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Huawei was first reported to be working on the P9, the successor to the company's popular P8 device, back in May. The smartphone is expected to feature a fingerprint scanner, along with Huawei's own top-of-the-line Kirin 950 chipset to power the P9.
Leaked photos of the P9 by Steve Hemmerstoffer, more popularly known as prolific leaker @OnLeaks, show one more feature for the upcoming device, specifically that it will have a dual rear-camera setup.
The pictures show a pair of labels for the rear camera of the P9, with the colors of white and gold indicating that the device will come in these colors. In addition to a hole for the LED flash, the labels also have a cutout for what would most likely be for the sensor of a laser auto-focus feature, which will provide users with faster focusing time leading to better quality pictures. Lastly, the labels also come with the text LTE for the gold one and Delux for the white one, but there is currently no information regarding the meaning behind these names.
The more significant piece of information that can be taken away from the images is that there will be two cameras at the back of the P9, as represented by the two circular holes. It is expected that one of the cameras will be a 16MP one that will feature optical image stabilization.
Previous rumors regarding the P9 claim that the device will pack a 5.2-inch screen that will have a resolution of 1080 x 1920, for a pixel density of 424 pixels per inch. The previously mentioned Kirin 950 chipset is expected to be accompanied by four Cortex-A72 cores and another four Cortex-A57 cores, plus the Mali-T880 GPU for the smartphone's graphics. The P9 will also be powered by 4GB worth of RAM.
It should be noted that in benchmark tests, the Kirin 950 actually scored higher compared to Samsung's Exynos 7420, which the company used in its latest flagship Galaxy devices. This would mean that the P9 would definitely not be lacking in performance or speed.
The dual rear-camera setup is catching on among smartphone manufacturers, with the upcoming budget-friendly OnePlus X also having the same design. Reports also claim that Samsung will soon have such a setup on one of its smartphones, but probably not for the Galaxy S7.
ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. | 300 |
Flushing sanitary products down the toilet can be very detrimental for the marine environment, new research has claimed.
The majority of period products such as tampons and sanitary pads are predominantly made from plastic, which makes it harder for them to be broken down when they enter the sewage system.
Approximately 700,000 panty liners, 2.5 million tampons and 1.4 million sanitary towels are flushed down the toilet in the UK every single day, according to figures published in the Journal of the Institution of Environmental Sciences.
The Marine Conservation Society and Natracare, a plastic-free period brand, have teamed up to raise awareness about the negative impact of period waste for a campaign that coincides with Plastic Free July.
According to their research, one pack of sanitary pads can contain the equivalent quantity of plastic as four carrier bags. Moreover, one pad can take as long as 500 years to fully break down.
While numerous women may instinctively flush sanitary products down the toilet rather than put them in the bin, doing so is extremely ill-advised, as Rachel Dyson, head of the Anglian Water’s “Keep It Clear” programme explains.
“Many people are unaware that just like wipes, sanitary pads, tampons and tampon applicators should never be flushed,” she says.
(Natracare (Natracare)
Reducing period waste isn’t just a case of throwing used sanitary products in the bin rather than the toilet, but also seeking out alternative menstrual products that are plastic free.
“Thirty years of campaigning for and developing environmentally compatible menstrual products, has led to this perfect storm of actions to reduce plastic entering landfill and our oceans,” says Susie Hewson, founder and CEO of Natracare.
“By choosing plastic free, women have the power to help protect the environment and their own health.”
It’s been estimated that the average woman will dispose of 11,000 sanitary products in her lifetime. Furthermore, 8 per cent of all waste that enters water treatment works comes from period waste, as stated by Water UK.
Over the course of a decade, Marine Conservation Society litter pickers have collected more than 20,000 tampons, applicators and sanitary pads from UK beaches.
A “Plastic Period Protest” is taking place on the beach in Brighton on Sunday. | 301 |
Caltex Socceroos Captain Mile Jedinak has been ruled out of the clash with Brazil and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Jedinak pulled up sore after the Saudi Arabia World Cup Qualifier and coach Ange Postecoglou has made the tough decision to withdraw the captain from what is a hectic schedule over the next two weeks, where the Socceroos will play at least four games in 13 days as well as the long haul travel to Europe.
Jedinak will be replaced by Austrian-based midfielder James Jeggo.
“Losing Mile is a blow as he is not only an important member of the midfield but a great leader amongst the group,” Postecoglou said. “He has had a tough period since Christmas with his groin and we all agree it is in the best long term interest of Mile and the Socceroos that he has a break.
“He will take a break to ensure he is ready for the season ahead with his club and what is also an important 12 months for the National Team, beginning with the Qualifiers in August/September.”
Preview: Caltex Socceroos v Brazil
Jedinak said: “I’m disappointed to miss the Confederations Cup as it is something we have been looking forward to and working towards since we won the Asian Cup. But, we have some crucial games coming up over the next 12 months leading into the World Cup, which I need to be fit and firing for.”
The Socceroos take on Brazil later today at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before departing for Russia on Wednesday morning, where they will take on Germany, Cameroon and Chile in the Group Stage of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
MATCH DETAILS
Caltex Socceroos v Brazil
Tuesday 13 June 2017
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Kick off 8pm
The match will be broadcast LIVE on Fox Sports and the Nine Network.
The boss discusses Brazil clash at MCG
MATCH DETAILS (Confederations Cup)
June 19 Australia v Germany (Confederations Cup) Fisht Stadium Sochi 6pm (1am AEST)
June 22 Cameroon v Australia (Confederations Cup) St Petersburg Stadium 6pm (1am AEST)
June 25 Chile v Australia (Confederations Cup) Spartak Stadium Moscow 6pm (1am AEST)
Caltex Socceroos squad is: | 302 |
loans are easy to get. But student loan debt in the U.S. has reached US$1.45 trillion – and as many as 20 percent of borrowers may not be earning enough to pay them back.
Universities might highlight intangible values of in-person learning, like personal contact and nonverbal communication, but the costs are becoming a larger factor. Parents and students in the U.S. are increasingly asking whether it’s worth spending around $30,000 – or even more than $60,000 – for less than 240 days of school in an elite private residential college – more than $250 a night.
Private colleges’ main competition at the moment comes from public universities. Their prices are two-thirds lower, but studying still involves taking many courses that are just as easily taught online.
Soon students will want to take a variety of courses from different universities, choosing each class and school for its particular merits and benefits. That will stiffen competition between institutions, lowering students’ costs – and universities’ revenues.
Courses will become shared experiences for online learning communities. Some colleges might seek to charge students for special in-person learning experiences, but these will be extras for those who can afford them, not the higher education norm they are today.
Finding a new way to teach
Some universities – those at the top, with the most money and expertise – are responding to the coming changes to higher education. Some are forming partnerships with international universities and online teaching companies, or building remote-learning programs on their own. Some of these, like the Harvard Extension School, are high-tech adaptations of correspondence courses people used to take by mail.
Harvard Extension School enrolls nearly 2,000 degree candidates and over 13,000 non-degree students, who take classes online, on campus or a mix of both. Students can earn a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in extension studies. At an estimated cost of $49,500, a four-year degree is cheaper than a single year on campus at Harvard.
But the vast majority of people who take its classes never get a degree at all. They’re just looking for one particular course, or maybe a few, customizing their own education.
Employers will soon take advantage of options like this, too: Universities will find themselves asked to build specific programs for particular companies. And universities will find themselves needing to explore other ways artificial intelligence technologies can help reduce the cost of education. | 303 |
Medieval Church’s fight against the Scientific Revolution.) The first journalists and writers to reveal the CIA’s criminal behavior were harassed and censored if they were American writers, and tortured and murdered if they were foreigners. (See Philip Agee’s On the Run for an example of early harassment.) However, over the last two decades the tide of evidence has become overwhelming, and the CIA has found that it does not have enough fingers to plug every hole in the dike. This is especially true in the age of the Internet, where information flows freely among millions of people. Since censorship is impossible, the Agency must now defend itself with apologetics. Clinton’s “Americans will never know” defense is a prime example.
Another common apologetic is that “the world is filled with unsavory characters, and we must deal with them if we are to protect American interests at all.” There are two things wrong with this. First, it ignores the fact that the CIA has regularly spurned alliances with defenders of democracy, free speech and human rights, preferring the company of military dictators and tyrants. The CIA had moral options available to them, but did not take them.
Second, this argument begs several questions. The first is: “Which American interests?” The CIA has courted right-wing dictators because they allow wealthy Americans to exploit the country’s cheap labor and resources. But poor and middle-class Americans pay the price whenever they fight the wars that stem from CIA actions, from Vietnam to the Gulf War to Panama. The second begged question is: “Why should American interests come at the expense of other peoples’ human rights?”
The CIA should be abolished, its leadership dismissed and its relevant members tried for crimes against humanity. Our intelligence community should be rebuilt from the ground up, with the goal of collecting and analyzing information. As for covert action, there are two moral options. The first one is to eliminate covert action completely. But this gives jitters to people worried about the Adolf Hitlers of the world. So a second option is that we can place covert action under extensive and true democratic oversight. For example, a bipartisan Congressional Committee of 40 members could review and veto all aspects of CIA operations upon a majority or super-majority vote. Which of these two options is best may be the subject of debate, but one thing is clear: like dictatorship, like monarchy, unaccountable covert operations should die like the dinosaurs they are. | 304 |
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- There have been 29 suspected overdoses on Staten Island in the last 24 days, according to District Attorney Michael McMahon's office.
Since July 17, there have been 13 suspected overdose fatalities and 16 "saves" using the overdose reversal drug naloxone, McMahon's office said.
The recent increase brings the total of suspected overdose fatalities to at least 70 and the number of naloxone saves to 128 so far in 2017.
"Staten Island is still in the grip of a deadly heroin and opioid epidemic that's killing our loved ones and neighborhoods every day," McMahon said in a statement.
McMahon is urging residents to keep a watchful eye and report illegal drug activity to his office or the NYPD.
"We will continue to investigate each tragic overdose to combat this plague on every level and save lives," he said.
There were 116 fatal overdoses on Staten Island in 2016, according to a report from the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene (DOHMH).
The rate for 2017 is on a tragic path to beat that total.
DA'S OFFICE LAUNCHES HELP WEBSITE
Last week, McMahon's office launched SIHope.org, a comprehensive informational website on where to find help for addiction or how to help others in their battle.
"This is a one-stop shop for those battling addiction, know somebody who is or those who want to help," McMahon said. "It's not a silver bullet, but it will go a long way in getting people help."
CO-PAY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR NALOXONE
The district attorney's statement follows Gov. Andrew Cuomo's announcement of the Naloxone Co-payment Assistance Program.
Starting Aug. 9, New York will be the first state in the nation to provide no-cost or lower-cost naloxone at pharmacies across the state.
Individuals who have prescription health coverage will receive up to $40 in co-payment assistance, reducing the cost of making the life-saving medication free. People who have prescription coverage through Medicaid and Medicare are also eligible for assistance.
"This first-in-the-nation program will help put this lifesaving treatment in more hands and is one more prong in this administration's efforts to battle heroin and opioid abuse," Cuomo said. "This is one more step toward a stronger, healthier New York for all." | 305 |
Comedian Colin Jost on Saturday mocked President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE over a report that Trump accrued more than $1 billion in business losses in a 10-year period, saying that the story revealed that the president "may not be the financial genius that no one ever really thought he was."
"According to tax documents from 1985 to 1994, Trump appears to have lost'more money than any other American taxpayer,'" Jost said on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."
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"And I love that during that period when he was losing a billion dollars, he had the audacity to write a book about how great he was at business," Jost continued, referring to "The Art of the Deal."
The New York Times, citing IRS transcripts, reported last week that Trump's businesses accumulated $1.2 billion in losses between 1985 and 1994. The report revealed that Trump's business losses began to rapidly grow during the late '80s and early '90s.
He reported losses of more than $250 million in 1990 and 1991, according to the Times.
The documents the newspaper received also indicated that the president avoided paying income taxes for eight of the 10 years because of his massive losses. It remains unclear if the IRS asked him to make changes after audits.
Jost noted that "Fox & Friends" host Ainsley Earhardt did not consider the report damaging. The segment cut to a clip of the anchor stating that the report showed "all the things that he's done in his life.'"
"It's beyond what most of us could ever achieve," she added.
"Come on, blonde lady. Even you don’t believe that. I mean, you said the last part into your hand. It would be like if I said, 'Oh, Donald Trump. He’s such a hardworking president,'" Jost said as he placed his hand against his mouth.
Trump has dismissed the report, calling it a "highly inaccurate Fake News hit job." He also defended the losses, saying that real estate developers in the 1980s and 1990s were entitled to "massive write offs and depreciation which would, if one was actively building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases." | 306 |
Last Thursday, Chris Bosh had a quick cameo as a high school baller in Parks & Recreation. Aubrey Plaza plays the murderously surly April on the show and is apparently obsessed with Chris Bosh. She was really pumped up about getting to meet Bosh but didn't have any scenes with him. So, she went the weirdo route and pretended to be his hairdresser. He never knew.
Plaza told Vulture about her plan where, as a goof, she dressed up as the show's hairdresser, Helena, figuring Bosh would recognize her from the show and everyone would have great laugh and nothing would ever be awkward.
“Big mistake. He comes in the hair and makeup trailer and I say, ‘Hey, I’m Helena. I’m going to do your hair.’ I’m thinking that he’s going to go, ‘Oh, it’s you!’ and instead, he went, ‘Hi, nice to meet you.’ He sat down, and I was like, ‘Well... you look really good, Chris. I guess we don’t have to buzz anything or edge you up. Or, maybe, do you want me to edge you up?’ He was like, ‘No, no, I’m good.’ He said it was really nice to be there and he was being really polite, and he literally didn’t know who I was. So I kept the bit going, and I kept doing more outrageous things so that he would get a clue that it was me joking around. I picked up this Afro wig and I was like, ‘What about this? How about this fake mustache?’ and he just kept staring straight down at the floor, probably thinking to himself, ‘Wow, the hair department on this show is really crazy. All I want to do is get out of this trailer.’ The whole time I’m thinking,Well, I’ve done it so long now that I actually think it would be more awkward if I took my glasses off and went, ‘It’s me!’ That would’ve been weird.
To her credit, Plaza never broke character and even took pictures with Bosh as Helena.
Photo credit: Getty
How Aubrey Plaza Made Meeting Her Obsession, Chris Bosh, Very Weird [Vulture] | 307 |
A Utah man has been arrested on suspicion of shooting an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy as he waited in line at a fast-food restaurant, authorities said.
Long Beach police arrested 30-year-old Rhett Nelson of St. George, Utah, on Tuesday and turned him over to sheriff's investigators, Fox 11 reported.
Nelson went into a church Tuesday morning and called his father back home, sheriff’s Homicide Bureau Capt. Kent Wegener said.
NEW YORK WOMAN ASSAULTS SUBWAY RIDER WITH INFANT STRAPPED TO CHEST, POLICE SAY
“In that call, he referred to committing a murder in Southern California,” Wegener said.
The father called police, who stopped Nelson in his car a short time later, he said.
Investigators said they believed Nelson was the man who walked up and shot Deputy Joseph Gilbert Solano in the head on Monday as he stood at the counter of a Jack in the Box in suburban Alhambra.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Solano was in grave condition and on life support.
“This is the part of this job that I don’t relish,” Villanueva said. “I always dreaded this would happen. It happened way too soon.”
Solano joined the sheriff’s department in 1999, left in 2000, worked at the Alhambra Fire Department for a year and was rehired by the sheriff’s department in 2006. He was most recently assigned to the custody division, Villanueva said.
Authorities said Solano wasn't in uniform, and the attack appeared to be random and unprovoked.
The shooting was captured on surveillance video and showed the deputy entering the restaurant, ordering food, and then waiting at the counter for his order.
As he was standing at the counter waiting for the food, the gunman approached and shot him once in the head, then left immediately, Wegener said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Officials also said Nelson may have killed another man an hour earlier.
Los Angeles police are trying to determine whether Nelson also drove up and killed another man in that city less than an hour earlier in another apparently random shooting.
Fox News' Travis Fedschun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Click for more from Fox 11. | 308 |
Ho-Pin Tung took Jackie Chan DC Racing to pole position for the Four Hours of Buriram in spectacular fashion on Saturday, over six-tenths faster than his nearest competitor.
Tung and co-drivers Gustavo Menezes and Thomas Laurent will start Sunday’s race, round 3 of the Asian Le Mans Series season, from the front of the grid in their Jackie Chan DC Racing-run Oreca 03R Nissan.
Tung set the original fastest lap time on his second lap and continued to better his pace a further three times until he reached a 1:26.954 near the end of the session.
The prototype qualifying session was red-flagged midway through as the Ligier JS 53 of PS Racing, the only CN entrant, stopped on track with Tira Sosothikul at the wheel.
The running soon got back underway, however, allowing Andrea Pizzitola to put in a fast lap that was only good enough to close Tung’s lead down to 0.622 seconds. This puts the No. 25 Ligier JS P2 Nissan second on the grid for Algarve Pro Racing.
Race Performance will start the race from third, alongside the second, Judd-engined Algarve Pro Ligier.
Tockwith Motorsports continued its pace from Free Practice 2 to take LMP3 class pole position with Nigel Moore at the wheel, setting a time of 1:30.154.
Wineurasia and PRT Racing completed the top three in class, with their Ligier JS P3 and Ginetta LMP3 respectively.
Alessandro Pier Guidi scored GT pole position with a lap time of 1:31.858, putting himself and Team BBT co-drivers Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo just 0.031 seconds clear on the timesheets.
It was Rui Aguas in the similar Ferrari 488 GT3 of Spirit of Race in second position, while Tom Blomqvist put the No. 90 BMW M6 GT3 of Team AAI into third.
Alex Riberas and Matt Griffin completed the top five for DH Racing and Clearwater Racing, respectively, with their pair of Ferraris.
The race is set to start at 12:15 p.m. local time on Sunday, and can be streamed on the series’ YouTube channel.
RESULTS: Qualifying | 309 |
You should tell him he’s not the leader of the Tory party yet. You should tell him that. Will you stand up for Britain’s interests or will you just be bullied by Boris?”
How would you be affected by a third runway at Heathrow? Read more
Her argument shows that Labour intends to frame the debate over Heathrow as a matter of national interest. The party would be able to argue that Cameron has bowed to a small group of Tories with west London constituencies if he rejects the recommendations of the independent Davies report.
Michael Dugher, the shadow transport secretary, said there was “a majority in the House of Commons willing to do the right thing for the sake of the country” and urged Cameron to make a swift decision.
Labour originally proposed Heathrow expansion while in government, but Ed Miliband was not in favour and pulled the party back from supporting a third runway.
Liz Kendall, one of the Labour leadership candidates, said: “The country has to get behind this now. The time for fudge and indecision is over. Many thousands of jobs right across the country depend on Britain maintaining an international hub airport that keeps pace with the rest of the world.
“With my leadership, Labour will be the party of jobs and work, so I will back the commission’s decision. We need to act now.”
If Cameron opts for expansion at Gatwick, he would face opposition from MPs in Surrey, but there are fewer influential ministers and MPs with constituencies in the area.
MPs with constituencies near Gatwick, known as the Gatwick Coordination Group, responded to the Airports Commission report by saying it had made “a clear decision in the national interest”, which meant the case for Gatwick expansion was “dead and buried”.
“The commission was faced with a choice between a strong business case for Heathrow and an economically weak and practically inadequate case for Gatwick: a choice between around £100bn greater national economic benefit and four times more new jobs spread across the UK flowing from Heathrow, versus Gatwick which lacks resilient surface transport infrastructure and any available local labour force to staff the airport,” they said.
“Unsurprisingly, the commission has found in favour of Heathrow, the significantly better option for Britain. The report clearly shows that Heathrow can expand whilst meeting the key economic, infrastructure and environmental tests.” | 310 |
, don’t offer me Xanax anywhere (not ’cause I will do it but because I don’t like it, and like come on, with everything that’s happened, why would you offer me a Xanax?) I prefer my water room temp. I hate having to take a shit, it’s such a waste of time and always happens to me in the worst times of the day when I’m not at home smh.
Never rap again, or never Tweet again?
Never Tweet again. Fuck Twitter, I only use it ’cause I kinda have to for my career. If I was a more fye producer, I’d be able to not Tweet, but I kinda gotta maintain my persona (which is 100% me). But I feel like people fuck with who I am as a person, so I gotta keep feeding the people what they want.
Favorite beat you’ve made in the past year?
Some unreleased shit from my upcoming album, just stay tuned.
Weirdest DM you can remember?
It was an email, and it was someone who sounded like a stalker begging to be my friend and go to the beach, go on walks, eat picnics and all this extra ass shit. It was like mad paragraphs long and came from some random ass kid, it was just really weird and creepy. But that shit happen a lot, lowkey.
What advice would you give to yourself when you were at your lowest?
Keep drinking… Nah just kidding, don’t do what I used to do. Just watch Tim & Eric.
What do you believe (if anything) separates you from your peers?
I’m lowkey one of the most responsible people I know, regardless of what it may seem like [laughs]. No shade to anyone or my friends, but I feel like people think I don’t have my shit together or am unstable, but I actually really do, all things considered as a 25-year-old. Aside from some mental shit, but that’s everyone (starting therapy this week tho).
Hardest time you’ve laughed that you can remember?
Just being drunk with horse head, WAVY JONE$ and horse head on tour. Shit is jokes.
Any parting words for the readers of Underground Underdogs?
Drink hella water. | 311 |
Ever wondered how some musical piece would sound if played backwards? What would happen if you would play that piece with your sheet upside down? Midi-Transform lets you make this transformations to MIDI files.
The transformations available are: Revert, Invert and Change pitch.
Download
These are builds with graphical user interface. To use it by command line clone the repository.
Screenshots
Transformations
Revert
Revert note order. This transform the MIDI to play backwards.
