text
stringlengths 245
34.4k
| id
int64 0
1.27M
|
|---|---|
A teacher who left pupils alone while he went boozing until 4am during a trip to Lourdes has been banned from the profession.
Niall O’Hagan was leading a school trip from St Bede’s College in Whalley Range when he left the group of pupils unsupervised in a French hotel while he went out drinking.
In a string of drunken incidents during the trip the physics teacher got drunk while in charge of pupils, turned up to morning mass intoxicated and gave youngsters vodka and wine.
The 30-year-old was subsequently sent home and immediately suspended from St Bede’s as a result of his behaviour.
He has now been banned from teaching indefinitely.
A professional conduct panel heard how Mr O’Hagan got drunk while in charge of students at Lac de Lourdes and at a fancy dress party.
He left pupils aged between 16 and 18 unsupervised at their hotel on two occasions including one evening when a student had a panic attack.
He also gave youngsters vodka in their hotel room and bought them wine to drink.
When brought before a National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) panel, Mr O’Hagan claimed the trip to Lourdes in August 2015 had been ‘particularly emotional’ following the death of his father in July 2012.
Mr O’Hagan made the decision to attend Alcoholic Anonymous the day after he was dismissed from the trip and has been engaged with the programme ever since, the panel heard.
Education bosses, however, found that Mr O’Hagan had neglected his duty of care towards the pupils during the trip.
The NCTL has now banned Mr O’Hagan from teaching indefinitely. He cannot appeal until September 2018.
A spokesman for St Bede’s College said it took safeguarding responsibilities ‘extremely seriously’ and had robust policies in place.
“The concern for the welfare of every pupil is paramount,” a school spokesman said.
“The college has been organising school trips to Lourdes for more than 20 years.
“These trips are of huge spiritual importance to our students and are part of the fabric of school life.
“Rigorous policies are followed in preparation to ensure they run smoothly and effectively. Immediate action was taken by the college in 2015 to remove the member of staff in charge to ensure the school visit could continue safely and all the relevant authorities were informed.” | 2,400 |
read might not be the best idea this time around. It’s time for something fresh, and an innovative selection might be just what the Pistons need to help turn things around.
Don’t Blow Your Cap Space
Re-signing Monroe without trading Smith would pretty much take care of any cap space Detroit may have had, but if they do decide to stick with Smith and let Monroe walk they’ll have a decent chunk of cash to blow on a high-priced free agent. Assuming Dumars is still running the team when free agency decisions are being made, allowing him a blank check would be a very bad idea.
Money burns a hole in Dumars’ pocket like a nine-year-old looking to blow his allowance in a comic book store, and that enthusiasm for spending has not typically resulted in good things. The last two times Detroit had big cap space to spend it ended up in the pockets of Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva and Josh Smith—all expensive long-term deals that almost immediately proved to be bad ideas.
The plan this summer, since 2015 is expected to put so many talented players in the free agency field, should be to go bargain hunting for veterans on one-year deals (ones that can shoot the ball, preferably) so that they can perhaps make a play at someone significant not this summer but next.
The hope has to be that a new coach can better mesh the personnel and that the Pistons can make the playoffs in 2014-2015. From there they could explore making some major additions and see how the future looks then.
Honestly, the most dramatic change Detroit could make would be to move on from Dumars, who no longer seems to be someone who can be trusted to make the kinds of roster decisions that help a team contend for a championship. He’s as mercurial as they come, with almost every move he makes being either unbelievably excellent or unbelievably bad, but there are plenty of GMs these days having lot of success using advanced statistics and spendthrift patience. If Detroit should find themselves someone like that, better things are sure to follow.
The Pistons aren’t that far away from being a good team. There’s plenty of talent on the roster, but they need someone to find the right mix of coaching staff and player personnel to fine-tune that talent. Things can only get better from there.
Now if we could find ourselves a time machine to skip ahead to when all that is done, it would sure save fans in Detroit a lot of misery. | 2,401 |
Founded in 1988, Foshan Xintu Chemical Co.,Ltd is the most professional Titanium Dioxide Manufacturer who can have an annual output capacity of coatings over 100,000 Tons then to meet the market demand at a reasonable price. We invest reasonable funds on R & D and equipment. We pay attention to the cultivation and promotion of talents to ensure constant improvement and win good reputation as the most reliable Titanium Dioxide Manufacturer.
As we are qualified supplier for Titanium Dioxide and we always devotes to green environmental protection, we got a lot of inquiries from our customers every day. Today we would like to share some of them with you as following.
1.Name: Bill L****
Email:bill****@s****
Tel:9140****
Date:2018-12-12
Message: we require Rutile Titanium Dioxide YR 803. Please quote on the minimum and FOB price.
2.Name: Brian K****
Email:brian@r****
Tel:6307****
Date:2018-12-11
Message: We are looking for Rutile Titanium Dioxide ZR-969, do you manufacture them and is it possible to purchase between 500 and 2000? Thank you.
3.Name: Amit S****
Email:ps****@K****
Tel:9197****
Date:2018-12-10
Message: Can you offer Rutile Titanium Dioxide ZR940+? Please give more information about it and quote on it.
4.Name: Reinhold C****
Email:rhinbo,2****@l****
Tel:7052****
Date:2018-12-9
Message: We need Rutile Titanium Dioxide ZR-965, and we have to have them as soon as possible. Do you have stock? Please kindly contact us soon.
5.Name: Mahmoud W****
Email:mahmoudw***@gmail.com
Tel:0796****
Date:2018-12-8
Message: We are looking for the high-quality of Rutile Titanium Dioxide ZR-969. Can you send an offer for 200 to our company. Please quote on it.
Don’t hesitate to order our Titanium Dioxide! We are the best and the right Titanium Dioxide Manufacturer for you. If you need more information on it, you can visit www.xintuchemical.com | 2,402 |
A hospital in Kentucky declared an "internal state of emergency" after a number of files on its computer systems were infected by encryption. The perpetrators behind the ransomware attack are holding data hostage and will only give them back once the hospital pays up.
The attackers are reportedly demanding just four bitcoins in order for them to hand over a key that would unlock the encrypted files. Based on the exchange rate, the ransom amount is equivalent to around $1,600.
In staging the attack, the perpetrators are said to have used Locky, a new strain of malware in encrypting valuable files. After initially infecting a machine, the perpetrators reportedly continued infecting the hospital's internal network, along with several other systems.
The Locky malware works by encrypting all of the victim's important files, documents and images and then deleting the original files in the end. Victims who need to regain access to their affected files will only have two ways to do so: either they restore the files from a backup or they pay the ransom.
Choosing the first option can be successful as long as the backup is not found on a network that can be freely accessed from a compromised PC.
Jamie Reid, information systems director of Methodist Hospital, said that the hospital decided to shut down all of its desktop computers in order to thwart the attack from compromising several other systems. One by one, the hospital brought the affected systems back after it had scanned each one for signs of attack.
"As everyone's talking about the computer problem at the hospital maybe we ought to just treat this like a tornado hit," said David Park, an attorney for the Kentucky healthcare center, in a statement released to Krebs On Security.
Park added that the hospital administration hasn't ruled out the option of resolving the issue by paying the demanded amount for ransom. He said that while the hospital is still working through the process, paying the ransom will be the last resort - it won't pay "unless we absolutely have to."
The attack is currently being investigated by the FBI, which declined to make a comment on the incident. In a January report, the FBI said that while ransomware has been in existence for several years, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of attacks lately by cyber criminals who prey on businesses and institutions.
Just recently, an LA hospital faced a similar ransomware attack, which held its computer system hostage for a whopping ransom of 9,000 Bitcoin, amounting to roughly $3.6 million.
ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. | 2,403 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin dismissed as absurd on Tuesday allegations it was behind the hacking of U.S. Democratic Party emails, saying unidentified individuals were trying to cynically exploit fear of Russia for electoral purposes.
It responded after cyber security experts and U.S. officials said there was evidence Russia had engineered the release of sensitive Democratic Party emails in order to influence the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election.
The emails, released by activist group WikiLeaks at the weekend, appeared to show favouritism within the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for Hillary Clinton and prompted the resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
President Vladimir Putin has tried to avoid giving the impression he favours any U.S. candidate, but has hailed Republican Party nominee Donald Trump as being “very talented”.
Russian state TV, which hews closely to the Kremlin’s world view, has left little doubt however that Moscow would prefer Trump. It casts Clinton, whom Putin accused of stirring up protests against him in her role as U.S. Secretary of State in 2011, as a warmonger.
“We are again seeing these maniacal attempts to exploit the Russian theme in the U.S. election campaign,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the leaked emails.
“This is not breaking new ground, this is an old trick which is being played again. This is not good for our bilateral relations, but we understand that we simply have to get through this unpleasant period.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier on Tuesday he had raised the hacking issue at a meeting in Laos with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“I don’t want to use four-letter words,” was Lavrov’s only response to reporters when asked whether Russia was responsible for the email hack.
Earlier this month, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Trump, visited Moscow, where he gave a lecture complaining that Western governments had often had a hypocritical focus on democratisation in the post-Soviet world.
Analysts say the Kremlin would welcome a Trump win because the billionaire U.S. businessman has repeatedly praised Putin, spoken of wanting to get along with Russia, and has said he would consider an alliance with Moscow against Islamic State.
Trump’s suggestion he might abandon NATO’s pledge to automatically defend all alliance members is also likely to have gone down well in Moscow, where the military alliance is cast as an outdated Cold War relic. | 2,404 |
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan Thursday ordered the Internal Revenue Service to come up with new answers after IRS employees contradicted sworn testimony about damage to Lois Lerner’s hard drive.
Sullivan ruled that “the IRS is hereby ORDERED to file a sworn Declaration, by an official with the authority to speak under oath for the Agency, by no later than August 22, 2014” on four issues: the IRS’ attempted recovery of Lerner’s lost emails after her computer allegedly crashed, bar codes that could have been on the hard drive, IRS policies on hard drive destruction, and information about an outside vendor who worked on IRS hard drives.
Recent documents from nonprofit group Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the IRS, which Sullivan is presiding over, showed that IRS technology officials contradicted sworn testimony about damage to Lerner’s hard drive.
Aaron Signor, an IRS technician that looked at Lerner’s hard drive in June 2011, said in IRS court filings that he saw no damage to the drive before sending it off to another IRS technician, leading some in the media to suggest that the lost emails scandal is basically over. But Signor’s statement, issued in response to the Judicial Watch lawsuit, does not jibe with sworn congressional testimony.
The Daily Caller reported that Lerner’s hard drive was “scratched” and then “shredded,” according to a court filing the IRS made to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (RELATED: How To Destroy A Hard Drive: IRS Edition)
The IRS technology official who served as the source of the “scratched” and “shredded” revelation is believed to have looked at the hard drive after Signor.
Sullivan’s order seems to have been motivated by the obvious contradiction. Judicial Watch said that Sullivan made the order because the IRS’ new court filing featuring Signor’s statement was a “joke.”
“In an extraordinary step, U. S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan has launched an independent inquiry into the issue of the missing emails associated with former IRS official Lois Lerner,” Judicial Watch said in a statement. “Previously, Judge Sullivan ordered the IRS to produce sworn declarations about the IRS email issue by August 11. Today’s order confirms Judicial Watch’s read of this week’s IRS’ filings that treated as a joke Judge Sullivan’s order.”
Follow Patrick on Twitter | 2,405 |
While Donald Trump is struggling with his popularity here at home, he can at least now boast about being the most discussed person in Russian media last week.
This honor usually goes to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and this is the first time since 2011 that Putin was not the most discussed person, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
Trump was mentioned 202,000 times by the Russian press in January. Putin placed second, with 147,700 mentions, according to Interfax’s news analytics database SCAN.
Two other Americans appeared in the top 10 list: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Obama managed third place, with 61,155 mentions, and Clinton came in seventh, with 23,843 mentions.
To be fair, Putin isn’t the only Russian leader who normally dominates the list. Then-President Dmitry Medvedev topped the list from 2008 to 2011, the years of his short-lived and largely forgotten presidency.
Citizens around the world are fascinated — and in some cases alarmed — by Trump, but Russians have particular reason to follow his every utterance: the new president’s jarringly pro-Russian beliefs and comments.
Trump has given Russians reason to like him
Trump has repeatedly praised Putin as a “strong leader” and a vital potential ally in the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups around the world. The new president has derided NATO as “obsolete” and hinted that he wouldn’t come to the defense of Eastern European allies if they were invaded by Russia. He also recently suggested — to the consternation of leading Republicans and Democrats — that he was prepared to lift the sanctions the Obama administration slapped on Putin after Russia sent troops into Ukraine and annexed Crimea.
Trump has also changed the way Americans see Russia. Vox’s Zack Beauchamp reported that Republicans are friendlier toward Putin’s administration, and Democrats are more hostile, than they have been in more than a decade:
A July 2014 poll by YouGov found that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a -66 approval rating among Republicans; in November 2016, that number was -10 — a 55 percentage point increase, at a time when Putin’s government was slaughtering civilians and American-backed rebels in Syria.
Putin doesn’t have many Western admirers given his invasions of foreign countries and brutal crackdown on dissent at home. Trump remains one of them. With Russian media largely controlled by the Kremlin, you could understand why Putin would want to give his new friend the largest microphone possible. | 2,406 |
13:51:08 Mr Speaker
13:52:53 Mr Peter Bone MP (Wellingborough, Conservative)
13:53:23 Mr Speaker
13:55:06 Ten Minute Rule Motion - Basement Excavation (Restriction of Permitted Development)
13:55:12 Ms Karen Buck MP (Westminster North, Labour)
14:05:47 Legislation - Education and Adoption Bill - Report stage
14:05:51 Kevin Brennan MP (Cardiff West, Labour)
14:49:13 Mr Graham Brady MP (Altrincham and Sale West, Conservative)
15:03:52 Stephen Twigg MP (Liverpool, West Derby, Labour (Co-op))
15:13:08 Mr David Burrowes MP (Enfield, Southgate, Conservative)
15:21:02 Pat Glass MP (North West Durham, Labour)
15:28:59 Neil Carmichael MP (Stroud, Conservative)
15:44:14 John Pugh MP (Southport, Liberal Democrat)
15:53:53 Louise Haigh MP (Sheffield, Heeley, Labour)
16:08:31 Peter Kyle MP (Hove, Labour)
16:13:52 Nick Gibb MP, The Minister for Schools (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, Conservative)
16:43:32 Division
16:57:43 Steve McCabe MP (Birmingham, Selly Oak, Labour)
17:24:16 Bill Esterson MP (Sefton Central, Labour)
17:34:42 Edward Timpson MP, The Minister for Schools (Crewe and Nantwich, Conservative)
17:59:19 Legislation - Education and Adoption Bill - 3rd reading
17:59:30 Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, The Secretary of State for Education (Loughborough, Conservative)
18:09:09 Lucy Powell MP (Manchester Central, Labour (Co-op))
18:23:17 Tristram Hunt MP (Stoke-on-Trent Central, Labour)
18:31:56 Division
18:45:22 Petition
18:49:02 Adjournment - 190th Anniversary of the Stockton to Darlington railway
18:49:07 Phil Wilson MP (Sedgefield, Labour)
19:00:12 Helen Goodman MP (Bishop Auckland, Labour) | 2,407 |
By Rick Sallinger
DENVER (CBS4) – Former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens has given his take on the unsolved murder of JonBenet Ramsey.
He posted the comments on his Facebook page and referred to the CBS docuseries, “The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey.”
He wrote, “I have my own strong views concerning who killed JonBenet” and “CBS is to be commended for stripping away the many myths surrounding this horrible case and presenting factually and unemotionally an unbiased account of this tragedy.”
The show gathered experts to re-examine the evidence in the murder of the six year old beauty pageant queen.
While Governor of Colorado, Bill Owens was outspoken on the case.
He once addressed the unnamed killer directly at a news conference, saying “To the killers of JonBenet Ramsey you only think you have gotten away with murder.”
The investigators on the show ruled out one of the two main scenarios. By phone, Owens told CBS 4’s Rick Sallinger:
“You know the show dispelled the theory of an outside intruder using very good analysis.”
The program showed the difficulty of coming in a basement window, that cobwebs would have been disturbed, and the ransom note probably took some 20 minutes to write on a notepad inside the Ramsey home.
“Obviously some crimes are never solved, but in this case I do believe that we now have a better idea of what actually happened that evening,” Owens said.
The CBS program investigators theorized the parents tried to cover up that Burke Ramsey killed JonBenet with a flashlight.
James Kolar, who worked on the case for the Boulder District Attorney and appeared on the CBS show, said on the program “He (Burke) probably would have been upset about her trying to snag a piece of pineapple and struck her with the flashlight.”
Interviewed recently on the Dr. Phil show, Burke denied that and suggested a pedophile may have killed his sister JonBenet.
Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood called the CBS conclusion “outrageous and unconscionable.” He said he planned to file a lawsuit against CBS on behalf of Burke Ramsey.
CBS4’s Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger. | 2,408 |
taught him respect for gay people. He recalled looking out the car window as a high school student and for the first time seeing two men kissing.
‘They Love Each Other’
“And my father looked at me and said, ’They love each other. That’s the end. That’s the end,’” Biden said.
Gay voters have forgiven Biden for his 1996 vote as a U.S. senator from Delaware for the Defense of Marriage Act, said Phil Attey, a gay rights activist and Democratic operative. Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, signed the legislation into law. It defined marriage as a union of only a man and woman.
“Absolutely water under the bridge,” Attey said in a phone interview. “We need to understand that politicians weren’t ready to fall on their swords for this issue.”
Biden endeared himself to gay voters in 2012 when he declared his support for gay marriage on the NBC program “Meet the Press,” inadvertently pressuring his boss, Barack Obama, to do the same. The Supreme Court this June ruled gay marriage is legal in all of the U.S.
Rainbow-Striped
Clinton, who adopted a rainbow-striped version of her logo as the Supreme Court heard arguments on the gay marriage case this year, was criticized this week by some gay rights advocates over newly released e-mails from her time as Secretary of State.
Clinton, 67, in 2011 questioned a change in passport applications for children. The new form would have asked for the names of “parent one” and “parent two” rather than “mother and father.” Clinton indicated a desire to head off a conservative “media storm,” according to an e-mail to an aide.
On Saturday Clinton acknowledged that her political priorities haven’t always lined up perfectly with the organization’s.
“You’ve helped change a lot of minds, including mine, and I am personally very grateful for that,” Clinton said.
The former U.S. secretary of state warned that gay-rights gains made in recent years could be at risk from an ideological shift on the Supreme Court if a Republican is elected to the White House in 2016.
(An earlier version of this story corrected the name of the rights group in the 11th paragraph.)
(Updates to add gun comments in eighth paragraph.) | 2,409 |
US Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Friday he will meet the new Saudi energy minister on Monday and likely discuss plans Saudi Arabia has to build nuclear reactors.
Perry did not say where he would meet Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who took over from Khalid al-Falih on Sunday. But a US official said the meeting would likely take place on the sidelines of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in Vienna next week.
The kingdom has so far resisted agreeing to standards that would block its ability to enrich uranium and reprocessing of plutonium, possible pathways to making an atomic weapon. On Monday, Prince Abdulaziz said the kingdom wanted to enrich uranium for its nuclear power programme, potentially complicating talks with the Trump administration on the atomic pact and the role of US companies.
Perry told reporters at department headquarters on Friday the kingdom must agree to so-called “123” nonproliferation standards before coming to any agreement.
190909144444127
Last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) said the kingdom does not want to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue them if its regional rival Iran does.
Tough on Iran
On Iran, Perry echoed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin who said this week that administration will continue to be tough on Iran’s oil exports, even though Trump parted ways this week with his hardline national security adviser, John Bolton.
“Iran knows what the rules of being a good citizen in the world are, if they continue to live outside of the bounds of that, I suspect the US will continue to have a very strong and harsh line toward them,” Perry said.
Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran last year after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers. In a bid to crack down on Iran’s economy and bring its oil sales to zero, the administration in May ended sanctions waivers for importers of Iranian oil.
190729215742772
Perry said if China, which had been Iran’s largest oil customer, and other countries need oil they should talk to the US, where oil and gas production has been rapidly growing. “Why not come and talk to the number one oil and gas producing country in the world?” Perry said.
Dan Brouillette, deputy US energy secretary, told Reuters in Abu Dhabi this week that Washington will monitor Iranian oil shipments and consider “designating” or blacklisting any identified party who violates sanctions. | 2,410 |
excited to see teams with a fan ownership element. For example, if a club had 100 fans each contribute $100 that club’s entry would be 40% fan owned and the fans would share in any winnings. 15 players could each contribute $1,666 and take their chances as player owners. MFP: What is the concept behind the name “High Stakes League”? Is it connected to the concept of gambling or poker?
NS: We believe that a competition with a cash prize based on performance is exciting. In the future we’d like to see tiers. There could be $5,000 tournaments and $1 million tournaments. MFP: With a tournament like this, there wouldn’t be the need to market the team and worry about ticket sales, because that would be taken care of by the League. Clubs would only have to worry about putting a high level team on the field. Is that correct?
NS: Correct. Teams would be free to attract any sponsors they can to help cover their entry fees and keep 100% of that revenue and obviously we’d love each team’s fans to attend, but attendance will be free. The team’s revenue model is based on win and make money versus draw a big crowd and make money. MFP: What time of year do you plan on holding the tournament? Will it be available to clubs as a tool for preseason?
NS: We are shooting for spring 2019 for the Bay Area Cup. In theory a PDL team, for example, could win the tournament and cover its season expenses before the PDL season even began. I only mention PDL as that’s what the Dragons were and I’m familiar with those expenses. MFP: You are starting with just a Bay Area Cup. Can you tell us more about that? What are some of the key dates and what needs to happen next?
NS: First we need to prove that there are teams interested in participating. Without teams there will be no tournament. MFP: What is the long-term plan for what this can become beyond the Bay Area Cup?
NS: We’d like to see 8-12 tournaments throughout the country with the winners of each tournament competing in the NHSL Cup. Money from each tournament will be set aside as prize money for the NHSL Cup so the winners will be competing for money with no additional entry fee needed. MFP: Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers of Midfield Press about the National High Stakes League? | 2,411 |
Right-wing Labour MPs planning attack on Corbyn over peers’ self-serving letter and his decision to sack Hayter. Benn’s rebuke to Roy Jenkins should open meeting
Tony Benn on BBC Question Time in 1986
Right-wing Labour MPs – who in 2016 tried to ‘destroy [Corbyn] as a man’ – are planning another attack during this week’s meeting of the ‘PLP’ (parliamentary Labour party) over a paid advert by 60-odd Blairite peers and Corbyn’s decision to sack Baroness Hayter for offence to Jewish staff over ‘Hitler’s bunker’ comments.
Such mobbing attacks, using whatever is to hand at that moment in a ‘captive audience’ setting, have been a regular feature of PLP meetings, followed by immediate briefings to media friendly to the Labour right to feed yet more smears and misrepresentations, as the right-wingers use the only tool they seem to know how to.
