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only sons to war, the consequences could be significant, Liu noted.
***
President Xi Jinping, since he took office in 2013, has urged the PLA several times to “prepare for combat”. PLA journals themselves, though, a RAND Corporation study for the United States Congress recorded in 2015, are “replete with references to problems in such areas as personnel, training, education, organisation, logistics and maintenance”. Despite the battle against endemic corruption in the PLA, few believe it has been wiped out.
“Let our field armies touch the buttocks of a tiger,” China’s Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping reportedly said as he ordered the military to action in 1984, hoping to blood his troops and demonstrate “our military is still good enough”. The truth, however, was that Deng’s own economic reforms had brought about a crisis in the PLA. Xiaoming Zhang’s magisterial history of the China-Vietnam war notes that fewer soldiers joined the army during that decade than at any previous time — and were less than willing to die.
In some cases, the crisis of morale bred low farce: elements of the 67th Army, on their way out of Laoshan, demanded $ 1,500 from their 47th Army replacements for all intelligence on enemy positions and firepower. In another case, an armoured unit which did not receive care packages despatched its tanks to surround an infantry division headquarters and demand its share.
Like in India, there is no shortage of voices in China that appear not to see the distinction between strategic analysis and Wolf Warrior II: articles advocating short, sharp wars to settle the country’s border conflicts are commonplace in the media.
For serious Chinese thinkers, though, that line of action comes with serious risks: failure to achieve a decisive victory would not only embarrass the PLA, but also dent the credibility of the political leadership and encourage Beijing’s regional adversaries to engage in further acts of defiance. In the long term, China may indeed become a military adversary its regional adversaries will have to defer to — but that time is not now.
In 415 BC, Athenian hawks made the case for invading Sicily by insisting that “it has always been the law that the weaker should be subject to the stronger”, an argument that will be familiar in Beijing today. On the disaster that followed this hubris, the historian Thucydides wrote: “Sicily would fear us most if we never went there at all.” This, he explained, was because “that which is farthest off, and the reputation of which can least be tested, is the object of admiration”.
For China’s strategic community, these ought be words to ponder: in war, unlike films, the end of the story is impossible to script.
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The Spanish government has ordered Google to delete information about 90 individuals from its search engine indexes, according to media reports.
Spain said it believes that the individuals have a right to be forgotten, but Google has said that requiring search engines to ignore some information would negatively impinge on free speech, according to the New York Times. A court will determine whether the individuals' details should be deleted.
The 90 individuals all lodged formal complaints with Spain's Data Protection Agency (DPA). In one case a domestic violence victim discovered that her address could be found through Google, while one middle-aged woman was able to find information about her arrest as a student through the search engine, according to the New York Times.
In Spain, an official government gazette, containing information about citizens, is published online. The gazette has been published for 350 years but for the past two years has been made available online in an effort to improve transparency, the publisher of the gazette said, according to the New York Times.
"But maybe there is information that has a life cycle and only has value for a certain time," Fernando Pérez said, according to the report.
Spanish law forces the information to be included in the official gazette, Jesús Rubi, deputy director of the Spanish DPA said, according to the report.
“The law obliges us to put this info in the gazette. But I am sure that if the law was written today, lawmakers would say 'OK, publish this, but it should not be accessible by a search engine',” Rubi said.
Google said preventing some data being accessed through search engines "would have a profound chilling effect on free expression without protecting people’s privacy,” according to the report.
Both the right to a private life and the right to freedom of expression are guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Plans to give EU citizens more rights over information about them stored on the internet was hinted at by Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission and EU Justice Commissioner in June.
In a speech on data protection and privacy at the British Bankers' Association (BBA), Reding said she did not accept that it is impossible to give individuals the right to be forgotten.
"I do not approach this subject of the 'right to be forgotten' lightly. I know that there is a balance to be struck with freedom of expression. It may also call for some flexibility in the way this balance is struck, but I cannot accept that individuals have no say over their data once it has been launched into cyberspace," Reding said in her speech.
Plans to reform EU data protection laws are expected to be announced later this year. The European Commission has cited a need to update the laws to reflect technological advances. Current EU data protection laws stem from the Data Protection Directive which was established in 1995.
Copyright © 2011, OUT-LAW.com
OUT-LAW.COM is part of international law firm Pinsent Masons. | 1,270,301 |
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their first meeting would set forth a vision to expand the US-India ties in an ambitious manner and discuss ways to advance common goals like fighting terrorism and expanding security cooperation in the Indo- Pacific region.The leaders of the world's two largest democracies with a combined population of 1.6 billion will meet on June 26 at the White House to discuss a gamut of bilateral issues, including India's concerns over possible changes in H1B visa rules."I think you can expect the two of them to set forth a vision that will expand the US-India partnership in an ambitious and worthy way of both countries' people," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference yesterday.He cited "fighting terrorism, promoting economic growth and reforms and expanding security cooperation in the Indo- Pacific region" as shared priorities.The Indo-Pacific region includes the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbours in multiple disputes over islands."President Trump and Prime Minister Modi will look to outline a common vision for the United States-India partnership that is worthy of their 1.6 billion citizens," Spicer said.Trump invited Modi to Washington after the latter rang him in January to congratulate the new president on his inauguration."The president and the prime minister have had a number of positive phone conversations, and expect to further that discussion... whether it's economic growth and reforms, fighting terrorism, expanding our cooperation as major defence partners," Spicer said in response to a question.In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs said yesterday that the Modi-Trump discussions will provide a new direction for a deeper bilateral engagement."Prime Minister will hold official talks with President Trump on June 26. Their discussions will provide a new direction for deeper bilateral engagement on issues of mutual interest and consolidation of multi-dimensional strategic partnership between India and the US," the ministry said.The bilateral talks appear to be no bed of roses as they come amidst thorny issues like US' plans to reduce the number of H-1B visa slots that are mainly used by Indian IT workers, and its withdrawal from the historic climate accord.Notably, Modi's US visit, which would begin on June 25, comes in the backdrop of Trump's announcement to withdraw the US from the historic Paris Climate Agreement signed by over 190 other countries. Trump had blamed India and China for the US withdrawal.Strongly rejecting Trump's contention, India said it signed the Paris deal not under duress or for lure of money but due to its commitment to protect the environment.During his visit to France this month, Modi even said that India would "go above and beyond" the Paris deal to protect climate for the future generations.Apart from ways to enhance trade and business cooperation, Modi and Trump are expected to discuss defence ties.The White House said that the US-India trade has grown six-fold since 2000, from USD 19 billion to USD 115 billion in 2016, despite the recent hiccups over the H1-B visa issue."US energy and technologies, including natural gas, are helping to build Prime Minister Modi's vision for a new India and creating thousands of US jobs in the process," Spicer said. | 1,270,302 |
Consequently, a foundation accustomed to working for decades on a million dollars or so in annual donations, will now have to manage a $75 million jackpot. That worries me, as it should anyone who has ever studied the fate of lottery winners. That’s not their fault, but it doesn’t change the situation, and I’m not inclined to challenge more people to send more money to coffers that are already overflowing.
Some of you will remember a recent post about my friend, Jill Brown. Jill is a stuntwoman who got a brain tumor and lived to tell the tale.
Last year, she asked me to sponsor her in a walk to raise money for brain tumor research. She didn’t like asking, and I don’t blame her. Asking people for money is never fun. Even for a good cause. But Jill was very grateful for a second chance at life, and determined to support those suffering from the same condition that she overcame. So she personally called everyone she knew and explained why she walking, how the money that she raised would be used, and why the research was so important. Consequently, she raised a tidy sum for a great cause that was near and dear to her.
Point is, Jill did several difficult things. She vowed to walk, at a time when walking wasn’t so easy. She committed her time, her energy, and her passion to a cause that mattered deeply to her. And most importantly, she made the whole thing personal. That made me want to help her. Not just because she’s my friend – but because she was helping herself.
The Ice Bucket Challenge is different. Here, people I’ve never met give me 24 hours to either write a check to a charity I’m not familiar with, or dump a bucket of cold water over my head. Tell me honestly – if that precise challenge arrived to you privately, via the US Mail, what would you do with it? You’d throw it in the trash, right? But a public challenge is not so easy to ignore. Online, everyone is watching. Your friends. Your co-workers. Your clients. Maybe even your boss.
When it comes to asking people for help, I don’t like to put them in an awkward position. So the only challenge I’m issuing today is to Freddy. If he can refrain from peeing on the floor, I’ll send a check to the local shelter. Beyond that, I’m staying dry.
Again – to anyone who’s been affected directly or indirectly by ALS, my heart goes out to you. And to those who challenged me personally, I know your heart’s in the right place. So I’m going to reserve the right to dump various substances over my head at a future date for whatever reason I deem appropriate, and encourage you all to ignore the gimmicks, get informed about the charities you wish to support, and contribute generously to whatever cause resonates with you.
Mike
Mike’s Facebook Page | 1,270,303 |
Lev Grossman’s best-selling fantasy book trilogy The Magicians is headed to Syfy’s primetime as the network has given a 12-episode series order to its pilot. The project hails from Michael London’s Groundswell Productions, Universal Cable Productions and writers John McNamara (Aquarius) and Sera Gamble (Supernatural).
Based upon Grossman’s books— the first of which was published in 2009 — The Magicians stars Jason Ralph (A Most Violent Year) as Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant grad student who enrolls in Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a secret upstate New York university specializing in magic. He and his twentysomething friends soon discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real — and poses a grave danger to humanity. Stella Maeve (Chicago P.D.), Hale Appleman (Teeth), Arjun Gupta (Nurse Jackie) and Summer Bishil (Towelhead) also star in the one-hour drama, executive produced by Groundswell Productions’ London and Janice Williams as well as McNamara and Gamble. Mike Cahill (I Origins) directed the pilot. The series will begin shooting in Vancouver in July.
Primetime-Panic Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series orders See All
“The Magicians pilot beautifully delivers a world filled with wonder, fantasy and intrigue,” said Syfy President Dave Howe. “We can’t wait to delve deeper into the lives of Quentin and his college friends as they struggle with the enormity of their burgeoning powers — and unleash them upon the world.”
London, who originally optioned the books, first set up a drama adaptation of The Magicians at Fox in 2011 with Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz as writers. That incarnation did not get a green light, but London redeveloped the project with McNamara and Gamble and took it to Syfy.
“Ever since The Magicians was published, I’ve wanted to see this story onscreen,” said Grossman. “The people, the school, the other worlds, the magic. I’m so thrilled that it’s finally happening, and I’m beyond thrilled that we found the right people to do it.”
This is the second drama project London has navigated from one network to another, leading to a green light. On Friday, FX gave a pilot order to John Singleton’s Snowfall, also produced by London, which originally was set up at Showtime.
The Magicians joins Syfy’s roster of scripted and development projects, including the upcoming 10-part series The Expanse, starring Thomas Jane; Arthur C. Clarke miniseries Childhood’s End, also set to premiere this December; Gale Anne Hurd’s 13-episode thriller Hunters; David Goyer’s Superman prequel Krypton; and Incorporated, a thriller pilot from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. | 1,270,304 |
People love their parking. That’s especially true in Bellevue, a city with a shopping mall at the center of its downtown. But Bellevue’s parking may also be holding it back from developing affordable housing.
Bellevue has a lot of parking spaces: 344,000 of them, according to Eric Scharnhorst, who runs parking research startup Parkingmill.
Parkingmill sucks in property assessments and spits out analyses of how much parking each city has. In Bellevue, there's "almost seven parking stalls per home," Scharnhorst said.
Scharnhorst has also run the numbers on Seattle, which has about five parking stalls per household. That’s higher than dense East Coast cities, lower than sprawling Midwest cities.
Seattle and Bellevue hold top honors in creating some of the most expensive parking in the country. That's because, more than any other place, we build parking garages here.
“The structured parking in Bellevue and Seattle is really off the charts when compared to other big U.S. cities,” said Scharnhorst.
Until recently, both cities required parking in new buildings, necessitating the garages. But now Seattle and Bellevue are going in different directions.
Today, Seattle has eliminated the parking requirement for new projects close to frequent transit, often despite significant public opposition. Bellevue, meanwhile, has held on to its parking requirements.
That has real world implications in terms of what kind of housing gets built in each city going forward.
Hal Ferris, for example, is a developer who’d like to build in Bellevue. But he says he won’t because of the parking requirements.
Ferris and his company Spectrum Development Solutions build market-rate apartments targeted to families with lower-middle-class incomes. They don’t get big subsidies, but the projects still pencil out because he doesn’t build expensive parking garages.
Ferris shared some of his calculations with us:
A single parking stall in an underground garage adds $50,000 average to the cost of a project on average. This means Ferris needs an an additional payment of $250 per month, through a combination of parking fees and rent.
But people in Seattle aren’t willing to pay that much money to rent a parking space. So all rents in the building must rise to pay the difference.
“That kind of parking requirement is going to result in high-end rental apartments,” said Ferris. “Which is most of what’s being built in Bellevue right now.”
Ferris said the higher the parking requirement, the higher the rents.
The mayor of Bellevue recently appointed Ferris to an affordable housing task force. Ferris offered Bellevue this advice: “They should have no parking requirement," he said, at least near transit.
But even with light rail coming downtown, Bellevue has yet to give up its mandated parking spaces. | 1,270,305 |
(PhysOrg.com) -- Austin, Texas-based Chaotic Moon Labs made a splash earlier this year with a high-tech Kinect-controlled skateboard moving by the rider's hand signals. Now they are showcasing another skateboard that moves beyond Kinect power and hand signals, over to a board that moves by just reading your mind. Think where you want to go and your board takes you there. From their Board of Awesomeness, their newest Board of Imagination is designed to show another twist to skateboard inventiveness and also to what travel might involve with enough technical ingenuity and creativity at play.
Rather than just calling the new skateboard Board of Awesomeness V2, the creatives decided their new invention was no mere revision, but instead a skateboard worthy of its own name.
The Board of Imagination is a skateboard that carries the same Samsung tablet with Windows 8 and the same 800 watt electric motor as the earlier skateboard, but now sports a headset. With it, the board will read the riders mind and will move anywhere the rider imagines.
The skateboard can translate brain waves into action such that the user visualizes a point off in the distance and thinks about the speed in which to travel to get there. The skateboard does the rest.
The mind-reader for the device is the EPOC headset from Emotiv. Described as a neuroheadset, the Emotiv company has produced a device that serves as an interface for human-computer interaction. As part of the new skateboard, the headset can control the riders speed and braking.
According to its site, Emotiv is a neuroengineering company. The motto is you think, therefore you can, which reflects on their devices, which can control objects just by thinking about them. The headset conveys brainwaves that generate signals to the tablet. The software on the tablet interacts with the skateboard and the rider moves along. When the rider wants to stop the board, no hand signals are necessary, as in the earlier Board of Awesomeness. The rider just thinks about the upcoming point of arrival.
The Chaotic Moon Labs team currently has no intentions of commercializing the skateboards. They are, though, planning to open-source the code, and also to provide information about materials and the cost of goods so that others can build such boards, provided we get the clearance from our attorneys first, general manager Whurley told CNET. (He goes by one name only.)
The Chaotic Moon Labs website talks about what motivated them to do another high-tech skateboard. According to the site, Whurley likes to ride in the gorgeous Austin sunny days so the obvious thing to do was look at the Kinect sunlight problem! The labs team instead decided to take the direction of a skateboard whose movements could be controlled via brainwaves.
Explore further Austin lab team rolls out Kinect-controlled skateboard
© 2011 PhysOrg.com | 1,270,306 |
Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is facing yet another hurdle on its decades-long journey to the screen. A legal challenge filed this week could see the movie pulled from its May 19 closing night berth in Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival. This is the latest salvo, this time lodged by Paulo Branco and his Alfama Films Productions, in an ongoing back-and-forth over rights to the movie. Branco and Alfama claim the film cannot be shown without the company’s approval.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has been termed one of the most cursed projects in history. It’s also been the subject of an ongoing wrangle between Branco and Gilliam who signed a contract in August 2016 giving the producer the rights. But the budget did not materialize and Gilliam found new backers who got the project on track after the director originally started work on it in 1989, and 17 years after shooting first began in 2000.
Both sides had lodged complaints. Last May a French court ruled in favor of Branco, but said he could not stop the film from shooting. Then earlier this month, an appeals court heard from the parties with the final decision to be delivered on June 15.
Alfama said in a statement on Wednesday that it had obtained permission to seek a writ to stop the Cannes Film Festival from screening it. The court will hear arguments on May 7, the day before the festival begins.
“I want my place as a producer to be recognized,” Branco told France 2 on Monday, saying of Gilliam, “This sort of arrogance from a great English filmmaker against a small Portuguese producer, it has to stop.” Branco has produced some 300+ films.
In the same program, Gilliam said, “Paulo Branco claims to be the producer of this film… But he worked on this film for four months.”
The program further detailed a heated exchange of emails from 2016 between Branco and Gilliam in which the producer threatens to shut down the film. “It became more and more threats. You either do it this way, or I stop everything. I had 24 hours to accept those conditions,” Gilliam said. He told France 2 he wondered “what happened to the contract we signed six months ago? Mine said I would have a look in on the budget and choose the team and would know everything of the financial plan and dealings. None of those things happened. He broke the contract on a weekly basis during the four months we worked together.”
Branco separately noted, “Sometimes one has to take a strong position.”
The status of the film’s French theatrical release is currently unknown. It is due to go out via Ocean Films on May 19, but it is still awaiting a visa certificate from national film body the CNC. Ocean recently told AFP that the “contract between Gilliam and Branco had been terminated.”
Deadline has reached out to the Cannes Film Festival for comment. | 1,270,307 |
Goodyear runs two factories in Amiens, France. One, the northern factory, has been up for sale by Goodyear after several years of failed negotiations when unions refused to disband per corporate demands. To punish the unions, Goodyear shut down production lines in an attempt to pressure them into accepting inhumane working conditions, where shifts would be on a rotating schedule. A person would work a morning shift one day, an afternoon shift the next, an overnight the third, and the cycle would continue. There is no logical reason for such a bizarre shift design; it is there only to hurt workers. After the latest offer was withdrawn, Goodyear decided to shut down the factory. The French government then reached out to Titan International, another tire manufacturer based in Illinois, to see about them taking over the factory. The response they got in return was nothing less than an insult.
Titan’s CEO, Maurice Taylor, put it simply:
Titan is going to buy a Chinese tire company or an Indian one, pay less than one euro per hour wage and ship all the tires France needs.
The only thing which appears to matter to Mr. Taylor is how cheap labor is. This is a common thought, but it is very, very misplaced.
Elsewhere in the letter, Mr. Taylor claimed that the French workers only worked 3 hours a day and were sitting around talking. He claimed it was “the French way.” He called this lazy, and a deciding factor for him in not stepping in.
Well, if this is the French way, if this is how the French work everywhere, then it is time the United States started doing it. Because the only country which is more productive per-worker in the world is…. France. French work fewer hours, as Mr. Taylor claims (while exaggerating) but produce more per-capita than every other nation on the planet. A “less than one euro per hour wage” worker in India or China, on the other hand, is not only less productive, they are dramatically less productive. In effect, you need to hire ten times as many Chinese workers too simply match a single French worker. And the median salary in China has been on the rise for over a decade; Mr. Taylor would be looking at 7 euro or more.
7 euro per worker, needing 10 workers to replace 1 French worker, then add in quality control issues, transportation costs, and the moral issues of slave labor, and Mr. Taylor is everything that is wrong with corporate America today. There is far more to workers’ value than the simple dollar signs over their head. That Titan would take this position shows the rot of culture at its heart, and a willingness to not do what is best for the stockholders long-term financial stability. Mr. Taylor should be ashamed of his embrace of slave labor. And we all should be ashamed of Mr. Taylor and Titan International.
Nathaniel Downes is the son of a former state representative of New Hampshire, now living in Seattle Washington.
Feel free to follow Nathaniel Downes on Facebook. | 1,270,308 |
Navi going toe-to-toe with Nvidia at the high-end of the market, and Dr. Su seems to be talking about the Turing-based cards from Nvidia when she says they’re going to be ‘right there in the mix.’
So, is Navi a little more powerful than we thought it was going to be? We’ve been burned before getting over-excited about the potential performance of an upcoming AMD graphics architecture, so I’m wary of painting a Navi GPU out to be the saviour of the gaming side of the RTG.
Whenever we’ve spoken to AMD’s AIB partners, and colleagues in the industry, the general consensus has been that Navi is going to be a 7nm mainstream GPU that will take the place of Polaris in the Radeon tech tree. But that doesn’t necessarily preclude AMD from creating a high-end card capable of taking on Nvidia’s finest, both in terms of performance and cost.
One Navi GPU on its own may not offer much to worry the RTX 2080, but AMD passim has the company creating mainstream single-GPU cards and high-end multi-GPU options. With the massive price hike that has accompanied the Nvidia Turing generation AMD could easily bundle a pair of $300 GPUs together into a single package that might make $770 RTX 2080 a little nervy.
And if it wanted to create a real high-end Radeon Navi card it could use the xGMI peer-to-peer interconnect, introduced in the 7nm Vega GPUs, to pair GPUs together across an Infinity Fabric-based bridge, and then throw some seriously speedy memory at it too. We know that Navi is compatible with both HBM2 and GDDR6, as David Wang told me in the summer, so switching from the mainstream cards’ GDDR6 and putting a good chunk of high-bandwidth memory into the two GPUs could be fantastic.
The counterpoint to this, however, is that CrossFire and multi-GPU gaming in general isn’t that popular right now. It’s tough getting DX11-based game devs to spend the time, money, and energy getting their games working with more than a single graphics chip. And also few titles have actually made the switch over to either DX12 or Vulkan where multi-GPU a little more successful.
But what about a gaming version of the 7nm Vega 20 GPU? That I’m less convinced about. There are some who fervently believe AMD will be unveiling a high-end 7nm RX Vega GPU in January at CES, but with the architecture’s reliance on HBM2 I doubt even the die-shrunk version of Vega would be able to deliver enough gaming performance to justify its inevitably sky-high price tag.
So, while I still think Navi will be, for the most part, a mainstream graphics architecture, there are definitely things AMD could do to introduce a genuinely competitive high-end package to the market. And that would definitely make this business fun again. | 1,270,309 |
the release of the test results, which used some of these other papyri for the purposes of comparison.
One of those papyri was a fragment of the canonical Gospel of John. For all the uncertainty about the Jesus’ wife papyrus, this text of John evoked no such indecision. It is a forgery.
How do we know? This Gospel of John purports to be a version in a relatively rare ancient dialect of Coptic known as Lycopolitan.
Just such a Lycopolitan version of John was published in 1924 and is now available online. And this newly revealed gospel fragment just so happens to look awfully similar to the 1924 (now-online) version of John. How similar? Here’s how similar:
Whoever created this new Gospel of John fragment simply copied the beginning of every other line from the online version.
Turns out that if you check the other side of the fragment against its online parallel, the same thing is true (though with the end of every line rather than the beginning, logically enough).
Add to this the fact that the carbon dating of the John papyrus puts it in the seventh to ninth centuries, but Lycopolitan died out as a language sometime before the sixth century. No one wrote anything in Lycopolitan in the period in which this text would have to be dated.
So what does it matter to the Jesus’ wife fragment that this scrap of John is forgery?
Well, it’s never a good sign for a text of doubtful authenticity to be found in the company of a sure forgery.
More directly: Multiple experts agree that the fragment of John and the Jesus’ wife papyrus are written in the same hand, using the same ink and even the same writing instrument.
Simply put: If one is a forgery, they’re both forgeries.
Although 100% certainty is never achievable in such cases, given everything we know now (lab tests included), the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” never existed — or, rather, it never existed, for all intents and purposes, before 2012.
There are no great revelations to be gleaned from this text, no astounding new information about Jesus or Mary.
What the entire episode does, rather, is remind us — scholars included — that science might not always have all the answers.
This forgery was detected not through lab analysis but through good old-fashioned humanities-based detective work. This was Sherlock Holmes, not "CSI."
There remains no substitute for deep, thorough, scholarly expertise in ancient languages and texts.
Even in a case that ended up wasting such time and energy in the academic community, that community, and its collective body of knowledge, have rarely been more valuable and necessary.
Joel S. Baden is an associate professor of Old Testament at Yale Divinity School. Candida Moss is a professor of New Testament and early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame. The views expressed in this column belong to Baden and Moss. | 1,270,310 |
S.
But Clinton completely reversed course on the issue and refused to use the “g-word” to describe the century-old atrocity after she entered the Obama administration.
During a State Department town hall in Jan. 2012 she said that the issue of whether the mass murder was genocide was still up for debate.
“I think it’s fair to say that this has always been viewed, and I think properly so, as a matter of historical debate and conclusions rather than political,” she said at the time.
Clinton was called out for the comments in a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing the next month by California Rep. [crscore]Adam Schiff[/crscore], who is currently a member of the House Select Benghazi Committee and one of Clinton’s most ardent supporters.
“Some actions that were taken by you and the administration with regard to the Armenian genocide which are of great concern,” he said during the hearing.
“I can’t begin to express in mere words how much anguish has been caused in the Armenian-American community and among many activists about recent statements at a State Department town hall that you made,” he added.
Clinton flailed as she attempted to defend downplaying her statement that the Armenian genocide was still up for debate.
Aram Suren Hamparian, who once praised Clinton as ANCA’s executive director, had harsh words for both Mercer and Clinton.
“Mr. Mercer profited personally by aiding and abetting Turkey’s shameful cover up of its genocide of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and other Christians. Mr. Mercer’s complicity in Ankara’s genocide denial represents an unconscionable corruption of U.S. democracy by high-priced lobbyists, a morally unacceptable compromise of American values by a foreign power,” Hamparian told The Daily Caller.
Mercer has disclosed other contacts with politicians and government officials in other FARA filings, including a Dec. 2008 letter to Abedin.
But he did not respond by press time to a request for comment on the contents of the emails he sent and why they were not revealed in Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) disclosures. The powerbroker filed the reports on March 26, 2009 even though he started lobbying for Turkey in 2007.
It is likely that Clinton and company were aware of Mercer’s role as an opponent of the Armenian resolution. FARA records show that he sent letters to Lee Feinstein, the national security director of Clinton’s campaign, at around the time she publicly supported the genocide resolution.
“Hillary Clinton needs to answer for her morally indefensible actions as Secretary of State enforcing Turkey’s gag-rule against American condemnation and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide,” Hamparian told TheDC.
Clinton has not weighed in on the genocide issue during the 2016 cycle. Her campaign did not respond to TheDC’s request for comment.
This article has been updated with additional information.
Follow Chuck on Twitter | 1,270,311 |
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FARMINGTON — Attorneys for Brianne Altice want one count against the former Davis High School teacher dismissed because she was no longer the teen's teacher when they allegedly had sex.
Altice, 35, is accused of having sexual relationships with three male students, ages 16 and 17 at the time, including while she was out on bail for earlier charges. Altice is a former English teacher at Davis High.
Attorneys filed a motion Monday in 2nd District Court asking that one count of rape be dismissed because Altice was no longer the 17-year-old boy's teacher and therefore held no position of trust over him when they allegedly had sex.
Now 18, the young man testified Jan. 15 that while Altice was his teacher during his junior year, their relationship was friendly but not sexual. The two allegedly began a sexual relationship the next year.
"He testified that during his senior year, Ms. Altice was not his teacher, that her status as a teacher had nothing to do with their relationship, and that he did not feel that her status as a teacher in any way influenced his decision to pursue such a relationship or affected him in any other area of his life," defense attorney Ed Brass wrote.