Invert
Invert the notes like in a mirror. In MIDI every note has a numerical value. For example, C5, G4, B4 and E5 have numeric values of 72, 67, 71 and 76 respectively. MIDI files can have note values ranging from 0 to 127, so the inversion is done by changing the values to: note_value = 127 - note_value. The new values will be 55, 60, 56 and 51 which correspond to G3, C4, G#3 and D#3. This transformation has the proporty that alters the chord structure from major to minor and viceversa.
Pitch change
Change pitch of every note. Works by adding or sustracting the pitch change to the note values.
Showcase
Examples of the files produced by the script.
Instructions
To use it by command line.
Usage: python2 miditransform.py [input file] [output file] Options: -l, --log Write log to files. -i, --invert Invert notes on pentagram. -r, --revert Revert midi file (play backward). -c <arg>, --change_pitch=<arg> Change pitch of midi file. The argument is the pitch change. E.g: -c 2. -t, --test Test similarity of files after transformations. -h --help Print usage and exit.
A Qt GUI is provided in "miditransform-gui.pyw". It can also be compiled for Android using Kivy and Buildozer.
Requires
Python (2.6 or 2.7)
PySide For the Qt GUI version.
PyGame For the Qt GUI version.
Kivy For Android version.
License
Midi-Transform is released into the public domain by the copyright holders. | 312 |
Redevelopment plans for the oldest remaining fire station in St. Paul are coming to fruition, with a high-end wine bar announced for the site.
Brody Nordland and Chelsea Kaeding, who have backgrounds in hotel development and are lovers and collectors of wine, plan to open Firehouse Wine Bar (1 S. Leech St.; St. Paul) in the historic structure on Leech Street and Grand Avenue.
“We’re focused on being Minneapolis’ and St. Paul’s only selection of high-end West Coast wines,” Kaeding said. “We’ll focus solely on West Coast California wines. We want to make this approachable where someone might go out and buy a $150 bottle of wine and can get it here by the glass.”
For food, mainly cheese and meat boards will be available on site. The duo also plan to partner with area establishments. “We’re going to allow people to order in food from local restaurants. We’re working with local restaurants to put pairings together where (guests) can have food delivered,” Nordland said.
The property near United and Children’s hospitals was slated to be razed for a 109-room Marriott hotel.
After working with the city and community members, developers tweaked the hotel blueprint to include redeveloping the historic firehouse on the site for another use. A deal was reached that includes a $500,000 forgivable loan from the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority to aid developers in costs that come with changing the building plans to accommodate both a hotel and firehouse on the property.
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New eateries set up shop at malls around the metro Nordland and Kaeding, who are not part of the hotel development, will run the wine bar out of the former firehouse, which will be developed independently but in tandem with the hotel project.
“It’s a beautiful historic building,” Nordland said. “We’re maintaining as much of the original material as possible.” | 313 |
Rory Gallagher:
30 million albums sold
The greatest white bluesman to walk the planet. God himself, (Eric Clapton) runs a pale and distant second. Don’t believe me? Ask, the patron saint of cool, Slash (a Rory disciple) who has initiated a petition to get Rory into the hall. It has been widely reported that when Rock Guitar’s chairman of the board, Jimi Hendrix was asked by a Rolling Stone journalist what it was like to be the greatest guitar player in the world, he is quoted as responding, “I don’t know, go ask Rory Gallagher” Still not convinced? Gallagher was approached by the Rolling Stones to fill their vacant guitar slot…..twice! He was on the short list when Brian Jones passed as well as when Mick Taylor quit. In the case of Taylor’s departure, Rory’s brother Donal has gone on record as saying Rory got the first call. However, Gallagher had a world tour to do and The Stones were in mid-life crisis. A successful solo artist who also recorded with Muddy Waters, Albert King and Jerry Lee Lewis; Gallagher respectfully recorded with the Stones a couple of days then excused himself to return to his day job. Many believe that the uncredited ghost of Rory Gallagher haunts the backround mix of The Stones album “Black And Blue” to this day.
When researching Gallagher’s bio, it seems his life path was pre-ordained. He was born March 2, 1948 in Rock Hospital and baptized in The Rock Church in Donegal County, Ireland.
Gallagher was a shy, saintly, hard-drinkin’ Bluesman of the first order. He repeatedly vowed never to compromise himself in the pursuit of celebrity and he stayed that course for his entire life. Major labels waved the brass ring of super-stardom in his face several times in his fabled career and Rory walked away from every soul-selling pact offered. He also earns Rock and Roll mythology points for refusing to release singles, dumping an entire unreleased album master in the trash bin on a whim, and dying (too young at age 47) of liver failure.
The following video is Rory live ripping through one of his best originals, “Shin Kicker”. Rory was a live animal whose power was seldom accurately chronicled in the studio. Did Eric or Jimi ever burn this bright? Just askin’ | 314 |
Last week, David Peel, the irrepressible and quintessential street musician, died in New York after a heart attack. He was 74.
David Peel was famous — at least in certain street, musical, and marijuana circles (pass to the left in his honor) — chiefly as the composer and performer of the doggerel ditty I Like Marijuana, which you can see and hear in all its glory (?) in the clip below, shot live at the iconic Woodstock site in 1991:
I was informed about David Peel’s demise by my webmaster/publisher, who like me, saw Peel and his ragtag band “The Lower East Side” play in NYC parks and on street corners innumerable times back in the 1960s and 1970s. My buddy, however, went the extra mile and was friends with him on Facebook, which I hadn’t thought of doing myself (I’m not much of a Facebook person).
David invented his last name-de-guerre very simply as a parody of the concept of bananadine, an urban-mythical substance from bananas that would allegedly get you high (similar in concept to today’s jenkem).
But the man was a realist in many ways. His talent was not music per se (you can hear nearly his whole repertoire on his first album) but finding a niche and never losing sight of his audience. We were all breathlessly scandalized back in the day: radio stations would censor songs at the merest hint of drug use, but David Peel was singing “I like marijuana” in public FFS! Other musicians would slip sly references into their songs (cf Jim Morrison “they got the guns, but we got the numbers”), but David Peel was hanging it all out there all the time.
He was really the perfect street musician, with his bit-of-a-tough-guy attitude, raspy masculine voice with just the breath of a lisp, and a posse before they even had that name for it. And what a professional: he always acted like he was on stage at Madison Square Garden in front of 25,000 people, even if there were only a dozen stoners in the audience.
As my friend privately remarked, David would have been quite amused to find out that his obituary was published in The New York Times. We will all be poorer for his loss. | 315 |
Fort McMurray resident Jeff Hacior is getting ready to attend the PGA Tour’s 2018 Ryder Cup in France this September.
Hacior, the superintendent at the Fort McMurray Golf Club (FMGC), has been with the club for 15 years. He was chosen to be one of 10 North American superintendents on the maintenance team and the only Canadian member. There are 20 members of the overall maintenance team who will work with and support the turf team at the host club; the other 10 are from across Europe.
When he received the notice saying he would be on the team, Hacior said he was excited.
“I was totally surprised to be honest, but happy,” he said. “It’s an honour.”
The tournament is one of golf’s most prominent events and happens every two years. It involves a team of golfers representing the United States and a team representing Europe competing against each other.
Hacior was chosen out of 374 eligible individuals from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America to be a part of the maintenance team. He will get a unique educational experience and help get the course ready for the competitors to play.
Hacior said applying for the chance to be a part of the tournament involved a questionnaire he had to fill out that outlined his golf course experience and his past involvement with tournaments. Some of that experience includes the FMGC hosting the PGA Tour Canada Mackenzie Tour’s Syncrude Boreal Open for five years.
The FMGC’s clubhouse and maintenance building were destroyed in the 2016 wildfires, but Hacior said he is hopeful the new buildings will be ready to open soon.
This year’s tournament will be held September 28 to 30 in France. Even though it seems like it’s far away, Hacior said he knows it will come up quickly.
“I’m excited to represent the Fort McMurray Golf Club and Canada,” he said. “I think about it every day.”
Hacior said he is looking forward to being a part of the team and the experience he will get from working in the Ryder Cup.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity,” he said. “I’m really excited for it.”
[email protected] | 316 |
Al Gore Meets With Donald And Ivanka Trump In Search For 'Common Ground'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Kevin Hagen/Getty Images Kevin Hagen/Getty Images
In what may be the most unlikely meeting of the presidential transition process so far, former vice president, former Democratic presidential nominee, former senator and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore met with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday.
Gore has spent decades warning about the dire consequences of unchecked, man-made climate change, while Trump has regularly called climate change "a hoax" during the campaign.
Initially, the session was not even expected to include the president-elect. According to the transition spokesman, it was scheduled as a sit-down between Gore and Trump's daughter, Ivanka, who is a member of the official transition team. Ivanka Trump, 35, is also an executive with the Trump Organization, and Trump has described her as one of his most trusted advisers.
There was no preview of the agenda for the former vice president and the president-elect's daughter.
Politico reported last week that Ivanka, who is expected to play some of the social roles typically occupied by the first lady, is interested in making climate change one of her signature issues.
Since the election, she has met with actor and climate change activist Leonardo DiCaprio to discuss the issue, when he, according to the New York Times, gave her a copy of his documentary film on the topic.
A full 90 minutes after Gore entered Trump Tower, the golden elevator doors in Trump Tower's lobby opened and Gore emerged, according to pool reports.
In a very brief statement to reporters staking out the lobby, Gore revealed that he spent most of his time upstairs meeting with Trump himself.
"I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground," said Gore. "I had a meeting beforehand with Ivanka Trump. The bulk of the time was with the president-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and I'm just going to leave it at that."
It's not clear exactly how Ivanka Trump's views on climate change differ from her father's and what influence she might have on him. He has proposed walking away from the 2015 Paris Agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. As a candidate, Trump championed the American coal industry, saying that environmental regulations had harmed the industry and cost the jobs of miners. | 317 |
Earlier this week VRFocus wrote a full hands-on of Pimax’s offerings at CES 2019, detailing what we thought of the 8K and 5K Plus headsets, as well as the eye-tracking and hand-tracking modules. The company was certainly at the show to impress, with a much larger stand than the previous year, plus there was the new US Head of Operations to talk to, Kevin Henderson.
With so much on display at CES 2019 Henderson had quite a bit to discuss, mainly focusing on an area both Pimax and consumers feel is important, logistics. Having originally started as a highly successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign, the company has a lot of backers to satisfy (just under 6,000 in total), concentrating on upping production to get those orders fulfilled. He notes several figures, claiming producing is at 200 units per day and climbing, while 135 units are being shipped per day, so Henderson expects most backers to get their headsets ‘pretty quick’.
At the same time, Pimax is expanding operations across the US (with plans for Europe as well) to ensure it can quickly and smoothly deal with any issues customers may come across. Should a headset need a repair or service of some kind, then Pimax aims to make sure customers only go days without their device rather than spending weeks going back and forth dealing with issues.
Pimax is solely concentrating on getting headsets out to buyers for the time being, with the modules sounding like they’re not going to be available just yet. All the Pimax headsets are modular, so you can add eye-tracking and hand-tracking as and when they become available.
Henderson goes on to discuss features that have been or are going to be added such as being able to change the FoV, or changing colour and contrast. Then there’s the newly released Brainwarp 1.0 which is now live, and is essentially a similar Smart Smoothing algorithm, which is similar to Oculus’ “ASW” and SteamVR’s “Motion Smoothing”, with Pimax noting on a forum post: “With Smart Smoothing technique, our users are expecting to get good performance on GTX1070 or GTX2060 when playing most of the VR games with 8K or 5K+ headset.”
Check out the full interview below, and for further Pimax updates, keep reading VRFocus. | 318 |
Debra Burlingame, an organizer of the December rally, whose brother, Charles F. Burlingame III, was the pilot of the hijacked plane that was crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, said: “He’s done a lot of heavy lifting on our behalf. This fight gets very tiring, and Andy is one of those people that truly inspires and keeps me going.”
Fellow alumni of the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York have mixed views about Mr. McCarthy, who also writes on topics like abortion and overhauling health care. “His critics view him as a right-wing blogger,” said Anthony S. Barkow, a former terrorism prosecutor in the office who now runs a center on criminal law at New York University.
Mr. Barkow said he had stopped reading Mr. McCarthy on topics other than national security. “I have to give him credit for being willing to reject his past a bit,” he said, “and be out there so vehemently against something he was so integrally a part of.”
Through a spokesman, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. declined to comment about Mr. McCarthy. When asked about him during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee in November, Mr. Holder replied that he was there “to talk about facts and evidence, real American values, and not the kinds of polemics that he seems prone to.”
“I’m not worried about Mr. McCarthy,” Mr. Holder said.
Mr. McCarthy now writes regularly for National Review. He makes extensive public appearances, and he wrote a 2008 book on terrorism policy called “Willful Blindness.” He said in interviews that the evolution of his views came during his stint as a prosecutor.
A graduate of Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, Mr. McCarthy, the oldest of six children, was 13 when his father died. After graduating from Columbia College, he attended New York Law School at night while working days as a deputy marshal in the witness protection program. He later became a paralegal in the United States attorney’s office.
Hired as a prosecutor in 1986, he worked on the Pizza Connection heroin trial. He was running the office’s general crimes unit in 1993 when the World Trade Center was bombed and the conspiracy involving the sheik, Omar Abdel Rahman, was uncovered. | 319 |
Equifax has identified 2.4 million victims of its massive 2017 data breach that were not previously counted in the number of people affected by the hack, the credit bureau announced Thursday.
The company says hackers stole partial driver’s license information from the newly identified group. Equifax said that in the vast majority of these cases, the breach did not expose home addresses, the states in which the licenses were issued or expiration and issuance date.
The company said these victims had not been identified previously because the forensic investigation had focused on stolen Social Security numbers.
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"This is not about newly discovered stolen data," Paulino do Rego Barros Jr., Equifax’s interim CEO, said in a statement. "It's about sifting through the previously identified stolen data, analyzing other information in our databases that was not taken by the attackers, and making connections that enabled us to identify additional individuals."
Equifax said it will notify those in the new group and offer them free credit monitoring and identity theft services.
The new victims bring the total number affected by last year’s breach to 147.9 million people, or roughly 45 percent of the U.S. population.
The announcement has already rankled members of Congress who have been investigating the breach for months and grilled its former CEO in a marathon of hearings last year.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden Gregory (Greg) Paul WaldenTrump order on drug prices faces long road to finish line Ignore the misinformation: The FDA will ensure the safety of any COVID-19 vaccine Hillicon Valley: Trump backs potential Microsoft, TikTok deal, sets September deadline | House Republicans request classified TikTok briefing | Facebook labels manipulated Pelosi video MORE (R-Ore.) and Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), who is the chairman of a consumer protection subcommittee, said Thursday they would ask for a briefing from Mandiant, a firm that is investigating the breach.
“This latest announcement from Equifax is deeply concerning, and raises even more questions about the company’s total failure in safeguarding consumers’ information and providing adequate tools for protection post-breach,” Walden and Latta said in a joint statement. “Following our hearing with the former Equifax CEO, this committee has repeatedly requested documents and information from Equifax as part of our investigation into the data breach that impacted millions of Americans, only to be given partial responses and delay in full disclosure.” | 320 |
PTI By
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad High Court today ordered the Special Investigation Team constituted to probe the killing of 20 people in police firing in Seshachalam forests of Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district, to complete its investigation in 60 days and submit a report to the court.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, while passing an interim order, expressed dissatisfaction over the case diary that was produced by the investigating officer to the court.
The court had last week directed the AP Police to furnish the case diary before the court today, relating to a case registered in connection with the killing of the 20 people in police firing.
The case was posted to May 1 for further hearing.
"For the time being we are giving 60 days time to complete the investigation. You (Govt) should produce the progress of the investigation from next hearing. The investigation should be conducted impartially," Chief Justice Sengupta said while passing the interim order.
The judges also observed that in case it is felt that the investigation is not satisfactory, then the court will appoint an independent team for the probe.
Bowing to pressure from various quarters, the Andhra Pradesh government recently issued orders for handing over the case to SIT, headed by senior IPS officer Ravishankar Ayyanar.
Raghunath submitted before the court that Ayyanar himself is known as an "encounter specialist" and the investigation under his leadership may not be justifiable. He also brought to the court's notice that one of the members of the SIT was allegedly involved in the incident.
However, the bench suggested him to file an affidavit if there are any objections on any of the members of the SIT.
"We cannot take oral submissions. You (defence) file an affidavit with all your concerns. We will look into that.At this stage we cannot comment," the bench said.
Twenty people were gunned down in Seshachalam forests of Chittoor district on April 7 in an operation by the police.
Based on a complaint filed by Muniyammal, the wife of one of the victims Sashi Kumar, the AP police had earlier registered an FIR under sections 302 (murder) and 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) against "unknown" task force personnel. | 321 |
not history, meaning that history has little access to the floods of money that international students pay in fees, which keep our universities afloat.
The amount of money that comes to the history discipline at Melbourne from teaching fees is very small. It pays for about nine academics. We have a teaching faculty of 16, with the salaries of seven staff paid for by generous philanthropists.
By international standards even strong Australian history departments are very small. My previous university – the University of Warwick, with 25,000 students to Melbourne’s 48,000 – has a history department with 43 members. It can teach all the subjects the IPA would like us to teach. We can’t.
A house of many rooms
Sadly for me and even more for proponents of the teaching of western civilisation, British history is not very popular. My subject in British history, 1603-1815, gets smaller enrolments than any of our other advanced level subjects. And when we did a survey of students at Melbourne who don’t take history, it was thought the least appealing subject. (They liked subjects of contemporary relevance, such as the history of sexuality or various subjects on war and the Nazis).
Moreover, few of my students were international students. If we adopted market principles to subjects we teach, we would drop this one. We won’t drop it because we believe the subject matter is important. And the students are terrific.
The realities of our parlous funding, however, mean that we have to be responsive to student interest and student demand. The reason British history is less taught now than it once was has little to do with politics, and everything to do with student preferences.
I would love for students to be fascinated in what I am interested in. Some are. But most aren’t.
What are they interested in? Here is a clue. We have a professorial inaugural lecture this week by Mark Edele on The Russian Revolution. It will attract a crowd of 600. Several years back, we had public lectures by our two most distinguished alumna, professors in early modern European history at Cambridge and Oxford. About 50 people went to each lecture.
Australians are not as interested in the history of western civilisation as the IPA thinks they are. The practice of history is not, of course, just about giving the public what they want. It is, however, a house of many rooms. The history of western civilisation is just one of those rooms. | 322 |
The DoJ says that the exchange also laundered the proceeds from ransomware attacks, including "Cryptowall. To top it off, it accused Vinnik's exchange of laundering funds from the now defunct Silk Road drug and weapons site, via affiliated officials Carl Force and Shaun Bridges. "Through Vinnik's efforts, BTC-e emerged as one of the principal means by which cyber criminals around the world laundered the proceeds of their illicit activity," the DoJ wrote.
Along with the 17 money laundering charges, the DoJ accused BTC-e of not registering in the US as a "money service," despite the fact that it did "substantial" operations there. The firm ran its US business in part through related shell companies, most of which were also not registered with the US financial crimes enforcement network (Fincen).
Through Vinnik's efforts, BTC-e emerged as one of the principal means by which cyber criminals around the world laundered the proceeds of their illicit activity.
As for the Mt. Gox heist, the DoJ claims that 530,000 of the stolen Bitcoins were deposited into three currency exchanges: BTC-e, Trade Hill and a third-party Mt. Gox wallet. "Of this 530,000 Bitcoin, 300,000 of it was [later] sent directly to three separate BTC-e accounts: 'Vamnedam,' 'Grmbit,' and 'Petr.' These accounts were all linked to each other," it said. The rest were transferred from the other exchanges into a BTC-e account that was controlled by Vinnik, so BTC-e effectively received 530,000 of the stolen Bitcoins, now valued at $1.15 billion.
Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles pleaded not guilty at a trial to charges of embezzlement related to the theft of the Bitcoins. In 2014, the exchange lost 850,000 Bitcoins, then worth about $500 million, though 200,000 were later recovered. Right now, those Bitcoins are worth around $1.8 billion. "I swear to God that I am innocent," Karpeles told the Tokyo court.
The US government is now negotiating with Greece to extradite Alexander Vinnik (the two nations have had an extradition agreement since 1932). The BTC-e exchanged has been fined $110 million in civil penalties, and Vinnik personally faces a $12 million fine. All told, he could be imprisoned up to 55 years. | 323 |
CNN’s Jim Acosta James (Jim) AcostaToddlers' parents sue Trump over doctored 'racist baby' video Debate Commission snubs Latinos — again Red flags fly high, but Trump ignores them MORE writes in his memoir that “neutrality for the sake of neutrality” was ineffective in the era of President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE, according to excerpts published by The Guardian.
The CNN White House correspondent writes in his book, called "Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America," that the way he confronts Trump and other White House officials "bothers some people" and that he has been guilty of "grandstanding” and “showboating."
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Acosta also acknowledges accusations of bias against the Trump administration, writing that “neutrality for the sake of neutrality doesn’t really serve us in the age of Trump.”
Acosta also writes that then-White House aide Hope Hicks Hope Charlotte HicksSenate intel leaders said Trump associates may have presented misleading testimony during Russia probe: report Cuomo turned down Trump invitation to participate in April press briefing: report Trump shakes up White House communications team MORE called him in February 2017, only weeks after Trump had first called him “fake news,” to pass on the president’s compliments for being “very professional today.” “Jim gets it,” Trump said, according to Hicks.
Acosta speculates that Trump’s diatribes against the media are largely for show, writing that “when he called us ‘fake news’ it was, in his mind, an act,” according to the excerpts.
The book also details Acosta’s side of an event in which his White House “hard pass” was temporarily revoked after a verbal standoff with Trump relating to immigration issues in which the White House accused him of assaulting a young White House staffer attempting to take the microphone from him. Acosta calls the accusation a “disgusting smear,” writing that “everything in my life began to spiral out of control” after his pass was revoked.
Acosta’s book will be released June 11. | 324 |
According to the RSS, a plan has been hatched to implicate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in "a web of legal cases relating to the 2002 communal violence and some alleged encounter cases." A front-page article in its journal Organiser says the UPA is working overtime to implicate Modi "sometime between now and October this year."