Coal miner’s son Johnny Pitchford found an old video of the late, great Tony Benn appearing on a 1986 Question Time programme and tweeted that it was a message to the ‘Blairites’ today:
Johnny Pitchford is right. There are millions of people groaning under the weight of Tory predations; millions in poverty – including over four million children; huge numbers of disabled or unemployed people harried and penalised with ever-increasing intensity; people struggling with mental health issues abandoned or brutalised by a system that ignores their needs.
Any MP ignoring the desperation of those millions in order to try to ‘take their party back’ needs to see this video – and if they cannot heed its message they should step aside to make room for those who will.
Corbyn should play this clip at the beginning of tomorrow’s meeting, to shame those who are capable of shame and to expose those who are not.
The SKWAWKBOX needs your support. This blog is provided free of charge but depends on the generosity of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal or here for a monthly donation via GoCardless. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
If you wish to reblog this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.
Like this: Like Loading... | 2,412 |
More than 75,000 people have been driven from their homes and 510 killed in the weeks-long battle for Tripoli.
Libyan renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, who is leading a military offensive against the government in Tripoli, said in an interview published on Sunday he will continue fighting until militias in the city laid down their arms.
Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) began an offensive in early April to take the capital from fighters loyal to Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA), which is recognised by the United Nations.
The LNA, which is allied to a parallel government in the east, has not been able to breach the southern defences of Tripoli.
Haftar justified the offensive last month by saying he was fighting against “private militias and extremist groups” who he said were gaining influence under al-Sarraj.
“Of course a political solution is the objective,” Haftar told the Journal de Dimanche newspaper in France. “But to return to politics, we need to finish with the militias. The problem in Tripoli is a security one.”
READ MORE: What’s at stake for Libya?
He offered an amnesty to fighters in Tripoli who laid down their arms, saying they would be allowed to “return home safe and sound”.
French President Emmanual Macron asked Haftar in a meeting held in Paris last week to take a public step towards a ceasefire without much luck, a French official told Reuters news agency.
‘Biased’ mediator
Haftar also took aim at UN mediator Ghassan Salame who has warned that the country is “committing suicide” because of the conflict that six to 10 foreign states are involved in.
“Salame is making irresponsible statements,” Haftar said. “He wasn’t like that before. He has changed from an impartial and honest mediator, he has become a biased one.”
Salame warned Haftar’s offensive is “just the start of a long and bloody war”.
More than 75,000 people have been driven from their homes in the latest fighting and 510 have been killed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
More than 2,400 people have also been wounded, while 100,000 people are feared trapped by the clashes raging on the outskirts of Tripoli. | 2,413 |
This week a Toronto bar kicked out a man for wearing a “Proud Boys” shirt.
Unlovable, a popular bar on Dundas West, removed the individual last Saturday night after a customer complained about the shirt, which featured a Jack Daniels logo with the words “Proud Boys” in place of “Jack Daniels.”
The Proud Boys are a far-right organization founded by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes. While their mission, beliefs, and purpose are all notoriously unclear, they claim to be “pro-West,” and “pro-Trump,” and are often lumped together with the alt-right.
After posting about the incident on Facebook, Unlovable's page has also been flooded with dozens of comments and reviews; many giving one star to complain on behalf of the Proud Boys, and many more with five stars praising the establishment for their hard stance on bigotry and hatred.
Goldie Saljoughi is the bar manager at Unlovable, and the employee who removed the patron Saturday night. She says it was absolutely the right choice, and that she has no regrets.
“We don’t believe in that here,” she says, “my job is to make sure everyone is safe and having fun.”
Part of why the incident was shocking for her, she says, is because Unlovable is a “friendly, neighbourhood bar” that mostly serves a regular crowd.
Saljoughi has been criticized by the man’s girlfriend for throwing them out for being “an interracial couple,” using the shirt as an “excuse,” per her Facebook review. Saljoughi laughs at this and says, “I’m from Iran, I’m not really a racist.”
However, Saljoughi adds that amid the negative backlash, she’s mostly seen positive responses from regulars and those who agree with them.
“The response from our community and customers has been overwhelmingly positive so that has really taken the edge off of the bad reviews.”
Several five-star reviews are from people who have never been to the bar, but are planning to go because their support for Saljoughi and the bar's removal of the patron.
“You can call me rude until the sun comes up but at least you can’t call me a nazi,” Saljoughi says. | 2,414 |
On Saturday, June 25th from 6pm – 11pm, Rum Runners will take place at Memminger Auditorium in the heart of downtown Charleston. This event invites cocktail & food lovers alike to enjoy exploring the spirits and flavors of the West Indies with 10 chefs and 30 rum distilleries serving up delicious pairings. The fun doesn’t stop with cocktails & food as patrons will be treated to Caribbean inspired music and games. Proceeds from the event benefit the Cancer Survivor Programs of Dragon Boat Charleston.
The event will feature cocktails from dozens of rum distilleries from across the globe including Pusser’s, Mount Gay, Bacardi, Plantation, Papa’s Pilar, Zacapa, Naked Turtle, Captain Morgan, Kraken, Rum Haven, Sailor Jerry, Flor de Cana, Don Q, Appleton, Baron Samedi, Ron Anejo Pampero, Myers’s, and more. The event will also showcase the emerging local rum industry with Firefly Sea Island Rum, Red Harbor Rum, Daufuskie Island Rum, Muddy River and Striped Pig. Additionally, the taste of the West Indies will inspire Charleston’s top chefs who present Caribbean and exotic flavors. Participating restaurants include Cane Rhum Bar, Victor Social Club, Charleston Caribbean Creole, The Americano, The Cocktail Club, Cherrywood, Southerly at Southern Season, Pacha Mama, and Caribbean Delight. Chefs will select a favorite rum to create one-of-a-kind pairings with their dishes that will excite foodies & cocktail lovers alike.
“This is a great chance to try innovative new rum cocktails you’ve never experienced before and see how the local rums compare to the world’s oldest brands,” said Rum Runners producer & creator Rebecca Gosnell.
There are two ticket options for Rum Runners, both of which are all-inclusive providing guests with unlimited sampling from all participating distilleries & restaurants. The VIP Preview ticket is $95 and allows guests advance entry into the event from 6pm – 7:30pm. A limited number of tickets are available during this time affording guests a more exclusive chance to interact with distilleries & chefs before the doors open for general admission guests. General admission tickets are $75 each and doors open for this ticket at 7:30pm. All guests must be 21+ with valid ID.
For more information about the inaugural Rum Runners and to purchase tickets, visit www.RumRunnersCharleston.com. | 2,415 |
investment in the identity politics of individual groups is so extreme that it adopts their supremacist positions. While claiming to be advocates of tolerance, the left venerates racist hate groups such as the Black Panthers and La Raza, and makes common cause with the Islamic fundamentalists of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The left is brimming over with the seething bigotries of its integrated hate groups. The deeper it sinks into that swamp, the worse the hatred becomes. The interracial controversy centers around Zoe Saldana being attacked for playing Nina Simone, a racist who boasted, “I don’t like white people”. Her fan base doesn’t like interracial people who had a white ancestor somewhere along the way either. Why should that be a surprise? Racism has its own ugly racial logic and hate has no natural stopping point.
Liberals who have gotten in the business of carrying water for the black supremacist hatred of white people, must stick around for Rwanda-style intraracial hatreds among black people, and must take the side of racial purity over interracial miscegenation and the side of darker skinned black people over the lighter skinned black people. Anything else would be bad intersectional form and allyship.
This is the sad, sick and twisted racist mess that the civil rights movement has become. Two generations later, the newly anti-racist Democratic Party is back to its old job of fighting against miscegenation. But this time the opposition to “race-mixing” is a politically correct campaign against “white supremacy”.
Specifically the type of white supremacy contained in the veins of some racially impure black people.
Forget, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Two generations later, the left decries that quote as “controversial” and instead seeks to judge children not by the color of their skin, but by the exact shade of the color of their skin turning back the clock not to the era of segregation, but to a degree of racist insanity that even segregationists would have blanched at.
In this bold new utopia of tolerance, each year ushers in new extremes of politically correct racism. This may be the year when the left moves beyond hating white people to officially hating interracial people.
And then we can join people of all shades and colors in checking our “light-skinned privilege”. | 2,416 |
It’s a shame to say goodbye to Odense (pronounced something like ohuhrndunseu said very fast), the almost ludicrously charming third-largest city in Denmark. A beautiful flatland of trundling bikes, elegantly dressed people, and medieval architecture. A town of 300k where Saturday nights aren’t wild. A smart town of great coffee, genteel applause, and terrible poker players (long story).
This year’s World Cup final is in the books. In the modern World Archery parlance, it’s “part of history” – everybody was trying to think of a better phrase than ‘delivered’, the usual, but uninspiring language of the sports event production world.
For compound, the men’s was uneventful apart from Seppe Cilliers’ classy run, the women’s had a huge Sara Lopez-shaped hole in the field, which Marcella Tonioli managed to jump right through. Recurve day featured four golden Koreans, all of whom looked tired and jet-lagged from a late arrival and a ridiculously busy post-Olympics schedule. There was even some apparent confusion over who would be shooting the mixed team final. Still, they produced the goods, and Tan Ya-Ting didn’t quite have enough on the day to scythe down the women.
No-one looked 100% in form. Brady Ellison took down a title he admitted afterwards he may not have deserved. Sjef was unlucky. Horribly unlucky. It was good to see longtime TIC favourite Ki Bo Bae take down the title. She looked exhausted in the morning, but from the first match you could see how badly she still wanted it. Once she got past Tan it was in the bag. A re-run of 2012, then. A beautiful setting, in a town where no-one locks their bikes up (was a somewhat different from the last event in Rio). A great tournament. A great turnout. A wonderful staff and volunteers.
Mr. (and Mrs.) Ellison had brought all their Olympic medals out for a photo op. I didn’t get a picture, but was shown first hand that his bronze from Rio was already damaged – the coating on the top was wearing off. Rio 2016 had to work with quite a few low bids. This was just another little one.
Just a handful of pics below. Dean’s pics are here. Reportage is here. Cheers all. | 2,417 |
Latest News Soulborn is a PS5/Xbox Series X RPG Inspired By The Witcher, The Legend of Zelda, and Thor By
There’s a new RPG on the horizon but you won’t be playing it on PS4 anytime soon. Well, you won’t be playing it on PS4 at all, actually, as it’s only in development for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
The game is called Soulborn and it’s an RPG inspired by Norse mythology. You play as Brynjar Townshiled, a Souldborn demigod who also owns the most powerful weapon of all nine worlds: Mjölnir. Yes, the same magical bit of kit that Thor uses in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to kick arse.
Mjölnir can transform into a sword, box, or its original form as the legendary, mythical hammer, and it’s your best tool to help vanquish the soul-devouring beast Nidhöggr who is intent on destroying Midgard.
It’s an interesting concept, but it’s far more impressive when you see it in action. The developer, Pixelman Studios from Magdeburg (about an hour away from my house, actually) has released a new trailer showing the game off, and it really does look impressive, especially when you consider the size of the studio behind it.
The developer will be opening Soulborn up to players in the form of a closed alpha. During the closed alpha, players will be able to travel across a small part of the game’s fantasy open world, explore two dungeons, and solve puzzles. It’s stated that as development progresses, more content will be added. You can sign up for the closed alpha via the developer’s discord channel here
To keep up to date with all of our latest news and reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks, you sexy beast.
We sometimes link to online retail stores. If you buy something from our links, we may make a small commission which goes towards keeping the lights on and coffee in the pot.
Chris has been writing about gaming news for far too long, and now he’s doing it even more. A true PlayStation know-it-all, Chris has owned just about every Sony console that ever existed. Trophies are like crack to this fella. (Bronze trophies, that is – he only has one Platinum.) wwww.pureplaystation.com | 2,418 |
Kenneth Starr's passionate defense Wednesday of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is notable as Rosenstein faces rising expectations that he'll be removed from his post after the midterm elections. | Win McNamee/Getty Images Legal Ken Starr: Americans'should have confidence in Rod Rosenstein' Starr served as the independent counsel whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
Ken Starr, the independent counsel whose investigation led to Bill Clinton's impeachment, delivered a passionate defense Wednesday of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, whose stewardship of special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing Russia probe has drawn scorn from President Donald Trump and his allies.
"Rod has just rock-ribbed integrity," Starr said during an interview at a Brookings Institution conference on the justice system. "He is completely committed to the rule of law. He turns square corners. He will call them as he sees them."
Starr's comments are notable as Rosenstein faces intensifying pressure from Trump's GOP congressional allies and rising expectations that he'll be removed from his post after the midterm elections.
Trump has railed against Rosenstein for appointing Mueller last year to resume the FBI's probe of Russian contacts with the Trump campaign in 2016. Rosenstein appointed Mueller in the chaotic aftermath of Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.
Starr's praise of Rosenstein is, in part, based on their longstanding relationship. Starr got to know Rosenstein during his investigation of the Clintons. Starr tapped Rosenstein to join his team and he helped advise Starr on legal matters.
POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Starr said Americans "should have complete confidence in Rod given his impeccable record."
He noted that Rosenstein is the kind of person who'd resign rather than surreptitiously undermine the Trump administration. That, too, is notable given recent reports suggesting Rosenstein had proposed secretly recording Trump the week before he appointed Mueller. Rosenstein has insisted his remarks were made in jest.
Starr also said he generally supports Mueller, praising him for "professionalism" and "integrity." He speculated that Mueller, based on public reports and Justice Department practices, would produce two reports: an "executive summary" meant for Congress that describes the crux of his findings, and a more fulsome report for Rosenstein, who would then have discretion about what to share with Congress. | 2,419 |
Marco Rubio’s campaign ended yesterday. He won’t acknowledge it and neither will his hardcore supporters for some days, but he is done. It was one thing when he was running more or less even with Cruz across the South, like he did on Super Tuesday, but Rubio has clearly lost his mojo, finishing behind Kasich in Maine and well behind Cruz in Kentucky and Louisiana. Rubio is running out of gas both metaphorically and physically. This is now a race between Cruz and Trump.
I say this as a guy who a couple weeks ago endorse Rubio as the best chance to beat Trump.
However, if I were Ted Cruz, I would be hoping that Marco Rubio does not drop out yet, at least not until after Thursday. Because the reason that Cruz was able to reach up and stun Donald Trump yesterday is that Rubio has picked apart Trump’s vanity and caused him to self-immolate in a way that no candidate has been able to either before or since. Rubio was able to expose Trump’s business record in a way that Cruz never was.
Moreover, Rubio’s insult comic routine exposed what an ugly, shallow, insincere man Trump is to an electorate that was almost ready to embrace him as inevitable.
Unfortunately, it also seems to have had the effect that it has destroyed Rubio’s chances at obtaining the nomination himself. Many voters who were horrified by Trump’s response were equally horrified by Rubio’s behavior that provoked it. In much the same way that Chris Christie exposed Rubio at a critical point in the campaign, only to see his own personal standing suffer as a result, Rubio has had the same thing happen to him with respect to Donald Trump.
Granted, I don’t think that Rubio had any sort of altruistic motive in doing what he did; I am quite sure he did it with the intent to win. But at the end of the day it had the salutary effect of allowing Cruz to present himself as the adult in the room and I think is quite a bit responsible for the fact that this is now a surprisingly tight race between Trump and Cruz.
If Cruz ends up winning this thing, he should send Marco Rubio a nice postcard or a thank you note or something. There’s probably been too much public bad blood between the two for any sort of unity ticket to ever occur, but I think if Cruz wins, we haven’t heard the last of Rubio.
For now, if you want to stop Trump, the clear remaining answer is Ted Cruz. | 2,420 |
British ISIS fighters can be legally stripped of their citizenship, the London high court has said in a ruling that gives legal backing for the controversial government policy.
Abdullah Islam challenged a call by former Home Secretary Amber Rudd in 2017 to deprive his 22-year-old son Ashraf Mahmud Islam, of his British nationality.
At the time, Ms Rudd said that she didn’t think that Ashraf would be made ‘stateless’, as he also had Bangladeshi citizenship. She warned that Ashraf was assessed as posing a risk to “national security”.
Ashraf travelled to Syria in April 2015 when he was 18 and studying A-level law at a British school in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
He is now being held in a Kurdish-run military prison in Syria. The ISIS fighter would only travel back to Britain if he is first released by the Kurds and then freely allowed by the Syrian authorities to leave the country but now cannot use British identity documents to do so.
Abdullah said he wanted his son to be brought back to the UK to face justice and be protected from facing the death penalty.
However, his case was rejected by the judge on Wednesday for having ‘no merit’.
Mr Justice Pepperall said: “The only action taken by the home secretary in this case has been to deprive Ashraf of his citizenship.
“He is not in peril in Syria because of that decision, but because he is being held on suspicion of involvement in the ISIS insurgency.”
The judge said that because Ashraf was born in London and was living with family, he appeared to have “every advantage in life”.
Justice Pepperall noted that after Ashraf joined the terrorist group, he gave an interview with ITV news saying that he had made a mistake and he wanted to return to the UK to face justice. However, the judge said Ashraf made these comments “with masterful understatement”.
Earlier this year, former home secretary Sajid Javid revealed that more than 100 dual nationals who travelled to join ISIS have had their UK citizenship stripped by the British Home Office.
Two members of the infamous “Beatles” group, which was led by Mohammed Emwazi and routinely beheaded Western hostages on camera, have been deprived of their citizenship.
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were captured in northern Syria in January 2018 and are now being held by Western-backed Kurdish forces in the war torn country. | 2,421 |
Elastic, a company that commercializes open-source software for search and data analytics, saw its stock soar as much as 106 percent on Friday, its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol ESTC. The stock closed at $70 per share, representing a 94.4 percent rise.
The performance is more dramatic than some other initial public offerings from technology companies in 2018, including DocuSign and Dropbox.
The debut rally is all the more pronounced because it comes on a down day for the broader market, particularly the tech sector. The S&P 500 tech index fell 1.7 percent on Friday. Other companies that went public this year are getting pummeled, including Eventbrite, which is down 10 percent, and DocuSign and Zscaler, which each fell more than 4 percent.
The company ultimately raised $252 million in the IPO, selling 7 million ordinary shares of its stock. Underwriters have the option to purchase an additional 1.05 million shares within 30 days of the offering.
Elastic first filed to go public on Sept. 5. Then, on Sept. 24, the company estimated that it would price shares in the range of $26 to $29 per share. On Oct. 2, the company provided a higher estimated range: $33 to $35 per share. And on Thursday, Oct. 4, the company announced that it had priced shares at $36 per share, above the high end of the latest range.
The stock opened almost two times higher, at $70 per share. At that price, Elastic would have an implied valuation of $4.86 billion, or $4.93 billion if underwriters exercise their option to buy more shares.
"We've been talking to investors over the past two weeks and over the past two months, and the story really resonates," Elastic co-founder and CEO Shay Banon said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Friday after the stock began trading. "These investors end up talking to customers of ours, and they're very happy using our software and very proud. That effect just means that people put trust in our company."
Competitors include Alphabet's Google, Splunk, Micro Focus and cloud providers such as Amazon. Elastic provides its commercial software atop the Amazon and Google clouds. It's also available for companies to use in their own data centers.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the stock was trading on the Nasdaq.
— CNBC's Ari Levy contributed to this report. | 2,422 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday it had information that the United States planned to bomb the government quarter in Damascus on an invented pretext, and said it would respond militarily if it felt Russian lives were threatened by such an attack.
Valery Gerasimov, head of Russia’s General Staff, said Moscow had information that rebels in the enclave of eastern Ghouta were planning to fake a chemical weapons attack against civilians and blame it on the Syrian army.
He said the United States intended to use the fake attack as a pretext to bomb the government quarter in nearby Damascus where he said Russian military advisers, Russian military police and Russian ceasefire monitors were based.
“In the event of a threat to the lives of our servicemen, Russia’s armed forces will take retaliatory measures against the missiles and launchers used,” Gerasimov said in a statement.
He did not say when the alleged attack would take place or provide detailed evidence to back his assertions.
In Washington, the Pentagon said Russia should focus on stopping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from targeting innocent civilians.
“We urge Russia to stop creating distractions and compel the Assad regime to stop brutalizing innocent Syrian citizens and allow much-needed aid to reach the people of East Ghouta and other remote areas,” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said.
“By enabling the Assad regime’s brutality, Russia is morally complicit and responsible for Assad’s atrocities,” Pahon added.
During the Syrian army’s offensive in eastern Ghouta, more than 1,100 civilians have died, the U.N. Office of Humanitarian Affairs said. Assad’s forces, backed by Russia and Iran, say they are targeting “terrorist” groups shelling the capital.
The head of Russia’s military General Staff and chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke by phone on Tuesday and discussed the situation in Syria, the Pentagon and Russian defence ministry said.
Russia has previously accused rebels in Syria of preparing to use toxic agents in eastern Ghouta so they could later accuse Damascus of employing chemical weapons.
Damascus denies Western allegations that government forces have used chemical weapons.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned on Monday that Washington “remains prepared to act if we must,” if the U.N. Security Council failed to act on Syria, as the Syrian army’s onslaught in eastern Ghouta continued unabated. | 2,423 |
The ability to spot venomous snakes may have played a major role in the evolution of monkeys, apes and humans, according to a new hypothesis by Lynne Isbell, professor of anthropology at UC Davis. The work is published in the July issue of the Journal of Human Evolution.
Primates have good vision, enlarged brains, and grasping hands and feet, and use their vision to guide reaching and grasping. Scientists have thought that these characteristics evolved together as early primates used their hands and eyes to grab insects and other small prey, or to handle and examine fruit and other foods.
Isbell suggests instead that primates developed good close-up eyesight to avoid a dangerous predator -- the snake.
"A snake is the only predator you really need to see close up. If it's a long way away it's not dangerous," Isbell said.
Neurological studies by others show that the structure of the brain's visual system does not actually fit with the idea that vision evolved along with reaching and grasping, Isbell said. But the visual system does seem to be well connected to the "fear module," brain structures involved in vigilance, fear and learning.
Fossils and DNA evidence show that snakes were likely the first serious predators of modern mammals, which evolved about 100 million years ago. Fossils of snakes with mouths big enough to eat those mammals appear at about the same time. Other animals that could have eaten our ancestors, such as big cats, and hawks and eagles, evolved much later.
Venomous snakes evolved about 60 million years ago, raising the stakes and forcing primates to get better at detecting them.
"There's an evolutionary arms race between the predators and prey. Primates get better at spotting and avoiding snakes, so the snakes get better at concealment, or more venomous, and the primates respond," Isbell said.
Some primate groups less threatened by snakes show fewer signs of evolutionary pressure to evolve better vision. For example, the lemurs of Madagascar do not have any venomous snakes in their environment, and in evolutionary terms "have stayed where they are," Isbell said. In South America, monkeys arrived millions of years before venomous snakes, and show less specialization in their visual system compared with Old World monkeys and apes, which all have good vision, including color.
Having evolved for one purpose, a good eye for color, detail and movement later became useful for other purposes, such as social interactions in groups.
Isbell is currently working on a book about primate origins, including her snake hypothesis. | 2,424 |
400 anti-ballistic defense, could have been aimed at demonstrating to Washington that it better think twice about pursuing a wider war agenda.
Little do we know it because of so much Western mind-numbing misinformation, but our world is facing the abyss of nuclear war. Russia’s military power is holding the line from this abyss.
How can we transcend this abysmal situation before stumbling over the edge?
