimate objective,” it said, was to cut greenhouse-gas emissions so as to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”
“Climate scientists have made it abundantly clear, over the past few years, that we’ve already passed that goal. We’ve already dangerously interfered,” says Christopher Field, the director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, who has worked on previous UN reports but was not involved in this one.
The new report confirms his contention. It finds that the world has already warmed by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1 degree Celsius, since humans began sending industrial pollution into the atmosphere. The costs of this warmth can be seen around the world: This decade alone, sweltering heat waves have killed thousands; engorged floods have ravaged cities from Houston to North Carolina; and half of the coral in the Great Barrier Reef has died.
The question is what happens next. “The international community is struggling with how to address the climate challenge … [while] not being able to meet the ultimate objective,” Field told me. “We’ve already seen dangerous interference. Now the question is, How do we deal as effectively as we can with that?”
The new 2.7-degree plan tries to lay out such a strategy. Written by 91 researchers from around the world, it summarizes the findings of more than 6,000 different scientific studies. It argues that humanity must begin rapidly switching away from fossil fuels if it hopes to avoid ecological upheaval. But almost every step of its prescription sits at odds with current policy.
Under the plan, the level of carbon pollution released into the atmosphere every year must begin to fall immediately. (Instead, it hit a record high last year.) By 2030, the world would need to have cut its annual emissions by about half. (Even the Obama administration’s now-canceled climate policies would have cut U.S. emissions only by about a quarter by that year.) By 2050, the world must get 80 percent of its electricity from renewable or nuclear power. (Today, only about 20 percent of electricity comes from those sources.) | 1,270,197 |
, sometimes faintly smiling kids standing in rows. In some photographs they are even shown as wearing winter clothes. The memories of the people who were imprisoned in a camp as children do not correspond to these images at all.
The key word recurring in the stories of former prisoners, also those written in letters to their families, is hunger. The children received two slices of bread and a bowl of watery soup a day. They were therefore desperately looking for something to eat, throwing insects into their soup, eating grass and leaves, and trying to steal something from the camp kitchen. They were severely punished for such “crimes.”
The children feared the most the building they were sent to for soiling the bed. Since the children lived in trauma and were always cold, many of them had problems with urinary incontinence. This greatly annoyed the camp’s “tutors.” As beating did not help, a separate unit was set up for these children.
The food rations – far too insufficient – were halved there. There were no mattresses on the bunks and only thin blankets to cover yourself with. The kids slept with their clothes on. The wet boards would rot and give off a horrible stench. The children grew numb, often got sick and died. The cries of the dying did not allow others to fall asleep. One of the extant letters tells a story of a boy who was in such a state that his body was rotting away even before his death, and when the unit supervisor came and pulled up the blanket with her stick, the dried and pus-ridden skin was raised along with the blanket.
On the other hand, each child dreamed of going to Dzierżązna near Zgierz, where the camp’s subsidiary unit was located. There was a farm there, which supplied the camp in Łódź with food. The food rations were bigger there and the living conditions better. Unfortunately, only the oldest girls could work there.
Residents of Łódź were not aware of the existence of a children’s camp within city limits. Even during the occupation few inhabitants knew about it. The camp was established within the ghetto yet was separated from it with a high fence of wooden planks.
Immediately after the war, the fence and most of the wooden buildings were demolished (e. g. for fuel) and a few years later a housing estate was built there. In 1945, two “tutors”: Sydomia Bayer and Edward August, were sentenced to death. Moreover, one of the supervisors, Eugenia Pohl (who after the war changed her name to Pol) continued to live in Łódź and worked in a kindergarten until 1974, when one of the former prisoners recognised her in a queue in front of a shop. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison, released in the early 1990s and died in 2003 in Łódź.
This article first appeared in Aleteia’s Polish edition. | 1,270,198 |
Calgary Sexual Assault and Indecent Acts Lawyer
Sexual and indecent acts offences are a unique classification of criminal offences as defined by the Criminal Code of Canada. These types of offences often involve some form or act of a sexual nature. Keep in mind, for some of these offences, there may not be any form of actual sexual activity, but mere the suggestion of it. Some of the more common sexual and indecent acts offences are:
Prostitution Offences: Communicating for the purpose of or living off the avails of prostitution.
Child Pornography Offenses: Possessing, making, accessing or distributing child pornography.
Under Age Offences: Sexual touching or sexual interference of a person under age 16.
Sexual Exploitation
Nudity
Internet Luringv
Indecent Exhibition
Indecent Acts
Interfering with a Dead Body
Sexual Assault Offences: Sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, sexual assault causing bodily harm, and aggravated sexual assault.
Indecent Telephone Calls
Procuring for Illicit Sexual Purposes
Paul Gracia, sexual and indecent acts offences lawyer in Calgary, has represented clients facing these and other types of sexual and/or indecent acts offences. Mr. Gracia uses his expertise and knowledge to look for weaknesses in the Crown’s case, as well as confirms his clients’ rights were not violated in any manner while building their strong, strategic defence to their charges.
Mr. Gracia cautions people from filing sexual assault offences as a means to attempt to resolve domestic disputes. He has seen first-hand where one person in a relationship has claimed sexual assault against the other. The police have investigated and the Crown has filed charges against the other person. But, now the person, who originally filed the complaint, wants to withdraw their charges. However, once the complaint has been filed with the police, there is nothing a complainant can do to have them dismissed. Now, their partner must have the matter resolved through the court system.
Sentencing guidelines used by the courts for people found guilty of sexual and indecent acts offences depends largely upon the offense. In most cases, the person is required to register as a sexual offender. Many offences carry with them a mandatory period of incarceration in prison, such as a minimum of three years for a first offence for serious sexual assault or a minimum of one year for each child pornography charge. Being charged with a sexual and/or indecent acts crime should be considered serious due to the severe sentencing guidelines and impacts it can have on your life and livelihood.
If you or a loved one is charged, you need Calgary sexual and indecent acts offenses lawyer, Paul Gracia. Mr. Gracia works in his clients best interests, protects their rights, and obtain the best possible results for them. To see how he has helped other clients facing sexual and indecent acts charges, review the “Results” section of the website.
To discuss your charges, contact Mr. Gracia today at 403-975-4529 to schedule a free consultation appointment. | 1,270,199 |
Subsets and Splits