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Lori Garver, NASA’s powerful former deputy administrator who left the space agency in September, was once an advocate for the Space Launch System, the big rocket NASA is building.
In 2011, for example, she said of NASA’s human exploration program: “We plan a very robust future for not only human spaceflight, but for NASA generally.”
But after leaving NASA Garver appears to either have changed her mind or, more likely, she feels free to say what really is on her mind.
Today, on the Diana Rehm Show, Garver was asked what programs NASA should cancel in order to allow it to achieve more meaningful things in space. Below I’ve transcribed the relevant section of the interview:
Rehm: What programs do you think should be cut? Garver: To me I think those particular programs that are built on previous technology. Rehm: Like what? Garver: Right now we are building a huge rocket called the Space Launch System that is really … Rehm: The SLS? Garver: The SLS. It was something that Congress dictated to NASA, it had to do with the Orion spacecraft. It is a holdover from Constellation, which the Obama administration tried to cancel, and it’s $3 billion a year of NASA’s $17 billion. Is that how you would be investing in the space program? Where is it going to go? When will it even fly?
Later Garver also says NASA should scrap its Mars 2020 rover in favor of a robotic exploration of Europa, a moon of Jupiter that may harbor life in its water oceans.
The significance of Garver’s comments, in regard to the SLS, is that they are consistent with those of most observers who do not work directly for NASA, and thus are not beholden to the program of record as mandated by Congress and the White House.
Garver asks the right questions. Where is it going to go? After building such an expensive rocket — which critics have labeled a “rocket to nowhere” — there’s just no money to actually build the stuff, like payloads and habitation modules, that would allow NASA to actually use the SLS. When will SLS fly? NASA says it may fly in 2017.
Further reading: A recent interview I did with Chris Kraft, a retired flight director from NASA, offers a scathing analysis of SLS. Another interview, with NASA’s Dan Dumbacher, offers a defense. | 1,900 |
Aaaaaannnnnnd in the middle of working on this comic I find out Kaepernick is benched for Blaine “WOAH THERE MOTHERFU*KER” Gabbert.
Obviously this comic was based on an actual play that happened in the Rams game (keep your eye on Smith at the bottom) and it’s pretty much Kaepernick’s 2015 season in a nutshell. I don’t know what’s happened to Kaep. I was a big supporter of the dude and I wanted to see him succeed just to stick it to the crusty old white sportswriters of the world. Whatever spark he had two to three years ago is gone. He has regressed to astoundingly poor levels. He is in the running for worst starting QB in the league right now. He just looks utterly broken. He’s never been able to make reads well but now it looks like he’s lost whatever confidence he still had. He used to take shots, now he panics and dumps it off, he’s turned into Kaeptain Checkdown (not sorry). He used to see an opening and run for it like a beautiful gazelle, then kiss his bicep. Now he just takes the sack. He looks like a scared puppy every play and it’s depressing.
Some of the blame can obviously be leveled at the 49ers as a whole. The 49ers have performed exactly as the we all expected after the offseason from hell. Maybe worse than expected. Kaep doesn’t have the talent around him anymore. His O-line isn’t good, Vernon Davis seems to have spent the last two seasons in hibernation seemingly not trying (And he’s gone now too). His coaching is a joke. It’s not nearly all his fault, but he is not the same QB we saw lead a team to a Super Bowl and then to an NFC Championship. He’s not even the same QB as last year. He’s gone full pumpkin. I think his benching is probably a good thing. Maybe it triggers something in Kaep’s brain, puts him back in underdog mode like he was at the beginning, when he played with a fearlessness he currently lacks. I think more likely he’s just done in SF. One or two bad years doesn’t mean the end, but the 49ers are not trending upwards right now and it might be best for both Kaep and San Francisco to move on. | 1,901 |
Medici Ventures, the blockchain accelerator and subsidiary of Overstock.com, has made a seven-figure investment in blockchain startup VinX.
Israel-based VinX is developing a supply chain platform for trading wine futures, which allow connoisseurs and collectors to purchase a vintage while it’s still in the barrel, a year or two before it’s bottled and released on the market.
By registering these futures as tokens on a blockchain, the startup believes it will be possible to follow the wine to its origin and cut out the fakes that plague the industry.
While the exact sum of the investment is not being made public, Medici Ventures president Jonathan Johnson told CoinDesk that his firm acquired 20 percent of VinX.
Johnson said that Medici was attracted to the startup’s blockchain use case, explaining:
“There are a lot of middlemen in the wine industry that can be eliminated with blockchain, there is a lot of problems with counterfeits. We also think this technology is democratizing the purchase of wine.”
Indeed, with a $302 billion global wine market and up to $3 billion paid by customers for counterfeited products, VinX is aiming for big game.
It’s not the only firm making a move to put wine on a blockchain, however. Chainvine, a Swedish startup with a similar vision, raised $3 million this summer, and Everledger, known for tracking the provenance of diamonds, claimed two years ago to have registered the first-ever bottle of wine on a shared ledger.
Direct-to-consumer
VinX was founded by Jacob Ner-David, a co-founder and chairman of Jezreel Valley Winery in Israel. He also has experience working at tech startups.
In a statement, Ner-David framed his company’s mission as aligned with that of Overstock, the e-commerce giant founded in 1999 by Patrick Byrne, who later became a prominent evangelist for bitcoin and blockchain technology in general.
By “bringing consumers in direct contact with producers early in the wine-making cycle,” Ner-David said, “we are riding the wave of direct-to-consumer, which Overstock has been a leader of for almost 20 years.”
Medici has previously invested in a number of blockchain businesses, including Voatz, Ripio, Symbiont, Bitsy, Bitt, Factom and others.
Vintage wine image via Shutterstock | 1,902 |
Out with a Richards, in with a Richards.
Ted Richards’ one match suspension has opened the door for younger brother Xavier to be selected in the 25-man squad which will travel to Perth ahead of Sunday’s clash with West Coast.
Xavier, 22, has played one AFL match since arriving at the Swans via Pick 29 in the 2013 Rookie Draft, but has strung together a level of consistency which has caught the eyes of senior selectors.
Richards is one of six inclusions for the Round 17 encounter with the Eagles at Domain Stadium with Mike Pyke, Jeremy Laidler, Isaac Heeney, Dan Robinson and Dean Towers also in the extended squad.
The inclusions replace Richards and injured duo Kurt Tippett (broken hand) and Craig Bird (calf), all casualties from last weekend’s loss to Hawthorn.
Speaking to SwansTV for Centrum Team Selection, Swans coach John Longmire says Richards is a strong chance to play his second career game dependent on what role the coaches have for swingman Sam Reid.
“Xavier is a chance to play, we’ll make a decision later in the week as to what we do with Sam Reid whether we’ll put him back or not,” Longmire said.
“Sam has been played in defence a fair bit for us and is fairly experienced in that part of the ground so we’ll make the decision later in the week.”
Richards hasn’t played AFL football since Round 14, 2013, but is more than capable of filling the void left by his older sibling.
In other positive news, Heeney is expected to be chosen in the final 22 and cap off his comeback from injury.
Heeney has played two full matches in the NEAFL and starred to average more than 28 disposals.
“He’s got back to some good form in the past couple of weeks,” Longmire added.
“Part of it was about getting back to some form and fitness but also a level of confidence which sometimes players need to compete at the highest level.
“We feel as though he’s on the way back now and we look forward to adding that real competitive spirit he’s able to add in our front half and through our midfield.”
The final team is to be named 5pm Friday.
Click here to see the full squad.
| 1,903 |
Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks ripped the GOP in a new column, writing that the party is “doing harm to every cause it purports to serve.”
In an editorial titled “The GOP is Rotting,” published Friday, Brooks accuses lawmakers of bending to Trump’s desires, writing that Trump is “defined by shamelessness,” and that there is “no end” to what the president will ask of Republicans.
“First, he asked the party to swallow the idea of a narcissistic sexual harasser and a routine liar as its party leader,” Brooks writes. “Then he asked the party to accept his comprehensive ignorance and his politics of racial division. Now he asks the party to give up its reputation for fiscal conservatism. At the same time he asks the party to become the party of Roy Moore, the party of bigotry, alleged sexual harassment and child assault.”
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Brooks warns that next, Trump may ask Republicans to accept his firing of special counsel Robert Mueller, which, “after some sighing, they will.”
Brooks refers to the relationship between Trump and the GOP as a “corrupt bargain,” and suggests that Trump owns the party’s “soul.”
He notes several causes that he says the Republican Party has tainted through accepting Trump’s actions, and endorsement of Moore in the Alabama Senate race in particular, such as the pro-life cause, which he says will be “forever associated with moral hypocrisy on an epic scale.”
“You don’t help your cause by wrapping your arms around an alleged sexual predator and a patriarchic bigot,” Brooks writes. “You don’t help your cause by putting the pursuit of power above character, by worshiping at the feet of some loutish man or another, by claiming the ends justify any means.”
Brooks goes on to slam populism for abandoning the “intellectual excellence” of the GOP of decades past, writing that the current status quo of the party has alienated many people who no longer feel they can call themselves Republicans.
“The rot afflicting the G.O.P. is comprehensive — moral, intellectual, political and reputational,” he writes. “More and more former Republicans wake up every day and realize: ‘I’m homeless. I’m politically homeless.’ ” | 1,904 |
two female headliners in Sia and Robyn (the festival had never had a female headliner before 2016). This year features no female headliners. Despite this, Solomon said “[they] have a good female presence this year at the festival.”
“Of course you want to have a female presence,” Solomon said. “There are a lot of awesome female artists out there, and you want to have them on your festival. Sometimes they’re not headliners and sometimes they are.”
Calling Shots
When asked about who he was most excited to see at the festival, Solomon was diplomatic at first.
“I put something into every single booking,” he said. “There’s not a band I’m not excited to see.”
Then he started to list highlights:
“I haven’t seen Cousin Stizz live so I’m curious to see that. I’ve been a fan of Buffalo Tom since 1990, so that’s like a sucker pick for me. Piebald, also. I’m an old man, so I love that stuff.
“Majid Jordan is a new artist I’m curious about. Brandi Carlile. Solange I’ve never seen live, so I’m excited about that.”
“I’m very excited to see the crowd reaction to The 1975,” he continued. “Tool and Chance [the Rapper] I’ve never seen live. Chance, I’m a champion of. I think what he’s doing, not just musically, but socially, I think he’s a special person in this world and he’s doing something that’s going to resonate for years to come.”
Solomon noted Bon Iver’s new album and frontman’s ties to Boston Calling through the Eaux Claires music festival in Wisconsin.
Other highlights of Solomon’s: Tkay Maidza, Mondo Cozmo, Modern Baseball and Car Seat Headrest.
Looking ahead to 2018, Solomon said he had started the search to fill out the bill.
“Somebody said to me Friday night, ‘You’re fucked. How the hell are you going to repeat this?’ That’s why you get up in the morning.” | 1,905 |
and customizing an existing cloth diaper pattern are included. Includes the story of how her grandchild was diapered for free, plus a link to purchase her cloth diaper patterns.
Over a dozen links to patterns and/or directions for pocket, pocket with gusset, fitted and newborn diapers, training pants, elastic casings, and much more!
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Make your own cloth diapers with this collection of over sixty free cloth diaper patterns and templates gathered from all over the web.
A site dedicated to sewing cloth diapers. Includes directions for QD AIO, fitted, AIO, prefold and pocket diapers, menstrual pads, PUL and fleece covers. Does not include patterns.
Variations based on the Very Baby line of patterns, including pocket, fitted, wool-in-one, AIO, fleece, and QD diaper styles, plus directions and patterns for menstrual pad patterns and prefolds.
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Directions with photos for making an envelope style pocket opening.
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| 1,906 |
Rapper Busta Rhymes reportedly unleashed a tirade of homophobic slurs at employees at a Miami Beach restaurant this morning after he wasn't allowed to cut in line and then became angry that his condiments were not properly dressing his burger, the HuffPost reports:
Stephanie Vitori, the owner of local late-night favorite Cheeseburger Baby, told The Huffington Post the rapper's party became belligerent when the restaurant refused to take their order before others waiting in line — then Rhymes flew into a rage when condiments were served on the side, calling one server a "fag" and Vitori a "bitch."
"It's degrading," said Vitori, who is gay. "Thirteen years and every celebrity in there, and I've never had a problem."
The restaurant told him it was first come first served, but served him promptly, they say:
But despite being served his to-go bag within 10 minutes, Vitori said Rhymes became enraged that his mayonaise, ketchup, salt and pepper were included on the side — something she said Cheeseburger Baby does as a rule to prevent soggy buns.
According to Vitori, after an employee explained the policy to the 40-year-old rapper, he allegedly screamed, "F*** you, fag! I'm not leaving until I get ketchup, mayo, salt and pepper on my burger," and he began coming over the counter. "F*** you, bitch," he said, turning to Vitori.
Vitori filed a police report.
It's not the first homophobic incident Rhymes has had at a Miami Beach restaurant.
In 2006, Towleroad reported on an incident he had with a fan at the 11th Street Diner during the Winter Music Conference in which a fan tapped him on the shoulder to compliment him and Rhymes allegedly replied:'Why the [bleep] you touchin' me, man? Get the [bleep] away from me'... his two huge bodyguards then caused an even larger scene by pushing the kid away... Busta quietly whispered to his bodyguards, 'I hate [bleeping] faggots, man.'"
The HuffPost notes that Rhymes spoke out in support of Frank Ocean when he came out, saying, “I don't know if it's just about hip-hop being willing to accept it, I think the whole world is ready to accept whatever people choose to be in life.” | 1,907 |
Iran's semiofficial state news agency Fars claims Iranian President Hassan Rohani did not use the word Holocaust or characterize the Nazi mass murder as “reprehensible” in his interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, the New York Times reported.
In what has been considered by many a dramatic departure from his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's blatant Holocaust denial, Rohani responded to Amanpour's question about the Holocaust by describing it as a “crime that the Nazis committed towards the Jews” and called it “reprehensible and condemnable.” According to the CNN translation:
“I’ve said before that I am not a historian. And when it comes to speaking of the dimensions of the Holocaust, it is historians that should reflect on it.” But in general I can tell you that any crime that happens in history against humanity, including the crime the Nazis committed against the Jews, is reprehensible. Whatever criminality they committed against the Jews, we condemn. Taking a life and it makes no difference whether that life is a Jewish life, Christian or Muslim – for us it is the same.”
According to the Times, Fars, which has ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, accused CNN of fabricating portions of the interview, despite the fact that CNN officials said they used an interpreter provided by the Iranian government. Fars posted its own translation of Rohani’s answer, and claimed that he did not use the word “reprehensible” and that he said historians should be left to judge “historical events,” not “the Holocaust.”
That translation is more similar to the way Ahmadinejad used to discuss the issue. In an interview with CNN in 2012, he said: “Whatever event has taken place throughout history, or hasn’t taken place, I cannot judge that. Why should I judge that?”
The dispute over different translations has set off a political storm in Tehran, with government advisers and analysts warning that Rohani has projected too many conciliatory gestures, letting the excitement had gotten out of hand.
According to the Times report, Hamid-Reza Taraghi, an official who is one of the few trusted to interpret the speeches of Ayatollah Khamenei, said: “We need to gain something from the Americans, before we pose and smile with them. Of course, Mr. Rohani also needed to convince some at home that he is not making any wild moves.” | 1,908 |
Update: Texas A&M's site with all the details is live, featuring a video proclaiming that the renovations will make the stadium the finest in the land. The renovations will take place in two phases, beginning in November 2013 and November 2014, with the stadium reopening in August 2015. The $450 million renovation won't see the stadium miss any regular season action. The new Kyle Field will seat 102,500, just about 50 more than Tennessee's Neyland Stadium for the title of biggest in the SEC.
Here's the video:
Here are some pictures, taken from the school's site:
Kyle Field will be the biggest stadium in the SEC, per renovation plans revealed to Texas A&M's Board of Regents in a video before a press conference announcing the upgrades. Good Bull Hunting had all the details on the moves that will make the Hate Barn an even more imposing environment for opposing teams, along with images from KBTX's Steve Fullhart's twitter.
The stadium will add at least 20,000 seats to expand to "over 102,000," boasting the largest capacity in the SEC and in the state of Texas. Tennessee's Neyland Stadium seats 102,455 to make it the third largest in college football, so renovated Kyle Field will apparently be slightly bigger than that. It will also be bigger than Texas' Darrell K. Royal Stadium, which "only" seats 100,119, another way for the Aggies to one-up the Longhorns. Of course, capacity isn't much of an issue for Aggies fans, who have crammed as many as 90,000 in Kyle Field's current capacity.
There will be a new limestone outside, and the field will be lowered to -- get this -- increase fan noise, which has never been much of an issue at A&M. And the stadium will add 12 maroon lights for when the team wins games.
No matter how big it is, the stadium will never be entirely full: 12 seats will always be left empty to remember Texas A&M community members who died in the 1999 bonfire accident as well as others.
More from SB Nation:
Follow @SBNationCFB Follow @SBNRecruiting
• The state of the spread: SB Nation with Ole Miss and Mississippi State
• Why the SEC dominated the NFL Draft
• SB Nation’s College and Magnolia interviews Bo Jackson
• Actual college football playoff details!
• National recruiting coverage
• Today’s college football news headlines | 1,909 |
Recently I was leading friend and fellow-writer Seth Mnookin through the Natural History Museum of Utah’s prehistoric exhibits when he asked a question that has popped up in my own mind from time to time–why is Tyrannosaurus rex so popular? There were stranger carnivores, and journalists love to delight in the announcements that slightly bigger theropods have dethroned the tyrant king. Yet T. rex remains the quintessential dinosaur.
Part of the secret, I think, is cultural inertia. Paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn named Tyrannosaurus rex in 1906, during a time when paleontologists were still dealing with a bare bones outline of what dinosaurs were like. Very few species were known from partial skeletons, much less complete ones, but Osborn’s field man Barnum Brown discovered two exquisite T. rex skeletons in rapid succession. The massive carnivore burst onto the scene as the largest carnivorous dinosaur ever found, and the second, more complete skeleton Brown discovered was quickly turned into an iconic mount that inspired many generations of paleontologists.
T. rex remained unchallenged until the mid-1990s. After nearly a century at the top, it was impossible to knock down the heavyweight. No museum display was complete with at least a T. rex tooth, if not a cast of a skeleton, and films such as King Kong and Jurassic Park underscored the savage power of the dinosaur. From the time of its discovery, we have celebrated T. rex as the acme of destructive dinosaurian power. The dinosaur so dominated the cultural landscape that it overshadows all others.
But, as Seth pointed out while I laid out this hypothesis, the dinosaur’s reputation is fully deserved. Some giant carnivores might have been a little longer or heavier–we don’t really know, since they’re not known as completely as T. rex–but there is no question that T. rex was among the top four gargantuan dinosaur predators and the biggest meat-eater in its Late Cretaceous ecosystem. Even though our general image of the tyrant has changed, from changes in posture to the addition of fuzz, T. rex has remained the biggest and baddest dinosaur from America’s badlands. The reputation of T. rex has not been diminished. To the contrary, the more we learn about the paleobiology of the theropod, the more fearsome T. rex becomes. And to that, I say “Long live the king!” | 1,910 |
Skipping the queue is often highly frowned upon.
Those who have patiently waited their turn are more often than not reluctant to let an interloper sneak in. But can it be done?
MailOnline sent out two reporters, one male, one female, into the streets of New York City to see how they'd fare individually when attempting to cut into a line.
Faux pas or opportunism? Pushing in line is a cardinal sin to many but it can also mean saving yourself precious time - if you have the guts. MailOnline sent out two reporters, one male, one female, around New York City to see how people would react to our intrepid queue jumpers
One woman queuing in Whole Foods was kind enough to let our reporter Sarah jump in front, adding to her tally - though the other customers nearby didn't look too impressed
The man refused our reporter a queue jump only to be undermined by a second man behind him who offered her a place in line. He said: 'I just wanted to see you beautiful eyes'
In footage filmed using a discreet point-of-view camera, Ash and Sarah try to blag their way into the queues for McDonald's, Wholefoods, the theatre and more.
When Sarah tries to under a red rope barrier for a tickets queue, the other women waiting are quick to point out that this is unacceptable and point out the back of the queue.
The same happens when Ash tries to barge into the queue at Trader Joes.
Our reporter Ash had no luck with this man who batted away his 'one item' excuse sending him to the back of the line with his tail between his legs
One customer failed to see the funny side of our reporters overtures frowning at her and refusing her spot
In the end it was a rampant victory for Sarah who skipped the queue 50% of the time compared to Ash's paltry 6% queue jumping success
Mostly the others are unaggressive but firm with their refusal to let the reporters pass.
However the pair did have some luck, with a few members of the public showing them sympathy when they explained they were in a rush or on a quick lunch break.
In Starbucks two young men happily let Sarah cut in and a woman is equally gracious in Wholefoods.
Ash, meanwhile, is also successful in Starbucks as well as in McDonald's.
In total Sarah managed to skip 63 out of 126 lines and Ash cut the queue 10 out of 172 times. | 1,911 |
Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) and Don Schumacher Motorsports (DSM), DSR’s manufacturing arm, are proud to join the fight to help protect our nation’s brave health care workers on the front lines tirelessly treating patients seeking medical assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the growing need for supplies, DSM has teamed up with Stratasys, a global leader in additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology, to produce headbands which will be used for medical face shields in healthcare facilities. DSM’s two Stratasys FDM 3D printers, the Stratasys Fortus 450mc and F370, are typically used for chassis fixturing, weldment fixturing, rapid prototype development and proofing out new components for DSR’s fleet of race cars. With NHRA drag racing at a temporary standstill, both printers have switched gears and are now working round-the-clock to churn out as many headbands as possible throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“We take this pandemic very seriously and want to do our part to help,” said DSM owner Don Schumacher. “When our partners at Stratasys approached us about producing these crucial pieces for medical face shields, we didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes.’ We have the capability, so of course we wanted to do whatever we could to help support the vulnerable medical personnel that are working so hard during these unprecedented times. A huge thank you to Stratasys for leading this initiative.”
Upon completion, the DSM-produced headbands are turned over to Stratasys, who then installs clear shields to the bands. The finished goods are placed into inventory at the Stratasys warehouse, and then distributed to hospitals upon request via an online request form.
“The response from the staff at DSM for the Stratasys COVID-19 face shield initiative is greatly appreciated,” said Allen Kreemer, Stratasys’ Senior Strategic Applications Engineer, Americas. “DSM has put its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to work in record time, producing face shield frames that will be used to protect many healthcare workers. DSM continues to redefine the meaning of the word ‘partner’ during this challenging time.”