Russia must remain vigilant and strong, with a determination to not capitulate. The anniversary last week of the defeat of Nazi Germany is a timely reminder of Russia’s epic importance in thwarting international aggression. The same fascist aggression is virulent again in the form of American hegemonic ambitions, and just as with the Third Reich it is Russian fortitude that is preserving the world from Total War.
Political analyst Randy Martin does not see the American public has having a decisive role in practice. In theory, yes, US citizens need to call their warmongering leaders to account and to elect a democratic government – for a change. However, says Martin, the American public are so disenfranchised, brainwashed, beaten down, and oppressed with poverty and consumerist psychosis, he does not see how a mass movement in the US can be mobilized at this point in history in order to abolish the warmongering ruling elite in Washington.
Perhaps, it is up to the people of Europe to take decisive action. Growing popular discontent with European leaders who toe the American line of aggression and sanctions on Russia may have the potential of decisively breaking the US-EU-NATO war front.
What people need to urgently wake up to is that Washington and its European vassals in government are already at war on Russia. There is absolutely no objective justification for this destructive dynamic, other than the US trying to unilaterally assert its hegemony. That is not the policy of a law-abiding democracy; it is a fascist power in the same vein as Nazi Germany.
The war on Russia is being waged on entirely spurious grounds of alleged Russian annexations, invasions and expansionism. This is utter propaganda – again a la Nazi Germany.
The crucial question is this: can Russia hold the line long enough against US-led aggression until the people of the world mobilize the political action to overthrow the criminal regime that operates out of Washington and through European capitals?
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do notnecessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.
The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik. | 2,425 |
The fight against antibiotic resistance will be the focus of a £10m fund, it has been announced. Both amateur and professional scientists will be encouraged to try to come up with the solution to the problem of decreasing effectiveness of the drugs as part of this year's Longitude Prize.
The challenge, one of six proposed, was set by public vote on Wednesday. Scientists are now asked to come up with a "cost-effective, accurate, rapid, and easy-to-use test for bacterial infections that will allow health professionals worldwide to administer the right antibiotics at the right time".
Setting out the problem, the organisers said: "The development of antibiotics has added an average of 20 years to our life. Yet the rise of antimicrobial resistance is threatening to make them ineffective. This poses a significant future risk as common infections become untreatable."
Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of medical research charity the Wellcome Trust, declared himself "delighted" with the result of the public vote, which was announced on the BBC's The One Show.
He said: "Antibiotics, and indeed the multitude of drugs used daily to treat infection, are the bedrock on which much of modern medicine is built.
"Yet rapidly emerging drug resistance threatens the medical successes – from transplant surgery to cancer treatment – we currently take for granted. It is crucial we focus our collective global research efforts on this, one of the greatest public health threats of our time," he added.
Science minister David Willetts said that the shortlist "reminds us how much we rely on science and technology to make our lives better".
The Longitude Prize was set up 300 years ago to find the solution to what was then a major technical problem: how to navigate the seas safely.
"But in today's age of X Factor and Strictly we are asking the public to vote on which great problem they want scientists to conquer," wrote Willetts.
"There is nothing to stop a total outsider, with passion and ingenuity but no lab coat, from winning the prize itself.
"The sea clock that netted the original Longitude Prize in 1714 was invented by John Harrison, a Yorkshire carpenter who built and repaired clocks in his spare time. Legend has it that he was given a watch at the age of six when he was in bed with smallpox, and spent hours taking it to pieces to understand what made it tick," he added.
Scientists also placed the issues of paralysis, environmentally friendly flight, food and water supply and dementia on the shortlist. | 2,426 |
Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersSenate Republicans signal openness to working with Biden Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll Schumer, Sanders call for Senate panel to address election security MORE (I-Vt.) says he is unnerved by reports President Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn talked sanctions with a Russian official before formally starting his post.
This is a very troubling development,” he said Friday on CNN’s “OutFront.” “This is very, very troubling and I think the president is going to have to tell us what he’s going to do about it.”
Sanders added the allegations surrounding Flynn are the latest concerning link between the Trump administration and Russia.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It speaks to the broader issue of Russia’s involvement in our elections,” said Sanders, who was a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate.
“It speaks to the issue of President Trump being buddy-buddy with a thug and murderer who is the head of Russia,” he added, referencing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“And now we’re learning there may have been discussions between Flynn and the Russians before this administration came to power.”
Reports emerged Thursday that Flynn spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions in December.
Current and former U.S. officials confirmed the alleged exchange, seeming at odds with Flynn’s assertion the pair never broached the subject with Kislyak before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Flynn’s spokesman on Thursday downplayed his denial, stating that “while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”
The Obama administration imposed fresh sanctions against Russia in December following revelations the Kremlin tried influencing the 2016 presidential election in Trump’s favor.
Trump administration officials have denied that Flynn and Kislyak spoke about sanctions in phone calls before the president entered office.
Two U.S. officials told the Washington Post that Flynn led Kislyak to believe that the sanctions would be reevaluated once Trump became president.
“Kislyak was left with the impression that the sanctions would be revisited at a later time,” one official said.
Trump on Friday said "I don't know about that" when asked about the reports dogging Flynn, adding he would investigate the matter further. | 2,427 |
.
PPP pollster Tom Jensen said it stands to reason that Republicans would seek to “develop that kind of tool on their side.”
“There are times when a campaign or political organization really just needs to know the score or test one or two issues that have unexpectedly cropped up in a campaign. I’m glad we’ve been able to provide that kind of shorter, faster, less expensive polling on the Democratic side,” he said. “Heck, we’ve had a lot of Republicans try to hire us over the years, so I know that the demand is there.”
The business model for a firm like PPP — or Harper Polling — is not to replace traditional blue-chip pollsters but to produce campaign data that’s cost-prohibitive to collect by other means.
“What we’ve found, especially for higher-level campaigns, is that IVR doesn’t replace live interview polling, but it’s a good supplement. You still need to do the really expensive, detailed benchmark polling. But you really don’t need to spend five figures every week in the month of October to find out if you’re up or down,” Jensen said. “Live interview pollsters who care more about winning than sucking up every dollar possible for themselves understand that. It will be interesting to see how receptive establishment GOP pollsters are to the new entity.”
McCleary, who is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pa., said he doesn’t view Harper Polling as a direct competitor to other GOP firms. Indeed, he said he expects to collaborate with the NRCC and has been in touch about the project with other Republican pollsters, who have been receptive.
Republican strategist Brad Todd, a top NRCC consultant at the media and polling firm OnMessage Inc., said the world of congressional race polling, especially, is ripe for a new entrant on the IVR side.
“There’s a big space in the market for a public IVR polling shop with a big focus on House races and on legislation moving through Capitol Hill,” Todd said. “Most public pollsters seem to be afraid of polling much in the House, because it requires a more granular understanding of the terrain than polling nationally or on statewide races does.”
Todd continued: “Brock has the expertise and the comfort with the details of House districts to bring something totally new to the market.” | 2,428 |
According to TheWrap, Sony is set to release the "Spider-Man" spin-off, entitled "Venom". The Marvel movie is expected to hit theaters on October 5, 2018. That debut date was originally marked by Warner Bros.' for "Aquaman" film before it was recently pushed back to December 2018.
Spin-Off Writers
Sony is now working with new writers for the project. Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner are conceptualizing ng the story for the film. There is no word yet on whether Dante Harper is still involved. It can be recalled, that last year, The Hollywood Reporter said that the writer's job was to draft the initial script for "Venom".
The two writers have been working hard so far. Aside from the "Spider-Man" spin-off, "Venom", they are both involved in the remake of "Jumanji" starring Dwayne Johnson and Karen Gillan. Rosenberg has also been included in projects like "Con Air", "Gone In Sixty Seconds", and "Salamander". As for Pinkner, the writer contributed in The "Amazing Spider-Man 2", "Alias, "The Dark Tower", and other films.
However, Sony revealed that they haven't tapped a director for "Venom" at the moment. It was said before that Alex Kurtzman would be the director of the film, but Sony told Exhibitor Relations that it was not the case.
Nonetheless, "Venom" will be back after his appearance on "Spider-Man 3" in 2007. However, it is not clear if Marvel will be involved in this project or Sony will work on its own.
The Official "Spider-Man: Homecoming" Synopsis
A young Peter Parker/Sprider-Man, played by Tom Holland, who made an astonishing debut in "Captain America: Civil War", begins to explore his brand new identity as the web-slinging superhero in "Spider-Man: Homecoming". Thrilled by his involvement with the "Avengers", Peter returns to his home, where he lives with his Aunt May, played by Marisa Tomei. Peter tries to fit back into his normal daily routine. However, when the Vulture, played by Michael Keaton, appears to be his new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be in great danger.
On the other hand, the first solo film for the MCU/Sony's adaptation of "Spider-Man", "Spider-Man: Homecoming" will hit the theaters on July 7. | 2,429 |
Chris Harrison endlessly cracks me up. His face in the above moment is straight as can be, yet simultaneously screams, “Sure you are” and “Just you wait”.
In keeping with my tradition of sharing my first-impression notes from the limo exits, here are the women that immediately stood out to me…
Alayah, 24, orthodontist assistant: Striking but sweet. Her DRESS! Major frontrunner potential.
Sydney, 24, retail marketing manager: Solid one-liner with “Not every girl from the south makes bad decisions”. I feel like she could be a dark horse of the season.
Hannah Ann, 23, model: This girl is CON-FI-DENT. Peter seems pretty taken with her. Serious frontrunner.
Sarah, 24, medical radiographer: I like that she shows her nerves. I’m not getting vibes from Peter though.
Lauren, 26, marketing executive: Love how down-the-earth and normal she seems. Elegant. Good on Peter for noticing and commenting on her (spectacular) “power jumpsuit”.
Victoria P, 27, nurse: I like that she takes a moment before walking towards Peter. Not sure if she’s praying or just soaking in the moment or what, but I (and I’m sure most contestants) wish I’d done something similar to just gather myself.
Mykenna, 22, fashion blogger: Yay, Canadian! She’s very pretty and expressive and I can see her being a major player (if not a frontrunner) this season.
Madison, 23, foster parent recruiter: She’s the right amount of cool, the right amount of confident. Giant paper airplane - this is cute. Also I’m legit impressed by that airplane (even if she had nothing to do with it).
Tammy, 24, real estate agent: Metal detector gimmick. As far as airport/flight/plane gimmicks go, this is pretty cute. She seems fun.
Kiarra, 23, nanny: The suitcase girl. DAMN that’s impressive.
I’ve mentioned over the years that Chris Harrison’s sense of humor for some reason rarely makes it on screen. I filmed this show years ago now (man, time flies!), but I haven’t forgotten my surprise at how funny his on-the-spot quips can be… | 2,430 |
The ministry said 2017 witnessed 504 incidents of Maoist violence, which is more than double the number of militant attacks in J-K where 194 such incidents were reported until July.
The number of security force personnel killed in Maoist-affected areas was more than that in conflict-hit Jammu and Kashmir this year, the government has said, with left-wing insurgency accounting for the death of 67 soldiers out of 106 casualties in the first seven months of 2017.
According to data provided by the Union home ministry, Maoist attacks not only claimed more lives but the number of violent incidents was also more in states hit by left-wing insurgency.
The ministry said 2017 witnessed 504 incidents of Maoist violence, which is more than double the number of militant attacks in J-K where 194 such incidents were reported until July.
Data regarding left-wing extremism was provided by Union minister of state for home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday while responding to questions posed by Supriya Sule, Heena Vijaykumar, Mohite Patil, PR Sundaram, Satav Rajeev and Dr Jayavardhan.
Ahir gave the data on incidents in Kashmir while responding to a question posed by Telugu Desam Party’s Jayadev Galla.
Official data said out of the 504 incidents in Maoist-hit areas, February witnessed 95 violent incidents, followed by 86 in January and 85 in May. A total of 18 security personnel died in March followed by 11 in February this year.
Seventy-six violent incidents were reported in April which also recorded the highest killings of security force personnel. Twenty-five CRPF personnel were killed and six others wounded in an ambush carried out by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district in the same month.
The number of civilians killed in Maoist-hit areas this year stands at 103 with April reporting 24 of them.
In J-K, where the Centre has intensified its counter-insurgency operations, 194 militant attacks took place until July 31 in which 115 militants and 39 security personnel were killed.
According to data provided by Ahir, 222 militant attacks took place in 2014, 208 in 2015, and 322 last year.
A total of 44 militants were arrested this year, a number lower than last year when 79 were arrested. In 2014 and 2015, 70 and 67 militants were arrested respectively.
Casualties suffered by the security forces in ceasefire violations by Pakistan in 2017 stood at five till July 11. | 2,431 |
day program, but said it was ultimately a life-changing experience, educationally and emotionally.
"It was important that Soul Fire opened that opportunity for us to engage with the land practically, but also spiritually and emotionally because that is very much a part of black history in America," Olivierre said.
"Something that we spoke about a lot was trauma. All these things are connected," Olivierre said. "The land just brought up a lot of pains that I was unable to tend to in my city life. But because the pace and spaciousness of the farm was different, it had more space, the environment was different and gave me a nurturing space for those things to come up. Inaccessibility to food is connected to so many things."
A lack of access to healthy food lends itself to a cycle of other related problems, like poor health, associated medical costs and, according to Olivierre, an inability to focus not just on finding one's next meal, but rather on promoting greater change within a community
"When we learn about how to farm as black and brown people, we are taking back our power. We are healing our agency, we are dependent upon ourselves," she said.
Since participating in the program three years ago, Olivierre went back to Brooklyn and worked with the Canarsie Neighborhood Alliance to open the Canarsie Neighborhood Community Garden. And Olivierre has also worked putting together youth workshops to discuss addressing violence in the neighborhood.
Penniman said 87 percent of graduates from Soul Fire's programs go on to do some type of work providing food for their local communities across the U.S. Last year, the farm had graduates from 32 states around the nation, according to Penniman.
"I literally had a participant say 'the only images I'd ever seen of black and brown people working the land are images of either migrant labor or slave labor," Penniman said.
"So to kind of stand up and look out and see all of us working, but we're working because we want to, because we want to provide this food for the community and learn these skills is this really important cognitive dissonance," she said.
As Penniman and her team at Soul Fire continue working to train a diverse pool of new farmers each year, she hopes the process helps in healing still-tender historical wounds.
"So many of us have inherited pain and trauma from the history of oppression on land," Penniman said. "That needs to be undone for us to rewrite a story and have a noble, dignified relationship with the earth. " | 2,432 |
Yesterday afternoon, I attended the matinee showing of Wonder Woman. And while I enjoyed the film, I also had certain thoughts that ran shamefully counter to its central themes of feminine power and independence. These private thoughts were thoroughly reprehensible and I would like to apologize to my wife, my children, DC Entertainment, and anyone else who may have been affected by them.
For those not familiar, the film’s protagonist Diana Prince as portrayed by Gal Gadot is a brave, pure-hearted hero to which all young women should aspire. No woman, however, should aspire to the morally depraved version of Diana Prince portrayed in certain scenes within my own mind, also by Gal Gadot. That portrayal cannot be described as “pure” in any sense of the word, and for that I am truly sorry.
A woman of Diana’s integrity, for instance, would never allow herself to be tricked into grasping my penis instead of the legendary Sword of Athena. Nor would she giggle naively upon realizing her mistake, or feel she needs to ask me for permission to continue touching it simply because I am a man.
As a staunch feminist, I also believe firmly that, as a man, I have no right to stipulate to any woman precisely which articles of the Wonder Woman costume she must and mustn’t continue to wear as she explores my alien maleness. Nor should I ever assume that my penis, no matter how tantalizingly new and exciting, would be enough to distract Diana from her noble mission to end the first World War.
I also understand that when General Antiope, played by the fearsomely talented Robin Wright, discovers us and sentences me to death for trespassing into Amazonia, I have no right to undermine her authority and suggest instead that I be shackled naked to her bed with the Bracelets of Submission. Such a thought is the unfortunate byproduct of decades of male privilege, and I should know better.
Finally, I fully realize the Lasso of Truth is a sacred instrument of justice, not a tool for my own erotic asphyxiation at the hands of Antiope, Diana, and a dozen other Amazonian princesses. To imagine that so many strong female characters would devote themselves slavishly in the service of one man’s puerile titillation is nothing less an affront to modern feminism.
Once again, I accept full responsibility for these wildly inappropriate scenes I regrettably conjured yesterday inside my own imagination, and I deeply apologize for any and all damage caused by these unexpressed thoughts. | 2,433 |
How to Find and Delete Duplicate Files on Mac Effortlessly
When facing the issue of Mac’s poor performance, many users seek ways to free up some hard drive space since it is one of the key conditions for the computer’s speed and productivity. Often, the problem is related to multiple duplicates that appear on the machine over time. Repeated files are like a thorn in the eye: you feel it, but sometimes you don’t know where exactly it is hiding. If you check, say, iMac’s 256 GB SSD, you will discover it has more than sixty million files. You definitely are not the one who created many of them. So the question is how a user can detect unnecessary files (like ones that appeared as a result of spontaneous duplication) and what are the ways to remove them from Mac.
There are tons of aggressively marketed expensive apps that claim to be able to resolve the issue in a click. But don’t let anyone dupe you into spending a lot of money and learn how to discover and remove duplicates without extra effort and investments. No matter whether you wish to detect intentional or accidental duplicates, there are several effective methods to deal with them. Three basic ways usually come to mind:
Hand-pick the duplicates with Finder (a time-consuming procedure); Terminal command search; Free or paid duplicate finder software.
Many Macintosh users prefer applications that possess a special built-in clone finding feature capable of detecting duplicate multimedia files (music & video). The algorithm scans libraries only with corresponding types of data. As far as such multimedia files are the ‘heaviest,’ it is logical that many people start the process of cleaning with these items. If you need to catch double images or songs only, such apps may be of great help.
If you don’t want to spend a cent on the detecting software but need a broader functionality, try a free tool like Dr. Duplicator. Apple computer owners can benefit from using this finder utility in case they require an open-source/cross-platform program for detecting copies. The application allows previewing the selected files before deciding whether you want to toss them away.
Speaking about similar or same files stored on the external hard drive, you should understand that it is almost impossible to detect and remove them manually. A good solution is to get something like Dr. Duplicator. Regardless the file name, the software can find the duplicates thanks to its outstanding scanning algorithms that work flawlessly on all versions of Mac OS X, including Sierra. | 2,434 |
US House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer spoke about Nehru's vision of India as a secular democracy.
Highlights Steny Hoyer spoke about Nehru's vision of India as a secular democracy
Jawaharlal Nehru has been frequently targeted by members of the BJP
BJP chief and Home Minister Amit Shah has blamed Nehru for PoK formation
As Houston gave a stirring welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, rolling out the red carpet to a stadium packed with 50,000 members of the Indian community, a senior US lawmaker introduced him to the stage with a speech that included a word of praise for Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
"[India], like America, [is] proud of its ancient traditions to secure a future according to Gandhi's teaching and Nehru's vision of India as a secular democracy where respect for pluralism and human rights safeguard every individual," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said at the "Howdy, Modi!" event.
The senior member of the Democratic party also quoted Mahatma Gandhi to define democracy as "something that gives the weak, the same chance as the strong."
India's first Prime Minister and an icon of the opposition Congress party, Jawaharlal Nehru has been frequently targeted by members of the PM Modi's party. Hours before PM Modi's event in Houston, Jawaharlal Nehru was blamed by BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the formation of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
It was Nehru's "untimely ceasefire" declared in 1947 that led to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under the constitution and eventually terrorism in the Valley, Mr Shah said at an event in Mumbai.
In Houston, Mr Hoyer said, "As we welcome Prime Minister Modi to Texas, we are inspired by the modern India he leads while mindful of the challenges it faces. Undeterred as it reaches into the new frontier of space, and equally determined to lift millions out of poverty back on Earth. Making strides in access education, clean water, healthcare and while helping to develop advanced energy technologies for a greener and healthy India."
"I am proud that the US-India relationship has remained bipartisan with both Democrats and Republicans working to bring the two nations closer in pursuit of that goal and our common principles. In recent decades President Clinton had the vision to forge a new path for US-India relations. President Bush strengthened the ties between our two nations and President Obama solidified them. And President Trump continues that today," he added. | 2,435 |
Yesterday reader “Py” wrote in trying to add a comment to an old post, “Did Christianity (and other religions) promote the rise of science?” Here’s the comment:
I say without Christianity, there’ll be no modern science. An incomplete list of (i’ve got a link to 80+ more, all YECs) vs. An incomplete list of. The atheist front is quite lacking. I wonder if this’ll get posted or strangely moderated away like my other posts. So much for truth huh?
Curiously, checking back through comments using “Py”‘s email address and IP number, I find no comment that he/she has tried to make before. But the sheer ignorance of the comment above mandates that this will be the last one. I’d administer a swift corrective to Py, but I’m way too busy today and thought that the readers might be able to help. Check out those lists.
By the way, the notion that modern science arose in the West beginning in late medieval times (a dubious claim anyway) is made for both empirical and emotional reasons. The empirical claim is that the Church promoted reason (though founding universities, encouraging people to find the hand of God in Nature) in a way that helped give birth to science. The emotional reason is because religious people, seeing how fast science has outstripped religion in understanding the universe, want to claim some credit for science. The emotional reason is clearly true, but I won’t adjudicate the first claim, for I’m not an expert in the history of science. Let me just say that the arguments of people like Rodney Stark (and other theists) that Christianity was pivotal in the rise of modern science have been contested by other scholars.
What is indubitably true is that the proportion of atheist scientists is ten times higher than the proportion of atheist nonscientists, at least in America. And the great majority of accomplished scientists in the U.S. are now atheists: only 7% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences, for instance, accept a personal God–while the proportion of the American public that does so is 80% or higher. I believe the figures are similar for members of Britain’s Royal Society. So whatever held true in the past, when everyone was religious, holds no longer.
Christianity can claim credit for science if they want, but it’s not much to brag about. Certainly science would have arisen without that faith. | 2,436 |
WASHINGTON ― The hotel workers who fought President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas for the past two years emerged with a union contract on Wednesday, in a victory that helps open the door for their colleagues at Trump’s new hotel in Washington, D.C., to unionize as well.
According to the union, Unite Here, the Trump International Las Vegas agreed to a four-year deal that brings to a close an ugly fight in which federal officials accused Trump’s team of union-busting. Without releasing details, the union said the contract includes annual pay raises, pension contributions and family health care for the hundreds of housekeepers and food service workers at the Vegas site.
In a separate agreement with the union’s Washington, D.C, local, the new Trump International in the nation’s capital said it would permit an “orderly organizing campaign” at the site, according to Unite Here. Such an agreement suggests workers in D.C. might have an easier road toward unionization and a first contract if they pursue it.
After an acrimonious public battle, the union applauded the Trump International in Las Vegas for coming to the table, saying they look forward to a “mutually productive and peaceful” relationship. Eric Danziger, the chief executive of Trump Hotels, issued a statement alongside the union saying Unite Here is “an important partner” in D.C.
“We share mutual goals with the Union, as we both desire to ensure outstanding jobs for the employees, while also enabling the hotel to operate successfully in a competitive environment, and to establish a reputation as one of the finest hotels in the world,” Danziger said.
