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Still Think Selling Your Own Children is An Abomination?
Since we here at Child Slave Labor realize the difficulty in giving up your own flesh and blood, we've compiled a short list of reminders about you, your children, and the human race in history.
1. The most noble of peoples, kings and lords, used to consistently sell their offspring to bring their family greater wealth and honor.
2. 75% of all* children, once grown up, are vengeful and hateful towards their parents. Many refuse to call or even disclose their location to their parents. Is that type of painful rejection worth the risk?
3. Men, it's not your fault that condoms hinder sexual pleasure, nor is it your fault that she refused the abortion. Why should YOU have to give away 18 years of your life and 5/6 of every single one of your paychecks? Hint: Selling a child only requires the signature from one parent.
4. The interest you would earn on the money you would receive from selling your child at birth over a span of 18 years would leave you with upwards of $35,000. That is a fantastic investment!
If you still aren't convinced, take a look at a pamphlet written by our own child slave, Eugene from Australia: "Why to Sell Your Child". |
Connecticut State Representatives are petitioning the State to subsidize The Bristol Press and The Herald of New Britain, two papers facing shutdown in January as we reported November 11.
The letter from seven Democrat State Representatives to the State Department of Economic and Community Development asks for unspecified “help” for both papers, arguing for the continued existence of both as they are a “central point of information and record about a city” and that both are important for public accountability. They even go as far as mentioning free press as an essential part of the Bill of Rights.
Where do you start with this news. That it’s happened isn’t greatly surprising in an age where Government regularly intervenes to prop up or save failed businesses. The entire newspaper industry is in trouble in the United States, so this call for State help is probably the first of many to come.
Newspapers aren’t required to disseminate local information, the internet does a perfectly good job, so their argument is at best bizarre. These are also fairly small towns with populations less than 100,000 people, so the idea that each would need a daily newspaper is stranger again, and both towns are serviced by State and National newspapers.
I’ll leave the last word to Mark Finkelstein, who paints a picture of newspapers in the future:
Governor: John? It’s the Governor here. Say, you guys there at the Bristol Press are doing a great job. Top notch. But there is that one reporter of yours making a big stink over our proposal to increase the state income tax. He really doesn’t get what we’re trying to do to help our state move forward. And you know, that bill to renew your paper’s subsidy is coming up next week. I’d hate to see it get bogged down in the fuss over this. Know what I mean? Editor: Um, yes, I know, sir.
Copy of the letter as follows:
Legislators to DECD 2008-11-25
Get your own at Scribd or explore others: |
“My project is due in three days and it’s off the rails!” Or perhaps it seems so. Even if the project seems to explode at the last moment, all is not necessarily lost.
Typically, projects fail for more than one reason, and symptoms of trouble tend to display themselves immediately. Assuming you recognize the warning signals when they arise.
At the earliest sign of project instability, you should adjust your project plans, schedules, and budgets. When it is this late in the game and your project deadline is imminent, it can feel like Mission: Impossible to try to get it back on track.
But you can give it a shot. (What do you have to lose?) Here are four things you can do to keep your project moving forward even when all seems to be lost.
Be Honest and Transparent
No Project Manager should ever lie about the project status. Some PMs are afraid to share that their project is behind schedule or over budget because they see this as a personal risk. However, project failure does not have to mean personal failure.
Project status should be clear to the entire project team, especially to the project sponsor and the management team that approved project initiation. If you don’t share the project pitfalls and challenges with these stakeholders in a timely fashion, you risk further damage to your project.
The last thing you want do is walk up to your sponsor on delivery day, after having stated that everything was on track, only to confess that the work has not been completed. If your project is close to completion and has totally gone off the rails, your sponsor should trust you to honestly represent that status.
Step 1: Let everyone know the current status. Every decision you make after this stage impacts the entire project team as well as the business, so all parties should be keenly aware of its condition.
Diagnose Your Project
Your project may be so close to completion you can almost taste it. Up until this point, everything seemed to be on-track to finish on time and on budget. Whether the wrench in your plan came from a sudden and unexpected change (such as a contractor defaulting on commitments) or a conglomeration of a million tiny things that abruptly came to a head, you have to take stock and decide how best to move forward.
A few key points during the diagnosis process:
Don’t rush to fix it. Before spending any of your time and energy in crisis mode attempting to pick up the pieces and crash your project, make sure that fixing the project is the right decision. Not all projects deserve to continue past their initial deadline, so be sure you are considering your project in light of all factors before moving forward with a new plan.
Before spending any of your time and energy in crisis mode attempting to pick up the pieces and crash your project, make sure that fixing the project is the right decision. Not all projects deserve to continue past their initial deadline, so be sure you are considering your project in light of all factors before moving forward with a new plan. Analyze the project against the business case. Ideally, during your entire project you have measured it against the business case to understand why your project is needed. Does this need still need to met? Or has it changed? That should factor into whether and how to complete your project.
Ideally, during your entire project you have measured it against the business case to understand why your project is needed. Does this need still need to met? Or has it changed? That should factor into whether and how to complete your project. Ignore sunk costs. The time and money that has been spent on the project up to this point does not factor into whether you should complete the project. The U.S. Military has cancelled projects with over US$18 billion in sunk costs when the completed project would not be worth the additional time or costs needed to continue. Instead of focusing on sunk costs, take some time to complete a cost-benefit analysis to discern if your project is worth saving considering your constraints.
Step 2: Analyze the situation. You don’t have a lot of time, so it can’t be exhaustive, but you do need your decisions to be based in reality. Don’t focus on why the problems occurred at this stage; it is more important to decide if you should move forward.
Focus on the Right Priorities
It can be easy to get lost in deciphering how this happened to your project and how it got so far off-track. Stakeholders and team members may want to spend this time passing blame and pointing fingers, but you cannot let this tendency derail your project any further. That’s a trap and a distraction, right now. While tempting, you simply don’t have the time. Let the team know that you will do a full root-cause analysis during the post-mortem, and try to get the team to refocus its efforts on what needs to be done to move forward.
For your project to succeed, you must take ownership of the situation and try to keep your team and your client happy. Now is the time to discuss potential next steps with your stakeholders. Get buy-in from key players before settling on your new plans. Keep in mind that you may need to ask for more money, more time, more resources, or scope may need to be reduced in order to deliver.
Step 3: Gain consensus on next steps. By managing stakeholder expectations and getting everyone to nod along, you are much more likely to be successful.
Accept Change
Now it’s time to implement your project management magic: managing change. Change usually is hard for people, especially when it’s a complete overhaul of the status-quo.
Depending on the new course your project is taking, you may be asking a lot of your team: overtime, re-work, restructuring, changing team members, or completely scrapping work that has already been done. During this stage, it is important to motivate and empower your team members so that they stay fully engaged and committed to getting the project out the door.
Step 4: Facilitate collaboration and productivity. You may need to get creative in order to keep your team motivated and accepting of the new project trajectory. Show them that they are appreciated, pay close attention to their needs, and adapt your management approach as necessary.
Stay Positive
No one wants your project to fail! Management rarely wants to abandon a project; many will push for project delivery and don’t want to slow down or shut down. It is your responsibility as an effective project manager not to over promise what you can deliver and be willing to adapt when needed.
By maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders throughout the project, you can trust that when your project is threatening to nose dive you can count on your team to stay focused on what is best for the project and the business. |
GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN — When Greenpoint's Brooklyn Night Bazaar closed in the spring of 2015 to make way for a BMW-owned futuristic co-working space, it was further evidence that north Brooklyn's music scene - and fun nightlife hotspots - were being priced-out.
In a much-welcomed turn of events, the concert hall/adult-funhouse will return to the neighborhood bigger and glitzier than before in the former Polonaise Terrace building, at 150 Greenpoint Avenue. The grand opening is Friday, Sep. 9, at 7 p.m. with a ticketed performance from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
Get tickets to our first show on opening night (9/9) w/ Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! https://t.co/sNeZ7r4eLs pic.twitter.com/VYEapA81ma
— BrooklynBazaar (@BKBazaar) August 18, 2016
For those of us who refuse to fully embrace adulthood, the slightly-renamed "Brooklyn Bazaar" boasts an array of entertainment options with black light mini-golf, classic and modern arcade games, karaoke booths and ping-pong room with multiple tables; and that's just scratching the surface.
With all of the games and activities you'll work up an appetite. Luckily a 70 person capacity new-American eatery by Brooklyn Star will be open inside the venue Sunday - Thursday 5 p.m. - 1 a.m. and Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. - 2 a.m. serving up soul food favorites such as corn dogs and blackened catfish. They will start serving brunch in October as well.
Every Tuesday Nitehawk Cinema will present a movie at the bazaar with the first screening happening Sep. 13 at 4 p.m. with Roman Polanski's "Knife in the Water."
The 400-person capacity venue has three-levels and four bars. The upstairs will host ticketed concerts, while the main entrance remains free where 50 vendors will display and sell their goods.
The Brooklyn Bazaar market will be open Friday and Saturday 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., while the gaming/karaoke area will open Sunday - Thursday 6 p.m. - 1 a.m. and Friday and Saturday 6 p.m. - 2 a.m.
Lead image courtesy of rufus/Flickr Creative Commons |
Note: Events and times are subject to change
Bay Area Bicycle Law Main Stage
(Schedule is subject to change)
11:00 am – Bike East Bay Executive Director Ginger Jui and Katie Styer (MC) kick off Pedalfest
11:30 am – Pedalfest kick off with Bicycle Stunt Show
12:15 pm – Circus on UniCycle by Robin Lara
12:30 pm – Amphibious Bike Race kicks off
1:30 pm – Kids’ Bike Parade by the Original Scraper Bike Team
2:00 pm – Bicycle Stunt Show
2:30 pm – Unicycle Stunt Show
3:15 pm – Scraper Bike Show
3:30 pm – Amphibious Bike Race Awards Ceremony
4:00 pm – Bicycle Stunt Show
5:00 pm – Bike Sumo on Ford GoBikes
Rock the Bike Pedal-Powered Stage
Hop on a stationary bike and pedal to generate power for Rock the Bike’s off-grid sound stage!
Stage lineup:
Hosted by: Justin Ancheta (JAB) & Seneca (Earth Amplified)
Drake’s Brewing Lounge Area | Near Rock the Bike Stage on Webster St.
Kick back under the palm trees and enjoy a cold one! All proceeds from Drake’s Brewing will support Bike East Bay. Beer booths are located on Broadway, Franklin, and Webster plazas.
Amphibious Bike Race | 12:30PM at the Main Stage on Broadway
Watch a spectacular display of land- and sea-worthy bikes as they pedal through Jack London Square and into the Oakland Estuary. The race launches at the Main Stage at 12:30pm.
Perfection On Wheels BMX Stunt Team | 11AM, 1PM, 3PM, and 5PM at 55 Harrison
Enjoy BMX spectacles by Perfection On Wheels’ BMX Stunt Team in front of 55 Harrison.
Show Time: 11AM, 1PM, 3PM, and 5PM
Perfection On Wheels video |
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North Wales’s councils are to go back to the future with six authorities all set to be reduced to just two.
It means a return to the old boundaries of Gwynedd and Clwyd, with Gwynedd, Anglesey and Conwy combining on one side of the region, with Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire joining forces on the other.
It comes in a radical shake-up with the Welsh Government poised to announce plans to slash the number of councils in Wales to as few as eight.
A statement is expected on the future of local government this morning, although the Welsh Government refused to comment on the speculation last night.
But according to sources, Local Government Minister Leighton Andrews is set to present two options, based on an eight-council or nine-council model.
Some boundaries from the old county council system used before 1996 could re-emerge.
The first option would see two councils covering North Wales as described above.
The alternative model would see three councils in the region, with Conwy and Denbighshire to continue consulting on a merger after their original plan was rejected a few months ago.
The six authorities currently employ well in excess of 20,000 people.
Wrexham have over 6,000 workers while Conwy have 4,000 staff and Flintshire and Denbighshire employ 5,000 each.
And there would be certainly a cull among the top-earners in each council – the chief executives.
On last count the previous chief executive of Gwynedd, Harry Thomas earned £108,264, Anglesey’s Dr Gwynne Jones £110,000 while Conwy’s Iwan Davies had a salary of £102,991.
Over in the east of the region, Wrexham’s Dr Helen Patterson took home between £109,000 and £125,000, Flintshire’s Colin Everett £131,000 and Denbighshire’s Mohammed Mehmet was paid £124,859.
But the plans were met with fierce criticism.
Tory local government shadow minister Janet Finch-Saunders said: “This lame excuse for reform will see us jump back in time to a structure long confined to the history books.”
A Plaid Cymru spokeswoman said: “As expected, the Welsh Government is focusing solely on a simplistic rearrangement of boundaries.
”The new models would see large authorities covering the Gwent and West Wales areas."
But under the leaked map, the former Gwent area consisting of Newport, Monmouthshire, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent would re-emerge as a single authority with the addition of Caerphilly.
A single authority covering much of the old Mid Glamorgan area – Rhondda Cynon Taf to Bridgend and Merthyr Tydfil – would be formed.
Cardiff would merge with the Vale of Glamorgan, along the lines of the old South Glamorgan area.
Swansea would merge with Neath Port Talbot to form a single authority, again along the lines of the former West Glamorgan area.
The former Dyfed area could also re-emerge, covering the West Wales counties of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.
Powys would remain on its own, sources claimed.
The proposals would mean the axing of the Williams Commission model that proposed mergers among the current 22 authorities in Wales, leaving just 10, 11 or 12.
They would also spark controversy in the areas where multiple councils are likely to be wiped out.
It is currently not known when the proposals would be implemented but it is thought they would form part of Welsh Labour’s manifesto at the next election.
The Welsh Government would need an opposition party to help get the measures through after that election if Labour did not win a majority.
Mr Andrews is expected to present the new map to the Assembly this afternoon, a day ahead of the Welsh Local Government Association conference in Swansea where he is also due to speak to delegates.
Union has told the Welsh Government to “put its money where its mouth is” over council mergers |
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Health officials here on Monday declared an end to the Zika epidemic in Colombia, the first time a South American country had turned the tide on the disease, they said.
The Zika virus, which causes an illness related to dengue and is spread by mosquitoes, has infected roughly 100,000 Colombians and is linked to more than 20 cases of microcephaly, a birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads.
While health officials said the number of new infections had decreased to 600 new cases a week, they added that they still expected a limited number of new cases in the coming months as the disease wound down.
“The period the disease will remain local still hasn’t been determined,” Fernando Ruiz Gómez, the deputy health minister, said at a news conference. “There may eventually be extended outbreaks.” |
Update: In a statement to The objective of introducing refurbished devices is solely to reduce and minimize any environmental impact. The product details including the name, technical specification and price range will be announced when the device is available. Samsung will not be offering refurbished Galaxy Note 7 devices for rent or sale in the US. In a statement to The Verge , Samsung has noted these Note 7 refurbs are not in fact coming to the United States. In addition, the company’s statement also hints that the refurbished models could come to market with a different name. The full statement can be found below: Samsung also said in a statement that the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 will not be sold in Canada either.
Original post: Months after Samsung recalled all units of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, the company has confirmed it does plan to offer refurbished versions of the device for sale or rental. However, most of the specific details of those plans have yet to be announced. Rumors about Galaxy Note 7’s return started popping up on the internet in February.
In a brief press release, Samsung said it will announce where it will offer the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 phones, along with release dates, after it has discussed the matter with wireless carriers and regulatory agencies in various markets, along with a look at the possible demand for such a phone.
Samsung held a partial recall and replacement program for the Galaxy Note 7 in September 2016 after a number of the phones caught fire, due to its battery overheating. However, the replacement program it set up still had too many of the units catching fire, which forced the company to issue a full recall of the smartphone in October 2016. The company conducted an investigation and in January it announced that the cause of the of Note 7’s problems was related to its batteries, and said it was creating a new eight-point check system to make sure those problems would not happen again.
Samsung also announced today that some Galaxy Note 7 units will have components, including semiconductors and camera modules, removed and used for test sample production purposes. Other Note 7 units will have materials like copper, nickel, gold and silver recycled by what the company claims will be “eco-friendly companies specializing in such processes.” Samsung also said it plans to join the European Union’s R&D and test efforts to help develop new eco-friendly processing methods.
A move to bring back a recalled device is something of a risky move for Samsung. The company moved quickly to issue its recall of the Note 7 in the fall, and by all accounts it has tried its best to assure consumers that it has taken steps so that its future phones are not at risk of exploding. It will be interesting to see which markets will sell these refurbished Note 7 phones, and how they will be marketed.
The news comes two days before Samsung plans to officially announce its next flagship phone, the Galaxy S8, which will also be the first phone from the company that will be under its new battery testing program. |
NCIS Is Getting A Huge Guest Star, Get The Details By Laura Hurley Random Article Blend NCIS has attracted its fair share of famous NCIS may have just surpassed itself on the guest star scene. First Lady Michelle Obama will be part of an upcoming episode.
The First Lady won’t even have to leave home to film for NCIS. The show is coming to her at the White House, according to
Harmon didn’t give away just what role the First Lady would be playing in the show, so there’s no saying whether she’ll have a major role in the plot or just make a cameo appearance among the characters. Who knows? Maybe NCIS became a favorite show sometime over the
Of course, Michelle Obama turning up in an episode of NCIS won’t be the first time that she played a part on a primetime TV show. She Parks and Recreation back in Season 6 to pitch her “Moving Up” campaign to a very excited Leslie Knope. NCIS doesn’t have the same tone as Parks and Rec nor the NCIS is also used to promote one of her causes, we can bet that
A lot of the news coming out of NCIS lately has been tinged with sadness thanks to the departure of
There’s no word just yet of when the episode featuring Michelle Obama will hit the airwaves, so be sure to tune in to NCIS on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET to see what happens to prompt Gibbs to drop by the White House. Don’t forget to check out our schedule of has attracted its fair share of famous guest stars over the thirteen seasons so far, and the show still manages to surprise with some of the big names that it brings to primetime television. Now,may have just surpassed itself on the guest star scene. First Lady Michelle Obama will be part of an upcoming episode.The First Lady won’t even have to leave home to film for. The show is coming to her at the White House, according to The Washington Post . The scoop comes courtesy of star Mark Harmon, who was spotted leaving the White House. He revealed that the show would be filming on location outside and inside the building.Harmon didn’t give away just what role the First Lady would be playing in the show, so there’s no saying whether she’ll have a major role in the plot or just make a cameo appearance among the characters. Who knows? Maybebecame a favorite show sometime over the past few years and this will be a dream come true for her. No matter what the context is for her appearance, we can count on the episode being one to remember. It isn’t every series that can land a member of the First Family.Of course, Michelle Obama turning up in an episode ofwon’t be the first time that she played a part on a primetime TV show. She dropped by back in Season 6 to pitch her “Moving Up” campaign to a very excited Leslie Knope.doesn’t have the same tone asnor the talking head style that pretty much allowed the First Lady to address the audience. If Mrs. Obama’s screentime onis also used to promote one of her causes, we can bet that the fourth wall will remain much more intact.A lot of the news coming out oflately has been tinged with sadness thanks to the departure of Michael Weatherly as Tony DiNozzo, and even the announcements of new characters haven’t been as exciting as they might have been if they weren’t replacing Weatherly. The First Lady visiting the series is the exact kind of news that some of us have needed to cheer up about what’s ahead in the near future.There’s no word just yet of when the episode featuring Michelle Obama will hit the airwaves, so be sure to tune in toon Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET to see what happens to prompt Gibbs to drop by the White House. Don’t forget to check out our schedule of summer premiere dates to figure out when your favorite shows will be back. Will Ziva Return to NCIS? Blended From Around The Web Facebook
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The broad pedestrian plaza in front of Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center was converted to a parking lot many years ago. On busy days, the lot fills up, and the row nearest the stadium is often choked with SUVs and minivans, nosed up close to a high limestone wall fronted by a dense hedge.
