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Is the the future of the restaurant industry tip-free? One Pittsburgh restaurant certainly thinks so. The owners of three-year-old Bar Marco are not only abolishing tips, but are giving their employees a salary with benefits. According to Next Pittsburgh, full-time employees will be paid a base salary of $35,000 a year and will be given health care and 500 shares in the company. Employees will be asked to work a maximum of 40 to 44 hours per week, will have two days and one night off a week, and will receive 10 paid vacation days per year. Co-owner Robert Fry tells Eater, "America needs to realize that working in the restaurant industry is an occupation." Fry worked with long-term employees to create the plan.
Fry notes that by April of this year, 20 of the restaurant's employees — both front and back of house — will be switched over to salary and that the restaurant will no longer accept tips. There will still be a handful of part-time employees, "mainly college students," says Fry, that will work as servers' assistants and will be paid $10 to $12 dollars per hour. Unlike other restaurants that have eliminated tipping, Bar Marco will not be adding in a service fee or raising their prices. Instead, the co-owners are hoping to grow revenue by expanding their menu, increasing the number of covers they do in their wine room, and upping the number of events they host.
Fry tells Eater that all employees are on board and have signed contracts. He told Next Pittsburgh that with the salary comes other expectations: They will have a lot of responsibilities, too like being present at bi-monthly finance meetings. We want complete transparency. We want people who want to be part of what we are doing and who want to grow with us."
Back in June, another Pennsylvania restaurant announced that it would ban tipping. The co-owners of Bistro Girard decided that they would pay their waitstaff a "living wage" of $11 per hour and offer them full benefits as well as profit sharing. To offset the costs, the restaurant would raise prices by 10 to 20 percent. |
From The Depths Of The ’80s Comes “Gay Monopoly,” A Forgotten Board Game Gem
The year was 1983. The gay rights movement was gaining momentum, as was the AIDS epidemic. Ronald Reagan occupied the Oval Office, and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” occupied every dance floor for a few minutes each night, not to mention the Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams” and Madonna’s “Holiday,” also released that year.
Needless to say, it was a confusing time with life and death issues always at the foreground. A little campy fun was a valuable thing to share.
You know, like a relaxing board game for the whole family.
We’ve recently come across a minor footnote from 1983 that deserves sharing — Gay Monopoly!
Gay Monopoly, from the tongue-in-cheek “Parker Sisters,” was played just like regular Monopoly, except it was way more fun.
“Tom of Finland” imagery aside, the game followed the same real estate model, except instead of houses and hotels, you bought bars and bathhouses.
Move over top hat and thimble — players could choose from a biker cap, handcuffs, a high-heeled shoe and more.
Currency is obviously much more fabulous in this alternate universe.
But it wasn’t all fun and games. If you landed on certain spaces, you’d read one of the “Family Pride” cards aloud, which gave a short bio of a notable gay person. The player who correctly identified the person could move their piece ahead on the board.
Players also had to identify the colors of the hanky code and perform camp challenges like saying “faaaaabulous” six different ways.
Did it promote stereotypes? Definitely.
Was it potentially offensive? Sure, if you want to take it there.
Does it sound like a great drinking game with friends on a Thursday night? We say bring it on.
However, Parker Brothers, manufacturers of the actual Monopoly, weren’t quite as into it. Rumor has it they sued the makes of Gay Monopoly — Fire Island Games — for copyright infringement.
If you have to have it, there’s usually a copy or two floating around Ebay for around $200. |
Terminal Lance #355 “Police Your Own”
I was thinking to myself: what kind of person becomes an MP (Military Police)? It has to be someone that wants to join the Marine Corps, but also just kind of doesn’t actually like Marines. There’s a dubious double standard for MP’s in terms of perception amongst the average populace. On one hand, Marines do stupid shit and the base needs a police force like any other town. On the other, being an MP automatically makes you a blue falcon since you kind of have to be the guy that gets Marines in trouble every day. There’s really no winning here.
Of course, the MP field is pretty big, not all of them are pulling you over for going 30 in a 25 zone on base (the whole base, really). In all honestly I would consider being an MP if I knew I could be a dog handler, because that’s a fucking awesome job. I remember traveling with a dog handler and his dog during my 2nd deployment to Iraq from al Asad to COP Heider up on the Syrian border. I recall looking at them with immense jealousy, because I wished I could hang out with a dog all day.
My only other real experience with MP’s was when I got pulled over once on base, but it was totally my fault. There’s a stretch on MCBH Kaneohe Bay that goes into the base housing area, the speed limit is 25 MPH but it’s just one long straight away. Of course, I took a liberty with this and was doing something like 37 down the straightaway, not realizing there was an MP behind me. He pulled my dumb ass over and gave me a warning since it was my first offense, which I am grateful for since I obviously knew I was speeding.
In any case, I’m not one of those idiots that decries the police in a general sense. In my general experience, people that have a problem with police are people that often do stupid shit. Here’s an idea: maybe you wouldn’t have a problem with cops busting your shit if you didn’t do dumb shit worth busting you over.
“We live in a police state!”
No we don’t, you’re just a fucking ass. |
Success at National Ignition Facility could pave the way for commercial laser fusion power stations and provide a solution to world energy crisis
A tentative first step towards an era of clean, almost limitless energy will take place today with the opening of a giant facility designed to recreate the power of the stars in an oversized warehouse in California.
The $3.5bn National Ignition Facility (NIF) sits in a 10-storey building covering three football fields and will harness the power of lasers to turn tiny pellets of hydrogen into thermonuclear energy.
If the machine works as planned, it will become the first to generate more energy than it consumes, a feat that could pave the way for commercial laser fusion power stations and an end to the world's energy security problems.
The building, which has taken almost 15 years to build and commission, is due to be opened in a ceremony attended by the US energy secretary, Steven Chu, and the California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has said the facility could "revolutionise our energy future".
"If they're successful, it will be a very big deal. No one has achieved a net gain in energy before," said Derek Stork, assistant technical director at the UK United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)'s centre for fusion research in Culham, Oxfordshire.Inside the building, scientists will use the world's most powerful laser to create 192 separate beams of light that will be directed at a bead of frozen hydrogen in a violent burst lasting five billionths of a second. Each fuel pellet measures just two millimetres across but costs around $40,000, because they must be perfectly spherical to ensure they collapse properly when the laser light strikes.
The intense beams produce a powerful shockwave that crunches the fuel pellet at a million miles an hour, generating temperatures of around 100,000,000C. Under such extreme conditions, which are found only in the core of stars, the hydrogen atoms will fuse, producing helium and vast amounts of energy.
The facility will gradually work up to full power over the next 12 months or so, but experiments are scheduled to run until around 2040.
If the NIF succeeds, politicians will be under pressure to invest in the technology to develop a first generation of demonstration plants to feed fusion energy into electricity grids.
Plans for a laser fusion plant have been drawn up at UKAEA in Culham. The Hiper project would use two lasers to produce power from seawater and lithium, an abundant element.
"When this works, it will immediately change the future energy map for the world," said John Parris at the Hiper project. "A single cubic kilometre of seawater contains enough deuterium to supply an amount of energy equal to the entire world's oil reserves". That would overturn concerns over energy security caused by vast amounts of the globe's oil been locked up beneath a small number of nations.
The NIF facility must overcome major technical hurdles before scientists can start celebrating. The laser at the heart of the facility can only fire a handful of times a day. In between each shot, the hydrogen fuel pellet needs to be replaced. Over the coming years, scientists want to see improvements that allow the facility to run continuously. That could mean firing the laser 10 times a second, at fuel pellets that are shot mid air as they are dropped into the fusion chamber.
• This article was amended on 1 July 2009. The original quoted John Parris at the Hiper project as saying: "One cubic kilometre of sea water has the fusion energy equivalent of whole world's oil reserves." This has been corrected. |
It's understandable that the chaos of the Trump administration and the dysfunctional House Republican caucus takes up all the political oxygen these days. But it's important to not overlook the areas of the executive branch that are actually carrying out Donald Trump's agenda.
Some departments, like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education, are still getting up to speed, but signs are that they're going to do some serious damage. Others, like Dr. Ben Carson's Department of Housing and Urban Development, are missing in action altogether so perhaps they'll just die of benign neglect. The State Department still seems to be a mess, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson so out of it that he's now releasing press releases that might as well say "Do Not Disturb." (After North Korea launched another intermediate-range missile Tillerson, simply said, "The U.S. has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.")
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On the other hand, there are some departments that are up and running with all cylinders firing. Department of Homeland Security staffers are working feverishly to seal the border and harass immigrants. They're even starting to go after tourists, requiring them to hand over electronic devices and social-media passwords before being granted the privilege of coming here to spend their money. If all goes well, DHS should be able to completely destroy the travel industry within a year or so and ensure that foreign students and workers will go anywhere but the U.S. in the future.
The Pentagon is also going great guns (so to speak), getting its war on with renewed vigor. Defense officials insist that all the recent civilian carnage in Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere is not a result of new official rules of engagement. But people who study such things recognize that the attitude toward such behavior always flows from the top, and the president has made it clear that he wants to take the gloves off. He couldn't even take a moment, during two public appearances on Tuesday, to condemn the gas attack that killed dozens of Syrian civilians, instead releasing a boorish statement blaming the administration of former President Barack Obama. But then, Trump has long believed that the use of such weapons was something "strong" leaders sometimes have to do.
Recall this startling comment from last July:
Saddam Hussein throws a little gas, everyone goes crazy, "Oh, he's using gas!" They go back, forth, it's the same. And they were stabilized.
The U.S. hasn't resorted to chemical attacks on children but you can imagine that the battlefield commanders assume they have a wide berth when their commander in chief is on record endorsing war crimes like torture, killing of families and mass summary execution.
And as I predicted would happen when Jeff Sessions was sworn in as attorney general, his Department of Justice is the one agency that seems to be functioning smoothly. As it's turned out, his recusing himself from the Russia investigation has opened the political space for Sessions to concentrate on implementing the "law and order" agenda that had Trump's crowds cheering at all those campaign rallies last year. Sessions isn't wasting any time.
As The Washington Post reported on Monday, Sessions announced that prior agreements between local law enforcement agencies and the Justice Department are all under review so as to ensure that "these pacts do not work against the Trump administration’s goals of promoting officer safety and morale while fighting violent crime." Protecting he civil rights of citizens is way down the list of his concerns.
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Session has long been a critic of DOJ consent decrees and is skeptical that systemic racism in law enforcement exists at all. According to The Washington Post's Sarah Posner, in a visit to St. Louis last week to speak before a police gathering, Sessions said:
Unfortunately, in recent years law enforcement as a whole has been unfairly maligned and blamed for the crime and unacceptable deeds of a few in their ranks. Amid this intense public scrutiny and criticism, morale has gone down, while the number in their ranks killed in the line of duty has gone up.
At another meeting in recent days, he told a group of police officers, “When you fight crime you have to fight it where it is, and you may have at some point an impact of a racial nature that we hate to see. But if it’s done properly it’s the right thing."
An "impact of a racial nature" is an interesting way of describing the epidemic of unarmed African-Americans being gunned down by police officers.
It's clear that Sessions' intention is to do at the Justice Department what the president has already endorsed at the Department of Homeland Security: He's going to let the police "take off the shackles." Considering Sessions' long history of racism it's entirely predictable that he would take this action, but you might have thought he would wait longer than a month just to keep up appearances.
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Next up is likely to be the overhaul of the civil rights division that a group of far-right vote-suppression activists, led by Trump transition team member and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, requested in a letter sent to Sessions just last week. They see the division as rife with "ideological rot" from leftover Obama administration officials who have “jettisoned precepts like equal enforcement in favor of political and racialized dogmas.” These activists are basically arguing that Sessions must get rid of the career attorneys in the division and replace them with ideologues who believe that white people are the true victims of discrimination.
ABC News reported last month that Trump is expected to name his trusted lieutenant George Conway, husband of presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, to head the civil rights division. He's a corporate lawyer who has little experience with civil rights issues, but he's a hard-core right-wing ideologue so these "law and order" Republicans should be pleased with the choice.
It's interesting to note that the executive branch agencies that are working efficiently to enact the president's agenda are all the police and military departments. Trump may not know what he's doing in any larger sense, but by putting two generals and a hanging judge in charge of those departments, he has insured that his authoritarian nationalist agenda is being enacted with ruthless efficiency. |
When the H.R. director calls to rhetorically ask “can you come to my office for a chat… right now,” the conversation that follows rarely goes well. When one gets that call, goes to the office, and then finds two uniformed officers waiting, that conversation almost certainly never goes well. It sure didn’t for Steve.
“You’re Steve, Steve McDowan,” asked the younger, clean-shaven officer with a buzz cut. Steve nodded nervously. The officer ruffled through his notepad and continued, “that’s Steve McDowan, at… let me see here… 4875 East Bridge Street?”
“Uh huh,” Steve replied, “that’s, um, me.” Sensing the quickly growing tension in the room, the H.R. director excused herself, leaving Steve and the two policemen sitting in her cramped office.
“Let me ask you Steve,” the young detective asked, “how do you know William Cutter, aka ‘Big Willie’, aka ‘The Cutter’, aka ‘Cut Man Bill’, aka —” he paused and leaned in, “Steve, are these names ringing a bell?”
“Uhhh…,” Steve hesitated, trying to jog his memory for every ‘Bill’ he knew, “uhh, I, umm… err, no?”
“Steve! Come on now,” the officer lit up, “we know that you know him! And we’re pretty sure that you know exactly what happened to him! All I’m asking, Steve, is how… do… you… know… him. What is your relation?”
“Heh,” Steve nervously chuckled, trying to lighten the air a bit, “okay, I know this is cliché, but I think you’ve got the wrong guy –”
“What, is this funny to you, Steve,” the officer shouted, “as I’m sure you’re well aware, Cutts was violently murdered just after he sold ten kilos of grade-A to someone, and you were the one who called him over and over and over that day. Why, Steve? Were ya’ buyin’? You’re involved in this, and I’m gonna find out how!”
Steve just blankly stared. He wasn’t quite sure what to say, but nonetheless managed to mumble, “I, uhhh, don’t, errrrr… know?”
The younger officer scowled, leaving the older, somewhat disheveled officer to speak. “Okay Steven, try to look at it from our side,” he calmly explained, “the phone records indicate that you called Mr. Cutter many, many times—”
“Yeah,” the young cop interrupted, “fifteen times in one day, Steve. Fifteen times!”
The older detective cleared his throat, “unless, of course, 520-833-0000 isn’t your cell number… but then again, you’ve been paying the bill for a few years now.”
Steve’s mind raced to come up with an answer. 520-833-0000 certainly wasn’t his number… but it sure sounded familiar. Maybe it was an old number? Maybe it was a – and then it dawned on him. “Actually sir,” Steve cautiously replied, fighting a quickly growing knot in his stomach, “that number is my son’s.”
As a father, learning that your teenage son might be involved in a murderous drug ring ranks pretty high on the list of experiences you don’t want to have. Almost immediately, a torrent of thoughts fills your head. Did he really do it? How am I going to afford a lawyer? It’s all that Derrick kid’s fault! What will I tell my boss? Oh my god, what will I tell my wife!? Then, one by one, every hope and dream for your son quickly rots: goodbye graduation, hello visitation; goodbye college, hello GED; goodbye decent job, hello work release. And finally, there’s the fact that the people delivering this horrible news aren’t exactly the sympathetic type.
“Well Steve,” the young cop smirked, “we’re gonna need to take you and your son downtown for some further questioning. I’ve already told your boss that we’ll be a while, so let’s get going now.”
What followed was the longest car ride Steve had ever taken. Sitting in the caged back of their police cruiser, Steve and the two officers drove to his son’s school. Steve had absolutely no idea what he’d say to his son. Could he trust his son? He had been a bit distant lately, did that mean he was caught up this drug mess? Would his son trust him?
When they finally arrived at the school, Steve waited in the car while the officers went in and escorted his son out. Then, the four of them traveled to the downtown station. The only noise that broke the complete silence was the occasional “647 reported on Broadway and Sterns” over the radio.
“Dad, what’s going on,” Steve’s son whispered as they exited the police cruiser and walked in the station.
“Well,” Steve whispered back, “these officers just want to chat for now.”
Steve and his son were led into a small, windowless room with a few chairs, a table, and a large mirror. The younger officer told them to stay put, and left the two alone for a few minutes.
“Okay seriously,” the son asked in half-concerned/half-jovial tone, “what the heck is happening?”
“Look,” Steve replied, “apparently, you’ve been calling this drug guy, uhh, Big Willie, and now he’s dead. What I need to know right now is, do we need to get a lawyer. That’s it, yes or no.” He subtly gestured towards the large mirror.
“Huh, lawyer,” Steve’s son responded defensively, “what are you? Huh? Drug? Willie? What?”
“Lawyer or no lawyer – that’s all I need to know right now. You need to tell me, we can figure this out, no matter what. Just tell me—”
Steve paused when he heard the door open. The older officer looked at Steve. “Okay Steve, here’s what we need to do. I just want to chat with your son, alone, a few minutes,” he glared at his younger partner, “just me. You can even watch. And then, we can figure this whole thing out, and see what we need to do.”
Steve looked at his son, who simply gave an approving shrug. “Okay,” Steve said, “five minutes, okay?”
The younger officer led Steve to the observation room. As Steve watched the interview – a much gentler version of what he had gone through earlier – the younger officer watched Steve like a hawk. A few minutes later, the interview was over. The older cop joined Steve in the observation room.
“Steve,” the older cop sighed, “we have a problem. Your son is really insistent here that he never made these calls, but the phone records just don’t lie. He said he’ll ‘prove me wrong’ by logging into the cell-phone website, but quite frankly, I’ve heard that a hundred times. I’m just saying, this might get a bit ugly.”
Steve, his son, and the two detectives walked over to a computer workstation. Steve’s son started typing away on the keyboard. “See,” he said, “here are the all calls I made. I told you, I didn’t call this William guy. It’s not anywhere on my list! ”
The two officers looked at each other, puzzled. “Hmmm,” the older cop said, “I think we better verify this with the phone company.”
They called customer service, got transferred around several times, waited the requisite forty minutes on hold, and finally a tier-3 tech support technician answered the phone.
“Yes,” the younger officer said into the speakerphone, “I’m investigating a homicide here and need to know, why are some outgoing calls not recorded for 520-833-0000? We have a record of the incoming calls from that number… could someone be hacking into your computers or something”
“Ha,” the technician snorted, “no. This happens sometimes. If the calling party blocks their caller ID, it’ll show up as 520-833-0000 instead of ten-zeros. We’re working on it!”
The two detectives glared at each other, flabbergasted. “We’re uhh,” the older officer stumbled, “we’d like to thank you for coming down, and apologize for any, umm, inconvenience.” The ride back was much less akward... at least, for Steve and his son. |
Sharnie Kim reported this story on Friday, May 31, 2013 08:26:00
TONY EASTLEY: Most people have never heard of it, but off the tip of Cape York lies the world's largest green turtle rookery.
Until recently more than 100,000 turtles came to Raine Island each nesting season to lay their eggs.
In the past few years however that number has plunged to around 20,000 and only a small proportion of the eggs are producing hatchlings.
Sharnie Kim reports from Far North Queensland.
(Sound of waves)
SHARNIE KIM: Raine Island is the birthplace of nearly all the green turtles in the northern Great Barrier Reef and beyond to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands.
But the tiny coral cay off the tip of Cape York is under threat.
Wolf Sievers is the director of threatened species at Queensland's Department of Environment.
WOLF SIEVERS: Ten years ago, in the nesting season we would have up to 100,000 females and a hatchling success rate of something like 90 per cent I suppose. And over the last two or three years the numbers of females that have been there to nest, like last year I think it was down to about 22,000. And we're also having issues with the actual hatchling success.
SHARNIE KIM: Last year just 15 per cent of the eggs produced hatchlings. Mr Sievers says there's been a dramatic reduction in viable nesting areas and a natural shift in the island's sand is probably to blame.
WOLF SIEVERS: There needs to be a certain depth of sand so the eggs can get laid. We're finding that the water table is coming up through the sand which indicates that we're losing sand or it's shifted or whatever and a lot of the eggs are flooding.
SHARNIE KIM: He's also concerned up to 2,000 adult turtles are dying each season due to exhaustion, falling off ledges and getting stuck in crevices.
WOLF SIEVERS: Intervention's probably something that we have to do because of the significance as a rookery in an international sense. There aren't a lot of other sites. The impacts of sort of the modern world on other sites means that it is very important that we try and maintain the viability and profile of Raine Island.
SHARNIE KIM: The department wants to install more fencing and monitoring equipment and it's looking at an expensive proposal to ship sand to the remote island to triple the amount of viable nesting space.
WOLF SIEVERS: And I'm not sure exactly the mechanics of that but that's the idea, to put it up and rebuild some of profile. And we're also going to look at reshaping the sand that's already there. Like getting some machinery on the island and just moving sand around from areas that aren't used for nesting to areas that are. It may work but we've got to get in and do a bit of trialling to see whether it does.
SHARNIE KIM: It's turning to philanthropic and corporate investors to raise $5 million for the project.
The Department has also secured the support of traditional owners from Cape York and the Torres Strait, for whom the island and its turtles are of great cultural and spiritual significance.
Meriam elder Douglas Passi:
DOUGLAS PASSI: When last year we visit Raine Island and sad to see turtles turned over on the rocks. When we go back and we talk to the community and they were really upset because turtle is our totem and they can't go to another cay.
SHARNIE KIM: Horace Nona from the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation says traditional owners are getting more involved in helping to conserve the island.
HORACE NONA: And this is why we're coming together to look at different options - putting enclosures, protecting nesting sites and working with science, so that the turtle is there for our kids and their kids.
TONY EASTLEY: Horace Nona from the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation ending that report from Sharnie Kim. |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Golf and tennis not challenging enough? Some of today’s hardest-charging technology executives are turning to 100-mile bike races, marathons and high-endurance athletics for the kicks they crave.
Competitors run past La Pedrera, designed by Gaudi, during the Barcelona Marathon in central Barcelona, March 2, 2008. REUTERS/Albert Gea
The day-to-day thirst for success doesn’t end when CEOs and other business leaders leave the boardrooms of their billion-dollar companies, according to guests at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit this week.
“It is usually not a six- or seven-hour day, so part of it is you probably want something to keep you mentally and physically in shape,” said Enrique Salem, chief operating officer of software maker Symantec Corp. “You want to do something that is challenging, that isn’t about running a business.”
Salem owns a Giant TCR C1 bike, which retails for over $3,000, and last year completed a charity ride around California’s Lake Tahoe twice — the second time in under 4 hours. His sojourns don’t stop there.
“I skied 19 days last year. When I’m on the slopes, I’m trying to avoid trees and other skiers. So I am not thinking about what it takes to run Symantec. I think it’s a bit of mental relief,” he said.
Long-distance running offers the same meditative reward for Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar, whose five marathons include Iceland, Portland, Seattle and New York, twice.
“I love setting goals,” said the head of the video website owned by News Corp and General Electric Co’s NBC Universal. “Life is more interesting when you set goals that are not easy, and having a goal of a marathon ... is a very fun thing that focuses you in a way that just running 3 miles or 6 miles a day does not,” Kilar added.
They are not alone. In fact, Denver-based CEO Challenges runs sports competitions designed for top executives, including Triathlons, Ironman, Fishing, Sailing and Tennis Challenges.
HOUR CLUB
Dave DeWalt, CEO of security software maker McAfee Inc, described his goal for the grueling Mount Diablo Challenge, a 10.8-mile bike ride up 3,240-feet to the peak in the San Francisco Bay area.
“There is a race from the bottom to the top,” said DeWalt, who also wrestled in college and had been invited to Olympic trials. “I can only compete in the over 200-pound class because there are some really fast riders. But there is the “hour club” — if you can do it in one hour or less, there is a special club. I can’t quite crack it yet but I am working on it.”
To be sure, golf courses, tennis courts and myriad other sports — beloved by leaders of all stripes — won’t go out of business any time soon.
For example, the crop of presidential hopeful has diverse taste in athletics. Sen. Hilary Clinton owns her own bowling ball, Sen. Barack Obama loves basketball, and Sen. John McCain likes to hike around the hills of his Sedona, Arizona, ranch.
Some business leaders aspire to adrenaline-driven jaunts, but are willing to leave the serious challenges to more adventurous peers.”
“I don’t have a lot of athletic bones in my body. I wish I had more,” said AT&T Inc Chief Financial Officer Rick Lindner. “We’ve got (two) boats ... that we keep on Lake Travis. I will still jump on the water skis from time to time.”
“Once or twice a year when conditions are perfect, the sun is shining, it’s 90 degrees, the water is smooth. I get up, do a circle, come around and have a beer and say, “By God, I can still do it.””
(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)
(For more on the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summits see |
The man who spent nearly 25 hours in a downtown Seattle tree has been charged with third-degree assault and first-degree malicious mischief. Prosecutors also are asking for a no-contact order to keep him away from the sequoia tree near Macy’s.
A man who spent nearly 25 hours last week perched in a giant sequoia tree in downtown Seattle was charged Monday with first-degree malicious mischief and third-degree assault.
Cody L. Miller, 28, is scheduled to be arraigned on April 11.
In charging documents filed in King County Superior Court, prosecutors are asking a judge to issue a no-contact order banning Miller from going near the towering tree just outside the downtown Macy’s store.
Arborists estimated damage to the tree at about $7,000, prosecutors said.
Police and firefighters responded to Stewart Street and Third Avenue around 11:20 a.m. on March 22 after Miller allegedly threw an apple at someone and then climbed about 70 feet up the sequoia tree.
Police say Miller pelted police and firefighters with green seed cones and branches ripped from the tree as well as pieces of metal, prosecutors allege. Several passers-by and cars were hit by the cones, police said. One officer suffered a cut on the ear from a “rock hard” cone and two others were struck, court documents say.
During the 25 hours that Miller was in the tree, he argued with police negotiators, drew a large crowd of onlookers and earned a sizable Internet following as #ManInTree.
Miller finally climbed down Wednesday afternoon.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Herschkowitz wrote in court documents that the incident resulted in a response from more than 70 police officers, negotiators, crisis-response teams and four fire-engine companies.
“This caused an incalculable waste of time and services and arguably (affected) the efficacy of local law-enforcement’s reaction times to other serious calls for service around the city,” Herschkowitz wrote.
Miller’s mother, Lisa Gossett, of Wasilla, Alaska, said she had not talked to her son for about five years when a friend called saying he was on the news.
She said she could hardly recognize him.
“There are all these people out there worried about the tree, but they’re not worried about him, the human,” she said. “He’s obviously sick.”
She said Miller had been a “regular” kid with attention deficit disorder until his late teens or early 20s, when he came up to visit her in Alaska and she noticed that something was “off.”
When she straightened his room, she noticed he had knives stashed under a pillow. He warned her there was an evil “presence” in the house and while they were out to eat he insisted “everybody” was looking at him.
“I did not know it was mental illness at first,” she said during a telephone interview on Monday.
Miller then went to live with Gossett’s mother in Roseburg, Ore., she said, but his grandmother filed a restraining order against him after he said he had dreamed of killing her and accidentally set a shed on fire.
“It was the hardest thing she ever did, but she was afraid of him,” Gossett said.
Gossett said she made numerous attempts to get him help but was told there was nothing anyone could do unless he posed a danger to himself or others.
But, she said, he didn’t get any help even after he assaulted a police officer in Oregon.
“There’s nothing we can do because he’s an adult and doesn’t think he needs help,” she said. “It feels very hopeless.” |
Vitalik Buterin suggested that if a central bank were to issue a cryptocurrency in the next few years, the token would not represent a genuine blockchain use case.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has stated that he is “not expecting to see any kind of large-scale, live central bank digital currency actually launched for another few years.” He added that “if it is, then I guarantee you that it will basically be a server with a bunch of marketing buzzwords to make it look like a blockchain.” He made the remark while participating in an October 17 panel discussion at Swell, a conference convened by blockchain firm Ripple in Toronto.
He believes that, at the moment, “there is nothing close to a central bank-issued digital currency that’s being launched because people don’t even fully understand what the economic model” associated with such an asset would look like. The fact that many central banks have been running various types of pilot programs on the Ethereum blockchain “doesn’t mean too much in practice,” he explained, because “these are ultimately all test projects.” Among the other blockchain use cases that governments are studying, he said, are revenue-tracking measures to combat corruption and a settlement coin that would operate “inside of a financial derivatives system.”
Buterin’s comments came on the heels of an announcement made by Russia’s minister of communications and mass media that President Vladimir Putin plans to develop and issue the cryptoruble. Russia is motivated to debut its state-backed cryptocurrency quickly, the minister explained, because “if we do not, then in two months our neighbors in the Eurasian Economic Community will do it.”
Other governments and central banks that are considering developing a digital currency include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, India, and Sweden.
As Buterin indicated during the discussion, he has himself been involved in conversations with central bankers about the ways in which state and financial institutions might deploy blockchain technology. |
Each year, we are simply stunned by the beautiful images of space shot from a growing myriad of eyes that stare toward the heavens. This year was no different. From views out of the portholes of the International Space Station and landscapes of Vesta and Saturn to the faraway vistas from Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer sit back and stare in awe at the vastness of the cosmos with this look back at the most awesome space images of 2012
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity hams it up at “Rocknest” in Gale Crater on Mars. The car-sized rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on October 31st and November 1st to capture dozens of high-resolution snapshots. This self-portrait shows the surrounding terrain including Gale Crater’s northern wall and Mount Sharp in the background. Read more about Curiosity’s Incredible Self-Portrait.
Image credit: NASA/SDO
A magnificent filament from a medium sized flare produced one of the best shows of 2012 for the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Some of the particles from this eruption smashed into Earth producing beautiful aurora. SDO also witnessed a celestial event that’s only happened seven times since the invention of the telescope; the transit of Venus across the Sun.
Image credit: Red Bull Stratos
Daredevil Felix Baumgartner poised at the edge of space about to break the sound barrier during a skydive is one of my favorite images of 2012. Read all about the record-setting freefall.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCAL/MPS/DLR/IDA
This mosaic from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft stitches together the best views of the asteroid Vesta. Highlights of the image include the towering south pole mountain – twice as high as Earth’s Mount Everest – and a set of three craters known as the “snowman” in the upper left of the image. Read more about Dawn’s parting shots of Vesta.
ESA Envisat MERIS
Released in 2012 but taken in 2011, ESA’s Envisat shows the amazing artwork that is Earth. This phytoplankton bloom swirls in the ocean currents creating a figure-8 pattern in the South Atlantic Ocean near the Falkland Islands. Read more.
Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring
A ‘Blue Marble’ image taken from NASA’s Suomi NPP Earth-observing satellite offers a snapshot of Earth’s surface on January 4, 2012. NASA released a night-time version called the ‘Black Marble’ in December 2012. The image at right features the threadlike connections of city lights across the eastern hemisphere. See more of the Black Marble images.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station used their lofty perch to take some awesome images of Earth in 2012.
NASA ISS
Expedition 33 crew look at exhaust trails from the Soyuz rocket that blasted off from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in October heading toward a rendezvous with the ISS. Exhaust plumes curled in different directions due to winds blowing in different directions as the rocket ascended through various atmospheric layers.
NASA ISS
Astronauts shot an image of delicate shining threads called polar mesospheric clouds as they zoomed across the Tibetan plateau in June 2012. Also known as noctilucent or night-shining clouds, this image is the first time astronauts caught the phenomenon from orbit.
NASA ISS
Sea ice forms along the Pacific coastline of the Kamchatka Peninsula in this image from Expedition 30 in March 2012. Large circular eddys spin off from the southwestward flowing Kamchatka current. While the sea ice looks thin and delicate, the smallest features in this image are several meters across. North is to the left in the image.
NASA ISS
The ISS was sailing over Nova Scotia when astronauts caught sunglint reflecting off the Great Lakes of North America. Featured in the image are New York’s Finger Lakes, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Most of Canada is hidden under a blanket of clouds toward the curving horizon in this image.
Image credit: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
The European Southern Observatory’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, or VISTA, captured what may be one of the most stunning images of the planetary nebula called the Helix Nebula, or NGC 7293.
Image credit: ESO/B. Bailleul
Thor’s Helmet Nebula, in Canis Major, was taken to celebrate the ESO’s 50th anniversary in October 2012. A bright massive star blew this colossal cosmic bubble in the surrounding nebula.
Image credit: ESO/T. Preibisch
ESO’s Very Large Telescope captured a vast panorama full of exotic cosmic landscapes, glowing gas and new stars in this image of the Carina Nebula.
NASA/ESA Hubble
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope shot this most detailed view of the dusty core of Messier 82, or the Cigar Galaxy.
NASA/ESA Hubble
Resembling an angel, the bi-polar star-forming region called Sharpless 2-106, or S106, blazes brightly in this image from NASA’s Hubble. Super hot gas, glowing blue in the image, contrasts with the cooler red-colored gas and dust.
NASA, ESA, R. Ellis (Caltech), and the HUDF 2012 Team
Deep in this image – a tiny slice of sky taken with the Hubble – lie some of the most distant galaxies observed to date. The image shows the Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2012 and improves upon the previous Ultra Deep Field image.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has amassed a vast collection of infrared images. Spitzer can find beauty hidden in behind the densest dust clouds. This nebula is found in the constellation Scutum. I think it looks like a bumblebee.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The giant star Zeta Ophiuchi zips along so quickly that it creates a bow shock in the surrounding nebula. These gossamer ripples glow in infrared and can only be seen with Spitzer’s instruments.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft continues to dazzle with this detailed close-up of the vortex at Saturn’s north pole in this image taken in November 2012.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Nearly as dazzling as the images, the skill of Cassini imaging team at finding unique shots is impressive. The bright moon Enceladus sits before the rings with the larger moon Titan glowing dimly in the distance. Cassini took this image in April 2012 from a distance of about 600,000 miles (1 million kilometers) from Enceladus.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Taken by Cassini at the beginning of 2012, Saturn’s moon Tethys lies before the wide shadows cast onto Saturn.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Sunlight scatters through the edge of Titan’s atmosphere in this image from Cassini. At the bottom of the moon’s limb, a hint of the high clouds that form the south polar vortex on Titan can be seen.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
A tour of Saturn wouldn’t be complete without a beauty shot of the planet’s sweeping rings and complex cloud systems. Dwarfed by Saturn, Mimas sits near Saturn in this image from Cassini.
Image credit: NASA/Rebecca Roth
2012 is also known for some goodbyes. The three remaining shuttles were retired and sent to museums around the country. Space Shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier flies near the US Capitol on April 17, 2012 enroute to its final home at the National Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. |
Update: 11:30am (June 13th) PST: "The second line of defence is up and wave #2 has been neutralized. You should be able to access feedly via feedly.com, feedly mobile apps and third party apps. These criminals are determined to try to extort some money and we are determined to say no to extortion and focus on building a stronger feedly instead. Thanks again for your overwhelmingly positive support throughout the last 2 days."
Update: 10:17am (June 12th) PT: "The criminal has launched his second wave of DDoS attack this morning. The ops team has reviewed the attacks and is working on building a second line of defense to neutralize this second attack. To make breaching those defenses harder, we can not communicate as frequently as we would like on the status of our infrastructure changes. But this second wave should be neutralized faster than the first one. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your support and understanding as we work our way through these waves of attacks."
Update: 15:07 (June 11th) PT: "We have neutralized DDoS attack that began at 2:04am PST last night. You should now be able to access your feedly from both feedly.com, mobile apps and third party applications. Our ops team is closely monitoring the situation in case the attacks resume. It might take a few hours for some of the 40 million feeds we poll to be fully updated. We would like to re-iterate that none of your data was compromised by this attack. I would like to thank the ops team for working through the night to resume the service as quickly as possible."
Update 06:25 (June 11th) PST: Feedly has updated its blog and said that normal service will be restored in a "few more hours". Full post: "We’re making some changes to our infrastructure that will allow us to bring feedly back online. However, these things take some time to put into place and it may still be a few more hours before service is restored. Thank you so much for your patience and for sticking with us. Remember, none of your data was compromised or lost in this attack."
Original story - June 11th
Feedly is currently suffering a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack, it announced earlier this morning on its blog.
You may have noticed that you can’t access the website or load any of your feeds via the app. Feedly explained in a short message two hours ago that the DDoS perpetrator is holding Feedly to ransom and asking for money to stop the attack, Feedly has refused to comply.
CEO of Feedly, Edwin Khodabakchian, said in a short statement: “Criminals are attacking feedly with a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS). The attacker is trying to extort us money to make it stop. We refused to give in and are working with our network providers to mitigate the attack as best as we can.”
Khodabakchian went on to explain that users’ data is safe and that you will be “able to re-access your Feedly as soon as the attack is neutralized.” He continued: “We are working in parallel with other victims of the same group and with law enforcement.”
Evernote, which integrates with Feedly, also suffered a similar attack early this morning, although service was quickly restored.
Updates will be posted here should the situation change.
Also on Forbes: |
Summary: The March 2014 issue of Nature Climate Change has two articles and an editorial discussing the public discussion about the pause in surface atmosphere warming. These are quite sad, showing their tribalism and the modern American unwillingness to accept any responsibility. It’s a wasted opportunity for improvement in handling of this vital issue. These articles are open with free registration.
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(a) “Media discourse on the climate slowdown“, Maxwell T. Boykoff — “We must not fall victim to decontextualized and ahistorical media accounting of climate trends.” Excerpt:
Discourses are essentially sets of categories, ideas and concepts that give meaning to phenomena. Maarten Hajer has pointed out that they can “frame certain problems … [and can] dominate the way a society conceptualizes the world”2. Through media representations, framing processes have had important effects on marginalizing some discourses while contributing to the amplification of others.
Boykoff looks at the Right’s use of this issue:
In particular, social movements from the ideological right seized on this notion of a pause or hiatus in the public sphere and amplified claims of a global warming myth in the process. … even though these outlier claims were overwhelmingly dismissed through mainstream media accounts, coverage served to spotlight contrarian individuals and climate counter-movement pressure-group messages, while influencing larger public opinion. In other words, media attention on the slowdown may have inadvertently swelled the ranks of adherents to contrarian views of wider climate changes. While recent polling has found that the proportion of US citizens who believe that climate change is not happening has increased by 7 percentage points since April 2013, study co-authors Anthony Leiserowitz and Edward Maibach have both commented that media coverage of the pause has contributed to the trends they detected. In a 2013 study, Shawn Olson and I16 explored the role of climate contrarianism, emitted from actors of the ideological right who have drawn culturally from anti-regulatory, anti-environmental and neoliberal environmental perspectives traced back to the US-based Wise Use movements — coalitions of groups promoting the expansion of private property rights and reduction of government intervention.
Like almost all writings in the climate science literature on this subject, the authors appear blind to similarly political use of this issue by the Left, despite the high profile of such use in the news media (a far higher profile in the mainstream media than the Right’s). Frequently those on the Left make extreme claims for the effects of warming beyond projections of the IPCC or other major climate agencies, plus attribution of normal weather (normal on decadal or generational time scales) to anthropogenic CO2 emissions — misrepresenting or exaggerating the relevant climate science literature.
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Another example: alarmists often attribute the entire warming since the mid-19th Century to anthropogenic CO2, despite the IPCC and climate science literature putting the start date a century later:
“It is extremely likely (95 – 100% certain) that human activities caused more than half of the observed increase in global mean surface temperature from 1951 to 2010.”
— conclusion of the IPCC’s AR5 Working Group I (for more about this see When did we start global warming? See the surprising answer.)
What might be the effects of this narrow view by scientists of climate change politics? Their criticism of the Right but not the Left has untethered the Left from climate science, allowing increasing shrill and unsupported claims of imminent disaster — up to extinction of humanity. By ignoring these they create an impression of tacit approval of such scenarios, which has diminished their credibility as the pause nears the two-decade long mark. Furthermore this de facto partisanship further reduces their credibility with conservatives (even those that might otherwise be supportive).
This de facto tie to the Left might not work well for the climate science field as claims of the Left become more extreme and the pause continues. For more about this see:
(b) “Pause for thought“, Ed Hawkins — Abstract:
The recent slowdown (or ‘pause’) in global surface temperature rise is a hot topic for climate scientists and the wider public. We discuss how climate scientists have tried to communicate the pause and suggest that ‘many-to-many’ communication offers a key opportunity to directly engage with the public.
Excerpt (red emphasis added):
Since the late 1990s, global mean surface temperature increased more slowly than during the preceding two decades. The reasons for this ‘pause’ are being actively debated by the climate science community. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (AR5) concluded in their Summary for Policymakers (SPM) that this slowdown “is due in roughly equal measure to a reduced trend in radiative forcing and a cooling contribution from natural internal variability” … Did the climate science community do enough in communicating the slowdown, and how could it do better in the future? … First, it is possible that the chance of a slowdown was communicated effectively to the media, and subsequently ignored as not newsworthy. Alternatively, previous communications may have focused on long-term changes to inform mitigation discussions, whereas there is now more focus on near-term adaptation issues, for which climate variability is more important.
That is a great question. Too bad the authors didn’t pursue it in depth. They say this, then drop the subject:
Although several papers have estimated the probability of a pause, they were published after it had started. Also note that the IPCC has not included a clear statement of the chance of a slowdown in any of its SPMs.
Successful predictions are one of the most important means for laypeople to validate science theories. While the pause is not inconsistent with the major climate models, the failure of scientists to even mention the 15+ year-long pause as a possible scenario before it happened provides a reasonable basis for skepticism about their future forecasts. That’s the harsh logic of life.
Also note the important point they make in this paragraph:
The communication of the slowdown and its implications is complex. Although the most recent decade is the warmest since 1850, this does not mean there is no pause, as some have seemed to suggest. To overcome these communication challenges, some have discussed the overall energy budget of the Earth, which has been suggested as a more robust indicator of climate change than surface temperature alone. However, surface warming impacts people directly, is readily understood by the public and is also the canonical example of climate change which has been iconic for many years.
This is the closest the authors get to rebuking climate alarmists’ massive effort to convince people there is no pause, and their denouncing anyone who points to the relevant science literature as a “climate denier”. If this is the most balanced a view climate scientists can provide they’re likely to be seen by many as enrolling themselves in the Left’s crusade, however poorly grounded in science it is — and suffer a severe loss in credibility if the Left’s doomster forecasts prove false during the next decade.
(c) Editorial: “Scientist communicators” — “The slowdown in Earth’s surface temperature increase has made headlines worldwide — but mainly to dismiss climate science.”
Standard institutional self-justification, plus political bias — a nice demonstration of the weaknesses in climate science structures today. It starts well:
Man-made climate change has been in the news for many years. Previously the message presented to the public was clear: climate change is global warming and that means the temperatures are going to rise unless we do something. This claim seemed to be supported by measurements of continuous increases of atmospheric CO 2 — at a rate not seen before in the historical record — and associated temperature increases. Additionally, projections from climate models seemed to confirm that this was the new normal.
It quickly goes off into the blue.
The media reporting of a ‘hiatus’ came as a surprise to the public. Prior to this, the message had been of continuous warming — to be suddenly told that this was not true led to confusion. Questions started to arise as to whether the previous message had been incorrect — was global warming not happening? This, at least, was the take of sceptics.
First, the record shows that the hiatus came as a surprise to climate scientists, not just the public. This is an essential point, and their amnesia about this is inexcusable. There is no mention of a possible pause in the literature before the pause (that I’ve seen). Early mentions of the pause by climate scientists were not well received by their peers (e.g., “Is the climate warming or cooling?“, Daid R. Easterling and Michael F. Wehner, Geophysical Research Letters, April 2009).
Second, the concerns they mention of “skeptics” are quite reasonable. Scientists are not due unthinking acceptance by the public. Plus, there is a long history of well-established theories being proven false.
The authors end on a mixed note.
Researchers should have reiterated that the science on long-term climate change is solid and widely agreed on — 97% of scientists working in the subject support the principle of anthropogenic climate change (W. R. L. Anderegg, J. W. Prall, J. Harold and S. H. Schneider, Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 107, 12107–12109; 2010). Then, the questions about why the timing of the hiatus had not been predicted should have been addressed.
Invoking the “97%” by now spreads confusion rather than light. The debate is not longer “if” there is some degree of anthropogenic climate change, but how much and how fast. Effective public policy decisions, especially on the large scale some advocate, requires reliable estimates of magnitude and timing. The Editors’ statement implies that there is a consensus on these matters, which the reports of the IPCC and major climate agencies show to be false. It’s an imprecision unworthy of the Editors of Climate Change.
Also in this issue of Nature Climate Change
This issue has two articles exploring causes of the pause (here are links to other papers about this):
“Heat hide and seek“, Lisa Goddard — “Natural variability can explain fluctuations in surface temperatures but can it account for the current slowdown in warming?” “Recent intensification of wind-driven circulation in the Pacific and the ongoing warming hiatus“, Matthew H. England et al,
For More Information
(a) About the consensus of climate scientists:
(b) About the Left’s crusade about climate change:
(c) Examples of the Left’s exaggerations and misinformation about climate change:
(3) Some important things to know about global warming
While cheering for their faction of scientists, laypeople often lose sight of the big picture — the key elements for making public policy about this important issue.
(a) The work of the IPCC and the major science institutes are the best guides for information about these issues.
(b) The world has been warming during the past two centuries, in a succession of warming, cooling, and pauses. As for our influence:
“It is extremely likely (95 – 100% certain) that human activities caused more than half of the observed increase in global mean surface temperature from 1951 to 2010.”
— conclusion of the IPCC’s AR5 Working Group I
For research about the 1951 date see When did we start global warming? See the surprising answer., 18 October 2012
(c) There is a debate about the attribution (causes) of past warming — which probably varied over time — between natural drivers (e.g., rebound from the Little Ice Age, solar influences) and anthropogenic drivers (eg, CO2, aerosols, land use changes). Other that that stated in (b), the IPCC’s reports make few claims about attribution of climate activity. This remains actively debated in the literature: Scientists explore causes of the pause in warming, perhaps the most important research of the decade, 17 January 2014
(d) Warming of the surface atmosphere paused sometime during 1998-2000: Still good news: global temperatures remain stable, at least for now., 14 October 2012.
(e) There is also debate about climate forecasts, both the extent of future CO2 emissions and the net effects of the various natural and anthropogenic drivers.
(f) For the past five years my recommendations have been the same:
More funding for climate sciences. Many key aspects (e.g., global temperature data collection and analysis) are grossly underfunded. Wider involvement of relevant experts in this debate. For example, geologists, statisticians and software engineers have been largely excluded — although their fields of knowledge are deeply involved. Start today a well-funded conversion to non-carbon-based energy sources by the second half of the 21st century; for both environmental and economic reasons (see these posts for details).
(g) Posts about preparing for climate change: |
By far the biggest story of recent days, of course, has been the astonishing chaos inflicted, to a greater or lesser extent, on all of our lives by the fact that we are not only enjoying what is predicted to be the coldest December since records began in 1659, but also the harshest of three freezing winters in a row. We all know the disaster stories – thousands of motorists trapped for hours on paralysed motorways, days of misery at Heathrow, rail passengers marooned in unheated carriages for up to 17 hours. But central to all this – as the cry goes up: “Why wasn’t Britain better prepared?” – has been the bizarre role of the Met Office.
We might start with the strange affair of the Quarmby Review. Shortly after Philip Hammond became Transport Secretary last May, he commissioned David Quarmby, a former head of the Strategic Rail Authority, to look into how we might avoid a repeat of last winter’s disruption. In July and again in October, Mr Quarmby produced two reports on “The Resilience of England’s Transport System in Winter”; and at the start of this month, after our first major snowfall, Mr Quarmby and two colleagues were asked to produce an “audit” of their earlier findings.
The essence of their message was that they had consulted the Met Office, which advised them that, despite two harsh winters in succession, these were “random events”, the chances of which, after our long previous run of mild winters, were only 20 to one. Similarly, they were told in the summer, the odds against a third such winter were still only 20 to one. So it might not be wise to spend billions of pounds preparing for another “random event”, when its likelihood was so small. Following this logic, if the odds against a hard winter two years ago were only 20 to one, it might have been thought that the odds against a third such “random event” were not 20 to one but 20 x 20 x 20, or 8,000 to one.
What seems completely to have passed Mr Quarmby by, however, is the fact that in these past three years the Met Office’s forecasting record has become a national joke. Ever since it predicted a summer warmer and drier than average in 2007 – followed by some of the worst floods in living memory – its forecasts have been so unerringly wrong that even the chief adviser to our Transport Secretary might have noticed.
The Met Office’s forecasts of warmer-than-average summers and winters have been so consistently at 180 degrees to the truth that, earlier this year, it conceded that it was dropping seasonal forecasting. Hence, last week, the Met Office issued a categorical denial to the Global Warming Policy Foundation that it had made any forecast for this winter. Immediately, however, several blogs, led by Autonomous Mind, produced evidence from the Met Office website that in October it did indeed publish a forecast for December, January and February. This indicated that they would be significantly warmer than last year, and that there was only “a very much smaller chance of average or below-average temperatures”. So the Met Office has not only been caught out yet again getting it horribly wrong (always in the same direction), it was even prepared to deny it had said such a thing at all.
The real question, however, is why has the Met Office become so astonishingly bad at doing the job for which it is paid nearly £200 million a year – in a way which has become so stupendously damaging to our country?
The answer is that in the past 20 years, as can be seen from its website, the Met Office has been hijacked from its proper role to become wholly subservient to its obsession with global warming. (At one time it even changed its name to the Met Office “for Weather and Climate Change”.) This all began when its then-director John Houghton became one of the world’s most influential promoters of the warmist gospel. He, more than anyone else, was responsible for setting up the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and remained at the top of it for 13 years. It was he who, in 1990, launched the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Change, closely linked to the Climatic Research Unit in East Anglia (CRU), at the centre of last year’s Climategate row, which showed how the little group of scientists at the heart of the IPCC had been prepared to bend their data and to suppress any dissent from warming orthodoxy.
The reason why the Met Office gets its forecasts so hopelessly wrong is that they are based on those same computer models on which the IPCC itself relies to predict the world’s climate in 100 years time. They are programmed on the assumption that, as CO2 rises, so temperatures must inexorably follow. For 17 years this seemed plausible, because the world did appear to be getting warmer. We all became familiar with those warmer winters and earlier springs, which the warmists were quick to exploit to promote their message – as when Dr David Viner of the CRU famously predicted to The Independent in 2000 that “within a few years winter snowfall will be a very rare and exciting event”. (Last week, that article from 10 years ago was the most viewed item on The Independent’s website.)