Please follow @ShoeRacing on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for additional updates as to how DSM/DSR is supporting the COVID-19 effort. | 1,912 |
Old Year
In Ecuador, Año Viejo is a fiery tradition that symbolically burns up the failures, regrets and anger of the old year in order to usher in the hopes and resolutions of the new one. On the last day of the year, people construct effigies that might represent an irritating person, a disliked political figure, or even disappointment about past mistakes or unachieved goals. A handwritten note is pinned to the dummy explaining why it must be burned and what changes and improvements are desired for the coming year. Then, to a chorus of cheers and clapping, the effigy is thrown into the street and burned to ashes. Although the origins of this custom are murky, many believe it dates back to a particularly virulent yellow fever epidemic that required the mass burning of corpses.
When my wife and I were studying Spanish in Quito, we had an opportunity to participate in this custom. The teachers and students at our school teamed up to create an effigy. We collected old clothes for the body and stuffed it full of crumpled newspaper. We put a wooden dowel down its back so the dummy could face impending immolation with a stiff spine. A cottage industry existed on the streets for making expressive masks, and at only 99 cents per mask we choose this option. As our effigy neared completion, our teachers said that we students could benefit from an exorcism, and suggested that we confess our sins and promise better behavior for the new year.
I was elected to enumerate our failings and our resolutions. At the time I was frustrated with the laziness of many of the students in our school. And so, for them I wrote, “I was a bad student. I never studied much. I never did the homework that my professor gave me. I always spoke in my own language. For my sins my professors have decided to burn me up. I promise to be a good student in the next life!” We pinned our missive to the effigy and took him outside. As the flames claimed him, we laughed and said we would all try harder tomorrow.
Walking back to our apartment later that day, we encountered the smoldering remains of dozens of effigies in the streets. Laughter, cheering and honking horns were the sounds of the evening. Even the security guards in our building had an effigy they were saving for a midnight bonfire. As the new year approached, we realized the hopes and regrets expressed by the Ecuadorians were not so different from those of our own countrymen. | 1,913 |
- Arsenal defeated Aston Villa 4-0
- Mikel Arteta played his last match and scored his last goal
- The midfielder speaks about his future
The former Arsenal captain is almost certain he has played for the last time as a professional after enjoying his farewell Arsenal appearance.
Olivier Giroud’s hat-trick helped the Gunners to leapfrog their north London rivals Spurs into second place in the Premier League table. The Gunners victory, coupled with Spurs trouncing at the St. James’s Park by Newcastle, ensured Wenger’s men finish above their rivals yet again.
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Arsenal playmaker Mikel Arteta replaced Mesut Ozil during the closing stages. The 34-year-old's injury-time effort was diverted into his own net by Aston Villa keeper.
Arteta's last match for Arsenal
Meanwhile, the player has been linked with a move to Manchester City to join the coaching staff of incoming boss Pep Guardiola from next season.
According to Daily Mail, the Arsenal midfielder is a close friend of the incoming City boss after playing in Barcelona's academy while Guardiola was a first-team regular.
The source reports that Arteta is determined to become a coach and has already completed some of his badges. He has also gained experience by working with the Gunners' Under 13s and Wales' Under 16s.
Speaking about his future, Arteta noted: "I have to take some time. I'm 99 per cent sure I will stop playing football. I have different options now to continue in relation to this magnificent sport. I need to sit down with my family and decide what is best for me and for football in general in the next chapter."
"I love competing and I love this game. I wanted to decide when the time was to leave. I preferred to make that decision myself, and not the other away around. In my opinion, I'm leaving the best club in England for sure.I'm very happy because the people and the manager have been unbelievable for me these last few weeks. They have left the doors open for me at this club. That means a lot."
Speaking about his goal the player added: "I don't know. I couldn't write a better script probably. The boys have been absolutely magnificent with me in the last two days. The things I've experienced will stay with me for the rest of my life. It's a day I will never forget." | 1,914 |
Ex-Olympic athlete Sharron Davies is facing heat from leftists for asserting that transgender women should not be allowed to compete in female sport.
“I have nothing against anyone who wishes 2be transgender [sic],” Davies wrote on Twitter Friday.
“However I believe there is a fundamental difference between the binary sex u r born with & the gender u may identify as.”
I have nothing against anyone who wishes 2be transgender. However I believe there is a fundamental difference between the binary sex u r born with & the gender u may identify as. To protect women’s sport those with a male sex advantage should not be able 2compete in women’s sport — Sharron Davies MBE (@sharrond62) March 1, 2019
“To protect women’s sport those with a male sex advantage should not be able 2compete in women’s sport.”
Several other Olympic athletes supported Davies’ comments, including Olympic track winner Sally Gunnell, gold medallist boxer Nicola Adams OBE and gold middle distance athlete Dame Kelly Holmes.
Leftists tore into Davis on Twitter, calling her full of “hate,” “transphobic,” but Davies insisted it’s about fairness, not identity.
“It is not a transphobic thing – I really want to say we have no issue with people who are transgender,“ she told the BBC.
“Every single woman athlete I’ve spoken to, and I have spoken to many, all of my friends in international sports, understand and feel the same way as me.”
“Unfortunately, a lot of people who are in the races [now] are in a very difficult predicament when they can’t speak out. It maybe falls to the people who were competing [in the past] who would understand the predicament that is being faced at the moment to try to create a debate, and try to explain how we feel there needs to be a fair and level playing field,” she added.
This comes as transgender woman are more frequently dominating women’s sports in schools across America.
A 10 year old child has successfully petitioned Disney to include gay characters in an upcoming issue of their “Donald Duck” comic book series. Owen exposes the lefts repeated attempts indoctrinate the youth.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today! | 1,915 |
I'm on a hot streak. Here is my latest masterpiece I decided to approach the MRAs as a sympathetic woman. Surely they wouldn't turn against a potential ally just because she's a woman...right?Wrong.I cooked up a crazy story about "reclaiming feminism" and even....said I was going to attend graduate school for sociology. You would think that would tip them off, right?Wrong.Enjoy the highlights:Hilarious. I guess women, who make up half of the world's population don't constitute "much" of the world's population. The MRA's must count women on some 3/5ths formula to make those numbers work out. This is why you should laugh when they claim they are masters of logic and statistics.The guy above actually has some brains, though these comments below are more representative:And there you have it. Proof of the hatred that motivates the "men's rights" movement. What must the women in these people's lives feel like? Take a moment and seriously think about that question. If you were a woman and you had to interact with one of these men, what would that be like? Would they show you ANY empathy at all?My previous post presented a situation that was so far-fetched that only a raging neckbeard could fall for it. This recent post tried to engage the MRAs as an ally. The result was the same. Anger at women.Their entire worldview is based on completely delusional thinking. The "men's rights" movement is NOT about advancing anything remotely helpful for men. It is about letting prejudice and delusional beliefs create an agenda designed to punish and hurt women.I will keep going for as long as it takes. I already have accounts that are burrowing into Reddit. They will pop up here from time to time. I will engage in long trolls like this recent one. Once you can trick them to open up and say what's really on their minds, you see why the SPLC designated them a hate site.Feel the rage neckbeards.Lets see how much longer I can keep the thread going before I'm banned.They unbanned me! Also, they compared my trolling to 9/11. Seriously.This is offensive. 3000+ people died on 9/11 and hundreds of thousands died in the subsequent wars. It's wrong to use death to make a political point.I am letting a lot of the vile comments through just so people can see the "men's rights" movement exposed. My muckette account is still active. I'll decide how best to use it. | 1,916 |
Written By: Nick Poulimenakos
Justice League re-shoots under Joss Whedon are still underway and now we have some more insight as to what they actually entail for one character.
Joe Morton, who played Cyborg’s father, Dr. Silas Stone, in Batman V Superman and will reprise the role in Justice League, spoke to ComicBookMovie about the changes being made to Cyborg’s character where he stated that the re-shoots are being done to lighten up the character of Vic Stone. He also discussed the lingering resentment Vic holds towards his father in the film.
“Yeah, some of that still exists in the film where Victor sort of feels like, ’yes you saved my life, but look what you made me look like. I can’t go out and be a regular person.’ He has no alias, nothing to hide behind. So what I think is great about that idea is you begin, in a metaphoric way, sort of talking about what it means to be “the other” in society. Even if you have something tremendous to contribute to society, the first thing that most social situations will do is ostracize you because you look different because they don’t know who or what you are. So I think that’s a big deal in this film for that character, and for Silas, and makes for interesting film making.”
Morton then dropped a slight bombshell that eases the tension some fans may have. During Comic Con this year, the standalone Cyborg film was suspiciously left out of the upcoming DCEU movie slate. When asked if the film was still on, Morton said that it is indeed still happening.
“As far as I know it is still happening. I believe, although I’m not entirely sure, that it should start sometime around 2020. That seems to be a wonderful metaphoric year for these Cyborgs.”
So, the Cyborg film is still happening. Frankly, this is good thing… I guess? I’ve never been the biggest fan of Cyborg so I’ll take anything that gives me a reason to care about the character. I know fans were irked when DC opted to use Cyborg instead of Martian Manhunter for the Justice League film so hopefully the film, and actor Ray Fisher, prove critics wrong and show why he deserves to stand alongside DC’s greatest heroes.
Justice League flies into theatres on November 17, 2017. | 1,917 |
film shows on art.
Walking around the museum, it is Nandhan’s superb stone Buddha that I first encounter. Later, in his cottage, he tells me how it was conceived. Long ago, when his studio was still a thatched shed, he was moulding a terracotta piece when he was called for tea. He hastily placed a lump of clay atop the piece and left. When he returned and stepped back inside, some trick of the setting sun threw the shape into the image he had been seeking. The lump was formalised, and the famous Nandhan Buddha was born. Vignettes like these linger — the sketchpads in Gopinath’s cupboard, each a vivid flip book of images; Nandhan’s front yard littered casually with granite coaxed to life, listening to Selvaraj talk about how his years of dance training morphed into the movement and imagery of his paintings, the eagerness in the voices of the new generation as they talk of carrying on the dream.
Paniker himself seems to have had no such ambition and said he would be pleased if Cholamandal survived one generation. It has survived three. In an early letter, the painter talks of living amiably amidst a family of artists “… so long as they don’t allow philistines to get into their midst”.
And have they managed? To keep the philistines away, I ask. Many original owners have sold off their plots to outsiders but, as Nandagopal says, “Thankfully, most of the newcomers have artistic sensibilities and don’t disturb the ethos.” It would be optimistic to imagine this will continue, or even that coming generations will carry Cholamandal on. Art, unfortunately, is too temperamental a muse to hitch a free ride on friendly genes, unlike the plots of land. The place is run by an association managed by the artists but there is no Trust in place, which could have ensured that some percentage of homes will always be on offer to deserving artists during their lifetime.
But those are future, messy decisions, well left to the inheritors of the vision. For the present, Cholamandal is still best evoked by Paniker, as written in a letter in 1971, “Perfect silence and peace. The ancient burial ground abuts on the sea. The waves almost lick the feet of the ones laid there to rest. Some day I will be laid there. I shall not be in bad company.” | 1,918 |
Former New York City Mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg allegedly told a female employee to "kill it" when she revealed she was pregnant. The allegation was made in a 1997 lawsuit filed in New York by Sekiko Sakai Garrison, one of Bloomberg's former executives, National Review reported.
Bloomberg was reportedly upset that another pregnant woman would be added to his payroll. "Great! Number 16," he said, an apparent reference to the number of pregnancies among his staff at Bloomberg LP.
In addition to these two accusations surrounding her pregnancy, the lawsuit also said Bloomberg pointed another woman out to Garrison and said, "If you looked like that, I would do you in a second."
The lawsuit also detailed allegations of racism. He allegedly referred to Mexican clients as "jumping beans" and told a female employee having issues finding a babysitter that "all you need is some black who doesn't even have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building," the Telegraph reported back in 2007.
The lawsuit was settled in 2007, with both parties agreeing not to discuss the matter, although parts of the settlement were leaked to the Associated Press. When Bloomberg first ran for mayor in the early 2000s, his campaign claimed he took a polygraph test where he denied the sexual harassment allegations, although a copy of the results have never been released.
A person familiar with the case said Bloomberg admitted during the case's deposition "that he had said the words 'I'd do her' about Garrison and other women. When asked during the deposition what he thought that expression meant, Bloomberg said it means to have a personal relationship, according to the individual, who is barred from discussing the case and spoke on condition of anonymity," the AP wrote at the time.
Garrison reportedly had an answering machine tape of a message he left on her home phone. In the message, Bloomberg allegedly said he heard she was upset about the abortion comment adding, "I didn't say it, but if I said it I didn't mean it."
Garrison worked for Bloomberg LP from 1989 until 1995, at which point she left the company. She said she couldn't return after Bloomberg's comments. The company, however, claimed she was fired.
Garrison wanted $15 million from Bloomberg. A settlement was reached but no one knows how much he ended up forking over because of a confidentiality agreement.
Two additional sexual harassment lawsuits were filed against Bloomberg in the late 1990s. One was dismissed and the other was withdrawn. Both of those plaintiffs also have a confidentiality agreement in place. | 1,919 |
A board announcing Spanish language lessons is seen on March 17, 2016 in Benalmadena, Spain | David Ramos/Getty Images EU institutions can’t discriminate based on language, court rules European Court of Justice finds fault with recruitment process for Parliament drivers.
European institutions cannot require job applicants to speak specific languages such as English or French unless they provide sufficient justification, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday.
The decision effectively confirms a 2016 ruling by the EU's General Court, which stated that it is — in principle — unlawful for EU institutions to treat applicants differently based on their language skills when hiring staff.
In Tuesday's judgement, the ECJ found in favor of Spain, which brought a discrimination case before the court, and rejected a request by the European Commission to annul the General Court's 2016 ruling.
Spain had taken exception to a call for applications launched by the European Parliament when it was seeking to hire drivers in 2016. The job description required the drivers to have "satisfactory knowledge" of either English, French or German in addition to speaking one of the EU's 24 official languages.
Application forms for the position were available only in these three languages, leading the ECJ to conclude that the hiring process resulted in "a difference based on language, which is in principle prohibited."
The ECJ noted that there is no general ban on requiring applicants to speak certain languages. Different treatment based on language skills may be allowed if justified, the court said, for instance if the duties of the position require specific language skills.
But in the case of the drivers, the ECJ found that the European Parliament had not provided sufficient justification.
"The Parliament did not establish how each of those languages would be particularly useful for the performance of the duties in question and why that choice could not include other official languages which may be relevant to those duties," the court's ruling said.
The Parliament had defended its language requirement with the argument that English, French and German are the most widely used languages in the institution, but the ECJ decided that "it cannot be affirmed that those three languages are, necessarily, the most useful languages for all duties in that institution."
The ECJ therefore annulled the call for applications and declared the database established under the call as void.
At the same time, the ECJ rejected a request by the European Commission to annul a 2016 General Court ruling on a similar case, affirming that "a candidate's highest standards of ability, efficiency and integrity are independent of language knowledge." | 1,920 |
Researchers at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have come up with a prototype robot that will help primary school children in their lessons. The robot will be a "companion robot" to help them with their studies.
The prototype robot has been tested in some kindergartens. By putting such robots in classrooms to help guide children in their lessons, teachers will be freed to observe students' behaviour and identify their needs.
"Imagine we are putting a more structured curriculum into the robot to help tutor the lower primary school kids... a companion robot to help them go through their curriculum," Dr Chen I-Ming, director NTU's Robotics Research Centre said.
Children will be able to control the movements of the robots using sensors. At the same time, teachers can do voice recordings and play them back to the students.
Dr Chen said that since 2013, more companies have shown interest in robotics and have approached the university about collaborations. "It's actually different from sector to sector. If you are in the manufacturing sectors, their main goal is to improve productivity."
He continued: "If it's anything that really improves productivity, they will take it up immediately. But for other social or educational types of robots, they need to go through a lengthy case study, or test-bedding and also prove the results. That will probably take a bit much longer. You still need probably two to three years at least."
In Singapore, robot waiter Techi can deliver food and drinks to customers. It also takes the lift to hand over toiletries to hotel guests. The company behind the robot said more than 10 companies will be using Techi from March.
Techmetics chairman and technical director Mathan Muthupillai said: "Our aim is to replace the repeated, tiring jobs for human beings, so that they can concentrate more on the productive work. He explained: "If you talk about the F&B side, waiters are spending more time on actually taking the items and delivering them to the table - that work can be actually taken care of by the robot."
At the KK Women's and Children's Hospital, a robotic bottle-dispensing system was rolled out last year to dispense medication to both patients. It can load, pick and assemble as well as label medicine bottles.
The robots replaces many of the manual tasks involved in manually picking, packing, assembling, barcoding and tracking expiring dates and batch numbers across various types of bottled medication. It saves about 8,760 man-hours a year. | 1,921 |
A woman is comforted by her friend as she breaks down in tears during a minutes silence near the scene of Saturday's terrorist attack, June 6, 2017, in London. Carl Court/Getty Images
Members of the public observe a minute's silence for the victims of the London Bridge terror attacks on London Bridge, June 6, 2017. Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
A vigil is held for the victims of the London Bridge terror attack in Potters Fields Park, June 5, 2017, in London. James Gourley/REX/Shutterstock
People bow their heads along with London Mayor Sadiq Khan during a vigil at Potters Fields Park in London, June 5, 2017, to commemorate the victims of the terror attack on London Bridge. Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images
Police forensic officers work on the London Bridge, June 4, 2017, as police continue their investigations following the June 3 terror attack in London. Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
Members of the public view the scene after police officers raided a property in East Ham, June 4, 2017 in London, following the attack on the London Bridge. Carl Court/Getty Images
Forensic investigators work near Borough Market in London on June 4, 2017, following the June 3 terror attack on the London Bridge. Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty Images
People receive medical attention on Thrale Street near London Bridge following a terrorist incident, June 3, 2017. Federica De Caria/Press Association via AP
Armed police officers respond to an incident on London Bridge in London, Saturday night, June 3, 2017. Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP
People leave the area with their hands up after an incident near London Bridge in London, June 4, 2017. Neil Hall/Reuters
Armed police stand over two suspects shot at the scene of a terror attack outside Borough Market in central London, June 3, 2017. Gabriele Sciotto/AFP/Getty Images
A victim is treated near London Bridge after a vehicle struck pedestrians in an apparant attack, June 3, 2017 in London. Ben Cawthra/REX/Shutterstock
Police and members of the emergency services attend to victims after an attack on the London Bridge in central London, June 3, 2017. Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images
People flee the area near London Bridge after reports of an incident involving a vehicle and pedestrians, June 3, 2017 in London. Ben Cawthra/REX/Shutterstock | 1,922 |
Charles Gould developed a prototype paper binder and played a key role in the evolution of stapler :-
The very first stapler insignia and were used to fasten together court documents. The very first stapler is thought to have belonged to King Louis XV of France (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774).The large sized, handmade staples were imprinted with the royaland were used to fasten together court documents.
Direct predecessor of the modern stapler :In the year 1868 Charles Gould received a British patent for a wire stitcher which could be easily used to bind magazines.Gould’s invention used an uncut wire that was then cut to length, the pointed ends of the wire are forced through the paper and the ends folded down.This stapler was a direct predecessor of the modern stapler.
In 1868, Albert Kletzker patented a type of paper clip that used a single large staple to fasten together papers but did not crimp the ends, which had to be done by hand.
Henry R.Heyl filed a patent titled “Improvement in Devices for Inserting Metallic Staples.” which was the first machine that both inserted the staple and crimped it in one motion.The earlier devices were large, chunky and impractical.
First commercially successful stapler: George W.McGill produced the first commercially successful stapler in the year 1879.The staples had to be loaded one at a time.This machine featured an anvil that bent the ends of the staple back on themselves as it was inserted.The fixed anvil can still be seen on modern staplers today.
In the early 1900s, several devices were developed that punched and folded papers to attach them to each other without a metallic clip.The Clipless Stand Machine which was famous then cut a tongue in the paper that it folded back and tucked in.
Improvements to the basic designs were made to enable multiple staples to be loaded at once in the form of strips.Finally in 1930’s companies manufactured strips of staples that were glued together in a “herringbone series,” alongside staplers that swung open, allowing easy loading.Staples have also found a use in surgery as a replacement for sutures.Surgical staples are preshaped into “M”.This is how stapler has evolved over years.
Also read : Evolution of pen – From Reed Pen to 3Doodler | 1,923 |
According to a blog post from the organization, North will trial former Alternate Attax coach Torbjørn “mithR” Nyborg during the GG.Bet ICE Challenge. Former Coach, Alexander “ave” Holdt has decided to step down in order to focus on his family after a year with the team.
Today we're saying goodbye to @avecsgo, who is stepping down as First Team Coach, to focus on his family. Alex had been with us since April 2017, first as Academy Coach and later as First Team Coach. Thank you for all you have done for us Alex?? https://t.co/1B8JX6pXjQ pic.twitter.com/rfs0kCPYmf — North (@TheNorthIsHere) February 4, 2019
North’s Director of Esports, Jonas Svendsen, had this to say of Holdt: “I, and the entire North organization, would like to thank Alex for his contribution and dedication to North over the last two years. Alex is very talented, and we hope that he will return to esports in the future and hopefully in North, says Jonas Svendsen.”
New Coach, New Style?
North has struggled of late, spawning memes of their rough statistical performances. It seems as though Svendsen believes that mithR could be a solution to those problems, saying, “Torbjørn is a very experienced and dedicated CS:GO coach. I believe that Torbjørn via his deep understanding of the game and strong presence in the locker room will be able to help us revitalize the team and our approach to the game and achieve our goals.”
North will debut their new coach at the GG.BET ICE Challenge, starting tomorrow in London. There, North will face off against a (probably) rebranded Heroic.gg, Na’Vi, and AVANGAR for their share of the $50,000 prize pool.
North’s current roster is as follows:
Philip “aizy” Aistrup
Valdemar “Valde”: Bjørn
Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye
Casper “cadiaN” Møller
Nicklas “gade” Gade
Torbjørn “mithR” Nyborg (Coach)
Image VIA: Redbull.com | 1,924 |
A hacking group that crippled South Korean banks, government websites and news agencies in early 2013 may be active again, Palo Alto Networks said Wednesday.
The firewall maker said it found strong similarities between malware used in a recent attack in Europe and that used in the South Korean attacks, referred to as Dark Seoul and Operation Troy.
The organization in Europe that was attacked was likely a victim of spear-phishing, where an email with a malware attachment or a harmful link is sent to hand-picked employees.
The malware had been wrapped into legitimate video player software that was hosted by an industrial control systems company, wrote Bryan Lee and Josh Grunzweig of Palo Alto in a blog post. The code appears to be the same as the malware used in the Dark Seoul attacks although without the destructive component that wipes hard drives.
"It is likely the same adversary group is involved, although there is currently insufficient data to confirm this conclusion," they wrote.
The Dark Seoul attacks on March 20, 2013 wiped data from bank computers, shut down ATMs and also took down government websites.
The malware was configured to wipe a computer's Master Boot Record (MBR), the first sector of a PC’s hard drive that the computer looks to before loading the operating system.
The same kind of wiper malware also wrecked thousands of computers at Sony Pictures Entertainment last year after gigabytes of data was stolen from its network. The U.S. government blamed the attack on North Korea.