RELATED: Demolition reveals gargoyles and questions at Seattle Center
On either side of the limestone wall, simple but stout fountains sit defunct and quiet, and colored lights that once illuminated the wall’s face are long-since burned out. Trash and rodent burrows line the space between the hedge and the base of the wall.
A few feet above the ground-level squalor, neatly arranged in 24 columns and carved in stone, are names of nearly 800 Seattle School District alumni. The names are in alphabetical order, from Helmer Aakervick to David Zechman, and all of the men listed – former students in Seattle schools – died in World War II.
Above the names, the inscription reads, in six-inch high carved letters:
YOUTH HOLD HIGH YOUR TORCH OF TRUTH, JUSTICE AND TOLERANCE LEST THEIR SACRIFICES BE FORGOTTEN
So why is it that one of Seattle’s most prominent war memorials – on the edge of bustling Seattle Center and in the shadow of the iconic Space Needle – has stood ignored and neglected for decades?
Flip Herndon is associate superintendent of facilities and operations for the Seattle School District. He says the district can’t afford to take care of the World War II memorial, let alone Memorial Stadium.
“Unfortunately, just like the rest of the stadium, we don’t have enough dollars to keep up the maintenance on everything, and that’s true of a lot of our schools,” Herndon said. “We have a significant maintenance backlog that we’re constantly trying to catch up with.”
Herndon also says the school district is growing and considering building a new high school at the Memorial Stadium site, which makes him reluctant to spend any money refurbishing the memorial where it currently stands.
“I don’t know what the total cost is to get fountains and electrical,” Herndon said. “I’d hate to put that in there only to have a major project that would wipe out possibly millions of dollars of infrastructure, if it’s just going to go away and we’re going to have a new structure there.”
It turns out that Memorial Stadium is at a crossroads, once again, as it has been many times in years past. And the memorial wall somehow keeps getting lost in the shuffle.
What is Memorial Stadium?
The stadium was built in 1947 to host high school football, on land that the City of Seattle gave to the Seattle School District for that purpose. The land had been the site of Civic Field, the outdoor ballpark that was built in the late 1920s, along with the Civic Arena and Civic Auditorium right next door.
Architect for the innovative, mildly modern (yet still somewhat nondescript) concrete-roofed, twin-grandstand stadium was George Stoddard, who also designed Green Lake Aqua Theatre and the gatehouse for Broadmoor, as well as the south grandstands at Husky Stadium.
In 1945, as the high school stadium was being designed, World War II ended, and the school district decided to dedicate the new facility as a memorial to the district’s war dead. The official name for the project became “Seattle High School Memorial Stadium,” and it was ready for the fall football season in 1947. The memorial wall came a few years later. It was designed by Garfield High School graduate Marianne Hanson, and was dedicated on Memorial Day 1951.
Bill Kossen is a retired reporter and editor who worked for The Seattle Times for many years. He’s also a local sports historian and one-time backup quarterback for the old Lincoln High School Lynx of Wallingford.
“Memorial Stadium in Seattle simply was the center of the universe of high school football in the Pacific Northwest,” Kossen said Tuesday on a visit to Lower Queen Anne.
“This was the place to go as a player, [the] place to go as a fan. There was a lot of other nice stadiums around the area and there was the famous Stadium Bowl in Tacoma, but there was nothing like Memorial Stadium,” Kossen said.
Kossen says that Memorial Stadium was best known for the “Turkey Day Game” held there each year from 1947 until the early 1970s.
“People would plan their Thanksgivings around the championship football game that would be played on Thanksgiving Day in Memorial Stadium,” he said.
It was the second annual Turkey Day Game in 1948 when what’s now KING-TV made its inaugural TV broadcast, beaming video of West Seattle versus Wenatchee to a handful of local viewers, and to one of the first cable TV systems anywhere in the world – more than 100 miles away in Astoria, Oregon. The game ended in a 6-6 tie.
But the biggest excitement at Memorial Stadium came in the post-Turkey Day Game era, says Kossen.
“Some of the greatest games in history were played down here,” Kossen said.
“1975, the four-overtime thriller between Garfield and Blanchet for the Metro League Championship, with [future Seattle City Councilmember] Bruce Harrell starting on the Garfield side, he was a linebacker and the team captain,” Kossen said. “And famous [future Husky and Seahawk] Joe Steele on Blanchet.”
The final score, after an incredible four overtimes? Blanchet 42, Garfield 35.
“It was considered by many as the greatest high school football game of the century in Washington state,” said Kossen. “Right down here in little old Memorial Stadium.”
Beyond high school football, Memorial Stadium hosted earlier iterations of the Sounders in the 1970s and the 1990s, and is current home to the Seattle Reign. During the 1962 World’s Fair, it was site of the opening and closing ceremonies, and a couple of other notable events — the Tommy Bartlett waterskiing show, and the huge musical extravaganza known as the “Canadian Tattoo.” The Grateful Dead played there in the early 1990s – as have many bands over the years – and Bumbershoot has presented musical acts there of late. It’s also been the finish line for the Seattle Marathon, and site of protest rallies during the WTO.
Operating issues
So, why, exactly, is Memorial Stadium at a crossroads now?
Fast-forward to 2017, and it appears that there may be tension (or something) between the City of Seattle, who owns and operates Seattle Center, and the Seattle School District, who owns and operates Memorial Stadium.
It’s an odd arrangement, and most Seattle Center visitors probably never realize that Memorial Stadium is run by a separate entity. Compared with the rest of Seattle Center, Memorial Stadium looks somewhat tired and rundown, and the parking lot now operating on the old pedestrian plaza is incongruous with the more thoughtful layout and “street appeal” of the adjoining buildings and open spaces that make up the modern version of Seattle Center.
Add to this that the city has had its eyes on Memorial Stadium for decades. In the early 1980s, there was a proposal from Seattle Center to build what became the Washington State Convention & Trade Center there. About a decade ago, there was a plan floated to demolish the stadium, and replace it with a lawn and amphitheater, with a parking garage underneath – all part of a possible ballot issue that never saw the light of day. The Great Recession nine years ago helped quash those plans.
The future
Flip Herndon, of the Seattle School District, says the discussions and plans are nothing new.
“I’ve heard about all sorts of discussions,” Herndon said. “And you know, discussions about the city wanting different kinds of uses for that land are, as far as I know, as old as when it was originally deeded to the school district, so they probably aren’t just 9 years old, you’re probably talking about 50 or 60 years old.”
Herndon says the district needs a new high school in downtown Seattle, and the land it owns at Memorial Stadium would be a good fit for a new high school and for a new or refurbished stadium.
“That’s some of the stuff we’re starting to study now over these next couple of months . . . but as we prepare for a ballot measure we need to know what the costs are for the different approaches to dealing with that particular location,” Herndon said.
By “different approaches” it seems that Herndon means demolition or renovation, but it doesn’t sound like he’s a fan of the 1947 structure.
“You’re talking about concrete slabs, really,” Herndon said. “There’s nothing architecturally significant about what that particular thing looks like.”
Memorial Stadium is not considered a city landmark, though it would probably be eligible were it to be nominated. Back in 2007, a World War II vet named Guy Gallipeau tried to nominate it, but the application that he and Bob Hegamin submitted to the City of Seattle’s Landmark Preservation Board was considered incomplete and it was never voted on.
Gallipeau and Hegamin were old enough to remember friends and classmates who died in World War II; that can be said about fewer and fewer people every day. Gallipeau passed away last year at age 87; Hegamin died earlier this year at age 90.
RELATED: Wrestling with the ghosts of Confederate monuments
Whether the school district decides to replace or renovate Memorial Stadium, the significant funding required would most likely have to come from a capital levy, which could be on the ballot as early as 2019.
As for the future of the memorial wall, Herndon says not to worry.
“We’ll definitely continue to keep that,” Herndon said. “We want to make sure that we preserve that wall and honor that memory, and whatever designs we have in the future [that] go in there, that wall would be integrated in whatever project we have moving forward.”
KIRO Radio contacted Seattle City Councilmember Debora Juarez for her perspective on the city’s relationship with the school district as it specifically pertains to Memorial Stadium. Councilmember Juarez is chair of a Council Committee that oversees, among other things, Seattle Center.
Through email from an aide, Councilmember Juarez declined to comment. The aide wrote: “With regard to Memorial Stadium, we recommend speaking with Seattle Public Schools directly.” A subsequent request for comment from Councilmember Juarez – repeating KIRO Radio’s interest in the city’s relationship with the school district – received no reply. Seattle Center and Mayor Ed Murray’s office also did not respond to requests for comment on the future of Memorial Stadium.
Meanwhile, Herndon says that the school district’s relationship with Seattle Center is “fine.”
“We’re having conversations right now,” Herndon said. “I know they’ve got other plans about what they want to do on the Seattle Center, so we’re in communication with them and they know we’re looking at redeveloping [Memorial Stadium], and so we continue to have conversations about timelines on what we’re looking for.”
With 2019 a possible target date for seeking funding for their plans, Herndon points out what might be a major difference between the school district and Seattle Center when it comes to the future of Memorial Stadium.
“My guess is we will have money to do something before they have any money to do anything,” Herndon said.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Do you have a relative listed on the memorial wall at Memorial Stadium who you’d be willing to talk to KIRO Radio about? Please send email to [email protected]
More from Feliks Banel |
Two years ago, on a 2½-mile stretch of Westheimer between Gessner and Voss, strip malls lining the roadway had no fewer than 11 storefronts hawking payday and auto title loans. Anyone in need of a quick buck - and willing to pay exorbitant interest rates - could choose between Cash America, Loan Star Title Loans, TitleMax, EZ Money Loan Services, Ace Cash Express, two First Cash Advance outlets and several independent operators.
Today, only two of those storefronts remain to offer the short-term, high-interest loans to people who have no other place to turn: the large national chains Ace Cash Express and Advance America.
The pattern on Westheimer has been repeated on commercial thoroughfares across Houston after a local law took effect in July 2014 to restrict the activities of small-dollar lenders that can otherwise charge as much as 500 percent interest. Since then, the number of licensed payday and title loan companies in Houston proper has plunged 40 percent, to 187 from 310, while transactions across the metro area have fallen by 27 percent.
It looks like a dramatic turnaround for a city that once seemed to have a payday lender on every street corner, but the effect on the working poor who use these services remains unclear. City officials concede that they don't know whether customers are finding better lower-cost alternatives or simply driving beyond the city limits, using online payday lenders, or turning to unlicensed businesses or loan sharks.
One thing remains certain: The reasons people who live paycheck to paycheck turn to these lenders, and the high rates they charge, are largely unchanged.
Betty Walter recently walked out of Ace Cash Express near Hobby Airport with a $600 loan to fix her car, her only way to work. After all the fees and interest, she'll end up paying back about $1,400. But she absolutely needed to keep her job at a veterinarian's office and had nowhere else to get the money.
"If you're desperate, you just pay it," Walter said. "I would probably pay more."
A statewide push
Payday and auto title loans are a form of cash advance available to people who might not have access to other forms of credit. Because of the hefty fees and high interest rates, customers very often can't afford to make payments, and so end up refinancing ever-growing balances again and again - what regulators call a cycle of debt that is nearly impossible to break.
Houston was far from alone in adopting restrictions on small-dollar loans. With efforts to pass state legislation stymied by industry lobbying, a coalition of faith groups and community activists has worked for a half-decade to persuade local jurisdictions to adopt ordinances to curb lending practices that most often trap people in cycles of debt. Thirty-five Texas communities have passed local laws that typically require lenders to ensure that borrowers have some ability to repay the loans and limit the number of installments, which allow lenders to earn more interest and charge more fees.
Since that push began, the industry's footprint has shrunk markedly. In a report published in June, Texas Appleseed, an Austin nonprofit, found that the number of storefronts in Texas fell by 25 percent between 2012 and 2015.
"The ordinances have been very effective in their goal, which is to shut down credit access businesses," says Michael Brown, who runs a Corpus Christi-based consultancy for small-dollar lenders.
Overall loan volume, however, hasn't decreased as much as the number of storefronts - just 9 percent in Texas between 2012 and 2015. That suggests two things: The establishments that remain are raking in more business, and customers are migrating to company websites, which local jurisdictions are unable to regulate.
Archie Gall runs Star of Texas Financial Solutions, a payday lender with operations in Waco, Killeen, Austin and Temple, all of which have passed ordinances restricting payday lending in recent years. He said he's pretty sure that many of his customers need more money than they can afford to pay back in the reduced number of installments allowed by the laws.
As a result, they take out several smaller loans from different lenders using the same pay stubs. Then they default, at the rate of about one in five loans, which he said is higher than in the past.
"They need that money now, so they're going to say what they need to say to get that money," Gall said.
Gall estimated his business is down by about 20 percent because he can't lend out as much money to customers with lower incomes. He hasn't closed any stores but has cut a few jobs.
He has also recently launched an online business, which puts him beyond the reach of local regulations.
"You almost have to ask," he said, "why am I going to open stores and employ people anymore?"
Still easy to get a loan
So what, exactly, is going on in Houston underneath the numbers? Let's start with where the payday lenders are moving - or aren't moving.
Back when the city's ordinance passed, critics suggested that licensees would hop just outside the city lines to avoid the new law. That does not appear to have happened: An analysis of licenses shows no significant movement across jurisdictions.
Closures of payday lenders, meanwhile, have been spread across the city, but fallen particularly heavily on commercial corridors in places like Spring Branch East, Alief, the Northside, Gulfton and a cluster by George Bush Park. A smattering of new places has opened, but none inside Loop 610.
The number of independent operators and smaller chains - of which there weren't all that many in the first place - has shrunk to nearly zero. An outfit called KJC Auto Title Loan, which used to have eight outlets in the city, has since gone bankrupt. Texas EZ Money, which used to have 45 licenses in Houston, surrendered all of them when its parent, EZ Corp. of Austin, left the payday business entirely in July 2015.
PLS Loan Store relinquished its 12 lending licenses, although it still maintains several locations in the city, offering a suite of financial services like insurance and prepaid debit cards. TitleMax, a title loan outfit, has gone from holding 40 licenses to 31. Payday lender Advance America went from 31 licenses to 20. A few smaller chains, including Loanstar, Speedy Cash and the Cash Store, have stayed about the same size.
Where the payday lenders are
Far more payday and auto title lenders have disappeared than started up in the Houston metro area since a city ordinance restricting their activities went into effect in 2014. Red markers are lenders that closed following the ordinance. Blue markers are lenders that opened after the ordinance. Yellow markers are lenders that didn't change.
All of those, with the exception of Speedy Cash, declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment. Ace Cash Express deferred to Rob Norcross, whose public relations firm represents an industry lobby group called the Consumer Service Alliance of Texas. He emphasized that in the wake of the ordinances passing in Texas cities, loan fees have gone up as defaults have risen and profits declined.
"Ironically," Norcross said in an email, "the ordinance passed by over 30 Texas cities to 'protect' consumers has raised prices."
It's true that the average fee per transaction has risen by 6.5 percent in the Houston metro area since the city's ordinance went into effect, but those fees were increasing at about that pace before the law took effect. The percentage of people who extend loans - thus incurring higher fees - has also jumped from a low in 2014, but the oil crash, rather than regulatory changes, could be driving those numbers.
Where to turn?
So if fewer people are going to newly constrained payday and auto title lenders, what are they doing when they have a desperate need for cash? A number of things.
John Branch is a neighborhood leader in Independence Heights, which lost a handful of lenders. He said people might be going to pawnshops, which are more strictly regulated by the state. He could be right: State data show that the number of pawnshops has risen slightly in the Houston area since 2014.
Another possibility: Less reputable businesses may offer loans that don't conform with the ordinance. The city only investigates small-dollar lenders if it receives a complaint. Local regulators have received 18 since the ordinance went into effect, and two were deemed valid. The complainants, however, decided not to pursue them.
A few less expensive alternatives also have popped up in recent years. An installment lender called Oportun operates kiosks in Hispanic supermarkets, going from 10 outlets in 2014 to 16 outlets today. It charges an annual percentage rate of between 30 and 40 percent. A nonprofit loan center run by the Neighborhood Recovery Community Development Corp. makes small loans to workers of participating employers, who facilitate payments through payroll deductions. That allows the loan center to charge lower interest rates, about the same as a credit card.
To Silvia Chicas, an organizer with the advocacy group Texas Organizing Project, the city ordinance still doesn't address the underlying problems. Clamping down on payday lenders hasn't gotten rid of the reasons why people find themselves in desperate situations - low incomes, little access to mainstream credit and personal catastrophes, from car breakdowns to sudden medical expenses ("Stuff happens," says an Ace Cash Express billboard in Houston, with a cartoon of a leg in a cast).
The local law also doesn't limit the amount of interest people are charged if they can show adequate earnings, as long as the loan can be repaid in four installments or less.
"Even within the confines of the ordinance, you can still take advantage of someone for everything they're worth," she said. "If anything, that fortifies (small-dollar lenders) more, because the small guy in the corner has shut down, but the need is still there, so they're still getting that business."
Besides, she added, most people are unaware of the few other options out there.
"If someone were to come to me asking for an alternative to a payday loan," she said, "I'm not sure what I would tell them." |
REPORTING FROM BEIJING -- The rift with China over Syria was thrown into sharp relief Saturday as Beijing mocked an international conference aimed at protecting the Syrian people against a brutal crackdown and accused the United States and Europe of "hiding a dagger behind a smile."
"In other words, while they appear to be acting out of humanitarian concern, they are actually harboring hegemonistic ambitions," said the editorial carried by the official Xinhua news agency.
The surprisingly harsh rhetoric dashed hopes that Beijing might be softening in its opposition to international action against the Syrian regime. China and Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown.
China and Russia were also conspicuously absent at an international conference called Friends of Syria, which is aiming to end the increasingly lethal crackdown by the Bashar Assad regime. On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton lashed out at China and Russia, calling their vetoes "despicable."
"They are clearly not on the side of the Syrian people," Clinton said. |
ClimateWire (via The New York Times) reports that several key players are considering a push for a utility-only cap-and-trade system as part of an energy bill. That could be a wise move, if it’s done right.
First the main substance. Take a look at this plot of emissions reductions under Kerry-Lieberman as projected by the EPA:
You’ll notice that almost all of the emissions reductions from U.S. energy use come from electric utilities, not just in the early years, but through 2050. Transportation, manufacturing, and “other” (my guess is mostly direct energy use in buildings) make up a very small fraction. A utility-only bill, then, should be able to get most of the reductions in U.S. emissions from energy use that an economy-wide bill would, but without some of the complexity and stigma. For this reason alone, utility-only should receive serious consideration.
Now for the potential problems. I can see at least four:
The percentage cut in emissions from electricity generation would need to be substantially greater than the percentage cut in economy-wide emissions in order to achieve the same power-sector carbon price. (You’re cutting the same absolute amount off a much smaller base, so the fraction is bigger.) It may be complicated to explain why a target that looks much stronger than the 17% cut from 2005 levels by 2020 is actually no more onerous. If the result is a utility-only cap-and-trade with a 17% target for utilities, that will be a failure. Per the EPA graph, much of the emissions reductions in the EPA model of Kerry-Lieberman come from domestic and international offsets. A smaller-scale cap-and-trade system will almost certainly lead to lower demand for offsets. To the extent that the offsets represent real emissions reductions, utility-only would thus lead to lower emissions reductions. Similarly, to the extent that international cooperation is driven by financial flows from offset purchases, utility-only cap-and-trade would likely reduce such flows. This is not the end of the world, but it is not unimportant either. Many energy intensive manufacturers use electricity from the grid. If utility-only cap-and-trade increases the price of that electricity, but manufacturers don’t face direct limits on their own emissions, they may shift to lower-cost but dirtier on-site sources of energy, raising their emissions above business-as-usual and undermining the broader emissions control effort. Utility-only would thus need, at a minimum, to be accompanied by some sort of “no harm” efficiency standards for energy intensive manufacturing. The politics of cap-and-trade have traditionally involved using revenue from the transportation sector to compensate every other affected entity (utilities, manufacturers, consumers, etc). That is part of why so many business interests have been willing to support a bill. Utility-only doesn’t deliver that money. That may complicate the politics of a bill.