But in 2007, the computer models got caught out, failing to predict a temporary plunge in global temperatures of 0.7C, more than the net warming of the 20th century. Much of the northern hemisphere suffered what was called in North America “the winter from hell”. Even though temperatures did rise again, in the winter of 2008/9 this happened again, only worse.
The Met Office simply went into denial. Its senior climate change official, Peter Stott, said in March 2009 that the trend towards milder winters was likely to continue. There would not be another winter like 1962/3 “for 1,000 years or more”. Last winter was colder still. And now we have another even more savage “random event”, for which we are even less prepared. (The Taxpayers’ Alliance revealed last week that councils have actually ordered less salt this winter than last.)
The consequences of all this are profound. Those who rule over our lives have been carried off into a cloud-cuckoo-land for which no one was more responsible than the zealots at the Met Office, subordinating all it does to their dotty belief system. Significantly, its chairman, Robert Napier, is not a weatherman but a “climate activist”, previously head of WWF-UK, one of our leading warmist campaigning groups.
At one end of this colossal diversion of national resources, permeating every level of government, we have the hapless Mr Quarmby, who feels obliged to follow the Met Office and advise that the present freeze is a “random event” and calls for no special responses – with the results we see on every side. At the other, fixated by the same belief system, we have our Climate Change Secretary, Chris Huhne, hoping we can somehow keep our lights on and our economy running by spending hundreds of billions of pounds on thousands more windmills.
More than once in the past week, as our power stations have been thrashed way beyond normal peak power demand, the contribution of wind turbines has been so small that it has registered as 0 per cent. (See the website for the New Electricity Trading Arrangements: Google “neta electricity summary page”, and find the table of “source by fuel type”.) At the heart of all this greenie make-believe that has our political class in its thrall has been the hijacking of the Met Office from its proper role. It’s no longer just a national joke: it is turning into a national catastrophe. |
Visual Novel Maker Gets Details and Release Date on Steam
Azario Lopez October 19, 2017 4:23:51 PM EST
Visual Novel Maker gets a release date on Steam and aims to bring all the development tools one would need to create their own visual novel.
Degica Games announced the Visual Novel Maker will finally be released on PC-via Steam on November 16.
First revealed in summer of 2016, Visual Novel Maker is development tool that users can use to create visual novel experiences. The tool requires no skills in programing or background in development as the creators have made it simple enough to create works with little knowledge of the backend.
Visual Novel Maker allows users to simply click, drag and drop items, or type interface, in order to create scenes and control the flow of the entire game. Degica states, that any feature a visual novel fan would expect to be included is implemented in the game by default. Also, there are enough premade resources, such as, characters, backgrounds, and music to start creating right away.
Also, for creators who understand development, their extension tools available to create the right development experience.
The developer lists the features:
Simple click, drag & drop, or type interface
11 Characters, with art for various outfits and expressions.
150+ Backgrounds, Home, School, Date Locations, and more.
Easy to use localization interface for created games.
Live2D support
Exports finished games to PC, Mac, Linux, Android, or iOS!
Visual Novel Maker is a part of the “Maker” series of games that includes the RPG Maker series. |
Bit by bit, the HTC One M10 is coming together, and today there are two more of pieces of the puzzle.
For starters, the name One M10 has been confirmed, unofficially of course, sending HTC's flagship line into double digits. The name was dug up in the drop-down list of devices in an HTC online survey form.
Moving on, we get a camera sample to try and judge just how compelling the shooter is. It's a single shot, and a dirty keyboard isn't the most exciting subject matter, but it does seem to resolve plenty of detail in the letter markings and grime between the keys.
HTC One M10 camera sample (click for full size)
That is, where it's properly focused, because the wide f/1.9 aperture and near subject make for a pretty shallow depth of field. We do say "wide" and while it is an definitive improvement over the f/2.2 glass of the One M9, HTC is still playing catch-up with main rivals - the LG G5 has an f/1.8 aperture, while the Samsung Galaxy S7 is even brighter at f/1.7.
It is on par with Samsung's offering in focal length though, with a generously wide 26mm equivalent, but in this respect you can't really compete with the G5 and the super-wide half of its dual-camera setup.
The image is shot in 16:9 aspect and has a resolution of 2,250 x 4,000px. In 4:3 aspect it would make for a 3,000 x 4,000px 12MP image, right in line with previous rumors.
For all we know, the HTC One M10 will be announced on April 11, and while all of the above looks believable, we'd hold off on buying decisions until it's official.
Via (in Dutch) |
A single Italian patrol vessel on Tuesday saved more than 1,100 people from a stricken wooden boat and five rubber dinghies en route from North Africa to Sicily, Italy's Coast Guard said on Tuesday.
According to officials, the wooden boat alone had more than 435 migrants on board, including 124 women and 18 children. Meanwhile, four Italian naval ships rescued 900 other people drifting at sea.
A number of others were intercepted by boats belonging to aid groups, the EU border patrol agency Frontex, and the EU's Operation Sophia anti-people smuggling mission.
The Coast Guard said it coordinated a total of 30 separate rescue operations in the Mediterranean on Tuesday.
Italy on the frontline
A surge in arrivals in 2015 prompted a number of European countries to close their borders to prevent migrants, who had reached Turkey and Greece and traveled onwards through the Balkans, from reaching Western Europe. The effective closure of the so-called Balkan route means Italy has become a main entry point for migrants.
The Italian interior ministry said last week that more than 70,000 people arrived by boat between January and June this year - almost the same number from the same period in 2015, and slightly higher than the number of arrivals in 2014.
More than 3,700 migrants died while attempting to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe last year, according to the International Organization for Migration. It said most of the boats set off from Libya and Egypt.
nm/jr (AFP, Reuters, dpa) |
Researchers at ESET say that malware designed to steal the content of OS X’s keychain and maintain a permanent backdoor was found in a recent build of open source torrent client Transmission. Following an investigation, the Transmission team say they were subjected to an attack on their servers. Steps have been taken to ensure greater security in the future.
Last month, researchers at IT security company ESET reported on a new type of OS X malware. Called OSX/Keydnap, the malicious software was designed to steal the content of OS X’s keychain while inserting a backdoor.
In a detailed blog post on the topic, ESET said that it was unclear how machines became infected with OSX/Keydnap but speculated that it might be through attack vectors such as spam, downloads from untrusted websites, “or something else”. Other things were certain, however.
“What we know is that a downloader component is distributed in a .zip file. The archive file contains a Mach-O executable file with an extension that looks benign, such as .txt or .jpg. However, the file extension actually contains a space character at the end, which means double-clicking the file in Finder will launch it in Terminal and not Preview or TextEdit,” the researchers wrote.
Now, several weeks later, it now transpires that some BitTorrent users have been exposed to OSX/Keydnap. While some might presume that could have taken place through a suspect download from an infected torrent (also possible), this particular attack actually took place from a trusted source.
ESET reports that a recompiled version of the open source BitTorrent client Transmission was offered for download on the software’s official website. Somehow, that software had already become infected with OSX/Keydnap. Once informed, the Transmission team were quick to act.
“Literally minutes after being notified by ESET, the Transmission team removed the malicious file from their web server and launched an investigation to identify how this happened,” the researchers explain.
“According to the signature, the application bundle was signed on August 28th, 2016, but it seems to have been distributed only the next day.”
Following an investigation by the Transmission team, we now know how the infected version came to be offered to the public and for how long. It all began with some kind of intrusion by an as-yet-unamed attacker.
“It appears that on or about August 28, 2016, unauthorized access was gained to our website server,” the team said in a statement.
“The official Mac version of Transmission 2.92 was replaced with an unauthorized version that contained the OSX/Keydnap malware. The infected file was available for download somewhere between a few hours and less than a day.”
The team says that they infected file was removed from the server immediately upon its discovery, potentially just a few hours after it was placed there. While any period is too long, the length of time the download was made available to the public should help to limit the impact of the malware.
For anyone concerned that they still might have been infected during that period, ESET offers the following advice to check for infection.
“We advise anyone who downloaded Transmission v2.92 between August 28th and August 29th, 2016, inclusively, to verify if their system is compromised by testing the presence of any of the following file or directory,” the company writes.
“If any of them exists, it means the malicious Transmission application was executed and that Keydnap is most likely running. Also note that the malicious disk image was named Transmission2.92.dmg while the legitimate one is Transmission-2.92.dmg (notice the hyphen).”
The Transmission team has also published a detailed guide for anyone concerned about infection. They’re also taking additional steps to limit the chances of this happening again.
“To help prevent future incidents, we have migrated the website and all binary files from our current servers to GitHub. Other services, which are currently unavailable, will be migrated to new servers in the coming days,” the team says.
“As an added precaution, we will be hosting the binaries and the website (including checksums) in two separate repositories.”
Uninfected versions of Transmission can be downloaded here. Versions for operating systems other than OS X are not affected. |
GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) – A judge sentenced a former volunteer fire department chief to eight years in prison Friday for embezzling nearly $650,000 from his fire district.
David Roy MacBean, 42, bought musical equipment, electronics, computers and other high-end items from January 2010 to March 2013 by using the department’s credit card and bank accounts, prosecutors said. He oversaw operations, including budget preparation, for the Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District.
During sentencing arguments, prosecutors highlighted how MacBean spent $42,000 in July 2012 alone in an online shopping blitz.
In a packed courtroom, MacBean told District Judge Jeffrey Pilkington he took complete responsibility and that he’d betrayed firefighters, their families, the community and his friends and family. He said he suffered from a shopping addiction and asked for probation so he could work to repay the district.
He pleaded guilty in April to two counts of theft of more than $20,000 and one count of embezzlement, all felonies.
MacBean agreed to pay $647,351.59 in restitution as part of his plea. |
Topless feminist activist grabs baby Jesus statue in St Peter's Square
Updated
Feminist protest group Femen have staged a demonstration in St Peter's Square after the Pope's Christmas address, grabbing a statue of a newly-born Jesus from the square's nativity scene.
Leader of the Femen movement, Inna Shevchenko, grabbed the statue with the words "God Is Woman" daubed in large letters on her chest.
Ms Shevchenko was immediately detained by a Vatican guard who covered her with his cape before she was escorted to a local police station.
The guard also wrestled the Jesus figurine away from her.
Although the incident occurred well after Pope Francis delivered his Christmas message from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, thousands of pilgrims were still in the famous square.
Femen has staged similar stunts at the Vatican, including a protest last month over an imminent visit by the pope to the European Parliament.
The three Femen members were wearing only leather mini-skirts and flower garlands in their hair.
One had the slogan "Pope is not a politician" emblazoned across her chest.
On November 24, the day before the pope's visit, a topless Femen activist mounted the altar of the Strasbourg cathedral.
The movement that began in Ukraine to protest the former pro-Kremlin regime also opposes the Catholic Church's positions against abortion and gay marriage, often staging protests in places of worship.
AFP
Topics: catholic, feminism, activism-and-lobbying, holy-see-vatican-city-state
First posted |
A push present (also called a push gift) is a present a partner gives to the birthing mother to mark the occasion of her giving birth to their child. In practice the present may be given before or after the birth, or even in the delivery room. The giving of push presents has supposedly grown in the United States in recent years.[1] A push gift is any type of present loved ones give to a woman who has recently given birth to a child. There is no conclusive evidence that the present was invented by the jewelry industry to sell more goods,[1] and until recently it was passed on largely by word of mouth or peer pressure among both mothers and fathers.[2] According to Linda Murray, the executive editor of BabyCenter, "It's an expectation of moms these days that they deserve something for bearing the burden for nine months, getting sick, ruining their body. The guilt really gets piled on."[1] Other sources trace the development of the present to the increased assertiveness of women, allowing them to ask for a present more directly, or the increased involvement of the men in pregnancy, making them more informed of the pain and difficulty of pregnancy and labor.[1]
Frequency [ edit ]
A 2004 survey of over 30,000 respondents by BabyCenter found that 98% of new mothers received a push present, and 55% of pregnant mothers wanted one, though fewer thought it was actually expected. About 40% of both groups said the baby itself was already a present and did not wish an additional reward.[1]
The popularity of push presents has been attributed in part to media coverage of celebrities receiving them. Examples include a 10 carat diamond ring given to celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe by her husband Rodger after the 2011 birth of their son, a Bentley given to reality TV star Peggy Tanous of The Real Housewives of Orange County by her husband Micah after the 2007 birth of their daughter, and a diamond and sapphire necklace given to singer Mariah Carey by her husband Nick Cannon after the 2011 birth of their twins.[3][4][5]
The trend has generated a backlash, as some couples dislike the implicit materialism of push presents, and would prefer increased help in chores or baby care, or save the money for the child's education.[1]
According to etiquette expert Pamela Holland, there are no set guidelines for push presents. "The standard is that there is no standard," she said. "It does make sense to have etiquette around wedding or baby shower gifts because you're inviting other people into it. But this is far too intimate to have a rule."[2] In general it is the woman who lets her man know about push presents, not the other way around,[1] although there can be peer pressure from friends to buy one on either the man or the woman.[2]
Analysis of conversations on parenting website the BabyCenter's online community over the last three years found that mentions of push presents had increased by 41 per cent in the past 18 months, compared to only a two per cent increase between 2011 and 2012. A poll of 1,200 BabyCenter mothers also revealed that more than a quarter (27%) were expecting, or had already received, a push present this year. Diamonds were the most popular gift in the form of an eternity ring with the prices spent ranging from $600 to $1,700. Tablet computers, charm bracelets and designer watches, and handbags were also popular gifts to celebrate a new arrival.
See also [ edit ] |
Melbourne Pizza Hut drops 'free small animal' deal after social media backlash
Updated
Pizza Hut has apologised after one of its Melbourne stores offered customers "one free small animal" if they bought 10 large pizzas.
The deal, offered by Pizza Hut in Mt Waverley, in conjunction with a local pet store, was dumped after outcry from animal rights activists.
It also sparked outrage on social media, with animal welfare group Oscar's Law encouraging people to voice their opposition to the promotion on the fast-food chain's Facebook page.
Angry users slammed the offer as "disgusting", "irresponsible" and disgraceful", and some threatened to boycott the pizza chain.
"Please stop promoting your pizza for a small animal deal! It's so wrong on so many reasons!" Kellie Rose wrote.
"Absolutely disgraceful promotion Pizza Hut!! I will never order from you again!!" Deanne Brent wrote.
After the torrent of negative posts, Pizza Hut issued a statement saying it had not approved the deal and the store's owners had agreed to stop the promotion.
The statement read: "We would like to sincerely apologise to anyone who was offended by this.
"The poster has since been taken down and all those involved have been made aware of the severity and inappropriateness of the promotion.
"We would like to thank Oscar's Law and all those who have brought this to our attention this evening.
"On behalf of Pizza Hut Australia we once again apologise for this thoughtless promotion ever occurring and would like to reassure you all that this matter is being seriously dealt with."
Topics: social-media, food-and-beverage, mount-waverley-3149
First posted |
Spartacus: Blood and Sand is the first season of American television series Spartacus, which premiered on Starz on January 22, 2010. The series was inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus (played by Andy Whitfield), a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Executive producers Steven S. DeKnight and Robert Tapert focused on structuring the events of Spartacus' obscure early life leading up to the beginning of historical records.
Cast and characters [ edit ]
Slave
Roman
Style [ edit ]
The program is preceded by a warning that it purports to portray a "historical portrayal of ancient Roman society that contains graphic violence and adult content". Incidental nudity and scenes of a sexual or of a violent nature are present throughout.
Episodes [ edit ]
No.
overall No. in
season Title Directed by Written by Original air date Prod.
code US viewers
(millions) 1 1 "The Red Serpent" Rick Jacobson Steven S. DeKnight January 22, 2010 ( ) SPS101 0.66[1] In the series premiere, in 73 B.C., a nameless Thracian warrior and his fellow fighters align themselves with legate Gaius Claudius Glaber and Rome to protect their homeland. But disenchantment with the Romans soon sets in when their allies' strategies leave their homeland unprotected from Getae marauders. The warrior leads a rebellion of the auxiliary troops against the Roman officers, then deserts to return to his village and his wife. He arrives as the Getae attack and he and his wife manage to escape, only to be captured by Glaber the next day. The warrior's wife, Sura, is forced into slavery and he and the other deserters are shipped to the arena in Capua, to be put to death publicly by gladiators, whereupon he proves his worth by defeating all four opponents, and is given a new name, Spartacus. 2 2 "Sacramentum Gladiatorum" Rick Jacobson Steven S. DeKnight January 29, 2010 ( ) SPS102 0.77[1] The newly enslaved Thracian warrior Spartacus enters the ludus of Lentulus Batiatus to receive gladiator training and discipline. He soon manages to make an enemy of the undefeated Gallic champion of Capua, Crixus, and the attention of whip-wielding taskmaster Doctore who uses harsh methods to test the new novices. He also meets Varro, a Roman gladiator by bankruptcy, who becomes his friend. The crafty but cash-strapped Batiatus fails to impress Glaber and so makes Spartacus, his new slave, an offer: if he cooperates and trains as a prized gladiator, he will use his power to help locate his wife. Consequently Spartacus trains to face the test to be a gladiator, and throws Crixus from the platform right before being killed. Afterwards, the victorious Spartacus swears the sacramentum of the gladiator brotherhood. 3 3 "Legends" Grady Hall Brent Fletcher February 5, 2010 ( ) SPS103 0.86[1] As the gladiators prepare for the series of fights that will be the highlight of the upcoming Vulcanalia festival, Spartacus cleverly manoeuvres to secure the right to battle Crixus, the unbeaten champion of Capua, in the primus or final battle. Despite his wife Lucretia's objections, Batiatus reminds her that Spartacus' bravery and previous exploits have "struck a chord with the public's interest". Meanwhile, Lucretia schemes to win favor with the wife of Gaius Claudius Glaber, the crafty and devious Ilithyia. At a pre-fight banquet, she interests her in the desirous Crixus, although he is secretly enamoured of Naevia, one of the domestic slaves. At the Vulcanalia, Spartacus embarrasses his owners publicly, both by beginning to fight too early, and by surrendering instead of dying. 4 4 "The Thing in the Pit" Jesse Warn Aaron Helbing & Todd Helbing February 12, 2010 ( ) SPS104 0.66[1] Spartacus' disgrace at surrendering to Crixus in the arena leads Batiatus to punish him by demoting the Thracian to fight in the "pits of the underworld," a hellish, vicious subterranean battle arena where the crowds are frenzied and anything goes. When Naevia seemingly rejects Crixus' necklace gift, he initially misunderstands the reason for her refusal, and continues his secretive sexual relationship with Batiatus' wife. Meanwhile, the drought and Batiatus' money problems continue, and Lucretia ends up selling her new emerald necklace at a loss in the markets. Spartacus somehow survives the pits, and despite losing Batiatus' winnings, he regains the favour of his dominus after helping to foil an assassination attempt by two slaves, and is restored again to gladiator status. 5 5 "Shadow Games" Michael Hurst Miranda Kwok February 19, 2010 ( ) SPS105 0.85[1] As the summer heat continues, enemies Spartacus and Crixus are commanded to take on an unbeaten champion, the "shadow of death" named Theokoles. Doctore is charged with preparing the two men for the drought-breaking primus, but receives little satisfaction from either man. Spartacus tries to find common ground with his arch-enemy but Crixus remains stalwartly opposed to sharing any of the glory. Meanwhile, after the visit of a fertility priestess, Lucretia is denied a chance to conceive as Crixus, distracted by Naevia, declines her advances. Meanwhile, the wounded Batiatus continues his own investigations into the attempt on his life, and exacts blood vengeance on Ovidius, the cousin of Magistrate Calavius, and his family. In the arena, Theokoles is finally bested by Spartacus and the drought breaks, but Crixus is critically wounded in the encounter as it begins to rain. 6 6 "Delicate Things" Rick Jacobson Tracy Bellomo & Andrew Chambliss February 26, 2010 ( ) SPS106 1.08[1] As the rains fall, both Barca and Spartacus envision a future away from the ludus. Barca expects to purchase his and Pietros' freedom, while Spartacus dreams of escaping with his enslaved wife, Sura. Crixus, barely alive after the near-fatal fight with Theokoles, is now in a drugged sleep. As part of his promotion to new Capuan champion, Spartacus tries on new armour, and during a private lesson with the Magistrate's son, Numerius, he steals a dagger for the escape. Spartacus also uses some of his winnings to buy wine and women for the gladiators, to further aid the escape plan. Meanwhile, Batiatus is troubled by false news that Ovidius' son still lives, and Ashur uses the chance to have Barca killed to avoid repaying the winnings owed to him. In the end Batiatus keeps his word of retrieving Sura, but her reunion with Spartacus is short lived as she quickly dies from wounds sustained in a "bandit attack". 7 7 "Great and Unfortunate Things" Jesse Warn Brent Fletcher & Steven S. DeKnight March 12, 2010 ( ) SPS107 0.97[1] Spartacus' world is changed by the death of his wife and he finds himself at a crossroads. In the absence of Barca, Pietros struggles without a protector and is unable to deal with the brutal attentions of Gnaeus. Meanwhile, Varro is visited by his wife and son and receives unwelcome news that she too, without her protector, has also been raped. Amidst the deceit of the household, Doctore seeks the truth behind Barca's sudden departure from the ludus. Pietros, now without hope, hangs himself – and Spartacus gets even by throwing Gnaeus off the cliff. Spartacus, again at odds with his dominus, is forced to repay the loss from his winnings. After returning the stolen dagger, he decides to focus on his new gladiatorial life. In the arena while dressed as a Roman consul, he fights six criminals dressed as Thracians, and trusting himself to his wife's gods, he begins to purge his past. 8 8 "Mark of the Brotherhood" Rowan Woods Aaron Helbing & Todd Helbing March 19, 2010 ( ) SPS108 0.88[1] Spartacus continues his reign as the champion of Capua at rival Solonius' expense, while Crixus struggles to recover and to return to training. After comments made by Ashur, Batiatus begins to explore the possibility of selling the Gaul to a rival ludus in Damascus. Meanwhile, Batiatus acquires six new recruits for 100 denarii, and Ilithyia chooses to sponsor one, a Gaul named Segovax, in order to both defy her husband and impress her socialite friends. After a slight to her husband's honour by Spartacus at a private party, she implies promises of freedom to the recruit in exchange for his help. Crixus, after working to regain Lucretia's sexual favour, interrupts Segovax's attempt to strangle Spartacus. Crixus and Spartacus, both wounded in the fight, begin to renew a sense of brotherhood with each other. Ilithyia, on a return visit, arrives in time to both witness her sponsored slave's crucifixion and deny any knowledge of the reasons behind the attack. 9 9 "Whore" Michael Hurst Daniel Knauf March 26, 2010 ( ) SPS109 1.11[1] Licinia, a rich noblewoman and cousin of senator Marcus Crassus, visits from Rome and asks Lucretia to "taste the wares of ludus" with Spartacus. Lucretia, mindful that Spartacus had not been with a woman since his wife became a slave, instructs a female servant named Mira to prepare him for his encounter, an offer he rejects. Ilithyia, suspecting her rich friend's desires, also decides on a masked sexual encounter. Jealously enraged by her choice of Crixus (who has recently resumed training), Lucretia sets up to trap Ilithyia in bed with Spartacus. Ilithyia, shocked after it is revealed that both intended to use the scandal against her, suddenly kills Licinia. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the ludus, Batiatus' plan to kill Solonius is undermined by a slighted Ashur, Crixus makes enemies of two new German brothers, Varro's wife and son have gone missing, and Naevia steals a guard's key for an illicit tryst. 10 10 "Party Favors" Chris Martin-Jones Brent Fletcher & Miranda Kwok April 2, 2010 ( ) SPS110 1.27[1] Spartacus and Crixus are set up to fight in an exhibition match for Numerius' coming of age party, and Crixus sees a chance to resume his position. Batiatus, realising Spartacus' importance to his ambitions, invites him to play a board game called Latrunculi, but Lucretia jealously disapproves of the two men sharing wine. Meanwhile, Naevia has troubles with the guard she stole the key from, and risks all to share time with Crixus. At the party a now revived Ilithyia, still haunted by memories of the murder, seduces Numerius and has him switch Spartacus's opponent to Varro. Despite it being an exhibition match, Numerius further surprises by not granting mercy to Varro, forcing Spartacus to reluctantly kill his only friend. Later that night, after Batiatus' interest in politics is dismissed by Calavius, he vows blood revenge for his fighter's death. Distraught with grief, Spartacus returns to his cell and vents his rage until Mira comes in to comfort him. 11 11 "Old Wounds" Glenn Standring Story by: Dan Filie & Patricia Wells April 9, 2010 ( ) SPS111 1.13[1] Spartacus is continually haunted by the death of his friend and admits to Varro's wife, Aurelia, that he died by his sword. At the same time, Batiatus fakes another bandit raid and kidnaps Magistrate Calavius, holding him captive in the city sewers. Meanwhile, a festering wound from the fight with Varro weakens Spartacus, and while he recuperates with the help of the medicus and Mira, more visions of the dead haunt his feverish dreams. In the arena, Crixus reclaims some of his lost glory when he is needed in the primus against Pompeius' unbeaten champion, Pericles – a fight he narrowly wins. Later, in the infirmary, Spartacus throttles Aulus, Sura's killer (having noticed he had no actual wound as suffered in her attack), and learns that Batiatus ordered her death. Batiatus' scheming comes to fruition as he, with the cunning help of Ashur, is able to successfully entrap Solonius for Calavius' murder. 12 12 "Revelations" Michael Hurst Brent Fletcher April 16, 2010 ( ) SPS112 1.29[1] In the arena, Crixus continues his winning streak, and Spartacus kills the condemned Solonius. Spartacus also plots vengeance, but is warned by Mira that any attack on the master risks the life of all slaves. When finally granted an audience with Batiatus, he stays his hand when he notices Varro's widow, Aurelia, now working as a debt-slave. The ludus later awaits the arrival of Ilithyia and her husband Claudius Glaber, and Batiatus ends up being irked by Glaber's bluntness, but also surprised by his wife's pregnancy. Meanwhile, Spartacus fights against Glaber's soldiers, and Ashur's vengeful scheming finally exposes the relationship between Crixus and Naevia, leading to a scene. When Glaber refuses to sponsor Batiatus, he and Lucretia desperately reveal Ilithyia's hand in Licinia's murder and Glaber is forced to acquiesce. In the end, Crixus is flogged while Naevia is sold – but before leaving, she tells Doctore the truth behind Barca's "freedom". 13 13 "Kill Them All" Jesse Warn Steven S. DeKnight April 23, 2010 ( ) SPS113 1.23[1] In front of the Capuan elite assembled on the balcony of the ludus, Crixus and Spartacus fight to the death, a bout arranged by Batiatus for their sport. However, two days earlier, Spartacus endeavors to enlist the help of the rest of the gladiators to lead a revolt to destroy the house of Batiatus once and for all. Spartacus gains support from Mira, who is tasked with opening the gate, but Crixus resists in hopes of reuniting with Naevia. Meanwhile, Doctore (real name Oenomaus) confronts Batiatus about Barca's death and Ashur's hand in it. Later, during the duel, after learning he was given poison to ensure Spartacus' victory, Crixus finally joins the revolt. In the melee, Doctore initially stops Spartacus from killing Batiatus, but Crixus persuades him to join them just as Ilithyia escapes by having her husband's soldiers seal the villa doors. Doctore tries to kill Ashur but he escapes, and Crixus stabs Lucretia, killing their unborn child. Aurelia knifes Numerius in revenge for Varro, and Spartacus confronts and kills Batiatus. After the massacre, he vows to rid Rome of slavery, and all the slaves escape the ludus.
The season premiere was simulcast on both Starz and Encore. On Encore, the premiere garnered 580,000 viewers.[2]
Production [ edit ]
On December 22, 2009, the show was renewed for a second season but its production was postponed after Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma.[3][4] Starz announced in May 2010 that it would develop a six-episode prequel series, entitled Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, to allow star actor Whitfield to undergo medical treatment.[5] The prequel featured both new and returning characters; it was headlined by John Hannah (as Batiatus) and Lucy Lawless (as Lucretia). Whitfield also provided a brief voice-over role. Filming began in New Zealand in the summer of 2010. The prequel aired beginning January 2011.[6]
In June 2010, season two's pre-production resumed after Starz announced Whitfield was cancer-free.[7] But when his cancer recurred, Starz replaced Whitfield (with the actor's consent) with Liam McIntyre as Spartacus for season two which is titled Spartacus: Vengeance.[8][9][10] Andy Whitfield died on September 11, 2011.[11]
International broadcast [ edit ]
Three days after the US premiere, the series began airing in Canada on TMN beginning on January 25, 2010.[12] RTL 5 announced in their January newsletter that Spartacus: Blood and Sand would debut in the Netherlands in March 2010.[13] In the United Kingdom, Bravo began airing the series on May 25, 2010.[14][15] Following the axe of the Bravo network on UK television, Sky1 picked up the rights to the series with plans to carry all subsequent seasons. The series was also scheduled to premiere in Poland on HBO Poland starting from June 19, 2010[16] and in Hungary on HBO Magyarország starting from June 1, 2010.[17][18] The series aired in Ireland on TV3.[19] In Brazil, the show aired on Globosat HD. In Turkey the show releases on CNBC-E TV, while in Italy Sky Television gained the rights of the series. In India and Pakistan, the show aired (as of June 2011) on HBO.[citation needed] In Slovenia, the series started airing on Kanal A on January 2, 2012, from Monday to Friday at 9.45 pm, and ended January 18, 2012.
Reception [ edit ]
The premiere episode of the series set a record for Starz, with 553,000 viewers on their network, and another 460,000 on Encore, where the show was available only that weekend. For the rest of the season the show had an average of 1.285 million viewers. Critical reception of the first episode was mixed; the review aggregate website Metacritic which assigns a normalized average score out of 100 gave the show a score of 54% based on 22 reviews.[20] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave it the grade B+, saying it "might prove to be the not-at-all-guilty pleasure of the season."[21] Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter suggested that with "such thin stories... it's small wonder that sex and violence are used to take up the slack." Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote that John Hannah as Batiatus "keeps the show grounded with a persuasive portrait of a man engaged in a stressful daily business" and called Whitfield as Spartacus "handsome and buff and smart and beastly."[22] Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald gave the season finale a positive review, rating it a B+. He commented on the improvement of the series throughout its first season.[23]
Other media [ edit ]
Novels [ edit ]
In 2012 Titan Books announced the publication of a series of novels based on Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The first, titled Spartacus: Swords & Ashes, was written by J.M. Clements and released on January 3, 2012.[24] The second book in the series was Spartacus: Morituri by Mark Morris.
Board game [ edit ]
In 2012 Gale Force Nine announced the creation of a licensed board game based on the series. The English language release, Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery, had a limited release at Gen Con 2012 and a general release to game and hobby stores on September 28, 2012.[25] Gameplay involves players taking on the role of Dominus, or head of a Roman house in ancient Rome, buying and trading assets, scheming with and against the other players, and battling in the arena.[26] In May 2013 an expansion entitled Spartacus: The Serpents and the Wolf was released.[27] The expansion allows for two extra players (to an updated maximum of six) with the addition of two more houses and includes alternative rules allowing for group battles in the arena.[28]
Comics [ edit ]
Earlier, in 2009, Devil's Due had published a four-part prequel comic series titled Spartacus - Blood And Sand. Each issue spotlighted a character from the planned television series, mostly the minor gladiator rivals of the main cast.[29]
The series was adapted as a 4-part motion comic adaptation called Spartacus – Blood and Sand – Motion Comic. Ray Park and Heath Freeman were cast. Kyle Newman was the director, and the producers were Andy Collen and Jeff Krelitz.[30][31][32][33]
# Title Spotlights Writer Artist Run Time (Motion Comic) 1 Upon the Sands of Vengeance Arkadios, the Red Serpent Steven S. DeKnight Adam Archer 16 minutes 2 Shadows of the Jackal The Gargan Twins Jimmy Palmiotti Dexter Soy 16 minutes 3 The Beast of Carthage Barca, the Beast of Carthage Todd & Aaron Helbing Jon Bosco & Guilherme Balbi 9 minutes 4 The Shadow of Death Theokoles, the Shadow of Death Miranda Kwok Allan Jefferson 12 minutes |
The Influence of Sea Power Upon History: 1660–1783 is a history of naval warfare published in 1890 by Alfred Thayer Mahan. It details the role of sea power during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and discussed the various factors needed to support and achieve sea power, with emphasis on having the largest and most powerful fleet. Scholars considered it the single most influential book in naval strategy. Its policies were quickly adopted by most major navies,[1][2][3][4] ultimately leading to the World War I naval arms race. It is also cited as one of the contributing factors of the United States becoming a great power.
Overview [ edit ]
Mahan formulated his concept of sea power while reading a history book in Lima, Peru.[5][6]
The book was published by Mahan while president of the US Naval War College, and was a culmination of his ideas regarding naval warfare.
Mahan began the book with an examination of what factors led to a supremacy of the seas, especially how Great Britain was able to rise to its near dominance. He identified such features as geography, population, and government, and expanded the definition of sea power as comprising a strong navy and commercial fleet. Mahan also promoted the belief that any army would succumb to a strong naval blockade.[7]
The book then goes on to describe a series of European and American wars and how naval power was used in each.
Impact on naval thought [ edit ]
Timeliness contributed no small part to the widespread acceptance and resultant influence of Mahan's views. Although his history was relatively thin (he relied on secondary sources), the vigorous style and clear theory won widespread acceptance by navalists across the world.[8] Sea power supported the new colonialism that Europe and Japan were imposing on Africa and Asia. Given the very rapid technological changes underway in propulsion (from coal to oil, from reciprocating engines to steam turbines), ordnance (with better fire directors, and new high explosives) and armor (hardened steel), the emergence of new craft such as destroyers and submarines, and the development of radio, Mahan's emphasis on the capital ship and the command of the sea came at an opportune moment.[9]
Mahan was initially introduced to the German navy by the strategist Ludwig Borckenhagen, in a series of influential papers. Subsequently, his name became a household word in the German navy, as Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered his officers to read Mahan, and Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930) used Mahan's reputation to build a powerful surface fleet. Mahan's ideas decisively shaped Japanese naval doctrine, especially in the fleet actions of World War II.[10]
Between 1890 and 1915, Mahan and British admiral Jacky Fisher faced the problem of how to dominate home waters and distant seas with naval forces not strong enough to do both. Mahan argued for a universal principle of concentration of powerful ships in home waters and minimized strength in distant seas, while Fisher reversed Mahan by utilizing technological change to propose submarines for defense of home waters and mobile battle cruisers for protection of distant imperial interests.[11]
The French at first adopted Mahan's theories. French naval doctrine in 1914 was dominated by Mahan's theory of sea power and therefore geared toward winning decisive battles and gaining mastery of the seas. But the course of World War I changed ideas about the place of the navy, as the refusal of the German fleet to engage in a decisive battle, the Dardanelles expedition of 1915, the development of submarine warfare, and the organization of convoys all showed the navy's new role in combined operations with the army.[12]
The navy's part in securing victory was not fully understood by French public opinion in 1918, but a synthesis of old and new ideas arose from the lessons of the war, especially by admiral Raoul Castex (1878–1968), from 1927 to 1935, who synthesized in his five-volume Théories Stratégiques the classical and materialist schools of naval theory. He reversed Mahan's theory that command of the sea precedes maritime communications and foresaw the enlarged roles of aircraft and submarines in naval warfare. Castex enlarged strategic theory to include nonmilitary factors (policy, geography, coalitions, public opinion, and constraints) and internal factors (economy of force, offense and defense, communications, operational plans, morale, and command) to conceive a general strategy to attain final victory.[13]
Mahan's strategic theories continue to be influential into the 21st century, especially in the newly emerging naval powers India and China.[14][15]
Although Mahan's influence on foreign powers has been widely recognized, only in recent decades have scholars called attention to his role as significant in the growth of American overseas possessions, the rise of the new American navy, and the adoption of the strategic principles upon which it operated.[16][17]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ] |
The Canadian government is fond of repeating that Canada is the most important foreign market for 35 U.S. states, in an effort to head off rising American protectionism, and this statistic came up several times during a crucial first meeting Monday between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump in Washington. But this calculation of the benefit Canada provides to its southern neighbour glosses over the fact that the United States, with ten times the population, is far less reliant on foreign trade in general.
Read more: Trudeau, Trump speak at White House about strengthening ties
Read more: Trump vows to only tweak Canadian NAFTA provisions after Trudeau meeting
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Read more: Trudeau, Trump vow to tighten energy ties, beginning with Keystone XL
Lopsided relationship
Map 1: There are only two U.S. states – Michigan and Vermont – where trade with Canada exceeds 10 per cent of their annual economic output, according to University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.
Murat Yükselir/The Globe and Mail (Source: Trevor Tombe, University of Calgary)
According to Trevor Tombe, a University of Calgary economist, there are in fact only two American states out of 50 – Michigan and Vermont – where trade with Canada exceeds 10 per cent of their annual economic output.
By comparison, Canada's provinces are in large part overwhelmingly dependent on keeping the borders open with the U.S. Forty-nine per cent of Ontario's gross domestic product depends on trade with the United States. For Quebec, that number is 23 per cent. For Alberta, it's 31 per cent.
Professor Tombe's calculations divided the value of cross-border import and export trade in each state or province by the jurisdiction's gross domestic product. He used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Canada's Innovation Department and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
"Canada-U.S. trade matters much more for Canada than the United States," Prof. Tombe said.
Canadian businesses would do well to remember this as the Trump presidency unfolds. Mr. Trump signalled an protectionist approach to international trade on the day he took office last month, saying "from this moment on, it's going to be America first."
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This sets the tone not only for his demand to renegotiate the North American free-trade Agreement, but also for his Republican allies in Congress and every U.S. government department seeking to expand its role in policing the Canada-U.S. border.
How big a hit will Canada receive?
As Mr. Trudeau prepares to renegotiate the North American free-trade Agreement, the Canadian leader still cannot be certain how much of an economic bruising Canadians will face under the new U.S. President or a Republican Congress.
Will Canada escape relatively unscathed, as Trump adviser Stephen Schwarzman and former Republican heavyweight Newt Gingrich have assured? Mr. Trump himself on Monday told a news conference with Mr. Trudeau that the United States will only "tweak" trade ties with Canada.
Or will Canadian goods face a border tax, such as the one proposed by House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, and find its preferential access to the United States downgraded by a Trump-led approach to extract better terms under NAFTA?
Mr. Trump's America-first trade policy has the potential to embolden protectionism within Congress as well as empire building among U.S. government departments, all of which want to expand their influence at the Canada-U.S. border.
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One thing is for certain: Few Canadians alive have experienced a serious trade conflict with Americans.
Canada has relatively little leverage when confronting a hostile trade action. It has potential allies – U.S. governors of border states and American chief executives who conduct significant business with Canada – but only selective leverage over the United States, and few, if any, ace cards.
Trade experts say, however, that if Canada is backed into a corner by U.S. measures to restrict or block shipments to that country, it must only threaten retaliation if it is prepared to deliver.
"If we say we're going to do something – and then they act – and we don't do something, then we lose all credibility in the future," said John Weekes, Canada's former chief negotiator for NAFTA, adding it's still unclear what Washington has in store.
Stomach for a trade war?
Recent polling suggests a majority of Canadians are prepared to endure a trade war if necessary.
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A Nanos Research survey, conducted between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1, found that 58 per cent of Canadians surveyed would "support" or "somewhat support … Canada having a trade war with the U.S." if the Trump administration slapped new tariffs on goods from Canada.
Only 35 per cent were opposed or somewhat opposed. Veteran Canadian trade consultant Peter Clark said he believes Canadians who talk tough to pollsters may be overestimating Canada's bargaining power with their neighbour.
"The Americans just have to increase their own production 10 to 15 per cent to replace what we provide them, generally." He said fights over softwood or shingles or wheat in decades past are mere skirmishes compared with the much bigger conflict that could arise if Canada and the United States get into a tit-for-tat war over border taxes.
"Nobody understands what a real trade war is."
There has not been a knock-down, drag-out trade war between Canada and the United States since the early 1930s, after Washington, under the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, raised tariffs on many foreign goods and triggered a global backlash. The government of Mackenzie King reacted by slapping retaliatory taxes on American goods and reducing tariffs on goods from Britain. The Liberals lost the ensuing Canadian election and were replaced by the Conservatives, under Leader Richard Bedford Bennett, who hiked tariffs on American goods even further.
How many American jobs rely on trade with Canada?
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One glaring difference between the Canadian government and the American government is how they count the impact of Canadian trade on U.S. jobs – a statistic that should be a powerful selling point for Ottawa as it defends its interests in Washington.
There are different ways to measure the job benefits, of course, but it's striking that two key government departments – one in the United States and one in Canada – have chosen dramatically different figures.
The Canadian Department of Global Affairs says, on its main Canada-American relations page, that "nearly nine million U.S. jobs depend on trade and investment from Canada."
And yet, the Office of the United States Trade Representative – the department charged with negotiating trade for Washington – counts it differently. As does the Department of Commerce, where Mr. Trump's pick for secretary, Wilbur Ross, will be charged with renegotiating NAFTA.
"According to the Department of Commerce, U.S. exports of goods and services to Canada supported an estimated 1.7 million jobs in 2014," the U.S. government says. The Canadian government declined to provide an on-the-record explanation of why Canada and U.S. estimates differ so drastically, but a federal official, speaking not for attribution, said Ottawa's count uses a different methodology that takes a broader measure of the impact of jobs.
Fighting back
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Canada's biggest asset may be business leaders and politicians in border states, notwithstanding the minimal impact that Canadian trade delivers for the GDP of most U.S. states.
Trade experts say Canada's recourse, if it faced punitive tariffs on shipments to the United States, would be selective retaliation. In other words: hitting the Americans back.
This can be slow going and difficult to enact. Canada would have to complain to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and wait for a ruling that gave it authority to slap retaliatory tariffs on the Americans. It took six years in the case of a fight with Washington over U.S. meat labelling rules that forced foreign beef and pork to be sold with stickers detailing its origin. U.S. feedlots and packing plants were also required to keep Canadian livestock and meat separate.
Or, Canada can choose to ignore the rules and threaten retaliation right away, as it did in 1994 before the WTO came into being when, under then-agriculture minister Ralph Goodale, the Liberals threatened to punish imports of fruit, vegetables, soybeans and wine.
In both cases, the threat of retaliation worked – albeit slowly. And in the case of the country-of-origin dispute, it helped that Mexico was also poised to retaliate.
Former Canadian government officials said it's very difficult to pick retaliatory targets. In the past, including in 2005, when Canada was angry at a U.S. law – the Byrd Amendment – that funnelled cash collected from tariffs on foreign goods to U.S. companies, Ottawa drew up a list that targeted the states where U.S. politicians voted for the legislation.
"You try to pick things where it will have a maximum political impact in the other country and a minimal impact on Canada," said Mr. Weekes.
In the 2005 case, the Paul Martin government was forced to abandon some retaliatory targets – such as U.S. motorboats – because of push-back from Canadian industry. Its final tariff list included some very narrow American imports, such as tropical fish.
Mr. Clark said it's too soon to determine whether Mr. Trump's promise of merely tweaking NAFTA for Canada will be borne out. "What may be a tweak for Uncle Sam could be much more serious for us," he said.
The Americans may consider it merely a minor request to gain more duty-free access to Canada's dairy or chicken market, for instance, said Mr. Clark, who advises dairy farmers on trade matters.
Map 2: For years, the Canadian government has repeated its claim that Canada is the most important foreign market for 35 U.S. states. This map is posted on a government website that promotes trade.
Map 3: This map, using data retrieved from the U.S. Census Bureau, shows Canada's share of total U.S. exports, by state. It shows that, for a majority of states, less than 30 per cent of total exports go to Canada.
Murat Yükselir/The Globe and Mail (Sources: Statscan, U.S. Census Bureau) |
Major spoilers ahead.
In Get Out, writer-director Jordan Peele takes 90 minutes to meditate on a lesson Kim Kardashian once spelled out for America via snake emojis and Taylor Swift: White women are not to be trusted.
I’ll let you decide how offended you want to be by that thesis while I spoil the hell out of this movie.
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Get Out draws on the terrifying elements you might expect to find in your typical February horror movie release. There’s hypnotism, multiple jump-scares, a Deliverance-style redneck, and an illicit basement surgery where a doctor operates on people’s brains without their consent. As scary as any of these things are, they’re tropes we can all recognize as pure fiction, for the most part. They’re things we’re still more likely to run into in film, books, or television rather than in our everyday lives. Unfortunately, the horrors of racism and white womanhood aren’t confined to imagination and pop culture. In using both realities in his movie, Peele brings Get Out to a higher level of horror, at least for any person of color in the audience. We’re all keenly aware of how possible it is.
The film begins with Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) traveling home for the weekend to meet his girlfriend Rose’s (Alison Williams) parents who live on the set of a horror movie — excuse me: in a secluded, wooded, mostly white suburb. Her surgeon father, Dean, (Bradley Whitford) and hypnotherapist mother, Missy, (Catherine Keener) pepper Chris with questions and try to establish their anti-racist cred by telling him how many times they voted for Obama. They lead Chris past their black help, a maid and a groundskeeper, and burden him with their performative white guilt. They are the kind of awkward interactions any black person in the audience would expect out of this situation. Chris takes it in stride, as we all do, and even comforts Rose when it seems like her eyes are being opened to her family’s racial microagressions for the first time.
When Missy offers to cure Chris of his nicotine habit via hypnotism, he's weirded out but passes it off as an oddity. He tries to keep it together even after he’s convinced he’s in fact been hypnotized and nearly attacked by their groundskeeper, Walter (Marcus Henderson). It’s not until Chris realizes that a man who’s been missing from his neighborhood for months is living in the suburb, married to a white woman twice his age seemingly against his will, that Chris knows something is very wrong. As it turns out, Rose’s family is running a ring in which they lure black people into their home, hypnotize them using a literal silver spoon, then auction them off to middle-aged, white suburban neighbors who, through surgery, go on to live in the black people’s younger, healthier bodies forever. It’s a literal and visual representation of building a better life in America on the backs of the subjugated.
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As the plot unravels, it seems that Rose is willing to take Chris’s suspicions seriously and, as the title indicates, get out.
And I believed her. I believed her even after Chris discovered a box in her room filled with pictures of the other black men and women she’d seduced for her family before getting to him. My brain jumped to the next “logical" conclusion. Clearly Rose’s mother had hypnotized her daughter into being part of their scheme, making Rose forget each time she’d lured a black person home for them.
I held onto that theory until the final possible moment, when Rose turns to Chris as they’re supposedly attempting to escape together and says, “You know I can’t give you these keys.” It was a familiar sensation, one usually played out over a longer period of time. But here, condensed into one 10-minute span, I recognized the sinking feeling of being betrayed by a white woman you’ve stanned for, loved, liked, or even simply been mildly okay with. It’s that feeling when you find out that, after enjoying her in Easy A and finding her bubbly personality lovable, Emma Stone was fine with playing an Asian woman in Aloha. Maybe you went through it with Scarlett Johansson when you found out that she’d accepted the lead role in Ghost in the Shell, an adaptation of a Japanese anime series. It’s the betrayal you feel the first time you realize that women who are labeled pop-culture feminist icons, like Tina Fey, are perfectly fine with gunning for blackface laughs at your expense, or blaming your idols for white girls’ lack of self-esteem. (Beyoncé is many things, but she is not the reason you hate your body.)
For some, it’s the 53 percent of white women who voted for Trump, or finding out that the leader of your local NAACP chapter is literally a white woman in disguise. For others it’s finding out that Taylor Swift’s been coasting on America’s fear of black men for years. I feel it every time I realize there’s a white women on my Twitter timeline who will tweet in earnest for Planned Parenthood while sparing only a perfunctory tweet for Black Lives Matter or the Standing Rock Sioux.
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The thought that white people may see you as no more than a body for use or a culture from which you can pick and choose what you like while discarding the rest and those who invented it? The idea that a white woman you see as your potential friend or ally will eventually prove to be looking out for her own best interests over yours or the greater good? These are concepts that the people of color watching this film are intimately familiar with.
Jordan Peele is married to and expecting a child with a white woman, Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Chelsea Peretti. He’s also biracial; his mother is white. But as he reaffirms in his latest Nerdist interview with Chris Hardwick, Peele sees himself — and experiences the world — as a black man. American history is littered with the bodies of black men jailed, beaten, and killed due to the simple words of white women. “A few months later... two negro boys, ages 8 and 9 were arrested, tried, and sent to reform school for allegedly kissing or allowing themselves to be kissed by a neighborhood playmate, a 7-year-old white girl!” Langston Hughes wrote in 1962.
White women have always played, and continue to play, a large part in upholding the supremacy. They have not held the best interests of people of color. Putting full trust in them has often been to our detriment. Rose’s willingness to put herself and, essentially, the survival of white bodies above the well-being of black people was as unsurprising as it was terrifying. In Get Out, whiteness trumps all, and the true horror is leaving the theater knowing that, in this case? It's not just a movie.
Follow Kendra on Twitter. |
The idea that global warming “paused” has been comprehensively refuted by the record warm temperatures over the last three years – and the rate of increase could soon start to accelerate, a leading Nasa scientist has warned.
Dr Gavin Schmidt, director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said some people had been “confused” by temperatures that were below the average rate of increase, mistaking what was simply a blip as the sign of a long-term trend.
But the last three years have each seen successive, record average global temperatures, according to Nasa’s figures, partly fuelled by the natural El Nino effect, but mostly because of human-induced climate change.
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This, Dr Schmidt said, was “almost certainly” just another blip as random factors take temperatures above the average rising trend, which remains virtually the same as it has since the late 1990s.
But he also said the rising amount of energy being put into the atmosphere and oceans as a result of greenhouse gas emissions had led scientists to believe the pace of global warming would get faster over the next decades.
Writing on the Real Climate website, Dr Schmidt asked himself whether he had to “mention the ‘pause’”.
“Apparently yes,” he said. “The last three years have demonstrated abundantly clearly that there is no change in the long-term trends since 1998.
“A prediction from 1997 merely continuing the linear trends would significantly under-predict the last two years.
“The difference isn’t yet sufficient to state that the trends are accelerating, but that might not be too far off.”
He said it was perfectly reasonable for scientists to analyse variations in climate on a yearly basis.
But he added that the figures “should serve as a reminder that short-term variations should not be conflated with long-term trends. One is not predictive of the other”.