In July 2013, security vendor McAfee published an analysis of Dark Seoul attacks, which it called Operation Troy. The report also described a much less noisy parallel operation that appeared to be aimed at stealing classified military data.
It initially appeared that two separate groups -- the Whois Hacking Team and the NewRomanic Cyber Army Team -- were behind the attacks. But McAfee concluded it was likely just one group, based on an analysis the attack code.
Palo Alto said the command-and-control servers for the most recent attack are compromised websites in South Korea and Europe that appear to be running out-of-date software.
It is challenging to develop new hacking tools and malware, and it's unlikely that the group behind Dark Seoul would have shared it with other actors, Palo Alto said.
"The similarities in tactics however, do seem to outweigh the differences, and it is highly likely this is the same group or groups responsible for the original Dark Seoul/Operation Troy attacks, but with a new target and a new campaign," Palo Alto wrote. | 1,925 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. bank regulator is ready to fail Wells Fargo on a national scorecard for community lending, sources familiar with the decision said on Wednesday, in a move that could limit near-term expansion for the bank.
A man walks by a bank machine at the Wells Fargo & Co. bank in downtown Denver, Colorado, U.S. April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo - RTSSNGX
Wells Fargo is due to be deemed a bank that “needs to improve” under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a law meant to promote lending to poor neighborhoods.
The move is a two-notch downgrade from the “outstanding” tag Wells Fargo has held since 2008 and the change would give regulators a greater say on day-to-day matters like whether they may open new branches.
The ruling from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the main regulator for national banks, is due by early January, said the sources with knowledge of the plans.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson declined to comment. A spokesman for the OCC also declined to comment.
Wells Fargo has struggled since September to overcome its admission that employees wrongly created as many as 2 million accounts without customer authorization.
A downgrade on the bank’s community service score could further tarnish the reputation of the San Francisco-based lender at a time when it hopes to move beyond the scandal.
Wells Fargo may win an appeal to the downgrade through an independent arm of the regulator but no decision has yet been made, said sources familiar with the process.
Consumer advocates have faulted the OCC for letting eight years pass between reviewing Wells Fargo’s commitment to community development.
“Regulators could have downgraded Wells Fargo years ago and maybe that would have stopped some of this wrongdoing,” said Paulina Gonzalez, head of the California Reinvestment Coalition.
Following the 2008 housing market collapse, the OCC faulted several national banks for their community lending.
Bank of America Corp BAC.N lost its "outstanding" grade in 2011 when the OCC faulted the lender for "discriminatory or other illegal credit practices." JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N also slipped one notch from "outstanding" to "satisfactory" in 2013.
But industry and regulatory sources said they knew of no other case where a national bank had slipped two notches in a single review of CRA compliance. | 1,926 |
Former adult film star Mia Khalifa has maintained a strong online presence since leaving the porn business. In a post celebrating her 17 million follower milestone on Instagram, Khalifa had a warning for her fans.
“I love every single one of you, but please leave me the f**k alone if you see me at an airport before 9 AM. The encounter is guaranteed to be unpleasant,” the sex starlet-turned-social media influencer said in the caption alongside a photo from a recent trip to Toledo, Spain.
Khalifa, 26, made roughly a dozen appearances before quitting the porn industry in early 2015, but not before she received a slew of online abuse and threats of decapitation from Islamic State extremists, due to her proclivity for performing nude while wearing a hijab.
Also on rt.com Master bait: Ex-Pakistani envoy to India falls victim to Twitter troll’s pornstar fake news
Following her three-month stint in pornography, the Lebanese-born Khalifa has spoken out about the manipulation of young and vulnerable women in the industry and has expressed deep regret for her decision to join the porn business, however briefly.
“(Porn) corporations prey on callow young women & trap them legally into contracts when they’re vulnerable,” she said.
The former porn star claims she made just $12,000 from porn, doesn’t have any ownership or rights to her own website, and does not receive any royalties from her movies.
People think I’m racking in millions from porn. Completely untrue. I made a TOTAL of around $12,000 in the industry and never saw a penny again after that. Difficulty finding a normal job after quitting porn was... scary. Full interview here: https://t.co/xHK7SmhfrYpic.twitter.com/fwJlyzHznq — Mia K. (@miakhalifa) August 12, 2019
She recently gave a lengthy interview detailing her experiences and struggles since leaving the adult film industry, saying she found it difficult to find work after porn, and struggled to explain the large gap in her CV. She also says she now suffers from PTSD.
Despite the adversity, Khalifa has still managed to garner an impressive online following while posting about food, sports, and travel. She also still posts provocative pictures from photoshoots, but they are a far cry from her previously NSFW endeavors.
Like this story? Share it with a friend! | 1,927 |
which is used for the real-time, onboard view while flying. The other camera is used to record your flight footage in HD (e.g. 1080p 60fps). Most high quality drone videos you see on Youtube/Vimeo are filmed using one of the HD cameras listed below.
The best known camera here is probably the GoPro. The Runcam 2 and Xiaomi Yi are also popular due to their affordibility. Compared to the GoPro, they are only a fraction of the cost, lighter, and yet still capable of capturing decent footage.
Miscellaneous Items
There are many other parts and tools you might consider adding to your shopping list.
LiPo Battery Charger
Soldering Iron and Equipment
In this article I will suggest what soldering equipment you should get, and show you how to solder.
Battery Straps
Where to buy: Amazon | Banggood
Heatshrink
Electrical wires and XT60 connectors
In this tutorial I will explain how to select the correct wire size and what type of wire and battery connector you should use in a quadcopter.
Loctite glue
Loctite glue is used to secure the motor screws in your quadcopter, for more detail and what options to buy, check out this article.
Liquid electrical tape
Where to buy: Amazon – http://amzn.to/2AmnirP
LED Light
Programmable by FC: Amazon | Banggood
Standalone LED: Amazon | Banggood
Buzzer (lost model alarm)
There are so many types of buzzer, it takes a whole article to explain! :) Check our my tutorial on buzzers and learn about where you can buy them.
Mini Quad Kit | RTF | BNF | ARTF
Some mini quads are pre-built with the majority of the parts that you need, e.g. motors, ESCs, FC, etc. Although i do recommend you to research each part and build the quad yourself, some beginners might still prefer RTF (Ready to Fly) option. Here are some nice RTF/ARTF Mini Quads:
You’ve Made It!
I hope this post gave you some insights into what components are involved in a mini quad, and all the popular options out there. If you still have questions, don’t worry! Join our forum: IntoFPV.com, we have a great community who are always there to help. | 1,928 |
to manufacture doubt about the reality of global warming its own scientists had once confirmed. It lobbied to block federal and international action to control greenhouse gas emissions. It helped to erect a vast edifice of misinformation that stands to this day.”
And so it goes. “The alliance between the economy and technology ends up sidelining anything unrelated to its immediate interests,” the pope wrote in his climate encyclical. “Consequently the most one can expect is superficial rhetoric, sporadic acts of philanthropy and perfunctory expressions of concern for the environment, whereas any genuine attempt by groups within society to introduce change is viewed as a nuisance based on romantic illusions or an obstacle to be circumvented.”
An obstacle to be circumvented – which brings us back around to the GOP of Paul Gosar and his ilk. Just two weeks ago, Politico’s Andrew Restuccia reported, “Top Republican lawmakers are planning a wide-ranging offensive — including outreach to foreign officials by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office — to undermine President Barack Obama’s hopes of reaching an international climate change agreement that would cement his environmental legacy.
“The GOP strategy, emerging after months of quiet discussions, includes sowing doubts about Obama’s climate policies at home and abroad, trying to block key environmental regulations in Congress, and challenging the legitimacy of the president’s attempts to craft a global agreement without submitting a treaty to the Senate.”
It is not for nothing that since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the gas and oil industry has contributed more than $1.8 million to McConnell (and it’s not for nothing that in the short time since 2010, when he was first elected to the House, Paul Gosar has collected nearly $200,000 from the energy and natural resources sector).
Joe Romm of the indispensable Climate Progress blog wrote, “McConnell’s actions end the pretense that the GOP leadership has any interest whatsoever in trying to globally address the gravest preventable threat America faces… I’m not sure a major political leader has ever pursued a strategy that is so directly counter to the health and well-being of all Americans, their children, and the next 50 generations.”
It is cynical, hypocritical, mercenary, and willfully destructive: many things this pope seems not to be. By all means, let him speak to Congress. When it comes to climate change, he will be a breath of fresh, unpolluted air. | 1,929 |
, I
was really surprised that he did that. It showed so much
character," said Wolf.
For Dilla, the trip to Europe was a chance, in some
ways, to close a circle, to see the world with friends old
and new (Ma Dukes, Rhettmatic of the Beat Junkies,
and Dave NewYork accompanied him on the trip) and
perform for crowds that had always supported him.
"It was like his farewell tour. It was postponed like
twice, and he was the one who wanted to do it," said Phat
Kat. "We did that because that's what Dilla wanted to do
… and in between, you know, days we had off, he'd go on
dialysis. I mean, this nigga was a fucking soldier. Still up
there every motherfuckin night, spittin. There wasn't no
night where he was like, 'Yo, I can't do this,' and even if
he had done that, motherfuckas would have understood
that. But this dude rocked every night. He was making
beats in the hotel room while we were over there."
Having come to an understanding with their
distributor, Donuts was set for release in early February,
2006. Stones Throw also pressed up a bonus for some
retailers, a seven-inch single of "Signs," a beat made at
the same time as the Donuts batches but never intended
for inclusion on the album. There was excitement to
finally see the project through to completion, but it was
tinged with melancholy.
Questlove swung through to visit in January 2006,
during Grammy week. Even he wasn't fully aware of just
how sharply Dilla's health had declined. "When I stepped into his house in California, I was totally unprepared for
what I saw. It was just Dilla and his mother, and it really
wasn't Dilla at all. In his place was a frail, eighty-pound
man in a wheelchair. He couldn't communicate at all. He
was mumbling and gesturing weakly … all I knew at the
time was what I saw, which was that he was dying."
J Dilla's Donuts 33 1/3 by Jordan Ferguson was published by Bloomsbury. | 1,930 |
If you were a fan of the Carolina Rebellion festival in Richmond County, North Carolina – then Epicenter Festival is for you. One of the promoters of Rebellion, Danny Wimmer Presents, is putting on the festival May 10th-12th, 2019.
Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
And what a bill! You've seen some of these bands on other festivals across the country, and this is quite an assortment of acts coming to the Carolina area. Korn, Judas Priest, Tool, Foo Fighters, Meshuggah, The Prodigy, The Cult, Black Label Society, Bring Me The Horizon are just some of the bands. Here are the daily breakdowns:
Friday, May 10th: Korn
Rob Zombie
The Prodigy
Evanescence
Machine Gun Kelly
Meshuggah
Skillet
Beartooth
Mark Lanegan Band
Dorothy
Black Pistol Fire
Zeal & Ardor
Knocked Loose
Slothrust
Wilson
Hands Like Houses
Hyro The Hero
Amigo The Devil
Arrested Youth
Vein
Black Coffee Saturday, May 11th: Tool
Judas Priest
The Cult
Bush
Black Label Society
Circa Survive
Yelawolf
Motionless In White
The Damned Things
Starset
Grandson
Badflower
Memphis May Fire
Issues
High On Fire
Wage War
Crobot
Sylar
Counterfeit.
Pretty Vicious
Shvpes
Dirty Honey
Alien Weaponry
Hyde Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading. Sunday, May 12th: Foo Fighters
Bring Me The Horizon
311
+Live+
Mastodon
Killswitch Engage
Architects
Tom Morello
Fever 333
Reignwolf
Yungblud
The Glorious Sons
Ho99o9
While She Sleeps
Basement
Scarlxrd
Movements
Teenage Wrist
Demob Happy
Boston Manor
Cleopatrick
The Dirty Nil
Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 14th, at 12:00 PM EST / 09:00 AM PST via epicenterfestival.com. | 1,931 |
SINGAPORE: Those looking to purchase Build-to-Order (BTO) flats will soon be able to receive the results of their applications earlier, said Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong on Thursday (Mar 7).
The balloting time for BTO flats will be reduced from six to three weeks, and will take effect from the May 2019 BTO exercise.
"We have also been studying ways to improve our BTO application processes," Mr Wong said in his Committee of Supply speech. "I spoke about this last year and challenged HDB to shorten the balloting time. So I'm very happy to share that HDB has done a fundamental review of its processes and it has succeeded in reducing the time taken from six weeks to three weeks, and this will take effect from the May 2019 BTO exercise onwards."
In addition, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will also announce upcoming BTO sites six months in advance instead of the current three months. This change will also kick in from the May BTO exercise.
This would mean that during the May BTO exercise, HDB will announce the list of BTO sites for August and November.
"For first-timer couples, applying for a BTO flat is a major decision," said Mr Wong. "And one consideration is the location of the flat. Very often potential buyers want to know the planned locations of future BTO sales exercises, not just the present one so they can decide whether to put in an application now or hold back and wait for a subsequent sales exercise.
"We have been careful about revealing too much information on future sales... there will always be unexpected changes to the building plans (for example, due to changes in market conditions or demand). But I understand why buyers would like more information to plan ahead."
The number of BTO flats with shorter waiting times of between two and three years will also be doubled to 2,000 this year, said the minister.
"There will be a limit to how many such flats we can offer due to factors like site availability. But we will continue to review how much more we can do and whether we can compress the timeline further."
Mr Wong said those who need flats more urgently can go for the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) or the Re-offer of Balance Flats (ROF).
Buyers can book flats from an open ROF pool at any time of the year, starting from June. Details on the application process will be shared in due course.
| 1,932 |
What’s interesting is that even in comic books other than her own, Ms. Marvel was a hopeless victim…
Yes, I know – the rest of the Avengers aren’t exactly faring too well here either… but at least they had their moments in the sun, when they were kicking ass on the cover. Not Ms. Marvel – on her own comic, and in crossover comics, she was never on top. Would it have killed Stan Lee to let Ms. Marvel shine just once?
In both the Avengers comic and the Spider-Man comic, Ms. Marvel is helplessly passed out. And so, Marvel’s “feminist” comic book series was mercifully retired before the decade’s end….. which is really a shame, because it honestly did have potential. An empowered, intelligent female superhero that also was Charlie’s Angels sexy – it was a dynamite combination. Marvel’s heart was in the right place, but they just couldn’t make it work.
From here, Ms. Marvel, pops in and out of comics here and there, never really the focal point of any stories. But the worst was yet to come. Perhaps her lowest point would come in the 1980s…
In the early part of the decade, Ms. Marvel is a part of the Avengers. No, she doesn’t save the team and become their leader….. instead, she gets raped.
Yep. You read that right. It caused a bit of a stir at the time, and ultimately a brand new story was told which more-or-less “unraped” her. But the damage was done. Not even another costume change (above) in the late 1980s could save things.
Then, in more recent years, Ms. Marvel is given a few reboots, returning Ms. Marvel to the stage….
… and this is where yours truly loses track. Evidently, it’s no longer Carol Danvers, and the whole feminist shtick is long-gone; however, she has gained ground enough for talks to begin for a Marvel movie. Will Ms. Marvel finally get to be that sexy ass-kicking superheroine she was supposed to be in 1976? Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” may be ancient history, and Billy Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs long forgotten, but several decades later, Mizz Marvel may finally get to be that “Female Who Fights Back!”
THE END | 1,933 |
and some even offer free access!
if you are employed, remind your boss that its is no more expensive compared to a regular course/training and much more immersive and interactive. https://channel9.msdn.com/events/CPP/ the cppcon conference produces over 100 recorded talks ever year! https://www.google.nl/search?q=youtube+cppcon
Other things to do
These last ones are not good to start with, but it an excellent reference if you want to dive into the full details.
I got feedback from some the great folks on the orange page that just reading books is not going to make you a good software engineer. Also they mentioned: “all that stuff about >Variadic templates, meta programming, memory barriers and the specifics of memory layout< do you really need to know all that? Is that not too obscure and not used on daily basis”?
There is absolutely truth in this. First of all: practice, practice, practice. Programming is, just like so many things a skill that is really honed by doing it a lot. Still the mentioned books are great. “A Tour of C++”, make sure to get the second edition that was just released, is only 256 (yes!) pages. I encourage you to read a few chapters and as soon as you found something new, do try it! Open up your favorite editor and try it out. Also by all means skip chapters that you find difficult, or uninteresting, read through the books to get a sense of the whole and return to the more difficult to grasp parts later.
Also worth mentioning, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is not about c++ at all, its about self-management, but it changed my life. Of course there are many other good books, these are just the ones that I read and really stuck with me.
join communities https://stackoverflow.com/ is an excellent place for discussion and to ask questions join cpplang on slack
List of conferences
Meet dutch C++ people at local groups:
Good talks on slightly more advanced topics
Funny videos about computer complexities
Take these with a grain of salt, yes there is truth to them, but you will probably never have to solve these problems yourself.
ping-backs
Note from the author
This post got an unusual amount of attention, I would like to emphasize that it a work in progress, I will update it regularly. | 1,934 |
Yet Allah says in a hadith qudsi, “If my servant comes closer to Me a hand span, I come closer to him or her an arms-length; and if he or she comes to Me walking, I come to him or her at speed.” (Bukhari)
So just take that first step. Make the intention to do one new thing or to fix something you weren’t doing so well.
How can we not fall in love with al-Wadud, who showers us with affection daily?
Being a Recipient of Allah’s love
1- Do good
ان الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات سيجعل لهم الرحمن ودا
“Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds – the Most Merciful will appoint for them affection.” (Qur’an, 19:96)
If you believe and do good, Allah will bestow upon you affection. When you do good, you are within the realm of Allah’s love, and He will show you how He loves you. He is ash-Shakoor and so will give you so much more than what you gave.
2- Love for people what you love for yourself
Al-Ghazali states, “One is loving-kind among God’s servants who desires for God’s creatures what he desires for himself; and whoever prefers them to himself is even higher than that as the messenger of God – may God’s blessing and peace be upon him – said, when his tooth was broken and his face was struck and bloodied: ‘Lord, guide my people, for they do not know’. Not even their actions prevented him from intending their good. Or as he (may God’s blessing and peace be upon him) – commanded Ali (may God be merciful to him) when he said: ‘If you want to take precedence over those who are close to God, then be reconciled with those who broke with you, give to the ones who excluded you, and forgive the ones who wronged you’.”
3- Thank Him for His affection
When you thank Allah, He gives you more. So thank Him for showering you with love everyday, and watch as that increases, insha’Allah. | 1,935 |
Advertisement Word of Faith trafficked Brazilians for slave labor, the AP reports ‘They kept us as slaves,’ former member tells the AP Share Shares Copy Link Copy
Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina, imported young Brazilians who were then forced to work for the church without pay, according to an Associated Press investigation reported in the Raleigh New & Observer.The Associated Press investigation found that Word of Faith Fellowship used its two church branches in Brazil to import a steady stream of young laborers. The Brazilians, who often spoke little English, were brought in on tourist and work visas, many of which were then seized by the church, according to the AP.One teenage boy told the AP, “They kept us as slaves.”He said he was forced to work 15 hours a day cleaning warehouses and then at businesses owned by the church’s senior ministers, according to the report in the News & Observer. He told the AP he was usually required to work without pay, and that any violation of the rules would lead to punishments ranging from being shamed from the pulpit to beatings.The AP obtained a recording of a 2014 meeting in which three former congregants told an assistant U.S. attorney that Brazilians were being forced to work without pay.The stories of forced labor are the latest in an ongoing investigation that the AP says is exposing decades of abuse at Word of Faith Fellowship, founded in 1979 by Jane Whaley, a former math teacher, and her husband, Sam.Based on the AP’s exclusive interviews with 43 former members, documents and secretly made recordings, the AP reported in February that congregants were regularly punched and choked to "purify" sinners by beating out devils.Another AP report said congregants were ordered by church leaders to lie to authorities investigating reports of abuse.The AP reporters said they made repeated attempts to obtain comments from church leaders in both countries on the allegations of forced labor, but they did not respond.The AP also reported that the church enticed Brazilian men whose visas had expired to stay in Spindale by marrying them off to American church members.It is illegal to enter a sham marriage for the purpose of avoiding U.S. immigration laws.The AP reported that Jill Rose, now the U.S. attorney in Charlotte, promised she would "take a fresh look" at allegations against the church, according to the recording. But the former members said she never responded when they repeatedly tried to contact her inthe months after the meeting.The AP said that Rose has declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation. | 1,936 |
Sixty-six years to the day since Sir Donald Bradman's final Test innings, the greatest ever cricketer will be honoured in a musical celebration of his life in Adelaide tonight that will feature a piece composed by the great man himself.
Bradman was famously bowled for a second-ball duck by England's Eric Hollies at The Oval to leave his career Test runs at 6996 and a batting average at an unrivalled 99.94.
It's a piece of cricket and Australian folklore, but what is perhaps less well-known about Bradman is his personal love of music and talent for the piano.
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra tonight premieres a'multimedia musical portrait' called 'Our Don' that has been nearly three years in the making.
It will combine rare video footage and photographs of Bradman's public and private life sourced from the 52 scrapbooks of cricketing memorabilia that he created in retirement and which are now housed in South Australia's state library.
The cricket legend's granddaughter Greta Bradman, a renowned soprano, will perform during the event that will combine the multimedia aspects with an orchestral score, narration and song.
Greta Bradman sung in the Long Room at Lord's ahead of last year's second Ashes Test, and has also performed at the Bradman Oration, Cricket Australia's annual celebration of the legend and the spirit of cricket.
The soprano has previously spoken of her childhood afternoons spent listening to her grandpa play the piano. During research for 'Our Don', composer Natalie Williams unearthed a short piece titled 'Every Day is a Rainbow Day for Me' Bradman had composed in 1930, the year he scored 974 runs in seven innings in England as Australia won the Ashes 2-1.
"Bradman loved music and was also a talented pianist and was often found at the piano playing for his teammates during the long tour journeys to England by boat," Ms Williams said.
Narration for tonight's premiere of 'Our Don' will come from actor Gary Sweet, from words written by Bradman biographer Peter Allen.
"The only parameter for my work was that it should celebrate Sir Don's life in a way that pays homage to his achievements and successes and highlights his unique role in Australian cultural history," said Ms Williams.
"With this approach in mind I began many months of research and study into Don Bradman's life and history, his personal and professional journey, and his role as an unassuming Australian 'hero'. | 1,937 |
that they are not going to represent their countries, they are going to represent EU."
Jack Parrock, Euronews: "Is that realistic? Josep Borrell has been quite outspoken in the past."
Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo: "Well, perhaps he should give new thinking to the entire problem of the Western Balkans for the sake of a European solution and the independence of Kosovo is a reality. I think whoever denies this reality or tries to bring any kind of solution without accepting this state and the will of the people here is going to more harm herself or himself."