There is, of course, a fifth problem. It has been very tough to tie cap-and-trade to public outrage over the oil spill. A cap-and-trade system that deliberately does nothing about oil will be even harder to sell from that angle. |
Resourceful PDX connects residents to events like the neighborhood cleanup pictured above. Credit: SE Uplift
Though often satirized, Portland, Oregon's reputation for sustainability is the product of hard work by residents, community groups, and city officials. Today Portland is on the cutting edge of an issue with which cities around the world are grappling: sustainable consumption. I recently spoke by phone to J. Lauren Norris, Residential Sustainability Outreach Coordinator at the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. Norris helps run the Resourceful PDX program, which encourages Portlanders to buy smart, reuse, borrow and share, and fix and maintain to reduce waste.
Norris' experience offers a window into the practice of sustainable consumption on a municipal level, including the challenges and opportunities inherent to undertaking a mindful consumption campaign. Cities, she argues, have a critical part to play in establishing infrastructure around environmentally-conscious consumer behavior.
See below for a list of resources on sustainable consumption in Portland and around the world.
ABM: What is your role at the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability?
LN: I'm the manager of the residential outreach team on sustainable living. We have a campaign called Resourceful PDX. The campaign encourages people to find ideas for making simple changes in their everyday choices that are really about sustainable consumption, and hopefully encourages people to buy smart, reuse, borrow and share, and fix and maintain.
Along with that, I work with a number of partners to engage the community. One of the things we've found here at the Resourceful PDX campaign is that most people in Portland get that it's great to buy smart, reuse, borrow and share, and fix and maintain. They know it's going to be fun for them, it's going to be something that actually gives them more time with their family and makes them feel more connected in their community. What they struggle with is knowing how to do these things, and where to go to do them. That's what our team is working on now: tying people to specific resources. The more specific we can get, the better for them to be able to fix, maintain, borrow, share, and rent.
We've started to map where we can practice these four areas throughout the city. We're also doing more specific partnering with some of the sharing community in Portland to get the word out that they're there, to help build structure around their projects, and to connect them to already-existing resources.
BPS is building partnerships with existing organizations including Repair PDX. (Resourceful PDX)
ABM: Can you give me an example of how these partnerships work?
LN: A lot of it is kind of wonky stuff. But [we also] do some things that are exciting and fresh. Our Resourceful PDX campaign promotes the tool libraries, swapnplays, kitchen shares, and buying clubs. We have them on the map, and we'll put them on our Facebook page and our blog, and just keep telling people that these exist, and how to participate in them.
The Repair PDX cafes that happen in Portland—we promote them strongly, and participate in them. We're also members of the Reuse Alliance, which has a strong sector in Oregon. It's very active in strengthening these organizations, and bringing the resources to them. And the neighborhood cleanups: we have 93 neighborhoods, and most of them have cleanup events where they collect bulk waste, and it's a fundraiser for them. Because we're in a relationship with Reuse Alliance, and find that there's a lot of barriers for them to be able to source materials, we connected the event and the organization together, and did a pilot where the Reuse organization could do collection events in conjunction with the cleanups.
We're also in the process of working with a number of multi-family property managers and landlords who are really concerned about all the bulky waste that ends up sitting in their garbage containment sections [during] the move-in, move-out period. [We're] helping them [with] a kit on how to do a swap event ahead of time, [so] they can be preemptive about it.
ABM: How do individuals and families interact with your office?
LN: The Resourceful PDX blog is very much about individuals and how can they find resources and use them. It's a great resource for just getting ideas.
We found that when [people are] in in a moment of transition is when they're going to be more likely to think differently about how they get the things that they need. So we're working to find ways to partner with people who are talking to individuals when they're in transition. That might be a wedding planner, a real estate agent, a college counselor, an adoption agency, a midwife. Times when families are changing their size, when people are moving, when they're remodeling are times when people are starting to think, "Oh, I need to get this thing" or, "I need to fill this need." [They can] shop, swap, or share, or fix—maybe they don't need it all the time. That's one area where we're just starting to build relationships in the community so that the Resourceful PDX message is there when they need it.
ABM: Are you looking at other cities or programs as models?
LN: The city of Vancouver has some really exciting messaging around thoughtful consumption, and especially gifts of experience during the holidays—we've looked at them. We're [also] in the middle of a research grant that involves seven or eight cities. We're trying to get a sense of what is out there in the economy around sharing, fixing, and maintaining. How many jobs are involved? Are there measurements of material that's being avoided by people using these kinds of services? Can we start setting our priorities, and measuring our baseline?
ABM: Are there particular areas of sustainable consumption in which Portland's innovating?
LN: It's funny timing. When we started to do the research for Resourceful PDX, and started focusing on these four areas, they were brand new, and it seemed like it was cutting-edge. But at the very moment that we were getting it, so were so many people around the world. So: is it innovative or not? People from Portland [were starting to] think about how to reuse, borrow, share, fix, and maintain, but it was coming from the groundswell all over the country and other parts of the world at the same time.
So it's funny, because it's like, "We don't feel innovative." But rather than it not being innovative, it's just that it's grassroots everywhere. It seems to be coming from all over now.
Some of what we want to explore is how what feels okay to borrow, share, and rent will look very different in one demographic than another. We looked at the West Hills of Portland, where there's wealthier folks. They would rather rent something, and that's just as legitimately about sharing as a swap program, or a cottage-industry kind of approach [that] Outer Southeast Portland might [take]. We want to make sure that people are sharing. We don't care what they call it, or how they do it.
It would be useful to do a gaps analysis first: Are there places where sharing, renting, borrowing, fixing, maintaining is not happening in Portland? Or seeing if it's different in different parts of Portland, and making sure that we use language differently so that all folks are doing more of it.
A lot of what we're doing in Portland is starting to put some infrastructure behind the ideas—trying to measure it, trying to assess some goals around it, and then making a stronger connection between the consumers and the resources out there, so that people understand how to use them, and where to go to get them.
Portland's sustainability habits are influenced by local factors, including proximity to paper mills. (Cascadia Courier)
ABM: You talked about there being, on the one hand, a groundswell around sustainable consumption. On the other hand, people in Portland are already attuned to these issues. Do you think what you're doing in Portland is replicable elsewhere? Or are there some things that are just very specific to the place?
LN: I feel like whenever I go a conference, people are like, "Ah, who cares, it's Portland." The thing is that Portland wasn't always like this. We have little baby steps that we took along the way to get where we are today. I do think that the things that are here are specific. Like recycling. We have things that have to do with the geographics around us. We had paper mills right in our backyard that were giving us feedback, and needed the paper. That made it more likely that recycling would go well here.
But thoughtful consumption is something that more universally can happen anywhere. It's just the baby steps to get there. I think what you call it and what it looks and feels like will be very specific to each community.
ABM: What challenges do you face?
LN: We don't have a lot of measurables; we don't have a lot of understanding of what really makes a difference and what doesn't, and where to set our priorities. There's a lack of information.
Another big issue that's facing these programs across the country is around definitions of what we mean by sharing, and making sure that the community, the environment, and equity are all included in the conversation. I think that's an important role for the city, to make sure that equity is a big part of defining what happens. [We want to] make sure that there's equitable access to resources, and that the benefits are available to everybody, but also that these new sharing economies don't end up burdening populations. [They should] build community rather create more barriers or have a regressive impact. That's something that we need to be aware of, and [be] testing.
ABM: On the flip side, is there any recent work that you're particularly excited about, or particularly proud of?
LN: The Resourceful PDX campaign itself is a great campaign. It's very positive, it's very fresh. People like it, the blog gets a lot of regular hits, and people are getting ideas and connecting there.
Also, the partnerships that we're starting to develop really feel like they're going in the right direction. [We're] starting to build community and capacity by working with the grassroots that are there, and making sure that people have access to them.
We've had some really successful Repair PDX cafes, and we have six, very close to seven, tool libraries now. Six swapnplays, three kitchen shares. There's just a lot going on in Portland.
ABM: Any final thoughts?
LN: We're finding that this new economy, this new sharing approach, and borrowing, fixing, maintaining, is going to take relationships in all directions. Non-profits, for-profits, and government all have important roles to play in terms of feedback loops as well as encouraging folks to become sustainable consumers. It's especially important that we have strong community infrastructure around this topic.
Kitchen shares and other programs linked to Resourceful PDX help Portland residents buy and throw away less. (Resourceful PDX)
Sustainable Consumption Resources
Websites
Resourceful PDX
http://www.resourcefulpdx.com/#home
Reuse Alliance
http://www.reusealliance.org/
Local Tools tool library finder
http://localtools.org/find/
Repair PDX
http://www.repairpdx.org/
Swapnplay
http://swapnplay.org/
Kitchen Share
http://www.kitchenshare.org/
Publications
Burroughs, J. "Can Consumer Culture be Contained? Comment on 'Marketing Means and Ends for a Sustainable Society.'" Journal of Macromarketing 30, no. 2 (2010): 127-132.
Carlson Communications. Thoughtful Consumption: Best Practices and Messaging Recommendations. Prepared for the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, 2011.
City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Bureau of Planning Thoughtful Consumption Campaign Development Summary, n.d.
DHM Research, Inc. Be Resourceful Campaign Survey Research. Prepared for the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, 2011.
DHM Research, Inc. Be Resourceful Focus Group Research. Prepared for the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, 2011.
Lewis, T., and Potter, E., eds. Ethical Consumption: A Critical Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2011.
Peattie, K. "Green Consumption: Behavior and Norms." Annual Review of Environment and Resources 35 (November 2010): 195-228.
Schaefer, A., and Crane, A. "Addressing Sustainability and Consumption." Journal of Macromarketing 25, no. 1 (June 2005): 76-92.
Sheth, J., Sethia, N., and Srinivas, S. "Mindful Consumption: A Consumer-Centric Approach to Sustainability." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 39 (2011): 21-39.
Siqueira, R., De Oliveira, D., and Siqueira, C. "Sustainable Consumption: The Decline of Hyper-Consumerism." QRCA Views 9, no. 4 (Summer 2011): 22-30. |
Vincenzo Nibali's snowbound victory at Tre Cime di Lavaredo will endure as the defining image of the 2013 Giro d'Italia, but the performance of his Astana teammate Fabio Aru that day could yet prove to be a significant footnote. Related Articles Matteo Trentin outwits Fabio Aru in finale to take out U/23 road race
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After laying the groundwork for Nibali at the base of the climb, Aru still summoned up the energy to finish 5th on the stage, almost catching the Rigoberto Uran-led chase group on the final approach to the summit. At the end of a Giro debut that had been blighted by a mid-race illness, the 23-year-old emerged from the blizzard with his lofty credentials enhanced still further.
"I was ill halfway through the Giro with vomiting and dysentery, [Paolo] Tiralongo had the same problem. For three days I was feeling pretty bad but then I managed to recover and I finished the Giro strongly," Aru told Cyclingnews. "For me it was important to finish the Giro on a high note, mainly to help Vincenzo in the final stages, but it was nice to be up there myself on that stage too."
Already touted as a future grand tour contender thanks to victory at the prestigious Giro della Valle d'Aosta as an amateur – traditionally a useful barometer of pedigree – Aru's status was such that he was selected for Astana's Giro team as a neo-professional. With Nibali focused on the Tour de France in 2014, Aru is set to return to the race with a slightly freer role next May.
"[Michele] Scarponi will be the captain, and my job will be to stay close to him, but the team has put a lot of trust in me and I'll have some space
myself so I'm tranquillo," Aru said. "The important thing now is to learn and to help others on the team, and then later on I might be able to play my own cards in races.
"Right now, I just want to keep improving. Of course I'd like to go and win the biggest races in the future, but every rider wants to do that. I'm focused more on growing and improving."
Cycling history is littered with tales of highly-touted amateurs who failed to replicate their early successes at the highest level, however, and though Aru impressed at the Giro del Trentino and Tre Cime di Lavaredo in 2013, he is aware that he has much to work on. A product of the Palazzago amateur set-up in Bergamo – a team managed by the much-discussed figure of Olivano Locatelli – Aru acknowledged that there is a considerable gulf between the under-23 and WorldTour ranks.
"Everything changes because you go at higher speed and the races are longer. The rhythm is completely different too and you're racing against guys who are ten years older than you, guys with more experience and strength," he said. "But if you work hard and seriously, then you can at least manage to lessen the shock of that transition to [WorldTour.]"
The high life
Another difference between the amateur and professional ranks is the amount of time invested in preparing for races. During his years at Palazzago, Aru succeeded in dividing his time more or less equally between Bergamo and Sardinia. To date in 2013, he has spent just 11 days on the island, with the rest of the time split between races, his Bergamo apartment and lengthy stints at altitude.
"I did a lot of training camps at altitude this year, almost two months this year in total – once in Tenerife, once in Etna, once in San Pellegrino, once at Livigno," he said. "Before the Giro in particular we tend to go to Teide, because the weather is better in Tenerife. You can't really go to Livigno in April."
Indeed, Mount Teide in Tenerife has become a particularly popular place of pilgrimage among those looking to shine at the grand tours. Sky and Astana have designs on both the Giro – where Aru and Scarponi face Richie Porte – and the Tour – where Nibali pits himself against Froome – but the two teams will also run into one another regularly in the build-up.
"We always see them [Sky] at Teide because there's only one hotel up there," said Aru. "So we often run into Sky, Belkin, Katusha with [Joaquim] Rodriguez. It's a good place to train because you've got the altitude but the weather is always quite warm too. And the roads are pretty varied there, so you can do specific work." |
"Terebithia" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Terebinthia
Bridge to Terabithia is a work of children's literature about two lonely children who create a magical forest kingdom in their imaginations. It was written by Katherine Paterson and was published in 1977 by Thomas Crowell. In 1978, it won the Newbery Medal.[1] Paterson drew inspiration for the novel from a real event that occurred in August 1974 when her son's friend was struck dead by lightning.
The novel tells the story of fifth grader Jesse Aarons, who becomes friends with his new neighbor, Leslie Burke, after he loses a footrace to her at school. She is a smart, talented, outgoing tomboy from a wealthy family, and he thinks highly of her. He is an artistic boy from a poorer family who, in the beginning, is fearful, angry, and depressed. After meeting Leslie, his life is transformed. He becomes courageous and learns to let go of his frustration. They create a kingdom for themselves, which Leslie names "Terabithia."
The novel's content has been the frequent target of censors and appears at number eight on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books for the decade 1990–2000.[2] It is studied in English studies classes in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[citation needed]
It has been adapted for the screen twice: a 1985 PBS TV movie and a 2007 Disney/Walden Media feature film.
Background [ edit ]
Katherine Paterson lived for a time in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C..[3] The novel was inspired by a tragedy of that time: on August 14, 1974, her son David's best friend, Lisa Christina Hill, died after being struck by lightning in Bethany Beach, Delaware. She was eight years old.[3][4][5] There is a tree dedicated to her in a memorial outside Takoma Park Elementary School (pre-K to second grade), which she and David attended.[5] Sligo Creek, which runs through Takoma Park, may have provided inspiration, too.[3]
The name of the imaginary kingdom is similar to that of the Narnian island Terebinthia, created by C. S. Lewis in 1951 or earlier for Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Paterson observed in 2005:
I thought I had made it up. Then, rereading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis, I realized that I had probably gotten it from the island of Terebinthia in that book. However, Lewis probably got that name from the Terebinth tree in the Bible, so both of us pinched from somewhere else, probably unconsciously.[6]
The novel makes a direct reference to The Chronicles of Narnia as a set of books that Leslie lends to Jess so he can learn to behave like a king.
The novel also indirectly alludes to the fantasy series The Chronicles of Prydain.[citation needed]
Plot summary [ edit ]
The novel chronicles the life of an artistic young boy named Jess Aarons and the burdens and hardships of his home life, such as his duties on his family's farm and the constant agitations and annoyances of his four sisters. He has straw-colored hair and long legs. Leslie Burke is an intelligent, wealthy girl who has just moved into "the old Perkins place" down the road from him. He is initially cold toward her. After having trained all summer to become his class's fastest runner, he is infuriated when she outruns him in a recess footrace.
After further negative experiences with classroom tormentors or rivals, including Gary Fulcher, Jess eagerly anticipates the arrival of music class due to his infatuation for its beautiful young teacher, Miss Edmunds. However, on the day it begins, he discovers a fondness for Leslie, eccentric and ostracized, and they develop a friendship. He marvels at the way she genuinely likes to read and write, not just to impress their teacher, and the way she makes running look beautiful and effortless (not that he would ever actually say anything of the sort). On a sunny day, Jess and Leslie use a rope to swing over a creek, and they decide to design an imaginary sanctuary from the burdens and pains of everyday life. They reign as monarchs, calling their domain Terabithia and constructing a small refuge in which their imaginary escapades take place.
At school, Jess and Leslie are challenged by an older bully named Janice Avery, whom they immensely detest. After she steals a package of Twinkies from Jess' younger sister May Belle's lunch, they forge a romantic letter under the disguise of Willard Hughes, the object of Janice's infatuation, setting her up for misunderstanding. The plan is successful, exposing her to public mortification. Later, Leslie encounters her sobbing in the girls' bathroom. It develops that her father beats her severely, and that this explains her difficulty relating to other people. She is upset since she had confided her troubles to her two best friends, and they have spread the rumor all throughout the school. At this, both Jess and Leslie develop sympathy and even the beginnings of a friendship with Janice. In the meantime, Leslie's bond with Jess also increases powerfully, and they continue to indulge in the pleasures derived from Terabithia, adopting a puppy named Prince Terrien, abbreviated to P.T.
One day in Terabithia, Jess complains about going to church for Easter and Leslie asks if she can come. He is uncertain about her request and he asks his mother about it. She reluctantly agrees and off they go. After the mass, Leslie inquires what happens if you don't believe in God. May Belle jumps in and claims that He will damn you to hell. They looked at her in shock and Jess tells her to not go around damning people to hell.
On being invited on a trip to an art museum with Miss Edmunds, Jess accepts the offer without notifying Leslie or his parents beforehand (he tells his mother while she is half asleep). He enjoys it, but upon returning home is horrified to learn that while he was away, Leslie attempted to visit Terabithia on her own and drowned in the creek when the rope broke. A shocked Jess, incapable of absorbing or accepting the impact or horror of her sudden death, denies his grief and even her existence. It is implied that May Belle is terrified that Leslie may be sentenced to eternal damnation due to her doubts regarding religion (revealed at Easter). Jess's father reassures him that God could not possibly be so unfair. After he miserably accepts the inevitability of Leslie's death, he is saddened even further by the grief exhibited by her mourning parents, who have decided to return to their previous home in Pennsylvania.
Jess decides to pay tribute to Leslie by crafting a funeral wreath, bending a pine bough into a circle. Leaving it in their special pine grove in Terabithia, he discovers a terrified May Belle halfway across the creek—having attempted to follow him over the fallen tree he used to get to Terabithia after the rope broke—and assists her back. The Burkes grant him some lumber (from aborted renovations) they are leaving behind, which he uses to build a more permanent, though rudimentary, bridge. He chooses to fill the void left by Leslie's death by making May Belle the new queen of Terabithia, permitting her to share his sanctuary which had been Jess and Leslie's secret. Then, he tells her to keep her "mind wide open" and all of the inhabitants of Terabithia welcome their new queen.
Characters [ edit ]
Jess Aarons
Leslie Burke — An intelligent, talented, imaginative, outgoing girl, it is she who creates the imaginary kingdom of Terabithia. Her talents include gymnastics, creative writing, swimming and running. Jess thinks highly of her, and they are loyal friends. She is a newcomer to his school, and not socially accepted by the other students. She dies when she falls into a creek and sustains a head injury that keeps her unconscious until she drowns.