It isn’t clear what role, if any, the president-elect played in the dispute or its resolution. The Vegas workers and their union roasted Trump throughout his presidential campaign, arguing that his hotel’s stonewalling on a first contract ran counter to his claims that he was worker-friendly. The Vegas hotel is a partnership between the Trump Organization and Trump’s friend Phil Ruffin, a casino mogul.
As The Huffington Post reported in July, Trump’s hotel spent over half a million dollars on consultants whose job is to dissuade employees from unionizing. The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board filed charges against the hotel alleging that management retaliated against pro-union employees. Some of those charges were later settled, and any outstanding ones would presumably be put to bed now that workers have a contract. | 2,437 |
Share to friends
82 Shares
A man from Germany is currently facing manslaughter charges for allegedly killing his new wife through marathon BDSM sex on their honeymoon.
Ralph Jankus, 52, appeared before court in Krefeld, Germany on Wednesday for the death of his 49-year-old wife, Christel, barely days after they wedded.
According to Daily Mail, the couple engaged in a fatal 48-hour romp in July 2018 involving bondage and other sadomasochism techniques, prosecutors said.
During the 48-hour romp, the new wife Christel suffered severe internal injuries after a sharp object was allegedly inserted into her.
Emergency services were called four days later, but they were unable to save her.
Jankus is being prosecuted for failing to call for help, allegedly leaving Christel injured for four days. But Ralph claims he was not aware his wife was seriously ill and said the sex acts were consensual.
He took to Facebook after his wife’s death to inform friends and family and to pay tribute to his late wife.
“I want to thank you all for the goodwill messages received on our wedding day,” he wrote. “Unfortunately I have to tell you that my dear wife suddenly died just eight days after our wedding. All the happiness I have experienced was in the years with my wonderful wife.”
Christel who started dating Jankus in 2011 had allegedly reported abuse at the hands of her partner before they got married, in 2017, but later withdrew the allegation. She had also spent some time in a psychiatric clinic according to report.
Christel’s son claims that her mother fled to a women’s shelter in 2018, before coming back happier and marrying her partner in July of 2018.
He said: ‘She had injuries over her whole body and in her genital region.’
The son said: ‘I made accusations to her that she was putting up with too much and that it should never have gone this far.’
He added he had seen bruises which his mother had shown him and she allegedly told her son that she never wanted to see her partner again and never wanted to be hurt by him.
He claims that Jankus ‘abused, mistreated and humiliated’ his mother, but added: ‘I do think she loved him though.’
Jankus faces prison time if convicted, German outlet Antenae 1 reported. | 2,438 |
of Benzema and Asensio?
With Asensio and Benzema struggling to get into goal scoring positions, it makes sense that Lopetegui would want to find ways to improve their performance.
For Asensio, the key is to maximize the amount of time he spends on the right wing. Asensio is left footed – what a left foot he has – so playing him on the left wing forces him to behave as a natural winger and makes him more inclined to cross. Playing Asensio as an inverted winger on the right will allow him to cut inside and use his left foot to shoot and provide through balls. However, making this adjustment is tricky because Gareth Bale – Real’s key attacker at the moment – usually inhabits the right wing.
For the case of Benzema, a fun solution may be available. Benzema has looked increasingly dangerous in the last two games against Levante and Viktoria Plzen by hugging the left wing even more than usual. Against Levante, Lopetegui outright played him as a left winger in the second half. While Benzema as a left winger should probably not be a long-term or regular solution, a front three of Benzema – Mariano – Bale might be an interesting bet for a team who are in desperate need of more goals.
Conclusions
With Ronaldo’s departure, Real Madrid lost the core of their offense, a player who provided 50+ goals and assists per season for almost a decade. Strangely enough, he was not replaced by a world-class striker who could guarantee even half of that output.
One could blame Real’s current chance creation woes on the form of their attacking trio (Bale-Benzema-Asensio) or Lopetegui not getting the players to execute his ideal game plan, but similar issues also happened under Ancelotti and Zidane. The difference being, of course, that Ronaldo’s insanely high productivity compensated for tactical issues or poor form of teammates.
Lopetegui might be fired for not getting the results expected from a club like Real Madrid, but the underlying problem that led to those results will remain. Searching for new attacking mechanisms and a new collective structure post-Ronaldo takes time and patience. Yet those are the most precious commodities in Real Madrid’s environment.
This article was co-authored by José Perez, Om Arvind and Sander IJtsma.
All data in this article was provided by 11tegen11. | 2,439 |
Mexico Promises Aid to Texas in Wake of Hurricane Harvey
What kind of upside down, topsy-turvy, mirror universe exists where a foreign country seems to be more concerned with the well-being of America than its own president? This one, apparently.
Hurricane Harvey (or Tropical Storm Harvey) swept across Texas this weekend and left a swath of destruction, flooding Houston and forcing 30,000 people to seek shelter. The damage was so severe that, according to sites such as The Hill and Washington Examiner, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso promised to help Texas recover from this horrific natural disaster:
“The government of Mexico takes this opportunity to express its full solidarity with the people and government of the United States for the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas.”
This isn’t the first time the Mexican government has offered to help America recover from particularly powerful hurricanes, as in 2005, Mexico sent aid to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
“As we have done in the past, Mexico stands with Texas in this difficult moment,” states Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Mexican consul general in Austin, Texas.
While the Texans left homeless by Hurricane Harvey are no doubt thankful for Mexico’s aid, President Donald Trump is less thankful. In fact, he’s oblivious to the country even offering to help with the recovery, because, you guessed it, he still wants Mexico to pay for the border wall. Trump released the following Twitter post yesterday, albeit long before the Mexican government promised to aid Texas:
With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
The response to President Trump’s tweet is almost universally negative. Some commenters point out the Mexican government already stated it won’t pay for the wall, while others call Trump everything from a bully to a psychopath (their words, not mine). And yet Mexico is still willing to help Texas. This, my friends, is what decent human beings do: they help people in need without question, even after being insulted almost nonstop for over a year. We all could learn a lesson from Caso and Gutierrez, especially President Trump, who has yet to even acknowledge the Mexican government’s intent to send aid.
We here at Geek Reply are thankful for Mexico sending aid to Texas to help it recover from this disastrous event. We also wish the best to everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey. | 2,440 |
The city will permanently close this stretch of Waverly Place near Seventh Avenue South as part of a pedestrian safety initiative. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Danielle Tcholakian
WEST VILLAGE — The city is shutting down car traffic on a block of Waverly Place, to make the West Village safer for pedestrians and drivers, officials announced at a recent community meeting.
The Department of Transportation plans to permanently close Waverly Place between Seventh Avenue South and Charles Street, where three people were injured in crashes between 2009 and 2013, including one pedestrian.
Local business owners and residents showed up at Community Board 2's Traffic and Transportation Committee meeting Thursday night to support the Waverly Street proposal.
"We have tons of families, strollers, kids coming to our restaurant,” said Roberto Tibaldo, a manager at the restaurant Morandi, which is on the block of Waverly that will be closed. “I saw so many more accidents than the ones reported.”
The DOT also plans to extend sidewalks into the street at Seventh Avenue South and Waverly Place, decreasing the distance pedestrians need to cross, and to paint clearer crosswalks on Seventh Avenue South.
Officials did not immediately give a timetable for when the changes would happen.
At Thursday's meeting, DOT officials also proposed shutting down traffic on West Fourth Street between Seventh Avenue and Grove Street, but residents objected.
The intersection of West Fourth Street and Seventh Avenue South ranks in the top 1 percent of Manhattan's most dangerous intersections, with 26 injuries from 2009 to 2013, according to DOT project manager Elisabeth Wooten. Fifteen of the people who were hurt were pedestrians, and four of the injuries were "severe," she said.
However, residents worried that permanently closing a block of West Fourth Street would hinder local businesses receiving truck deliveries, push traffic onto smaller side streets and turn the street into an area for drunken revelers to congregate at night.
City officials said an alternative plan would be to create a left turn lane from Seventh Avenue South onto West Fourth Street, to simplify the traffic pattern there.
The DOT plans to present options for improving safety at West Fourth Street to the community board again in February.
The pedestrian safety proposals presented last week were not connected to a "Complete Streets" study requested by the community last year for Seventh Avenue South from Canal Street to West 14th Street. The DOT still plans to conduct the study, which would examine using protected bike lanes, pedestrian islands and other measures to slow traffic, officials said. | 2,441 |
Even so, a rise of nearly 5000 spectators per game and the place in the global top 10 to date this season is another representation of the fast emerging success of the BBL.
By contrast, the world's biggest league, the NFL, drew in excess of 17 million fans to its stadiums in the 2015 regular season. Major League Baseball comes in seventh with an average of 30,517 but with teams playing 162 games a season had a total attendance of more than 73 million.
The BBL clearly has a far smaller sample size than other competitions that fill spots inside and around the top 10. There were only 24 games played before Sunday's two matches between Hobart and Perth, and Sydney Sixers and Brisbane with a total attendance of nearly 700,000.
The late-season average of 28,279 before Sunday's two games has propelled the BBL to ninth position on the list of the world's most attended sports leagues, nudging ahead of Japan's professional baseball league (28,248) and Indian Super League football (26,376) and ensuring the Canadian Football League (24,737) and Italy's Serie A (23,001) are absent from the top 10.
"That's flattering, given that the competition is only five years' old, to be in the company of some of those really established sports leagues," Big Bash manager Anthony Everard said on Sunday. "Having said that it's obviously not really our focus. Our focus is on our own backyard and making sure we continue to appeal to kids and families. That is as satisfying to us as perhaps some of those big numbers on a global scale."
The Big Bash figures are obviously improved by the massive crowd at the MCG.
"I think that number has been a real eye-opener for us," Everard said. "If I reflect on the first few years of the Big Bash we were astounded by mid-20,000s and I think we had 30,000 at the Gabba one night. Those were considered at the time to be fantastic numbers.
"Here we are eight or 10 days after that MCG game and we're still trying to get our heads around 80,00 fans at a Big Bash game. It gives us a real cause to reconsider where the opportunities are for the BBL and the growth available not just for Melbourne but all the other markets as well.
"We've stated that at the end of the season we're going to consider our options. I guess we sort of think of it as growth rather than expansion and it can take many different forms. | 2,442 |
?).
Lest we simply dismiss all this as a form of mind-numbing hubris from people who should mind their own business, this excerpt from a letter written by four activist MtoFs in 2004 as part of a campaign to discredit sexologist Michael Bailey, might shed some light on the motivations of key activists who have been at the forefront of the pediatric transition explosion.
We are socially assimilated trans women who are mentors to many young transsexuals in transition. Unable to bear children of our own, the girls we mentor become like children to us. These young women depend on us for guidance during the difficult period of transition and then on during their adventures afterwards – dating, careers, marriages and sometimes adoption of their own children. As a result, we have large extended families and are blessed by these relationships. … You may have wondered why hundreds of successful, assimilated trans women like us, women from all across the country, are being so persistent in investigating Mr. Bailey and in uncovering and reporting his misdeeds. Now you have your answer: We are hundreds of loving moms whose children he is tormenting!
So some trans activists fancy themselves the “loving moms” of (our) trans-identified kids, young people they consider their “extended family.” Not content to fight for their own rights to non-discrimination in housing and employment, activists like these were and still are the driving force behind the proliferation of pediatric gender clinics and activist organizations that have sprung up like mushrooms across the Western world in the last decade.
As should be clear from the examples in this post (representing only the tip of the iceberg), certain trans activists and gender clinicians will stop at nothing to force their will on parents who resist the affirm-only, puberty-blocking, sterilizing doctrine of pediatric medical transition. Rather than demonstrating a willingness to learn; rather than having the humility to consider that parents just might have a better handle on who their children are and what they need than a group of professionals beholden to an activist juggernaut, gender doctors and trans activists like Jenn Burleton may well try to take your children away from you.
What can be done? If you believe a gender specialist, psychologist, or doctor has rushed to “affirm” your troubled child as “trans”; if you believe someone entrusted with your child’s care has not adequately explored your child’s mental health and other underlying issues which may be contributing to their gender confusion, report them to their professional organizations and regulating boards.
Share this: Twitter
Facebook
| 2,443 |
New Morning Show
CLEAR CHANNEL MEDIA + ENTERTAINMENT Alternative KYSR (ALT 98.7)/LOS ANGELES announced today the launch of its new morning show, THE WOODY SHOW, beginning APRIL 21st. THE WOODY SHOW will replace MUSIC IN THE MORNING WITH KENNEDY.
"KENNEDY is a wonderful contributor to our station, and has been a great part of our family for a long time, I’m pleased to say she will continue hosting MUSIC IN THE MORNING WITH KENNEDY in the interim,” said CCM+E/LOS ANGELES VP/Programming ANDREW JEFFRIES.
THE WOODY SHOW features WOODY, RAVEY, MENACE and GREG GORY, and provides an extremely interactive experience for listeners. The foursome are real life friends, who are having fun, raw, honest conversations about things happening in the world – they will reunite on ALT 98.7 for the first time since 2009, when they were a top rated morning show at CBS RADIO Alternative KITS (LIVE 105)/SAN FRANCISCO.
Since then, WOODY AND RAVEY have hosted the #1 morning show at EMMIS Alternative KPNT (105.7 THE POINT)/ST. LOUIS, while MENACE and GORY have been in SAN FRANCISCO at LIVE 105 and CUMULUS Triple A KFOG, respectively.
"THE WOODY SHOW is here to wake the market up with their unique friendship, driven by a cast of characters coming from a diverse range of backgrounds all finding a common sense of humor, love of communicating with listeners and desire to entertain," said JEFFRIES.
"As much as I'm going to miss the people in ST. LOUIS, I really couldn't ask for a better opportunity than this," said WOODY. "I'm psyched to be reunited with my old crew from SAN FRANCISCO, and beyond flattered that of all the people and shows ANDREW, MIKE and GREG could have chosen, they chose us."
ALT 98.7 PD MIKE KAPLAN added, "What’s most exciting for me about reuniting this crew is that they're genuine. They talk about things that are important to all of us. "These are the friends listeners will want to hang out with after work, at a party or any time."
« see more Net News | 2,444 |
both to managers and fans. It’s something Sergio Busquets doesn’t get enough credit for, and something Kroos has only recently become truly appreciated for. Dorsch has the same forward-thinking passing brain—though, of course, it’s the trait rather than the level of accomplishment that’s comparable.
For both Bayern and Germany, he has shown the ability to create clear-cut chances despite being 40-50 yards from goal. His long-range passing is superb—be it lofted aerial switches or scything, defence-splitting passes—and he creates more chances than most do from his deep-lying position.
Aggression
One attribute that can always transcend the position you play in is aggression, and fairly often, native midfielders can succeed in unfamiliar roles because of it.
Alessandro Florenzi is an example of this; despite playing best as a No. 8 upon breaking into the AS Roma senior side, he’s found a new home at right-back, and it’s been possible because of work rate and aggression.
Credit: Eurosport 1
This is not to recommend Dorsch as a future Bundesliga right-back, but it was encouraging to see the aggressive streak in his game rise to the fore when he asked new questions in pre-season.
It suggests it’s a natural part of his game—one that will never dim—and explains why some prefer to label him the “next Schweinsteiger” rather than the “next Kroos.”
His tendency to break out from a defensive block and pursue the ball means he’s most at home as a No. 8 rather than a No. 6, and when given license to hunt for tackles, he’ll take full advantage. His low-to-the-ground frame means he can cover short areas fast, nipping in to meet the ball-player quicker than expected.
Whether he’d have the positional discipline to curb these tendencies should he be played as a No. 6 is tough to say, but there’s also a question of whether you’d really want to limit him.
Playing in a midfield pivot alongside a more disciplined player—like Kroos does with Sami Khedira for the seniors—could allow him to break lines with passes and storm out to intercept, therefore unlocking both of his best qualities.
Follow @stighefootball
Facebook.com/SamTigheBR | 2,445 |
also accompanied by a decline in employment. According to the labour bureau, 16 million jobs were lost in the first 15 months of the NDA government. Some of this is also corroborated by the national accounts with a severe slowdown in construction, retail trade, transport and communication, the sectors which absorbed a majority of the workers moving out of agriculture.
This has manifested in demands for government jobs and reservation among the most industrious and prosperous farmer communities of Jats, Patels and Marathas—symptomatic of the larger crisis in the countryside.
Clearly, the problem is manifold and has been brewing for some time.
However, the response of the government is handicapped by its short-term focus. While there may be justification for farm loan waivers, it is certainly not a long-term solution. Neither is increasing MSP which benefits only a small section of farmers. But even if these interventions are made, ad hoc exports and imports can undermine any intervention; as indeed happened in the case of pulses.
The long-term solution has to first recognize the new reality of Indian agriculture as well the changing role of agriculture in rural incomes and growth. While reviving agriculture is necessary for revival of non-farm sector and rural jobs, the instruments required are not adequate to cover the uncertainties in a globalized context.
What is needed is not only better integration of farmers with markets and price intervention strategies for non-food crops, but also large investments in agriculture. These are essential for creating better marketing infrastructure, storage capacities, transportation network, farming technology, research for new crop varieties, extension services and above all irrigation.
While the government may buy peace by offering farm loan waivers, as it has done in several states, the crisis is not going away. Instead of spending such large sums to deal with the recurring problem of farm loan waivers, the government would be better off devoting resources to stepping up investment in agricultural infrastructure and price support. Not only will it revive agriculture, it will also generate employment in the rural economy.
Himanshu is an associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and visiting fellow at Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi.
This is the fourth part of Mint’s Fractured Farms - II series that will capture the ongoing agrarian crisis in India through a mix of on-ground reports, opinion pieces, and data analyses. It follows Fractured Farms, a similar series Mint ran in 2015.
Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
Share Via | 2,446 |
slicing into the school’s research budget, the impact may not amount to much more than saber rattling.
On the Senate using the nuclear option to confirm his Supreme Court nominee: “If we end up with that gridlock, I would say, ‘If you can, Mitch (McConnell, Senate majority leader), go nuclear,’” Trump said. “Because that would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was put up to that neglect.”
Why he said it : It gives McConnell and other Republicans political cover to pass Trump’s Supreme Court nominee by a simple majority — not the traditional 60-vote threshold — should the Gorsuch nomination veer into trouble. As Senate rules say, the GOP needs eight Democrats to vote with the 52-Republican majority to confirm a nominee.
The impact on the next step: The 60-vote hurdle is meant to ensure some bipartisan cooperation on something as important as a lifetime seat on the court. If it is repealed, the impact will be a major win for Republicans, enabling them to seat multiple Trump court nominees, solidifying a conservative majority for generations. However, Democrats would have the same advantage should they recapture the Senate under a Democratic president.
On Iran: In response to an Iranian test of a ballistic missile last week, the president tweeted: “Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile. Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them!”
Why he said this: Trump has long called for ending the nuclear deal with Iran. the missile test gives him an opening to take the next step. Two days after this tweet, the U.S. issued sanctions against 25 Iranian companies and individuals — none would affect the current deal.
The impact on the next step: Trump may not like the deal, but it was cut in concert with the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany. If the U.S. were to take military action without that coalition, the impact could be huge. The challenge in alluding to military action is either you have to deliver or look weak. Remember when Obama failed to back up his threat to Syria to not cross that red line? But the words “put on notice” don’t have a distinct meaning, so the president gives himself room to maneuver.
Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @joegarofoli | 2,447 |
It has been reported that Clayton Armstrong Hill has escaped from a prison camp in Atlanta, Georgia. Hill, who has confessed to being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Notorious B.I.G., is currently on the run from law officials.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard has signed documents noting that Hill walked away from the prison he was in last week.
“I was notified by officials … that inmate Clayton Armstrong Hill walked off the grounds,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Clay M. Cleveland noted in an affidavit, as reported by Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “A bed count was conducted to verify Hill’s status, and at approximately 6:40 p.m. Hill was identified as missing.”
A report of the escape can be seen below, courtesy of WSBTV in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hill was in a medium security prison after pleading guilty to charges of more than 100 fraudulent federal income tax returns in the mid-2000s. In July 2011, Hill confessed to being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Notorious B.I.G. in his memoir Diary of an Ex-Terrorist, and he shared more about it in a feature with HipHopDX that year. He said that the Nation of Islam was involved with the plot and cover up of the murder, sharing how he was an accessory after the fact after helping a man who claimed to be the shooter.
“I guess he felt comfortable so he began to talk about why he was on the run,” Hill shared regarding the alleged shooter. “Dawoud explained that he had put in the ‘work’ on Biggie. I gripped my steering wheel tighter but stayed silent, allowing him to continue to talk. He explained that he was a member of the Bloods and said it was [for] what happened to Tupac [Shakur] who was a Blood and a Muslim. ‘And I made twenty five ‘g’s’ off that.’ He patted his front pants pocket to emphasize his point which I noticed was bulging. ‘So where you headed to next?’ ‘Philly. The brothers up at #12 are expecting me.’ He was making reference to Muhammad Mosque #12, the infamous home of the Black Mafia.”
More of this feature can be read in its entirety in the link provided below.
RELATED: Clayton Hill – “Confessions Of Fire” [INTERVIEW] | 2,448 |
Lights, Camera, Action!
Local Hardware Store Films Paint Commercial
By Eugenia Moskowitz
When Benjamin Moore headquarters in New Jersey contacted Corinne Courtney, owner of Nailed It Hardware in Washingtonville, to be in their next nationally broadcast commercial, she jumped at the opportunity. Ad that’s when the Washingtonville Little League team her store sponsors got in on the action.
On the morning of Mar. 23, camera and sound crews converged on Courtney’s store to film her, Washingtonville Little League president Scott Davy, and the team of elementary school aged kids, all in their blue and gold baseball uniforms with team name in back, to a colorful backdrop of Benjamin Moore paints.
With lights, diffusion screens, and more expensive video camera equipment than you can shake a microphone stick at, a crew of about 15 directors and technicians set up the sound stage while a steady stream of Courtney’s regular Saturday customers quietly stepped over wires and rigging to make their purchases.
Part of what makes living in a “big small town” like Washingtonville so great, Courtney has often said, is the ability to get involved with the lives behind the people she serves. Parents and kids who are directly affected by things like store sponsorship of a team are greeted at every turn, and indeed the group of little leaguers included many that customers waved to as they passed through the store that morning. (This reporter and her youngest son personally waved at four.)
Courtney and Davy stood with the team as the filming, a long and somewhat tedious process involving getting lots of variables just right to produce what will likely be a few seconds of viable material, took place for much of the morning. If all goes according to plan, Courtney said, the commercial should air just before Memorial Day as the company’s “thank you” campaign. But also, she said, “This day of filming paints a picture of what Washingtonville is all about: the social fabric of small businesses directly involved with the town’s children. It’s what makes a small town a hometown.”
CAPTION: Nailed It Hardware’s little league team filmed on-location at Corinne Courtney’s shop in Washingtonville on Mar. 23. Along with the team, Courtney (at right) stands here with Washingtonville Little League president Scott Davy (at left) in Benjamin Moore Paint’s next nationally broadcast commercial, to air around Memorial Day. (Photo by Eugenia Moskowitz) | 2,449 |
any wrongdoing. Because of these ongoing investigations [by the IPCC] … it would be inappropriate for them to make any comment.”