Special court in The Hague
Jack Parrock, Euronews: "Your party voted against the setting up of The Hague-based special court*. You're going to be expected to cooperate with it. How willing are you to do that?"
Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo: "It's not much that I can do. Taken into consideration that Specialist Chambers have become an international obligation. They were voted in our parliament almost five years ago with a two thirds majority. It is a very unique kind of court, which I think lacks transparency."
Jack Parrock, Euronews: "So would you like to see the specialist court brought from The Hague and based entirely in Pristina?"
Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo: "I want to strengthen local courts. So normal courts. I think that justice should be home-grown."
Jack Parrock, Euronews: "Are you going to fully cooperate with the Special Chambers in The Hague?"
Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo: "Our Ministry of Justice has been cooperating, but Specialist Chambers is operating through its potentiality more than through its actuality, as if the goal was to discipline KLA commanders rendered into powerful politicians rather than bringing justice specially for the victims."
Jack Parrock, Euronews: "But will you cooperate with it? Will you give them all the information they ask?"
Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo: "It's an international obligation for us."
* (The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office are part of the judicial system of Kosovo. The Chambers are attached to each level of the Kosovo court system. They were established by a Constitutional Amendment and a Law adopted by the Kosovo Assembly to conduct trials for allegations stemming from the 2011 Council of Europe report, which alleges serious violations of international law.)
To watch the full interview please click on the player above. | 1,938 |
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck announced his retirement from the NFL in a press conference Saturday night:
ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported Luck was retiring due to mental fatigue.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the franchise was aware the 29-year-old was contemplating retirement:
Luck had three seasons remaining on the six-year, $140 million deal he signed in June 2016. He was set to make $9.1 million in 2019, per Over the Cap.
Selected out of Stanford in 2012, Luck quickly established himself as one of the league's top passers. He took over a team that went 2-14 and led it to three consecutive postseason berths, reaching the AFC Championship Game after the 2014 season.
Unfortunately for him, the 6'4", 240-pound star's body took a pounding early in his career. He was sacked 100 times through his first three seasons—and those hits took their toll.
Luck played just seven games in 2015 as he dealt with a lacerated kidney. He missed the 2017 campaign after he suffered a torn labrum and a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder.
He returned for the 2018 season and played in all 16 games. Despite not playing in an NFL contest in 18 months, he showed minimal rust. He set career highs in completion percentage (67.3) and yards (4,593) while coming within one touchdown (39) of tying his previous best.
Meanwhile, he led the Colts to a 10-6 record and a wild-card berth. Indianapolis beat the AFC South champion Houston Texans in the first round before it fell to the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round.
That performance helped him capture the 2018 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award.
Injuries, though, have once again popped up. Luck was held out of spring workouts because of a setback described as a calf strain. That was later reclassified as a high-ankle issue. He had not appeared in any preseason games.
With Luck's retirement, Indianapolis will likely turn to Jacoby Brissett under center. The 2016 third-round pick filled in for Luck in 2017 after being acquired from the New England Patriots a week before the season started. He went 4-11 in 15 starts while completing 58.8 percent of his passes for 3,098 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The 26-year-old has made 17 starts in his three NFL seasons. | 1,939 |
Back when everyone was still wondering who would be at the helm of Star Wars Episode VII, one of the names who was on everyone’s radar was none other than Brad Bird. While the filmmaker was best known for his work on The Incredibles and Ratatouille, he had made a satisfying transition into live-action with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, making him a prime candidate to take over Star Wars.
Brad Bird ended up directing Tomorrowland instead of taking the helm of the film that would become The Force Awakens. However, it sounds like whenever Brad Bird decides that he has something he wants to do in the Star Wars universe, he has an open invitation to let Lucasfilm know.
Brad Bird recently spoke with Fandango to discuss the arrival of Incredibles 2 later this summer. Discussion briefly turned to his near-involvement with Star Wars, and here’s what Bird had to say on the matter:
“I’ve known Kathy Kennedy a long time. And I’ve known George [Lucas] quite a while too. And certainly, that’s a very fun universe and if I could think of something that would be perfect for that I would give Kathy a call, absolutely. They’ve sort of said if I have any notion that would fit in that universe to please contact them. I mean, I saw Kathy a week ago ’cause they were mixing Solo down the hall from us up here. So, I wouldn’t rule that out. But I also have a lot of other ideas I’m very anxious to do.”
It doesn’t sound like Brad Bird is anxious to jump into the Star Wars universe, but since he’s very close with Kathleen Kennedy, it’s clear that the door at Lucasfilm is open for him to pitch an idea if he ever comes up with one that intrigues him. Surely he’s also open to the possibility of being offered a different Star Wars project that isn’t his own idea as well. But since Bird indicated that he has his own ideas that he’d like to make instead of playing in someone else’s sandbox, I wouldn’t count on him heading to Lucasfilm anytime soon.
The prospect of Brad Bird directing a Star Wars movie is an enticing one. But as someone who rather enjoyed Tomorrowland, I’m far more interested in seeing what original stories Bird has up his sleeve outside of previously established intellectual property. How about you? | 1,940 |
BEIJING (Reuters) - Former National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman arrived in Beijing on Saturday after what he said was a “really good” 5-day trip to North Korea.
Slideshow ( 6 images )
Rodman, 56, said last week before departing for Pyongyang that he was trying to bring sports to the increasingly isolated nuclear-armed country, where he has previously met leader Kim Jong Un.
“Everybody’s going to be happy. It was a good day. It was a good trip. A really good trip,” Rodman said.
Wearing black clothing with the PotCoin logo - a crypto-currency used by the legal marijuana industry - Rodman fended off questions from dozens of journalists at the arrival gate.
Asked repeatedly if he had met Kim, Rodman said: “You’ll find out.”
He also declined to answer questions about whether he had played a role in the release of Otto Warmbier, an American student who was returned home on the day of Rodman’s arrival suffering from brain damage and in a state of unresponsive wakefulness, after more than a year in detention in North Korea.
Tensions have escalated on the Korean peninsula over North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests and its vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland, presenting U.S. President Donald Trump with perhaps his most pressing security worry.
Rodman’s North Korea visits over the years have fueled speculation that he could somehow facilitate a diplomatic breakthrough between Pyongyang and Washington.
The U.S. State Department has said Rodman was traveling as a private citizen.
Rodman has faced ridicule and criticism for his trips to North Korea, which some U.S. politicians and activists view as serving only as fodder for North Korean propaganda.
His earlier visits to North Korea in 2013 and 2014 included a basketball game that he organized, an event chronicled in the documentary film “Big Bang in Pyongyang”, which featured Rodman singing “Happy Birthday” to Kim.
The U.S. government has issued travel warnings to Americans against going to North Korea.
Rodman, nicknamed “The Worm” during his playing career and known for his tattoos, body piercings and multicolored hair, is considered one of the best defensive players and rebounders in NBA history.
He won five league championships with the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls. | 1,941 |
President Donald Trump slammed Virginia Democrats over several gun violence prevention measures they're looking to pass in the state.
Trump's tweet came shortly after law enforcement arrested three suspected white supremacists who had allegedly talked about opening fire at a major gun rights rally in Richmond on Monday.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, announced Wednesday that the state would temporarily ban firearms in Capitol Square prior to Monday's rally, citing the arrests and threat of a shooting.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump slammed Virginia Democrats over several gun violence prevention measures they're looking to pass in the state, as a white supremacist group gears up to protest at an annual gun rights rally outside the state capitol.
"Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia," the president tweeted on Friday evening. "That's what happens when you vote for Democrats, they will take your guns away. Republicans will win Virginia in 2020. Thank you Dems!"
Trump's tweet came shortly after law enforcement arrested three suspected white supremacists in Maryland and Delaware who had allegedly talked about opening fire at Monday's pro-gun rally.
The suspects belong to a violent white-supremacist group called "the Base," whose aim is "to accelerate the downfall of the US government, incite a race war and establish a white ethno-state," according to an affidavit filed in Georgia court, as The Wall Street Journal reported.
Several other members of the Base were arrested throughout the country this week on different charges.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, announced Wednesday that the state would temporarily ban firearms in Capitol Square prior to Monday's rally, citing the arrests and threat of a shooting.
Gun rights groups appealed Northam's decision, but a federal appeals court judge upheld the temporary gun ban on Thursday, writing that "the Second Amendment right to bear arms is not unlimited."
"This is the right decision," Northam said in a Thursday statement about the ruling. "These threats are real — as evidenced by reports of neo-Nazis arrested this morning after discussing plans to head to Richmond with firearms."
Virginia Democrats, who control both the state house and senate, are working on passing several gun regulations, including background checks on gun sales, a law that would allow authorities to confiscate a gun from someone they believe is a danger to themselves, a ban on firearms in government buildings.
Tens of thousands of pro-gun protesters are expected to gather outside the state capitol building in the annual Lobby Day protest. | 1,942 |
A prominent digital rights group will protest the March 22 court hearing in the fight between Apple and the FBI over a locked iPhone.
The group, Fight for the Future, will read and display comments from those backing Apple. The tech giant is rebuffing a court order directing it to help investigators unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.
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Apple — backed by digital rights advocates — argues complying would undermine its own security and set a dangerous precedent for other locked devices.
“This case is not just about one phone, it’s about the future of safety and security for millions of people all over the world,” said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future (FFTF), in a Wednesday statement. “We’ll be outside the courthouse to make sure those people’s voices are heard, because what the government is trying to do in this case doesn’t just threaten our basic rights, it puts all of us in danger.”
The FBI maintains its request is narrowly tailored to one phone and one case. The Justice Department last week blasted Apple’s privacy concerns as “false” and “corrosive,” accusing the company of using the case as a marketing ploy.
In preparation for its protests at the first hearing in the case, FFTF has launched a website, savesecurity.org, where people can sign a petition and leave comments to be read and presented at the demonstration.
The Apple-FBI case has become a proxy for the larger battle over law enforcement access to secured data.
Law enforcement officials warn that encryption is increasingly helping criminals and terrorists hide from authorities, or “go dark.” They have pushed tech firms to provide some type of guaranteed access to these locked communications.
But the tech community is resisting, arguing that ensuring access weakens global security and threatens online privacy.
“Encryption protects our hospitals, airports, and water treatment facilities,” Greer said. “Undermining security risks lives.”
Pressure has mounted on Congress to step in and end the standoff.
While some lawmakers support legislation that would force companies to comply with court orders seeking encrypted data, others believe Congress should not regulate encryption standards.
In recent weeks, momentum has grown for a recently introduced compromise measure to establish a national commission to study the challenges. The panel would include voices from the privacy, technology, law enforcement and intelligence communities, and produce recommendations for Congress. | 1,943 |
That’s the fear in west-central Minnesota, where water levels have created some inconvenience, but have not created real hardship like that seen across the state border. Rick West, engineer for Otter Tail County, said he recently had to drive 32 miles to reach a destination eight miles away because so many township roads were closed. To date, the county has spent upward of $5 million on a handful of water-pumping projects to keep county roads above water.
West is hopeful that water levels will fall—a dry autumn was very helpful, he noted—but aware and wary of what might lie ahead because storage for additional water is gone. “If trends in rainfall and snowpack continue over the next five years, it’s going to be serious,” West said. “There’s no doubt about it.”
In the Waubay region, not much has happened in terms of big mitigation projects. In 1999, the Army Corps of Engineers suggested annual pumping and drainage options for Bitter Lake, but the costs were locally prohibitive. Williams said the state has been trying to help where it can in the region, mostly because “we’ve been screaming like a dry bearing on a combine.”
But he also pointed out that win-win solutions are scarce. “You don’t fight Mother Nature … and you can’t wish for a dry four or five years,” because most weather experts believe the region will remain in a wet cycle for some time. Locals have their own home-cooked solutions, he said, but often ignore numerous obstacles, including downstream landowners whose property could be inundated, at least on a seasonal basis. “People downstream don’t want your problem,” Williams said, “You don’t want me draining my pond through your yard.”
He said many people in the region—himself included—are “next-year people,” optimistic to a fault that things are going to get better.
But just in case, Williams says he follows the Devils Lake situation in hopes of learning some lessons before they become the hard sort. For example, he said, “we’re trying to get away from repetitive costs” like those seen to the north. Despite constant efforts to stay just ahead of water levels in Devils Lake, “all they’ve gained is a fishery, and fishing don’t put corn in the bins, or beans on the road.” | 1,944 |
A majority of likely American voters in five swing states support ending the United States’ current legal immigration system whereby more than 1.2 million legal immigrants are admitted every year, mostly for no reason other than they have family members already living in the country.
The latest Zogby Analytics poll conducted for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) finds that likely U.S. voters in Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin — all swing states in the 2020 presidential election — by a majority support ending the process known as “chain migration,” whereby newly naturalized citizens can bring an unlimited number of foreign relatives to the U.S.
Nearly 70 percent of all legal immigration to the U.S. comes through chain migration. Nearly ten million legal immigrants have been admitted to the country through chain migration in the last decade, alone, and in the next two decades, chain migration is expected to import about eight million new foreign-born voters.
Trump, last month, proposed an overhaul of the legal immigration system that would have ended chain migration and replaced it with a rigorous process that selected foreign nationals for admission to the U.S. based on their ability to work in higher wage fields, support themselves financially, speak English, and have knowledge of American civics.
A range of 51 to more than 55 percent likely voter majorities in Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin said they supported ending chain migration and transitioning to a merit-based legal immigration system.
Meanwhile, only about 33 to 39.7 percent of likely voters in those five swing states said they opposed ending chain migration. In Florida, with a large foreign-born population, less than 33.5 percent of likely voters said they opposed ending chain migration.
In Michigan, the sixth swing state polled by Zogby Analytics, nearly half of likely voters — or 49.5 percent — said they supported ending chain migration. Only about four-in-ten likely Michigan voters said they opposed ending chain migration.
The poll puts swing state likely voters overwhelmingly on Trump’s side in terms of ending chain migration and at odds with leading Democrat presidential primary front-runners like Joe Biden. While in Congress, between 1989 to 2008, Biden either opposed ending chain migration or voted to expand chain migration to the U.S.
Each swing state poll was conducted May 23 through May 29 with a margin of errors +/- 4.3 to 4.4 percent.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder. | 1,945 |
I think there is still a lot of water to flow under the bridge on this program, as it is only in its early days. However, with the technology in the Rheinmetall Group, we have a significant interest in playing a key role in MGCS,” Hudson said.
He argued that developing the next-generation tank must begin with considering the “threat” out there, namely the Russian T-14 and T-15 tanks, which are based on a common chassis dubbed Armata. Those vehicles’ characteristics, or at least what is known about them, dictate “high lethality” be built into the future European tank, according to Hudson.
“How do you defeat a tank that has four active defense systems on it?” he asked.
Eurosatory expo floor offers hope yet for teaming robots with manned vehicles Evidence at Eurosatory shows worldwide defense industry is beginning to grasp and get creative with concepts that team ground and aerial robots with manned systems.
And then there is General Dynamics European Land Systems, the Old World’s offspring of the U.S. maker of the Abrams tank and Stryker vehicle.
The company is careful to note its European roots: a consolidated mishmash of formerly independent armored-vehicle makers from across the continent.
Manuel Lineros, vice president of engineering, told Defense News that the company’s Ascot vehicle will be the GDELS offering for the European next-gen tank. Advertised for its mobility and weighing in at roughly 45 tons, the tracked vehicle falls in the class of infantry fighting vehicles, putting it one notch below the heaviest battle tank category.
“I understand the battlefield has changed,” Lineros said in an interview at Eurosatory. “We have to abandon the ideas of a combat vehicle versus a classic main battle tank. Everything is so mixed up now.”
Whatever the Ascot lacks in sheer mass against projectiles aimed at its shell could be compensated with an active protection system and the ability to move quickly on the battlefield, argued Lineros. “We have to be flexible in this way of interpreting the requirements.”
That includes defending against drone swarms, which could become the peer-to-peer equivalent of improvised explosive devices designed to rip open the underbellies of vehicles, he said. Unlike the recent countermine vehicle architecture, that type of aerial threat could mean the top surface of future vehicles will be a weak point requiring special protection, he added. | 1,946 |
Height: 13 meters
Mass: 38.5 metric tonnes
Crew: One Pilot with Biofeedback systems for arms
Powerplant: DG229 Argos Fusion Reactor, 25 megawatt peak output
Top speed: 120km/h
Defenses: MOLMAC armor plating (30-60mm thick) SD024 Scuntum shield system
Armament (integrated): Four low anti missile power point defense lasers, two 15mm machine guns (head mounted, 2,000 rounds)
Armament (non intergrated): N-35 60mm assault rifle (200 round magazine), N-33 125mm sniper rifle (10 round magazine), VR-48 cruise missile launcher, KN-84 plasma edge close combat unit
VULCAN Defense Technologies' most prolifically produced military mechanized unit, the HAV-05General Service Medium Mech represented a subtle refinement of Mech technology. The HAV-01in it's day a revolutionary combat vehicle and it's successors the HAV-03and HAV-04were considerable improvements, all of them suffered from one critical weakness: expense. While strike forces of Mechs could turn the tide of battle if used properly their utility was often limited by their high price-tag per unit, which meant that their use was limited to small elite units. This had to do with a wide variety of top of the line systems involved in their construction. In contrast the engineers in theprogram had to make do without such luxuries. Much of it's structural construction was instead of high strength molecular matrix alloys was simple structural steel. It's electronic systems were off the shelf and thoroughly simplified, it's computer systems were largely off the shelf equipment and it's servos and shock absorption systems were positively archaic. The resulting mech was at best on par with the 40 year oldand was easily outclassed by it's newer contemporaries in terms of speed, endurance, flexibility and durability. In particular it was ill suited to using energy weapons. It's biggest advantage was that threecould be procured for the cost of aand four could be acquired for the cost of a. This meant that roles generally filled by more traditional vehicles could be economically fulfilled by more traditional vehicles. Within the first three years alone some 25,000 units were delivered: equal to all Mech production which had been previously achieved. While these units were vulnerable to attacks by higher performance mechs (especially in the hands of seasoned pilots), sheer numbers often allowed forces ofto prevailSpecs
Yep, it's a mook mecha.
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of mana to resist his influence, which is extraordinarily rare. When under his control they will basically become mindless zombies, alhtough he is able to "speak" through him if he wants to.
Number of the Beast, or 666, is a tattoo on Lucifer's back which he will possess regardless of what class he's summoned to, Saber, Archer, Rider, Caster, Berserker, Avenger, Shielder, or Beast. It's also his only Noble Phantasm that can go across all of those Classes. This Noble Phantasm isn't actually a strength, but it's a curse, a seal that The World put on him to weaken his powers. Rin Tohsaka theorizes that the reason is because without it every one of his Noble Phantasms would be unrankable Anti-Universe Noble Phantasms when he's summoned to the Holy Grail War, so Number of the Beast or 666 was the "limiter" or "failsafe" that The World put in place to make sure that he woudln't be unbeatable once it realized that it couldn't prevent someone as evil as Lucifer from being summoned in the first place.
Absorption is a Noble Phantasm which Lucifer can use when he's summoned as Beast or Caster. Simply put, it allows him to absorb the life force and power of anyone he chooses, stealing their mana away from them. This ability is the one that's the most effected by the Number of the Beast or 666 Curse that The World placed on him, as he's only able to absorb from one person at any given time, and even then the effects are temporary; while the person he absorbed will remain dead, their power will eventaully leave his body and disipate permanently.
Demonic Transformation: Howl of the Prince of Darkness is Lucifer's strongest Noble Phantasm which he can only use when he's summoned as either Berserker or Beast. It allows him to transform into any sort of demonic beast that he wants to, granting him the ability to easily topple entire armies. While it's techncially ranked EX, this is the only one of his Noble Phantasms which comes close to being unrankable even with the Number of the Beast: 666 Curse that The World placed on him as it's far stronger than any other EX ranked Noble Phantasm. This means that the only way for anyone to overcome him when he's in this form is to outsmart him, which is very possible to do since he instantaneously sacrifices all of his reasoning and intelligence while he's in this state.
Relationships
Quotes | 1,948 |
TRADITIONAL IRISH cuisine has been dealt a blow with the demise of the company that invented that staple of chippers nationwide, the spice burger.
Walsh Family Foods closed its doors earlier this month with the loss of 50 jobs and a receiver is to be appointed to the business next week. The company, based in the Poppintree industrial estate in Finglas, could no longer sustain heavy losses caused by the weakness of sterling against the euro and tough competition from UK rivals.
One of its main customers, Tesco, recently cut the number of products it bought from the company from 16 to one, but internal sources said this was not a significant factor in Walsh’s closure.
Spice burgers have been on the Irish market since the early 1950s and were the first product manufactured by Walsh Family Foods. Pork butcher Maurice Walsh developed the product, described on its website as “a delicious blend of Irish beef, onions, cereals, herbs and spices coated with traditional outer crumb,” at the rear of his shop in Glasnevin.
From these humble beginnings, the firm expanded into burgers, garlic mushrooms and another favourite of chip-shop habituees, the onion ring. Maurice Walsh’s son and daughter, Paddy and Helen, joined him in the business as it grew and started to export to the UK and beyond.
The company patented its recipe for spice burgers, but the product’s popularity never really expanded beyond Ireland. It remained the only producer, so future supplies may depend on the ability of a receiver to find new interests to take over the business.
In 2000, the Walsh family sold most of its shareholding in the company to a management buy-in team and ICC Venture Capital. The team, led by Pat McCaughey, former managing director of Boyne Valley Group, purchased a controlling interest for less than €1.27 million. Annual turnover rose to €14 million, of which €4 million was in exports to Britain. However, the company lost heavily on a big contract in the UK where the price was set before sterling weakened. Mr McCaughey could not be contacted yesterday and there was no answer from the company’s telephones. However, a message on its lines on Tuesday stated that a receiver would be appointed on June 22nd. The firm closed after an appeal to Enterprise Ireland for emergency funding was rejected.
“They didn’t want to know,” said an internal company source. “It’s a sad tale.” | 1,949 |
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — IBEW Local 98 union leader John Dougherty and Philadelphia City Councilman Bobby Henon are the big names who are facing federal corruption charges, but there are others who were also named in the indictment that came down Wednesday. Along with Dougherty, two union members pleaded not guilty at their arraignments on Friday.
“The indictment is just a charge. The government, that’s their case,” said Dougherty.
IBEW Local 98 Union Leader John Dougherty Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Corruption Charges
“Johnny Doc” was the first of four people arraigned on federal corruption charges of embezzlement, wire fraud and theft.
The indictment shows more than $600,000 in union money was misspent over the past half-decade.
Two other union members were also arraigned.
One of them was Marita Crawford, the union’s political director. She’s accused of theft of stolen funds, including hundreds of dollars spent on dinners. She said nothing outside of court, but her attorney, Fortunato Perri Jr., had plenty to say.
Court Documents Allege John Dougherty, Bobby Henon Conspired To Halt Work On CHOP
“Marita Crawford has been charged with crimes for simply doing her job. Anybody who has been elected in this city or anywhere around the state that have enjoyed Marita Crawford’s support knows that she works 24-7,” said Perri.