He testified that during his senior year, Ms. Altice was not his teacher, that her status as a teacher had nothing to do with their relationship, and that he did not feel that her status as a teacher in any way influenced his decision to pursue such a relationship or affected him in any other area of his life. –Defense Attorney Ed Brass
Altice was initially charged in December 2013 with three counts of rape and one count of forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies. Additional charges — two counts of rape, a first-degree felony; one count of forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony, and three counts of three counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony — were added after two additional victims were identified.
Brass has petitioned that Altice be tried separately for the initial four counts against her, arguing that the additional charges are not connected to charges filed later and would create prejudice against a fair trial.
A hearing on the motions is scheduled for Feb. 18.
Altice was charged in a separate case earlier this month with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing in harmful materials to a minor, all third-degree felonies. Altice allegedly sent sexually explicit text messages and had sex with the 17-year-old, one of the original three victims, between November 2013 and August 2014, after she had been charged and released on bail in the initial case.
Altice's bail was revoked Jan. 15 and she was sent back to Davis County Jail while she awaits trial on the charges.
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Related Stories | 1,270,312 |
Besides the US, the SSPAC has Australia, Canada, France, India, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and United Kingdom as members.
New Delhi: India has been one of the most proactive members of a secretive US National Security Agency (NSA)-led 10-member counter-terrorism platform called SIGINT Seniors Pacific (SSPAC) for the last 10 years, a recent tranche of classified documents recently released by whistleblower Edward Snowden to a Website suggests.
Besides the US, the SSPAC has Australia, Canada, France, India, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and United Kingdom as members.
The Indian representation at the SSPAC comprises officials from the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). A document states: “RAW has produced the highest volume of reports for SSPAC next to the US and its information has garnered positive feedback from multiple SSPAC members.”
While RAW is the dedicated agency for external intelligence, NTRO is the super-feeder agency for providing technical intelligence on internal and external security. ARC is mandated with the aerial collection of intelligence.
The SSPAC members use a NSA-developed stand-alone secure communication system called “Crushed Ice” which is deployed in each nation’s headquarters to communicate with each other including real time conversations and exchange of “phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses, voice and language identifications, voice cuts, lead information and interrogation reports”.
In 2007, the US NSA director sought the opinion of SSPAC on the possibility of inviting India to join the SSPAC multilateral forum on counter terror. The NSA felt strongly that India’s participation in multi lateral intelligence sharing would help mature its Indian signals intelligence agencies as well as provide regional counter terror expertise.
The move was prompted by a keen US administration that wanted to improve relations with India. After given a unanimo-us go-ahead, a high level team, including the NSA director and his equivalents from Singapore and New Zealand, travelled to New Delhi in March 2008 to extend the invite. In June 2008, India formally accepted the SSPAC invitation.
Immediately, a series of teams of Counter Terror Deployed Analysts (CTDAs) were sent to India for 2-3 month long periods.
In the subsequent months, US’ NSA and RAW communicated over a rash of terrorist attacks that took place in Jaipur, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, New Delhi and Guwahati. NSA also provided timely warning regarding an attack on India’s embassy in Kabul.
Expectedly, the collaboration picked up pace after Pakistan-trained Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorists indulged in a wanton killing spree in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. As terrorists struck Mumbai, “many NSA employees, holidaying because of Thanksgiving, were recalled. NSA’s efforts further intensified when westerners, including Americans, were targeted and killed”. | 1,270,313 |
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 15: Linebacker James Farrior #51 of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts to a play against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Heinz Field on January 15, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH (KDKA 93-7 The Fan)- Former Steelers linebacker James Farrior joined Bob Pompeani Saturday to talk about the Steelers.
They discussed Troy Polamalu’s future, and Farrior said that it would be hard to see Polamalu play for another team if the Steelers release him.
“Everybody knows Troy as a Steeler, and I’m sure if he does go on to play a few more years, then people probably won’t remember those last few years. They’ll always remember Troy as a Steeler,” Farrior said. “It wouldn’t look right to me, him being in another uniform.”
Farrior told Pompeani that Polamalu is not the same player that he used to be, and Polamalu has to think about whether he would be happy in a role where he doesn’t play every down.
“If he wants to accept a lesser role, then maybe that’s a situation he might think about. But if he doesn’t want to do that, then I think it’s time to give it up,” Farrior said.
Farrior said that Polamalu would have a hard time adding to his career accomplishments if he were to continue playing.
“I’m sure he’s got a lot of things to think about, but I mean, at the end of the day, how can he really add to his legacy? He’s done it all,” Farrior said. “He’s won Super Bowls, he’s been Defensive Player of the Year, he’s been to multiple Pro Bowls. He’s done so much, what else can he do?”
Farrior said that James Harrison made a big impact for the Steelers last year, and that Harrison still has something left.
“I think he was probably one of the best linebackers that the Steelers had last year, and I think he really helped them out once he got his wind under his belt and he got back in football shape,” Farrior said. “I definitely think he’s still got something left in the tank.”
Farrior told Pompeani that he was sad to see the Steelers and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau part ways.
“It’s just one of those things where when it’s your time, it’s your time. That goes for coaches too. I definitely hated to see LeBeau go; he’s my favorite coach all-time, hands down,” Farrior said. | 1,270,314 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - German industrial output unexpectedly increased in March, helped by more construction and consumer goods production, but the economy ministry warned the outlook remained subdued as Europe’s biggest economy suffered from trade frictions and Brexit nerves.
FILE PHOTO: A steel worker of Germany's industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG which holds its annual shareholders meeting on Friday February 1, 2019, takes a sample of raw iron from a blast furnace at Germany's largest steel factory in Duisburg, Germany, January 28, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo
Industrial output increased by 0.5 percent for the month, exceeding a forecast for a 0.5 percent fall, data released by the Statistics Office and ministry showed on Wednesday.
“The business climate in the manufacturing sector became dimmer. Therefore a subdued industrial situation in the coming months is still to be expected,” said the economy ministry.
Data on Tuesday showed German industrial orders rose less than expected in March after two months of steep declines.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic and trade policies and uncertainty created by Britain’s leaving the European Union have hit Germany’s export-oriented economy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has cut its forecasts for 2019 growth to 0.5 percent, following expansion of 2.2 percent in 2017 and 1.4 percent last year.
The slowdown is affecting the euro zone, where the European Commission has forecast the economy will grow 1.2 percent this year, less than the 1.3 percent estimated in February. However, it expects a recovery to 1.5 percent next year.
Slower growth is also curtailing Germany’s tax intake and budget surplus. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is expected to cut estimates for this year’s tax revenues on Thursday, and the newspaper Bild reported that would contribute to a cumulative shortfall of 100 billion euros in Germany’s budget by 2023.
“In the end, the German economy is still at the mercy of global economic developments. The reliance on foreign demand is a burden in a climate of trade conflicts and isolationist tendencies,” said Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank.
The data showed production of consumer goods rose 1.1 percent and output of intermediate goods grew 0.4 percent in March. Output of capital goods was flat.
Some economists said the data was not as good as it appeared. A strong increase in construction in February had bolstered first-quarter industrial production, they said.
Construction increased 1.0 percent following a 4.0 percent rise in February, helped by good weather, the ministry said.
“Weak business surveys for April suggest that the German manufacturing sector is not yet out of the woods,” said Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics, adding manufacturing output may have dropped at the start of the second quarter.
February’s reading was revised down to an increase of 0.4 percent from a previously reported 0.7 percent rise. | 1,270,315 |
Posted By Jim Morekis on Tue, Aug 28, 2018 at 10:13 AM
The National Park Service (NPS) this morning released official findings from a recent study it commissioned to determine the status of the Savannah National Historic Landmark (NHL) District."Following a comprehensive study, site visits, public meetings, and a public comment period, the NPS has determined that the overall condition of the district falls into the 'threatened' condition category. This assessment does not change the designation status of the district as a national historic landmark," the National Park Service reports."Through the condition assessment process, the NPS found that the Savannah NHL District continues to retain the qualities for which it was originally designated and is not a candidate for losing its designation," the NPS says through its Southeast Regional Office."However, the study also reveals that the Savannah NHL District has lost some historic integrity and faces preservation challenges."The principal historic feature of the District is the Savannah Town Plan designed by James Oglethorpe in the 1730s, the NPS says."The District’s 'threatened' category status is based on several identified challenges including the impact of new construction on the Savannah Town Plan; the vulnerability of archeological resources, historic pavement, and cultural landscapes; threats from natural disasters; and a series of intangible threats like noise and traffic," the NPS reports.“The Savannah National Historic Landmark District remains a national treasure and we look forward to assisting the community in continued preservation efforts,” said Cynthia Walton, Southeast Regional Office National Historic Landmark Program Manager. “By having this information, the community can better understand and protect the unique character of the Historic District that makes it such a special place to live in and visit.”The NPS study sparked controversy this past spring when the media it, along with the recommendation from the study that the NPS put Savannah on the Threatened list.Savannah's Landmark District had been in "Satisfactory" status since 2006.At the time, City Manager Rob Hernandez wrote an op-ed to the daily paper claiming falsely that the NPS had discredited its own study.At a press conference about the study, Ellen Harris, Director of Preservation with the Chatham-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, pointed out the extreme development pressure that in part contributed to the Threatened status.“Last year the [MPC] Board and staff reviewed 372 Certificates of Appropriateness — that’s more than double what it was ten years ago," she said in March.The NPS says it will continue to monitor proposed projects that may diminish the integrity of the Savannah Town Plan and has recommended several steps to improve the overall health of the district including updating the NHL nomination and developing a cultural landscape report.The NPS says it will continue to work with the community in their preservation efforts and will remove the District from the “threatened” condition category when the proposed actions and conditions that may diminish the District’s historic character have been addressed.The public can learn more about the Savannah NHL District condition assessment by visiting https://go.nps.gov/savannah. | 1,270,316 |
conclusion: “Society loses the value of things which are uselessly destroyed;” and we must assent to a maxim which will make the hair of protectionists stand on end — To break, to spoil, to waste, is not to encourage national labour; or, more briefly, "destruction is not profit."
What will you say, Moniteur Industriel — what will you say, disciples of good M. F. Chamans, who has calculated with so much precision how much trade would gain by the burning of Paris, from the number of houses it would be necessary to rebuild?
In other words, why not deliberately destroy cities so the rebuilding of those cities will cause economic growth?
What’s lost is lost forever and cannot be made up. Certainly, eventually the economy will regain its footing and perhaps even move on to higher ground. But that “capital stock” of homes and businesses, buildings and stores, restaurants and garages has suffered a shrinkage that will never be made up. The economy starts from a lower level and can never make up for the loss.
There are other aspects that Mr. Dudley has ignored: inflation, and who will actually pay for the restoration. There will be price inflation as the demand for lumber and other building materials greatly exceeds supply, at least temporarily. Which means that new homes and garages, buildings and stores will be built at much higher cost than if they had been rebuilt prior to the destruction due to the hurricanes.
And who is going to pay for all of this? The federal government will attempt, reluctantly, by a conflicted Congress already facing enormous financial challenges, to inflict some of the cost on the backs of other taxpayers not affected by Harvey or Irma. But the bulk will likely be paid for by private insurance carriers who have been storing up funds over the years for just such a moment.
But Isn’t that a “net positive?” After all, have not thosre funds been idling away in insurance companies' vaults to years? No, they have not been idling away in insurance companies’ vaults, but have instead been employed through the ownership of stocks, the offering of bonds, and the investment in business ventures around the country and the world. But this misses the point: Those reserves were built up over the years by the payment of premiums that shifted funds from possibly immediate productive uses in the economy into guarantees against future losses. Someone always pays for such destruction.
To suggest, as Dudley implies, that there’s a free lunch out there somewhere, someday, is not only to create a false impression, but also serves to expose his ignorance of the most basic and fundamental of economic laws.
An Ivy League graduate and former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Related article:
Jump in Jobless Claims Following Harvey Is Just the Beginning | 1,270,317 |
yes these two sides are very young. Regardless of who wins tomorrow, we'll have our youngest average aged premiers since Collingwood in 2010.
Both teams have an average age of around 24, with the Bulldogs ever so slightly younger and more inexperienced. But average age doesn't quite tell the full story. A team of 24 year olds has the same average age as a team with eleven 18 year olds and eleven 30 year olds. It makes more sense to look at the age profile of each team.
Luckily for you Bob, I've done a bit of work with this stuff before. Radial age plots show the age of every player tomorrow afternoon:
These can be a bit tricky to read sometimes but are worth the effort when the "click". They show that Sydney have a very even age distribution between 19 and 32. The Swans have a bunch of players aged 23 just coming into their peak (Parker, Mitchell, Lloyd and Richards), a few towards the end of their careers at 29 who will typically start to wind up in the next few years (Franklin, Tippet, Jack) and a few at the other end of the spectrum at 20 (Heeney, Hewett, Papley). Outside of that they have one or two players chipping in at every age (other than 22). They have been very even recruiters.
The Bulldogs on the other hand are a juggernaut of players between the ages of 19 and 25 with a few older faces sprinkled in and a couple of much older guys throwing out the average (Morris 33 and Boyd 34). You can see this "wheel" turning over the next couple of years until most of their side is in that "peak" zone. I daresay this isn't the last time we see the Dogs in a big final.
Another way of looking at age distributions is by weighting the performance contribution to the team at particular ages:
There are still a fair few kinks to iron out with these graphics, but for now all you really need to note is that Sydney have a pretty typically aged squad with a few good young players, but a reliance on the older (29) ones too. The Dogs on the other hand really do have their best years ahead of them.
So that brings an end to my Grand Final previews. One final question: Who do I think will win? Well, the FFSS model predicts a pretty tight one, with Sydney winning about 59% of the time. I probably lean a little heavier towards the Swans, possibly around the 65% confidence mark if you forced me to put a number on it. This is mainly due to the structural advantage I see them having.
That shouldn't dishearten Dogs fans though. 65% means I still think you'll get up about one in three times on the day. Regardless of the outcome, I it should be a great game and hard fought battle between two very good teams. What more could you want for the last game of the year?
Follow me on Twitter @figuringfooty to see all my post-match ShotPlots and analysis. | 1,270,318 |
Iran on Wednesday warned that it would start limiting international inspectors’ access to its nuclear sites as it continues to move away from its commitments under the nuclear deal.
Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini, the spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said that Iran was taking the step because “when the other party doesn’t fulfill its commitments, there is no necessity for us to meet our part of commitments.”
“In the fourth step of reducing JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) commitments, we will probably impose limits on inspections, which means the International Atomic Energy Agency’s surveillance on Iran’s nuclear activities will be reduced,” the Guardian newspaper quoted him as saying.
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“Europeans have not honored their part of the commitments and we have not seen any practical step taken by the other side,” he said.
Iran has steadily increased its breaches of the nuclear accord as it pushes its European partners to find a way around US sanctions that have kept it from selling oil abroad and crippled the Iranian economy.
Also Wednesday, France urged Iran to stop violating the accord.
“Iran must abstain from crossing an especially worrying new phase of new measures that could contribute to an escalation in tensions,” French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnès von der Muhll said, according to the Reuters news agency.
She was referring to an announcement last week that Iran plans to start using a new array of advanced centrifuges for enriching uranium.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the country’s nuclear chief, told Iranian state TV that an array of 30 IR-6 centrifuges will be inaugurated in the coming weeks.
Under the terms of its 2015 deal — which the US unilaterally withdrew from over a year ago — Iran had committed to not using the array until late 2023.
Salehi also said Iran is now producing up to six kilograms of enriched uranium daily.
“It means we have restored pre-deal” capacity, he said.
In September, Iran inaugurated an array of 20 IR-6 centrifuges that can produce enriched uranium 10 times as fast as the IR-1 that Iran was already using.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to about 4.5%. Prior to the nuclear deal, it only reached up to 20%, which is a short technical step away from the weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Iran denies that it seeks nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposed the 2015 deal, insists that Tehran is seeking a nuclear arsenal, and is hiding parts of its program
Regional tensions spiked last month after a drone and missile attack on Saudi Arabia’s largest oil facility that shook global energy markets. The US said Iran was behind the attack. Tehran denied the charge and said any retaliatory strikes by the US or Saudi Arabia could lead to “all-out war.” | 1,270,319 |
met through efficient investment” (IMF, 2014).
Put differently, what matters is not gross debt, but net debt of governments. Debt issue that makes it possible to invest in assets with a much higher rate of return than the cost of borrowing (now close to 0%) will reduce net debt in the future. Unfortunately, eurozone countries, pushed by European policy-makers, continue to be mesmerised by gross debt numbers and as a result fail to do the obvious.
European authorities have put great emphasis on structural reforms to boost long-term economic growth. Econometric analysis of the relation between long-term growth and structural reforms (see IMF, 2015 and De Grauwe & Ji, 2015) suggests that these reforms have a weak effect on growth. These same studies, however, reveal that public and private investments are far more important to boost economic growth. Yet, by imposing a balanced budget on its member countries, thereby outlawing the financing of public investment by the issue of bonds, the European authorities discourage public investment in the eurozone. They do this even at a time when the financial conditions to borrow have never been so favourable.
Since 2008, the average yearly growth of GDP in the eurozone has been zero. This is not the case in the EU countries outside the eurozone as is shown in the figure below. The contrast between the EU countries not in the eurozone (EU-10) and the eurozone is stark: the former group of countries that decided not to be in the eurozone has managed to recover from the recession of 2008-09, whereas the eurozone has stagnated since 2008. This dismal performance in the eurozone is entirely home-made and the result of fiscal rules that lack intelligence.
It is often said that governments today cannot issue more debt because this would place a burden on our grandchildren. The truth is that our grandchildren will ask us why we did not invest in alternative energy and public transportation, and thereby made their lives miserable, when we faced historically favourable financial conditions to do so.
References
De Grauwe, Paul and Ji, Yuemei (2015), “Crisis Management and Economic Growth in the Eurozone”, paper prepared for the conference on Economic Growth in Europe at the Bank of Portugal, Lisbon, May.
Gros, Daniel (2014), “Investment as the key to recovery in the euro area?”, CEPS Policy Brief No. 326, CEPS, Brussels, 18 November.
IMF (2014), “Is it time for an infrastructure push? The Macroeconomic Effects of Public Investment, World Economic Outlook, Chapter 3, October, pp. 76-114.
IMF (2015), World Economic Outlook, Chapter 3, Box 3.5 on The Effects of Structural Reforms on Total Factor Productivity, pp. 104-107.
Muellbauer, John (2014), “Combating deflation in the Eurozone: QE for the people”, VoxEU (http://www.voxeu.org/article/combatting-eurozone-deflation-qe-people). | 1,270,320 |
On Sept. 11, scores of men with automatic weapons and RPGs launched a night assault on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and set the building ablaze. Using mortars, they launched a collateral attack on a safe house, killing two more Americans, as other U.S. agents fled to the airport.
On Sept. 14, White House press secretary Jay Carney said the attack came out of a spontaneous protest caused by an anti-Muslim video on YouTube.
On Sept. 16, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice told the entire nation the attack had not been premeditated or preplanned but emanated from a spontaneous protest of the nasty video.
On Sept. 25, Obama at the United Nations mentioned the video six times.
But when they were pushing this tale, what did the White House actually know?
For we have now learned that the assault was observed in near real time by the State Department’s Charlene Lamb, who was in contact with the security section at the Benghazi compound.
“But when they were pushing this tale, what did the White House actually know?”
The next day, Sept. 12, Fox News and Eli Lake of The Daily Beast reported that U.S. intelligence had concluded it was terrorism. Within 24 hours of the attack, U.S. intelligence had identified some of the terrorists as members of an al-Qaida affiliate.
Thus either administration higher-ups were ignorant for more than a week of what their own agents knew, and are thus manifestly incompetent, or they colluded in a cover-up and orchestrated deception.
As the facts are revealed, the weight of evidence tilts toward the latter conclusion.
Why? Because we now know there never was any protest at the Benghazi compound—not against an anti-Muslim video or anything else.
And if there was no protest, who sent Carney out to blame the attack on the protest? And if there was no protest, who programmed Rice and put her on five separate Sunday talk shows to attribute the massacre to a protest that never happened?
If real-time intelligence and U.S. agents at the scene knew it was premeditated, preplanned terrorism by Sept. 12, who told Rice to deny specifically on Sept. 16 that the attack was premeditated or preplanned?
Indeed, why was Rice sent out at all? She is not in the chain of command. Why she accepted the assignment is obvious. She wants to be Hillary Clinton’s successor as secretary of state. But who put her up to this? Who pushed her out front to mislead us?
The CIA’s David Petraeus or Director of National Intelligence James Clapper should have been sent out to say what we knew, five days after the massacre. As Chris Stevens reported to the secretary of state and President Obama, why was Hillary or National Security Adviser Tom Donilon not sent out to explain what had happened to Stevens and the others?
Looking back, Carney and Rice appear to have been used by their superiors. | 1,270,321 |
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In a letter to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) laid out three ideas that he felt would improve the Democratic presidential debates.
In his letter, Sanders suggested earlier debates, “In recent weeks, as I have traveled around the country, I have been hearing concerns from voters about the need for vigorous candidate debate. The people of this country are tired of political gossip, personal attacks, and ugly 30-second ads. They want the candidates to engage in serious discussion about the very serious issues facing our country today. In my view, the candidates for President should engage in a series of debates beginning this summer.”
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His second idea was inter-party debates, “I believe we should be open to a less traditional form of debating by welcoming the opportunity to debate not only amongst members of the Democratic Party but also having debates between Democratic and Republican candidates during the primary process. I believe that these inter-party debates would put in dramatic focus the shallow and at times ridiculous policies and proposals being advocated by the Republican candidates and by their party’s platform. It would also serve to engage large numbers of voters who typically do not pay attention to the process until much later when the general election begins to come into focus. By engaging these voters early and raising the stakes around the election, I believe we can get people to participate at higher levels which will undoubtedly benefit Democrats up and down the ticket.”
Sen. Sanders’ third idea was to hold debates all across the country, not just in early primary states, “I also think it is important for us to debate not only in the early states but also in many states which currently do not have much Democratic presidential campaign activity. While a number of these non-target states have not in the past had much-organized campaign presence, I believe it is critical for the Democratic Party and progressive forces in America to engage voters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. By expanding the scope geographically of
debates beyond the early calendar states we can begin to awaken activism at the grassroots level in those states and signal to Democrats and progressives in places like Texas, Mississippi, Utah, and Wyoming that their states are not forgotten by the Democratic Party.”
If two of the Sanders ideas were adopted, they would transform the Democratic debates. The idea of inter-party debates is bound to turn some people off. These same people probably also hate interleague play in Major League Baseball, but the idea of Democratic candidates being able to challenge the unpopular positions that the Republican Party has adopted is appealing.
Imagine an election where Democratic debates took place in Texas and Utah, and select Republicans were invited to participate. Hillary Clinton could debate Marco Rubio, and union buster Scott Walker would be challenged by Bernie Sanders. Having these candidates on the same stage would merge partisan political discourse in a virtually previously unseen way.
Sen. Sanders was talking about extending the reach of the Democratic Party in all 50 states. It is an amazing idea, and one that the Democrats should strongly consider before they agree to another round of primary debates. | 1,270,322 |
their activities.
Technique #5 - 'ANGER TROLLING'
Statistically, there is always a percentage of the forum posters who are more inclined to violence. In order to determine who these individuals are, it is a requirement to present a image to the forum to deliberately incite a strong psychological reaction. From this the most violent in the group can be effectively singled out for reverse IP location and possibly local enforcement tracking. To accomplish this only requires posting a link to a video depicting a local police officer massively abusing his power against a very innocent individual. Statistically of the million or so police officers in America there is always one or two being caught abusing there powers and the taping of the activity can be then used for intelligence gathering purposes - without the requirement to'stage' a fake abuse video. This method is extremely effective, and the more so the more abusive the video can be made to look. Sometimes it is useful to 'lead' the forum by replying to your own posting with your own statement of violent intent, and that you 'do not care what the authorities think!!' inflammation. By doing this and showing no fear it may be more effective in getting the more silent and self-disciplined violent intent members of the forum to slip and post their real intentions. This can be used later in a court of law during prosecution.
Technique #6 - 'GAINING FULL CONTROL'
It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position. Once this position is obtained, the forum can then be effectively and quietly controlled by deleting unfavourable postings - and one can eventually steer the forum into complete failure and lack of interest by the general public. This is the 'ultimate victory' as the forum is no longer participated with by the general public and no longer useful in maintaining their freedoms. Depending on the level of control you can obtain, you can deliberately steer a forum into defeat by censoring postings, deleting memberships, flooding, and or accidentally taking the forum offline. By this method the forum can be quickly killed. However it is not always in the interest to kill a forum as it can be converted into a 'honey pot' gathering center to collect and misdirect newcomers and from this point be completely used for your control for your agenda purposes.
CONCLUSION
Remember these techniques are only effective if the forum participants DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. Once they are aware of these techniques the operation can completely fail, and the forum can become uncontrolled. At this point other avenues must be considered such as initiating a false legal precidence to simply have the forum shut down and taken offline. This is not desirable as it then leaves the enforcement agencies unable to track the percentage of those in the population who always resist attempts for control against them. Many other techniques can be utilized and developed by the individual and as you develop further techniques of infiltration and control it is imperative to share then with HQ.
Credit / Source: http://www.picassodreams.com/picasso_dreams/2011/04/cointelpro-tech... | 1,270,323 |
Police have made an arrest in the "devastating" downtown Los Angeles blaze that torched an under-construction apartment complex, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
The fire destroyed the seven-story Da Vinci Apartments complex at 900 West Temple Street in December 2014, covering some 180,000 square feet. Flames billowed into the air, making smoke visible for miles and radiating enough heat to shatter the windows of nearby office towers.
Dawud Abdulwali, 56, of Los Angeles was arrested without incident Tuesday morning on an unrelated traffic charge and was later booked on suspicion of aggravated arson and arson of a structure, according to a written statement from the Los Angeles Fire Department.
There were no additional suspects, said Special Agent Carlos Canino of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Abdulwali was exposed as a squatter by the NBC4 I-Team in 2010, when he was found to be living in a foreclosed mansion in Woodland Hills. At the time he identified himself as Dawud Walli on what appeared to be a falsified lease for the vacant three-story home.
Multiple law enforcement sources identified "Dawud Walli" as the suspected arsonist Dawud Abdulwali to NBC4.
Law enforcement sources earlier told NBC4 Abdulwali was booked on charges of suspicion of malicious arson and reckless arson, but it was not clear what charges the district attorney would be filing.
Booking records show Abdulwali was being held on more than $1 million bail. If convicted, Abdulwali faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to the LAFD.
Officials offered no motive and released few details on how the investigation led them to Abdulwali.
"All the evidence that we have right now points to this person as a suspect," Canino said. "We have zero evidence at this time that this was a terrorism event."
Canino said there was no indication that Abdulwali had a connection to the Da Vinci complex.
The blaze damaged nearby high-rise structures, melted overhead signs on the Harbor (110) Freeway and melted computers of a neighboring office building on Figueroa Street.
Investigators said mid-December they found an accelerant pointing to arson.
Rewards totaling an unprecedented $170,000 were announced in January to help make an arrest. However, Mayor Eric Garcetti said public tips did not lead to the arrest.
Authorities also released surveillance images of two people spotted near the scene after the fire, but police said Abdulwali was not the person in either of those images.
Terrazas has called the "devastating" fire "one of the largest structure fires the LAFD has had in recent memory."
The blaze caused up to $30 million in damage to the under-construction Da Vinci Apartments.