The enduring significance of the Orgreave events is twofold. First, the lasting injustice, never officially recognised, is still resented by former mining communities where many people mistrust the police now. Despite the military-style police operation and violence, and subsequent collapsed prosecutions with accusations of perjury and a “frame-up”, the South Yorkshire police admitted no fault, nobody was held to account, and there was no reform. Then, secondly, it explains the hardened, regimented state the force was in when, on another sunny day in South Yorkshire, on 15 April 1989, it failed 54,000 people who came to the FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield.
Following the IPCC’s decision last year not to mount a full investigation, the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign made a detailed legal submission to Theresa May on 15 December, calling for an inquiry. The home secretary told parliament, after the Hillsborough inquests verdicts, that she is still considering it.
Her Labour shadow, Andy Burnham, argues that an inquiry has to be held: “What happened at and after Orgreave remains an injustice in itself which has caused deep wounds in mining communities,” he told the Guardian. “It is also impossible to properly understand the Hillsborough disaster and terrible miscarriage of justice which followed, without full knowledge of how South Yorkshire police were operating in the years preceding the disaster. Theresa May, who deserves credit for her courage in holding the police to account for past wrongdoing, needs to get on with it now, and order an inquiry into the Orgreave events without delay.”
It has seemed unlikely to many that a Conservative home secretary would do that – open up consideration of the police operation against the miners which much of her own party still regards as some kind of triumph. But May has defied expectations by giving sterling support, including very substantial funding, for the Hillsborough families’ legal struggle, and for standing up to police malpractice. The full truth about why the 96 people at Hillsborough were unlawfully killed by South Yorkshire police’s failings, and the force’s ferocious victim-blaming afterwards, is incomplete without an understanding of its conduct and culture a few years earlier. For the so-called “battle” of Orgreave, and the alleged “frame-up” which followed, not a single police officer, let alone the chief constable, was ever held to account. | 2,450 |
"Holy shit! Max Caulfield?" SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!" She heard the girl's panicked voice.
She felt an arm pulled her up and a hand pressed against hers, trying to put pressure on the wound. "Max can you hear me? It's me, Chloe."
Her eyes widened at her words. This was Chloe, her best friend that she left behind for five years. Her best friend who was having a terrible time and she didn't bother to help. Her best friend that… she just happened to save.
She saved Chloe.
She would have laughed if it wasn't the fact that she had trouble breathing, and that she was scared shitless. She got shot, and she was probably going to die. She couldn't even freak out.
"Don't you fucking die! Not when you finally came back!" She felt warm tears against her skin. "Please Max…"
She lifted her hand slowly to touch Chloe's face. She rested her palm against her wet cheek and focused on her clear blue eyes.
If Chloe's face was going to be the last thing she was going to see… then let it be. But knowing her best friend, she would be pissed off if she died. Would she be sad? Or would she move one quickly?
She did abandon her after all.
Max knew how much she messed up, and how much of a failure she was.
The world would be better off without her, right?
The thread was cut.
Max Caulfield is dead.
If you read polarized then you already know this, but here we go: The reason why Max's first rewind is different because when she came out of hiding she got shot, the rewind was a bit like the photo jump, her mind rewinds back to her previous state, while the Max her is the version she left behind. Chloe's death was only a 'vision'(from the universe in part one, the one she's supposed to avoid in the new timelines) she saw while rewinding because she sees vision of things she needed to stop, and Chloe being alive is important to the whole mystery.
Now this is the scene written in the nightmare in Polarized, just a bit more detailed since this is the first max's pov instead of last max seeing her first (or second) death.
Next time we have... you know what, I'm not going to say which version of Max next :D No spoilers!
Have a nice day! | 2,451 |
the report. Their torture often resulted in broken ribs, jaws and bruises, in addition to starvation and dehydration. Victims were also not allowed to wash themselves or their wounds.
“Persons who could not stand the torture because of their age or other reasons or could bring shame on the authorities or administration allegedly were killed,” the report states.
Those detainees who were eventually released underwent a “shaming their sins” ceremony involving their relatives. According to the report, law officials told families that though the government could murder their family member in the forest as a terrorist, it would be best for the family to murder the LGBT individual. “Either you kill your kid or we will do it for you,” the report claims many families were told. In other cases, victims were asked to kill themselves, and other victims were forced into marriages.
To understand Russia’s role in the Chechen purges, according to the recently released Chechnya report, the republic “is treated like a special case, an area of exception, where the institutions of the Russian Federation are not effective and a special regime of impunity is tolerated for the sake of stability.”
Among the recommendations of the Chechnya report, in view of the “overwhelming evidence” of these LGBT purges, Benedek calls for an inquiry into the Chechnya government’s actions and a commitment by the Russian executive branch to bring the perpetrators to justice. The report calls for a special investigative committee and trials held outside of Chechnya to ensure impartiality.
To OSCE participating States, the report recommends they not only grant protection to the LGBT people of Chechnya but provide them with safe housing, medical and psychological support and new identities when necessary.
As for where things go now, the OSCE member state of Russia has not yet responded to the official report and its recommendations. Will Russia finally fess up to the atrocities that have taken place under its eye for the past two years, taking a long-awaited stand against them? Or will Russia continue to refer to reports of these atrocities as “biased and groundless”?
There’s little reason to believe Russia will opt for the former course of action, which means LGBT people in Chechnya will almost surely continue to face persecution and death, in violation of international law and at the hands of the very government that should be protecting them.
What do you think of the recently released Chechnya report and its findings? Read the Chechnya report in its entirety here. | 2,452 |
A neo-Nazi website accused of orchestrating a "terror campaign" of online harassment against a Jewish real estate agent cannot have a lawsuit dismissed on First Amendment grounds, a federal judge ruled last week.
In his ruling denying a motion to have the suit against The Daily Stormer's publisher dismissed, Judge Dana L. Christensen wrote that the real estate agent, Tanya Gersh, was a private citizen and not a public figure. Christensen also wrote that the publisher, Andrew Anglin, incited his followers to harass her.
The lawsuit claims the coordinated harassment campaign resulted in Gersh's family receiving more than 700 messages of hate, including death threats and references to the Holocaust.
In refusing the dismiss the suit, the judge wrote that "the Court has thoroughly considered [Anglin's] free speech arguments and finds that a decision for Anglin at this stage would, at a minimum, be premature."
FACEBOOK'S SANDBERG SLAMS NEW YORK TIMES REPORT AS 'SIMPLY UNTRUE'
According to the New York Times, the lawsuit originates from an incident in 2016 during which Gersh, a real estate agent in the hometown of white supremacist Richard Spencer, told Spencer's mother Sherry that she should repudiate her son's views and sell a building she owned there. Legal documents show that his mother initially agreed with her idea but changed her mind and Anglin later incited the Daily Stormer's readership to harass her, the Times reports.
One of those posts, according to the Washington Post, said:
“Are y’all ready for an old fashioned Troll Storm?” Anglin wrote in a Dec. 16, 2016, post on the Daily Stormer website. The article, titled “Jews Targeting Richard Spencer’s Mother for Harassment and Extortion—TAKE ACTION!,” was the first of 30 about Gersh on the neo-Nazi site.
FIRE ANT COLONIES COULD INSPIRE ROBOT SWARMS
A lawyer affiliated with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which filed the case on Gersh's behalf in 2017, told the Times that the refusal to throw out the lawsuit "underscores what both we and our client have said from the beginning of this case — that online campaigns of hate, threats, and intimidation have no place in a civil society, and enjoy no protection under our Constitution."
Anglin, whose physical whereabouts have reportedly been unknown for almost two years, has faced two prior lawsuits alleging similar tactics. | 2,453 |
Ahead of the upcoming school year, Apple this morning announced it’s bringing contactless student IDs in Apple Wallet to several more U.S. universities. The expansion will allow more than 100,000 additional college students to carry their student ID on their iPhone or Apple Watch, where it can be used for a variety of tasks, including paying for their meals and snacks and entry into buildings, like the student’s dorm and other campus facilities.
The expanded list of universities includes: Clemson University, Georgetown University, University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky, University of San Francisco, University of Vermont, Arkansas State University, South Dakota State University, Norfolk State University, Louisburg College, University of North Alabama and Chowan University.
These join the previously supported schools: Duke University, University of Oklahoma, University of Alabama, Temple University, Johns Hopkins University, Marshall University and Mercer University.
Apple first announced its plans for contactless student IDs at WWDC 2018, then rolled out to its debut schools last October.
The contactless IDs not only serve as a means of student identification, but also work as a payment mechanism for on-campus transactions — like meals at the cafeteria or textbooks and supplies at the college’s bookstore, for example. Contactless entry into buildings is also now common on college campuses, and these digital IDs can work to open doors, too, as an alternative to swiping an entry card.
Support for college student IDs is only one way that Apple is trying to replace the physical wallet. The company also supports the ability to add your debit and credit cards, transit and loyalty cards, tickets and even paper money through Apple Pay Cash. And now it’s launching its own credit card, too, which rewards you with cashback for shopping Apple and using Apple Pay.
“We’re happy to add to the growing number of schools that are making getting around campus easier than ever with iPhone and Apple Watch,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services, in a statement about the expansion. “We know students love this feature. Our university partners tell us that since launch, students across the country have purchased 1.25 million meals and opened more than 4 million doors across campuses by just tapping their iPhone and Apple Watch.”
Related to this launch, Apple says it’s also adding support for CBORD, Allegion and HID — solution providers for campus credentials and mobile access. With these technologies on board, Apple will be able to reach other schools integrated with these systems in the future. | 2,454 |
Brazilians Fighting in War against the Ukraine Do Not Consider Returning to the Country
07/30/2018 - 12h44
Advertising
YAN BOECHAT
DONETSK
Arrested in the Ukraine since 2016, Brazil's Rafael Lusvarghi is the only foreigner jailed in Kiev accused of terrorism for fighting alongside the separatists supported by Russia.
Lusvarghi enlisted a few months after the conflict began in 2014. He became a soldier known in the forces that declared independence from the Ukraine in the provinces of Lugansk and Donetsk, on the Russian border.
Between 10 and 15 Brazilians have fought against the Ukrainian army. At least two of them are still in the rebel provinces.
Some are seeking adventure and others, military training; there are also those who fight believing this is the last battle of the Cold War. One of them is a student of communication, former boxer, police officer and an activist of a far-left political party who took his 17-year-old son to experience what he believed was the war against American imperialism.
In 2014 Rodolfo Cunha Cordeiro, 30, a former security guard in Presidente Prudente (SP), arrived at the battalion with people from all over the world, most of them with no previous training. "I served with two other Brazilians, who ended up injured," says Cordeiro.
Folhapress Rodolfo Cunha Cordeiro or Rodolfo Magayver
He admits that he did not even know where Donetsk was, nor did he understand what the war was about.
"I engage in battle, but in general I stay at the back," says Cordeiro. He left the army after he broke ligaments in his knee. Like Lusvarghi he is considered a terrorist by the Ukraine.
He is now a citizen of the People's Republic of Donetsk. He proudly holds a passport that is not recognized by any country, but allows him to go in and out of Russia. He walks through Donetsk with nearly ten medals awarded for service in battle.
He has little contact with the other Brazilian in Donetsk, who is 28 years old and was wounded in combat twice and has difficulty to walk. He asked his name to be withheld. He also intends to keep on living in the rebel province. Both Brazilians come from middle-class families and say they had no opportunities in Brazil.
Translated by THOMAS MUELLO
Read the article in the original language | 2,455 |
Wesley Snipes, star of the Blade trilogy, has been very vocal about his wish to return to the Marvel universe over the past few years, which has whipped up fan hopes that he could return as the daywalker in the MCU. Luckily for Snipes, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has always maintained that he’s open to the idea of revisiting Blade some time in the future. And if our intel’s correct, that time might be nigh.
We Got This Covered has been informed by our source that Feige is “fighting” to get a Blade movie made with Snipes attached to reprise his role. As the man is the head of Marvel Studios, you might be wondering who he’s fighting against. Well, the issue is that Marvel Television also want to use Blade for a live-action series as part of Hulu’s upcoming Spirits of Vengeance group of shows, including Ghost Rider and Helstrom. Our source says they’re not certain which way the final result will swing, but they’re “definitely” sure that the vampire hunter’s going to return.
This update follows on from a story we broke back in March in which we reported that an R-rated Blade film was being developed by Feige, following Disney CEO Bob Iger’s announcement that Marvel Studios was looking to make more R-rated projects besides Deadpool. Since then, Hulu has announced their plans for the aforementioned new Marvel shows, so it’d make sense for this clash to have arisen over the past couple of months.
Gory New Fan Art Heralds Wesley Snipes' Return As Blade 1 of 2
Click to skip
MORE FROM THE WEB Click to zoom
For clues as to how Feige would treat the hero, he’s described Blade as a “legacy character” in the past, suggesting Snipes would return as a mentor figure and train up his successor. Previous rumors have also pointed to a script having been drafted featuring Eric Brooks training his daughter, Fallon Grey. A movie about a young African-American woman would fit with Feige’s aims to further diversify the franchise, too.
We’ll update you as more on this Blade situation comes in, but it sounds like it should be good news either way. Although, it’s probably a safe bet that, as cool as a Hulu show would be, most fans would prefer that Feige got his wish to resurrect Snipes’ version of the character. | 2,456 |
Share Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Participants in the 2019 Prudential RideLondon events raised £11.5 million for charity, bringing the total raised for good causes to more than £77 million in the first seven years of the cycling festival.
The 2019 total is revealed with less than 48 hours to go for riders to enter the ballot for the 2020 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100, which takes place on 16th August.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “My congratulations go to everyone who helped raise this fantastic sum for charity at the 2019 edition of Prudential RideLondon. Their efforts will help some great causes make a real difference to people’s lives.”
Mike Wells, group chief executive of Prudential, added: “I would like to thank all the riders who took part and helped make this another fantastic year for fund-raising. Prudential RideLondon is the world’s greatest festival of cycling, and to raise more than £77 million in seven years for good causes is an incredible achievement.”
British Olympic champion Dani Rowe, who was raising money for the 2019 Charity of the Year the British Heart Foundation, rode side by side with thousands of cyclists of all ages and abilities in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 sportive. “It was absolutely amazing, riding on such iconic roads, and safe roads, with so many fans out on the road, cheering us. I was just buzzing all the way round.”
Alzheimer’s Society raised more than £450,000, making the charity the most successful fundraisers from the event. Macmillan Cancer Support and Prostate Cancer UK were among the many other charities that raised six-figure sums.
Kiera Ridge, senior events fundraising manager, Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We’ve had another successful year with nearly 550 Alzheimer’s Society riders taking on the challenge and raising over £450,000. Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 is a hugely popular event with our supporters and has been a great vehicle for us to raise huge sums to fund our work, with 2019 being no exception.
“With almost a million people living with the condition, dementia is the biggest health challenge society faces today. We urgently need to find a cure, improve care and offer help and understanding for people affected. Our team of riders and their generosity have played a huge role in this and we look forward to another successful year in 2020.” | 2,457 |
In a brief announcement only a few hours ago, the team at Binance announced that the exchange has simultaneously completed the Tron (TRX) and ICON (ICX) MainNet token swaps on its trading platform. The full announcement stated that:
Fellow Binancians, Binance has completed the TRX and ICX mainnet swaps. Deposits and withdrawals for TRX and ICX are now open. Thanks for your support! Binance Team
Justin Sun would also announce the development in the following tweet.
With respect to Tron (TRX), the list of crypto exchanges that have completed the token migration and are allowing for the deposits and withdrawal of TRX, is currently as follows:
Binance
Bjex
BitForex
Cobo
CoinFalcon
CoinEgg
Gate.io
Huobi
OKEx
Upbit
Ethereum World News had earlier indicated that the Tron (TRX) token migration on Binance would be complete sometime this week.
Now that the deposits and withdrawals of TRX and ICX have resumed on Binance, crypto traders can now retrieve their digital assets and put them back in cold storage as is the plan with many HODLers. What this will inadvertently accomplish, is the reduction of the available tradable supply of both coins in the exchanges as each HODLer stashes their investments in wallets and hardware devices. The amount of TRX and ICX available for trading will reduce creating an increase in the price of both digital assets as traders continue creating a demand for them.
The resumption of deposits and withdrawals of both TRX and ICX on Binance is welcome news given that the current crypto-market conditions continue to be that of volatility. The total crypto market capitalization has dropped by $20 Billion in 24 hours to the current levels of $254 Billion.
As a result of the current market environment, both TRX and ICX have dropped by 8.60% and 10.97% respectively in the last 24 hours. TRX is trading at $0.033 at the moment of writing this and ICX at $1.50. With Binance completing the token migration of both assets, the now available liquidity will assist in the upward mobility of the value of both cryptocurrencies.
Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. It is an opinion piece. The opinion herein should be taken as is. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. | 2,458 |
Philip Marlowe's creator Raymond Chandler did not, to put it mildly, seek out the limelight. Any biography of that most assiduously studied noir novelist can tell you so, but none can tell you that, albeit for less than a minute, Chandler appeared in a classic of the silver screen. The books have a good excuse for leaving out that strikingly uncharacteristic detail: it took cinephiles decades to notices the cameo. "More than 60 years after its release, a French cinema historian and two US crime-writers almost simultaneously happened on the same bizarre discovery - that Raymond Chandler, uncredited and previously unnoticed, has a tiny cameo in Double Indemnity," writes the Guardian's Adrian Wootton. "On 14 January, the American mystery writer Mark Coggins, tipped off by another writer, John Billheimer, posted the news on his website, Riordan's desk (tinyurl.com/raymondchandler), while the French journalist Olivier Eyquem, wrote about on his blog (tinyurl.com/chandlerfrench) on March 30."
While I personally recommend using this revelation as an excuse to watch Billy Wilder's immortal James M. Cain adaptation again in its entirety, you can view a clip of Chandler's brief appearance in it above, which includes a slow-motion instant replay. "We will probably never know whose idea it was it to put Chandler in front of the camera, or if it took a few drinks to get him in the mood," writes the Los Angeles Times' Carolyn Kellogg about this rare cinematic glimpse of the writer who did so much to earn Los Angeles its place on the pulp-lit map. "And no one has successfully deciphered the cover of what he's reading, which would be nice to know too." Alas, from this footage of little more than a seated Chandler looking up from a book, we can expect to derive no serious insights into his life or work; for those, we'll need to go right back to the biographies.
Related Content:
Raymond Chandler & Ian Fleming in Conversation (1958)
Raymond Chandler: There’s No Art of the Screenplay in Hollywood
The Adventures of Philip Marlowe: The Radio Episodes
Colin Marshall hosts and produces Notebook on Cities and Culture and writes essays on literature, film, cities, Asia, and aesthetics. He’s at work on a book about Los Angeles, A Los Angeles Primer. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall. | 2,459 |
In the latest ominous AI news, a team of researchers has created a tool that can find people in CCTV footage by searching for their clothing, height and gender.
Indian researchers have built an algorithm that would allow surveillance footage to be searched and filtered for the purpose of “person retrieval.”
At the moment, surveillance footage must be searched manually to find a person based on common descriptors like clothing and gender. These identifying factors are known as soft biometrics.
The team used deep learning - which goes beyond machine learning (where patterns are set into algorithms and require supervision) by incorporating ‘self-learning’- to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) to recognize soft biometrics using computer vision.
I'm 6'5" and downright clumsy in a crowd. Looks like #AI has ended my days of going incognitohttps://t.co/mh2dzFSDBT — John Murray (@BD_JohnM) October 24, 2018 Basically, you can tell this AI some details about the person you’re looking for and it’ll scour whatever video you give it.Imagine a situation where a person is reported missing after two days. One might ask for footage from cam…https://t.co/KTBRUtQfzqhttps://t.co/kfvLmokSgB — Raymond Koh (@KohRaymond) October 23, 2018 In a game of hide & seek with #AI... there is no where to run, no where to hide https://t.co/0Wl8QLfkww — Martin King (@timekord) October 23, 2018
According to the study, the algorithm correctly identified “28 persons out of 41 in a very challenging dataset with soft biometric attributes.” The researchers say that, with some minor tweaks, accuracy could be improved substantially.
The new technology could be crucial in finding missing persons and dangerous criminals, but also raises ethical issues about surveillance. With no legislation in place to limit its potential, the technology could be utilized for nefarious means such as illegal surveillance of activists and journalists, or wide scale monitoring of civilians by oppressive governments.
READ MORE: Brutal beating of elderly Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn captured on CCTV (SHOCKING VIDEO)
IBM has been working on similar technology for years. The company secretly used NYPD CCTV footage to develop technology to identify people based on soft biometrics, The Intercept revealed in September.
Like this story? Share it with a friend! | 2,460 |
�s population. Both PTSD and TBI are under-researched and under-diagnosed (one advocacy group describes TBI as a “silent epidemic”), and it is unfair to put all the blame for a slow response on the door of the VA.
The Veterans Administration is also in the dark ages when it comes to information technology (IT), computers, and automation. The VA hospital appointment system is DOS-based (readers under 25 may have to ask what that pre-Windows operating system is) and may literally be older than some of the newer hires using it. The reasons for the lack of an upgrade are myriad, but most can be laid at the feet of the congressionally mandated Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which lays out wonderful processes for procuring pens and copy paper, but is woefully inadequate for technology integration and engineering. Perhaps the best outcome that could come of the latest VA debacle could be a one-time exemption to the FAR, giving responsibility to one firm to automate VA’s records, allow easy electronic submission of claims, and let medical records flow automatically from the Defense Department to the VA.
To be blunt, were the VA information technology system to receive the same day-to-day attention from the White House as did the Affordable Care Act’s Healthcare.gov (after the disastrous roll-out), the issues might be fixed in relatively short order. In fact, this might be the best analogy. The VA record-keeping works about as well as HealthCare.gov did at its debut. Absent focused attention from the White House, the executive branch doesn’t do computerized systems very well (well, outside of the National Security Agency).
In the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the attention America has paid to its veterans has been, in many ways, overwhelming and humbling. If some of the attention at sporting events lapses into the schmaltzy, the sentiment is real. A small army of nonprofit agencies has emerged to help the wounded, to assist with job placement, and otherwise reintegrate veterans in society. Many major corporations have made real efforts to hire from a veteran demographic they might otherwise overlook. But civil society cannot do the heavy lifting that requires government.
There is nothing that will ever bring back the veterans who died while waiting for care. But if their deaths spur this country to truly examine the Veterans Administration, make its reform a priority and puts political pressure on the White House to truly prioritize this often-dysfunctional bureaucracy, then something good will have come from this tragedy. | 2,461 |
UPDATED: A fast-burning brush fire, called the Portola Fire, is threatening the Beverly Crest area near Benedict Canyon in Los Angeles, the location of numerous multi-million dollar mansions. “I Dream of Jeannie” star Barbara Eden, who spoke to ABC7 News about how close the blaze was to her home, is among the many celebrities who live in the area.
Other residents of the surrounding area include Emmy Rossum, Channing Tatum, Jon Lovitz, Jessica Alba, Jon Voight, and Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd.
The fire was reportedly caused by a weed whacker being used in a resident’s yard. Evacuations are expected to be lifted by 8 p.m. as the fire danger diminishes.