Speaking to The Independent, Dr Schmidt said discussions about annual changes in temperature before the record warmth of the last three years had been exploited by some in a reference to those known as “sceptics” or “deniers”.
“None of them are going to be jumping up and saying ‘look how much it’s warmed since 2014’, none of them are going to say that,” he said.
“The whole thing was somewhat delusional from the beginning.
“It’s not that today is warmer than yesterday or this year is warmer than last year. It’s the long-term trend – that’s what we’re talking about.
“So this notion that global warming has stopped was bunk from the start.”
Shape Created with Sketch. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 1/10 A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 2/10 Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 3/10 Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 4/10 Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 5/10 Smoke – filled with the carbon that is driving climate change – drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 6/10 A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 7/10 Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. “Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals,” says the photographer. “Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow.” Rizwan Dharejo 8/10 A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 9/10 A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a “public health emergency”. Leung Ka Wa 10/10 Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan 1/10 A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 2/10 Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 3/10 Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 4/10 Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 5/10 Smoke – filled with the carbon that is driving climate change – drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 6/10 A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 7/10 Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. “Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals,” says the photographer. “Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow.” Rizwan Dharejo 8/10 A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 9/10 A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a “public health emergency”. Leung Ka Wa 10/10 Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan
While he said the recent high temperatures were equally likely to be statistical noise, studies of how much extra energy is being absorbed by the atmosphere and particularly the oceans suggest global warming is going to gather pace over the next 20 years or so.
“The fact there’s more energy coming into the system than is leaving, we think that’s increasing over time,” Dr Schmidt said.
“The larger that difference gets, the faster we think things will warm. We’re anticipating an acceleration of temperature changes on a multi-decadal time scale.” |
Today we’re announcing some more info on a couple of cool items coming out later this year: Legendary Collection 5D’s and the Noble Knights of the Round Table Box Set. So this seems like a good time to catch our breath and go over some of the stuff you’ll be seeing the rest of this year. Let’s take them in order:
Realm of Light Structure Deck – June 27
This Lightsworn Deck contains several new cards, including a Lightsworn Synchro Monster and the Lightsworn Sanctuary Spell Card, which you can learn about here. This Deck comes out tomorrow!
Super Starter: Space-Time Showdown – July 11
This Starter Deck will give you your first taste of the new Pendulum Monster Cards, the new summoning mechanic featured in the upcoming fifth installment of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TV series. The Beginner’s Guide that comes with this Deck will also contain an important rules update, so be sure to check that out. The rule update will not take effect until July 14, though (the day after the North American World Championship Qualifier).
Astral Pack 5 should also be showing up around this time, in July. No exact date, yet. Be sure and check with your local Official Tournament Store! (And while you’re at it, be sure and thank them for running tournaments so that you get to Duel with your friends and rivals.)
Battle Pack 3: Monster League – August 1
I’ve talked a little about Battle Pack 3 before, and I’ll be going into a lot more detail in the weeks ahead. We’ll also be showing off the 5 different Game Mats available in Battle Kit 3 (which will have 10 packs + 1 of 5 Game Mats).
Duelist Alliance – August 15
This will be the first booster set to include Pendulum Monsters, plus it introduces new themes like Yang Zing, Shaddolls, Stellarknights, and the Burning Abyss.
2014 Mega-Tins – August 29
This year’s Tins are different from previous years’ Tins, in a few ways.
First, there are only 2 Tins (we had to make space for all this other cool stuff we’re coming out with, so we scaled back on the Tins a bit).
Second, they’re bigger! Mega-Tins are physically larger than the old Tins, so Duelists who like using their Tins to store their cards will be able to cram more cards in here.
Third, instead of regular booster packs, Mega-Tins come with Mega-Tin Mega-Packs! Mega Packs first appeared in Legendary Collection 2, and have been a big hit, so we’re expanding their use into this year’s Tins.
The Mega-Tin Mega-Pack set is a 247-card set that reprints the best chunk of cards from the previous year’s sets (Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy, Judgment of the Light, Shadow Specters, and Legacy of the Valiant). Since each of these booster sets was 100 cards, obviously not everything is in here. But most of the really good stuff is.
Each Mega-Tin Mega-Pack has 1 Secret Rare, 1 Ultra Rare, 1 Super Rare, 1 Rare, and 12 Commons. You get 3 Mega-Packs per Mega-Tin.
Note that unlike Legendary Collection Mega Packs, NO RARITIES HAVE BEEN CHANGED in the Mega-Tin Mega-Packs. Everything is the same rarity as the original version. What that means is that each Mega-Tin will include 3 Secrets, 3 Ultras, and 3 Supers (plus Rares & Commons!) from the previous year’s sets.
Duelist Alliance Deluxe Edition – September 12
Another slight update to an item’s configuration, here. DUEA-DE will continue to have 9 packs of the latest release (Duelist Alliance) and 2 foiled-up versions of DUEA cards. But we’re bumping up the number of preview cards from the following set. So you’ll get 3 (out of a possible 5) preview cards from November’s The New Challengers booster set.
Oh, and the storage boxes for DUEA-DE are Lightsworn & Shaddoll.
Legendary Collection 5D’s – October 24
October means Legendary Collection time, and Legendary Collection 5 is, as many had guessed, based on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s. LC5 comes with 5 Legendary Collection-style 9-card Mega-Packs (with switched-up rarities, unlike the Mega-Tin Mega-Packs), and 5 special foil cards per box: Shooting Quasar Dragon, Black Rose Dragon, the brand new Stardust Flash, and 2 new Nordic monsters.
Noble Knights of the Round Table Box Set – November 21
This Noble Knights Deck is ALL-FOIL, featuring the new Platinum Rare technology never used before.
Noble Knights have been getting stronger and stronger since they first appeared a little over two years ago. But they’ve lacked one key ingredient, until now: Merlin!
In addition to Merlin, this Box Set comes with another brand new Noble Knight monster, and a new Spell Card.
It also comes with a 3-card Power-Up Pack, where you can get Platinum Rare versions of cards that go great in any Deck, like Effect Veiler or Forbidden Lance.
Plus a pack of 70 Round Table card sleeves.
Plus a Noble Knights rubber Game Mat.
That sure is a lot of stuff. Good thing the box it all comes in is HUGE! |
A visitor looks at a model of an Israeli rifle at the Israel pavilion at the Defexpo India 2014, in New Delhi, India, 06 February 2014. (Credit: EPA)
Israeli military exports this year could decline to just 53% of their level in 2012 and “less desire for Israeli-made products” is a key factor, according to a letter from Israel’s four largest military companies.
Industry leaders are warning that military exports have steadily fallen since they reached $7.5bn in 2012. Sales in 2014 decline to $5.5bn and could drop to as low as $4bn this year, according to media reports about the letter.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has been running highly visible campaigns against military trade with Israel that have seen 12 banks and pension funds exclude Israeli arms company Elbit Systems from their investment portfolio. Israeli owned arms factories have been blockaded, and a growing number of political parties and trade unions have called for an end to military ties with Israel.
The governments of Norway and Turkey have both announced military embargo policies against Israel in recent years.
Mahmoud Nawajaa, general coordinator with the Palestinian BDS National Committee, the largest Palestinian civil society coalition that leads the BDS movement, said:
“Israeli military companies market their products on the basis of their successful use in Israel’s massacres of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, yet it now seems that growing public awareness of and opposition to Israel’s war crimes are starting to hit Israel’s military exports.” “Governments must meet their legal obligation not to provide aid or assistance and, on the contrary, to act to put an end to Israel’s violations of international law by implementing a military embargo on Israel as was done against apartheid South Africa.” “Israel is currently operating a shoot to kill policy and brutally repressing Palestinian protests against its regime of occupation and apartheid. Israel’s ability to oppress Palestinians depends on the willingness of governments and companies around the world to cooperate with Israel’s military, weapons industry and military research institutions.”
During Israel’s 2014 Gaza massacre, the Spanish government announced a temporary freeze on arms exports to Israel, the USA temporarily withheld arms shipments, and the UK government came close to taking similar steps as calls for a military embargo on Israel took centre stage in the debate over Israel’s crimes.
Signatories to a 60,000 strong petition urging a military embargo included Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and five other Nobel laureates, Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters and US musician Boots Riley. Author Naomi Klein has describeda military embargo on Israel as a “much deserved…crucial step towards ending Israel’s impunity”.
In April, UK high street bank Barclays appeared to divest from Israeli arms company Elbit Systems following a high profile campaign that saw direct action protests at its branches across more than 15 cities. Campaigns targeting European Union funding for Israeli military companies, Israeli military and security companies such as Elbit Systems and ISDS, as well as international corporations, such as G4S and HP, which provide equipment and services to Israeli checkpoints and prisons that make up Israel’s “infrastructure of oppression”, are gaining ground.
The BNC has today published a briefing that lists some indicators of the growing impact of the arms trade campaigning against Israel, making the case for such a military embargo. It is based on the crucial role that international military trade and cooperation with Israel play in Israel’s brutal repression of Palestinian protests and in maintaining Israel’s regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid.
Josh Ruebner, Policy Director for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, called on the US government to take action to end its support for Israel’s military aggression: |
A leading Saudi Newspaper reported that the lawmakers of the Islamic country are making laws that would enforce death penalty for those involved in homosexuality because social media is “turning people gay.”
Pinknews reported that it is often hard to predict exact statistics of gay people charged under the Saudi Arabia’s justice system, as consensual homosexual acts are often legally indistinguishable from rape or pedophilia under the country’s laws.
Okaz, a popular daily newspaper from Jeddah reported that as many as 35 cases have been brought against gay men for obscene behavior in the past six months, while the state is also pursuing a number of alleged cross-dressers.
Okaz also reported that there has been a significant increase in “abnormal behavior” due to rise in internet reach for Saudi people. People are becoming increasingly bold about their “abnormalities,” the conservative Islamic media wrote.
The prosecutors in the cases are pushing for harsher penalties, including the death penalty, for people convicted of homosexual crimes, in particular due to fears surrounding social media, The Washington Blade reported.
????HOT TAKE ALERT!???? out of Saudi Arabia: Prosecutors want death penalty b/c social media is turning people gay. https://t.co/rZzt2AjmeX — Woodford (@WoodfordOR) April 1, 2016
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor told the Washington Blade that the department knows whats happening.
“(The Department is) aware of these reports, but cannot verify their accuracy. We continue to gather more information,” he added.
Saudi Arab has been particularly notorious for the people of LGBTQ community. Recently, a doctor from Jeddah was arrested for flying rainbow colored flag. On investigation, it turned out that he had no idea it represented the gay pride movement, and had only bought it because it amused his children.
Man arrested in Saudi Arabia after flying rainbow flag https://t.co/B9xeLWKvet pic.twitter.com/N9L0UgCJOD — Attitude (@AttitudeMag) March 28, 2016
It seems like the hatred towards those who identify as gay in Saudi Arabia is more widespread than just the government considering many Saudi citizens reportedly support the government and are vitriolic towards homosexuals. Recently, two Saudi Vloggers posted an extremely caustic homophobic video to YouTube which was removed for hate speech.
In the shocking homophobic video uploaded to YouTube, the young men launched tirades about “Deviant marriage in Riyadh,” which followed a local raid of a ceremonial gay wedding.
“We would like to thank the police for beating their a**es,” they added.
The vloggers play a clip appearing to show two “deviants” getting married – accompanied by an on-screen emoji poo, Pinknews reported.
The men kept on insisting that homosexuals are “disgusting and nasty,” even going so far as to pray that Allah send his “godly wrath” upon them.
Not just men, but animals have also been put on fire for being homosexual in Saudi Arab. World News Daily Report stated that a 4-year old horse named Al-Hadiye (the Gift), which was the property of the Saudi Prince, Alwaleed bin Talal was to be executed for being homosexual.
The stallion, worth more than 6 billion, was allegedly caught on two separate occasions by employees of the prince’s corral, while it was engaged in sexual intercourse with another male. When this was reported to the authorities, the horse was instantly isolated from the other horses.
Though this news has been claimed to be false, the rise of the story itself gives the idea of homophobic vibes from Saudi Arabia.
According to Saudi Arabian site Sabq, the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice had signed the warrant for the horse’s death on television.
“This was meant to send a clear message that homosexuality, under any form, would not be tolerated in the kingdom,” the reports claimed.
Many animal right activists openly opposed the act including PETA spokeswoman, Janet McIntyre.
“Every year, Saudi Arabia executes between 25,000 and 35,000 animals because they are suspected of homosexuality, this includes many animals like dogs, cats, horses and camels, which are either stoned to death or decapitated, almost always in front of crowds. It is both cruel and barbaric, and such practices shouldn’t exist in the 21st century,” she said.
[Image via Shutterstock] |
Our response to climate change at the global level clearly needs improving. While some governments are managing to set and enforce limits on the emission of greenhouse gases, an international agreement that is both enforceable and meaningful remains elusive. Measures undertaken by private individuals and organizations, though plentiful, largely fail to connect to the political process and continue to fall short in aggregate. Is there a way to combine these public and private efforts? We think there is, as we’ve explored in a recent NZZ article and ETH blog post: a new type of liability insurance.
Looking to the insurance industry for addressing climate change is not new (see, for example, Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller’s column; the Geneva Association’s statement; and the climate change and insurance links discussed at the World Bank’s recent Understanding Risk conference). What has been lacking, however, are ideas for employing insurance instruments at scale, across national boundaries, and in a way that maximizes existing capacities and market mechanisms.
A new type of liability insurance
Here is how it would work: firms that are at the very beginning of the causal chain, extracting raw materials which contribute to climate change (primarily fossil fuels), would be compelled to take out a form of liability insurance. The expense borne by extractive firms for the insurance premiums would be passed through, ultimately to consumers, in the form of price increases for intermediate and final products.
Insurance companies would use the collected premiums for compensation for losses to public infrastructure due to climate change, as well as for prevention of losses in the form of investments toward climate change mitigation and adaptation.
To implement this proposal coordination and technical expertise will be needed. The amount of losses due to extreme weather that should be attributed to climate change can be approximately estimated based on historical data. Of all the man-made climate change, roughly 3/4 is caused by consumption of fossil fuels. This proportion of man-made climate change can be attributed to the oil, gas, and coal companies, according to the carbon content of the fuels they extract and sell. Other raw materials could be also included in such calculations. Standards would have to be established and updated over time, as our ability to assess climate change risk and attribution improves.
Setting sensible rates for premiums would be up to insurance companies, based on the established standards. For a back-of-the-envelope calculation: the value of fossil fuels extracted globally varies from year to year, but is around $5 trillion annually. If we assume premiums to be on average 10% of raw material prices and 80% of extracting firms take out liability insurance, total premiums would amount to around $400 billion annually. This is equivalent to a CO2-price of about $15 per metric ton of CO2, a value that is in line with low estimates of CO2‘s external cost (e.g., estimated by William Nordhaus). The table below offers some background on these rough calculations.
Click here to view the table in full detail
The prices of most final products would increase only by a fraction of 10% in our example, significantly less than price fluctuations due to political or economic shocks. Since they would be set proportional to raw materials’ impact on climate change, the premiums and resulting price increases would nevertheless provide an incentive to reduce energy consumption or reduce the climate impact per unit of energy (e.g., switching away from coal).A significant part of the premiums would have to be pooled and invested such that it can be made available quickly for compensating payments. National, regional, or municipal administrations could be eligible for making claims and ask for compensation for helping to repair public infrastructure damaged during hurricanes, floods, etc. (e.g. following the damage from hurricane Sandy in 2012).Additional financial instruments, like catastrophe bonds , already exist and could be included to manage such funds. Aside from compensation, the premiums should also be used for prevention of losses due to extreme weather, either through investments in climate-friendly projects (climate change mitigation) or investments to improve infrastructure resilience (climate change adaptation). Such investments are currently undertaken through the Green Climate Fund , for example.Aside from its technical feasibility, using liability insurance makes sense politically. Binding worldwide agreements, which are necessary to enforce typical treaties, are not needed. Liability insurance works if a number of relevant firms begin to participate. The compulsion for other firms to join could build over time, as a result of national laws in selected countries and as an increasing number of decision makers, NGOs, and consumers demand that inputs to final products be insured.International retailers might refuse to sell merchandise from factories that run on non-insured energy. Extractors of raw materials themselves may choose to take out liability insurance to prevent being taken to court for damages caused by extreme weather. The industry overall may even welcome such liability insurance and the opportunity to become, from a public relations point of view, part of the solution.The proposed scheme of liability insurance shifts the burden for enforcement from governments primarily onto multi-national companies (insurers and extractive firms as the insurance takers). It avoids the pitfall of many global agreements that rely on public enforcement alone, which tend to fail due to the large gap in capacity between governments of different countries. It represents a more equitable solution to a global problem, because the capacity to enforce will be more evenly distributed across countries.In terms of next steps, discussions among key players including the insurance industry are needed to further develop the technical proposal and to generate sufficient support. Many of the challenges remain to be solved, others have yet to be discovered. However, this proposal offers a potentially game-changing opportunity for the public and private sector to take advantage of existing capacities and take concrete steps forward. |
Ryan Johnston was a good, but not great, OHL prospect when he was selected in the 10th round of the 2008 OHL Priority Selection by the Kitchener Rangers.
Yet it is the 24-year-old Sudbury native, now with three games under his belt with the Montreal Canadiens, who is busy preparing for his second main NHL training camp, and not the vast majority of the 200 or so players taken before him eight years ago.
My, how things have changed.
The NHL was still a faraway dream for Johnston as recently as a year ago when he travelled to a Canadiens development camp at the conclusion of his junior season with the Colgate Raiders of the NCAA. Before long, the mist of the dream cleared, giving way to a concrete and tangible goal for the fifth of the talented sextet of Johnston siblings.
“I was at the development camp, up against some of the top draft picks from the past four to five years,” recalled the smooth-skating 5-foot-10 defenceman. “I thought I was playing with speed. I thought I was on par or surpassing a lot of people that were at camp.”
Apparently he was. At the conclusion of camp, Johnston was inked to a two-way contract with the Habs.
“The main camp is a little different,” Johnston noted. “You could start the see the actual skill level of NHL players. But after that first week, I thought that I could definitely play here.”
Overcoming an injury that limited him to 37 games played in his first year in the pros with the St John’s Ice Caps, Johnston earned a late season call-up to the big club. The experience created a whole new mindset as he returned to Northern Ontario in early spring.
“I had my exit meeting with the coaches, and with (Montreal GM) Marc Bergevin, and they had some good things to say, but obviously, there’s a lot of stuff I need to improve on defensively,” said Johnston. “Ever since I reached college, I’ve understood that even for an offensive defenceman, you have to have a strong defensive game, or you’re not going to make it anywhere.
“Offensively, I have to make sure I show it every single time I go out there,” Johnston added. “They might as well have a 6-foot-6, 250-pound defenceman out there if I’m not going to contribute the way I am supposed to.”
It is that kind of focus that in many ways has defined the Johnston brood. As with most young athletes, parental feedback was a constant. Somehow, Bob and Colleen absolutely nailed it.
“My father was always hard on us, in the sense that he always wanted us to work as hard as we could,” Ryan stated. “When I got to a certain age, I remember him saying that working hard was not going to be enough if you wanted to reach the next level.
“You can’t just work as hard as everyone else, you had to work harder than them, spend more hours at the gym, spend more time on the ice, do the things that 99.9 per cent of the population would not be willing to do. That was kind of the attitude that my dad and my mom would bring to everything – school, work or anything,” said Johnston.
Finding a way to deliver that message, while not straying across the line, into the realm of the crazy hockey parent, is no small feat.
“There’s obviously times when I would have an early morning workout, and I would hate him for the hour and a half,” Johnston stated with a smile, underlining the appreciation that comes with understanding of the end goal to the challenge. “Afterwards, though, there was an inner pride that you would feel in knowing that you did X amount of hill runs.”
It is clear from the conversation at hand that Ryan Johnston is more than comfortable with his belief that support on the home front was always well balanced.
“It’s definitely a fine line on how much you want to push your kid and how much you want to just nurture them and make sure they are happy,” he said. “In terms of our family, we had our hockey season, and then in the summer, we hardly ever touched hockey.
“It would be soccer, track and field, basketball. When hockey season rolled around, we were completely focused on it.”
There is a maturity, these days to Johnston’s perspective on hockey that, by his own admission, might not always have been present.
“Before college, I was always kind of a skill guy and didn’t necessarily have to work as hard,” he said. “I could kind of rely on a little bit of niftiness here and there, pass the puck when need be. As soon as I reached college, I realized that it doesn’t work with skill alone. You need to have that work ethic, that drive to want to be better.”
“There are a lot of people in the NHL who are there based mostly on their pure work ethic,” Johnston continued. “They’ve stayed there because they do their jobs, do what they need to do.” They are those players who were not necessarily at the top at the list, at the tender age of 16, when the OHL first came a calling.
Randy Pascal’s sports column appears twice weekly in The Sudbury Star. |
Some constitutions were written to contain inequalities. In Rome, the patricians ruled, but could be overruled by plebeian tribunes whose role was to protect the poor. There are constitutions with lords and commoners in separate chambers, each with well-defined powers. Sitaraman calls these “class warfare constitutions,” and argues that the founding fathers of the United States found another way, a republic of equals. The middle classes, who according to David Hume were obsessed neither with pleasure-seeking, as were the rich, nor with meeting basic necessities, as were the poor, and were thus amenable to reason, could be a firm basis for a republic run in the public interest. There is some sketchy evidence that income and wealth inequality was indeed low in the 18th century, but the crucial point is that early America was an agrarian society of cultivators with an open frontier. No one needed to be poor when land was available in the West.
The founders worried a good deal about people getting too rich. Jefferson was proud of his achievement in abolishing the entail and primogeniture in Virginia, writing the laws that “laid the ax to the root of Pseudoaristocracy.” He called for progressive taxation and, like the other founders, feared that the inheritance of wealth would lead to the establishment of an aristocracy. (Contrast this with those today who simultaneously advocate both equality of opportunity and the abolition of estate taxes.) Madison tried to calculate how long the frontier would last, and understood the threat to the Constitution that industrialization would bring; many of the founders thought of wage labor as little better than slavery and hoped that America could remain an agrarian society.
Of course, the fears about industrialization were realized, and by the late 19th century, in the Gilded Age, income inequality had reached levels comparable to those we see today. In perhaps the most original part of his book, Sitaraman, an associate professor of law at Vanderbilt Law School, highlights the achievements of the Progressive movement, one of whose aims was taming inequality, and which successfully modified the Constitution. There were four constitutional amendments in seven years — the direct election of senators, the franchise for women, the prohibition of alcohol and the income tax. To which I would add another reform, the establishment of the Federal Reserve, which provided a mechanism for handling financial crises without the need for the government to be bailed out by rich bankers, as well as the reduction in the tariff, which favored ordinary people by bringing down the cost of manufactures. Politics can respond to inequality, and the Constitution is not set in stone.
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What of today, when inequality is back in full force? I am not persuaded that we can be saved by the return of a rational and public-spirited middle class, even if I knew exactly how to identify middle-class people, or to measure how well they are doing. Nor is it clear, postelection, whether the threat is an incipient oligarchy or an incipient populist autocracy; our new president tweets from one to the other. And European countries, without America’s middle-class Constitution, face some of the same threats, though more from autocracy than from plutocracy, which their constitutions may have helped them resist. Yet it is clear that we in the United States face the looming threat of a takeover of government by those who would use it to enrich themselves together with a continuing disenfranchisement of large segments of the population.
Sitaraman reviews many possible correctives, including redistribution to reduce inequality; better enforcement of antitrust laws; campaign finance reform to break the dependence of legislators on deep pockets; compulsory voting; and restrictions on lobbying, including the possibility of “public defender” lobbyists to act on behalf of the people. I would add the creation of a single-payer health system, not because I am in favor of socialized medicine but because the artificially inflated costs of health care are powering up inequality by producing large fortunes for a few while holding down wages; the pharmaceutical industry alone had 1,400 lobbyists in Washington in 2014. American health care does a poor job of delivering health, but is exquisitely designed as an inequality machine, commanding an ever-larger share of G.D.P. and funneling resources to the top of the income distribution. |
I can trace my ancestry to La Grulla, a small community just west of McAllen, on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. My ancestors settled there in the 1830s -- a decade before Texas became a state. They pre-date the ancestors of most current Texans.
Of course, when my family settled in La Grulla, it was part of Mexico. They became residents of the United States after the U.S. government was given their land -- or stole it, depending on your point of view -- in 1848.
My family settled in what is now the United States decades before President Trump's ancestors arrived. In other words, we "Mexicans" did not immigrate to the United States. We lived on U.S. land before it was U.S. land. And we're not going away.
The chanting of "Build that Wall" at Trump campaign rallies and in our schools was disappointing. Even more insulting was Trump's accusation that Mexican immigrants are "criminals and rapists."
But these are only the latest salvos in the U.S. government's centuries-long track record of anti-Mexican sentiment.
A little history. In the early 1800s, with a passion for expansionism fueled by Manifest Destiny, the United States craved a passage to the Pacific Ocean -- and by extension, the shipping routes to Asia.
But Mexico inconveniently stood in the way. So the United States invaded. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the two-year Mexican-American War in 1848 and ceded present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming to the United States.
The United States realized its "destiny" and secured its pathway to the Pacific. But it also inherited the hundreds of thousands of Native Americans and millions of Mexicans who had long lived on that land.
It was an immigration problem of the U.S. government's own making.
The U.S. Army responded to Native Americans with involuntary removals and reservations. From 1864 to 1866, nearly 10,000 Navajo and Apache people were forced to walk 450 miles to a camp in eastern New Mexico. The reservation didn't have adequate shelter or food. Over 2,300 Navajo and Apache died before the Army allowed survivors to move back home.
Dealing with the much larger group of Mexicans -- many of them landowners, office-holders, entrepreneurs, lawyers, bankers and members of the clergy -- was more complex. The government couldn't consign them to reservations.
Their customs, language, traditions, values, culture, food and communities all became part of who we are as a nation -- whether the U.S. government liked it or not.
But the U.S. government still did its best to make its newest citizens foreigners in their own land and unwelcome in their own country. Congress passed the Homestead Act in 1862, allowing Americans to apply for Western land in exchange for farming on it -- taking land that belonged to Mexicans.
Later, during the Great Depression, the United States deported almost 2 million Mexicans. More than half of them were U.S. citizens.
Despite this history of bigotry, discrimination and exclusion, we're still here, contributing to American society and the economy. Latinos have $1.5 trillion in purchasing power. Latino-owned businesses were responsible for 86% of small business growth from 2007 to 2012. That means we created a whole lot of jobs, for Latinos and non-Latinos alike.
And there is no wall high enough or long enough to exclude us from this country's future. By 2060, one in four Americans is projected to be Hispanic. We're not confined to our ancestral home in the Great Southwest. The fastest-growing Latino communities are in North Dakota, Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, South Dakota and Utah.
President Trump is seeking to close the stable door a century and a half after the horse has bolted. Mexicans are here -- in our homeland -- to stay. Nearly 33 million Latinos were born in this country. We were here before many of our fellow citizens arrived. And a fence, a wall, a moat, or a river will serve only to keep us in, not out. |
Why it matters to you Gamergate is in the past, but the FBI's response to online harassment -- and death threats -- is an increasingly important part of its job.
Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, the FBI has finally released its report on the investigation into the controversial Gamergate group — though it has been heavily redacted. The information contained in the report reveals the vicious nature of the threats sent to female developers and social critics, but more than that, it illustrates that the FBI may not have taken the events as seriously as it could have.
For those of us who have blocked out the events of Gamergate, a brief refresher: Essentially, a mob of online bullies decided to harass a number of game developers and social critics who had the temerity to criticize the video game industry’s handling of gender roles and sexism.
The FBI got involved when online harassment blossomed into outright death threats. The investigation report details a number of emails sent to unnamed recipients which threaten bombings, shootings, and all sorts of violence. According to The Verge , the recipients of these threats were very likely social critic Anita Sarkeesian and game developer Brianna Wu, who were popular targets of Gamergate trolls.
Looking into those threats, the FBI as an organization appears to have taken them very seriously — even involving the Behavioral Analysis Unit to try and identify some of the culprits. The agency used a sophisticated Palantir search method to identify the email addresses of some suspects.
But individual FBI agents may not have taken the threats as seriously or may not have understood what it was they were investigating. The report contains emails and filings from individual FBI agents who refer to Twitter as “Tweeter” and TOR as “Thor.”
Additionally, when the FBI tracked down a few of the individuals who admitted being responsible for the death threats, at least two were let off with little more than a warning — despite the horrific levels of violence described in the threatening emails. One suspect apologized, and another — a juvenile — was grounded, but neither suffered criminal penalties.
Wu spoke with the Verge about the FBI report and made it clear that she was not satisfied with the way the investigation was carried out.
“All this report does for me is show how little the FBI cared about the investigation,” Wu said. “Almost nothing we told them is in this report.” |
As programming application has been extending with an unprecedented speed during last recent years, there are more and more people trying to start learning some kind of programming language to satisfy their very need to seek computers help to perform their tasks. If you are an academic person, no difference interested in biology, physics, math, mechanics, electrical engineering, etc. you will need to learn how to code. We have not exaggerated if we say programming is something like mathematics from the science point of view. Different programming languages emergence stems from this exact fact that for almost everything there need to exists some sort of help from computers, and the performer of that task must know a way to communicate with the computer in order to guide it on how to accomplish the job. But of course as not everybody need to be a mathematician, similarly not everybody need to be a professional computer coder. This is why we have different kinds of languages to fulfill different kinds of academic needs.
One of those general purpose languages which accompanied the machine we recognize as “Computer” from almost its inception (or at least the inception of pioneer operating systems) is C. By general purpose I mean there is not a single task, that a computer is capable of and with this language you can’t do. C is one step higher level than assembly which is in turn one step higher level than raw machine coeds (aka ones and zeros). The problem with C is its inherent difficulty to master the language. One of the infamous confusing concepts of C family languages is the pointers which we try to clarify in this post. Beforehand, there is something important to note.
From many individuals trying to learn programming there is really a small percentage of them who actually need learn C/C++. Most of the tasks needing some sort of programming, can be done with other less difficult, higher level languages. You do not need C to interact with webservers, doing arithmetic, resolving complex mathematical equations, drawing charts, information retrieval, making smartphone apps, etc.
C is a language appropriate for low level system programming; tampering with operating system structures, doing low level network tasks, low level file system programming, hacking and security oriented coding, writing firmware for custom hardware, and in one word: Low level and low level.
So if you are not into these fields of work and study, trust me; you don’t need C, just stick to one of those beautiful high level languages such as python or java.
But if you are curios about how computer works, want to professionally learn to be a system programmer or are a student who has to learn some C to pass her university courses, let’s start our discussion about one of the pieces of this harsh, aggressive powerful language: Pointers
Any variable which is stored in memory has a unique address in the owning process address space. From the compiler perspective, variable is just an address. What is stored in that address of memory creates the concept of data types. That value itself can also be an address which is what we a name pointer. So a pointer is a variable containing an address to another part of memory. (It points to somewhere in memory. This is why it obtained such a name.) Consider the simple structure below:
struct test_struct{ int integer; char c; double h; } x,*y,*z,**p;
Okay. We have x as test_struct type, y and z as pointers to an object of test_struct type and p as pointer to an address to an object of test_struct type. Consider we allocate a test_struct object and assign its address to z. We name this dynamic object dyn_object . Also y has address of x inside.
– x is as object
– y has the address of x
– z has the address of dyn_object > z and y are pointing to different objects.
– p has the address of z
y ----> x z ----> dyn_object p ----> z 0x6009d0 |--------------------| | Object Content | | | | | |--------------------| 0x6009e0 |--------------------| | Object Address | | 0x6009d0 | |--------------------|
This is the sequence of codes to run:
1. x.integer=1; 2. y=&x; 3. y->integer = 2; 4. z->integer = 3; 5. p = &z; 6. (*p) -> integer = 4;
To understand what’s going on at the machine level we should look at the assembly dump of the compiled executable:
: push rbp : push rbp : mov rbp,rsp : mov DWORD PTR [rip+0x20047c],0x1 # 0x6009d0 x : mov QWORD PTR [rip+0x200481],0x6009d0 # 0x6009e0 y : mov edi,0x10 : call 0x400440 : mov QWORD PTR [rip+0x200458],rax # 0x6009c8 z : mov rax,QWORD PTR [rip+0x200469] # 0x6009e0 y : mov DWORD PTR [rax],0x2 : mov rax,QWORD PTR [rip+0x200444] # 0x6009c8 z : mov DWORD PTR [rax],0x3 : mov QWORD PTR [rip+0x20042b],0x6009c8 # 0x6009c0 p : mov rax,QWORD PTR [rip+0x200424] # 0x6009c0 p : mov rax,QWORD PTR [rax] : mov DWORD PTR [rax],0x4 : mov rax,QWORD PTR [rip+0x20041c] # 0x6009c8 z : mov rdi,rax : call 0x400410 : pop rbp : ret
As the comments implies, variable x is located at 0x6009d0. To the compiler and the computer itself there is nothing as x, x is represented by its address which is 0x6009d0. At +4, x.integer is set a value, the object itself lays at memory address 0x6009d0. The struct members are sequentially stored at that address one after another. So the size of x (the size of variable x at the address 0x6009d0) is equal to the size of test_struct. At +14 y (with address 0x6009e0) gets the address of x which is 0x6009d0. Look at +42. 8 bytes of memory is read from address 0x6009e0 which is where y is stored (QWORD PTR) . This 8 bytes are the address which y is containing as a pointer. Then at +42 this addressed is dereferenced and value 2 is stored there so that it occupies 4 bytes of memory (DWORD which is size of the integer member of our struct). Same as this happens at +55 and +62 for z but for a different object. Now at +79,+86,+89 we have two separate dereferencing for p. p is a pointer to a pointer of type test_struct. At the first stage at +79, 8 bytes are read from where p resides. All pointers to any type are 8 bytes in an x64 architecture. A pointer, a pointer to a pointer, a pointer to a pointer to a pointer ….. are all fixed 8 bytes values in which an address is stored. So you may ask why do we need types for pointers if they are equal in size. The answer lies in different things you can do with different kinds of variables including pointers. One reason for this is to try to limit programming errors – A pointer of a type should only point a variable of that type. Another reason is for pointer arithmetic. While an integer is typically 4 bytes in size, a double is 8 bytes. So an increment for a pointer of type integer causes the pointer to actually grow 4 units not one. On the contrary adding one to a character pointer sets its value to exactly one unit bigger since a character type takes up one byte in memory. Consider you have an array of integers with a pointer, pointing to one item of the array. In order to point to the next item the address must be added 4 bytes. But this doesn’t change the size of memory needed to store a pointer inside. A pointer is a memory address and such an address has a fixed size (8 bytes in our case). At +86 rax is dereferenced and again at +89 rax gets dereferenced again to finally store value 4 at integer member of dyn_object.
Conclusion
For anybody who wants to professionally develop or analyze system programs, a deep understanding of memory and how machine codes deal with hardware resources is indispensable. By using a simple program we tried to make the idea behind pointers and how they are stored in memory a bit more clear.
Contact: [email protected] twitter.com/_BitWar BTC Donation: 14VbVxML8M2MUnXF9kPAKWCEQka232pc5h Iran University of Science and Technology Department of Computer Engineering |
One commander who attended the meeting said that despite the risks in arming groups that have until now fought against the Americans, the potential gains against Al Qaeda were too great to be missed. He said the strategy held out the prospect of finally driving a wedge between two wings of the Sunni insurgency that had previously worked in a devastating alliance — die-hard loyalists of Saddam Hussein’s formerly dominant Baath Party, and Islamic militants belonging to a constellation of groups linked to Al Qaeda.
Even if only partly successful, the officer said, the strategy could do as much or more to stabilize Iraq, and to speed American troops on their way home, as the increase in troops ordered by President Bush late last year, which has thrown nearly 30,000 additional American troops into the war but failed so far to fulfill the aim of bringing enhanced stability to Baghdad. An initial decline in sectarian killings in Baghdad in the first two months of the troop buildup has reversed, with growing numbers of bodies showing up each day in the capital. Suicide bombings have dipped in Baghdad but increased elsewhere, as Qaeda groups, confronted with great American troop numbers, have shifted their operations elsewhere.
The strategy of arming Sunni groups was first tested earlier this year in Anbar Province, the desert hinterland west of Baghdad, and attacks on American troops plunged after tribal sheiks, angered by Qaeda strikes that killed large numbers of Sunni civilians, recruited thousands of men to join government security forces and the tribal police. With Qaeda groups quitting the province for Sunni havens elsewhere, Anbar has lost its long-held reputation as the most dangerous place in Iraq for American troops.
Now, the Americans are testing the “Anbar model” across wide areas of Sunni-dominated Iraq. The areas include parts of Baghdad, notably the Sunni stronghold of Amiriya, a district that flanks the highway leading to Baghdad’s international airport; the area south of the capital in Babil province known as the Triangle of Death, site of an ambush in which four American soldiers were killed last month and three others abducted, one of whose bodies was found in the Euphrates; Diyala Province north and east of Baghdad, an area of lush palm groves and orchards which has replaced Anbar as Al Qaeda’s main sanctuary in Iraq; and Salahuddin Province, also north of Baghdad, the home area of Saddam Hussein.
Although the American engagement with the Sunni groups has brought some early successes against Al Qaeda, particularly in Anbar, many of the problems that hampered earlier American efforts to reach out to insurgents remain unchanged. American commanders say the Sunni groups they are negotiating with show few signs of wanting to work with the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. For their part, Shiite leaders are deeply suspicious of any American move to co-opt Sunni groups that are wedded to a return to Sunni political dominance.
With the agreement to arm some Sunni groups, the Americans also appear to have made a tacit recognition that earlier demands for the disarming of Shiite militia groups are politically unachievable for now given the refusal of powerful Shiite political parties to shed their armed wings. In effect, the Americans seem to have concluded that as long as the Shiites maintain their militias, Shiite leaders are in a poor position to protest the arming of Sunni groups whose activities will be under close American scrutiny.
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But officials of Mr. Maliki’s government have placed strict limits on the Sunni groups they are willing to countenance as allies in the fight against Al Qaeda. One leading Shiite politician, Sheik Khalik al-Atiyah, the deputy Parliament speaker, said in a recent interview that he would rule out any discussion of an amnesty for Sunni Arab insurgents, even those who commit to fighting Al Qaeda. Similarly, many American commanders oppose rewarding Sunni Arab groups who have been responsible, even tangentially, for any of the more than 29,000 American casualties in the war, including more than 3,500 deaths. Equally daunting for American commanders is the risk that Sunni groups receiving American backing could effectively double-cross the Americans, taking weapons and turning them against American and Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government forces.
Americans officers acknowledge that providing weapons to breakaway rebel groups is not new in counterinsurgency warfare, and that in places where it has been tried before, including the French colonial war in Algeria, the British-led fight against insurgents in Malaya in the early 1950s, and in Vietnam, the effort often backfired, with weapons given to the rebels being turned against the forces providing them. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the Third Infantry Division and leader of an American task force fighting in a wide area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers immediately south of Baghdad, said at a briefing for reporters on Sunday that no American support would be given to any Sunni group that had attacked Americans. If the Americans negotiating with Sunni groups in his area had “specific information” that the group or any of its members had killed Americans, he said, “The negotiation is going to go like this: ‘You’re under arrest, and you’re going with me.’ I’m not going to go out and negotiate with folks who have American blood on their hands.”
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One of the conditions set by the American commanders who met in Baghdad was that any group receiving weapons must submit its fighters for biometric tests that would include taking fingerprints and retinal scans. The American conditions, senior officers said, also include registering the serial numbers of all weapons, steps the Americans believe will help in tracing fighters who use the weapons in attacks against American or Iraqi troops. The fighters who have received American backing in the Amiriya district of Baghdad were required to undergo the tests, the officers said.
The requirement that no support be given to insurgent groups that have attacked Americans appeared to have been set aside or loosely enforced in negotiations with the Sunni groups elsewhere, including Amiriya, where American units that have supported Sunni groups fighting to oust Al Qaeda have told reporters they believe that the Sunni groups include insurgents who had fought the Americans. The Americans have bolstered Sunni groups in Amiriya by empowering them to detain suspected Qaeda fighters and approving ammunition supplies to Sunni fighters from Iraqi Army units.
In Anbar, there have been negotiations with factions from the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a Sunni insurgent group with strong Baathist links that has a history of attacking Americans. In Diyala, insurgents who have joined the Iraqi Army have told reporters that they switched sides after working for the 1920 group. And in an agreement announced by the American command on Sunday, 130 tribal sheiks in Salahuddin met in the provincial capital, Tikrit, to form police units that would “defend” against Al Qaeda.
General Lynch said American commanders would face hard decisions in choosing which groups to support. “This isn’t a black and white place,” he said. “There are good guys and bad guys and there are groups in between,” and separating them was a major challenge. He said some groups that had approached the Americans had made no secret of their enmity.
“They say, ‘We hate you because you are occupiers’ ” he said, “ ‘but we hate Al Qaeda worse, and we hate the Persians even more.’ ” Sunni militants refer to Iraq’s Shiites as Persians, a reference to the strong links between Iraqi Shiites and the Shiites who predominate in Iran.
An Iraqi government official who was reached by telephone on Sunday said the government was uncomfortable with the American negotiations with the Sunni groups because they offered no guarantee that the militias would be loyal to anyone other than the American commander in their immediate area. “The government’s aim is to disarm and demobilize the militias in Iraq,” said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a political adviser to Mr. Maliki. “And we have enough militias in Iraq that we are struggling now to solve the problem. Why are we creating new ones?”
Despite such views, General Lynch said, the Americans believed that Sunni groups offering to fight Al Qaeda and halt attacks on American and Iraqi forces met a basic condition for re-establishing stability in insurgent-hit areas: they had roots in the areas where they operated, and thus held out the prospect of building security from the ground up. He cited areas in Babil Province where there were “no security forces, zero, zilch,” and added: “When you’ve got people who say, ‘I want to protect my neighbors,’ we ought to jump like a duck on a june bug.” |
Despite the number of popular dystopian novels written over the years, Americans have continually been optimistic when it comes to the future of technology. At least, the distant future of technology. We’re far less sanguine about the technology that threatens to upend our lives today or tomorrow, as a new Pew Research survey suggests.
In 1988, the Los Angeles Times took a break from crushing traffic (no, not really) to anticipate they’d have robotic maids and holographic conference calls in just 25 years. That prediction didn’t come to fruition, but it hasn’t stopped people from dreaming of a distant future where humans can teleport from one place to another, or control the weather, even as we anguish over near-term technological realities of “Glassholes,” inbox overload and more.
Following this trend, Americans are currently bullish on lab-grown organs, computer-generated art and other plausible advances in technology, with 59% expecting that technology will make our lives better.
Why is it that technological advances always look best at a distance?
The Rich And Educated Love Technology’s Future
Especially, that is, if you’re rich, educated and male. Right or wrong, based on Pew’s survey, if you are rich, educated and male, you are more likely to be bullish about technology.
Just 52% of those making under $30,000 feel that technological innovations will make their lives better, while 67% of those making over $75,000 expect those same innovations to improve their lives. In other words, those that make more money tend to feel more optimistic about the future of technology.
For those that have high school degrees and maybe a little college education, 56% of those people see technology improving their lot. That number rises to 66% among those holding a college degree. Perhaps given superior access to technology makes the relatively affluent and educated more bullish on its potential.
Interestingly, while one’s faith in technology tends to correlate with one’s income, it doesn’t correlate with age. Those 65 or older feel roughly the same buoyant feelings about technology’s potential as those under 24, or in between. But if we just look at males with college degrees, suddenly we’re looking at a population in which 79% feel that technological advances will make their lives “mostly better.”
And what does that future look like? Well, given the recent advances in biological engineering, it’s not surprising that we see lab-grown organs as a distinct possibility, even if we can’t quite see a future of “Beam me up, Scotty!” Bizarrely, we seem to be evenly split on whether computers will generate art (novels, paintings, etc.) that rivals what humans produce, with 51% believing this will happen in the next 50 years, while 45% think it will not.
Though apparently Americans already read the sort of drivel that a computer could write. Twilight, anyone?
Not So Bullish On Near-Term Technological Advances
While we seem to be happy about the distant future of technology, we’re ironically much less so about near-term, highly plausible advances. We imagine a future with all the benefits of technology, and none of its downsides.
As Aaron Smith, a senior researcher at Pew and the author of the report, notes:
[We] are especially concerned about developments that have the potential to upend long-standing social norms around things like personal privacy, surveillance, and the nature of social relationships.
To wit, roughly half of Americans think it would be a bad thing if “most people wear implants or other devices that constantly show them information about the world around them,” reflecting a distaste for a future filled with Google Glass. On other probable advances, Americans are even less enthusiastic:
And while Americans may like the idea of a certain technology, the survey suggests they’d prefer someone else try it out first:
In other words, we love technology, but we’re not completely sure if the forthcoming advances are what we actually want.
What is it that we’re looking forward to most? When asked what advancements people would really like to see, the most popular answers included travel improvements like flying cars and bikes, or even personal spacecraft; time travel and health improvements that extend human longevity or cure major diseases.
Given that Google appears most likely to give us self-driving and, perhaps, flying cars—paid for, in part, with our personal data—a conflict is brewing between what we want and what we’ll get.
Why Are We So Bad At Predicting The Future?
That said, we’re pretty poor at predicting the future, anyway. So as much as we want time travel, we’re probably not goign to get it. Not how we expect, anyway. How bad are we at predicting, exactly? Well, Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner argues “even experts are only nominally better than a coin flip.” (For those paying attention at home, that’s not very good.)
Harry McCracken nails the reason in commenting on this 1981 cover of Byte magazine:
We tend to think that new products will be a lot like the ones we know. We shoehorn existing concepts where they don’t belong. Oftentimes, we don’t dream big enough.
McCracken then goes on to point out the flaws in our current thinking about smartwatches:
Much of the thinking about smartwatches involves devices that look suspiciously like shrunken smartphones. That’s what we know. But I won’t be the least bit surprised if the first transcendently important wearable device of our era–the iPhone of its category–turns out to have only slightly more in common with a 2014 smartphone than it does with a 1981 computer.
In other words, we fail to predict the future because we’re completely constrained by our past.
A Future That Looks Like Her?
Whatever our near-term imaginings, like keyboard-less desktops à la Her, the future will likely not be what we expect. In 1988, the Los Angeles Times predicted a future of robotic dogs and supersonic jets as the norm. While some predictions have been close, most were simply wishful thinking based on the immediate problems of the day.
The one thing that likely will remain true, however, is our enduring ability to see technology fixing all our future problems … despite doing a somewhat dismal job of managing this in the present.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock |
While some understand the reference to Adam in Genesis to be a general reference to mankind as a whole or the creation of more than one couple, most conservative scholars reject such a view and understand the Genesis account to refer to the creation of a literal Adam and Eve as a single couple. This is further supported by the NT. For instance Paul understood the OT to refer to a literal Adam and Eve (see Rom. 5:14; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:12-13). He clearly understood the reference to Adam and Eve to the first man and woman.
As to incest, it was not considered a sin and was not prohibited for Adam and early man. If the race was to populate and fulfill the command of Gen. 1:28, there is little doubt that Adam’s sons and daughters had to have married their own sisters and brothers if the race was to populate the earth, but due to the purity of the race as evidenced also by the long length of life, there were no adverse effects as we see happening today. Gradually, as the effects of sin took its toll on the human race, marrying one’s own sister, etc., began to create hereditary problems.
Here is Ryrie’s comment on this issue from his book Basic Theology (1986 ed) which I would highly recommend. |
This section guides you through all the steps of the application process (which starts earlier at Cambridge) and explains what we’re looking for in prospective students and how we assess applications.
1. Course
You’re going to be studying to a very high level for several years so make sure you choose a course you’re personally interested in and will really enjoy studying! Check, also, that you meet the entrance requirements of the course you want to study.
2. College
Where would you like to live when you’re here? In your UCAS application, indicate if you have a preference College or if you’re making an open application.
3. Apply
UCAS application
If you want to apply to the University, you do so through UCAS. However, at Cambridge the process starts earlier to allow time for all of the application information to be gathered and considered.
Submit your UCAS application by 15 October – our institution code is CAM C05.
– our institution code is CAM C05. Other application deadlines apply for those wishing to be interviewed in overseas countries, and for some mature applicants.
There's an additional application form if you're applying for the Graduate Course in Medicine.
Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ)
Shortly after submitting the UCAS application, you'll be asked (via email) to complete the Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ) – a few extra questions requesting information not included in your UCAS application, which we find helpful. To make a valid application to the University of Cambridge, you must submit your SAQ by the relevant deadline.
Cambridge Online Preliminary Application (COPA)
If you're living or attending school/college outside the EU and/or applying for an Organ Scholarship, you need to submit the Cambridge Online Preliminary Application (COPA), and the deadline for submitting this may be earlier than 15 October (see the COPA webpages for details).
Transcripts
Some applicants will be required to submit an academic transcript.
4. Written assessment
Most applicants are required to take a written assessment, either pre-interview or at interview (if interviewed).
5. Interview
Everyone with a realistic chance of being offered a place is invited to attend an interview. That’s around 75% of applicants each year.
6. Decision
We’ll advise you of our decision before the end of January. |
On March 19, Hillary Clinton will be honored in New York by the American Jewish Congress. VIP table goes for $25,000; an individual can get into Cipriani for $1,000.
The Congress used to be a leading Jewish organization, but it folded four years ago and was reconstituted last year, by Jack Rosen. It’s his “show.” Rosen is a real estate guy who gave a lot of money to Bill Clinton’s campaign. And he’s devoted to Israel. The Forward reported that he gave money to the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in years gone by and raised questions about Obama’s support for Israel at a fundraiser for Obama at his house in NY in 2011 at which Obama then bragged on his support for Israel. Josh Nathan-Kazis of the Forward reported:
Rosen’s politics are driven by his support for Israel, according to New York Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf. “Jack Rosen is doing what’s right for Israel, and that’s his only agenda,” Sheinkopf said. After Sheinkopf emailed Rosen to congratulate him on the fundraiser, Rosen responded: “It was a good evening for Israel.” |
Judging color is the first step in tasting a wine
The color of wine is one of the most easily recognizable characteristics of wines. Color is also an element in wine tasting since heavy wines generally have a deeper color. The accessory traditionally used to judge the wine color was the tastevin, a shallow cup allowing one to see the color of the liquid in the dim light of a cellar. The color is an element in the classification of wines.
