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The prime minister believes the case for another referendum on independence is "dead" and her government will refuse to discuss the matter with Nicola Sturgeon for the duration of this parliament, BuzzFeed News has learned.
The SNP lost 22 seats in last week's election – including those of former first minster Alex Salmond and deputy leader Angus Robertson – and the prime minister believes the result has killed any possible case for another referendum until there's another general election, according to one of her ministers.
May, who also suffered a humbling election night where she lost her majority and saw her authority significantly diminished, spent the election campaign saying "now is not the time" to accept Sturgeon's request to open discussions about holding another referendum on independence.
According to the reappointed Scotland secretary, David Mundell, the prime minister has now ruled out any possibility of opening those discussions for the entire duration of this parliament, which is scheduled to last until 2022.
Asked if the prime minister agreed with Ruth Davidson that the case for another independence referendum was "dead", Mundell told BuzzFeed News: "IndyRef2 is dead because that’s the verdict of the people of Scotland.
"The only person who seems to be in denial about that is Nicola Sturgeon. She continues to treat the people of Scotland with contempt on that issue if she fails to listen to the verdict given last week. People sent a very clear message, they don’t want another independence referendum in the foreseeable future, and Nicola Sturgeon should respect that view."
Mundell added: "This UK government will be doing nothing to facilitate that referendum or indeed enter into discussions. My door is open to discuss anything and to work closely with the Scottish government on Brexit but the one thing I will not engage on is a second independence referendum."
Asked if that would remain the case for the entire duration of the parliament, Mundell said: "We were very clear in our manifesto that it wasn’t possible to have a referendum fairly until the Brexit process has played out and I certainly don’t see that having played out within the five years of this parliament."
Sturgeon told journalists on Friday after the election result that she would take time to "reflect" on what it meant for the case for independence and she accepted a referendum was "clearly a factor" in the party losing support and seats.
Speaking at Bute House in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said: "We will reflect on these results, we will listen to voters, and we will consider very carefully the best way forward to Scotland – a way forward in the interests of all Scotland." | 2,900 |
ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 22: O.J. Howard #80 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
As the 2019 season is set to begin for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tight end O.J. Howard is pledging to donate school resources for kids based on his play.
In a bit of good news from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers front, tight end O.J. Howard has launched a campaign to donate money towards buying school resources for kids. His pledge is to donate $100 per catch he makes throughout the 2019 season, which could add up to a rather large charitable donation given his potential.
Over the first two seasons of his professional career with the Bucs, Howard has already caught 60 passes in just 24 games. Last season he caught 34 balls from both Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick for 565 yards and five scores. Howard has a total of nearly 1,000 career receiving yards and eleven scores in two seasons with the Buccaneers as well.
However, last year Howard played just ten games as he has fought off nagging injuries in both of his seasons in the NFL to this point. Adjusting his stats from a year ago over sixteen games, Howard was on pace for a season with 54 catches for 904 yards and eight scores from his tight end position.
Will you take the pledge with me to give kids school resources for every catch I makes this season. I’ve already personally kicked off the campaign by making a pledge of $100/catch. Will you take the pledge with me. Go to https://t.co/pGKZj3DxBF now to make your pledge. pic.twitter.com/9Yh9KqvbLL — OJ Howard 80 ™ (@TheRealOjHoward) September 2, 2019
If Howard is able to stay healthy, he could be looking at a donation of around $6,000 towards buying school resources for kids based off of his catch total for the 2019 season. The Buccaneers’ tight end has been active in the community since he got to Tampa Bay, and those acts continue here.
Howard provided a link to his pledge via Twitter for fans to donate to his cause as well to give kids school resources. Not only does the Buccaneers’ 2019 campaign kick off on Sunday, but so does Howard’s campaign of goodwill as well. | 2,901 |
Former "View" star Jedediah Bila seemingly took a shot at Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Fallon, politicians and TooFab all at once in a series of tweets on Thursday morning.
Bila was apparently turned off by our pickup of an emotional "Tonight Show" moment on Wednesday when Miley Cyrus started weeping while thanking the former Democratic presidential nominee for "being a constant beacon of strength, hope, and determination for me and millions of other young women."
"This is the kind of media treatment Hillary Clinton is used to," Bila quote-tweeted our story shared by TooFab managing editor Joseph Kapsch.
This is the kind of media treatment Hillary Clinton is used to. https://t.co/tBLM5cKC4i @JedediahBila
She then launched into the subject further, addressing politicians, media and "independent thinkers."
"Dear politicians, Left and Right: If you can't handle tough questions, get off the stage. People deserve answers," she tweeted. "Dear media: If you seek to coddle politicians,Left or Right, you not only do a disservice to viewers,but make all with a brain laugh at you."
"Dear independent thinkers," she added. "Don't change. It's easy to pledge allegiance to a Party. It's hard to fight the system as you do. Stand tall."
Bila, who left "The View" unexpectedly on Sept. 18, has not yet responded to TooFab's request for further comment.
Viewers of the show were shocked by Bila's sudden exit, since she had just resigned a contract with the ABC talker. Reports subsequently surfaced speculating that Bila's line of "tough" questioning for Clinton during the Sept. 13 episode somehow played into the decision for ABC brass to push her out. Meghan McCain is set to take over the slot vacated by Bila this month.
(Editor's note: TooFab agrees and encourages free thinking, regardless of political party affiliation. We also had a hunch Miley Cyrus fans may want to see her emotional tribute to Clinton, because regardless of political party affiliation, it was a pop culture moment.)
Dear politicians, Left and Right: If you can't handle tough questions, get off the stage. People deserve answers. @JedediahBila
Dear media: If you seek to coddle politicians,Left or Right, you not only do a disservice to viewers,but make all with a brain laugh.At you. @JedediahBila | 2,902 |
An internal EU commission letter says that without a framework agreement Swiss-EU agreements granting access to the EU single market will only be changed if it is in the EU’s interest, according to the newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) and the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The letter dated 10 January 2019 and signed by Martin Selmayr, Secretary General of the EU Commission, calls on officials not to start any new negotiations with Switzerland on its bilateral agreements, which include those on the free movement of people and trade.
The letter states that ongoing discussions or negotiations should be suspended or delayed until a satisfactory result on the framework agreement is reached. Only where it is in the overriding interest of the EU or where there is a legal obligation will exceptions be made.
The letter confirms suspicions that were raised when EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn told a press gathering in December 2018 that there would be no new agreements or changes to existing ones.
The letter states: “with regard to new and updated Swiss access to the internal market, including equivalence decisions in the field of financial services, no new negotiations should be included. Ongoing discussions or negotiations should be suspended or delayed until a satisfactory result for the framework agreement is found.”
According to NZZ, Switzerland’s government appears to be in the dark about the directive’s consequences. The next key update is on trade in medical devices, which is due in 2020.
With a framework agreement Switzerland could argue its case before the EU arbitration tribunal. Without it there is little Switzerland’s government can do.
The framework agreement aims to further formalise Swiss-EU relations. It would cover existing agreements on free movement of people, mutual recognition of industrial standards, agricultural products, air transport and land transport, along with equivalence for Switzerland’s financial services sector. In addition, it would aim to automatically update Swiss rules in these areas to keep them in line with EU ones while still giving the European Court of Justice (ECJ) a say in how to interpret law. Ongoing talks to agree it started in 2014.
Earlier in January 2019, Swiss president and finance minister Ueli Maurer said on Tele Zuri that he thinks voters would not accept the framework agreement as it stand today and substantial renegotiation is needed. To give the government time for a public consultation the EU extended the Swiss stock market’s access to EU markets by six months.
More on this:
NZZ article (in German)
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter. | 2,903 |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption General Election 2017: 'Phenomenal' win for Conservatives in Stoke
The Conservative Party has gained a seat in Stoke-on-Trent for the first time in more than 80 years.
Jack Brereton, a 26-year-old city councillor, won the Stoke South seat with a majority of 663 over Labour's Rob Flello.
Mr Flello, who has held the seat since 2005, saw his majority over the Tories fall to 6.5% at the 2015 election.
Gareth Snell and Ruth Smeeth have held the two other Stoke seats for Labour.
Election results and live coverage in Staffordshire
Elsewhere, Labour's Laura Smith won Crewe and Nantwich with a majority of 48 votes from Conservative MP Edward Timpson.
Ms Smith said she "can't wait" to become "Crewe and Nantwich's voice in Westminster".
'Ordinary mum'
"It's really emotional," she said. "I'm an ordinary mum from Crewe, I'm a teacher and I'm fighting for the schools, for the health service."
Meanwhile, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Labour's Paul Farrelly has narrowly held off the Conservative challenge by just 30 votes, with 21,124 to Owen Meredith's 21,094.
Earlier, Mr Farrelly said "chaos" caused by administration errors had left some people, including students, unable to vote.
In neighbouring Stoke, Mr Brereton is set to be one of the youngest Tory MPs when he takes up his new role.
He will become the first Conservative MP in Stoke-on-Trent since 1935, BBC reporter Emma Thomas said.
The new MP described it as a "phenomenal victory".
"People said that they felt left behind by Labour - that it did not represent them anymore," he said.
"We are ensuring now that we must deliver on those jobs, the opportunities and investment for Stoke-on-Trent."
He added: "They have shown their clear backing for our country to go forward and deliver Brexit successfully.
"It shows the strong will of the people cannot be ignored. Stoke South has voted for change."
Ian Wilkes came third for the Liberal Democrats in Stoke South, with 808 votes, and Jan Zablocki gained 643 votes for the Green Party.
The Conservatives have held Stone, with Bill Cash polling 31,614 votes, a majority of 17,495. | 2,904 |
them eek out an advantage in a highly competitive market, the Canucks have entrusted the analytics group to the guy that used to the former equipment manager, and shown the door to the guy widely regarded as a salary cap and negotiations expert. Regardless of who Gilman used to work for, having competence in the areas that were Gilman’s specialty is vital front office excellence and ultimately building a contender again. The mounting track record of this administration’s management of signings and trade falls well short of acceptable. Even among open minded fans, confidence has to be crumbling.
At least now that Gilman has been fired, we have answered the biggest riddle surrounding management’s track record- “Why would a guy as smart as Gilman support such awful decisions?” Occam’s razor teaches us that the simplest answer is often correct. Gilman likely did not support the moves and direction chosen by Benning.
Further insight into the Canucks inner workings was shared by Bruce Dowbiggin – a guy as well connected as anyone – this weekend:
@Kent_Wilson Gillis proposed rebuild starting in 2013. Owners decided otherwise. Results are there to see. — bruce dowbiggin (@dowbboy) July 5, 2015
@dowbboy @Kent_Wilson but where would the playoff revenues have come from then? — Sir Canuckles (@SirCanuckles) July 5, 2015
Despite the oft repeated mantra of “we want to bring up our young players in the winning environment,” it appears that the motivation behind Benning’s “Retool on the Fly” strategy has been simpler all along – the money. Occam’s razor, yet again.
Of course, this raises the question as to whether it’s fair to hold Benning at fault for a plan we deem ultimately foolish. That said, it’s one thing to follow a plan and another to follow it well and do a good job. As we’ve established above, Benning’s recent roster moves are far from ideal, even given the backdrop of having his hand forced by ownership.
Now we also know Gillis saw the writing on the wall two years ago, about the same time many of us began crying for a rebuild, but we know how that went. I think it’s safe to assume Gilman too saw the folly in the current plan, and his opposition to the recent moves led to his eventual exit. Sometimes being the voice of reason can be a pretty short-lived position.
| 2,905 |
The climate change campaign group Extinction Rebellion’s recent protests in London had a positive impact on the capital’s air quality, a King’s College London (KCL) study has found.
London Air, which uses KCL data, has been monitoring the local air quality impact of the protests, which started by blocking roads and junctions last Monday (15 April) in Oxford Circus, Parliament Square, Waterloo Bridge and Marble Arch.
Data taken early last week found that sites close to the protests experienced significant drops in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration) as road traffic in those areas was reduced.
The Strand, near Waterloo Bridge, and Oxford Street both had lighter air pollution than normal, while hourly pollution levels in the latter were down by almost 50%.
‘None of the monitoring sites are in locations where traffic is completely blocked and reductions in nitrogen dioxide concentrations would be likely to be much larger where no traffic is able to pass at all as has been seen during other road closures,’ London Air summarised.
‘There is little evidence of any significant increase in nitrogen dioxide concentrations in areas neighbouring those where the protests are taking place.’
London Air compared hourly NO2 concentrations in sites between last Monday and Wednesday when the protests were taking place to concentrations on those days of the week in spring in recent years.
The Strand saw a small reduction in NO2 concentrations during the days of the protests, with the site experiencing 91% of its usual pollution levels over the course of the day.
Oxford Street saw an even bigger reduction as NO2 concentrations were 18% lower than normal while hourly pollution levels were cut by as much as 45% by mid-afternoon.
However, areas such as Holborn – north of Waterloo Bridge – experienced very little change in NO2 concentrations, while locations outside central London such as the North Circular and Greenwich saw increases.
London Air admitted that the readings may have been affected by the school Easter holidays taking place at the time, which usually lead to lower traffic levels.
The site explained: ‘The difference in concentrations well away from the affected areas is inconsistent and reflects possible increases in pollution due to meteorological conditions, offset by the possible decreases in concentrations due to lighter traffic in the school Easter holidays.’
Extinction Rebellion is protesting in central London to pressure the government into declaring a ‘climate and ecological emergency’.
The movement is calling for urgent action to halt biodiversity loss and to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions to zero by the year 2025. | 2,906 |
In this passage from The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (public library), cited in the 1942 gem Anatomy of Inspiration, celebrated poet, playwright, and cultural critic T. S. Eliot adds to previously explored theories of how creativity works by taking a curious look at how physical illness brings a near-mystical quality of poetry, driven by two key elements of creativity: the presence of an incubation period when unconscious processing of existing ideas takes place, and the removal of habitual inhibitions, or something John Keats has termed “negative capability”.
That there is an analogy between mystical experience and some of the ways in which poetry is written I do not deny … though, as I have said, whether the analogy is of significance for the student of religion or only to the psychologist, I do not know. I know, for instance, that some forms of ill-health, debility or anaemia, may (if other circumstances are favourable) produce an efflux of poetry in a way approaching the condition of automatic writing — though, in contrast to the claims sometimes made for the latter, the material has obviously been incubating within the poet, and cannot be suspected of being a present form a friendly or impertinent demon. What one writes in this way may succeed in standing the examination of a more normal state of mind; it gives me the impression, as I have said, of having undergone a long incubation, though we do not know until the shell breaks what kind of egg we have been sitting on. To me it seems that at these moments, which are characterised by the sudden lifting of the burden of anxiety and fear which presses upon our daily life so steadily that we are unaware of it, what happens is something negative: that is to say, not ‘inspiration’ as we commonly think of it, but the breaking down of strong habitual barriers — which tend to re-form very quickly. Some obstruction is momentarily whisked away. The accompanying feeling is less like what we know as positive pleasure, than a sudden relief from an intolerable burden. … This disturbance of our quotidian character which results in an incantation, an outburst of words which we hardly recognise as our own (because of the effortlessness), is a very different thing from mystical illumination. The latter is a vision which may be accompanied by the realisation that you will never be able to communicate it to anyone else, or even by the realisation that when it is past you will not be able to recall it to yourself; the former is not a vision but a motion terminating in an arrangement of words on paper. | 2,907 |
THE BLOOD AND FROM IT COMES ALL. THE BLESSING AND THE HEALING. THE BLOOD ROBERT ARMSTRONG (ROOSTAR), KENNETH BRYANT(7MYSTIC), MAURICE SEAY, SLAP NAPPY, STEVE WIEST, NEAL LANDAUER, CARL BRYANT(CASPIER),
Band/artist history
More than a year ago, a CD single crossed my desk, unidentified: The song contained therein -- "Hold the Cocaine, Pass the Cyanide" -- turned out to be the work of one Robert Merrill Armstrong, a UPS truck driver who just happens to have one the most acute cases of funkitis in the area. A vocalist with a baritone that makes the singer from Alabama sound like a choirgirl, Armstrong is easily one of Denver's most curious artists. This fact is well-documented on his first full-length album, Forget Me Not the Funk!, a nine-song affair that Armstrong recorded with his band, the Funkomanation (try saying that five times fast), and friends from the local outfit Uncut. It is one of the strangest recordings I've heard in quite a while -- a puzzling effort that suggests what might have happened had Wesley Willis and Prince gotten together and consumed copious amounts of over-the-counter allergy medicine. That is to say: It is fabulous, a delicious blend that is always a little odd (a sample lyric from "(We Need a) Woman in the White House": "United we stand, united we fall/Please, please give that woman a call...You can Rhumba, you can dance/Please, please give that woman a chance") and sometimes simply confounding (tracks two and three are barely decipherable, sub-auditory noisefests that may well be there by accident). It is also sometimes perfect: "Fear Affair" is a sweet love song with an island vibe and a climbing, spindly guitar (vocals by K.D. Bryant); "Hatching of the Clones" is a busy, sample-heavy beat-driven blast (with a fabulous title). I suspect this album would be enjoyed by those who just like to shake their booties -- Bootsy style -- and also those who have a taste for left-of-center, "outsider" music.
Have you performed in front of an audience?
IN STUDIO
Your musical influences
FUNKADELIC
What equipment do you use?
magix
Anything else?
" p | 2,908 |
NEW YORK — A Russian lawyer who became a focal point of the investigation into whether there was collusion between Russians and President Donald Trump’s election campaign was charged with obstruction of justice Tuesday in an unrelated case in New York.
Natalya Veselnitskaya was accused in an indictment of submitting deceptive declarations to a judge in a civil proceeding involving a Russian tax refund fraud scheme.
Veselnitskaya attended a 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner that was described to Trump Jr. as part of a Russian government effort to help his father’s campaign.
Veselnitskaya is believed to be living in Russia.
Trump Jr. and Kushner have acknowledged attending the meeting but have said it amounted to nothing.
Veselnitskaya is believed to be living in Russia.
In a release, Angel M. Melendez, head of the New York office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division, said Veselnitskaya “is now a wanted person in the United States for intentionally misleading U.S. investigators.”
The investigation had to do with a real estate firm, Prevezon Holdings, and its role in an alleged $230 million dollar tax fraud scheme that Melendez said was “perpetrated by a criminal organization that included in its ranks corrupt Russian officials.”
He said the investigation “brought to light how Veselnitskaya secretly schemed with a senior Russian prosecutor to provide false information to U.S. law enforcement in an attempt to influence the legal proceedings” a federal court in Manhattan.
The court case originated in September 2013, when U.S. prosecutors sued to recover millions of dollars worth of New York real estate and other property on the grounds that it was tainted by a money laundering scheme.
Veselnitskaya, an attorney based in Russia, was retained to assist the defendants.
In 2017, she emerged as a key figure in the probe into whether there was Russian collusion with Trump campaign operatives. It was revealed then that Trump’s eldest son met with her the previous June after being told by an intermediary that she represented the Russian government and was offering Moscow’s campaign help to defeat Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Veselnitskaya has denied acting on behalf of Russian officials when she met with the Trump team, telling Congress she operates “independently of any government bodies.”
READ MORE: The giant timeline of everything Russia, Trump and the investigations | 2,909 |
A day before the official opening, Apple invited local press to tour its latest retail store within the Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emirates. Headline features include views of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, and a 180-feet wide motorized window comprising 18 carbon fiber panels.
To mitigate Dubai’s climate, Foster + Parters designed eighteen 37.5-foot-high motorized “Solar Wings” that respond to the ever-changing environmental conditions. When the sun is at its hottest they cool the store, and in the evenings they open to welcome everyone to the public terrace. Inspired by the the traditional Arabic Mashrabiya, each “Solar Wing” is locally fabricated from 340 carbon fiber reinforced polymer rods, and at 180 feet wide, the 18 panels make up one of the world’s largest kinetic art installations.
The store will also provide great views of another Dubai attraction …
Each evening, there is a spectacular evening fountain show directly outside the store, and Apple is inviting visitors to use that 18-foot wide opening window to view the display. Video of the fountain display can be seen below.
Apple’s announcement of the opening also focuses on its rebranded and expanded store workshops, Today at Apple. This initiative was revealed in a CBS interview yesterday.
At the heart of every Apple Store is the drive to educate and inspire. “Today at Apple“ will launch at Apple Dubai Mall and in all 495 Apple stores next month with new sessions across photo and video, music, coding, art and design, and more, led by highly-trained team members. Apple Dubai Mall will also host high-profile events including live music, intimate conversations with film-makers and photographers, and live workshops with some of the world’s top talent. Events on opening day include Live Art with Myneandyours, and Artist Duos with musician Hamdan Al Abri and artist Sultan Al Ramahi.
These will be run by Creative Pros, a new position we first discovered in August of last year.
The motorized windows look pretty spectacular.
Here’s a look at the fountain display visitors will be able to enjoy from the store. I’ve viewed it myself from ground level, and I think the Apple Store will provide an even better angle.
And below is a tour of the store courtesy of Khaleej Times.
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Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: | 2,910 |
modern ground equipment, overhauled the sewerage system, the water system and every thing else that had been neglected for many years.
Gul Mohammad possessed such overwhelming love for the game and was so keen about its progress that after joining the Board he developed himself into a specialist in grounds and pitches. He acquired such a deep knowledge of the subject that he could discuss for hours the properties of ground, soil, grass, water and the type of rolling required for different kinds of pitches. As a first step he prepared all the pitches afresh with proper earth-clay formulation so as to bring them at par with international standards.
Apart from his other attributes Gul Mohammad was an excellent coach. He acted as the Camp Commandant-cum-coach during many national camps, a number of our test cricketers having learnt the finer points of the game from him. He was a symbol of loyalty, devotion, deep insight, honesty and administrative ability. He was an untiring man who stood on the ground for hours in the scorching sun to ensure that things moved properly.
In his heyday Gul Mohammad was an all-round sportsman. Apart from being a born cricketer, he was an athlete, a swimmer and a recognized kabaddi player. A staunch believer in physical fitness, he used to skip up to 3000 times in one go as a part of his extensive physical regimen. He moved the skipping rope with such lightening speed that it was well nigh impossible to keep a count of his skips.
The man was so dedicated that he would accept any cricket assignment cheerfully, even at the peril of his health and life. One never knew what was brewing inside the man who was so physically fit and stressed its importance to others. His cancer of the liver was diagnosed only six months before his death, which he fought with tremendous courage.
Gul was a bold man, not one who would surrender, accept defeat without fighting or take things lying down. Cricket being his life and soul; we used to discuss various aspects of the subject for hours. Even a day before the eternal call, he sat calmly and discussed cricket for many hours with former captain Imtiaz Ahmed who visited him in the hospital. He defied his last journey till the end and would have continued fighting, was it not the will of God. For his devotion to the game and popularity among the cricketers, Gul Mohammad will live in the hearts of cricket fraternity for all times to come. On the day of his 9th death anniversary, we again pray to Almighty God to grant his noble soul a place in the heavens. | 2,911 |
Got this in the mail today. Pretty funny!