The fire also caused between $50 and $60 million in damage to the adjacent city building, according to the fire department.
Phil Drechsler contributed to this report. | 1,270,324 |
Just think of all the assistants you could hire if you’re only spending, oh, $1,309 on a head coach.
And our final one, I must begrudgingly admit, does make a good point about Woody Hayes.
Ms. Beauregard, I’m reaching out to you on this fine January afternoon with a proposition so bold, it is guaranteed to knock your socks RIGHT off. Any potential candidates you have been giving consideration to fill the vacant head coach position is surely wrong, because I am the lone wolf that you want and need for the job, unless of course you have already been considering me. With the departure of former head coach of football, Phillip Fleck, WMU is facing a serious blow. I can imagine that filling such a void is something that you and the university would like to handle delicately to maintain it’s ELITE integrity. Now I’m sure you’re wondering about the couple things at this point, so let me just break it all down for you. There is nobody else in this world that you are going to find who is more committed to excellence than me. If you don’t believe me just from reading this email, then rest assured that in 2015 I once waited outside of a Metro Detroit shoe retailer for two whole hours for a new pair of Yeezy sneakers. While I never actually got the shoes because they sold out after those two hours and I got in line considerably later than most people, the naysayers couldn’t keep me from the challenge. Believe me, I have tons of stories like this too, the commitment doesn’t stop at shoe trends. But, REDACTED, how is this going to translate to results on the field? Simple, I never give up and neither are the boys every night when they step on the field when the find out about how seriously I take my commitments. My first order of business once you make the wide decision of hiring me, getting on the phone with ‘Bama and giving the students what they want by scheduling the first ever match-up with the Crimson Tide. A move as bold as this is going to bring in at least $1,000,000 from boosters in the first thirty minutes after the news breaks, guaranteed. The good news doesn’t stop there either, after i get off the phone with Saban, my next call is going right to the gophers for a prime time game where the world gets to see the boys in brown and gold make Minnesota look like a ragtag junior varsity football program from Cuba. Now, as you can imagine, I have my hands full with plenty of offers around the nation to mold the biggest and the best sports programs that you’ve ever seen. I even have a pending offer with my nephew’s house hockey team. So I’m sure you can imagine this offer for me expertise won’t exactly been on the table for much longer than a couple days. Signed, REDACTED A proud ‘16 Bronco Alum
You heard the man. Western Michigan wants Bama. | 1,270,325 |
’s disobedience have been? What if Joshua had seen this man’s disobedience go unpunished, and when God told him to march around Jericho thirteen times, Joshua decided that one time would be enough? Or what if the Israelites saw this man go unpunished, and thus decided that eating uncooked pork was not that big of a deal either? Or suppose that the Israelites had seen this man’s disobedience, decided they would break the other nine commandments, and therefore began to murder and commit adultery. The truth is, God is in a position to know much more about the situation than humans. He knew exactly what would have happened if this man’s disobedience was not punished.
Foreseeing the validity of this reasoning, Dan Barker conceded that punishment might be necessary, but claimed that the death penalty was too harsh. Says who? Suppose this man’s disobedience, if not punished with death, would have resulted in the moral collapse of the entire Israelite nation? Is there anyway Dan Barker could know that such would not be the case. Or suppose that this man’s disobedience to a direct command from God, if not punished by the death penalty, would have caused the Israelites to neglect sanitation laws instituted by God, bringing in a plague that killed thousands. What penalty would be appropriate for a man who was responsible for the death of thousands? In truth, only God could know what would have happened if this man’s disobedience had gone unpunished, and only God could have known what would have happened if that punishment was not the death penalty. When Dan Barker and other skeptics demand that God’s punishment in this (or other) cases is too harsh, they do so without reference to any objective, moral standard. Their sole defense is a wave of the hand and a “we all feel” statement that is designed to draw in their readers emotionally.
The Bible says that God knows “all things” (1 John 3:20). Since that is the case, only God can truly determine what is harmful and what is not harmful, and only God has the prerogative of determining the proper punishment for disobedience. Today, we no longer are under Old Testament laws concerning the Sabbath, but we are under the New Testament laws established by Jesus. In comparing disobedience to the two laws, the writer of Hebrews concluded:
Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace (10:28-29)?
Disobedience to God is a serious offense. It often is the case that those who are the most disobedient to His commandments are the ones who attempt to minimize the importance of obedience.
REFERENCE
Barker, Dan (1992), Losing Faith In Faith—From Preacher to Atheist (Madison, WI: Freedom from Religion Foundation). | 1,270,326 |
Review: Nothing, 'Guilty Of Everything'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Shawn Brackbill/Courtesy of the artist Shawn Brackbill/Courtesy of the artist
The story of how singer and guitarist Domenic Palermo came to form the noise-rock band Nothing sounds like a Behind the Music episode gone bad. Growing up in the crime-infested neighborhood of Kensington in Philadelphia, Palermo hung with a tough crowd that, in his own words, drove around with large amounts of cocaine and guns while listening to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. He was in and out of trouble, but he found a release in music, playing in the hardcore bands Horror Show and XO Skeleton.
In 2002, Palermo's life was put on hold when he was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and attempted murder after stabbing a man in a fight. Palermo served two years in prison — where, he says, he did a lot of reflecting, a lot of reading and a lot of writing. He got into the Russian greats (Dostoevsky, Gogol), existentialism and metaphysics.
After leaving prison, Palermo found himself in the depths of despair, but in 2011, in a last-ditch effort to find something to hold on to, he started playing music again, and writing songs. He eventually met guitarist Brandon Setta, and together they formed Nothing. Now a four-piece group with a love of loud, dark and seriously heavy rock, Nothing is about to release its debut full-length, Guilty of Everything.
A profoundly thoughtful, beautifully crushing wave of droning distortion, the album is epic and stirring, even unnerving at times, but it carves a path toward enlightened serenity. Guilty of Everything opens with a warm, ringing guitar as Palermo, his gentle falsetto buried just behind the mix, sings of "summers spent in a well," alone and far from home. It's melancholy, but it feels like a reassuring balm to life's ills — just before the song erupts with the pulverizing tumult that comes to define much of the record.
Most of the words on Guilty of Everything are impossible to catch — much the way Kevin Shields buried his voice on the Loveless record Palermo and his friends used to crank in the car. But the lack of a clear narrative helps make the album a more subjective experience, like a hazy dream that leaves you with more of a feeling than any clear idea of what happened.
Guilty of Everything closes with the album's confessional title track. "I've given up," Palermo sings. "I'm on my knees... I'm guilty of everything." It's a sonic surrender to the void. But in Nothing's world, giving up all hope can actually lead to nirvana; a release from the prison of fear that the things you dream of attaining or escaping will never be realized. Life is an endless pit of emptiness — nothing, as the band's name implies — but it's blissful nonetheless. | 1,270,327 |
Republican leaders of the state House of Representatives have asked a top official from former Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration to answer questions about Kentucky Wired, a statewide broadband project that has racked up more than $180 million in costs associated with delays.
The Kentucky Wired project is supposed to provide high speed internet to all of Kentucky’s 120 counties with a 3,200 mile-long network of fiber optic cable.
Portions of the project were scheduled to go live in 2016, but the state has had trouble securing agreements to install wires on telephone poles owned by local utilities.
After threatening to pull the plug on the project, this year the legislature gave Kentucky Wired nearly $70 million and permission to bond $120 million to compensate contractors for costs associated with the delays.
On Tuesday, state House leaders publicly requested that former Finance Secretary Lori Flanery and a lawyer who helped hammer out the contract for the public-private partnership appear before a legislative panel.
“Legislative members of the Program Review and Investigations Committee, having seen portions of that contract, approached me with concerns about how a contract that obligated so much money and included stipulations so favorable to the contractor could have been signed by the previous administration,” said House Speaker Pro Tempore David Osborne.
“I listened to their concerns and then asked Rep. Lynn Bechler, co-chair of the Committee, to get answers from those individuals directly involved in the negotiations and signing of the contract so we can get to the bottom of this.”
Most of Kentucky Wired’s initial $324 million cost was fronted by private investors led by Australian firm Macquarie Capital.
The state is obligated to pay the companies more than $30 million per year to help pay off debt associated with the project.
Initially the state was planning to offset the payments by using the network to supply internet for government buildings. But after an attempt to rebid the school districts’ internet contract in 2015, AT&T protested, saying that Kentucky Wired had an unfair advantage in the bidding process.
Bechler said that he has asked former Secretary Flanery and attorney Patrick Hughes, who helped negotiate the contract for Macquarie, to explain why the contract was structured the way it was.
“If there is a good explanation for why the contract was structured the way it is, the members of the Committee would like to know it to put our minds at ease; if there is not, then the people of the Commonwealth deserve to know it so situations like this can be avoided in the future,” Bechler said in a statement.
Flanery and Hughes did not respond to requests for comment.
Kentucky Wired is supposed to create the “middle mile” of a high-speed internet network; cities and businesses across the state would be in charge of building out the “last mile” to connect services to customers, and eventually the project is supposed to generate revenue by charging to use the network.
Earlier this year, officials said the project would go live in 2020. | 1,270,328 |
trade disputes and would “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion.”
Wall Street traders now expect the Fed to cut rates as many as three times this year to battle the inverted yield curve and cushion the blow from trade wars. The problem here is the Fed has a fairly long tradition of cutting rates too late. Economists note that the Fed cut rates too late in 2008 when the housing market collapsed and in 2000 when the dot-com bubble burst. Rate cuts also take time to have an impact, meaning by the time the central banks gets around to acting this summer or fall, the next downturn could already be gathering pace.
“Sometimes the Fed should worry that overly easy policy will lead to complacency in financial markets,” former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers wrote in an op-ed this week. “In light of recent volatility in the markets and with the possibility of more adverse surprises on the trade front, this is not such a time.”
Trump, meanwhile, continues to argue that the economy is doing extraordinarily well and that tariffs are a net positive. “The higher the tariffs go, the higher the number of companies that will move back to the USA!,” the president tweeted Wednesday.
Inside the administration, aides including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer have largely given up on the idea that they can talk Trump out of the Mexico tariffs.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday rejected early reports that the president might hold off. “Position has not changed, and we are still moving forward with tariffs at this time,” she said.
Economists take a very different view of the likely impact of Trump’s proposed tariffs on Mexico, particularly on the auto industry, which relies on an integrated North American supply chain and often sends parts and completed vehicles across the border several times before they reach the market, leading to the potential for compounding tariffs.
Deutsche Bank estimates that tariffs of 25 percent could increase the cost of vehicles in the U.S. by an average of $1,300 and reduce demand by 3 million units, or 18 percent.
Economists also warn that Trump going to 25 percent on everything China exports to the U.S. will quickly lead to higher prices for consumers.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that foreign countries pay the tariffs he levies, leading to more revenue for the Treasury. But academic research thus far shows nearly all the cost has been borne by U.S. importers and consumers.
That’s what leads economists to warn that if Trump can’t pull off deals with China and Mexico, his high-wire act could lead to disaster.
“It’s one thing to impose tariffs when the economy is on the way up and we are doing fine,” Daco said. “But once you’ve reached the inflection point, and we’ve passed that point, then any push you give with tariffs is just going to make the slowdown more rampant and throw fuel on the fire.” | 1,270,329 |
Overview
AVL & red-black trees have been compared for many years. When inserts are random, both will have nearly identical average node height and insertion time. For sequential input, AVL trees are significantly more efficient at building a more balanced tree – over 30% faster than red-black trees in the Java implementations described below. This is exactly the result predicted by theoretical computer science which gives worst case height bounds of ~1.44 and 2 for AVL and red-black trees respectively – a difference of 32.6%. Historically, the number of rotations was seen as important; however, profiling demonstrates that the number of rotations is not a worthwhile statistic to monitor for performance, number of comparisons per insert/lookup/delete or average node height are the key benchmarks to watch.
Profiling Data for One Million Random Inserts
For these tests the OpenJDK 1.8 TreeMap red-black implementation was compared against an AVL implementation available on GitHub WAVLTreeMap. The driver program for the comparison reads one million java.util.Random numbers from a file and inserts them into the tree building ten trees of size 100,000, clearing the data each time when the size reaches 100,000.
AVL inserts Red-black inserts
Without the overhead of JProfiler, the clock times for one million insertions was similar. In the profiling snapshots attached, the red-black tree spent 8640ms performing inserts (put() in Java’s TreeMap) and 86ms rotating left or right a total of 581,968 times. The AVL tree spent 5278ms inserting and 95ms rotating left or right a total of 697,913 times. Although total execution time varied with the profiler attached, the number of rotations and relative time spent rotating did not change from run to run. The WAVL insertion algorithm also spent 1822ms calling compareTo(). The number of comparisons is much more important than number of rotations!
Without the overhead of the profiler, both trees consistently complete 100,000 inserts in 56ms+/-3ms on my 2013 MacBook.
So AVL & Red-black Trees Perform the Same?
Absolutely not. The worst case height differences demonstrated by theoretical analysis is important to keep in mind. Performing sequential inserts, the AVL algorithm is 37.5% faster! For 100,000 sequential inserts the red-black code runs in 19ms+/-1ms and the AVL code takes 13ms+/-1ms. The reason for this is clear when the average node height and resulting trees are considered. Images for trees built by inserting elements 1-15 sequentially are below:
AVL Tree with 15 elements Red-black Tree with 15 elements
However, the AVL code performed even better than the 32.6% predicted by theoretical analysis. Part of that difference is likely due to code complexity.
Conclusion
If you are using any of the multiple red-black tree implementations in Java and your data is not randomly ordered consider changing.
Your feedback is welcome –David M. | 1,270,330 |
Last week, we learned that the Food and Drug Administration had detected PFAS compounds in pineapple, sweet potato, meat, and chocolate cake. The presence of the industrial compounds in our food was made public by the Environmental Working Group after a staff member of the Environmental Defense Fund took photos of the research at a scientific conference in Europe.
While the FDA fields questions about why it didn’t present this information to the public itself (the agency released the data along with a statement on Tuesday), it has become clear that 3M, the company that originally developed PFOS and PFOA, had known for a very long time that these toxic and persistent chemicals were in our food.
According to a 2001 study sponsored by 3M, 12 samples of food from around the country — including ground beef, bread, apples, and green beans — tested positive for either PFOA or PFOS. One piece of bread had 14,700 parts per trillion of PFOA, though the report noted that the sample was considered “suspect.”
The Environmental Protection Agency has known about the study for years, but it is not clear if the FDA was aware of the research. The Environmental Working Group mentioned the 3M study in a 2002 report on PFAS chemicals and alerted the Centers for Disease Control.
On Tuesday, attorney Rob Bilott wrote to the FDA to ask “the extent to which FDA was aware of the data collected on behalf of the 3M company in 2001 that confirmed elevated levels of PFAS in the U.S. food supply.” In 1999, Bilott sued DuPont over PFOA contamination around its plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia, where the company used the chemical to make Teflon. Through his litigation, he acquired many documents about PFAS, which he has since supplied to the EPA, FDA, and other federal agencies.
The EPA did not respond to questions about when exactly it became aware of the 3M study. 3M provided the following statement:
In 2001, 3M published the Multi-City Food Study and we shared this report with the EPA within seven days. This report is one of thousands of documents we have placed in the public domain related to the study of PFAS chemistries. We will continue to engage with members of our communities, elected officials and regulators to share information about these chemistries.
Tuesday’s FDA statement noted that recent tests “did not detect PFAS in the vast majority of the foods tested.” The statement also said that “based on the best available current science, the FDA does not have any indication that these substances are a human health concern, in other words a food safety risk in human food, at the levels found in this limited sampling.”
Yet there is abundant evidence that even at very low levels, both chemicals interfere with human immunity, reproduction, and development, and cause multiple health problems, including elevated cholesterol, thyroid disease, and cancer. Virtually everyone has some PFAS chemicals in their blood. They enter the body through food, water, dust, and exposure to consumer products. | 1,270,331 |
As it turns out, Google has become more powerful and effective towards alerting its users on unwanted software. Through SafeBrowsing, which is a new feature of Google, all the users can be informed on the dangers of sites and other online activities.
At last, Google has managed to Improve its features by adding a new powerful tool that is none other than a warning message that informs users that are about to pay a visit to a web site or download a really “dangerous” file. Do not be surprised and just tried it and you will see that in your attempt to enter to a site that considered being dangerous and with possible malware it will definitely alert you. This specific action will definitely help all of Google users to avoid any kind of viruses and in the end the user will have the final choice of visiting the site that they want. So, it is sure that it is up to the user to decide whether or not they will take that risk.
Lucas Ballard, one of the Google’s engineers, officially published information about the specific new feature of Google. Through their security blog he said that Google has the ability to offer to its user these important signals that are able to protect them from viruses and at the same time to protect them against the change to visit risky sites from the search engine results.
Lucas Ballard’s exact words are: “SafeBrowsing helps keep you safe online and includes protection against unwanted software that makes undesirable changes to your computer or interferes with your online experience.” The specific signal also appears to those irritating advertisements that always appear without your approval. This means the ending of such ads and the beginning of a really safe browsing through your favorite search engine. Mr. Ballard said about this matter: “We recently began to disable Google ads that lead to sites with unwanted software.”
It is absolutely sure that over the years thousands of people have been victims of hackers who have stole them personal information and they have also manage to hacked their IP, get inside their computer and just destroyed it. So, as you can easily understand from now on something like them will definitely be avoided. It is known that some years ago it was really easy to download dangerous software which has been able to overtake the old kinds of firewalls and many computers were destroyed back then.
A really important point that needs to be mentioned is the fact that Google has already informed web site owners, to register the site with Webmaster tools in order to always be informed whether or not it is something to their site that leads its visitor to unwanted situations such as malware and viruses or even the stealing of personal information.
All in all, there is nothing to be afraid of from now on, especially if you are a Google Chrome user and you always want to browse through the specific search engine safe and secure. The alert message will allow you to decide whether or not entering a web site that Google “thinks” that is really dangerous and full of malware. Do not lose time and be informed right now about this new feature and you will see that everything is safer now regarding to online browsing. | 1,270,332 |
Darkseid is the ruler of Apokolips and enemy of both Superman and the Justice League. He is apparently a judge on the show Jump City's Got Talent. He made his debut in the episode "Two Parter". He is voiced by "Weird Al" Yankovic.
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Bio
As the ruler of the planet Apokolips, Darkseid rules a powerful, intergalactic army, making him widely known as the greatest and most feared villain in the Universe. Darkseid is a major enemy of both Superman and the entire Justice League.
In the episode "Two Parter", Darkseid has captured the Justice League and imprisoned them in tanks above his fiery lava pool. When the Teen Titans arrive to save the Justice League, they are immediately stopped by Darkseid, who terrifies them with his scary voice. When Starfire offers him a lozenge, however, his throat is cleared up, and his voice returns to its normal, friendly tone. Because of this, the Titans are no longer intimidated by Darkseid.
Darkseid then reveals his villainous plan to kill the Justice League and destroy the Earth with the anti-life equation. The Titans, however, are distracted by his new voice, so much that they even begin to make fun of him for it, noting its similarity to famous songwriter "Weird Al" Yankovic. Darkseid notes that "Weird Al" is far more evil than he could ever be, going as far as to even call him a monster.
This enrages the Titans, who then go to battle with him. Darkseid is able to quickly and easily defeat all of the Titans. When Cyborg decides to quit pretending to be Green Lantern and be himself, he draws out three massive laser cannons. The blast from the cannons is so powerful that Darkseid is completely disintegrated, leaving only his boots behind (which immediately fall into the lava below).
Episode Appearances
Power Moves (cameo in clip)
Legs (cameo on poster)
Yearbook Madness (referenced in the Yearbook)
Beast Man (cameo in magazine)
Film
Comics
Trivia
In parallel to Marvel Comics, Uxas/Darkseid is similar to not only to the Eternal named Thanos, but also En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse from Marvel Comics, who is the very first Mutant to exist.
Darkseid is widely considered one of the most dangerous villains in the DC universe, next to Trigon.
A Darkseid plushie is frequently seen in the background of many episodes, usually on the right side of the couch.
He is the first non Teen Titans villain and the first Superman villain to have a major speaking role in the series.
Darkseid gets a redesign in the episode "The Titans Show", making him resemble his DCAU counterpart.
"Weird Al" Yankovic also voices Green Lantern.
Voice in other languages | 1,270,333 |
The title of this article has several meanings. The most obvious to people who regularly go to gun shows is that they’re generally a waste of time, with jerky vendors, jewelry sales booths, and that annoying guy who arcs his stun guns into the air every 15 seconds crowding out the people actually selling guns – many of whom have had the same overpriced stuff on their tables for the last 5 years.
People who’ve never been to a gun show should take the title literally – there is really nothing special about a gun show. From a legal standpoint, what occurs inside a gun show is no different than what occurs in a gun store or at a shooting range or even under a tree on Christmas morning. The transfer of firearms between unlicensed sellers – that is, everyday people – is not highly regulated. There is no “gun show loophole” that allows felons to purchase firearms at a gun show that they could not acquire elsewhere. Generally, the only requirements for private sellers are age and residency. From ATF.gov:
Q: Does an unlicensed person need an ATF Form 4473 to transfer a firearm? No. ATF Form 4473 is required only for transfers by a licensee. [27 CFR 478.124]
Beyond that, many background checks do take place at gun shows. Licensed dealers must always complete ATF Form 4473 prior to the transfer of a firearm, which may require a background check, depending on the state and the individual. It does not matter whether this takes place in the dealer’s store, at a gun show, or on the surface of the moon – the firearm cannot move from the dealer’s inventory for any reason without the transfer being documented in their “bound book” – and if the transfer is to an individual instead of another dealer, the 4473 must be completed.
New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s recent sting was nothing more than a stunt conceived to fool the ill-informed public into thinking that they were in danger from the unregulated transfer of firearms between private individuals – a notion that is simply false. According to a 1997 NIJ study, criminals acquired firearms from gun shows less than 2% of the time.
Bloomberg’s stunt, less than a month after the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords, does raise an interesting question, at least to me. Why do anti-gun activists, such as Bloomberg, continue to focus on “issues” such as gun shows after mass shootings – when murderers like Loughner, Cho, and Hasan all purchased their firearms legally, undergoing background checks?
We were told when the 4473 came into effect that background checks would protect the innocent – why do they regularly fail to prevent homicidal maniacs from acquiring firearms? Given the abject failure of past anti-gun legislation at doing anything but preventing law abiding citizens from acquiring firearms, ammunition, and accessories, why should we believe that “just” closing this “loophole” – or “just” taking away “those” magazines – will have any real effect? | 1,270,334 |
Saturday, October 8th, 2016 3:19pm CDT
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Regrettably, our Powermaster figure is currently unavailable and a product of equal value will be ordered from our warehouse.
This product (Titans Return Leader) is currently on back order and will ship to you as soon as inventory is replenished.
A replacement figure or a different figure of equal value will be sent but this line is on back order right now.
Are any of you still hesitant about picking up some Titans Return figures or hoping for clearance sales? Or just for them to return to Hasbro Toy Shop or another online store? Well you might want to get them now before it is too later because every Titans Return product, from all size classes, is currently sold out at the main distributor level, that being Hasbro. That means that while your retail store may still have many (and can still get some more from the chain's warehouses), Walmart, Toysrus and every other store selling these toys can no longer order more from Hasbro and hope to get more stock in before the next wave. Every order placed for the Titans Return line becomes a backorder and will only be filled out when the new stock arrives (ie wave 3).This is gathered by messages sent to me by Hasbro proper since I needed replacements for both a deluxe and a leader figure. Below are the parts from two different messages ragarding this:Since we know Wave 2 is out, that means the back order is for wave 3, which is not out or available yet. This is further proven by Power Master Prime being the Leader figure packages with Soundwave who, as you read, is unavailable from the manufacturer.This would explain why several Amazon listings are marked as "discontinued from the manufacturer"This is no cause for alarm but good news that the toyline is selling very well and probably better than anticipated. However, this does indicate that these first two waves will likely never be on clearance, nor show up at market six store, and will not be around for long. Amazon proper is already sold out of several of these toys. This seems to happen every time with new lines, but now we have some extra proof to back it up, so if you are tempted by any of these toys, get them before it is too late.I short, this just means that Hasbro has no more figures on their end to deliver to stores (as they usually hope is the case). That means that stores like TRU bought a bunch of stock that they have yet to put on shelves. I am personally waiting till they do. All the info I have is what was posted in the article.HTS, BBTS, TFSource, Amazon and the myriad of online retailers will probably not be able to restock though since they get their stock directly from Hasbro, who have no more to give.Of course, this applies for Canada and the US, it is not certain if it is on backorder for other central Hasbro warehouses.
Credit(s): Hasbro and Amazon | 1,270,335 |
home? But they need some support, somebody can volunteer himself,” Siddiqui said. “So I said, ‘I’m the one – because I’m already involved in that and I know more than anybody else knows, and now I’m in a position I can serve the community as they deserve it.”
The 7,500 square foot funeral home includes 4,500 square feet of office space and a 3,000 square feet warehouse. Janaza Services of Georgia opened with little fanfare or controversy.
And Siddiqui said he’s willing to advise the imam looking to open a funeral home in Newton County.
Interfaith Dialogue
The intense hate speech around the proposal there upset Atlanta-area Muslims, said Jaber:
“I just think it’s the rhetoric that affects people’s mindsets, but once people sit down, discuss and understand on an intellectual level, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
Katoot said she’s optimistic.
“I’m from Kentucky. They run maybe 50 years behind time, so everything out of the ordinary is not accepted, very similar to what we’re seeing in Newton County,” Katoot said. “People are fearful for lack of knowledge and they don’t like change. They want everything to be the same. It will take time and a lot of education.”
Janaza Services of Georgia funeral director Ahmad Rashad stands in front of a painting in one of the chapels.
CREDIT ALISON GUILLORY / WABE
Jaber explained that even during the washing, the body is kept mostly covered and thoroughly cleaned multiple times with soap and water.
“As a Muslim, we are taught respect towards the deceased,” Jaber said. “Prophet Muhammad taught us: do not hasten in a manner where you may be causing discomfort to the deceased. According to our theology, the deceased is able to hear and feel what’s happening. So they have moved on to another realm, but there’s still some sort of attachment.”
Financial Assistance
As a nonprofit community project, funeral director Ahmad Rashad said he plans to charge customers $1,000 for the basic service and will offer financial assistance to poor families.
“At this particular time, when death comes, people are in duress,” he said. “Most competitors are worse than what I would call a lawyer, they just charge you too much. Funeral services have gotten like that, it’s gotten out of control price-wise. Our mission is to serve Muslims and every other community and give them a good service and a good price.”
Rashad said the next step for the funeral home is to work with the Green Burial Council to offer green burials. The council certifies funeral homes that offer green burials and environmentally sustainable death care.
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Long a symbol of the community, the Edgewater Beach Apartments (EBA) has completed a new street side makeover along Sheridan by adding 13 new streetlights that blend with the building’s iconic charm. The EBA residents will be holding a lighting ceremony this Wednesday for the entire neighborhood to celebrate.
As the only remaining part of the Edgewater Beach Hotel complex, the EBA survived through the years even after the demolition of the hotel in the late 1960s. It has since risen to become one of the area’s most iconic structures. Built by Marshall and Fox in 1928, it and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The residents of the building have taken great pride in the building by adding improvements through the years to a property that is almost a century old. Most recently the building has replaced non-functional lights that many considered an eyesore with 13 new LED street lights along Sheridan Ave. that will mimic the existing ornamentation of the facade.