Joyce Ann Aarons — Jess' bratty baby sister. May Belle thinks she is "nothing but a baby".
May Belle Aarons — One of Jess' younger sisters. She is described as the only one of his siblings with whom he feels comfortable. However, because she is six years to his 10, she does not fit the mold of the ideal confidante to him, leaving him still desperate for companionship. She clearly worships him from the beginning, and like him, feels that she does not have a place in the family. She is the first of his sisters to learn about Terabithia, and becomes the queen after Leslie's death. [7] She is the only one he allows to enter his world and the only one who has any sort of empathy for, or acceptance of, him in his family.
She is the only one he allows to enter his world and the only one who has any sort of empathy for, or acceptance of, him in his family. Ellie and Brenda Aarons — Jess' two older sisters. They primarily exist as secondary static characters, or ones who do not grow or change as a result of the events of a story. They are never mentioned separately within the novel and are never portrayed in a positive light. From the beginning, they continually ask for favors from their mother, and pocket money which she cannot afford to give them. With sufficient whining, they know how to get their way with their parents, such as asking for five dollars to pay for school supplies from their mother by saying that their father promised that they could have the money. Being the older of the two and the oldest child in the family, Ellie develops their ideas. Both have an incredible desire not to have anything to do with Jesse specifically, but with all of their younger siblings more broadly. At the climax of the story, when Jess learns of Leslie's death, Brenda is the one who tells him of it. The fact that she is the one who breaks the news to him in the novel only serves to increase the shock.
Janice Avery — The school bully at Lark Creek. She is very overweight and tends to become very offended when people tease her for being so. She has a crush on Willard Hughes, which Jess and Leslie use to trick her. Her father beats her and she secretly smokes. Also, her face is used on the giant troll living in Terabithia for the 2007 movie.
Miss Edmunds — The somewhat unconventional and controversial music teacher, whom Jess greatly admires. She invites him to go to the Smithsonian Museum, which leads Leslie to go to Terabithia by herself. As a result, she is alone when she falls from the rope.
Prince Terrien — A puppy that Jesse gave Leslie for Christmas. He is the guardian and court jester of Terabithia. In the novel, he is referred to as P.T.
Gary Fulcher — He and Jess both hope to be the fastest kid in the fifth grade; he serves as another bully in the story, but he is not quite as mean as Janice Avery.
Mrs. Myers — Jess and Leslie's teacher, given the nickname "Monster Mouth Myers." She favors Leslie, and tells Jess after her death that she was the best student she had ever had. Her husband had also died.
Bill and Judy Burke — Leslie's parents, novelists who come to the story's location for their work. Mom — book writer, Dad — political writer. Unlike most of the locals, they do not watch television.
Literary significance [ edit ]
The novel's content has been the frequent target of censors. It ranks number 8 on the American Library Association list of most commonly challenged books in the United States for 1990–1999.[2] On the ALA list for 2000–2009 it ranks #28.[8] The challenges stem from death being a part of the plot;[9][10] Jesse's frequent use of the word "lord" outside of prayer;[11] allegations that it promotes secular humanism, New Age religion, occultism, and Satanism;[12] and for use of offensive language.[13]
The novel is often featured in English studies classes in Ireland, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada,[14] the Philippines, Ecuador, the United Kingdom,[15] Costa Rica, Panama, South Africa and the United States.
In 2012, the novel was ranked number ten among all-time best children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with primarily U.S. audience. Two other books by Paterson made the top 100.[16]
Adaptations [ edit ]
Two films have been made based on the novel, both with the original title. One was a PBS TV movie made in 1985, starring Annette O'Toole, Julian Coutts, and Julie Beaulieu. The second was a theatrical film released on February 16, 2007, directed by the co-creator of Nickelodeon's Rugrats Gabor Csupo and starring Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Robert Patrick, Bailee Madison, and Zooey Deschanel; the adaptation was done in part by David Paterson himself.
A musical stage adaptation ("supported by a lyrical score") entitled The Bridge to Terabithia is listed for sale by Stageplays.com, credited to Paterson and Stephanie S. Tolan, another children's writer.[17] It was catalogued by the Library of Congress in 1993, with primary credit to Steve Liebman for the music, as Bridge to Terabithia: a play with music (New York: S. French, c1992).[18]
References [ edit ] |
GDDR types of memory are still very popular, even with HBM in development in the high-end spectrum. Micron will release GDDR6 graphics memory by years end, the memory will be faster and more energy efficient.
The memory is advancing on GDDR5X (Graphics Double Data Rate (DDR)) but with a memory bandwidth of 16Gbit/s, twice as much as GDDR5 offers. Micron has high expectations for GDDR6 and GDDR5X, they believe it will be the leading memory type by 2020. Once fully efficient GDDR6 could transfer data at 16Gbps (bits per second), which is twice as fast as GDDR5, used in most GPUs today and thus potentially be faster than GDDR5X which has an aim at 12Gbps.
Micron also things they can apply GDDR6 for other solutions then just gaming graphics cards. GDDR6 would also be more enrgy efficient, up-to 20% compared towards GDDR5 memory. A projected 500 million people will be eSports fans by the end of the decade. Gaming PCs are now being upgraded every three years, which is faster than the previous five-year cycle.
"There will be more people watching major eSports championships than any other North American professional championship with the exception of the Super Bowl," Eby said.
It’s not yet known when precisely GPUs with GDDR6 will appear, but GDDR6 would become available by the end of the year. Micron’s original plan was to release GDDR6 sometime in 2018. The company is hoping to be able to release by the end of this year in order to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of gaming PCs and consoles. |
About this journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence (JIV), published 24 times a year, is devoted to the study and treatment of victims and perpetrators of interpersonal violence, addressing the causes, effects, treatment, and prevention of all types of violence. It provides a forum of discussion for the concerns and activities of professionals and researchers working in domestic violence, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual assault, physical child abuse, and other violent crime.
JIV only publishes reports on individual studies in which the scientific method is applied to the study of some aspect of interpersonal violence. Research may use qualitative or quantitative methods. JIV does not publish reviews of research, individual case studies, or the conceptual analysis of some aspect of interpersonal violence. Outcome data for program or intervention evaluations must include a comparison or control group. Reviews of research studies or legal cases are welcome at Trauma, Violence, and Abuse: A Review Journal. |
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Matthew Holst/Getty Images
The job of evaluating players for the NFL draft starts as soon as the previous year's draft ends. You talk to scouts, coaches, players and trainers about who the best players are in the next crop of players. That builds expectations, which turn into an initial ranking of the player. Then the season begins and it all falls apart.
Early-season draft rankings are similar to the college football Top 25 that comes out in the summer: They are a prediction of how good a player (or team) will be. But once the games start, the rankings shift based on performance. For the 10 players highlighted below, they've each shifted down the board.
Yet much like a college team that loses a game early in the year, there is still time for these players to rebuild their draft stock with a strong finish over the next three months. |
Mainstream Media Picks Up Crazy Twitter Conspiracy About Melania Body Double
RUSH: I’m reading show prep today, and there’s some asinine story that Trump has a stand-in for Melania, that Melania hates Trump, hates what he’s doing, so Trump has had to go get somebody that looks like Melania to accompany him. You know the source for it? Twitter! ” Social media is saying,” and a conspiracy is born. When did Twitter become a source authority? Well, we know when it became a source authority. So some lunatic on Twitter claims that Trump’s got a model that looks like Melania!
But they are picking apart her appearance. “It’s not really her because the sunglasses are so big and the skin tone’s not the same!” So they’re convinced that Trump is having marital problems and having to go in and find a stand-in, body double for Melania — and the source authority for this is Twitter, and it’s in the mainstream media. |
The popular purple dinosaur Barney is headed back to television after six years off the air. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Barney & Friends is set to return in 2017 alongside another popular children’s series, Angelina Ballerina, which ended in 2006.
Created by Sheryl Leach, Barney & Friends began on PBS Kids in 1992 and ran for a total of 268 episodes. It became a pop culture phenomenon, dominating children’s television in the ’90s with its cast of friendly dinosaurs and catchy songs. Reasons for its cancellation remain unclear.
Angelina Ballerina began as series of children’s books about an English mouse who dreams of becoming a famous ballerina. The animated series also aired on PBS Kids and ran for two seasons. In 2009, a CGI version of the show, Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps, debuted and ran for 40 episodes.
The reboot of both shows is being co-produced by Canada’s 9 Story Media Group and HIT Entertainment, the children’s programming division of toy company Mattel.
From Kate Schlomann, HIT Entertainment’s VP Global Brand Marketing, in a press statement:
“The refresh and relaunch of Barney and Angelina Ballerina represents an exciting start to our partnership with 9 Story. Both brands continue to enjoy large fan bases around the world among both pre-schoolers and their parents, who often grew up with the characters themselves.”
What do you think? Should Barney come back? Did you watch as a kid? |
An image from USGS showing the epicenter of the quake.
A strong earthquake centered in Virginia was felt as far away as New York, Washington, D.C. and North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia and Illinois Tuesday.
While the quake sent residents in those states running out of buildings and into the street, San Diegans joined those on social media telling the entire eastern seaboard to "Calm down!"
The quake, reported as a 5.9 magnitude temblor, struck near Richmond, Va. at 10:51 a.m. PT. The Associated Press reported residents ran out of buildings all along the eastern coast of the U.S.
According to MSNBC, the U.S. Capitol and Pentagon were evacuated several minutes after the quake was felt.
Buildings in Manhattan swayed including NBC's 30 Rockefeller.
The shaking was felt as far north as the Martha's Vineyard, Mass., golf course where President Barack Obama was just starting a round.
Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in Louisa County, Va., were automatically taken off line by safety systems around the time of the earthquake officials said.
At Reagan National Airport outside Washington, ceiling tiles fell during a few seconds of shaking. Authorities announced it was an earthquake and all flights were put on hold.
Verizon reported so much activity that customers had difficulty using their mobile devices for about 20 minutes following the quake.
As of an hour after the quake struck, no serious injuries have been reported.
On Twitter and Facebook, West Coasters immediately jumped in and criticized, even ridiculed the reaction.
"Here comes the west coast earthquake snobbery," posted Nathan Daschle.
Yes, Nathan here it comes.
"Calm down guys if it aint over 6, it's not an earthquake!!!! Come visit us in So. Cal," San Diegan Kristen Wenzel-Simmons posted to NBCSanDiego's Facebook page.
Native San Diegan Jeff Johnson said, "Amateurs. California natives won't get out of bed for anything less than a 6.0."
"Come hang out in San Diego for a week, You'll get used to it in no time," posted Amber Freeman-Webster.
A Bay Area blog had an interesting take, "I get it East Coasters, you had an earthquake. In California we just call that Tuesday."
"If that happened in cali it wouldnt even be a news story... congressional pansies," said Jarrett Robinson of San Marcos, Calif.
"Hey us east coasters have never felt this before, it was weird. Like a train was going by. Just didn't realize what happened," Tammie Rammien-Horton of Norfolk, Va.
This tweet may put the whole thing in perspective:
"I don't know that SD can talk smack about East Coast earthquake reactions until we can drive competently in the rain," posted MetromixSD.
Keep up to date on breaking news: Follow us on Twitter @nbcsandiego, fan us on Facebook, sign up for our breaking news e-mail alerts or text SDBREAKING to 622339 to receive text messages for local breaking news. (Standard rates apply)
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego |
It would be almost an embarrassment in most manufacturing firms today to admit that they do not have a lean, six sigma, or lean six sigma program. It defines the modern company. Yet, most manufacturing firms have been disappointed with the results of these programs.
So what is the problem? While the results of these projects look great on paper, or in the initial implementation, the actual new processes are rarely followed or sustained and revert back to the prior state. And why does this happen?
Most companies that have these programs think that “experts,” certified as “black belts,” doing formal projects in a standard way is the essence of lean six sigma. Unfortunately, in many companies the highly paid “black belts” are not experts in the manufacturing processes they are supposed to be improving, they did not grow up in the plants and rarely fit into the culture. In other words, they are outsiders who fly down by helicopter to analyze the process, make recommendations, develop plans for measurement to control the process, and fly to the next project. In the meantime, the managers who worked their way up through the hierarchy through many years of hard work have to keep production running while supposedly implementing the ideas of these youngsters. Predictably, they do not buy in and do not take ownership.
Six sigma itself has wandered far from its origin, Total Quality Management, adopted by Motorola in the 1980s to close the quality gap with Japanese competitors. It was a serious commitment to working toward six-sigma quality (3.4 defects per million parts) and Motorola got very close. This then morphed at Allied Signal and GE into six sigma as a tool kit to eliminate any type of variation (e.g., productivity, equipment uptime, inventory) with results measured by cost savings. Black belts were anointed process improvers and given aggressive targets of saving many times their salary to justify their high pay. Mostly they were young people who could quickly learn statistics, but lacked the maturity to be leaders of change. So their long presentations of analysis and recommendations rarely led to sustainable implementation.
Now let’s look at lean. At Toyota it evolved over many decades based on experience, reflection, systematic trial and era, and organizational learning. Total Quality Management became a key part of the Toyota Way, adopted in the 1960s, to dramatically improve quality. The underlying philosophy was to develop people with basic tools for understanding the problem and trial countermeasures to learn what will work to bring them closer to challenging improvement targets. Those on the shopfloor managing the processes were responsible for improving the processes. Any “experts” were only available to coach and help with hard problems. The goal was to more closely approach the ideal of one-piece flow, giving customers exactly what they want when they want it without waste, which requires in the literal sense that all sources of variation are eliminated. There were no “experts,” but people who focused more intently on learning about problem solving and process improvement. Their job was to teach others to improve processes themselves. By developing people to work toward perfect processes to satisfy customers Toyota could adapt to a rapidly changing environment and maintain competitiveness.
As lean-six sigma grew in large bureaucratic corporations it took on the culture of those corporations. As an example, I was invited by one food processing company, whose manufacturing leaders had read The Toyota Way, to be their sensei. They were off to a good start with a focus on two key problems - improving equipment uptime, which was terrible, and moving to three sigma quality as they were worse than that. The six-sigma bureaucrats from corporate mandated that they must do these as defined projects each with a clear cost reduction target. It virtually killed the momentum, and I got fired for arguing against the six-sigma mandate.
I have had many similar experiences in companies that view processes as mechanical things that can be fixed with enough statistical analysis, forgetting the central role of the people who work in the processes. I have also worked with companies with a strong, positive team-based culture where black belts do wonderful work facilitating and teaching. So it is not the methodology, it is the philosophy. The end game should be a culture of continuous improvement.
Dr. Jeffrey Liker is professor of industrial and operations engineering at the University of Michigan and author of The Toyota Way. He leads Liker Lean Advisors, LLC and his latest book (with Gary Convis) is The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership. |
Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump mentioned his presidential pardoning powers and condemned intelligence leaks in a string of tweets Saturday morning, a day after The Washington Post reported that Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke about the Trump campaign in meetings with the Russian ambassador last year.
The Post reported Friday night that Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak was previously picked up in US intelligence intercepts telling his Russian colleagues that he talked with Sessions twice last year about the campaign. Sessions, who was a campaign adviser at the time of his meetings with Kislyak, has repeatedly denied that he discussed the campaign with any Russians. His office has also denied he ever spoke with Kislyak about campaign interference.
In his Saturday morning tweets, the President referenced the fact that he holds presidential pardoning powers, saying , "While all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS against us. FAKE NEWS."
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the Justice Department's probe into Russia's efforts to influence last year's election, which is being led by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Friday morning, John Dowd, the attorney defending Trump in the Mueller investigation, called the Post story about Trump considering pardons "nonsense."
"The President's lawyers are cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller on behalf of the President," Dowd added.
Brian C. Kalt is a professor of law at Michigan State University and the author of a 2012 book entitled "Constitutional Cliffhangers: A Legal Guide for Presidents and Their Enemies," told CNN that the presidential pardoning power is, in fact, very broad. The Constitution reads that the president "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment."
In his Saturday tweets, Trump also launched into criticism of the Russia probe, asking why Sessions and Mueller weren't looking into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information in emails while secretary of state and accusing her of having ties to Russia.
So many people are asking why isn't the A.G. or Special Council looking at the many Hillary Clinton or Comey crimes. 33,000 e-mails deleted? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2017
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
Trump also tweeted a defense of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., over his posting emails on Twitter earlier this month showing him setting up a meeting last summer with a Russian lawyer, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort with the aim of getting information that would be damaging to Clinton's campaign.
"My son Donald openly gave his e-mails to the media & authorities whereas Crooked Hillary Clinton deleted (& acid washed) her 33,000 e-mails!," Trump tweeted
Earlier, in the wee hours of the morning, the President referred to the Post report in a tweet, saying leaks of intelligence information, "like Comey's," must stop.
It was an apparent reference to fired FBI Director James Comey's testimony in June that he gave a memo about his interactions with Trump to a friend and Columbia Law School professor, the contents of which the friend, Daniel Richman, shared with The New York Times. Richman, a former federal prosecutor, has told CNN that the memo was not classified.
"A new INTELLIGENCE LEAK from the Amazon Washington Post, this time against A.G. Jeff Sessions," Trump wrote. "These illegal leaks, like Comey's, must stop!"
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement to CNN that she could not comment on the Post's report Friday.
"Obviously I cannot comment on the reliability of what anonymous sources describe in a wholly uncorroborated intelligence intercept that the Washington Post has not seen and that has not been provided to me," she said. "But the attorney general stands by his testimony from just last month before the Senate Intelligence Committee, when he specifically addressed this and said that he 'never met with or had any conversations with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election.'" |
September 30, 2010 - Robin Walker
One of the interesting side effects of shipping free updates for Team Fortress 2 over the years has been a large and devoted group of people who write us asking if they can simply buy game items directly. We also get regular feedback from the bean counters on our fourth floor, who -- after watching with tooth-grinding irritation as we shipped over 120 free updates to a three-year-old game -- gently suggested that we "make some f$*&ing money already."
Then it hit us: it'd make everybody happy if we really DID let players buy items directly. Players'd be happy because we actually listened to them for once, and the bean counters would be happy because in-game stores are the future of everything, including making some f$*&ing money already.
Flash forward a few months, and we're proud to introduce the in-game Mann Co. Store. And, because we'd hate to satisfy the bean counters completely, we've decided community item contributors will get paid based on the sales of their items. So you can make some f$*&ing money already too.
Now, I'm sure you have dozens of questions, so just this once we put together a nifty F.A.Q. Of course the best way to find out more is to fire up the game yourself and check out the new Mann Co. Store for yourselves! |
Hampshire College in Massachusetts raised the American flag back to full staff Friday after outraged veterans protested the school's decision to stop flying all flags across campus.
The college in Amherst had lowered the U.S. flag to half-staff after Election Day. The flag was found burned on Veterans Day, and the school chose to stop flying it – and any other flags – a week later.
"We understand that many who hold the flag as a powerful symbol of national ideals and their highest aspirations for the country -- including members of our own community -- felt hurt by our decisions, and that we deeply regret," the college's president, Jonathan Lash, stated Friday. He added, "We did not lower the flag to make a political statement. ... We acted solely to facilitate much-needed dialogue on our campus about how to dismantle the bigotry that is prevalent in our society."
SNOOP DOGG SLAMS COLIN KAEPERNICK FOR CASTRO PRAISE
The school's choice to stop flying the flag triggered widespread condemnation and a protest by veterans groups and their supporters outside campus. Last weekend, dozens of vets and other activists held American flags and chanted, "U.S.A.," in a rally that organizers called a "peaceful demonstration of freedom."
Mayor Domenic Sarno of nearby Springfield and others at the rally said the school's decision disrespected veterans and current military members.
In video that aired Wednesday on "The O'Reilly Factor," Fox News' Jesse Watters confronted Lash, who refused to comment on the controversy at that time.
"Hampshire staff and faculty have led facilitated discussions, I have held multiple focus group sessions, and all of our students, faculty, and staff have been invited to contribute their opinions, questions, and perspectives about the U.S. flag. This is what free speech looks like," Lash said Friday.