Color origins [ edit ]
red, Four glasses of wine colors (from left to right), white rosé and aged white wine with brown color.
The color of the wine mainly depends on the color of the drupe of the grape variety. Since pigments are localized in the center of the grape drupe, not in the juice, the color of the wine depends on the method of vinification and the time the must is in contact with those skins, a process called maceration. The Teinturier grape is an exception in that it also has a pigmented pulp. The blending of two or more varieties of grapes can explain the color of certain wines, like the addition of Rubired to intensify redness.
Red drupe grapes can produce white wine if they are quickly pressed and the juice not allowed to be in contact with the skins. The color is mainly due to plant pigments, notably phenolic compounds (anthocyanidins, tannins, etc.). The color depends on the presence of acids in the wine. It is altered with wine aging by reactions between different active molecules present in the wine, these reactions generally giving rise to a browning of the wine, leading from red to a more tawny color. The use of a wooden barrel (generally oak barrels) in aging also affects the color of the wine.
The color of a wine can be partly due to co-pigmentation of anthocyanidins with other non-pigmented flavonoids or natural phenols (cofactors or "copigments").[1]
Rosé wine is made by the practice of saignée (exposing wine to red grape skins for only a short period of time in order to give it a lighter feel closer to that of white wine) or by blending a white wine with a red wine.
Color evolution [ edit ]
The presence of a complex mixture of anthocyanins and procyanidins can increase the stability of color in wine.[2]
As it ages, the wine undergoes chemical autoxidation reactions involving acetaldehyde of its pigments molecules. The newly formed molecules are more stable to the effect of pH or sulfite bleaching.[3] The new compounds include pyranoanthocyanins like vitisins (A and B), pinotins and portosins and other polymeric derived pigments.[4][5][6][7]
Malvidin glucoside-ethyl-catechin is a flavanol-anthocyanin adduct.[8] Flavanol-anthocyanin adducts are formed during wine ageing through reactions between anthocyanins and tannins present in grape, with yeast metabolites such as acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde-induced reactions yield ethyl-linked species such as malvidin glucoside-ethyl-catechin.[9][10] This compound has a better color stability at pH 5.5 than malvidin-3O-glucoside. When the pH was increased from 2.2 to 5.5, the solution of the pigment became progressively more violet (λmax = 560 nm at pH 5.5), whereas similar solutions of the anthocyanin were almost colorless at pH 4.0.[11]
The exposure of wine to oxygen in limited quantities can be beneficial to the wine. It affects color.[12]
Castavinols are another class of colorless molecules derived from colored anthocyanin pigments.
Structure of compound NJ2 , a xanthylium pigment found in wine
In model solutions, colorless compounds, such as catechin, can give rise to new types of pigments. The first step is the formation of colorless dimeric compounds consisting of two flavanol units linked by carboxy-methine bridge. This is followed by the formation of xanthylium salt yellowish pigments and their ethylesters, resulting from the dehydration of the colorless dimers, followed by an oxidation process. The loss of a water molecule takes place between two A ring hydroxyl groups of the colorless dimers.[13]
Colors [ edit ]
The main colors of wine are:
Other:
Burgundy (color), a shade of purplish red
Sangria (color), a color that resembles Sangría wine
Ox blood, probably referring to ancient practice of fining red wines with dry powdered blood
Scientific color determination [ edit ]
The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) provides methods to assess the color of a wine using a spectrophotometer and the calculation of indices in the Lab color space.[14]
See also [ edit ]
Glossary of winemaking terms
Wine (color) or "Burgundy", the color of red wine |
A new fusion of wild camping and off-road touring, bikepacking gets you close to nature and far from the stresses of modern life. And autumn is the ideal time to go
I wake to the sun’s first rays and my senses are instantly piqued by the lapping of nearby waves and the smell of salt and woodsmoke. I wriggle out of my bivvy bag, scatter the stones of last night’s campfire and, after a stove-cooked breakfast, pack my micro-shelter away. Once the last of my bags is fixed back on to my bike, I saddle up and spin away from this idyllic spot on the Cornish coast, an isolated sandy cove I came across mid-ride. It became my free room with a priceless view last night – and my own private beach this morning. I’d love to linger, but the trail beckons.
I reached this remote stretch of headland entirely under my own steam, carrying everything on my bike in special waterproof soft bags. Bikepacking – an exhilarating fusion of off-road riding and minimalist wild camping – is fast becoming a popular way to explore the outdoors. The physical excursion and simple pleasure of sleeping wild offer the perfect antidote to the stresses of modern life and a refreshing recalibration of the senses.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Deep roaming … bikepacking in the Cairngorms. Photograph: Mike Howarth
Unlike cycle touring, for off-road bikepacking you don’t need to follow a ribbon of tarmac. Instead, you can roam deep into the wild – along flowing forest singletrack or moorland bridlepaths, climbing rugged mountain trails or dropping down steep, rocky gullies to wooded valley floors. Wild camping along the way allows you to strike out further along ancient trackways, and to turn each ride into an adventure. A bike is a uniquely liberating machine and – when coupled with a lightweight tarp, tent or hammock – opens up vast tracts of our landscape, allowing you to cover much greater distances than on foot.
It isn’t always a blissful experience, mind you. I’ve tumbled over my handlebars while heading down steep scree slopes, had to walk for hours with a snapped bike frame, and been butted by ill-tempered mountain goats. Bikepacking takes you out of your comfort zone and right into the heart of the wonderfully unpredictable British wilderness – and that’s exactly why it’s so enjoyable. Just remember your mobile and first aid kit, and let someone know your whereabouts.
Celebrating 50 years of mountain bothies Read more
To enjoy camping with a mountain bike, you do need to get minimalist. Not being laden down with heavy panniers means your bike will handle more predictably on technical terrain, while a micro-shelter brings you closer to the elements than a traditional tent. You really don’t need much equipment, and what little you do need is inexpensive and can often be improvised.
Scotland and much of Dartmoor are unfettered by camping restrictions, and the high hills of Snowdonia and the Lake District often allow mountain camping for one night. Some coastal areas and waterways also enjoy historic camping rights, though it’s best to ask permission if you can, and leave no trace of your stay. Given, too, the countless camping barns, hostels and bothies scattered across Britain, you can go as wild as you like.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Firm trails, cooler temperatures and no midges … Laurence McJannet enjoys the autumnal pleasures of bikepacking in a Wiltshire wood. Photograph: Robin Leck
Bothies in particular make for memorable mountain bike adventures. Although traditionally found in the Scottish highlands and islands, there are a dozen of these simple huts in Wales and northern England too. The Mountain Bothies Association has restored almost 100 and turned them into destinations in their own right – for those with an adventurous spirit. They have few or no facilities, often just a fireplace and simple sleeping platforms, and you don’t book them or pay for using them, so it’s first come, first served. It’s in the nature of most bothy users to happily share, though: I’ve never been left to camp outside a crowded one (and more often than not you’ll find them empty).
The joys of illegal wild camping Read more
Autumn is the perfect time to visit these once-derelict dwellings: not only is there more chance of finding one unoccupied, you’ll enjoy a warm fire and a nip from your hip flask all the more as the windows steam up from the chill evening air. In fact, autumn is a great time to embark on any bikepacking adventure: cooler temperatures, quieter trails and the end of midge season all help. Not only will the tracks be firm after (hopefully) being baked all summer, when you set off early in the morning you’ll have a hushed wild landscape all to yourself, and the entire day to watch it gleaming russet and gold.
• Bikepacking: Mountain Bike Adventures on the Wild Trails of Britain, by Laurence McJannet, is published by Wild Things (£16.99)
Beware of the hairy cow … three great autumn trips
Gower Peninsula, Wales (Easy)
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Your room for the night … the Gower. Photograph: Andrew Bennett
For those new to bikepacking, this peninsula route offers spectacular panoramic views throughout; plenty of sandy coves for a wild coastal camp; and mostly wide, undulating trails, with the gradual climb to Cefn Bryn’s whaleback ridge the only real exception. From Swansea, downland paths and clifftop trails keep the sea constantly in view. Your loop west can last as long as you like, all the way to Worm’s Head and the picturesque Rhossili bay if your legs allow. Oxwich and West Cliff are great places for seaside refreshments. The route gives you a taste for technical singletrack riding without overwhelming you, but it will whet your appetite for further off-road adventure.
Isle of Mull, Scotland (Medium)
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Wild forgotten trails … Mull
This beautiful corner of the western isles harbours my favourite bothy, Tomsleibhe, deep in the heart of Glenforsa estate. Take a ferry to Tobermory, the island’s colourful capital, and a wild, forgotten trail leads you past the rugged coastline at Ardmore and the wooded banks of Loch Frisa in the midst of Salen Forest to the rough estate road that unfurls along the banks of the Forsa to the bothy. Beneath the shadow of Beinn Talaidh and 7km from the nearest dwelling, Tomsleibhe is a truly remote place to spend the night, but all the more beautiful for it. With two fireplaces, it offers welcome respite from the Scottish autumn chill. Amid the evening silence you may glimpse a golden eagle, as I did, or spot a minke whale off the Sound of Mull to complete your experience in this otherworldly idyll.
Dartmoor, England (Difficult)
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Great for a bivvy … Dartmoor. Photograph: Jon Boyes/Getty/Canopy
The one place outside Scotland where it is legal to wild camp. You’ll be spoilt for choice as to where to bivvy for the night. There’s a testing trail around the moor’s northeast edge from Chagford Common to Dunsford. Over desolate Headland Warren, the path winds past cairns and tors, skirting temptingly past civilisation at Moretonhampstead before heading to the River Bovey’s sheltered banks. If you can tear yourself away from the cracking pub at Dunsford, the trail heads south over some wonderfully rocky singletrack at Lustleigh before you tackle the foreboding sounding Grimspound climb to complete a 40km loop. A challenging ride, but immensely satisfying. LM |
Infant walkers are a superb way to maintain a baby and its parents ’ well amused! They can be a amazing means of helping a kid take its first step. They are a joy to watch. Babies of a year old (5-17 weeks) could be supplied together with walkers. They are incredibly popular among parents every year, and countless can be purchased. But some think it is unsafe, though the risks aren’t many. For starters, walkers are produced with a frame that’s wheels and a chair. The chair has two holes or openings through which the baby’s legs pass. A baby can propel itself using your own feet when seated. Babies, that have not learnt to sit on their particular or remain crawling, seem to enjoy baby walkers because of the ‘ease in liberty’ supplied by them. You can get more details on baby walker pro by browsing our site.
Many parents prefer walkers to assist their baby learn how to walk and for exercise, apart from its security and entertainment price. Parents will need to realize that the utilization of walkers flaws the evolution of a child and increases the time required to learn walking. Safety considerations are to be made while shopping for the one. Walkers arrive in collections, shapes and layouts. While shopping for a walker, one must ensure the protection of the concerned version. Walkers with a broader and longer wheel base in relation to the framework are safe and far more stable. The specifications and folding mechanisms must also be assessed for safety before buying. Any accessories and attachments should be checked for screws or sharp objects which might harm the baby. It is advisable to own a check, even though walkers are created based on security criteria. Exotic toys, lights and other accessories are all attached to make them look popular with the child product.
Walkers are difficult to use on carpeting. Be certain the walker you purchase is suitable for the type of flooring that your home has. Since walkers enable babies to reach places they never could, it’s important to make sure that the home is made infant evidence. This may be ensured by placing dangerous items including knives, candles, ribbons, ribbons, dyes, electrical apparatus and cords, stoves, etc., at an height elevation. Stairways have to be shut, since most accidents occur when a child has accessibility to the stairs while still at a walker.
Although walkers seem fun, they call for additional vigilance out of parents, and the child must never be left unattended while it’s in a walker. Its own safety standards has to be cross-checked from a trusted source before buying a walker. Their usage should be ceased once the little one can walk with no assistance.
If you’re the proud parents then you probably might love to allow your child the best. The Best hippo toddler walker baby walker is that one of the greatest gift that you can give to your infant. It’s the duty of a parent to match the needs of their kids. This walker is possible for a kid to find walking and most beneficial because it offers a complete relaxation. The best characteristic with this walker is that it is very light and you can clean it easily. The material used in making a walker is completely safe for any kid. |
WASHINGTON — After six years of vague talk about a conservative alternative to the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans on Tuesday finally laid out the replacement for a repealed health law — a package of proposals that they said would slow the growth of health spending and relax federal rules for health insurance.
Opponents began the “repeal and replace” mantra almost as soon as the Affordable Care Act was signed in 2010, and while they have voted dozens of times to repeal the health law, the replacement has been elusive.
In finally presenting one, Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and his Republican team did not provide a cost estimate or legislative language. But they did issue a 20,000-word plan that provides the most extensive description of their health care alternative to date.
Many of the ideas — for “health savings accounts,” “high-risk pools” and sales of insurance across state lines — are familiar. Democrats in and out of Congress have for weeks been rehearsing their lines of attack. |
Haiti's real deal with the devil
Pat Robertson thinks that Haiti is poverty stricken (and earthquake-stricken) because the country made a deal with Satan to help them overthrow the French.
Back in May, the Times Online provided some slightly better insight into Haiti's past. Beyond a vague assumption that Imperialism had probably screwed Haiti somehow, I didn't know much about the country's history. Reading this story has been nothing short of nauseating.
Summary: Haiti was forced to pay France for its freedom. When they couldn't afford the ransom, France (and other countries, including the United States) helpfully offered high-interest loans. By 1900, 80% of Haiti's annual budget went to paying off its "reparation" debt. They didn't make the last payment until 1947. Just 10 years later, dictator François Duvalier took over the country and promptly bankrupted it, taking out more high-interest loans to pay for his corrupt lifestyle. The Duvalier family, with the blind-eye financial assistance of Western countries, killed 10s of thousands of Haitians, until the Haitian people overthrew them in 1986. Today, Haiti is still paying off the debt of an oppressive dictator no one would help them get rid of for 30 years.
The rest of the world refuses to forgive this debt.
So, in a way, maybe Robertson is right. Haiti is caught in a deal with the devil, and the devil is us.
Update: mgfarrelly points out another thing I didn't know—the U.S. Congress is currently considering a bill called The Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation. Part of what this bill would do is help countries like Haiti get their debt canceled, without making that cancellation conditional on things like closing down free schools or raising the cost of fresh water. Maybe a good time to contact your representatives about about this bi-partisan measure. |
Chief Alfred Durham invites residents to bring their questions and concerns as the department works to implement crime reduction strategies.
Richmond Police are planning a series of Town Hall Meetings following a recent upswing in violent crime. The meetings, hosted by Chief Alfred Durham, are in an effort to inform the public about the department’s policing strategy and to solicit feedback about what’s working, what’s not, and what can be done to decrease crime in Richmond.
“These meetings are a reflection of our mission–we make Richmond a safer city through community policing and engagement,” Chief Durham said in a news release. “The purpose of these town hall meetings is for the Department to get input from the general public. Our strategy depends on understanding what we can do better and communicating with the public how they can help in our mission.”
The Town Hall Meetings will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 PM on each of the following evenings; Tuesday, April 18th, Wednesday, April 19th, Tuesday, April 25th, and Thursday, April 27th.
There will be one meeting in each of the department’s four precincts.
Meeting schedule:
Second Precinct – Tuesday, April 18th; 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Southside Plaza Community Center, located at 4100 Hull Street Road in South Richmond
Fourth Precinct – Wednesday, April 19th; 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Richmond Police Training Academy, located at 1202 W. Graham Road in Northside
Third Precinct – Tuesday, April 25th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM at First Baptist Church, located at 2709 Monument Avenue in the Museum District
First Precinct – Thursday, April 27th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM at St. John’s Church, located at 2401 E. Broad Street in Church Hill
Residents are encouraged to attend these community meetings and bring questions. |
This channel is for gameplay videos, primarly of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer mode. I will never claim to be a great player but I do win games and get good scores by playing defensively, knowing where the enemy is, and by paying attention to map control. My hope is that if I share my advice that other bad players (like me) can learn to be more successful.Capture Card (Recording Device) - Hauppage HD PVR or Black Magic Intensity ProHow do you record gameplay - My xbox connects to my hauppauge via component cables. The hauppague connects to my TV to show the signal and my PC to save the video file.OrMy xbox connects to my Intensity Pro via HDMI cables then it connects to a monitor. The Intensity Pro puts a video file on my hard drive.Then I put it in Sony Vegas to commentate and edit and upload it to youtube. I haven't broken any new ground in this area, please search youtube to learn more, there are dozens of videos on the topic.Headset - Astro A40Sensitivity - 4KD - It was 1.62 and rising, now it's messed up (over 60) from a private lobby glitch. K/D whoring doesn't impress me. Communicate with your team, do what it takes to win, and be a good teammate. Competitive gamers know that's far more important than K/D.Win/Loss - 2.56Layout - TacticalXbox friends list - Always Full. If I don't keep it that way people join my team and harass me by blocking me into corners, knifing me, etc. It happens to everybody on youtube.Shout out - I honestly get 15 requests a day. I'm going to make every update video accept video responses. If you want to get noticed find my most recent channel update and post a response vid.Can I play with you - Maybe, send an xbox message telling me you want to play. When I have room in my lobby I go through them and pick people up.Will you watch my video - I used to do this all the time but now I get about 2-3 hours of requests per day. I can't keep up anymore. I'm glad to read your message and probably reply to your mail but I can't watch all the videos sent my way.I saw that xyz was on your channel, put me on - XYZ most likely did something really special that made him appealing to me. I promise you, it wasn't a result of him/her just asking for a handout like you are.The sharing gamertag app: http://hupitgaming.com/inde... |
Now playing: Watch this: The 7 best movies leaving Netflix in November
November looks to be an interesting month at Netflix. So many titles are headed for the wood chipper including "Fargo." The first five "Saw" films disappear in the beginning of November, so schedule your Halloween marathon now -- though how anyone can have Thanksgiving without Jigsaw, I'll never know.
Looking for good news in the departure list? Look no further than "Batman & Robin," which disappears in November. It was a movie so bad it shook the confidence of movie studios and put a pause on their investments in superhero movies for a while.
Speaking of heroes, the arrival of season one of "Marvel's Jessica Jones," starring Krysten Ritter, looks to carry Netflix for the month because it's relatively slim pickings out there. Check out the full list below.
Arriving November 2015
November 1
Beethoven's Christmas Adventure (2011)
Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce: Season 1
Idris Elba: Mandela, My Dad and Me (2015)
Last Days in Vietnam (2014)
The Last Time You Had Fun (2014)
Pasion de Gavilanes (2003)
Robot Overlords (2015)
Seven Deadly Sins: Season 1
Smithsonian Channel: The Day Kennedy Died (2013)
SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, The (2004)
Thomas & Friends: The Christmas Engines (2014)
Twinsters (2015)
Worst Year of My Life, Again: Season 1
November 2
Last Tango in Halifax: Season 3
November 3
Do I Sound Gay? (2014)
Julius Jr.: Season 2
The Midnight Swim (2014)
November 5
Amapola (2014)
Amour Fou (2014)
The Runner (2015)
November 6
Care Bears & Cousins: Season 1
Master of None: Season 1
November 7
LeapFrog Letter Factory: Great Shape Mystery (2015)
November 12
Anna Karenina (2012)
November 13
Atención Atención: Season 1
Call Me Lucky (2015)
John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid (2015)
With Bob and David: Season 1
Young & Hungry: Season 2
November 14
Blue Caprice (2013)
Dior and I (2014)
November 15
Continuum: Season 4
Jessie: Season 4
People, Places, Things (2015)
Soaked in Bleach (2015)
Tengo Ganas de Ti (2012)
November 16
Cristela: Season 1
November 18
Black Butler: Season 3
River (2015)
November 20
Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu: Season 3
Marvel's Jessica Jones: Season 1
Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso (2007)
November 23
The Red Road: Season 2
Ultimate Spider-Man: Season 3
November 24
Liv and Maddie: Season 2
November 25
Gringolandia: Season 3
Home (2014)
Switched at Birth: Season 4
November 26
Zipper (2015)
November 28
A Perfect Man (2013)
Best of Enemies (2015)
The Best Offer (2013)
November 29
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)
Leaving Netflix November 2015
November 1
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
America in Primetime (2011)
Bali: Season 1 (2006)
Balto 3: Wings of Change (2004)
Batman & Robin (1997)
Best Kept Secret (2013)
Best Laid Plans (1999)
Blues Brothers (1980)
Changing Lanes (2002)
Cleopatra (1963)
Conspiracy Theory (1997)
Core (2003)
Death Warrant (1990)
Fargo (1996)
Fela Kuti: Music Is the Weapon (1982)
Funny Games (1997)
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (2012)
Hero and Terror (1988)
House of Flying Daggers (2004)
Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002)
Last Waltz (1978)
Lunopolis (2009)
Move Over, Darling (1963)
Norman (2010)
Pajanimals: Season 1 (2010)
Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)
Rudy (1993)
Saw (2004)
Saw II (2005)
Saw III (2006)
Saw IV (2007)
Saw V (2008)
Scream (1996)
Secrets of Mary Magdalene (2006)
Soul Plane (2004)
Stand by Me (1986)
Taking Lives (2004)
Three Kings (1999)
Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (2008)
Year of the Dog (2007)
Your Inner Fish (2014)
November 3
Bratz: Good Vibes (2011)
November 5
The Perfect Stranger (2011)
November 7
Shanghai Noon (2000)
November 8
My Hope America with Billy Graham (2013)
November 9
The Road (2011)
November 10
Bratz: Pampered Petz (2010)
November 12
A Girl Walks into a Bar (2011)
November 13
Stranger by the Lake (2014)
November 15
Fleabag Monkeyface: Season 1 (2012)
November 16
Teen Beach Movie (2013)
November 17
Bratz: Diamondz (2006)
November 19
Breaking the Girls (2013)
Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013)
November 22
Alpha and Omega: The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave (2014)
Bel Ami (2012)
Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview (2012)
November 24
Art of Flight: The Series (2012)
November 27
Burning Man (2011)
Leviathan (2012)
November 28
Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012)
November 29
Romanzo Criminale: Seasons 1-2
Salamander: Season 1 (2012)
November 30
Jesus Henry Christ (2011)
Virginia (2010)
For more information on what's available to watch online, check out CNET.com/Netpicks or subscribe to the podcast (it's free!).
iTunes (HD) | iTunes (HQ) | iTunes (SD) | RSS (HD) | RSS (HQ) | RSS (SD) | YouTube |
The broader debate of women in videogames needs no introduction, regardless of one’s stance on the matter. Everyone with an Internet connection and at least some investment in videogame culture has heard stories of the industry’s gender bias (which we’ll go ahead and assert is very readily apparent).
Now, Desktop Dungeons itself isn’t some haven of progressive social ideas and forward thinking. We didn’t start the game with an overarching agenda in that area – but during the course of development, we were heavily informed by the dialogues, rants and documentaries around the topic of female portrayal and how some games screw that up so badly.
The time at which we truly started ramping up our in-studio policy of awareness about DD females was at the beginning of the beta build, when we had the opportunity to reset a lot of things (in particular, our art style). But we also had to contend with two major problems: one, our work on visuals was usually tied in with coding priorities, particularly during the early dev cycle. Thinking about stuff was one matter, doing it was another.
Our second issue was that despite being strongly opinionated on these matters with a firm, feminism-friendly stance, the challenges we encountered in representing our women fairly and respectfully were numerous and rooted in some really deep-seated bias.
So what we ended up presenting was a product that had a mind to at least not completely screw up. In some parts.
Though Desktop Dungeons has always been gender neutral in its story and mechanics, it came out the door with a male-slanted art roster. For the freeware version, the entire character sheet was male, only accommodating women when third parties made custom tilesets available. And when the Beta came around, we only began work on active female representation after we’d already dealt with the male graphics as our norm.
This was an intimidating task. We already had a unique character portrait for every race and class combo in the game (as a rough estimate, that’s about 120 different pics). Adding females to the combinatorial mix instantly doubled that number and we were additionally burdened with the requirement of not doing things the simple and “acceptable” way.
Quite frankly, we wanted the women in DD’s universe to be adventurers first and runway models second. This adjustment turned out to be startlingly non-trivial – you’d think that a bunch of supposedly conscious, mindful individuals would instantly be able to nail a “good female look” (bonus points for having a woman on our crew, right?), but huge swathes of our artistic language tended to be informed by sexist and one-dimensional portrayals. We regularly surprised ourselves with how much we took for granted.
And it wasn’t good enough for us to simply react with deliberate ugliness or typically masculine factors – the idea was for Desktop Dungeons to remove the gender binary entirely instead of just making everyone a man. In de-emphasising sex as much as possible, we hoped that players would be able to enjoy a more gender agnostic environment in general. Some of our proudest mechanical tweaks involved removing notices and choices in particular areas. Male / female adventurer rolls were deliberately made random. Gender-neutral character names were popularised in places. On closer inspection, one may notice the remarkable similarity between the in-dungeon sprites of male and female elves. And we have some quiet thoughts about the fluid nature of our beloved Kingdom Taxidermist.Shorthands for the feminine kept crawling into our work when we weren’t paying attention – smooth skin, homogenised facial structures, evidence of makeup, you name it. Even characters who we thought would easily sidestep trouble (like the female wizard) simply looked like young, pretty women in grunge costume rather than hardboiled dungeoneers. Portraits for some species went through several drafts just to deprogram our subconscious idea of what felt normal and right.
In some of the more egregious cases, time and pressure still had us throwing up our hands and going with what was easiest for us with slightly disappointing results … like bringing in an entire cast of female goblins relying on secondary markers like eyelashes and lipstick. We also messed up pretty badly by whitewashing our cast (with the occasional blue-skinned Bloodmage, but that doesn’t really count). And for the most part, enemy rosters and main story characters still reflect a heavy male bias. Our only obviously female vicious-tier boss is identified primarily by her role as a matronly figure. And while DD largely averts the problem of the overall female body getting needless sexualisation, we’ve gotta admit that the Earthmother still looks rather “generically hot”.
But we like to think that we did some good with what we tried, and our minor efforts – far less insightful and involved than most of the work done about gender in this industry – still managed to generate conversation and opened a few eyes from time to time, at least according to some of the feedback we’ve received.
If there’s one thing that we hope, it’s that our next game project will be more observant and inclusive from the very beginning, encompassing intersectional representation where possible and showing players that there’s always one more way to represent a complex group of people! It won’t change the world by itself, but we want people to know that we’re willing to contribute towards this long-due shift in videogaming’s cultural narrative. |
Tobacco smoke residues lingering in the indoor environment, also termed thirdhand smoke (THS), can be a source of long-term exposure to harmful pollutants. THS composition is affected by chemical transformations and by air-surface partitioning over time scales of minutes to months. This study identified and quantified airborne THS pollutants available for respiratory exposure, identified potential environmental tracers, and estimated health impacts to nonsmokers. In a ventilated 18 m(3) laboratory chamber, six cigarettes were machine-smoked, and levels of particulate matter (PM2.5) and 58 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were monitored during an aging period of 18 h. Results were compared with field measurements taken in a smoker's home 8 h after the last cigarette had been smoked. Initial chamber levels of individual VOCs in freshly emitted secondhand smoke (SHS) were in the range of 1-300 μg m(-3). The commonly used SHS tracers 3-ethenylpyridine (3-EP) and nicotine were no longer present in the gas phase after 2 h, likely due mostly to sorption to surfaces. By contrast, other VOCs persisted in the gas phase for at least 18 h, particularly furans, carbonyls, and nitriles. The concentration ratio of acetonitrile to 3-EP increased substantially with aging. This ratio may provide a useful metric for differentiating freshly emitted (SHS) from aged smoke (THS). Among the 29 VOCs detected in the smoker's home at moderate to high concentrations, 18 compounds were also detected in simultaneously sampled outdoor air, but acetonitrile, 2-methyl furan, and 2,5-dimethyl furan appeared to be specific to cigarette smoke. The levels of acrolein, methacrolein, and acrylonitrile exceeded concentrations considered harmful by the State of California. An initial exposure and impact assessment was conducted for a subset of pollutants by computing disability-adjusted life years lost, using available toxicological and epidemiological information. Exposure to PM2.5 contributed to more than 90% of the predicted harm. Acrolein, furan, acrylonitrile, and 1,3-butadiene were considered to be the most harmful VOCs. Depending on which criteria are used to establish the separation between SHS and THS, 5-60% of the predicted health damage could be attributed to THS exposure. Benefits and limitations of this approach are discussed. |
A memorial in Romania to six Israeli airmen and one Romanian who died in a training accident in 2010 was defaced in recent days.
The words “You are pigs,” swastikas and a pig were painted on the memorial’s stone face, according to the Ynet news site.
The site commemorates those who died in a July 26, 2010 crash of an Israeli Air Force chopper during a joint Israeli-Romanian training exercise in the Carpathian mountains. The crew aboard the Yas’ur (CH-53 Sea Stallion) helicopter included six Israelis and one Romanian air force officer.
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The memorial, near the small town of Brasov in the center of the country, lies far from major population centers.
Romanian police launched an investigation after Israel’s ambassador to Bucharest, Tamar Samash, alerted the Israeli police attache in the country to reports of the vandalism.
Samash also wrote to Romania’s president, prime minister and foreign minister protesting the incident.
The memorial was erected in 2011. |
The research involved 45,000 adults. About 15,000 of them were classified as vegetarians. Eleven years after the study began, researchers looked at the health records of the participants.
Eating a vegetarian diet can reduce your risk of a heart attack by more than 30 per cent, according to new research.
The vegetarians in the study had a 32 per cent lower risk of heart attack than did the non-vegetarians. The vegetarians also had lower blood pressure and better cholesterol levels.
Mayo Clinic doctors say that by not eating meat, vegetarians avoid one of the primary sources of cholesterol and saturated fat that can contribute to plaque buildup and blockage in the arteries of the heart. They note that study participants who had been vegetarians fewer than five years still had a reduced risk of heart trouble, which is evidence that it’s never too late to start.
For information on ordering the monthly Mayo Clinic Health Letter, please visit www.starstore.ca/mayoclinic |
The Saudi diplomat who on Wednesday was accused of raping and torturing two Nepalese women hired as domestic help has left India along with his wife, according to reports.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) asked for a detailed report from the police regarding the case. The diplomat has total immunity against detention or arrest under article 29 of the Vienna Convention.
The Nepalese woman along with her daughter who were rescued from the Gurgaon residence of a diplomat from Saudi Arabia, recounted their ordeal, saying that they were raped by five to six men. They brought friends from outside they use to rape us when the family went out, five to six person use to come from outside and rape us inside the locked room. They use to threaten us of our life, said the older woman.
"They have not paid us for last four months, we were working as maids in his home. We worked for a month at Delhi, and then he took us to Saudi and then brought us back to Gurgaon", she added.
They were brought to Delhi from Nepal, and then handed over to a man who further handed them over to a Saudi diplomat. They were lured for job offers after Nepal Earthquake, said Balakrishna, the social activist who helped in release of the victims. The police rescued the women on Tuesday evening after an NGO registered a case of trafficking of two Nepalese girls. A diplomat at the Saudi Arabia embassy in New Delhi has been booked for rape while his wife and daughter have been booked for torturing domestic helps in Gurgaon. |
SAA has admitted that an online application for its cadet pilot programme had the “unintended consequence” of automatically rejecting white male candidates, but denied it discriminates on the basis of race or gender in its recruiting. The admission came after trade union Solidarity said it had submitted two applications for the programme on the SAA website using identical profiles.
“The only difference was that one of the people was a young white male named Kosie and the other was a black man named Sipho. Kosie immediately received a letter in which his application was rejected while Sipho’s application was accepted,” the union’s deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann said yesterday. “Anyone can apply for the programme on SAA’s website, but applications by white men are immediately rejected,” Hermann said.
He said SAA had acknowledged this practice and defended itself, saying, “There is an over-supply of white pilots”.
The DA said it was “disturbing” that SAA excluded people from its pilot training programme on the basis of race and gender. “No South African should feel excluded on the basis of the colour of their skin or the combination of chromosomes they happen to possess. To do so is to take our reconciliation project backwards,” said DA spokeswoman on public enterprises Natasha Michael.
She said racial discrimination had been “the animating idea of apartheid” and had no place in a democratic SA.
“There has to be a better way of ensuring diversity, merit and redress than blanket racial and gender quotas.”
Freedom Front Plus MP Anton Alberts said the recruitment policy was “illegal” and his party would lodge complaints with the Human Rights Commission and the Public Service Commission.
“The FF Plus finds this action to be one of the most glaring examples of blatant racial discrimination by any government institution to date.”
He said there had been several judgments in the Labour Court which indicated that a position could not be kept vacant if no person from a designated group could be identified to fill the position.
“This implies that a white person can get the position in such an instance and that everybody should be allowed to apply for the position. The blatant blocking of an application based upon race is therefore undermining these court decisions,” Alberts said.
SAA spokesman Kabelo Ledwaba said the airline’s “normal” recruitment process allowed for vacancies to be filled by white male pilots, especially when no candidate was available from a previously disadvantaged background.
The cadet pilot development programme, however, was “specifically designed to redress the very serious demographic and gender imbalance” in SAA’s pilot corps.
Ledwaba said 85 percent of SAA pilots were white, only 7.6 percent of whom were women.
The cadet programme was intended to help meet transformation targets and anyone from a disadvantaged background, including white women, could participate. Should there be too few applications in this category, other applications would be considered.
He admitted that a “multi-stage online application system” had had the “unintended consequence of excluding certain applications based on the category of applicants”.
This had been corrected. |
After a literal last-minute cancellation earlier this week, SpaceX successfully launched and landed a Falcon 9 rocket last night in Cape Canaveral, Florida. While the details on most of SpaceX's missions are very public, this one was purposely shrouded in mystery: The rocket was ferrying up a spy satellite, the NROL-76, for National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). It was SpaceX's first big national security payload, and a sign of things to come as the aerospace company breaks into the shadowy world of military and national security launches.
Image: SpaceX via Flickr
Not much is known about the NRO's mission, which makes sense, as it's part of the US intelligence community. In the past, the intelligence agency has flown its payloads into space on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets.
Obviously, the enigmatic nature of yesterday's launch has fuelled speculation about it.
"One clue about the payload is SpaceX's plan to recover the Falcon 9 first stage at Cape Canaveral, a manoeuvre that requires significant leftover fuel and is only possible on missions with lightweight satellites or launches into relatively low orbits," Stephen Clark at Spaceflight Now writes.
As Clark explains, heavier payloads, or those bound for higher orbits, either restrict where SpaceX can attempt a first stage landing to an ocean barge positioned downstream, or preclude a landing attempt altogether. Yesterday, SpaceX successfully landed the Falcon 9's first stage on solid ground — at Landing Zone 1 located adjacent to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Yesterday might have marked SpaceX's first military launch, but we can expect more in the future. Next year, the aerospace company will deliver GPS satellites for the Air Force, according to CNN.
While we might never know the details of this payload, the fact that cats were watching the launch should hint at something. |
There are increasing signs that McLaren Honda's reliability and performance issues, which came to light in winter testing, are much more severe than at first realised and that it is time for some serious decisions to be made.
One option being considered is a switch of engine supplier - but what does that entail?
We have the answers below.
As well as simply getting a car to run quickly and without breaking down, there are many broader factors at play here in any decision on McLaren's strategy, such as finance, engineering resource and long-term plan.
And there is also the question of Fernando Alonso. He has made it clear that he plans to stay in F1 beyond the end of 2017, he does not want his career to end on a down note, so McLaren's Eric Boullier has told a leading Spanish media outlet that McLaren has to consider what steps to take to ensure it can keep him beyond the end of his current contract.
"I think Fernando is being honest with us, just as we're being honest with him. He first wanted to see how the new car was. And how the new regulations are. And I think he likes the new F1. He wants to be competitive because he has talent to show the world and to himself," the Frenchman told AS.
"And we need to be competitive to keep him happy. If we're competitive he'll be happy and if not he'll take his own decisions..."
So what would you do in McLaren's shoes?
There are three options:
1. Stick with Honda while they resolve their problems, but insist on a plan involving external assistance to ensure that they get a competitive product going forward.
Advantages: Continuity of $60m a year plus free engines, contribution to drivers salaries, stability, manufacturer support.
Disadvantage: 2017 campaign virtually a right-off, Alonso likely to leave, hard to sell sponsorship for 2018 against low level competitiveness and a negative story.
2. Activate a break clause at the end of 2017 or urge Honda to withdraw and appeal to the other manufacturers for a supply from 2018 onwards
Advantages: Continuity of funding, especially if Honda withdraws and pays-off the team, as it did with Brawn in 2008/9, time to develop a competitive 2018 package
Disadvantages: 2017 season a write-off, low points. Alonso may well look elsewhere.
3. Break with Honda and re-engineer the 2017 car around a new power unit
Advantages: Team would be likely to compete higher midfield from Spain onwards (after starting the season with Honda) and would probably score somewhere up to 100 points, better chance of retaining Alonso, better chance of selling sponsorship for 2018
Disadvantages: Huge engineering exercise requiring two months to optimise, expense and loss of financial support unless they leave funding as in clause 2, embarrassment for Honda, would expose any weaknesses in McLaren chassis. This could lead to Honda taking the rest of the year to develop the engine outside and come back in 2018 or withdraw from F1 if they feel they will not be able to get on top of F1 hybrid engine technology.
Either option 2 or 3 would be controversial, but it's clear that something has gone fundamentally wrong in the trust and communication between McLaren and Honda and they cannot be ruled out.
At the launch of the MCL32, Honda's Yusuke Hasegawa said that the 2017 Honda unit would be on the same level as the 2016 Mercedes.
"We have modified our engine with a much lower centre of gravity and lighter weight. However, it means we have a great challenge for the development, so I am very proud our team members have made a great job for this season. Of course we are not making any promises for this season, but our aim is to make the progress and catch up the frontrunners so that we keep pushing to make more progress.
"I don't know how much gain Mercedes is hoping to make. But of course we are aiming to achieve the top level of the PU, which is Mercedes at this moment, but we don't know how much power they are making now. But I am feeling that we are not behind from them (from start of 2016), but I think we will catch up with them at the beginning of the season.”
Given the reality as it was exposed in Barcelona testing from the outset, that it wasn't even going to on the level Honda was at in 2016, it appears that Hasegawa wasn't in possession of the full facts from his engineers in Japan about the engine and neither were the engineering staff at McLaren who liaise with Honda.
Trust is such a strange thing in an F1 team; it's tough between team mates sometimes as we have seen with Vettel/ Webber and more recently Hamilton/Rosberg. But between a team and its engine partner it is fundamental.
So there will be some tough and frank conversations going on now about what happens next and it will be fascinating to see which way the partnership goes.
If they go for Option 2 or the 'nuclear' Option 3 then the team needs to adapt to a customer engine from one of the other manufacturers. The new rules say that one of the other manufacturers must supply them.
While McLaren and Ferrari have always been culturally estranged, Ferrari is well equipped to supply a new team having dropped Toro Rosso from its roster. They have enough people to staff that. Likewise Mercedes, after losing Manor from its customer roster.
Renault do not have as many people on staff, having gone from two supplies to three for 2017.
As for the engineering, although the rules say that the main mounting points have to be standard, it's far more complex than that. Brawn famously engineered its 2009 car at late notice around a Mercedes engine and more recently Toro Rosso had a very late call to switch to Ferrari engines.
So here is what it takes to switch F1 engines.
Phase 1. Answer the big general questions: What are the heat rejection figures? How are the oil and water cooled and where do the pipes go? What is the cooling layout? Are there areas in the sidepods that need re-allocating? How does the rear suspension fit with the new engine? How does it connect to the gearbox?
Phase 2. Answer the physical questions: Where are the drives, the pump drives, the shafts coming out of the engine to the fuel pump, the ERS drive? Sometimes things are built into the back of the chassis, moulded around the oil tank design for example and if they are well out with the new unit it could mean a new chassis design. This could also mean having to re-homologate the chassis with the FIA and repass crash tests.
Phase 3. Electronics: The control unit for the battery can be placed quite differently for different power units. Some place them above the battery. The battery is around 30cm x 30cm with a depth of around 120mm and is located underneath the fuel tank, just behind the driver. Moving its control unit could be a real pain.
Phase 4. Finer details: How do the wiring looms run? Everything is as tightly packaged as possible under the skin of an F1 car and modifications can require revisions to the bodywork and that means valuable wind tunnel time. Gear ratios are another key consideration. They are set for the season based on power and torque numbers. But a new engine will have different numbers and this may require new ratios. Some take 10 weeks, others 4 weeks and are fabricated by outside suppliers.
In the case of McLaren going for Option 3 ideally you would like to have a month to do the redesign and manufacturing and another month to test it on a chassis dyno rig. But manufacturers are sensitive about rival manufacturer's staff being around when these things are tested.
A new F1 car typically gets around 4,000km of testing at Barcelona before the season starts. So from the point at which you started running your new engine in the chassis, you'd have to allow at least that much running with the new package before you were confident of reliability.
That's around 800 laps of a typical F1 circuit and would mean that the first four races after you relaunched would be challenging. So if you went for a change now, you'd be looking at racing from Spain onwards and then around Baku in June you would have a settled package. So that leaves 12 races to make the most of it. It's a massive undertaking and a massive headache, especially during the season.
But they have a headache already. So what is the answer?
What would you do in McLaren's situation?
So what would you do in the circumstances? Leave your comments in the section below |
Thomas Samson, AFP | Paris taxi drivers attack a car believed to be driven by an Uber driver near the Paris ringroad
French taxi drivers angry at competition from taxi app Uber on Thursday blocked access to Paris airports and barricaded the city’s busy ring road as they protested losing customers to the popular service.
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Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve responded to the strike by calling on police to immediately clampdown on Uber’s “illegal” low-cost service UberPOP, which lies at the heart of the dispute.
“France runs by the rule of law,” he said, while admitting that the final decision over the future of the mobile app was “a matter for the courts”.
Collègues #Taxis allez y doucement ! Il est même pas 7h lol pic.twitter.com/ac7GcPDq7t — Le-Pari(s)-du-Taxi (@david77004) 25 Juin 2015
Cazeneuve was expected to meet with a delegation of taxi drivers at the interior ministry at 6:30pm local time.
Earlier, strike leaders refused to hold talks at the prime minister’s office pointing out that Prime Minister Manuel Valls was away on an official visit to Colombia.
“At the very least he could be here when there’s a nationwide movement,” Karim Asnoun of the CGT union said.
‘The goal is to block space’
The "périphérique" freeway that encircles the French capital was closed in both directions in the west of Paris early in the day after cabbies put up barricades on the roads.
Access to three terminals at Paris's busy Charles de Gaulle airport in the north was blocked. Cabs also converged on the Orly airport in the south, and at train stations inside the city.
"The goal is to block space because we are really fed up," Asnoun told AFP.
An estimated 2,800 taxi drivers took part in the strike nationwide. In the south of France, cabbies set up barriers around Marseilles and Aix-en Provence, blocking motorway exits and cutting off access to train stations in the two cities.
Meanwhile, eight people were arrested at a taxi protest in the southeastern city of Lyon, according to AFP.
‘Uber taking jobs’
Taxi drivers in France, who have to pay up to 240,000 euros for their licenses, are furious at US-based Uber, which they say is endangering their jobs by taking customers away from licensed cab companies.
They, like their colleagues in several other countries, have held a number of protests against the app – some of which have turned violent, with Uber clients and drivers reporting being assaulted.
Dude @kanyewest we may turn back to the airport and hide out with u.picketers just attacked our car #ParisUberStrike pic.twitter.com/MtanurybOO — Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) June 25, 2015
Of particular annoyance to licensed cabbies is the company’s UberPOP service – a more informal operation than private chauffeured tourism vehicle services called VTCs that use professional driver – that almost anyone can sign up to.
UberPOP has been present in Paris since 2011 and has expanded to other cities, but faces a legal battle. A law from October 2014 placed a ban on putting clients in touch with unregistered drivers, but Uber has contested the rule, saying it is unclear and counter to the freedom to do business.
The interior minister also called for “calm” on Thursday amid violence that has been directed at Uber drivers in recent days.
On at least two occasions in Strasbourg last week, taxi drivers posed as customers in order to lure Uber drivers to isolated spots where they were attacked by other cab drivers and their vehicles damaged.
Uber's mobile phone app puts customers in touch with private drivers who then take them where they want to go, at prices lower than those of traditional taxis.
While popular with consumers, Uber is facing increasing limits on its activities in EU countries and a barrage of legal challenges spurred on by a furious taxi lobby, which says Uber drivers should be regulated the same way as normal cabs.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS) |
The Hacker's Diet How to lose weight and hair through stress and poor nutrition By John Walker
The Hacker's Diet , notwithstanding its silly subtitle, is a serious book about how to lose weight and permanently maintain whatever weight you desire. It treats dieting and weight control from an engineering and management standpoint, and provides the tools and an understanding of why they work and how to use them that permit the reader to gain control of their own weight. The book is intended primarily for busy, successful engineers, programmers, and managers who have struggled unsuccessfully in the past to lose weight and avoid re-gaining it. Computer-based tools and experiments in Microsoft Excel or the Palm Computing Platform are available, as well as an online Web application, but a computer is not necessary to use the techniques described in the book; paper and pencil alternatives are provided.
The Fourth Edition of The Hacker's Diet was released in November 2005. It is essentially identical in content with the previous editions, but has been extensively re-formatted to improve appearance, accessibility, ease of navigation, and standards compliance. The Fourth Edition strictly complies with the XHTML 1.0 (Transitional and Frameset) and CSS 2.1 standards and requires a browser which implements these standards. (As of the release of this edition, current versions of all of the most popular browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Internet Explorer supported these standards sufficiently to display the book without problems.) In addition, the browser and operating system must display Unicode character entities. JavaScript and DOM/DHTML are used in the navigation bar, but if they're absent or disabled, everything will still work. If your browser and/or system cannot handle this version, the Third Edition (Frames) or the No-Frame editions, both of which date from 1994, will almost certainly work. The content is the same; only the presentation is more rudimentary.
The EPUB edition is in the open document format compatible with the iBooks application on the Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch; Sony Reader; Barnes and Noble Nook; and a variety of other electronic book devices and mobile platforms. EPUB books may be opened directly with a Web browser using the EPUBReader add-on for Firefox or the eBook Reader widget for Opera, although users of desktop and notebook computers with Internet connectivity will probably prefer the Web edition, due to its more flexible navigation options.
If your Web browser has an EPUB-compatible plug-in installed, you can open the book simply by clicking on the The Hacker's Diet EPUB Edition link. Otherwise, use your browser's idiom to download the abovementioned file to your computer and then transfer it to your reading device according to the manufacturer's directions. For the iPad and iPhone (etc.), just drag the downloaded hackdiet.epub file to iTunes, where you should see it in the “Books” section. Then connect your reading device to the computer and the book should be transferred to it by the Sync process. If the book is not installed, make sure that you've enabled syncing books to that device, and that if you've opted not to sync all books in your library to the device, that The Hacker's Diet is checked to be copied. You must also, of course, have the Apple iBooks application installed on the device; if it's missing, go to the App Store and install it—it's free.
The Hacker's Diet EPUB edition contains no “Digital Rights Management” constraints: you are free to install it on as many devices as you wish, transfer it among them (if their hardware and software so permit), and pass on copies to others. It should be compatible with any EPUB reader hardware and software which can open standards-compliant unrestricted files.
Computer-based tools and experiments for Microsoft Excel and the Palm Computing Platform are available for downloading. A Web-based application, The Hacker's Diet Online, which can be used from any computer with Internet access and a Web browser, is available.
The Hacker's Diet Online This Web-based application allows you to maintain weight and exercise logs, produce custom charts, analyse trends, and plan diets from any computer with Internet connectivity and a Web browser. Data may be imported from and exported to other versions of the computer tools, or exported as CSV or XML for analysis with other programs. Microsoft Excel Versions compatible with a variety of Excel releases are available, all ZIPped archives of about 250 Kb. Palm Computing Platform An implementation of the Eat Watch nutrition and exercise log and analysis software for the Palm Computing Platform (PalmPilot, Palm, PalmOS, etc.), including desktop software for any platform with a standard C language environment which generates illustrated HTML logs from databases backed up from the handheld.
If you prefer to read the book off-line, you can download a PDF edition (1.3 Mb, ZIP compressed) which you can read with the Adobe Reader utility, available for most personal computers and Unix workstations, which may be downloaded free of charge directly from the Adobe Systems Web site. The PDF edition preserves all the formatting of the original book, and permits point-and-click navigation among chapters and to follow cross-references in the text.
Adobe is one of the most consistently irritating companies on Earth with which to do business. I'd like to give you a nice button for downloading your own copy of Adobe Reader, but they won't let me use the image without “registering” and “licensing” it, which I'm certainly not going to do in order to promote their product and its file format.
The Hacker's Diet was originally typeset using TeX with the LaTeX macro package. Camera-ready copy was generated from PostScript created by the dvips utility. The PostScript edition is a single monolithic file, almost 2.7 megabytes, containing the entire book as originally typeset. You can read it on-line with a PostScript viewing program such as GhostScript (which is free), or print it on any PostScript-compatible printer. Before sending this file to a printer, consider that the book is almost 250 pages long! This is a big print job, which will consume lots of paper, toner, and, potentially, good will of any colleagues with whom you share the printer. The PostScript edition may be downloaded as either a ZIPped archive or a gzip compressed Unix tar file; both are 702 Kb in length and uncompress to a 2.7 Mb PostScript file.
If your browser supports frames but isn't up to the demands of the Fourth Edition, the original 1994 Web edition with frames remains available. It allows navigation with a panel which lets you click chapter titles and go directly to that chapter. If, in addition, your browser supports JavaScript, simply moving the mouse over a footnote icon, like this one: will pop up a window containing the footnote. Moving the mouse over other footnotes displays them in the auxiliary window. Browsers without JavaScript (or users who have disabled JavaScript in their browsers) may display footnotes in the main document window by clicking the footnote icon, then use their browser's “Back” button to return to the main text.
Users with browsers which do not support frames, or those who prefer a more linear presentation in a single window, may access a no-frame edition of The Hacker's Diet with identical content to the frame-based book. The no-frame edition includes the pop-up footnotes present in the frame edition, but since few browsers which lack frames are likely to support JavaScript, you can simply click on the footnote icon to display it, then use the “Back” button or keystroke to return to the text containing the footnote.
by John Walker |
Building Secure UserAgents
I have been working on making an HTTP client (also known as a user agent) that is safe for end-users to control. I investigated building it in Perl, Python, asynchronous Perl, and Go.