The Original building was built with about 12 concrete column streetlights with glass globes on top. But through the years, those lights deteriorated and they were replaced with cast iron, vintage lamp posts. However, those lights too fell into ruin eventually rusting and some missing their access panels which caused most of the lights to fail.
It was then that the EBA board decided to do something about the lights, eventually agreeing on replacing them with new ones that will last for some time to come. Joe Ferrario, who is one of the EBA board of directors helped spearhead the project.
“A little over a year ago, members of the board said that they really needed to do something about this,” said Ferrario. “It’s an aesthetic problem and it’s actually a security problem.”
At first the board asked the city if they could help, but because the lights have always belonged to the EBA the board was ultimately responsible for them. So they began their research to find black rod iron column lights that would match the building’s sconces.
Once the lights were selected, a contractor was hired to not only assemble the 13 new street lights, but also to go underground and completely rewire them to code. The new lights are LED and include utility outlets for Holiday lights and such. The project came in at just over $100,000 which came out of the EBA reserves.
“The new lights really brighten up the corner and we are really pleased with them,” Ferrario added. “A side benefit are the LED bulbs which means energy consumption will be greatly reduced. The lights will cast most of their light downward so there is no glare into resident’s windows. People in the building are pretty enthusiastic about them.”
To commemorate the achievement, the EBA board has decided to throw a lighting ceremony for the new street lights this Wednesday, December 6 at 5:30 p.m. Hot chocolate will be available for all attendees and the Alderman is expected to show up to help flip the switch. | 1,270,337 |
Becoming a successful businessman is not a simple deed. Sacrifice, hard work, and a consistent determination to achieve fame are required.
Starting your Business:
If you have thought about opening your own business, you might have begun to look for tips. There are several tips for starting a new business out there, choosing which ones to follow can be a bit confusing.
As a seasoned consultant, Arshiya Jahanpour can tell you that there is no perfect formula for starting a business. He learned that the best business tip usually forces you to think in a new way. So, the list of tips compiled here is for starting your own business that you might not have heard.
Excuses can make far your goal:
A lot of people dream of becoming businessmen, but they never do. They are overwhelmed with excuses and worries of failing. You can obtain several cases for not starting a business from money to time to responsibilities
Let you face it; being a boss of yours is scary. In many cases, with little insight into the chances of success, new business owners have a lot to lose. Having fear about the risks of business ownership is though usual.
But, excuses only take you far away from attaining your goals. If you want to start a business for the first time, you need to address the reasons for you cannot start a business and get rid of these reasons. Find out a better solution to the issue rather than let it take hold of you in return.
Become a solution:
Instead of starting with your idea with what to sell, think about what it will solve in consequences. It is much simple to gain a regular customer base when your business can fix an issue. Your startup can fill a hole in a specific market or niche.
The base is on why you are starting your own business. Knowing your motives will assist you in creating a brand and help you market your company. Understand what issues your target customers face and how you can solve them.
Keep earning while you build idea:
If you want to start any business, do not quit your day job yet. A process is launching a successful startup. Organize your business into steps and progressively move from employee to businessman.
Initially, it will drive you some time to earn a regular income as a new business owner. Grasp your nine-to-five and operate on the business during off-hours so you can make money during those severe, first steps. Once you have a substantial inflow of cash from your company, you can grab business ownership full time.
Final Words:
The tips mentioned above should be followed strictly to become a successful businessman. These tips are the basics of business because not having these in mind can ruin all your efforts. So, before going to start a business, you should talk to a consultant.
According to Richard Branson:
“All Business chances are like buses, and there’s always another one coming.” So, don’t depend on just a single one.
Similarly, according to Albert Schweitzer: | 1,270,338 |
PG: Both of you are pretty dedicated nomads.
AW: I am a devout wanderer.
PG: And so are the heroines in your novels, searching for a safe home in the world. Alice’s Celie is raped and beaten down by men in positions of trust, and Colm’s Eilis is torn by homesickness, always longing for the place she isn’t. Is that search universal?
AW: Definitely. I sometimes think it’s having grown up as the daughter of sharecroppers. That pattern of having to move from one shack to another — after the family has been exploited for its labor. It’s in the rhythm of my being. Now, I have places here and places there. I go from one to the other. I want to feel that the planet is my home, but I know there are parts of the planet where I’m really not wanted, as Colm was saying.
CT: I had to be careful not to preach about that in the book, just tell the story. But I hope that when you see the young Lithuanian girl at the cash register in the supermarket looking really sad one day, you know it’s for good reason: She’s missing home. I hoped the book might contribute to that public debate.
PG: How much of your own lives contributed to these coming-of-age novels? Colm, you grew up in a rural village in Ireland, like your heroine. Your mother was also a widow.
CT: My father died when I was 12. The town had about 6,000 people. And over several months, a lot of them came to our house. They came every night. There was no telephone, so you never knew who was coming. Just a knock on the door. My job was to answer it and lead the people into the house. They would sit and have tea, and I’d watch like a hawk. They’d say how sorry they were at the beginning and the end, but the middle was something else — ordinary stories about things that happened in town, you know?
AW: I can see it perfectly.
CT: One night, a woman came and talked on and on about her daughter having gone to Brooklyn. I can see her to this day: her scarves and her hat. Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn. And after she left, somebody said that a man in Brooklyn had fallen so in love with the daughter — “mad about her,” as my mother would have said — that he wouldn’t let her come back to Ireland unless she married him first. That’s all I knew. I had the story for 40 years. And I wrote it after a semester teaching in Austin, Tex., where I’d never felt as far away from home in my life. And when I went home, I really felt it. I thought, “I know what home is.” I found a way to tell the story because those feelings were so urgent. | 1,270,339 |
PALO ALTO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/02/13 -- Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) announced today that, in partnership with Wells Fargo and US Bank, it has created a revolutionary automotive financing product that provides the best elements of ownership and leasing to Model S customers.
Most people throughout the world prefer to own their belongings, rather than rent what is essentially someone else's property via a lease. However, leases do provide some key benefits, particularly a low initial payment, tax deductions, lower risk on resale value and the convenience of returning a car without the hassle of reselling it personally.
Working with some of the largest and most respected banks in the country, Tesla has been able to create a new kind of financing product that combines the surety and comfort of ownership with all the advantages of a traditional lease. Like the Model S, this product was created from the ground up to provide maximum benefit to consumers, rather than simply duplicating other financing programs that tend to favor companies at the expense of the individual.
How does it work?
US Bank and Wells Fargo have agreed to provide 10% down financing for purchase of a Model S (on approved credit).
and Wells Fargo have agreed to provide 10% down financing for purchase of a Model S (on approved credit). The 10% down payment is covered or more than covered by US Federal and state tax credits ranging from $7,500 to $15,000. New Jersey, Washington and DC also have no sales tax for electric vehicles. These advantages are not available when leasing.
., and DC also have no sales tax for electric vehicles. These advantages are not available when leasing. When considering the savings from using electricity instead of gasoline, depreciation benefits and other factors, the true net out of pocket cost to own a mid-range Model S drops to less than $500 per month.
per month. After 36 months, you have the right, but not the obligation to sell your Model S to Tesla for the same residual value percentage as the iconic Mercedes S Class, one of the finest premium sedans in the world, made by Daimler (also a Tesla partner and investor).
Not only is Tesla guaranteeing that resale value, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk is personally standing behind that guarantee to give customers absolute peace of mind about the value of the asset they are purchasing.
About Tesla
Tesla Motors' goal is to accelerate the world's transition to electric mobility with a full range of increasingly affordable electric cars. California -based Tesla designs and manufactures EVs, as well as EV powertrain components for partners such as Toyota and Daimler. Tesla has delivered almost 10,000 electric vehicles to customers in 31 countries.
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Source: Tesla Motors, Inc.
News Provided by Acquire Media | 1,270,340 |
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Kennedy Stewart has worn a lot of hats before.
An NDP MP since 2011, Stewart has been a musician, printing press operator, waiter, clerk at an electronics store, and city staffer.
The Burnaby South MP is also currently on leave from SFU’s School of Public Policy, where he was a professor before entering politics.
If there’s one gig he’s thinking of possibly doing, that would be mayor of Vancouver.
“I would really consider being mayor of Vancouver a dream job,” Stewart said in a phone interview from Ottawa.
Stewart reached out to the Georgia Straight after Research Co. released results of its latest survey on Thursday (May 3) showing that he among the top five most favoured by poll respondents as good choices for mayor of Vancouver.
The poll was topped by Vancouver Green councillor Adriane Carr with a 35 percent rating. Vision Vancouver councillor Raymond Louie was second at 19 percent; independent Jean Swanson, 17 percent; Non-Partisan Association councillor Hector Bremner, 11 percent; and Stewart, 10 percent.
According to Stewart, he had been made aware of the poll results a few days ago by people who are aware of the survey.
“Since then, my phone has been ringing off the hook, with people really urging me to stand for mayor of Vancouver, and I have to say it’s a pretty exciting prospect,” he said. “So I am really seriously pursuing this.”
Stewart said that he will make an announcement “sometime next week”.
Stewart said that he has a “deep connection” with Vancouver, recalling that he used to work at city hall in the planning department, and with park board.
He was active in the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), helping in the mayoral campaign of Carmela Allevato in 1996.
Stewart also has a thorough understanding of local governments.
“My academic background is all about cities,” he said. “I wrote my master’s thesis on Vancouver politics. I taught in the urban studies program [of SFU]. I did my PhD on cities. And actually, the main textbook that’s used in Canada for local government course, it’s called a very exciting title, Local Government in Canada. I’m the author of that.”
Stewart added that he also worked with Terra Housing, which focuses on non-profit housing.
“I do really think I would be a good candidate to unite the progressives in Vancouver,” he said, noting that he has worked with them in the past.
The NPD MP is also one of the staunchest opponents of the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline by energy company Kinder Morgan.
Stewart and his wife live in downtown Vancouver.
“It would be a dream job, really,” Stewart said about the prospect of becoming city mayor. | 1,270,341 |
news, crime, act bail laws, act criminal law, attorney-general gordon ramsay, fake rape case, innocent man jailed
ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay said on Thursday that the justice system had ultimately worked in the case of an innocent man who spent months in jail over a fake rape allegation. His accuser was eventually prosecuted and jailed for her crime. The former ACT Corrections officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was locked up in Goulburn Supermax for four and a half months in 2014. It stemmed from an allegation by the man's ex-partner who had elaborately faked a crime scene at her home and accused the man of raping her. In truth, the man was innocent but was forced to endure being arrested twice in front of colleagues and family and months in jail where he spent up to 23 hours a day in his cell. The incidents surrounding the man's arrest and subsequent time in custody are under review. However, when questioned in the Legislative Assembly by members of the opposition, Mr Ramsay said ultimately the right outcome had been achieved by the justice system. "What has happened is the person who made that false claim, which is a heinous thing to be doing in our justice system, has been found by police and has been prosecuted," Mr Ramsay said. "They have been convicted and they have been imprisoned." The woman was sentenced to more than three years jail in January for making the false allegation. Shadow Attorney-General Jeremy Hanson asked Mr Ramsay why, if there had been no failings, was the case under review. Mr Ramsay said it was wrong to assume there was a failing before the completion of any reviews. He said the reviews will determine what action, if any, needed to be taken due to this particular case. Mr Ramsay added that he had been speaking with the man and his family about support services available, making complaints and the process of applying for an ex-gratia payment. An ex-gratia payment is a payment made in compensation but without having to accept liability. Liberal Assembly member Nicole Lawder questioned Mr Ramsay over calls to change the Bail Act in response to the case. Mr Ramsay said the granting of bail was a balancing act. "It is a matter of competing rights, competing responsibilities and the Bail Act is a complex one," he said. "Our laws do rightly allow a magistrate to remand people in custody before trial on the evidence that is placed before the court at that stage. "What this case also shows is that people that abuse those protections for their own purposes, as was the case, will be held accountable." When sentencing the woman in January, Magistrate Beth Campbell said she had exploited how seriously police and the justice system treated allegations of sexual and domestic violence. She said she had undermined both the justice system and the victims of domestic violence.
https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc745nf7qcm811ax0e0eic.jpg/r582_267_5309_2938_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg | 1,270,342 |
A woman harassed for more than three years by an online stalker who turned out to be her boyfriend has called for him to be sent to prison.
Ruth Jeffery became withdrawn and depressed following a campaign waged by Shane Webber, who impersonated her online and sent photos of her naked to her friends and family.
Webber, 22, of Clifton, Nottingham, will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty at Southampton magistrates' court on Monday to a charge of causing harassment, alarm or distress.
Jeffrey received such detailed messages that she believed her movements were being constantly watched by someone unknown to her and became frightened to go outside.
"I want him to be put in prison because he has wrecked the past three-and-a-half years of my life," said Jeffrey, a Loughborough University student from West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, who reported the abuse to police in March 2010.
"I've known him for 10 years, so in a way it feels like the past 10 years have been wasted. We were really close. We did everything together. I would tell him everything. I thought he was telling me everything."
Impersonating Jeffrey, Webber contacted others online and pretended to be sexually attracted to them. He gave out her term-time university address, leading to one man turning up at her house.
"He created an account very similar to mine and was speaking to people, making out he was me," Jeffery said.
She eventually realised that some of the detail in the messages could only be known to her boyfriend, but when he was confronted by her and her parents, he denied any knowledge of the harassment and pointed the finger at one of his friends, who was arrested and had his computer seized by police.
Webber began his campaign by setting up multiple fake email addresses, which he then used to contact Jeffery on MSN Messenger, pretending to be former schoolmates, before bombarding her with sexually explicit photos and videos. He also hacked her MSN and Facebook accounts.
He was caught in June this year, when he used Jeffery's own email account to send explicit images of her to her entire contact list, including her father. The email also directed people to search for further images of her online. Webber was traced through the internet protocol address of the computer from which the email was sent.
Jeffery, who spoke out yesterday following Webber's court appearance on Monday, said he might have been motivated by jealously.
"He dropped out of school. He doesn't have any qualifications and it seemed like he wanted to stop me from getting a degree."
She first met Webber when they were at primary school.
"Throughout the whole relationship, he was a bit controlling and possessive really. If I didn't go to see him the moment I had some free time, he would start complaining.
"I want other people to realise it has not been me [sending the photos and messages], and I want it to put other people off from doing the same thing." | 1,270,343 |
ocation and blast through right on into the second tier. His ideas were a full four levels above the general Blue-centric ideology of the Catholic Church and his French culture. This is amazing considering that the Spiral Dynamic model contends that on a good day when a person is really centered and grounded, they can at least slightly understand the ideas of 1.5 levels above them. They won’t stay there for long, but the rare state of feeling grounded can provide a foundation to at least acknowledge that the truth that they have lived by is much larger than they have known.
Figures like Teilhard, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Richard Rohr, are cultural and religious bridge builders between the first and second tiers of Spiral Dynamics. See here the value system of the Yellow, the first level of the second tier:
Love fully. Forgive Completely. Body For Awareness Project: Your clothes. Your body. Your truth. Support alt-media and help raise awareness. On Sale Now.
Stillness in the Storm Editor: Why did we post this?
Consciousness is one of the most mysterious phenomena of all time. Scientists, philosophers, and mystics have been searching for the answer to the question, What is Consciousness? for most of human history. In modern times, the spiritual origins of consciousness are being replaced with a materialistic view, that awareness emerges as an additive property of electrical impulses in living things. Despite the fact this theory is assumed to be true, any self-respecting psychologist will tell you we have no idea what consciousness really is. The preceding article discusses consciousness, some of its properties, and possible origins. This is helpful to contemplate because, in the act of trying to understand the mysteries of consciousness, you develop critical thinking skills and stimulate your philosophic muscles, both which are immensely important for almost everything we do in life. Additionally, you’ll develop abstract thinking skills, the ability to explore intangible realities that govern material realms. With the power of an active mind capable of navigating the realities of consciousness, great leaps in personal attainment can be made along with preparing you for the Great Work of making this world a better place.
– Justin
Not sure how to make sense of this? Want to learn how to discern like a pro? Read this essential guide to discernment, analysis of claims, and understanding the truth in a world of deception: 4 Key Steps of Discernment – Advanced Truth-Seeking Tools.
Stillness in the Storm Editor’s note: Did you find a spelling error or grammatical mistake? Send an email to [email protected], with the error and suggested correction, along with the headline and url. Do you think this article needs an update? Or do you just have some feedback? Send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you for reading.
Source:
https://cosmicchrist.net/2020/02/09/teilhard-de-chardins-omega-point-is-the-law-of-ones-social-memory-complex/ | 1,270,344 |
as being near the Tyburn turnpike and just off Oxford Street, near the Marble Arch.
Important people who were buried there include:
Laurence Sterne, author of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1713-1768). His body was later stolen by body snatchers!
Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815) who was killed at the Battle of Waterloo but his body was afterwards removed to St Paul’s Cathedral.
Mrs Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823), author of The Mysteries of Udolpho. (1764-1823), author of
Both burial grounds have now been cleared. The Mount Street site has been turned into a park and the Bayswater site was sold for redevelopment.
(1) Sometimes spelt Steuart.
(2) From Leigh's New Picture of London (1830).
(3) From London in the Nineteenth Century, illustrated by a series of views by TH Shepherd (1829).
(4) Dodd’s plan misfired and he was dismissed from all his existing positions. Later he was convicted of forging a bond in order to pay his debts and despite widespread public support, he became the last person to be hanged at Tyburn for forgery on 27 June 1777.
(5) From Mayfair and Belgravia: being an historical account of the parish of St George, Hanover Square by George Clinch (1892).
(6) Sometimes spelt Farren.
(7) On a signboard in the church and in Mayfair and Belgravia: being an historical account of the parish of St George, Hanover Square by George Clinch (1892).
(8) From Morson, Geoffrey V, Hamilton, Sir William (1731-1803), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn May 2009, accessed 12 Jan 2013).
Sources used include:
Chancellor, E Beresford, Life in Regency and Early Victorian Times (1926)
Chapman, John H (ed) The Register book of marriages belonging to the Parish of St George, Hanover Square in the County of Middlesex in 4 volumes Vol 1 1725-87 (1886-97)
Clinch, George, Mayfair and Belgravia: being an historical account of the parish of St George, Hanover Square (1892)
Leigh, Samuel, Leigh's New Picture of London (1830)
Morson, Geoffrey V, Hamilton, Sir William (1731-1803), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn May 2009, accessed 12 Jan 2013)
Shepherd, Thomas H, London in the Nineteenth Century, illustrated by a series of views (1829)
NotesAll photos © RegencyHistory.net - more photos of St George's on Flickr | 1,270,345 |
Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- Oil recovered from the steepest one-day loss in almost two weeks as equities advanced, though further gains may be limited by a resurgence in coronavirus cases and new lockdown measures.Crude futures rose 0.7% in both London and New York as equities staged a modest comeback from Monday’s broad selloff. Although the global oil market will move into deficit in the fourth quarter on the back of OPEC+ supply cuts, prices will likely remain range-bound until there’s a recovery in distillate demand, including jet fuel, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.Oil held steady in after-market trading following the American Petroleum Institute report that U.S. crude stockpiles rose last week by 691,000 barrels. The API figures also showed gasoline and distillate supplies declined, according to people familiar.“Global demand looks pretty soft, it looks like we’re going to get another wave of the virus, and we’re in a seasonally weak time of the year,” said Bill O’Grady, executive vice president at Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis.The market is assessing fresh risk from the prospect of a second wave of Covid-19, as governments mull tightening restrictions that have crippled demand. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the recovery in the American economy remains highly uncertain and will need further support. While some expect the supply picture to improve heading into the end of the year, the persistent demand slump is keeping a lid on any substantial rally.“The challenge facing oil producers is that winter gasoline is simply too easy to make and global distillate inventories remain completely dislocated,” analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report. “The obvious choice for refiners now is to cut crude runs and wait out the pandemic.”The so-called crack for combined gasoline and diesel against West Texas Intermediate futures -- a rough profit gauge for processing a barrel of crude -- fell 8.8% to $8.35 a barrel, the lowest since August. Refineries typically need the spread to be more than $10 a barrel to make a profit processing crude oil.Meanwhile, Libya is signaling that it will return some supply back to the market. Libya has lifted force majeure restrictions at its Zueitina export terminal, according to the state National Oil Corp. The company is in the process of evaluating the security situation at the nation’s other oil ports.On the U.S. Gulf Coast, Tropical Depression Beta has flooded Houston, but is weakening as it heads toward Louisiana. The storm isn’t expected to affect operations at refineries, and interruptions to offshore rigs aren’t likely to be long-lasting either. Some Texas ports are starting to reopen, with the U.S. Coast Guard allowing traffic to resume at Corpus Christi and reopening the Houston and Galveston ports with restrictions.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P. | 1,270,346 |
By Ellson Quismorio
A pro-farmer lawmaker in the 18th Congress is backing President Rodrigo Duterte’s tough talk on the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), which according to the Chief Executive, has had a dismal record of helping farmers.
“Magsasaka Party-List supports the statement of the President in pushing Land Bank to provide more loans to the farmers,” Rep. Argel Cabatbat, a neophyte, said.
Cabatbat, who last week aligned himself with the Benny Abante-led House Minority Bloc, was referring to President Duterte’s remarks toward LBP in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) last week.
In his speech, the populist leader threatened to ask Congress to “reconfigure” LBP in the event it continues to fail to cater to the needs of Filipino farmers, who are typically poor and needing capital.
Duterte particularly questioned the utter lack of LBP-financed agricultural enterprises and endeavors despite it being its supposed purpose.
He also called LBP, rather embarrassingly, as “the number one commercial bank in the Philippines.”
“I will give you until the end of July to give me a plan [on helping farmers] or else I will ask Congress to reconfigure you,” Duterte said in his SONA.
Cabatbat called this move a “step in the right direction.”
“It has the desired effect of pushing Land Bank to lend more to farmers and to make it more accessible,” he said.
Another pro-farmer group, Butil Party-List, also expressed full and unequivocal support to President Duterte’s call to retool the LBP so it can revert to its original mandate of supporting small farmers.
“Through the years, the supposed lending of the LBP to agriculture has been to corporate agriculture and never to small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries,” former Butil Rep. Cecil Chavez said.
“Time and again, Butil Party-List has been saying this: Credit is the lifeblood of farm production. Accessible and affordable credit is critical to farm production. Farmers must have financial accessibility which would include government subsidy and grants,” she said.
Referring to Duterte’s pronouncements, Chavez said, “We can only hope that President Duterte will not be pressured by his economic team, which supports the status quo at the LBP, to change his mind about reforming the LBP.”
Despite agreeing with the President’s move, Cabatbat said that a more responsive LBP might not be enough to improve the overall situation of farmers in the country.
“Land Bank can only do so much considering the institutional requirements imposed by banks to lenders, which favor rich farmers over poor farmers. A more radical approach is needed to address the perennial issue of lack of access to credit by our poor farmers,” he said. | 1,270,347 |
HARARE (Reuters) - Leaders of Zimbabwean war veterans on Monday boycotted a speech by President Robert Mugabe to honor fighters of the country’s independence war, widening a rift with Africa’s oldest leader, whom the veterans have asked to step down.
Slideshow ( 4 images )
The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) last month denounced Mugabe, 92, as a divisive dictator, in a jolting rebuke underlining mounting anger over economic woes.
The ZNLWVA executive was absent from National Heroes Day celebrations in the capital to honor living and dead fighters of the 1970s liberation war against white minority rule.
This is the first time leaders of the group have failed to attend the celebrations since ZNLWVA was formed in 1990.
The group has anchored Mugabe’s election campaigns since 2000, when the first major opposition to the president emerged with the formation in 1999 of the main opposition party Movement For Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
ZNLWVA secretary general Victor Matemadanda said his group had boycotted Monday’s event because it had lost its meaning.
“We said as an executive we have no reason to attend because it (National Heroes Day) is not intended to achieve the true goal to honor the war veterans,” Matemadanda told Reuters.
“We said because we are being persecuted continuously, there is no reason why we should go there. In fact if you go there, you will never know what they will think, maybe they will think of arresting us or other comrades who have not been arrested.”
SALARIES DELAYED
Mugabe’s government has arrested and charged war veterans’ leaders in a crackdown against his formed allies.
In his 50-minute speech, Mugabe did not mention the war veterans, but instead accused activist pastor Evan Mawarire of calling for violent anti-government protests.
Mawarire’s #ThisFlag movement last month led a protest over delayed salaries for public sector employees that closed businesses, government offices, schools and hospitals - the most significant popular defiance of the long-ruling Mugabe in a decade.
“If protests are allowed, let them be peaceful not to be like the ones advocated by Mawarire,” Mugabe said.
Zimbabwe is struggling to pay salaries to soldiers, police and other public workers, which could stoke political tensions in a nation plagued by drought, a drop in mineral prices and chronic cash shortages - all factors behind unrest against Mugabe, the only leader independent Zimbabwe has known.
Mugabe’s government is drafting a Computer Crime and Cyber Crime Bill, which will allow authorities to seize phones and laptops, seen as a bid to curb the use of social media to organize anti-government demonstrations.
Information Communication Technology Minister Supa Mandiwandzira defended the bill saying it had been planned a long time ago and was similar to legislation in other countries. | 1,270,348 |
site’s operator the same way it went after Isaacs.
“I’m not going to do anything like this again,” Isaacs says when I mention the political climate, which he suspects is more repressive than the one in which he was tried. Nevertheless, he’s “absolutely” sure the nation will experience something like the 2 Girls 1 Cup mania again. Brad Kim mentions that the shock media we tend to see today “are more subtle or abstract, things that are oddly repulsive or unsettling (e.g., pictures of lotus pod holes, cysts), rather than flat-out disgusting.” This could mean we’re primed for an eruption of alarm brought on by a visceral class of content — ponder the glittering promise that is Trump’s fabled “pee tape.” The shocks that lie in store “will always be more traumatic, as long as technology continues to further the extent of voyeurism and culture of fascination around it,” Kim says.
Yet an undeniable quality of that obsession is our continued resistance to the grave reality in which the events of 2 Girls 1 Cup transpired. We watched it to assure ourselves that it cannot be how it looks. The internet is a filter that conveniently downgrades everything upsetting to mere urban legend, a cluster of pixels with no substance behind it. Wikipedia absurdly proposes that the scene might have been “created with advanced computer graphics,” setting a high bar for clinical denial — unless that’s an editor mocking the truthers.
Unable to grill Fiorito about his methods, I ask Isaacs what he makes of the theory that 2 Girls 1 Cup was faked — a claim he quickly dismisses. “Probably in the 1980s,” he says, when the fetish video market as we know it first emerged in Japan and Germany, filmmakers relied on crafty techniques to achieve an uncanny resemblance. But that’s cheating; why not be genuine? “Most of the people I know who do this, it’s all real,” Isaacs says. “You don’t need to make it fake. There are people who are willing to do it.”
This is a sobering take with the weight of accuracy behind it. After all, people commit murder on Facebook, kill themselves on Instagram and post jihadi beheadings on YouTube. Video of the 2012 stabbing and dismemberment of a Montreal student, when it found its way to a gore website, was labeled 1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick in homage. Eating shit, in the age of livestreaming atrocity, is basically a sideshow attraction, not worth the effort it takes to copy and paste a URL. However Latifa and Karla arrived at this line of work, they’re committed to the spectacle, and 2 Girls 1 Cup is solid evidence of Isaac’s claim that these things happen for real, on purpose and on camera.
In other words, I finally rewatched it, and I have to say: Believe. | 1,270,349 |
The National Bank of Ukraine is expanding the team working to move the country’s national currency, the hyrvnia, to a blockchain.