Fox News' Kendall Gastelu and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Hotshot was gone for less than 24 hours, but whatever happened that night nearly killed him.
Sonja Waldrop said her 9-year-old, 30-pound pug disappeared from her front yard in the far southeastern edge of the city on Oct. 12.
When she picked him up at a West Side shelter the next day, he had been severely bitten, was missing seven teeth, and his neck had been slit from ear to ear to remove his identifying microchip. He was found 17 miles from home.
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Waldrop said the shelter veterinarian told her the injuries suggested he had been used as training bait for a fighting dog.
There have been roughly a dozen cases of dog thefts in recent months that could indicate dogfighting activity, Sgt. Aaron Williamson, a spokesman for the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, said this week. Both bully breeds and smaller pets that could be used as bait dogs have gone missing, he said.
Since Hotshot was stolen, Waldrop said she has heard about other dogs that were taken from her neighborhood and throughout the city.
This apparent rash of dognappings in recent months prompted Mayor Richard Berry to announce a $5,000 reward pool for information leading to an arrest and conviction for the thefts. The money comes from the mayor’s discretionary fund.
“This fulfills two purposes,” Berry said in an interview. “First, it stops individual acts of violence against families and their pets. Second, it will go after a much broader situation. If we end up having a dogfighting ring, we can disrupt it and get some convictions.”
The quality of information a person provides will determine the amount of reward. Tipsters should call 242-COPS.
“We should be judged on how we treat our animals and this is absolutely unacceptable behavior,” Berry said. “It personally makes me mad. I’m going to do what I can from the Mayor’s Office to put a stop to it, but I need the community’s help.”
Hotshot’s road to recovery included two breathing tubes and three surgeries. The Waldrops’ neighborhood pitched in and raised $700 – enough to cover the cost of one surgery.
The once cuddly pug still doesn’t like to be approached from behind or the side, Waldrop said, and it was a couple months before he stopped being afraid of all men.
“I’d like to do to them what they did to my dog,” Waldrop said about whoever hurt Hotshot. “Why and how could you take something so sweet and try to kill it in the most inhumane way. It’s just disgusting.” |
19 members have or want this plant for trade.
One vendor has this plant for sale.
Category:
Trees
Tropicals and Tender Perennials
Water Requirements:
Requires consistently moist soil; do not let dry out between waterings
Sun Exposure:
Full Sun
Foliage:
Evergreen
Good Fall Color
Smooth
Foliage Color:
Unknown - Tell us
Height:
4-6 ft. (1.2-1.8 m)
Spacing:
10-12 ft. (3-3.6 m)
Hardiness:
USDA Zone 10a: to -1.1 °C (30 °F)
USDA Zone 10b: to 1.7 °C (35 °F)
USDA Zone 11: above 4.5 °C (40 °F)
Where to Grow:
Suitable for growing in containers
Danger:
N/A
Bloom Color:
Pale Pink
Bloom Characteristics:
This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds
Flowers are fragrant
Bloom Size:
Unknown - Tell us
Bloom Time:
Late Winter/Early Spring
Other details:
Unknown - Tell us
Soil pH requirements:
5.6 to 6.0 (acidic)
6.1 to 6.5 (mildly acidic)
Patent Information:
Non-patented
Propagation Methods:
From semi-hardwood cuttings
By grafting
Seed Collecting:
Allow unblemished fruit to ripen; clean and dry seeds
Seed does not store well; sow as soon as possible
N/A: plant does not set seed, flowers are sterile, or plants will not come true from seed
Regional
This plant has been said to grow in the following regions:
Phoenix, Arizona
Exeter, California
Fresno, California
Indio, California
Mountain View, California
San Anselmo, California
San Leandro, California
San Mateo, California
Brooksville, Florida
Deltona, Florida
Kissimmee, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Rockledge, Florida
Agana Heights, Guam
Bastrop, Louisiana
Long Beach, Mississippi
Natchez, Mississippi
North Augusta, South Carolina
Baytown, Texas
Houston, Texas (2 reports)
Plano, Texas
Richmond, Texas
San Antonio, Texas |
Republished from Futurism. Licensed under CC by NC 4.0/Desaturated from original.
The data shows it: We don’t have to choose between good jobs and the future of our planet. A new report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reveals that solar jobs in the US (and around the world) are expanding rapidly.
As of November 2016, the American solar industry employed 260,077 workers – an increase of 24.5 percent from 2015. When you crunch the numbers, that means the solar industry is growing just shy of 17 times faster than the American economy as a whole. That’s incredible progress.
In 2012, renewables employed 5.7 million people worldwide. In 2016, it was up to almost 10 million people! Retweet if you have #ClimateHope. pic.twitter.com/m3blDovb5A — Climate Reality (@ClimateReality) June 7, 2017
So in what areas of the industry are these jobs? The lion’s share (241,900) were in solar photovoltaic (PV). According to IRENA, the worldwide growth in solar PV jobs had to do with “declining costs and supportive policy frameworks in several countries around the world [that] led to a record year for solar in 2016.”
In addition to photovoltaic, an additional 13,000 American solar jobs were in solar heating and cooling, and the remaining 5,200 were in concentrated solar power (CSP).
In terms of job function, more than half of all solar jobs in the US were in installation. Another 15 percent were in manufacturing, with 13 percent in project development, 12 percent in sales and distribution, and a final 6 percent in other areas, including research and development.
It’s important to remember: Not only is the solar industry booming – but the jobs pay well, too. As costs for materials continue to drop, solar jobs remain a well-compensated area for blue-collar workers. Bryan Birsic, CEO of Wunder Capital, said, "It seems to be one of the few areas of high-paying, blue-collar jobs – and you don't have to learn to code.”
Another sign of improvement? The solar labor force is becoming more diverse, with the number of women workers at 28 percent in 2016, up from 19 percent from 2013. This means more women have jobs in solar than in the conventional energy industry, although women in solar still lag behind their representative 47 percent of the US economy.
A Renewable Future
Solar isn’t the only thriving industry in the US economy right now – the wind industry put about 102,500 people to work in 2016. In fact, wind turbine technician is the single fastest growing occupation in the United States. IRENA projects the industry will grow to 147,000 jobs by 2020.
“Saying you’ll bring coal plants back is the past. It’s like saying you’ll bring Blockbuster back, which is the past. Horses and buggies, which is the past. Pagers back, which is the past.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Former Governor of California
Here’s the reality: jobs in dirty energy are on the decline as fuel sources become more scarce and less expensive options become available. But people laid off from the fossil fuel industry can find safer, well-playing jobs in clean energy. And as prices continue to drop, all of us can expect to see more and more jobs in clean energy. That’s good for our economy and for our planet.
Take Action Now
The US president recently announced that the US would begin the process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. We’re disappointed, but more determined than ever. It’s clear that the renewable energy revolution is already underway. Here’s how you can help support both clean energy and the Paris Agreement:
If you live in the US, let the world know that you’re still committed to the Paris Agreement. Join Americans around the country and say “I Am Still In” by taking the pledge to work for a just, clean energy future. Because if the president won’t lead, we will.
No matter where you live, make sure your friends and family know the facts about renewable energy. Download our free Solar Myths e-book and help us spread the truth about the power of solar energy.
© 2011 Centre for Alternative Technology/Flickr cc by 2.0 |
Italian foreign minister and incoming EU foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini has called for progress on Western Balkan enlargement, while saying Russia is no longer an EU “strategic partner”.
Mogherini spoke to MEPs on Tuesday (2 September) on behalf of the Italian EU presidency.
“Because we [Italy] are very convinced of the strategic relevance of the enlargement process, during the first month of the [Italian] presidency I visited all the capital cities in the Western Balkans”, she said.
“We believe that going on consistently with the enlargement process is not only in the interests of those countries … but also in the interest of European stability, security, and economic prosperity”.
She singled out Albania as making the most progress and said Italy is looking to chair an Albania-Serbia meeting on better Serb relations with Kosovo.
But she said Bosnia needs “profound reform” and there is no question of “artificially accelerating” EU ties.
She admitted she has no idea how to solve the Macedonia-Greece name dispute, saying: “If I had the answer to that, I would maybe win the Nobel prize”.
She also avoided questions on Turkey’s crackdown on civil liberties, saying only that EU accession talks can help “reinforce” Turkish reforms.
Mogherini’s remarks are a counterpoint to recent statements by Jean-Claude Juncker, the incoming European Commission chief, who said there will be no new EU states in his five-year term.
They also come amid talk that the commission's enlargement bureau might be folded into the European External Action Service, which Mogherini is to take over in November.
Turning to Russia, the Italian FM said she regrets that Italy described Russia as a “strategic” partner for resolving “regional challenges” in its presidency programme in July.
“The strategic partnership is now over. Clearly that’s over. And that was the choice of Moscow first of all … I don’t know if that answers the question if I am pro-Russian or anti-Russian”.
She added the commission will propose a new package of EU sanctions on Russia on Wednesday, with a view to adoption by EU states on Friday.
But she also said that South Stream, a Russian gas pipeline project involving Italian firms, could “contribute to ... [EU energy] diversification”, despite the fact it would increase EU energy dependence on Russia.
Mogherini went on to review problems in the southern neighbourhood.
She said the EU must protect Jordan from the Islamic State and floated the prospect of an EU-sponsored “regional dialogue”, involving Egypt, on how to tackle the jihadist force.
She added that Kurdish independence “is not a good idea” amid plans for a referendum which might split Iraq in two.
Mogherini’s visit to the European Parliament foreshadows upcoming hearings in which MEPs will quiz Juncker’s new team to see if they are fit for purpose.
Deputies from the left and right tweeted praise of her performance, while, in some cases, criticising her predecessor Catherine Ashton.
“Positively surprising. Much better prepared, engaged and not afraid to state her views. A real improvement [on Ashton]!”, centre-left Portuguese deputy Ana Gomes said.
“Very fluent in English/well briefed but … needs to sound tougher on Russian aggression”, British centre-right member Charles Tannock noted.
British Green Alyn Smith said Mogherini gave a "polished, impressive presentation”. But Dutch Liberal Marietje Schaake complained that she “steered away from critical questions on Turkey". |
[SECURITY] [DSA 3999-1] wpa security update
To: [email protected]
Subject: [SECURITY] [DSA 3999-1] wpa security update
From: Yves-Alexis Perez <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2017 11:20:15 +0200
Message-id: <[🔎] [email protected]>
Reply-to: [email protected]
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian Security Advisory DSA-3999-1 [email protected] https://www.debian.org/security/ Yves-Alexis Perez October 16, 2017 https://www.debian.org/security/faq - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Package : wpa CVE ID : CVE-2017-13077 CVE-2017-13078 CVE-2017-13079 CVE-2017-13080 CVE-2017-13081 CVE-2017-13082 CVE-2017-13086 CVE-2017-13087 CVE-2017-13088 Mathy Vanhoef of the imec-DistriNet research group of KU Leuven discovered multiple vulnerabilities in the WPA protocol, used for authentication in wireless networks. Those vulnerabilities applies to both the access point (implemented in hostapd) and the station (implemented in wpa_supplicant). An attacker exploiting the vulnerabilities could force the vulnerable system to reuse cryptographic session keys, enabling a range of cryptographic attacks against the ciphers used in WPA1 and WPA2. More information can be found in the researchers's paper, Key Reinstallation Attacks: Forcing Nonce Reuse in WPA2. CVE-2017-13077: reinstallation of the pairwise key in the Four-way handshake CVE-2017-13078: reinstallation of the group key in the Four-way handshake CVE-2017-13079: reinstallation of the integrity group key in the Four-way handshake CVE-2017-13080: reinstallation of the group key in the Group Key handshake CVE-2017-13081: reinstallation of the integrity group key in the Group Key handshake CVE-2017-13082: accepting a retransmitted Fast BSS Transition Reassociation Request and reinstalling the pairwise key while processing it CVE-2017-13086: reinstallation of the Tunneled Direct-Link Setup (TDLS) PeerKey (TPK) key in the TDLS handshake CVE-2017-13087: reinstallation of the group key (GTK) when processing a Wireless Network Management (WNM) Sleep Mode Response frame CVE-2017-13088: reinstallation of the integrity group key (IGTK) when processing a Wireless Network Management (WNM) Sleep Mode Response frame For the oldstable distribution (jessie), these problems have been fixed in version 2.3-1+deb8u5. For the stable distribution (stretch), these problems have been fixed in version 2:2.4-1+deb9u1. For the testing distribution (buster), these problems have been fixed in version 2:2.4-1.1. For the unstable distribution (sid), these problems have been fixed in version 2:2.4-1.1. We recommend that you upgrade your wpa packages. Further information about Debian Security Advisories, how to apply these updates to your system and frequently asked questions can be found at: https://www.debian.org/security/ Mailing list: [email protected] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQEzBAEBCgAdFiEE8vi34Qgfo83x35gF3rYcyPpXRFsFAlnkeBwACgkQ3rYcyPpX RFtQLAgAv5ntBMhlw9vrNGPxIrnFZiqI6rOCeiu9fw1ijrGKDmuIdewuIO8IY+KA lYbxd5f+4X6nV2kwG6NwLzxV/Tl16hs8vRC9OGWEPPn9eW8XJE8jNU/m4Ca9cBGF JaNT2ntdCHrSlORaMf2wv8AaV799Dh3ZRiO0+IyAtQQucfEndwmUHEGO+igTElJ3 aBrfRRs+SFjYsSSw+JOM7jwk9XPX/0Isg05JNMYYUbo5vjidjiCLkSIYQp7ssMlj 8ObfHdQzxGiyDHCeA0SJv34X4LYEOs2PT7krRCaFms+6A3o8AJx9Tw6K8iO24cYs ttgxTMQRvkOyYBaV4h2rI7IOW2ViAA== =/khK -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
(Question from Sputnik on What can we expect from Rex Tillerson as secretary of state?)
I’m sure that we can all agree that the first step towards a good foreign policy is the acknowledgement of reality. The second step would be the acknowledgement of failure and Trump seems to be there already: “we will pursue a new foreign policy that finally learns from the mistakes of the past“.
Well, one of the “mistakes of the past” is Washington’s Russia policy.
Rex Tillerson seems to be open to the idea of Washington treating Moscow like a fellow inhabitant of the planet whose opinion deserves to be considered. Considered seriously. Which would be a good thing, because 1) Moscow actually is all that (plus nukes) and 2) because that would make a pleasant change in Washington’s behaviour (and not just to Moscow) from previous instaurations.
But seriously, (very seriously), if Trump can get the Russia-USA relationship right – and that requires a serious consideration of, respect for and listening to Moscow’s point of view – then a lot of the United States’ other international entanglements would sort themselves out pretty quickly.
Then, with a quieter world out there, Trump could concentrate on his real purpose of getting the USA working again.
In fact, he and Putin have a common aim which is getting their countries sorted out. The two have common problems (although Putin is a couple of decades ahead on the realisation curve): unemployment, loss of manufacturing capacity, desperation and loss, failing wars, general disaffection, and (very recently for the US) dropping life expectancy.
They’re both in the same business as it happens: making America/Russia great (for their citizens) again.
(PS none of this “greatness” involves blowing up people around the globe for random reasons. Which the USA has been doing quite a lot of this century.) |
On mobile? View the interactive chart here.
Denver’s growing faster than any of the other 50 most-populous cities in the U.S., according to new population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Colorado’s booming too, but housing is not keeping pace. Read reporter Aldo Svaldi’s article, Colorado population growth far outstripped new housing, census says.
Below, compare the estimated population of the 50 most-populous U.S. cities as of 2015. Population estimates for July 1 of that year. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Related: Read Denver Post coverage of the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2016 release of county population estimates, New census estimates show Broomfield County led in percentage growth, but Denver was the state’s biggest magnet.
Related: Our coverage of the U.S. city population estimates released in 2015.
On mobile? View the interactive chart here.
Click a table column to sort by that column.
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DSM-5 cannabis use disorder is prevalent, associated with comorbidity and disability, and largely untreated. Findings suggest the need to improve prevention and educate the public, professionals, and policy makers about possible harms associated with cannabis use disorders and available interventions.
The prevalences of 12-month and lifetime cannabis use disorder were 2.5% and 6.3%. Among those with 12-month and lifetime diagnoses, the mean days of marijuana use per year were 225.3 (SE=5.7) and 274.2 (SE=3.8). The odds of 12-month and lifetime cannabis use disorder were higher for men, Native Americans, unmarried individuals, those with low incomes, and young adults (e.g., among those age 18–24 years versus ≥45: odds ratio for 12-month disorder, 7.2; 95% confidence interval, 5.5–9.5). Cannabis use disorder was associated with other substance use disorders, affective disorders, anxiety, and personality disorders. Twelve-month cannabis use disorder was associated with disability. As disorder severity increased, virtually all associations became stronger. Only 13.2% with lifetime cannabis use disorder participated in 12-step programs or professional treatment.
In 2012–2013, 36,309 participants ≥18 years old were interviewed in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions–III. Psychiatric and substance use disorders were assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorders and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule–5.
Attitudes toward marijuana are changing, the prevalence of DSM-IV cannabis use disorder has increased, and DSM-5 modified the cannabis use disorder criteria. Therefore, updated information is needed on the prevalence, demographic characteristics, psychiatric comorbidity, disability, and treatment for DSM-5 cannabis use disorder.
Cannabis use and DSM-IV cannabis use disorders are associated with adverse consequences (1, 2), including cognitive decline (3–5), impaired educational or occupational attainment (6–8), impaired driving ability (9–13), emergency room visits (14), psychiatric symptoms (15–17), poor quality of life (18), other drug use (19), and risk of addiction or substance use disorders (1). Despite this, Americans increasingly view marijuana use as harmless (1, 20–22) and support its legalization (23). Reflecting these changing views, 23 states now have laws permitting marijuana use for medical purposes (of which four also legalized marijuana for recreational use). Marijuana use is more prevalent in these 23 states than in others (24–26). Consistent with these changes, marked increases have occurred in the U.S. prevalence of DSM-IV cannabis use disorder among veterans (27) and adults in the general population (28, 29). Cannabis-related emergency room visits and fatal car crashes have also increased (11, 14).
Earlier studies conducted when cannabis use was less prevalent (and therefore more deviant) showed a high degree of comorbidity between cannabis use disorders and other common mental disorders (17, 30–33). However, the increased prevalence of adult cannabis use disorders may now include more individuals without vulnerability to other psychiatric disorders. If so, comorbidity patterns may have changed; thus, the increased prevalence of cannabis use disorder creates a need for updated information on its comorbidity.
Additionally, all knowledge regarding the U.S. prevalence of cannabis use disorders and their demographic and clinical correlates is based on DSM-IV definitions (17, 29, 30). In DSM-5, the diagnostic criteria for cannabis use disorder were revised (34) to combine dependence and abuse criteria into a single disorder (35), drop the legal problems criterion, and add craving, withdrawal, and a severity metric (mild, moderate, severe) (35). Therefore, new information on DSM-5 cannabis use disorder is needed.
To our knowledge, this report provides the first nationally representative information on DSM-5 cannabis use disorder using data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) 2012–2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions–III (NESARC-III). This includes current and lifetime prevalences, age at onset, frequency of cannabis use among people with the diagnosis, demographic correlates, psychiatric comorbidity, disability, and likelihood of participation in interventions including professional treatment and 12-step programs.
Method
Sample
The NESARC-III target population was the noninstitutionalized civilian population age ≥18 years in households and selected group quarters (36, 37). Respondents were selected through multistage probability sampling, including primary sampling units (counties/groups of contiguous counties), secondary sampling units (groups of census-defined blocks), and tertiary sampling units (households within secondary sampling units from which respondents were selected, with blacks, Asians, and Hispanics oversampled). Data were collected from April 2012 to June 2013 and were analyzed in May and June 2015. Data were adjusted for nonresponse and weighted to represent the U.S. population based on the 2012 American Community Survey (38). These weighting adjustments compensated adequately for nonresponse (37). The total sample size was 36,309: the household response rate was 72%, the person-level response rate was 84%, and the overall response rate was 60.1%, comparable to the rates in other current U.S. national surveys (39, 40). NESARC-III sample characteristics are presented elsewhere (37). Informed consent was electronically recorded; respondents received $90.00 for participation. Institutional review boards at the National Institutes of Health and Westat (NESARC-III contractor) approved the study protocol.