"Hectic efforts are on to subvert every institution and influence every wing of the government to implement this nefarious design. Disgruntled officials of the Central services working in Gujarat have been used as pawns in this 'target Modi by hook or crook' operation," says the article by G.V.L. Narasimha Rao.
It alleges that IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt who had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court alleging that Modi instructed police officials to let Hindus vent their anger was one such "conduit acting at the behest of the ruling Congress at the Centre." This, it says, has been established when "Bhatt and state Congress president Arjun Modhwadia tried to influence a junior police officer Karansinh Panth to depose against Modi."
"When Panth refused to yield, they threatened him saying that the state government would collapse in two months and the chief minister would be arrested. Gujarat Police have registered an FIR and are investigating the case. This episode clearly exposes the nefarious designs of the Congress party to destabilise a democratically elected government in Gujarat," the article says.
The pinko stain
An article in the Organiser slams the Centre's approach towards Maoism. It says that while Central forces shed blood in the killing fields of Dantewada and elsewhere, the government hobnobs with the friends of Naxalites in
New Delhi.
"The fact that the government has plans to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Maoist-infested areas for gathering intelligence and assisting the security forces demonstrates there are people in the highest echelons who recognise the gravity of the threat posed by Left-wing extremists... Their efficacy in tackling Red terror, however, cannot be taken for granted, for they are up against subversive elements that have got entrenched in the system in the last seven years," the article says. It argues that the appointment of Binayak Sen on a Planning Commission panel was symptomatic of this subversion.
... contd.
ALSO READ The taper tigers
Please read our terms of use before posting comments | 325 |
"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace said he thinks an impending government shutdown "could last awhile" without "either side backing down quickly."
The perspective from the news veteran comes as the federal government approaches a shutdown Friday night.
The House passed a funding bill late Thursday, but Senate Democrats have vowed to defeat the measure. Republicans need 60 votes in the Senate to avert a shutdown, which means nine Democrats would be needed to overcome a filibuster.
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"They're busy in spin cycle right now. It looks so much like a shutdown that both sides are going to be making their case that it's the other side's fault. Maybe one side will blink before midnight but it sure doesn't look that way," Wallace said on Fox's "America's Newsroom", adding, "There's never been a government shutdown when there is unified government, one-party control of Washington."
"It's one of the reasons why I think this shutdown could last for awhile because both sides see it to their political advantage," Wallace also said.
“What’s a while?” co-anchor Sandra Smith asked Wallace.
“The last shutdown [in 2013] lasted 16 days,” Wallace noted. “That’s awhile.”
Wallace added later in the discussion that one other possibility is for both sides to agree to "a four- or five-day extension and keep everybody in town, and let’s work and try to solve this problem."
“But if you don’t get that, then I don’t know how you get off a shutdown," he concluded. "Once you’ve shut down the government, somebody is going to have to back down, and I don’t see either side backing down quickly.”
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerVideo of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral Graham signals support for confirming a Supreme Court nominee this year Pelosi orders Capitol flags at half-staff to honor Ginsburg MORE (D-N.Y.) is meeting with President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE at the invitation of the president this afternoon.
The meeting will only involve Schumer and Trump with no other Republican and Democratic lawmakers present. | 326 |
Trump has hit a long line of countries with tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium.
The World Trade Organization agreed yesterday to hear complaints from a range of countries over new US steel and aluminium tariffs, as well as complaints from Washington over retaliatory duties.
The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) agreed to establish panels to review US President Donald Trump's decision to hit a long line of countries with tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium.
The DSB will create separate panels for the complaints by the European Union, China, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Russia and Turkey, after the US said it would not agree to a single panel to hear all of them.
The DSB agreed yesterday to Washington's request for three panels to rule on the legality of retaliatory tariffs imposed by Canada, China, Mexico and the European Union.
It also agreed to a US call for a panel to be created to review "certain Chinese measures pertaining to the protection of intellectual property rights."
Marking a departure from a decades-long US-led drive for free trade, Trump has justified the steep tariffs with claims that massive flows of imports to the United States threaten national security.
Washington invoked a rarely used WTO exception that allows a country to take "any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests."
Speaking at yesterday's meeting, US Ambassador Dennis Shea warned of the "risks posed to the WTO dispute settlement system when a member challenges measures taken for the protection of essential security interests."
The US delegation also cautioned that any review of measures taken for national security reasons would undermine the "legitimacy" and "even the viability of the WTO as a whole".
The tariff spat has escalated into an all-out trade war between the US and China and growing trade tensions between Washington and many of its traditional allies.
The decision to establish the panels follows rounds of failed consultations between the parties and mark an escalation in an ongoing showdown at the WTO around Trump's controversial trade policies.
The first requests to establish the panels were rejected last month, prompting the sides to file second requests.
Under WTO regulations, parties in a dispute can block a first request for the creation of an arbitration panel, but if the parties make a second request, it is all but guaranteed to go through.
The creation of a DSB panel usually triggers a long and often costly legal battle that sometimes takes years to resolve. | 327 |
| 126 Everytown Lies
11/11/2016 Auburn, MI Bay City Western High School
The SRO suffered a negligent discharge. Oops. Not a school shooting.
Fact Check Tally: 73 School Shootings | 127 Everytown Lies
11/17/2016 St. Paul, MN Crossroads Elementary School
Student swiped a gun from his uncle and brought it to school, where another student ND’d it into the floor. Not any attempt to hurt anyone. Not a school shooting.
Fact Check Tally: 73 School Shootings | 128 Everytown Lies
12/1/2016 Bountiful, UT Mueller Park Junior High School
Parents rushed to school to disarm their own son before he could carry out a mass shooting. This is a legitimate, conventional school shooting, the 44th of 202 claimed.
Fact Check Tally: 74 School Shootings | 128 Everytown Lies
12/9/2016 St. Louis, MO Bayless High School
Non-students shot a man in a school gym lobby. Atypical, but it counts.
Fact Check Tally: 75 School Shootings | 128 Everytown Lies
If I have not miscounted along the way (and it is possible that I may have done just that by one or two or three), Everytown has claimed a grand total of 203 school shootings since Sandy Hook.
Of those, 75 seem to meet a generous definition of that term, which includes on campus student housing (the “dorm rule”), even well after hours and on weekends and even when students aren’t involved).
Of those 203 “school shootings,” only 44 meet the common perception of a school shooting, where someone came to a school campus to shoot faculty, staff, or students.
Everytown and Moms Demand Action, both projects funded by radical anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg, have long had a reputation for dishonest propaganda.
This is the first attempt we know of to audit all 203 school shootings claimed by Bloomberg’s minions, and we find them to be… lacking.
Unlike Everytown, I’ve provided a link to news stories for each and every one of these alleged school shootings, so you can tailor your own definitions, and draw your own conclusions.
Unlike Everytown, I’m willing to put my cards on the table, and enjoy a spirited and honest debate. | 328 |
(UPDATED FRIDAY MORNING with full Seattle Channel video at end of story)
(3:10 pm: Short WSB clip added, still awaiting full archived city video)
12:32 PM: Mayor Ed Murray is making his first major West Seattle appearance since taking office – but it’s a matter of citywide interest; he’s at century-old Hiawatha Community Center for a news conference about parks funding.
(Photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
The event just started – click “play” in the window above to see and hear the live video; if you have any trouble with the feed, you should also be able to see it via the mayor’s webpage. We’ll publish notes as well as the archived video, and photos, later.
12:38 PM UPDATE: Just one topline so far – the mayor has confirmed his proposal is for a park district, “an independent taxing authority,” which he says would guarantee a sustainable funding source, though he also pledges to protect Parks’ basic funding source in the regular city budget. He acknowledges there are concerns, but, “I believe we can address” them. He described it initially as a $54 million proposal which he says would cost the average homeowner $14/month.
(With the mayor, Steve Daschle of Delridge-headquartered SW Youth and Family Services at left, West Seattleite Bruce Bentley at right)
1:15 PM UPDATE: The Hiawatha event is over – we’ll re-add archived video when Seattle Channel makes it available. In the meantime, you can read the official news release on the city website, which in turn links to a webpage devoted to more info about the proposal, including the projects proposed for initial funding. (We will put together a West Seattle breakout soon as we can.)
3:27 PM UPDATE: We’ve added a video clip shot by our crew at the event, and two photos. Here’s a background document showing how the initial funding is proposed to be spent.
ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: Here’s the full Seattle Channel video of the event:
ADDED FRIDAY MIDDAY: Here’s the map showing the projects proposed for funding. If you use the buttons at left to zoom way in, you can find out more about each one. | 329 |
But again - contract brewing is rarely a cop-out; it’s a financial issue. Singlecut’s attack is rooted in the fact that they could find the investors for a brewery in New York City while their counterparts could not, or found it a risky or unsound financial proposition. Is that fair?
The sign’s last pessimistic claim - that contract brewing “will be the death of craft beer” - has some historical basis in fact. Contract brewing exploded in the mid-90s just before the craft beer industry suffered its first setback in the form of an industry-wide correction that saw a couple hundred breweries close. But something else also happened that time: a lot of really bad beer was made. That bad beer came from brick-and-mortar breweries and brewpubs just as often as it came from contract brewing. The bad beer comes out of both today, too.
The difference between then and now is that there are a lot more talented brewers out there than there were two decades ago, and consumers are more educated at distinguishing good beer from bad beer. If contract brewers in New York contributing to the oft-discussed “craft beer bubble,” they’re not doing any more damage than the large number of breweries opening in other parts of the country where opening a brewery is not a seven-figure proposition. A handful of contract brewers in the Northeast are hardly even a blip on the beer bubble when new brick-and-mortar breweries are opening in states like Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington at the rate of one or two per week.
Moreover, very few beer drinkers are drinking exclusively local beer to begin with. And with more and more options pouring into the market from out-of-state, most beer drinkers these days care far more about “good” than they do about “local."
In the end, though, is it worth it for a brewery to air grievances in public and attack their craft beer brethren when all these brewers, no matter what the source of the beer, are in the same fight together? Craft beer still has a measly single-digit market share nationwide, and New York is still lagging behind, and this looks like petty infighting over the leftover scraps from Bud, Miller, Coors, and the big imports. Perhaps their concern is well-founded, but isn’t there a bigger enemy that might be more deserving of a passive-aggressive sign on a bulletin board? | 330 |
Unlike the previous blurry clip taken with a phone’s camera in portrait phone, this new unboxing video of the Google Pixel 3 XL shows every single detail of its Frankenstein design and all accessories included in the box in crisp high definition.
Bonus: the video shows how the back and two front cameras work, showing an alleged demonstration of the latter’s depth of field abilities.
redit: In DIGI YouTube Channel
Filmed by Russians--logically, since they are reportedly already selling stolen units in the black market for $2,000 a pop--the video claims to show the Pixel 3 XL as you will get it once it is released in October.
First, the phone itself actually comes facing you--showing you its 6.2-inch, 1,440 x 3,120-pixel P-OLED display and not its back, as the previous video indicated. After you remove the top tray with the Pixel 3 XL, you will find a slim box with the Pixel Buds headphones that connect to the phone’s USB-C port.
MORE: Google Pixel 3 Release and Spec Rumors
A #teampixel booklet comes next inside a boxy envelope, presumably with a welcome message and an overview of the Pixel 3XL. Under the booklet there’s a bunch of accesories: a USB-C cable, a USB-C to stereo minijack dongle, and USB-C to USB port adapter. At the top, there’s a small box that contains the power plug with a USB-C port.
The video continues with beauty shots of the phone, including its single back camera and fingerprint sensor, and finishes with a human being holding the phone--a tiny human being that makes the phone look like a skateboard.
After a series of sample photos allegedly taken by the Pixel 3XL’s cameras, comes what looks like a demonstration of the Pixel 3XL’s dual front camera’s depth of field abilities: the woman takes a selfie of herself and everything--herself and the building behind--looks on focus. Then, presumably taking advantage of the depth sensing 3D abilities of the two cameras, the background gets blurred in the same way you can do with the iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera system.
This could be a good indicator that Google may include facial recognition thanks to the dual cameras, even while retaining the fingerprint sensor on the back. | 331 |
Alright, here’s the thing. Everyone in the IT security arena is talking about how to effectively shield your organization from threats. I recently saw researchers publishing their findings on security flaws with cheeky titles like “Did your HTTPs break?” Well, let’s get this straight – you can never be 100% secure.
Say you identify a vulnerability, then you deep-dive into it to determine if any security breach has happened. Depending up on the severity and criticality of the breach, you may decide to take security measures. But as organizations embrace new technologies, threats continue to proliferate. Add to that BYOD, and your security woes multiply.
Resilience through a proactive game plan
Chances for configuration errors and human errors occurring every now and then are very high and some security incidents can prove fatal to your business. To avoid such catastrophes, you need to be well equipped in advance and have proper plan in place.
Looking into managing vulnerabilities from Gartner’s eyes:
Policy definitions – baseline the environment for vulnerabilities – prioritize mitigation activities – shield the environment – eliminate the root cause – maintain and continually monitor for deviations.
To minimize damages, you need to detect and respond to events that threaten your IT infrastructure right when they happen, not hours or days later. This is where Security Information Event Management (SIEM) can come in handy. It is advisable to use a SIEM security software, as humans would find it virtually impossible to read all of the events occurring in IT and be able to analyze and correlate activity across the various components of IT. Also it makes utmost sense if it uses active responses to respond to critical events, and shuts down threats immediately. Some useful built-responses include:
Enable and disable accounts
Send incident alerts, emails, pop-up messages, or SNMP traps
Add or remove users from groups
Block an IP address
Detach USB devices
Kill processes by ID or name
Event correlations need to be executed in memory and in real time. Having a good event log analyzer, will help you automate alerts and trigger actions based on what is happening in your network and systems. This lets you effectively identify and respond to threats in real time, rather than being reactive. To make the analysis more efficient, you need to collect and consolidate log data across the IT environment, and correlate events from multiple devices in real-time.
Stay proactive, stay vigilant!! | 332 |
Argentina said Monday it recognized a "free and independent" Palestinian state, days after Brazil drew sharp criticism from US lawmakers for taking the same step.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner wrote to her Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas saying her country recognizes a Palestine defined by 1967 borders, officials said.
American Position Biden: US opposes unilateral moves Yitzhak Benhorin After meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, American vice president addresses Jewish leaders, stresses his country will do all it can to fight de-legitimization campaign against Israel. He cautions both Israel, Palestinians from taking unilateral actions Biden: US opposes unilateral moves
"The Argentine government recognizes Palestine as a free and independent state within the borders defined in 1967," Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said, reading from the letter.
Also Monday, Uruguay made a similar statement. The step is part of efforts to reignite peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
US lawmakers have called Brazil's decision "severely misguided" and "regrettable."
Western countries have agreed that any definition of a Palestinian state required Israeli approval.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed the announcement whereas Israel's Foreign Ministry expressed concern over a wave of support for a Palestinian unilateral move and started working to prevent the trend from spreading.
The Latin American countries' statements follow a request made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who visited the region last month.
The Palestinians have been working to persuade other countries to acknowledge their right to establish an independent state. Their target date is August 2011 - two years after the plan to establish a Palestinian state was first introduced by prime minister Salam Fayyad.
Foreign Ministry concerned
State officials in Jerusalem expressed concern that other countries in Latin America and the world will follow in Brazil and Argentina's footsteps. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said: "This is a very disappointing step which contributes nothing to furthering the peace process."
He described the announcement as "a verbal gesture which goes against the Oslo Accords whereby a permanent solution can only be the result of negotiations." Palmor stressed that the gesture "encourages the Palestinians at the very time when they insist on avoiding negotiations."
Foreign Ministry officials have therefore started holding low-profiles talks with Latin American leaders, Ynet learned. "This is a meaningless paper, a virtual declaration. These declarations may look good in print but lack any understanding of the Middle Eastern reality," a ministry source said.
Ronen Medzini contributed to this report | 333 |
The new Nokia 7 Plus was launched alongside the budget Nokia Android phones Nokia 1, Nokia 6 (2018), feature phone Nokia 8110 4G and flagship Nokia 8 Sirocco at MWC 2018. Recently, Amazon UK has listed the Nokia 1 for pre-orders on its store. In fact, most markets across the globe are still waiting for all these devices.
However, the wait for the Nokia 7 Plus might just end soon as the device is now up for pre-orders and its release date and price have been revealed in the UK by Amazon.
Nokia 7 Plus Price in UK and Availability
AmazonUK retailer has listed HMD Global’s Nokia-branded Android phone – Nokia 7 Plus on its website for pre-orders. The device is going to be available on April 30, 2018, at a price of £349.99.
Earlier this week, Amazon also listed the Nokia 1 Android Go edition device for pre-orders with a price tag of £79.99 and it will also be available on April 30.
To recall, Nokia 7 Plus features a 6-inch display with Full HD+ resolution, 18:9 aspect ratio, 500-nits peak brightness rating, and Corning Gorilla Glass. All these integrated into a unibody metal design and curved back. It packs 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card up to 256GB.
It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform, along with you can broadcast live #Boothie on Facebook or YouTube. Just think that the 3800mAh battery allows to reach up to 2 days of continuous use. It runs Android Oreo OS and comes with a rear fingerprint sensor.
Nokia 7 Plus has its strong point in the camera department, thanks to the combination of optical hardware and innovative imaging algorithms that allows taking “true to life” photographs. It has a dual rear camera comprises a 12MP wide-angle primary camera with a f/1.75 aperture, and 1.4-micron pixels, as well as a 13MP camera with a f/2.6 aperture, 1-micron pixels, and 2x optical zoom. The duo is coupled with a dual-tone LED flash and Zeiss optics. As for the front camera, the Nokia 7 Plus features a 16-megapixel fixed focus offering with a f/2.0 aperture, 1-micron pixels, and Zeiss optics. | 334 |
Farmers in rice bowl take to other lucrative crops
Though Palakkad district continues to be the traditional rice bowl of Kerala, having the largest acreage under paddy cultivation, there has been an alarming trend of rice growers gradually moving to cultivation of other crops that promise instant returns.
As per statistics with the Agriculture Department, the acreage under paddy has fallen to 87,000 hectares in the district.
Paddy production
Though paddy production has remained comparatively steady in the last five years at 4.5 lakh tonnes a year, large-scale diversion of paddy fields has raised concern.
As per available data, the district is losing about 200 acres of rice field every year to ginger and other short-term crops and also for construction purposes.
“If the trend continues, the district would not have rice fields in two decades. Lack of irrigation water, labour shortage, weakening government patronage, and low support prices are dissuading the younger generation from taking to the fields,” says Prabhal Mohandas of Daksh Farm at Chittur.
As per official records, the district had paddy cultivation in 1,82,621 hectares in 1970-71. It expanded to 1,83,634 hectares in 1980-81, largely due to the increased network of irrigation canals.
The decline
However, the acreage under paddy declined to 1,45,687 hectares in 1990-91. In 2000-01, the acreage shrunk to 1,18,701 hectares.
“We lost about 47 per cent of our rice fields over the last decade. About 30,000 hectares has been diverted for other purposes between 2000 and 2014 alone,” points out Indyanur Gopi, a social activist.
Farmers’ grouse
On their part, farmers blame the real estate lobby which buys paddy fields from farmers at a cheap rate and converts them into house plots.
“The farmers are forced to sell the fields owing to loss in paddy cultivation. The government should take steps to make paddy cultivation profitable,” says farmers’ leader Muthalamthode Mani.
In areas such as Chittur, ginger cultivators from other districts are taking rice fields on lease at Rs.40,000 a hectare.
Labour shortage is another issue with farmers, who depend on workers from Bengal in the absence of local labour force. | 335 |
November event that sparked protests in Pakistan was scrapped over security concerns, says far-right Dutch politician.
Geert Wilders, an anti-Islam opposition leader in the Netherlands, has cancelled a competition for cartoons depicting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad that sparked protests in Pakistan.
The far-right politician, who is known for his incendiary speeches and protests against immigration and Islam, said on Thursday he did not want others endangered by the contest he planned for November.
“To avoid the risk of victims of Islamic violence, I have decided not to let the cartoon contest go ahead,” he said in a written statement, claiming to have received death threats.
The scheduled contest sparked angry protests in Pakistan and a death threat this week from a 26-year-old man, reportedly a Pakistani, who was arrested on Tuesday in The Hague.
Earlier on Thursday, a Dutch judge extended by two weeks the detention of the man who allegedly threatened to attack Wilders.
Prosecutors said in a statement that an investigating judge ordered the suspect held while he is investigated on charges of making a threat, making preparations for a murder and incitement.
Stijn van Kessel, a political scientist at Queen Mary University of London, told Al Jazeera that the competition was a tactic by Wilders to get media attention in the face of waning public support.
“He is not truly interested in a cartoon contest but this is a way for him to generate media attention; he hopes that will eventually translate to votes,” Kessel said.
Deeply offensive
Physical depictions of the prophet are forbidden in Islam and deeply offensive to Muslims.
In Pakistan, thousands of people angered over Wilders’ plans marched towards the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday.
Pakistan’s government has vowed to protest the contest at the UN [The Associated Press]
About 10,000 supporters of the Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan party set out on the march on Wednesday, calling on the government to cut diplomatic ties with the Netherlands.
Pakistan’s government had vowed to protest the contest at the United Nations.
The Dutch government has distanced itself from the competition, with Prime Minister Mark Rutte clarifying that Wilders, leader of the opposition Freedom Party, is not a member of the government.