Top 20 Sayings we’d like to see on those office inspirational posters:
1. Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings, they did it by killing all people who opposed them.
2. If you can stay calm, while all around you is chaos…then you probably haven’t completely understood the seriousness of the situation.
3. Doing a job RIGHT the first time gets the job done. Doing the job WRONG fourteen times gives you job security.
4. Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.
5. Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity
6. A person who smiles in the face of adversity…probably has a scapegoat.
7. Plagiarism saves time.
8. If at first you don’t succeed, try management.
9. Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether.
10. TEAMWORK…means never having to take all the blame yourself.
11. The beatings will continue until morale improves.
12. Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups.
13. We waste time, so you don’t have to.
14. Hang in there, retirement is only fifty years away!
15. Go the extra mile. It makes your boss look like an incompetent slacker
16. A snooze button is a poor substitute for no alarm clock at all.
17. When the going gets tough, the tough take a coffee break.
18. INDECISION is the key to FLEXIBILITY.
19. Succeed in spite of management.
20. Aim Low, Reach Your Goals, Avoid Disappointment.
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The Ontario government is standing alongside a Mississauga, Ont., woman who is challenging the federal government's ban on face-coverings at citizenship ceremonies.
It has filed its position, called a factum, with the Federal Court of Appeal in advance of a hearing scheduled to begin next week in Ottawa.
The province argues that requiring a Muslim woman to remove her niqab during the public oath-taking ceremony "with the result that if she does not she cannot become a Canadian citizen, fails to respect and accommodate the diversity of religious beliefs and socio-cultural backgrounds of Canadians."
The factum goes on to say the government's policy "tells Muslim women that if they wear the niqab, they are not welcome to join the Canadian community."
The province is also of the view that "visual inspection of a person's face does not prove that the person has actually spoken the words of the oath or affirmation. The proof is already provided by the existing requirement that citizenship candidates sign a certificate certifying they have taken the oath or affirmation."
Next Tuesday, lawyers for the minister of citizenship and immigration will try to persuade the Federal Court of Appeal to reinstate the ban after it was struck down last February.
Justice Keith Boswell ruled the government's new citizenship policy on face coverings is unlawful.
The case started with a lawsuit from Zunera Ishaq, a devout Muslim who moved to Ontario from Pakistan in 2008 to join her husband. Ishaq agreed to remove her niqab for an official before writing and passing her citizenship test two years ago, but she objects to unveiling in a public citizenship ceremony.
Boswell ruled the federal government policy violated the Citizenship Act, which states that citizenship judges must allow the greatest possible religious freedom when administering the oath. Boswell asked how that would be possible, "If the policy requires candidates to violate or renounce a basic tenet of their religion."
Within days of the decision, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the government would appeal the judgment and said he and most Canadians believe "it is offensive that someone would hide their identify at the very moment where they are committing to join the Canadian family."
In its notice of appeal, lawyers for the federal government argued Boswell committed several errors in fact and law.
Despite the pending appeal court hearing, the government tabled bill C-75, the Oath of Citizenship Act, as one of its last acts before Parliament rose for the summer in June. The proposed legislation would again seek to enshrine in law that one's face must be uncovered to take the oath of citizenship. | 2,913 |
MACOVIA clinical trial; our ability to raise capital to fund our operations; our ability to successfully finalize and implement an alliance with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and the terms of any such alliance, including the amount, if any, of funding that we might receive; the timing and nature of results from MultiStem clinical trials, including our MASTERS-2 Phase 3 clinical trial and the HEALIOS K.K. (Healios) TREASURE and ONE-BRIDGE clinical trials in Japan; the impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition from the ongoing and global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, or any other pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of infectious disease in the United States; the possibility of delays in, adverse results of, and excessive costs of the development process; our ability to successfully initiate and complete clinical trials of our product candidates; the possibility of delays, work stoppages or interruptions in manufacturing by third parties or us, such as due to material supply constraints or regulatory issues, which could negatively impact our trials and the trials of our collaborators; uncertainty regarding market acceptance of our product candidates and our ability to generate revenues, including MultiStem cell therapy for the treatment of ischemic stroke, ARDS, acute myocardial infarction and trauma, and the prevention of graft-versus-host disease and other disease indications; changes in external market factors; changes in our industry’s overall performance; changes in our business strategy; our ability to protect and defend our intellectual property and related business operations, including the successful prosecution of our patent applications and enforcement of our patent rights, and operate our business in an environment of rapid technology and intellectual property development; our possible inability to realize commercially valuable discoveries in our collaborations with pharmaceutical and other biotechnology companies; our ability to meet milestones and earn royalties under our collaboration agreements, including the success of our collaboration with Healios; our collaborators’ ability to continue to fulfill their obligations under the terms of our collaboration agreements and generate sales related to our technologies; the success of our efforts to enter into new strategic partnerships and advance our programs, including, without limitation, in North America, Europe and Japan; our possible inability to execute our strategy due to changes in our industry or the economy generally; changes in productivity and reliability of suppliers; and the success of our competitors and the emergence of new competitors. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. | 2,914 |
President Donald Trump‘s plan to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico has been greeted with cheers from his supporters but skepticism and outright resistance from those who fear it will do little to ensure national security. Many worry that the wall will harm relations with Mexico while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
But conservationists and other scientists are raising a separate issue with the wall: It poses a threat to the local environment and ecosystems, they say. A wall would inhibit movement for animals that need to travel for food and water. It would also divide the mating pool of several animals, potentially leading to a decline in genetic diversity.
“The wall is a disruptive, artificial boundary in the natural world,” says Jamie Rappaport Clark, CEO of the Defenders of Wildlife conservation group. “Wildlife must be able to move freely across connected landscapes to survive.”
Much of the border is already fenced, which inhibits animal movement to a degree, but Trump’s promise of a concrete wall as high as 55 feet would essentially stop movement for every local species expect birds.
The wall would affect a wide range of animals, but a few vulnerable species including jaguars, Mexican gray wolves and ocelots would be particularly hard hit, according to a Defenders of Wildlife report. Black bears, spotted owls and deer are also common in the region.
Trump’s executive order does not mention an environmental review process for the wall, so it’s unclear whether the administration would weigh these concerns, but Trump said this week that he wanted to begin construction within “months.” In other contexts, Trump has denounced many environmental reviews as unnecessary bureaucratic requirements. A 2006 federal law also gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to waive environmental reviews for such border projects when there is a national security interest.
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Write to Justin Worland at [email protected]. | 2,915 |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some U.S. motorists sick of getting clobbered at the pump seem willing to do just about anything for free fuel, from giving up the right to name their children to stealing from day-care centers to donating blood.
A gas station owner holds on to the money given to him by a customer to prepay for fuel at his station in Arlington, Virginia, June 11, 2008. REUTERS/Jim Young
In Orlando, Florida, David Partin pledged to name his son after local radio hosts to win a $100 gas card as part of a contest. Partin will collect the card in December, when his son is born, if he can produce a birth certificate proving the baby is named Dixon Willoughby Partin, after the hosts.
“(His wife said) this is his problem to explain when the child is older,” Greg Stevens, WHTQ-FM program director told Reuters.
At the Shady Lady Ranch brothel in Beatty, Nevada, clients who spend $300 or more this month will receive $50 gas vouchers as part of a promotion to beat the summer slump in business.
“It’s rocking along. We’re doing quite well. June and July historically are not big months,” said James Davis, who co-owns the ranch with his wife, Bobbi.
The first $1,000 in gas cards were given out within a week, he added.
In Mesquite, Texas, thieves drained $100 worth of gasoline from buses used by the Higher Ground Church day-care center and have hit four or five other church center fleets in the area.
“It was someone who was desperate,” said James Green, the church’s pastor. “All he had to do was come and ask us and we would have bought him a tank of gas.”
The American Red Cross, meanwhile, is running a summer raffle where blood donors are eligible to win a year’s supply of fuel.
At St. Ann’s Parish in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, the Rev. Edward McDonagh has decided to institute a drawing for a $50 gasoline card at weekly mass.
The drawings are symbolic gestures and not intended to boost attendance, he said.
“When Jesus was at the wedding feast of Cana, the groom ran out of wine, he produced the wine for them,” he said. “In that spirit, we feel that this might be comparable.” | 2,916 |
GAINESVILLE - Sunday afternoon downtown on Jesse Jewell Parkway near the Engine 209 historic locomotive display you may have noticed around a dozen people along the sidewalk holding picket signs.
It was part of a global march against what they called 'Chemtrails and Geoengineering' according to protest leader Tim Pierce, and Gainesville was the only location in Georgia for the demonstration.
"I live in Gainesville," Pierce explained. "I was hoping that there would be more but this is the only one."
According to the Global March Against Chemtrails and Geoengineering.com web site, it's been known "for some time that the UV levels were getting rapidly worse due to the ongoing atmospheric spraying. Anyone that is even slightly awake and aware has noticed that the sun feels incredibly intense on the skin. Most varieties of plant life are showing at least some signs of stress in most areas. In many regions, whole forests are in steep decline. And it's getting worse by the day."
"A chemtrail is a mixture of chemicals that are being sprayed from military planes; a lot of different poisons that are being sprayed to manipulate the weather," Pierce said.
Pierce said there's a difference between an ordinary vapor trail or contrail from a high altitude jet aircraft and a chemtrail, so what appears to be an innocent white streak in the sky is not so innocent.
That's according to Tom Sitton, who traveled all the way from Walhalla, South Carolina to carry a picket sign.
"I flew from Greenville Airport to Orlando at 36,000 feet and the chemtrails were above us, Sitton said. So it has to be in military lanes, there are no commercial airplanes up there."
Sitton said he was at the Gainesville protest to hand out literature about chemtrails; some people are not convinced, but others are.
"There's a lot of people who are getting turned on to what's going on," Sitton added. "It's definitely happening."
According to one protest handout titled the "Independent Thinkers Chemtrails Fact Sheet", no government or official agency is willing to discuss it, U.S. Senate Bills seek to engineer weather modification, and these programs are operating without the public's informed consent with an agenda for "total control of biology, ecology and the earth."
"The evidence is there if everybody would just look up and pay attention to the sky," Pierce said. "Just pay attention to what we're breathing in." | 2,917 |
Sometimes my mind goes on tangents, I can’t help it. More often than not, my mind goes on tangents about Batman. Thanks to a conversation on Twitter last week (that began by discussing the spiked heel choice for Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises) I issued a challenge to my artist friends: Batman fighting in stilettos. Because well, if she were trained to fight in them, and Batman notoriously prepared for any scenario, that means he should be able to fight in them too. Here now, for your viewing pleasure, are a few select illustrations I received.
Here is the tweet that prompted me to put forth the challenge.
The top pic of Batman fighting the Joker is by Twitter user @Kapellusch but below was the first official entry into the challenge.
A good friend and popular artist, Katie Cook, got the ball rolling. She also gave us another adorable take. (Check out her original webcomic, Gronk!)
By Craig Marklow, @Marklow_man
By Russell Pinkston’s 12-year-old daughter, color by Russell. (@TheReelRussell)
By @blodia
This one by Lance Dean, @TwoCooksBooks, was not exactly what I had in mind but it definitely made me chuckle.
By Philip Rice, @Spearhafoc_
By Ériq Sáñez, @EriqSanez
By Mica T, @tvfreak13
And finally, a Rocky Horror-inspired entry from arist Eric Maruscak (who’s famous for his superhero chalk murals at conventions).
Thank you for everyone who took the time to play along with my experiement (and sorry I couldn’t include all of them). What’s interesting to note is how many of these illustrations are in fact, not, of Batman actually fighting in the heels. Granted, my intentions may have gotten misconstrued when some saw tweets that simply read Batman in heels or Batman in stilettos but still, the fact remains, it’s not something one would often connect with crime fighting.
Do I think walking, running, superhero-ing etc. is impossible in heels? No. Obviously it can be done but would that be the first choice in footwear for an active superhero/villain? I think I’ve already answered that question.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] | 2,918 |
Dozens of mom and pop businesses in San Francisco have shuttered over the past few years and merchants say it's because of skyrocketing rents and a change in consumer spending habits. Currently there are 22 empty storefronts in Cow Hollow, mainly on Union Street.
Lesley Leonhardt has owned her art shop, Images of the North, since 1979. Over the past few months, she's grown concerned over the volume of closed stores.
"This last year has been very quiet for retail," said Leonhardt., who believes mom and pop shops are struggling to meet sky-high rents and keep up with fluctuations in consumer habits.
"I think retail has been so changed by Amazon for one thing, e-Bay, you know we have a lot of competition that we did not have before," she stated.
A street that used to be overrun with restaurants, jewelry and boutique shops has morphed into a haven for Lululemon wearers and yoga and SoulCycle die-hards.
"The rent here is crazy and I live in the neighborhood personally, so I know it from a residential standpoint, so I can imagine it's just astronomical as well for commercial," said Brooks Wallace, who works at Hollywood Agency, a PR and communications firm.
Next door to Jest Jewels on the 1800 block of Union, a 2800-square foot space sits empty, but is on the market for $21,000 a monthly lease.
"How do you compete? I mean when it's huge corporations with tons of capital available then it really pushes the mom and pop out so I feel for them," said Wallace.
Merchants who spoke to KTVU say the biggest problem is a lack of foot traffic during the week.
Some business owners say they're relocating their shops downtown where they can potentially attract more tourist dollars.
Realtors and city officials say there are good vacancies and bad vacancies, meaning, not everyone is being forced out because they can't pay rent.
Some places need upgrading, many are undergoing remodeling, and with the city's lengthy permit process, it could be a while before those stores open for business.
So is this a battle between big box stores and the little guy? Not necessarily, say merchants, many of whom appreciate chains like beauty giant Sephora and Starbucks, which draw more business to the area.
But neighbors say a plan to put a gym and a Shake Shack where the old Real Foods Company on Filbert and Fillmore used to be, would destroy the character of the area.
| 2,919 |
The automotive industry has been very vocal about delivering greener technology, with several countries even offering government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles, including the United States.
Well, one country is taking the process a step further. CNET Roadshow spotted a Digital Trends report revealing that Dutch politicians want to ramp up the transition to eco-friendly vehicles to the point that they're aiming to ban gas- and diesel-powered models in Holland beginning by 2025.
According to the website, Holland's labor party, PvdA, proposed the bill and had it agreed upon by a majority of the country's parliament lower house, Tweede Kamer. If the bill gets passed into law, which is expected, automakers will be prohibited from even selling hybrids and plug-in hybrids, as any new vehicle sold in Holland will be either all electric or powered by hydrogen.
While the goal is definitely an ambitious and admirable one, it's being met with its fair share of detractors.
Digital Trends points to the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VDD) calling PvdA's bill being "overambitious and unrealistic," with VDD minister of economic affairs Henk Kamp estimating that only about 15 percent of new vehicles sold in Holland in less than 10 years' time will be all electric.
Another VDD official, Barbara Visser, took that a step even further, sparing no mercy for the PvdA, calling its bill "the wishful thinking of a headless chicken."
Ouch.
To that end, PvdA parliament rep Jan Vos said the proposed bill is an outlined vision for a future free of emissions and that, obviously, it will be a work in progress to meet fruition.
While it's definitely an ambitious bill, we'd like to think it's an aggressively conscious one as well. With the world witnessing the trudge that Volkswagen is continuing to have to deal with as a result of its emissions scandal, why not push for an all-electric or hydrogen-powered society?
The greener, cleaner way of commuting on roads would be a giant plus to the environment and climate. Additionally, if the plan is successful in 2025, other countries around the world could use Holland as a benchmark and platform to emulate and go green themselves.
These Dutch politicians' hearts and will are in the right place. It's just a matter of clearing up regulatory red tape, which always seems to accompany these kinds of ambitious goals.
TAG Electric Cars
ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. | 2,920 |
(Versión española)
This is what i think is the summary of 2015. There has been a lot of specific and relevant things this year, but i think that all of them have one thing in common, and that is that everytime someone has a dissenting opinion, or point of view, that the canonical, status quo, politically correct one, they are labeled as racists, or misogynysts, or homophobic, or transphobic, or whatever “ist” that the far left want’s to impose them to try to shame them into silence, and make virtue signalign for themselves. This is something that particulary pains me, because my ideas are definetly on the left, but i can’t help but to hate the way the left has acted through the year. I see people with points i agree with being absolutely hateful in the way the “discuss” them (because normaly what they do is not discuss, but to stop discussions); i see left wingers calling other left wingers “extreme right” simply because they are not 100% in agreement with them; i see progressives calling racist/misogynyst/etc to everyone who dares to raise a dissenting point in themes like inmigration, feminism, quotas, afirmattive action, parental rights, abortion, transexuals, (etc); i see people searching for ghosts everywhere, claiming that absolutely everything that they see is racist, or sexist.
In fact, i’ll be called a misogynyst, racist, homophobic, etc, for this comment, even if at no point i’ve said what are my opinions on inmigration, abortion, transexuals, (etc). And of course, the media goes hard into this attitude, promoting narratives and capitalizing on clicks for aggressive and biased articles.
And then it’s john cena.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Auto manufacturers, technology companies, road safety advocates and policy makers will attend a March 1 conference over potential government actions that could speed the rollout of autonomous cars, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Friday.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao speaks ahead of Press Days of the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 14, 2018. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
Last month, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the Trump administration plans to unveil revised self-driving car guidelines this summer as the government sets out to rewrite regulations that pose legal barriers to robot vehicles.
Next month’s “summit” is to help “identify priority federal and non-federal activities that can accelerate the safe rollout” of autonomous vehicles, the department said. It will also be open to the public.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic-Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants comments on what research to conduct before deciding whether to eliminate or rewrite regulations. It could take the agency years to finalize rule changes, and advocates are pushing Congress to act.
In October, the NHTSA said it is looking for ideas on how it can remove regulatory roadblocks to robot cars. NHTSA said it wants to find any “unnecessary regulatory barriers” to self-driving cars “particularly those that are not equipped with controls for a human driver.”
The March 1 meeting at the department’s headquarters in Washington will include “several stakeholder breakout sessions on various topics related to automation,” NHTSA said.
Legislation to speed introduction of self-driving cars unanimously passed the U.S. House of Representatives in September but stalled in the Senate over concerns from a small number of Democrats.
Automakers must meet nearly 75 auto safety standards, many of which were written with the assumption that a licensed driver will be in control of the vehicle.
General Motors Co, Alphabet Inc, Tesla Inc and others have lobbied for the landmark legislation, while auto safety groups urged more safeguards.
Last September, Chao announced the first set of revisions to the guidelines unveiled by the Obama administration.
In early January, GM filed a petition with NHTSA requesting an exemption to have a small number of autonomous vehicles operate in a ride-share program without steering wheels or human drivers that could begin in 2019. NHTSA is reviewing the petition and has not yet certified it as complete, an interim step before deciding on the merits of the proposal. | 2,922 |
By Rory Carroll
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday levied penalties of a record $1.4 billion on Pacific Gas and Electric Co, stemming from the deadly 2010 San Bruno natural gas pipeline rupture and fire near San Francisco.
This is the largest safety-related penalty ever imposed by the commission, dwarfing a $38-million fine for PG&E over a 2008 natural gas explosion in Rancho Cordova, California, the agency said.
The fines cover 3,798 violations of state and federal laws and regulations that two administrative law judges for the agency found in connection with PG&E's pipeline network operation, including the 2010 explosion.
Many of those violations had run for years, the panel said.
The penalty takes effect in 30 days, unless a party to the proceedings, including PG&E, files an appeal or a panel member requests a review of the decision.
The utility was "still looking at a number of options" related to Tuesday's decision, said Keith Stephens, a spokesman for the company, a division of PG&E Corp.
The company had asked the commission to "ensure that the penalty is reasonable and proportionate," PG&E Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Tony Earley said in a statement.
The fine comprises $950 million to be paid to the state treasury, $400 million to a PG&E plan to boost pipeline safety and an estimated $50 million earmarked for more than 75 specific safety remedies ordered by the commission.
When combined with another $635 million the agency previously ordered the utility to pay to modernize pipelines, the overall penalties PG&E faces from the San Bruno disaster would exceed $2 billion, the commission said.
The agency previously ruled that all penalties must come from shareholders and may not be passed on to utility customers.
The company said its total shareholder impact could reach $4.75 billion, including $2.7 billion in estimated costs it said had already been incurred or are forecast to be incurred to improve the safety of its natural gas operations.
The pipeline explosion on Sept. 9, 2010, in San Bruno, a city just south of San Francisco, destroyed an entire neighborhood, killing eight people and injuring 58.
The National Transportation Safety Board later blamed the utility's lax approach to pipeline safety and weak oversight by regulators. A federal grand jury in April indicted the company on 12 felony counts of violating safety regulations. The company has pleaded not guilty. (Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) | 2,923 |
With The Force Awakens shattering all sorts of records, it hasn't taken long for SJWs to criticize some Star Wars merchandise for leaving out the new female lead.
Hashtags such as #WheresRey have been created by angry feminists demanding an explanation.
For those unaware, Rey is the big star in The Force Awakens and Disney tried to hide this by minimizing her in trailers and posters leading up to the film.
MORE: Canadian politicians and their Star Wars lookalikes
Take this post by Screen Crush taking aim at the latest edition of Star Wars monopoly for leaving out Rey. The post titled “Hasbro Leaves Rey Out of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Monopoly Game, Gives Lame Explanation” has one serious flaw right from the headline.
It's not 'Force Awakens' Monopoly. It's Star Wars Monopoly. As in, it's not associated with any one film in the series. That's why the player pieces include Luke (from Return of the Jedi) and Darth Vader. There are only two other game pieces – Kylo Ren (who is on the box) and FN-2187 aka Finn.
Screen Crush goes on to call Hasbro's reasoning for not including Rey in the game 'baffling'.
Here's Hasbro's explanation: “The Star Wars: Monopoly game was released in September, months before the movie’s release, and Rey was not included to avoid revealing a key plot line that she takes on Kylo Ren and joins the Rebel Alliance.”
MORE: Princess Leia to anti-Christian SJW nerf-herders: “Get a life!”
The explanation makes perfect sense. Remember how upset fans got when a leaked toy of Rey showed her with Luke's old lightsaber and thereby revealed a huge plot spoiler?
Overall, The Force Awakens is anything but sexist. Rey is an amazing character who stole the hearts of fanboys everywhere with her sick piloting skills and force abilities. Apparently that's not enough for some people.
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and shortsighted of our city fathers.”
“The thought of them knocking this down without making use of the infrastructure—how insane is it to knock something down that has all that value to it instead of putting it to another use?” Paladino said. “It’s as devoid of insight as anything I’ve seen.”
It’s perhaps telling that Stepniak, the city official most familiar with the Broadway barns, wants to see the building standing and repurposed after his snowplows and sanitation trucks leave.