Benedict Canyon is on the west side of Beverly Hills, north of Sunset Blvd., and east of Bel Air and the 405 freeway.
No injuries or damages to structures have been reported. Authorities and news media are recommending avoiding the entire Benedict Canyon area so that emergency vehicles can access the fire.
KTTV reported that the fire, which started just before 2 p.m., was at 25 acres. Evacuations are under way for Portola Drive, where the fire originated, as well as Yoakum Drive, San Ysidro Drive and other nearby streets. Approximately 200 firefighters are on the scene.
Update #BrushFire; 2:32PM; 9808 W Portola Dr; #WestLosAngeles; #BeverlyCrest #PortolaFire Fire estimated to be 10 acres and homes (number unk) under immediate threat on both flanks of the fire (south of Yoakum Dr and north of … https://t.co/yvCrwiZZ2e — LAFD (@LAFD) June 12, 2018
Smoke is spreading across the West Los Angeles area as well as in the San Fernando Valley, where it is impeding vision on the 101 freeway near Sherman Oaks.
Although it has been a dry winter, temperatures were only about 80 degrees in Los Angeles on Tuesday, with light winds, meaning weather conditions shouldn’t make firefighting more difficult. However, the area is hilly and covered in brush.
Another brush fire is currently burning in the Santa Paula area northwest of the city. Last December, a large fire burned several homes just a few miles away in Bel Air, near the 405 freeway.
— Mark David contributed to this report
POPULAR ON VARIETY: | 2,462 |
Dutch architects Zeinstra van Gelderen architecten have designed this one-man pavilion made entirely of rubber.
The Rubber Pavilion is entered though a slit and has a bench in one wall and a window frame, which cannot be seen through, in another.
The entire pavilion including the bench and window frame are formed from resin poured into a mold.
The pavilion will be on display at the Museum Bahnsteig in Oberhausen, Germany from Wednesday 25 August until the 1 October, and then will sit in front of the Schauspielhaus in Bochum from 4 to 8 October.
Here's some more from the architects:
“I have often thought that probably there might be a way found out to make an artificial glutinous composition much resembling that excrement out of which the silk worm wire-draws his clew” Robert Hooke, 1664
The Rubber House is a small pavilion, completely made out of rubber. The house can be entered, one person at a time, to retreat from the outside and to find oneself again. The introvert character of the pavilion is reinforced by the hollow acoustics of the interior. Partly translucent walls enlighten the space during the day Unlike what you might expect, the Rubber House is all about mass and weight.
The house is an amber-coloured rectangular monolith (outside dimensions 1,5x 1,5 x 2,3 m) in which an egg shaped interior seems to be carved out. One wall offers a small bench and another a window-frame with no view. The entrance is nothing more than a vertical cut in a third wall. The whole house, including bench and window-frame, is made out of poured in place urethane resin.
Click above for larger image
The Rubber House will be the main source of inspiration for a performance by the dramaturg Tjyying Liu in the first week of October 2010 on the square in front of the Schauspielhaus Bochum. Before that, it will also be on display in Oberhausen as part of the ISEA2010 conference, the International Symposium on Electronic Art. From August 25 till October 1 it will be on display at the Museumbahnsteig in Oberhausen. The Rubberhouse has been made possible by a grant from the Fonds BKVB
(the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture) and is produced by ‘Anything is Possible’, Amsterdam
See also:
.
| 2,463 |
The world according to the man writing Labour's manifesto
All quotes taken from the final chapter of The Failed Experiment: And How to Build an Economy That Works, written by Andrew Fisher and published in 2014
Put private land in public ownership
The land was here before we were born and it will be here after we are long since departed. Does this mean all land should be publicly owned? Perhaps.
Nationalise the banks
Banks may set up subsidiaries in tax havens to avoid paying their dues, but their head offices are always proudly located in the major cities of their major economies. In doing so, they effectively nationalise their risk and offshore their profits. The first thing to do therefore must be to nationalise the banks.
Scrap the Channel Islands
The UK must also take on its tax havens – the crown dependencies like Jersey and the Cayman Islands. They are arteries of the global tax avoidance system. These corrupt island nations could be stopped by the UK, their sponsor, at any point. But they play a pivotal role within the global financial system.
Scrap the City of London
The City is now a square mile of entrenched reaction, the home of the devilry of modern finance. Nearly one hundred years on, with the City of London even more powerful, it is time its powers were abolished, and the relatively few people who live there represented by one of the neighbouring local councils, who should take over the municipal functions, with the rest absorbed by the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly.
Bring in three-day weeks
With the technology available today, the fact that so many of us commute long distances with long journey times and still work five or six days per week is ludicrous. Why shouldn’t the four or even three day week become the norm?
Ban companies from sacking staff
One solution to this would be a proposal put by a candidate in the 2012 French presidential election that profitable companies should not be allowed to make compulsory redundancies. After all, if the company is profitable what need is there to lay off staff?
Let renters buy property automatically from landlords
The Thatcher government introduced the right to buy but why not have that right extended to privately rented property too? Reflecting that many people now rent their housing not from the council but from private landlords.
Let workers take ownership of companies
Workers should be given the right to buy too. If workers can raise the necessary funds they should have the right to buy out owners (with government subsidies to encourage).
Let customers buy out companies | 2,464 |
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul called for an investigation on Thursday into what he says was collusion within the Obama administration “to prevent the election” of Donald Trump.
“This could be WORSE than Watergate!” Sen. Paul, a Republican, wrote on Twitter.
“Time to investigate high ranking Obama government officials who might have colluded to prevent the election of @ realDonaldTrump!”
It is unclear what exactly prompted the tweet from Paul, who hasn’t commented much on the investigations into possible Trump campaign collusion with the Russian government. But, an increasing number of Republicans have started speaking out to criticize the various probes, including the one being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
FBI official Peter Strozk, who supervised the Russia investigation when it was opened in July 2016, had exchanged anti-Trump and pro-Hillary Clinton text messages. Strozk also helped lead the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server.
In one text message sent shortly after the Russia investigation was opened, Strzok spoke of an “insurance policy” in the event of a Trump election win.
“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way [Trump] gets elected — but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk,” Strzok wrote to Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer and his mistress.
“It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40,” the messages also said.
Strzok was removed from Mueller’s investigation in July after the Justice Department’s inspector general discovered the texts.
The Andy mentioned in Strzok’s text is believed to be Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. McCabe was interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. He faces the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
Some Republicans have suggested that the FBI relied on an uncorroborated dossier funded by the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee to justify opening the investigation of the Trump campaign.
Top Justice Department official Bruce Ohr met with the author of that dossier, Christopher Steele, during the presidential campaign. After Trump was elected, Ohr met with Glenn Simpson, the founder of the opposition research firm that was hired by Democrats to investigate Trump.
Ohr was removed from his position as deputy assistant attorney general earlier this month after his meetings with Steele and Simpson were revealed.
Follow Chuck on Twitter | 2,465 |
Come 2018, Harrison Ford won’t be the only actor to have portrayed Han Solo in a galaxy far, far away. Disney currently has a Star Wars spin-off filmed planned for that year, with these eight actors reportedly in line to play the loveable rogue. But, did you know a young version of Solo was at one stage going to feature in the prequels?
As detailed by DenOfGeek, George Lucas once intended to have a 10-year-old Solo in Revenge of the Sith. Apparently, we would have seen him wandering around Chewbacca’s home planet Kashyyk while the Wookiees fought the clone troopers, Chewie acting almost like a father figure to him.
That’s not the only slightly strange thing about the cameo; it would have marked the only time Solo would ever meet Yoda, Solo telling the Jedi Master “I found part of a transmitter droid near the east bay… I think it’s still sending and receiving signals,” to which he would have replied “Good. Good. Track this we can back to the source. Find General Grievous, we might…”
A few reasons it is absolutely fantastic that this got cut from the movie. Firstly, Chewie and Solo are best friends, with absolutely no father/son bond at all. It would have felt even more forced than Padmé and Anakin’s relationship.
Harrison Ford will return as an older Han Solo in The Force Awakens (Disney)
Secondly, if Solo knew about Yoda, he would have known about the strength of The Force and probably respected its power like the Wookiees die. That means his comments on board the Millennium Falcon (“It’s all a load of simple tricks and nonsense”) would have made a lot less sense.
The idea of a young Solo went relatively far down the creative process, with concept artist Ian McCraig creating some drawings.
The concept art for a young Han Solo (LucasFilm)
According to the officially released Art of Revenge of the Sith, he said: “It’s not in the script anymore, but we were told that Han Solo was on Kashyyyk and that he was being raised by Chewbacca.
"He’s such a persnickety guy later on – he always has to have the best of everything – so I thought it’d be great if when he was a kid, he was an absolute slob.” | 2,466 |
Station (ISS) – most recently a week ago during the April 18 blastoff of the SpaceX CRS-3 mission from Cape Canaveral.
It is also being used to launch highly expensive communications satellites like SES-8 and Thaicom-6 for private companies to geostationary orbits.
“It just seems odd that if our vehicle is good enough for NASA and supporting a $100 billion space station, and it’s good enough for launching NASA science satellites, for launching complex commercial geostationary satellites, then there’s no reasonable basis for it not being capable of launching something quite simple like a GPS satellite,” said Musk.
“Our only option is to file a protest.”
Furthermore as I wrote here in a prior article, US National Security launches are now potentially at risk due to the ongoing crisis between Russian, Ukraine and Crimea because the RD-180 first stage engines powering the Atlas V are designed and manufactured in Russia by NPO Energomash, majority owned by the Russian Federation.
“The head of the Russian space sector, Dmitry Rogozin, was sanctioned by the White House in March 2014 in the wake of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine,” says SpaceX.
The RD-180 engine supply could be cut off in a worst case scenario if economic sanctions against Russia are increased by the Western allies.
ULA has a two year contingency supply of the RD-180’s and blueprints to begin production, if needed.
However in the event of a cutoff, it would take at least three to five years to start and certify RD-180 engine production somewhere in the US, a ULA spokesperson told me recently at Cape Canaveral.
This possibly leaves a 1 to 3 year gap with no Atlas V 1st stage engine supply.
The Delta IV rockets and engines by contrast are manufactured in the US.
“In light of international events, this seems like the wrong time to send hundreds of millions of dollars to the Kremlin,” said Musk.
“Yet, this is what the Air Force’s arrangement with ULA does, despite the fact that there are domestic alternatives available that do not rely on components from countries that pose a national security risk.”
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, commercial space, Orion, Chang’e-3, LADEE, Mars rover, MAVEN, MOM and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
Ken Kremer | 2,467 |
HTC is bringing Bitcoin Cash support to the Exodus 1.
That means owners of the Exodus 1 are going to have another choice for a crypto wallet on their smartphone. It’s going to be pre-installed on the Exodus 1, so you won’t need to worry about downloading another digital wallet.
HTC has stated that new Exodus 1 phones will be sold with Bitcoin Cash installed out-of-the-box. While existing Exodus 1 smartphones are going to get an update that will enable the new feature.
Bitcoin.com and HTC are planning to continue their partnership as well. HTC has said that one of the future plans includes special discounts for those paying for phones using Bitcoin Cash. There could also be Exodus smartphones sold on Bitcoin.com in the near future, through this partnership.
HTC also expanded security and privacy options on the Exodus 1. That includes a new partnership with Opera Mobile, which is promising to strip away the data-mining middlemen and increasing the level of privacy and security through the phone’s web browser.
It’s going to use a transparent peer-to-peer service to do this. Which HTC is referring to as the “decentralized web.”
The HTC Exodus 1 is the company’s first Blockchain smartphone that is made for cryptocurrency. It’s more secure than most other smartphones on the market today, which is why it’s good for storing cryptocurrencies on it.
The phone itself is very similar to the HTC U12. Which runs regular Android. Of course, the Exodus 1 does not. It runs Android, but a very customized version that is much more secure. It has a 6-inch Quad HD+ 18:9 aspect ratio, along with the Snapdragon 845 chipset inside with 6GB of RAM. There is also 128GB of storage, which is plenty of space for a ton of apps.
It’s not a cheap phone, and it’s the only phone that you can’t buy with physical money. You can only buy it with Bitcoin or Ethereum. It costs 0.15 BTC, which is equivalent to around $1,193 USD today. That makes it more expensive than the Galaxy Note 10+ and the new iPhone 11 Pro Max. That’s pretty insane when you think about it. But because the price is based on Bitcoin, the price does fluctuate pretty regularly. Earlier today, it would have been under $1100 USD, but since Bitcoin went up in price, so did the price of this phone. | 2,468 |
Rep. Rashida Tlaib blasted white supremacy after the recent New Jersey shooting targeting Jews, which was perpetrated by Black Hebrew Israelites.
"This is heartbreaking. White supremacy kills," the Michigan Democrat said Thursday in response to the shooting in a now-deleted tweet.
The Tuesday rampage resulted in six deaths after a massive gun battle with police that left an officer, three civilians, and the suspects dead. An investigation after the shooting found the suspects, 47-year-old David Anderson and 50-year-old Francine Grahm, intentionally targeted a kosher deli. An ensuing gunfight between police and the attackers lasted hours.
According to a law enforcement official, at least one of the suspects had written anti-Semitic posts online, and a manifesto was found in their car. The attackers were part of a group called the Black Hebrew Israelites, which has been labeled as a hate group.
The Black Hebrew Israelites are a cult that believes that black people are the true descendants of Jews and that none of the 12 tribes are white. Many in the religious group consider those a part of Orthodox Judaism to be fake Jews.
Tlaib, 43, has been accused of anti-Semitism for comments she has made attacking Israel. The Democrat is a staunch defender of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement. In July, the freshman Democrat compared boycotting Israel to the U.S. boycotting Nazi Germany during World War II.
She was later barred from visiting the country because of her support for the BDS movement but was subsequently told she would be allowed to visit her dying grandmother in the West Bank if she refrained from promoting boycotts against Israel while there. However, she went on to decline the offer, saying the terms set "oppressive conditions."
Last week, Tlaib was one of only four Democrats to oppose a resolution calling for a two-state solution. In a speech she gave on the floor defending her position, the freshman congresswoman accused the Israeli government of being racist.
"This resolution not only endorses an unrealistic, unattainable solution, one that Israel has made impossible, but also one that legitimatizes inequality, ethnic discrimination, and inhumane conditions," Tlaib said, claiming that Israel was trying to make a "separate but equal" mentality between Jews and Palestinians.
Tlaib has also been criticized for posing with terrorist sympathizers. In January, she was photographed with a Hezbollah supporter, and in September she posed for a photo with a youth group that advocates for violence against Israel. | 2,469 |
down on the film harshly, criticizing its attempts to recreate the most iconic moments of The Shining.
DOCTOR SLEEP is a shallow, soulless, karaoke rendition of THE SHINING: the tone’s flat, the notes falter and the drunk dude singing has been left on for far too long. The final act is a drab evocation of Stanley Kubrick’s magnum opus—with performances out of a porn parody. Nah. https://t.co/U7uvKA2YU2 — Jack King (@_jarking) October 25, 2019
#DoctorSleep is pleasantly surprising, with noteworthy performances especially from Kyliegh Curran as Abra. Although the film does lean into self-referential The Shining references a bit too much for my taste, it is one of the more cohesive Stephen King adaptations. — Scare-a Musn-icky? (@sarahmusnicky) October 25, 2019
Doctor Sleep is so boring! It is an hour too long! It uses all The Shining imagery but adds unnecessary exposition and has no good scare ideas! — Hannah Woodhead (@goodjobliz) October 25, 2019
But divided some may have been on whether the film worked, the reactions were unanimous in praising Rebecca Ferguson, who plays the villain of the film.
Doctor Sleep will likely give The Shining fans everything they'd want from a sequel (and some things they probably didn't). #RebeccaFerguson is wonderful and it all looks utterly gorgeous, but it's not perfect and needs more memorable scares. #DoctorSleepMovie pic.twitter.com/M2jomtq8eE — Digital Spy (@digitalspy) October 25, 2019
In DOCTOR SLEEP, which I quite liked, Rebecca Ferguson's truly evil villain has a crustpunk carnie aesthetic and let me tell you…it works — Esther Zuckerman (@ezwrites) October 25, 2019
Critics and fans seem divided on Doctor Sleep, which some are praising as one of the best Stephen King adaptations yet, and others criticizing it as a poor recreation of The Shining. While the performances by Ferguson and newcomer Curran are being praised, many of the other elements received mixed reactions.
Doctor Sleep stars Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Carl Lumbly, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Bruce Greenwood, Jocelin Donahue, Alex Essoe, and Cliff Curtis.
Doctor Sleep opens November 8, 2019. | 2,470 |
Republicans shouldn't pick a nominee who might surprise them.
While Gingrich and Santorum debated their records in Washington and specifically who was more responsible for the Republican Revolution of the 1990s, Romney raised his hand to argue it's time for a Washington outsider.
"We need to send to Washington someone who has not lived in Washington, but someone who's lived in the real streets of America," Romney said.
Every candidate onstage said they opposed the anti-Internet piracy bill roiling Congress, and criticized the proposal for being too intrusive. However, both Romney and Santorum said they could support a more narrow law that would help protect intellectual property rights online.
Displaying the off-the-cuff wit he has used to great effect at a series of GOP debates, Gingrich joked he was none too sympathetic to movie and music producers who pushed for the legislation.
"You're asking a conservative about the economic interest of Hollywood," Gingrich said to laughter in the audience. "And I'm weighing it, I'm weighing it. I'm not rushing in."
Meanwhile Paul touted his libertarian-leaning views, adding he had been an early detractor of the bill. He said as president he would be unique in his ability to work with leaders on both sides of the aisle to protect civil liberties.
The former obstetrician and gynecologist forced his way into the conversation on both health care and abortion, two issues he knows a lot about.
"I thought maybe you were prejudiced against doctors and a doctor that practiced medicine in the military or something," Paul told King after a section where the other three candidates answered a question on whether a full repeal of President Obama's health care reform was truly possible.
After a lengthy debate among the other three candidates over the legitimacy of criticizing Romney's political conversion from pro-abortion rights to anti-abortion rights, the crowd booed and chanted Paul's name when King moved on without letting Paul weigh in.
"John, once again, it's a medical subject and I'm a doctor," Paul said.
Four polls over the last two days show Romney's long-held lead in South Carolina nearly evaporating into single digits by the time the four took the stage, while Gingrich has surged into a virtual tie. Gingrich on Thursday grabbed a major endorsement when Perry announced he was backing Gingrich as he suspended his campaign.
Santorum's campaign got a boost on Thursday when the Iowa GOP released the final certified results from its January 3 caucuses, which reversed Romney's eight-vote victory and instead determined that Santorum had won by 34 votes. | 2,471 |
bad habit.
This time I was really forced to rephrase my words in order to speak in a way that was understandable by anyone. I believe this to be an extremely healthy exercise.
Talking vs Action
We read and hear so much about the issue of gender gap in tech, it's time to stop talking and do something about it.
Actively contributing made me feel like I can have an impact on such an important issue, even if there is still a lot of work to do, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Coaching is great
I discovered that "coaching" is great! It allows students to proceed at their own pace without the usual drawbacks of self-education like getting stuck, panicking from complexity, misunderstanding concepts and so on.
Improving the tutorial over time won't be easy
I noticed how different participants at different tables often make the same mistakes while following the tutorial; the case I remember most clearly was to paste HTML in a CSS file.
This shows that there are areas of improvements in the tutorial, but it's here that a wider issue became evident: the whole content of the tutorial, code examples and text, is duplicated for every language.
Now imagine having to change the structure of a long section in order to solve an issue like the one I described previously; both words and code examples will need to be changed, but it won't be like updating translation strings as we usually do in django apps, it will require a rewrite of the entire changed section for all the supported languages.
Think also about the differences between django versions, for example, there are a few important differences between django 1.6 and django 1.7.
I see an important technical issue here which can potentially slow down the improvement and the evolution of the tutorial over time.
Hopefully this issue can be solved with the help of documentation masters like the organizers of writethedocs; I haven't had the pleasure to participate in such meetings or conferences yet, but I really want to do it as soon as possible.
Read the Docs was just awarded a grant for PyPI integration, as part of the first round of @mozilla's MOSS program: https://t.co/6KFelVdqE0 — Read the Docs (@readthedocs) December 10, 2015
Ideas for the future
I'd love to contribute to similar initiatives in the future and I have a few ideas I'd like to get out there: | 2,472 |
"We're interested in maintaining and expanding that position," she said, and the cultural living room is about contributing to what's happening in Detroit in a new way.
"Community development and economic development go hand in hand.... You create the hub, (and) it brings people in (who) support the businesses and cultural organizations in the neighborhood."
Over the next several months, the DIA plans to work with Midtown Detroit on public forums to gauge what nearby residents and employees would like to see in the museum's cultural living room.
It plans to issue a request for proposals for an architect to help determine the best configurations for the spaces. NBS is donating 100 hours of space planning and design, and providing discounts on furnishings.
Bradford Frost, a fellow in's Detroit Revitalization Fellows Program, is helping to shape the effort as special assistant for community and economic development at the DIA.
"The goal is to enhance and transform the Kresge Court and front lawn from (places) people visit occasionally to places they frequent much as they do different restaurants, coffee houses and parks," he said.
The Cultural Alliance will help engage other cultural groups to provide programming, and the Detroit Creative Corridor Center will provide design, marketing and promotion assistance, as well as speakers and/or performers, Frost said.
An outdoor gathering space in Midtown is badly needed, "as we have some small-scale green spaces and parks, but no visible space along Woodward that is developed expressly for inviting the public to socialize, interact and connect," said Midtown Detroit President Susan Mosey in an email.
The DIA is one of several Michigan cultural groups awarded ArtPlace grants this year. The Detroit artists groupand thewere each awarded $250,000 grants.
Those followed earlier 2012 ArtPlace grants of $350,000 to theto fund a major renovation and new green space, $80,000 to'sincubator and $900,000 to Midtown Detroit for the purchase of a vacant church building in the Sugar Hill Arts District and plans for a black box theater/music center and small outdoor theater venue nearby.
"The comeback of Detroit is of intense interest to our funders, just as it is for everyone who cares about the success of cities," said ArtPlace director Carol Coletta in an emailed statement.
"What is learned during Detroit's transformation will be valuable for communities everywhere."
Sherri Welch: (313) 446-1694, [email protected] Twitter: @sherriwelch | 2,473 |
Women take off their bras in Free the Nipple movement (Picture: Nando Azevedo)
Women stripped down to their bikini bottoms in a Free the Nipple movement – but ended up attracting unwanted ‘sexual’ attention by camera-ready tourists.
Dozens of women discarded their bras to protest the sexualisation of women’s nipples at a beach in Mission Bay, New Zealand on Saturday.
Coronavirus news live: NHS Covid-19 app launched and Sunak prepares to launch furlough 2.0
But protesters were bombarded by ogling tourists taking pictures to make the moment last longer.
Organiser Grace Blundell, 22, who abandoned her bikini top, said she tried to view the attention positively.
‘Some were definitely taking photos in a sexual way,’ she told Mail Online.
The protest has spread worldwide (Picture: Nando Azevedo)
Tourists started to take picture of the topless women (Picture: Nando Azevedo)
‘If I were to stand up and make a big deal about them taking photos, it would go against what we were doing,’ she added.