Another union employee, Niko Rodriguez, is accused of misusing funds with Dougherty on hundreds of dollars of purchases at stores like Target, Lowes and Ikea.
Other defendants named in the indictment include union president Brian Burrows, union members Michael Neill and Brian Fiocca. None of them appeared in court today.
Union Leader John Dougherty, Philadelphia City Councilman Bobby Henon Indicted Following Federal Probe
Anthony Massa, who owns a construction company, was also arraigned today. Authorities say Massa’s company received more than $1.8 million for work done on union members’ personal homes.
An IBEW spokesperson says all six union members who were charged will get to keep their positions.
Henon was arraigned yesterday and he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The four people who were arraigned today are due back in court for their pretrial hearings. | 1,950 |
Former chicken farmer Mike Weaver is growing hemp instead of killing animals.
Weaver is part of Mercy For Animals’ new Transfarmation Project, which helps farm owners transition from animal husbandry to growing sustainable crops for plant-based products.
West Virginia-based Weaver is now using his old chicken barns to grow industrial hemp, which removes more CO2 per acre than many other crops. This will also earn him a greater income and employ four times as many people as chicken farming did.
In a short video, Mercy For Animals president Leah Garcés visits Weaver to discuss his new plans for the space — which previously held 45 thousand broiler chickens. “I hope it creates a whole lot of new jobs and new revenue for the farm,” says Weaver. “Farmers in America are in bad shape.”
In 2016, the former contract chicken farmer for multinational food company Pilgrim’s Pride went public with welfare concerns. An exposé led by Compassion in World Farming revealed the reality of chicken farming cruelty in the U.S.
The project showed inhumane conditions and unethical labor practices. Pilgrim’s Pride is one of the largest chicken producers in the U.S. and supplies KFC, Walmart, and Costco.
When asked by Garcés who big animal agriculture is benefiting, Weaver replied, “Wall Street, mostly. Pilgrim’s Pride, who I raised chickens for, in 2015 and 16 they paid their stockholders 1.2 billion dollars in dividends.”
“It’s been about 20 years since their growers had an increase in pay,” says Weaver. “That’s wrong … So I’m trying to do my part to get that changed.”
Farmers Go Vegan
Many other farmers are also moving away from animal agriculture for welfare, environmental, and personal reasons. Forty percent of the farmers who attended this year’s Oxford Farming Conference believe that the future of agriculture is vegan and that the community must adapt.
The 2018 documentary “73 Cows” follows beef farmers Jay and Katja Wilde as they donate their herd to Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norwich. The Wildes then took up vegan organic farming instead.
Arkansas chicken and cow farmers Jennifer and Rodney Barrett left behind their family business to become vegan mushroom farmers. The couple were able to transition thanks to the Rancher Advocacy Program, which is designed to help those working in animal agriculture move towards more sustainable and ethical farming practices.
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Before the women’s team was officially brought into City’s professional organisation, things were very different. They trained separately from the academy, which meant I was relatively unaware of the women’s team until 2012. That’s not something I hid from. As I said, my priority was to be completely honest with the players about my starting point.
But, more importantly, I wanted to make it clear that they would be treated the same way as every Manchester City side. As a football team. Not any different because they were women.
That gave us a head start. It meant that the team would follow the methodology shared across the entire club. A methodology I’d spent the last seven and a half years being educated on – including how the club believe the game should be played and the profiles of the players that fit into that. In that sense, it was an easy transition. The foundation of what we wanted to do was already built.
We were realistic, though. We understood that you can’t be successful overnight. That we were going to make some mistakes along the way. That it was going to take time to build.
“We weren’t the best team that year. But we had something else. It was like somebody was telling us, you have the opportunity to be successful here, so don’t mess it up”
Even so, after the first four games of the season all ended in defeat, I started to question myself. Am I really at this level? Is this the right job for me? Am I the person to take this team on?
I’m a realist. I know I won’t have been the only person asking those questions. It’s natural. We were a good team, with England internationals, and we’d lost four games against teams people thought we should beat.
But at no point did anybody at the club take any responsibility away from me. At no point did my role change. I was supported, and given all the experience and resources to become better. But I was also left to succeed or fail.
We ended up finishing fifth in our first WSL season. We won our first major trophy too, beating Arsenal – a team that had dominated women’s football for the previous 15 years – to win the Continental Cup. It gave us massive belief as a group, gave me massive belief as a coach, and it gave the whole club belief that we had something different to everybody else. | 1,952 |
D's day-to-day response to public protest. "No matter who's [president], no matter if it was Hillary or Mr. Trump, we would still do the same job we do today," he said. He and the union's executive staff worry about the effect that protesting has on APD's rank and file; marches and demonstrations require a substantial reallocation of police resources, with patrol officers often pulled away from their usual beats to manage crowds and direct traffic. "If our City Council and county government want to continue encouraging protesting, they should reimburse the APD budget," he said, a not-so-thinly veiled jab at the calls for resistance from members of local government.
Vinger said that DPS's goal concerning protests moving forward remains to provide security and ensure the safety of the public – both those participating and those in the vicinity. "We will take the necessary precautions, including deploying additional personnel and resources, in order to protect life, property, and to encourage voluntary compliance with the law," he said.
To that, Asst. Chief Dixon said APD has a long history of protecting civil liberties, and that the department intends to continue in that tradition. "On a national stage, our Special Response Team is recognized as being one of the most professional and best prepared," he said. Members of the SRT were in D.C. for Trump's inauguration. "The last thing we want to do is antagonize."
The Red Guards' spokesperson said their group will continue to challenge the image of law enforcement as protectors of the First Amendment and to keep alive their militant style of protest, pointing to the turbulent demonstrations against Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California-Berkeley on Feb. 1. The group's goal remains to implement a sustainable communist movement in the United States. "The defeat of Hillary Clinton in the last election has spurred massive interest in communism," said the spokesperson. "The Democratic Party is dead in the water. So, what are you going to do if the right is antithetical to your existence and liberalism cannot serve you?"
The group believes that moving forward, law enforcement agencies will try to quash their organizing efforts as a part of a larger "repressive state apparatus."
"That's what they are," the spokesperson maintained. "And it's demonstrated clearly by how if we don't protest according to what they deem as acceptable, they try to break our necks. And in one case they succeeded."
This story has been updated to accurately reflect John Anderson’s level of involvement with Occupy Austin. | 1,953 |
World Bulletin / News Desk
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff pressed ahead on Monday with plans to lay an undersea communications cable directly to Europe to reduce Brazil's reliance on the United States following reports that Washington spied on Brasilia.
At the annual EU-Brazil summit, Rousseff is seeking to define financing for the $185 million project that could be in place next year in an effort to shield Brazil's Internet traffic from U.S. surveillance, EU and Brazilian officials said.
"We are working on the financial architecture for a fibre-optic link that would be a direct connection between Brazil and Europe," said one official as Rousseff arrived in Brussels for talks with the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.
Rousseff postponed a state visit to Washington last year in protest at the U.S. National Security Agency spying on her email and phone.
EU leaders are sympathetic to Brazil's call following the revelations of fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that showed the agency also eavesdropped on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone and some EU institutions.
Brazil relies on U.S. undersea cables to carry almost all of its communications to Europe. The only existing cable between Europe and Brazil is outdated and only used for voice transmission.
"As far as cyber is concerned, we share a common interest in a right balance between privacy and openness on the Internet," European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said as he received Rousseff, but did not directly refer to the cable project.
U.S. President Barack Obama has since banned spying on the leaders of close allies, but trust has been damaged.
Brussels is threatening the suspension of EU-U.S. agreements for data transfers unless Washington increases guarantees for the protection of EU citizens' data.
Another official, who declined to be named, said the Brazil-EU plan is part of the wider discussion for the "preservation of the Internet as a space for freedom of communication, managed transparently with full respect of individuals."
Under current plans, a joint venture between Brazilian telecoms provider Telebras and Spain's IslaLink Submarine Cables would lay the communications link. Telebras would have a 35 percent stake, IslaLink would have a 45 percent interest and European and Brazilian pension funds could put up the remainder.
One official said Brazil's overall stake in the project must be over 50 percent and so Brazilian funds will put up more than European ones.
Last Mod: 24 Şubat 2014, 14:07 | 1,954 |
Google's no stranger to using web technologies to do cool, innovative things. In fact, some would say that over the last few years the company has pushed (or broken) the barriers of what a web browser is, and can be – just look at ChromeOS, for example. It's an entire OS based on the idea that you can live your digital life inside of a web browser. The thought itself is bold, but the execution could be game-changing as the OS grows and becomes more polished.
Today, Google is further showing off what it can do with its Chrome browsers – both mobile and desktop – with a new game called "Super Sync Sports." Essentially, it's a Chrome game that uses your mobile device as the game controller. As simple as it may be, though, it's actually quite brilliant.
It's a very basic cartoon-type game where you select one of three categories – running, cycling, or swimming – to compete against three other characters, either computer-controller or multi-player. The game uses your phone to control said character – you just sync your mobile device to your PC by entering a short code provided by the game into g.co/super on your mobile. It really couldn't be easier. There are several interesting little avatars to choose from, including an eyeball with legs, a bird, a watermelon thing, a banana, and some other random objects. I chose the banana, because I like the idea of watching a banana play games.
From there, each mini-game has different, extremely simple controls that must be executed on your phone or tablet. For example, you use your index and middle finger to perform a "running" action on your device's screen in the Run! Run! Run! game. Like I said, simple. But it's still fun.
Of course, the game really isn't the point here. Like with most things Google does, it's about showing off something bigger. In this case, it's a quick sync from your computer to phone on the same network to use your mobile as a game controller. Moving forward, this could potentially change the landscape of browser- or even PC-based games. I'm not saying it will, only that it could. We've already seen a lot of cool things come from this same technology – like AirDroid for example – so it's not outlandish to imagine other, greater possibilities.
For now, though, Super Sync Sports is what we have, and it's a fun little time-waster. It's definitely worth checking out. | 1,955 |
There are now about 5.9 million borrowers who could see their rates drop by at least 75 basis points by refinancing their mortgages. That is an increase of 2 million in just the past month, according to Black Knight, a mortgage software and analytics company.
Fear over the ongoing trade war with China, and now potentially Mexico, has investors rushing to the relative safety of the bond market, pushing yields lower. Mortgage rates loosely follow the yield of the 10-year Treasury.
The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed has fallen from a recent high of 4.23% on May 21 to 3.94% now, according to Mortgage News Daily.
Mortgage rates are falling unexpectedly and sharply, and that means millions more homeowners can now benefit from refinancing their loans.
That is the largest population of eligible candidates in nearly three years and represents an aggregate of $1.6 billion in potential monthly savings. Per borrower, the savings is about $271 per month.
If the rate were to drop just another quarter point, close to 7 million borrowers could benefit from a refinance, with a collective savings of just over $1.8 billion.
Falling rates are also benefiting buyers, especially as home prices are now cooling. Home prices in March were up 3.8% annually, the first time growth has fallen below its 25-year average of 3.9% since 2012, according to Black Knight.
Affordability is now the best it's been in more than a year, with the monthly payment on the average-priced house down 6% in the past six months (that's with a 20% down payment).
"When we factor income into the equation, we see that it takes 22% of the median income to purchase the average-priced home. That's the lowest payment-to-income ratio in more than a year as well, and far below the long-term average of 25.1%," wrote Ben Graboske, president of Black Knight's data and analytics division.
Homebuyers have been up against a tight supply of lower-priced homes and an overheated market in general. While the price gains have come down significantly, today's younger buyers are still saddled with high levels of debt and are often paying very high rents, making it increasingly difficult to afford a home.
Correction: Aggregate potential monthly savings from the lower mortgage rates are $1.6 billion. An earlier version misstated the figure.
WATCH: What you need to know before getting into the housing market | 1,956 |
Adrian Peterson Fights NFL Suspension with Appeal The running back is hoping the league overturns its decision.
-- Adrian Peterson is fighting back against his indefinite suspension from the National Football League for disciplining his 4-year-old son by hitting the boy with a switch.
The Minnesota Vikings running back pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault last month and will face no jail time, but the NFL took a harder line when it came to his punishment.
The NFL suspended Peterson for the rest of this season, but Peterson is in New York to appeal the suspension.
Peterson's team is hoping that the NFL's decision to overturn their indefinite suspension against Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens star who was suspended indefinitely for hitting his wife in an elevator, is an indicator that Peterson has a chance of getting his decision reversed.
There are some major differences in the two cases, however.
The first is that Rice was given an initial punishment of a two game suspension and he had served that. The NFL later added a more drastic punishment of indefinite suspension pertaining to the same incident. An arbitrator threw out the second and more severe punishment by declaring it was a form of double jeopardy and Rice had not mislead the NFL with his initial statements about the incident.
That type of double jeopardy situation is not true in Peterson's case because his suspension was the first and only punishment he received from the league.
While Rice faced a former federal judge with no NFL affiliation, Peterson is making his appeal case to Judge Harold Henderson, a longtime counsel to the NFL.
Peterson’s camp believes he was given certain assurances about his punishment by a league official. USA Today reported that Peterson allegedly has taped conversations with an NFL executive who said that Peterson could only be suspended for two games.
The alleged conversation between Peterson and NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent could play a major role in the appeal hearing.
The appeal will be held behind closed-doors and it is unclear how long they will last.
Rice and Peterson are not the only star football players facing punishment for domestic assault incidents. Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston's long-delayed code of conduct hearing is scheduled to begin today, almost two years after he allegedly sexually assaulted a female student.
Today's hearing comes as the season is winding down, though FSU will face Georgia Tech on Saturday and the team could also end up playing in a playoff game as well.
Winston has maintained his innocence and he was cleared of criminal charges earlier this year. | 1,957 |
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With the next KetoDiet Challenge about to start on January 2nd, there is no better time to share some inspiring success stories. Paige is the first prize winner of our 30-Day November Challenge and I'd like to share her motivating weight loss story.
To take part in our Challenges, sign up and get notified as soon as the upcoming challenge is announced. All KetoDiet Challenges are and will always be FREE and you won't need to buy any products to join.
Paige's Success Story
I was following KetoDiet Challenge on Instagram for the 90 day challenge and continued for the November challenge. In total I have lost 48 pounds on keto in 4 months! I went from 201 pounds to 153 pounds.
This account was so motivating and helpful during my journey. I'm excited to have a healthy BMI at 5'6'' now. I am a nurse and I really wanted to show my patients what healthy living is and be an example at work. I also have a newfound love for running outside and I love cooking recipes I find on this website!
Why Did You Join?
I joined this challenge to lose weight and for the constant motivation. I also like the recipe ideas on the website. I am also very interested in the Taking Out the Carbage book and I would love to receive it. If not I love having motivation to keep losing weight.
What Helped You Stay on Track?
What helped me stay on track was positive reinforcement and determination from myself. I would also substitute my cravings. If I had an extreme craving for pizza I would make low carb pizza like the fat head pizza recipe on this website!
How Has KetoDiet Helped?
KetoDiet Challenge helped me achieve my goals by giving me wonderful recipes and daily motivation. I follow KetoDiet Challenge on Instagram and I loved reading the success stories and recipe ideas on there.
What Are Your Favourite KetoDiet Recipes?
I enjoy the fat head pizza and the cheesy chicken casserole. I meal prep for the week on Sunday's so I love any kind of casserole that keeps well throughout the week.
How Can We Improve?
I don't have any improvements to suggest but I would really love to win a cookbook ;) My instagram is ketomealprep
Paige's Progress
During the 30-Day KetoDiet Challenge, Paige lost a whopping 15 pounds and looks amazing! | 1,958 |
As previously discussed, FBI Director of Counterintelligence E.W. “Bill” Priestap, FBI Head of National Security Division, Michael Steinbach, and the former head of the FBI National Security Division, John Giacalone, are all scheduled to testify to congress this month.
The three FBI officials will be testifying to a joint congressional committee of the Judiciary and House Oversight members. The joint committee was formed by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy. The first testimony is tomorrow; and FBI Director of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap will go first. This will be Priestap’s first congressional testimony. Unfortunately, the testimony will be behind closed doors.
FBI Asst. Director of Counterintelligence, Bill Priestap, is central to all of the activity that was happening in both the Clinton investigation and the Trump investigation. Bill Priestap was FBI Agent Peter Strzok’s immediate boss. However, as noted in the text messages Strzok often worked around Priestap at the behest of the person giving him political instructions – FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
The timing of the testimony also speaks to the timing of the upcoming Inspector General report regarding the politicization of the DOJ and FBI surrounding the Clinton investigative outcomes. Some of the most significant releases have come while President Trump is outside of Washington DC; and with the G7 on June 8th – 9th in Canada; it would seem likely the IG report is to be made public anytime over the next 72 hours.
Again, a note of caution. Eight months ago -in advance of the sunlight now upon the FBI and DOJ- Trey Gowdy created the joint committee between Oversight and Judiciary. There is increased reason to believe Trey Gowdy is compromised and working on a self-driven-agenda to defend the institutions currently under review.
Remember, Gowdy opened a ridiculous investigation on the White House doctor, but refused to participate in an investigation of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Priorities. Recently Gowdy has been very public with his defense of Mueller, the corrupt FBI apparatus and the DOJ where he was a former U.S. prosecutor. Ergo, given his structured positioning – these closed door hearings might not generate the type of inquisitive and hard-lined questioning that many are hoping for. Again, just a precaution on expectations.
Earlier today Lou Dobbs and John Solomon discussed tomorrow’s hearing. [Prompted, just hit play]
.
Prior CTH article on Joint Committee Hearing.
Prior The Hill article on Joint Committee Hearing. | 1,959 |
Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS) was set up as a lifeboat for Britain’s ailing banks in 2008. It allowed banks to swap unwanted, mortgage-backed securities for desirable UK Treasury Bills which could be used to swiftly raise cash.
Participating banks were charged a fee by the Bank. This fee was intended to make the overall cost of SLS funding comparable with commercial borrowing.
Crucially, the banks were allowed to set their own ‘repo rate’ which would determine the level of fees.
During the period that Lloyds TSB and HBOS used the SLS, they paid £1.28billion in fees.
High street giants Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have already received hefty fines for manipulating Libor, which is a key inter-bank lending rate used to set mortgages.
But Lloyds is the first to be penalised for attempting to fix repo rates to reduce fees for the Special Liquidity Scheme.
Lloyds was the biggest beneficiary from the SLS, receiving more than £90billion in emergency funds before the scheme was closed in 2012. Yesterday regulators said that by manipulating the rate, Lloyds also reduced fees paid by other banks, meaning taxpayers were left further out of pocket.
Damning messages published by regulators showed how traders joked about rigging the interest rates.
One message sent by a trader to his manager on July 19, 2007, joked: ‘Every little helps…It’s like Tescos.’ The Lloyds manager replied: ‘Absolutely, every little helps.’
Reflecting the seriousness of the scam, £70million of the £105million penalty imposed on Lloyds by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority was for rigging the repo rate. The remainder was for manipulating Libor.
A further Libor-linked fine of £113million was imposed by regulators in the US, bringing Lloyds’ total fine to £218million.
In total, 22 former and current Lloyds staff were involved in manipulating both rates. The bank said all of them have either left, been suspended or will now face disciplinary action. Lloyds has also agreed to a demand from Mr Carney to pay back the £7.8million. The taxpayer still has a 25 per cent stake in the bank.
Critics have complained that no bankers have been jailed for a string of scandals, although 12 people have been charged by the Serious Fraud Office over Libor-rigging so far. | 1,960 |
A Maryland police officer is facing drug-related charges over allegations he illegally took opioids belonging to a disabled resident who's confined to a bed while on duty, according to WJLA.
Sgt. Christopher Michael Barnett of the Hagerstown Police Department was arrested Thursday after video evidence showed that he “engaged in illegal activity on duty,” a news release from Hagerstown police said. Barnett was taken into custody at his home in Pennsylvania with the help of the Pennsylvania State Police, Hagerstown Police Chief Victor Brito said during a Friday news conference.
FLORIDA MAN TRIES TO STEAL TWO PLANES, TAKE JOYRIDE IN GOLF CART AND FUEL TRUCK, COPS SAY
“I cannot and I will not make any excuses for this betrayal of our agency, our badge and our community,” Brito said. “I’m disappointed and quite frankly I’m sickened by this betrayal and this criminal act.”
Barnett allegedly entered the apartment of a disabled, bedridden resident while on duty and went through the individual’s prescriptions, WJLA said, citing police. The resident’s caregiver reportedly realized that the pills were missing and notified authorities.
However, the suspect was reportedly the officer that took the complaint call, which allegedly prompted him to return to the apartment, police told the outlet. While there, the officer was reportedly caught on video saying he’d return the pills and asking not to be reported.
ACROBAT ‘HEARTBROKEN’ AFTER THIEF STEALS 7-FOOT UNICYCLE FROM AIRPORT BAGGAGE CLAIM
During the news conference, Brito said police received credible evidence on Thursday, which was from a few days earlier, and the department responded within the hour.
“Investigators were presented with video footage of Sergeant Barnett providing a prescription narcotic to another individual at a location within the city of Hagerstown,” the news release said. “Once police were able to corroborate the video with witness accounts, criminal charges were filed.”
Barnett was charged with distribution and possession of controlled dangerous substances as well as malfeasance in office and theft of less than $100, Brito said.
The suspect, a 15-year-veteran of the police force, has been placed on unpaid administrative leave “pending the resolution of the criminal case,” he said. | 1,961 |
A cargo ship is en route to the International Space Station, carrying 3,600 lbs. of food, mini-satellites, science equipment, and experimental odor-resistant exercise clothing.
The 133-foot-tall unmanned Orbital Sciences Corp Antares rocket lifted off on Sunday at 12:52 pm Eastern Time, from a commercially operated launch pad at NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility on the Virginia coast. Perched on top of the rocket was a Cygnus spacecraft, built by Orbital Sciences in partnership with Italy's Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture of Thales SA and Finmeccanica SpA. It is expected to arrive at the space station on Wednesday.
"It's like Christmas in July," said former astronaut Frank Culbertson, an executive vice president at Orbital Sciences.
NASA said the new type of clothing is resistant to bacteria and odor buildup, meaning that the astronauts, each of whom exercise daily in orbit for two hours, won't have to change their clothes as frequently.
Perched on top of the rocket was a Cygnus spacecraft, built by Orbital Sciences in partnership with Italy's Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture of Thales SA and Finmeccanica SpA.
The mission is the second of eight station cargo runs by Orbital Sciences under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA. The space agency hired two companies — Orbital Sciences and SpaceX — to make deliveries to the space station. The international partners also make shipments; the European Space Agency, for example, will launch its final supply ship from French Guiana late next week.
This particular Cygnus delivery was delayed a few months by various problems, including additional engine inspections and, most recently, bad weather at the Wallops Island launch site.