Wilders announced the contest in June and claimed to had received 200 entries so far. The winner was supposed to receive a cash prize. | 336 |
[Snowball]
[Red Santa Costume]
[Christmas Background]
[Snowman]
[Red Reindeer Hat]
[Snow Covered Cache]
[Christmas Cloak]
[Candy Cane]
[Christmas Stocking]
[Green Santa Costume]
Happy Holidays everyone! The Christmas event has returned and brought along some new rewards for you to collect.- Obtained as a random drop while training non-combat skills. The drop rate of snowballs start off low and increase as the event continues each day.- Just like last year, you'll be able to collect snowballs which you can use to purchase pieces of the Red Santa Costume.- Collect 100 snowballs during the event to unlock this unique background image. Only available this year!- The Snowman has returned again this year, and is showing off it's new stats. This is the perfect companion for those of you wanting a nice balance of cooldown, energy and luck. You can purchase one of your own from the ManaShop.- This unique hat will grant the wearer the ability to findwhile training non-combat skills. Also available from the ManaShop, limited time item (will only be available during this year's event, never to return).- A new cloak has arrived as well. This year's Christmas Cloak will give the wearer the ability to findwhile training non-combat skills. Don't worry, the Candy Canes are able to be found and consumed even when the Christmas Event isn't live! This item is a rare drop obtained from training non-combat skills.- Stockings have been updated greatly, providing you with a rare chance to obtain some loot other than candy. The additional items are very rare (some more than others), so open as many as you can to increase your odds! Stockings can now also contain: Snowman, Red Reindeer Hat & Green Santa Costume pieces. Obtained from training non-combat skills as a rare drop, or purchasable with snowballs.- Obtained rarely from the stockings, this new costume will have you standing out from all those other fake Santas.This is the most "common" rare item from the stockings. Collect all 3 pieces to combine them into a single costume.We have lots of new updates coming around the beginning of the near year such as: Magic, Ranged, guild updates and much much more. Make sure to check your email address for a special Christmas promotional code we sent to you as our gift! | 337 |
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s government unveiled a plan on Thursday to step up use of the armed forces to combat fuel theft, vowing to root out corrupt officials it says are largely responsible for a problem that has cost the country billions of dollars.
FILE PHOTO: A policeman inspects barrels containing stolen diesel fuel, stored in a tire repair shop, during an operation in the municipality of Apodaca, neighboring Monterrey July 4, 2011. REUTERS/Josue Gonzalez/File Photo
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference his government would fight the theft “outside and inside” state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), saying authorities were complicit in the bulk of the crimes.
“This is the theft of national assets, of public funds, of money that belongs to all Mexicans,” he said.
Guanajuato state governor Diego Sinhue said later on Thursday government officials told him the armed forces were “intervening” at Pemex installations around Mexico.
That included facilities in Guanajuato, where Pemex runs a refinery in the city of Salamanca. Fuel theft there has been linked to a surge in violence and killings, he said in a video published by Mexican media.
The operations were conducted in accordance with Lopez Obrador’s order to put an end to fuel theft, Sinhue said.
Criminal gangs have for years used fuel theft as a way to supplement their income, hurting Mexico’s refineries and bleeding money from state coffers.
Speaking alongside the president, Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said the security presence would be increased at key oil installations to better monitor distribution of fuel.
Security forces would also receive additional training for the task, Sandoval said.
Pemex’s new Chief Executive Officer Octavio Romero told the news conference more than 146 billion pesos ($7.40 billion) worth of fuel had been stolen in Mexico since 2016, with theft soaring to new heights this year.
Asked whether the Pemex workers’ union had been involved in the theft of fuel, Lopez Obrador said there had been reports that the union had been restricting access to parts of the company’s operations.
That issue had been addressed with the union’s leaders and access would not be restricted in future, he said. | 338 |
Thanks for joining us for today's installment of the Linux command-line toys advent calendar. If this is your first visit to the series, you might be asking yourself, what’s a command-line toy. Even I'm not quite sure, but generally, it could be a game or any simple diversion that helps you have fun at the terminal.
It's quite possible that some of you will have seen various selections from our calendar before, but we hope there’s at least one new thing for everyone.
I promised when I started this series I'd be including games, but so far I've neglected to, so let's fix that with today's selection: Tetris.
Tetris and I are almost exactly the same age, having first come into the world in the summer of 1984. Instead of rural North Carolina, though, Tetris originated in Moscow in what was at the time the Soviet Union.
After taking the world by storm, Tetris was cloned many, many times. I would suspect you could find a Tetris clone for just about any operating system in any language you looked for. Seriously, go look. There are some fun ones out there.
The version I'm bringing you for today's command-line toy is written in Haskell, and it's one of the better-done versions I've seen, with on-screen preview, score, help, and a clean look.
If you're willing to run a compiled binary from an untrusted source (I wouldn't recommend it), you can grab that directly, but for a safer approach, it's also easy to use a containerized version with dex, or to install from source with stack.
This particular Tetris clone is by Sam Tay and available under a BSD license. Check it out!
If you've got your own favorite Tetris clone (or maybe you've written your own?), let us know!
Do you have a favorite command-line toy that you think I ought to profile? The calendar for this series is mostly filled out but I've got a few spots left. Let me know in the comments below, and I'll check it out. If there's space, I'll try to include it. If not, but I get some good submissions, I'll do a round-up of honorable mentions at the end.
Check out yesterday's toy, Plan your own holiday calendar at the Linux command line, and check back tomorrow for another! | 339 |
The Pentagon has released three U.S. Navy videos that show what the Department of Defense calls “unexplained aerial phenomena.”
One video is of an incident in November 2004, while the other two were recorded in January 2015, according to CBS News.
The videos, which were taken by Navy fighter pilots during training exercises, were officially made public on Monday but had previously been leaked between 2017 and 2019, Defense Department spokeswoman Sue Gough told CBS.
Navy officials confirmed the existence of the tapes last fall while insisting the footage should never have been made public.
Gough said officials changed their minds after rechecking the videos.
“After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena,” Gough told CBS.
Some have wondered whether the videos are proof of the existence of UFOs. In 2017, retired Cmdr. David Fravor told ABC News that what he saw in the sky back in 2004 seemed alien in origin.
“I can tell you, I think it was not from this world,” Fravor said. “I’m not crazy, haven’t been drinking. It was ― after 18 years of flying, I’ve seen pretty much about everything that I can see in that realm, and this was nothing close.”
“I have never seen anything in my life, in my history of flying that has the performance, the acceleration ― keep in mind this thing had no wings,” he continued.
One person who is happy about the release of the videos is former Nevada Sen. Harry Reid (D), who was influential in creating a since-shuttered classified program to study recordings of aerial encounters between 2007 and 2012.
But the onetime Senate majority leader said more work needs to be done to look at “any potential national security implications.”
I’m glad the Pentagon is finally releasing this footage, but it only scratches the surface of research and materials available. The U.S. needs to take a serious, scientific look at this and any potential national security implications. The American people deserve to be informed. https://t.co/1XNduvmP0u — Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) April 27, 2020 | 340 |
Two families of U.S. soldiers who lost their lives overseas said they have not heard from President Trump in the wake of his recent claims that his predecessors did not reach out to families of slain soldiers, according to The Associated Press.
The AP reported that Sheila Murphy, whose son died in Syria in May, has yet to hear from the president, despite writing him “some days I don’t want to live."
However, Eddie and Aldene Lee told the outlet they heard from Trump 10 days after their son was killed in Iraq, saying it was beautiful to hear Trump describe their son as "lovely."
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The report comes as Trump finds himself embroiled in a controversy over calling the families of fallen U.S. soldiers.
The president first stepped into the issue on Monday, when he claimed during a White House press conference that his predecessors did not call families of fallen soldiers before attempting to walk back the claim.
Trump then invoked his chief of staff, John Kelly John Francis KellyMORE, in a radio interview Tuesday, in which he said he did not know if Kelly received a call from former President Obama when his son was killed in Afghanistan.
In that same interview Tuesday, the president said, "I think I've called every family of someone who's died."
But the AP reports that they found relatives of two soldiers who died overseas during Trump’s presidency that say they did not receive a letter or a phone call and relatives of a third who did not get a call.
The controversy continued Tuesday night when Rep. Frederica Wilson Frederica Patricia WilsonHarris calls it 'outrageous' Trump downplayed coronavirus House passes bill establishing commission to study racial disparities affecting Black men, boys Florida county official apologizes for social media post invoking Hitler MORE (D-Fla.) said she overheard Trump tell the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in an ambush in Niger nearly two weeks ago, that Johnson “knew what he signed up for... but when it happens it hurts anyway.”
Trump responded to that claim, saying Wilson had no proof and that she had fabricated the conversation.
"I'm not trying to prove anything with the president. So the president evidently is lying," Wilson told CNN on Tuesday. "Because what I said is true. I have no reason to lie on the president of the United States with a dead soldier in my community. I have no time. I have no motive." | 341 |
*** FEB 14 - DONATIONS STILL BEING ACCEPTED ***
Due to a high number of requests from people who did not get a chance to donate, we are opening up this page for donations again. The first round of donations has already been arranged for withdrawal and is being sent to the families. Any donations raised after February 14, 2014 (after $76,363.00) will still be sent to the families. Thank you all for your generosity.
____________________________________
On February 9th, 2014 in Tampa, Florida, we lost 4 talented young men to a fatal car accident.
The crash occurred at 2:12 a.m. just north of the Busch Boulevard exit of I-275. An SUV headed southbound in the northbound lanes hit another vehicle head on in the center lane. The 4 men, ages 20-22 died at the scene.
The driver of the second car was Jobin Joy Kuriakose, 21, of Orlando. His passengers were Ankeet Harshad Patel, 22, of Melbourne, Fla.; Imtiyaz Ilias, 20, of Fort Myers; and Dammie Yesudhas, 21, also of Melbourne.
These men were model students in their community at the University of South Florida and honorable brothers of Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity, Inc.
It is unimaginable what the families must be going through right now. As we all work through this difficult time, it is important for us to come together and form a support net for the family.
The cost associated with the procedures to lay these men at rest averages around $10,000 each, making it $40,000 total.
We are asking all of our family, friends, Greek community members, and associates help by donating as much as they can. Every little bit counts.
Thank you in advance for your donations and we humbly request you keep our brothers and their families in your prayers.
******************************
UPDATE:
We are humbled and thankful for all of the support and donations.
We predicted a minimum cost of $10,000 for the funeral expenses but realize it can be more. Due to the generous amount of donations we have been receiving, we have now exceeded our goal. The final amount will be divided equally between the 4 families for them to use for any expense associated with losing their beloved sons. | 342 |
Bruce Miller has been charged with seven felonies -- including assault with a deadly weapon that allegedly was a cane -- and one misdemeanor in connection with an incident involving a 70-year-old man and his son that ultimately led to the tight end's release by the San Francisco 49ers earlier this week.
Miller will be arraigned Friday, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's office.
Miller allegedly assaulted the 70-year-old man and his son at the Marriott on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.
Ex-Niners tight end Bruce Miller will be arraigned Friday in San Francisco. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Police there said they were called to the hotel at about 2:45 a.m. PT, after Miller tried to enter a room occupied by an elderly couple. The couple's 29-year-old son, staying in the next room, then told Miller he was at the wrong room.
Miller, who police say was intoxicated at the time, attacked the son and his father, who came to his son's defense, police said. The father was punched by Miller and both men were taken to the hospital for their injuries, according to police.
Miller was booked in county jail at 11:25 PT on Monday morning. Hours later, the 49ers released him.
The SFDA said Thursday that Miller faces seven felony charges, including one count of assault with a deadly weapon that allegedly was a cane. The other felony charges were: one count of assault with force to cause great bodily harm; one count of inflicting injury on an elder or dependent adult likely to cause great bodily injury; one count of battery with serious bodily injury; one count of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury; and two counts of criminal threats.
Miller also faces a misdemeanor battery charge.
The 29-year-old Miller signed with the team in 2011 as a fullback after playing defensive end in college. He was a key part of San Francisco's teams that went to three straight NFC title games and one Super Bowl in his first three years. In 77 games over five seasons, he has 62 yards rushing on 28 carries, adding 76 catches for 734 yards.
A call to Miller's attorney, Joshua Bentley, was not immediately returned.
Miller's agent, Jack Reale, said there was more to the case than meets the eye but declined additional comment.
Information from ESPN's Paul Gutierrez and The Associated Press was used in this report. | 343 |
Changing your name isn’t as easy as it sounds
The long promised for ability to change your PlayStation Online ID will be available this week but it may not work flawlessly.
Hades Nintendo Switch review – god of resurrection
You probably only spent a couple of seconds thinking up your PSN ID, when you first went online with a PlayStation console, and yet you’ve been stuck with that decision for years, with no way to change it – until now.
Sony has been promising the ability to change the name for ages and now it’s finally possible, with the option available now in America and from tomorrow, 11 April, in the UK.
But the process might not be as straightforward as you’d imagine, with Sony warning that some older games might not take well to your sudden change of name.
Change of Online ID is here! From tomorrow, you can change your ID on PlayStation Network. Here’s everything you need to know: https://t.co/7dEbkvvrU9 pic.twitter.com/G8D6Jy67uI — PlayStation UK (@PlayStationUK) April 10, 2019
Most recent games should be fine, but anything published before 1 April 2018 might not accept the change in PSN ID.
There’s a list of potential problem cases here, with titles such as Everybody’s Golf, LittleBigPlanet 3, and Onrush identified as having ‘critical issues’.
A critical issue can include losing progress or in-game currency, while other games have more minor problem such as resetting options or not showing the right name – they include the likes of The Last Of Us and Titanfall 2.
It kind of sounds like after all this wait it might not be worth the trouble, but the first name change will be free and after that £8 (or £4 if you’re a PS Plus member).
Making the change isn’t any more difficult than going to Settings > Account Management > Account Information > Profile > Online ID on your console.
Or you can make the change on your PC by visiting the PlayStation website and clicking the PSN Profile option on the menu on the left.
There’s also more detailed information and a FAQ on the PlayStation Blog.
Email [email protected], leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter | 344 |
Shannon Lee says that no film has yet ‘captured the essence of his beliefs in martial arts or storytelling’, and is to move forward with her own project
Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee has announced a new biopic about her father, the actor who helped turn martial arts into a global phenomenon.
“There have been projects out there involving my father but they’ve lacked a complete understanding of his philosophies and artistry,” she said in a statement. “They haven’t captured the essence of his beliefs in martial arts or storytelling. The only way to get audiences to understand the depth and uniqueness of my father is to generate our own material.”
She has teamed with Lawrence Grey, a producer of ensemble hit Last Vegas, who is financing the development of a script ahead of finding actors and a director. Janet Yang, who had a hand in developing 1993 Lee biopic Dragon, will also take a production role, saying: “In this age of an increasingly globalised culture, I can’t think of a more talented and innovative individual who embodies the best of east and west and who can inspire future generations.”
The film will be made with the approval of Bruce Lee Entertainment, a company set up two years ago by Lee’s estate to help bring official projects to fruition, including adverts for Mazda and Johnnie Walker. There is also a TV drama in development with Fast & Furious director Justin Lin attached, and a reality show for the Chinese market co-produced by Keanu Reeves.
Lee was four years old when her father unexpectedly died from a brain swelling, aged 32. After learning the martial art Wing Chun and winning an early role as Kato in a short-lived TV version of The Green Hornet, Lee established a foothold in Hollywood by teaching stars and choreographing fight sequences. It eventually led to a series of leading roles in martial arts thrillers such as The Big Boss, Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon, with his tragic early death further helping him become a global icon.
Another film about his life, Birth of the Dragon, is currently in development, though without the blessing of Bruce Lee Entertainment. Written by Christopher Wilkinson and Stephen Rivele, who have penned the acclaimed films Nixon and Ali as well as forthcoming Freddie Mercury and Miles Davis biopics, the film will use Lee’s notorious private fight with Wong Jack Man as a jumping-off point for a mafia thriller. | 345 |
As much as you love your new cat, there are times when you wish you could speak its language. Not because you want to tell them just how much you love them (you really do, though) but because you want them to understand the importance of using their litter box.
You had paw-sitive vibes when adopting your furry friend. But when they ended up staining your carpet and sofas, you found yourself wondering if adopting them was the right decision to make!
But don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to get rid of urine stains from your purrsian rug. Here are a few things you can do:
Try Changing Their Litter Box
Cats are territorial, and if you have two of them, this could be the reason why one of them isn’t using the litter box. Cats prefer their own scent and always mark their territory by urinating.
This could be your cat’s way of saying, “Hey, this rug is mine!”
To avoid this problem from becoming a habit, try getting another litter box. Then put your cat into the litter box and press their paws into the litter.
Eventually, they’ll start using it.
Take Your Cat to the Vet
There could be an underlying medical condition that you’re not aware of that’s at the root of the problem.
If you’ve tried changing the litter box and it hasn’t worked, it’s best to take your furry friend to the vet. For instance, cats sometimes feel separation anxiety; the stress of their owner being away can result in frequent urination.
Hire a Carpet Cleaning Service
If your cat has already stained your carpet, you it’s best to hire a professional carpet cleaning service.
Scrubbing the rug or applying home remedies can ruin the fabric and texture of your Persian rug. A professional has the resources and the cleaning tools to remove the stains, without damaging your carpet.
We offer a range of services including pet odour removal, tile cleaning, leather cleaning, upholstery cleaning, mattress cleaning and more. We perform a thorough cleaning of your home’s carpets, which includes removing pet urine odou r, stubborn carpet stains, and harmful germs.
To reach out to us give us a call at 0433 55 66 87 for information regarding our services. | 346 |
Now, NATO officials are seriously considering three options, each with down sides. One is that no Afghan leader would attend. Another is to have both presidential candidates attend together. The third would be to have Mr. Karzai, who remains in office until a new inauguration, attend. That would make him the longest-serving world leader at the meeting, but one with soured relations with many NATO allies.
“There would be no benefit for him to go and no benefit for us to have him there,” said a Western diplomat with knowledge of the discussions about the meeting’s attendance.
Mr. Karzai’s spokesman, Aimal Faizi, seemed to concur with that thought. “President Karzai is not willing to attend the meeting in Wales,” he said. “It is because his views and his position on the continuation of U.S. and NATO military presence beyond 2014 in Afghanistan are known and understood. There is no change in that, and the conditions are the same.”
Mr. Faizi said that Mr. Karzai had written to the NATO secretary general, and quoted him as saying, “The people of Afghanistan will be represented at the Wales meeting either by my successor, who I hope will be inaugurated before the upcoming meeting, or by the current government.”
Mr. Karzai reportedly had a meeting on Sunday with both candidates, and told them that he thought it would be a good idea if they both went to Wales together if the audit was still continuing, according to Western diplomats and campaign officials.
Officials with the Ghani campaign said that both candidates were planning to attend the conference, and that Mr. Ghani and Mr. Abdullah met to talk in person on Tuesday night.
That meeting was said to be the fourth time the men had been in a room together since the disputed runoff vote in June. The two hugged for cameras to seal the deal reached with Mr. Kerry in July. But there has been little accord since then.
Under the Kerry deal, both candidates agreed to abide by the results of the audit as to who would be president, and then to form a government of national unity with the loser choosing the “chief executive” of the new government. But Mr. Abdullah has now threatened to back out of the audit. And officials with both campaigns said that negotiations over the unity government were still bogged down over what powers the new post of chief executive would actually have. | 347 |
climate crisis as a critical part of America's responsibility to the world."
The green manufacturing plan, according to Warren, is the first of many plans she intends to unveil in the coming weeks that fall under her broader "agenda of economic patriotism," which she described as "using new and existing tools to defend and create quality American jobs and promote American industry."
One of the other ways Warren would pursue this agenda is by creating a new federal agency, the Department of Economic Development, which would "replace the Commerce Department, subsume other agencies like the Small Business Administration and the Patent and Trademark Office, and include research and development programs, worker training programs, and export and trade authorities like the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative."
Warren outlined her vision of economic patriotism in a video posted on social media Tuesday:
Some big, “American” companies will ship jobs overseas and hollow out our cities if it'll save them a nickel. And many already have. I've got a plan to make sure a Warren administration will defend and create good American jobs. pic.twitter.com/mztmtUHwGW — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) June 4, 2019
Zach Carter, in a piece for HuffPost Tuesday, pointed out that Warren's broad economic platform follows a series of "ambitious, meticulously detailed" plans on everything from breaking up big tech giants like Amazon and Google to forgiving student debt and establishing universal childcare. However, he argued, the economic platform that she discussed in Detroit Tuesday "is a little different."
The Massachusetts Democrat's economic agenda for the nation "retains Warren's wonk-flair," Carter wrote, "but the heart of her proposal is ideological rather than technical. Warren is making a crystal-clear statement of principles, and an equally plain break with the past 30 years of American trade policy―up to and including the presidency of Donald Trump."
The presidential hopeful's "astonishing plan for economic patriotism" was celebrated by Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, as "in a class by itself, even for Warren."
"Warren's proposal does nothing less than turn inside out the globalist assumptions pursued by the past several administrations, Democrat and Republican alike," Kuttner wrote Tuesday. "With this plan, Warren has begun an overdue debate that she deserves to win, both intellectually and politically. And she has demonstrated once again her potential as a powerful force against Donald Trump." | 348 |
Guthrie and the historian Andrew Roberts pleaded the party line. It was "to make the streets of London safe", to create a stable democratic state in Afghanistan that gave no house-room to al-Qaida, even if it took decades and even if the terrorists "moved elsewhere".
Since this sounded like trying to empty the sea with a spoon, the case for war shifted over the course of the debate. It was to enable Britain "to be a real Nato force", "to show itself to the world", "to cut some ice". The war became a manifestation of patriotism and national potency. Would it not be terrible to be another Germany, France, Sweden, Japan? War did not need just cause, or even efficacy, merely a noble epithet.
The case for being in Afghanistan has become an exercise in verbal sophistry. To Guthrie, we are killing Taliban "to stop them killing us". To Roberts we are doing so to stop them setting off a dirty nuclear bomb, which would "spread cancer over a 30-mile radius", a terrorist-appeasing fantasy debunked in John Mueller's recent Atomic Obsession.
The truth is that mission creep has made this war largely ideological – witness constant ministerial references to Kabul corruption, to opium, warlordism and the treatment of women. The streets of London are not being saved in the plains of Helmand, any more than they would be if the fight went to the mountains of Waziristan or the hills of Yemen. To the war party, Islam is the problem. It is the regime that must be changed.