Revealed in an email to CoinDesk, the number of people added and who they are is being kept private for now, but the expansion shows a level of intent that hasn’t been seen at many other central banks.
“Today, we’ve reinforced our team with world-class professionals and are optimistic that the project will get a boost in upcoming months,” wrote Yakiv Smolii, acting governor of the central bank.
While the details of the team were not made public, CoinDesk last week reported that Ukraine-based Distributed Lab is helping with the build.
Distributed Lab’s founder, Pavel Kravchenko, confirmed that the startup is at least partly “responsible for [the] architecture, blockchain research and development and security analysis” of the institution’s initiative.
Central banks across the globe have been discussing and exploring blockchain technology for its ability to more efficiently track funds and reduce the expenses of commercial banks. For instance, the People’s Bank of China has deemed the creation of a fiat-based cryptocurrency a “crucial” financial development.
But still, the National Bank of Ukraine gave a more detailed vision of its undertaking to create a “national digital currency,” that makes its work less theoretical than others.
According to Smolii:
“National bank of Ukraine is looking forward to implementation of e-hryvnia based on blockchain technology. We consider blockchain as the next step in evolution of transactions technologies, which will become more popular and widespread during the next decades.”
‘Convenient’ money
The central bank formally began working on a blockchain-based system in November 2016 to develop a “cashless economy.”
While the results of the earlier research were not disclosed, Smolli told CoinDesk, the project is now “focused on studying the ability of the central bank to establish [an] operational e-hryvnia solution which would be available 24/7 and easy-to-use for all stakeholders.”
In this way, the central bank is now working to build a more “convenient instrument” for Ukrainian citizens and businesses to conduct any number of transactions.
Displaying how determined the central bank is to move forward with the project, the National Bank of Ukraine has begun surveying commercial banks in the country, in an effort to understand their “readiness” to “support the circulation” of a national fiat currency riding on a blockchain.
The central bank is also looking at best practices employed by other blockchain users around the world.
“We have spent some time in additional study of international best practices and existing technologies,” Smolli wrote, adding:
“We remain confident of the need to introduce national digital money.”
Ukrainian money image via Shutterstock | 1,270,350 |
European colonization, Natives were forced westward as more and more settlers sought (and stole) land for farming and mining. This caused not only a disconnect with areas that have powerful spiritual significance, but also limited the ability of the communities to continue lifestyles they had become accustomed to for thousands of years. Not only was access to open land taken by the invaders, Buffalo hunting routes that followed migration were also disturbed, as were communities that relied on specific bodies of water for fishing and survival.
Indeed, the theft of land and refusal to follow treaties was a continuous spark for fighting between the tribes and the European colonizers. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson and the United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the president to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the river. The Act forced around 100,000 Natives to move West. Although the law was written as if the relocation was voluntary, the majority of Native leaders were pressured to sign the removal treaties. This action led to the horrendous Trail of Tears, where over 16,000 natives were forced to move to “Indian Territory.” Estimates of death from the Trail of Tears range from 2,000 to 6,000 Natives.
Forced removal was not the only method of subjugation. There are also records of British Army officials giving smallpox infected blankets to native communities to attempt to exterminate them as a people. Once gold was discovered in California in the mid-19th century, more settlers poured into the West en masse, further destroying lands that Native communities depended on for hunting and fishing.
Once the Native communities were resettled, we saw the creation of boarding schools to finish the job of colonization by stealing Native children from their families, prohibiting them from speaking their language, changing their names, and cutting their hair. Anti-Media recently reported that these practices continue in 2015, with Alabama prisons forcing Natives to cut their hair despite spiritual and religious protections.
As we have seen, there is no need to look to the Middle East or ISIS in search of examples of violence, deception, theft, and destruction. The atrocities committed by that group are just that — atrocities — and they should be condemned as such. But we cannot allow the American parasite class to direct the public’s attention outwardly, keeping our focus on the crimes of foreign nations and governments. Rather, we should be willing to acknowledge that the U.S. government, since its inception, has been responsible for the same immorality that the politicians claim to oppose.
Only when we are ready to admit the truth and face reality can we take the first steps to creating a truly free, empowered, and unified world.
This article (Media Focuses on Artifacts Destroyed by ISIS While Ignoring Destruction of Native American Sites) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Derrick Broze and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email [email protected]. | 1,270,351 |
They used to hunt animals with spears and sticks, but now, wielding ancient rifles and led by a fearless warrior ‘queen’, a Nigerian vigilante squad goes after Boko Haram, one of the most violent jihadist groups in Africa.
Boko Haram roughly translates to ‘Against Western Education’. Its ruthless militants have been plaguing Sub-Saharan Africa for decades.
The Islamists know no mercy, as their attacks wreak havoc on Nigerian towns and rural villages. When they aren’t setting off bombs, they raid the area for hostages. While doing so, Boko Haram often targets women and girls.
In 2014, the group kidnapped 276 female students from a school in Chibok. Most of them have still not been rescued, and similar incidents keep occurring.
In remote regions, it is up to ordinary citizens to help the army fight the terrorists. And so, the Civilian Joint Task Force was born. These loosely affiliated vigilante squads patrol the northeastern states of Borno and Adawama, where Boko Haram is most active.
The squads are made up of experienced hunters. But instead of wielding spears and sticks, like they did in the past, they now roam the bush searching for militants.
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One such squad is led by Aisha Bakari Gombi. “I don’t remember exactly how old I was when I joined. I was still very little,” she says. “The grown-ups used to carry me on their shoulders during hunts.”
Aisha at first just used a bow and arrow. Later she received an “ancient” Turkish rifle. After the previous commander was killed, the woman was named Adamawa’s ‘warrior queen’. Her team is diverse, ranging from old men to teenage boys who recently enrolled in middle school.
“We’re supporting the efforts of our government to restore peace in our country,” the ‘queen’ notes. “We’re trembling, we’re scared, but we’re hunting Boko Haram.”
The hunters are chiefly armed with homemade rifles, some with flintlocks. They wear black clothes, and rely on amulets and war paint instead of body armor. They lack medical supplies to treat the wounded, and the only transportation available is via tuk-tuks, or motor-rickshaws. The hunters’ only advantage is that they know the area well and can track down terrorists in their hideouts.
“There’s one operation I’ll never forget,” hunter Abubakar Hamma Adama describes an expedition against the jihadists in one of Nigeria’s remote villages.
“Eventually, we found their camp and opened fire, but they just kept coming and coming and coming. That was a hell of a battle. We took heavy losses.”
Watch RT documentary ‘Hunting Boko Haram’:
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A mutation in the gene DEC2 allows for some people to be natural short sleepers. Credit: University of California, San Francisco
It's every over-achiever's dream: a gene mutation that allows them to function normally with just four to six hours of sleep a night instead of the normal eight.
In 2009, UC San Francisco neurology professor Ying-Hui Fu, Ph.D., discovered a mutation in the gene DEC2 in a family of natural short sleepers – people who go to bed at a normal time (11 p.m. to midnight) but wake up naturally at 5 in the morning. "These are not people who've trained themselves to wake up early. They're born this way," says Fu.
A new study in mice by Fu's lab – published in PNAS on March 12, 2018 – reveals how the DEC2 mutation seen in human short-sleepers may allow them to survive and thrive on just a few hours of sleep.
The researchers engineered mice to have the same mutation in the DEC2 gene seen in human short sleepers. They discovered that DEC2 helps control levels of orexin, a hormone involved in maintaining wakefulness. (The sleep disorder narcolepsy is caused by too little of this hormone.) The mutation in DEC2 seems to work by partially releasing the brakes on orexin production.
DEC2 helps regulate circadian rhythms, the natural biological clock that dictates when hormones are released and influences behaviors such as eating and sleeping. DEC2 oscillates on a circadian schedule: rising during the day, but falling at night.
The new study suggests that DEC2 may lower your level of alertness in the evening by binding to and inhibiting MyoD1, a gene that turns on orexin production. Before dawn, DEC2 fades away, allowing MyoD1 to stimulate orexin production to wake you up and keep you alert throughout the day.
Fu says the mutation seen in human short sleepers weakens DEC2's ability to put the breaks on MyoD1, leading to more orexin production and causing the short sleepers to stay awake longer. "The role of DEC2 is likely to make sure orexin is expressed in the right amount at the right time of day. It's the time-keeper to make sure orexin levels match the circadian rhythm," she explains.
The DEC2 mutation is very rare, but there are other gene mutations that act on different pathways to cause natural short sleep. Fu is studying these genes with the goal of better understanding sleep and its impact on our health.
Explore further Gene variation that lets people get by on fewer zees transferred to create insomniac mice
More information: Arisa Hirano et al. DEC2 modulates orexin expression and regulates sleep, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Arisa Hirano et al. DEC2 modulates orexin expression and regulates sleep,(2018). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1801693115 | 1,270,353 |
was famously shouting “let them eat cake,” the ancient Amazonians were scarfing down chocolate berry goodness fit for a bestselling Ben & Jerry’s flavor.
In fact, when I recently visited the Ethnographic Museum in Leticia, Colombia—a charming small city on the banks of the mightiest river in the world—I saw early European maps depicting the Amazon as the “garden of eden” or the “wordly paradise” on display. After centuries of being displaced from the commons through restrictive acts like the Forest Laws, Europeans were shocked to see such an abundant permaculture agroforestry project in full glory.
With tens of thousands of acres of Amazon Rainforest being lost every single day of the year it’s important that we realize we are losing more than just the living lungs of the plant, we are destroying an ancient food production system that is more advanced and sustainable than anything taking place in the modern world today.
Take the Brazil nut, for example. One of the most nutritious and largest nuts in the world—it grows in a softball-sized seed case that holds around 20 fat nuts—the Brazil Nut was planted extensively by ancient Amazonians and is now something that anthropologists look for as a marker for signs of pre-colonial human habitation in the jungle.
One of the largest and tallest trees in the Amazon and with a lifespan exceeding 1,000 years, each Brazil nut tree could feed thousands over many generations. And that’s just one of the dozens of superfoods that were cultivated and widely spread across this amazing tropical food forest.
Back in the USA, where not only fruit and food bearing street trees but even front yard food gardens are mostly illegal, we have to start waking up to the fact that we live in an artificially created system of scarcity that is in stark contrast to the systems of natural abundance that indigenous societies in the Amazon developed.
As our system reaches the point where it becomes obvious to all that a change is needed, let’s look a bit deeper at our definition of nature, and ourselves. What would happen if we started planting fruit and nut trees throughout our urban areas? What would happen if we started master planning our civilizations for the benefit of all? Even more, what would happen if we re-indigenized ourselves and the land and got rid of private property completely, taking back the commons for common use? Where my Robin Hoods at?
With the current movement towards urban food forests and even urban “agri-hoods” underway, the future looks green to me. But let’s step it up folks, and let’s put the Amazon rainforest and its inhabitants back in their rightful place as examples of how to do it right—even if we have to smash some longstanding myths in the process.
Photo by Neil Palmer (CIAT), CC BY-SA 2.0
EarthRx columnist Ocean Malandra is a widely published writer that divides his time between the redwood forests of Northern California and the Amazon jungle of South America. | 1,270,354 |
Sean Spicer on Friday shot down the possibility of serving another stint as White House press secretary once Sarah Huckabee Sanders leaves the job later this month.
“Oh, would I go back? Oh no. No, no, no,” Mr. Spicer said during an interview.
“I’ve told the president many times I was honored to do it, but I’m much more happy and relaxed and less stressful now,” Mr. Spicer told MSNBC host Hallie Jackson.
President Trump’s first press secretary, Mr. Spicer resigned after six months in July 2017 and replaced days later by Mrs. Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Mrs. Sanders will be leaving the administration at the end of the month and returning to Arkansas, Mr. Trump announced unexpectedly Thursday on Twitter. Her replacement has not yet been named.
The White House and media have had a frayed relationship since literally the second day of Mr. Trump’s presidency, when Mr. Spicer berated reporters during a press conference over their coverage of the size of the crowd attending Mr. Trump’s swearing-in ceremony and falsely claimed it had been “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration – period.”
Mrs. Sanders has sparred regularly with the media while serving as Mr. Trump’s press secretary, meanwhile, albeit lately less frequently: the White House has not hosted an official press briefing in more than 90 days.
Appearing on MSNC, Mr. Spicer was asked whether he believed he had set a “precedent for dishonesty” by lying to reporters while White House press secretary.
“That’s a pretty loaded question,” responded Mr. Spicer. “There were days that I look back and – for lack of a better word – took the bait, and think I could have been a better person, a better communicator and represented the president better.”
“I admit that I made mistakes. I think we all do. I’m man enough to sit here and say to you I did make them. I hope I can be a better person. I learn from things that I did,” said Mr. Spicer. “But to suggest in any way that I set a precedent is pretty far of a stretch.”
Mr. Spicer, 47, resigned from the Trump administration shortly after Mr. Trump appointed New York financier Anthony Scaramucci to serve as White House director of communications.
Mr. Scaramucci, who was fired from the Trump administration less than two weeks later, similarly indicated Friday he has no plans to return.
“On the fourth day, I was in the shower at the White House, watching my hair go into the drain,” Mr. Scaramucci said on CNN. “I’d like to keep my hair.”
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New US-Cuba travel and trade rules come into effect Published duration 16 January 2015
media caption Cubans hope that with the lifting of trade restrictions they will be able to import rare commodities such as car parts, as Will Grant reports
New travel and trade rules between the US and Cuba have come into effect in the biggest policy shift between the two countries in more than 50 years.
Measures include allowing US citizens to use credit cards in Cuba and for US businesses to export some technologies.
Americans will be able to take home up to $100 (£66) in alcohol and tobacco from Cuba.
The move implements last month's agreement to re-establish ties severed since 1961.
Although the latest moves put a large dent in the US trade embargo against Cuba's communist government, only Congress can lift it completely.
Earlier this week, US officials said Cuba had completed the release of 53 political prisoners agreed as part of the historic deal.
Policies 'out of date'
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the changes would "immediately enable the American people to provide more resources to empower the Cuban population to become less dependent upon the state-driven economy".
media caption Tomas Bilbao: "Failed policy of isolation and confrontation"
While ordinary tourism is still banned, the new regulations will allow US citizens to travel to Cuba for any of a dozen specific reasons without first obtaining a special licence from the government.
United Airlines announced on Thursday plans to begin flying to Cuba from its terminals in Houston and Newark.
US credit and debit cards can be used there and there will be no more limits on how much money US citizens can spend in Cuba each day.
About 170,000 authorised US travellers went to Cuba last year, according to the US Department of Commerce.
US firms will also find it easier to export mobile phones and software to Cuba, as well as provide internet services there.
Cuba currently has one of the lowest internet penetration rates in the world - estimated at about 5% by the White House.
A change in the regulations will also allow US investments in some small businesses and agricultural operations.
'Repression against Cubans'
The thaw in relations between the two countries was announced last month in simultaneous televised speeches by President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro.
image copyright AFP image caption Americans will be able to bring home small numbers of Cuban cigars after a ban of more than 50 years
image copyright Reuters image caption Some of the 53 prisoners released by the Cuban authorities last week gathered to celebrate in Havana
Next week, US Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson will lead a delegation to Cuba to discuss migration issues.
They will be the first high-level talks since the easing of relations was announced.
President Obama used his executive powers to ease the embargo, defying hardline critics. Analysts say Congress is unlikely to agree to lift the embargo completely any time soon.
Cuban-American Republican Senator Marco Rubio said Mr Obama's policy would harm ordinary Cubans. | 1,270,356 |
The Bishop of Covington on Friday apologized to parents of Covington Catholic High School for being “bullied” into issuing a “premature statement” regarding an incident involving some of its students and a Native American activist during last Friday’s March for Life event in Washington, D.C.
“Within hours we were being pressured from all sides to make a statement regarding a video clip which purportedly showed students from Covington Catholic High School being disrespectful to Native American Elder Nathan Phillips,” Bishop Roger J. Foys wrote in a letter.
#breaking. Letter from Bishop Foys to #CovCath parents includes apology for original statement on DC video. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/t1TITUA1Tt — Tanya O'Rourke (@TanyaORourke) January 25, 2019
“Based on what the video clip showed we condemned the actions of students who engaged in the alleged disrespect and promised to investigate the matter,” he continued. “Once these went viral some of the very same people who put tremendous pressure on us to condemn the actions of the students now wanted a retraction from anyone who had previously issued a statement critical of them. All this was based again on a video.”
In a January 19th statement, the bishop criticized Covington Catholic students and signaled out Nicholas Sandmann for smirking while standing in close proximity to Native American activist Nathan Phillips as he sang and drummed near the Lincoln Memorial. “This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person. The matter is being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion,” the initial statement read.
At first, Sandman was accused of mocking Philips, smirking at him, and blocking him from leaving the area where the two stood face-to-face — however — additional footage proves it was the activist who approached the student first and was in no way prevented from leaving at any time.
“We should not have allowed ourselves to be bullied and pressured into making a statement prematurely, and we take full responsibility for it,” wrote Foys. “I especially apologize to Nicholas Sandmann and his family as well as to all CovCath families who have felt abandoned during this ordeal. Nicholas unfortunately has become the face of these allegations based on video clips.”
The apology came after Sandmann’s family hired lawyer L. Lin Wood, who according to the Washington Post, “often [seeks] eye-popping damages for those he believes have been libeled or slandered in the press.”
Sandmann family attorney Todd McMurtry told reporters on Thursday that Wood is “committed to bringing justice to 16-year-old Nick Sandmann and his family.”
The Atlanta-based lawyer has represented former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, Richard Jewell, who was erroneously linked to the 1996 Olympic bombing, and the family of JonBenet Ramsey, | 1,270,357 |
VMware vSphere is VMware's virtualization platform, which transforms data centers into aggregated computing infrastructures that include CPU, storage, and networking resources. vSphere manages these infrastructures as a unified operating environment, and provides you with the tools to administer the data centers that participate in that environment.
The two core components of vSphere are ESXi and vCenter Server. ESXi is the virtualization platform where you create and run virtual machines and virtual appliances. vCenter Server is the service through which you manage multiple hosts connected in a network and pool host resources.
Want to know what is in the current release of vSphere? Look at the latest vSphere release notes.
Try Our Deployment and Planning Tools The following resources are designed to help you plan your vSphere data center deployment, and effectively manage your vSphere environment. vSphere Hardware and Guest Operating System Compatibility Guides. An online reference that shows what hardware, converged systems, operating systems, third-party applications, and VMware products are compatible with a specific version of a VMware software product.
VMware Product Interoperability Matrices. Provides details about the compatibility of current and earlier versions of VMware vSphere components, including ESXi, vCenter Server, and other VMware products.
,, and other VMware products. VMware Configuration Maximums. When you configure, deploy, and operate your virtual and physical equipment, you must stay at or below the maximums supported by your product. The limits presented in the Configuration Maximums tool are tested limits supported by VMware.
Access Developer and Automation Documentation VMware {code} is a website dedicated to our developer and automation community. To learn about vSphere APIs, SDKs, and command-line interfaces, visit these VMware {code} resources: VMware SDKs and APIs
VMware command-line interfaces under Automation Tools
Explore Our Videos You can learn about deploying, managing, and administering vSphere by reading the documentation, and by watching videos on the VMware Information Experience video channel.
Learn More About vSphere To learn about vSphere and data center virtualization, see the following resources. Learn more about vSphere by visiting the vSphere Product Page.
Ask questions about vSphere by visiting the vSphere Community Forum. You can get help, opinions, and feedback from other VMware users by participating in the discussion forums.
Explore vSphere without having to install it using the VMware vSphere Hands-on Labs environment.
Learn about the solutions vSphere provides to help you overcome your IT struggles, and create a more efficient digital infrastructure by visiting vSphere White Papers and Technical Notes.
Read the latest products announcements, technical articles, and operations guidance from VMware on the vSphere Blog.
Learn about benchmarking, performance architectures, and other performance-focused topics at the blog VMware VROOM!, maintained by VMware's Performance Engineering team.
Visit the blog virtuallyGhetto by William Lam, a Staff Solutions Architect working at VMware. The blog focuses on automation, integration, and operation of the VMware Software Defined Datacenter (SDDC). | 1,270,358 |
FILE - This image released by Sony Pictures shows Michelle Williams, left, and Mark Wahlberg in TriStar Pictures' "All The Money in the World." After an outcry over a significant disparity in pay with Williams, Wahlberg has agreed to donate the $1.5 million he earned for reshoots on the movie to the anti-sexual misconduct initiative Time’s Up, in Williams' name, announced Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (Fabio Lovino/Sony-TriStar Pictures via AP)
FILE - This image released by Sony Pictures shows Michelle Williams, left, and Mark Wahlberg in TriStar Pictures' "All The Money in the World." After an outcry over a significant disparity in pay with Williams, Wahlberg has agreed to donate the $1.5 million he earned for reshoots on the movie to the anti-sexual misconduct initiative Time’s Up, in Williams' name, announced Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (Fabio Lovino/Sony-TriStar Pictures via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Following an outcry over a significant disparity in pay between co-stars, Mark Wahlberg agreed Saturday to donate the $1.5 million he earned for reshoots for “All the Money in the World” to the sexual misconduct defense initiative Time’s Up.
Wahlberg said he’ll donate the money in the name of his co-star, Michelle Williams, who reportedly made less than $1,000 on the reshoots.
“I 100% support the fight for fair pay,” Wahlberg said in a statement.
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Williams issued a statement Saturday, saying: “Today isn’t about me. My fellow actresses stood by me and stood up for me, my activist friends taught me to use my voice, and the most powerful men in charge, they listened and they acted.”
She noted that “it takes equal effort and sacrifice” to make a film.
“Today is one of the most indelible days of my life because of Mark Wahlberg, WME (William Morris Endeavor) and a community of women and men who share in this accomplishment.”
Wahlberg and his agency, William Morris Endeavor, donated $2 million to #Time’sUp, the legal defense fund founded in response to the #MeToo movement.
The announcement Saturday came after directors and stars, including Jessica Chastain and Judd Apatow, shared their shock at reports of the huge pay disparity for the Ridley Scott film. The 10 days of reshoots were necessary after Kevin Spacey was replaced by Christopher Plummer when accusations of sexual misconduct surfaced against Spacey. USA Today reported Williams was paid less than $1,000 for the 10 days.
Both Williams and Plummer were nominated for Golden Globes for their performances.
William Morris Endeavor said in a statement that wage disparity conversations should continue and “we are committed to being part of the solution.” | 1,270,359 |
In retrospect, it seems obvious that John Stumpf wouldn’t keep his job.
The Wells Fargo CEO retired yesterday (Oct. 12), capping a brutal five weeks that began with the revelation that thousands of the bank’s employees were misusing customer information to open accounts they never asked for. The fallout included two punishing hearings before Congress and an embarrassing report indicating the fraud started as early as 2005.
Whether Stumpf jumped or was pushed out by the board, it now seems clear the company is eager to turn the page, just in time for its third-quarter earnings release, which is scheduled for Oct. 14.
But it wasn’t long ago that Stumpf appeared safe. He was chairman of the board, he had the backing of investors including Warren Buffett, and significantly, he delivered a 68% total return to shareholders over the course of his tenure—not bad considering he was steering Wells Fargo through the financial crisis or the aftermath for most of the nine years he led the company. And he wasn’t just another banking chief, he was 2015’s CEO of the Year, according to Morningstar (which might now be having some second thoughts).
I was so confident that he would withstand the onslaught, that I publicly predicted as much. I figured the company would accept its $185 million fine—a pittance for a bank with $86 billion in annual revenue—and accept Stumpf’s tongue-lashing by Congress as just another cost of doing business.
Here’s what I didn’t fully appreciate:
This fraud was different. Unlike previous banking scandals, Wells Fargo’s crimes were easily understood—and the targets of the malfeasance were ordinary banking customers. This scandal didn’t involve exotic financial instruments like synthetic credit default swaps, and the victims weren’t faceless institutional investors, but our neighbors.
It couldn’t be easily explained away. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was able to evade more serious consequences over the the so-called London Whale trading scandal because he could blame a flawed hedging strategy and the bad actions of a few traders. It was much harder for Wells Fargo to dismiss its problems as limited in scope after it fired 5,300 employees, and with so much of the blame aimed directly at the bank’s ruthless sales culture.
Occasionally the system works. It’s easy to become jaded after years of watching CEOs and other senior executives evade responsibility for their actions. The biggest US banks paid more than $100 billion in fines for their involvement in the mortgage crisis, without a single CEO of these institutions losing his job over it. Yet in this case, the mounting pressure from Congress, the media, and the bank’s falling share price was enough to trigger Stumpf’s exit.
It could be that the Wells Fargo scandal presented a unique set of circumstances, and so is unlikely to repeated. Or perhaps it’s the dawn of a new era of corporate responsibility. But I’m not making any predictions. | 1,270,360 |
Last updated on.From the section European Football
Uefa says 76 clubs are being investigated for possible breaches of its Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Clubs that failed Uefa's break-even calculations for 2012 have been asked to provide financial information for 2013.
Their finances will be assessed by an independent Uefa-appointed panel to see if the breaches have continued.
What are Uefa's Financial Fair Play regulations? • The Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) was set up in June 2012 to oversee the application of the Uefa Club Licensing System and Financial Fair Play Regulations • Clubs cannot repeatedly spend more than their generated revenues, and clubs will be obliged to meet all their transfer and employee payment commitments at all times • Higher-risk clubs that fail certain indicators will also be required to provide budgets detailing their strategic plans • Teams participating in Uefa club competitions have had their transfer and employee payables monitored since the summer of 2011. The break-even assessment covering the financial years ending 2012 and 2013 will be assessed during 2013-14 Read more at Uefa.com external-link
If they have, clubs could face sanctions that include fines or even bans from competing in Europe.
Uefa confirmed that clubs which fail to meet their strict criteria - brought in to stop what general secretary Gianni Infantino referred to as "greed, wreckless spending and financial insanity" within European football - will be announced in late April.
Those organisations named at that time could then face the prospect of their cases being referred to the adjudicatory wing of Uefa's independent club financial control body (CFCB), led by a judge from the European Court of Justice, which would then determine an appropriate sanction.
The CFCB adjudicatory body is expected to announce its decisions by mid-June.
Clubs do have the right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport with Alisdair Bell, head of legal affairs for Uefa, warning that July and August "could be a busy time" for the organisation as they deal with the fallout from sanctions being imposed.
"We are not afraid of them [sanctions] being contested," said Bell.
"We fully anticipate there will be challenges. It would be strange if they weren't."
A total of 237 clubs - every side entering the Champions League and Europa League this season - were assessed under the regulations.
Of that figure, 104 were considered exempt as their relevant income and expenses are under £4.1m per year, while 57 were not requested to submit additional information.
Chelsea - despite high levels of spending on transfers and wages since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003 - is expected to comply with FFP requirements and is understood not to be among the 76 sides that Uefa have requested additional information from.
Clubs are allowed permissible losses of up to £37m under the break-even rule between 2011 and 2013.
And, once accounts for 2013, are fully analysed some may then be deemed compliant. | 1,270,361 |
The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced the addition of 'Adaptive-Sync' to its popular DisplayPort 1.2a video interface standard. This technology delivers several important capabilities to computer users: Adaptive-Sync provides smoother, tear-free images for gaming and judder-free video playback. It also significantly reduces power consumption for static desktop content and low frame rate video.