Uncle Ben's rebrands as Ben's Original and drops racist logo
The movement was founded by US filmmaker Lina Esco as part of a documentary about gender inequality.
It has been making waves around the world and is backed by celebrities like Miley Cyrus.
Blundell said she decided to join the movement after she grew tired of ‘cat calls’ from men.
Grace Blundell said someone of the attentions was in a ‘sexual’ way (Picture: Nando Azevedo)
Dozens of women took part at Mission Bay in New Zealand (Picture: Nando Azevedo)
‘It taught me that my body was inherently sexual, and I definitely don’t think that should be the case,’ she said.
Most of the 500 whales stranded off Tasmania have now died
The psychology student from Albany said one man asked her why she didn’t just go to a nudest beach, and she had to explain why they were there.
Star of Orange is the New Black, Ruby Rose, has been a public advocate for the movement, having posted topless pictures on Instagram – only to have them immediately removed.
Pictures taken by photographer, Nando Azevedo. | 2,474 |
Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca faced off with Fox’s Tucker Carlson tonight in what became a mesmerizing and fierce back and forth about Ivanka Trump and various things that Duca has written.
Carlson challenged Duca for tweeting the following about Ivanka Trump shortly after she was confronted loudly on an airplane:
Ivanka Trump is poised to become the most powerful woman in the world. Don't let her off the hook because she looks like she smells good. — Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) December 23, 2016
Duca told Carlson she thinks Ivanka Trump shouldn’t be confronted like that in public, especially with her kids present, but also said the incoming First Daughter is not immune from criticism.
Carlson repeatedly confronted Duca for saying that Trump has a “sinister complicity” in the agenda pushed by her father. Duca completely stood by that comment and emphasized that there’s a difference between harassment of Trump and legitimate criticism of her for backing up the “most anti-woman candidate in decades.”
As they kept going back and forth, Duca told off Carlson for interrupting her saying: “You’re actually being a partisan hack that’s just attacking me ad nauseam and not allowing me to speak.”
Carlson moved on to her recent viral column about Trump “gaslighting” America, and when he said “Teen Vogue, which I guess you write for,” Duca immediately mocked his response by pointing out that, of course, he knew she wrote the magazine article from which he was quoting.
They then continued to battle over Duca’s contention that Trump is engaging in psychological warfare, and at one point Carlson brought up the fact that she writes about topics like Ariana Grande and thigh-high boots.
Carlson concluded the interview by saying, “You should stick to the thigh-high boots. You’re better at that.” Duca started to fire back but Carlson ended the segment.
She did, however, tweet this out afterwards:
.@TuckerCarlson is an enemy of rational discourse. In this fraught moment, his bully tactics are profoundly damaging, and achieve nothing. — Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) December 24, 2016
Watch the video above, via Fox News.
[image via screengrab]
— —
Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] | 2,475 |
MINSK, 24 July (BelTA) – Belarus has extended the visa-free entry period to 30 days provided foreign nationals cross the border at the Minsk National Airport. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko signed the corresponding decree on 24 July, BelTA learned from the presidential press service.
The document has updated the list of states whose citizens are entitled to the visa-free regime. It has been revised to exclude the countries with which Belarus has concluded bilateral agreements on mutual abolition of visas.
A valid passport or other document permitting foreign travels, money (equivalent to at least two base amounts for each day of stay in the foreign currency or Belarusian rubles), medical insurance in the amount of at least €10,000 operational in Belarus will be needed for the visa-free entry.
Citizens of Vietnam, Haiti, Gambia, India, Lebanon, Namibia and Samoa should also have a valid multi-visa to the EU states or the Schengen Area with a mark confirming the entry to their territory, plane tickets with a confirmation of the departure from the Minsk National Airport within 30 days after the date of the entry.
Regarding Chinese citizens these visa rules will apply till 10 August 2018 when the Belarus-China bilateral agreement on mutual visa abolition for holders of regular passports comes into force.
The visa-free access rules do not apply to persons arriving in Belarus from Russia by air and also those flying to Russian airports. These are internal flights, with no border controls.
Visa-free entry does not also apply to foreigners coming to Belarus to work, do business, or study, if the period of activity exceeds 30 days.
The visa-free stay starts on the day of arrival and finishes on the day of departure (regardless the time of arrival and departure). The visa-free stay cannot be extended beyond 30 days.
Foreign citizens who plan to spend more than five business days in Belarus should register with the internal affairs bodies at the address they are staying. If foreign visitors stay in a hotel, hostel, health resort or other facility of collective accommodation, then the management of the above-mentioned facilities shall be responsible for the registration with the internal affairs bodies.
The decree is intended to contribute to the further development of the Belarusian tourist industry, to promote Belarus' spa and medical tourism, to stimulate the development of the national economy, to facilitate the inclusion of Belarus into the world economy, to strengthen its position as a convenient venue for international forums, conferences, festivals, sporting events.
The document shall enter into force after its official publication. | 2,476 |
Before there was Donald Trump beefin' with the "fake news," there was Nigel Farage. With Sweden's migration problem leading the news lately (see Ami Horowitz Schools Moronic Don Lemon over Muslim Migrant Crime in Sweden), Farage had a few words for people who claim Sweden ISN'T the rape capital of Europe...
Pro-rata, Sweden has taken more young male migrants than any other country in the Europe. And there has been a dramatic rise in sexual crime in Sweden – so much so that Malmo is now the rape capital of Europe, and some argue, perhaps the rape capital of the world. And there is a Swedish media that frankly just doesn’t report it.
For more stats and figures, read Sweden’s Open Islamic Immigration: Now Officially the Rape Capital of the West.
This is one of the reasons Donald Trump and Nigel Farage are even a thing. Citizens see what's happening in Sweden, that being the constant rapeage of their ladies at the hands of Muslim migrants, and say, "excuse me, but this may be, how should we say... problematic." Leftists and the media see the constant rapeage of Swedish ladies at the hands of Muslim migrants and say, "shut your Islamophobic facehole, racist, rape isn't forever!" Because leftist ideology matters more than the physical and mental well-being of women and girls. Are we to draw any other conclusions?
Because I certainly cannot. The same side which parades fake statistics saying "One in four women are raped on American college campuses" even though that's an abhorrent lie we've addressed to the point of annoyance (and boredom), is the same side which shoves its dense head into the Islamic sand instead of stopping Muslim rape. Muslim migrants are raping European ladies. Some are begging for the men in their lives to help them since their governments are allowing it to happen. Feminists have ignored the plight of European women and opted instead to complain about Trump taking away their rights while wearing pink pussy hats. You can't make this sh!t up. Also, those feminists can't find any actual policy which threatens their rights.
So along comes Trump and Farage with the testicular fortitude to stand athwart history yelling, "You are fake news and you're lying" to both the left and the media. Their popularity with the American people? Not a mystery.
NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT! IT’S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE. | 2,477 |
istic studies are required, however, to elucidate the possible crosstalks between opioids, adrenergic and other receptors in modulating pain transmission. Interpretation of results of this work is expected to open new avenues for improving the efficacy of opioids in management of pain.
Disclosure
The submitted paper was orally presented at the ESPET 56th Annual Conference and Workshop on Behavioral pharmacology held at the British University in Egypt (BUE) at El-Shorooq City on January, 28th 2017. The abstract was published in “booklet Abstracts” in the ESPET conference manual. The actual manuscript, however, has not been submitted or published in any journal.
Ethics Statement
All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
Author Contributions
EA raised the idea, designed the experimental protocol, data analysis and interpretation of the results, manuscript preparation and work overseeing. NA performed the experiments and collected data.
Funding
This work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under grant number 166-374-D1435.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Acknowledgment
The authors, therefore gratefully acknowledge the DSR technical and financial support.
References
Afify, E., Khedr, M., Omar, A., and Nasser, S. (2013). The involvement of K (ATP) channels in morphine-induced antinociception and hepatic oxidative stress in acute and inflammatory pain in rats. Fundam. Clin. Pharmacol. 27, 623–631. doi: 10.1111/fcp.12004 PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar
Almeida-Santos, A. F., Ferreira, R. C., Duarte, I. D., Aguiar, D. C., Romero, T. R., and Moreira, F. A. (2015). The antipsychotic aripiprazole induces antinociceptive effects: possible role of peripheral dopamine D2 and serotonin 5-HT1A receptors. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 765, 300–306. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2015.08.053 PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar | 2,478 |
Shocking video that shows an electronic voting machine malfunction during Mississippi's runoff election has gone viral on the internet, sparking concern from citizens.
The clip was shared to Facebook on Tuesday by Oxford resident Sally Kate Walker, and shows a male voter trying to cast his ballot by selecting from two available options on a touch screen.
The man touches a box marked 'Bill Waller Jr' - the candidate for whom he is voting to be the state's next Republican governor.
However, once he selects his option, the machine inadvertently marks a box labelled 'Tate Reeves' - the other candidate in the running to be Mississippi governor.
Shocking video that shows an electronic voting machine malfunction during Mississippi's runoff election on Tuesday has sparked concern from citizens. A stock image of a touch-screen voting machine is pictured
'Nope,' the voter says, as he tries to touch the 'Bill Waller Jr.' box again.
The machine malfunctions for a second time, and again selects Tate Reeves as the man's vote of choice.
'How is this happening?' a woman can be heard saying in the background.
The man continues to try to vote for Bill Waller Jr. by selecting the appropriately marked box on the touch screen.
He presses his preferred option 14 times, but each time the electronic machine still selects Tate Reeves.
'It is not letting me vote for who I want to vote for!' the frustrated man exclaims.
The man touches a box marked 'Bill Waller Jr' - the candidate for whom he is voting to be the state's next Republican governor - before the machine selects the wrong option
'Ummmm…. seems legit, Mississippi,' Walker wrote beneath the video which she posted on Facebook.
'EXACT same thing happened to me in Buster Brown in Greenville, MS this morning!!! Thought it was just a glitch on my machine but obviously not,' another voter commented beneath the clip.
It appears voters are already skeptical about electronic machines, with another adding: 'I don't trust anything but paper ballots'.
'No shocker there. This exact issue was happening back in 2016. Not surprised at all,' a third person chimed in.
According to the Clarion-Ledger, Waller's campaign received reports of malfunctioning touch-screen machines in seven counties.
Late on Tuesday, he conceded to Tate Reeves, who garnered 56% of the vote to Waller's 44%.
Reeves will now face off against Democrat Jim Hood in the general election in November. | 2,479 |
Two organizations, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and The American Legion, are openly criticizing National Football League (NFL) players for protesting the American flag by kneeling during the national anthem.
NFL players making use of sports events to disrespect the American flag is unacceptable, VFW’s national commander Keith Harman, a Vietnam combat veteran, said in a statement Monday.
A total of 28 NFL teams, which include approximately 250 players, engaged in protests during flag ceremonies, following tweets from President Donald Trump on Saturday blasting players who have chosen not to stand for the national anthem.
“There is a time and place for civil debate, and wearing team jerseys and using sporting events to disrespect our country doesn’t wash with millions of military veterans who have and continue to wear real uniforms on real battlefields around the globe,” Harman said.
He praised former Army Ranger Alejandro Villanueva, offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, for taking to the field on Sunday while the rest of the Steelers’ team stayed behind in the locker during the ceremonies. Before signing up with the NFL in 2014, Villanueva served three tours of duty in Afghanistan.
American Legion National Commander Denise H. Rohan joined VFW in attacking the NFL players who knelt during the national anthem as “misguided and ungrateful.”
“The American Legion is one of the original architects of the U.S. Flag Code,” Rohan said. “That code was produced by 69 patriotic, fraternal, civic and military organizations in 1923. It included members of all political parties, big labor, industry and minorities.”
“The code calls on all present to stand at attention while the anthem is played. It wasn’t political when it was written, and it shouldn’t be political today,” Rohan added.
While VFW and The American Legion have staked out a loud position on the NFL debacle, many other veterans’ organizations have elected to remain silent. American Veterans National Executive Director Joe Chenelly tweeted out Monday that as far as he’s concerned, the military and veterans should not be involved in the conversation of NFL protests at all.
Follow Jonah Bennett on Twitter
Send tips to [email protected].
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. | 2,480 |
(Reuters) - Former world number one golfer Tiger Woods had five different drugs in his system when he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in May, according to an ESPN report on Monday.
ESPN, which cited a copy of the toxicology report, said Woods had Hydrocodone, the generic form of a painkiller branded as Vicodin; Hydromorphone, a painkiller known as Dilaudid; Alprazolam, a mood and sleep drug known as Xanax; Zolpidem, a sleep drug known as Ambien; and Delta-9 carboxy THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system.
It is not known if Woods had prescriptions for all of the medications. Medical marijuana is legal in Florida.
A request made by Reuters to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for a copy of the toxicology report was not returned.
Woods, who is second on the all-time list with 14 major titles, checked into a clinic in June for treatment to help deal with prescription drugs.
He said last month he had completed treatment.
“As I previously said, I received professional help to manage my medications,” Woods said in a statement.
“Recently, I had been trying on my own to treat my back pain and a sleep disorder, including insomnia, but I realize now it was a mistake to do this without medical assistance.
“I am continuing to work with my doctors, and they feel I’ve made significant progress. I remain grateful for the amazing support that I continue to receive and for the family and friends that are assisting me.”
Police found Woods stopped on the side of a Palm Beach-area road in his Mercedes-Benz at about 3 a.m. (0700 GMT) on May 29.
He had “extremely slow and slurred speech” after being awakened by a police officer but was cooperative and told officers he takes several prescriptions, including Xanax, according to a police report.
Woods, who had been heading away from his home, could not remember where he was going and told police he was returning from Los Angeles.
A blood test showed he had the painkiller Vicodin and the antidepressant Xanax in his system but no alcohol. He was charged with driving under the influence and improperly stopping his vehicle.
In a statement after his arrest, Woods apologized to fans and blamed the incident on prescription medication he was taking to manage pain from a recent back surgery. | 2,481 |
Reclaim Reality, a Patreon adult game, was trying to reach a goal of $2,000 before the end of February. Sadly, they didn’t reach their goal and was only able to hit around $1,200 (still way better than what my Patreon is making!). They have announced that they will come back to the game but will wait until their other game, Future Fragments, is done. The game looks great when it comes to art and it’s presentation, so why did it fail? Well, it could be because it’s a yuri game, and yuri is a niche genre. Or, it could be because it only had partial voice acting?
Now if I’m being honest, I don’t think it failed because it only had partial voice acting, but it definitely didn’t convince me to donate. I see adult games like Hikari Clover and Snowed IN, advertise that they have partial voice acting, which they do. But it always seems stupid to me that when an adult game has partial voice acting, it’s always small voice clips and moans. It seems like a total waste to only do those and not have the sex scenes be fully voiced. Reclaim Reality did the exact same thing. Some of the in game text when characters are talking will have voice clips, but when you get to the sex scenes, you’ll hear moans here and there. If you’re going to add voices to an adult game, then why not add them to the sex scenes. We play adult games for the sex scenes, so you should focus on enhancing that aspect the most.
I'm not even into yuri, but if this scene was fully voiced. I might could have actually enjoyed it.
As I stated, the team behind Reclaim Reality will not be shutting the project down, only taking a break from it. They even stated in their update post that they’ll be adding fully voiced scenes, once the game start up again. Maybe they’ve learn from their mistakes?
If you think Reclaim Reality sounds like your cup of tea, maybe you should consider donating to their Patreon.
Why do you think Reclaim Reality didn’t reach its goal? Did you donate to Reclaim Reality? Do you think it’s a waste to add voices in adult games, if the scenes aren’t going to be voiced as well? Tell us in the comments below. | 2,482 |
The ‘disturbing’ assault is the second crime reported against an LGBT person in days
A transgender person was standing at a bus stop in San Francisco’s historically gay Castro neighborhood last week when a man riding a bicycle shoved her to the ground from behind, according to police.
Police Chief Bill Scott said the victim was pushed by the unidentified suspect at around 6:07 p.m. last Thursday near Castro and Market streets. She hit her head and was taken to a local hospital, but is expected to survive.
“The disturbing part of this was that this was a totally unprovoked attack,” Scott said Wednesday at a Police Commission meeting. “We’re asking for the public’s help if anybody saw anything that can help us solve this case.”
Police have not released a detailed description of the suspect, who rode off from the scene on his bicycle and is still outstanding, or said whether the incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
“We don’t know what the motive is at this point, until we get the suspect into custody or we get help from anybody that may have seen this,” Scott said.
The assault came just days before the start of Pride Month in San Francisco and marks the second reported attack in The City against LGBT victims since last week.
Early Sunday morning, a man allegedly used a homophobic slur during an attack on two LGBT attendees of the California Democratic Party’s convention in South of Market.
One of the men was reportedly slammed into a wall while the other man said he was slapped in the face as they stood outside a bar on Howard Street. A suspect, 27-year-old Griffin Murray, was cited and released on two counts of misdemeanor battery after police stopped him nearby.
Police have since launched an investigation into whether the men were the victims of a hate crime.
When told about the Castro attack on Thursday, local Democratic Party Chair David Campos called the news “troubling.”
“Unfortunately it’s become more common to see something like this and in particular against the transgender community,” Campos said. “My sense of it is that Donald Trump and his hateful rhetoric kind of brings out the worst in people.”
[email protected]
Crime
If you find our journalism valuable and relevant, please consider joining our Examiner membership program.
Find out more at www.sfexaminer.com/join/ | 2,483 |
Rihanna poses for a portrait before a party to celebrate the release of her new album "A Girl Like Me" on April 22, 2006 in her hometown of St. Michael, Barbados.
The song became her first of 14 No. 1s to date. Plus, remembering feats by Keith Urban, Roxette & Lionel Richie.
Your weekly recap celebrating significant milestones from more than seven decades of Billboard chart history.
May 8, 2004
Keith Urban's wistful "You'll Think of Me" became the fourth of his 16 Hot Country Songs No. 1s. It remains his only single to have crossed over to the Pop Songs airplay chart, rising to No. 38 more than a year-and-a-half later. (Urban's latest hit, "The Fighter," featuring Carrie Underwood, is currently bubbling under Pop Songs.)
May 9, 1970
The Guess Who began a three-week command of the Billboard Hot 100 with "American Woman," backed with B-side "(No Sugar Tonight)." Lenny Kravitz's cover of "American Woman" hit the top 10 on both the Mainstream Rock Songs and Alternative Songs charts in 1999.
May 10, 1986
They didn't work in a pet shop – and thankfully so, since they make pretty good musicians. England's Pet Shop Boys danced to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their debut smash, "West End Girls." In 2016, the pair was named the top duo or group (and the No. 5 overall artist) in the Dance Club Songs chart's 40-year history.
May 11, 1991
Sweden's most famous musical duo, Roxette, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Joyride." The album from the pair (which is still together) also produced the No. 2-peaking "Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)" and the top 40 hits "Spending My Time" and "Church of Your Heart."
May 12, 1984
Before there was Adele's … Lionel Richie's "Hello" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two weeks.
May 13, 2006
Rihanna reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with "SOS." Amazingly, she's added 13 more No. 1s since then, tallying the second-most leaders (14 total) among women all-time. Among all acts, only The Beatles (20) and Mariah Carey (18) have more. | 2,484 |
next day in the New York Times, Huberman recounted telling police he did not think a musician committed the crime; violin bows worth $1,500 each had been left untouched.
Altman was never questioned by police, and Huberman received a $30,000 insurance settlement from Lloyd’s of London.
Though many people later recognized the high quality of Altman’s violin and wondered where he got it, Altman did not confess until he was on his deathbed in 1985 at a Torrington hospital, where Hall said he recounted the story to her.
“It was a secret until the end, and he was very cool about it--if you were going to steal it, you’d have to be smart about it,” said Frederic Von Stange, a friend of Altman who lives in Huntington, N.Y.
Hall negotiated a finder’s fee with Lloyd’s. In 1987, she returned the violin to the insurer and received a $263,000 reward. Lloyd’s sold it to British violinist Norbert Brainin for $1.2 million.
Hall, who lives in a mobile home park, said the reward is long spent --in gifts to charities, taxes and other uses.
But that has not stopped Altman’s lone surviving descendant, Sherry Altman Schoenwetter of Buffalo, N.Y., from pursuing a share of the finder’s fee from her stepmother.
After two findings in Schoenwetter’s favor--in one case, a retired state Supreme Court justice who heard the case in 1995 as a special referee declared Hall’s pocketing of the finder’s fee a “diabolical deed” amounting to theft--the case is now awaiting the judgment of the Connecticut Supreme Court. The high court is expected to rule soon.
Schoenwetter’s lawyer, Christopher Donohue, said Hall had an obligation to include the finder’s fee in Altman’s estate. “It wasn’t his violin--there’s no disputing that--but in resolving whose it was, Marcelle Hall’s claim was not better than his,” Donohue said.
Hall and her lawyer, Jonathan Flatow, deny that the estate had any right to the finder’s fee. And Hall said she is being penalized for trying to do the right thing--return a stolen violin. | 2,485 |
The Tournament and the Timeless Isle have been such a huge topics that I’m writing this post to link everything for easy bookmarking and reference. I’m also going to put the comprehensive pets checklist for all the triads and all the Celestials below. This is almost as much for your benefit as it is for mine. I think I’m still missing a grub.
Below are also links for some videos of a few new pets you can collect in 5.4. I haven’t posted them on the blog until now! The screenshots are extras I took, mostly pet-related, from the 5.4 PTR.
Overview of the Celestial Tournament and Timeless Isle information, including a map for where the queue NPC is.
Tommy Newcomer’s Lil Oondasta
First Triad: Chen, Wrathion and Taran Zhu
Second Triad: Mari, Blingtron 4000 and Kiryn
Third Triad: Sully, Ion Goldbloom and Lorewalker Cho
The Celestials:
Yu’la
Xufu
Zao
Chichi
Universal Strategy for Single-Pet Fights
My full pet leveling checklist:
Unborn Val’kyr
Pandaren Water Spirit
Chrominius
Darkmoon Tonk
Darkmoon Zeppelin
Clockwork Gnome
Tranquil Mechanical Yeti
Gilnean Raven
Clockwork Rocket Bot
Sen’jin Fetish
Disgusting Oozeling
Enchanted Lantern
Non-Critter with Critter offense
A Cat (eg, cheetah cub, panther cub etc)
A strong flying offense pet
Emerald Whelpling or Nether Faerie Dragon
Scourged Whelpling
A Mechanical
Lesser Voidcaller
Anubisath Idol
Flayer Youngling
Hopling or Feral Vermling
Another pet with strong humanoid offense
An otter or mongoose
An elemental with a damage shield (eg, Living Sandling)
Water strider
A pet with elemental burst damage
An undead
A maggot or larva
A critter with avoidance
Here’s a preview of all 4 of the pets you can buy after you win the Tournament.
Videos of other new pets: Kovok & MoonMoon. | 2,486 |
intake.
Avoid blue light in the evenings
Our electronic devices play havoc with our delicate circadian rhythms. Screens produce blue light, which helps wake us up in the morning, but at night suppresses production of melatonin, the vital sleep-inducing hormone. Control your exposure by adding time-sensitive filters that block blue light from your laptop and phone; set an alarm to remind you to start a pre-bed wind-down; and keep electronics out of the bedroom.