The Cygnus will remain at the space station for about a month. It will be filled with trash, cut loose from the space station, and redirected into the atmosphere for incineration.. Unlike the SpaceX Dragon capsule, the Cygnus is not built to return safely to Earth.
Saturday, meanwhile, marked the 5,000th day of continuous human habitation at the 260-mile-high outpost. Six men currently are on board, representing the United States, Russia and Germany.
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"Humans are explorers!" German astronaut Alexander Gerst said via Twitter.
Information from Reuters and the Associated Press was used in this report. | 1,962 |
Telstra and Samsung will on Tuesday release Australia's first-ever phone on the new 5G technology – and already its download speeds are 12 times faster than the fastest widely available NBN plan.
The two companies showed off the new Galaxy S10 5G smartphone in Sydney on Monday, with an internet speed test hitting a peak of 1.2Gbps, or 1,200Mbps.
The NBN is theoretically capable of 1,000Mbps, but for most Australians the fastest broadband plan they can purchase is 100Mbps due to physical and commercial constraints.
This makes the latest mobile technology 12 times faster than typical NBN high-speed plan. A Telstra executive on Monday claimed that would later go up to 20 times (2Gbps) with software maturity.
Where can you use 5G?
Both Telstra and Optus are in the very early stages of rolling out 5G, so coverage is sparse. But if you're lucky enough to have 5G reception, your phone will have mind-blowing internet speeds.
"Its current footprint focuses on CBD locations and selected regional centres where more than 4 million people live, work or pass through every day," said Telstra consumer executive Kevin Teoh.
"We have started rolling out 5G in 10 cities around Australia. Over the next 12 months or so we expect our 5G coverage to increase in area almost five-fold and reach into at least 35 Australian cities."
Samsung mobile vice president Garry McGregor said Australia is just the third country to receive its first 5G smartphone.
"There has been many years of research and development to get to this point – and today represents the next chapter for what mobile technology can offer to Australians."
How much does it cost?
Telstra customers who bought the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus earlier this year are eligible to receive a free upgrade to the S10 5G, which actually has a larger screen, a better camera and a higher-capacity battery.
The new 5G technology, understandably, doesn't come cheap during these early stages. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G 256GB on Telstra's XL consumer plan will cost $144 per month on a 24-month contract.
Telstra has also this week released a HTC 5G hub device, which allows a SIM card to provide wifi for 20 devices. Pricing for 5G for that device will be revealed next month.
Make your money work with Yahoo Finance’s daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news. | 1,963 |
Jimmy Kimmel mocked President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE for his tweet about a meeting Donald Trump Jr. Don John Trump'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic requests pardon from Trump: 'Be my hero please' Zaid Jilani discusses Trump's move to cancel racial sensitivity training at federal agencies Trump International Hotel in Vancouver closes permanently MORE took with a Russian lawyer offering dirt on Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonFox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio Trump, Biden court Black business owners in final election sprint The power of incumbency: How Trump is using the Oval Office to win reelection MORE, saying the president has done “a good job of convicting himself publicly.”
Kimmel said late Monday that the president’s tweet about the Trump Tower meeting could “potentially land his son in prison,” noting it contradicted past statements made by the president and his son, who has said that the 2016 meeting was about Russian adoptions.
“It’s nice that even on vacation the president finds time to incrimi-tweet his son — his ‘wonderful son,’ I should say,” the late-night host joked.
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Kimmel also hit Trump over his tweets and public statements about special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE’s probe, saying that “not since Robert Durst and ‘The Jinx’ has a defendant done such a good job of convicting himself publicly.”
“But Donald Trump does what the syphilis tells him to do, he doesn’t listen to anybody,” he continued.
“I like to imagine his lawyers’ faces when they see a tweet like this. I bet they carry pillows to scream into,” Kimmel added.
Trump on Sunday pushed back against reports that he was concerned about Trump Jr.’s legal fate over the meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, and confirmed that it was held to seek damaging information on Hillary Clinton. | 1,964 |
Posted October 25, 2011 in Diary | No Comments so far
Back in 1999 I was living in Whitechapel, near a couple called Mick and Kerry who spent a year or so having a passionate love affair.
We all knew this because their affair was being conducted in full view of the public. On several walls near my flat, they’d been having the written-language equivalent of fantastic sex for all to see.
The graffiti started appearing in March 1999, appearing first on the wall pictured above and then spreading slowly onto a disused old doorway across the street. These spray-painted messages of love became quite wild and transcendental at one point; this next one sees both Kerry and Mick touching the infinite.
But being extremely versatile communicators they weren’t limited strictly to the grandiose; they knew how to be succinct as well.
By the summer there was quite a lot of Mick and Kerry graffiti. Who were Mick and Kerry? Where did they live? What kind of a strange relationship did they have, that their intimate pledges of love were spilling out in front of an intrigued if bemused public?
The messages stopped appearing in early autumn 1999. I imagined several possible reasons for this.
Firstly, I honestly couldn’t think of anywhere else they could spread their messages to. They’d taken up almost all of the available free space, and it wouldn’t have been in the spirit of things to expand to another street.
Secondly, the graffiti could have been a by-product of the honeymoon phase of their affair. Maybe their relationship was at a more mature stage with dinner parties starting to replace amorous late-night graffiti.
Thirdly, their red spraycan might have finally run dry.
As time went by, it seemed that we’d heard the last from Mick and Kerry, that their story would remain an enigmatic mystery. But several months later a new message appeared – from a devastated Mick.
Our local love story had reached a tragic conclusion, made all the more poignant by Mick’s last lament being scratched on to a door with a piece of metal.
And that was that for Mick and Kerry. None of the questions I had about them would ever be answered, but there’s one thing I did know for sure; somewhere, in a flat near mine, was a failed graffiti artist with a broken heart. And somewhere else – maybe very far away by this time – was a mad girl called Kerry with a red spraycan. | 1,965 |
press release.
Scott noted that energy grid hackers aren’t motivated by money. Their motivations tend to be “bad.”
A possible scenario: The Manhattan financial district gets hit with a cyber blackout attack, and the nation’s financial systems are compromised. “What happens to our financial systems then? That’s the kind of thing we worry about. It’s very serious. We don’t worry so much about Wisconsin,” he said.
The U.S. Dept. of Energy is taking these threats very seriously, Scott said.
“The DOE is trying really hard to come up with solutions and standards without stifling the sector’s innovation,” he said.
When the worry began
“I was in New Jersey during the blackout. It was weird and creepy,” said Scott. “Psychologically that’s where all the gloom and doom started about the potential for a national blackout.”
Stoking the worries was Ted Koppel’s book, released in 2015, “Lights Out,” he added.
“In October 2015 Ted Koppel’s book ‘Lights Out’ renewed attention to power grid vulnerabilities and the possibility of impending terror attack. Koppel’s book focused on the potential consequences of an extended power outage and on his opinion that ‘The Department of Homeland Security has no plans beyond those designed to deal with the aftermath of natural disasters,'” says the report. It stoked worries that outages could last for months or years, the report says.
“Koppel’s book is not the most realistic depiction of the American energy sector; however, it received a great deal of acclaim in the months following its release, due in part to media attention on the BlackEnergy malware attack that caused brief blackouts in the Ukrainian power grid,” says the report.
But a simple malware campaign can’t entirely bring down the grid, says the report.
“The interwoven networks of utility companies, transmission networks, distribution hubs, and other facets, are too complex for any one attacker to wholly dismantle…Nevertheless, the energy sector is more vulnerable than most are willing to admit. Many of the legacy systems on which the nation depends lack sufficient backup and redundancy measures.”
Track news about microgrids and grid cybersecurity. Subscribe to the Microgrid Knowledge newsletter. It’s free. | 1,966 |
The following comes from some discussion contributors to Three Way Fight have had after, on June 4th, a federal judge granted a defense motion and dismissed charges against three members of the Nazi organization, Rise Above Movement (RAM). The two count indictment, under the federal Anti-Riot Act, were deemed by the presiding judge to be a “violation of the First Amendment”. After the State made multiple arrests and the charging of RAM members - including the FBI’s seizure and extradition of a RAM leader back to the US from Mexico - what does this dropping of charges mean?
It’s Going Down posts a good article outlining those questions and the cases potential relation to U.S. based revolutionary antifascist movements.
For us, the main impact is that one of the tools the State could potentially use against our movements took a very significant hit, which is always good news. – IGD interview
To be clear, the charges were dismissed by the court - not dropped by the government. The attorneys for the RAM defendants filed motions arguing that the indictments should be dismissed because the federal Anti-Riot Act is unconstitutional. The government opposed those motions and lost. The dismissal is certainly a defeat for the government and a victory for the militant far-right and white nationalists.
The ruling is notable should the government charge anti-fascists and other Leftists under the federal anti-riot statute; the government might re-consider using this statute in the future and stick to usual strategies.
It’s also at least arguable that they were looking to test out the Anti-Riot Act to see how it would hold up. The Anti-Riot Act is incredibly broad and covers a lot of conduct, which eases the evidentiary burden on the prosecution, but it’s also rarely used and relatively untested from a legal standpoint. - IGD interview
In light of the dismissal we should imagine the far-right is celebrating this ruling.
The outcome makes the point that while the ruling may embolden far rightists in the short term, it weakens one of the legal repression tools that the state can use against the left. Also, and of specific relation to revolutionary antifascists, the IGD interviews last section calls for "rejecting the reductive logic of'my enemy's enemy is my friend'" and "continu[ing] to articulate how the State vs. fascist drama is a power struggle between two poles that both have incredibly destructive designs for us."
| 1,967 |
Trying to tabulate the number of intown apartment developments currently planned, under construction or recently opened is a fool's errand. There's that many, from the core of Buckhead to the East Atlanta Village. (Our rough count is more than 20 projects, each with hundreds of units). As rents climb and vacancy rates don't, more than 4,000 rental units have recently hit the intown market or are in the pipeline — some 3,000 of those in the hot Midtown market alone. Ideally, these units will fill up and imbue the city with a more cohesive and vibrant urban feel. Ideally, rents will stay reasonable and attract civic-minded, law-abiding spendthrifts who support local businesses. As early as last summer, we started hearing grumbles that those idyllic scenarios might not come to pass. This prompts the question: Will the saturation of rental properties become a glut, followed by a bust in the mode of the Atlanta condo market circa-2008?
As the AJC reports, developers are favoring apartments as Atlanta continues to struggle with a glut of unsold foreclosures and high vacancy rates in the office sector. "The developers are eager to capitalize on rising rents, high occupancy rates and the growing gravitational pull of Atlanta's urban core," the newspaper reports. "But the push could leave Atlanta with a glut of apartments and drive down other real estate prices." The apartment craze is a national trend at the moment. Some believe Atlanta's frenzied apartment development has yet to peak, because the city got a later start than metro areas such as Dallas, Charlotte and Washington, a panel concluded in September. The panel found that "Class A" apartment projects are not tapped out in Atlanta, unlike other cities where the choice developments are exhausted and developers are considering lower projects "downstream."
While metro Atlanta's unemployment rate continues to improve, some developers have opined that only substantial job growth can sustain the current rate apartments are being built; others feel Atlanta will reach overbuilt status, but the best-positioned properties will continue to perform well. Seeing the cranes and hungry bulldozers across town is refreshing, sure, but we can't help but ponder the long-term cost?
· Wave of apartment projects raises fears of new bubble [AJC]
· Atlanta Apartment Development Will Remain Strong, Panelists Say [agg.com]
· Move Over Midtown, The Real Apartment Boom's in Buckhead [Curbed Atlanta]
· Is Atlanta Headed for Apartment Overload? [Curbed Atlanta] | 1,968 |
a significant minority of drivers, Kempton says. Some 25% of US drivers never travelled more than 150 miles in a day across a whole year, he says, citing his own research from 2011.
Though these drivers ought to offer plenty of scope to build a market for electric cars, none of the major car companies are targeting them, Kempton says.
There are now more than a million electric cars on the road worldwide, yet they still account for a tiny share of sales in the US and the UK. All this points to other factors slowing wider adoption.
A prime contender is the upfront cost, even if lifetime ownership of an electric car is cheaper overall because of lower fuel bills.
Despite rapid falls in battery prices and government grants in countries including the UK, an all-electric Volkswagen e-Golf remains more expensive than its combustion engine equivalent. While a Nissan Leaf costs less up front, the battery must be leased on top.
Electric cars are expected to be cheapest across the board within a decade, according to analysis from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which said 35% of new cars would be electric by 2040. Bloomberg news said this could cut oil demand and so cause the next oil price crash.
Other analysts range from sceptical (underlying demand growth will outweigh oil displaced by electric cars) through to pessimistic (electric vehicles will do well to reach 10% of sales by 2050).
Conclusion
The rate of uptake of electric cars has major implications for oil demand and CO2 emissions. Transport emissions in many industrialised countries are holding steady or increasing, even as other parts of the economy decarbonise.
In the UK, National Grid scenarios now see up to a quarter of cars on the road being electric by 2035, while the Committee on Climate Change says electric cars will need to make up 60% of new sales in 2030 if the UK is to stay on track with its climate goals.
This new research shows current electric cars can cover most daily needs on a single charge. Newer models will be able to meet the vast majority of needs and could have a “huge effect” in terms of unlocking the electric car market, Willett tells Carbon Brief.
Needell, Z. A. et al. (2016) Potential for widespread electrification of personal vehicle travel in the United States, Nature Energy, doi:10.1038/nenergy.2016.112 Kempton, W. (2016) Driving range, Nature Energy, doi:10.1038/nenergy.2016.131 | 1,969 |
By Sydney Shaw on February 16, 2016
Many of No. 15 Stanford lacrosse’s (0-1) toughest contests come far away from The Farm due to the strength of many East Coast programs, and this past Saturday was no exception, as the team lost 13-9 to rival and perennial powerhouse No. 7 Notre Dame (2-0) to open its 2016 campaign.
While the Irish’s offense proved strong and dominated much of the second half, a bright spot for the Cardinal was junior standout Kelsey Murray, who finished the game with 5 goals.
Stanford started the game with excellent pace, opening the scoring in only the second minute of play with a powerful shot by Murray. While the Irish quickly tied the game at one goal apiece, excellent pressure and pass plays allowed Stanford to break ahead 4-1 with goals by Murray and seniors Mackenzie Tesei and Lucy Dikeou.
With about two minutes left in the first half, the Irish fought back to score two goals, but this still left the Cardinal leading 4-3 into halftime. The Cardinal showed resiliency on offense and strong transitions through the midfield during the first half.
Stanford came out strong in the beginning of the second half, scoring two goals to put itself ahead 6-3. But with 19 minutes left in the game, the team saw a drop in its intensity, allowing the Irish to capitalize on some sloppy plays. Notre Dame charged forward, scoring 8 unanswered goals, quickly changing the game’s momentum.
With 5 minutes left to play, Notre Dame was up 11-6 before the teams went on to trade goals. While Stanford scored three goals to Notre Dame’s two in the closing minutes, it was not enough to overcome the large point deficit. The game closed with a 13-9 win in favor of the Irish.
Stanford looks to come back strong in its home opener this Tuesday against conference opponent Saint Mary’s. The Cardinal have never lost to Saint Mary’s in regular or postseason play and controlled the matchup last season before emerging victorious in a 22-2 win.
A victory for the Cardinal would put them in good standing heading into conference play, in which Stanford has its eye on a 10th straight MPSF title.
Tuesday’s game is set for 7 p.m. at Stanford’s Cagan Stadium and will be broadcasted live on Pac-12 Networks.
Contact Sydney Shaw at sshaw17 ‘at’ stanford.edu. | 1,970 |
What are the immediate observable impacts of currency devaluation (this may also be relevant for the U.S. soon):
1. Speeds up asset quality deterioration and write-downs as unhedged corporate and retail customers that have borrowed in foreign currency face a relative increase in their debt burden.
2. Borrowers may chose to withdraw local currency savings to transfer them into a more stable foreign currency, which would shrink banks' funding base.
3. The capital ratio of banks with large foreign currency exposure will fall as a consequence of currency devaluation-related issues.
So as the vicious cycle of risk aversion accelerates in more countries, it results in domestic economies becoming worse off, thereby making traditional international commerce impossible, and impacting larger beneficiaries of globalization such as the G7.
But that is not all: in addition to sovereign risk, external investors also have creditor, liquidity and cash repatriation risk. The is because many West European banks acquired East European banks in the course of of privatization of state-owned banks during the transition from planned to market economies. According to the Bank for International Settlements, claims of West European banks on Eastern Europe amounted to €1.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2008, which depending on the degree of contraction and asset write-downs could be significantly impaired.
As the chart below shows, the countries that stand to be impacted worst by Eastern European bank deterioration (by being domiciles to investing banks) are Austria, France, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Sweden, as banks in these countries account for 84% of Eastern European bank claims. And of these, Austria is most on the hook, as E.E. banks account for half of Austria's global bank claims. Specific bank names that have the most exposure include Raiffeisen Bank, Erste Bank, Soc Gen, Unicredit and KBC.
This presents the case for the unwind of globalization, which is worthy of a much more indepth analysis. Over the past 10 years, as the globalization and credit bubble went hand in hand, we will inevitably see the ripple effects of a globalization in reverse, marked by constrained trade relations and minimized international commerce, in addition to the expected problems of how to deal with a widespread increase of domestic corporate and sovereign defaults, and spiking f/x rates and deflation. The true shape of the global economic problem is only now starting to take gradual shape.
Indicatively, the CDS levels of some Eastern European countries have been the biggest underperformers in recent days, and some are presented below. | 1,971 |
aren’t many of those.
On Friday, the government announced that it had saved $43.4m – $17.8m in this financial year – from “more than 1,000 wealthy welfare cheats”. That’s from a $46.1bn annual budget for Newstart, DSP and Family Tax Benefit (and the aged pension is another $45.4bn).
Or you could, as the ALP is doing, seek to find extra revenue by cutting out rorts that were designed as electoral sweeteners and favours to the Howard-Costello key demographic.
When this imputation cash rebate was introduced, not many were affected but like any good tax rort, accountants soon caught wind. Add in the 2006 decision to make income from superannuation tax free for those over 60, and suddenly you had a lot of people with a high actual income but very low or zero taxable income taking advantage of it.
Further add in this weird belief that the retirement nest egg must not be touched, and you get a lot of idiotic reporting – such as in the Herald Sun, which had the case study of a woman with an income of $160,000, who we should feel sad for because she will lose her $12,775 rebate. She could, of course, sell some of her shares, but that would actually be using superannuation for its purpose and not as a tax-free inheritance fund.
Factchecking Coalition claims: is Labor going after Mum and Dad's savings? | Katharine Murphy Read more
So it is a smart and needed policy, but also a dangerous one because it affects an area shrouded in confusion and thus very much susceptible to fear-mongering.
However, it also delivers the ALP big money. At about $5bn a year – rising to $8bn – this is not that much lower than what would be raised by applying a GST on fresh food.
Yes, the Labor party will use some of it to get the budget back to surplus, but it is also very likely to use it for tax cuts and education and health spending commitments – and they will all be fully paid for.
As I noted with Malcolm Turnbull’s promise of tax cuts, you need to ask how they’re being paid for. With this increase in revenue, the question becomes what it will be spent on – and the benefit of that spending could well be worth any political pain the ALP might suffer now.
– Greg Jericho is a Guardian Australia columnist | 1,972 |
Roseanne Conner and Barr, however, isn't so simple. Most people didn't hate Carroll O'Connor because he was completely different from Archie Bunker. Where "Roseanne" stumbles is in consciously blurring the line between actor and character.
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Mind you, the series did the right thing in introducing the malevolent political tribalism that has metastasized on a national level into the family's Midwestern kitchen (albeit clumsily). The series has always embraced debates about politics and cultural issues, and the electorate's rift is certainly the top news of the day. Great sitcoms broach uncomfortable conversations by placing them in situations to which the broadest audience possible can relate. Multi-camera comedies in particular have a history of serving as laboratories where national conversations are refined to make bitter concepts palatable. The best ones achieve this by depicting the hard truth that life reminds us of our powerlessness now and then, whether through acts of nature or the will of a few men pandering to their political allies.
Where it falls down is in the scenes peppered with exclusionary humor that isn't necessary and doesn't serve the larger story. They may be blips, but a portion of the viewership notices and takes it as a wink at the nastier side of what's happening in and to our culture right now. They remind us that what lurks underneath the mask isn't kind or lovely.
Roseanne Conner speaks for a version of "us" who isn't really all of us, saying what that version of "we" has supposedly always wanted to say. She is the sensible, morally-upright America that wants to view herself as good. She treats her grandson with gender identity issues with love and understanding, and cuddles with her bi-racial granddaughter. She also voted for a political figure who is working to curtail their civil rights.
Yes, "Eggs Over, Not Easy" is still about the economy and the desperation of working folks. What makes this episode more successful and evenhanded than those that came before is that it thrust the humanity of these characters to the front of the stage. We all grieve and we all lose. We all make our best attempts to shelter those we love from making terrible mistakes, and make errors in doing so, meddling where we're not wanted and failing to intervene where and when we're most needed. "Good Times" did this quite well when we looked past the facile reaches for laughs. And for once it looks like "Roseanne" might be able to get there too. | 1,973 |
The Nevada primary takes place on June 14 and early voting is from May 28 through June 10.
US Representative in Congress Jose Angel Solorio DISTRICT 1 jose4uscongress.com Rick Shepard DISTRICT 2 rickshepherd.com Jesse Sbaih DISTRICT 3 votesbaih.com Lucy Flores DISTRICT 4 lucyflores.com NV State Senate Richard “Tick” Segerblom DISTRICT 3 tick4nevada.com Stephen Harvey Munford DISTRICT 4 munford4nv.com Nicole Jeanette Cannizzaro DISTRICT 6 David R. Parks DISTRICT 7 davidparksnv.com Aaron Darnell Ford DISTRICT 11 fordfornevada.com NV State Assembly Daniele Monroe-Moreno DISTRICT 1 daniele4nevada.com Owen Edward Carver DISTRICT 2 owencarver.com John J. Piro DISTRICT 3 Valencia Cenel Burch DISTRICT 6 votevalenciaburch.com Dina A. Neal DISTRICT 7 Jason Matthew Frierson DISTRICT 8 Steven James Yeager DISTRICT 9 Olivia Diaz DISTRICT 11 James Edward Ohrenschall DISTRICT 12 Margaret Ann Carlton DISTRICT 14 Elliot Thomas Anderson DISTRICT 15 Heidi Ann Swank DISTRICT 16 Odis Tyrone Thompson DISTRICT 17 Erica Mosca DISTRICT 18 Darren Welsh DISTRICT 20 Vinny Spotleson DISTRICT 21 Gary Craig Jordahl DISTRICT 23 Edgar R. Flores DISTRICT 28 Lesley Elizabeth Cohen DISTRICT 29 Manuel Jose Garcia DISTRICT 34 Justin Lee Watkins DISTRICT 35 Sean David Lyttle DISTRICT 37 Paul Aizley DISTRICT 41 Irene Bustamante Adams DISTRICT 42 County Commissioner Stephen Sisolak DISTRICT A Steven Dale Ross DISTRICT B Lawrence Leonard Brown III DISTRICT C Lawrence Weekly Jr. DISTRICT D Nevada Court of Appeals Jerry Tao COURT Justice of the Peace Harmony Letizia Department 3 Melissa Saragosa Department 4 Bita Yeager Department 6 Karen Bennett-Heron Department 7 Joe Bonaventure Department 9 Amy Chelini Department 14 Justice of the Peace Henderson Township Harvey Gruber Department 1 Reagent, State University Peter Jimeel Goatz DISTRICT 6 Lucille Thaler DISTRICT 7 Robert James Lewis Jr. DISTRICT 13 Member, State Board of Education Timothy Scott Hughes DISTRICT 1 Felicia Danielle Ortiz DISTRICT 3 Trustee, Clark County Schools Mallory Adell Levins DISTRICT A Christine Aileen Garvey DISTRICT B Adam Clifford Johnson DISTRICT C Lola Ann Brooks DISTRICT E Member, Virgin Valley Water District Sandra Ramaker MESQUITE Trustee, Overton Power District Billy H. Pulsipher MOAPA Phillip Charles Hanson AT LARGE MOAPA Town Advisory Board Laurellyn M. Wren MOAPA | 1,974 |
about Canadian fashion?