Yet an enemy that poses no concerted threat to western territory or western interests has been allowed to damage the west's liberal tradition. Bush and Blair were brazenly unconcerned with international law. We now have it confirmed that they do not care for the Geneva conventions. Such hard-won restraints on the practice of war, such as not bombing civilian targets, not assassinating leaders, respecting cultural sites, treating prisoners humanely, and sustaining the rule of law back home, have been casually set aside.
Like all bad wars, those in Iraq and Afghanistan taint any who touch them. In the next few days, thousands of British troops will, yet again, have to fight to clear some Taliban for a while from some patch of Helmand. Ask the purpose of this fight and the answer makes no sense. The means of war may have advanced since the days of Athenian democracy, but the ends not at all. | 349 |
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Occupy Wall Street is now undeniably a fixture of global conversation. No one should be surprised. In the wake of the global economic crisis, income disparities between the rich and poor have grown more acute, more painful. Here in the United States, more people are unemployed than at any point since the Great Depression, with no improvement in sight.
You’ve seen the stats by now — which in itself counts as a success for the Occupy Wall Street movement: CEO pay has skyrocketed more than 300 percent since 1990, while pay for the average worker has grown a pitiful 4.3 percent. The richest 1 percent owns nearly half the wealth in the United States, while the poorest 250 million of us own a mere 15 percent combined.
And that’s why the movement is primed to spread into Brooklyn. New York’s largest borough is the backbone of the city, home to millions of its hardest workers. Kings County has been harder hit by the recession than almost any other in New York State — the unemployment rate has doubled since the crash of 2008. According to the latest census data, 21.7 percent of Brooklynites live in poverty. That’s some 564,000 people.
That figure should register like a punch to the gut. Hundreds of thousands of our friends, neighbors, family members, our fellow Brooklynites, don’t earn enough to make ends meet. Thousands have lost their homes. In fact, Brooklyn has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the state. And many of our neighbors were targeted for bad subprime loans by the very banks whose headquarters loom just across the East River. Yet it was those banks that got bailed out by the federal government — they’re already turning massive profits again — while struggling, middle class Brooklynites were left to drown in debt.
That’s not right. And it’s a big part of the reason Brooklyn saw the first Occupy Wall Street events last week: There was a general assembly in Downtown, a rally at Grand Army Plaza, and a peaceful protest at a foreclosure auction. These small, but spirited, events helped set the stage for what’s to come: A movement that fights for economic justice for the 99 percent. Right here in Brooklyn.
Brian Merchant was one of the organizers of Saturday’s Occupy Brooklyn rally in Grand Army Plaza. | 350 |
’s performance. Grandma raises a hand to her mouth but can’t quite cover the huge smile as she watches with tears of pride in her eyes. Just as she begins heaping praise on her oh-so-talented granddaughter, you’ve already surfed to Facebook to show her all the rave reviews by friends and family who have already seen the videos.
After a lovely visit, mother-in-law heads back home and you settle back on the couch. You pick up your tablet once more and review your subscriptions of the days online newspapers, make note of several magazine articles you bookmark to read later, make a quick check of email including one or two fast replies to friends, and download that new Michael Crichton novel you’ve been meaning to read.
You get up to get yourself a cold drink. As you pass the couch, you grab your tablet and head to the bedroom to curl up and watch a good movie streaming to your tablet from your subscription to Netflix over the Internet. Maybe in the morning, you’ll do some shopping online or continue working on that website you’ve been designing. Oh, and you really do need to check in to see what new and interesting things have been posted to your favorite blog site, Life As A Human!
The Future is Now
I remember shaking my head back in the 1980s when Captain Jean Luc Picard seemed to always be accessing everything from one of those little tablet thingies. Audio, video, text, photos, data, it all seemed to be right at his fingertips. Science fiction, to be sure.
Well, as has happened so many times in mankind’s past, the future has come upon us faster than we ever could have expected. That tablet on your coffee table can be a photo album, a television, an email station, a place to do instant messaging and Facebook networking, a place to play games, a place to find information, and a place to read books, magazines, and even newspapers.
It’s all coming very soon to a store near you. With all this new wireless stuff flying around, watch your head!
Photo Credits
Starfleet Pad – Paramount Pictures (Fair Use)
Amazon Kindle – Ericajoy from Flickr
Apple iPad – John.Karakatsanis 2010 from Flickr
Android Tablets – Suroboy Website – 2010
Recent Eric Brad CPDT-KA Articles: | 351 |
Comcast is giving users a very good reason to demand an HTTPS connection on every site they visit. The Internet service provider has started injecting ads for its services on websites where you wouldn't normally see them when you're using an Xfinity public Wi-Fi hotspot.
Imagine, for example, you were browsing your favorite news site when suddenly a pop-up from Comcast appears at the bottom of your display—a behavior you'd never experienced on that site before. That's exactly what happened to former Wired editor Ryan Singel when he connected to a Comcast Xfinity hotspot earlier in September.
It appears Comcast has actually been doing this for months, but the program only recently came to light after a report by Ars Technica.
The injections can either be an alert to let users know they are connected to a Comcast hotspot, or inserted ads to promote Comcast's Xfinity mobile apps, a Comcast spokesperson told Ars. Comcast was not available for comment at this writing.
Comcast says it is doing this in part as a way to reassure users that they are connecting to an authentic Comcast hotspot. Security at public Wi-Fi hotspots is certainly an issue as hackers could make a hostile Wi-Fi router look like an authentic Xfinity hotspot.
Unfortunately, injecting JavaScript into a website where the code doesn't normally show up isn't the way to do it. Comcast's intentions may be sincere, but injecting JavaScript into a browser could create unintended security vulnerabilities for a malicious actor to exploit.
JavaScript is one of the building blocks of the modern web and you really can't experience numerous websites without it. But it can also be designed to behave maliciously—and your browser can often have a hard time distinguishing between good and bad code.
Comcast is far from the only ISP out there doing this. Many public Wi-Fi hotspot locations also inject ads into your browsing experience. The DSLReports forums, for example, show examples of BrightHouse Networks doing something similar.
So what's a user to do when even ISPs are trying to mess with your browser? Try forcing your browser to connect to websites using HTTPS via a browser extension such as The Electronic Frontier Foundation's HTTPS Everywhere for Chrome and Firefox. This removes the opportunity for Comcast to slip its ads into the web content you're viewing midstream, though not all websites support encrypted connections.
And, as always, you should use a virtual private network (VPN) when connecting over public Wi-Fi. | 352 |
North Korea conducted on Thursday morning launches of two short-range missiles off the country’s east coast and into the Sea of Japan.
TOKYO, July 26. /TASS/. Two projectiles, which were test fired by North Korea on Thursday, were an upgraded type of KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Friday.
The Japanese news agency reported citing data from the South Korean presidential office that after the detailed analysis of the missile launches the National Security Council drew a conclusion that the test-launched projectiles were "a new type of short-range ballistic missile."
North Korea’s Central News Agency (KCNA) announced earlier that DPRK leader Kim Jong-un "guided the power demonstration fire of a new-type tactical guided weapon Thursday."
KCNA reported that the launches of missiles were "a solemn warning to the south Korean military warmongers who are running high fever in their moves to introduce the ultramodern offensive weapons into South Korea and hold military exercise in defiance of the repeated warnings from the DPRK."
North Korea’s missile tests come less than a month following a meeting between President of the United States Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
US President Trump visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border with North Korea during his visit to South Korea on June 30 and this was when he had a meeting with Kim Jong-un. Trump became the first incumbent US president to set foot on North Korea’s soil. The talks between the US president and the North Korean leader lasted for about an hour.
One of the major outcomes of Trump’s visit to the DMZ was an agreement between the US and North Korea to resume working-level talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula within the next two or three weeks.
Commenting on North Korea’s missile launches US President Trump said in an interview with Fox News television channel that he was getting along with Kim Jong-un "very well."
"They haven't done nuclear testing. They really haven't tested missiles other than you know smaller ones," US President Trump was cited as saying.
Japan’s news agency Kyodo reported earlier in the day citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff that the two missiles "were launched from near the Hodo Peninsula, with the first flying about 430 kilometers and the second about 690 km before falling into the sea.". | 353 |
in Cold War Washington before defecting to Moscow in 1963.
Despite their stunning access, Philby and his Cambridge cohorts were never fully trusted because they passed along information that the paranoid Kremlin could not accept—the truth that British did not have a robust effort to spy on Moscow. The Soviets’ view was that if they could run so many spies in the capital of their wartime ally, how could it be that the vaunted British secret service was not doing the same in Russia? Philby and his comrades produced an extraordinary wealth of information on German war plans, but they could provide next to nothing to the repeated question of British penetration of Soviet intelligence—because it did not exist.
As Genrikh Borovik noted in his book “The Philby Files,” “With the Germans at the gate of Moscow, the KGB was more intent on trying to trip up its best agent, to get proof that he was [a Security Service] plant, than in exploiting his privileged access to British secrets.” Philby shared volumes of stolen information and risked capture but could only report the truth—Britain had no agents in Russia. Other spies in London reported the same, and also fell under suspicion.
Even as the Germans approached Stalingrad, Philby provided excellent reporting on Nazi intentions. But his handlers pressed him instead for tidbits on British spy operations in Russia. It was as if England was their enemy, not Germany.
More recently, senior Estonian police official Herman Simm, considered by many the most damaging spy in nato history, fell under suspicion in Moscow since he reported that nato was not snooping on Russia—something his superiors did not want to hear. Instead, they were looking for proof that the West was as intrusive and devious as they were.
Again and again, Russian agents who confirmed what their spymasters already believed prospered, while those who denied it—even if they were right—were ignored. In such a system, the intelligence process inevitably becomes skewed as practitioners only provide material that their consumers want to hear—or worse, hold back inconvenient truths.
Sorge and the Cambridge Five are celebrated as exceptional espionage sources. And they were. However, effective intelligence does not only entail the collection of impressive sources, but also the translation of that information into educated policy decisions. In the Soviet Union, that crucial second component fell by the wayside; in Trump’s America, we’re poised to make the same mistake. | 354 |
Exclusive Preview: DC’s Year of the Villain #1
Earlier this year, the Legion of Doom broke the Source Wall and unleashed a cosmic goddess who was hidden for eons. Now, the bad guys are stepping up their game in DC’s Year of the Villain #1! DC is kicking off their latest event with a special.25 cent issue that touches on several major ongoing stories. That includes Bane’s reign in Gotham City, as well as the dark plans of the Batman Who Laughs.
In Superhero Hype’s exclusive preview for DC’s Year of the Villain #1, Scott Snyder and Jim Cheung reunite for a Luthor-centric LOD story. For years, Luthor has presented himself to the public as a philanthropist billionaire or even a hero. But in these pages, Luthor drops all pretense of that persona. Luthor’s soon to be ex-employees are convinced that he’s finally going to kill Superman. That seems like a reasonable guess, but Luthor actually has much bigger ambitions. He wants to replace Superman and the Justice League as Earth’s primary protectors. This time, he may actually win.
Here’s the official description from DC: “Evil is winning! Lex Luthor and The Legion of Doom conspire with Cosmic Gods, bending mankind toward a dark destiny. Elsewhere, the scourge of Leviathan spreads unchecked, seizing power in every corner of the world. And all the while the Batman Who Laughs busies himself in the shadows, aligned with no one-yet with sinister plans for all. The carnage starts here as the bad guys take center stage in ‘The Year of the Villain,’ the most treacherous event in DC Comics history.
Some act with united goals, others with plans selfish and secret, every one of them on a monstrous collision course against Batman, Superman and the heroes of the DC Universe. And our heroes will fail us. Don’t miss the start of “The Year of the Villain,” featuring the talents of writers Brian Michael Bendis, Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, artists Jim Cheung, Alex Maleev and Francis Manapul and cover artist Greg Capullo-all for just $0.25!”
DC’s Year of the Villain #1 will hit comic shops on Wednesday, May 1. Let us know what you think in the comment section below! | 355 |
The Purple Line has unfortunately faced a metaphorical roller coaster. Image by thisisbossi.
At a press conference Wednesday about Interstate 270, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan had some sharp criticism for Judge Richard Leon, who blocked the Purple Line days before the final agreements with the federal government could be signed.
Watch this video from Bethesda Beat's Andrew Metcalf:
Gov. Larry Hogan says today that judge in Purple Line case has a conflict of interest pic.twitter.com/DxGSVaj3Dp — Andrew Metcalf (@AJwatchMD) April 19, 2017
Hogan said:
We committed the funding … and now there's a judge who happens to live at the country club that the thing runs through that's making the decision to hold it up. … I told [US Department of Transportation] Secretary [Elaine] Chao that we need to move forward as soon as possible, that we need to get that federal funding shaken loose. But Secretary Chao can't do anything about a judge, whose wife happens to be involved in the opponent group and who has have a conflict of interest, who's making a decision to hold this up. We've already spent—the State of Maryland has already spent 380 million dollars on the Purple Line. No one has ever spent that kind of money. It will cost us another 380 million dollars even if we don't move forward. No one has done more than us, and the federal government is going to have to provide the rest of the funding, but right now even federal funding we can't move forward because of a judge who lives at Chevy Chase Country Club [inaudible].
Judge Leon blocked the Purple Line in August, saying that the Environmental Impact Statement justifying the line's value depended on people transferring to Metro, and declining Metro ridership threw that into doubt. (Never mind that with an unreliable rail system, many Purple Line trips between branches of the Metro could be even more important!) Federal and Maryland transit officials then determined, and told Leon in January, that they didn't believe a supplemental EIS was necessary.
Leon has yet to then issue a ruling to either allow the project to move forward or continue to block it, in which case the government could appeal. Maryland's attorney general asked for an expedited ruling earlier this month. Hopefully the judge will allow the project to continue, and at that point, the only question would be whether the Trump administration would honor the Federal Transit Administration's previous support for helping to fund the line. | 356 |
We represent car accident victims on a contingency basis. That means if you hire us you will pay nothing out of your pocket. We pay all the up-front costs and you pay nothing unless we win. We represent victims of all types of auto accidents, including those involving:
Drunk driver accidents
SUV rollovers
Rear end collisions
T-bone collisions
Uninsured motorist accidents
Pedestrian-car accidents
Bicycle-car accidents
Truck accidents
Motorcycle accidents
We prepare each case as if it will go to trial by thoroughly investigating your car accident. This includes documenting the accident scene, reviewing the police report, and interviewing any witnesses. When necessary, we will consult an accident re-constructionist and other experts to build your case. We will also speak with your medical providers to determine the cause of your injuries.
In Alabama, you must prove that your injuries resulted from the negligent acts or omissions of another person or business before you can recover compensation. The burden is on the person seeking compensation to prove the fault of the other party and to prove that his/her injuries were caused by the acts or omissions of the other party. If these elements can be proven, then you may recover compensation for your injuries. Our Huntsville, AL car accident attorneys will identify all possible sources of compensation for your injuries and contact the appropriate insurance companies on your behalf.
Each case is very different and depends on many factors, such as strength of proof, theory of liability, defendants, insurance companies, and so on. At your direction, we will negotiate with the insurance companies in an effort to resolve your claim. If a fair settlement cannot be reached, we stand ready to file a lawsuit on your behalf. Our lawyers will aggressively pursue a just resolution to your claim.
Whether you were injured in a drunk driver accident, because of defective seat belts, or the other driver’s inattention, you can depend on the attorneys of Hornsby, Watson & Hornsby to aggressively pursue the full amount of compensation you deserve. Please contact us today to discuss your case.
We also represent individuals and the families of individuals injured or killed in airplane, railroad, boating, and other transportation and recreational vehicle accidents.
From offices in Huntsville, Alabama, the attorneys of Hornsby, Watson & Hornsby represent clients in the communities of Athens, Decatur, Guntersville, and throughout the state. | 357 |
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The Israel Navy’s fifth Dolphin- class submarine and second new-generation AIP (air independent propulsion) platform is making the 3,000- mile journey to its home base at the Haifa naval base from its German manufacturing center, a senior naval source said Thursday.The INS Rahav is carrying some 50 personnel, and “minimal weapons needed to protect itself,” before its arrival in Israel next month.After its arrival, Israeli systems will be installed on board.“We expect the submarine to be fully operational in a number of months,” the naval officer said.AIP submarines can remain submerged for significantly longer periods of time than conventional platforms, and having two such submarines means that Israel has “doubled its covert capabilities,” the source said.The submarine will stop at the site of where the INS Dakar sunk to the ocean floor in 1968 for a memorial ceremony, before continuing in its journey to Haifa.The INS Rahav, like the INS Tanin, can use AIP fuel cells to supplement its diesel-electric engines, and does not have to surface often to recharge its batteries.The new submarines will be based out of a specialized dock built by the navy at Haifa, which allows for the advanced submarines to be kept separately, covertly, and in a convenient manner. The dock allows for flexibility, and enables the submarines to be on call 24 hours a day.The new submarines will bring with them many unique capabilities, such as lengthy intelligence gathering.“Submarines bring a level of intelligence to Israel that cannot be achieved by other units,” Lt.-Cmdr. Y., a past commander of the navy’s submarine school, told The Jerusalem Post in 2014.“Drones that fly in the air can be shot down,” he said, “but a submarine can stay in enemy territory for weeks, and no one knows it’s there.It can lurk off coastal regions without any problem at all.The level of intelligence this brings is not heard about by the public. All of our operations build on past operations.” | 358 |
The Supreme Court today said it would hear Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's plea challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker's decision to certify a bill to amend the Aadhaar law as a money bill in the first week of November.
The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing Ramesh and was seeking an early hearing on the plea.
When the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said the matter would be heard in the first week of November, Sibal requested for an earlier date as it had nothing to do with the batch of petitions pending in the main Aadhaar matter.
"Can't it be heard earlier? It has nothing to do with the Aadhaar matter. It is about the issue related to money bill and has nothing to do with right to privacy," Sibal said.
However, the bench said the plea would be heard in November.
The apex court had on August 30 said it would hear a batch of petitions challenging the government's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various social welfare schemes in the first week of November.
The apex court had in February observed that it was "tentatively not convinced" with Ramesh's grounds to challenge the Lok Sabha Speaker's decision to certify the bill to amend Aadhaar law as a money bill.
Observing that the issue was "important and serious" and it did not want to take a call on it in haste, the court had told the counsel appearing for Ramesh to prepare his case by taking into account all the objections raised by the Centre.
The Centre had opposed the plea saying that it fulfilled the criteria as the expenditure for the welfare schemes had to be drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India.
Ramesh had earlier claimed in the apex court that the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 was certified as a money bill to avoid its scrutiny by the Rajya Sabha which does not have any say on such legislations.
The Bill was discussed and passed by the Lok Sabha on March 11 last year.
It was taken up in the Rajya Sabha on March 16, where several amendments were made to it.
The bill was returned the same evening to the Lok Sabha, which rejected all the amendments adopted by the Upper House and passed it without any of these changes. | 359 |
KUALA LUMPUR: Luno, a globally-recognised cryptocurrency exchanger based in London, said today that its bank account in Malaysia has been frozen by the Inland Revenue Board, pending an investigaton relating to tax matters.
As such, it has not been able to process deposits or withdrawals in the country over the past few weeks. The account is held under the name of its local entity, BitX Malaysia.
"As part of this, IRB has requested that we provide them with information on all our Malaysian customers: identification, deposits/withdrawals, and transactions.
"We are working closely with the IRB to limit the parameters of this broad request. As set out in our privacy policy, we value your (Luno customers') privacy and strive to protect your personal information. We will only provide personal information where we are legally required to do so and are working with our local advisers to ensure that any disclosure is consistent with our obligations to you, our customers," Luno said in a statement emailed to theedgemarkets.com.
It said in general, it strongly encourages all its customers to adhere to Malaysian tax requirements, including, where necessary, the declaration of any gains in the manner prescribed by the authorities.
"Bitcoin and digital currencies are a new area of development for everyone including regulators, financial institutions, tax authorities, and many others.
"Navigating this requires everyone to work together to figure out optimal solutions to ensure the industry is safe and conducive to business. We are supportive of the recent measures by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to come up with reporting requirements for digital currency exchanges. In a similar manner, we are working closely with our banks and the IRB to come to a swift conclusion with regard to this investigation," Luno added.
It went on to say that while it is focused on making sure it achieves a positive outcome for everyone, especially its customers, the issue may take some time to be resolved.
"Unfortunately, we can't give a time estimate for this to be resolved, but we'll notify you (Luno customers) as soon as we have another update.
"In the meanwhile, you (Luno customers) can still buy, sell, send and receive digital currencies like ETH (ethereum) and BTC (bitcoin) with your MYR local currency balance. All your funds — local and digital currencies — remain safe with Luno and all other services remain unaffected," it added. | 360 |
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is no longer among the world’s 10 richest technology billionaires.
The 28-year-old’s fortune dropped by $423 million as shares of the world’s largest social media company fell 4 percent to $20.04 in trading. Zuckerberg is now worth $10.2 billion. He is about $400 million behind James Goodnight, the co-founder of Cary, North Carolina-based software maker SAS Institute Inc., who now ranks as technology’s 10th- richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“From an emotional standpoint, he might care,” said Ron Florance, managing director of investment strategy for Wells Fargo Private Bank, in a telephone interview from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “He’s much more worried about maintaining Facebook’s market share in the social media space than the day- to-day valuation swings of his company stock. He’s not worried about going broke.”
Facebook shares have fallen 47 percent from their initial public offering price of $38. The Menlo Park, California-based company last week reported earnings that showed slowing revenue growth.
Larry Yu, a company spokesman, didn’t respond to a phone call requesting comment.
Zuckerberg’s fortune is based on his ownership of 503.6 million shares of Facebook, including 60 million options that have an exercise price of 6 cents a share. He also has about $150 million in cash and other liquid assets.
Goodnight, 69, co-founded SAS in 1976, and is worth $10.6 billion. The company is the world’s largest closely held software maker and generated revenue of $2.7 billion in 2011, up 12 percent in a year.