Look after your eyes
The best ways to protect our eyes are to avoid smoking, keep active and eat healthily, including foods rich in macular pigments – anything bright yellow, orange or green is a rich source. Include plenty of vegetables such as corn on the cob, orange peppers, carrots and kale in your diet. Regular eye tests are a must: eyesight changes rapidly after the age of 40. Wear good-quality sunglasses on sunny days, even in winter, and take regular breaks if you spend a lot of your day looking at an electronic screen.
Walk a dog
The health benefits of owning a dog are obvious: dogs need walking, caring for and routine, all of which help us age better. A study of more than 3 million Swedes aged 40 to 80 found that dog owners had a lower risk of death due to all causes. Pet owners also have lower blood pressure and cholesterol than non-pet owners: stroking an animal lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Having a dog means that your home might not be as clean as it could be – and that’s a good thing. Dog ownership increases the quantity of 56 classes of bacterial species in the home, which in turns boosts gut health.
Cultivate optimism
Studies have found that older people with a negative attitude to ageing have worse functional health, slower walking speeds and lower cognitive abilities than those with a more positive attitude. Negativity, unsurprisingly, puts stress on the body, elevating cortisol levels, which in the long term can impact heart health, sleep quality, weight and cognition. You really are as old as you feel, it seems.
• The Age Well Project: Easy Ways to a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by Annabel Streets and Susan Saunders (Piatkus, £14.99). To order a copy for £12.99, go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p on orders of more than £15, online only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
Archive | 2,487 |
This quote so perfectly sums up Democratic hypocrisy on the shutdown that when I first heard it being quoted by House Speaker Paul Ryan I wondered if it was real. But as you’ll see in a moment, it is real. Back in 2013, Sen. Chuck Schumer was giving an interview to Jake Tapper about the government shutdown which lasted for 16 days in October of that year. Tapper asked whether Democrats in the Senate had taken too hard a line with Republicans.
“It was not a hard line on the substantive issues,” Schumer replied. He continued, “It was a hard line saying, unless I get my way I’m going to shut the government down, I’m going to risk default for the nation. Now anyone can do that.
“I believe in immigration reform. What if I persuaded my caucus to say I’m going to shut the government down, I’m going to not pay our bills unless I get my way. It’s a politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis.”
Needless to say, what Schumer envisioned as the Democratic equivalent of the 2013 shutdown is exactly what he has done in the 2018 shutdown. By his own definition, he has embraced the politics of idiocy, confrontation, and paralysis. Schumer goes on to say that Senate Democrats and President Obama said, “We’re not going to give in to this kind of brinksmanship, where basically a gun is put to your head…” Here’s the clip:
Schumer had actually used this line a week earlier on ABC’s This Week, telling George Stephanopoulos that if Democrats were to shut down the government over immigration reform the result would be “governmental chaos.” I guess that’s another outcome Sen Schumer has now embraced.
House Speaker Paul Ryan appears to agree with Schumer’s 2013 approach. Today he gave a speech on the House floor in which he said, “One party in one house of this Congress is deliberately holding our government hostage.” Ryan went on to quote Sen. Schumer’s 2013 comments about the “politics of idiocy” and “governmental chaos.” Is Chuck Schumer capable of shame? If so this should sting a little. Also, you know that if a Republican had said something that so perfectly demonstrated their hypocrisy, it would be running on a loop on CNN, MSNBC, etc. Will this clip appear on TV to point out how strongly Chuck Schumer was against this exact move four years ago? | 2,488 |
Need the latest Foxes transfer news? Get FREE email alerts for Leicester City FC Sign up! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email
Youri Tielemans is edging closer to joining Leicester City, according to reports in France.
Reports claim the Foxes are closing in on a deal to bring the Monaco midfielder to the club, with Adrien Silva going the other way.
City were linked with a £20 million move for the Belgian international, but it now looks as though he will sign - if the deal does go through before Thursday's deadline - on a loan swap deal, which will see Silva go the other way.
Silva has made just two Premier League appearances for City this season, and, having worked with the recently re-appointed Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim previously, he has become a target for the Ligue 1 strugglers.
The pair worked together at Sporting Lisbon, and it's also believed super agent Jorge Mendes, who has a portfolio littered with Portuguese talent, is working with Monaco on this deal as well as others.
The report claims Tielemans is set to arrive in Leicester either today or tomorrow as the deal begins to progress, with Monaco waiting on the green light of the player himself.
Claude Puel is said to have given the go-ahead from the Leicester end, and he now faces a race against the clock to get the deal across the line ahead of Thursday night's deadline.
(Image: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
A tweet from French football journalist Nabil Djellit on Tuesday afternoon read: "Tielemans expected today or tomorrow at Leicester. The English club expects positive response from the Belgian. Adrien Silva arrives at Monaco..."
Yahoo Sport France also tweeted: "Claude Puel gave his green light for the Exchange Adrien Silva/Tielemans!"
Tielemans has featured heavily for Monaco this season, making 31 appearances in all competitions.
However, with a change of direction afoot following the sacking of Thierry Henry and re-appointment of Jardim, it looks as though his time there could be over, or at least for now.
Leicester were set to face a battle for the 21-year-old's signature with as many as five clubs linked in all.
However, with Silva, a player wanted by Monaco, to offer in exchange, it seems the Foxes are leading the race as the deadline rapidly approaches. | 2,489 |
Father Jack Finucane, who has died aged 80, was a Catholic missionary whose life became inextricably linked with the aid agency Concern Worldwide.
Born in Limerick city, Jack was one of seven children of Brigid-Delia (nee Byrnes) and John Finucane. His father was general manager of JJ O’Toole’s paper merchants.
Following in the footsteps of his older brother Aengus, at 18 Jack entered the Spiritan Novitiate at Kilshane, County Tipperary. He was ordained in 1963 and three years later was a young parish priest in rural Nigeria when the outbreak in 1967 of the Biafran war led to him moving from pastoral to emergency relief work.
As famine raged in Biafra and on television screens worldwide, food was shipped from Ireland and flown onwards via Caritas, the international Catholic agency, to Biafra, where Jack and fellow Spiritans then organised it into road convoys. After the war, having been briefly imprisoned, he was expelled from Nigeria.
After a short teaching spell in Ireland at Rockwell college, a Spiritan school in County Tipperary, and MA studies at the University of San Francisco, Jack was appointed in 1973 to head the operations in postwar Bangladesh of Concern, as the international NGO with headquarters in Dublin was then known.
The following year he moved to Ethiopia, to head the work of Concern there from its national headquarters in the capital, Addis Ababa. He subsequently did a second – and longer – stint as country director in both countries. His six years in Ethiopia from 1984 coincided with its devastating famine and, standing apart from other aid agencies, he decided to work with those people who had been forcibly resettled internally by the government.
From 1991 he became Africa regional director of Concern and, with the expansion of Concern’s work, regional director for the Horn of Africa. He lived in Dublin. Jack was directly involved in responding to some 20 humanitarian emergencies including Rwanda – he was shocked by his visit to Kigali prison – Sierra Leone, Somalia and, after he “retired” in 2002, Darfur in western Sudan and Sri Lanka after the tsunami in 2004.
Jack love of travel saw him climb Mount Kilimanjaro, drive through eastern Europe at the height of communism, and walk on the Great Wall of China. The hurling and Gaelic football that he played in his youth were replaced in later life by golf.
He is survived by his brother Joe and sisters Mary and Patricia. | 2,490 |
matters is that if something feels slow, it is slow. We spent a lot of time working on this perception of speed and quality, and as a result, we have smooth animations throughout with crisp iconography that matches the quality of the display of your computer. Also, we built Photon with the idea that WebExtensions will continue to flourish and give users the ability to customize Firefox to their heart’s desire. We created space in the UI for future expansion that both the Firefox team and add-on developers to use.”
Part of Firefox (and Vivaldi. And Opera’s) strategy for growth is including value-added extras that don’t add anything to the core browsing experience, but rather compliment it expertly. Nguyen couldn’t help but mention one of them, Screenshots,
“We released Screenshots in the last Firefox release, and we used our Photon thinking in creating the feature by balancing the UI paradigms that people are familiar with new and novel features that win by saving time for the people that use our product, users find the feature intuitive yet empowering,” he said.
“Experts have been posting screenshots through a variety of advanced tools. In our research, we saw lots of people use tools like smartphone cameras and email to save pictures of the desktop web, and I’m happy to say that solving this problem has resulted in almost 16M screenshots saved since we launched the feature with Firefox 56.”
“Photon reflects our relentless focus on what is good for users, whether they are experts in technology or simply want to get things done with a minimum of effort and stress,” he said.
Besides all these points, one of the best reasons to give Firefox Quantum a try is that Mozilla is actually concerned about the privacy of those that use its software, with Nguyen saying “What also sets the new Firefox browser apart is that it’s backed by Mozilla, a not-for-profit, with a mission to keep the internet open and accessible to all. It is not run by the world’s largest advertising company.”
Firefox Quantum is available from today, and can be downloaded here.
UPDATE: A previous version of the post stated that the CSS engine gets “exponentially faster” with more cores – which would have been great. Unfortunately, but still pretty cool, the speed scales up linearly.
Read next: We’re only inviting 9 speakers to TNW New York 2017. Here’s why. | 2,491 |
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.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video
County election officials are investigating a possible incidence of voter fraud after 83 mail-in ballots were delivered to one woman's two-bedroom apartment in San Pedro, and she didn't recognize any of the names.
Margot Valenti is a longtime San Pedro resident who said she already voted in this year's presidential election. So she was shocked and annoyed when the ballots were delivered to her apartment two weeks ago bearing her address but each with a different name, she said.
"I just took them downstairs," Valenti said. "I don’t want nothing to do with that."
She said she thought it could have been a scam.
Her neighbor Jerry Mosna discovered the two large stacks of unused ballots atop the apartment complex's shared mailbox, he said. He and his wife took the suspicious ballots to the police, who Mosna said told them to take them to the post office, to which they were returned.
Another resident at the complex, John Caracchiolo, was concerned the incident would not be investigated, so he contacted the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's office.
"Honestly it’s not right and it’s corrupt," Caracchiolo said. "I just hope they straighten it out."
In a statement, the registrar's office said it is looking into the issue and believes it is likely a fluke clerical error.
"We are carefully reviewing our records and gathering information to fully identify what took place," the office wrote. "Our preliminary assessment is that this appears to be an isolated situation related to a system error that occurred causing duplicate ballots to be issued to an address entered for a single voter. We are working directly with the system vendor to ensure the issue is addressed and to identify any similar occurrences."
Further, U.S. Postal Service representative Brenda Duran said the agency "has indicated that they returned all of the improperly addressed ballots to our office."
National elections standards also dictate that all mailed ballots are checked against the signatures of the voter’s original registration prior to being processed and tabulated.
But all that doesn't completely reassure Mosna.
"A mistake for 80? That’s kind of a big mistake," he said. "A strange mistake."
33.736062 -118.292246 | 2,492 |
Earlier this week, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal ruled for Bitcoin to qualify as money in a case that turned on whether the digital currency is the driver for financial crime. According to ZyCrypto:
“The appellate court’s opinion reverses Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Teresa Pooler’s 2016 finding that digital or cryptocurrency could not be considered money under Florida law. The case in question concerned Miami Beach resident Michell Espinoza, charged with two counts of money laundering and acting as an unauthorized money transmitter operating a digital currency-trading website, LocalBitcoins.com.’’
Although Judge Pooler’s ruling had dismissed the charges against Espinoza, the district court claims that Bitcoin “does not expressly fall under the definition of currency” found in the Florida Statute but crypto coins do constitute payment instruments. This means that the ‘payment instrument’ is also known as ‘monetary value’ is a medium of exchange whether it’s redeemable in currency or not. According to the court, Bitcoin functions as a medium of exchange.
Following this, the Third District Court of Appeal has remanded Espinoza’s case for more proceedings. According to Daily Business Review, “Its ruling in the case of the first impression might pave the way for regulation of cryptocurrency transfers in Florida, as federal agencies and state banking regulators weigh whether Bitcoin trading constitutes money transmission.”
The Age Old Argument
This raises the age-old argument of whether Bitcoin is actually money. There is a lot of evidence which indicates that it is as the cryptocurrency can be used to buy several things in the modern world. Gifts, good, services, hotels, and so much more can be purchased by other online transactions using Bitcoin.
How you spend Bitcoin isn’t that different from how you would spend fiat currency, it just has a different name and unfortunately a bad name associated with it. Bitcoin is a unit of account since different amounts of Bitcoin will get you different qualities and quantities of goods and services. In addition to this, Bitcoin is a store of value because you can store it and use it later with it having similar value. This is a trait that all other fiat currencies have.
The court's decision could be a gateway for cracking down on unregulated Bitcoin trading. An unregulated trading space makes it quite hard to get your crypto back in case you are scammed in a Bitcoin transaction(s).
What are your thoughts? Let us know what you think down below in the comments! | 2,493 |
For millions of U.S. consumers, one screen in the living room is not enough.
A new study from KPMG finds that 60% of American television viewers are devoted multitaskers, watching TV and accessing the Internet at the same time.
“We continue to see that multitasking is getting bigger and bigger,” said Paul Wissmann, leader of KPMG’s U.S. Media & Telecommunications practice. “It’s getting to older generations as well, as there are more and more options in front of them.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT SAG 2013: Winners |Quotes | Photo Booth | Backstage | Best & Worst
That has implications for network programmers and advertisers, which can no longer be sure which screen is drawing the viewer’s eyes, Wissmann said.
Even though multiple devices vie for consumers’ attention, the survey revealed that most people still prefer to watch television shows, movies and other video on the TV. A small number of those surveyed -- just 14% -- prefer to watch video on their smartphones or tablets, the survey found.
“What this may portend is that while we keep putting our eyes on anywhere, any time [access on portable screens], it may be that we want the flexibility of the Internet on our television set,” Wissmann said.
That suggests the next big disruption in living room viewing may come from “smart TVs,” those Internet-connected sets that afford the viewer access to traditional TV shows as well as online services such as Netflix, Hulu or Amazon.com.
“If you look at people still wanting to see things on a television -- and the fact that now, we’re providing them with the flexibility that they get from their computer and mobile device on the TV -- that’s a pretty interesting potential future we have out there,” Wissmann said.
KPMG’s findings were based on a global online survey of 9,000 people in nine countries, including the U.S., which was conducted Oct. 1-15.
ALSO:
Smartphone and tablet owners multitask while watching TV, survey finds
Facebook friends fan interest in TV shows, study finds
Nielsen finds ‘second screen’ viewing enhances TV experience
MORE
INTERACTIVE: TVs highest paid stars
INTERACTIVE: YouTube’s viral videos of 2012
PHOTOS: Hollywood back lot moments | 2,494 |
By Kurt Nimmo
On Friday in Pensacola, Florida Donald Trump said he would attack Iran and create an international incident.
“With Iran, when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn’t be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water,” Trump said.
The remark is in response to an incident last month when Iranian patrol boats approached US vessels in the Persian Gulf.
Trump’s comment is a contradiction of his earlier “unabashedly noninterventionist approach to world affairs,” as The Washington Post described it.
Trump does not address why “our beautiful destroyers” are in the Persian Gulf in the first place. He does not say what his response would be if Iran parked its warships a few miles off the coast of the United States.
The US Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain. The fleet consists of numerous task forces, including carrier, submarine, amphibious, and expeditionary strike forces. It is stationed less than 500 miles from Iran.
Now imagine the response if a comparable Iranian force was based in Bermuda, about six hundred mile off the coast of North Carolina. Forget that Iran does not have a naval force anywhere near as advanced or deadly as the United States.
Also imagine Iran had imposed economic sanctions on the US similar to sanctions imposed on Iran. In 2014 Bloomberg estimated Iran had suffered $130 million a day in lost sales as a result of sanctions imposed for nuclear weapons it did not have and was not developing.
Do you think President Trump would sink every Iranian ship within reach and bomb Tehran?
Trump’s remark in Florida is further evidence of his decision to embrace the neocon agenda. As his position shifts away from noninterventionism, neocons are increasingly flocking under his wing.
Earlier this week the grand daddy of the neocon movement, Norman Podhoretz, said he backs Trump.
“With his endorsement in an interview this week in the Times of Israel, the former editor of Commentary magazine parts ways with the many neoconservatives who say they cannot support the Republican nominee because of his foreign policy views,” Forward reported.
Trump has modified his foreign policy views over the last few weeks.
He is now nearly indistinguishable from other Republicans.
Image Credit
Kurt Nimmo is the editor of Another Day in the Empire, where this article first appeared. He is the former lead editor and writer of Infowars.com. | 2,495 |
’d still oppose gay marriage because I believe marriage is the bedrock of our society and we need to strengthen it, not weaken it by further diluting its significance and meaning. That’s obviously not an expression of hatred towards gay Americans; it’s a disagreement about something that isn’t even up for debate in most of the world and wasn’t even seriously discussed here two decades ago.Since there are many conservatives who are poor or who’ve been poor (myself included), that would require hating ourselves. The truth is that there’s a big difference in how liberals and conservatives approach the poor. Liberals know that poor Americans tend to vote Democrat; so they like the idea of poor Americans staying poor and dependent on the government. On the other hand, conservatives believe the best thing we can do for poor Americans is to make it as easy as possible for them to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. That means keeping taxes low, the economy strong and growing, giving parents’ choices in education and keeping crime under control. It’s not compassion to “help” someone by keeping him on public assistance for years; it’s a tragedy. It’s much more compassionate to create an environment that allows that same person to get a job, take care of his family and pull himself out of poverty.This has always been a weird smear given the cozy relationship liberals like Obama have with Wall Street and billionaires like Warren Buffet and George Soros. Additionally, conservatives oppose corporate welfare, are infuriated by businesses using their government connections to squash competition and have no sympathy for corporate crooks. However, we’re also not envious of people who have a lot of money, we support capitalism, and we believe in the free market. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, “We still want an America where people can get rich.”So, which women are we waging a war on? Governor Jan Brewer? Governor Nikki Haley? Former Vice-Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin? Oh, but conservatives don’t respect strong women? You mean like Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin or Dana Loesch? Conservatives just want women to stay in the kitchen and be quiet? You mean like Congresswomen Mia Love, Marsha Blackburn and Cathy McMorris Rodgers?How dumb would you have to be to think that those women, along with Megyn Kelly, Michele Bachmann, Laura Ingraham, S.E. Cupp, Condi Rice and tens of millions of others would go along with policies that they believe are going to hurt women? | 2,496 |
Florence plowed into the Carolinas and lumbered slowly inland on Friday, knocking down trees, gorging rivers, dumping sheets of rain and leaving five people dead before it was downgraded to a tropical storm still capable of wreaking havoc.
Though Florence’s shrieking winds diminished from hurricane force as it came ashore, forecasters said the sheer size of the 350-mile-wide storm and its painfully slow progress across North and South Carolina in the coming days could leave much of the region under water.
The dead included a mother and baby who were killed when a tree fell on their home in Wilmington, North Carolina. The child’s injured father was taken to a hospital. In the state’s Pender County, a woman died of a heart attack; paramedics trying to reach her were blocked by debris.
Two people died in Lenoir County. A 78-year-old man was electrocuted attempting to connect extension cords while another man perished when he was blown down by high winds while checking on his hunting dogs, a county spokesman said.
In New Bern, North Carolina, the storm surge overwhelmed the town of 30,000, located at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers.
Jay Manning said he and his wife watched with alarm as water filled the street.
“We moved all the furniture up in case the water comes in but the water seems to be staying at the edge of the driveway,” he said, adding that if the wind picks up and the rain keeps coming, that could change. “My wife’s in a panic right now.”
Florence had been a Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale with 120-mph winds as of Thursday, but dropped to a Category 1 hurricane before coming ashore near Wrightsville Beach close to Wilmington.
The National Hurricane Center downgraded it to a tropical storm on Friday afternoon, but warned it would dump as much as 30 to 40 inches of rain on the southeastern coast of North Carolina and into the northeastern coast of South Carolina in spots.
“This rainfall will produce catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding,” the hurricane center said.
Atlantic Beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks islands had already received 30 inches (76 cm) of rain, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
By Friday night the center of the storm had moved to eastern South Carolina, about 15 miles northeast of Myrtle Beach, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph. | 2,497 |
If you can read this, either the style sheet didn't load or you have an older browser that doesn't support style sheets. Try clearing your browser cache and refreshing the page.
Main
Discussion
Sports
Business
Geek
Entertainment
Podcast
D'awww
Food
Politics
United Breaks Guitars
You saw the video, now GET THE BOOK: http://www.UnitedBreaksGuitarsBook.com. Looking for a unique speaker for your next event: http://www.UnitedBreaksGuitars.com for case studies and highlights of Dave's speaking tour.
There is now a video response:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_X-Qoh__mw
Full Story: http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/story/united-breaks-guitars -
In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn't deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss.
So I promised the last person to finally say no to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world. United Breaks Guitars is the first of those songs.
United Breaks Guitars Song 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg
United Breaks Guitars Song 3: United We Stand on the Right Side of Right
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P45E0uGVyeg
Follow me on:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DaveCarroll.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaveCarrollMusic
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davecarrollmusic
Video Produced by Curve Productions of Halifax, http://www.curveproductionsinc.com.
View this video at YouTube or View Fark Comments
| 2,498 |
. James’s letters to Andersen are marked by an exaggerated affection and physical metaphors of salutation, but then anyone who has read a vast quantity of James’s correspondence knows of his taste for what he himself called “mere gracious twaddle.” I have read the letters to Andersen, and gracious twaddle is what they chiefly are, apart from those portions in which James seriously criticizes Andersen’s art. Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, the editor of the 2004 collection of James’s letters to Andersen, doesn’t “think these letters should be read as homosexual correspondence.” She thinks instead that James viewed Andersen as a son. On this point, Andersen, while visiting James at his house at Rye, in east Sussex, described the novelist’s goodness to him as “that kind of goodness that a father gives his son.”
What is behind the need to turn Henry James into a severely repressed homosexual? What purpose does it serve? For some gay writers, perhaps they like the notion of having James, in the Seinfeldian phrase, “on their team.” For the Freudian-minded, no one is allowed not to have sexuality at the center of his character and the motor force for his behavior—and the less evidence for this that is available, the more powerful, it is assumed, the hidden sexual element must be. For Michael Gorra, Henry James’s reputed homosexuality reinforces the argument of his own book that James’s “own renunciations [of his true sexual nature] and solitude allowed him to understand the renunciations of others.”
All this overlooks the primary fact that Henry James was perhaps as complete an artist as the world has known. Chekhov claimed that “medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress.” For James, literature was wife and mistress both. Marriage was not for him. Nor were dalliances, homo- or heterosexual. The notion of Henry James with wife and children is quite as preposterous as that of his taking on homosexual lovers. The hardest thing about being an artist, James told Desmond MacCarthy, was the loneliness. Yet this same loneliness made possible the freedom he required to practice his art, which was no less than total. James would have considered it an insult to his imagination to be told that he could only understand the power and dignity of renunciation because he had himself practiced it lifelong through hiding his own true sexual nature. Michael Gorra owes Henry James an apology. | 2,499 |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.