Computer monitors normally refresh their displays at a fixed frame rate. In gaming applications, a computer's CPU or GPU output frame rate will vary according to the rendering complexity of the image. If a display's refresh rate and a computer's render rate are not synchronized, visual artifacts-tearing or stuttering-can be seen by the user. DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync enables the display to dynamically match a GPU's rendering rate, on a frame-by-frame basis, to produce a smoother, low latency, gaming experience. In applications where the display content is static-such as surfing the web, reading email, or viewing a slide presentation-DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync allows the display refresh rate to be reduced seamlessly, lowering system power and extending battery life.
During the playback of lower frame rate video content, Adaptive-Sync allows the source to optimize transport of the video format leveraging OS and DisplayPort interfaces. In addition to providing smoother video playback, the lower frame rate enabled by Adaptive-Sync also reduces power demand, extending battery life.
"DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync enables a new approach in display refresh technology," said Syed Athar Hussain, Display Domain Architect, AMD and VESA Board Vice Chairman. "Instead of updating a monitor at a constant rate, Adaptive-Sync enables technologies that match the display update rate to the user's content, enabling power efficient transport over the display link and a fluid, low-latency visual experience."
Adaptive-Sync is a proven and widely adopted technology. The technology has been a standard component of VESA's embedded DisplayPort (eDP) specification since its initial rollout in 2009. As a result, Adaptive-Sync technology is already incorporated into many of the building block components for displays that rely on eDP for internal video signaling. Newly introduced to the DisplayPort 1.2a specification for external displays, this technology is now formally known as DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync.
"VESA is constantly evaluating new methods and technologies that add value to both the end user and our OEM member companies. Adaptive-Sync delivers clearly visible advantages to the user for gaming and live video, and contributes to the development of sleeker mobile system designs by reducing battery power requirements," said Bill Lempesis, VESA Executive Director. "VESA has developed a test specification to certify Adaptive-Sync compliance. Systems that pass Adaptive-Sync compliance testing will be allowed to feature the official Adaptive-Sync logo on their packaging, informing consumers which DisplayPort-certified displays and video sources offer Adaptive-Sync."
Implementation of DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync is offered to VESA members without any license fee.
Related News | 1,270,362 |
Sen. Ron Wyden said the Treasury Department's response to congressional requests for the president's tax returns was “unresponsive and wholly unacceptable.” | AP Photo/Cliff Owen finance & tax Wyden threatens to hold nominees over Trump tax return defiance
Sen. Ron Wyden threatened on Thursday to put a hold on Treasury Department nominees unless the administration offers fuller answers about congressional efforts to obtain President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, had pressed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a letter this month about the administration’s handling of House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal’s request for Trump’s returns. He said Thursday that the department’s response — which came not from Mnuchin, but from Justin Sok of Treasury’s legislative affairs office — was “unresponsive and wholly unacceptable.”
“If the Treasury Department refuses to answer our questions, I am prepared to again place a hold on department nominees as I did previously when routine requests for information went unanswered,” the Oregon Democrat added. “Congress needs to take action to force the administration to comply with oversight.”
Wyden had already said last week that Brent McIntosh, Treasury’s general counsel and Trump’s nominee to be Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, “needs to be prepared to thoroughly answer” questions about his role in the department’s refusal to comply with Neal’s request and a subsequent subpoena if he wanted the position.
Several other Treasury nominees could face a hold: Brian McGuire for assistant secretary for legislative affairs, Michael Faulkender for assistant secretary for economic policy, Brian Callanan for general counsel and Geoffrey William Seiji Okamoto for deputy undersecretary.
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In his letter to Mnuchin this month, Wyden asked how often tax committees had sought tax return information this century and how frequently that request has been handled by the Treasury secretary instead of the IRS commissioner.
Sok’s response maintained that Neal’s request was “categorically different” than previous committee requests for “statistical data to inform the drafting of tax legislation,” similar to the arguments that Mnuchin has made in public. Mnuchin repeatedly has said that Neal’s stated reason for requesting Trump’s returns — to conduct fuller oversight of the IRS’ capabilities in its routine auditing of presidents — is a cover and that Democrats are merely seeking ways to embarrass the president.
Wyden placed holds on Treasury nominees last year — including Justin Muzinich, Trump’s choice to be deputy secretary — because he believed the administration was stonewalling requests for oversight information. Muzinich was confirmed in December.
| 1,270,363 |
The official position is that the U.S. has refused to allow heavy weapons into Syria.
But there's growing evidence that U.S. agents — particularly murdered ambassador Chris Stevens — were at least aware of heavy weapons moving from Libya to jihadist Syrian rebels.
In March 2011 Stevens became the official U.S. liaison to the al-Qaeda-linked Libyan opposition, working directly with Abdelhakim Belhadj of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group — a group that has now disbanded, with some fighters reportedly participating in the attack that took Stevens' life.
In November 2011 The Telegraph reported that Belhadj, acting as head of the Tripoli Military Council, "met with Free Syrian Army [FSA] leaders in Istanbul and on the border with Turkey" in an effort by the new Libyan government to provide money and weapons to the growing insurgency in Syria.
Last month The Times of London reported that a Libyan ship "carrying the largest consignment of weapons for Syria … has docked in Turkey." The shipment reportedly weighed 400 tons and included SA-7 surface-to-air anti-craft missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Those heavy weapons are most likely from Muammar Gaddafi's stock of about 20,000 portable heat-seeking missiles—the bulk of them SA-7s—that the Libyan leader obtained from the former Eastern bloc. Reuters reports that Syrian rebels have been using those heavy weapons to shoot down Syrian helicopters and fighter jets.
The ship's captain was "a Libyan from Benghazi and the head of an organization called the Libyan National Council for Relief and Support," which was presumably established by the new government.
That means that Ambassador Stevens had only one person—Belhadj—between him and the Benghazi man who brought heavy weapons to Syria.
Furthermore, we know that jihadists are the best fighters in the Syrian opposition, but where did they come from?
Last week The Telegraph reported that an FSA commander called them "Libyans" when he explained that the FSA doesn't "want these extremist people here."
And if the new Libyan government was sending seasoned Islamic fighters and 400 tons of heavy weapons to Syria through a port in southern Turkey—a deal brokered by Stevens' primary Libyan contact during the Libyan revolution—then the governments of Turkey and the U.S. surely knew about it.
Furthermore there was a CIA post in Benghazi, located 1.2 miles from the U.S. consulate, used as "a base for, among other things, collecting information on the proliferation of weaponry looted from Libyan government arsenals, including surface-to-air missiles"... and that its security features "were more advanced than those at [the] rented villa where Stevens died."
And we know that the CIA has been funneling weapons to the rebels in southern Turkey. The question is whether the CIA has been involved in handing out the heavy weapons from Libya.
In any case, the connection between Benghazi and Syrian rebels is stronger than has been officially acknowledged.
SEE ALSO: There's A Reason Why All Of The Reports About Benghazi Are So Confusing >
| 1,270,364 |
We’ll want our Raspberry Pi to boot directly into a browser running DAKboard in fullscreen mode, without having to press the keyboard or click the mouse! So, you’ll either want to open the terminal application if you’re in the Raspberry Pi desktop, or SSH into your Raspberry Pi.
Run raspi-config to configure some system options:
sudo raspi-config
In here, choose to:
Boot to desktop
Enable SSH server (optional, if you want to connect from another computer)
Set the proper timezone
Exit and choose to reboot later. Set your Wifi network name and password:
sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
and change your SSID and PSK:
network={
ssid="YOUR_NETWORK_NAME"
psk="YOUR_WIFI_PASSWORD"
}
If you’re going to be mounting your display vertically (portrait orientation), change the rotation configuration:
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
and add:
display_rotate=1
You’ll also want to check and make sure that disable_overscan=1 and no other overscan configs are uncommented here.
Now lets reboot so our network settings will take effect and we can access the internet:
sudo reboot
Once the RPi is back up, go back into a terminal and we will need to install a couple apps, and have DAKboard load automatically on boot.
sudo apt-get install chromium unclutter
Chromium isn’t included in the Raspbian Jessie repository (as of 12/9/2015). Instructions to download and install Chromium on Raspbian Jessie are here.
And lastly we’ll want to force the screen to stay on, and load the Chromium browser running DAKboard on boot:
Raspbian Wheezy:
sudo nano /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart
@xset s off
@xset -dpms
@xset s noblank
@chromium --noerrdialogs --incognito --kiosk http://dakboard.com/?p=YOUR_PRIVATE_URL
Or on Raspbian Jessie:
sudo nano ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart
@xset s off
@xset -dpms
@xset s noblank
@chromium-browser --noerrdialogs --incognito --kiosk http://dakboard.com/?p=YOUR_PRIVATE_URL
Reboot one last time, and when the Raspberry Pi comes back up, we should see DAKboard running in full screen! | 1,270,365 |
me were the shadow effects. So pack A Burning Brand or bring Erkenbrand or Balin along for the trip and you may have an easier time. The treacheries, on the other hand, can be worked around. In the instance of Injured Companion (from the Core set but featured prominently here as well) you can take the threat hit in the early game, maintain your momentum, and dig for threat reduction later.
My only real knock against this quest so far is the chance for it to drag on. While I am generally okay with RNG getting the best of me, it is a bit frustrating when RNG not only hurts you, but delays what you thought was a victory for another round or two. When you are On-Track you still have to perform a similar end of quest effect. Instead of discarding from the top of the encounter deck, you search the top 3 (you also ignore the Track keyword). If an On-Track card(s) is among them, you pick one and add it to the staging area. If not, you go back to being Off-Track. See, while you are Off-Track you engage with a risk-reward system of sorts. The locations with lower Track values (and therefore less likely to get you back On-Track) are easier to get to, while the higher valued ones (with nastier effects) are more likely to help. This comes down to player choice with a dash of push-your-luck. When you’re On-Track the effect just comes down to pure chance, which can be unfortunate. The only way to mitigate this is the Spider Burrow. There are only 2, however, so I wouldn’t make any hard decisions hoping that card will pop up.
There you have it! Long story short, this quest has some good, and some not so good. I have been enjoying these Harad quests and their ability to make foes dangerous without sending the numbers into astronomical heights (see the Carrion Bird). And while there is the potential to get location locked in this quest, there are enough tools at our disposals as players that this shouldn’t be an issue. Thematically, this quest is a win (which pretty much rings true throughout the cycle thus far). Again, my only gripe is randomness being out of your control when you are On-Track. As I write this, I think the good far outweighs the bad but I would not recommend playing this with more than 2-players. There is some managing of various triggers that can slog the game down in addition to the Objective delaying the game as well. Cutting down the player count will help. And while RNG can be frustrating and it can make the game drag, there are certainly weak spots that players can exploit if they build appropriately to the quest.
Let me know below what you think of Beneath the Sands and whether or not your experiences are similar to mine.
As always, thanks for reading!
-The Secondhand Took
A big thanks to Hall of Beorn for having the card scans up so quickly! | 1,270,366 |
Defense Department officials could offer payouts to the victims of military medical malpractice cases under a provision inserted in the annual defense authorization bill compromise released late Monday night.
The move would not overturn the controversial legal precedent known as the Feres Doctrine, a 1950s Supreme Court decision cited repeatedly by lower courts to block troops from seeking damages for war-related injuries or on-duty accidents.
But the provision, expected to become law when the authorization bill is adopted by both chambers in coming days, would for the first time attempt to redress what outside advocates have labeled a grave injustice for suffering military families.
Bid to allow troops to sue for military medical malpractice hits Senate snag Legislation to overturn a ban on troops suing the military for medical malpractice still faces long odds.
In the legislation, lawmakers noted that although the move “does not change or repeal the Feres doctrine, it authorizes the Secretary of Defense to allow, settle, and pay an administrative claim against the United States for personal injury or death … that was the result of medical malpractice caused by a Department of Defense health care provider.”
Defense Department officials have long resisted any change in the Feres Doctrine standard, arguing that on-duty military deaths are already compensated through military death gratuities. Allowing families to sue for extra damages, they argued, would create a different value system for different service members’ deaths.
They also expressed concerns that any change could allow frivolous lawsuits or legal second-guessing of some battlefield decisions.
But House lawmakers had included a full Feres repeal in their draft of the legislation earlier this summer. Senate lawmakers opposed the idea, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had refused to waive his committee’s jurisdiction on the issue to allow it in the final compromise bill.
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Instead, the legislation now includes the new military claims settlement process. Most claims would be limited to under $100,000, although the secretary could authorize larger payouts in some circumstances.
All claims would have to be filed within two years of the incident, and payouts would not cover the costs of attorney’s fees or future loss of income.
Supreme Court rejects bid to overturn prohibition on military malpractice cases Justice Clarence Thomas blasted the decision as a mistake by the courts that deprives service members of justice.
Exactly how the secretary would determine which claims would be grants remains unclear. The legislation does specify that any claim awarded “is not allowed to be settled and paid under any other provision of law.”
Defense officials will also provide annual reports to Congress on the payouts for the next five years.
House lawmakers are expected to vote on the $738 billion defense authorization bill measure on Wednesday, and the Senate early next week. The legislation has passed Congress for each of the last 58 years. | 1,270,367 |
New Delhi: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India has received a dramatic boost from the launch of the Make in India initiative, according to the latest Economic Survey.
After the September 2014 launch of the initiative, which seeks to promote manufacturing and attract foreign investment, there was an almost 40% increase in FDI inflows from October 2014 to June 2015 over the year-ago period.
Under the programme, the government has awarded 56 defence manufacturing permits to private sector entities in the past one year, after allowing 49% FDI in the defence sector in August 2014, compared with 47 granted in the preceding three years.
Entities from several countries such as Japan, China, France and South Korea announced their intention to invest in India in various industrial and infrastructure projects.
“The concept of Make in India has really succeeded as it added more employment. With this, India has now become a vibrant market for manufacturers. For the products that are made out of the initiative, we have a strong domestic market with increasing demand. I believe that infrastructure sector is where foreign investments can come in a big way," said Dipankar Dasgupta, former professor of economics at the Indian Statistical Institute.
The major objectives behind the Make in India initiative are job creation and skill enhancement in 25 sectors of the economy, including automobiles, aviation, biotechnology, chemicals, construction, defence manufacturing, electrical machinery, electronic systems and mining.
According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, FDI inflows under the approval route (which requires prior government permission) increased by 87% during 2014-15 with an inflow of $2.22 billion. More than 90% of FDI was through the automatic route.
Also in 2014-15, foreign institutional investment rose by an unprecedented 717% to $40.92 billion.
A state-wise analysis of FDI inflows by the economic survey shows that Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh together attracted more than 70% of total FDI inflows to India during the last 15 years.
States with vast natural resources like Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha have lagged behind.
“To make the recently launched Make in India initiative a success, the states will have a critical role in facilitating FDI in different sectors," the survey said.
Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and the US account for the major share of FDI inflows into India. Out of FDI equity inflows of $24.8 billion during 2015-16 (April-November), more than 60% came from two geographically small countries—Singapore and Mauritius.
“These inflows need perhaps to be examined more closely to determine whether they constitute actual investment or are diversions from other sources to avail of tax benefits under the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement that these countries have with India," the economic survey said.
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the exhibit was an engaged couple, Betty (left) and Mischa (right), who will be married in New Haven in June. Mischa said she believes that the Gender, Projected exhibit represents a milestone for New Haven.
Allison, who was visiting the exhibit from out of town, said she presents as female around 35 percent of the time; she is male and married to an evangelical wife, an issue that has presented challenges for the relationship. She said she remains loyal and committed to the relationship, a work in progress, but presenting as a woman is also an important part of who he has always been. Allison believes that the younger generation has little understanding about how difficult and problematic it was to express one’s gender identity in an earlier era, when the predominant definition of gender was a binary model with male and female at opposite ends of the spectrum.
For many of the models and photographers, going through the process of modeling was a way to learn more about themselves in addition to raising awareness about gender identity issues. Kielty, who is female and gay, has taken greater confidence in wearing more male-oriented clothing since going through the modeling process with Gender, Projected. “Now that I have changed how I dressed, I have that confidence back. I find it interesting that a piece of clothing can do that to someone,” she said in her interview.
Preston, 51, who now self identifies as trans-male, said he was a lesbian before making the decision to transition nine years ago. With Preston at the exhibit were his two younger sisters, April and Amy. April, who is cisgender (a woman born biologically a woman), said that she always felt that her older sister (at the time) “was the brother I never had.” She said she had a period of mourning upon learning that her sister would be transitioning to become a man because she was “losing a sister,” but also felt happy and excited for him.
The youngest sibling, Amy, said she was in college when she fully understood and accepted her orientation as a gay woman. Attending the exhibit was Amy’s wife, Janis, a long-time neighbor of the family, who already felt like an extended family member by the time of her marriage to Amy.
The three siblings noted that their parents were very open-minded and accepting of their gender identities and orientations. Preston said that when he told his father about transitioning to become a man, “he knelt down in front of me and told me how proud he was of me.” Preston also had a message for the greater community: “God knew who I was before I knew who I was, and I think he’s pretty damn cool with it.”
Part of the Gender, Projected exhibit that has been gifted to the New Haven Pride Center can be seen Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 2 p.m. For more information about the display call the center at 203-387-2252. To read more Gender, Projected model interviews visit the website here. | 1,270,369 |
Blockchain applications, like Substratum, are basically built to put the power back into the hands of the people with what they want and don’t want to view. By distributing information along a chain, there is no single point of weakness – providing reliability, freedom across international barriers, and transparency.
Can you provide an example of what a successful blockchain application might look like to gain more mainstream adoption?
Where blockchain startups succeed or fail is when they try to reinvent the wheel. People are familiar with and like using browsers like Chrome or search engines, like Google. They put in a search term and two seconds later they find what they are looking for.
The problem with a lot of blockchain applications that people have come up with is you have to use their own browser, or it doesn’t integrate with maybe Google, or all these things that are just wrong. Mainstream users are not interested in booting into a command line system.
What we are doing at Substratum, and what I think any successful blockchain application needs to do for the long term, is focus on point and click – one click install and a user friendly interface based on a default browser. My team has done mainstream software development for a long time and we’ve seen that the success of any application in the real world (meaning mainstream instead of technical users) has to focus on the ease of the user experience and the interface has to integrate into something users are already familiar with.
Our vision of a successful blockchain application is one that takes all the things that are right about the internet and fixes the things that are broken. Use the interfaces that people are familiar with and keep things simple. Create a blockchain world where services and information are not centralized, but are powered by the people.
If the decentralized web is the future of Web 3.0, what should mainstream users look forward to in the future?
Data breaches, hacks, leaks, and internet censorship have been huge news stories this year. By breaking information/ data into millions of encrypted bits, the decentralized web solves many of these problems. A hacker would have to break millions of separate encryptions just to reassemble a single file to be readable, and a government would not be able to shut down access to sites distributed outside their network.
The freedom and openness of a decentralized web is what Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the world wide web, originally intended – a place where no government, company or single entity can decide what content can or cannot be seen on the internet. At Substratum, we are developing an open-source foundation for free and unrestricted access to content so that everyone has access to everything on the internet.
In the near future, mainstream users can look forward to the decentralized web becoming a mainstay in the background of their everyday applications. They may not even know it is there, but they will appreciate the security, availability and transparency of the information.
If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking | 1,270,370 |
Grief, if I had to describe the root, is the absence of something. Obviously, there are the serious, life-changing losses: the deaths of family members or friends or pets; redundancy; relationship breakups; when Phoebe Waller-Bridge confirmed there would be only two series of Fleabag. But there are also losses less impactful but annoying, inconvenient, troubling. And here I ask: how glorious is it to find something?
It’s the feeling of relief when scrambling around the house for keys and feeling the cold lump of metal under a letter, or getting the call that a debit card has been handed in to reception. It’s the sensation of luck when the folders of treasured photographs are recovered from an exploded computer. It’s the bonus of spotting an item of clothing at the back of the wardrobe you had misplaced months ago. The reward poster that yields results. The passport in a neglected drawer the night before an international flight; panic averted.
I love, too, the delight of getting one’s hands on something long sought: a book that is out of print. A perfect G Plan side table for a bargain price, found in a rural antiques shop, when hours of online browsing turned up nothing. Arriving at a destination, shattered, after hours of driving with an unreliable satnav.
Then there is finding as discovery – stumbling across something you didn’t know you were seeking; a wander around town leads to a beautiful statue in a beautiful square. On a macro scale, people talk of finding love, or God; even finding themselves (usually on a Thai island). I mean more along the lines of finding out a crumbling shopfront in London is, in fact, a toy museum, open according to the owner’s whims. (I’ve never been told more times in the space of few minutes that nothing is for sale.)
An encore to a fantastic gig is like an orgy, only with (possibly) stickier floors | Hannah Jane Parkinson Read more
The truth is, I do not deal well with losing things. Probably because loss is a form of change and I do not deal well with change. Unless it’s a change I approve of, such as when Kristen Stewart started dating women. Finding something, though, isn’t always enjoyable. When reordering my bookshelves, a slip of paper dropped out of an inside cover: a love note from an ex. Sometimes finding is remembering. And sometimes that is painful or poignant, and one does not want to remember. Reminders are not always good for the mind.
But I have the high of a marathon runner when, with the obvious impediment, I manage to find my glasses. I will kiss you on the mouth if you spot the one free table in the pub garden. I will be smug when fingering what I think is a receipt in my pocket and realise it’s a £10 note. I will be changing where I keep my passport, though. Some things you don’t want to have to find. | 1,270,371 |
ley," said defence lawyer Saul Holt, pointing across the courtroom during his opening statement in the third trial, just concluded.
"You know who he is."
Mr Holt said even if jurors had not been told of Bayley's background, "you would probably have found out on your own anyway".
"Please remember when you were empanelled, you were confident you could be impartial," he told the jury.
"You took an oath to try this case only on the evidence. Please don't fill in the gaps... distasteful as [the Jill Meagher case] is."
Judge Sue Pullen also cautioned the jurors.
"It's absolutely essential you put it out of your minds completely," Judge Pullen said.
"It is essential not to look on the internet... or to investigate the background of Mr Bayley.
"We all have biases, we all have prejudices. I don't expect everyone to lose them overnight but... you have to make a decision coldly, clinically."
In all three trials, Mr Holt told jurors the defence did not dispute the victims were brutally raped, and that "something awful" happened to them.
But he told the juries, the victims had it wrong.
"In September 2012 he was arrested for the rape and murder of Jill Meagher and his details were everywhere... she [the victim] has identified things that she says were from him and that she's got elsewhere," Mr Holt said in the second trial of Bayley.
"Use your head, not your heart. Suspend your disbelief about the fact that I would defend him after all that you know about him.
"She [the victim] has jumped on the Adrian Bayley bandwagon."
In returning three guilty findings, the jurors ultimately disagreed.
One of Victoria's most violent criminals
The convictions add to a virtually unsurpassed record of violent sexual offending from a man in and out of prison and on the radar of authorities over many years, who was on parole when he attacked some of his victims, including Ms Meagher.
That last fatal attack on Ms Meagher horrified the community, leading to an enormous outpouring of grief and anger, with mainstream and social media coverage of a volume never seen before.
The extent of Bayley's offending was last revealed when he was sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Nettle in June 2013 to life in prison for the rape and murder of Ms Meagher.
"As your criminal record reveals, you are a recidivist violent sexual offender... in terms of moral culpability your killing of the deceased ranks among the worst kinds conceivable," Justice Nettle told Bayley.
At the time, it emerged Bayley had been targeting, threatening and raping women his entire adult life.
His victims included his 16-year-old sister's friend 25 years ago, a teenage hitchhiker and a series of St Kilda street workers in 16 rapes a decade later.
It was those crimes Bayley spent eight years in prison before his release on parole in 2010. | 1,270,372 |
Hello everyone! A new free update is releasing this week for all No Man’s Sky players. We’ve called it The Abyss, because it’s a seasonal update and re-imagines underwater gameplay focusing on some of the scarier elements of No Man’s Sky.
No Man’s Sky NEXT launched just a couple of months ago. We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the positive response. We are excited to be on this journey with you.
We have been adding new free content, community missions and improvements to No Man’s Sky every week. From small features like allowing players to customize body shape, to large gameplay additions like the Pilgrim motorbike, and companion features such as addition of discovery leaderboards to the Galactic Atlas, allowing the community to track progress between factions.
Whilst we want to continue to do this, we are also still releasing major titled updates, starting with The Abyss.
The Abyss introduces aquatic environments with over five times more variety, varied creature behaviors, improved underwater visuals and much more.
Flora and Fauna
The variety and visual quality of underwater biomes has been greatly improved. Experience rare exotic aquatic biomes as you explore new depths.
Underwater creatures have become more frequent, and more interesting. Aquatic life inhabits the full depth of the ocean, and unique terrifying creatures can be encountered on the ocean floor.
Aquatic Missions
A new story, The Dreams of the Deep, brings a new context to the depths and a dark narrative to No Man’s Sky. Discover the fate of a troubled crew stranded from a freighter crash by the rising tides, or explore underwater ruins to uncover the tale of a lost soul trapped deep beneath the waves.
Sunken Wrecks
Investigate sunken ruins and find ancient treasures or dive to submerged buildings to find remnants of their lost occupants. Discover and scavenge lost cargo from gigantic freighter wrecks. Use the terrain manipulator to excavate treasures buried in the nearby ocean floor. Find and repair rare crashed star ships to restore them from the seabed to the skies.
Submarine
Master the depths of planets using a new Exocraft, the Nautilon. This submersible vehicle give new meaning to underwater navigation, combat and mining – and can be summoned to any ocean on the planet, as well as docked at underwater buildings. Upgrade your submersible with installable Submarine Technology and customize the Nautilon to stand out from your fellow explorers.
Submersible Building Modules
Over a dozen new base parts have been added to unlock more creative possibilities underwater. Construct the new Marine Shelter for brief respite from the oceanic pressure, and use its protection to reach new depths. New glass corridors, viewing bays and multistory submersible view domes provide travelers the perfect view of the surrounding ocean. Bring aquatic life into your habitat with a decorative indoor Aquarium.
We hope you enjoy this and what follows – and we look forward to meeting you out there! Our journey continues. | 1,270,373 |
Last updated on.From the section Football
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says his side must "improve a lot of things" if they want to win the Premier League this season.
City are top of the table with a 100% record after four games, with their most recent victory coming against Manchester United on Saturday.
"The way we have played up until now will not be enough to win the title," said the Spaniard, who succeeded Manuel Pellegrini in the summer.
The Blues last won the title in 2014.
Guardiola, who is preparing his side to face Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League on Tuesday, added: "Of course, we are so happy for the results, for the numbers and the way we're playing after two months.
"But it is not enough to win the Premier League or achieve the big, big targets in the Champions League."
Monchengladbach coach Andre Schubert described his counterpart at City as "the best there is" and said their opponents had a chance of winning titles both at home and in Europe.
"I understand they might be trying to soften expectations but they have incredible strength," he said. "Manchester City has a great chance to win one or two trophies."
Critics were unfair - Sterling
Raheem Sterling has already scored two goals and contributed two assists in the Premier League this season
City winger Raheem Sterling has said some of the recent criticism he has faced is unjustified.
The 21-year-old endured a difficult Euro 2016 as England were knocked out in the last 16 by minnows Iceland.
However, he won August's Premier League player of the month after a strong start to the season with City.
"I have had unfair criticism. Last season I made my mark in the Champions League and I equalled my best scoring season," he said.
"Unfair criticism does put you down a little bit. No-one says I am willing to do my best for club and country. At times it is frustrating.
"Pep [Guardiola] has been a massive help. I spoke to him before and he said he watched me at Liverpool. He has made me stronger."
Goalkeepers will make mistakes - Guardiola
Meanwhile, Guardiola has reiterated his support for new goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who had an eventful debut in Saturday's derby win over Manchester United.