“There’s historical significance to that building,” he said. “I love Buffalo’s history, and I believe this is part of it. Just because we don’t need the building doesn’t mean that building’s done with—it still has plenty of useful life left. It’s up to people to just get a game plan together with other folks and say what the best future use is for that facility.”
Awareness of the Broadway Auditorium’s history, and of its potential going forward, seems to change the minds of at least some demolitionists.
Four years ago Franczyk saw the building as a big, ugly monolith that ought to be torn down to clear space for the African-American Heritage corridor. Last week at the start of a phone conversation he amended those comments slightly, saying the original armory walls that date back to the 1850s should be left standing and affixed with some kind of historical plaque.
Then he was informed of the Broadway Auditorium’s history: Joe Louis, Ellis Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Slattery, Woodrow Wilson, Jay Silverheels, Little Three basketball. “Okay,” he said, “but it still looms like an aging colossus that doesn’t have any architectural significance, and it’s pretty ugly.”
Then he was told of some of the ideas for repurposing the aging colossus, like retrofitting it into a public field house.
“You have something there—that’s not a bad idea,” Francyzk said. “Let someone make a proposal. I’d be willing to look at any reasonable proposal.”
Whether the most important demolitionist, Mayor Brown, is willing to listen to reasonable proposals for the future of the Broadway barns remains to be seen. Last week, he wasn’t saying. | 2,925 |
Star Wars fans were shocked to learn that iconic composer John Williams had to cancel appearances due to being hospitalized last week, though we can now breathe a sigh of relief as Williams is reportedly out of the hospital and resuming his previously scheduled commitments.
SoundTrackFest confirmed the news about Williams leaving the hospital, which also noted that he will be returning to Los Angeles, California.
While the nature of the illness was never disclosed, with the composer being 86 years old, even the tamest health issue could cause complications. Luckily, Williams is proving to be as everlasting as the music he has created in his impressive career.
Shortly after the announcement was made last week that Williams would have to cancel a performance, his management team released a statement reading, "John is so sorry that an illness prevents him from conducting Friday's concert, and he's grateful to his friend Maestro Dirk Brass for taking the podium in his place. He so wishes he could be with everyone, and the knowledge that 5,000 of his friends will be joining together to celebrate his music is a great comfort to him as he recovers. He wishes everyone a very joyous evening of music."
Dating back to Star Wars: A New Hope, Williams' score has been an integral component of the franchise, as we enjoyed the film's opening theme before meeting a single character. Williams crafted not only the scores to the original trilogy, but also the prequel trilogy, and concludes his tenure in the galaxy far, far away by crafting the score for Star Wars: Episode IX.
According to Mark Hamill, who more fans would likely recognize from the series, Williams deserves the most praise for making the saga what it is, other than George Lucas.
“Aside from George Lucas, nobody deserves more credit for the success of Star Wars than John Williams," the actor shared with Variety.
The actor went on to recall the experience of watching Williams compose a live recording of the score to Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
"It’s indescribable, how he elevates every scene. He’s got to understand the emotion of the scene, the dynamics of whatever conflict we’re trying to portray, as deeply as an actor does," Hamill confessed. "In a way, that’s even more complex. As an actor, you’re only one person, one instrument in the orchestra. He’s the entire cast.”
Fans can hear Williams' final Star Wars score when Episode IX lands in theaters in December of 2019.
[H/T SoundTrackFest] | 2,926 |
Self proclaimed “disruptive” open source software company Open-Xchange (yes that was CAPS-DASH-CAPS-lower case) has launched OX Documents, a cloud-based office productivity suite.
The firm asserts that its OX Text application (an in-browser word processor) is a multi-device editing and collaboration tool that will work on major text document formats without compromising document integrity.
OX Text offers direct editing capabilities for:
• Microsoft Word.docx files
• OpenOffice file and …
• LibreOffice.odt files.
The (positively) disruptive firm says that it has achieved “non-destructive support” of Microsoft Office and OpenOffice or LibreOffice file formats.
NOTE: Multiple users can view and edit the same document in real time by sharing editor’s rights held by a single user at a given time.
XML-based documents can be read, edited and saved back to the original format at a level of “quality and fidelity” previously unavailable with browser-based text editors says the firm.
OX Text is joined by Presentation and Spreadsheet to complete the OX Documents Suite later in 2013.
Open-Xchange CEO Rafael Laguna has explained that a crucial factor in the development of OX Text was not to introduce yet another proprietary file format to further add to the productivity compatibility jungle.
Laguna assures as follows, “We are not breaking anything and are leaving everything in place. OX Text can edit about 80 percent of a Word document’s elements and 100 percent of the document survives with the formatting preserved.”
“Existing cloud-based tools insist that you adopt their format before you can begin the edit process that creates ugly conversion artifacts, putting a brake on fast adoption of collaboration in the cloud. Perhaps most importantly it always keeps the original document format by not attempting to alter or convert non-compatible native formatting features. This means that when you reopen the document in Word it is formatted as originally intended, without any alterations, thus preventing any format corruption, data loss or errors,” said Laguna.
OX Documents is available separately and as an extension on the functionality of OX App Suite, a web-based personal desktop with tools for management of email, calendar, documents and social network feeds.
Developed to full advantage of HTML5 OX Text will be available early April released under GNU General Public License 2 and Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. | 2,927 |
Ancient treasures threatened by climate change Published duration 11 March 2011
image caption 'The Ice Maiden' was discovered in the Altai Mountains in Siberia in 1993
Archaeological treasures that have been frozen for millennia are being destroyed because of climate change, according to Edinburgh researchers.
Remains in some of the coldest places on earth are being exposed as warmer temperatures cause ice and hardened ground to thaw.
Edinburgh University experts said the materials at risk included ancient tombs, artefacts and human remains.
They are often culturally significant, especially for indigenous populations.
Scientists at the university's business school studied cases of damaged remains in three locations around the world, at permafrost in the Altai Mountains in central Asia, sea ice in Alaska and glaciers in the Rocky Mountains.
They found coastal erosion caused by retreating sea ice was damaging remains in an Inuit village in Alaska, including a Fourth-Century coastal cemetery.
Their study suggested melting glaciers in the Rocky Mountains posed a threat to Native American human remains and artefacts such as hunting tools, weapons and clothing.
Researchers also discovered that thawing temperatures represented a risk to burial mounds in the Altai Mountains of central Asia.
The site, containing the only frozen tombs in the world, is the resting place of Eurasian nomadic horsemen with links to modern-day Siberian nomads.
The graves contain treasures such as gold and ancient carpets.
In the central Asian Altai Mountains, about 700 tombs have been preserved for 2,500 years by ice lenses or permafrost.
They contain frozen mummies, wood, leather and textiles, which are very rarely preserved and can provide a unique insight into the culture of prehistoric societies in this region.
'The Ice Maiden' was discovered in the Altai Mountains in Siberia in 1993.
As a result of increasing ground and surface temperatures over the past century, these tombs and their deposits are now within only a few degrees of melting.
Scientists have called for a global organisation to be set up to maintain a record of vulnerable sites and co-ordinate efforts to conserve items that are at risk, particularly indigenous remains.
Dr Dave Reay, of Edinburgh University, said: "Warming climates are expected to lead to more melting ice, and we need to take action to safeguard ancient treasures.
"Long-term efforts are needed to locate archaeological remains that are at risk, and research how best to care for them.
"We must also consider the political and cultural implications of preserving important relics." | 2,928 |
Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisTexas Democratic official urges Biden to visit state: 'I thought he had his own plane' The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden on Trump: 'He'll leave' l GOP laywers brush off Trump's election remarks l Obama's endorsements A game theorist's advice to President Trump on filling the Supreme Court seat MORE (D-Calif.), a 2020 presidential candidate, pressed Twitter to “do something” over President Trump using the social media platform to compare his impeachment inquiry to a “coup.”
Harris called on Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey to take action Tuesday after Trump ramped up his attack on the House's impeachment inquiry into his alleged election interference.
“Hey, @jack. Time to do something about this,” Harris tweeted in response to Trump’s earlier message.
Twitter declined to comment when contacted by The Hill.
Harris’s tweet comes a day after her Monday push for the platform to suspend Trump’s account.
She told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that Twitter should suspend the president’s account based on his attacks on lawmakers and a whistleblower who alleged the president solicited foreign interference in the 2020 election.
“The president’s tweets and his behavior about this are just further evidence of the fact that he uses his power in a way that is designed to beat people down instead of lift people up,” Harris said in an interview with CNN on Monday.
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Trump doubled down on his criticism of a House impeachment inquiry in his Tuesday tweet, saying, “I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP.”
Harris and other 2020 Democrats have all rallied behind the House impeachment inquiry.
The House launched the inquiry after a whistleblower complaint alleged Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenFormer Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick Bloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida MORE, a leading 2020 candidate.
The complaint also alleged the Trump administration asked White House officials to put a transcript of the call on a highly classified server rather than using the system such calls are typically stored on.
The White House released a partial memo of a call between Trump and Zelensky that showed Trump asking the foreign leader to investigate Biden. Trump, however, continues to defend the call and said it was not inappropriate. | 2,929 |
The Privatix team releases updates once every 2 weeks on Tuesdays. The next update will be published on 27 November 2018. The numbered calendar weeks can be found here. Important announcements and news are published immediately.
Technology not legislation is the only way to implement Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(Published in every Privatix publication / “Carthago delenda est”)
Development
During the last two weeks, the development team worked on the next Alpha version release (Ubuntu, 0.15.0+) of Privatix Network Core components.
Significant progress towards the final release of Alpha for Windows and OSX has been made.
The new release (Ubuntu) is currently in QA-pipeline ( available in develop branch on GitHub) and will be released next days.
The Team has made ~346 commits in 7 active repositories.
The current network state is available here http://privatix.network
The team has completed developing and/or improving the following items:
UI Translation: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish. Please contribute if you are speaking one of these languages here
Tor installation as part of Win, MacOS installer ( as a part of SOMC decentralization strategy)
GUI:
- Allow editing the Application settings via GUI
- Show full country names instead of ISO-alpha-2 style
- Search by logs has been improved
- Add offering hash column has been added to the dashboard
- Filter by offering hash has been added
- Allow editing the Application settings via GUI - Show full country names instead of ISO-alpha-2 style - Search by logs has been improved - Add offering hash column has been added to the dashboard - Filter by offering hash has been added SOMC stability has been improved
Dappctrl: refactor Client adapter to use REST
Build scripts (allowing to make a builds faster) :
- Win: https://github.com/Privatix/privatix/tree/develop/build/win
- Unix: https://github.com/Privatix/privatix/tree/develop/build/unix
- Win: https://github.com/Privatix/privatix/tree/develop/build/win - Unix: https://github.com/Privatix/privatix/tree/develop/build/unix Other minor improvements
Bugs reported and fixed: | 2,930 |
and became increasingly involved in the local food movement, where people use sweat equity instead of cash. "That’s really the linchpin of this. It’s a community-driven exchange of value that’s not monetary."
Rife says he likes to help others discover there’s more to life than just chasing dollars. "I’m a starter," he said from the sidelines of the Florida Food Summit, an event he sponsors to bring together a variety of what he calls farmpreneurs. "I’m very, very passionate about helping young entrepreneurs become the arbiters of their own fate. There is a joy that comes with being able to do different things."
Millennials with community support
At 40, Rife is a GenXer whose looks don’t belie his interests. Young and healthy looking, clean cut with short, trim hair he fits neither into the stereotypical successful corporate salesman, nor new-age hippy farmer. Instead he seems to epitomize the emerging leaders who seem to combine all of those qualities: sensitivity to the changing needs of the planet and society, business knowledge and the success that breeds the confidence to try new ideas. Perhaps it’s those qualities he admires most about Grove.
"Heather is a change maker," says Rife. "I’m very impressed by millennials and their willingness and desire to have impact.” “More than any other generation that I’ve been involved with, there’s a lot more willingness to give of their time, effort, energy, finances to—in their minds—make the world a better place and to be proactive in solving problems of sustainability and environmental stewardship,” Rife elaborates. With the IDEAS group being a gathering place for millennials, it seemed like perfect soil for planting the Fleet Farming concept – a concept whose attraction also derives from being actionable for all kinds of people, Rife points out: “It’s something you don’t have to have a whole lot of education to figure out—you don’t need a PhD to turn grass into lettuce."
Change maker Heather Grove is sure Fleet Farming wouldn’t work without the tremendous support the group receives from the community. "That’s what keeps me going," she says. "It’s just about the people who are willing to put in the hours and do the work. I see value in providing free work because it keeps me happy. We all keep going because we’re helping change the world." | 2,931 |
The Tennessee Titans fill another need
The Tennessee Titans have added another dimension to their offense by selecting Appalachian State’s, Darrynton Evans with their 93rd pick. Evans will most likely replace Dion Lewis and slot in behind Derrick Henry as the secondary running back in the Titans offense.
Darrynton Evans’s speed will compliment Derrick Henry’s power and will make the Titans offense much more unpredictable. He will also relieve some pressure and take workload off of Derrick Henry, as the Titans have been increasingly reliant on him performing well to win.
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Darrynton Evans was the second fastest running back in this year’s draft, running a 4.41 in the 40 yard dash at the NFL combine in February. Last year at college, Evans ran for 1,480 yards and 18 touchdowns while collecting 21 passes for 198 yards and ended up scoring 5 times.
He was later named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year. During his time at Appalachian State, Evans recorded no fumbles in 482 carries, which is why the Titans are confident that he can provide some ball security with potential pass catches and carries. Titans are also expecting he can help out in kick returning.
Overall Draft Grade – B
Darrynton Evans is another pick that can make an immediate impact and will be given every opportunity to do so. He can be a very multi-dimensional player at the NFL level and can help the team in many ways.
Evans also needs to improve his game in many areas. He is not a strong or powerful “between the tackles” runner which at times can affect his production and limit effectiveness, but with Derrick Henry taking the majority of the punishment, he should be protected from this.
He also isn’t the best tackle breaker and usually tends to absorb/brace for impact. But with Derrick Henry as a mentor I’m sure we will see many improvements in his game.
Tennessee Titans Draft So Far..
The Tennessee Titans have addressed all of their needs so far in this draft. The Titans have stuck to their guns and ensured that their 2 valuable assets, Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry will have every chance to be able to continue their 2019 form.
The Titans have used their picks wisely and therefore I think it’s been a very successful draft and sets them up for their Super Bowl aspirations.
For more Time Skew & NFL Draft content, be sure to check out our Youtube! Also follow us on Twitter, and listen to the Time Skew podcast on Apple Podcasts! | 2,932 |
Constitutional Amendment Sponsors Renew Push to Undo Citizens United
WASHINGTON, March 12 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn a Supreme Court ruling that allowed unrestricted, secret campaign spending by corporations and billionaires. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) filed the “Democracy is for People” amendment in the House.
The 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission undermined democracy by opening the campaign spending floodgates. Already 11 states including Vermont and more than 300 cities and towns have passed resolutions calling for the ruling to be overturned.
As a result of the controversial decision, a record $7 billion was spent in the 2012 election cycle. The secretive billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch reportedly steered at least $400 million into campaigns.
Said Sanders, “What the Supreme Court did in Citizens United is to tell billionaires like the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson, ‘You own and control Wall Street. You own and control coal companies. You own and control oil companies. Now, for a very small percentage of your wealth, we're going to give you the opportunity to own and control the United States government.’ That is the essence of what Citizens United is all about. That is why this disastrous decision must be reversed.”
“The Democracy is for People Amendment will stop corporations and their front groups from using their profits and dark money donations to influence our elections while reaffirming the right of the American people to elections that are fair and representatives that are accountable,” Deutch said.
The amendment would make it clear that the right to vote and the ability to make campaign contributions and expenditures belong only to real people. The amendment would effectively prevent corporations from bankrolling election campaigns. Congress and states would have specific authority to regulate campaign finances by, for example, limiting donations, requiring disclosure of donors or creating public-financing systems for campaigns.
A similar constitutional amendment introduced by Sanders and Deutch in the last session of Congress would have addressed spending by for-profit corporations in elections. Much of the “dark money” funneled through nonprofit organizations in 2012 would not have been restricted, but would be covered by the new version of the amendment.
An amendment originating in Congress must be approved by a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate in order to be submitted for consideration by the states. Ratification by three-fourths of the states is required to amend the Constitution.
To read the amendment, click here.
For a fact sheet on the amendment, click here. | 2,933 |
other authors’ feedback.
Original Post:
Macmillan Announces New Library Lending Terms for Ebooks
In response to the well-recognized impact of library e-lending on book sales, Macmillan Publishers is now changing the terms on which it sells ebooks to libraries. Since readers are able to borrow ebooks from libraries around the country (and in some cases, around the world), book sales—and authors’ royalties—have fallen. Last year, Macmillan tested a “windowing” system by which frontlist books weren’t made available for library e-lending until 16 weeks after the book’s release. It is now adopting a new system to protect the value of new releases while still respecting and supporting the needs of libraries.
Under its new system, Macmillan will make one copy of an ebook available upon that book’s release to each library system in perpetuity, at the half-price rate of $30 for that one copy. According to Macmillan, “this change reflects the library request for lower prices and perpetual access.” Libraries may obtain additional ebook copies of that title eight weeks after publication, for a period of two years (or 52 lends) at the cost of $60 per license; these licenses can then be renewed for additional two-year (or 52-lend) periods. This new system will only apply to ebooks, and libraries will still be able to order as many physical books as they like.
The Authors Guild welcomes this approach and thinks it is a reasonable compromise between the needs of the authors and the needs of the libraries. Although the American Library Association has objected to this new program, we believe that Macmillan has attempted to fairly address the concerns of the libraries and balance them with those of authors and others in the book industry. If, as Macmillan has determined, 45% of ebook reads are occurring through libraries and that percentage is only growing, it means that we are training readers to read ebooks for free through libraries instead of buying them. With author earnings down to new lows, we cannot tolerate ever-decreasing book sales that result in even lower author earnings. Macmillan’s new licensing scheme will still allow libraries to obtain a digital copy of new books in the first eight weeks, so readers who can’t afford to buy books and who can’t get to the library to take out print copies should not be impacted. We look forward to seeing how this new program affects readership—and ultimately, authors’ royalties. | 2,934 |
Breaking news from the "We Didn't See This Coming" department: on Monday afternoon, longtime Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell sent out this cryptic Tweet:
To all in Viking Nation. Can't thank you enough for your cheers over the past 6 years! You've been awesome to me and my family. God Bless! — Ryan Longwell (@4thandLongwell) May 7, 2012
Just minutes later, Tom Pelissero confirmed what Longwell was alluding to:
Wow. #Vikings have cut Ryan Longwell. — Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 7, 2012
Pelissero followed up by saying that the parting ways of the Vikings and Longwell "was not in any way mutual", implying that Longwell would have preferred to stay with the team.
To say that the move was completely out of left field would be overstating things a bit--after all, the Vikings drafted kicker Blair Walsh in the 6th round of the draft this past April. But the company line was that Walsh had been drafted to come in and challenge the 15-year veteran for a spot in training camp, not that Longwell was already on his way out. Obviously that wasn't the case.
Longwell has had an amazingly consistent career as a member of the Packers and Vikings, but he did have his struggles in 2011. His field goal percentage was his worst as a Viking, and he rarely recorded touchbacks even though the NFL had moved up kickoffs to the 35 last year. His 633 points as a Viking ranks him third all-time for the franchise behind only Cris Carter (670) and Fred Cox (1365).
On one hand, cutting Longwell in the month of May doesn't make much sense--the Vikings are putting a lot of trust into a rookie kicker that had his own struggles. Walsh has a powerful leg but had accuracy issues his senior year of college. Not giving Longwell a fair chance to retain is spot in training camp comes across as rather short-sighted at first glance.
On the other hand, Longwell was due a lot of money. The 37-year-old was set to make $7 million over the next three years of his contract. That's a lot of money to tie into an aging kicker with
Hopefully the early dismissal from the Vikings will allow Longwell to catch on with another team. He was nothing but class both on and off the field during his entire tenure in Minnesota. If he's not ready to hang up those kicking cleats yet, maybe he can still do it elsewhere. | 2,935 |
like the brazen drug dealing that any passer-by encounters if they aren’t in police uniform — that can be enforced without objection. Other times, he veers into discussion of camping and loitering. Cities have fared poorly in federal court challenges when they’ve arrested homeless people for occupying a public space, if those people don’t have a safe alternative.
Hughes has included an attorney from the ACLU of Utah in his discussions, and has put various quick-fix options before stakeholders — from single-room occupancy houses that could be built from shipping containers in 90 days, to the closure of Rio Grande St. between 200 and 300 South and the creation of an enclosed courtyard space.
“You have to have alternatives,” he said. “You can’t just tell people, ‘You can’t be here,’ without having contemplated where they can go.”
His plan also includes a new state-supported identification system, though the kinks have yet to be worked out. Hughes proposes ID cards that homeless people would need to access services, with a biometric component — like fingerprint scanners — that would prevent fraudulent use. He believes the system could be supported by $1 million in repurposed state funds that haven’t been used.
Catholic Community Services began issuing ID cards two years ago at its Weigand Homeless Resource Center, to the east of the shelter, and found that they kept out ”street riffraff” who had previously caused problems, said Matthew Melville, CCS director of homeless services. Wrongdoers weren’t willing to have their pictures taken, he said.
“Anything that helps us better track those that are actually using the services and helps them access the services quicker instead of queuing up in a line is going to be beneficial to everybody,” Melville said.
Matt Minkevitch — executive director of The Road Home, which runs the 210 S. Rio Grande St. shelter — said he is ”encouraged” by the discussion. A state-issued ID card would be a boon to many homeless people who are unable to obtain housing, or cash their first paycheck, because they no longer have the necessary documents.
An arm of the plan that excites Cox, is what he’s termed “The Dignity of Work.”
Cox tapped Utah Jazz President Steve Starks to find private sector job opportunities for homeless, and Starks said Friday that he is in the early stages of forming a committee. | 2,936 |
Today I found out that dolphins don’t breathe automatically, rather it is always consciously done.
An interesting consequence of the fact that they need to be conscious to control their breathing is that they can never be truly unconscious, even when they sleep. However, being mammals, their brains do need to enter a type of unconscious state every now and again in order to continue to function properly.
How dolphins handle this is to put one half of their brain to sleep, while the other half is still conscious and functioning. They then alternate which side is sleeping periodically. They stay in this state for approximately eight hours a day. Doing this allows them to be conscious enough to control their breathing and periodically swim to the surface and get air, while still giving their brain the rest it needs.
Bonus Facts:
Dolphins use not only their eyesight, but also echolocation (similar to sonar) to avoid obstacles and find prey.
The name “dolphin” comes from the ancient Greek “delphis”, which means more or less “fish with a womb”.
Dolphins have been observed to teach their young to use tools. They also have been observed to display a variety of cultural characteristics such as holding a type of funeral ceremony for their dead.
Dolphins have no sense of smell due to lacking any olfactory nerve and lobes. They use their sense of taste much like we use our sense of smell though. Dolphins will often taste the water around them for this purpose.