SAS is valued at $15.8 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The valuation is based on the average enterprise value-to-earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization multiple of five publicly traded peers. A premium has been applied, based on recent transactions in the software industry.
Goodnight, who holds two-thirds of SAS, also co-owns the Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, North Carolina, and has collected dividend payments over more than three decades.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is the richest technology billionaire in the world with a net worth of $61.6 billion, according to the index. | 361 |
Last updated on.From the section Football
Norwich City striker Grant Holt says he has given up on being picked for England and believes other players have been denied chances by Roy Hodgson.
Holt, 31, was the Premier League's second-highest English scorer last season, but was not included in the national squad for Euro 2012.
Grant Holt's Norwich record Season and competition Games Goals 2012-13 - Premier League 6 1 2011-12 - Premier League 36 15 2010-11 - Championship 45 21 2009-10 - League One 39 22
He said his omission was "ridiculous" and does not expect a future call-up.
"I gave up on that," he told BBC Radio Norfolk. "I think I'll never be in it. Roy's come in and picking his players."
Holt added: "When two friendlies came up [against Norway and Belgium] and I wasn't included it was ridiculous to be honest.
"He hasn't given anyone opportunities - people like Nathan Dyer and Danny Graham from Swansea didn't even get a look in, but that's life."
quote Any neutral looking at the England squad could have written it down beforehand and not been far off Grant Holt
contains two uncapped players - Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster and Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross - and Holt believes his former Rochdale team-mate Rickie Lambert, who has scored four Premier League goals for Southampton this season, should have been considered.
"He's scoring the goals. He's done well. But I think any neutral looking at that list could have written it down beforehand and not been far off," said Holt.
"Unless Rickie Lambert scores 25 goals or bags 10 in the next two months I don't think he'll get close."
Holt has been in and out of the Canaries line-up this season, scoring just the one goal - the same number he had at this time in 2011-12.
And, after a summer of speculation over his future, the forward reacted sarcastically to questions about his commitment to the club.
"I've given up this year. I've decided to bin it off," he said. "I've signed my three-year deal and I thought I'd leave it this year, sit back, have a few cans and a few cigarettes and chill with the kids.
"It's a ridiculous question. No I haven't [lost my hunger]." | 362 |
), rough surfacing (only a third is paved) and sheer drops at altitudes of up to 15,000ft. Despite – or perhaps because of this – it’s now an unlikely tourist attraction.
Solidum, who rode Death Road last November, says: “A lot of people do it so you think it can’t be that scary, right?
“I went in all optimistic, just messing around. When we started, I was trying to take a GoPro picture, and I felt my bike ride away, so that was a wake-up call.”
Biking down Death Road in Bolivia (Elijah Solidum)
That was just the start. “It’s really narrow the entire time, so you have to be focused physically as well as mentally. If you slip a little bit, you could fall thousands of feet, but it’s difficult to keep your balance because it’s rocky.
“Your hands hurt because they’re gripping the bars so tightly, your bum’s bouncing up and down for three or four hours. If you get scared, you can get on the bus following you, but I’d say that’s even scarier, because the road’s so narrow. If you’re doing this, you’re doing it for 64km.”
Memorials to the dead – including mountain-biking tourists – are dotted alongside the road. As they had lunch, grateful for having survived, Solidum’s group watched a car flip over.
Elijah Solidum at Laguna Colorada, Bolivia (Elijah Solidum)
Next up for Solidum is Costa Rica, then a family trip to the Philippines which he’s hoping to stretch into three months around South-east Asia. But he’s scrapped his bucket list.
“I had a bucket list but the more I travel, the more I like it less when I have a destination in mind,” he says. “I’ve realised I’m more interested in the places that are overlooked.”
So will it be a volcano in Costa Rica next? Quite possibly. In the meantime, he says, he’d do Death Road again. But possibly not the volcano. There are near-death experiences, and then there’s Pichu Pichu. | 363 |
rony capitalism” in an article published in Prospect on February 22nd:-
It doesn’t matter which department you choose. Their approach is too often dominated by the concerns of big business. The Ministry of Defence’s disastrous record in public procurement is partly a product of an overly cosy relationship with a few suppliers. The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s clumsy environmental policies stem from close contacts with half a dozen enormous companies … Wherever you look in Whitehall the government is too close to big business and has been for decades. If it is not addressed, Britain’s crony capitalism will inflict huge damage to our interests, economy, industry and society.
The degree of capture still seems less pronounced in Britain than in the United States, where there has been a long and ignoble history of ex Goldmanites including Robert Rubin and Hank Paulson becoming US Treasury Secretary, from where they can liberally dispense policies favourable to their chums on Wall Street, including ensuring light touch regulation and bailouts when they screw up, before waltzing back into the world of finance or academe. That’s why the firm is nicknamed “Government Sachs” (as well as a few other things).
Now don’t get me wrong. Not all ex-Goldman Sachs executives are market fundamentalists who are addicted to neoclassical economics, an ideology that ought to have been consigned to the dustbin of history as a result of its own manifest failings, and who would do everything in their power to further the interests of their ex-colleagues and former employers in the event they reach high office. The existence of other ex Goldmanites who are committed to alternative economic approaches, like Raphie de Santos, ‘The Left Banker’, is testimony to that. Somehow I doubt whether Deighton is in that camp, however.
Overall, I find Cameron’s recent reshuffle perplexing, disturbing and not a little retrograde. If the prime minister really believes that entrusting economic policy to former investment bankers — whose culture is invariably one of short-term profit maximisation, the churning of assets and trading at clients’ (aka “muppets”) expense — will put Britain back on the path to long-term economic sustainability, he’s more deluded than I thought. As my colleague Dick Winchester points out, it proves that notions of rebalancing the economy are a lost cause. | 364 |
In yet another episode of man versus machine, an artificial intelligence developed by Carnegie Mellon University has been absolutely dismantling a team of professional poker players, accumulating a staggering lead of almost $800,000.
The showdown takes place as part of the “Brains vs. Artificial Intelligence” competition which pits a group of four poker pros against the crafty supercomputer Libratus in a heads-up game of No-Limit Texas Hold’em slated to continue for 120,000 hands.
Since January 11 when the contest initially kicked off, the players have now passed the midway point of the the race, having completed almost 65,000 hands in total.
What is more intriguing is that so far Libratus has managed to keep an impressive lead over its human opponents, stacking up a profit of $794,392.
While the seasoned players originally underestimated the AI, Jimmy Chou, who is one of the pros, told CMU that they’ve all come to regard the machine as a tremendously tough rival, noting the computer’s ability to continuously improve its game.
“The bot gets better and better every day,” he said. “It’s like a tougher version of us.”
Libratus, which was developed by computer science professor Tuomas Sandholm and his PhD student Noam Brown, is the first AI to edge out real professionals in a game of poker. Back in 2015, a supercomputer under the moniker ‘Claudico’ squared off with a group of poker pros, but ultimately ended up unable to turn a profit against the humans.
While Libratus still has 55,000 hands to play against the pros, it seems to be confidently striding on its way to victory.
Following last year’s historical triumph of Google’s DeepMind-based AlphaGo AI over leading Go player Lee Sedol, Libratus offers further proof that artificial intelligence systems are gradually starting to best even the most talented human players.
“Brains vs. Artificial Intelligence” will continue everyday between 11AM and 7PM ET until completing all of the 120,000 hands scheduled to play out. Rivers Casino has posted links on its website where you can follow the tournament live on Twitch.
CMU ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS TOUGH POKER PLAYER on Carnegie Mellon University News
Read next: Why empathy and objectivity are the keys to product success | 365 |
BERLIN — The small Swiss town of Rupperswil is in shock after learning that a long-time local youth soccer coach is suspected of being behind the brutal killings of four people last December.
A 33-year-old Swiss citizen, named by local media as Thomas N., is suspected of killing a mother, her two teenage sons and another woman in the town 19 miles west of Zurich. Prosecutors said the suspect made a “comprehensive confession” after his arrest Thursday.
Roland Wenger, a spokesman for the FC Sarmenstorf soccer club where the suspect had been a coach, said members were horrified by the news.
“Nobody in the club would have thought Thomas N. would be capable of this, he was always decent,” he told daily Tages-Anzeiger in an interview published Saturday.
Rupperswil mayor Rudolf Hediger told daily Aargauer Zeitung there was relief at the arrest but also “a certain amount of shame and dismay that it was really a member of our village community.”
Prosecutor Barbara Loppacher said the suspect was an unmarried local resident with no previous convictions or connections to the victims. She said, based on his statement and the investigation, police believe he acted alone.
Prosecutors believe N. acted out of financial and sexual motives in the killing of 48-year-old Carla Schauer, her 13- and 19-year-old sons and the latter’s 21-year-old girlfriend.
Authorities revealed grim details of the crime Friday. According to investigators, the suspect tricked his way into the Schauers’ home on Dec. 21. He made the mother bind and gag the other victims before forcing her to withdraw about $11,000, police captain Markus Gisin told reporters.
After she returned, the suspect tied her up, raped the younger son, killed all four by cutting their throats and set fire to the house, Gisin said.
The absence of any link between the victims and the suspect had made the investigation particularly difficult, said Gisin. After his arrest, police were able to tie his fingerprints and DNA to the crime.
Gisin said the man’s arrest may have prevented further killings.
”Based on yesterday’s search of the home, further investigations and questioning, we have to assume that the perpetrator had concrete plans for similar crimes,” he said. | 366 |
BEIRUT (Sputnik) - Lebanese Ambassador to the United Nations Amal Mudallali sent a letter to the UN Security Council accusing Israel of hacking into the country’s telephone network in order to warn residents of southern Lebanon of the threat caused by Hezbollah's efforts to dig tunnels on border with Israel.
"Lebanon condemns in the strongest possible terms the political and diplomatic campaign being waged by Israel against Lebanon, which it fears is a prelude to the launch of further attacks", Mudallali's letter read, as quoted by The Times of Israel.
Earlier this week, Israel allegedly hacked into the Lebanese national communications network and warned residents of the village of Kfar Kila of bombings on Lebanese territories to destroy the tunnels, stressing that their lives were in danger.
"That campaign is being accompanied by a number of extremely serious acts, of which the most recent is that Israel has breached the Lebanese communications grid by hacking into the telephone network and sending recorded messages to peaceable civilian inhabitants of the southern part of the village of Kafr Killa warning them of imminent explosions to take place on Lebanese territory that might put their lives at risk", the letter said.
According to Mudallali, such Israeli actions constitute a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty.
The diplomat also called on the UN Security Council to "take all measures necessary to confront this systematic campaign being waged by Israel and Israel’s ongoing violations of Lebanese sovereignty, which are a threat to the security and stability of the entire region".
The comment was made in wake of the start of an Israeli military operation, launched on Tuesday, aimed at searching for tunnels leading into northern Israel, dug by Hezbollah. Israel accuses the Lebanese movement of digging "terror tunnels" into its territory to target Israeli civilians. The stated goal of the operation, codenamed Northern Shield, is to find and neutralize them before they become operational.
READ MORE: Netanyahu Reportedly Mulls Operation Against Hezbollah Inside Lebanon
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) confirmed on Thursday the presence of a tunnel on the border between Lebanon and Israel.
READ MORE: UN Mission Confirms Israeli Report of Tunnels at Lebanon Border
Israel views Hezbollah’s presence in Lebanon and Syria as a threat to its national security. The country also believes that the movement is backed by Iran, which Israel considers to be its main rival in the region.
READ MORE: Israel Reportedly Plans to Destroy Hezbollah Tunnels From Inside Lebanon | 367 |
Rick Ross' new album Rather You Than Me has impressed a lot of people, but it appears that Tony Yayo—50 Cent's longtime friend and G-Unit comrade—isn't one of them. Recently, the "So Seductive" performer took what appeared to be a shot at the MMG boss on Twitter.
"A cop 👮 shouting out a rat 🐀 rappers for you. This shit ain't real," Yayo tweeted over the weekend.
The lyrics Yayo seems to be referencing come from the third verse on Ross' incendiary Birdman diss "Idols Become Rivals." In that little portion of the track, Rozay raps, "Never slippin', got relationships with the trillest niggas/Tony Draper, J Prince and every Jimmy Henchman."
Yayo is probably referring to Jimmy Henchmen, a notorious music industry figure who is currently behind bars. 50 has had a beef with Henchman for years now.
Then there's Yayo's beef with Rick Ross. Back in the summer of 2007, Rozay was famously revealed to have once worked as a correctional officer in the 1990s, and for a brief time, his past was a joking point for 50, Yayo and the rest of the G-Unit as their beef with the rapper intensified. Obviously, that was 10 years ago and Ross' brief stint as a CO in no way hindered his rise to superstar status in the rap game, but old feelings die hard.
In other Rozay-related news, The Game's manager Wack 100 called out the Teflon Don artist for speaking out on Birdman's allegedly unscrupulous business dealings with Lil Wayne and other artists on Stunna's Cash Money label, also referencing "Idols Become Rivals." Birdman called Rozay's track, "hoe shit," and Wack appears to agree.
Posting a screenshot of Birdman's response to Rozay's diss to Instagram, Wack captioned the post, "Hoe shit is getting involved in other men bidness. Last I checked that’s CMYMB bidness whatever the bidness may be …. #Wayne my nigga #Stunna My nigga they family before we’re fans and whatever there going through is there bidness period.”
Rozay's "Idols Become Rivals" has clearly caused a stir, but at least Lil Wayne appreciates his gesture. | 368 |
struggle to find work.
“I don’t think it should be a thing,” Cher says of the industry’s exclusion of trans talent. “I don’t think that women not getting the same money for the same job should be a thing. I’m confounded that certain things actually exist. That’s not the way you judge an actor.”
Machado Cicala/ Courtesy of Cher
As Cher knows, it’s in large part the youth who are shifting this paradigm, both with their activism and their nonchalant views on gender and sexuality.
“The thing I love about kids today is they’re so open [about queerness or gender identity],” she says. “It’s like, ‘Whatever. Okay, pass me the hot sauce.’ They’re just not worried about what they are. And their friends aren’t worried about what they are either. That’s so freeing.”
Machado Cicala/ Courtesy of Cher
Countless things have compelled the free-spirited Cher to keep performing, to keep getting onstage, to keep making her voice heard — an outspoken voice that, whether cheered on by crowds or rabidly retweeted, is so appreciated right now. But sometimes it’s simple. “My life’s mission is to make people forget their problems,” she says. “When I go onstage, I think I’ve got this thing, it’s gonna come through me, it’s gonna go to the audience, and they’re gonna forget anything that bothers them for these 90 minutes. It’s supposed to take you out of yourself. That’s my job.”
Today, Cher isn’t an easy woman to pin down — in regard to her multifaceted talents and her mere availability. It’s a world away from the one that often tried to tell her she’d never do the things she was determined to do, and her perseverance is precisely the fuel that drives her widely varying, ardently lip-synching fans. “Sometimes people mistake being passionate for being uncool, and that’s their problem,” she states with finality. “Fuck ’em.”
What’s your granny doing tonight? | 369 |
Paris (AFP) – France’s highest administrative authority on Friday blocked the extradition of Kazakh opposition figure Mukhtar Ablyazov to Russia, where he is accused of embezzling billions of dollars.
Ablyazov, 53, has been held in French custody since July 2013 when he was arrested on the Cote d’Azur.
Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine all accuse him of having embezzled billions of dollars during his time as head of the Kazakh bank BTA. The bank has also filed complaints against him.
But his defence team argued that he would not get a fair trial in Russia, a position supported by the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer.
On Friday France’s Council of State annulled the extradition order against Ablyazov judging that the request from Russia was “political”.
“Mr Alyazov is an opponent of the political regime in Kazakhstan and has been recognised as a political refugee by the British authorities,” the Council of State said in a statement.
After the decision Alyazov, currently detained in the Paris area, is expected to be swiftly freed.
“This is a decision which strongly defends the principles of French justice,” said Jean-Pierre Mignard, one of the Kazakh oligarch’s lawyers.
The BTA bank said it was shocked by the decision not to extradite Ablyazov, arguing that the French body had “chosen not to authorise Mr Ablyazov to answer for criminal acts in front of Russian justice”.
But Melzer said in a statement Wednesday that, if Ablyazov was extradited to Russia, there was a good chance the authorities there would pass him on to Kazakhstan.
In Kazakhstan, there was “serious reason to believe that Mr Ablyazov risks being subjected to torture”, he added.
The European Court of Human Rights had ruled against Russia several times for sending people to countries where they risked being tortured or ill-treated, he pointed out.
Alyazov’s defence team had argued that Russia was simply acting as proxy for Kazakhstan and that the case was purely political.
The regime of veteran Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been repeatedly criticised by human rights groups for its human rights abuses, including torture and rigged trials against opposition activists. | 370 |
program consisted of professors, technical directors and students coming together to construct a vision of how people might someday live in a large space colony. The result of this was a concept for a wheel-like space station that would rotate to provide the sensation of either Earth-normal or partial gravity.
In addition, rotating torus’ have been considered for spacecraft to ensure that astronauts on long-duration missions could limit their time in microgravity. A good example of this is the Non-Atmospheric Universal Transport Intended for Lengthy United States Exploration (Nautilus-X), a multi-mission spacecraft concept that was developed in 2011 by engineers Mark Holderman and Edward Henderson of NASA’s Technology Applications Assessment Team.
As with previous research, this study highlights the importance of maintaining astronaut health during long-term missions in space, as well as long-duration voyages. However, this study is distinguished in that it is the first in a series designed to better understand vision impairment among astronauts.
“We hope continued strong science collaboration will help us accumulate the experimental results needed to prepare for future manned deep-space exploration,” said Dai Shiba, a senior researcher for JAXA and a co-author on the paper. Mao, the lead-author on the study, also indicated that she is hopeful that this research will go beyond space exploration and have applications here on Earth:
“We hope our findings not only characterize the impact of spaceflight environment on eyes but will contribute to new cures or treatments for spaceflight-induced vision problems as well as more Earthbound disorders, such as age-related macular degeneration and retinopathy.”
There is no doubt that when it comes to the future of space exploration, there are many challenges lying ahead of us. Not only do we need to develop spacecraft that can combine fuel efficiency and power, we need to reduce the cost of individual launches and come up with ways to mitigate the health risks of long-term missions. Beyond the effects of microgravity, there is also the issue of prolonged exposure to solar and cosmic radiation.
And let’s not forget that missions to the lunar surface and Mars will have to contend with long-term exposure to lower gravity, especially where outposts are concerned. As such, it would not be farfetched to imagine that tori and centrifuges could become a regular part of space exploration in the near future!
Further Reading: FSU News, International Journal of Molecular Sciences. | 371 |
you’re putting riders on the street next to cars, they need some form of protection,” Lerer says.
Nationwide, at least 10 deaths reported in the media have been linked to scooter crashes since 2017. Of those, eight were instances in which riders were struck by an automobile. In Los Angeles, most of the 240 deaths that occurred on city streets in 2018 were the result of car crashes.
“I think there’s been an over-focus on scooter safety and continued silence on how dangerous our roadways are for people walking or biking—because of cars—not scooters,” says Jessica Meaney, director of Investing in Place, an organization that advocates for safer streets.
Meaney argues that city leaders seeking to protect scooter riders should focus on making space for them on city roadways.
State laws require electric scooter users to ride in bike lanes on streets with speed limits over 25 miles per hour. But many of LA’s major traffic corridors don’t have bike lanes, and even fewer have protected lanes insulated from auto traffic.
Kaufman’s organization has lobbied for years to change that. He says there are “more similarities than differences” between the needs of scooter riders and cyclists.
“Those needs are safe, equitable streets,” he says.
Koretz agrees that less auto-centric infrastructure could benefit scooter users. But he says political realities make it difficult to change the nature of the city’s streets.
“We already built everything for cars,” he says. “It’s very hard for us to reverse. If you tried to put in a bike lane on Beverly Boulevard, for instance, there just isn’t the width for it. And if you had to put in a road diet to make room for the bike lanes, you would back up traffic so badly that people would want to have our heads on a rail.”
Meaney says if local leaders are serious about reducing residents’ dependence on cars—a goal outlined in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Green New Deal—they’ll find ways to make scooters work.
“People should be allowed to make a choice between the transportation options that work for them on that day, for that trip,” she says. “City Hall should not be making that decision for them.” | 372 |
on.
The material types for the metal sheets are probably irrelevant at this point because the stats are so low. There were a few other crafts where the materials were not relevant as well.
What does sprint efficiency translate to?
One of the primary numbers on gear is sprint efficiency, but it wasn’t clear to me exactly what this did or whether higher was better. Logically, it made sense that plate would have a lower sprint efficiency but how much does 5.5 translate to?
To figure this out I recorded a video and took timestamps at the start and end of sprints. It seems that leather and mail provide roughly 8% longer sprints than plate and basic.
How much additional healing do the armor passives provide?
The matching plate/leather/mail minor disciplines provide 350 support power, but they aren’t usable when you’re wearing basic plate. However, basic plate has the best mitigation in the game at this point. How much healing is sacrificed when using basic plate?
Healing with just normal orbs resulted in a 29% increase in healing from 350 support power, and additional support power seemed to scale linearly up to around 1,000.
I intend to dig more deeply into the healing stats after the next patch. At present, field surgeon and standard bearer are very broken.
Thanks
TaCktiX for editing this post and being a style nazi
Tark for helping out with mats and providing the leadership buff
Anhrez for contributing mats and always being happy to help and answer questions
Jah for contributing a bunch of mats and discussing theorycrafting ideas and questions
Littleone for interrupting a game in-progress to help out
Xarrayne and Malefric for proofing the content and making stylistic suggestions
Scree, Michael and the Stealthed and Malekai teams, for building a group of theorycrafters and programmers who value open source and are working together to build what ArtCraft can’t get to immediately.
It was the Guild Doctrine post’s tendrils that finally hooked me into Crowfall after being a patient observer since Kickstarter.
And the other people who contributed much-needed mats when the campaign worlds were down. Couldn’t have done this without you all!
Additional Reading
Technology: Server Questions
Capture the Flag: July 9th, 2017 | 373 |
This article is from the archive of our partner.