Assessments
The NIAAA Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule–5 (AUDADIS-5) (41) was the diagnostic interview. AUDADIS-5 measures drug and alcohol use (e.g., onset, frequency), DSM-5 drug, alcohol, and nicotine use disorders, and selected psychiatric disorders in the last 12 months and prior to the last 12 months. The DSM-5 cannabis use disorder diagnosis requires at least two of 11 criteria within a 12-month period. Twelve-month and prior diagnoses were aggregated to form lifetime diagnoses. Consistent with DSM-5, cases of cannabis use disorder were classified as mild (2 or 3 criteria), moderate (4 or 5 criteria), or severe (≥6 criteria).
The test-retest reliability of 12-month and lifetime cannabis use was substantial (kappa=0.78, 0.77, respectively) in a general population sample (42). The test-retest reliabilities of DSM-5 cannabis use disorder (kappa=0.41, 0.41) and its dimensional criteria scales (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC]=0.70, 0.71) were fair to substantial in a general population sample (N=1,006) (43). Procedural validity was assessed through blind clinician reappraisal using the semistructured, clinician-administered Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Disorders, DSM-5 version (PRISM-5) (44) in a separate general population sample (N=712). Concordance between AUDADIS-5 and PRISM-5 was moderate for cannabis use disorder (kappa=0.60, 0.51) and substantial for its dimensional criteria scale (ICC=0.79, 0.78) (45).
Other Psychiatric Disorders
DSM-5 alcohol, nicotine, and drug disorder diagnoses were derived in a manner similar to that for cannabis disorder diagnoses. Test-retest reliabilities were moderate to substantial for these disorders (kappa=0.40–0.87) and their criteria scales (ICC=0.45–0.84) (43). Concordance between AUDADIS-5 and PRISM-5 for alcohol, nicotine, and drug disorders and corresponding criteria scales was fair to substantial (kappa=0.36–0.66; ICC=0.68–0.91) (45).
DSM-5 mood disorders included primary major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar I and bipolar II disorders. Anxiety disorders included panic, agoraphobia, social and specific phobias, and generalized anxiety. Consistent with DSM-5, primary mood and anxiety diagnoses excluded substance-induced and medically induced disorders. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizotypal, borderline, and antisocial personality disorders were also assessed. The reliability and validity of these diagnoses were fair to moderate (43, 46).
Disability/Impairment
Current disability was measured by using the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey, version 2 (SF-12v2), a widely used survey measure (47). The SF-12v2 scales included mental health, social functioning, role–emotional functioning, and mental component summary. Each SF-12v2 norm-based disability score has a mean of 50, standard deviation of ±10, and range of 0–100; lower scores indicate greater disability.
Service Utilization
Utilization of services for problems with cannabis among individuals with cannabis use disorder was assessed for 14 modalities, including professional inpatient and outpatient treatment settings and peer support, e.g., 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
Statistical Analyses
Weighted means and percentages were computed for continuous and categorical correlates of 12-month and lifetime cannabis use disorder, overall and by severity level. Odds ratios from multivariable logistic regressions indicated associations between cannabis use disorder and each sociodemographic characteristic, adjusted for all others. Odds ratios of cannabis use disorder with psychiatric comorbidity were derived similarly. The relationship of 12-month cannabis use disorder to SF-12v2 scale scores was assessed by using linear regression controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. To account for the NESARC-III complex sample design, analyses utilized SUDAAN, version 11.0 (48).
Results
Prevalence, Onset, and Frequency of Use
Table 1 shows the prevalences and standard errors of 12-month and lifetime DSM-5 cannabis use disorder for the entire sample and by sociodemographic characteristics. In addition, Figure 1 summarizes 12-month prevalence for the entire sample and by sex and age. As shown in Table 1, the prevalences of 12-month and lifetime DSM-5 cannabis use disorder were 2.54% and 6.27%, respectively. The 12-month and lifetime prevalences of mild, moderate, and severe cannabis use disorder were 1.38%, 0.59%, and 0.57% and 2.85%, 1.42%, and 2.00%, respectively.
TABLE 1. Prevalences of 12-Month and Lifetime DSM-5 Cannabis Use Disorder, by Sociodemographic Characteristics Characteristic Prevalence of Cannabis Use Disorder 12-month cannabis use disorder Any (N=972) Mild (N=516) Moderate (N=242) Severe (N=214) % SE % SE % SE % SE Total 2.54 0.11 1.38 0.07 0.59 0.05 0.57 0.05 Sex Male 3.5 0.19 1.9 0.12 0.8 0.08 0.8 0.10 Female 1.7 0.13 0.9 0.09 0.4 0.06 0.3 0.04 Race/ethnicity White 2.2 0.14 1.3 0.09 0.5 0.06 0.4 0.06 Black 4.5 0.39 2.1 0.21 1.2 0.15 1.2 0.21 Native American 5.3 1.45 2.7 1.31 0.9 0.36 1.7 0.72 Asian/Pacific Islander 1.3 0.28 0.4 0.18 0.4 0.18 0.4 0.17 Hispanic 2.6 0.21 1.2 0.16 0.7 0.13 0.7 0.12 Age (years) 18–29 6.9 0.40 3.5 0.27 1.7 0.18 1.6 0.17 30–44 2.5 0.21 1.4 0.16 0.5 0.09 0.6 0.11 ≥45 0.8 0.07 0.5 0.05 0.2 0.03 0.1 0.04 Marital status Married/cohabiting 1.3 0.10 0.7 0.07 0.3 0.05 0.3 0.06 Widowed/separated/divorced 1.9 0.21 1.1 0.18 0.4 0.08 0.4 0.10 Never married 6.4 0.36 3.3 0.26 1.6 0.17 1.4 0.14 Education Less than high school 3.2 0.30 1.6 0.20 0.8 0.18 0.8 0.15 High school 3.0 0.20 1.6 0.15 0.7 0.10 0.7 0.12 Some college or higher 2.2 0.14 1.2 0.10 0.5 0.06 0.5 0.06 Family income (dollars) 0–19,999 4.9 0.30 2.5 0.19 1.1 0.14 1.3 0.15 20,000–34,999 2.5 0.23 1.5 0.18 0.5 0.08 0.6 0.11 35,000–69,999 2.1 0.16 1.2 0.12 0.5 0.10 0.4 0.07 ≥70,000 1.2 0.14 0.7 0.10 0.3 0.08 0.2 0.05 Urbanicity Urban 2.7 0.12 1.5 0.09 0.6 0.06 0.6 0.06 Rural 1.8 0.21 1.0 0.13 0.4 0.08 0.5 0.11 Region Northeast 2.7 0.26 1.3 0.17 0.8 0.17 0.6 0.11 Midwest 2.3 0.23 1.2 0.17 0.5 0.08 0.6 0.14 South 2.3 0.20 1.2 0.12 0.5 0.08 0.5 0.09 West 3.1 0.22 1.8 0.14 0.7 0.10 0.6 0.09 Lifetime cannabis use disorder Any (N=2,242) Mild (N=1,002) Moderate (N=529) Severe (N=711) % SE % SE % SE % SE Total 6.27 0.23 2.85 0.13 1.42 0.10 2.00 0.10 Sex Male 8.4 0.34 3.7 0.18 1.9 0.16 2.8 0.17 Female 4.3 0.23 2.1 0.15 1.0 0.10 1.3 0.10 Race/ethnicity White 6.7 0.30 3.2 0.17 1.5 0.14 2.0 0.14 Black 7.2 0.47 3.1 0.25 1.7 0.18 2.5 0.27 Native American 11.5 1.84 4.9 1.33 1.7 0.58 4.9 1.12 Asian/Pacific Islander 3.1 0.50 1.4 0.36 0.8 0.20 0.9 0.26 Hispanic 4.5 0.41 1.7 0.22 1.2 0.20 1.6 0.20 Age (years) 18–29 11.0 0.56 4.7 0.35 2.9 0.25 3.5 0.24 30–44 7.4 0.38 3.2 0.23 1.5 0.15 2.8 0.23 ≥45 3.7 0.19 2.0 0.13 0.8 0.09 1.0 0.10 % SE % SE % SE % SE Marital status Married/cohabiting 5.0 0.23 2.3 0.16 1.0 0.09 1.7 0.12 Widowed/separated/divorced 5.3 0.34 2.6 0.25 1.1 0.14 1.5 0.17 Never married 10.4 0.45 4.4 0.29 2.8 0.23 3.2 0.19 Education Less than high school 5.7 0.42 2.3 0.21 1.5 0.23 1.9 0.22 High school 7.4 0.40 3.5 0.25 1.6 0.18 2.3 0.19 Some college or higher 5.9 0.25 2.7 0.16 1.3 0.11 1.9 0.12 Family income (dollars) 0–19,999 8.5 0.45 3.6 0.27 2.1 0.21 2.8 0.22 20,000–34,999 6.5 0.37 3.2 0.25 1.3 0.15 2.0 0.19 35,000–69,999 6.2 0.28 2.9 0.22 1.3 0.14 2.0 0.14 ≥70,000 4.6 0.30 2.1 0.19 1.1 0.16 1.4 0.16 Urbanicity Urban 6.5 0.23 3.0 0.14 1.5 0.10 2.1 0.10 Rural 5.5 0.47 2.4 0.26 1.2 0.19 1.8 0.22 Region Northeast 7.0 0.45 3.0 0.34 1.5 0.24 2.5 0.19 Midwest 6.5 0.37 2.9 0.26 1.4 0.15 2.3 0.21 South 5.3 0.49 2.5 0.24 1.3 0.20 1.5 0.19 West 7.0 0.34 3.3 0.22 1.6 0.17 2.1 0.15 TABLE 1. Prevalences of 12-Month and Lifetime DSM-5 Cannabis Use Disorder, by Sociodemographic Characteristics Enlarge table
FIGURE 1. Prevalence of 12-Month DSM-5 Cannabis Use Disorder in the United States, by Severitya a Prevalences reflect numbers adjusted for nonresponse and weighted to represent the U.S. population based on the 2012 American Community Survey. Total, N=36,309; males, N=15,862; females, N=20,447; age 18–29, N=8,126; age 30–44, N=10,135; age ≥45, N=5,806.
The mean age at onset of cannabis use disorder was 21.7 (SE=0.23) years; the mean ages at onset of mild, moderate, and severe disorders were 23.1 (SE=0.38), 21.2 (SE=0.44), and 20.1 (SE=0.34) years.
Among participants with 12-month cannabis use disorder, the mean number of days cannabis was used in the prior 12 months was 225.3 (SE=5.69); among those with mild, moderate, and severe 12-month disorder, the mean days of use were 206.5 (SE=7.79), 243.5 (SE=10.60), and 252.2 (SE=14.03). Among those with lifetime cannabis use disorder, the mean number of days cannabis was used per year during the period of heaviest use was 274.2 (SE=3.76); among those with mild, moderate, and severe lifetime disorder, the mean days of use were 243.7 (SE=5.98), 284.2 (SE=6.36), and 310.4 (SE=4.48), respectively.
Sociodemographic Characteristics
Table 2 shows the adjusted odds ratios of DSM-5 cannabis use disorder by sociodemographic characteristics. Men had higher odds of cannabis use disorder than women, across timeframes and severity levels (OR=1.8–2.8).
TABLE 2. Adjusted Odds Ratios of 12-Month and Lifetime DSM-5 Cannabis Use Disorder in Relation to Sociodemographic Characteristics Adjusted Odds of Cannabis Use Disordera Any Mild Moderate Severe Characteristic Odds Ratio 95% CI Odds Ratio 95% CI Odds Ratio 95% CI Odds Ratio 95% CI 12-month cannabis use disorder Sex Male 2.2* 1.84–2.68 2.2* 1.77–2.79 1.8* 1.26–2.51 2.8* 1.99–4.02 Femaleb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Race/ethnicity Whiteb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Black 1.4* 1.11–1.79 1.1 0.88–1.47 1.7* 1.09–2.56 2.0* 1.20–3.30 Native American 2.1* 1.18–3.67 1.7 0.66–4.59 1.7 0.75–3.86 3.6* 1.41–9.36 Asian/Pacific Islander 0.4* 0.24–0.59 0.2* 0.08–0.46 0.6 0.27–1.47 0.8 0.33–1.87 Hispanic 0.7* 0.52–0.81 0.5* 0.35–0.64 0.8 0.46–1.40 1.1 0.69–1.83 Age (years) 18–29 7.2* 5.45–9.51 6.5* 4.38–9.59 7.1* 4.58–10.98 9.7* 4.87–19.41 30–44 3.6* 2.71–4.75 3.5* 2.40–5.03 3.0* 1.84–4.82 4.8* 2.46–9.36 ≥45b 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Marital status Married/cohabitingb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Widowed/separated/divorced 1.8* 1.30–2.49 1.8* 1.18–2.74 1.8 0.92–3.39 1.8 0.93–3.59 Never married 1.8* 1.48–2.24 1.8* 1.26–2.46 2.3* 1.53–3.52 1.5* 1.01–2.33 Education Less than high school 1.2 0.92–1.60 1.2 0.83–1.65 1.3 0.72–2.47 1.2 0.77–1.93 High school 1.1 0.95–1.38 1.1 0.86–1.46 1.2 0.80–1.67 1.2 0.79–1.83 Some college or higherb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Family income (dollars) 0–19,999 2.5* 1.89–3.34 2.4* 1.61–3.51 2.0* 1.05–3.79 3.7* 2.00–6.79 20,000–34,999 1.5* 1.07–2.06 1.6* 1.06–2.46 1.1 0.59–1.88 1.7 0.91–3.35 35,000–69,999 1.4* 1.03–1.83 1.4 0.96–2.06 1.4 0.71–2.73 1.3 0.70–2.31 ≥70,000b 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Urbanicity Urban 1.2 0.92–1.48 1.3 0.98–1.79 1.1 0.72–1.63 0.9 0.54–1.54 Ruralb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Region Northeast 0.8 0.65–1.06 0.7* 0.49–0.90 1.1 0.64–1.83 1.1 0.68–1.73 Midwest 0.6* 0.50–0.84 0.5* 0.39–0.77 0.7 0.41–1.06 1.0 0.58–1.72 South 0.6* 0.48–0.77 0.6* 0.43–0.73 0.6* 0.39–0.96 0.8 0.46–1.25 Westb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Lifetime cannabis use disorder Sex Male 2.1* 1.84–2.33 1.9* 1.64–2.18 2.1* 1.64–2.57 2.4* 1.93–2.95 Femaleb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Race/ethnicity Whiteb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Black 0.9 0.74–1.09 0.8 0.64–1.00 0.9 0.64–1.26 1.1 0.77–1.43 Native American 1.7* 1.18–2.38 1.5 0.87–2.62 1.1 0.55–2.20 2.4* 1.42–3.94 Asian/Pacific Islander 0.3* 0.25–0.49 0.3* 0.20–0.58 0.4* 0.22–0.64 0.3* 0.20–0.60 Hispanic 0.4* 0.37–0.55 0.4* 0.29–0.47 0.5* 0.34–0.79 0.5* 0.39–0.71 Age (years) 18–29 2.9* 2.53–3.40 2.4* 1.97–2.96 3.3* 2.41–4.51 3.6* 2.79–4.73 30–44 2.3* 1.96–2.62 1.9* 1.50–2.31 2.2* 1.65–2.95 3.1* 2.36–4.01 ≥45b 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Marital status Married/cohabitingb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Widowed/separated/divorced 1.2* 1.02–1.36 1.2 0.96–1.54 1.3 1.00–1.79 1.0 0.79–1.34 Never married 1.2* 1.07–1.40 1.2 1.00–1.54 1.6* 1.26–2.05 1.0 0.79–1.22 Education Less than high school 1.0 0.82–1.16 0.9 0.73–1.14 1.1 0.74–1.58 1.0 0.73–1.31 High school 1.2* 1.04–1.35 1.2* 1.04–1.48 1.1 0.89–1.47 1.1 0.91–1.43 Some college or higherb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Family income (dollars) 0–19,999 1.7* 1.46–2.10 1.6* 1.26–2.16 1.6* 1.12–2.34 2.0* 1.43–2.81 20,000–34,999 1.4* 1.14–1.65 1.5* 1.19–1.92 1.1 0.76–1.52 1.4 1.00–1.97 35,000–69,999 1.3* 1.09–1.51 1.3* 1.05–1.69 1.1 0.79–1.62 1.3* 1.04–1.73 ≥70,000b 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Urbanicity Urban 1.2 0.98–1.40 1.3* 1.01–1.62 1.1 0.79–1.48 1.1 0.85–1.42 Ruralb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Region Northeast 0.9 0.80–1.10 0.8 0.65–1.10 0.9 0.60–1.25 1.1 0.92–1.43 Midwest 0.8* 0.68–0.92 0.7* 0.58–0.91 0.7 0.52–1.00 1.0 0.76–1.21 South 0.7* 0.53–0.83 0.7* 0.53–0.86 0.7 0.46–1.03 0.6* 0.47–0.85 Westb 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 TABLE 2. Adjusted Odds Ratios of 12-Month and Lifetime DSM-5 Cannabis Use Disorder in Relation to Sociodemographic Characteristics Enlarge table
Relative to the rates for whites, the 12-month odds of cannabis use disorder were higher in Native Americans and blacks but lower in Asians/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics. By severity, the 12-month odds were higher in blacks than whites at moderate and severe levels (OR=1.7–2.0) and lower in Asians/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics at low severity. Blacks did not differ from whites on odds of lifetime cannabis use disorder, but Asians/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics had lower odds than whites overall and across severity levels (OR=0.3–0.5).
Relative to the rates for respondents age ≥45, the odds for 12-month cannabis use disorder were substantially higher in those ages 18–29 (OR=7.2) and 30–44 (OR=3.6) overall and across severity levels. For lifetime disorder, the odds were also significantly higher in those 18–29 and 30–44 than in those ≥45 (OR=1.9–3.6).
Compared with married respondents, those who were never married had higher odds for 12-month cannabis use disorder, overall and across severity levels (OR=1.5–2.3); those previously married had higher odds than married respondents but only at the mild severity level. Marital statuses and lifetime cannabis use disorder were weakly or not related.
Education was largely unrelated to cannabis use disorder. However, compared with respondents at the highest income level, those with the lowest incomes had greater odds of 12-month and lifetime disorders, overall and across severity levels (OR=1.6–3.7). Comparing the odds for intermediate relative to highest income levels produced weaker and less consistent results.
Respondents in urban and rural areas did not differ. However, compared with those in the West, those in the Midwest or the South had significantly lower odds of 12-month and lifetime cannabis use disorders (OR=0.5–0.8). These regional differences were most consistent at the low severity level.