The ancient Romans once used dolphins to help them fish. The dolphins were trained to drive fish towards fishermen. Once a large enough group of fish was near the fisherman, the dolphins would signal the fishermen to cast their nets. Today, this practice can still be observed in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Amazon river dolphins swim upside down. It is thought that the humps on their backs help them feel around on the bottom of the river to locate food. This also may help them see what is below them better as below their eyes they have puffy cheeks that obstruct their vision.
Bottle nose dolphins and killer whales belong to the same family.
Dolphins are the only animal other than humans that develop a natural form of type 2 Diabetes.
Dolphins trained to kill by the Soviet Union were sold to Iran in the 1990s when the Russian military closed its marine mammal program. The United States Navy still has such a program, though dolphins are supposedly not trained to kill, but rather to perform other tasks.
Expand for References: | 2,937 |
MTG XRay lets you see deck building in a whole new way. No other app helps you build sealed, draft and standard constructed decks quite like XRay! * Rate your deck build * Perfect your mana base * Automatic deck building suggestions * Individual card info * Games to level up your Mulligan skills https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlApQ6OebEM Do you know efficiently you are curving out? XRay does! What app can perfect your mana beyond anything you could do on a calculator? Why not let XRay play thousands of games in a few minutes and give you the answer. Try building your own deck and then ask XRay what it would have built. It’s fun. Want to solve your sealed pool from scratch? Just hit the “Think” button and give it 5 to 15 minutes** Tell XRay the top 4 cards you want in your deck and let it solve the rest with “Think”. The results are based off XRay “goldfishing” millions of games and counting which decks played the most mana and curved out the best. All cards in Standard are available to do mana tuning and deck thinking with. Our approach gives very solid mana base and curve suggestions. Limited (40 card) Sealed: Yes Limited (40 card) Draft: Yes Constructed (60 card): Yes Brawl (60 card): Yes - but no specific commander features Important mechanics like dual mana, slow lands, fast lands, mana rocks and mana dorks are programmed in. Mana is the fundamental theory of what makes a good limited deck and should teach new players how to build basic curves by example, and experienced players can go very deep tweaking / fine-tuning scenarios. We may charge for additional standard sets as they come out. We will constantly be updating the new sets and improving the depth and intelligence of the app. We are active devs. Reminder: we are not Hasbro - and we are not Wizards of the coast. We are passionate players like you that just want to improve. Hope you enjoy, and happy brewing! Travis Somerville and team. Contact info: [email protected] https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgxray Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC. © 1995-2017 Wizards. All rights reserved. MtgXray is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast LLC. ** Phones can take 2x to 6x longer than an average laptop. These times need to be increased for phone app or your device speed accordingly. | 2,938 |
Eurozone finance ministers have failed to agree on debt relief for Greece with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and did not release new loans to Athens, but came close enough in talks to aim for both deals at their next meeting in three weeks.
Greece has to repay more than €7.3bn ($8.19bn) in maturing loans this July.
Tuesday's deal included the approval of the next batch of bailout money, but also an agreement on the sort of debt relief measures Greece can expect to get when its current bailout programme ends next year.
"The Eurogroup held an in-depth discussion on the sustainability of Greece's public debt but did not reach an overall agreement," the euro zone ministers said in a statement.
"Work will continue in the coming weeks within the framework agreed in May 2016 with a view to reaching a definitive conclusion at the next Eurogroup meeting.
"This includes an ambitious and economically sound medium-term primary surplus path for Greece," the statement said.
The Eurozone's top official Jeroen Dijsselbloem said a broad settlement involving both the next payout and the outlines of a debt relief deal is close, and could be reached in three weeks when finance ministers from the 19 countries from the single currency bloc meet in Luxembourg on June 15.
The EU Commission’s spokesperson Margaritis Schinas also stressed that “we are convinced that Greece has delivered. Now it is up to its partners to do the same”.
The IMF stalemate
One of the major stumbling blocks has centred on a divergence of opinion between the Eurozone and the IMF, which is not involved financially in Greece's current three-year bailout programme.
Getting the IMF on board is important as, without its participation, Germany and The Netherlands will refuse to lend more money to Greece.
READ MORE: Greece - A gateway for China's New Silk Road into Europe
The IMF has argued that the Eurozone forecasts underpinning the Greek bailout are too rosy and that the country, as a result, should get substantial debt relief so it can start growing on a sustainable basis.
But Germany is wary because doing any favours for Greece is deemed a vote-killer ahead of general elections in September.
"The German finance ministry does not want to specify mid-term debt [relief] measures to the extent required by the IMF," Tzanakopoulos said.
Greece’s depression saw the economy shrink by a quarter and unemployment and poverty levels ratchet up sharply. | 2,939 |
CHERY SHOOT: Swift River Sportsman's Club will sponsor its final 3D archery shoot of the season Aug. 3 at its Belchertown club grounds on 350 Cold Springs Road. Registration will be from 7 a.m. to noon. Club members will set and take down the day before.
FOREST LAKE AND FOREST GUMP: Forest Lake in Palmer is one of my favorite fishing spots over the years, much as Forest Gump has been my all-time movie hero. There is something about a person who is slightly slow upstairs that I feel comfortable with.
Forest Lake has it all, brown and rainbow trout stocked spring and fall, largemouth bass, along with great eating yellow and white perch.
There are also pickerel and a small population of secretive walleye pike. Toss in brown bullheads, also a top pop 'em in the pan tidbit, and you've got it all. Except there are no dancing girls along the shoreline.
Ah, as in life, there are problems. In the hot weather you have to go deep to find the trout.
The major problem is that too many fishermen are keeping their bass catches. And as we all know, if you eat the football, there is no game the next day.
About 10 percent of the 43-acre pond is considered trout water. The average depth is 10 feet, while the deepest spot is 25 feet. There is a gravel ramp, off Bennett Street, which is also home to a public beach. Parking is limited as is motor size.
And while the fish are there, they are not sticking their heads out of the water and begging, "Please catch me."
DANDY EYES: While I was going fishless on the ocean, grandson Dougie Sousa was landing trout and salmon galore, with the first fish going 5 pounds, quickly followe by a 14-pounder.
The entire group aboard Dandy Eyes Charters landed fish. Dougie's was the largest, a chip off this old block. His dad Doug's fish was the smallest, a chip off his old daddy's block.
To show you I am a chump off my own old block, I was supposed to go on the trip but elected to stay home and mow the lawn before it was as high as an elephant's eye.
As fate would have, it the grass would have been as high as the day I left as the three days of fishing saw scorching sun and nada rain at home.
| 2,940 |
, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt—with backing from the U.S. and EU.
Turkey’s considerations are similar to Russia’s, ranging from oil to geopolitics. (Read the Turkish narrative featured by the state news agency Anadolu on Erdogan’s grand strategy: “Turkey’s New Geostrategy From Tripoli to Doha: ‘Defending an Area.’”)
The Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is due to visit Turkey on January 8, is sure to try to dissuade Erdogan from his present path. In the final analysis, what remains to be seen is how they cooperate in Libya as they have been doing in Syria.
The Eastern Mediterranean holds the “triple gates” of Europe, Africa and Asia. The great power rivalries are traceable to at least 1453 when Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II captured Constantinople.
The noted Italian scholar and writer Francesco Sisci wrote recently on the riveting history of the Eastern Mediterranean and touched on the Turkish-Russian rivalry:
“Turks and Russians were rivals for centuries, contending for control and access to the Mediterranean. The Turks had basically total control of the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea until after they were clearly defeated in the siege of Vienna in 1683. In the following decades, Russia moved to push back the Turks from the Sea of Azov, and basically a century later they defeated the Crimean Khanate and established themselves on the north shores of the Black Sea. “Yet it was only early in the 19th century in alliance with the English against Napoleon that the Russian fleet moved into the Mediterranean proper and began to strike an alliance with the Kingdom of Naples, in southern Italy, first against the French then against the English. Russians were expelled from southern Italy only with Garibaldi’s 1860 expedition to the south, backed by the English. … “The present slow but steady encroachment of Russians and Turks in Libya seems to follow the ancient pattern, in a rare historical moment in which Russians and Turks are getting along better with one another and both wary of other threats.”
Read Francesco Sisci’s masterly essay, “A New Great Mediterranean Game,” here.
M.K. Bhadrakumar is a former diplomat who served for more than 29 years as an Indian Foreign Service officer with postings including India’s ambassador to Turkey and Uzbekistan.
This article was produced in partnership by Indian Punchline and Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. | 2,941 |
The reputation of Snapchat as an "ephemeral" photo messaging service took another blow Monday, when the app let it be known that it can — and will — share your snaps and (newly introduced) "stories" with the cops. There are two conditions, though: The snaps can't have been opened by the recipient yet, and law enforcement needs to have a warrant. And while 350 million snaps are now sent every day, Snapchat has turned over unopened snaps to law enforcement "about a dozen times," since May 2013, according to a company blog post.
Civilians can use several methods (as well as a new app called Snaphack) to save snaps, which are designed to disappear 30 seconds after opening, both from the recipient's mobile device and from Snapchat's own servers. The app company says as much in its privacy policy. "We cannot guarantee that deletion always occurs within a particular time frame. We also cannot prevent others from making copies of your Snaps (e.g., by taking a screenshot)."
When it comes to the cops however, "unopened" is the key word here, as Snapchat's Micah Schaffer explains. "Snaps are deleted from our servers after they are opened by their recipients," he writes in the blog post. Snapchat stories — sets of daily snaps that can be viewed by designated recipients repeatedly for a whole day — are a different story. "Unlike unopened snaps, which are stored until viewed or for 30 days if not opened, snaps that have been added to your stories are deleted from our servers after 24 hours."
So unless snaps featured in stories are deleted by the recipient, those images will hang out on the server for 24 hours even after they've been viewed. And if the images are on the server, law enforcement can request a look. What's more, says Snapchat, if law enforcement doesn't yet have a warrant, the company may be legally compelled keep unopened snaps and 24-hour stories on the server past their expiration date, until a warrant can be obtained.
All of this is in keeping with the federal law called the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which "obliges us to produce the snaps to the requesting law enforcement agency," Schaffer writes. What's more, all of this is in keeping with a common-sense law which applies to all social media: Don't post, pic or share anything you don't want your mom to see at your trial.
Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah abut the Internet. Tell her to get a real jobon Twitter and/or Facebook. | 2,942 |
For sale: manufacturing and office facility with 411,618 square feet, state of the art electrical, air, and power distribution systems -- and a troubled past.
As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, Solyndra is reportedly very close to landing a buyer for its mammoth, high-tech production plant in Fremont, Calif. The listing agent recently gave Fox News a tour of what the new owners will get for their multi-million dollar investment.
Though partly covered up by sheets of paper to filter the sunlight, the glass windows of this very "green" building create an atmosphere of gleaming newness. Indeed, Solyndra built the facility from the ground up, spending $300 million for a project that was completed in October, 2010.
During a visit that year, President Obama heralded Solyndra as "proof that the promise of clean energy isn't just an article of faith."
For a time, assembly lines hummed as Solyndra launched its unique technology, producing cylindrical panels of CIGS thin-film solar cells. Work abruptly stopped last September when the company declared bankruptcy, 1,100 people found themselves out of a job, and FBI agents raided the compound. The federal investigation continues into how a start-up that had received a half-billion dollar federal loan guarantee could suddenly fail.
Now the once-bustling offices, conference rooms, and cubicles are eerily quiet as the facility is "decommissioned," according to Greg Matter with Jones Lang LaSalle realty. One wonders about the conversations held, and emails written, in the corner office formerly occupied by CEO Brian Harrison.
Today, the only activity is in the massive production area, which, at 280,000 square feet, could easily contain several football fields. Robotic machines and other equipment sit idle, waiting to be sold at auction next month. A skeleton crew remains on site to maintain the electrical, air, and plumbing systems, and ensure the back-up generators are in working order.
On the roof, Solyndra's distinct solar array is also part of the deal.
Matter says there has been global interest in the property by numerous high-tech manufacturers, primarily from Europe and Asia. The asking price has not been listed, but Matter says there is no other manufacturing property like it for sale in the U.S. He adds any buyer "will get a good deal," and could start production right away.
The sun is setting fast on Solyndra: Matter says he expects to have a deal in place by the end of the year. | 2,943 |
response times aren't better than the 144Hz gaming LCD (11ms vs. 14ms), but frame persistence is basically the same (14ms vs. 15ms), and it's less than a third the frame persistence of DK1.
A few disclaimers are in order, before we wrap up. Futuremark tells us there's still a bit of inconsistency in measuring results on monitors, and they're working to nail that down before the public release. Second, we don't have access to the VR performance testing yet, but that should hopefully come soon. The position of the photodiode also matters, as left and right eyes in VR kits will show different latency, and measuring at the top vs. bottom of a computer display can also skew the results, but we can account for those factors in testing. Then there are the elephants over in the corner: the final launch hardware for HTC Vive and Rift CV1. Given the improvements shown between DK1 and DK2, we're very interested in seeing how CV1 compares, as well as how the Rift and Vive stack up against each other—not to mention other headsets like OSVR.
There are other limitations with VRMark right now. The biggest is that it uses the PC's display output, which means until/unless Futuremark creates a version for iOS/Android, there's no way to run these same tests on things like GearVR—or any of the hundred or more VR headsets being created over in China. Once we have the final software with the performance testing, it's also a return to the age-old problem with 3DMark: What does that score actually mean in practice? We've seen instances where 3DMark may generate a similar score for two graphics solutions, but in real-world gaming tests one of the GPUs is substantially faster. Futuremark will also be looking at ways to evaluate the various APIs (Nvidia VR Works, AMD LiquidVR, the SteamVR SDK, etc.), but those are not yet in place.
Note that VRMark isn't the only VR benchmark in the works; Basemark is working on their VR Score test.
Even with all these caveats, however, VRMark is shaping up to be a useful tool that we can add to our testing suite. It may not answer every question we have when it comes to evaluating VR kits, but more data is never a bad thing. Once we have our own testing kit in hand, stay tuned for a collection of computer display testing results. Are the ultra-low advertised response times of some displays truly better, or is it just marketing hyperbole? We aim to find out. | 2,944 |
first should be placed at the creep equilibrium point, where the edge just allows access to the enemy’s side shop and the majority of the side of the web is in the trees opposite. This allows you to access their secret shop whilst giving you as much room as possible to chase people away from lane whilst still in webs. The next web entirely depends on your success in lane and if the enemy is pushing the creep wave. If the enemy is pushing hard web number 2 is placed in front of your Offlane T1 tower, as you will have to fall back to farm the creeps. If you push the lane, then the web towards their Safelane T1 is the best bet, as you again, need to follow the farm in the extremely early game. The order does not matter and you will need to place webs in both places anyway. If necessary on both Offlanes a 4th temporary web can be placed behind their T1 so you can dive the forest, but this is not very common with my playstyle. The 4th web I place is towards the enemy jungle. Radiant offlane is the better option by far as it is only 1 web placement away from the camp, which you can farm with your spiderlings in order to gain extra spiders and to farm whilst the creepwave is under the enemies T1 tower. For Dire offlane, you need to place 2, so make sure that you have time, mana and cooldowns required to place the 2 webs. The idea is still the same though. However for Dire offlane, you can place the web so that it covers both the Medium camp and the top of the Small pull camp through the trees, which you can pass through via web.The red web numbers are the ones you will aim for in the later stages of your brood game, if things are going well. This is where your aim is to dominate the ememy jungle and push the safelane barracks. I have only included 7 for both as it is convenient to have an extra web to place on the map, for example you may be chasing somebody who runs out of webs, or you would like to Solo roshan.Radiant Jungle (Dire offlane Broodmother) : http://oi57.tinypic.com/28uovm.jpg Dire Jungle (Radiant offlane Broodmother) : http://oi60.tinypic.com/mi1k6p.jpg Please comment on my guide and let me know what changes you would recommend for my build and playstyle, and give an appropriate rating. Thanks and enjoy the tears of your enemies :P :] / | 2,945 |
The Swedish doom masters Candlemass return with The Pendulum, an EP of unused tracks from The Door to Doom recording sessions.
Described by Leif Edling as “the last piece of the puzzle,” it is apparent that The Door to Doom may have been thought to be a double length. I won’t go into the vast history of Candlemass and suffice it to say that they are monstrously worth their salt in the doom kingdom. There are endless bands that Candlemass have inspired and therefore they deserve a seat as one of metal’s kingdoms.
We begin with the title track where Johan’s dramatic vocals are intersected by a weighty rhythm section with Jan Lindh at the seat of the massive percussive sound and Leif’s beautification bass lines. The song quickly veers into the thrash realm and showcases Mats Björkman and Lars “Lasse” Johansson’s riffing.
“Snakes of Goliath” is quite possibly the most Black Sabbath-ian influence ever (especially “Electric Funeral”), And why not, considering Tony Iommi features on album one in the song “Astorulus- The Great Octopus.” It is a bludgeoning heavy and thunderous piece.
“Sub Zero” is an acoustic and bass instrumental number, an intermission of sorts in it’s very brevity. “Aftershock” is a meaty fuzzed out groove provind how deep the sound can go and again a brief number and it ends much like the last sound we all heard from Lemmy Kilmister’s bass upon his passing.
“Porcelain Skull” was all right, more Sabbath-like grooves and psychedelic, heavy guitar, but for whatever reason I find the vocals a bit awkward as it doesn’t seem to fit the backdrop of the instruments.
Finally, we exit with the piano/acoustic number “The Cold Room.” It is a forlorn and melancholy moment as befits its title and is a quiet passage that heads off into an unknown realm.
Candlemass do not drown you in waves, but they carry you along their currents.
The Pendulum is out March 27 on Napalm Records. Pre-order it here!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candlemass/
Web: http://www.candlemass.se/doom/
| 2,946 |
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The Premier League's clubs are set for a revolution in reserve and youth team football.
They have been given a set of proposals to try to improve the current set-up, which has come under fire from managers and led to the death of the old-fashioned reserve leagues.
Arsenal's Arsene Wenger is one of the high-profile bosses to have attacked the current Under-21 league - won last season by Manchester United - while Chelsea now feel forced to send their young players out on loan to foreign or lower-league clubs.
But Mirror Sport can reveal the list of ideas includes:
A FULL reserve league - nicknamed Premier League II - which will mirror the clubs' first team fixtures.
FIVE over-21 players will be allowed in matches, as well as a senior goalkeeper, to encourage youth development.
A TELEVISION contract which will feature live games shown at prime-time, including on Friday nights.
MATCHES will be played in clubs' main stadiums, with reduced ticket prices to encourage fans to attend.
BIG prize money of around £3million for the eventual champions to encourage clubs not to loan out their best up-and-coming players.
It is also understood the academy systems at Premier League clubs will be given an overhaul, with teams set to be under-17s and under-19s rather than the current U16s and U18s.
That is designed to give more youngsters a chance to succeed and prove themselves rather than being shown the door at 18.
(Image: AFP/Getty)
It is understood a circular has gone round to the clubs and with discussions underway there is certain to be a major shake-up.
The Premier League has confirmed there are proposals on the table as they try to boost youth development in English football.
It is also a welcome boost for clubs who, from next season, will no longer be able to loan out players midway through the season because world governing body FIFA is scrapping the "emergency loan" system.
The ideas are likely to be voted on in the near future with the suggestion the new-look reserve league could come in for the 2017-18 season.
The old-style Football Combination reserve league is remembered for helping produce young players through the system up until the 1980s, and that could now be on the way back. | 2,947 |
�Connor was just busting out and running around for the Wallabies, this tousle-haired 20-year-old, equal parts Justin Bieber and Tim Horan, Inside Sport put him on the cover, the first rugby union player in four years. Six months later he was the face of Swisse, the vitamin mob, heir apparent to Ricky Ponting. Perhaps it was coincidence…
But you can bet the Australia-centric Australian Football League – which kicks off an eight-team women’s competition next year – and the National Rugby League – which owns touch football – is watching. Caslick and a few of her team-mates came from touch footy. And they chose rugby sevens because, as Caslick says, they’d “done everything there was in touch”.
Aussie rules, rugby league and touch footy, by dint of their limited global appeal, have a ceiling. And rugby sevens has the Olympic Games.
If there’s a criticism of rugby in Rio, and it’s a valid one, is that the 15,000 capacity Deodoro Stadium never looked full, even for the gold medal matches. Pre-Games, organisers proclaimed that 70% of tickets had been sold. If that was true, some didn’t turn up. There was good noise made by those who were there. But the matches didn’t have that “thick” or “close” atmosphere big games can. You could put it down to Brazilians going through their worst recession since 1901. But it wasn’t a good look.
There’ll be a better look – and a better idea of where sevens rugby stands in the Australian sports-consumption market – when ARU hosts its Sydney Sevens in February 2017. Last time it was almost sold-out for two days, with nearly 80,000 party people dressing up and drinking down and watching footy in the hot Aussie sun.
And then, of course, there’s Tokyo, and the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020. And they’ll just about fill the 45,000-seat Tokyo Stadium every day. The Cherry Blossoms (XVs) beat South Africa in the last World Cup. Millions of Japanese watched their sevens team beat New Zealand in Rio. These are the two biggest things to ever happen in Japanese rugby. Eddie Jones’s head was put on billboards 30m high. Japan is mad for it.
And rugby sevens is coming. | 2,948 |
The NFL Network's NFL GameDay Morning came right out the gate Sunday morning to address Donald Trump's various tweets over the weekend that called for the league to fire players who take a knee during the national anthem.
The show's host, Rich Eisen, ended the panel discussion by speaking directly to Trump, while passionately trying to explain why some players have decided to protest in the way that they have.
"I guess to wrap it up, I just wanna say one thing because I know the President has been known to watch television, to monitor the way things that are going on in the country, statements that he’s said, how it’s playing out in the media. And should that be the case, that he’s chosen this day, where politics and sports are mixed together, chosen this show, we are the first on the air, I just wanted to say this in case the President of the United States is out there. Offensive speech should not be tolerated in this country and offensive behavior that tears down the fabric of this country, like we saw in Charlottesville, should be called out.
What is going on on the field in the National Football League while the national anthem is being played is not that. It’s not that. And what it is are people that are not trying to offend when they are taking a knee or sitting down during the national anthem. What they are, are people offended by their American experience, their American experience that perhaps you, Mr. President, or many of us have not experienced personally. And this is a moment when they are taking a knee and when they are sitting down, they are doing so to spark a conversation, to spark a dialogue, which is the most democratic thing that can be done in this country.
That is why an American flag, literally the size of a football field can be unfurled on a football field during the national anthem, as we saw on Thursday Night Football in Santa Clara. That is why that can be unfurled and many of us can stand, I’m one of those who stand, and some can sit and take a knee. And that is something to which I may not relate, but it is something I can see and try and understand and listen to have the conversation. That is what you said, Kurt [Warner], is liberty and justice for all. That is what the democracy is about, an American experience that is better for all, governing for all. That is what this is about. And today hopefully will turn out to be a day of unity in the National Football League and through the sports world." | 2,949 |
The omission of new gross domestic product growth targets “was meant to better carry out our new development principle,” the vice minister of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs said. Above, a cargo ship loaded with containers to be shipped abroad berths at the Port of Qingdao in Shandong province on July 13. Photo: IC
The omission of new economic-growth targets in China’s latest development blueprint reflects top leaders’ determination to prioritize the quality of growth over speed, a senior official said Thursday.