Adding more fuel in the "Sucks to Be Us" or "Generation Jobless" vein, a new analysis of Census data from the Pew Research Center finds the wealth gap between older and younger adults gets even bigger, the Associated Press reported. This won't be news to Millenials occupying their old bedrooms back at their parent's home, who, as Noreen Malone pointed out in her New York magazine story, are already coming to grips with the notion that they might not be better off than the previous generation. But the Pew analysis looks stark:
As a result of these divergent trends, in 2009 the typical household headed by someone in the older age group had 47 times as much net wealth as the typical household headed by someone in the younger age group–$170,494 versus $3,662 (all figures expressed in 2010 dollars). Back in 1984, this had been a less lopsided ten-to-one ratio.
In this analysis, Pew Research divides Americans into the 65 year-old and older group and the 35 year-old and younger group. Unsurprisingly, as you can see from the chart, the 65 year-olds have traditionally done better than 35 year-old age group, but it's huge, divergent trends that look worrisome, as the Associated Press reports from the Pew data:
The 47-to-1 wealth gap between old and young is believed by demographers to be the highest ever, even predating government records.
As root causes, Pew Research singles out housing, specifically declining home equity. And there are plenty of indicators to look to. Last week, for instance, a new report showed that the average student loan debt for recent graduates was estimated at $25,250, up 5 percent from last year. Or, as The Wall Street Journal pointed to today in their depressingly named "Generation Jobless" series, unemployment for those under the age of 24 means youth have already lost ground in earnings:
The unemployment rate has been above 16% for 32 months—and counting. For 29 of those months, the rate has been above 17%, reaching a record 19.5% in April of last year....If history is a guide, when today's young graduates do find a job, they will earn 9% less on average than if they had finished college in better times, according to a recent Columbia University study.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire. | 374 |
After nearly two months of hustings, speeches, and the odd bout of internecine nastiness, it does not feel as if the Labour Party’s contest to pick its new leader is going to start fizzing with ideas and excitement. The result will be announced at a special conference on 12th September in London, whereupon the new leader—in all likelihood, the current Labour health spokesman Andy Burnham, or Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary—will stare out at a party still reeling from the disaster of its general election defeat on 7th May. Politics being politics, the new leader will have to gee up his or her troops for the election of 2020, a contest in which Labour will somehow have to win back at least 106 seats to triumph, and which, to judge from Cooper and Burnham’s leadership pitches, it may well fight on a introverted, nostalgic platform.
Of the four candidates for leader who made it over the qualifying threshold (having the support of 35 MPs) the north London MP Jeremy Corbyn is there, according to many of his supporters, to ensure a “proper debate” rather than to win. The noise around his campaign indicates that a good deal of the Labour tribe would rather do anything than stare, unblinking, into the future. You could say the same of Cooper or Burnham, and many of their supporters.
The one candidate bold enough to face the future is Labour’s shadow care spokesperson Liz Kendall, who talks with all the vim and brittle confidence of a contestant in The Apprentice. Kendall is often called a “Blairite,” though she has little of the hopeful, communitarian rhetoric that brought Labour to power nearly 20 years ago. Tony Blair offered a vision of a Britain in which “your child in distress is my child, your parent ill and in pain is my parent, your friend unemployed and helpless is my friend, your neighbour, my neighbour.”
Kendall’s most celebrated quote so far is the observation, taken from the late New Zealand Labour Party leader Norman Kirk, that “what most people want is something to do, somewhere to live, something to look forward to, and someone to love.” That may be true, but it does not amount to much of an animating purpose.
In terms of its eloquence, the best contribution so…
939378945f693cdde6e678.24523775 | 375 |
The cinema version of Lars Von Trier's new film Nymphomaniac may be a draining four hours long, and split into two halves for its release, but the full uncut film extends to a truly marathon five and a half hours. This latter version can now be enjoyed – perhaps masochistically – at the Berlin Film Festival, where it will receive its premiere.
"Berlinale audiences will be the first to see the long uncut version of Nymphomaniac Volume I," said festival director Dieter Kosslick. "The aesthetic he has created in Nymphomaniac is impressive and radical." The film will play out of competition at the festival.
The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as a sex addict recounting her sexual experiences throughout her life, with characters played by Jamie Bell, Shia LaBeouf and others.
The longer version is even more sexually explicit than the cinema cut. Producer Louise Vesth, talking to Screen Daily, said that the cuts were made purely to get the film into cinemas. "This was the way to even make the film at all," Vesth said. "It's a way for the broader public to be able to see the film. Both versions are suitable for the public, but of course when you go very explicit you will squeeze the possibilities of distribution." The shorter version is designed to make it past censors across the world, rather than each censor board make their own cuts.
Von Trier's producing partner Peter Aalbaek Jensen said earlier in the year that the cuts were "against Lars' own will", but Vesth denied this. "that's definitely not the case – Lars told me he was happy that we could do it this way... It's in his interest that the film is able to be seen in the different territories."
Vesth also recently confirmed that there would also be a Nymphomaniac internet video series, though it's not yet clear what format it will take.
In the Guardian's first review of the film, Xan Brooks described it as "a bruising, gruelling experience" that "bludgeons the body and tenderises the soul. It is perplexing, preposterous and utterly fascinating... To blunder in on Nymphomaniac is to catch the sight of a middle-aged Dane masturbating alone in a darkened room. It may be sensational, it might even be art. But I'm not sure it is intended for public consumption." | 376 |
American businesses are growing increasingly worried about the spread of the coronavirus and the possibility that President Donald Trump could lose his bid for re-election in November.
The Federal Reserve’s latest nationwide survey of business conditions has found that the coronavirus outbreak has begun to impact travel and tourism businesses and disrupt manufacturing chains in parts of the United States. Other businesses report that although they have not yet been directly affected by the coronavirus, they are worried about the impact.
“There were indications that the coronavirus was negatively impacting travel and tourism in the U.S.,” the report said. “Manufacturing activity expanded in most parts of the country; however, some supply chain delays were reported as a result of the coronavirus and several Districts said that producers feared further disruptions in the coming weeks.”
The survey compiled by the Fed’s 12 regional banks and released Wednesday found that growth through late February continued at a moderate rate. It was completed by February 24, however, which means that it would not have captured the recent financial market turmoil and intensification of coronavirus fears.
The Fed’s San Francisco regional bank reported that the COVID-19 outbreak has led to decreased demand for aircraft from China and other Southeast Asian nations. Some American solar equipment manufacturers have also experienced delayed shipments due to supply-chain disruptions.
The survey, known as the beige book, will be part of the discussion when Fed officials meet later this month to review interest rates.
The Fed on Tuesday announced a surprise half-point cut in its benchmark rate in an effort to support the economy in the face of the spreading virus. The move, which pushed the Fed’s policy rate down to a range of 1% to 1.25%, marked the largest cut since the 2008 financial crisis.
Some analysts believe the Fed will cut rates even further at this month’s meeting, especially if the effects of the coronavirus have grown more serious by that time.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference Tuesday that the Fed is “hearing concerns from people, for example in the travel business, the hotel business and things like that.”
Fed officials expect the impact to grow “and that’s one of the reasons we have come to the view that it would be appropriate for us today to move to support the economy and that’s what we have done,” Powell said. | 377 |
Online retail giant Overstock has announced that Jonathan Johnson – who’s led the firm in a temporary role since the shock departure of its previous chief executive Patrick Byrne – is now its permanent CEO.
In an announcement emailed to CoinDesk Monday, the company said Johnson had been appointed by its board, having served as interim CEO since Aug. 22. That’s notably when Byrne stepped down as CEO and member of the Overstock board after admitting to a three-year relationship with Maria Butina, a Russian agent currently serving 18 months in prison.
Johnson, who also heads Overstock’s blockchain accelerator Medici Ventures, said at the time that he was “confident that Overstock’s future – both in retail and blockchain – is bright.”
In today’s announcement, he echoed the sentiment, saying:
“Overstock has two unique businesses. I have run both, and I know how to unlock the value in each. I’m confident we can rapidly return our retail business to profitable growth. Our transformative blockchain businesses continue to lead their respective industries by getting real products into production.”
In retail guidance provided along with the news, Overstock set out a number of market factors that it expects to affect profitability, but added: “In spite of these recent headwinds, we’re confident in our retail strategy.”
The company has had a turbulent two months for internal reasons too. Before leaving the company, Byrne had apparently attempted to stymie short sellers he believed were targeting the firm by controversially opting to issue Overstock’s next investor dividend through a digital asset on the firm’s subsidiary exchange tZERO. It was to have blocked investors from trading the asset for six months and restricted the activity to a single platform.
However, Overstock last week sought to soften its stance by restructuring the dividend to make it freely tradeable at issuance.
A day later, typically outspoken Byrne dumped his 13 percent stake in the company, which he founded 20 years ago, to buy cryptocurrency and precious metals, saying it was an effort to fight his “Deep State” enemies at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In today’s announcement, Overstock added that it’s also appointed former principal financial officer Robert Hughes as acting chief financial officer after the resignation of Greg Iverson from the role last week.
Jonathan Johnson image via Nasdaq | 378 |
The St. Paul City Council is expected to follow in Minneapolis’ footsteps Wednesday and approve a citywide $15 minimum wage without an exemption for tipped workers.
Mayor Melvin Carter said in his inaugural address that he intended to implement a $15 minimum wage “as soon as possible.” In the months since, city leaders have met with workers and business owners, activists have marched through downtown streets and hundreds of people have packed into City Hall to share their views.
Council members said they’re looking forward to getting the ordinance passed.
“Hopefully, it will be a celebratory moment for us all,” said Council Member Rebecca Noecker. “We’ve done the hard work, we’ve asked the right questions and I think this is an ordinance St. Paul can be proud of.”
According to the city, more than 56,000 St. Paul workers will get a raise as a result of the ordinance, which will require employers to start phasing in the wage hike in 2020. People who work for the city or at large corporations will start making $15 an hour on July 1, 2022; those at the smallest businesses won’t see that wage until July 1, 2027.
The ordinance is based on public input and recommendations from the nonpartisan Citizens League, which released a 446-page report this summer on how a minimum wage hike would affect St. Paul.
About 200 people attended a Nov. 7 public hearing on the ordinance, and much of the testimony focused on whether there should be an exemption for tipped workers. Though some council members said they would support an exemption, the ordinance does not include one.
“Our goal is to raise the minimum wage in the city of St. Paul, and we didn’t think a tip penalty/carveout was good for workers,” said Council Member Chris Tolbert.
Council President Amy Brendmoen said she talked to restaurant owners after the public hearing, and she told them the council can modify the ordinance in the future if need be.
“We’re moving forward here,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean there will never be another opportunity to look at this again.”
In coming months, council members are planning to introduce a separate policy that will beef up city enforcement of the minimum wage, as well as of the earned sick time ordinance that took effect last year. | 379 |
Man Made had its world premiere at ATLFF
Man Made (2018), directed, produced and by filmed by T Cooper and co-written by T Cooper and Allison Glock-Cooper, is a four character driven reality drama documenting the lives of four transgender men.
They are Dominic, Mason, Rese and Kennie, and are at different stages in their transitioning. The narrative of competing in Trans Fitcon (a bodybuilding competition opened to anybody who self-identifies as a transgender male, regardless of physical presentation) is juxtaposed against their backstory, struggles, relationships, and bringing their bodies into alignment with their gender identity which creates the dramatic tension that moves the documentary.
T Cooper has woven together many visual elements to create a compelling film that is beautifully shot. The filmmaker makes use of innovative animation techniques, diverse angle shots, editing techniques, archival footage, social media, cut aways, still photography, voice-over narration, first person interviews, and third person interviews to create a poignant and powerful film that gives his subjects a voice and a context to tell their stories in their own words. It's a balanced documentary for the filmmaker explores their transitioning from the perspective of the subject, and the impact it has had on their lives and bodies, and from the perspective of their partners, and the family members who have remained in their lives. Cooper has filmed his subjects living their lives, doing chores, working at their jobs, relaxing, partying, spending time with loved ones, attending doctor visits, working out, and competing. By the film's end, you see them for who they are and not for the gender they were born with.
Cooper not only creates intimate portraits of these four transgender men but has included first person interviews of the other contestants, and the judges of the competition, capturing the vitality and camaraderie of the Trans Fitcon community. On a personal level, I found the documentary inspirational and a celebratory expression of the power and indomitable spirit of the self to find its true expression.
Man Made is a powerful documentary deserving of your attention. Cooper has done a superb job in demystifying the transgender experience, challenging preconceptions people may hold, and has demonstrated that transitioning is a complex process fraught with unique challenges and difficulties. The film has enormous educational value and can serve as a vehicle to promote social change and understanding.
Share this review.
-Stefan Chiarantano | 380 |
A 50-year-old former civil servant has been sentenced to two years in jail with the final year suspended for passing confidential information about individuals to private detectives for payment.
Rory Lenihan, of Ballaghderg, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, pleaded guilty at Letterkenny Circuit Court to 12 sample charges of corruption out of a total of 41 offences, which occurred between 2008 and 2010 when he worked as a clerical officer at what is now the Department of Social Protection in Letterkenny.
Detective Garda Peter Cullen, who investigated the case over a number of years, told the court that Lenihan passed the information to two private detectives, John Buckley on the Navan Road in Dublin and Brian Foy in Leixlip, Co Kildare.
They in turn passed some of it on to financial institutions.
The information was being used for a number of different reasons, including chasing debts and locating people, he said, but neither private detective has been prosecuted in connection with the case.
Sentencing Lenihan, Judge John Aylmer said that there had been a significant breach of trust in this case and a significant breach of the privacy of all citizens whose information is held by the State.
He described Lenihan's crimes as being on the mid-range of such offences.
Judge Aylmer said the offending took place over a protracted period of time and Lenihan's sole motivating factor was financial gain.
He added that in relation to the sample charges, there were approximately 20 transactions for which he received about €23 per transaction. Taking all the charges into account, the total sum involved was €21,898.
In mitigation, the judge said he took into account the facts that Lenihan was deeply remorseful, he had lost his job and suffered loss of reputation, employability and suffered disgrace and adverse publicity.
His marriage has since broken down as a result of the effect of these offences, the judge said.
At the time of the offences Lenihan was under financial strain, but he came before the court with good references as to his personal character.
Having regard to the gravity of the offences and the period of time over which they took place, Judge Aylmer said this is a case in which there must be a custodial sentence.
He sentenced Lenihan to two years in jail on each count, to run concurrently, with the final 12 months suspended. | 381 |
A group of eastern Iowans traveled across the border this week to help out their neighbors impacted by flooding in Nebraska.
Jered and Shawn Camp run the Iowa Farm Sanctuary. They rescue injured and sick animals.
When they heard about the serious flood damage in Nebraska, they got in a car with their friends and went to go see it for themselves.
"I've lived in Iowa my whole life and seen a lot of flooding but this...it was like there must have been rapid water coming through," said Shawn Camp.
"There were animals that were just wandering the cornfields, wandering the roadways, in and out of dilapidated buildings," said Jered Camp. "A lot of buildings had collapsed."
They said they were in no way expecting it to be as bad as it was.
"It felt so good to be able to rescue one of the pigs," said Shawn. "We went in there thinking guns blazing we’re going to rescue all of these pigs but they were everywhere and the circumstances were that the mud was so deep we couldn’t physically carry all of the injured out of there."
"They had to make a choice: do I get my family out? Do I get my livestock out? Of course, they made the choice to get their families out," said ISU Extension Office Ag Specialist Ryan Drollette.
Drollette said farmers should at least see a bit of a benefit from this, even if consumers won't.
"On the meat side of things: local, regional where those impacts are yes if you were one that wasn't affected by the flooding," said Drollette.
With high waters still in the forecast, things could still change.
"We may see some higher prices locally but overall nationally you're not going to see too much of an impact," said Drollette. "But we're still waiting to get numbers in."
The Camps agree the change could be for the worse.
"Any progress that they've made could be washed away and so they're going to need all the help they can get out there," said Shawn Camp. "Animals and humans alike."
The group members said they wanted to help as many as they could but because of the conditions, they could only send one hog to the vet. They expect to return next week, though.
The
asks anyone who knows of badly damaged areas there to contact them. | 382 |
White House aide Sebastian Gorka Sebastian Lukacs GorkaSunday shows preview: Trump, lawmakers weigh in on COVID-19, masks and school reopenings amid virus surge Trump taps Gorka for national security advisory board Sunday shows preview: Coronavirus poses questions about school safety; Trump commutes Roger Stone sentence MORE insisted in an interview that aired Sunday that President Trump's "America first" mantra doesn't mean the U.S. is opposed to working with allies.
"When we say ‘America First,’ we do not mean, we do not mean at all, America alone," Gorka said during an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York.
"We think 'America first' insofar as that we will stand by and implement and realize our national interests and the interests of all Americans," the national security aide continued.
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"However, if there are other nations, like the great nation of Poland or our other colleagues in the EU or the G-20, who wish to share our values, that see themselves as having common interests with ourselves, we will work together with those nations," he said.
Trump put a global spin on his "America first" mantra in a speech in Warsaw, Poland ahead of the Group of 20 summit last week. In Poland, the president argued that "our values will prevail, our people will thrive and our civilization will triumph.”
Trump has cited his "America first" focus in explaining a number of controversial proposals that have received international pushback, including his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate accord and his demands for fair trade with other countries.
Despite differences with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over issues such as climate change and immigration, the White House aide insisted that U.S. officials were approaching talks at the G-20 summit over the weekend in Hamburg, Germany, with "goodwill."
"We bring the goodwill to the table whether we are talking to Chancellor Merkel, whether we are talking to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin. And the question is, how does the other side react?" Gorka said.
Gorka said that Trump's team has heard that the president's speech in Warsaw was "perhaps the best speech the president has yet given."
"It leveraged the key themes of his administration: an unapologetic acceptance of what we stand for as a nation, and who we stand with shoulder to shoulder as part of Western civilization," he said. | 383 |
Piz is in, too!
Chris Lowell is the latest Veronica Mars vet to officially join the forthcoming fan-funded film adaptation, exec producer Rob Thomas announced on Saturday.
Lowell’s mop-topped alter ego arrived on the scene in the show’s third season and soon developed a crush on (and began a romance with) the show’s titular sleuth.
UPDATE: Appearing at the ATX Television Festival on Saturday, Thomas said that beyond Lowell, Percy Daggs III and other already confirmed encores, “We actually have a bunch of cast deals done, but we’re trying to parse them out… We want to give everyone their own moment.” (As such, keep tabs on TVLine as more additions are trumpeted over the next 10 days.)
Veronica’s gal pal Mac is a character Thomas said it would be odd not to see in the movie, but he stopped short of confirming Tina Majorino’s casting.
Alas, with the ensemble growing and the budget finite, as the film nears production later this month, there’s already been one (minor) casualty. Thomas shared at ATX that opening scenes were already over-budget, so rain during a flight Veronica is on had to be cut. “So, as you see her land and come out of the Balboa County Airport, imagine rain,” he laughed.
Speaking further on the film’s prospects, Thomas said, “It’s not going to be Hunger Games, but I’m excited about the scope. It’s at the top-end of what my expectations would have been.” That said, when it comes to a fight that breaks out at ‘Ron’s high school reunion, he quipped: “Please don’t expect a Matrix-level brawl.”
RELATED | The Veronica Mars Movie: Don’t You Dare Feel Bad About Chipping In
As previously announced, original cast members Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni and Percy Daggs III have also signed on to the film, which is set at Veronica’s 10-year high school reunion and will begin shooting in about 9 days.
Press PLAY to hear Lowell’s grateful thoughts — including details on the promise teased in the above headline — then hit the comments, Marshmallows! | 384 |
When it comes to league of legends there are many ways to go about playing the same champion and role, however it is very important to remember the basics of your champion. In this article, I will talk mostly about support because that is where we can see some of the most drastic negative impacts of “playstyle” on success.
When it comes to playstyle we need to really understand what the term means, from my experience and using my pseudo-professional opinion I would define playstyle as how you deviate from the standard “accepted” way of playing a champion in a certain role. A great example of playstyle is in how someone plays in their lane, for example a Braum player can choose to play aggressively to apply his passive and scrap or choose to sit back and let their AD carry farm while taking damage using Unbreakable (E) to soak some damage.
On the other hand there are many who use the guise of “playstyle” as an excuse for bad play and will therefore not see much improvement in their gameplay or abilities. I have seen many players (especially supports) who will buy items that don’t help them as well as players who will make just simple mistakes for a champion mechanically and when they are questioned by their team they often cite their “playstyle” as their excuse for itemizing poorly.
The first place to decide your own playstyle is in the runes and masteries, you can even see this on a pro level by comparing the runes and masteries used by pro supports. For example in the above picture we can see the differences in runes between Lustboy and Zero. Even though they are playing different champions you can clearly see a difference in style in their runes, while zero runes a cheeky critical chance mark and a more defensive set in general he also runs a decent amount of mana regeneration glyphs. On the other hand lust boy has a much more aggressive page opting for a mana regeneration quintessence and even some ability power. Even in the masteries we can see a subtle difference, zero opts for the enhanced recall and takes a point out of his movement speed bonus in order to do it.
These are great examples of a playstyle difference between two players who are still playing the game relatively similarly (especially at such a high level). So if you were to take anything from this article just remember that playing poorly or itemizing poorly is not the same thing as having a different playstyle compared to the average player. | 385 |
Wal-Mart And Grocers To Offer Beef Without 'Pink Slime'
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Gress/Reuters /Landov John Gress/Reuters /Landov
Last week, we reported that the U.S Department of Agriculture decided it would give school food administrators alternatives to meat containing lean finely textured beef, also known as LFTB, or "pink slime" by its detractors.
Now, Wal-Mart has become the latest food retailer to announce that it's making changes after listening to customer concerns about LFTB.
"While the USDA and experts agree that it is safe and nutritious, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club will begin offering fresh ground beef that does not contain LFTB," writes Deisha Galberth Barnett, a Wal-Mart spokesperson, in a statement.