During my brief downtime during my paternity leave I’ve been toying with a new application. One of the things this application will do is make web requests on behalf of users. There are plenty of examples of applications that do this already: RSS Readers, anything that has OpenID login support, and things that do postbacks; when someone sends an SMS to my Twilio number, it hits an endpoint of my choosing.
Sometimes applications that do these kinds of requests can be vulnerable to attack. Last year Clint Ruoho found a handful of problems with Pocket, a service Mozilla had recently bundled with Firefox.
The vulnerabilities listed there are only the beginning. Here are some things that an attacker could do:
Connect to private services, listening only on localhost, assumed to be secure
Read from AWS EC2 UserData (which Ruoho did in the example above)
Connect to private services running on other servers, that are not normally addressible to the outside world
🔗 How do we protect against this?
I suspect that most people protect against this by analyzing the url in the request.
if ($req->url->host eq '127.0.0.1') { ... }
For example, today, if you go to http://isup.me/127.0.0.1 (or the localhost version) it knows that you are hitting a “non-internet” URL. I made a domain ( test.afoolishmanifesto.com ) that resolves to 127.0.0.1 and today, if you go to http://isup.me/test.afoolishmanifesto.com it claims that the site is actually up. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We can tell that isup.me is running in an AWS-like environment because http://isup.me/169.254.169.254 seems to be “up” from the server’s perspective. There are a non-trivial number of private IP addresses like this (details in the appendix.)
So at the very least we cannot merely inspect the request, we need to verify the resolution of the domain.
use Socket 'getaddrinfo', 'NI_NUMERICHOST'; my (undef, @addrs) = getaddrinfo($req->uri->host, NI_NUMERICHOST); my @ips = map { my (undef, $ip, $service) = getnameinfo($_->{addr}, NI_NUMERICHOST); $ip } @addrs; if (grep { $_ eq '127.0.0.1' } @ips) { ... }
Even that is insufficient though. As Ruoho found, many user agents will automatically handle redirects, so even though the implementor may have done all of the above (which I think is non-trivial; I left out a lot of error handling in the second part and none of it correctly handles all of the various IP masks,) a domain could be validated, and then redirect to an IP that should have been blocked.
There’s also what is sometimes called “tarpits.” Some user agents define timeouts as “stall” timeouts: they reset when any progress is made. Consider the [Slowloris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slowloris_(computer_security)) attack, but implemented at the server side instead of at the client. Similarly a DNS server can return long chains of CNAMEs to cause the same kind of problem. This should be fixed with a global timeout (instead of the more common stall timeouts referenced before.)
Another vulnerability is unexpected schemata for requests. Some clients are smart enough to access file:// , ftp:// , etc. Clients like this must be defanged such that they only access http:// and https:// . I tend to only use less magical clients, but support for the above is only a patch away.
The redirect detail makes it clear that the post resolution verification must happen within the user agent. A solid user agent design should make this reasonably doable. The first user agent I’d heard of that tackled these problems (though likely not the first in existence) is LWPx::ParanoidAgent, made by Brad Fitzpatrick almost surely while at LiveJournal to protect against attacks originating from OpenID servers. LWP::UserAgent::Paranoid has since supplanted it with better, more modular code; but the general idea and usage is the same.
The problem with these two modules is that they are written in the classic blocking style. If you need to make 20 HTTP requests and each takes 0.5s you just spent 10s. Newer tools are asynchronous, and so could do 20 HTTP requests in parallel. When I do async in Perl I use IO::Async. In IO::Async here is how you could create a safe client:
#!/usr/bin/env perl use 5.24.0; use warnings; use Net::Async::HTTP; use IO::Async::Loop::Epoll; use Net::Subnet; # this list is incomplete, see the appendix my $private = subnet_matcher qw( 10.0.0.0/8 172.16.0.0/12 192.168.0.0/16 127.0.0.0/8 169.254.0.0/16 ); my $loop = IO::Async::Loop::Epoll->new; my $http = Net::Async::HTTP->new( timeout => 10, ); $loop->add( $http ); my ( $response ) = $http->do_request( uri => URI->new( shift ), on_ready => sub { my $sock = $_[0]->read_handle->peerhost; if ($private->($sock)) { close $sock; return Future->fail('Illegal IP') } Future->done; }, )->get; print $response->code;
If I end up using Perl for this project I’ll likely publish a subclass of naHTTP, or submit a patch, allowing the on_ready handler to be set for the whole class instead of requiring it to be set per request.
Before I came up with the async Perl option above I had come to the conclusion that it was be a ton of work to get it working in IO::Async and that I should just use Go. I might still use Go, as it’s more well supported for code of this nature. In Go I was able to basically use the same technique as above:
package main import ( "errors" "fmt" "net" "net/http" "os" "time" ) func main() { _, net1, _ := net.ParseCIDR("10.0.0.0/8") _, net2, _ := net.ParseCIDR("172.16.0.0/12") _, net3, _ := net.ParseCIDR("192.168.0.0/16") _, net4, _ := net.ParseCIDR("127.0.0.0/8") _, net5, _ := net.ParseCIDR("169.254.0.0/16") nets := [](*net.IPNet){net1, net2, net3, net4, net5} internalClient := &http.Client{ Timeout: 10 * time.Second, Transport: &http.Transport{ Dial: func(network, addr string) (net.Conn, error) { conn, err := net.Dial(network, addr) if err != nil { return nil, err } ipStr, _, err := net.SplitHostPort(conn.RemoteAddr().String()) // no idea how this could happen if err != nil { return nil, err } ip := net.ParseIP(ipStr) for _, net := range nets { if net.Contains(ip) { err := conn.Close() if err != nil { // wtf } return nil, errors.New("Illegal IP") } } return conn, nil }, }, } res, err := internalClient.Get(os.Args[1]) if err != nil { fmt.Println(err) os.Exit(1) } fmt.Println(res.Status) }
The above is very similar to the IO::Async version. Basically we set a global timeout on the client, and then in the code that connects to a socket, vet the socket before continuing.
Perl is not really the “big dog” of dynamic languages anymore, so I figured I’d document how to do this with a more popular language. I mentioned that I’ve been toying with Python lately already, so it seemed like the most natural choice. If you know how to do this with other languages hit me up.
I looked at urllib2, urllib3, and requests, and it seemed like this kind of feature is impossible in these popular Python libraries without significant rewriting, duplication, or patches. I would love to be wrong here, and will update this post if someone can show me how to do what needs to be done. Otherwise, if you are using Python and need to do requests on behalf of the user, best of luck: you may end up writing your own HTTP client.
Also beware that at least urllib2 is helpful enough to provide support for file:// . Make sure that if you are using urllib2, even indirectly, you remove support for untrusted handlers.
As with all security concerns, this is about measuring the cost of failure. There is no bug free code; the cost of eternal vigilance and perfection are too high. The only other option I know of would be to spin up a completely separate virtual machine isolated as much as possible from the rest of your system, in it’s own DMZ maybe. This is feasible, but it is certainly a high cost alternative to something that’s not technically difficult.
I was surprised at how easy this was in both Go and IO::Async after striking upon the post-connection verification idea. Initially I had assumed that this was a nearly impossible to solve problem, because I assumed it needed to hook into DNS resolution directly.
The other big win in this modern day and age is that timeouts are easier to implement, and tend to be more trustworthy.
I hope this helps!
🔗 Appendix: Private Ranges
Please do not assume that this list is complete. I would love for it to be up-to-date and trustworthy, but it requires knowing all of the relevant RFC’s. Here are the ones I know about and where they are from, almost all of these were informed by RFC6890, Sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3. Note also that some of these may not be a security vulnerability, like 0.0.0.0/8 , but generally I doubt that the extra check is going to be expensive enough to matter.
Address Block Relevant RFC 0.0.0.0/8 RFC1122 10.0.0.0/8 RFC1918 100.64.0.0/10 RFC6598 127.0.0.0/8 RFC1122 169.254.0.0/16 RFC3927 172.16.0.0/12 RFC1918 192.0.0.0/24 RFC6890 192.0.0.0/29 RFC6333 192.0.2.0/24 RFC5737 192.88.99.0/24 RFC3068 192.168.0.0/16 RFC1918 198.18.0.0/15 RFC2544 198.51.100.0/24 RFC5737 203.0.113.0/24 RFC5737 240.0.0.0/4 RFC1112 255.255.255.255/32 RFC0919
The IPv6 ranges have a lot of weird stuff in them. One block, for example, was terminated already a couple years ago. Again, I suspect that for most of them it’s safe to block them and then remove the block later if you find that you need to (like if you absurdly end up on an IPv6 only network.)
Address Block Relevant RFC ::1/128 RFC4291 ::/128 RFC4291 64:ff9b::/96 RFC6052 ::ffff:0:0/96 RFC4291 100::/64 RFC6666 2001::/23 RFC2928 2001::/32 RFC4380 2001:2::/48 RFC5180 2001:db8::/32 RFC3849 2001:10::/28 RFC4843 2002::/16 RFC3056 fc00::/7 RFC4193 fe80::/10 RFC4291
There are likely more. I think the definitive listings are here and here respectively, but some of the blocks in those listings don’t look private to me.
Load Comments
Posted Mon, Jul 25, 2016 |
The American Red Cross’ blood supply has hit a 15-year low, USA Today reports.
According to the nonprofit’s website, it got 50,000 fewer donations than it expected in June and its supply has dipped to emergency levels. Though summer is typically slow because schools are closed, temperatures heat up and vacationers go away, this year has proven to be worse than usual.
"We just aren't seeing the donors coming through the door right now," American Red Cross spokeswoman Karen Stecher, told USA Today.
The alarming figures may be attributed to a number of factors, including donors having taken off earlier than usual for getaways and the fact that many Red Cross blood drives were canceled because July 4 fell in the middle of the week, the nonprofit announced on its website.
Donor sites across the country are feeling the pinch.
A center in Wichita Falls, Texas is seeing an average of just five walk-in blood donors a week, the Times Record News reports. An additional three donors a week would enable the outpost to maintain its blood supply, Katrina Farmer, North Central Red Cross executive director, told the Huffington Post.
The need demonstrates the value of each person who gives blood. One donor can save three lives, according to the news outlet.
On a national level, in order for the Red Cross to adequately serve patients at more than 3,000 hospitals and transfusion centers, it must collect 17,000 pints every day.
The dearth in blood supply can have far-reaching effects. A physician, for example, may have to postpone an elective surgery if the necessary blood products aren’t readily available, Dr. Richard Benjamin, chief medical officer for the American Red Cross, said on the nonprofit’s website.
“In a worst case scenario, a physician may have to forego performing a more serious procedure for a patient because of a shortage of blood,” Benjamin said. “We need to do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t get to that point.”
But those who are reluctant to give, can draw inspiration from donors who make giving blood a part of their regular routine.
Jess Vickery, who passed away earlier this month from brain cancer, gave blood 581 times over the course of 25 years, myfoxhouston.com reports.
The do-gooder, who was a retired deputy, was honored by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at its first-ever “Donation Day.”
“He was a wonderful giving man,” Vickery’s daughter told the news outlet. “I’m just very honored to be here and to donate for him.”
To find out how you can donate blood at a local American Red Cross center, click here.
To read even more inspiring stories about committed blood donors, click through the slideshow below.
SLIDESHOW: |
Award winning journalist Sharyl Attkisson joined Steve Malzberg today on Newsmax TV.
Attkisson discussed the unprecedented media bias against Donald Trump.
Sharyl Attkisson: There’s definitely tilted news coverage. I can’t imagine any objective observer who would think otherwise. And, I tell you, I was in a room of journalists in which one of them encouraged the others quite publicly to step up and do something because he said the outcome of this election was so important. And the other thing he said led me to believe and others. He was talking about journalists stepping outside of their role to make sure Donald Trump doesn’t get elected. And he received applause for that. It’s fine for the pundits to do that but I think journalists are widely overstepping their roles.
Steve Malzberg: Obviously this was an organized event. Where were you? Can you tell us who said it?
Attkisson: It was an awards dinner for a group of journalists and I can’t remember which one of the Washington dinners in the past few months. And, you know, he received overwhelming applause… The public is much more divided you just don’t see their view represented in the news.
Malzberg: Again do you know who stepped up and said that?
Attkisson: No I don’t. I believe he was a former bureau chief. |
We’re back! Because, frankly, we think we can do better. Our first Perfect Road Trip ended badly. This time we’re determined to get things right.
So, it’s Italy… 500 miles from Venice to the Isle of Capri via Bologna, Siena, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano on the stunning Amalfi coast.
This time we’re pulling out all the stops for perfection with the McLaren 650S and its fellow 200mph-clubber, the Lamborghini Huracan. Throw in the mind-boggling 900 horsepower hybrid McLaren P1 and you see we mean business. For a blast along the timeless Amalfi coast, we choose two classic 1960s Alfa Romeos.
Being in the land of so much culture inspires The Stig to rearrange some furniture - in a bad way. The Midlands Gastronaut searches for his favourite local food - in the wrong way.
For our finale, we have the only cars feasible on the Isle of Capri - two Ford Capris! Surely nothing can ruin our Perfect Road Trip 2?
Sound good? Well, in the handy space above you’ll fine seven whole days of behind-the-scenes footage, only here on TopGear.com.
The Perfect Road Trip 2 is available for download on iTunes right here (if you’re in the UK) and is out on DVD and Blu-Ray NOW (place your order right here). |
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has possibly colluded with the Hawks to manipulate the highly questionable 2016 investigation into Pravin Gordhan and then deputy SARS commissioner Ivan Pillay’s early retirement. Now tax boss Tom Moyane is seeking retribution: Vlok Symington, the SARS official who unwittingly ousted the scam and helped it go up in flames, is on the verge of being forced into an illegal disciplinary hearing. Court documents filed by Symington reveal the conspiracy. BY PAULI VAN WYK.
Vlok Symington is the SARS legal expert who was the victim of a “hostage” drama in the SARS offices in October 2016. At the time, Mail & Guardian revealed how Symington was held against his will by SARS boss Tom Moyane’s bodyguard and Hawks officials because Moyane didn’t want South Africans to know that SARS’ own lawyers were of the opinion that the prosecution of Gordhan was ethically dubious.
The same Symington on Thursday filed two affidavits along with a myriad annexures in court that paint a picture of a conspiracy cooked up by SARS and the Hawks to “defeat the ends of justice by seeking to manipulate the investigation process” into Gordhan. From Friday Daily Maverick will unpack Symington’s explosive claims in a series of stories to be published over the coming week.
In his affidavits Symington has asked the court urgently to protect him from Moyane’s wrath which resulted in an unlawful disciplinary process and probable dismissal from SARS.
He further asked the court to declare certain disclosures he made to the NPA and Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) a “protected disclosure” under the Protected Disclosures Act of 2000. These disclosures entail how Moyane, with the help of his bodyguard and other SARS officials, possibly colluded with officials in the Hawks to target Gordhan unfairly, withhold exculpable information from the NPA and how this resulted in a “hostage” situation.
Symington’s urgent application will be heard in the middle of September.
“I believe that I inadvertently find myself at the centre of the political storm surrounding Minister Gordhan, and the broader issue of state capture,” Symington said in his affidavit. DM
Photo: NPA head Shaun Abrahams (GCIS), Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan (Greg Nicolson / Daily Maverick), SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane (GCIS)
Are You A South AfriCAN or a South AfriCAN'T?
Maverick Insider is more than a reader revenue scheme. While not quite a "state of mind", it is a mindset: it's about believing that independent journalism makes a genuine difference to our country and it's about having the will to support that endeavour.
From the #GuptaLeaks into State Capture to the Scorpio exposés into SARS, Daily Maverick investigations have made an enormous impact on South Africa and it's political landscape. As we enter an election year, our mission to Defend Truth has never been more important. A free press is one of the essential lines of defence against election fraud; without it, national polls can turn very nasty, very quickly as we have seen recently in the Congo.
If you would like a practical, tangible way to make a difference in South Africa consider signing up to become a Maverick Insider. You choose how much to contribute and how often (monthly or annually) and in exchange, you will receive a host of awesome benefits. The greatest benefit of all (besides inner peace)? Making a real difference to a country that needs your support.
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5 out of 5 06/11/2018 Just a beautiful product soft fine like spiders web and a future heirloom
5 out of 5 30/10/2018 Quick delivery, Good merchandise.Thank you
5 out of 5 23/10/2018 Beautiful blanket, perfect for christening day and received many compliments. Such a lightweight blanket, which adds to its preciousness - will be used in the family for years to come.
5 out of 5 22/10/2018 Beautiful! The shawl is just lovely. A very special item.
5 out of 5 19/10/2018 Beautiful Shawl Perfect for Christening of my Great Grandaughter, Brilliant service from yourselves.
5 out of 5 18/10/2018 Gorgeous blanket, can’t wait to use it
5 out of 5 16/10/2018 Excellent quality and service. Purchased these for the births of our children. An elegan wrap, babies looked like royalty!
5 out of 5 09/10/2018 Beautiful product, perfect gift.
5 out of 5 05/10/2018 We have purchased the shawl for a dear friend and it’s a dream.
5 out of 5 04/10/2018 Not only gorgeous looking but it feels amazing.
5 out of 5 03/10/2018 Soft, beautiful, delicate! Amazing shawl for special occasions made from softest of merino wool!
4 out of 5 02/10/2018 The shawls have shown to have been made with great care and expertise.
5 out of 5 28/09/2018 The shawl is so beautiful and soft. I bought it for my daughter’s christening and plan on passing it on to her when she is older.
5 out of 5 18/09/2018 Very good quality, and lovely design
5 out of 5 18/09/2018 Perfect - so beautifully made
5 out of 5 06/09/2018 Love my purchase...cant wait to give it to my sister for her first daughter. The texture is so soft, extremely well made. It's perfect.
5 out of 5 02/09/2018 Exquisite. Wonderful gift for my darling granddaughter.
5 out of 5 12/08/2018 Exquisite product. High quality baby shawl.
5 out of 5 08/08/2018 The baby shawls are so soft and beautiful!
5 out of 5 05/08/2018 Perfect couldn't be more pleased
5 out of 5 16/07/2018 Beautifully made and designed.
5 out of 5 08/07/2018 quick and efficient service.
5 out of 5 29/06/2018 as stated in first paragraph
5 out of 5 24/06/2018 Beautiful blanket! Very fast shipping.
5 out of 5 20/06/2018 Perfect quality! Love it!
5 out of 5 19/06/2018 Beautiful!! We bought for our daughter and also nieces! We love love love the blankets! Gorgeous!
5 out of 5 10/06/2018 Отличный товар.
Очень быстрая доставка.
Великолепное обслуживание.
Огромное спасибо
5 out of 5 08/06/2018 Sehr gute verarbeitete Babydecke, weich und anschmiegsam. Sehr gute Qualität!
5 out of 5 05/06/2018 Ivory shawl very pleasing to me. Some people may prefer white,but I don't think I had a choice in my price range.
I'm sure it will be well received when my friends great granddaughter is born. Thank you.
5 out of 5 04/06/2018 Lovely item. Would love to be able to get it in pure white too
5 out of 5 30/05/2018 Beautiful shawl which was exquisite
Would very highly recommend
5 out of 5 30/05/2018 Beautifully made. To keep forever.
5 out of 5 30/05/2018 Beautiful soft shawl.thank you
5 out of 5 29/05/2018 Ottima qualità e lavorazione accurata.
5 out of 5 23/05/2018 A beautiful shawl such fine quality. Lovely colour too. It’s my second purchase of this shawl as a gift for our new Grandson.
5 out of 5 17/05/2018 Copertina ben fatta, morbida ,leggera e calda
5 out of 5 17/05/2018 Absolutely gorgeous shawl for our first grandchild. Worth every penny. Soft, beautiful colour, not scratchy at all.
5 out of 5 17/05/2018 Nothing less than perfect and look forward to our new grandchild being wrapped in the shawl
5 out of 5 17/05/2018 Lovely blanket for a special day
5 out of 5 16/05/2018 Super quality and love the detail on the border, used to bring my new granddaughter home from hospital .
5 out of 5 16/05/2018 excellent .quality received it very quickly.
5 out of 5 16/05/2018 Magnificent, perfect in every way.
5 out of 5 15/05/2018 The quality of this item, speaks for its Self. One very impressed Lady who can't wait to see her grandchild wrapped in this blanket. Thank you.
5 out of 5 14/05/2018 Excellent. Very satisfied with this product.
5 out of 5 14/05/2018 Four years ago I purchased the same shawl for my first grandchild and she loves it. So it seems only fair to order another for the second grandchild.
5 out of 5 12/05/2018 My purchase was delivered as a gift to my daughter in law and she
loved it!
5 out of 5 11/05/2018 The perfect christening blanket.
5 out of 5 03/05/2018 Gorgeous and it is an heirloom.
5 out of 5 16/04/2018 Lovely, light and soft. Would be nice if the wrapping was a little less plain.
5 out of 5 10/04/2018 Beautiful item, I'm sure will remain in the family for years to come
5 out of 5 02/04/2018 Excellent quality item!!!
5 out of 5 26/03/2018 Beautiful quality shawl- super soft and very elegant!
5 out of 5 21/03/2018 Outstanding personal attention. I felt like royalty
5 out of 5 17/03/2018 Stunning shawl; very high quality
5 out of 5 13/03/2018 Beautiful shawl and wonderful heirloom.
5 out of 5 05/03/2018 We are extremely pleased with the quality
5 out of 5 24/02/2018 The shawl is beautiful, perfect for a baby. Very fine wool and a lovely pattern.
5 out of 5 22/02/2018 Great quality and very soft shawl
5 out of 5 19/02/2018 Liked shawl,soft and nicely made without being ridiculously expensive
5 out of 5 13/02/2018 couverture très douce et chaude
5 out of 5 12/02/2018 This is my second order within two weeks and my fourth over all. You can not beat GH Hurt and Sons service or quality. The we have no ordered three merino wool christening shawls and each is always perfect. I recommend GH Hurt and Sons to every expectant parent that I know!
5 out of 5 05/02/2018 the Merino Wool Christening shawls are impeccable! They’re made of the softest wool, my son always cuddles right up with it. This is the only blanket that comforts him and can stop his crying! The second he rubs it on his cheek, he falls right to sleep! It’s magical!
5 out of 5 02/02/2018 The best in the world. No other baby shawl compares.
5 out of 5 02/01/2018 Beautiful quality product
5 out of 5 01/01/2018 I was absolutely delighted with the shawl, it is so delicate and I can’t wait for my new grandchild to arrive later this month to use it.
5 out of 5 01/12/2017 Excellent product excellent service
5 out of 5 23/11/2017 I have already completed this section
5 out of 5 23/11/2017 Beautiful and delicate work.
5 out of 5 12/11/2017 I bought the shawl for my daughter, she is expecting her first baby in February 2018 and resides in Houston, Texas. I delivered the shawl personally on a recent visit and she was delighted with workmanship and quality.
5 out of 5 06/11/2017 See before- this is repetitive!!
5 out of 5 26/10/2017 Perfect. Wool so soft . Classic design
5 out of 5 24/10/2017 The blanket itself is beautiful and soft.
5 out of 5 11/10/2017 High quality beautiful shawl
5 out of 5 08/10/2017 Beautiful Shawl which i have used for my daughter's christening & use for special pram outings. High quality & very cosy!
5 out of 5 08/10/2017 Excellent quality and beautiful design. It will certainly be cherished.
5 out of 5 27/09/2017 Stunning craftsmanship, light as a cloud, just perfect!
5 out of 5 25/09/2017 Just simply practically perfect in every way. The shawl was bought as a Christening gift, so soft against baby's skin. Decent size.
5 out of 5 24/09/2017 Très beaux produits,très belle qualité parfaitement emballés et protégés . C'est ma troisième commande pour un excellent cadeau de naissance . J'en suis toujours aussi satisfaite,autant que les personnes qui les reçoivent . Je commanderai à nouveau . Merci
5 out of 5 15/08/2017 Shipped so fast! Wonderful service.
5 out of 5 12/08/2017 It is very soft and smooth toutch. Good for my first baby!
5 out of 5 11/08/2017 Beautiful merino wool and fantastic quality.
5 out of 5 07/08/2017 Beautiful Christening Shawl
5 out of 5 03/08/2017 Absolutely beautiful and top quality shawl!
5 out of 5 30/07/2017 The christening shawl is absoloutly perfect! It's exactly as described and will be cherished for many years to come!
5 out of 5 30/06/2017 Fantastic product! very pleased with it!
5 out of 5 06/06/2017 This was a perfect gift. It is beautiful and amazing quality.
5 out of 5 29/05/2017 Such a soft blanket! Thanks
5 out of 5 26/05/2017 the best on the market so soft so beautiful
5 out of 5 24/05/2017 Absolutely beautiful shawl
5 out of 5 12/05/2017 Very beautiful and traditional. Something for my daughter to cherish
5 out of 5 19/04/2017 AMAZING! That word describes perfectly what I think of the shawl. I have never seen something so soft and so beautifully made, I am really over the moon with the purchase, thank you!
4 out of 5 11/04/2017 Nice and soft shawl, but disappointing packaging
5 out of 5 05/04/2017 Love the item. Exactly as described.
5 out of 5 27/03/2017 Excellent product and timely arrival.
5 out of 5 20/03/2017 This shawl was so beautiful against the christening dress looks like made together.
5 out of 5 07/03/2017 A truly beautiful shawl with a lovely clean smell when I opened the package!
5 out of 5 06/03/2017 Have bought previously for my daughters. Super quality item.
5 out of 5 05/03/2017 I was advised to purchase a shawl from G.H. Hurt & Son from a family member who had ordered previously.
The website is self-explanatory and number of shawls available to order is amazing.
I am sure my purchase will delight the young couple awaiting their first arrival April 2017. The shawl is beautiful and packaging just finishes a fantastic gift!!!
5 out of 5 03/03/2017 Absolutely exquisite products
5 out of 5 03/03/2017 Such a beautiful gift that this is the second time I have purchased one!
5 out of 5 21/02/2017 Christening shawl - it is beautiful!
5 out of 5 13/02/2017 Excellent costumer service and product
5 out of 5 05/02/2017 These are absolutely beautiful and this is the third one I've purchased.
5 out of 5 22/01/2017 Just gorgeous! So soft and beautiful!
5 out of 5 21/01/2017 Excellent
5 out of 5 19/01/2017 For future christening next week
5 out of 5 14/01/2017 Excellent
5 out of 5 11/01/2017 Bought for my mew grandson, beautiful item well made thank you
5 out of 5 11/01/2017 Excellent service and speedy delivery
5 out of 5 11/01/2017 Excellent
5 out of 5 11/01/2017 The shawl is in daily use. It is beautifull but functional . It looks like an heirloom and has a delicate pleasing pattern . It is soft and warm, keeping a new baby at the right temperature day and night particularly
5 out of 5 05/01/2017 Wonderful quality.
We love it.
5 out of 5 23/12/2016 Lovely product, materials and workmanship of a high standard.
3 out of 5 21/12/2016 Les bords en forme de triangle ont disparu meme si j'ai veille a laver le chale selon les instructions de lavage. J'ai lave une deuxieme fois mais ils ont vraiment disparu pour ne jamais reapparaitre. Merci de bien vouloir me guider pour les avoir a nouveau
5 out of 5 20/12/2016 I was attracted to the delightful shawl that baby Prince George was snuggled in when his proud parents presented him to the world and purchased one for our first baby grandson too. The natural Australian and New Zealand wools are beautifully spun and the pattern is delicate and quite special. I was so impressed with the shawl that I bought another for our second baby grandson born this year.
5 out of 5 19/12/2016 Good quality and very pretty. An heirloom piece.
5 out of 5 19/12/2016 Soft and beautifully knit. Lovely pattern.
5 out of 5 18/12/2016 My new granddaughter lives in Dubai so preferred the cotton shawl., which I also purchased. In our cold climate it would have been perfect - so soft.
5 out of 5 18/12/2016 Great service.shawl soft perfect for new baby
5 out of 5 18/12/2016 Amazing quality and packaging
5 out of 5 18/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 18/12/2016 Very beautiful. I would order from you again
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 A beautifully knitted fine wool item. Lovely as a special gift.
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 The quality of the shawl is excellent & value for money. The fact that this is the third shawl I have bought speaks for its self.
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 Beautiful shawl, had many comments on it's craftsmanship
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 Brilliant product and fast delivery
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 Fantastic thank you so much
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 17/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Beautiful item. Well made and beautifully packaged.
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 The most beautiful gift for my granddaughter
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Gorgeous but our climate is too hot to really appreciate its benefit .
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Beautiful shawl, the best I've ever seen, quality is excellent
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 This shawl is absolutely perfect, I'm so happy with it- an heirloom!
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Excellent quality and very fast delivery.
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Very pleased with shawl. Well made and well presented product.
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 beautiful shawl for a new baby
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Superb style and quality. Beautifully packaged. Service excellent
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 c'était parfait, cela a fait très plaisir à la jeune maman pour sa petite princesse !
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Sono rimasta davvero contenta dell'acquisto effettuato. Si tratta di una copertina in lana merino di colore panna. È di ottima fattura, molto morbida al tatto ed ha un orlo davvero particolare!
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Beautiful shawl, will be a family heirloom!
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Beautiful gift much loved by the recipients.
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Excellent product lovely quality
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Beautiful quality , which should last for more than one baby !
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 bought for a christening present, this is a beautiful shawl
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Beautiful - it will be cherished
4 out of 5 16/12/2016 Good
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Beautifully soft and lovely design,
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 I can't wait to wrap my baby in this beautiful blanket!
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Beautifully made and presented in a lovely box. It was a present for a family member who was really thrilled with the shawl.
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Delighted. Lovely. Very pleased.
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 I'm positively delighted by the blanket; it is really lovely, very soft, and gets lots of good use.
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 16/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 14/12/2016 great feel of the fabric and loved the design
5 out of 5 12/12/2016 Wonderful Christening shawl (I bought two); excellent international service. Will do business again!!
5 out of 5 12/12/2016 Excellent and very beautiful shawl!
5 out of 5 11/12/2016 It is beautiful - worth the money and we are delighted
5 out of 5 11/12/2016 Produit de qualité offert à l'occasion d'un baptême qui a fait la joie des parents.
5 out of 5 11/12/2016 Beautifully made blanket. The detail is amazing and was the right gift for my gorgeous niece. Thank you
5 out of 5 10/12/2016 Timeless, elegant, and a must in any 21st Century babies life.
5 out of 5 10/12/2016 I was delighted)) Fantastiс quality!
5 out of 5 10/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 10/12/2016 The shawl was superb. I purchased a second one when my second granddaughter was born and I know the shawls will be kept for future generations. A wonderful Heritage item to establish in the family. I purchased the linen lined box for storage and the shawls have been used for the Christenings.
5 out of 5 10/12/2016 Lovely soft shawl, that will be used for many years
5 out of 5 10/12/2016 Beautiful, really pleased with product. It will hopefully now be passed down through the family
5 out of 5 10/12/2016 Very beautiful shawl, so delicate and soft for a small baby. I only used it for my daughters christening so it's had very little wear - it felt too special for everyday use. Will keep it as a keepsake for her.
5 out of 5 10/12/2016 prompt service Beautifully packaged Well worth the money
5 out of 5 10/12/2016 Beautiful wrap, would recommend summer and winter natural wool suits all climates.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Absolutely love this shawl
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Beautiful shawl. Saved for the next grandchild's christening.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 It was beautiful. Much nicer than I expected. It was packed in a beautiful keepsake box which was well worth purchasing.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Beautiful! A family heirloom in the making.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Beaitiful shawl, looks amazing
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Beautifully made, perfect
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Wonderful product. Great service.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 The shawls were beautifully made and perfect.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Wonderful quality, and workmanship.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 These blankets are top of the line! Classic style and perfect for bringing your baby home in.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Just right, fine wool and looked and felt the part...
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Perfect. Superb quality. An item to keep forever
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 As above well worth the money.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Beautiful christening shawl, delicate with eye catching scalloped edging. Perfect!
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Beautiful shawl. Will be an heirloom
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 An exquisite Christening shawl. Beautifully made and detailed. Very fine knit. Really an heirloom piece to treasure and was a gift to our new grand daughter for her christening day. I was delighted with the purchase.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 As Above
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 excellent experience thank you
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Beautiful. excellante quality.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Beautiful shawl. Arrived in a lovely gift box wrapped in tissue paper.
The shawl has been much admired.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Has been much admired for its softness and quality.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Outstanding excellence! !!
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Exquisite! A family heirloom. Will purchase for future children...
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Excellent
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Beautiful, looked lovely on the day.
5 out of 5 09/12/2016 Love that design and material of it, excelent |
NASA's unmanned Cassini spacecraft has already returned some gorgeous views of the planet Saturn, which it is currently flying around. But the latest images should be enough to make it and any other interplanetary travelers (such as Voyager 1) homesick. On July 19th, the spacecraft, located about 898 million miles from Earth, snapped a shot of our home planet as it appears looking from just underneath Saturn's massive rings. In this rare view — only the third time in history that Earth has been photographed from the outer solar system — the planet appears as a tiny but unmistakable glowing blue dot.
"reminds us how tiny our home planet is in the vastness of space."
In a closer view of the same composite shot released today by NASA, Earth's moon also can be seen as a fainter, white dot beside its parent. To top it off, NASA released images of Earth taken from another spacecraft on the other side of the solar system, the MESSENGER spacecraft, which recently orbited Mercury. It's difficult to put into words exactly the combination of feelings that these images evoke — awe, humility, splendor, isolation, you name it. As NASA Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker put it: "Cassini's picture reminds us how tiny our home planet is in the vastness of space, and also testifies to the ingenuity of the citizens of this tiny planet to send a robotic spacecraft so far away from home to study Saturn and take a look-back photo of Earth." Or as the late cosmologist Carl Sagan said about the first image of Earth from the far reaches of the solar system:
"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."
Check out the full set of images below and at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory website. |
Marilyn Morrison thought that if the other girls at school just got to know her, they would love her.
The eight-year-old girl decided to go back to her Texas public school after her mother, Chelsa, pulled her out during the second grade to be homeschooled. Marilyn, who is transgender, was still presenting as a boy to her classmates, and every day she would complain to her mother of headaches and stomachaches — the stress of being someone she isn’t taking its toll. But after a year of transitioning at home, Marilyn decided to return to school as her true self, wearing dresses and skirts. Chelsa says that the principal was supportive and even excited to have the young girl back in the classroom.
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“It was amazing,” the 43-year-old said. “The school was fully on board.”
Although Chelsa believed her daughter would be allowed to use the girls’ bathroom — along with her peers — she claims Marilyn was forced to use the nurse’s office, which was often locked. There was another facility in the school library, but faculty, many of whom didn’t know Marilyn was transgender, would allegedly stop her and inform her that it was for “adults only.” Chelsa claims that a teacher even complained to her that her daughter was using the restroom too often.
“She asked me over the phone how many times I thought she should go,” Chelsa said. “I told her, ‘As many as she wants.’”
The first three weeks that Marilyn, a bouncy little girl with dark brown hair, attended her new school, Chelsa claims administrators told her that the district received a complaint about her daughter “every single day.” But it wasn’t nearly as bad as the bullying from other students. One girl, who Marilyn calls “the girl with purple shoes,” has allegedly harassed her on numerous occassions, telling her that she’s “disgusting” and that her parents are probably “at home freaking out” about her.
One day Chelsa went to have lunch with Marilyn at school, and she says she warned her daughter to never go in a restroom — on or off school grounds — if she sees that girl in there. Marilyn told her that she checks for the purple shoes every single time.
A bill being considered by the Texas legislature would make it more difficult for girls like Marilyn to do something as simple as go to the bathroom in their school. State Bill 6, which is currently being debated by the state’s General Assembly, would mandate that transgender people use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender marker listed on their birth certificate. If schools choose to ignore state law, they would be fined up to $1,500 on the first violation and up to $10,500 for each additional incident. Parents say it would make what’s already a difficult, stressful situation for their children even worse.
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Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced last year that passing SB 6, also known as the “Women’s Privacy Act,” would be a top priority for the 2017 legislative session. That bill is a repackaged version of earlier efforts to strike at transgender protections in the state, which were ramped up following the issuance of guidance from the Obama administration in 2016 instructing schools to allow students to use whatever facilities are most comfortable.
Chelsa claims that SB 6 “changed everything for us.” Announced the first day of school, the district vowed to follow those guidelines, even though the bill hadn’t yet been enacted as law.
This meant the school — who had allegedly assured Chelsa they would do everything to support her daughter — went from being affirming and inclusive to what she calls “a waking nightmare” overnight. Chelsa says that she met with an administrator who refused to change Marilyn’s name or records in the system, which meant that even if teachers called her by her chosen name, she would still be forced to encounter her birth name constantly, such as on school identification.
“It didn’t feel good,” Marilyn said . “I felt like I shouldn’t be there and that everyone was just staring at me.”
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After she claims that a group of students cornered her daughter on the playground — telling her that she was a boy and that they would never call her Marilyn — Chelsa decided to pull the girl out of school yet again, just weeks after they had been so hopeful this time would be different. She said it’s been difficult to explain to Marilyn why she can’t go back to class to see her friends. How do you explain to an eight-year-old why people are discriminating against her?
Rachel Adams-Gonzales, a 33-year-old mother in Dallas, hasn’t had that kind of experience. Her daughter, Libby, began transitioning in school a year ago after asking Santa for a unique present for Christmas: She wanted to be a girl. This request wasn’t a surprise to her parents, as Libby had been wearing dresses and fairy costumes at home since she was three. Rachel sent the other parents in Libby’s class a text message to let them know that her daughter, who is now seven, would be coming to school as a girl; she claims it was a “non-issue” with her peers and with school administrators. Libby was fully embraced for the young woman that she is.
All of that would change, though, if SB 6 were passed. It would not only prevent Libby from using the girls’ bathroom at school but would block her from doing so in all buildings owned or operated by the state — including city parks and libraries.
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“The whole thing is ridiculous,” Rachel said . “They’re creating a problem where there is none and targeting a very vulnerable population that wants to pee. It’s hard enough to take three little kids in public and have to take everyone to use the bathroom. Now you’re telling me that I’m going to have to take my little girl into the men’s room alone? I don’t think so. That’s going to remove my entire family from public life.”
“Everything’s totally good for my daughter now, and it would fuck her life,” she added.
Matt Nurkin knows first-hand how difficult that is. Matt and his family live in North Carolina, who enacted similar legislation last year. House Bill 2, a controversial bill pushed through the General Assembly last March, blocks trans people from using the public restroom that corresponds with their gender identity in schools and government buildings. It also prevents local legislatures from enacting their own nondiscrimination laws to protect their transgender residents.
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His daughter, Sarah*, began transitioning in the second grade, and Matt claims that she became a whole new person.
“Overnight she went from being a shy, withdrawn kid who didn’t want to invite her friends over to play to being very outgoing,” Matt said. “We had neighbors come up to us proactively and say it was like seeing a different child. For the first time in three years, she had a birthday party with 15 of her friends.”
When Sarah came out in school, Matt says that teachers and administrators tried to do the best they could for his daughter, but that’s difficult under a law that singles her out for discrimination. Sarah has to use the restroom in the nurse’s office on her campus, which reminds her that she’s “not like other kids” every time she uses the bathroom. Although she’s just eight years old, Matt explained that his daughter is already “very conscious” of the fact that people treat her differently just because she’s transgender.
“After all that we’ve been through to get her into school as a girl,” he said, “she asked my wife, ‘Mom, when I get to junior high, can I finally be a real girl?’”
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The worst part of it, Matt argued , is that there’s absolutely no evidence that forcing Sarah — or any other transgender student — to use a different bathroom makes anyone any safer. Of the more than 200 cities and legislatures that allow trans kids like Sarah to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity, there hasn’t been an outbreak of sexual assault as a result. This contradicts the Republican myth, propagated by supporters of HB 2 and SB 6, that respecting Sarah’s dignity will lead to “women and children” being targeted in public bathrooms.
“In a situation where you’re sending transgender kids into bathrooms that don’t correspond with their gender identity, the reality is that the person in that situation who is not safe is the transgender child,” Matt said. “These bills put my daughter at risk.”
Statistics from UCLA’s The Williams Institute, a pro-LGBT think tank, show that 70 percent of trans people report being harassed, attacked, or denied entry when using public restrooms.
The Texas legislature, which is currently debating SB 6, is expected to hold a hearing about the bill this week. Chelsa and her daughter will be in attendance to testify against the legislation, but their work was made even harder last week when the Trump administration revoked the Obama guidelines for trans students. Although Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 — which prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of gender identity — still stands, it becomes much more difficult to implement without federal best practices on the subject.
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Chelsa believes that getting through to legislators is of critical importance for a youth population that faces a disproportionately high risk of self-harm and suicide.
“We all know what support means for this community,” she said. “It’s everything. It’s the difference between life and death. Our kids are so terrified because of what’s going on politically right now. It’s horrible for them... and the parents are having a hard time, too. We’re all trying to put one foot in front of the other, speak out where we can, and let people know that our youth need to be protected.”
Marilyn, though, just wants to be back in school with her friends and be treated like she belongs. “I want to go back so bad,” she said. “They’re scared of me, but why would they be afraid? I’m just like any other girl.”
*name changed out of respect for child’s privacy |
NEW! Buy the kit! I’m now offering this project in a craft kit! No tools needed, just you and some time!
Recently this photo of my popsicle stick trivet appeared on DIYLife. I was blown away by this and it has inspired me to finally write a tutorial for it.
I originally made a trivet like this when I was 5. My sister and I would walk to a local park on the weekends and do arts and crafts and this was the project one day. The one I made back then had 70s orange wooden beads and we used it almost every night for dinner. I used to love sitting at the table waiting for dinner to be ready and playing with the trivet. I loved how it folded up and made a satisfying splat when I pushed it flat. I’m sure it’s still around but in the shuffle of stuff after my parent’s divorce a few years back I’m not sure where it landed so I decided to make one for my family.
Although I generally knew what to do I started looking on the Internet for tutorials for Popsicle stick trivets and didn’t find much. Eventually, I stumbled on this tutorial that I used as a jumping off point.
How to make a Popsicle Stick Trivet.
Supplies:
The first and most laborious part is the drilling of the Popsicle sticks. You need to drill three, 1/16″ holes in each Popsicle stick. One hole at 6/16″ another at 2″ and another at 3 3/4″. As I experimented I found that stacking 3 on top of each other works pretty well but once you get higher than that it’s hard for them to stay aligned. I used 45 Popsicle sticks in my trivet but you could use a few more or a few less, whatever works to make a circle.
I put my beads in a bowl so they were a little easier to sort and get at. At this point, you could sort them by size to make it a little easier to put the whole thing together or just leave them all mixed up and sort as you go. I chose the latter method. Finally cut three lengths of elastic 8″, 18″ and 28″.
Putting it all together.
Tie a knot at the end of each of the lengths of elastic and then feed it through a Popsicle stick. Pull the the 8″ length through the hole 6/16″ from the bottom, the 18″ length through the hole in the middle and the 28″ length through the hole at the top. Next, put a 1/2″ bead through the elastic at the top a 1/4″ bead through the elastic in the middle and nothing on the bottom. Thread on the next Popsicle stick and repeat that pattern again until you have a circle.
Once you have added enough Popsicle sticks and beads to make an entire circle, in my case 45, then pull the elastic taught so that there is little to no space between the beads and the Popsicle sticks. Then tie the loose ends to the knotted ends on the first Popsicle stick and you have a finished popsicle stick trivet! If you make the knot small enough it can slip into one of the beads and disappear.
This popsicle stick trivet is a great craft to do with kids because once the drilling is done it’s just assembly. I hope you enjoy this and if you make one I’d love to see some pictures. |
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Macy's To Streamline Management Structure; Targets Annual Savings Of $100 Mln Macy's, Inc. (M) announced the company has launched a multi-year program focused on growing its profitability rate by improving productivity across the enterprise. As an initial step in this productivity plan, the company has announced a restructuring that reduces the complexity of the upper management...
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Realogy Holdings Board Approves Share Buyback, Declares Dividend While reporting its fourth-quarter financial results on Tuesday, Realogy Holdings Corp. (RLGY), a provider of residential real estate services, said its Board of Directors has authorized a new share repurchase program for up to $175 million of the company's common stock. This is in addition to the $29...
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Sempra Energy Affirms FY19 EPS Outlook - Quick Facts While reporting financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2018, Sempra Energy (SRE) on Tuesday affirmed its fiscal 2019 adjusted earnings guidance in the range of $5.70 to $6.30 per share. On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $6.03...
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Growth and Development, Housing
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HOMEOWNERSHIP HAS TRADITIONALLY been a marker of middle-class life, and a tool for vaulting families solidly into the middle class. Sustainable homeownership builds family wealth, and helps stabilize neighborhoods. But over the past decade, the nature of homeownership in Massachusetts has shifted drastically.
Middle-class families in Massa-chusetts are increasingly struggling to access homeownership—especially in greater Boston, where the bulk of the state’s jobs are located.
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The past 10 years have seen a sharp erosion in middle-class homeownership across Massachusetts. There are now far fewer middle-class homeowners in Massachusetts than a decade ago, and the average Massachusetts family can no longer afford to buy the average Massachusetts home.
This shift is deeply concerning, because it challenges long-held assumptions about what homeownership looks like in the Commonwealth, who it’s for, and what role homeownership plays in the state’s economic life. Without a concerted policy response to increase home production in Massachusetts and bring down home prices, homeownership is in danger of becoming an upper-class luxury.
The number of owner-occupied homes has essentially been flat for the past decade: Massachusetts has 1.6 million owner-occupied homes, but the state added just 12,000 home-owning households between 2005 and 2015, the most recent year for which Census data are available.
This overall flatness in homeownership masks some seismic shifts, though.
Massachusetts lost roughly one in every four lower-income home-owning households between 2005 and 2015. That is, Census data show that the number of homeowners with household incomes under $50,000 has shrunk by nearly 25 percent over the past decade.
Additionally, over the last decade, the state lost nearly one in every five of its middle-income homeowners—those with household incomes between $50,000 and $100,000. In 2005, two-thirds of Massachusetts homes were occupied by households earning below $100,000; that share has now fallen to slightly more than half.
At the same time that middle-income and moderate-income homeownership are being crowded out of the housing market, Massachusetts has seen a dramatic homeownership expansion at the upper tier of the income spectrum. Nearly all the state’s growth in homeownership is happening among the top 20 percent of wage-earners, and among those households with incomes that are at least twice the state’s median wage.
This sorting of homeownership by income is a national phenomenon, but the swing away from moderate- and middle-income homeownership has been far more exaggerated in Massachusetts than in the country at large.
The growing inability of working Massachusetts families to afford homeownership—reflected in the shrinking ranks of moderate- and middle-income homeowners in the Commonwealth—is a symptom of this state’s longstanding housing production dysfunction.
Massachusetts has struggled, for decades, to deliver the kind of housing residents want to live in, in the quantity residents demand. The pace of overall housing construction is now roughly half what it was during the 1960s and 1970s.
Because Massachusetts is a home-rule state, where each city and town controls its own pace of development, housing growth has been extremely uneven. A handful of fast-growing communities are shouldering much of the Boston region’s growth. Data compiled by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council show that, over the past decade, more than half of the multi-family housing construction in Massachusetts has occurred in just five communities—Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, and Watertown—while 207 of the state’s municipalities did not permit any multifamily housing development.
The planning council estimates that by 2040 cities and towns in the 101-municipality metro Boston region will need to add up to 435,000 new housing units to keep up with housing demand. Two-thirds of this future housing demand is for multifamily housing, appropriate for younger residents, young families, and empty nesters.
Massachusetts already has a significant stock of single-family housing, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council estimates that two-thirds of the future demand for single-family homes can be met with existing homes. But this math only works if the households who want to live in smaller townhomes and town centers have access to the type of denser, more walkable housing they demand. Cities and towns aren’t currently building enough new multifamily housing to keep up with demand. As a result, the gears of the housing market are getting gummed up.
When families aren’t able to cycle between the types of housing they demand, households get locked in place, and a shortage of homes for sale drives up prices. This is happening right now, across Massachusetts. The inventory of homes for sale is historically low, and has been declining for five straight years. For-sale inventory over the five years has been falling, and home prices have shot up by 30 percent.
Slow multifamily housing development is compounded by the large-lot, single-family zoning that’s common across much of Massachusetts. The average lot required by local zoning is far larger in Massachusetts than across the rest of the country. Large-lot zoning promotes suburban sprawl, and creates perverse incentives for homebuilders to build large, expensive homes that are unaffordable to the average family. Nationally, homebuilders are building far fewer starter homes than they did even a decade ago; minimum lot sizes in Massachusetts exceed what zoning across the rest of the country requires, making it even more difficult to build modestly-sized, modestly-priced starter homes.
Restrictive zoning keeps the supply of new housing from meeting regional demand. These restrictions have caused the price of housing in the Commonwealth to spike: since 1980, home prices have risen twice as quickly in Massachusetts as they have in the rest of the US. As a result, moderate- and middle-income homebuyers are increasingly being pushed to the sidelines. Research released last year by the Urban Land Institute and sponsored by MassHousing found that very few towns in eastern Massachusetts remain affordable to middle-income families. Data from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council show that fewer than one in every three home sales between 2014 and 2015 in metropolitan Boston were affordable to an average family.
It is not economically sustainable to have substantial homeownership growth only happening at a level that’s at least twice the median income, while the broad middle class is crowded out of the housing market. If housing price burdens fall heavily on the Massachusetts workforce, and particularly on recent college graduates and young families, the state won’t be able to continue to attract the educated, talented workforce needed to grow the economy. Highly-educated workers are mobile, and many of the Bay State’s economic competitors already offer broader housing choices, at more affordable prices.
Housing affordability challenges also lead to more income inequality. Last year’s Urban Land Institute report found that eastern Massachusetts has been steadily losing middle-class residents, while gaining residents at both extremes of the income spectrum. By pricing middle-class buyers out of the housing market, high housing prices contribute to the hollowing out of the region’s middle class.
Policy decisions created Massachusetts’s middle-income affordability crunch. And strategic policy responses can ease it, and create meaningful homeownership opportunities for residents across the Commonwealth. Here are three places for policymakers to start.