President Xi Jinping did not mention a long-term target of domestic gross product (GDP) growth beyond 2020 last week, when he unveiled the road map for the country’s economy through 2050 at the twice-a-decade National Party Congress.
As the second-largest economy after the U.S., China’s official growth targets are always closely watched globally. In previous party congresses, top leaders had announced its goal of doubling China’s GDP and per-capita income by 2020 from 2010.
“China’s economy has transitioned into a stage of high-quality development from the stage of high-speed growth,” Yang Weimin, vice minister of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs, told reporters.
The omission of new targets “was meant to better carry out our new development principle,” Yang said.
“We must address imbalances and insufficiencies in the economy through (improving) quality, efficiency and (growth) drivers,” he added.
At last week’s congress, Xi said his government will build the nation into a “basically” modernized socialist country by 2035 and a “global leader” in terms of “national strength and international influence” by 2050.
Premier Li Keqiang in March announced China aims to achieve a GDP growth of “around 6.5% or higher if possible in practice”. The goal is set to be reached as cumulative GDP for the first nine months rose by 6.9%.
But the sustainability of growth remains a concern for top leaders, and the government has been pressing ahead with its so-called supply-side reform, which has so far focused on cutting excess industrial capacity such as coal and metals, and deleveraging the economy, especially the financial sector, local governments and state-owned enterprises.
Contact reporter Fran Wang ([email protected]) | 2,950 |
As Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker struggles to fend off a challenge from Democrat Mary Burke, the ultraconservative Republican is attempting to refashion himself as a rare GOP voice of moderation in the culture wars. But Walker’s attempts to rhetorically walk back has hardline views on social issues don’t portend a kinder, gentler governor. It’s all subterfuge, designed to obscure his Santorumesque views on reproductive rights and LGBT equality.
Speaking with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s editorial board this week, Walker dodged questions on contraception and abortion rights, stating at one point that he’d defer to the Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion before fetal viability and refusing to take a position on contraceptive coverage. But as the Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett points out, Walker has opposed abortion rights even in cases of rape and incest, endorsed “personhood” legislation, sponsored a bill that would allow pharmacists to decline to fill contraception prescriptions, sponsored legislation that would ban abortion even before fetal viability, and, as governor, has ended enforcement of Wisconsin’s birth control coverage requirement. While Walker was happy to stake out positions on these issues in the past, the candidate for re-election grew miffed when the Journal-Sentinel asked him about reproductive rights, suggesting that the editorial board was diverting attention from “the issues that matter.”
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Meanwhile, Walker’s views on LGBT issues are also in lockstep with the socially conservative wing of the GOP. After the Supreme Court let stand a series of lower court decisions in favor marriage equality, paving the way for same-sex marriages to begin in Wisconsin, Walker acknowledge that the fight was “over” in his state. But a concession to reality does not an LGBT rights supporter make. Walker continues to oppose marriage equality himself, and he has refused to endorse federal legislation that would ban employment discrimination against LGBT workers. If the governor wins re-election – and at this point, that’s an increasingly iffy if – he’s unlikely to undergo a personal evolution on LGBT issues, given that he’ll probably make a bid for the GOP presidential nomination, which will require courting socially conservative voters.
For now, though, Walker must win over voters in a swing state that hasn’t supported a GOP presidential nominee since 1984. He’s pragmatic enough to realize that he can’t win such a state by running as a bombastic culture warrior, but that doesn’t change the fundamental contours of his worldview. | 2,951 |
The Trump administration appears to be granting Chinese banks dealing with North Korea a temporary reprieve from threatened U.S. sanctions to give Beijing time to show it is serious about enforcing new U.N. steps against Pyongyang, U.S. officials said.
The White House has also held off on much-anticipated trade action against China after Beijing backed U.N. Security Council sanctions passed on Saturday, although it is unclear how long President Donald Trump will delay this given domestic pressures to make good on campaign promises to crack down on unfair trade practices.
Washington has made clear it is reluctant, for the moment, to take steps that would antagonize China when its cooperation is needed to tighten the screws on its ally and neighbor North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.
U.S. officials and U.N. diplomats say the threat of unilateral U.S. "secondary sanctions" against Chinese firms with North Korean ties and trade pressure from Washington helped persuade China to drop opposition to the new U.N. sanctions.
"It played an important role to get China on board," one diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The 15 Security Council members voted unanimously on Saturday to impose the toughest U.N. sanctions yet on North Korea after it tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in July. The measures are designed to choke off a third of North Korea's $3 billion annual export revenue.
China, North Korea's main trading partner, has pledged to enforce the new sanctions but some critics are skeptical given what is widely seen as Beijing's lax policing of existing restrictions.
Influential Chinese state-run tabloid the Global Times, published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, said in a Wednesday editorial that sanctions would not stop Pyongyang's determination on its weapons' programs.
"The U.S. asks China for help when it cannot solve its problems with North Korea. Some U.S. elites even want to urge China to claim full responsibility for the issue or they will threaten to retaliate," it said.
"Moreover, those U.S. elites may not have considered the leverage China has over the U.S. What if China restricts the usage of iPhones and the number of Chinese students to the U.S., or imports fewer US agricultural products?"
Adding to the sense of urgency, Trump warned on Tuesday Pyongyang "will be met with fire and fury" if it threatened the United States. Earlier Pyongyang said it was ready to give Washington a "severe lesson" with its strategic nuclear force in response to any U.S. military action. | 2,952 |
is an environmentalist and, as the founder of waterdefense.org, is very outspoken about water issues in communities of color. Besides working towards a world where more people have access to clean water, Mark is also a long-time supporter of the ACA. In a 2013 interview with Bill Maher, he compared healthcare to warfare. Mark said, “we don’t blink an eye at the money that we have been spending on perpetual warfare… but when we’re talking about healthcare, which is our people and their well-being, we’re shocked that it should cost us some money.”
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson has always been a politically active actress, using her fame to support numerous causes, including healthcare. She also co-founded Voto Latino in 2004 to empower Latinos to be agents of change. Her nonprofit is very active when it comes to healthcare including their support of CHIP and Planned Parenthood — and Rosario has continuously been a supporter of the ACA over the years.
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman does not shy away from Internet trolling, especially around causes she feels passionate about. She engages with people who aggressively disagree with her, and playfully challenges on topics relating to healthcare. Sarah also spoke out regarding efforts to repeal the ACA, emphasizing that it doesn’t matter what the law is called because ultimately it helps people stay healthier.
Sophia Bush
Sophia Bush is a longtime activist and proponent of the ACA. She has used her social media presence as a megaphone to reach her followers directly, proving herself remarkably skilled at online activism. Sophia’s viral video about birth control, which explains why it’s not just a contraceptive but is also a basic right for anyone with health coverage, was the perfect showcase for her effectiveness as an activist pushing the ideas she is passionate about.
Trevor Noah
As the host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah has covered the Affordable Care Act and the healthcare issues that he’s passionate about — you can check out his ACA vs. Obamacare video here. His videos, both entertaining and informative, have received critical acclaim. In 2017, Trevor won the Best Short Form Variety Series award for “The Daily Show’s” web exclusive “Between the Scenes” segment.
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All of these celebrities use their platform to stand up for what they believe in, and we encourage you to follow them across social. Also, remember to enroll in coverage during this short Open Enrollment Period, November 1st – December 15th. | 2,953 |
GAZA (Reuters) - An Islamist militant killed a Hamas security official on the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt on Thursday in what was described as the first suicide bombing against Hamas.
Slideshow ( 6 images )
Hamas, which runs Gaza and has an uneasy truce with Israel, has stepped up patrols on the frontier aiming to prevent hardline Sunni Muslim Jihadist Salafis moving to and from the Sinai peninsula, where Islamic State insurgents have battled Egyptian troops for years.
Hamas has also worked to prevent Jihadist Salafis from breaching the truce that ended its 2014 war with Israel, Gaza’s other neighbor.
“A security force stopped two persons who approached the border. One of them blew himself up and was killed. The other was wounded,” the Hamas-run interior ministry said in a statement.
It said several Hamas security officials were hurt, and hospital officials told reporters that one of them died of his wounds.
A Jihadist Salafi group claimed the men who clashed with Hamas as its members, saying they tried to reach Sinai so as to attack Israel from there. Israel and Egypt have been cooperating in Cairo’s crackdown on Islamic State in Sinai.
“The brothers didn’t find a place to breathe in Gaza, so they headed toward the Sinai front to take part in the fight against the Jews and those who protect them there,” said a statement posted on a pro-Salafi website, Ibn Taymia Media Center.
The two men, it said, wore bomb belts in anticipation of being “met by the bullets of those who guard the Jews and (Egyptian President Abdel Fattah) al-Sisi”. Security sources in Gaza described the incident as the first suicide bombing against Hamas.
Hamas has been pursuing improved relations with Egypt, which keeps its border crossing with Gaza largely shut. Cairo has accused the group in the past of aiding Sinai militants. Hamas has denied those allegations.
Gaza’s Salafis are proponents of global holy war endorsed by Islamic State and al Qaeda.
Hamas, which has carried out suicide bombings in Israel in the past, seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. It has shown little tolerance for Salafi movements, detaining many of their members and raiding homes in searches for weapons.
In a statement, Hamas’s armed wing said it would “not hesitate to defend our people, our land and to protect the project of resistance against all threats”. | 2,954 |
, and Hermione out of the way before attacking us. Shaker tables rattle the cars before we go through the Thief's Downfall, with its fogscreen and water spritzers.
Perched on the edge of a cliff, trolls attack again, knocking us off the cliff as the motion base shakes our car, simulating a free fall. Fortunately, Bill Weasley comes to our rescue, saving us before we hit the cavern's bottom. Unfortunately, the white dragon from the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is waiting for us, attacking us with its fire breath. Bill casts an aguamenti spell to save us, again, as guards run into the scene, shooting at us and the dragon.
The dragon climbs away, and we're launched into the next scene, which will bring us to Sirius Black's Vault. We hit a fog blast before entering the vault, where we see illuminated treasure ahead. The car makes a turn to the right, where the physical show scenery opens up a bit, with a large vault area projected along the far wall. We then bear to the left, turning into the next scene, where Bellatrix reappears, casting the Avada Kedavra killing curse at us. Voldemort and Nagini also appear, as he, too, casts the Avada Kedavra at us.
Escaping the killing curses, our car shoots around the corner into the next scene, inside a large 360-degree projection dome. With lava pouring around the darkened room, Harry arrives, riding the dragon. With Bellatrix hiding behind him, Voldemort attacks the dragon, which fights back with his fire breath. Harry then throws a chain onto our car, to haul us out of danger as he flies the dragon away, and Voldemort and Bellatrix disapparate. A Kuka arm pulls away part of the screen, clearing the path to launch us up through a dark tunnel into the final scene. (This is the first change in actual track elevation since the ride's initial drop.)
In the final scene, Harry, Bill, Ron, and Hermione bids us farewell on a screen behind a knocked-out wall, before we emerge back into the loading station. Once out of our car, we will exit down another spiral staircase into the gift shop.
In short, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is Revenge of the Mummy meets Transformers: The Ride 3D, with a Harry Potter theme. So, who's ready to ride?
Previously:
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Legends of Tomorrow boss addresses returns of Amaya, Rip, and more
Arrow type TV Show network The CW genre Superhero
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow ended its third season Monday by sending the show in an entirely new direction — but one that fans worried wouldn’t include Amaya and Rip.
During the season finale, Amaya (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) ultimately decided to leave the Waverider and return to her village. But, as EW previously revealed, Richardson-Sellers is not leaving the show.
“Yes, Maisie will absolutely be back,” executive producer Marc Guggenheim told EW on our SiriusXM radio show Superhero Insider on Friday. “We just felt like we owed it to the character to complete this arc, complete this story loop that we got her in. Once we took her off of her path in 1942, it was always incumbent upon us to return her to that path. That was something that hung over us as writers, and hung over the character… I’m looking forward to a different storyline for Amaya next year. We’ll reveal our plans for Maisie’s character at Comic-Con this year.”
Rip (Arthur Darvill), meanwhile, sacrificed himself to buy the Legends time to escape from Mallus, though Guggenheim says it’s likely we will see the character again. “We love Arthur, we love having Arthur on the show, and I think Arthur enjoys being on the show,” Guggenheim says. “Because it’s a time travel show, and because we never saw a body, anything is possible. I think Arthur is totally willing to come back and play with us if we have a cool idea.”
In our full interview, Guggenheim also discusses the return of Courtney Ford in season 4, the upcoming Arrow finale and next season’s crossover. Plus: Kyle Anderson and Natalie Abrams break down this week’s episodes of The Flash, Black Lightning and Arrow. Click below to listen to this week’s Superhero Insider, which airs every Friday at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s Ch. 105.
Supergirl returns Monday at 8 p.m. ET, The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Black Lightning at 9 p.m. ET., and Arrow airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. | 2,956 |
One of Banksy's most famous pieces is now underwater following massive flooding in Venice. As the city faces its worst floods in 50 years, the artwork of a child refugee has slowly become submerged.
Italy has declared a state of emergency as the historic city faced "apocalyptic" flooding in its famous basilica, squares and centuries-old buildings. The damage will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to repair, and now a poignant Banksy piece may become another cultural casualty of the rising water levels.
The artwork depicts a migrant child wearing a life jacket and signaling for help with a neon pink flare. Photographs of the piece on Friday show the child partially submerged in water beside one of the city's canals.
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The piece first appeared during the prestigious Venice Biennale earlier this year. The elusive street artist confirmed the work belonged to him on Instagram in May.
Banksy's migrant child mural is partially submerged in Venice, Italy, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019. Luca Bruno / AP
Exceptionally high tides continued to plague Venice on Friday, prompting Mayor Luigi Brugnaro to close the iconic St. Mark's Square. St. Mark's Basilica, a structure that dates back around 1,000 years, has been flooded just six times in its history — twice in the last two years.
Residents in the picturesque city are used to the canals inching higher every year around this time. But this year has brought the second-worst flooding since record-keeping began.
"This is the result of climate change," Brugnaro said bluntly on Twitter.
According to a recent study, rising sea levels are on track to affect about three times more people by 2050 than originally thought. New research suggests that 300 million homes will be affected by coastal flooding in the next 30 years.
And that number could rise to 630 million by the year 2100 if carbon emissions don't decrease. New estimates mean rising seas will cause more damage, cost more money and impact more communities than ever before.
A U.N. climate change report released in September also highlighted the severe consequences of rising waters.
"Extreme sea-level events, such as surges from tropical cyclones, that are currently historically rare (for example today's hundred-year event) will become common by 2100 under all emissions scenarios due to increasing global mean sea level rise," the report stated. "Under all future emissions scenarios, many low-lying megacities and small islands at almost all latitudes will experience such events annually by 2050." | 2,957 |
RTÉ HAS CONFIRMED it received twenty complaints relating to the appearance of Katie Hopkins on last Friday’s Late Late Show in the wake of the broadcast.
1,664 emails criticising the decision to book the controversial TV personality were received before Friday night, after a social media campaign was organised to protest the State broadcaster’s decision.
Those who sent in emails before the broadcast received responses from RTÉ saying that their emails couldn’t be regarded as complaints as they did not yet refer “to a broadcast which has taken place”.
A spokesperson for RTÉ confirmed that only complaints submitted after a broadcast are counted as formal complaints. Just twenty such complaints relating to Hopkins’ appearance were received.
I've sent a complaint to RTÉ about Katie Hopkins' Late Late appearance. Maybe you'll consider doing so too. [email protected] pic.twitter.com/pT3zYmy5Ym — Alan (@alan_maguire) November 9, 2016 Source: November Alan /Twitter
Right-wing
Hopkins is known for her controversial views on issues surrounding class, race and gender. She was a vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the US, as well as Britain’s decision to leave the EU.
Last month, the Council of Europe branded an infamous article by Hopkins as hate speech. In the piece, which was entitled “Rescue boats? I’d use gunships to stop migrants”, Hopkins referred to would-be refugees as “cockroaches”.
Much of the controversy surrounding her appearance on the Late Late centred on whether the national broadcaster should give her a platform to share her views.
Last Friday’s show opened with Hopkins and journalist Colette Browne discussing the US election result.
Hopkins celebrated Trump’s victory, and also took aim at the media coverage of the election. When asked about the prospect of the National Front’s Marine le Pen becoming French president following next year’s election, Hopkins said “the rise of the right is a fantastic thing”.
She also called herself a “proud Brexiteer” and thanked Americans who had voted for Donald Trump, closed by saying his campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”.
The RTÉ spokesperson said that the broadcaster would respond to the complaints received since the broadcast “in due course”. According to its website, all complaints received will be responded to within 20 working days. | 2,958 |
How can Canadians trust the media if tons of media employees are represented by a group pledging to defeat the Conservatives?
Jerry Dias – the head of the massive Unifor Union which represents over 10,000 Canadian journalists – is calling himself part of ‘the resistance’ to Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.
Here’s what Unifor tweeted:
“Unifor’s National Executive Board started planning for the federal election today @AndrewScheer #canlab #canpoli”
And here’s what Dias tweeted:
“We will #StopScheerStupidity! @AndrewScheer”
As Candice Malcolm noted, it’s a big problem:
“This man heads a union that claims to represent 13,000 Canadian journalists. And he’s declared war against Conservatives in Canada. This is a threat to our democracy and a disgrace to the journalism profession.”
This man heads a union that claims to represent 13,000 Canadian journalists. And he's declared war against Conservatives in Canada. This is a threat to our democracy and a disgrace to the journalism profession. https://t.co/Z4YhzywYTb — Candice Malcolm (@CandiceMalcolm) November 15, 2018
Malcolm is correct. It’s dangerous, and it’s a disgrace.
And it raises the obvious question: How can Canadians trust the media after this?
We keep getting told by the elites that the media is ‘unbiased’ and that questioning the media is unacceptable.
But how can the media be unbiased if tens of thousands of them are represented by a union pledging to destroy the Conservatives?
It’s a total conflict of interest, and it’s why trust in the media is collapsing. People can see past the lies. People can see the bias. And people can see that Conservative Canadians never get a fair shake from the press.
The bias is endemic, and it’s only getting worse, which is why websites like SpencerFernando.com are so important.
Spencer Fernando
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday urged the Trump administration not to waive or remove sanctions on Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska or two companies he controls.
Slideshow ( 2 images )
In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Senator Bob Menendez cited unspecified reports that Treasury was considering such a move and noted the department’s own analysis says the oligarch is accused of crimes from blackmail to murder.
“I see no reason to remove sanctions against Mr. Deripaska, and until he divests from and relinquishes control of Rusal and EN+, there is no justification to remove the sanctions on those companies,” he wrote.
The U.S. Treasury Department last month postponed a Dec. 12 deadline for Deripaska to reduce his holdings in the companies, giving the Russian tycoon until Jan. 7.
Treasury in April imposed the sanctions on Deripaska and several companies in which he is a large shareholder, citing “malign activities” by Russia as well as allegations of past crimes by Deripaska himself.
Deripaska was one of 24 Russians - allies of President Vladimir Putin - slapped with sanctions in one of Washington’s most aggressive moves to punish Moscow for its alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and other “malign activity.”
Russian election-related activities, including any coordination with the campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump, are being investigated by a federal special counsel.
In his letter, Menendez outlined Deripaska’s close ties with the Kremlin and said changes to the sanctions would meet with strong opposition in Congress.
Rusal is the world’s largest aluminum producer outside China.
“The goal is not to put EN+ or Rusal out of business given the global implications for the aluminum industry and the potential impact on our close allies in Europe,” Menendez said.
But the Treasury Department must ensure that Deripaska relinquishes his control of both entities and no longer benefits from them, he said.
“Putin’s aggression against us and our allies cannot go unchecked,” Menendez said. How Treasury handles Deripaska and his companies “exercise will shape our perceptions about the Administration’s seriousness in implementing the Russia sanctions regime.”
The federal government was closed on Wednesday for the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush and a Treasury spokesman did not return a call seeking comment. | 2,960 |
November 2000 and December 2009 were both supposed to be our last, best chance to save the planet from climate disaster.
Two days ago, a headline at the BBC threatened us with climate disaster. We were advised that this moment – October 2018 – is our final call at the Last Chance Saloon. Either we turn our economies and societies upside down, making “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society,” or things get ugly.
Yeah, right. What’s really going on is that a UN entity called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has finished yet another report that’s being used to hype yet another UN climate summit. You know, the summit that takes place at the end of every single calendar year.
Back in November 2000 – nearly two decades ago – we were similarly threatened. On that occasion, we were told that “our children and grandchildren…will look back on November 2000 as the month when Britain, America and the world failed to take the last, best chance to bring global warming under control.”
In between the fake 2000 crisis and today’s hype, there was also the December 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen. Matters were urgent then, too. 56 newspapers in 45 countries published a joint editorial insisting humanity’s chances of sidestepping permanent disaster would be “determined in the next 14 days.” History would judge the current generation, intoned these newspapers, based on what occurred during those two weeks.
The UK Telegraph wasn’t one of these 56 newspapers, but it likewise non-skeptically quoted Lord Stern calling Copenhagen the “most important gathering since the second world war, given what is at stake”.
There’s absolutely nothing new going on here, folks. UN drama queens. Silly reporters. Media outlets insulting our intelligence by recycling the same hyperbole over and over again.
So enjoy a beverage at the saloon this evening. But don’t pay the slightest attention to the doom mongers or the killjoys. I promise you: five years from now the headlines will say exactly the same thing.
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that might prove it,” he says.
According to Penn, this process could very easily dissuade people from joining campaigns, presidential administrations, or other parts of the government, because it will lead them to believe that to do so could put them at risk of facing costly legal fees, FBI investigation, and possible prosecution. “We can’t run a campaign, democracy, or government under this kind of open-ended investigation,” he argues.
Even on top of these fundamental concerns, though, Penn says that the evidence that has emerged over the course of the investigation — from the muddy origins of the probe to the fact that the “Steele dossier” on Trump was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC to the politically charged texts between FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI counsel Lisa Page — confirms his worst suspicions.
“The fact that so many of the prosecutors here are not only contributing Democrats, but are even represented by the Clinton Foundation, is incredible,” Penn says. “To think that that’s a team that is supposed to make the investigation seem unbiased is incredible.”
“I think we should always look skeptically at investigations of campaigns and new governments to begin with,” he adds. “But when all this other material came out, there are enough real, incontrovertible facts that made me double down in my belief that this was taking the country down the wrong path.”