The announcement comes amid a flurry of similar announcements from other retailers this week.
An estimated 70 percent of the ground beef supply contains the lean trimmings of meat derived from muscle and connective tissue that make up LFTB. But chances are you won't find it on the ingredient list at the grocery store because it doesn't have to be labeled.
The safety concerns stem from reports that the lean beef trimmings can harbor pathogens, such as E. coli or Salmonella and other bacteria. An outpouring of opposition to the product — from petition signatures to social media chatter — helped influence USDA to change its policy on LFTB purchases.
Earlier this week Safeway also announced that it will no longer purchase fresh or frozen ground beef that contains LFTB for its stores' meat departments.
This includes pre-made burger patties you'd find in the frozen food aisle, according to a Safeway spokesperson. Like Wal-Mart, Safeway acknowledged that experts believe the product is safe and wholesome. But it too has felt compelled to stop buying it to assuage concerned consumers.
Kroger, the Cincinnati-based chain, said today it would also eliminate LFTB from its meat section.
And Costco shoppers: It turns out the ground beef you've been buying has never contained LFBT. And why? "Not a safety concern at all," explained Costco in an email response to the Salt. "It never [met] our quality requirements."
We know this is an incomplete list of retailer reactions, so feel free to share others. And check out this post from ABC, which includes several others. | 386 |
There are well-established ways of valuing stocks in the real world. But is it possible to apply the same metrics to crypto?
A recent Quartz article looks at some of the ways you can value crypto coins. In the traditional economy, analysts use ideas like P/E ratios (how much a stock earns in dividends in proportion to its price) to pick undervalued shares. Of course, that doesn’t work so well in crypto, especially for coins that provide no ongoing revenues (though it might be useful for masternode coins like DASH and CRW).
Read: https://qz.com/1266985/bitcoin-price-how-to-value-bitcoin-and-other-cryptocurrencies-in-theory/
In crypto, any fundamentals tend to be lost against the noise of speculative trading. That is, the real-world value of a coin, as underpinned by actual usage, is a tiny proportion of the value ascribed to it by traders. But there are some broad metrics you can use to compare coins – using these, of course, alongside other indicators such as how large and engaged the community is, how actively the coin is developed, and so on.
One of the simplest indicators is NVT: Network Value to Transactions. The theory is that the value of a network should broadly correlate to its transaction volumes. Willy Woo, who came up with the indicator, has an NVT ratio tracker for bitcoin: http://charts.woobull.com/bitcoin-nvt-ratio/
You can also take a look at the NVT signal, which suggests whether bitcoin is a buy or sell based on its NVT: http://charts.woobull.com/bitcoin-nvt-signal/.
This is not an indicator to use on its own, for various reasons, but it adds some interesting context to the picture for any crypto.
You can compare NVT ratios for different cryptos at https://coinmetrics.io/nvt
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by Allen Kellogg
Lubbock, Texas
One of the biggest controversies of the 2016 college football season was Ohio State going to the CFB playoff over Big 10 champions Penn State. Penn State beat Ohio State head to head 24-21 back in October, but was left out of the final four. Ohio State ended up being shut out by Clemson 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl. While Penn State would go to the Rose Bowl and fall to The Darnold and USC 52-49
The vote end up being much closer than was previously believed. Texas Tech Athletic Director, Kirby Hocutt, left Penn State out of his Top 25 entirely which dropped the Nittnay Lions from 4th in rankings to 5th. Hocutt had Ohio State in the number one spot which allowed the Buckeyes to jump from 5th to 3rd in the final ranking.
Hocutt said he left Penn State off the ballot because they were, “Yellow-Bellied Cowards” who refused to cooperate with the Red Raiders to in order to schedule a home and home series. He went on to say that any team that lost to Pitt had no place in the CFB playoff and that he voted Ohio State number one the because the Buckeyes wear the color red.
Experts are unsure if Penn State would have be able to beat future National Champions Clemson, but they are in unanimous agreement that Penn State would have at least scored a point in the Fiesta Bowl. Simulations show that Penn State would have given the Clemson defense a much tougher test and a more exciting game for fans.
The release of Hocutt’s ballot casts doubt on the entire CFB playoff ranking system. It highlights the irregular voting criteria and inherent biases of the playoff committee. While raising skepticism that having a committee made up of twelve individuals is not the best way to determine who are the best teams in the nation. The committee members are not required to make their decisions, criteria, and ballots public. It begs the question, wouldn’t a system of computers, incapable of bias, be a better form of ranking teams?
“The Rose Bowl really showed how terrible a team Penn State is particularly on the defensive side of the ball,” Hocutt said, “Penn State plays literally zero defense. They ain’t shit. GooooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooooOOOOooooo Raiders! GUNS UP PUSSY!” | 388 |
’s break it down this way: My program is built around Jack Harvey and we’re going to give him a well-deserved full-time opportunity if – going back to what I said earlier – I can put all the puzzle pieces together.
I have been approached about running other people as a teammate to Jack, and I have stated across the board and I that I am not in a position to do that. I’m not willing to go to two cars until we’re really solid. We’ve done exactly what we said we were going to do – build it up slowly, raise money, race when we can, and not race on my credit card! Right now, we haven’t got our financial deal totally done yet, but it’s looking very promising and we hope to announce something in the next four-to-six weeks. My primary concern for 2020 is to put Meyer Shank Racing in the best position possible to win races and deliver for all our sponsors.
So Meyer Shank Racing’s priority for 2020 is to progress from entering 10 IndyCar rounds in 2019 to running one full-time entry, rather than running two cars part-time – or two cars full-time but half-assed…
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying! And I can see in the future being able to run two cars full time, but the truth is that even in my grand scheme, I see two as being our maximum. I don’t need to grow to three cars or four cars. Ultimately I want two quality programs, and then I’ll have felt like I’ve done what I can do at this level of the sport.
But like I say, that time for two cars isn’t now. I have what I consider a large sportscar program with Honda/Acura which is very important to me, and I don’t want IndyCar to drain from that technically or physically, so I’m definitely not ready run two IndyCars.
In the past 15-18 years across IndyCar, Champ Car and IMSA, I’ve watched too many teams come and go. I’m doing everything in my power to not look into the eyes of the devil and get hypnotized by thoughts of a potential windfall or potential profit. We do own two IndyCars, but we’re not quite ready to run them simultaneously. | 389 |
WWE Star Triple H Breaks Character to Console Young Fan Triple H is getting major buzz for showing his softer side.
-- Pro-wrestling is all about those over-the-top characters, and no one is more over-the-top than Triple H, the top villain known for putting the smack in smack down.
But this morning, the big, bad superstar is getting major buzz for showing his softer side.
“As we were sitting ringside, the young man was behind me and he was chanting my name, over and over,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque told ABC News. “It was just me being in character. I said, with eye brows up, ‘Hey, stop messing with me. I'm trying to do my job over here.’”
That was enough for 8-year-old Lucian Deering, seated nearby, to start crying. Then, his tears prompted the WWE superstar and executive vice president to do something very rare.
“I broke out of character, and put my head to his and messed his hair up,” Levesque said. “I just said, ‘Hey, buddy, it’s OK. I’m just playing around.’”
At that point, another WWE villain, Stephanie McMahon, also broke character to console Lucian.
Levesque didn’t stop there: He had one of the security guards take Lucian and his father backstage to chat, take pictures and get some WWE swag.
“They’re actually pretty nice not in their character,” Lucian told ABC News.
He got to add a Triple H action figure to his collection of more than 175 items.
His father, Chad Deering, was astonished by the turn of events.
“For him to come out of character in front of all those people on live TV... it’s a pretty bold statement of, in reality, he’s pretty cool,” Deering said. “It’s a huge impression for an 8-year-old little boy that I can pretty much guarantee you he will never forget.”
For Triple H, that was what mattered.
“Putting a smile on his face, by far, was the best thing I did Monday,” he said. | 390 |
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The Internet is buzzing about these adorable plants. Learn about the rare pink "mountain rose," and find out how to grow your own at home.
A big bouquet of roses is the ultimate romantic gesture, and they're one of our favorite flowers to display in the home. But cut roses tend to have a short life span—which is why we are so excited about a succulent plant that looks like a rose, yet lasts so much longer!
The Internet has been buzzing about Greenovia dodrantalis, also known as mountain rose. The blue-green succulents have been on Instagram and Pinterest for a few years, but last week we stumbled upon a rare pink version of the mountain rose that looks even more like a rosebud that's just starting to open.
Mountain roses have tightly packed leaves arranged in layers much like a rose's petals. But while a rose's blooms will fade after a few days, these succulents will keep on looking great as long as you give them what they need. This plant originated in the Canary Islands, so it prefers warm, sunny weather and doesn't require much water. It works well as an indoor plant, but you can grow it outdoors as well. It is only hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 and 11, so if you live in a region that experiences freezing temperatures during the winter, remember to bring it indoors until the weather warms up again in spring.
A full-grown mountain rose reaches about six inches in height. Over time, it may produce pups or offsets, which are smaller versions of itself that are attached to the main plant by thin stems. You can easily propagate your succulent by snipping these smaller plants off and growing them in another container. Sometimes mountain roses will even produce small yellow flowers in spring that may result in seeds.
Because mountain roses are hard to find for sale, and the pink variety is even more rare, growing these succulents from seeds may be your best bet. You can purchase seeds like these Greenovia Aurea Succulent Seeds, $1.98, Amazon, but it can take up to two years before your plant would develop a rose-like appearance.
While we'll still splurge on fresh roses, we have fallen in love with this sweet little succulent! | 391 |
community, and health. Increasing the availability of data and funding will help inform and evaluate policies designed to reduce gun violence," according to the association's website.
JUST WATCHED The mental health system and guns Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH The mental health system and guns 04:01
Swanson and his colleagues examined the proportion of people in the United States with impulsive angry behavior who own or carry guns and have a diagnosable mental illness in a paper published in the journal Behavioral Sciences & the Law in 2015.
They conducted household surveys with 9,282 people from February 2001 to April 2003, excluding people who carried guns for work, resulting in a response rate of 70.9%.
An analysis of the survey results estimated that nearly one in 10 adults has access to firearms and has a problem with anger and impulsive aggressive behavior.
These people were more likely to be male, younger and married and to live in outlying areas around metropolitan centers rather than in central cities, Swanson and his colleagues wrote in their paper.
They were significantly more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for a wide range of mental disorders, including depression, bipolar and anxiety disorders, PTSD, intermittent explosive disorder, pathological gambling, eating disorder, alcohol and illicit drug use disorders, and a range of personality disorders.
What's more, despite evidence of "considerable psychopathology" in many of these respondents, only a very small proportion, 8% to 10%, were ever hospitalized for a mental health problem.
"Because only a small proportion of persons with this risky combination have ever been involuntarily hospitalized for a mental health problem, most will not be subject to existing mental health-related legal restrictions on firearms resulting from a history of involuntary commitment," Swanson and his colleagues wrote in the paper's abstract
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As for Texas gunman Kelley, the state denied him a license to carry a gun, Gov. Greg Abbott said, citing the director of Texas' Department of Public Safety.
"So how was it that he was able to get a gun? By all the facts that we seem to know, he was not supposed to have access to a gun," Abbott told CNN's Chris Cuomo. "So how did this happen?"
On Monday, Trump said his "thoughts and prayers" were with the victims and their families but did not suggest plans to take any legislative or other policy action to address the shooting. | 392 |
Anthony Joshua v Charles Martin: Brit ready to "do the impossible"
Anthony Joshua says he is "ready to rock and roll" when he fights American Charles Martin for the IBF world heavyweight title on 9 April.
Joshua, 26, has won all of his 15 professional fights by knockout.
Joshua told BBC Sport: "[Mike] Tyson took 28 [fights before becoming world champion], [Muhammad] Ali 20, I think Lennox [Lewis] was 24.
"Some will say it's too soon, [but] opinions are irrelevant - I have to do what I feel is right."
Martin, who beat Vyacheslav Glazkov for the vacant IBF belt in January, is unbeaten in 24 fights while Joshua most recently beat Dillian Whyte with a seventh-round knockout to claim the British heavyweight title.
"Experience is valuable," Joshua conceded. "I've been in the Olympics, big British dust-ups, I've gone through these feelings, these emotions, these expectations.
"The reason I'm here so soon is because of what I had to go through early on in my career, and what I have to take with me on 9 April [is] that belief in myself that I'm here, I'm capable and I'm ready to rock and roll."
Martin 'wants what Joshua's got'
Charles Martin (right) has won 23 of his 24 fights, with one draw and 21 wins by stoppage
Martin is unbeaten in his 24 fights but believes he has been denied the adulation that Joshua has received from the boxing world.
"I want what he's got - the praise, the attention, and the fans," the 29-year-old Missouri native said.
"I don't take the glamour and all that stuff. I don't soak it in, I just go back to that tough grimy kid from the block, from the boxing gym, trying to make a way. That's what I do in preparation - go back to the roots."
Martin said Joshua had faced easy opponents in his professional career but admitted the same charge could be levelled at himself.
"The past is the past," Martin said. "The record, putting [Joshua] in with guys who were tailor-made for him to lay down - we've both had those people in our past and that doesn't matter. What matters now is there are two hungry fighters in there wanting to win." | 393 |
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Round two! Joe Duggar and Kendra Duggar (née Caldwell) welcomed their son, Garrett, in June 2018, and the Counting On couple are now expecting their second child.
“We are ready to double the fun at our house!” Joe and Kendra told Us Weekly exclusively on Thursday, April 11. “Being parents has already proven to be a greater joy than we had hoped or imagined. We love getting to parent together and are loving every moment and milestone. We are very happy that our little family will welcome a new addition later this year. Children really are a blessing from God!”
Kendra’s sister-in-law Jessa Seewald (née Duggar) is also pregnant. The Arkansas native already shares Spurgeon, 3, and Henry, 2, with her husband, Ben Seewald. “We are overjoyed that God has blessed us with a baby, due later this Spring,” Jessa told Us in January.
When Kendra and Joe’s first child, Garrett, now 10 months, arrived, the new parents told Us in a statement, “No matter how many times we’ve experienced the joy of babies born in our families, there’s nothing comparable to the joy in our hearts today! Children truly are a gift from God. We are so thankful for his safe arrival and this new journey as parents.”
The reality stars announced that they were expecting in December 2017, revealing their baby’s gender to Us exclusively two months later.
“Wow! We are so happy to learn that our firstborn is a boy!” the TLC personalities told Us at the time. “Our minds are already racing toward all the future memories to be made with this little guy! Most of all, we are already asking God to bless him and help us grow him into a loving and faithful follower of Christ!”
It’s no surprise that the couple, who tied the knot in 2017, had plans to expand their family further.
“We would love to have more kids if the Lord blesses us,” Kendra exclusively told Us in March 2018. “As many as He wants to give us, we’ll be happy to take them.”
Counting On airs on TLC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Brody Brown | 395 |
't matter" if he asked the government of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and that it should be done anyway.
Trump again attacked Biden in a Tweet on Saturday morning. He said his conversation with Zelensky was "perfectly fine and routine." He added that, "nothing was said that was in any way wrong, but Biden’s demand, on the other hand, was a complete and total disaster."
Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris came to Biden's defense and hammered Trump over reports that he sought foreign help to go after a political rival.
“He has openly invited interference," the California senator told reporters prior to a speech in Waterloo, Iowa. "And now we have information that suggests that, again, he has engaged in that kind of behavior. What he fails to understand is that he is the president of the United States, and that the office of the president of the United States is the people’s office — not his office. And he may be afraid of a candidate in this election."
"Well then win on merit, but leave Joe Biden alone in terms of being in cahoots and collaborating with a foreign government to attack our democracy," Harris said. "That’s what this is about. It's really basic. Donald Trump appears to be collaborating with foreign governments to attack America’s democracy.”
Sen. Cory Booker, another Democratic presidential contender, called Trump's reported attempts to pressure the Ukrainian president "sober and serious stuff."
"It should be, in many ways, rocking Washington right now,” Booker said on the sidelines of an LGBTQ campaign forum in Cedar Rapids Friday. “This is not a partisan issue. This is the president engaging in behavior that amounts to, at the very least, serious misconduct.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on Twitter that Congress' failure to impeach Trump following the release earlier this year of the Mueller report made it “complicit in Trump’s latest attempt to solicit foreign interference to aid him in US elections.”
“Do your constitutional duty and impeach the president,” Warren added. “A president is sitting in the Oval Office, right now, who continues to commit crimes. He continues because he knows his Justice Department won't act and believes Congress won’t either. Today’s news confirmed he thinks he’s above the law. If we do nothing, he’ll be right.” | 396 |
wear an incontinence pad when I'm not incontinent. This is all due to cuts."
Image caption Marisa Carnesky's room features displays using material from the National Fairground Archive
The hotel room was commissioned by Unlimited, an arts organisation that supports work by disabled artists, and Art B&B, which has opened as an alternative to the traditional B&Bs on Blackpool seafront.
Samuel hasn't seen his room - because he can't get to it. "I think it's brilliant," he says, breaking into hysterics. "It's perfect, this commission was perfect for me."
Elsewhere in the Art B&B, the accommodation ranges from rooms with overhead light installations, neon slogans and meditative soundscapes, to those with murals and displays inspired by the town's architecture, faded glamour and history.
Image caption Mark Titchner's Plenty and Progress uses mirrors and designs based on Blackpool's architecture
Image copyright CJ Griffiths Image caption Artist Noah Rose looking through viewfinders in his room, titled Peep Fiction
In one, by Noah Rose, there are peepshow-style viewers hidden under the bed, in the wardrobe and in the bathroom cabinet. Rather than letting you see into the next room, however, they actually show curious photos, postcards and advertisements from Blackpool's bygone age.
The B&B idea originated from Leftcoast, an organisation that uses the arts to try to improve life in the Blackpool area. It wanted to find ways to make art pay for itself - so, given that tourism is big business, it came up with the idea of combining a gallery and a hotel.
Image copyright CJ Griffiths Image caption A light installation in artist Mark McClure's room brings the Blackpool illuminations indoors
The venue will run events and tours for locals, and is trying to appeal to "cultural tourists" who may not be keen on the typical accommodation the town has to offer, Trainor says.
"The traditional B&B accommodation isn't what people want these days. Or it isn't what people who are used to travelling the world and having snazzy city breaks want anyway.
"So we're trying to fill that gap in the market in a slightly quirky way."
Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | 397 |
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) called the Founding Fathers of the United States "a little maniacal" in their focus on having a separation of powers during an appearance Thursday on Morning Joe.
McCaskill, a Hillary Clinton supporter, said while criticizing Donald Trump that the country should not be divided and pointed to the rancor in Congress as proof of the problem.
"We have trouble on Capitol Hill unifying," she said. "I think the Republican Party is in charge on Capitol Hill, and they’re really split in their ranks. I mean, I think Paul Ryan is having a very difficult time with his caucus. I just see in the Republican Senate that Mitch McConnell can’t—"
Host Joe Scarborough cut in to note her criticism was focusing solely on the GOP and ignoring the Democrats.
"You’re just talking about the Republicans and the Republican candidate for president. Is this just a problem of one party?" Scarborough asked. "Or is this a problem of a system that just has been divisive long before Donald Trump even became a Republican?"
McCaskill then criticized America’s founders for putting in place a stronger separation of powers system than most other countries have.
"Well, part of the problem is that our framers were a little maniacal in that if you look at other democracies around the world, when one party wins the congressional branch, they take the executive branch," McCaskill said. "Not in our country."
Scarborough cut in again to say she had provided the "quote of the day for Twitter" with that one.
There is no requirement in the Constitution that the executive and legislative branches must be held by different parties. For example, when Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, he also retained Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.
"Our Founding Fathers were a little maniacal," Scarborough repeated, as co-host Mika Brzezinski laughed.
"Well, they were!" McCaskill said. "They wanted us to have a divided government if the American people wanted to do that, and that’s different. And if Donald Trump would bother to read the Constitution, he would understand that that means there’s a special obligation to try to unite."
Scarborough remarked sardonically that James Madison’s "maniacal" focus on a separation of powers was meant to protect against possible dictators, something critics have charged Trump as potentially being. | 398 |
Bigben Interactive has today expanded its game publishing business through the acquisition of Spiders, the French developer of action-RPG game Technomancer, and the upcoming Greedfall.
In a press release, Bigben Interactive states:
“After the acquisition of 3 studios in the last 18 months, this new strategic operation allows Bigben to assert its position as a developer-publisher while strengthening its expertise in content production for successful genres still missing in its portfolio.”
The company notes that the acquisition, which is due to be completed in September, will allow “Bigben to acquire remarkable know-how, accumulated over many productions by confirmed developers recognized for the high quality of their games.
Leadership at Spiders will remain in the hands of Jehanne Rousseau, current CEO and co-founder, and the studios’ vision of creating innovative products won’t change.
The press release also makes note of how Bigben’s portfolio of recent studio acquisitions has bolstered its ability to cover different bases within the AA games industry.
Cyanide studio, for example, with its know-how with cycling simulations, turn-based games or stealth games; Kylotonn Racing, which bolstered its presence in the racing genre, and the acquisition of the Eko Software studio, which was its first foray into action-RPGs.
The publishing segment of the business now includes seven development sites across France and Canada, which employs roughly 300 developers.
Chairman and CEO of Bigben Alain Falc, said:
“This acquisition fits perfectly with Bigben’s strategy to increase its know-how in the development of video games in the AA strategic segment. We are delighted to welcome the talents of Spiders who will strengthen our Development unit and participate in new and even more ambitious projects.”
Spiders CEO Jehanne Rousseau added:
“We look forward to joining the Bigben Group, a reference player in the video games industry whose strategic vision we fully share. Becoming part of the Bigben Group is a unique opportunity to accelerate our development alongside other quality studios, by integrating an environment conducive to the creation of ever more qualitative games.”
Spiders’ upcoming action-RPG Greedfall is scheduled to launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC this Sept. 10. An extensive trailer was showcased at E3, highlighting its interesting blend of 17th century and fantasy themes. | 399 |
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