Create new opportunities for suburban multifamily construction: Boston can’t carry all of the Common-wealth’s new housing supply, and there’s strong demand for new suburban apartments, condominiums, and townhomes for residents of all ages. Cities and towns outside Boston can help meet this demand, and strengthen their own footing, by thinking creatively about how to harness new housing to drive broad-based community development.
For instance, MassHousing is partnering with Beverly to transform a vacant MBTA parcel at the Beverly Depot commuter rail garage into a mix of market-rate and subsidized housing for those who don’t qualify for traditional affordable housing but who still cannot afford market rents. At a groundbreaking ceremony earlier this year, Beverly Mayor Michael Cahill argued that the new downtown housing would improve business for the city’s small retailers. Similar initiatives are taking place in Medford and Plymouth.
In each of these cases, municipalities are growing their housing stock to boost local tax revenues, create new jobs, and create a greater diversity of housing options for their residents. And these types of opportunities—to promote healthier town centers, and to revitalize tired retail strips through the development of new housing—exist across the state.
Build more starter homes for young families: To increase middle-class homeownership, Massachusetts needs to create homeownership opportunities that are affordable to middle-class buyers. The zoning in many communities actively works against that outcome, though. The mature suburban streets that exist in communities across Massachusetts likely wouldn’t be able to be built today, thanks to decades of down-zoning and today’s large-lot requirements. In Falmouth, for instance, a developer looking to replicate the single-family development pattern adjacent to his project site is pursuing building permits under Chapter 40B, the state’s anti-snob zoning statute; current zoning only allows for the construction of three new homes, on a site that contains 4.6 acres of buildable land.
Communities now have an opportunity to break this pattern, and encourage homebuilders to deliver single-family homes affordable to first-time homebuyers. In last year’s economic development legislation, Gov. Charlie Baker secured passage of a new incentive under the Chapter 40R smart growth law to encourage the development of smart growth starter home subdivisions. By adopting new overlay zoning that promotes the development of modestly-sized homes on quarter-acre lots, communities can now provide an alternative to large-lot sprawl. By shrinking lot sizes and home footprints, this new zoning will put downward market pressure on new home prices.
Promote sustainable borrowing: As the state’s affordable housing bank, MassHousing finances homeownership opportunities for low-, moderate- and middle-income homebuyers in Massachusetts, on behalf of the Commonwealth. MassHousing makes homeownership possible to residents, including many first-time homebuyers, by offering conventional mortgages with low down payments and affordable rates. Last fiscal year, MassHousing financed $662 million in total homeownership lending, including $197 million in mortgages for low- and moderate-income buyers (with incomes 80 percent of the area median income), and $232 million in lending to 1,100 buyers in the Gateway Cities.
Meet the Author Tim Sullivan Guest Contributor
This work—helping working households attain long-term, sustainable homeownership—is a core component of MassHousing’s mission-driven work. It’s even more consequential today, with broader forces pulling against it.
Tim Sullivan is the executive director of MassHousing, an independent, quasi-public agency charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts.
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There has been a plethora of stories in the New York Times that cast Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin in a very negative light. So it was with great interest that I saw recently a 1998 article that explained how the US-Russia relationship was headed for serious trouble. It even prophesized the dire straits the two countries find themselves in today.
Who was to blame for the problems? Given today's Times' condemnatory coverage of Putin, it was surprising to see that the newspaper fingered then-president Bill Clinton and his team.
In contrast, the Times' coverage today attributes blame for the outcome to Putin. Hillary Clinton is very outspoken about Putin's culpability, ironically, with no hint of her husband's earlier role.
Hillary has compared Putin to Hitler, accused Russia of being militarily aggressive, and lambasted Donald Trump for even thinking of trying to get along with Putin.
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So it appears that Kennan's prophesy for a new cold war has indeed materialized. The Times' hope that the unjustified NATO expansion simply wouldn't matter lamentably didn't pan out. Instead, a disaster emerged.
Careful study of the circumstances shows that Russia's alleged "aggressions" -- such as in Georgia and Ukraine -- were indeed reactions to the threat of NATO advancement toward Russia's borders.
What neither Kennan nor the Times foresaw, however, is the hyperactive counterfactual campaign to demonize Russia that has unfolded.It's presented endless factless allegations that have shaped American perceptions of Putin and Russia in the minds of many.
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Last night at the 25th Annual American Cinematheque Award Ceremony, which was honoring Robert Downey Jr., the Iron Man actor asked Hollywood to forgive Mel Gibson.
Gibson was invited onstage to present Downey Jr. with the prestigious award, since, in the words of Garry Shandling, “The Cinematheque was concerned a bit about Robert’s checkered past, so they chose someone to present the award who could help balance that out and the choice was so obvious, Mel Gibson.”
Gibson spoke kindly of the star, who he famously helped to make a comeback by paying Downey Jr.’s insurance bond so he could star in 2003’s The Singing Detective. “You are my friend,” Gibson said. “When I saw you all those years ago and got all those warnings, I just thought, ‘There’s nothing so much wrong with him.’” Gibson explained, “You’re a good dude with a good heart.”
During Downey Jr.’s acceptance speech, he had even kinder words for Gibson. “I asked Mel to present this award for me for a reason,” he said. “When I couldn’t get sober, he told me not to give up hope and encouraged me to find my faith. It didn’t have to be his or anyone else’s as long as it was rooted in forgiveness. And I couldn’t get hired, so he cast me in the lead of a movie that was actually developed for him. He kept a roof over my head and food on the table and most importantly he said if I accepted responsibility for my wrongdoing and embraced that part of my soul that was ugly — hugging the cactus he calls it — he said that if I hugged the cactus long enough, I’d become a man.”
He continued, “I did and it worked. All he asked in return was that someday I help the next guy in some small way. It’s reasonable to assume at the time he didn’t imagine the next guy would be him or that someday was tonight. So anyway on this special occasion and in light of the recent holidays including Columbus Day, I would ask that you join me, unless you are completely without sin in which case you picked the wrong f—ing industry, in forgiving my friend his trespasses and offering him the same clean slate you have me, allowing him to continue his great and ongoing contribution to our collective art without shame. He’s hugged the cactus long enough.”
The crowd in the room applauded vigorously, as Gibson appeared to tear up a bit.
(Reporting by Carrie Bell)
Read more on EW.com:
ADL condemns Mel Gibson’s involvement in Judah Maccabee film
Robert Downey Jr. on the case for Perry Mason movie |
...all these Void Network people
in Europe, in Amerikas, in the Outer Space...
we started realizing that there are existing out there thousands of creative friends, spiritual comrades, political, social and cultural activists, radical theoreticians and crazy thinkers, artists that hate the high-class luxury and space out motherfuckers that send us mails, announcements, manifestos, essays, videos, songs, they make contact with us, we find them on our way, we meet at the barricades, at the parties, the concerts, the second-hand vinyl record shops, we find them on the mountains, in the streets of Metropolis, in some seaside free campings on the outside border lines of the Empire, in the Rainbow Gatherings, in Eco-Communities, squatted universities, on the steps that leads to Ganga in Varanasi, in the middle of the tear gass, on the most dangerous streets of Mexico city or in a small village somewhere out-there in Africa...we meet sometimes in some specific illegal raves, sometimes in hardcore punk occupied buildings, or in strange lectures, in underground bars, in poetry shows and demonstrations... almost all around the world!
Void Mirror international digital magazine is dedicated in all our unknown friends!
Also we realised that there are existing thousands of interesting social struggles all around the world and there are existing parallel movements that don't know each other...even if they fight for really parallel reasons, in same fights, against same enemies, on the same destroyed planet...
Void Mirror is dedicated in all unknown social, political and cultural struggles of this world
And then...we realised also that there are existing millions and millions of possible links of wonderful, interesting, inspiring, mind exploding material out there in the digital space...music, arts, design, video art, political theory, poetry, utopia, analysis, critical thinking, advice, philosophy...created by fighting people, created by amateur intellectuals or university teachers, by crazy everyday life inspired philosophers and somehow all this information needs prismatic rearranging, free re-distribution, mechanisms of collecting, take care and share back again, space holes and electronic tubes that you can find all your favorite ideas coming together in inspirational general conclusions, anti-fragmentation magnetic forces...And we found for sure so many empty bottles in the sea-side sending some old maps to nowhereland, some old messages about treasures hiding in the end of mind, some great thoughts from some dead comrades that they had put all their dreams, decades ago, on a paper...in a bottle and they through them to the oceans of Time for the benefit of the future generation revolutionaries...
Void Mirror is dedicated to the culture, the dreams and the visions of the future generation Revolutionaries
It is a network of dreams and struggles, a net of hopes and understandings, a moment of clear mind, a good debate, a late-night fight with a lover, a last drink before going home...
It is more than anything else an Open Horizon, a VOID MIRROR |
Today Ultimate Ears is announcing the $99.99 UE Roll 2, the successor to last year's original Roll. The design is completely unchanged; it's still a very portable speaker (just over half a pound) shaped like a flying saucer that comes in a variety of colors. The frontside is still dominated by oversized volume buttons, and around back is the same bungee cord loop that lets you hang the Roll in the shower, someplace outside, or pretty much anywhere else you want music. Pull open the flap and you'll find an auxiliary jack and micro USB port for charging.
There are a couple upgrades on the inside, however. The Roll 2 pumps out around 15 percent more sound, according to Ultimate Ears. That's not a huge difference, but louder is louder — even if the Roll was already surprisingly powerful for its take-it-anywhere size. I chose it over the flagship UE Boom speaker for the added portability and that stretchable bungee cord.
There's no telling these two apart.
Perhaps more important than the slight output boost is the Roll 2's extended wireless range; just like the larger Boom 2, it'll keep your music playing up to 100 feet away, up from the original model's limit of 65. The new speaker maintains its predecessor's IPX7 waterproof rating. You should still avoid submerging it, and to that end UE is now including a blow-up floaty in the box, so you can keep the Roll 2 nearby while relaxing in the pool.
Buying the original Roll on sale for $50 or $70 might be a smarter move right now
If you've already got a Roll, you can use UE's app to pair the two together. They can either both play the exact same audio, or you can set them to put out a wider stereo soundscape with one covering the left side and the other right. Depending on the song, sometimes the mix can be a bit off when you're listening to a single speaker, but it's rarely an issue. There are plenty of adequate, inexpensive Bluetooth speakers out there, and you can find many even cheaper than the Roll 2 on Amazon. But the original model has been a reliable performer for me for just about a year now. That's been on sale for between $50 and $70 lately, which is probably a smarter purchase until supply runs out. But if you're more interested in the sequel, it'll begin shipping this month — Best Buy's already selling it. |
FiLIP allows kids to call their parents, and vice-versa, at the touch of a button just in time for the holidays.
Remember those times when you lost track of Mom at the grocery store or the mall and anxiously wandered through crowds of strangers to find her again? If only you’d had FiLIP, the smartwatch for kids.
Designed to keep children in communication with their parents, the GPS-enabled watch can make and receive calls to pre-specified numbers, send messages and, of course, tell time. The simple, two-button device can handle exposure to water and dirt, too — necessary for any electronic item attached to a child’s body. Parents simply download the FiLIP app for iPhone or Android after purchasing the device (available in one of several colors) to be able to keep in touch with the press of a button. |
Greater Portland
Exhibits
“Stories of Freeport’s Past: Celebrating Our Collections,” Freeport Historical Society, 45 Main St., showcases objects that tell an interesting story, to May 31.
“Martha Miller: A Woman’s Movement, Self Portraits,” Mayo Street Arts, 10 Mayo St., Portland, to May.
Travis Mercier, Maine landscape photographer, Lois’ Natural Marketplace, Route 1, Scarborough.
Claudia Hughes, Boone Olsen & Jon Strom, CIA, 72 Ocean St., South Portland, to May 11.
Thursday 3/16
“Martha Miller: A Woman’s Movement,” 6-8 p.m., Mayo St. Arts, 10 Mayo St., Portland, art opening & PussyCATwalk Fundraiser, donations will be accepted for Planned Parenthood.
Film
March Movies, 5 p.m. Sundays at Congregational Church in Cumberland, 282 Main St. Focuses on race in America. March 19 – “Ruby Bridges”; March 26 – “42.”
Thursday 3/16
“Night of Eire,” 6:30-8:30 p.m., 70 Falmouth St., Southworth Planetarium, Portland. Commemorates the old spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, usm.maine.edu/planet.
“Florence Foster Jenkins,” 1 p.m., Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Drive. Free, open to all.
Saturday 3/18
Maine Jewish Film Festival kick-off, “The Women’s Balcony,” 11 a.m., Eveningstar Cinema, 149 Maine St., Brunswick. Comedy about complex relationships in Jerusalem. Films will be shown in Portland, Brunswick, Lewiston, and Waterville through March 25. Tickets and festival schedule at mjff.org.
Ongoing
PMA Films, Portland Museum of Art; more at portlandmuseum.org/events/movies.
Galleries
“Day Dreams,” recent collage work by Rebecca Goodale, Ocean House Gallery, 299 Ocean House Road, Cape Elizabeth, to April 8.
“Under the Northern Sky: Nathaniel Meyer,” Elizabeth Moss Galleries, Route 1, Falmouth, to April 15.
“Vintage Seascapes and Marine Art,” Thos. Moser Showroom, 149 Main St., Freeport, 865-4519, thosmoser.com, through April 30.
“It’s Not So Black and White,” annual exhibit at Richard Boyd Art Gallery, 15 Epps St., Peaks Island, explores works by five artists, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday – Sunday through March 31.
“Clint Fulkerson: Fluid Geometry,” through March 31, new mural will be created on the gallery wall of the USM AREA Gallery, Woodbury Campus Center, 35 Bedford St., Portland, plus an exhibit of several paintings.
“Joyce Tenneson Maine: Gold Trees,” MMPA Gallery, USM Glickman Family Library, 5th Floor, 314 Forest Ave., Portland, to May.
“Land Sea Stone,” University of New England Art Gallery, Portland campus, through April 2.
SPACE Gallery in Portland will re-open April 7 for First Friday.
“Unloaded,” March 16-April 14, ICA at MECA, 522 Congress St., Portland. Multimedia group exhibit explores historical and social issues surrounding the availability, use, and impact of guns in our culture, also 5-8 p.m. First Friday, April 7.
William Harrison, Mainely Frames & Gallery, 541 Congress St., Portland, pen and ink realism, to March 31.
“Momentary Certainties,” photographic work by Megan Magill and Sal Taylor Kydd, PhoPa Gallery, opening reception 5-7 p.m.; artist talk April 6 at 5:30 p.m., on view through April 8.
“Enchanted,” 23 gallery artists, Yarmouth Frame & Gallery, 720 Route 1, Yarmouth, to April 29.
“Hooked Rugs,” Maine Tin Pedlars, Stonewall Gallery, Yarmouth History Center, Yarmouth, to April 30.
Museums
“Recollections: Horse & Sleigh Days,” Skyline Farm museum, 95 The Lane, North Yarmouth, open for public viewing Sunday through March 26, 1-4 p.m. Free admission; donations are appreciated.
Juried Teen Art Show, Maine Jewish Museum, 267 Congress St., Portland, to March 26, mainejewishmuseum.org.
Maine Jewish Museum exhibits: “Life: Some Assembly Required -Scaintings by Mirlea Saks”; “Randy Fein: Forty Years in Maine: Finding Her Way with Clay”; “Jan Pieter van Voorst van Beest: Photographs of Portland,” 267 Congress St. Portland, regular hours through April 30; 5-8 p.m. First Friday Art Walk, mainejewishmuseum.org, free.
Waponahki Student Art Show, on loan from the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor to Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, 142 Free St., Portland, 45 pieces of art created by all four federally recognized Native American Tribes in Maine, through April 30.
Youth Art Month, Portland Museum of Art, more than 90 works of art from K-12 students throughout the state, to April 2.
Ongoing
Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, educational, fun and interactive workshops for kids and parents, 142 Free St., Portland, 828-1234, kitetails.com.
International Cryptozoology Museum,11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Mondays & Wednesdays through Sundays, 4 Thompson’s Point Road, Portland, cryptozoologymuseum.com.
Maine Historical Society Museum, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday to Saturday; noon to 5 p.m., Sunday; 11 a.m.-noon, adults $8, children $3, 489 Congress St., Portland, 774-1822, mainehistory.org.
Maine Irish Heritage Center, 34 Gray St., Portland, 780-0118, maineirish.com.
Maine Jewish Museum, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Monday to Friday, Sunday 1-5 p.m., or by appointment, 267 Congress St., Portland, 773-2339, mainejewishmuseum.org.
Neal Dow Memorial, tours by appointment, 714 Congress St., Portland, 773-7773, mewctu.com.
Skyline Farm Carriage and Sleigh Museum, by appointment, free/donations accepted, 95 The Lane, North Yarmouth, skylinefarm.org, 829-9203.
Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, Southern Maine Community College, Fort Road, South Portland, 799-6337, springpointlight.org.
Yarmouth History Center, 1-5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 118 East Elm St., Yarmouth, 846-6259, yarmouthmehistory.org.
Music
Wednesday 3/15
Griffin House, 8 p.m., One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., Portland, tickets $18-23, onelongfellowsquare.com, 761-1757.
Saturday 3/18
Flutist Nicole Rabata, 10 a.m., Irish flute, part of the monthly Music & Muffins series at Prince Memorial Library, 266 Main St., Cumberland. Free.
Dimensions in Jazz Series, 8 p.m., Portland Conservatory of Music celebrates release of the Satoko Fujii/Joe Fonda CD, “Duet,” Woodfords Church, Portland. Tickets $5-$20; advance tickets at Jet Video and Starbird Music in Portland.
Thursday 3/23
“Bees in Your Bonnet,” featuring quintets by Beethoven and Brahms and Bach fugues by The DaPonte String Quartet, 7:30 p.m., Maine Jewish Museum, 267 Congress St., Portland. Tickets $20 at the door, DaPonte.org.
Friday 3/24
Johnny A, 7 p.m., One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., Portland. Tickets at songkick.com.
Ongoing
Community Chorus, rehearsals 10 a.m.-noon, first and third Saturdays, St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress St., Portland, 775-5568, ext. 102, [email protected].
Irish Music Night at Blue, 650 Congress St., Portland, every Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. concert; 9 p.m. Irish session.
Noonday Concert Series, 12:25-12:50 p.m. Thursdays, by Portland Conservatory of Music at First Parish, 425 Congress St., portlandconservatoryofmusic.org for schedule.
The Kids Are Alright, children’s concerts, 10:30-11:30 a.m., first Saturday, Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square.
Theater/Dance
“The Naked Truth,” The Footlights Theatre, 190 U.S. Route 1, Falmouth. Pay-what-you-can Thursdays, 7 p.m.; $15/$18 Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. to March 25. 747-5434, thefootlightsinfalmouth.com.
Saturday 3/25
“Peril on the High Seas,” March 24-26, Greely High School, Cumberland, 7 p.m. Friday & Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $8/$10 March 20-24 during school lunches and 4-6 p.m. at main entrance. Reserve at greelydramaboosters.org.
“Swan Lake,” March 24-April 9, Maine State Ballet, Lopez Theater, 348 U.S. Route One, Falmouth, 7 p.m. Friday; 2 & 7 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $19-$25 at mainestateballet.org or 781-7672.
Freeport Open Stage Coffee House, 6:30 p.m., Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Dr., music, skits, poetry, comedy. Free.
Puppet Cabaret with Shoestring Theater and a Thunder Show, 7 p.m., Mayo Street Arts, 10 Mayo St., Portland, March 17 and 18. Tickets $18, early bird, $8, kids, $8, mayostreetarts.org.
Ongoing
Page to Stage discussions, noon on the first Tuesday after Portland Stage production opens, Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square. Copies of the play available at the reference desk. Bring lunch, drinks provided.
Mid-Coast
Exhibits
Teen art show submissions being accepted until March 31 by Patten Free Library’s Teen Library Council for annual show in Bath. Students in grades 7-12 in the library’s service area or RSU 1 schools are eligible.
Film
Saturday 3/18
Maine Jewish Film Festival kick-off, “The Women’s Balcony,” 11 a.m., Eveningstar Cinema, 149 Maine St., Brunswick. Comedy about complex relationships in Jerusalem. Films will be shown in Portland, Brunswick, Lewiston, and Waterville through March 25. Tickets and festival schedule at mjff.org.
Galleries
Jym St. Pierre, Maine photographer, Gallery Framing, 12 Pleasant St., Brunswick, through March.
Ongoing
Bayview Gallery, 58 Maine St., Brunswick, 729-5500, bayviewgallery.com.
Beth Carlson Animal Portraits Gallery, 613 Foster Point Road, Bath, 751-5288.
Cabot Mill Gallery, Fort Andross, 14 Maine St., Brunswick, 837-9108.
Centre St. Arts Gallery, 11 Centre St., Bath, 442-0300.
Chocolate Church Art Gallery, 804 Washington St., Bath, 442-8455, chocolatechurcharts.org.
Coleman Burke Gallery, Fort Andross, 14 Maine St., Brunswick, [email protected].
Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant St., Brunswick, 725-5242, curtislibrary.com.
11 Pleasant Street, 11 Pleasant St., Brunswick, 607-4016, [email protected].
Frontier Cafe, Fort Andross, 14 Maine St., Brunswick, 725-8820, explorefrontier.com.
Gallery at Park Row, 185 Park Row, Brunswick, 907-4016.
Gallery at Schoolhouse Crossing, 48 West Schoolhouse Crossing Road, Topsham, 603-674-6098, [email protected].
Gallery at Widgeon Cove, Route 123, Harpswell, 833-6081, widgeoncove.com.
Gallery Framing, 12 Pleasant St., Brunswick, 729-9108.
Gelato Fiasco, 74 Maine St., Brunswick, 607-4002, gelatofiasco.com.
The Green Lion Gallery, 23 Center St., Bath.
Gun Point Cove Gallery, 1241 Harpswell Islands Road, Orr’s Island, 833-7303, gunpointcovegallery.com.
Harbor Works Gallery, Holbrook-Trufant House, 977C Cundy’s Harbor Road, Harpswell, 841-9812, harborworksgallery.org.
ICON Contemporary Art, 19 Mason St., Brunswick, 725-8157.
Just Framing, 149 Front St., Bath.
K. Mizner Art Studio & Gallery, 128 Water St., Hallowell, kmizner.com.
LaMarche Gallery, David Saul Smith Union, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, 725-3902.
Little Dog Coffee, 87 Maine St., Brunswick, 725-8820.
Mae’s Cafe, 160 Centre St., Bath, maescafeandbakery.com/events, 442-8577.
Maine Fiberarts Gallery, 13 Main St., Topsham, 721-0678, mainefiberarts.org.
Markings Gallery, 50 Front St., Bath, 443-1499.
Merrymeeting Arts Center, 9 Main St., Bowdoinham, 841-5914, merrymeetingartscenter.org.
Points of View Art Gallery, Brunswick Business Center, 18 Pleasant St., Brunswick, 373-9300.
Sarah Greenier Gallery, 428 Middle St., Bath, 443-3936.
Sebascodegan Artists Cooperative Gallery, 4 Old Orr’s Island Road, Harpswell, 833-5717, sebascodeganartists.com.
Summer Island Studio, 149 Maine St., Brunswick, 373-1810.
Thornton Oaks, 25 Thornton Way, Brunswick, 729-8033, thorntonoaks.com.
Topsham Public Library, Crooker Gallery, 25 Foreside Road, Topsham, topshamlibrary.org, 725-1727.
Whatnot Gallery at Spindleworks, 7 Lincoln St., Brunswick, 725-8820, spindleworks.org.
Widgeon Cove, 31 Widgeon Cove Lane, Harpswell. Paintings, sculpture, jewelry, handmade paper, widgeoncove.com.
Museums
“Art and Artifacts of the Nineteenth Century,” Bowdoin College Museum of Art Boyd Gallery, 245 Maine St., Brunswick. American and European paintings, sculpture, photographs and prints, contrasted with decorative arts from around the world, to June 4.
“Art & Resolution, 1900 to Today,” Bowdoin College Museum of Art, various galleries, 245 Maine St., Brunswick. Defines artistic responses to the historic transformations of the global 20th century, to April 16.
“Modern Medieval:Materiality and Spirituality in German Expressionism,” Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Shaw Ruddock Gallery, 245 Maine St., Brunswick, to June 4.
“Perspectives from Postwar Hiroshima: Chuzo Tamotzu, Children’s Drawings, and the Art of Resolution,”Becker Gallery, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 245 Maine St., Brunswick. Drawings created in the ’50s by children living in Hiroshima, to April 16.
Ongoing
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Thursday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday, 245 Maine St., Brunswick, 725-3275, bowdoin.edu/art-museum.
Maine Maritime Museum, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, 243 Washington St., Bath, 443-1316, mainemaritimemuseum.org.
Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, Hubbard Hall, Bowdoin College, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; 2-5 p.m. Sunday, 725-3416, bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum.
Music
Music in March concert series, Topsham Public Library, every Saturday in March at 1 p.m., free and open to all.
Saturday 3/18
Folk singer-songwriter Martin Swinger, 7:30 p.m., Chocolate Church Arts Center, Bath. Tickets $12/door, $10 at the box office, online at www.chocolatechurcharts.org.
“St. CATrick’s Day,” Pat Colwell’s Soul Sensations Band, 7:30 p.m., Winter St. Center, Bath. tickets $20 benefits Paw in the Door cat rescue. Tickets at door or mail to 16 Winter St., Bath. Seating limited.
Sunday 3/19
“TOMMY: A Bluegrass Opry,” by The HillBenders, 7:30 p.m., Chocolate Church Arts Center, 804 Washington St., Bath. Tickets $22/advance, chocolatechurcharts.org or 442-8455; $25/door.
Ongoing
Music at Noontime, Wednesdays 12:15-12:45 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Middle St., Brunswick, 729-8515. Free.
Teen ukulele group, sponsored by Teen Library Council at Patten Library, Bath. Open to high school students; experience not needed. For details, contact Roberta Jordan, [email protected], 443-5141, ext. 25.
Theater/Dance
“Les Misérables,” Brunswick High School Players, Crooker Theatre, Brunswick High School, 7 p.m. March 23, 24, 25; 2 p.m. matinee Saturday. Adults $15, seniors/students $12, our.show/bhsplayers/lesmis or at the door.
Mark and Lisa Evans, one of three “power couples” who regularly perform at the Freeport Open Stage Coffeehouse. The next “safety zone for creativity” will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 25 at Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Dr. Performers can just “show up and sign up,” and admission is free |
Chris Evans’ Top Gear may have turned a corner in the overnight ratings after it bounced back from last week’s record low – with a little help from Jeff Lynne’s ELO.
The BBC2 show was watched by 2.68 million viewers, a 12.5% share of the audience, from 8pm on Sunday.
It was more than 300,000 viewers up from last week’s 2.34 million (10.4%), the show’s smallest audience since it was reinvented by its former presenter Jeremy Clarkson in 2002.
It is the first time the ratings have gone up for the show which has suffered a difficult reboot under Evans and his new team, from executive departures to reports of tension with his co-presenter, Matt LeBlanc, which surfaced again at the weekend.
But it is still a long way down from the 4.3 million overnight audience who tuned into the launch episode of the new series, the first in its new incarnation since Radio 2 breakfast DJ Evans was handed responsibility for the show.
It is also less than half the 5 million Sunday night audience who typically tuned in to the show last year before Clarkson was axed following his “fracas” with a producer.
In another blow for the show, the consolidated audience for the previous week’s episode – which includes people who recorded it and watched it on catch-up in the following seven days – fell to 3.22 million, beaten by BBC2’s Great British Sewing Bee.
It is believed to be only the second time in the last 10 years that Top Gear has not been the biggest show on BBC2 in a week of transmission. The Great British Sewing Bee had a total audience of 3.37 million.
Evans has been highlighting the importance of catch-up viewing, saying before the launch that he would be “disappointed” if Top Gear had fewer than 5 million viewers. The consolidated audience for the show is now some way below that.
Sunday night’s audience will have been helped by the fact that it followed BBC2’s coverage of Glastonbury, the Sunday teatime programme featuring the first appearance at the festival by Jeff “Mr Blue Sky” Lynne.
The music show had 2.4 million viewers from 6.30pm. Last week Top Gear had to make do with following a repeat of BBC2’s Dara and Ed’s Great Big Adventure, which could only manage 925,000 viewers.
Please Sorry, your browser is unable to play this video.Please upgrade to a modern browser and try again. ‘I’m glad to say that you have passed your test, Mr Stig.’
The show’s total audience, including people who record it and watch it in the next seven days, and on the BBC’s iPlayer, will be a million or two higher than its Sunday night rating.
Next week – the sixth and final episode of its new run – the show may face a challenge of a different sort.
Top Gear is expected to be moved an hour and a half earlier if England beat Iceland at Euro 2016 on Monday night, which would line up a quarter-final clash with France kicking off at 8pm next Sunday. |
Persona Authentication: Say Goodbye to Passwords
Persona is Mozilla's attempt to fulfill an age old dream of an internet where we don't need a separate username/password pair for each new app or site we want to sign up for.
There's been plenty of takes on solving this, but Persona is probably the best shot anybody has taken at it so far, striking a great balance between ideals and being practical.
Your Email is Your Identity
One of the pragmatic decisions behind Persona is to use an email address as the base of a user's identity. This is different from OpenID or Facebook Connect, where any app or site has to request separate permission to get the users email address. Running a service with an authentication system where you don't need a good way of contacting your users is the exception rather than the rule, so using emails as IDs tends to simplify things greatly in practice.
See the Persona Login in Action
The long-term plan for Persona is to make it a built-in browser API for managing identification. Right now no browser, not even Firefox, implements Persona. But this is not a problem when it comes to using Persona today. Mozilla provides a JavaScript polyfil that'll let Persona work in any browser.
Here's a super-simple example of a site using Persona for identification: http://persona.yourwebisonline.com
If you try it out you'll see how simple this is for an end user. You click the "Sign In" button, get a dialog asking you to sign in with your email. If you've never used Persona before, you'll be asked to choose a password and go through a simple email verification process. In the end the pop-up closes and you're signed in. Once you have a Persona account, each new sign in (or sign up) requires just two clicks.
Implementing Persona Authentication
So what do you need to do to implement authentication with Persona? The good news is: not a lot!
The Persona JavaScript API is really well thought out and very simple. The server-side portion of working with API is as easy as doing a single HTTP request.
The JavaScript API is namespaced to navigator.id with the idea that someday it will simply be a part of modern browsers. Meanwhile you need to include an external javascript to use it: https://login.persona.org/include.js
Once this script is loaded the API exposes 3 methods:
navigator.id.request
Request the ID of the current user. Will pop-up the Persona dialog
navigator.id.logout
Logout the current user
navigator.id.watch
Watch any changes to the identity. Takes a loggedInUser that should be the user we currently register as being logged in on null. Also takes two callback functions: onLogin and onLogout.
The server needs to implement two actions: signin and signout. The first gets an assertion and need to verify it with the persona server. The second simply needs to clear the session.
Let's look at the most straight forward client-side Persona script:
// Make login buttons log in on click
$(".login-button").click(function(e) {
e.preventDefault();
// Request an ID - this will pop-up the Persona dialog
navigator.id.request();
});
// Make logout buttons log out on click
$(".logout-button").click(function(e) {
e.preventDefault();
// Trigger a logout
navigator.id.logout();
});
navigator.id && navigator.id.watch({
// We depend on the server to have set a global personaUser
// variable if a user is logged in
loggedInUser: personaUser || null,
// This method will be triggered once a user logs in
onlogin: function(assertion) {
// We need to send the assertion to the server
// so it can verify it and store the session
$.ajax({
url: "/persona/signin",
type: "post",
data: {assertion: assertion},
success: function() { document.location.reload() },
error: function() { navigator.id.logout() }
});
},
// This is triggered on a logout
onlogout: function() {
// Make sure the server gets a chance to reset
// the session and then refresh the page
$.post("/persona/signout", function() {
document.location.reload();
});
}
})
There's really not a lot to this: we bind some click handlers and then listen to the onLogin and onLogout events. The only little gotcha is the loggedInUser property. It's really important to set this to either the email of the currently logged in user, or null. Otherwise the Persona JS can get your site stuck in an endless redirect loop.
On The Server
The server barely has to do anything to make this work. Here's a dead simple example of using a Webpop extension to implement Persona:
// Require the HTTP module
var http = require("http");
// The persona endpoint
var ENDPOINT = "https://verifier.login.persona.org/verify";
// If the extension is called persona.js, these routes will respond to
// POST requests to /persona/signin and /persona/signout
exports.routes = {
post: {
"signin": function(params) {
// Do a POST requset to the ENDPOINT
var data = http.post(ENDPOINT, {
data: {
// The assertion we got from the client-side AJAX request
assertion: params.assertion,
// The URL of our site
audience: site.url
}
});
// Set the persona_user in the session
request.session.persona_user = data.email;
// Send back a response to the client
response.send(JSON.stringify(data), {'Content-Type': 'application/json'});
},
"signout": function(params) {
// Delete the persona_user from the session
request.session.persona_user = null;
// Send back a response to the client
response.send("{}", {'Content-Type': 'application/json'});
}
}
}
Not much to this either — Persona really is that simple.
When we get a POST request to the signin URL we just ask https://verifier.login.persona.org if the assertion we got is valid for our site's URL. If it is, we store the user email in our session. A real life app would normally also persist the user in a database and assign permissions, etc.
When we get a POST request to the signout URL we just clean up the session, and that's it.
Personalizing the dialog
We can make the user experience even better by supplying a few options to navigator.id.request method.
siteName will make the Persona dialog show the name of our site above the URL.
If our site is running under HTTPS we can also supply a siteLogo to be shown above the siteName.
HTTPS sites can also set a path for termsOfService and privacyPolicy. When these are present (you must specify both or none) the user will be asked to agree to the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy of the site as part of the sign in.
Here's how an ID request would look with all of those present:
navigator.id.request({ siteName: "Persona Example", siteLogo: "/images/logo.png", termsOfService: "/terms-of-service", privacyPolicy: "/privacy-policy" });
That's pretty much all there is to implementing a Persona based authentication system. For more info, check out the official docs. We've also prepared a minimal Persona Webpop theme with all you need to get started. Grab it here! |
Coping up with falling numbers of fighter jets, the Indian Air Force on Friday literally set the vast dusty stretch of Pokhran in Rajasthan on fire showcasing its capability to drop ordnance.
Iron Fist 2016, which is held every two years, had president Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the audience. They witnessed IAF's ability to strike the enemy in the day, dawn and dusk.
The IAF put together a compliment of 180 aircraft from fighters to transporters and helicopters to demonstrate their ability to execute various aspects of air combat.
Through their courageous manoeuvre, fighter pilots showed transformationof the Air Force, air defence and combat skills of its personnel in carrying out multi-faceted operations. The grand event began with the showing IAF's journey over eight decades, with the aircraft of 1930s era - Tiger Moth. Then came a superb fly past by seven aircraft including MiG and Sukhoi. It was followed by tactical maneuver by a team of four 'Surya Kiran' aircraft. The sound of precision based bombings at simulated targets by Mirage-2000, Sukhoi 30, MiG-27 and Jaguar astounded all audience.
From top of the line Su-30 MKI fighters to Mirage 2000 and Jaguars - the array of fighters took part in the live fire demonstration. The homemade Light Combat Aircraft Tejas displayed its twin role ability by firing a laser guided bomb followed by an air to air missile. For the first time, the air defence system of the Akash missile was displayed. Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Chairman Chief of Staff Committee and the Chief of the Air Staff said that the IAF moves ahead on its transformation path despite certain constraints, maintaining a high combat potential for meeting challenges.
"The IAF has flagged concerns about the shortage of fighter jets and the process for the acquisition of 36 French Rafale fighter aircraft is still underway. The government is hopeful that the deal will be sealed through," he said. The IAF for the first time has publicly accepted that the current force levels are inadequate to handle the two-front operation as enshrined in the new doctrine of the armed forces.
ALSO READ
IAF fears for security of Rajokri airbase on Delhi-Gurgaon border |
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Aug. 3, 2017, 11:24 AM GMT / Updated Aug. 3, 2017, 11:24 AM GMT By Reuters
MELBOURNE — Australian police on Thursday charged two men with planning a terrorist act, over their role in a foiled "Islamic-inspired" plot to bring down an airplane.
The men were among four arrested last weekend in counter-terror raids across Australia's biggest city of Sydney.
Police man a checkpoint in the Sydney inner suburb of Surry Hills on Friday. William West / AFP - Getty Images
The plot spurred Australia's intelligence agency to raise the aviation threat level to "probable," prompting tighter airport security measures, before the risk was downgraded to "possible" on Thursday.
Both men have been charged with two counts each of "acts done in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act," the Australian Federal Police said in a statement.
Police did not release details of the plot, but will hold a news conference on Friday.
The target appeared to have been a commercial flight from Sydney to the Persian Gulf, a U.S. official familiar with the arrests has previously told Reuters.
The plot may have involved a bomb or poisonous gas, domestic media have said.
Police had earlier released one of the four arrested men, but the other remains in detention without charge, under special counter-terror laws.
Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways has said it is assisting Australian federal police in the investigation.
Since 2014, Australia has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East, or their supporters.
Although the country has suffered few domestic attacks, authorities say 13 significant plots have been foiled in that time.
The 2014 Lindt cafe siege in Sydney, in which the hostage-taker and two people were killed, was Australia's most deadly violence inspired by Islamic State militants. |
My husband always tells me to assume people have good intentions. When I’m frustrated with something someone has said to me, he reminds me not to immediately conclude that they are trying to upset me and then plan an elaborate revenge.
The guy who just cut me off in traffic might not have seen me. The passport control officer does not think that I murdered their entire family in a past life. The person in line ahead of me at the bakery who took the last slice of cake I wanted is not “the pastry equivalent of Mussolini”, Rand says. And when, in the face of these imagined slights, my beloved hears me whisper, “You just made a powerful enemy,” he is quick to reply, “No, no they didn’t.”
When we are insecure, it is hard to assume the best of others. Interactions that should carry no weight are suddenly twisted to confirm our own worthlessness.
When it comes to writers, this becomes even more acute. All questions and statements pertaining to our career are loaded, even the ones that intend no harm. We’ve already questioned all of our choices, and so we find any additional questions to be intrusive or insulting or simply affirming what we already fear about ourselves. We do not see them as general inquiries into our lives, as people wanting to learn more about us. Because, after all, we suck. There’s little else left to learn.
This is our fault, of course. We shouldn’t be coddled for our insecurities. There is a limit to what we can ask of people. And still we do. I’ve compiled a list, after talking to some like-minded souls on Twitter, of things you should never say to a writer. Those of you who are cursed enough to have one in your life, take note. And know that despite this list of self-indulgent complaints, we are eternally grateful for you.
“Is your book/screenplay/essay done?”
–
No. No, it is not. Based on current estimates, there is a slim chance that we will finish before the earth is swallowed by the sun. Even if it is published, it is not done. Even if we are holding the final manuscript in our hands and our long-suffering editors have screamed “LEAVE IT ALONE” dozens of times, there will still be more to do. To call it our life’s work is not hyperbolic. It is all too accurate. There is no end.
–
A better question: “How goes your slow yet steady descent into artistic madness?”
– “So, what do you do all day, anyway?”
–
Oh, you know. I eat bon-bons and laugh at the struggle of the working class. I swear, the peasantry is a non-stop source of entertainment, are they not? LOLZ.
–
There is some sort of odd notion out there that writing only necessitates the amount of time required to type a sentence. That there is no second-guessing required, no editing needed, no time spent twisting a topic around in your head until it makes sense. That as a career choice, it is remarkably easy – the work of debutantes and dilettantes. What do writers do all day? We agonize over sentences and we try to befriend words and we fall in love with phrases. We search through hastily written notes for the expression the beautiful brown-haired woman used when we asked her if we should hike up to a remote corner of Gibraltar.
–
“The juice isn’t worth the squeeze,” she told us, and we all fell in love with her in that moment.
–
We have our hearts broken every second we’re alive with how damn beautiful and tragic the world is and then we try to turn that feeling into words and hope that someone will read it and say, “Yes. I know.” We strive to make the familiar feel new and the new feel familiar. And when we fail, as we so often do, we curl into a ball and question every decision that we’ve ever made. That is what we do all day.
–
(Or sometimes we fuck around on reddit. Whatever.)
– “Do you ever hope it’ll all turn into something real?”
–
BWahahahahahahahhahaha (hysterical laughter continues for several long minutes).
–
I’m a writer, kitten. All I do is hope.
– “Wow. You must have a really patient/supportive/successful spouse.”
–
There is a belief that if you write, the balance in your relationship is off, and that your spouse must give far more than they get. From a personal standpoint, I cannot argue with this. My long-suffering husband has loved and supported me more than I’ve deserved, but that has been true for a decade. It began in the epoch before I started this blog. But for many years, even when I pulled in a steady paycheck, his support had less to do with finances and everything to do with whispering the following into my ear as I fell asleep: “You are beautiful. You are talented. You are going to bake me cookies and write me a book.” He said these things so often, that though I didn’t come to exactly believe them, I didn’t wince so noticeably when I heard them. But people are often not commenting on the fact that he is the lighthouse on the rocky shores of my psyche. They are referring to pecuniary support. Sometimes he’s paid the bills. Sometimes I have.
–
There are lots of ways that writers support themselves. We take freelance gigs, we write for large publications, we proofread, we come up with taglines, we let that weird guy who lives down the street touch our feet in exchange for canned goods. Do not question how we make our livings. It is either dark and hard-won or surprisingly boring and in either case, none of your business.
– “Hey, how’d you get into writing? Because my kid is looking for a summer job.”
–
– “God, I could never spend that much time in front of a computer.”
–
Oh, I know. And so much of that time is spent thinking. The horror.
– (For those of us who publish regularly) “I’ve noticed you haven’t written anything in a while.”
–
Really? I haven’t? Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Because it’s not as though I’ve been obsessing about that as I stare at my ceiling in the middle of the night trying to coax the words out of my head while feebly fending off crushing feelings of self-doubt. Nope. Definitely not.
– (For those of us who publish regularly) “I feel like you lost your groove, but now you’re back!”/”Your writing is getting really good!”
–
I appreciate that it is meant as a compliment. But all this comment will do is inspire me to go back through my work and scrutinize what you felt wasn’t up to par. The result is that I will hate myself more than usual, and if I want that feeling I will go to barre class. Praise someone’s work, but don’t do so in relation to how much they sucked before. When cast in this light, it becomes a sort of insult. Behold:
–
“You look fantastic! And good thing, too, because you were sort of repellent before, you know?”
– “But, like, what do you actually do?”
–
–
What do I do? I struggle to find validation in a world where words are such a devalued currency that we find repeated misuse of the term “literally” to be acceptable.
– “Where have you been published?”
–
Thankfully, I am rarely asked this, and when people do ask where I write, I shrug and say, “Oh, just on my blog.” I am complicit in negating the value of my own accomplishments.
–
I know people are trying to express a genuine interest in the writer’s work, but this question is essentially asking him or her for a resume, which most people don’t have to offer when discussing what they do. This question leaves the asker’s lips intact but is transformed by the time it reaches a writer’s ears. “Prove yourself,” it now says. And more often than not, we can’t.
– On completing projects: “It shouldn’t take you that long, right? Because you write for a living?”
–
Yes, of course. I am billing you for hours spent eating the aforementioned bon-bons. (See #2.)
– “Can I read it?”
–
Oh, wow. Seriously? Thank you. Thank you. That’s incredible that you would ask and I’m completely honored and some small part of me wants to say yes but an even bigger all-consuming part of me wants to run screaming because what if you hate it and what if it’s no good and what if I left the stove on and my house burns down and I didn’t back up that essay oh god.
I’m touched beyond belief. I’m also terrified. But what did you expect? I’m a writer.
–
And one last note to all the writers out there: Are we being neurotic? Yup. Over-sensitive? Probably. Way too demanding? Yeah. We shouldn’t be coddled. We should own up to our insecurities and confront them head on. With discomfort comes growth, as my therapist so often tells me. Next time someone says something that strikes us the wrong way, we need to remember their intent and realize that they are simply expressing a heartfelt interest in us and our life’s work.
And then we need to name a minor character after them and take all our anger out that way. Because revenge is best served between neatly typed, double-spaced lines.
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Max stood on the first step, head angled back and jaw drooping slightly as she stared at the large doors. People moved past her in a consistent stream, but she didn't pull her attention away to find out who any of them were. Over and over, the doors opened quickly then started to slowly close, then yanked open again before they could completely shut. She wasn't thrilled to be going through them any moment. Any...moment. She was much more hesitant than she expected. Not from any sort of social anxieties, but because she knew going through those doors meant a true transition into a new segment of her life. Suddenly, she felt a hand on the top of her head.
"Trevor or Justin?" she asked without turning around. The laugh she received in response was lazy and slow. She smirked. "Justin."
"We have a winner," he chuckled. She faced him and smiled, holding her arms out for a hug.
"Dude, I missed those glassy eyes!" Max said. Her hugged her back with only one arm, the other too busy holding a backpack at his knees by its top strap. "How was your break?"
"Chill," he replied, bobbing his head with the urgency of molasses. "Mostly played video games and slept which is pretty much my dream. You?"
Dramatic as hell. Some would say literally.
"Yeah, it was cool. Varying degrees of excitement. I was here for the whole break and it can actually get a little creepy," she said. He nodded with a serious expression as though he were very aware of this fact. Max snickered under her breath, imagining what sort of experience he'd had to treat the topic so reverently. She turned back to the doors of Blackwell and sighed. "So...school, amirite?"
"You right," he said, hoisting the bookbag up and sliding one of his arms through the strap. "All good things, know what I mean?"
I kind of ignored that lesson for a while, huh?
"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, crossing her arms with a pout. "Well, at least I get to meet the new photography teacher today. So...that's nice, I guess. What do you have first?"
"What? I have no fuckin' idea, man," Justin said, bursting into laughter. Max narrowed her eyes at him.
You'd lose your head if you didn't need it to smoke.
"Seriously? You're ridiculous," she snarked, shaking her head.
"There's only so many classrooms, Maxzilla. I'll find the right one at some point," he said.
"Yeah, have fun with that," she replied. She groaned and held her arm out, bending it at the elbow. "Well, shall we?" Justin took some time to think it over, the hesitation clear on his face. He shook his head back and forth wildly in a mock tantrum.
"Fine!" he huffed, hooking his arm with hers, "we shall."
As soon as they had entered the school, the noise of busy hallways flooded her ears. She didn't find it entirely unpleasant. She was grateful when the girls' dorms became a bit louder, finally ousting the eerie quiet she had grown to dislike. Similarly, the familiarity of the bustling school struck something of a soothing note.
"Well, we made it," she said as they broke the link of their arms. "It was a treacherous journey but by god, we made it."
"Hooray," he responded with empty enthusiasm. "Anyway, thanks for the moral support but I need to go take a leak and then I guess try to figure out where the fuck I'm supposed to go."
I love the image of him poking his head into every classroom until he finds the right one.
"Yeah, sure," Max chuckled as they high-fived, "good luck plugging the leak." His chest heaved with a contained laugh and he headed off toward the bathroom.
Taking her time to look around, she slowly moved through the main hall. The Christmas decorations had all been removed, replaced with fliers and posters for Valentine's Day. That was an exciting thought, at least. She and Chloe were still accumulating all of their 'firsts,' and Valentine's Day seemed like a particularly important one. As she turned into the hallway where her locker was located, she smiled when she saw Warren. He was rooting through his locker sleepily with some sort of breakfast bar hanging from his mouth.
"Hey you," she said, leaning her shoulder into the locker next to his. He turned to her and muffled what Max assumed must be a greeting. Realizing what he said was incoherent, he held up an index finger and chomped down, then set the rest of the bar down.
"Yo," he finally choked out after a bit of a struggle to swallow. "Pretty weird to be back, right?"
"A little, yeah," she admitted. "I was getting pretty used to not cooking my brain over impossible math and science."
Just like...a crock-pot of incomprehension.
"Not me, dude. I'm in my element now!" He clenched his fist in tame celebration. A scowl took root in his features and he pulled a piece of paper out of the locker. "For the most part," he said, looking it over for just a moment before tossing it back.
"Hm? Why you being salty?" Max asked.
"Ugh," he said, "I got A's on all of my exams except chemistry." He turned to her with a look of disbelief. "Chemistry! I thought for sure I nailed it..."
"Oh wow, you're such a dick," Max laughed. She put the back of her hand against her forehead. "Woe is me, I've committed a great sin in letting my perfection falter!" He tried to say something and she doubled down on the act. "Alas!"
"Ha ha," he responded dryly. "It's not a big deal, just a little disappointing. I just like to do my best. Nothing wrong with that."
"Well, that's what happens when you don't get Professor Caulfield to help you out," she said with a chuckle. He raised an eyebrow to show his bewilderment. "Oh, back in the uh," she leaned in closer to him, "other timeline, I helped you with a lab and you got a good grade!"
Warren winced and brought a hand to his face, briefly swaying as he did so. He grunted in discomfort and shivered. Max was confused for only a second before she realized.
Ah! Oh no!
"Oh fuck, I forgot!" she yelped, grabbing him by the shoulders. "I'm so, so sorry! I completely forgot! Are you okay?"
"Yep, yeah," he said, blinking a few times before giving a small shake of his head. "S'all good, accidents happen." He puffed out his cheeks and blew the air out slowly. "Welp, that was a new one."
I'm so stupid.
"Warren, seriously, I am so sorry. I forgot that was even a thing," she said.
"It hasn't happened since when you first told me about it?" he asked, turning back to his locker and retrieving a book.
"No! I've been good. Total lapse in memory." She hunched forward as if ashamed and narrowed her eyes. "Are you...sure you're okay? It almost looked like it hurt."
"Hey, forreal, I'm okay," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If anything, it just reminds me time travel is weird and science is a lie so that's pretty neat."
I can't tell if he's just playing it off or not...
"Ugh, that sucks." She frowned and held her hand up as if taking an oath. "I promise I'll be even more careful."
"Alright, alright," he laughed, "this pouty Max thing is killing me. Stop it, okay?" She hesitantly nodded. "Okay, good. I've gotta get to my first class. Let me know if you want to chill later, alright?" He smiled widely at her, which she returned, then he was off down the hall.
That's a bit of a rough start to the day.
She opened her locker and took the things she knew she'd need for her first class, leaving everything else behind. She jumped at the sudden sound of the bell ringing and slammed the locker closed, taking off up the steps in a hurry.