The Chile international was at fault for United's goal and some pundits felt he should have had a penalty awarded against him after a heavy challenge on Wayne Rooney.
Guardiola defended his keeper after the game, saying Bravo had been integral to his side's good first-half performance.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss said on Monday that all goalkeepers made mistakes.
"I am going to tell you something: goalkeepers will make mistakes," he said. "The opponents will score, I am sure of that."
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | 1,270,374 |
LAY
Rituals are an integral part of Motherland. The weddings look, feel, and operate uniquely. The ceremony itself is a mix of feminine grace and power. It is a five-year union that is more about family bonds forming than fidelity. Abigail’s cousin explains the union is not as restrictive as one would think and provides strength in an alliance. Women are encouraged to take many husbands in their lifetime. These men act as caregivers. Their job is to keep the home fires burning while the women fight. Women are revered for their fighting prowess. They seldom get a chance to be soft. Abigail’s cousin is excited for an opportunity to be “girly”. Makeup, braids, dresses, or pantsuit, we all have our armor. Those things that make us confident are all different.
Music is carefully chosen to drive the mood. The world of Motherland revels in all things female. Feminity has many facets. Strong, sexy, beautiful, smart, and ambitious, there are many components to a woman. The only one that is tempered in the world of Motherland is the traditional female trope. Witches dress for respect, not ogling. In sharp contrast to this is the lilting tones of Labyrinth Ear’s Urchin during the wedding and WLCM by Lidia Ainsworth. Juxtaposed with the strict language and uniform of the women, it is an interesting and compelling choice.
Motherland: Fort Salem Episode 5 was a perfect balance of love and war. With Scylla on the run, Tally heartsick and Raelle soon to be The Spree may think they achieved a victory. They did create chaos and killed Charvel. What they likely didn’t count on was Tally’s information and the perseverance of the Bellweathers. With or without magic, they don’t go down without a fight. The new unit is emotional, committed, and pissed. If Abigail’s mother is to believed Raelle has a unique talent. Scylla’s deception will hurt her, but her skill makes her dangerous to them and a good foil for Scylla’s Necro discipline. That isn’t good news for Scylla and The Spree. Catch up on all our Motherland coverage here.
Stray Thoughts:
I am fascinated by the Session. When did it form? Who decided what was given to the Native Americans? They are very spiritual themselves, are there shaman who have power similar to the witches?
The fight scene between The Spree and Abigail and her mother was well choreographed by Paul Becker. It reminded me a bit of the fantastic fight scenes in Into The Badlands. The myriad of shot angles including a mirrored image made the scene larger and more violent than it would have otherwise.
What’s the deal with the voice dampener? Is it a tool or a magical skill?
Shout out to Folks VFX for the supremely gruesome neck wound on Charvel Bellweather. | 1,270,375 |
Grief, if I had to describe the root, is the absence of something. Obviously, there are the serious, life-changing losses: the deaths of family members or friends or pets; redundancy; relationship breakups; when Phoebe Waller-Bridge confirmed there would be only two series of Fleabag. But there are also losses less impactful but annoying, inconvenient, troubling. And here I ask: how glorious is it to find something?
It’s the feeling of relief when scrambling around the house for keys and feeling the cold lump of metal under a letter, or getting the call that a debit card has been handed in to reception. It’s the sensation of luck when the folders of treasured photographs are recovered from an exploded computer. It’s the bonus of spotting an item of clothing at the back of the wardrobe you had misplaced months ago. The reward poster that yields results. The passport in a neglected drawer the night before an international flight; panic averted.
I love, too, the delight of getting one’s hands on something long sought: a book that is out of print. A perfect G Plan side table for a bargain price, found in a rural antiques shop, when hours of online browsing turned up nothing. Arriving at a destination, shattered, after hours of driving with an unreliable satnav.
Then there is finding as discovery – stumbling across something you didn’t know you were seeking; a wander around town leads to a beautiful statue in a beautiful square. On a macro scale, people talk of finding love, or God; even finding themselves (usually on a Thai island). I mean more along the lines of finding out a crumbling shopfront in London is, in fact, a toy museum, open according to the owner’s whims. (I’ve never been told more times in the space of few minutes that nothing is for sale.)
An encore to a fantastic gig is like an orgy, only with (possibly) stickier floors | Hannah Jane Parkinson Read more
The truth is, I do not deal well with losing things. Probably because loss is a form of change and I do not deal well with change. Unless it’s a change I approve of, such as when Kristen Stewart started dating women. Finding something, though, isn’t always enjoyable. When reordering my bookshelves, a slip of paper dropped out of an inside cover: a love note from an ex. Sometimes finding is remembering. And sometimes that is painful or poignant, and one does not want to remember. Reminders are not always good for the mind.
But I have the high of a marathon runner when, with the obvious impediment, I manage to find my glasses. I will kiss you on the mouth if you spot the one free table in the pub garden. I will be smug when fingering what I think is a receipt in my pocket and realise it’s a £10 note. I will be changing where I keep my passport, though. Some things you don’t want to have to find. | 1,270,376 |
During an appearance at Keystone Comic Con in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Michael Dorn talked about his continued commitment to getting a spinoff series about Lieutenant Worf off the ground.
“I am trying to get them to do my Worf pilot," he explained at panel, which SYFY WIRE attended Friday. "I wrote it in 2012-13, and it’s been going like this: a lot of interest, no interest, a lot of interest, no interest... A guy who was a producer at this one place that I was pitching it came up to me before the meeting and [said], ‘I gotta tell you, your character meant so much to me'... It fits so well into this new Star Trek universe. It just fits right in there. We’ll see."
With Alex Kurtzman building out the show's entire mythos via CBS All Access, it's not outside the realm of possibility for the iconic Klingon to get his own show now, especially with Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard coming back in his own series early next year.
“I read [his pilot script] and I called him up and said, ‘How did you do that?," said TNG's Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), who was also in attendance at the con. "He had all the action stuff minutely detailed … I was very impressed with my best friend."
Credit: CBS
Sirtis also recalled a touching moment that occurred last week on the set of Picard, where she'll be reprising the role of Troi. Apparently, Sirtis was paid a visit by her Next Generation co-stars Dorn and LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge), with all of them easily falling back into an old rhythm and partaking in one of their favorite past-times: making fun of Patrick Stewart.
“After [Michael and LeVar] left, everyone was coming up to me and saying, ‘Oh my god, we could hear you laughing. Is that what it was like [on Next Generation]? That must have been the best set ever.’ And it really was. We laughed for seven years," Sirtis recounted. “It was good because we had a lot of fun.”
“The whole seven years were memorable. It was one memorable time," added Dorn.
Credit: CBS via Getty Images
When asked how long it took him to get into his costume and makeup, Dorn revealed that he would get up at 3:30AM every morning just to be ready for the three-hour application of prosthetics at 4AM; call time for filming was at 7AM. When the show finally took its multi-month break in between seasons, he received a harsh reminder of what it was like to see daylight again.
“The sun was beating in the window and I was like, ‘My God, what is that?! … I didn’t even know that I needed curtains," he said. | 1,270,377 |
If you are part of our free membership, then you received one of our extra study guides!! We hoped that you found it helpful. After reading the email with the Social Studies Guide to Citizenship, please answer the questions below.
Learn more about Free GED Practice Tests (2019)
1.Juan went for an interview, but was unable to be provide his potential employer with proper citizenship documentation. He would be considered what type of citizen?
a. Nonresident Alien
b. Enemy Alien
c. Refugee
d. Illegal Alien
2. Janet was born in Japan while her American parents were teaching abroad. Which of the statements is true about her citizenship?
a. She cannot be considered an American citizen because she was not born on U.S grounds.
b. She can be considered a citizen only because she was not born in a warring country.
c. She can be considered a citizen only because both of her parents are America citizens.
d. She can be considered a citizen because at least one of her parents is an American citizen.
3. Beatrice came to America after fleeing her country during a war period. What type of citizen is she?
a. Nonresident Alien
b. Enemy Alien
c. Refugee
d. Illegal Alien
4. Which of the following statements are true about Immigrants:
a. They are coming in to a new country.
b. They can never gain citizenship in America.
c. They are always leaving their country because it is at war.
d. They are returning to their native country.
5. The process to legalize foreigners in America is called:
a. Emigration
b. Constituionalization
c. Naturalization
d. Residential Certification
6. Alexander is staying with a host family in Texas for one month while he takes a class. Because he has governmental approval and paperwork, he would be considered what type of short-term citizen?
a. Nonresident Alien
b. Enemy Alien
c. Refugee
d. Illegal Alien
7. Malik is a non-citizen residing i Detroit, Michigan. If his native country declared war on America, what would become of his citizenship status?a.He would be granted citizenship for his protection.
b. He would become an enemy alien.
c. He would be deported immediately.
d. He would become a refugee.
8. What document outlines the rights of American citizens?a. American Pride and Citizenship
b. U.S Constitution
c. Citizenship documents
d. Naturalization Registration
Thanks for taking the quiz, everyone! Below are the answers.
Keep on keeping on! You got this!
1=d; 2=d; 3=c; 4=a; 5=c; 6=a; 7=b; 8=b
We have Free GED Social Studies Practice Test HERE
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The NSA is going to start sharing YOUR data with the police and FBI!
The NSA will share Your data with the FBI… Even with local police Retweet
The Surveillance State Repeal Act (HR 1466) currently has 15 co-sponsors. It’s a great bill. It would…
Prohibit the government from requiring that your electronic devices and software have surveillance “back-doors”
Mandate that the FISA courts utilize technologically competent “Special Masters” — experts who can challenge the veracity of government claims about the need for surveillance
Repeal the PATRIOT Act, which allowed telephone-metadata harvesting
Repeal much of the FISA Amendments Act, which allowed your emails to be harvested.
But these repeals don’t gut intelligence gathering. They just make it look more Constitutional. Now…
There’s even more reason to support this bill!
The NSA is going to start sharing its raw data with police and the FBI. This directly threatens you! Please take immediate action to oppose this. Write your elected reps to complain. Urge them to co-sponsor the Surveillance State Repeal Act. Copy or edit the following sample letter for your personal comments…
The New York Times reports that the NSA is set to share the raw data it collects on Americans with other intelligence agencies, including the FBI. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/26/us/politics/obama-administration-set-to-expand-sharing-of-data-that-nsa-intercepts.html?_r=0
Incredibly, the FBI won’t need a warrant or a national-security reason to poke around in your private information. The FBI can even share what it finds with local police — bypassing the Fourth Amendment altogether!
I’m outraged that ordinary Americans could be subject to routine criminal prosecution, based on information obtained from the NSA without even a pretense of normal legal safeguards.
The NSA lies constantly about the extent of its domestic spying and who has access to its data. How many new revelations of NSA criminality will it take before you do your job and put a stop to this rogue agency’s massive invasion of our privacy and rights?
I deny consent to being spied on.and to having my personal information stored in government computers to be shared with any agency that decides to go on a fishing expedition.
You can choose to stand up for my rights, and the rights of all Americans, by becoming a sponsor of HR 1466.
–END OF SAMPLE LETTER–
Please send your instructions to Congress using our Educate the Powerful System
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Jim Babka & Perry Willis
Downsize DC
Our copyright policy
Our mailing address is: | 1,270,379 |
“Glee’s” version charted higher than the original, selling 1.1 million downloads on iTunes.
With Comic-Con a little more than a month away, 20th Television has announced its roster of programming set for the panel treatment at the big event. Below is Fox's early schedule and panelists set to attend with additional announcements to come in the weeks ahead.
Thursday, July 21
Napoleon Dynamite: Jon Heder, Tina Majorino, Efren Ramirez, Jon Gries, Sandy Martin, Diedrich Bader and EP Mike Scully. A sneak preview of the animated series to be screened.
Awake: The first episode will be screened, with Howard Gordon, Kyle Killen and Jason Isaacs attending.
Friday, July 22
Bones: Panel discussion with Hart Hanson, Stephen Nathan, David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel as well as the stars of its spinoff, The Finder.
Bob’s Burgers: Season 2 clip to be presented, along with Q&A with Loren Bouchard, Jim Dauterive, H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman and Kristen Schaal.
Saturday, July 23
Terra Nova: The first episode will be screened with Stephen Lang, Rene Echevarria and Brannon Braga set to attend.
Futurama: Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio and Maurice LaMarche to attend with a sneak preview of the show reincarnated as Japanese anime and a preview of the new season to be screened. Bill Morrison will moderate.
The Simpsons: Matt Groening, Al Jean, Rob Lazebnik, Matt Warburton, Mike Anderson and Tom Gammill will be in attendance.
Family Guy: Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Adam West, Mark Hentemann, Steve Callaghan and Kara Vallow will screen a sneak preview of Stewie Goes for a Drive, featuring voice guest star Ryan Reynolds.
American Dad: A preview of the Season 7 premiere will be screened, featuring guest star Cee Lo Green, followed by a panel discussion with Wendy Schaal, Scott Grimes, Rachael MacFarlane, Dee Bradley Baker, Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman and Kara Vallow.
Sunday, July 24
Glee: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and stars of the musical hit will air a musical sneak preview at never-before-seen footage and behind-the-scenes secrets about the series.
Allen Gregory: Jonah Hill, David Goodman, Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul will be joined by the voice-cast for a sneak preview of the animated series.
The Cleveland Show: A look at its Die Hard parody will be screened, followed by a Q&A with Mike Henry, Sanaa Lathan, Kevin Michael Richardson, Reagan Gomez, Rich Appel and Kara Vallow.
RELATED:
‘Glee’ at Comic-Con 2010 | 1,270,380 |
Jack Loomes
Swordsperson
C.E.O. Sword-Site
Posts: 1,750
Swordsperson Oliver Cromwell's English Broadsword Oakeshott Type X Select Post
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Editor's Note: Ewart Oakeshott in his Records of the Medieval Sword explains that the Type X was in use well after the medieval period and in so doing was referring to swords like this one that deviate from the standard "Viking" Type X but which still feature a broad blade with fullering almost to the end of the blade. Note also features of Oakeshott's Type XIX
Broadsword of Oliver Cromwell
Artist/maker unknown, English
Made in England, Europe
c. 1650
Etched steel [blade]; embossed iron chiseled in high relief, wood, silver wire [hilt]
Length (overall): 38 1/8 inches (96.8 cm) Blade: 32 1/2 × 1 15/16 inches (82.6 × 4.9 cm) Hilt: 5 1/16 × 4 5/8 inches (12.9 × 11.7 cm) Height (pommel): 2 1/8 inches (5.4 cm) Diameter (pommel): 1 5/16 inches (3.3 cm) Weight: 3.1 lb. (1405g)
For more information on Oakeshott Type X Swords see this extract from his Records of the Medieval Sword: sword-site.com/thread/118/oakeshott-type-records-medieval-sword
& for more information on his Type XIX see this extract:
Source: Artist/maker unknown, EnglishMade in England, Europec. 1650Etched steel [blade]; embossed iron chiseled in high relief, wood, silver wire [hilt]Length (overall): 38 1/8 inches (96.8 cm) Blade: 32 1/2 × 1 15/16 inches (82.6 × 4.9 cm) Hilt: 5 1/16 × 4 5/8 inches (12.9 × 11.7 cm) Height (pommel): 2 1/8 inches (5.4 cm) Diameter (pommel): 1 5/16 inches (3.3 cm) Weight: 3.1 lb. (1405g)For more information on Oakeshott Type X Swords see this extract from his& for more information on his Type XIX see this extract: sword-site.com/thread/187/oakeshott-type-records-medieval-sword Source: www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/212015.html?mulR=31291%7C7# | 1,270,381 |
Sex, lies, and emails
NYC's leftist mayor wants nothing to do with this one
(NaturalNews) The founder of civilian security firm Blackwater and retired U.S. Navy SEAL Erik Prince says that one of his "well-placed sources" within the New York City Police Department told him that the NYPD wanted to do a press conference announcing additional warrants and arrests in its investigation of disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner, but is getting "huge pushback" from the U.S. Department of Justice.In an interview withon SiriusXM radio, Prince began by telling host Alex Marlow he did not have a problem at all believing reports that the FBI was extremely confident that multiple foreign agencies hacked into a private email server used by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.The FBI has said it is 99 percent certain that at least five foreign intelligence services hacked Clinton's server.
But then Prince claimed to have insider knowledge of the investigation that may help explain why FBI Director James Comey made the highly unorthodox decision to inform Congress a week ago that his agency had reopened its investigation into Clinton's server "Because of Weinergate and the sexting scandal," Prince said, "the NYPD started investigating it." When it did, detectives and investigators from the department's criminal and intelligence divisions found the famed 650,000 emails on a computer owned and used by Weiner and his estranged wife, Huma Abedin -- Clinton's top aide for the past few decades. "They found way more stuff than just more information pertaining to the inappropriate sexting the guy was doing," said Prince.In particular, he said, investigators found State Department emails along with "really damning criminal information" that includes money laundering, Hillary Clinton's trips to a "sex island with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein." Earlier reports noted that former President Bill Clinton made frequent trips with Epstein to the island.Prince said Hillary has gone to the island at least six times, while Bill has visited on more than 20 occasions."The amount of garbage that they found in these emails, of criminal activity by Hillary, by her immediate circle, and even by other Democratic members of Congress was so disgusting they gave it to the FBI," Prince said, adding that the NYPD said it would take the findings public if the bureau did not reopen its Clinton server probe."There is all kinds of criminal culpability through all the emails they've seen of that 650,000, including," he said.Then Prince dropped another bombshell:He also said that the FBI's investigation has five separate parts, but that there was continual pushback from the Obama Justice Department. And he noted that in event Hillary Clinton wins the presidency Nov. 8. "we will have a constitutional crisis we have not seen since, I believe, 1860" – the election of Abraham Lincoln as president and the secession of southern states.What about the mayor of New York City, Bill DeBlasio – a huge Leftist and supporter of President Obama and Hillary Clinton? Prince says DeBlasio is sitting this one out."The evidence is so bad, the email content is so bad, that I think even he wants to stay away from it, which is really telling," he said. | 1,270,382 |
YouTube has announced plans to “reduce” the number of conspiracy theory and “misinformation” videos users are exposed to through its algorithmic recommendations.
While the Google-owned video giant has often courted controversy over some of the content that finds its way onto its platform, the company does have policies in place that serve as a guide to what is, and isn’t, allowed. Some of these videos are eventually taken down. But then there is content that YouTube refers to as “borderline” — it doesn’t breach any policies, per se, but at the same time many people would rather not see them.
And that is the content YouTube is now looking to scrub from users’ “up next” queue.
Rabbit hole
Anyone who’s spent even a short time on YouTube will know its addictive nature: what begins as an innocent 30-second session to watch a prank skit sent by their buddy descends into a rabbit-hole of neverending autoplay “recommendations” served up by the data-powered internet gods.
It’s in YouTube’s interests to keep you there, of course, as the more you’re on its platform the more ads you’ll likely view. The company also recently added swiping to the mobile app — to make it easier for you to skip to the next recommended video.
Bad actors
These recommendations all too often serve up unsavory content: ludicrous conspiracy theories about mass-shooting events being staged, far-fetched proclamations that the moon landing never happened, and hare-brained notions that the Earth on which we live is, well, flat.
Moving forward, YouTube promises that you’ll see less of those kinds of videos. This is similar to moves it’s made in the past to reduce clickbaity recommendations, or videos that are slight variations on something else you’ve watched.
“We’ll continue that work this year, including taking a closer look at how we can reduce the spread of content that comes close to — but doesn’t quite cross the line of — violating our Community Guidelines,” YouTube said in a blog post.
“While this shift will apply to less than one percent of the content on YouTube, we believe that limiting the recommendation of these types of videos will mean a better experience for the YouTube community.”
Today’s news comes just a week after YouTube won back one of the biggest advertisers in the U.S. AT&T had previously pulled its ads from YouTube after they were displayed alongside extremist content back in 2017, but it said it was now satisfied that YouTube had sorted out its programmatic advertising systems.
The latest changes will apply only to viewers in the U.S. at first — the company said it’s meshing human evaluators, subject experts, and machine learning to make these tweaks. More countries will receive this update in the future, according to YouTube. | 1,270,383 |
The Great Pyramid, built under the command of the Pharaoh Cheops (who died around 2483 B.C.), retains a lot of mysteries. We don't know how it was built, which has led to any number of conspiracy stories about alien technology and other things.Alien stuff has actually been able to help now, in the form of muons, by-products of cosmic rays that are related to but heavier than electrons and which most often reflect off of stone but can sometimes be absorbed. Using cosmic-ray muon radiography, a new study showed how researchers were able to non-invasively discover a previously unknown large room above the Grand Gallery. Its cross-section is similar to the Grand Gallery, so it is at least 90 feet long.It has been confirmed using three different muon detection technologies and three independent analyses. They gave the room the unimpressive name ScanPyramids Big Void, but better names are for archaeologists to work out. The real story is that this is the first major structure found since the 19th century, and physics did it.Credit: ScanPyramids collaborationHigh-energy cosmic rays are constantly pelting us but they are usually deflected by thick rock. Nearly all muons won't be able to penetrate anything the size of a pyramid, they will instead be reflected, so one experiment used a "nuclear emission" film, which left silver streaks as the muons bounced. Using inference, they learned which directions the muons came from...and they discovered some were coming from inside the Great Pyramid itself. That means they were trace particles being reflected from a place inside no one knew was there.That's where the other detectors come in. We always tell you not to accept a single study as fact - by now, every food and chemical has been in a WebMD article causing or preventing cancer based on a single study - so the researchers got other detectors to help. Inside the Queens Chamber below, they used scintillator hodoscopes, which can quickly detect passing charged particles and convert the readings into electrical signals. Outside at the base of Khufu’s Pyramid they placed micro-pattern gas detectors, which are more accurate. This allowed them to not only confirm the void was real but "triangulate" on its shape.Citation: Kunihiro Morishima, Mitsuaki Kuno, Akira Nishio, Nobuko Kitagawa, Yuta Manabe, Masaki Moto, Fumihiko Takasaki, Hirofumi Fujii, Kotaro Satoh, Hideyo Kodama, Kohei Hayashi, Shigeru Odaka, Sébastien Procureur, David Attié, Simon Bouteille, Denis Calvet, Christopher Filosa, Patrick Magnier, Irakli Mandjavidze, Marc Riallot, Benoit Marini, Pierre Gable, Yoshikatsu Date, Makiko Sugiura, Yasser Elshayeb et al. 'Discovery of a big void in Khufu’s Pyramid by observation of cosmic-ray muons', Nature 02 November 2017 doi:10.1038/nature24647 | 1,270,384 |
AIW isn't a company that has trouble standing out, and they've done that again for their upcoming Slumber Party Massacre show.
John Thorne, who owns and operates AIW, has become close with former WWE Cruiserweight champion Hornswoggle -- aka Swoggle. When the two got to talking about plans for WrestleMania weekend, Swoggle insisted he do something outside of the box in an effort for both AIW and himself to make an impression. How does one standing 53 inches tall go about that? Getting booked against former WCW Champion Scott Steiner.
When we spoke to Thorne ahead of their April 4 Slumber Party Massacre show, he spoke of Steiner's response to the match.
"I don't know what his hours of operation are, but he'll usually text me between the hours of 2 AM and 4 AM on a Wednesday. I get like a text that says 'do you have me booked against Swoggle?' like six weeks ago. I respond, and don't get a response for weeks. I was a little nervous on how he was taking that. He called me last week and was explaining his, I guess reservations about the match. I can't make this stuff up. He was worried about how the match was going to end up because of WCW entering him into a midget tossing contest in 2000 or 2001. He said it was really difficult for him to work with a midget and lift them up, but he's not opposed to it. It's a very strange dynamic and we're trying to work our way through it. I don't know how Scott Steiner vs. Swoggle is going to turn out. We wanted to do something so far outside of the box and that nobody would ever book, and would get attention on the show," Thorne said.
As for now, all is good and the match is still on. Steiner won't be the only former WCW name on the show, and Swoggle won't be the only former Cruiserweight Champion on the event. Shinjiro Otani will make his first stateside appearance in over ten years, taking on Eddie Kingston. Thorne spoke to the matchup as one that was true to the spirit of AIW.
"Otani was a guy on my list who I wanted to use, but I hadn't reached out yet," said Thorne. "I was approached by Game Changer, who asked if I'd be interested in bringing Otani over during WrestleMania weekend, which I jumped at immediately. I started thinking of people who could work well with Otani, and there's a billion people. Someone who is a huge fan of Otani and early NJPW is Eddie Kingston -- that's the most perfect matchup we could offer."
You can see Absolute Intense Wrestling's Slumber Party Massacre April 4 at 11 PM EST at the White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey. You can also stream the event live on Fite TV. The show features Scott Steiner, Swoggle, MJF, Colt Cabana, Ethan Page, Shinjiro Otani, Eddie Kingston and several others. | 1,270,385 |
A A
HALIFAX, N.S. —
Thirteen years after St. Pat’s High School closed, the city has sold the property on Quinpool Road to a developer in a meeting behind closed doors. Based on the sale price, the councillor for the area expects big plans for the site.
Halifax regional council approved the transaction in an in camera meeting Jan. 14, and the sale closed on Feb. 4 for a price of $37.61 million. According to provincial property records, the buyer is Banc Investments Ltd., owned by local developers Besim and Alex Halef.
Coun. Lindell Smith said the municipality doesn’t usually inform the public of sales like these, but, given the size and significance of this site, he said he would try to get the report declassified.
A pedestrian passes the former St. Pat's in the summer of 2015. - Ryan Taplin/File
Smith said he hasn’t heard from the Halefs about a proposal for the 3.3-acre site at the corner of Quinpool Road and Windsor Street.
“I can only assume, with the significant amount of money that’s been invested, it’s going to probably be a huge project,” he said in an interview Feb. 25.
“It’s a large area so there’s going to be significant development considering the price it went for, but it’s going to have to be really thought out in terms of layout.”
The municipality contracted out real estate services for the sale to Commercial Real Estate Services Canada, CBRE, which received a 2.5 -per cent fee. In a video posted to its website, CBRE advertised the “trophy development site” as having about 730,000 square feet of developable space — “a rare opportunity for a large scale, mixed-use development in central Halifax with prominent exposure and position.”
Like some community groups, Smith hoped to keep some of the space green and open to the public, but he noted the Halifax Common is close by.
The former school closed in 2007 and the municipality declared the property “surplus” in 2014, classifying it under the “economic development” stream, meaning it wanted to make some money from the sale.
The municipality then went through a public consultation process in 2015 and 2016 for the site, asking people what they wanted to see there, and Smith said that feedback informed the Centre Plan rules for the site.
The first half of the Centre Plan — the long-awaited set of land-use planning rules for the peninsula and downtown Dartmouth adopted last year — zoned the property Centre 2, meaning it uses a complex gross floor area ratio calculation to govern the size of the project. It’s also subject to a maximum height of 90 metres, equal to about 28 to 30 storeys.
Zane Woodford is a Halifax-based journalist for SALT and SaltWire.com
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The summer Pan Am/Parapan Games, whose executives are in line for $5.7 million in bonuses, are going under the financial microscope of Ontario’s auditor general.
Liberal members of the public accounts committee joined with opposition members Wednesday in asking Bonnie Lysyk to audit the books for the $2.5-billion sports showcase.
“We need to see the true costs... it’s only reasonable,” said Progressive Conservative MPP Steve Clark (Leeds-Grenville), who proposed the audit.
Lysyk said her audit will look at all the financial aspects of the Games, but will not determine whether bonuses should be paid.
“Obviously I am disappointed with that,” said Clark, who has led the charge against huge bonuses being paid to Games officials to bring the event in on time and on budget.