To those on the left who continue to view this investigation as a tool to defeat a president they abhor, Penn says, “What goes around comes around. What happened in ’98 was wrong. What’s happening here is wrong. We don’t want this to go into another, third cycle where it’s always about payback against campaigns that win.”
This time around, many Republicans evidently have found Penn’s arguments — the very same arguments that he and other Democrats made two decades ago, when the shoe was on the other foot — to be useful. That much of the Right now embraces Penn’s perspective in defense of Trump is a testament to how much the GOP has changed since that era, and that change must be personally gratifying. He says that some Republicans have even apologized to him for the staunchly anti-Clinton, pro-impeachment stance they took in 1998, now that they’ve seen the harms of such an investigation from the other side.
NOW WATCH: ‘When Liberals Attacked an Independent Counsel’ | 2,962 |
And once again about Airdrop. In simple terms, to make off money you go to a job; to make off cryptocurrency you can just…Wait for it to appear in your crypto wallet. Which begs the question, why would coin teams decide on crypto charity and support a wide range of people just like that? Marketing is the key answer. After receiving some unexpected tokens, the first thing you are likely to do is to go on the internet to find out more about them.
Basically, there are 2 types of Airdrop tokens sharing one same idea — Airdrop tokens are meant to provide their owners with a service referred to a blockchain product which they present.
You can receive tokens which do not have any real value. Usually, they are used as an ICOs advertisement with a pure hope to grow the network without having a complete or interesting blockchain product. You can rarely find these tokens being listed on crypto exchanges. Let’s be honest, random holders of such tokens are not sufficiently incentivized to become a part of that. You can receive tokens which prove their value. Let us explain by using an example of our EOSISH tokens Airdrop. On the 12th of September 2018 the MyWish team has launched a new token specially for the EOS Smart Contracts. It is important to note that a separate domain was created in order to identify it as a serious project which has no other competitors. EOSISH tokens are used specially to pay for Smart Contracts creation on the EOS ecosystem.
EOSISH is being listed on 2 exchanges — Chaince and NewDex.
Let us remind you a simple formula: EOS + WISH = EOSISH
EOSISH is the result of a great airdrop program when EOS Token holders received 40%, just like the WISH Token holders.
Due to our EOSISH tokens having a real value, we are not willing to send you more than you currently have in your unstake EOS or WISH tokens. People pay in crypto to secure their assets by getting themselves a smart contract. EOSISH Airdrop participants receive this possibility for free. Please, respect our decision to count unstake tokens only. The process of a smart contract deployment takes lots of resources and demands a hard job of the whole team of talented developers.
MyWish wants you to know that we created our platform to work on the most reliable and trustworthy blockchain product. Therefore if you have any questions or a feedback, please, do not hesitate to contact us via telegram or e-mail [email protected]. | 2,963 |
WASHINGTON — The United States has leveled its "heaviest sanctions ever" against North Korea, targeting the regime's shipping and trading abilities, President Donald Trump said Friday at the tail end of an address to a conservative gathering.
According to early excerpts from the president's remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump was expected to announce the new "largest ever" package of sanctions against the North timed just as the Winter Olympics come to a close in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang. The president, however, gave his administration's actions to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions only a brief mention toward the end of his speech, which lasted well over an hour.
"Hopefully something positive can happen," Trump said. "But that was just announced and I want to let you know. We have imposed the heaviest sanctions ever imposed."
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Asked Friday afternoon what he would do if the new sanctions don't work to curtail North Korea's aggression, Trump said a "phase two" could be the next step.
"Phase two may be a very rough thing, may be very unfortunate for the world," Trump told reporters at the White House.
In his prepared CPAC remarks, Trump noted that the sanctions targeting 56 total shipping companies, businesses and shipping vessels will "further cut off sources of revenue and fuel that the regime uses to fund its nuclear program and sustain its military."
One day earlier, Vice President Mike Pence used his platform at the conference to remind attendees that the United States "doesn't stand with murderous dictatorships, we stand up to murderous dictatorships." Pence's comments come after his trip to the Olympic opening ceremonies earlier this month, where he sat during the playing of the North Korean national anthem.
Despite the tough talk, however, the vice president's office later confirmed to NBC News that a pre-planned meeting in Pyeongchang between Pence and North Korean delegates (including North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yong Nam) was derailed because North Korea backed out hours before the meeting was set to take place.
Trump's remarks Friday, in which he careened between a scripted speech and off-the-cuff commentary, were reminiscent of the campaign rallies that propelled him into office and dominated cable news throughout the 2016 election. He reiterated promises to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and gave a dramatic reading of a song called "The Snake" meant to teach a lesson on the need for greater border security. | 2,964 |
A report this week that the onetime CEO of coffee titan Starbucks, Howard Schultz, is weighing an independent bid for the presidency brought a two-word reaction from the Democratic Party chairwoman in Washington state:
"Please. Don't."
EX-STARBUCKS CHIEF HINTS AT POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS
"Too much is at stake to make this about the ambitions of any one person," said Democratic Party Chairwoman Tina Podlodowski. In a statement this weekend, she urged him not to put personal ambition ahead of national interest.
"The 2020 race for President has to be about relegating Donald Trump to the dustbin of history, and reclaiming the Oval Office for our people and our future," the statement read.
Her comments come on the heels of a Washington Post report earlier this week saying that Schultz's advisers have been exploring the possibility of an independent candidacy for the White House.
COFFEE GIANT'S CEO STEPPING DOWN
It isn't the first time he has teased a political campaign since stepping down as CEO of Starbucks in 2018.
“I’m thinking about a lot of things,” Schultz told “CBS This Morning” at the opening of a Starbucks store location in Milan, Italy, last year. “I said publicly that perhaps one of them will be public office, but there’s a lot of things I could do, perhaps to help the American people and help people who are not being served by this administration by not running for president. We’ll have to see.”
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The Washington state party chair's comment about the latest hint:
"You claim you're a lifelong Democrat, so if you want to run, run as a Democrat. Invest in the Party's infrastructure so that we can win the White House and the Senate and expand our majority in the House. You can even start at home, with the Washington State Democratic Party. Let's meet and I'll tell you about the programs we've built to run candidates in every race, and every place. We'd love for you to support us. After all, that's what Democrats do -- we work together, using our skills and assets, to put people first and make our country better."
The caution about staging an independent campaign highlights Democratic concerns about a potential split in Dems' vote in the 2020 election, which they fear would propel President Trump to a second term.
Fox News' Kelly Phares contributed to this report. | 2,965 |
Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of now-defunct Mt. Gox, has moved to court, attempting the dismissal of a class-action suit filed against him by the victims of the collapsed exchange.
According to the documents filed on Wednesday in an Illinois district court, Karpeles is demanding a summary judgment relieving him of all charges.
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Gregory Greene, the primary plaintiff of the class action suit, sued Karpeles in 2014 amid loss of his holdings stored at the now-defunct exchange. He alleged that the ex-CEO was involved in “conversion,” and “negligence” or “consumer fraud.”
“Mr. Karpeles should be granted summary judgment in his favor for each of the three counts alleged against Mr. Karpeles in the operative Fourth Amended Complaint…namely Count I for conversion, Count II for negligence, or Count II for Consumer Fraud — for a host of reasons,” the recent filing by attorneys of Karpeles stated.
The doom of a Bitcoin giant
Karpeles ran the Bitcoin exchange from 2011 to 2014 as its CEO and was also its largest shareholder. Once the leading exchange in terms of Bitcoin trades, its popularity took a hit amid an attack in late 2011, resulting in the theft of 850,000 Bitcoin, then worth 450 million. This created a major dent on the books and business of the exchange and finally forced it to shut its trading operations in 2014.
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As hundreds of creditors lost their holdings, many knocked at the courts’ doors while others are still waiting for a refund from the court-appointed rehabilitator.
Notably, last year a Japanese court held Karpeles accountable for data manipulation but acquitted him for embezzlement.
Per the recent filing, the plaintiff’s claims were loose and are not backed by any solid evidence.
“Mr. Greene has no evidence to support a claim for conversion,” the filing added.
“…for the negligence count, Mr. Greene has no supporting evidence and cannot recover under that theory for a purely economic injury…for the consumer fraud count, Mr. Greene directly contradicted the underlying allegations in his Complaint of the purported fraud or deception, thereby dooming his claim.” | 2,966 |
As Kyle has been documenting, there is no shortage of rhetorical excess from right-wing leaders upset about the Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act. But the response from Rick Joyner, head of MorningStar Ministries and the dominionist Oak Initiative, has to be among the most unhinged. Joyner has a penchant for apocalyptic rhetoric, warning of demonic threats and natural disasters facing an unrepentant America.
Joyner is embraced by other right-wing leaders, appearing at the Awakening conferences organized by the Liberty Counsel and the Freedom Federation, a Religious Right super-group of which Joyner’s organization is a member. Sen. Jim DeMint spoke earlier this month at a “Freedom Congress” organized by Joyner.
In a “special bulletin” appropriately titled “Dazed and Confused,” Joyner goes after Chief Justice John Roberts with literally hellish relish. Roberts’ reasoning, he says, “could potentially open the biggest gate of hell into our nation and culture by the Supreme Court since Roe v. Wade” and “has potentially released the most evil hounds from hell against the American people.”
Joyner even suggests that Roberts is, quite literally, on drugs:
It is understandable that some are now making the assertion that Chief Justice Roberts’ medication used to control his epilepsy has taken a toll on his mental abilities and reasoning. Nothing else has come forward as an adequate explanation for why he would be the one to free Obamacare like he did to become the biggest grab of totalitarian power over America in history.
“This decision,” says Joyner, “has deepened our national crisis, and jeopardized our Constitution at a most inopportune and dangerous time.”
It now seems that the American Republic is under unrelenting attack from every possible direction. Let us not faint, but keep in mind that the greatest victories only come when there are great battles. No doubt this will wake up many more Americans to the battle we are in. Great souls run to the sound of battle, not away from it. America still has many great souls who will fight regardless of the odds against them, and who will stand and never surrender for the sake of the freedom that was their birthright. This Supreme Court Decision has only increased the volume of the alarm and we can expect many more to hear it now.
Joyner had much kinder words for Mitt Romney, quoting the candidate’s response to the ruling and his “resolve” to repeal the health care reform law. | 2,967 |
PvP
For PvP, Bant and multi’s numbers are a useful starting point. However, there are key differences between PvE and PvP to consider. These are covered in the following subsections, broken down by role.
Damage Dealers Stat Priority
Critical Rating, Accuracy Rating (+0–10% Accuracy, depending on discipline and preference), Alacrity Rating (≥7.15% or ≥15.41% Alacrity, depending on discipline) then Mastery.
In PvE, the optimal value of Critical Rating differs by discipline but is always less than 1,900 (at item rating 248). You can afford to stack more Critical Rating in PvP than you would in PvE. In PvP, the magnitude and frequency of critical hits matter a lot more than in PvE. In PvE, where boss health pools are much larger and time to kill (TTK) is much higher, sustained damage is the most important metric. For PvP, it is important to grasp the concept of burst damage—maximising damage in small windows (e.g., during a 4-second hard stun). A critical hit can take a significant fraction of a player’s health pool and can be the difference between securing a kill and not.
In PvE, all DPS disciplines stack 759 Accuracy Rating (+9.22% Accuracy) to overcome operations bosses’ innate +10% chance to defend against all four attack types. In PvP, optimal values of Accuracy Rating vary by discipline. If most of your damage comes from Force or tech abilities, Accuracy Rating is a poor investment. If your attacks are primarily melee- or ranged-typed, you can benefit from at least +5% Accuracy to overcome players’ innate +5% Melee Parry and Ranged Deflect.
Ideal values of Alacrity Rating also differ by discipline. The most important thing to realise about Alacrity is that the global cooldown is rounded up to the nearest tenth of a second. Therefore, you want to aim for values of Alacrity Rating that correspond to either ≥7.15% Alacrity (a 1.4s GCD) or ≥15.41% Alacrity (a 1.3s GCD). Any Alacrity Rating over these breakpoints is wasted. See our article Alacrity and the Global Cooldown for more information.
Mastery is your last priority. It increases your Bonus Damage and Critical Chance and can be stacked once you’ve met the optimal values of Critical Rating, Accuracy Rating (if applicable) and Alacrity Rating. | 2,968 |
A small maltese dog named Soshe has been reunited with her owners after spending a week on a floating sofa after floods, brought on by Hurricane Florence, devastated parts of North Carolina last month.
Soshe’s owner, who was out of the state at the time, was unable to return to her flooded home in the town of Burgaw.
She made frequent calls to the Humane Society of Missouri (HSMO), who sent a team to North Carolina to help rescue animals trapped by the powerful storms.
The HSMO team, who were using Pender County Animal Control as a base of operations, made two attempts to find the stranded dog but the flooding was so severe that it made locating the house extremely difficult.
On their third attempt the motor on their boat stopped, so they had to paddle the rest of the way.
Finally, they spotted a home that seemed to match the description they had been given.
As the team approached, they could hear barking coming from inside the building.
The rescuers knocked in the door and found the terrified maltese dog floating on a couch in the living room. A team member seized the dog and they ferried her to safety.
Soshe’s family still hadn’t made it back to Burgaw, so a friend came to pick her up from a local animal shelter to finally reunite the dog with her owner.
The HSMO team captured several videos of their rescues across Pender County, including Soshe’s rescue, which gained widespread attention online as North Carolina continues to grapple with the aftermath of the disaster.
Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 1 storm on 14 September.
Soshe was stranded for a week (HSMO) (HMSO)
Fifty-one people died in total during the storm, according to Reuters, including 39 people in North Carolina.
The powerful storm flattened trees, buckled buildings and knocked out power to nearly 930,000 homes and businesses as it battered the southeast coast of the US.
Animals suffered as Florence tore through the Carolinas.
Preliminary estimates suggested that 3.4 million poultry birds and 5,500 pigs were killed in the storm.
Soshe was rescued by HSMO staff (HSMO) (HMSO)
Soshe’s rescue delighted the rescue team.
“That was a good day,” Chad Gard, one of HSMO’s Disaster Team members told CBS News. | 2,969 |
Freshman U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City, has raised big bucks for his closely watched 2018 re-election bid while spending some serious money to do it.
Mast’s campaign has collected more than $1.5 million through Sept. 30 — far more than the other three incumbents in Palm Beach County’s U.S. House delegation. Mast’s campaign has spent $622,816, including more than $400,000 on direct-marketing solicitations to potential donors and more than $136,000 for fundraising consultants.
Mast’s campaign began October with $921,256 in cash on hand for his 2018 race, according to a quarterly Federal Election Commission report filed over the weekend.
Two Democrats have opened campaigns in Mast’s Palm Beach-Treasure Coast District 18.
Lauren Baer, a former Obama administration foreign policy adviser, raised $251,680 after launching an exploratory committee in August and a formal campaign in September.
Attorney Pam Keith raised $90,085 after formally launching her campaign in July and added $60,000 of her own money in the form of a loan.
When it works, direct mail can allow a candidate – particularly one with a stirring biography like decorated Army combat veteran Mast’s — to build a broad national base of donors. Those donors typically don’t stroke big checks, but they often give repeatedly over the course of a campaign. Between July 1 and Sept. 30, Mast collected $324,354 from individual donors, with two-thirds of that coming from people who gave $200 or less. He also raised $89,795 during the quarter from PACs.
Fundraising numbers from other members of the county’s congressional delegation:
• U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, raised $107,212 during the quarter and, including leftover money from previous campaigns, had $981,976 in cash on hand on Sept. 30. Republican Kurt Jetta recently jumped into the race for Frankel’s seat and said he has put $250,000 of his own money into his campaign.
• U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, raised $108,967 in the quarter and has $290,394 on hand.
• U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Delray Beach, collected $70,530 and has $252,063 in the bank. | 2,970 |
Various SNK classics in one collection.
SNK 40th Anniversary Collection will launch for Switch on November 13 in North America and November 16 in Europe, publisher NIS America announced.
A $64.99 limited edition including a copy of the game, “Nostalgic Music Collection” soundtrack, “40th Anniversary Art Collection” hardcover art book, and collector’s box is currently available for pre-order at the NIS America Online Store.
Here is an overview of the game, via NIS America:
Games Included Alpha Mission (arcade and home versions)
Athena (arcade and home versions)
Crystalis
Ikari Warriors (arcade and home versions)
Ikari III: The Rescue (arcade and home versions)
Guerrilla War (arcade and home versions)
P.O.W. (arcade and home vesions)
Prehistoric Isle in 1930
Psycho Soldier
Street Smart
TNK III (arcade and home versions)
Vanguard
Victory Road (arcade and home versions)
More games to be announced! About 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of legendary studio SNK! To celebrate this extraordinary milestone, a variety of classic arcade games from SNK’s golden age are coming back together in one anthology on Nintendo Switch as SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, with a treasure trove of features! Key Features A Collection of Classics in Your Hands! – Take a piece of SNK history with you wherever you go on Nintendo Switch. Choose from over a dozen titles and experience an intense blast from the past!
– Take a piece of SNK history with you wherever you go on Nintendo Switch. Choose from over a dozen titles and experience an intense blast from the past! Modern Meets Retro! – The convenience and improvements of modern gaming are all in the collection! Rewind and save at any time while you’re playing, enjoy updated graphics at 1080p resolution, and experience redesigned control schemes for a modern feel!
– The convenience and improvements of modern gaming are all in the collection! Rewind and save at any time while you’re playing, enjoy updated graphics at 1080p resolution, and experience redesigned control schemes for a modern feel! Enter the SNK Museum – An extensive history of SNK and its games await in the Museum Mode. Explore the legacy of one of Japan’s leading developers with high definition artwork and original promotional assets!
Watch a new trailer below. | 2,971 |
NEW DELHI: Smriti Irani, whose meteoric rise in the BJP saw her become the HRD and information & broadcasting minister before being divested of these portfolios, on Thursday emerged as a giant-killer — this time scripting a historic win by dethroning Rahul Gandhi in the Congress's home turf.
The 43-year-old popular television actor-turned politician continued to cultivate Amethi in the past five years despite her loss in 2014 to Gandhi and this helped her reap electoral dividends.
Throughout her campaigning, Irani asserted that people of Amethi want change and development and will vote for Modi.
Irani courted quite often, be it her educational qualification or her stint in the Union Cabinet.
In her nomination papers, she mentioned she was not a graduate. She said she passed secondary school examination in 1991 and senior secondary school examination in 1993.
In her affidavit for the 2014 polls, she had said she graduated from Delhi University in 1994, triggering a row over the veracity of her claim, with opposition parties alleging she was not a graduate.
Irani became the youngest cabinet minister in 2014 after the BJP gained a massive victory in the Lok Sabha polls that year and was assigned the high-profile Human Resources Development (HRD) portfolio. However, she was shifted out of HRD ministry to Textiles after a two-year tenure replete with controversies.
Her stint as the information & broadcasting minister was also controversial - from reportedly fighting with the Prasar Bharti Board to issuing a notification on 'fake news', which was apparently withdrawn at the behest of the PMO.
During her campaign in Amethi this time, Irani was often locked in a war of words with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who dubbed her as an "outsider". Last month, Priyanka accused her of distributing shoes in order to "insult" Rahul and said the people in the Congress chief's Lok Sabha constituency are not beggars.
Irani pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Political pundits are of the opinion that Rahul also chose to contest from Wayanad in Kerala anticipating a tough fight in Amethi.
An eloquent speaker, Irani was often the BJP's first choice for addressing the party's press conferences and defending it during debates in Parliament.
She had lost to Rahul by a margin of 1.07 lakh votes in 2014.
In Video: Election Results : Rahul Gandhi congratulates PM Narendra Modi, BJP and Smriti Irani at Congress headquarters | 2,972 |
Image copyright EPA Image caption Mr Trump said he thought a deal was "more likely" than not
Chinese negotiators have agreed to extend their stay in Washington, as the US and China push to strike a trade deal.
The decision was the latest sign that the two countries may be nearing an agreement, as they look for a way out of last year's punishing trade war.
In a statement shared by the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed "progress" in the negotiations.
US President Donald Trump also said a deal was "more likely" than not.
"The fact that they're willing to stay for quite a bit longer... that means something," he told reporters at the White House. "I think there's a good chance that it happens."
Where do talks stand now?
The US and China placed tariffs on billions of dollars worth of the others' goods last year as they faced off on trade.
The US had initially threatened to increase tariffs on $200bn worth of goods from 10% to 25% if the two sides could not agree a deal by 1 March.
But Mr Trump has appeared more flexible recently, as negotiators meet in Washington for a fourth round of talks.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The top negotiators from the two sides: Robert Lighthizer and Liu He
On Friday, Mr Trump did not commit to extending the deadline, but he did note progress, including an agreement on currency manipulation, the details of which were not disclosed.
He also said he may meet with Mr Xi in March at his Mar-A-Lago resort.
Huawei has not been part of the discussions to date, he added.
China's Vice Premier Liu He, who has been leading the talks for the Chinese, said his team was "ready" for a deal.
"From China, we believe that it is very likely that it will happen," he said.
What are the two sides discussing?
Washington wants Beijing to make changes to its economic policies, which it says unfairly favour domestic companies through subsidies and other support.
China has offered to increase purchases of US goods, such as soybeans and semiconductors - a move that could reduce the US trade deficit, a focus for Mr Trump.
However, the country is unlikely to embrace broader structural changes, which are seen by some internally as a way to contain its rise.
On Friday, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has been leading talks for the US, warned that "major hurdles" remain before a final agreement can be signed. | 2,973 |
• Take your medication. About half of OA sufferers notice benefit from daily doses of the supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin. In addition, an hour or so before sex, consider pain medication. If you feel only pain, acetaminophen (Tylenol) should help. If you also notice inflammation take an anti-inflammatory pain reliever—aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), or naproxen (Aleve). However, acetaminophen increases risk of liver damage, and aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen may cause stomach distress.
• Move your whole body. Don’t rush into intercourse. The best exercise for the OA moves the joints—fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, back, hips, knees, and ankles—through their full range of motion. Incorporate whole-body massage into your lovemaking. Roll around together. Work all your joints. This type of lovemaking not only helps manage OA, it’s also the kind of lovemaking sex experts recommend as the most erotic and satisfying.
• Try sex toys. OA stiffens many people’s fingers, which can make loving caresses difficult. Vibrators may help.
• Make adjustments. OA often affects the knees. If you or your lover has chronically stiff, sore knees, experiment with sexual positions that don’t strain them. For example, you might decide to forego doggie-style intercourse with both of you on your knees.
• Check in. Before, during, and after sex, discuss the moves that feel best, and the ones that hurt. Over time, develop a sexual style than emphasizes feel-good moves.
• Remain sexual. Some people think: I’m in pain. Pain ruins sex. Therefore, I’m not going to have sex any more. Others think: I’m in pain. But I’m a sexual person. I’m going to make accommodations and remain as sexual as I can under the circumstances. OA experts recommend the latter. Sex provides gentle, low-impact, massage-like exercise that moves the joints through their full range of motion, while releasing pain-relieving endorphins. In other words, sex helps minimize the pain and stiffness of OA.