Comorbidity
Twelve-month cannabis use disorder (Table 3) was associated with other substance disorders (OR=6.0–9.3), mood disorders (OR=2.7–5.0), anxiety disorders (OR=1.7–3.7), PTSD (OR=4.3), and personality disorders (OR=3.8–5.0). Lifetime cannabis use disorder (Table 3) was also associated with other substance disorders (OR=6.6–14.5), mood disorders (OR=2.6–3.8), anxiety disorders (OR=2.1–3.2), PTSD (OR=3.8), and personality disorders (OR=4.0–4.7). Across severity levels, 12-month and lifetime cannabis use disorders were associated with other disorders. Further, with few exceptions (12-month bipolar II, agoraphobia, and specific phobia), the associations became stronger (i.e., had progressively higher odds ratios) as the severity of cannabis use disorder increased. For example, the odds ratios for PTSD and 12-month mild, moderate, and severe cannabis use disorder were 2.1, 6.2, and 9.5; those for nicotine use disorder were 4.8, 7.3, and 10.5; and those for borderline personality disorder were 4.0, 4.9, and 8.8. Table S1 in the data supplement accompanying the online version of this article provides additional comorbidity information, i.e., 12-month and lifetime prevalences of DSM-5 cannabis use disorder (any, mild, moderate, severe) among participants with 12-month or lifetime diagnoses of each disorder in Table 3. Cannabis use disorder had higher prevalences among participants with other disorders than in the total sample. For any 12-month and lifetime cannabis use disorder, the prevalence ranged from 4.0% and 10.7% (specific phobia) to 22.5% and 34.9% (any drug use disorder).
TABLE 3. Adjusted Odds Ratios of 12-Month and Lifetime DSM–5 Cannabis Use Disorder in Relation to Other Psychiatric Disorders Adjusted Odds of Cannabis Use Disordera,b Any Mild Moderate Severe Comorbid Disorder Odds Ratio 95% CI Odds Ratio 95% CI Odds Ratio 95% CI Odds Ratio 95% CI 12-month cannabis use disorder Any other substance use disorder 9.3 7.70–11.21 7.4 5.92–9.34 12.2 7.76–19.31 13.1 7.86–21.98 Alcohol use disorder 6.0 5.10–6.97 5.1 4.14–6.27 7.7 5.06–11.60 6.8 4.61–10.01 Any other drug use disorder 9.0 6.65–12.19 6.6 4.30–10.01 11.5 7.18–18.42 13.4 8.26–21.66 Nicotine use disorder 6.2 5.24–7.34 4.8 3.86–5.97 7.3 5.11–10.41 10.5 7.35–15.05 Any mood disorder 3.8 3.10–4.56 2.8 2.21–3.48 3.5 2.55–4.75 8.1 5.74–11.40 Major depressive disorder 2.8 2.33–3.41 2.2 1.77–2.84 3.1 2.29–4.23 4.2 2.76–6.40 Bipolar I 5.0 3.65–6.75 3.4 2.16–5.47 4.1 2.29–7.22 10.1 6.32–16.08 Bipolar II 2.7 1.10–6.62 2.7c 0.80–9.46 3.4c 0.74–15.51 1.9c 0.42–8.18 Any anxiety disorder 2.8 2.24–3.39 2.2 1.64–2.93 2.9 2.02–4.03 4.4 2.96–6.56 Panic disorder 3.3 2.50–4.48 2.5 1.58–3.84 2.8 1.60–5.04 6.6 3.74–11.58 Agoraphobia 2.6 1.64–4.06 2.4 1.44–4.07 3.5 1.39–9.08 2.0 1.02–3.97 Social phobia 2.3 1.61–3.27 1.3c 0.74–2.21 3.5 1.96–6.27 3.9 1.85–8.18 Specific phobia 1.7 1.28–2.29 1.4c 0.95–2.16 2.2 1.28–3.65 1.9 1.21–3.14 Generalized anxiety disorder 3.7 2.79–5.02 3.0 2.01–4.34 3.6 2.40–5.50 6.3 3.43–11.53 Posttraumatic stress disorder 4.3 3.26–5.64 2.1 1.34–3.30 6.2 3.98–9.59 9.5 6.18–14.75 Any personality disorder 4.8 3.96–5.75 4.1 3.30–4.99 4.4 3.01–6.31 7.9 4.98–12.59 Schizotypal 4.4 3.60–5.46 3.7 2.85–4.90 4.0 2.82–5.63 7.0 4.60–10.62 Borderline 5.0 4.13–6.10 4.0 3.13–5.15 4.9 3.30–7.12 8.8 5.83–13.41 Antisocial 3.8 3.05–4.75 3.5 2.61–4.62 3.9 2.44–6.19 4.6 2.95–7.18 Lifetime cannabis use disorder Any other substance use disorder 14.5 11.95–17.60 10.5 7.81–14.09 19.4 13.56–27.72 21.9 15.24–31.56 Alcohol use disorder 7.8 6.95–8.74 6.1 5.09–7.30 9.6 7.51–12.31 10.1 7.88–12.91 Any other drug use disorder 10.0 8.56–11.76 7.9 6.22–10.04 9.2 7.29–11.69 14.6 12.01–17.66 Nicotine use disorder 6.6 5.79–7.64 5.1 4.32–6.03 7.9 6.08–10.25 8.9 7.25–10.96 Any mood disorder 3.3 2.94–3.73 2.3 1.92–2.67 3.4 2.67–4.31 5.6 4.53–6.94 Major depressive disorder 2.6 2.26–2.95 2.0 1.65–2.47 2.6 2.05–3.33 3.6 2.97–4.34 Bipolar I 3.8 3.10–4.59 2.2 1.52–3.27 4.0 2.82–5.80 5.9 4.53–7.75 Bipolar II 2.8 1.51–5.23 2.3c 0.80–6.81 3.3 1.35–8.24 3.1 1.34–7.26 Any anxiety disorder 2.9 2.54–3.31 2.3 1.87–2.73 3.0 2.29–4.05 3.9 3.16–4.86 Panic disorder 3.2 2.66–3.76 2.4 1.85–3.20 3.3 2.29–4.72 4.3 3.18–5.72 Agoraphobia 2.9 2.25–3.79 2.1 1.35–3.24 3.9 2.35–6.34 3.5 2.54–4.93 Social phobia 2.7 2.22–3.40 2.0 1.42–2.90 2.6 1.77–3.96 4.0 2.85–5.53 Specific phobia 2.1 1.73–2.46 1.4 1.04–1.91 2.9 2.00–4.07 2.6 2.01–3.24 Generalized anxiety disorder 3.2 2.75–3.74 2.5 2.01–3.10 3.4 2.51–4.47 4.3 3.26–5.64 Posttraumatic stress disorder 3.8 3.15–4.67 2.4 1.81–3.21 4.3 3.16–5.85 6.0 4.55–7.88 Any personality disorder 4.7 4.18–5.28 3.2 2.76–3.74 4.7 3.65–5.95 8.0 6.34–10.19 Schizotypal 4.0 3.46–4.72 2.7 2.16–3.35 4.3 3.26–5.60 6.2 4.84–7.98 Borderline 4.5 3.96–5.19 3.0 2.49–3.53 4.6 3.52–6.05 7.7 6.17–9.67 Antisocial 4.7 4.07–5.34 3.5 2.89–4.27 4.4 3.36–5.71 6.7 5.26–8.53 TABLE 3. Adjusted Odds Ratios of 12-Month and Lifetime DSM–5 Cannabis Use Disorder in Relation to Other Psychiatric Disorders Enlarge table
Disability
Respondents with 12-month cannabis use disorder differed significantly from others (p<0.001) on all disability components (Table 4), with disability increasing significantly as cannabis disorder severity increased. For those with severe levels, the mean score on the mental component summary of the SF-12v2 was approximately 0.75 SD below the mean. The greatest impairment was found in the role–emotional functioning domain, with a score 0.85 SD below the mean. By the exact number of DSM-5 cannabis use disorder criteria, increasing disorder severity was also generally associated with greater disability (lower SF-12 scores).
TABLE 4. Relation of 12-Month Cannabis Use Disorder to Mental Disability Scores on the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) Norm-Based Score on SF-12v2 Mental Component Mental Health Social Functioning Role–Emotional Functioning Mental Component Summary Cannabis Use Status Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE No cannabis use disorder 51.9 0.09 50.7 0.10 48.5 0.11 51.0 0.08 Cannabis use disorder Any 46.7a 0.46 46.8a 0.52 44.3a 0.55 45.3a 0.50 Mild 48.2a 0.54 48.0a 0.67 45.4a 0.66 46.9a 0.63 Moderate 46.1a 0.95 46.9a 0.91 44.3a 0.88 44.5a 0.92 Severe 43.7a 0.98 43.6a 1.15 41.5a 1.12 42.2a 0.95 Number of cannabis use disorder criteria 0 51.9 0.09 50.8 0.09 48.6 0.12 51.1 0.08 1 48.8a 0.51 48.3a 0.47 47.2b 0.45 47.7a 0.49 2 48.2a 0.72 48.0b 0.82 45.5a 0.80 46.9a 0.80 3 48.3a 0.89 48.0a 0.95 45.1a 0.93 46.9a 0.87 4 46.4a 1.06 47.0b 1.11 44.7b 1.18 44.8a 1.03 5 45.7a 1.61 46.7b 1.58 43.7a 1.40 44.0a 1.61 6 44.6b 2.23 44.1b 2.42 43.8c 2.04 44.9a 1.66 7 46.5a 1.31 44.3b 2.06 43.3c 2.23 44.5b 1.80 8 43.0a 2.26 46.4c 2.04 40.7a 1.80 41.4a 1.76 9 38.7a 2.22 40.5b 3.09 39.9a 1.82 37.3a 2.21 10 41.7a 2.44 41.0 5.30 33.9a 3.47 36.9a 2.77 11 44.9c 3.65 38.9b 5.10 37.0b 5.53 37.4b 5.55 TABLE 4. Relation of 12-Month Cannabis Use Disorder to Mental Disability Scores on the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) Enlarge table
Service Utilization
Among respondents with 12-month and lifetime DSM-5 cannabis use disorders, 7.2% and 13.7% received any type of service for cannabis problems (Table 5). For 12-month disorder, service utilization rates were 4.1%, 6.0%, and 15.7% for mild, moderate, and severe disorders; lifetime rates were 7.3%, 11.7%, and 24.3%. By type or source of intervention, individuals with 12-month cannabis use disorder were most likely to use physicians or other health care practitioners (4.8%), followed by 12-step groups (3.2%) and rehabilitation programs, outpatient clinics, inpatient facilities, detoxification programs, and family or social services (range, 0.9%−1.5%). Other settings were utilized less. Individuals with lifetime cannabis use disorder were most likely to use 12-step groups (8.0%), followed by physicians or other health care practitioners (5.2%) and rehabilitation programs, outpatient clinics, detoxification programs, family or social services, and inpatient facilities (range, 1.6%−5.0%). Other settings were used less. Across cannabis disorder severity levels, the most to least commonly used intervention sources were ordered similarly.
TABLE 5. Cannabis-Specific Treatment or Intervention Among Individuals With 12-Month or Lifetime Cannabis Use Disorder Severity of Cannabis Use Disorder Any Mild Moderate Severe Treatment or Intervention Setting % SE % SE % SE % SE 12-month cannabis use disorder 12-step program 3.17 0.79 1.07 0.45 3.79 1.79 7.63 2.90 Family or social services 0.86 0.35 0.78 0.48 0.36 0.36 1.57 1.05 Detoxification 1.04 0.55 0.27 0.27 0.15 0.15 3.80 2.30 Other inpatient facility 1.16 0.55 0.12 0.12 0.70 0.56 4.16 2.32 Outpatient clinic 1.46 0.56 0.39 0.29 0.71 0.50 4.81 2.31 Rehabilitation program 1.51 0.59 0.54 0.39 0.68 0.47 4.70 2.37 Methadone maintenance —a —a —a —a Emergency department 0.04 0.04 —a —a —a Halfway house 0.06 0.06 —a —a —a Crisis center 0.23 0.17 —a —a —a Employee assistance program —a —a —a —a Clergy 0.70 0.30 —a 0.88 0.64 2.21 1.16 Physician or other health care practitioner 4.83 1.24 2.96 1.53 3.73 2.42 10.50 2.80 Other treatment or intervention 0.64 0.34 0.10 0.10 —a 2.63 1.47 Any treatment or intervention 7.16 1.35 4.14 1.62 5.98 2.49 15.73 3.49 Lifetime cannabis use disorder 12-step program 7.98 0.71 3.64 0.64 7.10 1.45 14.81 1.69 Family or social services 1.96 0.39 0.85 0.31 1.44 0.61 3.92 0.98 Detoxification 2.66 0.42 1.00 0.33 1.87 0.73 5.58 1.05 Other inpatient facility 1.62 0.32 0.36 0.17 1.33 0.50 3.62 0.92 Outpatient clinic 3.98 0.64 1.11 0.43 3.09 1.04 8.73 1.33 Rehabilitation program 4.98 0.56 2.17 0.55 4.53 1.19 9.32 1.30 Methadone maintenance 0.02 0.01 —a —a 0.06 0.05 Emergency department 0.77 0.21 0.35 0.21 0.47 0.35 1.59 0.54 Halfway house 0.58 0.15 0.15 0.13 0.11 0.11 1.52 0.44 Crisis center 0.63 0.20 0.25 0.16 0.19 0.16 1.49 0.54 Employee assistance program 0.60 0.19 0.56 0.29 0.28 0.28 0.89 0.39 Clergy 1.46 0.27 0.52 0.28 1.71 0.61 2.63 0.60 Physician or other health care practitioner 5.18 0.59 2.78 0.84 4.67 1.38 8.96 1.11 Other treatment or intervention 1.04 0.26 0.66 0.25 0.45 0.27 1.98 0.71 Any treatment or intervention 13.69 0.86 7.26 0.90 11.72 1.86 24.27 1.91 TABLE 5. Cannabis-Specific Treatment or Intervention Among Individuals With 12-Month or Lifetime Cannabis Use Disorder Enlarge table
Discussion
Among U.S. adults in 2012–2013, the 12-month prevalence of DSM-5 cannabis use disorder was 2.54%, representing approximately 5,982,000 Americans, and the lifetime prevalence was 6.27%, representing about 14,757,000 Americans. Corresponding DSM-IV 12-month and lifetime rates in NESARC-III, 2.9% and 11.7% (29), showed that a substantial increase occurred since the 2001–2002 NESARC, in which the 12-month and lifetime rates were 1.5% and 8.5% (29), an increase apparently driven by greater prevalence of cannabis users (29).
The prevalence and odds of 12-month and lifetime cannabis use disorders were greater among men than women, consistent with findings in earlier surveys (17, 49, 50).
In NESARC-III, the odds for 12-month cannabis use disorder were higher among younger than older age groups, with striking differences between those age 18–29 and those ≥45 (OR=6.5–9.7). While the prevalence of cannabis use disorder increased across all age groups between the 2001–2002 NESARC and the 2012–2013 NESARC-III, the age differential in DSM-5 cannabis use disorder in NESARC-III is considerably more pronounced than in the NESARC (17). The general increases suggest the operation of a period effect, while the sharply increased age differential suggests an additional cohort effect in the youngest adults. The general increase plus the sharp age differential in NESARC-III for DSM-5 cannabis use disorder are consistent with similar time trends among people favoring legalization of marijuana for recreational use (51). These trends all appear to reflect different manifestations of the increasingly accepting social attitudes toward marijuana use.
The odds of cannabis use disorder varied by race or ethnic group. For 12-month and lifetime disorders, odds were lower for Asians or Pacific Islanders and for Hispanics than for whites, but higher in Native Americans, consistent with the NESARC data (17). For blacks, the odds of 12-month cannabis use disorder were significantly higher than for whites, in contrast to findings in NESARC, in which blacks did not differ from whites. For lifetime cannabis use disorder, the odds did not differ between blacks and whites in NESARC-III, while in NESARC, blacks had significantly lower odds of lifetime cannabis use disorder than whites (17). Thus, the risk in blacks relative to whites has increased over the past decade. This is consistent with notable increases in the prevalence of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders among blacks (29, 52–54). While the reasons for this change are unclear, increasing economic disparity between blacks and whites since the 2008 economic recession (55, 56) may have exacerbated neighborhood factors (disorder, violence, visible drug dealing) that increase adolescent marijuana use (57), and they may function similarly in adults, an issue warranting investigation. Blacks may also differ from whites in their attitudes toward marijuana, possibly viewing it as a natural and therefore safe substance (22). This also warrants investigation.
Participants with the lowest incomes had higher odds of cannabis use disorder than others. Cannabis outcomes are related to income disparities in distal and proximal forms, including early exposure to disadvantaged macroeconomic environments (58), low parental socioeconomic status as a moderator of the risk of family history of addiction (59), and current residence in high-unemployment neighborhoods (60). Cannabis disorders and concurrent economic disparity may be related if the stress of disadvantaged economic conditions leads to marijuana use as a coping mechanism, increasing the risk for cannabis use disorders among users with a vulnerability to such disorders. However, the relationship may be bidirectional, since early adolescent use of marijuana is associated with subsequent lower adult cognitive functioning (3–5), which could impair the chances for the educational and occupational achievement (6–8) that would bring higher incomes. This important yet complex relationship merits further study to inform policy and personal decisions regarding marijuana use.
Similar to the NESARC findings (17), 12-month and lifetime cannabis use disorders were strongly and consistently associated with other substance and mental disorders. Thus, despite the increasingly normative nature of marijuana use and the increased adult prevalence of cannabis use disorder, persons with cannabis use disorder continue to be vulnerable to other common mental disorders. In patient settings, those with both drug and psychiatric disorders often exhibit more persistent, severe, and treatment-resistant symptoms than patients with drug disorders only (61). Research indicates that the best treatment for such comorbid conditions is concurrent treatment for both disorders (61). Therefore, study findings indicate an increased need for settings that provide evidence-based treatments for both types of conditions. Further, multivariable investigation indicates two latent transdiagnostic domains of comorbidity, the internalizing and externalizing (62) domains. The externalizing domain is characterized by antisocial personality disorder and substance disorders; the internalizing domain is characterized by distress (major depression, dysthymia, generalized anxiety) or fear (panic, social phobia, specific phobia). These domains have been replicated across gender and racial/ethnic groups (63, 64). Given the changing legal and attitudinal climate in the United States regarding marijuana use, re-examining cannabis use disorders within this transdiagnostic framework is warranted to better understand its relationship to other substance and psychiatric disorders, and to inform the development of more effective treatments.
Participants with cannabis use disorder experienced considerable disability across different domains. The level of disability, particularly among those with severe disorders, was consistent with the very frequent cannabis use reported (252.2 and 310.4 days per year among those with 12-month and lifetime severe cannabis use disorders). These disability and use patterns attest to the severity of the disorder, which clearly is not a benign or harmless condition. Further, the disability levels were greater than the corresponding levels associated with alcohol use disorder in NESARC-III (37). Previous research suggests that even after cannabis use disorders remit, disability persists (65). Whether this persistence is mediated by prolonged cognitive impairments associated with early marijuana use (3–5), by aspects of the disorder itself (e.g., particular diagnostic criteria), or by other factors warrants investigation.
Relatively few participants with cannabis use disorder received any type of services, a situation unimproved since NESARC (17). For alcohol use disorders, factors predicting lack of service use include viewing alcohol problems as stigmatized (66) or not serious (67), preference for self-reliance, and beliefs that treatment is ineffective (67). Similar factors appear related to lack of service use for cannabis disorders (30, 68), a topic warranting further investigation. Evidence-based treatments (69–71) are available for cannabis use disorders (32). Public and professional education about treatment efficacy and availability that destigmatizes help seeking may encourage individuals with cannabis use disorders to seek treatment. Given the increased prevalence of these disorders among U.S. adults (27, 29), provision of such services and public education about treatment appear critically needed.
The DSM-5 diagnosis of cannabis use disorder differs from that in DSM-IV by the addition of criteria for craving and cannabis withdrawal. Among participants with 12-month DSM-5 cannabis use disorder, 60.50% (SE=2.05) had craving for cannabis, 32.48% (SE=2.09) had cannabis withdrawal, and 23.06% (SE=1.84) had both. In NESARC-III, the prevalence of moderate to severe DSM-5 cannabis use disorder was higher than the rate for DSM-IV cannabis dependence, a difference attributed to the cannabis withdrawal criterion (72). Earlier studies showed how the craving and cannabis withdrawal criteria operate in the general population (35, 73, 74); for instance, the model fit of cannabis use disorder criteria improved after addition of withdrawal (75). While studies of DSM-5 cannabis use disorder in NESARC-III show good reliability and validity (43, 45), further nosological studies focused on craving and withdrawal should be conducted with the NESARC-III data.