“It’s infuriating that the government won’t put the freeze on these bonuses until such time as the auditor can do her work. It’s ridiculous.”
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath agreed that “people need to know the details” before bonuses are paid.
“The bonuses are out of whack... at least base them on some clear evidence, some justifiable numbers,” she said.
Cabinet minister Michael Coteau, who is responsible for the Games, said the bonuses are being awarded by the Games board in accordance with executive contracts and performance targets.
“For four years we’ve been reporting back,” Coteau said.
More than 50 of the top Pan Am Games brass are to share the bonus pool, with some pocketing up to 100 per cent of their salary, such as TO2015 CEO Saad Rafi, a seconded deputy minister, who will get $428,794.
Clark and other opposition critics are suspicious that the Games, including ticket sales, were not the success the Liberals would have people believe.
The Games, which included the cost of a village for 7,666 athletes, involved 51 sports at venues in 16 municipalities. Security and transportation costs were not part of the budget but were picked up by the province.
“I think she (Lysyk) was pretty clear today as the auditor general that we will get some clarity from the Pan Am Games on revenue and expenditure (along) with some of the other ministries that spent money after the budget was set,” said Clark.
“So, I am confident we will get some answers... it will expose some of the actual costs.”
The audit is not expected in time for Lysyk’s annual report, expected in early December.
More at thestar.com
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No Olympics, but Tory open to other international events
Mayor Tory, the city has spoken — we don’t want the Olympics
Affordable housing wait list nearly quadruple number of spaces in Pan Am village | 1,270,387 |
As Santa Claus and his reindeer are to the secular celebration of Christmas, so the three wise men and the creche are to the religious celebration. Even most of the non-religious (or non-Christian) among us recognize the symbolism of the nativity scene: it depicts the biblical account of three wise men from the east who rode atop camels and followed a star to Bethlehem, bearing gifts for the newborn Christ child who lay in a manger.
The truth is, the Bible contains virtually none of these details. They have all been added over the years from sources outside the Bible.
Mathew 2:1 tells us:
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem...
That’s it. Matthew doesn’t say how many wise men came from the east, doesn’t mention their names, and doesn’t provide any details about how they made their journey.
It has generally been assumed that the wise men (or magi) were three in number because Matthew 2:11 makes mention of three gifts: “... they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.” The number of wise men is not specified in the Bible, however, and some Eastern religions have claimed up to twelve of them made the journey to Bethlehem. The names of the wise men, Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, do not come from the Bible and did not appear in Christian literature until over five hundred years after the birth of Jesus. Nothing in the Bible says the wise men rode camels (or any other animal); they may have made their journey from the east on foot for all we know. And despite the familiar lyrics of the Christmas carol “We Three Kings,” no biblical source depicts the three wise men as kings. (They were most likely learned men, perhaps astrologers.)
However many wise men there were, and however they got to Bethlehem, the Bible tells us they arrived just after the birth and found the baby Jesus in a manger, right?
Not quite. Matthew 2:11 states:
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him...
The wise men came “into the house,” not the stable, and they saw a “young child,” not a newborn. This passage indicates that the wise men didn’t arrive until quite some time after Jesus’ birth. (According to Luke 2, it was shepherds, not wise men, who visited the infant Jesus in the manger.)
To sum up: we know from the Bible that wise men came from the east, that they followed a star to Bethlehem to find the Christ child, and that they brought him gold, and frankincense and myrrh. We must look to sources external to the Bible to find the origins of any of the other familiar details, however. | 1,270,388 |
On Monday, the Raiders’ controversial move from Oakland to Las Vegas was formally approved. But the relocation has not been met with unequivocal support from their fellow Vegas pro sports team, the NHL’s Golden Knights.
NFL's addiction to free public money fuels Raiders' move to Las Vegas | Les Carpenter Read more
Bill Foley, the owner of the Golden Knights, expressed what everyone in America was probably thinking: that $750m of public money could have been better spent than on a new football stadium for the Raiders that will host just eight games a year.
Foley poured $500m of his own money in to secure his expansion NHL team, which will begin play this autumn. That contrasts with the Raiders’ use of the public purse for their move: the Nevada legislature has approved a $750m public subsidy for a new 65,000-seater NFL stadium, to be raised through an increase in hotel taxes.
Foley questioned whether using public money was wise. He told the radio show Vegas Hockey Hotline: “I felt like there were a lot better ways to spend $750m than bringing the Raiders to Las Vegas. We could spend it on police, firefighters and teachers and have them all be the best in the country. But I guess we’re going to spend it on the Raiders … If I had complete control of the situation, I would not have opted to have the Raiders come here. But I didn’t, so I welcome them.”
Foley’s comments on the radio show differed from remarks published on the NHL website, which portrayed Foley as fully supportive of the move.
“On behalf of the entire Vegas Golden Knights family, I would like to welcome and congratulate Mark Davis and the Oakland Raiders on their relocation to the great city of Las Vegas,” he said in his statement on NHL.com. “It truly is an exciting time to be from Las Vegas. There is only a select group of cities in North America that are home to both an NHL and an NFL franchise and Vegas is now one of them. This alone should be a great source of pride for our community and our fans.”
The Golden Knights will play at the 20,000-seater T-Mobile Arena, which opened in April last year and was privately funded through a 50-50 venture between MGM and AEG. The $375m facility will host year-round hockey, as well as shows and concerts, and didn’t cost taxpayers.
The new football stadium, by contrast, is slated to cost $1.9bn. In addition to the $750m from Nevada taxpayers, $500m will come from the Raiders, and the remaining $650m from a Bank of America loan. The Raiders are set to play two or three more years in Oakland before their new stadium is ready.
Foley also said he thought the Raiders’ move from Oakland might turn some fans off. “I honestly believe when the Raiders play here more than half the stadium will be rooting for the other team,” he said. | 1,270,389 |
A pastor in Eastern Kentucky was arrested this week after he allegedly sought sex with a minor via text messages, according to police.
The Prestonsburg Police Department said in a news release that Bobby J. Blackburn, 26, turned himself in Wednesday without incident and was charged with prohibited use of an electronic communication system to procure a minor to commit a sex act.
Blackburn is pastor of Elevate Church in Prestonsburg, according to a LinkedIn profile. He is also the owner of Giovanni's, a pizza restaurant in Prestonsburg, WYMT reported.
A phone number listed on Elevate Church's website was not accepting calls Friday. An email sent to the church was also not returned Friday.
An employee at Giovanni's who answered the phone Friday said Blackburn was "not here right now."
According to Elevate Church's website, it also has a campus in Louisa.
Blackburn's church is not affiliated with Elevate Church located on Shelbyville Road outside of Louisville nor with Elevate Church in Frankfort.
Prestonsburg police officers obtained a warrant for Blackburn's arrest May 24, according to an arrest citation, after a girl showed a police sergeant images of an iMessage conversation she had with Blackburn.
Read this:Owners of biblical replica of Noah's ark sue over... rain damage (it wasn't even 40 days and 40 nights)
Other news:Catholic school principal arrested at D.C. strip club while on school-sponsored trip
In the messages, Blackburn asked the girl, who is a minor, to engage in a "threesome" with him and another female minor, among other sexually explicit requests, according to police.
Both minors were employees of a business that Blackburn manages, according to the arrest citation. The arrest report did not name the business.
On May 25, Blackburn allegedly followed a third female minor to the Prestonsburg Police Department, where she tried to give a statement saying she sent the obscene messages from Blackburn's phone.
But when police questioned the girl further, she took back her statement and said that Blackburn told her to say it or else she would lose her job, according to the arrest citation.
Officers attempted to collect Blackburn's phone through a search warrant, but family members said the phone was thrown in a Pike County river, according to police.
Also:Bevin exposed his 9 kids to chickenpox, says vaccine not for everyone
Prestonsburg police attempted to arrest Blackburn on a warrant but were unable to locate him until he turned himself in Wednesday, according to the arrest report.
Blackburn was booked into the Floyd County Detention Center Wednesday and released the same day after posting $5,000 bail, according to online court records.
If convicted, Blackburn could face one to five years in prison.
An arraignment hearing is scheduled for June 16.
Reach Billy Kobin at [email protected] or 502-582-7030. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe. | 1,270,390 |
Laser hair reduction is an easy, quick and effective solution to bid goodbye to all the unwanted body hair. People spend half of their life time in shaving, waxing and tweezing the hair. Temporary methods also include hair removal creams, which usually darken the skin and sometimes also cause irritation. While laser hair reduction is an effective method and is replacing the older methods of removing hair for flawless smooth hair-free skin.
Laser Hair Reduction
Dr. Nivedita Dadu’s Dermatology Clinic has a team of expert professionals to provide its patients with the has a team of expert professionals to provide its patients with the B est Laser Hair Reduction in Delhi. Laser hair reduction is proven to be a more effective treatment than any other hair removal procedure. In this procedure with the help of laser light, the hair follicle is burnt inhibiting its growth. The best thing about laser hair reduction is that the skin remains undamaged in the whole procedure. This safe, effective and painless solution is helping people in getting freedom from the unwanted body hair.
Irrespective of the ever-increasing popularity of this procedure, there are many people who have their doubts and hesitate to choose a laser procedure. It is highly recommended that one must consult a qualified dermatologist to find the answers instead of believing the myths surrounding this procedure. The laser technology is totally safe and one must undergo this treatment with the guidance of an e xpert doctor. Often it is believed that the laser procedure hurts an individual and there is some risk in the same. What most people don’t know is that a cooling gel is applied before the procedure which decreases the surface temperature making the procedure highly comfortable. The cream has a slight anesthetic effect as well which ensures the patient comfort.
Laser Hair Removal
The L aser Hair Removal cost in Delhi depends on the type of laser involved, the hair color and the skin color. The laser hair removal doesn’t get rid of hair forever but it just drastically reduces the hair growth to the extent that no other treatment is required to remove it. Almost 98% of hair is gone after consecutive 6-8 sessions. The hair burnt by laser does not grow back but there can be exceptions in the cases of hormonal imbalance. The best thing about this procedure is that it can be performed on any body part and that too very quickly. So, this is a painless procedure with long lasting results.
As another myth goes that laser can cause skin burn, ensuring that the procedure is performed by an expert and qualified doctor, there will be very rare chances of skin burns. Many beauty centers or salons brag about providing the best laser procedure but one must not get trapped by them. Skin is the most sensitive part of our body and no risks must be taken.
Dr. Nivedita Dadu’s Dermatology Clinic can be considered as the B est Laser Hair Removal Clinic in Delhi as the procedure is carried out by a team of expert professionals and latest technologies are used for beautiful and quick results.
| 1,270,391 |
un says, conjuring up images of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Having a discussion ahead of time should help prevent decision-making based on gut instinct of what seems offensive versus well-reasoned arguments, Hyun notes.
The eLife paper comes at a busy time in bioethics. Earlier this month researchers at the University of Cambridge published a mouse study showing that they could create a natural-looking embryo—starting not with eggs and sperm but with embryonic stem cells that can become any tissue in the body as well as trophoblast stem cells, which give rise to the placenta. If these results could be reproduced with human cells, it would pose some serious ethical questions.
And earlier this year the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine issued a report updating guidance on editing the human germ line—cells that can pass on their genetic material to future generations—which has long been another ethical line in the sand for researchers. Its expert committee concluded that it remains too risky to change an embryo’s genes for the sake of enhancing a person’s abilities. The group did, however, articulate a set of criteria by which modifying the human germ line would someday be permissible for treating or preventing disease. Although they kept the door locked against such genetic modification, their conclusions allowed scientists to metaphorically knock on that door, says committee member Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. “We didn’t even think about knocking on the door before.”
There is no international body in place to make or revise guidelines such as the 14-day rule. In the U.S. the National Academy of Sciences or a presidential commission on bioethics has traditionally made ethical recommendations about scientific research, with Congress sometimes blocking federal funding. Some other countries have standing committees, such as the U.K.’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, which regulate embryonic research. Synthetic biology falls between the cracks, though, with no one having such clear authority to regulate the work, Church and his colleagues wrote in the eLife paper.
Church says he has seen more problems arise from underregulation of science rather than overregulation, citing the death of three early gene therapy patients and earlier from the drug thalidomide, which was sold to prevent morning sickness but led to terrible birth defects. Church says he does not know where new boundaries should be drawn to contain future synthetic biology research—but instead of a stop sign at the end of the research road, like the 14-day rule, his team imagines a perimeter fence to keep scientists from straying too far from an ethical path.
George Annas, director of Boston University School of Public Health’s Center for Health Law, Ethics and Human Rights, says he is glad Church and colleagues are flagging this research, which might otherwise be overlooked. He also agrees that recent advances in stem cell science, genetics and synthetic biology suggest it is time to question whether the 14-day rule has outlived its usefulness: “I think it’s a fair question,” he says. | 1,270,392 |
Who's the person you'd least expect to discover is a BlackBerry user? How about the executive chairman of the company whose software has been crucial in eroding the Canadian company's position in the consumer market?
That's right: Eric Schmidt uses a BlackBerry. Why? He likes the keyboard, he says. One could question why Schmidt uses a BlackBerry: there are Android phones you can buy now! which offer a keyboard. Here's the Samsung Replenish in the US - though it reminds us of another make (can't think which just now) and only runs Gingerbread 2.3 - you know, from December 2010. Still, the reviews are good. (Plenty more here: tick the "QWERTY keyboard" box under "Style" on the left margin.)
What's more, he thinks that Apple's iPad mini - the "small tablet" format that Google and Amazon have both made popular through their Nexus and Kindle Fire offerings - is "too small" compared to the large-format iPad.
Schmidt was speaking in an interview with Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian's editor-in-chief, in India at the Activate conference earlier on Thursday.
That people at the top of Google don't always eat their own dogfood isn't necessarily a surprise: even when he was chief executive of Google in 2009, Schmidt was spotted using a BlackBerry - and once more in 2011.
And Marissa Mayer, who was one of the most senior executives at Google before she left to join Yahoo in July 2012, was famously an iPhone user - as evidenced by her tweets and various photos.
Equally, pictures from inside Google frequently shows its engineers and staff working on Apple laptops, even after Google had launched its Chromebook - though we await more recent ones from inside the Googleplex following the launch of the Chromebook Pixel with its high-DPI screen.
And the non-dogfooding occurs elsewhere too - Steve Sinofsky, the former head of Microsoft's Windows team who's since left the company, had to defend his use of an iPhone (apparently he's owned every model - something he managed to keep quiet while around Steve Ballmer).
The only way to top that lot might be if Andy Rubin were to be spotted using a Nokia Lumia running Windows Phone. We won't hold our breath, though.
• Asked whether Android and ChromeOS will be merged now that Sundar Pichai (head of ChromeOS) has taken over from Andy Rubin, Schmidt responded that "No, we don't make the decision based on who's heading the service." He also said that they are "certainly going to remain separate for a very long time, because they solve different problems."
That isn't quite a denial of what he said in 2011 - that the two would merge over time - but it seems like a clear rebuttal of the idea that Pichai would lead an immediate integration. Then again, integrating a mobile operating system built to hook into apps, and a desktop one built around a browser, is quite a challenge.
This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk | 1,270,393 |
US President Donald Trump says Washington has “a reason to believe” it knows the mastermind behind the drone strikes on the Saudi oil refineries and is poised to respond pending confirmation from Riyadh.
“Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!” Trump tweeted Sunday.
Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2019
“PLENTY OF OIL!,” he added in a follow-up tweet.
PLENTY OF OIL! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2019
Although the attacks on the two Saudi oil facilities were claimed by the Houthi rebels, Washington immediately pointed the finger at Tehran, claiming that the attack was too complex and too devastating to be coordinated by the rebels. A senior official told Reuters that US intelligence believes the attack originated from the direction of Iraq and Iran, rather than from the area controlled by the Houthis.
Trump’s announcement comes shortly after he greenlighted the release of emergency petroleum reserves “if needed,” to offset the 50-percent drop in production by Saudi Aramco, whose largest Abqaiq oil processing plant was crippled as result of the Saturday morning attacks.
Also on rt.com Trump authorized release of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve if needed to keep markets supplied
Riyadh has so far not named a perpetrator, calling the drone strikes “terrorist attacks” aimed at disrupting the global oil supply. Tehran has dismissed the allegations of its involvement, calling the US claims “maximum lies” and saying that it is ready to protect itself if war breaks out.
Earlier this week, Trump said he would have “no problem” in meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on Tuesday that “the President has made very clear he is prepared to meet with no preconditions.”
Also on rt.com Iran thaw coming? After firing chief hawk, Trump hints at lifting sanctions on Tehran
However, on Sunday, Trump appeared to have contradicted his own top diplomat, denouncing reports that he is willing to meet with Iran with “no conditions” as “fake news.”
The Fake News is saying that I am willing to meet with Iran, “No Conditions.” That is an incorrect statement (as usual!). — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2019
“That is an incorrect statement (as usual!)” he tweeted.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! | 1,270,394 |
When gunman Devin Patrick Kelley stormed into a Texas Baptist church and opened fire on the congregation, mum Joann Ward instinctively went to protect her kids.
She pushed her 9-year-old daughter Rihanna to the floor and out of harm's way, before using herself as a human shield for her three other children.
Devastatingly, Joann and her 5-year-old daughter Emily died at the scene and her other daughter, Emily, died later in hospital. Her son, Ryland, was shot multiple times by the gunman, but is still clinging to life in hospital.
Local media reports say Joann's husband, Chris, wasn't at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs that morning because he had finished a night shift and was at home asleep.
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A GoFundMe page has been set up by Joann's uncle, John Alexander, to help the surviving family cope in the wake of this awful massacre.
Incredibly, a little more than 300 people have collectively raised more than $19,000 (£14,449).
John writes: "Joann was the most wonderful mom any child could wish for and her children were always laughing and loving life.
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"I can imagine the costs burden on her surviving husband and family. Any contribution you can make will go directly to help with funeral costs, medical costs and other losses due to this horrific tragedy."
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Shooter Devin Patrick Kelley. Credit: PA
A separate GoFundMe page has been started just for Ryland, by family relative Heather Bradley.
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She's managed to raise more than $44,500 (£33,848) in just one day.
Heather explains: "Right now he is in critical condition on a breathing tube; looking to make it but going to be long journey. He was shot five times, once in the elbow, twice in the stomach, and twice in the leg."
The small town of Sutherland Springs is still coming to terms with the worst mass shooting to hit Texas. Twenty-six people died in the massacre, with the shooter later dying after fleeing the scene. It's understood he was shot in the leg and torso by an armed citizen before turning the gun on himself.
Ten of the 20 people injured in the attack remain in critical conditions in hospital.
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Credit: PA
Speaking from Japan, US President Donald Trump said yesterday the gunman was 'a very deranged individual, [with] a lot of problems'. But he attracted criticism for refusing to let this be the turning point for gun reform in the country.
He told a press conference: "We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries. But this isn't a guns situation. Fortunately, somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction."
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"This is a mental health problem at the highest level," he added. "It's a very, very sad event." | 1,270,395 |
I&B Ministry panel ordered NDTV India be taken off air for 24 hours for it’s coverage of Pathankot attack. I&B Ministry panel ordered NDTV India be taken off air for 24 hours for it’s coverage of Pathankot attack.
Amid widespread condemnation over the one-day ban imposed on NDTV India, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) on Monday decided to put on hold its order against the prominent Hindi channel, according to news agency PTI.
The decision was taken following a meeting between I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and NDTV promoter Prannoy Roy. The minister said the NDTV leadership presented an appeal to him, to which he said he will have a look and then decided that the government directive will be on hold till the process is completed.
WATCH VIDEO: One-Day Ban On NDTV India Put On Hold: Find Out More
Earlier in the day, NDTV has challenged the one-day ban by the government after an inter-ministerial panel concluded that the channel had revealed crucial and “strategically sensitive” information when the terror attack on Pathankot IAF base was being carried out. The channel has moved the Supreme Court in this regard.
In a report on its website, NDTV has said that it refuted the allegations and “pointed out that other channels and newspapers reported the same information”. The ban is supposed to be implemented from 00:01 hrs on November 9, 2016 till 00:01 hrs of November 10, 2016.
This is the first ever such order against a TV channel over its coverage of a terror attack, the norms regarding which were notified in 2015. The Editors’ Guild has condemned the ban and demanded that the decision be withdrawn immediately, saying it was reminiscent of the emergency period.
“The ostensible reason for the order as reported is that the channel’s coverage of Pathankot terror attack on January 2, 2016 that the government claims gave out sensitive information to the handlers of terrorists. NDTV, in its response to a show cause by the government, has maintained that its coverage was sober and did not carry any information that had not been covered by the rest of the media, and was in the public domain,” the statement read.
It added that the decision to take the channel off air for a day was a violation of the freedom of media.
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The government, however, has defended the ban, saying freedom of press is important but the nation comes first. “We support freedom of press in a democracy but the nation comes first. There cannot be any compromise on national security,” BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
The decision drew sharp condemnation from the Opposition.
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It’s not just conservative Christian bakers and florists who discriminate against gay customers. Accountants are joining the mix.
For years, Bailey Brazzel went to Carter Tax Service in Indiana because she had a good rapport with the owner, Nancy Fivecoate. This year, however, when Brazzel came in with her wife Samantha — they were filing a joint return for the first time since getting married in July — Fivecoate refused to help with their taxes.
“I am a Christian and I believe marriage is between one man and one woman,” said Fivecoate. “I was very respectful to them. I told them where I thought she might be able to get her taxes prepared.” Brazzel said she was taken aback by Fivecoate’s refusal. “At first we thought she was kidding,” she said. “But when she started talking about the Bible, we knew she was serious — and I was completely shocked.” … ”The LGBT want respect for their beliefs, which I give them,” said Fivecoate. “I did not say anything about their lifestyle. That’s their choice. It is not my choice. Where is their respect for my beliefs.”
Yeah! Why won’t those LGBT show some respect for her bigotry?!
Keep in mind Fivecoate likely has no problem doing taxes for straight people who sin in a variety of other ways. But a same-sex relationship, as Jesus made clear in some-book-of-the-Bible-I’m-sure-of-it, is a special sin among many Christians.
Unfortunately, there’s not much Brazzel can do at this point since Christian discrimination is perfectly legal in their town of Russiaville. Nearby cities, like Kokomo and Indianapolis, have non-discrimination ordinances, but not hers.
One law professor even said the best recourse in this case would be public shaming, since the courts aren’t going to help.
Steve Sanders, an associate professor of law at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, said the lack of statewide LGBT protections has led to a glaring incongruity that leaves discriminated gay couples powerless to do anything to defend themselves. “The only recourse is good-old fashioned shaming — going on Facebook and telling their friends this is a discriminatory business and people might want to think twice about visiting,” he said.
Smart idea for now. Fivecoate doesn’t have much of an online presence, but there are plenty of negative reviews left here. She could help everyone out, too, by just posting a sign on her front door explaining how she refuses to work with gay couples. Straight people, too, deserve to know who they’re giving their money to, and a bigot like her can deal with the consequences of her actions.
If she doesn’t like the backlash, just let her pray about it.
(Thanks to Brian for the link)
| 1,270,397 |
Google
Managers at Google Play are considering a plan to sell films, multiple sources have told CNET.
Google Play, formerly known as Android Market, only rents movies now, but the company has shown an interest in giving owners of Android handhelds the option to buy, according to multiple film industry sources.
One reason why Google Play is likely to make the move is that some of the big Hollywood studios may have required Google to commit to sales as a condition for getting access to rentals, the sources said. One of the industry insiders said Google could begin selling titles as early as the summer.
Meanwhile, Google Play also appears to be preparing to upgrade some of the features in its music area, including a rejiggering of song displays and ways to organize libraries, according to the blog Google Operating System. A Google spokeswoman said the company does not comment on rumor or speculation.
What does all this mean? Google Play is on the move. Two weeks ago, Google overhauled Android Market, which not only included a new name but managers also decided to fold Google eBookstore and Google Music into Play. Android Market's struggles to entice users to buy are well-documented but there were also signs that the store's content strategy needed a tune-up.
Google likely wants to get this right. Smartphone owners have come to expect their handhelds to be mini entertainment hubs as well as communication devices. Apple's iTunes has proven mobile platforms can be gold mines.
If Google decides to sell films, it would only be an incremental move for both the studios and Google Play. The sources I spoke with said that Android's tremendous user adoption could make the company a powerful film retailer -- someday. Right now, movie sales on Android devices are tiny, said the sources. One of the hurdles Google faces is that the market for watching movies on mobile devices isn't large to begin with and Google doesn't offer an easy way to transfer films purchased on handhelds to television sets.
What Google has going for it, besides an enormously popular mobile operating system, is that the film industry really wants retail partners to push sales over rentals. For those who do, Hollywood has shown a willingness to make concessions.
Hollywood has tried numerous times to persuade Netflix to sell movies but the Web's top rental service has always declined. Yet, Netflix did agree to try to help boost disc sales in 2010 by holding back on renting new releases for 30 days. In exchange, the studios gave Netflix access to more content.
Sure, lots of you -- the tech literate -- may not have any use for ownership or DVDs, but there are plenty of people around the country who still know no other way or who prefer collecting DVDs. Hollywood wants a crack at selling titles to these people as they move online and that's why there's an electronic sell-through window where new releases are available only for purchase.
At the moment, Google Play doesn't seem to be hurting for new titles to rent. Available now are recent Oscar nominees "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" starring Daniel Craig and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." | 1,270,398 |
MPs have voted 400 to 175 in supporting the government’s Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill – a majority of 225 votes – following an afternoon of heated debate in the House of Commons.
About 140 Conservative MPs are thought to have voted against the plans.
Former children’s minister and Conservative MP Tim Loughton told the BBC that he believed “140 or so” of his party colleagues had voted against the plans, along with “a small rump of Labour MPs” and “four Lib Dem MPs”.
He added: “Apparently there’s 132 Conservative MPs that voted in favour, so I think what we’re going to see is that more Conservative MPs voted against this legislation than for it.”
The bill would enable same-sex couples to get married in both civil and religious ceremonies, where a religious institution had formally consented, in England and Wales.
It would also allow couples who had previously entered into civil partnerships to convert their relationship into a marriage.
Just before the vote, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Today is an important day. I am a strong believer in marriage. It helps people commit to each other and I think it is right that gay people should be able to get married too.
“This is, yes, about equality. But it is also about making our society stronger.
“I know there are strong views on both side of the argument – I accept that. But I think this is an important step forward for our country.”
Ahead of the vote, Culture Secretary and Minister for Equalities, Maria Miller, told MPs: “What marriage offers us all is a lifelong partner to share our journey; a loving stable relationship to strengthen us and a mutual support throughout our lives.”
She added: “I believe this is something that should be embraced by more couples. The depth of feeling, love and commitment is no different between same-sex couples than opposite-sex couples.”
Mrs Miller insisted religious freedom would be protected and that no faith organisations would be forced to marry gay couples.
She dismissed concerns from Tory opponents that the European Court of Human Rights could order British churches to marry gay couples.
“It is simply inconceivable that the court would require a faith group to conduct same-sex marriages in breach of its own doctrines” – not my words but the words of the eminent QCs, Lord Pannick, Baroness Kennedy and Lord Lester,” said Mrs Miller.
Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper welcomed Mrs Miller statement.
The Labour MP said in the Commons: “Call us hopeless romantics, call it the triumph of hope over experience, but most of us think it is wonderful when people love each other and want to make that long-term commitment.
“So why would we want to stop a loving couple getting married just because they are gay?”
The bill will now proceed to a parliamentary committee for further scrutiny. | 1,270,399 |
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