Finally, if you experience more than two weeks of persistent joint pain and/or inflammation that doesn’t respond to heat, gentle exercise, and over-the-counter drugs, see a doctor. | 2,974 |
“Tucker Carlson Tonight” beat out the rest of the news shows on his first night taking over the 8 p.m time slot on Fox News with ratings that match up to Bill O’Reilly’s.
On Monday night, the Daily Caller co-founder took the spot for the highest rated cable news show with 3.2 million viewers, according to Variety. (RELATED: Bill O’Reilly Responds To Being Let Go By Fox News)
Tucker Carlson, Julissa Arce (Fox News)
Carlson’s ratings beat O’Reilly’s in the age demographic of 25-54 with 636,000 viewers. On O’Reilly’s last night on the air on April 10, he brought in 3.7 million viewers and 635,000 in the same age group, according to another report. O’Reilly was let go from the network last week following allegations of sexual harassment. He has denied the charges.
Carlson also beat out the rest of his competitors in the same time slot, including CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” with 1 million viewers and MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes” with 1.5 million. (RELATED: Bill O’Reilly Accuser ‘Hot Chocolate’ Comes Forward On ‘The View’ [VIDEO])
On Carlson’s show Monday night, he interviewed former Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner who talked about being “disappointed” in President Donald Trump over LGBT issues.
“He looked like he would be pretty good on all LGBT issues, which is important because my loyalties do no lie with Donald Trump,” Jenner said. “My loyalties do not lie with the Republican party. My loyalties and what I’m fighting for is my community–the LGBT community. That’s where my fight is.”
“I thought Trump would be pretty good, but he’s disappointed me in the first 100 days on those issues,” Jenner added.
In addition, the Fox News show “The Five” took the number two spot for the day its new 9 p.m. time slot with 2.8 million viewers, beating out MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” and CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
Update: This story has been updated to reflect “The Five” ratings in its new time slot. | 2,975 |
I’ve posted on the dire financial straits facing John Kasich’s campaign. Even though he won Ohio’s primary convincingly, he entered April with less cash on hand than he had on March 1. This is not a glide path to victory, it is the parabola of a rock being tossed from a bridge. Kasich has one competitive advantage, though, he is a state governor and he can use state resources to augment his campaign bank book in certain ways. For instance, the State of Ohio provides Kasich with round-the-clock security. When he’s in Ohio this is not a big deal. The agents providing it aren’t jetting about the nation. This question is becoming a sticky one that Kasich is refusing to answer:
How much does out-of-state security for Gov. John Kasich’s presidential campaign cost Ohio taxpayers? That’s a simple, straightforward question regarding the use of public dollars. The citizens of Ohio should be able to get an answer. Any administration committed to open and transparent government should provide it. But the Kasich administration has refused, arguing that divulging even the costs of the governor’s protection detail would compromise his security. “To ensure the safety and security, we do not discuss any of the resources that are used as part of the executive’s security detail,” said Maj. Marla Gatskill, a highway patrol commander. It must be hard to say something that ridiculous with a straight face. Disclosing the costs of the governor’s security detail would not compromise his security. It’s not about naming names, disclosing locations, or exposing strategies. It’s about letting the people of Ohio see the price tag of a service they’re paying for.
The editorial board of the Toledo Blade has a very valid point. There is absolutely no way that divulging the dollar cost of the Kasich’s security detail would have any impact at all on Kasich’s security. That cost would not tell you how many agents were used, where they were located, how they communicated or how they were organized. What the dollar figure would tell Ohioans is how much John Kasich’s masturbatory campaign is costing them. If Kasich is traveling to New York or Pennsylvania on legitimate government business, of course he is entitled to security provided by Ohio. But the moment his purpose becomes campaigning for president his campaign owes Ohio taxpayers reimbursement.
I suspect that Kasich knows if the price tag for stroking his ego became known, he’d be out of the race. Tomorrow. | 2,976 |
The sister of Los Angeles Clippers player Kawhi Leonard has been charged with the murder of an elderly woman in Temecula, California.
On August 31, Leonard’s sister Kimesha Monae Williams, 35, and her friend Candace Tai Townsel, 39, allegedly followed Afaf Anis Assad, 84, into the bathroom at a casino and bashed her head in, breaking her skull. Authorities said they also took the woman’s purse which reportedly contained $800 to $1,200.
Authorities arrested Williams on Tuesday and the victim died from her injuries on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Williams’ aunt, Denise Woodard, confirmed to reporters that Leonard and Williams are brother and sister, but added, “He didn’t have anything to do with this.”
An investigator with the Riverside County sheriff recently filed a written request asking a judge to eliminate Williams’ chances to post bail.
“Williams has family that are well off and could post her bail of $1,000,000. I am requesting NO BAIL to assure Williams’ appearance in court and to keep innocent victims safe,” the investigator wrote.
However, Leonard’s name was not mentioned in the request.
Wayne Brown, the victim’s son-in-law, said he took Assad and her husband to the casino the morning of the alleged murder and about half an hour later, she was found badly beaten and unconscious on the floor of the bathroom.
Brown continued:
She didn’t even get a chance to play. I mean she had some money in her wallet because she was ready to play that day, and I don’t know if they targeted her because she just walked through the door and they knew she had money in her wallet. We give ourselves this this view that we live in a world that’s safe and civil, but in the end it’s like a wild world, you know.
Reports said Williams, who is six feet, two inches tall and weighs 320 pounds, has previous convictions for petty theft, grand theft, misappropriating lost property, grand theft auto, and attempted robbery.
The victim’s daughter, Mary Assad, told reporters, “It was just all very unexpected and tragic and unnecessary” during a phone interview just before she went to make funeral arrangements for her deceased mother.
Williams and Townsel, who could both face the death penalty, are expected to be arraigned in court on September 19, according to reports. | 2,977 |
Everyone swung and missed on the players” or “He got really lucky.” In fact, what we know about Pythagorean residuals and about how well coaches and managers are able to influence breakouts in their players says that these sorts of measures are more likely lucky phantasms than manager skill.
Here we have something that is stable and predictable, strips out the conflating effects of whether a manager has good or bad players, and maps onto a manager’s job is to keep the clubhouse going in the face of The Grind, My standard definition for team chemistry is that it is the answer to the question “Why should I bother?” A good manager gives his team a reason to bother. Now, this doesn’t cover everything a manager does in that regard (this has nothing to do with the pitchers, who are half of his roster!), but it’s perhaps a better indicator than what’s been previously used. So, for 2014, here are the numbers.
For what it’s worth, Sandberg led the league in 2013 as well. He might have been given a team that was only good for a sub-.500 record, but they didn’t fade on his watch. (In case you don’t remember — and let’s be honest, no one does — Buck Showalter received the AL award last year, and Matt Williams took it home in the NL) Maybe Ryno deserves a second look. Maybe we all need to take a second look at how we think about managers.
From what we’ve learned today, there’s no one magic way to fight The Grind, but it can be done and it is very powerful when a manager does. A manager can add something on the order of 2 wins above “replacement level” on this one skill alone. We now know that being able to keep hitters from losing their contact abilities is important. It’s hard to do anything helpful when you swing and miss. Maybe that’s just as simple as some managers being able to keep players using a good, solid approach over the course of a season, even when they are worn out. Consistency. It all sounds a bit cliché, but it’s a cliché that might be worth millions of dollars if teams can figure out how to better promote it. So if you want your team to get better, you might study the sweet swing of Miguel Cabrera or the defensive wizardry of Andrelton Simmons, but spare a bit of time for the managerial methods of Bud Black. | 2,978 |
The new Facebook Messenger app has permission to take pictures and videos without your confirmation and to call numbers without intervention causing unexpected charges, according to its terms and conditions.
Facebook users are being forced to download the app on their phone if they want to continue using the mobile messenger service, after Facebook decided to make the function a separate app. The requirement follows a period of transition where users were still able to access the messenger service within the Facebook app.
Technology blogs have pointed out some of the new permission requests on the new Messenger app on Android allow access to the personal data on your phone.
Some of the terms and conditions included:
- Allows the app to change the state of network connectivity.
- Allows the app to call phone numbers without your intervention. This may result in unexpected charges or calls. Malicious apps may cost you money by making calls without your confirmation.
- Allows the app to send SMS messages. This may result in unexpected charges. Malicious apps may cost you money by sending messages without your confirmation.
- Allows the app to record audio with microphone. This permission allows the app to record audio at any time without your confirmation.
- Allows the app to take pictures and videos with the camera. This permission allows the app to use the camera at any time without your confirmation.
- Allows the app to read your phone’s call log, including data about incoming and outgoing calls. This permission allows apps to save your call log data, and malicious apps may share call log data without your knowledge.
- Allows the app to read data about your contacts stores on your phone, including the frequency with which you’ve called, emailed, or communicated in other ways with specific individuals.
While the permissions appear to invade users privacy, Facebook has posted this explanation:
-The permission to take photos and videos allows users to take photos and videos within the Messenger app, so that they can be easily sent to contacts.
-The permission to record audio allows users to send voice messages, make free voice calls, and send videos within Messenger.
-The permission to directly call phone numbers allows users to call a Messenger contact by tapping on the person's phone number.
-The permission to receive text messages allows users to confirm a phone number added to a Messenger account by sending a confirmation code via text message.
- The permission to read your contacts allows users to access phone contacts as Messenger contacts, but this can be switched off by visiting Messenger settings.
The app has been downloaded over a billion times, despite the reported privacy concerns.
| 2,979 |
Articles
Gig Review: The Mountain Goats @ Metro Theatre
07/05/2012
Goats?
Goats.
There were several moments during The Mountain Goats' performance where I felt that I may have been involved in some sort of elaborate prank. The amount of chaotic applause and song request screams that rang out from the audience between each tune was fucking ridiculous. I wouldn't have been surprised if the entire audience busted into a choreographed flash mob dance act, jazz hands and all.
I wasn't the only one that thought so. "I'm gonna be telling people about you guys for quite sometime," said the Goats' front man, John Darnielle. He repeatedly made reference to how insane the crowd was reacting, saying we were, "Fucking awesome," despite his fears about sounding like a, "kiss ass."
I only knew one Mountain Goats' song from their entire set (I was there as a plus one), so I was confused as shit by the audience reaction. Nerdy looking dudes were losing it, pumping their fists, throwing goat horns, even starting mini mosh pits. I thought Darnielle was gonna crowd surf at one stage, he looked so pleased with the situation. He didn't — although he did at one stage take off his spectacles for a brief fit of head banging.
Being part of this crowd actually made me feel guilty for not getting what everyone was so excited about. It was like what I imagine an atheist would experience at a Hillsong convention — everyone seemed nice, polite and really happy with life, but their unwavering enthusiasm about something I didn't give a shit about just made me feel tremendously uncomfortable.
I'm not meaning to be critical of the Mountain Goats, they were good — in a "they're the kind of band who's CD my dad would buy from Sanity the day after seeing them play a set on Good News Weekend" kind of "good." But they didn't blow me away.
I was stoked to hear the band play This Year (aka the only Mountain Goats' song I know), but the rest of the performance I literally spent gazing at nut jobs in the crowd that were thrashing about like they were at a fucking Metallica concert.
And power to them! This was not the best gig I've been to, but it's definitely one of the best audiences I've ever been a part of. Whether they were legit, or high on crystal meth I don't know, but being a Mountain Goats fan looks like a fucking ball. | 2,980 |
If you're still a grown up by the end of that opening music, you've not been paying attention."
Not paying attention is not something you could accuse Moffat of. He is immersed in the Doctor's details and has the show "in his bones", but acknowledges there's "a huge, huge, monumental difference" between being part of the writing team – producing episodes that tap brilliantly into such childhood anxieties as fear of the dark or of what happens in the world when you blink – and running the whole shebang. The size of the job made him think twice, as did the amount of time that he would have to spend in Cardiff; the London-based writer has two young sons with the TV producer Sue Vertue. In the end, though, after his dad sent a childhood photo of him reading a Doctor Who book, there could only be one decision.
"You don't think of it in terms of a challenge. You think 'Ooh, wouldn't it be great to do that!' and I'm now in the fortunate position of being able to think that and make it happen."
Making it happen means going boldly, and with a "Geronimo!" that appears to be a catchphrase of the new Doctor. Moffat is reluctant to plunder Who's history without good reason – "The more you back-reference, the more it feels like a sequel and the sequel is never as good as the original" – but that isn't to say that the past is another galaxy. "Old favourites can return, provided you can do something new and exciting with them. There are no past characters coming back in this series, but I imagine that kids would love to see Captain Jack meet the new Doctor."
Although he's been able to fund a rearrangement of the theme tune, new titles and a new Tardis interior, Doctor Who is "subject to efficiency savings like everyone else. [But] no one is going to say that it looks cheaper because it doesn't." And despite the fact that "all we writers really want to do is write a script, toss it over a wall and go out with strippers", Moffat is in charge, in his element. He may be known for the clever, darker episodes of Doctor Who but he has mischief in mind now. "I want to do more fun. I hadn't done an episode one, which is a very different kind of episode, and I hadn't done a finale either – and that was a hoot."
And what happens in that? "Practically everything," Moffat smirks. "And some of it twice." | 2,981 |
Elusive NDP rookie Ruth Ellen Brosseau has finally visited the Quebec riding she will represent in the House of Commons and, while she's being kept away from the media, she appears to be making a few new friends.
Locals had a chance to meet the new MP who made national headlines for vacationing in Las Vegas during the election, for never having set foot in the riding, and for not even speaking French.
Then after the election Brosseau remained out of sight, as the party said it would prepare her for public exposure by giving her some intensive French lessons.
On Wednesday, she made a number of appearances in the riding — accompanied by the NDP's Quebec lieutenant Thomas Mulcair.
Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP MP-elect for the riding of Berthier-Maskinongé leaves city hall in Louiseville, Que., with NDP deputy leader Thomas Mulcair. ((Graham Hughes/Canadian Press))
Mulcair attempted to run interference for her when a Radio-Canada television crew approached to ask her a question.
The new MP, for her part, walked toward the reporter, smiled warmly and promised they would have a chance to speak later: "We'll see each other," Brosseau said in French.
Meanwhile, the Quebec lieutenant worked to cut short that conversation. Mulcair said she had a busy schedule.
Brosseau visits local attractions
An administrator at a small museum in Lavaltrie says Brosseau visited the building earlier Wednesday. The visit lasted two hours. Museum director Michelle Picard said the encounter was pleasant.
She said Brosseau read a short speech in French for a few minutes, then asked lots of questions about the museum and appeared to take an interest.
"Her French is quite good," Picard said. "I think she understands more than she can speak.… She's a very nice person, very easy to talk to."
The museum director said that, because Brosseau had been "invisible" since the election," people were wondering if she'd ever show up.
Picard said the Vegas vacation never came up Wednesday: "We were not here for politics."
The 27-year-old neophyte politician stunned everyone by handily winning the central Quebec riding — despite never setting foot in the region.
Brosseau was an assistant manager at an Ottawa pub, about 300 kilometres away from her new constituency.
The NDP also acknowledged during the campaign that her French needs improvement for her to be an effective representative of a riding that is 98 per cent francophone. | 2,982 |
Image caption Just eight of the canvasses, estimated to be worth £20,000 each, were snapped up by passers by
Original signed canvasses by British street artist Banksy have been sold from a stall in New York's Central Park for $60 (£38) each.
The elusive artist posted a video on his website showing a man selling what appeared to be fake Banksys.
Many of the pieces, estimated to be worth up to £20,000 each, remained unsold at the end of the day.
Banksy is in New York for a month-long residency during which he has promised a new piece of street art every day.
Entitled Better Out Than In, the public art show has its own website on to which pictures and videos of the art works have been posted.
The latest video was accompanied with the words, "Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100% authentic original signed Banksy canvases. For $60 each."
The video shows an unknown older man making his first sale mid-afternoon, to a woman who buys two small canvasses for her children after negotiating a 50% discount.
Another woman from New Zealand is seen buying two of the paintings, before a man from Chicago buys four.
He tells the stall holder he has recently moved house and needs something for the walls.
The day's takings came to a grand total of $420 (£263).
Image caption Banksy has given several pieces of graffiti across New York a Broadway makeover
Underneath the video Banksy added: "Please note: This was a one off. The stall will not be there again today."
In a recent interview conducted via email with New York publication the Village Voice, the guerilla artist - whose identity is still a secret - revealed the thinking behind his month-long trip to the city.
"I know street art can feel increasingly like the marketing wing of an art career, so I wanted to make some art without the price tag attached," he said.
"There is no gallery show or book or film. It's pointless. Which hopefully means something."
Each day in October will see a new piece of either an "elaborate graffiti, large scale street sculpture, video installation or substandard performance art".
So far they have included The Sirens of the Lambs, a slaughterhouse delivery truck filled with stuffed animal toys which toured the meatpacking district, and more traditional Banksy art such as a heart-shaped balloon covered in bandages on a Brooklyn wall. | 2,983 |
The Union Budget for 2017-18 is very likely to lower corporate tax rates. That is not only because of the faltering economy, but also because the finance minister had promised in his 2015 budget speech that corporate tax rate will be reduced from 30% to 25% over the next four years, together with the phasing out of exemptions and deductions. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 18%. Is the industry lobby pushing its luck too far?
Not really. The current headline corporate tax rate in India is 30% plus cess and surcharge. As the chart shows, that works out to a rate of 34.6%. What the chart also shows is that we have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. China and Indonesia have corporate tax rates of 25% and rates for Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong are even lower. So there’s a clear case to fast-forward the promise to bring down the corporate tax rate to 25%.
There is, however, a catch. The effective tax rate or the rate of tax actually shelled out by many companies is lower due to a slew of exemptions and tax holidays that they have been enjoying. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said in his last budget speech, “The effective collection of Corporate Tax is about 23 percent. We lose out on both counts, i.e. we are considered as having a high Corporate Tax regime but we do not get that tax due to excessive exemptions." So if the average corporate tax rate comes down to 23% or so, after all the exemptions are taken away, that won’t be much of an improvement in the tax rate for a large chunk of the corporate sector. That is why the CII’s proposal to get the corporate tax rate down to 18% makes eminent sense.
If the prime minister is serious about making a paradigm shift in the Indian economy and improve the ease of doing business, as he said at the Vibrant Gujarat summit, he should tell his finance minister to dramatically reduce the corporate tax rate. Such a move will also enable the formal sector of the economy to expand, which the government has been saying is one of its prime objectives in its effort to get rid of the black economy. It will reduce the incentive to hide income and increase the number of decent jobs. Any revenues lost to the government should be more than made up in the long term, by the benefits it brings to the economy.
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“A well regulated Militia,” “A well regulated Militia,” “being necessary” “to the security of a free State” “comma —” “the right of the people” “to keep and” “bear arms” “shall not be infringed.” “shall not be infringed.” “What exactly does that mean?” So it’s only 27 words long, but it is probably the most cryptic part of the United States Constitution. It’s hard to know what the connection is between the two phrases in the Second Amendment. One of them seems to announce a collective right and the second an individual one — and knowing how they are connected is the key to understanding the Second Amendment. If you read that first clause by itself, a well-regulated militia is one that the government has taken pains to control. “American riflemen are the best riflemen in the world because the training they get is the best in the world.” You would think the Second Amendment protects a collective right to keep and bear arms, which is how it was understood for a long, long time in the history of the United States. The second clause cuts in a different direction. If you read this by itself, it would seem to say you have a personal right to keep and bear arms. However, when the Constitution speaks of the right of the people, it sometimes speaks in a more collective sense rather than individual. Let me discuss for a second “to keep and bear arms.” Most scholars agree that to keep arms is something you do as an individual, but to bear arms has more of a military flavor. What precisely the framers meant by arms is the subject of a lot of dispute. So the contemporary, modern interpretation of the Second Amendment as protecting an individual right to keep and bear arms is only 10 years old. In that case, the Supreme Court struck down what was probably the toughest gun control law in the nation, in Washington, D.C. “We hold that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to have and use arms for self-defense in the home.” But it tells us almost nothing aside from “in the home for self-defense.” And since then, the Supreme Court has ducked case after case after case that could refine and elaborate the scope of the Second Amendment to tell us, for instance, is there a right to bear arms in public? Are concealed carry laws O.K.? It’s told us almost nothing about Second Amendment rights. | 2,985 |
How Telstra stands to gain greatly from it's newly announced free Wi-Fi network, rolling out throughout Australia in November.
TELSTRA’s forgotten pay phone booths will be repurposed as Wi-Fi hot spots as part of a plan to blanket public spaces with internet.
Telstra unveiled in May a $100 million project to establish an estimated two million Wi-Fi hot spots across the country over five years.
Most will be created by Telstra home broadband customers who share their bandwidth with passers-by, but the telco is also building some 8000 hot spots in public areas.
The first 100 of these will be up and running on a trial basis within weeks, said Telstra group executive of retail, Gordon Ballantyne, on Tuesday.
He also revealed that many will be repurposed pay phones.
The booths have struggled for relevance in the smartphone era, but they are ideal hotspot sites because most are located in busy areas and connected to high-speed fibre cabling.
“The use in some areas is diminishing.
“Now we’re really finding a new role, Mr Ballantyne said, adding that they will still work as phones.
“We still value the payphone infrastructure and its role in the community, but we’re building on that.” The hot spots will transmit internet to about a 100 metre radius, depending on the surrounding environment, with typical speeds being about two megabits-per-second.
Mr Ballantyne said 1000 hot spots should be operational by Christmas at sites that will also include Telstra shops and exchange buildings.
The trial will include busy spots such as Bondi Beach in Sydney, Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne, and Rundle Mall in Adelaide. Popular holiday spots and parts of Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin will also be included.
Access will be free at the trial sites.
When the network officially launches early next year, Telstra customers who agree to share their bandwidth will get free access to any hotspot, with the data they use being deducted from their home allowance.
Special routers will split their connection into two — one public and one private. Telstra maintains that their speeds will not be affected.
Non-Telstra customers, and those who don’t share their home connection, will be able to connect for a yet-undisclosed fee. Telstra stands to benefit if the program manages to free up space on its coveted 4G network by moving people to public hot spots. | 2,986 |
In a press release that briefly leaked on a Canon CPN site, it was revealed that Canon will address a number of issues in the popular 7D. Having used the Canon 7D on all of the No Film School NAB videos, my biggest issue was the lack of manual audio controls. It's been a long time coming, but Canon will finally address this problem in a new firmware update. In addition to manual audio controls, a number of still photography features will be fixed.
Here is a little bit from that press release on the new audio controls:
MANUAL ADJUSTMENT FOR AUDIO RECORDING LEVELS
During EOS Movie shooting you will be able to manually adjust the audio recording levels to one of 64 levels, whilst the sound volume during playback can be set to one of 11 levels. During movie recording noise from the aperture is reduced and the camera also has an automatic wind cut filter.