It’s different! Over here, they dress a bit more formal. I’ve seen people go to clubs and they dress in proper dress shoes accompanied by jeans. I know that the majority of guys in the UK, they wouldn’t do that. If UK people wore dress shoes, it would usually be with a suit or something similar. Over here, there are a lot more shirts, sweaters & dress pants. Canadians like to impress when they go out, they have a much different style.
Who’s your favourite footballer?
I’ve had a lot throughout the years; growing up, Brazilian Ronaldo and Christiano Ronaldo (I’m actually a Manchester United fan) and Wayne Rooney; those were my favourite players growing up. I’d say in recent years; I like to watch Karim Benzema from Real Madrid – I like the style of play he’s got. He’s not necessarily all about the goals but he’s about helping the team in other ways like creating opportunities for other players to score. He’s very under-rated.
What was the last item of clothing you bought?
It was a jacket from Nike- the Air Jordan range. Old school and retro but almost re-invented in black and white. I bought it mainly because it’s got my name on it, but I really like the Air Jordan range.
What’s the most expensive item of clothing you’ve ever bought?
Surprisingly, not as expensive as you’d think! People associate footballers with spending loads of money on clothes, but I wouldn’t necessarily spend over $850 on something. If I did spend that much, it would have to be something that lasts, and I can wear for a long time whilst still looking good. I have shoes that are worth over $850, but I never bought them for that price. I’m a bit of a bargain hunter. I’ve got a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti’s; when they came out, they were worth $1100, but I never bought them for that price - I got them for $600. The one item that sticks out in my mind is a leather jacket I bought from All Saints; that was around $760. I still wear it to this day for nice occasions. It’s something that I’d never dislike or stop wearing and it’s still in great condition. | 1,975 |
G2: Do you ever get together with Jeremy Miller, Jeremy Shoenberg, or any of the other people who have voiced Linus from “Peanuts” over the years to shoot the breeze and share war stories?
DF: No, I’ve never met any of those guys. I only voiced Linus and Charlie Brown in commercials and public service announcements. So, stuff like Met Life, the public library, Zinger Zapper, Dolly Madison, etc. I did get to meet Charles Shultz before he died, though, and that was amazing.
JG2: Are you still voice acting these days?
DF: Yeah, I do a little voice acting here and there. I just did a pilot for the “Rugrats” guys about a reporter chicken, but it didn’t get picked up. It was like a chicken news anchor, you know, [adopts wacky chicken voice] “This is Jack Cluckman for PNN, the Poultry News Network!” I’m also pursuing photography, but I’d like to get back into advertising. I’d like to try to be the spokesperson for Wikipedia. That would be funny. Actually, I’m really thinking about creating an ad agency for natural elements. You know, like the Sun.
JG2: Does the Sun need more publicity?
DF: Sure! And rain. I want to get rain and all those other earthy names back from the hippies.
JG2: What would your tag line be for rain?
DF: “Rain—nothing would be green without it.”
JG2: Not bad. I feel compelled to tell you the reason this interview came about is because John Hodgman mentioned you in his recent fake fact book, More Information You Require. I’m pretty sure you’re name is the only honest piece of information in it. How does that feel?
DF: Oh, I didn’t know that! That’s fantastic! But the truth is, how do you know John Hodgman and I aren’t really the same person?
JG2: Are you?
DF: I’ll put it this way: you’ll probably never see us both in the same place.
—
For more on Donavan, be sure to visit his blog, http://babyfreberg.blogspot.com. | 1,976 |
Is Sex Dolls artificial intelligence the next step?
The next step?
We all heard about this Japanese mall with a robot at the store front, helping and guiding people to find their way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s95ZGQKl96k&w=320&h=240 This is still the early stage of this new innovation in our daily life. But, still in Japan, we can find Hotel run by Robots. Is it the first stage of a process to replace the humans? And how fast will this go?On the sex doll industry, the first brand to come up with such product is Real Doll, the doll is capable of basic AI for the price of nearly 15000 USD! The price to pay to have the first wave of AI Sex dolls. But on the other side, brands like Z-onedoll are in the market with a robot doll. The first very wave of this doll was November 2016. It is a Robot doll with no AI functions just basic facial movement you can control with an android app.We can see on the right the basic functions : Chatting, Sounds, Expression, Heating and the control of the facial expression. Today, this doll is in a huge rework stage because of the very bad first design. All the software were built-in with no update function and also only in Chinese. Now the OS has been updated into English, and updates can be done with a USB cable. Leading the possibility to updates and also sounds customization. The Z-onedoll actual intelligent dolls can moan when you squizz their breast and also the buttocks, and you can also control the body temperature. This is the very first stage of sex artificial intelligence and combined with a good AI software. This doll can become a real robot! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy7cfukV6iU&w=320&h=240We can expect from Z-onedoll a fully workable Robot Doll within 2018, and maybe in a timeframe of 2 years their first sex doll with artificial intelligence! 2018 edit : For Zonedoll, the 1st robot doll has been suspended, the lack of English in the menu and the impossibility to change language forced them to rethink the project. We today don’t know how long it will take for them to come up with a workable doll. For us, they have to remain low in price as they don’t want to compete with Real Doll Sex Dolls What do you expect for this new kind of sex dolls artificial intelligence? | 1,977 |
Advisory - the following lyrics contain explicit language:
In the jungle of the senses
Tinker Bell and Jack The Ripper
Love has no meaning not where they come from
But we know pleasure is not that simple
Very little, fruit is forbidden
Sometimes we wobble, sometimes we're strong
But you know evil is an exact science
Being carefully, correctly, wrong
Priests and cannibals, prehistoric animals
Everybody's happy as the dead come home
Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis
No one move a muscle as the dead come home
We feel like Greeks we feel like Romans
Centaurs and monkeys just cluster round us
We drink elixirs that we refine
From the juices of the dying
We are not monsters, we're moral people
And yet we have the strength to do this
This is the splendor of our achievement
Call in the air strike with a poison kiss
Priests and cannibals, prehistoric animals
Everybody's happy as the dead come home
Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis
No one move a muscle as the dead come home
Priests and cannibals, prehistoric animals
Everybody's happy as the dead come home
Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis
No one move a muscle as the dead come home
How bad it gets, you can't imagine
The burning wax, the breath of reptiles
God is not mocked, He knows His business
Karma could take us at any moment
Cover Him up, I think we're finished
You know it's never been so exotic
But I don't know, my dreams are visions
We could still end up with the great big fishes
Priests and cannibals, prehistoric animals
Everybody's happy as the dead come home
Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis
No one move a muscle as the dead come home
Priests and cannibals, prehistoric animals
Everybody's happy as the dead come home
Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis
No one move a muscle as the dead come home
Priests and cannibals, prehistoric animals
Everybody's happy as the dead come home
Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis
No one move a muscle as the dead come home
Priests and cannibals, prehistoric animals
Everybody's happy | 1,978 |
I’ve been sick for a while, and it’s been too long since I’ve written. Here’s a fragment of my latest project. I call it, “The Paddle’s Kiss.”
…This violently beautiful woman spends her days praying over our images, begging some distant deity for salvation. I’m not sure if it’s my salvation, or hers, but I listen and watch over her shoulder.
There, I see the photo that is the subject of her current prayers. It’s me. I don’t remember having this photo taken, yet it’s clearly my image. My eyes are wide open, as though surprised, but I’m looking to the left of the camera.
I am forbidden to speak, so I can’t ask her about the photo. Presently, she opens her eyes, stands, and then glides the door of her room. She doesn’t open the door. Instead, she snaps shut a heavy lock, turns and smiles. All of this is done silently, and I purse my lips in thought: She has prayed for me. I am hers. I will do as she demands.
She returns and takes my hand and leads me to her desk. The desktop is cleared of any clutter, and the wood is polished. It is a dark mirror reflecting our faces. I put out a tentative hand, and my fingers graze the surface. The wood is smooth and feels as luxurious as it looks. I imagine myself naked and lying across the desk, gripping the edge.
She smiles at me again, and with one hand, produces silky pillow with the gold fringe from one of the desks drawers. With the other hand, she draws out the paddle that was used to warm my backside the previous evening. Without thinking, I put one had to my buttocks. Her resulting laugh is like the tinkling of silver bells. I blush.
She motions to me to remove my robe. I do so, and then lean across the desk. It is cool against my breasts. My fingers grip the far edge, and I raise my head a scant few inches. She holds the paddle but a breath from my face and strain to kiss it. Then she moves like liquid, and touches my ass lightly with the paddle. She mumbles a few indiscernible words — a prayer, I think – and delivers five sharp swats with with the paddle…
More Books and Stories by Alice Dark | 1,979 |
Reward Offered For Bathtub Rock Vandals
Wednesday, May 28th 2014, 7:09 pm
By: Craig Day
A reward is being offered to help track down vandals who've painted graffiti on one of the prettiest places in the entire state. Many who love the area are outraged.
Bathtub Rock is one of the most unique rock formations along the Illinois River. It's popular with a lot of people, but lately it's been popular for vandals, who have tagged it with graffiti not once, but twice.
People who love the Illinois River take a lot of pride in Bathtub Rock, a formation that makes a beautiful area even more scenic.
"Oklahoma is one of the prettiest states in our union," said Ed Fite with the Scenic Rivers Commission.
Someone who doesn't appreciate the beauty left an ugly scar.
"They're just morons," said Ed Brocksmith.
Save the Illinois River's Brocksmith doesn't hold vandals in very high regard.
"Idiotic people who did this," he said.
Someone defaced the rock formation with industrial paint. Vandals also spray painted graffiti three weeks ago.
"I'm madder than hell," Brocksmith said.
Bathtub Rock is a part of the J.T. Nickle nature preserve, which is owned by the Nature Conservancy.
Fite fears each time vandalism happens, property owners will be less likely to allow public access to private land.
"Really the only issue we've had here in the past has been trash. People not packing out what they pack in," said Fite.
Crews will work to remove the graffiti with the least amount of damage to the rock surface as possible.
"I would hope that, if they're prosecuted, one of the outcomes of it would be that there be a restraining order, that they're prevented from ever coming back to the Illinois River Watershed to the recreation areas and places like this for at least five years or more," said Brocksmith.
Save the Illinois River has generated some leads using social media. They're offering a $1,000 "shame on you" reward in the case.
"Jerks come along and ruin it for the rest of us," said Brocksmith.
Anyone with information in the case is urged to call the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office or the Save the Illinois River Organization, which is offering the reward in the case. | 1,980 |
Salil Parekh took charge as managing director and CEO of Infosys on Tuesday
Highlights Infosys CEO Salil Parekh will get fixed salary of Rs 6.5 crore
Mr Parekh to be eligible for variable pay of Rs. 9.75 crore at FY19-end
He took charge as managing director, CEO of Infy on January 2
Salil Parekh, the new CEO of India's second largest outsourcer Infosys, will get a fixed salary of Rs 6.5 crore and will be eligible for a variable pay of Rs 9.75 crore at the end of fiscal year 2018-2019, according to a board member. Mr Parekh took charge as managing director and chief executive of Infosys on Tuesday. "Infosys CEO Salil Parekh will be paid a fixed salary of Rs 6.5 crore. He would be eligible for variable pay of Rs 9.75 crore at the end of the fiscal year," independent board member of Infosys Kiran Mazumdar Shaw told news agency Press Trust of India.Ms Shaw, who is part of Infosys's Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC), also said the new CEO will also receive Rs 3.25 crore in restricted stock units."He will also get Rs 13 crore in annual performance equity grants," she said, adding that Mr Parekh will also get a one-time equity grant of Rs 9.75 crore.The stock compensation will vest at different points over Mr Parekh's term, who has been appointed for a five-year term. Mr Parekh's employment contract also comes with a non-compete clause, Ms Shaw said.Former CEO Vishal Sikka, who left Infosys abruptly in August last year after a prolonged standoff with the company's promoters, earned $6.75 million (nearly Rs 43 crore) in FY17, much to the disliking of Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy. Wipro's CEO Abidali Neemuchwala is getting a bit over $2 million (nearly Rs 13 crore).
Mr Parekh's contract also specifies the amount he will be paid should he fail to meet minimum performance targets, Ms Shaw said. The company said in a postal ballot that Mr Parekh will not work with named competitors for six months from the day he leaves the company.He will also not work with or for a client to whom he has rendered service for the last 12 months, Infosys said. | 1,981 |
Investigator Rod Wheeler is suing Fox News over a story that indicated that former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was killed as a result of communications he had with WikiLeaks, and now Wheeler’s attorney says he wants key White House figures to testify. Wheeler, one of the main sources for the article which was later retracted, claims that Fox News fabricated quotes that they attributed to him to support their story, and that they allegedly ran the story at the behest of the Trump administration. Now, Wheeler’s attorney says he wants to depose President Donald Trump and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Fox News has vigorously denied many of the allegations in the lawsuit.
Wigdor confirmed to LawNewz.com that Trump and Spicer are among witnesses he wants to testify at depositions for the case. The complaint Wigdor filed on Tuesday alleges that Fox News reporter Malia Zimmerman and contributor Ed Butowski met with Spicer to discuss the story, and that President Trump himself had a hand in the editing process.
“Like any other case we would seek documents and testimony of all witnesses that have relevant information that would assist in the prosecution of our case,” Wigdor said. “Based on the communications of Ed Butowsky, therefore, discovery in this matter will seek documents and testimony from the President and Mr. Spicer.”
Wigdor is also representing more than a dozen current and former Fox employees in discrimination lawsuits against the network and parent company 21st Century Fox.
While Wigdor may seek a deposition with Trump, that doesn’t mean POTUS will end up having to testify while in office. Yes, President Bill Clinton had to testify in the Paula Jones case, so it wouldn’t be unprecedented for a sitting president to take the stand. However, Clinton was the subject of that case, while Trump is just a witness in this one. The court may not deem his testimony—or the case, for that matter—worthy of interrupting President Trump’s schedule. If Trump’s testimony is considered necessary for the case, it could be postponed until after Trump is out of office.
At the same time, because Trump would only be a witness, the court could determine that testimony would not be a significant burden on his schedule and allow a deposition to take place while he’s still in office.
Note: This article has been updated with additional analysis of the likelihood of Trump testifying, and a link to Fox News’ statement.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] | 1,982 |
.
Most, but certainly not all, of these divergent narrative strands come together by the end, yet the filmmaking is so haphazard that it’s hard to care about any of it. Crowe’s once-deft touch for breezy, epigrammatic profundity has eluded him on his past few features, from the self-parodic “Elizabethtown” to the harmlessly mediocre “We Bought a Zoo,” but it’s hard to understand how a writer-director as good as he is could make a film this thoroughly scattered and dysfunctional. Sometimes “Aloha” almost feels like an expression of frustration, a frantic feature-length attempt to bundle all his narrative tics and stray emotional bric-a-brac into a rocket and blast it off into space.
And as for the characters, Gilcrest is both over-explained and inscrutable, and Cooper never quite finds the right register to bring him to life. Ng is almost fleshed out by Stone’s energetic performance, though the character’s essential contradictions — for one, she’s terrified of the idea of weaponized satellites polluting the peaceful purity of the Hawaiian sky, even though she’s a fighter pilot — keep her feeling like an undercooked writerly device. Cooper has charming chemistry with McAdams in individual scenes, but their relationship never quite gels. And an unkempt Murray appears to have been given free rein to simply goof off through his scenes, making the pic’s already befuddling military intrigue subplot even more surreal.
Despite all these faults, the film isn’t entirely unpleasant. Alec Baldwin gets to unleash his most full-throated bellow as a dyspeptic general. Cooper and Krasinski have a pantomimed conversation that’s quite funny. And Stone and Murray stage a dance-off to Hall and Oates that’s appealing for reasons which should be self-explanatory, even if it might as well have been shot at the wrap party, for all the sense it makes to the narrative.
Production design, camerawork and art direction are all topnotch, and the film showcases a bevy of beautiful island landscapes with nary a swimming pool nor a beach resort in sight. Hawaiian folk music supplements Crowe’s predictable classic rock selections on the soundtrack well enough, and a score from Sigur Ros offshoot Jonsi and Alex is appropriately transporting. | 1,983 |
There is a very simple measure for any new potential therapy for enhanced longevity: is it either (a) doing at least as well as calorie restriction in mice when it comes to health and longevity, or (b) achieving important results that calorie restriction cannot show in mice - such as outright rejuvenation. The popular supplement resveratrol fails miserably to achieve significant results in either of these goals after more than five years of experimentation and hundreds of millions of dollars in research funding. This means that it is a dead end, or so close to one as makes no real difference. The only value gained lies in incremental improvements in the understanding of metabolism - which could have been achieved while studying more effective paths to the same end goal.
Resveratrol and life extension
Age is the most important risk factor for diseases affecting the Western world, and slowing age-related degeneration would greatly improve the quality of human life. In rodents, caloric restriction (CR) extends lifespan by up to 50%. However, attempts to mimic the effects of CR pharmacologically have been limited by our poor understanding of the mechanisms involved. SIRT1 is proposed to mediate key aspects of CR, and small molecule activators may therefore act as CR mimetics. The polyphenol resveratrol activates SIRT1 in an in vitro assay, and produces changes that resemble CR in vivo, including improvements in insulin sensitivity, endurance, and overall survival in obese mice. However, resveratrol has numerous other targets that could contribute to its health benefits. Moreover, unlike bona fide CR, resveratrol has not been shown to extend lifespan in lean mice.
Whenever a new supplement, drug, or something else you can put in your mouth is announced to possibly affect longevity, there follows a breathless wave of hype and money-making. Go search for "resveratrol" to see the present pointless wasteland of thoughtless buyers and manipulative sellers. You'd think that no-one has a memory of longer than a year: every time this happens exactly the same way, and in the end it all comes to nothing.
Silver bullets don't exist, and the future of longevity science will not be found in paths that fail to show immediate, exciting benefit in mouse studies. When there are multiple ways to extend mouse life span by 50%, why would anyone be worked up about about something that fails to move the needle at all? It's way past time to move on from the resveratrols of the world and focus on research and development that can have a positive effect on the future of human longevity. | 1,984 |
A suspect allegedly stole an etching by Spanish artist Salvador Dali worth $20,000 from a San Francisco, California, art gallery on Sunday.
Surveillance footage of the alleged theft shows a man wearing a blue T-shirt and baseball cap as he walks into the gallery and emerges 32 seconds later with the artwork in hand.
The video also shows a woman who was reportedly with the suspect as she waits outside, then follows him down the sidewalk as they leave the scene.
“They just popped into the gallery, probably distracting one of my coworkers,” said Gallery Director of Dennis Rae Fine Art, Angela Kellett.
“It was our showcase item,” she explained. “We have a special Salvador Dali show right now and yeah they just ran off with it, too quick for anyone to do anything about it.”
Rasjad Hopkins, a gallery employee who was working alone the day the incident occurred, told CBS SF BayArea that he turned away from the easel for a moment and when he turned back around, the piece was gone.
The artwork was supposed to be locked to the easel itself, but somehow the suspect was able to remove it and exit the gallery.
“He just grabbed it and walked off,” Kellett recalled. “We don’t know where the secure device is.”
The piece, titled “The Burning Giraffe,” was published by Dali in 1966 and is part of a larger collection of the artist’s work at the gallery located off of Union Square.
“It’s quite important as far as the period of etchings. It’s very, very well known. It’s a beautiful piece. It was inspired by Picasso first,” Kellett noted.
A few weeks prior to the theft, a statue was taken from the gallery’s second location at Fisherman’s Wharf, according to KRON.
Kellett said she is saddened by the most recent incident because she wants the gallery to continue its open-door policy so everyone can enjoy the artwork.
“We want everyone to feel welcome,” she concluded.
Police have asked anyone with information regarding the etching’s whereabouts to call the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD. | 1,985 |
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
ORANGE COUNTY-
A 20-year-old California man who told authorities he wanted to travel to Syria to join the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been arrested, according to federal documents.
The detention order said Adam Dandach of Orange County told federal agents he planned to travel to Syria to join ISIS, “a known terrorist organization, that he would assist ISIS with anything the ISIS asked him to do, and that he believed the killings of U.S. soldiers are justified killings.”
ISIS is waging war against the Iraqi government and has taken over several major cities in Iraq. It is seeking to create an Islamic caliphate that encompasses portions of Iraq and Syria and has begun imposing Sharia law in the towns it controls.
Dandach was charged with two felony counts of making a false statement on a passport application.
The criminal complaint said Dandach was arrested July 2 at the Orange County Airport, where he planned to board a flight for Istanbul.
He was traveling with a replacement passport that he obtained by saying he’d accidentally thrown away his original passport, the complaint said.
But federal agents discovered Dandach’s mother, Sawsan Ghannoum, had actually taken away his original passport and hidden it to prevent him from taking an overseas trip in December, the complaint said.
The detention order said Dandach admitted to his brother that he perjured himself on the passport application.
“Dandach stated that he was more disappointed that he did not get to go to Syria than in getting in trouble with law enforcement,” the detention order said.
Dandach is being held in custody until his next court appearance, scheduled for Monday in Santa Ana.
CNN made calls to Dandach’s mother, who hung up, and left a voice mail with his brother, Ghassan Ghannoum. A voice mail was also left with his public defender. The voice mails were not returned.
In April, a Colorado woman was arrested at the Denver airport and charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, according to court documents.
Shannon Maureen Conley, 19, allegedly told FBI agents before her arrest that she was going to be with a member of ISIS whom she had met through the Internet.
By Ralph Ellis and Carma Hassan | 1,986 |
The Virginia Defense League and Gun Owners of America, the gun rights group that is spearheading the Second Amendment sanctuary movement in the commonwealth, responded to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring's statement that called the sanctuary resolution as having "no legal effect."