It took approximately a minute before the novelty of being in class again wore off. The warmth from the heater had reversed any sense of being awake and she spent most of the lesson trying not to doze off and bust her face on the table. Thankfully, the class was pretty light as it served for a minor introduction to what she'd be learning during the semester. This time when the bell rang, she was doubly grateful for it. There was no way she wouldn't be wide awake for her next class.
She returned to her locker and switched out her necessary materials, then took a deep breath. Turning around, she stared at the doorway leading into the classroom, feeling a miniscule bit of unease slosh around in her stomach. She realized she hadn't been in that room for months. Not since she had rewritten time once and for all. Clearing her mind, she entered the room.
"Max!" Victoria called, snapping her fingers to aid in getting her attention. When she got Max looked at her, she stopped snapping and pointed at an empty seat at the table next to Taylor. Of course, Kate was next to Victoria. Max found herself thinking about the last photography class she had attended.
Victoria and Nathan were being bullies and...and Kate didn't come. She went to the roof instead. And now we're all friends and sitting together? Kate and Victoria are together? This is...a crazy reminder of how things changed. How I changed things.
"We're sitting together," she said as she sat down, though it was more of an audible observation than directed at anyone in particular.
"Well, yeah," Taylor said. "It's better than you sitting by yourself like a little emo kid, right?" Max rolled her eyes and turned to her.
"I'm always going to be emo," she said. Taylor and Kate laughed, but Victoria seemed to be thinking it over.
"It actually is pretty crazy, huh?" She leaned over to dig through her bag, then straightened back out with a notebook in hand. She flopped it on the table with a flair of drama and made a sound of disgust. "I haven't looked in this for so long. Want to know what the last thing I wrote was?"
"What was it?" Kate asked. Max couldn't help but notice how liberal she was being with her leaning on Victoria. When Victoria opened the notebook, Max had to keep herself from visibly reacting. The format of the words, the purple ink, the small drawing in the corner... It was very familiar.
Oh man, Vic...
"It's this stupid little rant I wrote," she said. When no one responded, her shoulders slouched. "Ugh, okay. It says: My phone is dead and I'm bored. Time to bust out my poesy. Why did I give up the word for the image? Because I suck. But..." she scowled, "Mark Jefferson rules. Everyone in here loves him. But he only seems to care about..." She glanced at her arm when she felt Kate's hands wrap around it, then she looked at Max. "Max C. I want to hate her, but she wouldn't care. Envy is a sin, Vic." She laughed sadly and closed the book. "Get over yourself," she whispered.
"Woah," Taylor said, patting her hands on the table awkwardly, "I guess that's kind of fucked up for several reasons, huh?" Kate glared at her.
"Taylor!" she hissed. Taylor's hands shot up from the table, now acting as a show of surrender.
She probably feels like shit. The amount of guilt inside this girl...
"I mean," Max said, looking down at her notebook as she nervously scribbled nonsense, "I was jealous of you too, of course." Victoria stared at her for a moment, then smirked as she propped up her head with a hand.
"We don't look good in green, I don't think," she said. "You didn't have any reason to be jealous of me. You do your own thing and it's really great. I'm actually trying to take cues from you." She regarded Kate again and smiled. "Well, I guess now you have a reason to be jealous but, yanno."
"That was cute," Kate said, squeezing Victoria's arm affectionately.
"It's getting a bit gratuitous at this point, isn't it?" Max asked Taylor. The girl snickered and shook her head.
"Yeah, because we didn't put up with you and Chloe being disgusting for months. I'm immune to this shit now." She playfully flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Just you wait, I'm gonna find a guy and I'll get my revenge."
This is going to be a thing we go through with every friend, isn't it?
"Oh boy, I can't wait," Max replied sarcastically. Suddenly, Victoria's eyes grew wide as they traced over Max's shoulder. She turned in her seat just in time to see a woman hurrying into the room with folders in her arms. She dropped them on her desk and faced the class, smiling with embarrassment around the edges.
Max hadn't really thought about it, but she now realized she hadn't actually seen a picture of the new teacher. She was younger than she expected, looking like she couldn't have been out of college more than a few years. She leaned more toward Ms. Grant's casual fashion as opposed to dressing in what would be considered 'professional attire.' In fact, it seemed like she'd have no trouble fitting in with any average pack of hipsters. Her her was tied into a bun, making the multiple piercings in her ears visible. As if punctuating Max's assessment, she pushed her thick rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose.
She seems...cool? My style, at the very least.
"So," she clapped her hands together, "I'm late for my first class ever! We're off to a great start!" That brought a quiet wave of laughter out of the class, which seemed to help her relax. She scampered over to the door and shut it, then went back to center stage. "I'm your new photography teacher! I'm so excited to finally meet you all." She turned to the whiteboard and scribbled 'Ms. Waters' on it. She proudly stepped back from the board, then frowned. "Is that weird to do for high school?"
Aw, she's really awkward. I like her!
"My name is...obviously Ms. Waters," she said dryly, rolling her eyes as she pointed at the board. "I don't mind if you call me Maddie, though. We can do that until someone abuses it and I'm forced to go back on it," she laughed. "I know how it works, it's inevitable." She did a pretty good job of switching eye contact with different students as she spoke. "A little bit about me, I guess. I'm a recent graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology but have been working as a freelance photographer since just after high school. I don't really lean toward any specific style, but like to chase whatever is currently capturing my interest."
She already seems way less pretentious than Jefferson.
As she went over to her desk, Max turned back to Victoria and shrugged. The girl returned the gesture as if to say 'so far so good.' Ms. Waters dug through one of the folders she had brought in with her and held up two photographs.
"I try to be well-rounded. These are two of my favorite landscape shots I've taken. I'll pass them around." She approached Stella and held the photos out for her to take, making sure to offer her a big smile. "Interestingly, neither of them have been accepted anywhere I've submitted them, but they're still some of my favorites." She moved her hands in circles around each other as she explained. "I kind of find comfort in that. It reassures me that this is my passion and, above all else, I do it for me." She returned to her desk and grabbed a piece of paper. "That's what we're going to talk about today. Keep it casual to ease back in. I want to know where you land on the photography spectrum. If it's your passion, a hobby, or if you just took this class because you thought it'd be easy!" She was quick enough to search through the reactions of the students and smirked when she caught some nonvocal confessions. "But first, I'm going to take roll."
As she began going through the list of names, murmurs filled the classroom, presumably giving first impressions of their new teacher. After each one, she took an extra second to assign a face to the name. She was excited in a way that was both positive and a manifestation of nervousness. She stumbled when she reached a specific name.
"Kate Ma-" She stared at the paper, pencil ready to make a check mark. Her expression changed in an instant, swinging from perky to an honest sadness. She looked up from the paper slowly. "Kate Marsh?"
I wonder if she really knew what she was getting into.
"Here," Kate said, sheepishly raising her hand. Ms. Water's reaction hadn't gone unnoticed, and the atmosphere in the room took a nosedive. She stared at Kate for a moment, as if thinking of something to say, then conjured an obviously forced smile as she went back to the list. Kate bowed her head in embarrassment.
"So..." Ms. Waters said once she had finished roll call. She was clearly uneasy as she scanned the room. "I know that very horrible things happened last semester. I, uh...there's really nothing I can say that you haven't already heard or would do the situation justice. But I want you all to know that I'm here for you if you ever need to talk about anything. And I'm going to do everything in my power to make this as comfortable as I can. Please, please let me know if I can do anything differently to help make that happen." Though it probably wasn't a conscious move, she was looking at Kate when she finished. In response, the blonde did her best to smile back at her.
She couldn't say anything, but Max also took comfort in her words. It happened very infrequently, but there were moments when keeping her experience in The Dark Room a secret made her heart ache. She hoped it wasn't petty to think it, but sometimes she wished she could be included in the outpouring of support Kate received. Instead, she held tightly to her memories, refusing to let them escape to anyone but Chloe.
She at least seems sincere... That's good. I hope Kate likes her too. I hope this...works out.
"It's a little hard to segue from that," Ms. Waters admitted, stepping backwards in a shy manner, "but I wanted to address it. Having a black cloud hanging over our heads wouldn't do us any good" She took a deep breath. "Okay, um, let's start with a simple question. Who here actually likes photography? That it's something you'd want to honestly want to pursue?" Max hesitated, but raised her hand once she saw Victoria's in the air. A few more people put their hand up as well. "That's actually more than I was expecting," Ms. Waters laughed. "Hm...Victoria, right?" she asked, pointing at the girl. "Tell me what about photography inspires you."
"But she seems cool?" Chloe asked as she grabbed another slice of pizza. Somewhere along the line, sitting on the floor of Max's room while they ate had become the norm. Perhaps it was just the routine of it, but Max had grown to really like it. In a way, it almost felt like a meditative experience. She figured it was the closest she was going to get to a sense of detaching from material things.
"Yeah, she really does," Max replied, chomping into a slice herself. "The class was pretty fun and it sort of gave me and Vic the opportunity to gush about how obsessed we are with taking photos. I didn't think of it before, but she's really kind of brave to take the job. Her first teaching gig ever and she takes the place of a famous sociopath?"
"She is," Chloe agreed. "I wouldn't want to be in her shoes, that's for damn sure. And her actually being awesome is a huge plus... What's that look for?" Max had a distant look in her eyes, as if lost somewhere in her own head.
"I...don't know," she said. "It's not fair of me, but...we all thought Jefferson was cool. He had us all fooled. I don't actually think there's anything wrong with her, but it's still a lingering thought."
I hate how much of an effect he's had.
"I think that's understandable, babe." Chloe nudged Max with her foot. "And I'm sure she's well aware of that too. I'm not...trying to discount your nerves but I don't think lighting's going to strike twice on that."
"No, I know," Max said. "I guess it's just something that'll pass with time." She ate her piece of pizza up to the crust and then handed it to Chloe. "Anyway, yeah, that was my day. How was work? Frank started training today, right?"
"Yes!" Chloe said giddily. "It's so fucking bizarre to see that man nervous. I kept checking in on him and from what I could gather, he was doing pretty well. I didn't get any complaints from the customers, anyway. But I'm sure Pete was keeping it easy and helping out a lot." She let out a disbelieving chuckle. "I'm going to be pretty bummed when he moves to night shift entirely."
"Aw, yeah." Max slowly fell back until she was lying on the carpet. "But still, it's really nice to hear he's got a job. A morally acceptable one, anyway." She lifted her head to look at Chloe. "What do you think Rachel would say?"
"Ha!" Chloe smiled as she shook her head. "She'd be so fucking confused. But I guess she'd be really proud of him too, right? I've noticed..." She grew contemplative. "I've noticed that I've been sort of...cleaning up my memories of her. Everything got so fucked up and who knows how she really felt about anything. If she actually loved Frank. But when I don't slow down to really think it over, it's like that's just true in my head. I don't remember all the bad stuff." She brought one knee closer to her chest and rested her arm on it. "Is that messed up? Just like, covering up the bad things and only remembering the good?"
"No, I don't think so," Max said. "I think that's just how memories work. When you're close with someone and then something happens where you drift apart or circumstances force you apart, how much you cared about them and miss them takes priority. And I think that's a really nice thing, to be honest."
Maybe also a little dangerous if you forget why you broke up with someone.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Chloe replied. "I can't remember a single negative thing about my dad. Or I guess, anything that was bad is just something I miss now." She laughed as she narrowed her eyes. "Or were you talking about me?"
I'm so obvious, ugh.
"That was kind of the example in my head, yeah," Max said, blushing a little. "I only ever thought of you fondly and missed you. But...I guess you kind of hated me, huh?"
"Oh, shut up," Chloe said, getting on her knees and shuffling over to her. "I didn't hate you. I probably said I did a million times, but I was just angry at everything. Maybe angry because I missed you so much if...that makes sense? Sort of sounds like an oxymoron."
"Well, you are my oxymoron," Max teased. She shrieked as Chloe jumped on top of her.
"That wasn't even clever," Chloe murmured as she nipped at Max's ear.
"Look who's firing cannonballs through their glass house!" Max laughed. "Like ninety percent of your jokes are awful but I laugh at them because I want to get in your pants." Chloe sat up, straddling Max as she looked down with a look of shock.
"Is that true?" she asked. For a second, Max thought she might be genuinely offended. "Ninety seems really excessive. Give me eighty at least!"
Pfft, what? I was being generous. ...who am I kidding, I love it.
"I'm not going to barter on the quality of your sense of humor," Max said. Chloe's jaw only dropped lower.
"My whole world is crumbling," she said, her tone far away and somber. "Next you're going to tell me your name isn't even Max Caulfield! Who even are you!?"
Heh, so dumb.
"Don't be silly," Max giggled, "of course my name is Max Caulfield. I mean, for the moment..." Chloe perked an eyebrow. "Well, it's just..." Her eyes glimmered with something lovely as she grinned. "I'd kind of like to add a hyphen at some point."
A/N: Hey, Max finally gets to resume her photography classes and we meet the new teacher! I enjoyed figuring her out and drawing from my experiences with 'cool' teachers in the past. I might end up using her more than I initially thought just because it'd be fun to flesh her out. :)
Not much else to say about the chapter, but I'm really looking forward to getting into the next few! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter aaaand thank you for reading aaaand I'll see you guys for the next one! |
22 Most Used Free Fonts By Professional Designers
As we already know that the fonts are one of the most important parts of every web Project and choosing them is quit a difficult job for a web designer if his understanding of Typography is low. Our Last post 21 Most Used Fonts By Professional Designers helps you to get familiar with most used fonts which is not freely available.
After getting several requests about professional fonts which is most famous and freely available for download in our last post in same series we again look around and end up with a list of 22 Most Used Free Fonts By Professional Designers on the basis of their usability and popularity.
This list is a combined effort of professional web designers and art directors to speeding up your project development time so you can save money and focus on making great applications. All the screenshots again made in usual way so there is no confusion in checking the actual preview and corresponding font types.
The basic purpose behind this post is to show popular and professional free font types to save your time searching online. This time direct download link available for all the font. You can also find some related free references at the end of the post. Just make sure to read the license agreements carefully as they can change from time to time.
1. Delicious
2. Gentium
3. Tallys
4. Lido STF
5. Mg Open
5 (a). MgOpenCanonica
5 (b). MgOpenCosmetica
5 (c). MgOpenModata
5 (d). MgOpenModerna
6. Cardo
7. Day Roman
8. Yanone Kaffeesatz
9. Union
10. Fontin Family
10 (a). Fontin
10 (b). Fontin Sans
11. Fertigo Pro
12. Droid Font Family
13. M+ Outline Family
13 (a). M+ Outline 1C
13 (b). M+ Outline 1M
13 (c). M+ Outline 1P
13 (d). M+ Outline 2P
14. Luxi Family
14 (a). Luxi Mono
or download using OpenOffice.org’s FontOOo wizard.
14 (b). Luxi Sans
or download using OpenOffice.org’s FontOOo wizard.
14 (c). Luxi Serif
or download using OpenOffice.org’s FontOOo wizard.
15. Ambrosia
16. Lacuna
17. Liberation Family
17 (a). Liberation Sans
17 (b). Liberation Serif
18. Advent Pro
19. ATF Antique
20. Mank Sans
21. Diavlo
22. Cicle
Other References For Free Fonts |
Options for a ‘Global Britain’ after Brexit
Steven Brakman, Harry Garretsen, Tristan Kohl
New trade deals for the UK will be an important part of the Brexit negotiations, not only with the EU but also with the rest of the world. This column argues, however, that the UK has no trade-enhancing alternative to an agreement with the EU that essentially mimics its current situation as an EU member. A gravity model predicts that the negative impact of Brexit would be only marginally offset by a bilateral trade agreement with the US, and even in the case of trade agreements with all non-EU countries, the UK’s value-added exports would still fall by more than 6%.
On 29 March 2017, the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, wrote officially to the EU that the UK has the intention to terminate its EU membership.1 This announcement is the starting point for upcoming negotiations between the UK and the EU. New trade deals for the UK will be an important part of the negotiations, not only with the EU but also with the rest of the world. The letter from the Prime Minister indicates that for the UK government, the principles of Brexit are as outlined in the White Paper of 2 February 2017, which states that the UK aims to “forge a new strategic partnership with the EU, including a wide reaching, bold and ambitious free trade agreement...” and that “we will forge ambitious free trade relationships across the world” (HM Government 2017: 8).
From an international trade perspective, the choice of the UK to leave the EU is remarkable. Leaving a large free trade area like the EU will most likely be trade- and welfare-reducing for the UK. Without a new trade agreement, relative trade barriers will change such that trade with the EU will become relatively more expensive, resulting in trade diversion away from the EU and trade creation with the non-EU world. The balance between these developments will most likely be trade- and welfare-reducing, as trade barriers between the UK and the EU – the largest trading block in the world – increase. This gloomy evaluation is corroborated by almost all trade analyses of Brexit. The estimates range between roughly a 1.5% reduction in GDP to more than 7%, depending on the assumptions made on how Brexit will take shape (see Baldwin 2016 for an overview). Only ‘Economists for Brexit’ have produced a positive estimate, but this is a clear outlier in the available estimates (see Miles 2016 for a survey).
The need to strike new trade deals for the UK seems obvious. This begs the question: what kind of trade deal? Does the UK really has a viable alternative to its current membership of the EU, like the ‘Global Britain’ strategy advocated by the May government? A few options come to mind when considering this issue, such as a US-UK trade partnership or a trade deal with all non-EU countries. On a more pessimistic note, one could not look at Brexit in isolation but also consider the consequences of the present anti-trade or anti-EU sentiments, such as a collapse of the EU following a possible ‘Frexit’, or even the most extreme anti-globalisation scenario, a total collapse of all trade agreements, and analyse how a Brexit scenario would play out if the overall international trade climate (further) worsens.
Predicting the consequences of these scenarios is of course difficult – because we do not know what future trade arrangements might look like – but based on past experience with trade agreements, one can approximate the size of the trade effects. In a new paper, we analyse a few of these options for the UK with the help of a gravity model (Brakman et al. 2017). A gravity model explains bilateral trade flows by looking at the economic size of countries (GDP) and the trade barriers (distance, membership of a trade agreement) between countries. The logic of the model says that the larger the trading partners and the smaller the trade barriers, the larger the volume of trade. The calculations of alternative trade scenarios are relatively simple. First, one estimates the model for the world as it is, including all existing trade agreements. Alternative scenarios can then easily be implemented by turning a specific trade agreement on or off and recalculating the (hypothetical) trade flows. This gives a reasonable indication of the static trade effects.2
Brexit scenarios
The benchmark for the alternative scenarios is Brexit itself. The trade effects on the global economy in the case of a hard Brexit – that is, the UK leaves the EU and all trade agreements that the EU has with the rest of the world – are depicted in Figure 1. On the horizontal axis, countries are ranked according to their GDP per capita, and on the vertical axis the percentage change in value-added exports (VAX).[3]
Figure 1 Hard Brexit: The UK terminates its EU membership and membership of all other EU-based trade agreements
Note: Bubbles are proportional to countries’ value-added exports in 2014.
As Figure 1 shows, a hard Brexit scenario has a strong negative impact on the value-added exports of the UK, decreasing these exports by almost 18%, mainly because trade with the (remainder of the) EU becomes more expensive. So what about the alternatives, such as a US-UK trade deal or a trade deal between the UK and the rest of the world? Figures 2 and 3 give the answer.
The main effect of the trade agreement between the UK and the US is that it increases the value-added exports for both countries by approximately 2%. For the UK, this implies that the negative impact of Brexit is only marginally offset by a bilateral trade agreement with the US (compare the -18% in Figure 1 with the -16% in Figure 2). Easier access to the US market compensates the trade loss of Brexit to some extent, but within the logic of the gravity model the US is further away and thereby less attractive and relevant as a trade partner.
Figure 2 Hard Brexit followed by a trade agreement between the UK and US
Note: Bubbles proportional to countries’ value-added exports in 2014.
What happens if the UK goes for a hard Brexit but at the same time manages to strike a trade agreement with all other countries outside the EU in our sample? As Figure 3 shows, this scenario would indeed provide a boost for the value-added exports of the UK and many other countries. For the UK, it is still the case that the impact of a combination of hard Brexit with a true Global Britain scenario is negative to the extent that its value-added exports fall by more than 6%. The main reason is distance – although the ‘rest of the world’ is large, it is also distant to the UK, not just in the sense of actual distance (compared to the EU) but also with respect to cultural, institutional, legal, and other differences that act as impediments to trade. The net effect of more access to the rest of the world and a hard Brexit is such that it is hard to see how Global Britain can be a viable alternative to or substitute for the UK’s current EU membership.
Figure 3 Hard Brexit followed by the UK joining trade agreements with all countries in the world except EU members
Note: Bubbles proportional to countries’ value-added exports in 2014.
Figures 2 and 3 still describe relatively optimistic scenarios, where it is possible to negotiate new trade deals. However, it is not impossible that the Brexit will be part of larger anti-EU wave that possibly results in the dissolution of the EU itself. Many current national elections offer voters the option to cast an anti-EU vote. In some EU countries, these parties are popular, increasing the likelihood of another exit. The trade effects of such an extreme situation are much more dramatic than those depicted in Figure 1; it is not only the UK that would experience a significant reduction of international trade, but all other countries as well (see Brakman et al. 2017 for these additional scenarios).
Conclusion
The UK government states that it is aiming to replace the UK’s membership of the EU by other, broad trade agreements. However, at this stage it is not clear what these new trade agreements will look like and which countries could be involved. What are the alternatives for the UK government? A US-UK trade deal? A more extreme worldwide trade deal? If the UK government aims to compensate for the large negative trade shock of Brexit, the options seem limited. Based on existing empirical evidence on trade agreements, our conclusion is simple. If the UK wants to limit the negative trade effects of Brexit, the UK has no trade-enhancing alternative to an agreement with the EU that essentially mimics the situation in which the UK is a member of the EU.
References
Baldwin, R E (ed.) (2016) Brexit Beckons: Thinking ahead by Leading Economists, CEPR Press.
Brakman, S, H Garretsen, and T Kohl (2017), “Consequences of Brexit and Options for a ‘Global Britain”, CESifo Working Paper No. 6448.
Dhingra, S, H Huang, G Ottaviano, J-P Pessoa, T Sampson, and J Van Reenen (2017), “The Costs and Benefits of Leaving the EU: Trade Effects”, CEP Discussion Paper No. 1478.
HM Government (2017), The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union.
Miles, D (2016), “Brexit Realism: What Economists know about costs and voter motives,” in R E Baldwin (ed.), Brexit Beckons: Thinking ahead by Leading Economists, CEPR Press.
Endnotes
[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/29_03_17_ article50.pdf
[2] This underestimates the possible effects of a Brexit as we do not include long-term effects on innovation, productivity, or migration (Dhingra et al. 2017).
[3] We use ‘value-added exports’ (VAX) because changes in value-added trade are more directly linked to the income and welfare of the countries involved than gross exports; these data also include domestic (non-tradable) services that are used in the production of tradable goods. |
Today that changes, and the new company now known as Link Bubble has started things off by removing the need to pay for advanced features and made Link Bubble and Link Bubble Pro one and the same.
There are dozens of Android browsers out there today, but none of them work quite like Link Bubble . It's an app that fits a specific kind of mobile browsing, and the users that fit that niche absolutely love the overall experience. A few weeks ago, the creator of Link Bubble sold his popular little browser to a stealth mode startup company that wasn't quite ready to reveal themselves to the world.
If you are among those who upgraded from Link Bubble to Link Bubble Pro in the last month, the new owners are prepared to issue a refund.
The limitations applied to the free version of Link Bubble are now gone. This means matching site themes, Article Mode, Android Wear support, and access to an infinite number of bubbles are now standard features for the browser. In the announcement post from Link Bubble, the next steps for this browser include big fixes, performance optimization, and a focus on customer support.
If you are among those who upgraded from Link Bubble to Link Bubble Pro in the last month, the new owners are prepared to issue a refund. If you've made the upgrade before the new owners take over, you're not quite as fortunate.
This is a great new start for the owners of Link Bubble and its users, and if this new foot forward is any indicator it looks like this browser is going to continue being one of the more unique and capable browsers available for Android today. |
NBC announced on Tuesday that it is suspending Brian Williams from his duties as anchor and managing editor of "Nightly News" for six months without pay for misleading the public about his experiences covering the Iraq War in 2003.
"By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News," NBC Universal Chief Executive Officer Steve Burke said in a statement from the network. "His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate." But he said Williams deserved a second chance.
Central to the furor are misleading statements Williams made during several public appearances and on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" about an incident that took place on a reporting trip to Iraq. A helicopter carrying Williams and his crew never came under fire, but a Chinook copter that was more than an hour ahead of that aircraft did. Williams by his own admission conflated the two air trips and made it seem as if he were under fire.
His suspension comes after Williams voluntarily took himself off the air on Saturday and five days after NBC News launched an inquiry into his story of the event.
NBC News President Deborah Turness said in a memo sent to staff on Tuesday that the inquiry is still ongoing.
Turness said that Williams "misrepresented" events that occurred while he was covering the war.
"It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues," Turness said. "This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian's position."
Turness said Lester Holt would continue to substitute for Williams as anchor.
The uproar began after a Jan. 30 "Nightly News" segment in which Williams retold a version of the story, and the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported on a number of soldiers who disputed Williams' claims, saying he was not on or near the helicopter that was hit.
Williams' apology last week, in which he said he misremembered the event, was widely mocked and criticized. Williams, 55, has led "Nightly News" since 2004.
Wire services |
The NAS Genetics Panel (1956) recommended a switch from a threshold to a linear dose response for radiation risk assessment. To support this recommendation, geneticists on the panel provided individual estimates of the number of children in subsequent generations (one to ten) that would be adversely affected due to transgenerational reproductive cell mutations. It was hoped that there would be close agreement among the individual risk estimates. However, extremely large ranges of variability and uncertainty characterized the wildly divergent expert estimates. The panel members believed that sharing these estimates with the scientific community and general public would strongly undercut their linearity recommendation, as it would have only highlighted their own substantial uncertainties. Essentially, their technical report in the journal Science omitted and misrepresented key adverse reproductive findings in an effort to ensure support for their linearity recommendation. These omissions and misrepresentations not only belie the notion of an impartial and independent appraisal by the NAS Panel, but also amount to falsification and fabrication of the research record at the highest possible level, leading ultimately to the adoption of LNT by governments worldwide. Based on previously unexamined correspondence among panel members and Genetics Panel meeting transcripts, this paper provides the first documentation of these historical developments.
Keywords Mutation Cancer Risk assessment Linear no-threshold (LNT) Threshold dose response
In 1956, the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published their long-awaited reports addressing national concerns about how ionizing radiation may affect such entities as oceans/fisheries, agriculture/food supply, meteorology/atmosphere, medicine/pathology, genetics and disposal of radioactive wastes. As it turns out, the report that dominated the attention of the scientific community and media was that of the Genetics Panel. It proclaimed there was no safe level of exposure to ionizing radiation and offered dire warnings about severe adverse biological effects occurring in present and future generations. Societies, world governments and medical communities needed to heed the mutational risks that could persist across generations as a result of exposures to even low doses of ionizing radiation. The panel emphasized that the then extant threshold dose–response model was wrong and misled society on the hazards of low doses of ionizing radiation. To better protect the public health and to provide more accurate predictions, the report urged the risk assessment community to adopt a linear dose–response model. This recommendation represented no less than a paradigm shift that would alter the courses of both international environmental policy and cancer risk assessment to the present time. The LNT dose response was soon generalized from assessing the radiation risk of mutation to the radiation risk of cancer and then generalized once again by the US EPA to assessing the chemical risk of cancer. In retrospect, the road to linearity can be directly traced back to the BEAR Committee, Genetics Panel (Calabrese 2009, 2013).
Despite their tidal wave of success in 1956 and in the years following, the radiation genetics community had already been seeking a switch from the threshold to the linear dose–response model for nearly 30 years (Calabrese 2013), i.e., starting from a time soon after Muller’s famous Nobel Prize winning discovery in 1927 that X-rays can induce mutations in the sperm of male fruit flies. Muller, Curt Stern and other prominent researchers from the radiation genetics community had long challenged the risk assessment methods for ionizing radiation and proposed using the far more conservative linear dose–response model. However, at each turn in the road, another similarly recalcitrant medical committee opposed their challenges and supported the more lenient threshold dose–response model instead. This frustrated Muller and his kindred radiation geneticist colleagues. In all major advisory committees to that point, the cards were “stacked” against them. However, with the creation of the NAS Committee, which was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the political tide turned their way. The decision to create an NAS Genetics Panel meant that Muller and his group would no longer be token geneticists on a committee oriented toward and dominated by the medical community; they would now be the dominant force on a BEAR I Committee whose 17 members included 13 notable geneticists. This may have seemed like a dream come true as the panel would now have no opposition to the big issue of the day: that is, finally getting linearity to drive the mutation risk assessment. The panel would soon proclaim that LNT was the new risk assessment “law” of the land, with little, if any, need for discussion, debate or evidence-based examination via scientific assessments. Thus, the panel moved to other challenges. Instead of debating the merits of the threshold vs LNT, the Chair of the Panel requested that all the geneticists on the panel provide their best estimates with upper and lower confidence intervals for the number of adversely affected children born to parents’ whose gonads were exposed to a certain dose of radiation.
Despite the fact that there was a wide range of geneticists (e.g., human, fruit fly, bacterial, etc.) comprising the panel, it was hoped that there would be a high degree of agreement/consensus on what the specific population risks might be. If the panel members could independently come to a convergent agreement on risks, it would strongly support their risk assessment judgment and the linearity dose–response paradigm that they wanted society to adopt.
It is here where the story gets interesting. Through a variety of unexpected discoveries, it was possible to determine that the panel of geneticist experts wildly differed among themselves on the estimates of population risks, and, in fact, felt very uncertain about their own estimates of mutation frequency in future generations. The emergence of such uncertainties rattled the leaders of the panel and eventually led the Genetics Panel to omit key data from the research record, all in an effort to disguise the vast uncertainty that existed for the projected human risks. These factors and issues were known by the panel and are evident in the numerous letters that were exchanged between them and the Panel Chair; the panel even voted to hide the uncertainty from the scientific community by omitting key data and misrepresenting the predicted risks. In effect, the NAS BEAR Committee, Genetics Panel committed scientific misconduct in their publication in the journal Science in June, 1956 (Anonymous 1956). By omitting and misrepresenting the actual data, the panel hoped to convince the scientific community and the public to adopt their linear dose–response model in the assessment of risks associated with exposures to ionizing radiation, especially at low doses. These falsifications and fabrications are detailed and presented for the first time in the supplemental data section; they expose the fraudulent actions of the Genetics Panel and call attention to the vast impact they have had on cancer risk assessment. |
Introduction
This information is valid for all versions of XP x86 (32-bit) running Service Pack 3. XP Pro x64 (64-bit) Service information and Configurations are also online.
Before adjusting your service settings, ensure that you or your system has already installed all updates by “checking now” for any available updates via Windows Update.
I cannot possibly test all configurations extensively (meaning, each persons specific computer needs), but what I can offer is what “works for me” and the obstacles I have came across so you do not have to discover them on your own.
Please note, this information is no longer updated. Please take that fact into consideration when reviewing this information.
Notes for a Happier Computer and User
Do not use “msconfig” to disable services, type “services.msc” in the Run box instead! (Why?)
Before disabling any service, check out the service information about each by selecting the service name links provided.
If you do not wish to select/change each service by hand, I offer up Service Registry files to adjust them with only a few clicks. Currently, “Default” and “Safe” are available.
Service settings are global, meaning changes apply to all users.
All of these services are “Standard” with Windows XP after the installation of Service Pack 3. If you discover something other than these listed here running, another program installed them or they were installed with optional updates via Windows Update. Examples of this include .NET services and WMP services. View a listing of the more common ones.
Still unsure? Put your setting to “Manual” or the listing under “Safe.” Manual allows Windows XP to start the service when it needs to (or when ever it feels like it), but not at boot up. Depending on your configuration, not all services will start when required while in “Manual” mode. If you find you need a service, place it in Automatic.
After adjusting your service settings, reboot your computer.
If you do not have some of these services listed, do not panic! If your computer manufacture “pre-installed” your XP, they choose not to have certain services installed for you. This is, in most cases, a fact with OEM versions of Windows XP Home.
Disabling all of the “unneeded services” reduces the footprint of the OS by up to 70%, depending on system.
Table Header Information
The columns are sortable. Select the column header to sort by that field.
(JavaScript Required)
Select the column header to sort by that field. Display Name ~ How it displays in the Services Control Panel.
~ How it displays in the Services Control Panel. Service Name ~ What name is used in the registry.
~ What name is used in the registry. DEFAULT ~ What Bill G. thinks should be running on Windows XP.
~ What Bill G. thinks should be running on Windows XP. “SAFE” Configuration ~ This is the configuration that 95% of the people will be able to use with little or no side effects. It will also minimize the amount of “errors” that is reported in the Event Viewer. This does not guarantee it will work for you, but if adjusting your services scares you, this configuration would be a good starting point.
~ This is the configuration that 95% of the people will be able to use with little or no side effects. It will also minimize the amount of “errors” that is reported in the Event Viewer. This does not guarantee it will work for you, but if adjusting your services scares you, this configuration would be a good starting point. Tweaked Configuration ~ This is the power user setup. This setup is a system that connects through a network (such as a gateway / router) to the internet, provides file and print sharing resources and gaming enjoyment. Some things may not function with this setup. No passwords save. Its use is not for a computer with analog modems or some direct DSL/cable connections. Try the “Safe” Configuration first.
~ This is the power user setup. This setup is a system that connects through a network (such as a gateway / router) to the internet, provides file and print sharing resources and gaming enjoyment. Some things may not function with this setup. No passwords save. Its use is not for a computer with analog modems or some direct DSL/cable connections. Try the “Safe” Configuration first. Bare-bones Configuration ~ This is the super geek setup. This setup is a system that connects through a network (such as a gateway / router) to the internet with a static IP address. This system does not provide file and print sharing resources, nor have the ability to print. Its use is not for a computer with analog modems or many direct DSL/cable connections. You can use this configuration for extreme tweaking and testing purposes. Many things may not function with this setup. No passwords save. The Event Log will display “errors” of not being able to start certain services. Built in Windows CDR-RW functions may no longer work. Please do not ask, “How do I fix” questions while using this configuration. The answer will be “Use SAFE.” This information’s intention is for my reference only.
Configuration Information
Automatic ~ With a service in this state, it will start at boot time. Some services, when no longer required, will also automatically stop when not needed. However, this is very rare. If you find you do not need a service, place it into Manual or Disabled.
~ With a service in this state, it will start at boot time. Some services, when no longer required, will also automatically stop when not needed. However, this is very rare. If you find you do not need a service, place it into Manual or Disabled. Manual ~ Manual mode allows Windows to start a service when needed. However, very few services will start up when required in Manual mode. If you find you need a service, place it into Automatic.
~ Manual mode allows Windows to start a service when needed. However, very few services will start up when required in Manual mode. If you find you need a service, place it into Automatic. Disabled ~ This setting will stop a service from starting, even if needed. Errors in the Event Viewer will show up complaining of that fact. Some services, while Disabled, will constantly complain. However, this situation is taken care of if placed in Manual. The service descriptions identifies those that should be in Manual vice Disabled.
~ This setting will stop a service from starting, even if needed. Errors in the Event Viewer will show up complaining of that fact. Some services, while Disabled, will constantly complain. However, this situation is taken care of if placed in Manual. The service descriptions identifies those that should be in Manual vice Disabled. “Started” ~ A service that either set to Manual or Automatic that is running by default at or shortly after boot time.
~ A service that either set to Manual or Automatic that is running by default at or shortly after boot time. “Not Started” ~ A service set into Automatic that is not running by default at or shortly after boot time.
Service Dependency Abbreviation Information
H ~ Windows XP Home
~ Windows XP Home M ~ Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
~ Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 P ~ Windows XP Pro
~ Windows XP Pro T ~ Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005
An * (asterisk) indicates changes from the default.
Two ** (asterisks) indicates changes from Service Pack 2 to Service Pack 3.
An * (asterisk) indicates changes from the default.
Two ** (asterisks) indicates changes from Service Pack 2 to Service Pack 3. |
A Florida man, fed up with people using their cell phones while driving, came up with an ingenious plan to use a “jamming” device to block their phones while he drove to and from work. That ingenious idea, however, may cost him $48,000 in fines.
Authorities found the jamming device in an SUV belonging to Jason R. Humphreys, which he used for nearly two years during his daily commute to Tampa. Unfortunately, Humphreys was caught after the Federal Communications Commission, looking into complaints about wireless interference, noticed a weirdly strong signal emitting from an SUV.
On its surface, jamming people’s cell phones to stop them from texting and driving sounds like a great public service (see here, here, and here). But according to the FCC, it’s a terrible, dumb idea that could get people killed:
The FCC says that jamming devices cannot be authorized because they can compromise the integrity of the nation’s communications infrastructure, including 911 and police calls during an emergency.
So… joke’s on you, Humphreys.
[MyFoxNY.com]
[Image via Shutterstock]
—
>> Follow Tina Nguyen (@Tina_Nguyen) on Twitter
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] |
This is Great! I have been looking everywhere for something like this. To be honest I don't know why the synaptics touchpad isn't designed like this from the start. Synaptics says it has a suite of gestures. Well that's all well and good but half the time the gestures just get in the way. For instance sometimes I just move my finger from left to right and all of a sudden I find myself going from the desktop to the "Start" menu (the one with the apps).
Just noticed something: Is there anyway you can make a keyboard shortcut override? Because of course as soon as you touch the pad it is interpreted as a mouse/finger down event, yet getting the precise location is difficult. So if there was a way to override the mouse/finger down event just until you are in the right area that would be good I think. At least until the user gets used to where on the touchpad to touch in relation to the display. |
Seattle officials Tuesday released draft maps showing how some of the city’s densest residential neighborhoods could become denser under Mayor Ed Murray’s sweeping housing plan.
Seven-story apartment buildings in Crown Hill. Small apartment homes along Hillman City side streets. Duplexes and row houses throughout South Park.
Those structures and others could be allowed under zoning changes proposed for Seattle’s urban villages. For the first time, officials Tuesday released detailed maps showing how some the city’s densest neighborhoods could become denser.
They’re part of Mayor Ed Murray’s Mandatory Housing Affordability program, also known as the “grand bargain,” which is making its way through the City Council.
The council has already passed legislation requiring developers to help the city create rent-restricted housing when they build new projects, either on-site or via fees.
That’s half the bargain. The other half, which the council will consider in several stages over the next year or two, are zoning changes allowing developers to build taller in Seattle’s commercial and multifamily residential areas.
When Murray unveiled the Mandatory Housing Affordability program last year, he said it would entail allowing developers to build up one additional story.
In addition to the upzones needed for the bargain’s housing requirements to take effect, officials want to expand the boundaries of some urban villages — the 28 neighborhood nodes tapped for growth in Seattle’s 1994 long-term plan.
They say larger urban villages are contemplated in a new long-term plan, Seattle 2035, which the council may approve next month.
Since April, community members who applied and were picked by Murray officials have been meeting in groups to talk about the changes. They got a first look at five draft maps Tuesday night during a presentation at City Hall.
The maps — still works in progress — will now be subject to intense scrutiny from residents and developers who know how important zoning can be. There will eventually be 28 different maps.
Jason Kelly, spokesman for Murray’s planning department, says officials are using advice from the focus groups to guide their work.
View the draft maps Draft maps of potential zoning changes for some of Seattle’s urban villages can be viewed online athttp://st.news/2d4XGbu For more information about the HALA Community Focus Groups: www.seattle.gov/hala/focus-groups
For example, rather than allow one additional story along 15th Avenue Northwest and Holman Road Northwest in Crown Hill, officials may allow an extra 35 feet.
They’ve heard people from the neighborhood ask for new density in Crown Hill to be concentrated on those main drags, Kelly says.
In another example, officials may keep one corner of Capitol Hill unchanged. They say they’ve heard from neighbors that historic districts should be left alone.
Maureen Cartano, a group member who lives just outside the existing Eastlake urban village boundary, says the meetings have been “a dog and pony show.”
Cartano, who doubts the bargain will result in many affordable homes in her neighborhood, said, “This is just so they can check the community-engagement box.”
Ryan DiRaimo, another group member, lives with his wife and young daughter in a bungalow inside the Aurora-Licton Springs urban village.
DiRaimo says officials have listened to his suggestion that the changes encourage a switch from auto-oriented businesses to pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use buildings.
Whether they’ll also act on his request for more family-size apartments, he isn’t sure. DiRaimo says the meetings have sometimes felt more like lectures.
Then there’s Bre Weider, who rents in the Othello urban village, near where she grew up. Weider has been telling officials to make sure the changes don’t exacerbate displacement. Rising rents are pushing people of color out.
“We need housing. But we need to make sure we get affordable housing for people already here,” she said.
The changes will likely meet some opposition. Because work on proposed changes for the University District began prior to Murray’s grand bargain, those are already under consideration by the council and are drawing fire from some residents and business owners worried about displacement.
Similarly, changes in downtown, South Lake Union and Uptown are slated for earlier approval.
Expanding urban-village boundaries would change the zoning on some residential blocks from single- to multifamily. Murray initially proposed doing away with single-family zoning everywhere, then backtracked under pressure from homeowners who said the move would hurt neighborhood character.
But proponents of more density got a boost this week as President Obama released a “housing development toolkit” that says zoning and other restrictions are contributing to income inequality by preventing cities and states from adding the units that working families need. |
Transcript:
Satchel: Rob, tell Bucky he's not allowed to eat butter! Bucky: Rob, tell Satchel I'm allowed to eat butter! Rob: Satchel, Bucky eats tiny bits of it- you eat the whole tub and throw up. Satchel: Then I get to eat tiny bits of it, too! Rob: You can't just walk into the kitchen to eat butter, you have to do it in moderation. Satchel: Tell him he can't eat my dead things anymore, then! He throws them up! Bucky: Oh! Rob: If either of you are eating dead things; first, don't tell me, and second, do it in moderation. Bucky: Are you eating a pen? Satchel: What about Bucky's yarn stash? I bet they don't eat yarn in moderation! Rob: Who's "they"? Bucky: Bet they do. Moderation sounds like the craziest place on earth. Rob: Huh? Satchel: I guess the question is what won't they do in moderation! Ha ha! Bucky: They're, like moderatiacs. |
PepsiMaxxxx Profile Joined October 2012 Sweden 5452 Posts #2 Great pictures.
Zest looks happy.
Maxilicious Profile Joined May 2011 220 Posts #3 Stats won the best ceremony.
What's the ceremony he did that won him this award? I don't remember he did anything memorable. http://terrancraft.com/
Edpayasugo Profile Joined April 2013 United Kingdom 1622 Posts #4 On October 11 2015 16:42 Maxilicious wrote:
Stats won the best ceremony.
What's the ceremony he did that won him this award? I don't remember he did anything memorable.
Yeah me neither. Yeah me neither. FlaSh MMA INnoVation FanTaSy MKP TY Ryung | soO Dark Rogue | HuK PartinG Stork State
Phredxor Profile Joined May 2013 New Zealand 14938 Posts #5 On October 11 2015 16:54 Edpayasugo wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 11 2015 16:42 Maxilicious wrote:
Stats won the best ceremony.
What's the ceremony he did that won him this award? I don't remember he did anything memorable.
Yeah me neither. Yeah me neither.
Only thing I can remember him doing is that silly little shadow boxing thing.. Only thing I can remember him doing is that silly little shadow boxing thing..
HooHooH Profile Joined January 2015 164 Posts #6 On October 11 2015 16:42 Maxilicious wrote:
Stats won the best ceremony.
What's the ceremony he did that won him this award? I don't remember he did anything memorable.
Only one i can think of is when he beat Cure with a 1-base colossus drop maybe Only one i can think of is when he beat Cure with a 1-base colossus drop maybe
KingofdaHipHop Profile Blog Joined October 2013 United States 25491 Posts #7 On October 11 2015 17:39 HooHooH wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 11 2015 16:42 Maxilicious wrote:
Stats won the best ceremony.
What's the ceremony he did that won him this award? I don't remember he did anything memorable.
Only one i can think of is when he beat Cure with a 1-base colossus drop maybe Only one i can think of is when he beat Cure with a 1-base colossus drop maybe
i thought it was a proxy colossus
or did he do both i thought it was a proxy colossusor did he do both Rain | herO | sOs | Dear | Neeb | ByuN | INnoVation | Dream | ForGG | Maru | ByuL | Golden | Solar | Soulkey | Scarlett!!!
Ej_ Profile Blog Joined January 2013 44306 Posts #8 On October 11 2015 18:05 KingofdaHipHop wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 11 2015 17:39 HooHooH wrote:
On October 11 2015 16:42 Maxilicious wrote:
Stats won the best ceremony.
What's the ceremony he did that won him this award? I don't remember he did anything memorable.
Only one i can think of is when he beat Cure with a 1-base colossus drop maybe Only one i can think of is when he beat Cure with a 1-base colossus drop maybe
i thought it was a proxy colossus
or did he do both i thought it was a proxy colossusor did he do both
it was 1 base proxy collossus it was 1 base proxy collossus "Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
Picasso Profile Joined October 2013 Korea (South) 52 Posts #9
After Stats beat Cure with a 1 base proxy colossus After Stats beat Cure with a 1 base proxy colossus
Khai Profile Joined August 2010 Australia 518 Posts #10 Awesome pictures!
bObA Profile Joined May 2012 France 275 Posts #11 On October 11 2015 16:33 PepsiMaxxxx wrote:
Great pictures.
Zest looks happy.
lol yea very emtional these Korean progammers lol yea very emtional these Korean progammers
StatixEx Profile Blog Joined August 2011 United Kingdom 779 Posts #12 Glade on phone hearthStone . . passion!
Garnet Profile Blog Joined February 2006 Vietnam 8267 Posts #13 On October 11 2015 19:29 Picasso wrote:
https://youtu.be/Gtc8Z-0p4U4?t=9m44s
After Stats beat Cure with a 1 base proxy colossus After Stats beat Cure with a 1 base proxy colossus
THAT won the best ceremony? THAT won the best ceremony?
Inflicted Profile Blog Joined January 2011 Australia 14846 Posts #14 + Show Spoiler +
sums up Jin Air's run lol sums up Jin Air's run lol Liquipedia "Expert"
Edpayasugo Profile Joined April 2013 United Kingdom 1622 Posts #15 hahaha Zest FlaSh MMA INnoVation FanTaSy MKP TY Ryung | soO Dark Rogue | HuK PartinG Stork State
rotta Profile Joined December 2011 5413 Posts #16 On October 12 2015 01:17 Garnet wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 11 2015 19:29 Picasso wrote:
https://youtu.be/Gtc8Z-0p4U4?t=9m44s
After Stats beat Cure with a 1 base proxy colossus After Stats beat Cure with a 1 base proxy colossus
THAT won the best ceremony? THAT won the best ceremony?
It was a slow year. Thanks for banning PartinG, SKT! It was a slow year. Thanks for banning PartinG, SKT! don't wall off against random
AKAvg Profile Joined April 2014 Brazil 297 Posts #17 On October 12 2015 02:58 rotta wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 12 2015 01:17 Garnet wrote:
On October 11 2015 19:29 Picasso wrote:
https://youtu.be/Gtc8Z-0p4U4?t=9m44s
After Stats beat Cure with a 1 base proxy colossus After Stats beat Cure with a 1 base proxy colossus
THAT won the best ceremony? THAT won the best ceremony?
It was a slow year. Thanks for banning PartinG, SKT! It was a slow year. Thanks for banning PartinG, SKT!
Agreed... no ruler snipping this year
#FreePartinG Agreed... no ruler snipping this year#FreePartinG
Wrath Profile Blog Joined July 2014 3115 Posts #18 Can someone explain to me how Razer is sponsoring both SKT and KT?
What Prize did Dark win?
And lol on Samsung cheering for JAGW.
It was an awesome final, hopefully we see more and more KeSPA StarCraft action in the future.
rotta Profile Joined December 2011 5413 Posts #19 On October 12 2015 05:51 WrathSCII wrote:
What Prize did Dark win?
"Rookie" of the year "Rookie" of the year don't wall off against random
fronkschnonk Profile Joined November 2011 Germany 429 Posts #20 On October 12 2015 05:51 WrathSCII wrote:
Can someone explain to me how Razer is sponsoring both SKT and KT?
Razer is sponsoring everything. Razer is sponsoring everything.
1 2 Next All |
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Duke Fakir still performs with a new-look Four Tops
The last surviving original member of The Four Tops has revealed the Motown group almost boarded the plane that was blown up over Lockerbie.
Pan Am Flight 103 was on its way from London to New York in 1988 when a bomb went off on board while it was above the Scottish town.
Duke Fakir said: "The producer on Top of The Pops was the reason we didn't get on that plane."
He explained the group originally planned two performances for the show.
The 80-year-old said the group wanted to record them together but were told they could not do both of them in the same session.
Timeline: Lockerbie bombing
Speaking in London before attending a performance of Motown the Musical, Fakir explained: "We had two shows to do and we were going to record them at the same time.
"One of them was not going out until New Year's Eve and the producer didn't want us to play them at the same time. He wouldn't have it."
Image copyright Craig Sugden Image caption Fakir joined the cast of Motown The Musical on stage on Wednesday evening
Fakir added: "I was glad, so, so glad that we didn't do it in one session."
The explosion over Lockerbie killed all 259 people on board the plane and 11 people on the ground.
Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has previously said he was booked on the Pan Am flight, but missed it because his wife took too long packing.
Fakir performs with a new-look The Four Tops, who will soon embark on a UK tour with The Temptations.
The Four Tops became one of the best-known bands of the Motown era after forming in the late 1950s.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. |
The comedian and the director star in an unlikely PSA about the failure of government regulation to protect small businesses and the planet. (Too funny to summarize - just watch)
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Patton Oswalt and Werner Herzog act out an economic bedtime story.
Ever found yourself struggling to explain why common business practices like undercutting the competition, underpaying workers, and lobbying against regulation are ultimately unsustainable? If so, you might want to take a peek at “Lemonade War: the Double-Edged Sword of Regulation,” a short starring comedian Patton Oswalt and wry German director Werner Herzog. In just under eight minutes, it manages to illustrate a handful of economic principles, wrapping up the basic business lesson in the charming story of a struggling lemonade entrepreneur and her greedy, grotesque, big-business competition. As an added bonus, Herzog tees up a grim, bizarrely hilarious rant about the economic endgame of unregulated competition.