This is the entire list of updated features:
Improved RAW Maximum burst - from 15 frames to 26 frames In-Camera RAW Conversion - RAW images can be edited in-camera and options can be changed before saving the finished file as a ready-to-print JPEG Image Rating Capabilities Auto ISO Maximum Setting - ISO 400-6400 Manual Adjustment for Audio Recording Levels JPEG Resizing Support for the GP-E2 GPS Unit Quick Control During Playback File Name Setting - First 3 or 4 characters in the file name can be adjusted, depending on the setting Time Zone Setting Faster Scrolling of Magnified Images
It's interesting that Canon is going back to support a camera that will likely be replaced sometime this year, but it's certainly possible they will hold off until 2013 to introduce a new 7D. It's clear that Canon does listen to its customers, as manual audio has been one of the major features that customers have been vocal about.
On a film production with dual-system sound, the only major upgrade for 7D owners is the ability to adjust file names in the camera. The first three or four characters can be adjusted depending on the user setting, and when three characters is selected, the fourth will be adjusted automatically for recording quality. This will make life easier on set and in post, and it will make the data wrangling process a bit more organized -- assuming, of course, that the Director of Photography and ACs set the file names correctly in-camera. There's no word yet on when this update might be released, but considering they had a press release completed, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that it won't be far off.
[via Canon Rumors] | 2,987 |
The city of Sheffield, U.K. is installing the country's first tram-train, a public transit hybrid that can serve both the suburbs and a city's urban core thanks to a special wheel design that can handle both the tight turns and higher speeds.
When it's complete in 2016, tram-trains will run eight miles along the national rail tracks from Rotherham Parkgate to Sheffield, just like a traditional commuter rail line. But instead of stopping at a station at the edge of the city and forcing riders to switch to local transit, when the train gets to Sheffield's center – er, centre – it will seamlessly transition onto the existing rails of the Sheffield SuperTram.
Sheffield's system is a $98 million pilot project to determine whether tram-trains will work in the rest of the U.K. On paper, at least, it seems like a good fit: The tram-train setup not only gives passengers an easier ride downtown, but turns any existing rail right-of-way into a potential light rail system. Maintenance costs are lower for trams, and a tram-train gives transit authorities added flexibility.
Technologically speaking, building a tram-train may not sound like a spectacular feat, but trust us, it is. Even if they're of the same gauge of track, the two modes often have different signaling and safety standards, and a tram-train must comply with both.
More importantly, train wheels run on top of raised rails and rarely have to make tight corners. Tram tracks are often flush with street surfaces, so the wheels are designed to ride inside the grooves. And trams are also expected to make hairpin turns. Put the wrong kind of wheels on the wrong kind of track, and you'll derail, especially at junctions or corners.
A special wheel design that takes into account both setups is a key part of the Sheffield tram-train. Developed at the University of Huddersfield's Institute of Railway Research, it gives special consideration to worn rails and wheels.
The tram-train may be new to the U.K., but it's been a well-known part of the public transit network in Karlsruhe, Germany since 1992. In fact, the very idea of running trains and trams on the same tracks is known as the "Karlsruhe model."
Since then, other tram-train systems have sprung up, mostly in Germany. In North America, New Jersey's River Line and Ottawa's O-Train are two examples, but they haven't quite caught on in the U.S. | 2,988 |
President Donald Trump spoke Tuesday in support of the Covington Catholic High School students after they were unfairly accused of instigating a confrontation with leftist protestors in Washington, DC.
“Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Covington student Nick Sandmann and his classmates were accused of mocking liberal Native American activist Nathan Phillips while wearing a Trump campaign Make America Great Again hat after the March for Life on Friday. The school announced Tuesday that it will be closed.
Prominent media figures and celebrities rushed to judgment on social media, vigorously condemning the behavior of the boys. Others expressed threats of violence and tried to expose their identities online.
Later video footage showed that Phillips was the one who approached Sandmann and his schoolmates, and he reacted calmly.
“I was not intentionally making faces at the protestor. I did smile at one point because I wanted him to know that I was not going to become angry, intimidated or be provoked into a larger confrontation. I am a faithful Christian and practicing Catholic, and I always try to live up to the ideals my faith teaches me – to remain respectful of others, and to take no action that would lead to conflict or violence,” Sandmann wrote later in a statement defending his reaction.
More video footage showed that the boys were shouting and leading school chants in response to members of the religious sect Black Hebrew Israelites, a black nationalist group who were taunting them with slurs and profanity.
The president expressed optimism that their case could be a teaching moment for the media and the rest of the country to wait for the facts before rushing to judgment.
“They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good – maybe even to bring people together,” Trump wrote. “It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!”
Trump also weighed in on the case on Monday night, saying that they were “treated unfairly” and “smeared by the media.”
“Not good, but making big comeback!” he wrote.
Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be. They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good – maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019 | 2,989 |
Maryland House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) is receiving some backlash for comments about Democratic gubernatorial candidate Maya Rockeymoore Cummings that some critics have characterized as petty and divisive.
Szeliga wrote on her Facebook page: "Elijah Cumming's wife running for MD gov. - she likes fancy words -'minutiae' to let us know how smart she is - 'I have a Ph.D. in political science with an emphasis on public policy,' she said. 'I am confident on mastering any minutiae when it comes to government and policy.' "
Rockeymoore Cummings, a policy consultant who is married to U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), is the eighth Democratic candidate vying to unseat popular Gov. Larry Hogan (R). She announced her campaign on Thursday morning.
Szeliga's post received nearly 150 responses. Almost 95 laughed at it; three dozen liked it.
While the majority of those who commented on the post cheered Szeliga on, others were offended by what they saw as an attack on an educated black woman.
One follower called the post "petty" and said she was disappointed in Szeliga, who last year ran for U.S. Senate as a moderate Republican.
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, shown in this July 18, 2017, file photo, announced Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, that she would seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. (Brian Witte/AP)
"Generally I like Kathy, but this statement was in poor taste," said another.
Others encouraged Szeliga to refrain from "mud slinging" and to not get "drawn into this 'war of words.' There's enough of that going around."
One poster told Szeliga that it was "not necessary to use someone's education as a way to divide. It actually makes you look smaller."
"So being intelligent and educated is a problem for you?" another asked. "Or is it a problem that she's an intelligent and educated BLACK WOMAN?"
Szeliga said in an interview that she has posted about all of the Democratic candidates who have entered the race. She dismissed the criticism on Facebook.
"Don't judge me by what someone posts on my page on Facebook," she said. "I was just quoting her.... She's telling us her qualifications to be governor and that she has a PhD. I wasn't opining on that; I was just putting what her words were." | 2,990 |
It's a tiny organ that, the superstition goes, holds the secrets of the future. When smoked and inhaled, the brain of a vulture is said to confer the gift of premonition. To put it bluntly, most users hope to sneak a look at next week's national lottery numbers.
Such is the demand for vulture brains to use in muti – traditional medicine – that wildlife experts fear the birds could be driven to extinction within two or three decades. They also warn that hunting could intensify as gamblers seek an advantage when betting on the football World Cup in South Africa.
Vultures' acute vision, and ability to find prey, has kindled a belief that they possess clairvoyant powers. Their brains are dried and rolled into a cigarette or inhaled as vapours in the hope they will bring a vision of the future - including lottery numbers and sports results.
Andre Botha, manager of the birds of prey working group at the Endangered Wildlife Trust in South Africa, said: "People believe it's foresight and this finds fertile ground in people's imagination. If it worked for the lottery, everyone would use it and we'd have a lot of millionaires walking around today.
"There is a lot of betting in South Africa. So we may see an increase connected to gambling around the 2010 World Cup."
A 2007 study found that 160 vultures are sold a year for muti in eastern South Africa, with the total across the region thought to be much higher. About 1,000 are killed every year in Tanzania alone.
The birds are shot, trapped or poisoned by hunters. One tactic is to poison an animal so the vultures that feed on the carcass themselves fall victim. "You can have 300 or 400 converge on a poisoned carcass and all be wiped out," Botha added. Brains and other body parts are then sold at street markets or shops in Johannesburg and other cities.
Steve McKean, a researcher at the conservation body Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, was quoted by South Africa's Star newspaper: "Traditional use as it is currently happening is likely to render vultures extinct in southern Africa on its own within 20 to 30 years."
Seven of the nine species of vulture are rated endangered. Botha said there was demand for the bearded vulture in Eastern Cape province. Traditional healers prefer that the bird be captured alive as the head needs to be removed while it is still living so that "the brain does not flow down into the spinal cord" and the muti loses its potency. | 2,991 |
Earlier today, India tested a variant from the Brahmos cruise missile family with an indigenous radio frequency (RF) seeker. This was the first Brahmos test, where an indigenous RF seeker has been used for terminal guidance, and marks a milestone in the progressive indigenization of key sub-systems for the Brahmos.
Of course, the pace of such indigenization is dictated by evolving work-share arrangements as agreed upon by the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) & NPO Mashinostroyenia, who are the two stakeholders in Brahmos Aerospace Limited (BAL), owning 50.5 percent & 49.5 percent of this Indo-Russian joint venture, respectively. It should be noted, that the RF seeker equipping Brahmos production units has historically been under the purview of the Russian side.
The seeker used in this morning’s test could be a monopulse seeker developed either by Data Patterns or Alpha Design Technologies with support from DRDO’s missile complex, since both companies are known to have offered to develop such a seeker for BAL under a ‘no cost no commitment’ model. Today’s test could possibly be a culmination of this approach. This indigenous seeker has the potential to replace the Russian RF monopulse seekers currently used on most Brahmos variants.
Image: X-band monopulse synthetic aperture radar developed by Data Patterns for missile applications
Incidentally, an indigenous RF SCAN millimetric wave imaging seeker is also under development. DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat is involved in this effort along with the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and Data Patterns. Such a seeker with its radio image painting capability is required for destroying targets hidden in a cluttered environment. The Block II variant of the land to land version of the Brahmos will likely be equipped with such a seeker. At the moment, the Brahmos Block II uses a Russian imaging seeker with some target discrimination capability. If today’s Brahmos test actually saw this (i.e RF SCAN) seeker being trialed, instead of the monopulse seekers alluded to above, then it would mark a major step in the evolution of seeker technology in India.
Be that as it may, official comment from India’s Ministry of Defence says that today’s test saw the Brahmos missile hitting its designated target with pin-point accuracy. The test was conducted at the Pokharan field firing range, located in the Western Indian state of Rajasthan.
© Delhi Defence Review. Reproducing this content in full without permission is prohibited. | 2,992 |
A conservative activist on Monday released an undercover video featuring an honor student at a South Florida University trying to convince officials into allowing a pro-ISIS campus club.
James O’Keefe, who runs Project Veritas, unveiled the video in which the student, senior Laura Loomer, told instructors at Barry University in Miami Shores she wanted to start “the humanitarian club” to help promote education in the Islamic state. O’Keefe alleges the video captured university worker Derek Bley unfazed when the student came to him to begin the process of forming an on-campus organization that would support ISIS.
"It's some pretty shocking material," said O'Keefe, who has made headlines for his videos targeting ACORN, Planned Parenthood and Medicaid.
School officials said Monday any paperwork submitted by the student contained no mention of ISIS and the review process of her submission hadn't reached the next level where it would have been immediately rejected.
"It is reprehensible to think that any organization would acquire video and edit it in such way as to denigrate the reputation of Barry University or its staff," said Barry University President Sister Linda Bevilacqua.
O'Keefe said the student approached his organization and they decided to partner with her. He alleges his organization found the Catholic university basically sanctioned the formation of a pro-ISIS student club.
"The individual who signed the documentation to start the ISIS club I believe is also [the student’s] thesis advisor," O'Keefe said.
O'Keefe said his group did the investigation over the last six weeks. He said never contacted the university after the video was taken.
"It says to me that he is not really interested in Veritas, which is truth," Bevilacqua said. "If he was really interested in the truth about Barry University he would take the time to get to know who we are, what we represent."
The university has been flooded with calls after the video appeared online. Barry said it has damaged a reputation the school and its graduates have spent years building.
Project Veritas told NBC 6 they didn't notify the university or the people being recorded that they were on camera. Florida law requires a person must be notified if they are going to be recorded. NBC Miami is not showing the video taken at the college.
This is the second time Project Veritas has gone after a college on ISIS. Last week O’Keefe released an undercover video showing a Cornell dean who advised another student on how to start and fund a pro-ISIS student club.
| 2,993 |
india
Updated: Jun 10, 2019 11:55 IST
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set the target of winning 75 out of total 90 assembly seats in the upcoming state Vidhan Sabha elections slated to be held by October this year.
The chief minister was in New Delhi to attend a meeting that BJP president and Union home minister Amit Shah chaired to discuss preparation of the party for the assembly elections.
“To achieve the Mission-75, work will be done in a prescribed schedule,” said Khattar.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana with massive margins.
Khattar said Amit Shah will be in Rohtak on June 21 on the occasion of International Yoga Day in which 21,000 people are likely to participate.
He said students, different organisations of Arya Samaj and yoga campaigners will be among the participants. He said programmes will also be organised across the assembly constituencies in which Haryana’s ministers, MLAs, MPs and other office bearers will be present.
Others present in the meeting included finance minister Capt Abhimanyu and BJP state president Subhash Barala. Addressing party workers in Faridabad earlier in the day, Khattar applauded people of Faridabad for “creating a record of sorts” by ensuring victory of BJP candidate Krishan Pal with 6.38 lakh votes.
He said the BJP government fulfilled the responsibility to meet the hopes and aspirations of the people. He said the state government developed all the regions, sections and castes equally and fulfilled the ‘Haryana Ek-Haryanvi Ek’ resolve. “We opened the doors of jobs on merit basis for the youth of the state. Applications will soon be invited to recruit 6,500 more constables in the police,” Khattar said.
Khattar meets Smriti Irani
Union minister Smriti Irani on Sunday held a meeting with Khattar on the issues related to women welfare in the state.
Khattar told the media, “After taking the charge as the women and child development minister, her first meeting today took place with the Haryana government.” Irani appreciated the state’s efforts in the field of women education and said, “Some key decisions were taken and directives issued regarding the welfare of women and children in Haryana.” | 2,994 |
President Trump insists he owns a real Renoir painting — but a Chicago museum says the version he has isn’t the real deal.
The Art Institute of Chicago said it owns the authentic version of the “Two Sisters (On the Terrace)” painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir and that it’s been hanging in its gallery since 1933.
Trump’s Renoir, meanwhile, adorns his penthouse at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. It could be seen in the background during an interview he did with “60 Minutes” after winning the 2016 election.
The strange story behind the provenance of the president’s painting resurfaced last week on Vanity Fair’s “Inside the Hive” podcast.
Trump’s biographer, Tim O’Brien, said that years ago while writing his book on the millionaire real estate developer, he spotted the colorful piece hanging in his private jet.
O’Brien asked if it was real. Trump said it was.
“No, it’s not, Donald,” O’Brien recalled replying. But Trump was adamant it was authentic.
“Donald, it’s not,” O’Brien said. “I grew up in Chicago, that Renoir is called ‘Two Sisters (On the Terrace),’ and it’s hanging on a wall at the Art Institute of Chicago. That’s not an original.”
Trump disagreed but dropped the conversation.
“I’m sure he’s still telling people who come into the apartment, ‘It’s an original, it’s an original,’” O’Brien said on the podcast. “He believes his own lies in a way that lasts for decades. He’ll tell the same stories time and time again, regardless of whether or not facts are right in front of his face.”
Art Institute of Chicago spokeswoman Amanda Hicks told the Chicago Tribune that its painting was given to the museum by Annie Swan Coburn, who bought it for $100,000 from art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. Durand-Ruel purchased the painting straight from the artist in 1881, according to Hicks.
The museum is “satisfied that our version is real,” Hicks said.
The White House didn’t respond to questions about Trump’s painting, the Tribune reported. | 2,995 |
Two guys in Pakistan were fighting over an omelette from Game of Thrones and one of them even looked up the other’s address to go and fight at their home. Yup.
So here’s what happened (in 140 characters or less):
So this guy on Foodies R Us had a comments war with another guy, found out his address and is driving to his house right now to fight. — RizwanPehelwan (@RizwanPehelwan) May 10, 2016
It all started with an innocent (albeit a little cuckoo) omelette recipe on a Pakistan-specific foodie community on Facebook. One man took Game of Thrones obsession to another level, claiming he has insider information as to what Khal Drogo has for breakfast and he’s willing to share it with us lucky peasants.
Recipe directly passed from Kahl Drogo to Kahleesi to me…..
If you want to make the Khal Drogo Omelette, here’s the recipe in 5 simple steps
1. You’ll be needing all this ammo:
1(a). First thing’s first, feed the fluffballs:
2. Chop everything up, nice and easy.
3. Dash ’em in the frying pan, flip and remove to add a generous helping of cheese:
4. If you think you’re done, think again. There’s a layer of Pringles and another raw egg to be had:
5. Oven bake this sunny side up and the breakfast of champions is served.
Except, this recipe didn’t exactly strike everybody’s fancy:
This went on for quite a while until a good e-Samaritan popped in to intervene:
And shit hit the fan:
So much so that one of them decided to DRIVE TO THE OTHER PERSON’S HOUSE
PHADDA PHADDA
There are many glaring questions. Did he reach his place fine or is he stuck in the Lahori traffic? What did one foodie serve the other for tea? WE NEED TO BE UPDATED ON THE CURRENT SITUATION.
One lesson learnt, however:
And another person who takes a cheese omelette personally:
Stay safe folks. Eat and be merry, don’t drive off to each other’s homes to fight. Khao aur khanay do.
Zarra ye bhee check karein: | 2,996 |
The mighty Humble Bundle store has discounted vast swathes of its Total War catalogue, whether you’re looking to command the troops as Napoleon, or control hordes of unhinged mutant rat-people planning to blow up the moon (can’t get enough of that Total War: Warhammer goodness).
With full titles starting from as low as £1.74, and plenty of ginormous discounts to be had on expansions to boot, any strategy fans will definitely want to be taking a look at the Humble Store this weekend.
First up, you Kendo the entire Total War: Shotgun 2 Collection for under £10 – considering the full price veers more toward £40, this is one splendid deal. Its stand alone expansion, Total War: Shogun 2- Fall of the Samurai has also been reduced to £6.24. Furthermore, the original Shogun: Total War and its expansion Mongol Invasion can be netted for the princely sum of £1.74.
Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai
On the fantasy front, Total War: Warhammer is now under a tenner, while the more recently released Total War: Warhammer II is only £13.59. You can also add vampires, evil elves, and cursed desert monstrosities to Total War: Warhammer II starting from £6.99.
Next, command Roman armies with the legendary Total War: Rome II – Emperor Edition, reduced to £7.49. Meanwhile, its legendary predecessor Rome: Total War Collection can be snagged for only £3.05.
Total War: Warhammer 2
Or, you can play everyone’s favourite tiny dictator in Total War: Napoleon – Definite Edition, reduced from £29.99 to a mere fiver. Additionally, control raving hordes of horses with Total War: Attila, which has been slashed down to £7.49.
Spruce things up on the Hun front with complementary Celts and Viking expansions for £2.03 each.
Fans of naval combat and conquering nations may enjoy the Total War: Empire – Definitive Edition for under a fiver.
Unhinged rat race the Skaven feature in Total War: Warhammer II
May the lamentations of your enemies ring throughout the land.Be sure to nab yourself something from the Total War sale within the next three days, and if you’re curious, there’s plenty more awesome deals on awesome games over at the Humble Bundle sale generally right now, so do take a gander if you’ve got a Gig or two to spare. | 2,997 |
(Adds statement from Congressional Black Caucus chairman)
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Some of Democratic U.S. Representative John Conyers' colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are pressing the 88-year-old lawmaker to resign amid sexual harassment allegations against him, two senior House Democratic aides said on Tuesday.
The aides, who asked not to be identified, did not say how many lawmakers were involved in the effort but confirmed a report by CNN that it was under way.
One aide said Democratic Representative Cedric Richmond, the CBC chairman, was active in the move to get Conyers to step down and end a House of Representatives career that began with his first election in 1964.
Richmond issued a statement after meeting with Conyers on Tuesday that said: "Any decision to resign from office before the ethics investigation is complete is John's decision to make."
Richmond said he had a "very candid conversation" with Conyers "about the seriousness of the allegations against him, which he vehemently denies."
"The Congressional Black Caucus calls on Congress to treat all members who have been accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other crimes with parity, and we call on Congress and the public to afford members with due process as these very serious allegations are investigated," Richmond said.
The Michigan congressman is the longest-serving House member and the dean of the CBC.
Aides to Conyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Sunday, Conyers said he was stepping down as the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee pending a congressional ethics investigation.
He has denied allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances to some women who worked for him, but said his office had resolved a harassment case with a payment and no admission of guilt.
Conyers' troubles come as sexual harassment accusations in recent weeks have ensnared former Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein and other politicians, including Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama and Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota.
The CBC was founded in 1971 and has 49 members in the House and Senate. It is an influential voice within the Democratic Party.
Following Conyers' announcement on Sunday that he was stepping down as the ranking House Judiciary Committee Democrat, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called for "zero tolerance" on sexual harassment.
If Conyers were to resign, a special election would be held to fill his seat. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Tom Brown and Peter Cooney)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | 2,998 |
We romanticize pirates.
The question is why. Historically they did very bad things, not only stealing but performing incredible acts of brutality. François l’Olonnais, a French pirate active in the Caribbean in the 1660s, was known to cut open the chests of his victims and take a bite out of their hearts.
And modern pirates are no better. There have been 189 piracy attacks this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Somali pirates, who themselves are killers, may have earned $160 million last year.
So why, then, do we romanticize pirates? Why do we dress up like them and play pirates? Why do we name baseball and football teams after them?
It’s a question Thomas Oertling, a lecturer in maritime studies at Texas A&M University at Galveston, has given some thought to. He teaches a very popular course on piracy at the university. The class covers everything from ancient piracy to the Golden age from 1680 to 1720 when Black Bart, Captain Kidd and other pirates were active.
The course also delves into popular culture and piracy, Oertling says.
“I like to get them to start asking about our image of pirates, and why our image of piracy from stories and books is a very different one from reality. Why is that? We have a lot of recreational piracy in modern life, each Renaissance Faire has a pirate weekend, we have national talk like a pirate day. Who is buying this, and why? Why is there this fascination with pirates?”
So what’s the answer?
“My guess is because we need to. Pirates did have a reputation for living outside the box, they made their own rules up, and in late 17th or early 18th century they had freedom and they did what they want. A lot of people can identify with freedom to do what they want. It’s inviting, gaining gold and wealth and doubloons. What’s diminished is the price someone has to pay for that. What we forget about is the violence, violation of people and their property. It’s glossed over and maybe it’s the Robin Hood effect.”
But the realities then, and today, are pretty ugly.
“Many of these pirates were pathological, and I don’t think the violence or brutality has changed at all. About the only thing that’s changed is modern technology, with fast motor boats, rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. “ | 2,999 |
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