H/T: Townhall
“Too many Americans believe the Second Amendment grants Americans the right to own firearms only to go hunting and for self-protection. The framers of our Constitution had no such intent in mind.” https://t.co/TWVJrHCh2o — David Kjos (@TheThirstyTheo) December 27, 2019
Latest sanctuary map with Fauquier and Charles City counties. pic.twitter.com/f7Tl77F3AK — Phil Van Cleave VCDL (@VCDL_ORG) December 24, 2019
Virginia Democrats Warn Second Amendment Sanctuaries: Gun Control 'WILL Be Enforced' -https://t.co/FT7h690Kcf ✅
Via - @NeonNettle#NeonNettle LOL! IF DEMORATS DON'T STOP THIS NONSENSE MANY WILL PAY WITH THEIR LIVES FOR FREEDOM AGAIN IN THE USA! REMEMBER 1776? — [email protected] (@prattarussell) December 27, 2019
Watch! The 2nd Amendment is Under Attack in VIRGINIA by Gov. Ralph Notham...
Who is financing it?
Mike Bloomberg funded the politicians who are criminalising all gun ownership and all militias in Virginia!
WOW
Retweet this
Please follow @InBlondWeTrustpic.twitter.com/EwXH2SBG8v — ♛ 𝓑𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓮 ♛ (@InBlondWeTrust) December 26, 2019
But sure Virginia Democrats, lets infringe on the Second Amendment and make it harder for people to defend themselves against criminals like this https://t.co/nQLNZ2P7Q0 — Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) December 27, 2019
The VDL and GOA sent a letter to their supporters and urged them to resist any unconstitutional gun control law the General Assembly passes in the new session next year.
GOA VCDL Response to Herring AO December 26 2019 by Deep Clips on Scribd | 1,987 |
”
Couchsurfing could operate as a DAO wherein users could interact, share their time and space, and even reward hosts with cryptocurrency. Instead of operating as a platform-based, venture-backed company, Couchsurfing could operate independently of a centralized organization.
Yet even with a DAO, there is still the question of how to govern such an organization.
How could the governance of something like Couchsurfing be continually aligned with the overall purpose of the organization? With guests? With hosts? With on the ground trust and safety?
For a Couchsurfing DAO to work, the process of decision-making would have to include the overall intent of the organization, regardless of how large or small each decision is. And when you scale an organization like Couchsurfing, there are an unlimited number of decisions that would have to be made in real time. A top-down, bottleneck hierarchy wouldn’t allow for the ease or scale necessary to keep things running.
A organization that I’m working with has some solutions. DAOstack offers a tool kit for decentralized intelligence and collaboration.
Just as HTTP allows for the creation and interoperability of web sites and web applications, DAOstack enables the creation and interoperability of web companies, collaboration apps and DAOs, as well as the alignment of their interests. The result is a new web of open collaboration, in which collectives can self-organize around shared goals and values, not limited by pure economic growth.
For example, DAOstack recently built Alchemy, a collective budgeting tool. This tool gives teams and groups of all sizes a way to decide where to prioritize spending.
If Couchsurfing were to operate as a DAO, many rules would have to be created, and a thoughtfulness around the trust and the safety of the network would need to be designed and implemented. While the organization could easily be autonomous, there would still need to be human touch and collective decision-making, plus a pattern of values that the organization agrees upon that are connected to every decision.
In a follow-up post, I will dial into the specifics of how an organization like Couchsurfing could operate as a DAO on the blockchain, distributing value to all the organization’s value creators along the way.
Share on!
This article was created in partnership with DAOstack, a new blockchain protocol and platform for building DAOs. To learn more about DAOstack and their upcoming token sale visit them here or join them on Telegram. | 1,988 |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebVideo/TenWordsOfWisdom
The place where a picture is worth a thousand words, so you get... um... one percent of the picture.
Ten Words Of Wisdom, or TWOW, is a competitive YouTube game created and by Cary Huang (carykh), of Battle for Dream Island fame, notable for its massive scale (It began with 491 contestants). The game is about answering various prompts (e.g. Write a haiku about plants) in 10 words or fewer. The responses have to be witty, poetic and funny, but a pun or two doesn't hurt. These responses are judged by viewers (which includes contestants) anonymously, eliminating the lowest ranked contestants.
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The mechanics in more detail
Answering the prompt: As stated earlier, the prompt has to be answered in at most 10 words, and it also has to abide by any restrictions (for example, only using one-syllable words). There are no direct penalties for breaking the rules, but the mistake gets highlighted, so the viewers can notice the mistake and can punish it accordingly by lowering its ranking. As stated earlier, the prompt has to be answered in at most 10 words, and it also has to abide by any restrictions (for example, only using one-syllable words). There are no direct penalties for breaking the rules, but the mistake gets highlighted, so the viewers can notice the mistake and can punish it accordingly by lowering its ranking. Voting: To make voting for 491 entries possible, the voting system is somewhat complicated. Each episode of TWOW is composed of two parts, part A and part B. During part A, Cary shows the contestant's responses from part B. In part B, the contestants score from the Part A voting is revealed, and the new prompt is given. In part B, the contestants with the 20% lowest scores are eliminated. This continues until there's only one contestant left, the winner of TWOW! To make voting for 491 entries possible, the voting system is somewhat complicated. Each episode of TWOW is composed of two parts, part A and part B. During part A, Cary shows the contestant's responses from part B. In part B, the contestants score from the Part A voting is revealed, and the new prompt is given. In part B, the contestants with the 20% lowest scores are eliminated. This continues until there's only one contestant left, the winner of TWOW!
TWOW contains examples of... | 1,989 |
be between 243 and 267.
This calculation can be repeated for every major party, which gives the following 95pc confidence bounds.
Party Predicted
Votes Predicted
Seats Margin of error
in vote share Margin of error
in seats Low Seats High Seats CON 23.2% 196 ±0.83% 22 174 218 LAB 25.0% 255 ±0.85% 12 243 267 LIB 17.9% 60 ±0.75% 4 56 64 Brexit 20.3% 67 ±0.79% 20 47 87 Green 6.8% 1 ±0.49% 0 1 1
These bounds are quite tight. They show, for instance, that Labour and the Liberal Democrats (plus the SNP in some scenarios) could always form a government. And also that the Conservative and Brexit parties, even in their best scenarios, would not have a majority together.
But we also notice that the random sampling error is much smaller than the methodology difference between the pollsters. The next table shows the difference between the YouGov polling and the non-YouGov polling in terms of both vote share and predicted seats. The differences can be as high as 7pc in vote share and 155 in terms of seats, which is much larger than the random sampling error.
Party Methodology
Vote difference Methodology
Seat difference CON -0.5% −7 LAB -6.8% −99 LIB 1.3% 11 Brexit 3.0% 96 Green 3.0% 0
Summary conclusions
There is a significant difference between YouGov and the other pollsters. The difference could be worth a hundred seats to the major parties. This seat difference is well-explained by applying the concept of "seat deltas" to the difference in vote share between the pollsters. The seat deltas also provide a convenient way to estimate seat-based confidence intervals.
The difference between YouGov and the other pollsters is much larger than random sampling error, and indicates some methodological difference. The difference is similar to that shown at the recent European elections. In that case, YouGov were more accurate on average than the other pollsters.
This pollster difference adds to the uncertainty of the current four-party environment. And this difference should be watched carefully to see if it shrinks over time. But, if it doesn't, then we will have to decide where the truth lies.
Return to Psephology home page.
©2019 Electoral Calculus | 1,990 |
The Justice Department is looking into Planned Parenthood's practices related to human fetal tissue, according to a letter obtained by CNN.
The letter -- from the Justice Department's head of its Office of Legislative Affairs -- does not mention Planned Parenthood by name but asks the Senate Judiciary Committee to turn over unredacted documentation supporting a December 2016 report titled "Human Fetal Tissue Research," which purports to describe the organization's practices.
"At this point, the records are intended for investigative use only," Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote. "We understand that a resolution from the Senate may be required if the Department were to use any of the unredacted materials in a formal legal proceeding, such as a grand jury."
The use of human fetal tissue -- which is used to study a number of diseases -- has proved to be a political flashpoint for decades.
Federal law prohibits the receipt of any "valuable consideration" for fetal tissue, while permitting "reasonable payments" for costs, including "transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control or storage of human fetal tissue."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley's 2016 report claimed that executive branch agencies had failed to monitor the industry and -- after reviewing 20,000 documents voluntarily submitted by Planned Parenthood and a number of other organizations -- called on the Justice Department to investigate.
"The report documents the failure of the Department of Justice, across multiple administrations, to enforce the law that bans the buying and selling of human fetal tissue," Grassley wrote. "It also documents substantial evidence suggesting that the specific entities involved in the recent controversy, and/or individuals employed by those entities, may have violated that law."
Last month, in response to reports that the FBI had asked the Senate for documents it obtained from abortion providers, Planned Parenthood's vice president of government affairs, Dana Singiser, said: "Planned Parenthood strongly disagrees with the recommendations of the Senate Republican staff to refer this matter to the Justice Department, especially in light of the fact that investigations by three other Congressional committees, and investigations in 13 states including a Grand Jury in Texas, have all shown that Planned Parenthood did nothing wrong."
Singiser added: "Planned Parenthood has never, and would never, profit while facilitating its patients' choice to donate fetal tissue for use in important medical research."
CNN is told that Grassley said in order to turn over the documentation he needed to receive a letter from DOJ explaining that the materials underlying his report would be used for investigative purposes, according a source with knowledge of the discussions.
The Justice Department declined to comment. | 1,991 |
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Since Boris Johnson announced the rules of the coronavirus lockdown, the government has instructed people not to meet up with anyone outside their household.
It's meant that grandparents have had to meet their newborn grandchild for the first time through a window, and parents have improvised to turn their garage into a nightclub so their son can celebrate his birthday.
Although it's a tough sacrifice to make, it's a necessary one - which can make it all the more infuriating to see others flouting the rules without a care in the world.
It's even bolder to shamelessly upload a picture of your 'isolation party' with guests filling your home and garden to a Facebook page set up to help people stuck indoors during isolation or quarantine.
When Ellie Morley and Simon Evans did just that, you may expect a fierce backlash - but, thankfully, not all is as it seems.
(Image: simon_evans__ and 13_cupcake/Instagram)
Ellie uploaded the photo to the Isolation Nation Facebook group, which boasts 14,000 members, urging people to share ideas, positive entertainment and expert advice.
Members were forced to double take when they saw the snap of Ellie and Simon's home in Manchester full of 'party guests' and drinks over the long bank holiday weekend before realising their mistake.
The pair had brilliantly Photoshopped the image to fill the house with different versions of themselves in different clothes to create a clever illusion - which was just the tonic to lighten the mood.
(Image: FACEBOOK)
Not everyone spotted the trick straight away, with one commenting: "What part of social distancing don’t you get?" - before later adding: "Lmao I just realised it’s all photoshopped. Awesome."
Many others nearly did the same, with a second person replying: "I’m glad I took a really good look before I posted something mean."
Another admitted: "I seen this and got so angry and said wtf! Then I realised it's just you both copied and pasted brilliant."
Asking how long it took them to achieve, Ellie said: "The photo took an hour to shoot and five hours to edit."
You can follow Simon on Instagram by clicking here and Ellie here. | 1,992 |
Air Force chief of staff Gen. Dave Goldfein shared a video featuring Staff Sgt. Eric Piime, an immigrant from Ghana, whom he called an "inspiration."
"This is Staff Sgt. Eric Piime. He's a boom operator with @ 121ARW & he's an inspiration. His story began in his native Ghana where he developed a fascination with aviation & an appreciation for the U.S.," Goldfein said in a tweet, sharing the video.
"His is a story of hope, hard work, perseverance & patriotism. # Airpower."
The video comes after President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE reportedly referred to Haiti, El Salvador and some African nations as "shithole countries" during an Oval Office meeting.
Trump faced widespread backlash and accusations of racism for his comments. He has pushed back against the reports of the comments and denied he is racist.
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In the video posted to Twitter, Piime talked about growing up in Ghana and his journey to the U.S. He talked about the first time he saw an airplane, saying they "intrigued" him. He said he learned, after watching airplanes, that he wanted to be a pilot.
"In Ghana, there's a huge, huge fan base for the United States of America," he said, adding that the U.S. is a "huge beacon of hope."
Piime said he knew he had to come to the U.S. for his dream to be realized. After he graduated and got into his flight training, he said, he was looking for ways to give back.
"I thought service to this country was the ultimate way of giving back," he said.
He said he needed to become a citizen to serve, referring to the day he got his citizenship as very important in his life.
"Looking back at it, I still get goosebumps," he said in the video. "I'm lost for words to even express myself.... To be a citizen of the greatest nation on this planet, it's something to write home about."
His favorite things about America, he said, are what the country stands for.
"It's a beacon of hope, it's a country of opportunities and a country that gives chances," he said. "That's always been my favorite." | 1,993 |
This isn’t about ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Just like the fanatics on the right, for the young American Jewish left, Israel is viewed as a kind of justification for Jewish-American values.
Birthright, and now J Street’s trip, give an almost Orientalist tinge to these American efforts: Young Jews tour Israel on an expedition to “transform the future of Judaism” as Birthright promises or “Let Our People know” as J Street does. Then there’s IfNotNow’s “You Never Told Me” campaign: Me.
The American Jew is at the center of this learning experience. Israeli and Palestinian subjects are erased.
When J Street or IfNotNow talk about Jewish values and Jewish liberation, they not only exclude Palestinians and non-Jews, but they appropriate the struggle to fit their own worldview and create an identity for themselves.
This is not to say that progressive American Jews are the same as the right or the occupation apologists, or the pundits paying lazy lip service as a means to “liberal-wash” Israel. American Jews have always been front and center in every human rights struggle in the 20th Century. They are and should be an essential part of the movement to end the occupation and make Israel a state where there’s equality for all.
But what unites leftists in Israel, Jew and Arab alike, is not “Jewish values” but international law. What unites the left is not seeking to advance the Jewish community, but the fight for basic human rights — for everyone.
What holds this coalition of resistance together in Israel, away from protests outside of Birthright’s New York headquarters, is not religion but citizenry. Being a citizen means you’re an American or an Israeli that deserves the same basic rights, and when you see someone who doesn’t have the same civic rights, like the Palestinian people, you can demand they should simply have the same.
Opinion | How Young American Jews Made Palestinian Rights All About Themselves
And if a Jewish reference is still needed to remind ourselves how we fight against dehumanizing of other people, let’s remember the word of Hillel who taught, “Where there is no man, be thou a man.”
Where there is injustice, one need not be a Jew to oppose it. It is enough to simply be human.
Etan Nechin is an Israeli journalist and author. | 1,994 |
Dear E. Jean: Next to my boyfriend (who is overweight, balding, and mopey), I look like Halle Berry. Every chance I get, I tell him how smart, reliable, and honorable he is. And I mean every word of it—at his core, he is a very good man with many fine qualities. But he never returns the compliment. I've told him time and time again how important it is to me to hear he likes the way I look. He (finally!) mustered "I like your pants...." When pushed, he added: "You look fine."
E. Jean, frankly, I look great. He tells me he loves me and that I'm the most important person in his life. This is lovely to hear, but his lack of enthusiasm is starting to dull my desire to have sex. I want to feel pretty and sexy! I try to look beautiful for him, and I get no reaction. —Am I Too Demanding?
Demanding: Girl, please. Next time you're looking fatally attractive and the dullard remains silent, perform the Heimlich on his brain. Hand him a cheat sheet and declare: "Darling, you're a supersmart guy and a lovable dolt. You know I like hearing that you like the way I look. So if you ever want to have sex again, choose one from each column."
He will stare at the sheet in sulky confusion, so prompt him with a: "Dude! I realize you're too shy [flustered, reserved] to think of words on your own. But you're not nearly as beef-witted as your silence suggests. Just say my name, add the word your, and make your selections."
Keep copies handy to give the big dope in the future. No woman should live even a day without being admired; when a woman is admired, she becomes dangerous.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This letter is from the Ask E. Jean Archive, 1993-2017. Send questions to E. Jean at [email protected].
E. Jean I write the ASK E.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io | 1,995 |
for lesbians. And there are also quite a few straight men, which is great.
I think this all started when trans activists—and that doesn’t mean trans people, let’s make that clear. Trans activists is an umbrella term: people that are all about “gender and not sex,” regardless of their actual gender.
The trans activists started coming for gay men, then they started coming for straight people, so it was just a matter of time before they came for us. They said things like “If you’re a lesbian, you should be attracted to all women. If a trans woman is a woman, you should be attracted to her.”
And it’s like, “No, we’re not attracted to all women.”
If you want to call yourself straight and have sex with trans women—I don’t care! People misunderstand my stance on that. I don't care how you identify, as long as you’re not forcing your definition on me. That’s the problem I have. Because you’re changing a word and saying I have to live by your new definition.
Can we talk a little bit about the changing definition of the word “woman?”
Yes. I saw something posted the other day that “Women are limitless and formless.” And it’s like—“Thanks for saying that! How are we supposed to protect something that’s limitless and formless and a void?”
I know it’s meant to be seen as a good thing, but it’s not. You can’t protect something that doesn’t have a definition. Women have different needs. Trans women have different needs. Men have different needs.
Do you identify as a conservative?
I took two political stance tests. I got libertarian on both of them.
I’m very open and very liberal socially. “Live and let live.” But I also think that people need to pay their taxes and work. I’ve seen people abuse welfare and I’ve seen veterans get pushed onto the street. I don’t think trans women belong in female sports all the time, and I don’t think they belong in women’s prisons if they’re rapists. I have some conservative views but it’s not an overall mindset. I’m in the middle. | 1,996 |
Jel Singh Nagra’s shop has caused a stir (Picture: North News)
The owner of a humble corner shop has been threatened with legal action by a supermarket giant, after he called his store ‘Singhsburys’.
But Jel Singh Nagra appears to have responded by trying to ruffle the feathers of another major chain – by renaming it ‘Morrisinghs’.
Driver takes to the streets with entire greenhouse strapped to roof
The 42-year-old businessman changed the name of his store in West Allotment, North Tyneside, to ‘Morrisinghs’ after being encouraged to do so by his customers, according to the Northern Echo.
Mr Nagra said: ‘A lot of the customers come in here for the banter more than the actual service.
‘The sign makes us a talking point.
Mr Nagra says his customers come for ‘the banter’ (Picture: North News)
‘I do feel that the sign is bringing more business in.’
He added: ‘If I get asked to take this one down I will fight for it.’
Toothbrush removed from man's stomach after he swallowed it while brushing
In 2012 Sainsbury’s contacted the family threatening legal action and asking them to remove the sign.
Mr Nagra felt he had no choice but to remove the name and the shop remained nameless until last week.
Within 24 hours of posting a picture of his shop on Facebook, complete with the brand new ‘Morrisinghs’ sign and name, the photo has been shared 10,000 times.
Regular customer Sarah Shields wrote: ‘This guy is great! The sign makes me laugh every time I go past. Nice bloke too.’
And Andrea Smith wrote: ‘
The father-of-two added: ‘It is just a laugh and we hope it will put West Allotment on the map.
‘It’s all a bit of fun and the customers love it.
‘It is just a laugh, the aim is to get people talking and that’s worked.’
MORE: Boris Becker’s week gets worse as his Maserati is towed away and Porsche slammed with a fine
MORE: Mum names son ‘Bobby’ after he’s born in police station car park | 1,997 |
the data collected so far suggests that. So it’s possible that a 4000 qubit D-Wave machine will exhibit this trend, but there is no evidence of it (yet) from examining a 2000 qubit machine. Scott’s central gripe with D-Wave’s approach is that they don’t have any even pie-in-the-sky theoretical reason to expect this to happen, and scaling up quantum computers without breaking the entire process is much harder than for classical computers so making them even bigger doesn’t seem like a solution. (2) DWave machines are NOT gate quantum computers; they call their machine quantum annealing machines. It is not known the complexity class of problems that can be solved efficiently by quantum annealing machines, or if that class is equivalent to classical machines. The result shows that the DWave machine is asymptotically faster than the Simulated Annealing algorithm (yay!), which suggests that it is executing the Quantum Annealing algorithm. However, the paper also explicitly states that this does not mean that the Dwave machine is exhibiting a ‘quantum speedup’. To do this, they would need to show it to outperform the best known classical algorithm, which as the paper acknowledges, it does not. What the paper does seem to be showing is that the machine in question is actually fundamentally quantum in nature; it’s just not clear yet that that the type of quantum computer it is is an improvement over classical ones. (3) [I]t isn’t called out in the linked blog since by now Scott probably considers it basic background information, but D-Wave only solves a very particular problem, and it is both not entirely clear that it has a superior solution to that problem than a classical algorithm can obtain and it is not clear that encoding real problems into that problem will not end up costing you all of the gains itself. Really pragmatic applications are still a ways into the future. It’s hard to imagine what they might be when we’re still so early in the process, and still have no good idea what either the practical or theoretical limits are. (4) The popular perception of quantum computers as “doing things in parallel” is very misleading. A quantum computer lets you perform computation on a superposed state while maintaining that superposition. But that only helps if the structure of the problem lets you somehow “cancel out” the incorrect results leaving you with the single correct one. [There’s hope for the world! –SA] | 1,998 |
A Tennessee mom said she and her child have been threatened after they complained about “Bible Man” visits to her son’s school.
The Christian-themed superhero character played by Horace Turner has been visiting Grundy County schools for nearly 40 years, but the atheist mom contacted a national secular group over her concerns, reported WRCB-TV.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter on behalf of the woman, who asked to remain anonymous in news reports, questioning the constitutionality of the in-school visits.
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While some Christian evangelizers come as wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing, this wolf comes dressed as a wolf,” the group said in a letter. “’Bible Man’s’ overtly religious and proselytizing messages are explicit.”
Turner leads students in Bible readings, sets up “baby Jesus” displays at school, preaches in sermons that “Jesus died on the cross for our sins,” and distributes religious literature, the group said.
He has also spoken at schools in Alabama, but Tennessee state officials recently promised to end Turner’s visits to elementary schools.
The Grundy County mother said her son, who is an atheist like his parents, was not initially aware the lessons were optional.
“As he got older, it bothered him that he had to sit through this because it’s not his religion,” his mother said.
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The school district suspended Bible Man’s visits for now, although administrators hope he will return on a “club schedule” – which would allow students to choose whether to participate.
“I believe the perception was that we’re trying to get rid of him, and that was not the perception we wanted to present,” said Willie Childers, the interim superintendent.
The atheist mother said she has received threats involving her son on Facebook, including a photo of a burning house.
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“We don’t want people to be mad — we just want people to make sure there’s an alternative something for the kids to do,” she said.
“We just can’t get over how much hate there is in their loving, Christian hearts,” she added.
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Watch this video report by WRCB-TV:
WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather | 1,999 |
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