“Lemonade War”, directed by Ramin Bahrani, is a production of We the Economy, a partnership between Paul Allen’s Vulcan Productions and Morgan Spurlock’s Cinelan. The group has developed 20 short films that explain economic topics ranging from regulation to globalization, foreign aid to economic inequality.
Overseen by a stable of veteran directors, including Mary Harron, Catherine Hardwicke and Bob Balaban, the films form a sort of next-generation Schoolhouse Rock. Assuming, of course, that Schoolhouse Rock had featured Patton Oswalt picking his nose ... and Werner Herzog muttering about how bad business is like the hedgehog’s dilemma. In other words, it’s even better.
The Vital Signs platform is funded byAvery Dennison, Domtar and Chiquita.All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement feature. Find out more here. |
by Lauren C. Williams Posted on March 6, 2015 at 8:00 am Updated: March 6, 2015 at 10:56 am
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"The ‘Five Horsemen’ Of Wikipedia Paid The Price For Getting Between Trolls And Their Victims" Share:
Late last summer, the internet was suddenly abuzz with the controversy known as Gamergate. The crux of the heated public debate was sexism in video game culture, but it quickly spiraled into dangerous territory. While the public was being inundated with news and Twitter wars and stories of women being harassed, a subsequent storm was brewing in plain sight on one of the world’s most popular websites.
Disturbing content was being plastered on the Wikipedia biography pages for female game developers, critics, and their spouses. Media and gaming culture critic Anita Sarkeesian was called a “lying whore,” and game developer Zoe Quinn was labeled a prostitute. Fellow developer Brianna Wu’s page claimed she gave her husband AIDS because she was raped by her father who first infected her. The bio page for her science fiction artist husband, Frank Wu, reflected the same thing.
Records of the libelous remarks have since been removed from the site, but they were seemingly added by anonymous Wikipedia accounts, many of which only showed up after Gamergate first made headlines. To get the situation under control, Wikipedia community members quickly asked for other editors to pitch in and help bring on the site’s notice board. Little did they know they would soon be sucked into their own controversy, one that revealed how the site’s commitment to neutrality would trump harassment concerns for Wikipedia editors being threatened on and off its pages.
“I came into this and I had no idea who Zoe Quinn was or what a social justice warrior was six months ago,” said Travis Mason-Bushman, who has been editing Wikipedia for 10 years under the name NorthbySouthBaronof. He became part of a group of “feminist” Wikipedia editors, later dubbed the Five Horsemen, who were eventually banned for seeking to fight off harassment on the Gamergate-related pages by Wikipedia’s high court, called the Arbitration Committee.
We’re not here to be a weapon of slander, libel and character assassination. We’re going to treat people as people.
“All I know is people are putting in lies and attacking this person’s bio page,” Mason-Bushman said of the notice. “I looked and I said, ‘Well, wow, that’s not right,’– along with others — ‘this is not what the project is about. We’re not here to be a weapon of slander, libel and character assassination. We’re going to treat people as people. We’re not going to source blogs; we’re going to use solid sources.’”
Only one of the editors who was sanctioned, TaraInDC, openly identifies as female and actively edits feminism and women’s biographies. The majority of the other main editors involved — NorthbySouthBaronof, TheRedPenOfDoom, Tarc and Ryulong — are longtime Wikipedia editors aiming to return normalcy and factual accuracy to the Gamergate pages. Their identities remain anonymous.
The Five Horsemen were editors dedicated to removing any edits that didn’t mesh with Wikipedia’s policies and didn’t come from reputable sources, according to Wikipedia editor and writer Mark Bernstein who first blogged about the problem in January. The editors, he said, were part of targeted attack from Gamergate supporters.
“They basically tried to use the bullshit sourcing Breitbart that Anita [Sarkeesian] lied, that maybe she sent the death threats to herself that they are professional victims ,” said Mason-Bushman, who lives in Alaska and works for the federal government.
Soon Wikipedia was another of Gamergate’s online battlegrounds . Supporters often characterize it as a movement for improving “ethics in gaming journalism” after claiming game developer Quinn’s former boyfriend publicly accused her of cheating on him with a gaming writer to advance her career. But the movement has also been linked to a misogynistic agenda that includes violent threats against female journalists, game developers and media critics.
Quinn , Wu and Sarkeesian were at the center of the debate, flooded with graphic death and rape threats online and forced to cancel public appearances as a result. The controversy, which has been kept alive on Twitter and community chat boards such as 8chan and Reddit, then spread to the women’s Wikipedia’s pages.
I don’t want [anyone] calling people a slut on the world’s most read website.
“I don’t want [anyone] calling people a slut on the world’s most read website,” Mason-Bushman said. Wikipedia is the sixth most-read site worldwide, according to Alexa , but is undoubtedly the world’s top reference site. “It’s the power of it and the danger of it. All it takes is for that to be on the page for 20 minutes.”
Soon after he started editing Gamergate articles, Mason-Bushman was harassed, both on and off Wikipedia.
He was doxxed on Pastebin, where his personal email, social media accounts and other contact information were published. Hateful messages and death threats in the name of Gamergate filled his Twitter mentions, both on his personal account and on the professional account he manages for a government agency. The attacks even happened on Wikipedia talk pages that editors use to communicate with one another and the community about articles.
In the end, he made over 400 edits to Gamergate-related articles, and sent more than 2,300 responses on the talk pages, according to findings from Wikipedia’s “high court” or Arbitration Committee, an impartial panel made up of more than a dozen elected volunteer editors.
“This is the kind of thing Gamergate does. They’ve done it on Twitter. They essentially used the encyclopedia as a weapon of character assassination,” Mason-Bushman said.
Wikipedia was at a crossroads, with volunteer editors fighting incessantly and suffering harassment on and off the site, but the community’s structure, which prizes anonymity and neutrality above all else, didn’t allow for a top-down condemnation of abusive behavior.
“I haven’t seen one note of sympathy about the harassment from anyone in ArbCom, which says, ‘We don’t care about what happens off Wikipedia,’” Mason-Bushman said.
The lack of empathy and support he referred to comes in large part from the Arbitration Committee’s, or ArbCom’s, limited role.
“We do not evaluate the neutrality of articles. We are not entirely removed from it, in that we sanction users who are disruptively pushing their points of view, but we leave it to the rest of the editing community to ensure that articles are neutral,” said Molly White, who sits on the Arbitration Committee with 13 others. “When we remove editors from topic areas, as we are doing in the Gamergate case, we are doing so because they have shown themselves to be unable to work with the rest of the community in reaching consensus on article content.”
CREDIT: Dylan Petrohilos
The Gamergate controversy’s main article and bio pages, originally created in September 2014, were sent to Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee, or ArbCom, for review in November because the editors weren’t able to reach a consensus on changes to the articles.
“Editors were treating the ‘Gamergate controversy’ article and related articles as battlegrounds, not as pages of a reference work,” White said. “They used the articles and their discussion pages as venues to harass and insult each other, they violated the policies that attempt to protect people’s privacy , and they warred over changes to articles, often in an attempt to push for their viewpoints to be represented.”
Twenty-seven users were named as being involved in the dispute; some were longtime community members and others were “throwaway” or single purpose accounts only used to edit Gamergate articles. Overall, 71 individual accounts made edits to the Gamergate page.
“When Wikipedia editors feel that they have exhausted Wikipedia’s many other dispute resolution processes, they can file a request to the Arbitration Committee asking us to hear the case. We then vote on whether to accept the case, or whether to refer the involved parties to other dispute resolution venues,” White said.
In the end, two users got a warning, six were sanctioned for the first time in this topic area, five that were already under community bans for the topic area were banned, and about a dozen more users were banned from contributing to articles on Gamergate, gender-related controversies or any individuals related to the issues. White said “many more blocks, restrictions, warnings, etc., than we named in our decision,” were doled out, and quantifying how many people are involved in cases can be difficult.
The Five Horsemen, except TaraInDC, were found guilty of edit warring or using the site as a battleground — engaging in an intense back and forth, reverting edits that were made — along with five other editors.
Such unresolvable disputes happen frequently on Wikipedia; ArbCom hears about 11 to 16 similar cases a year involving poor conduct, violating editors’ right to privacy, and misuse of administrator tools. The committee reviews a body of evidence including examples of edits made, chats on the talk pages and statements from involved parties. Those found in violation of Wikipedia’s policies can be punished with admonishments, topic bans, and site bans for varying or indefinite lengths of time. Sanctioned editors can appeal their punishments to ArbCom.
ArbCom’s job is to evaluate and moderate editors’ behavior, reprimanding those who break civility rules or disrupt the editing process to the point where a consensus on changes can’t be made, White emphasized. “The Arbitration Committee rules only on user conduct, which is a fact that outside observers have been missing. We do not, have not, and cannot make rulings on the content of articles or the validity of users’ ideologies.”
What the ArbCom has done through actions is say they do not care. They do not care about people or about the editors.
But understandably, Mason-Bushman and other editors weren’t pleased with the decision. “What the ArbCom has done through actions is say they do not care. They do not care about people or about the editors. That ‘We don’t care about what happens off Wikipedia.’”
High-profile controversies like the one over the Gamergate pages are common, reflecting a collective conscience in real world debates. That’s especially true for gender issues: There was similar debate in 2013 over the Wikipedia page for Chelsea Manning, the Army soldier who leaked classified national security documents to Wikileaks, after she indicated that she wanted to live her life as a woman and petitioned the Army to undergo hormone therapy . Editors battled over whether to use her birth name, Bradley Manning, and many who were presumably insensitive and transphobic were banned from editing articles relating to gender issues.
But that limited approach, editors said, could be part of the problem.
CREDIT: Dylan Petrohilos
Wikipedia is mostly edited by male volunteers, and has struggled with diversity and harassment issues for years. Women make up just 13 percent of Wikipedia’s English-language editors, according to a recent study. The typical Wikipedian is a man between 15 and 49, formally educated, from a developed country, and isn’t likely to hold a blue collar or working-class job. “The gender bias tends to be around female articles based on the fact that there are so many male editors,” said Amy Senger, Wikipedian and writer in Los Angeles, who has written about the site’s and has struggled with diversity and harassment issues for years. Women make up just 13 percent of Wikipedia’s English-language editors, according to a recent study. The typical Wikipedian is a man between 15 and 49, formally educated, from a developed country, and isn’t likely to hold a blue collar or working-class job. “The gender bias tends to be around female articles based on the fact that there are so many male editors,” said Amy Senger, Wikipedian and writer in Los Angeles, who has written about the site’s inherent gender slant . She says ArbCom’s decision is evidence of “a systemic bias,” and that “the people who are more vocal and combative tend to prevail in disputes” sent to ArbCom.
That implicit gender bias has also affected content in that there are more articles about notable men in history, and that biographical pages for notable women are frequently created as a supplement or as a link from a man’s page, according to a recent study conducted by German and Swiss researchers out of the Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences and University of Koblenz-Landau.
The cycle can be self-perpetuating. Wikipedia has been losing editors for years , fighting to attract and retain more volunteers to maintain it’s 4.7 million articles, as well as bring on more women, said William Beutler, a Wikipedia editor who runs a consulting firm that links businesses and individuals with Wikipedians to produce more thorough content. The site has pushed for more racial diversity , as well, which will hopefully improve content in cultural and historical articles related to African-Americans.
And with the site having almost nine men volunteer edit for every woman, there’s a history of hostility that can come with that and be off-putting for potential volunteers.
“The fact that I have to go to my volunteer ‘job’ and fear that I’m going to get yelled at by somebody and get called a nasty name,” said Sarah Stierch, a media editor, culture/museum consultant in Napa Valley, California, who has been editing Wikipedia for 10 years and formerly worked for the Wikimedia Foundation. “You shouldn’t have to worry about what happens in your personal life … There is no reason why anybody, regardless of gender or political beliefs, should have to go onto a website about sharing knowledge and writing an encyclopedia — which is pretty damn geeky — and get harassed while doing it. It’s absurd.”
Getting trolled or harassed “doesn’t happen to every single [editor], but when you become more deeply involved [in Wikipedia], you have to have friends. It’s a political mess,” Stierch said.
It’s a fantasy of Wikipedia to be a neutral utopia of encyclopedic knowledge. And it fails because nothing is neutral in the real world.
Wikipedia was built on the belief that chronicling human knowledge, even the most contentious and controversial topics, can be done through mutual collaboration between anonymous strangers. And the results will be a neutral and reputably sourced annotation of living history.
But despite its noble intentions, the world’s top online reference resource found itself caught in the middle of Gamergate and banned editors from editing pages related to the controversy because of what was deemed ‘poor behavior’ that went against the site’s policies.
“‘We have to remain neutral.’ It’s a fantasy of Wikipedia to be a neutral utopia of encyclopedic knowledge. And it fails because nothing is neutral in the real world. But people believe in this ethos of neutrality,” Stierch said.
This is precisely why ArbCom failed in the dispute involving the Five Horseman. “Gamergate is famously word-of-mouth; it’s borne out of social media. It’s one voice on the internet versus another voice on the internet,” Stierch said. Unlike another highly controversial issue, reproductive rights and the pro-life or pro-choice debate, where there’s research, countless legitimate media articles and court decisions, such as Roe v. Wade, that add validity to the reproductive rights debate, Gamergate could easily be skewed by the niche publications and throwaway accounts.
The encyclopedia is linked to the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation but the two operate virtually independent of one another. And when it comes to quelling harassment or other gender or discriminatory issues, Wikipedians feel the foundation hasn’t done enough. “They’re the hospital administrator and the lunatics are running the asylum,” Stierch said.
They’re the hospital administrator and the lunatics are running the asylum.
Wikipedia is managed strictly by the community connected by a love of knowledge and anonymity and the philosophy that the site can remain neutral without a heavy top-down approach.
“That’s sort of this really amazing cop-out that exists, to say, ‘These are our community guidelines; it’s community regulated,’” said Caroline Sinders, a UX designer, video game creator, and artist in New York City, who has been studying the Wikipedia and Gamergate controversies. “But if [Wikipedia is] interested in creating a living document of the human experience that is open sourced, when do you step in if it’s a lie?”
To answer that question, projects like Wikipedia may have to find a way to balance the greater good with its “anyone can edit” philosophy, and to speak up against disruptive and malicious behavior. An encouraging development came just this week, as the Wikimedia Foundation allocated $250,000 to the Inspire Campaign, which will seek to diversify the site’s stable of editors.
“[Wikipedia] is one of the greatest things people have ever done and its incredibly vulnerable to slander” and abuse, Mason-Bushman said. “The project needs to be much more aggressive against organized abuse campaigns, take a firm stand and say, ‘No, you may not use our page to harass.’… It’s not a question of neutrality, it’s a question of basic human decency.”
The fight over the Gamergate pages caught the attention of scientist, writer and Wikipedia editor Mark Bernstein. From his perspective, the Five Horsemen seemed to suffer the brunt of the punishments just for doing their jobs. So Bernstein wrote about it on his blog.
“Wikipedia claims to be disinterested in truth, preferring to adhere to a consensus of reliable sources. In practice, no one is responsible and everyone is: anyone can correct Wikipedia, but no one accepts responsibility,” Bernstein said via email.
Bernstein’s blog posts highlighted an organized attack on Wikipedia in the name of Gamergate, which was picked up by the Guardian, ThinkProgress and others. According to a Wiki page called “Operation 5 Horsemen,” Gamergate supporters identified editors who had taken an interest in reverting certain changes in the main Gamergate article and biography pages for harassment victims Quinn, Wu and Sarkeesian.
“When I wrote about ‘feminists’ being banned, I was literally reaching for a rubric that describes the common position of the ‘Five Horsemen’ and their supporters: The belief that women may pursue a career in computer science or software development if they feel like it, without being threatened with assault, rape, or murder and without endless public discussion of their sexual history,” Bernstein said. “This is a very weak definition of ‘feminist,’ but it’s one to which the sanctioned editors subscribe, and to which Gamergate’s supporters do not.”
It’s interesting how a male feminist had to write a blog about it before anybody realized that there are these problems on Wikipedia.
In fact, the way the Five Horsemen got attention for this banning is also revealing, as one observer pointed out. It was a male feminist, Bernstein, who managed to bring awareness to these issues.
“It’s interesting how a male feminist had to write a blog about it before anybody realized that there are these problems on Wikipedia — these challenges with neutrality” and gender bias, said Stierch, who has been a Wikipedia volunteer editor and worked for the Wikimedia Foundation.
Stacey Mason, a computer science fellow and doctoral student at the University of California, has been researching the Gamergate movement and how actors communicate via message boards and other media in her personal time. “I think that there is a bit of a hive mind happening with Gamergate that’s really dangerous because it’s very easy to issue blame onto other anonymous parts of the mob … It’s very easy to say, ‘I’m not doing that particular thing, the person next to me is doing it and I don’t stand with them,’” she said. “But of course, they’re all sort of tied together under this blanket of Gamergate … It’s really easy to take credit for victories and put off blame. I think that’s true with a lot of anonymous communities.”
There are deep-seated issues within the gaming industry , but these concerns are separate from Gamergate, which, Mason said, has sort of mangled legitimate concerns with a more abusive agenda.
“Whatever Gamergate thinks its about, there is definitely a core portion of it that seems to be attacking women and minorities … But standing next to these trolls that are harassing women and doxxing people and swatting people, to carry those two things under the same banner, of course, the one with a legitimate complaint is not going to be taken seriously. You can’t have your movement endorsing this stuff either silently or explicitly,” Mason said.
But beyond those concerns and what happened with Wikipedia, Mason said, “It’s important to recognize that the undercurrents of this did not start with Gamergate, and they are not going to end with Gamergate. “There are a lot of issues swirling around this,” she said.
As for Mason-Bushman, he hasn’t dropped out of the Wikipedia community, even though he’s thought about it.
“A lot of people would say, ‘Fuck this! Why am I bothering?’ But I haven’t gotten one-one thousandth of what Zoe and Brianna have gotten and they’re still fighting,” he said. “I’ll go down fighting.”
But Mason-Bushman’s experience with, as he called them, Gamergate vandals, was an eye-opening one that showed him how quickly things can spiral out of control. “It’s disturbing to see how sociopathic people are … it’s literally sociopathy, mindless, senseless. It’s not about ethics in videogame journalism,” he said. “We’re developing a culture that is saying, ‘We don’t care about people.’ I refuse to believe that’s what our world is going to become. I refuse to believe that the sociopaths are going to win, that people aren’t going to say ‘no.’” |
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani forces killed up to 100 al Qaeda-linked militants in fierce clashes near the Afghan border on Thursday, a security official said, as tensions grew with the United States over how to tackle militancy.
A paramilitary soldier stands guard next to a portrait of Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, upon his arrival at the grave of his wife in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh near Larkana September 11, 2008. REUTERS/Nadeem Soomro
An intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan has piled pressure on Pakistan to go after militants operating from sanctuaries in remote enclaves on its side of the border. It has also led to a sharp increase in U.S. strikes on militants in Pakistan.
The new government in Islamabad says it is committed to the campaign against militancy, launched after the September 11 attacks seven years ago, but bans incursions by U.S. troops.
In the latest fighting in the northwestern Bajaur region, where some analysts believe top al Qaeda leaders have been hiding, the security forces fought pitched battles with the militants loyal to a local commander Qari Zia-ur-Rehman.
“Eighty to 100 militants were killed in Bajaur today. Most of them are foreigners,” the official said on condition of anonymity. He said the nationality of the foreigners was being ascertained.
He said two soldiers were also killed in the fighting
The three days of fighting in the region has brought the death toll to over 100. Separately, the security forces have killed eight militants in the northwestern Swat Valley, a military spokesman said.
Bajaur has been scene of one of the heaviest battles in recent weeks in which more than 600 militants have been killed.
Militants in Bajaur regularly cross into Afghanistan to attack Western troops and government forces there.
Violence in Afghanistan has soared over the past two years as al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have regrouped. The U.S. military said on Wednesday it was not winning there and would revise its strategy to combat militant havens in Pakistan.
The New York Times reported that President George W. Bush had secretly approved orders in July that for the first time allowed U.S. special forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the approval of the Pakistani government.
Pakistani stocks, down 34 percent this year, ended lower on Thursday on concern over what one analyst called an “unwelcome spike of geo-political noise” over the conduct of the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
ANGER
Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said in a strongly worded statement on Wednesday that Pakistan would not allow foreign troops onto its soil.
Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended at all cost, he said, dismissing speculation of a secret deal allowing U.S. forces to cross the border.
Helicopter-borne U.S. commandos carried out a ground assault last week in Pakistan’s South Waziristan, a militant border sanctuary, the first known incursion into Pakistan by U.S. troops since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, killing 20 people.
Pakistan condemned the raid. Kayani said there were no quick fixes to a highly complex militant problem and reconciliation efforts were also needed.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said Kayani’s statement reflected government views.
Some Pakistani analysts say a frustrated U.S. administration wants to score points before a November election but it risks sparking an uprising among ethnic Pashtuns on the border.
“We will convince the U.S. that it can get nothing through unilateral action in tribal areas except opposition of the masses,” Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, was reported telling the BBC.
The U.S. attack also complicates the situation for Pakistan’s new civilian president, Asif Ali Zardari, who was sworn in on Tuesday, having forced former army chief Pervez Musharraf to stand down last month after nine years in power.
Support for the U.S.-led campaign against militancy is deeply unpopular in Pakistan, where many people say it has incited violence. Like Musharraf, Zardari is seen as close to the United States but, as an elected civilian leader, he will face pressure to pay heed to public opinion.
At the same time, Pakistan is highly vulnerable to any reduction in U.S. financial support, given the depletion of foreign reserves, which has sparked talk it could default on a sovereign bond next year unless it gets foreign financing.
Pakistan’s state news agency reported last week that the United States had reimbursed Pakistan $365 million for operations and logistical support in the war against terrorism.
Pakistani ties with Afghanistan have also been strained by its complaints that militants operate from Pakistani sanctuaries and its calls for the havens to be eliminated.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told a news conference in Kabul the United States had to change strategy and he reiterated his call for the sanctuaries to be destroyed.
Pakistan plays down the significance of sanctuaries, saying the Afghan war is an Afghan problem. |
March 30, 2009
On the Urgency of Restructuring Bank and Mortgage Debt,
and of Abandoning Toxic Asset Purchases
John P. Hussman, Ph.D.
Note - Regular readers of these weekly comments will recognize many elements of the following analysis from published remarks over the past year. They are summarized here to provide a clear picture of the current situation, outlook, and the options available to Congress. To the extent that this discussion is consistent with your own views, please forward it to others, particularly to your representatives in the House and Senate. There is far too little debate about alternative responses to this crisis. - JPH
Steps to Stability - Needed Legislation
1) Enable the receivership of distressed bank and non-bank financial institutions (including bank holding companies), encouraging voluntary debt-equity swaps as an alternative to the receivership / conservatorship of insolvent institutions.
2) Stabilize insolvent financial institutions through receivership if the bondholders of the institution are unwilling to swap debt for equity. In virtually all cases, the liabilities of these companies to their own bondholders are capable of fully absorbing all losses without the need for public funds to defend those bondholders. Receivership involves defending the customer assets, changing the management, wiping out the common stock and a portion of the bondholders' claims, continuing the operation of the institution in receivership, and eventually selling or reissuing the company to private ownership, leaving the bondholders with the residual. Massive bailouts using public funds are unnecessary, as are disorganized Lehman-style failures.
3) Allow "toxic asset" purchases using public funds only to the extent that the entire issuance of various securitized mortgage pools can be purchased "all or none" at a moderate percentage of face value. This would allow the underlying mortgages to be restructured - ideally writing them down to a similar percentage of face - reducing their foreclosure risk, and increasing the likelihood that public funds will be recovered.
4) Act quickly on foreclosure mitigation. Establish a Treasury conduit to administer (but not guarantee) property appreciation rights on restructured mortgages, again encouraging voluntary restructuring, using the Treasury conduit as a coordinating mechanism (additional details below).
5) Allow bankruptcy judges to substitute a portion of foreclosed mortgage obligations with equivalent claims on subsequent property appreciation. "Push-down" of mortgage principal without offsetting compensation rights to lenders should be emphatically avoided.
Background
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Secretary advanced two proposals; one was a call for regulatory reform that is absolutely essential to the resolution of the current financial crisis. The other was a recipe for the insolvency of the FDIC, which would squander public funds to subsidize private speculation in troubled mortgage securities.
To understand this financial crisis, it is important to consider the balance sheet of a typical leveraged financial institution. The example below is similar to the one I presented last year in You Can't Rescue the Financial System if You Can't Read a Balance Sheet, but makes allowance for the fact that assets continue to be impaired due to policy failures, and that deposit banks such as Citigroup use more bond financing than investment banks. At the beginning of the recent crisis, the condition of U.S. financial institutions was much like the following:
Good Assets: $90
Questionable Assets: $10
TOTAL ASSETS: $100
Liabilities to Customers: $65
Debt to Bondholders: $30
Shareholder Equity: $5
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDER EQUITY: $100
Now suppose there are losses in those questionable assets - not all the way to zero, but to $4:
Good Assets: $90
Questionable Assets: $4
TOTAL ASSETS: $94
Liabilities to Customers: $65
Debt to Bondholders: $30
Shareholder Equity: $-1
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDER EQUITY: $94
The above institution is insolvent. There are several ways to address this situation.
Direct Capital Infusions
The first possible response is to provide public capital directly to the banks, which is what the Treasury did last year by purchasing newly issued preferred stock of banking institutions. A capital infusion increases the asset side of the balance sheet (cash on hand) and increases the shareholder equity side of the balance sheet by the same amount. The difficulty is that without clear restrictions on the use of that capital, banks have the freedom to continue business as usual, including using the public capital to finance bonus payments and other expenditures. Absent explicit restrictions, there is also no assurance that the public funds will be lent out. To some extent, financing additional loans is not the purpose of capital infusions. The purpose is to replace the cushion of equity ("Tier 1 capital") that stands between the bank's customers and bankruptcy.
Capital infusions are certainly a viable option to respond to the immediate threat of insolvency. These infusions were largely responsible for reducing the immediate threat to the U.S. financial system in late 2008. However, in the face of large and increasing losses, capital infusions are not sustainable. The public stands to lose the entire amount of funding if the institution fails, unless the infusions can be provided as a senior claim ahead of bondholders in the event of bankruptcy, and still be counted as "Tier 1 capital" otherwise. There are currently no legal or regulatory provisions to accomplish this.
Note that gross private debt currently stands at about 350% of GDP, about double the historical norm. Meanwhile, many of the assets underlying this debt are being marked down in value by 20-30% or more. Given that GDP itself is about $14 trillion, a continued policy of bailouts will eventually require a commitment of public funds amounting to a significant fraction of $14 trillion. The "real" burden of the mounting federal debt will have to be devalued through inflation, or it will place an onerous claim on the nation's future production and capital investment (which might otherwise be able to provide for the needs of an aging population).
Ultimately, if a financial institution is not capable of surviving without large and constant infusions of public capital, the stockholders and bondholders of that company - not the public - should be responsible for the losses incurred. As noted below, this can be achieved without customer losses or a disorganized Lehman-style unwinding.
Toxic Asset Purchases
The Treasury's proposal to address insolvency is to finance the purchase of impaired assets from the banks, primarily using taxpayer funds. But note that if the questionable assets are taken off of the bank's books at their actual value ($4 in the example above), there is absolutely no change on the liability side of the balance sheet. The bank's capital position does not improve. The "toxic asset sale" simply replaces the bad assets with cash. While this might improve the "quality" of the bank's balance sheet, it does not make the institution solvent.
Indeed, the only way for the toxic asset sale to increase shareholder equity is if the buyer overpays for the asset. To accomplish this, the Geithner plan creates a speculative incentive for private investors, by effectively offering them a "put option," whereby taxpayers would absorb all losses in excess of 3-7% of the purchase amount. This is essentially a recipe for the insolvency of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation itself, which would provide the bulk of the "6-to-1 leverage." To the extent that it is not acceptable for the FDIC to fail, the Geithner plan implies an end-run around Congress, and would ultimately force the provision of funds to cover probable losses.
An equal concern is that there is no link between removing "toxic assets" from bank balance sheets and avoiding large-scale home foreclosures and loan defaults. All the transaction accomplishes is to take the assets out of the bank's hands, to offer half of any speculative gains to private "investors," and to leave the public at risk for 93-97% of the probable losses. What the plan emphatically does not do is to affect the payment obligations of homeowners in a way that would reduce the likelihood of foreclosure. Moreover, the last thing that a bank would do with the proceeds would be to refinance such mortgages, because that would provide full repayment to the original lenders while taking on the risk of the newly refinanced loans.
If part of the intent of Congress is to increase lending, this could be done directly by providing funds to GSEs or by broadly providing capital to solvent regional banks. This would be a much more effective way of increasing the volume of lending in the U.S. economy without putting taxpayers at risk of major losses. There is no need for the public to purchase impared assets in order to increase lending activity.
Remember that the "toxic assets" held by banks represent pools of mortgages that have been cut up into dozens of individual pieces; the higher grade pieces having first claim to payments made on the underlying mortgages, and the lower grade pieces having claims to less likely payments. It is improbable that banks will be interested in selling off the better "tranches," and yet there is no benefit (aside from rank speculation) to owning the lower tranches unless the underlying mortgages can be restructured.
As a result, the only point in the public having anything to do with these securitized mortgages is if all of the tranches of a given issue can be purchased simultaneously, so that the underlying payment obligations of the homeowners can be restructured. That is, if the entire issue could be purchased at 50% of the original face amount, the underlying mortgages could be written down by the same proportion. Those mortgages would then be far more likely to be repaid, and as a result, the restructured debt could be sold back into the financial markets without the need for taxpayers to hold it to maturity. There is no "all or none" mechanism in the Treasury's toxic assets plan to accomplish this.
While the U.S. equity market advanced strongly on the day the Treasury plan was announced, most market indices were lower by the end of the week, and credit spreads (indicators of bondholder concerns about default risk) did not budge. It is far from clear that the Wall Street has confidence in the plan, beyond the fact that a trillion dollars to speculate on mortgage securities at taxpayer expense was not immediately rejected.
Debt Restructuring
From the beginning of the recent crisis, starting with Bear Stearns, I have emphasized that nearly all of the financial institutions at risk of insolvency have enough liabilities to their own bondholders to fully absorb all probable losses without any loss to customers or the American public. The sum total of the policy responses to this crisis has been to defend the bondholders of distressed financial institutions at public expense.
Note that in the example balance sheet above, 30% of the liabilities of the institution represent debt to the company's own bondholders. It is these individuals - not homeowners, not the American public - that are being defended by the promise of trillions of dollars in public money.
For example, while Citigroup has approximately $2 trillion in assets, those assets are financed not only by customer deposits, but also by nearly $600 billion in debt to Citigroup's own bondholders. It is these private bondholders who provided the funds for Citigroup to acquire questionable assets.
The bondholders of distressed financial institutions - not the American public - should bear responsibility for the losses of those institutions. This can be accomplished, without harm to customers or the broader financial system, in one of two ways:
1) The bondholders could voluntarily agree to move a portion of their claims lower down in the capital structure, swapping debt for equity (preferred or common), allowing the bank to have a larger cushion of Tier-1 capital, avoiding insolvency, and hopefully allowing the bank to recover by its own bootstraps , preferably assisted by debt restructuring on the borrower side (via property appreciation rights and the like). Alternatively;
2) The U.S. government could take receivership of the financial institution, defend the customer assets, change the management, wipe out the stockholders and a chunk of the bondholders claims entirely, continue the operation of the institution in receivership, and eventually sell or reissue the company to private ownership, leaving the bondholders with the residual. Indeed, this is how the largest bank failure in history - Washington Mutual - was handled so seamlessly last year that it was almost forgettable. This is not Argentina-style "nationalization," but receivership - a form of "pre-packaged bankruptcy" that protects the customers and allows the institution to continue to operate, followed by re-privatization. This would fully protect all of the customers and depositors at no probable expense to the public.
What should not be done is what was allowed in the case of Lehman Brothers - a disorderly failure, by which the company was allowed to fail with no conservatorship of the existing business. It was not the failure of Lehman per se, but the disorder resulting from its piecemeal liquidation, that caused distress to the financial markets.
That said, it is true that the bondholders of major banks include pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, foreign investors and other holders that would be adversely affected by a writedown in bond values. But this is part of the contract - when one lends money to a financial institution, one also assumes the risk and responsibility of bearing the losses. Congress always has the ability to mitigate the losses of some parties, such as pension funds, if it is agreed that this is in the public interest. But to defend all bondholders of financial institutions at public expense is to commit the future economic output of innocent citizens to cover the losses of mismanaged financial institutions. As a result of the intervention by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury, even the bondholders of Bear Stearns stand to receive 100% repayment of both interest and principal on their bond investments. This is absurd.
Receivership Provisions
More than a year ago, in a March 24, 2008 comment (Why is Bear Stearns Trading at $6 instead of $2?), I emphasized the need for immediate authority to take distressed financial institutions into receivership in order to cut away the stockholder and bondholder obligations, while preserving the ongoing business, as well as its obligations to customers and counterparties:
"At what point will investors figure out that the liquidity problems are nothing but the precursors of insolvency problems? At what point will investors stop begging the government to save private companies and recognize that the losses should be taken by the stock and bondholders of the offending financial institutions? If the Fed and the Treasury are smart, they will act quickly to figure out how to respond to multiple events like we've seen in recent days, to expedite turnover in ownership and quickly settle the residual claims of bondholders, without the kind of malfeasance reflected in the Bear Stearns rescue."
It is essential for regulators to have the ability to take distressed institutions into receivership, so that customers and counterparties of insolvent financial companies can be fully protected. Ideally, this determination should be made not by the Treasury, but by the FDIC, which has a clearer regulatory role. The objective of receivership provisions would be to allow the failing institution to be partitioned into an operating entity (including whatever questionable loans are on the books), while cutting away the obligations to the stockholders and bondholders of that institution. Upon the sale, liquidation, or re-privatization of the institution, the bondholders would receive the portion of the proceeds that are not required as regulatory capital.
To reduce the indirect effects of such receivership on other institutions, it would be helpful to legislate a restriction on the use of credit default swaps (essentially insurance contracts against the failure of a company's bonds), requiring that such swaps may be used for bona-fide hedging purposes only. That is, a credit default swap could not be entered for purely speculative purposes, but only to offset the default risk of the same or similar bonds held by the investor.
Foreclosure Abatement
Although trillions of dollars have been promised or committed in hope of resolving the current financial crisis, the simple fact is that virtually nothing has been done to reduce the incidence of foreclosures. Even if the plan to remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets is successful (however "success" might be defined), the rate of foreclosure will be unaffected, because no change in the payment obligations of homeowners will result.
As with financial institutions, insolvent mortgages would best be addressed by a) voluntarily swapping debt for equity, or failing that; b) technical default and restructuring of the debt obligation.
From the standpoint of homeowners, a debt-equity swap is equivalent to writing down the mortgage principal, while at the same time giving the lender an equal and offsetting claim on the future appreciation of the home. As I noted in The Economy Needs Coordination, Not Money, From the Government,
"The most useful feature of government in resolving the foreclosure crisis is not its ability to squander taxpayer money, but its ability to provide coordinated action. I still believe that the best approach to foreclosure abatement would be for the Treasury to set up a special "conduit" fund to administer "property appreciation rights" or what I've called PARs.
"Suppose a $300,000 mortgage is in foreclosure (or the homeowner and lender can agree to the following arrangement outside of foreclosure court). A reasonable mortgage restructuring might be to cut the principal of the mortgage to $200,000, and to create a $100,000 property appreciation right. The homeowner would agree to pay off the PAR to the Treasury (and administered through the IRS) out of future price appreciation on the existing home or subsequent property. The homeowner would be excluded from taking on any home equity loans or executing any "cash out" refinancings until the PAR was satisfied. The maximum PAR obligation accepted by the Treasury would be based on the value of the home and the income of the homeowner.
"The lender would receive not a direct claim on that homeowner, but a participation in the Treasury's "PAR fund" which would pay out proportionately from all PAR proceeds received by the Treasury (technically, new shares in the PAR fund would be assigned based on a ratio reflecting the extent to which existing shareholders have already been paid off, so earlier shareholders don't receive more than they have coming to them).
"Importantly, the Treasury would not guarantee repayment, but would simply serve as a conduit. There would be no "free lunch" at taxpayer expense. If the homeowner was to eventually sell the home and not purchase another, the obligation would become a low-interest loan obligation and would eventually be a claim on the estate of the homeowner, but with an initial exclusion at low income and a progressive recovery rate based on the size of the estate. The PARs would be tradeable, since they would be based on a single pool of cash flows, though they would almost certainly trade at a discount to face value. Assuming that the PAR obligations are fixed and don't increase at some rate of interest, then even if home prices were expected to take about 15 years to recover, the PARs would still trade at more than 50% of face. Given that recovery rates in foreclosure are running at only about 50% of the entire loan, it is clear that this sort of approach would be preferable to foreclosure in most cases. If this sort of mechanism were available, lenders might agree to outright principal reductions as well in preference a costly foreclosure process.
"This sort of approach would reduce foreclosures without relying on free money from the government, or violating contract law. The PARs would provide a legally enforceable, diversified stream of cash flows at far lower cost than individual lenders would have to spend to collect from individual homeowners. Since home sales are taxable events, the IRS would be in an ideal position to enforce these obligations."
The Danger of Inaction
If there is any good news at present, it is that the capital infusions of late-2008 have temporarily stabilized the banking system, and that the U.S. economy is presently enjoying a brief and modest reprieve from the financial crisis. This is largely the result of an ebbing in the rate of sub-prime mortgage resets, which reached their peak in mid-2008, with corresponding mortgage losses and foreclosures a few months later. Since this crisis began, the profile of mortgage resets has been well-correlated with subsequent foreclosures.
Unfortunately, the reset schedule above depicts only sub-prime mortgages. As the recent housing bubble progressed, the profile of mortgage originations changed, so that at the very peak of the housing bubble, new originations took the form of Alt-As (low or no requirement to document income) and Option-ARMs (teaser rates, with no required principal repayments).
A broader profile of mortgage resets is presented below (though even this chart does not include the full range of adjustable mortgage products).
This reset profile is of great concern, because the majority of resets are still ahead. Moreover, the mortgages to which these resets will apply are primarily those originated late in the housing bubble, at the highest prices, and therefore having the largest probable loss. Though many of these mortgages are tied to LIBOR, and therefore benefit from low LIBOR rates, the interest rates on the mortgages are typically reset to a significant spread above LIBOR, and this spread remains constant as interest rates change. Undoubtedly, some Alt-A and option-ARM foreclosures have already occurred, but the likelihood is that major additional foreclosures and mortgage losses lie ahead. If we fail to address foreclosure abatement during the current window of opportunity (early to mid-2009), there may not be time for legislative efforts to contain the resulting fallout.
As a foreshadowing of the probable foreclosures ahead, the following is what the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and the Office of Thrift Supervision noted about option-ARMs and other loans in a colorful little booklet entitled "Interest-Only Mortgage Payments and Payment-Option ARMs: Are They For You?" , published in November 2006:
"Owning a home is part of the American dream. But high home prices may make the dream seem out of reach. To make monthly mortgage payments more affordable, many lenders offer home loans that allow you to (1) pay only the interest on the loan during the first few years of the loan term or (2) make only a specified minimum payment that could be less than the monthly interest on the loan.
"Whether you are buying a house or refinancing your mortgage, this information can help you decide if an interest-only mortgage payment (an I-O mortgage)--or an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) with the option to make a minimum payment (a payment-option ARM)--is right for you. Lenders have a variety of names for these loans, but keep in mind that with I-O mortgages and payment-option ARMs, you could face
* "payment shock." Your payments may go up a lot--as much as double or triple--after the interest-only period or when the payments adjust.
"In addition, with payment-option ARMs you could face
* negative amortization. Your payments may not cover all of the interest owed. The unpaid interest is added to your mortgage balance so that you owe more on your mortgage than you originally borrowed.
"Payment-option ARMs have a built-in recalculation period, usually every 5 years. At this point, your payment will be recalculated (lenders use the term recast ) based on the remaining term of the loan. If you have a 30-year loan and you are at the end of year 5, your payment will be recalculated for the remaining 25 years. The payment cap does not apply to this adjustment.
"Lenders end the option payments if the amount of principal you owe grows beyond a set limit, say 110% or 125% of your original mortgage amount. For example, suppose you made minimum payments on your $180,000 mortgage and had negative amortization. If the balance grew to $225,000 (125% of $180,000), the option payments would end. Your loan would be recalculated and you would pay back principal and interest based on the remaining term of your loan. It is likely that your payments would go up significantly.
"Be sure you understand the loan terms and the risks you face. And be realistic about whether you can handle future payment increases. If you're not comfortable with these risks, ask about another loan product."
Judging from the reset schedule above, it is clear that more than a few borrowers ignored this advice.
Market Climate
As of last week, the Market Climate for stocks was characterized by reasonable valuations - moderate undervaluation on earnings-based measures that assume a reversion to above-average profit margins in the future, but continued overvaluation on measures that do not rely on future profit margins being above historical norms.
This is an important distinction, because much of my constructive perspective about valuations late last year was based on the expectation of something of a "writedown recession" whereby our policy focus would have been on properly defending customers through greater use of the receivership process - demonstrating that the financial system itself could remain sound even while allowing the writedown and restructuring of debt. I believed, as I wrote a year ago, that "The U.S. economy will get through this without the requirement of massive public bailouts. What is required, however, is that the stock and bondholders of financial companies take due losses. Customers and counterparties need not, and I expect will not, be harmed." My optimism that our policy-makers would see clearly enough to follow this course was mistaken (fortunately, we are within 5% of where we stood at the beginning of this bear market).
The misguided policy of defending bondholders against losses with public funds has increased uncertainty, crowded out private investment, harmed consumer confidence, and prompted defensive saving against possible adversity. We observe this as a plunge in gross domestic investment that is much broader than just construction and real estate, and a corresponding but misleading "improvement" in the current account deficit as domestic investment plunges.
Aside from a few Nobel economists such as Joseph Stiglitz (who characterized the Treasury policy last week as "robbery of the American people") and Paul Krugman (who called it "a plan to rearrange the deck chairs and hope that that keeps us from hitting the iceberg"), the recognition that this problem can be addressed without a massive waste of public funds (and that it is both dangerous and wrong to do so) is not even on the radar.
In short, attempting to avoid the need for debt restructuring by wasting trillions in public funds increases the likelihood that the current economic downturn will be prolonged, places a massive claim on our future production in order to transfer our nation's wealth to the bondholders of mismanaged financial companies, and raises the likelihood that any nascent recovery will be cut short by inflation pressures. We are nowhere near the completion of this deleveraging cycle.
To the extent that we continue to force add-on effects in the form of declining employment and capital investment, we also reduce the likelihood that profit margins and returns on equity will recover to the historically above-average levels which have prevailed in recent years.
The advance of the past few weeks has cleared the prior oversold condition and the market is now overbought in a generally negative Climate. As should be clear from last year's decline, the market can be severely oversold and only become more oversold, so an oversold condition is not a timing tool. That said, oversold conditions in clearly favorable Market Climates are often followed by strong advances, and overbought conditions in clearly unfavorable Market Climates are often followed by spectacular declines. At the recent market low, the Market Climate could certainly not be characterized as favorable, but at the present overbought level, there is considerable risk of a fresh plunge.
Thus far, the recent advance has been focused on low-quality and distressed sectors such as financials, insurance and homebuilders. If the current advance is durable, we would expect to observe stronger market internals, greater participation among higher quality sectors, and a clear easing of credit spreads, which remain near their highs despite the advance in equities. On sufficient improvement in market internals, we would be inclined to establish call option positions that would gradually take us to a significantly less hedged position on persistent market strength, but we do not expect to eliminate our put option defenses until the combination of valuations and market action becomes clearly favorable, or until it is reasonable to expect a sustained economic recovery within a quarter or two. Nothing in our analysis of valuations, market action, or economic conditions compels us that removing downside protection is reasonable at present.
In bonds, the Market Climate last week was characterized by unfavorable yield levels and relatively neutral yield pressures. The yields on Treasury Inflation Protected Securities have declined further in recent sessions, with inflation-adjusted yields on some issues dropping below 1%. I expect that a further decline in real yields would prompt us to reduce our holdings modestly, as it is doubtful that persistent inflation surprises will be a near-term outcome. I continue to view the U.S. dollar as vulnerable to depreciation given the rapid expansion in government liabilities, so the Strategic Total Return Fund continues to hold about 20% of assets in precious metals shares and foreign currencies, with a few percent in utility shares on the basis of longer-term total return prospects.
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The foregoing comments represent the general investment analysis and economic views of the Advisor, and are provided solely for the purpose of information, instruction and discourse.
Prospectuses for the Hussman Strategic Growth Fund, the Hussman Strategic Total Return Fund, the Hussman Strategic International Fund, and the Hussman Strategic Dividend Value Fund, as well as Fund reports and other information, are available by clicking "The Funds" menu button from any page of this website.
Estimates of prospective return and risk for equities, bonds, and other financial markets are forward-looking statements based the analysis and reasonable beliefs of Hussman Strategic Advisors. They are not a guarantee of future performance, and are not indicative of the prospective returns of any of the Hussman Funds. Actual returns may differ substantially from the estimates provided. Estimates of prospective long-term returns for the S&P 500 reflect our standard valuation methodology, focusing on the relationship between current market prices and earnings, dividends and other fundamentals, adjusted for variability over the economic cycle (see for example Investment, Speculation, Valuation, and Tinker Bell, The Likely Range of Market Returns in the Coming Decade and Valuing the S&P 500 Using Forward Operating Earnings ). |
In a “stunning” move a petition has been launched by “despondent” Democrats to have President-elect Donald J. Trump “nominate” Hillary Clinton as the “Ambassador to Libya.”
Mrs. Clinton, if “approved” by the U.S. Senate, would “replace” Ambassador Peter W. Bodde.
The effort is being “lauded“ by ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and MSNBC as an “unprecedented effort to unify the country by giving Mrs. Clinton a key foreign policy position in the Trump administration” based on Hillary’s years of “foreign policy” experiences.
The “petition” reads in part:
We ask in a spirit of unity that President-elect Donald J. Trump nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as the next ambassador to Libya. This appointment will help heal the political divide within this nation. While the undersigned know Bernie Sanders should have rightfully won the Democratic Party primary, except for Hilary’s efforts to discredit our exalted leader from Vermont, we fully accept the legitimacy of the election and support Mr. Trump as the people’s choice. Therefore, the undersigned believe that Mrs. Clinton is best suited to become the next Ambassador to Libya and should take her position not later than January 31, 2017. The undersigned also ask that President elect Trump send John Podesta and Huma Abedin with Mrs. Clinton to Libya. Finally, the undersigned ask that the U.S. embassy be moved from Tripoli to Benghazi in honor of former U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, diplomat Sean Smith and Navy SEAL’s Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.
Vice President-elect Pence of the “Trump transition team,” added:
We are always looking for ways to reach out to our former political opponents. This effort by Bernie Sanders supporter and despondent Democrats, many of whom voted for Mr. Trump, will be given serious consideration.
ISIS in Libya in a short press release noted, “We are happy to give Mrs. Clinton the same warm reception, no pun intended, that we gave to Ambassador Stevens in Benghazi. We will keep the home fires burning until 9/11/2017.”
Mrs. Clinton’s spokesperson explained, “Mrs. Clinton appreciates the offer by those who supported Mr. Sanders during the primary. However, Mrs. Clinton has already made plans and is committed to speak in those countries in the Middle East who have generously given to the Clinton Crime Family Foundation while she was the Secretary of State.”
A spokesman for Mr. Trump, after his “meeting” with President Obama, when asked about the petition replied, “It’s fitting that Bernie supporters want Hillary’s ticket punched in Libya, no pun intended. When we celebrate September 11, 2017 we are sure there will be some fireworks in Benghazi.”
Most Americans would rather she be appointed “permanent“ ambassador to Leavenworth, KS. |
Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke is recommending President Trump scale back portions of the Bears Ears National Monument, saying that the Antiquities Act should be used to protect the "smallest area" needed to cover important sites. Zinke's recommendations, announced Monday, add fuel to the controversy over the Utah monument, which President Obama designated during his final days in office.
Green groups and several Native American groups announced their intent to sue should the administration follow Zinke's recommendations. While the land in Bears Ears is not thought to contain significant oil or gas deposits, mining and fossil fuel interests cheered the decision as a preview of how the Trump administration may handle scaling back protections for more oil and gas-rich federally protected land.
Outrage ensued after Zinke's announcement.
"The Trump administration wants to carve up every last inch of this country so that corporate polluters can line their pockets, but the people who live, worship, work and rely on the protection of public lands and waters will stand up to this attack," said Mary Nicol, Greenpeace USA senior climate campaigner. "The Interior Department is still reviewing nearly 30 monuments, including Bears Ears, that could lose their protected status. It's time to put Secretary Zinke on speed dial and demand that the Interior Department protect public lands and waters."
Patagonia's president and CEO Rose Marcario, who has been outspoken on protecting public lands, said Zinke's recommendation "ignores the law and public outcry."
"Despite months of rhetoric claiming his respect for Teddy Roosevelt's legacy of public lands protection, Secretary Zinke revealed he is just another politician looking to exploit and develop America's public lands at the expense of our children and grandchildren," Marcario continued.
"Bears Ears holds irreplaceable cultural, ecological and recreational value and it needs our protection. If the president decides to usurp Congress's authority and shrink the boundaries on his own, Patagonia will take legal action to defend our public lands. We hope everyone who cares about public lands will continue to let their voices be heard."
Since the Trump Administration launched the "review" of national monuments in April, more than 1 million Americans have weighed in to uphold protections for monuments, including Bears Ears. A recent analysis showed that communities located near monuments and other protected public lands have stronger economies and quality of life.
Since it was signed into law in 1906, the Antiquities Act has been used by 16 presidents—eight Democrats and eight Republicans—to protect existing public lands as national monuments. No president has ever attempted to revoke a national monument.
"Diminishing protections for the Bears Ears National Monument is an affront to the sovereign Tribal Nations whose cultural heritage is at risk," said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. "It's a thinly veiled attempt to sell out our public lands and an insult to people across the country who love and care about our great outdoors."
"Our public lands are the embodiment of our democracy," he added. "We will continue to work to ensure everyone can see themselves on our public lands, not just cronies of Donald Trump."
For a deeper dive:
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