NESARC-III findings of increased rates of cannabis use disorder (29) are inconsistent with the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which found that the prevalence of cannabis use disorder was stable between 2002 and 2013 (7). However, the NESARC-III findings are consistent with other national indicators of increases in cannabis use disorders (27) and other serious cannabis-related problems, e.g., emergency room visits and fatal car crashes (11, 14). These increases are consistent with a changing landscape of increasingly permissive marijuana attitudes and laws. Changing laws may benefit society by reducing the harms of socially patterned drug arrests (76). However, the laws may affect public health adversely by leading to more marijuana users, including some vulnerable to cannabis use disorders. Continued surveillance of these trends is needed to monitor the balance of social costs and benefits and the needs for treatment.
Lifetime rates of DSM-5 cannabis use disorder were highest in those ages 18–29. This could be artifactual due to recall failure for earlier disorders among older individuals (77). However, this report and others (17) show that the risk for onset of cannabis use disorder peaks in late adolescence and early 20s, and remission often occurs within 3–4 years (17, 78). Given that, the finding of higher rates of lifetime disorders among those ages 18–29 may well be valid. Further studies are needed to address this issue.
Study limitations are noted. Only common psychiatric disorders were assessed. Some population segments were not included, e.g., prisoners, the homeless, and long-term inpatients. NESARC-III was also cross-sectional. Prospective surveys are needed to investigate the stability and causal directions of the relationships. The study also did not distinguish between associations explained by greater use of cannabis and those due to greater risk of a disorder given such use; future studies should address this issue. NESARC-III also had important strengths, including a large sample, reliable and valid measures, and rigorous field methodology. NESARC-III is also unique in providing current, comprehensive information on DSM-5 cannabis use disorder and its correlates and comorbidity in the U.S. adult general population.
In summary, DSM-5 cannabis use disorder is a highly prevalent, comorbid, disabling disorder that commonly goes untreated. Numerous risk factors were identified that could stimulate further studies of differences in correlates of DSM-5 cannabis use disorder by sex, age, and race/ethnicity, which could inform additional hypothesis-driven studies. Most important, this study highlights the urgency of identifying and implementing effective prevention methods. The study also highlights the need to educate the public, professionals, and policy makers about the seriousness of cannabis use disorder and the need for public health efforts to destigmatize and encourage help seeking for cannabis use disorder among individuals who cannot reduce their use of marijuana on their own, despite substantial harm to themselves and others. |
× Police union asks NFL to allow guns in stadiums
The National Football League should rescind its ban on concealed carry inside stadiums, according to a letter from the National Fraternal Order of Police.
The letter, dated November 20, asks NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to allow retired and off-duty police officers to bring their guns with them on game days.
FOP President Chuck Canterbury references the threat of terrorist attack and said the NFL’s current firearms ban “weakens the safety and security of NFL players, personnel and fans.”
Meanwhile, the Ohio chapter of the FOP has sent letters to both the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals franchises, specifically referencing the recent Paris terror attacks as reason to allow those with concealed carry permits to bring their firearms to games.
The Missouri Fraternal of Police has not responded to a request for a comment. |
Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn wrote on Twitter that he and his wife “are very grateful to my brother Joe and sister Barbara for creating a fund to help pay my legal defense costs." | Andrew Harrer/Getty Images Legal defense fund set up for Michael Flynn
The family of former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn has set up a legal defense fund for him, soliciting donations to ease the “tremendous financial burden” from the ongoing investigations into his actions and the 2016 presidential campaign.
“The enormous expense of attorneys' fees and other related expenses far exceed their ability to pay,” Flynn’s brother and sister said in a statement emailed to reporters early Monday. “To help ensure that he can defend himself, we have set up a legal defense fund, and we are asking Mike's supporters, veterans, and all people of goodwill to contribute whatever amount they can to this fund.”
Story Continued Below
The fund will not accept donations from foreign nationals, nor will it accept money from the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization. The statement said the fund will also not accept anonymous donations, but did not specify whether it would disclose its list of donors.
Flynn, a retired general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was among President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters during the campaign and was named national security adviser ahead of last January’s inauguration.
But Flynn became increasingly wrapped up in the multiple ongoing investigations into Russian interference in last year’s election and ultimately resigned just weeks after Trump’s inauguration amid media reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about the nature of conversations he had had with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.
Flynn himself thanked his brother and sister Monday morning via Twitter, writing in a pair of posts that he and his wife “are very grateful to my brother Joe and sister Barbara for creating a fund to help pay my legal defense costs. We deeply appreciate the support of family and friends across this nation who have touched our lives.” The former national security director added a link to the defense fund’s website to the second post.
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In the weeks after Flynn’s quick resignation from the Trump administration, the retired general offered testimony to the FBI and the Congressional committees leading the Russia investigations, but only in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
That Flynn has sought immunity has struck some as ironic, given the zeal with which he accused Democrat Hillary Clinton of illegal behavior stemming from her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. Flynn took apparent delight in the “lock her up” chants that so often swept through Trump campaign rallies, and answered a question about the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s email practices on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last year by saying that “when you are given immunity, that means that you have probably committed a crime.”
Without a promise of immunity, Flynn has been subpoenaed by Congress and after initially invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, later surrendered some documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is overseeing one Russia investigation.
“Mike devoted 33 years of his life to our country serving in the United States Army, spending years away from his family while he fought this nation's battles overseas, including the War on Terror,” Flynn’s brother and sister wrote in their statement. “Please help us to support Mike and his family now.” |
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
Forgive me for my cynicism, but that makes me think she just might not mean it.
In a speech in front of a crowd full of journalists at Syracuse University on Monday, Hillary Clinton declared that she had a new hairstyle and would have a new, open relationship with the press along with it — and then didn’t take questions afterwards.
“With a room full of political reporters, I thought to myself, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’” Clinton joked, apparently considering the press busting her for illegal e-mail practices that may have put national security at risk to be something to joke about.
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“But I am all about new beginnings,” she added. “A new grandchild, another new hairstyle, a new e-mail account. Why not a new relationship with the press? So here it goes: No more secrecy. No more zone of privacy. After all, what good did that do for me?”
Now, forgive me for my cynicism, but her refusal to take a single question from a reporter or audience member right after promising to be more open makes me think that she just might not mean it.
Most of the event’s 300 attendees were reporters, and the event was sponsored by Syracuse’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication.
— Katherine Timpf is a reporter for National Review Online. |
1 Stealthily secure a banana that is ready to eat. You don't want one which is too green, or has too many dark spots. The idea is that your friend or family member will actually want to eat it.
2 Find a small needle, which is at least as long as the diameter of the banana.
3 Locate one of the seams of the banana, and insert the needle at the starting point. When bananas are peeled, we usually pull them apart along seams. This point can be at the top or bottom of the banana.
4 Push the needle carefully through the skin and into the banana. Push it far enough to reach to the other side but don't puncture through.
5 Without rupturing the entry point of the hole, move the needle back and forth, creating a clean slice inside the banana.
6 Once you are satisfied that the spot has been cut, carefully pull the needle out of the spot, move up (or down) the banana about 1/2" / 1.2 centimeter (0.5 in), along the seam, and reinsert the needle. Repeat steps 5 and 6.
7 Continue this process until you are finished. |
On this weekend’s back and forth on who Mike Flynn lied to, who knew he’d lied and why it might matter, let’s step back for a moment. With regards to Flynn lying to the FBI we’re now looking at the narrow factual question of whether Acting Attorney General Sally Yates told White House Counsel Don McGahn that Flynn had lied to the FBI; whether McGahn told Trump; and whether Trump knew this in the intervening days before he fired Flynn when he asked James Comey to drop the investigation. We are collectively running through this chain of connections because of our semi-reasonable but likely outmoded tendency to take the various claims we’ve heard from the White House at face value: especially the claim that Flynn was fired for lying to Vice President Pence, etc.
However, if we step back and collect together the information we now know, particularly the presumably hard evidence of statements included in Flynn’s plea agreement, it’s pretty clear none of these things even matter.
Let’s walk through the key issues.
On January 12th David Ignatius reported in The Washington Post that Flynn had talked to Ambassador Kislyak about sanctions on December 29th. This led to a flurry of denials: first that the call had taken place at all and then that the calls had been about anything more than pleasantries. Vice President Pence vouched publicly for these denials on multiple occasions, supposedly based on Flynn lying to him about what he discussed with Kislyak.
We now know that during the multiple calls Flynn had with Kislyak in the last days of December he not only notified his colleagues but actively solicited and received their input in real time. As the Flynn plea agreement lays out, Flynn called KT McFarland at Mar-a-Lago to discuss the sanctions calls with her. She in turn solicited the opinions of other senior transition officials with her to share with Flynn. Contemporaneous records suggest these officials, who go unnamed in the plea document, included Stephen Miller, Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus. Concluding the series of calls with Kislyak on December 31st, Flynn again called into Mar-a-Lago and spoke not only to McFarland but directly to “senior members of the Presidential Transition Team” about the sanctions calls.
What this tells us is that the nature of Flynn’s calls, specifically that they dealt with sanctions, were known widely among Trump’s top advisors: McFarland, Conway, Bannon, Miller, Priebus and certainly others. Given this fact it is hard to believe that Trump and Pence didn’t know the details as well. Even if Trump and Pence didn’t know (as unlikely as that may be), each of those people knew as soon as Pence gave his public assurances that these assurances were false.
Again, note: This is not speculation. This is not based on journalistic accounts. It’s based on the Flynn plea agreement and contemporaneous pool reports which detailed which top advisors the transition team said were with the President on the days in question handling the foreign policy transition.
Pence told Fox’s Chris Wallace on January 15th that Flynn and Kislyak “did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.” This came after unnamed Trump transition officials had assured multiple news organizations of the same thing. So every day from January 15th to February 13th, when Flynn was fired, most or all of Trump’s top advisors knew Flynn’s claim was false. So this was a transition-wide deception and a knowing deception. Lying to Pence was basically irrelevant. It likely didn’t happen. But if it didn’t it was compounded by most top advisors being part of the same deception.
We do not yet have specific evidence that Pence and Trump knew this was false on January 15th. But it strains credulity to believe that they didn’t then and indeed at the end of December.
What does that all mean? Certainly it means that the ‘he fired because he lied to Pence” explanation for Flynn’s firing was bogus. Why? Because the whole senior staff knew these claims were false and let the falsehood stand for weeks. It also makes it very likely that the whole discussion about just when Yates said this and McGahn said that is meaningless since Trump and Pence likely knew all of this more than a month before Flynn was fired. Flynn was very tight with Trump. I think it’s highly unlikely that Trump didn’t know Flynn was interviewed on the day in question. It’s likely they discussed it. They were talking all the time.
In any case, continuing to discuss this question on the basis of the ‘Flynn lied to Pence’ canard or when Sally Yates brought the news to the White House just means we’re trying to understand what happened within the framework of what we now know are lies.
We shouldn’t. Trump’s top advisors knew the true nature of the calls and repeatedly lied about it to reporters. This is the only plausible read of the the current evidence. They allowed Pence’s false statements to stand for weeks, which amounts to a furtherance of those lies.
We’re simply not dealing with something the key people found out in late January. This was a cover-up, a string of publicly verified deceptions that went back to the beginning of the month. |
Xeris Profile Blog Joined July 2005 Iran 17683 Posts #1
I feel bad because I handled it poorly, and it wasn't my intention to be rude in any way. So I'd love it if you take me up on the offer so I can redeem myself. A SC2 LAN should be a fun event for everyone, and I want to make sure the next one you go to is made better in some way. I want to also make clear that my actions are in no way a measure or reflective of my teammates in Fnatic, either for Starcraft or Halo (of which we had teams in attendance at MLG Anaheim), or the NASL staff or organization.
Second, I want to respond to
I'm really disappointed at the hyperbolic and one sided account of what happened being taken incredibly out of proportion on Reddit.
I was standing in front, and saw two empty seats. I sat down with Evoli because the seats were empty. The person who was sitting there came back and asked me to move, and I explained that it was unfair to save seats that way, especially given that it was in the front rows, which are reserved for players, vip, press, etc. Initially I didn't know that it was a reserved seat for a contest winner (there was absolutely no indication that this was the case: no sign on the seat or anything).
I absolutely didn't tell him that I was more important. He had a spectator wristband, and I pointed out that the seating was for people with player/press/etc, which I was. I never said anything about being more important, and I never laughed at him. The guy behind me was joking about seat stealing with his friends [at least that's what I thought at the time]. So he asked me why I stole the guy's seat despite him earning it, and I joked that I earned it too through years of hard work [I became the manager of a good SC2 team because I worked hard for a long time to get that position, etc]. I didn't think much of it because I thought it was all in jest, but apparently this thread starter had other ideas. I wish you would have had the courage to actually say what you thought about me to my face rather than wait until you got home to write something behind your computer screen, but that's ok.
LiquidGaga, guy who made this reddit post -- I'd love to talk to you personally about this if you want to clear up any misconceptions you have about what happened, or me. If you read this, I can PM you my phone number and feel free to give me a call any time if you want to talk, or to tell me what a jerk I am!
Initially, I didn't know that the guy was a contest winner. I told the security lady that there were dozens of seats being taken by people with spectator passes and that they should free up more seats and I'd gladly move if she would get myself and Evoli two more seats. It didn't really go anywhere, the security lady walked away and the guy whose seat I sat in left, and I didn't see or hear from them for the rest of the time.
I'm sorry for everyone involved in the situation and for not relinquishing my seat. My offer is open, so again, please PM me! My intention is never to offend or wrong anyone, I always try to do what I can to help the community, and I'll keep doing that. Thanks again and I hope people read my side of the story, and I hope qetuoadgjlxvn will accept my apology.
Here's a funny video I filmed at my house with TT1 and KawaiiRice the day before MLG Anaheim, hope you all find it as funny as we did at the time
First, I want to apologize to qetuoadgjlxvn (I believe this is the guy's reddit account whose seat I sat in?). I didn't mean to steal your seat, or anyone's seat for that matter -- I saw two empty seats and I sat in one of them. I didn't know initially that they were reserved seats for contest winners. The whole weekend was insanely frustrating trying to find seats, there were people with spectator passes sitting in the player/vip area for almost the entire event, the security didn't do the best job of policing that area so it was like a warzone. I could have, and should have given you the seat back. For that, I really apologize. If you read this, I'd like to offer to buy you a pass for either the next MLG event, or the NASL Season 2 finals, and I'll give you whatever press and/or VIP badge I get as well, so you can be assured a nice seat as well. Please, if you, or anyone reading this knows him -- tell him to shoot me a PM.I feel bad because I handled it poorly, and it wasn't my intention to be rude in any way. So I'd love it if you take me up on the offer so I can redeem myself. A SC2 LAN should be a fun event for everyone, and I want to make sure the next one you go to is made better in some way. I want to also make clear that my actions are in no way a measure or reflective of my teammates in Fnatic, either for Starcraft or Halo (of which we had teams in attendance at MLG Anaheim), or the NASL staff or organization.Second, I want to respond to this thread on Reddit.I'm really disappointed at the hyperbolic and one sided account of what happened being taken incredibly out of proportion on Reddit.I was standing in front, and saw two empty seats. I sat down with Evoli because the seats were empty. The person who was sitting there came back and asked me to move, and I explained that it was unfair to save seats that way, especially given that it was in the front rows, which are reserved for players, vip, press, etc. Initially I didn't know that it was a reserved seat for a contest winner (there was absolutely no indication that this was the case: no sign on the seat or anything).I absolutely didn't tell him that I was more important. He had a spectator wristband, and I pointed out that the seating was for people with player/press/etc, which I was. I never said anything about being more important, and I never laughed at him. The guy behind me was joking about seat stealing with his friends [at least that's what I thought at the time]. So he asked me why I stole the guy's seat despite him earning it, and I joked that I earned it too through years of hard work [I became the manager of a good SC2 team because I worked hard for a long time to get that position, etc]. I didn't think much of it because I thought it was all in jest, but apparently this thread starter had other ideas. I wish you would have had the courage to actually say what you thought about me to my face rather than wait until you got home to write something behind your computer screen, but that's ok.LiquidGaga, guy who made this reddit post -- I'd love to talk to you personally about this if you want to clear up any misconceptions you have about what happened, or me. If you read this, I can PM you my phone number and feel free to give me a call any time if you want to talk, or to tell me what a jerk I am!Initially, I didn't know that the guy was a contest winner. I told the security lady that there were dozens of seats being taken by people with spectator passes and that they should free up more seats and I'd gladly move if she would get myself and Evoli two more seats. It didn't really go anywhere, the security lady walked away and the guy whose seat I sat in left, and I didn't see or hear from them for the rest of the time.I'm sorry for everyone involved in the situation and for not relinquishing my seat. My offer is open, so again, please PM me! My intention is never to offend or wrong anyone, I always try to do what I can to help the community, and I'll keep doing that. Thanks again and I hope people read my side of the story, and I hope qetuoadgjlxvn will accept my apology.Here's a funny video I filmed at my house with TT1 and KawaiiRice the day before MLG Anaheim, hope you all find it as funny as we did at the time
PS (I'll do the same for your friend as well, because I don't know which of your seats I sat in).
PS (I'll do the same for your friend as well, because I don't know which of your seats I sat in). twitter.com/xerislight -- follow me~~ |
In 2007, under the watch of insolently lounging house cats in a Northern California living room, I opened the lids of four battered cardboard boxes. Out rushed the smell of a vanished world: a physician’s patient records and hand-written notes untouched for decades, disintegrating photographs, stale cigarette smoke, x-ray images of Adolf Hitler’s skull, wax-sealed packets of narcotics, and allegedly poisoned food. The boxes exhaled the air of Nuremberg, Germany, from 1945 to 1946, when 22 of the top Nazi leaders awaited and began their trial by an International Tribunal. The author of the materials in these boxes, US Army psychiatrist Douglas M. Kelley, was the first mental health expert to examine the Nazi prisoners.
I arrived to look at the boxes at the invitation of Kelley’s son. In August 1945, his father had received orders to go to a hotel in Luxembourg converted into a temporary prison, where Kelley met such infamous Nazi leaders as Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Julius Streicher, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and Karl Dönitz. Dr. Kelley’s assignment was to certify their mental competence for the trial to come. Just 33 and supremely confident in his abilities, the psychiatrist had more ambitious plans for his time spent with the men widely regarded as the worst criminals of the twentieth century. He wanted to discover the essence of the “Nazi personality.” If he could identify mental disorders and psychological traits common to the Nazi leaders, he could point to others among us capable of committing similar crimes.
After the U.S. military moved the Nazis to a jail in the Palace of Justice complex in Nuremberg, Kelley gave them a battery of Rorschach inkblot tests, among other assessments. He spent hundreds of hours talking with the Nazis in their cells, probing their past, motivations, and psyches. He assessed all of the 22 defendants, including Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess, who feigned amnesia and held a paranoiac belief that his jailers were giving him poisoned food. Kelley felt most intrigued, though, by the remorseless Göring — long Hitler’s second in command — whose charm, intelligence, and culture made Kelley wonder how such a man could so absolutely lack a conscience. Looking into the Nazi’s eyes, the physician often saw something of himself. Kelley and Göring forged a bond based on mutual respect for their shared brainpower and skills as master manipulators. Each used the other: Kelley helped Göring end his longtime addiction to the narcotic paracodeine and pass letters to his family, and Göring aided Kelley’s understanding of the complexities of the Nazi character.
When the trial began in November 1945, Kelley had already started to reach conclusions about the Nazi personality. None existed, he believed. The Nazis were psychologically normal. Nazi evil was not only banal, as Hannah Arendt later asserted, but its potential was widespread, especially in American politics and business. “I am quite certain that there are people even in America who would willingly climb over the corpses of half of the American public if they could gain control of the other half,” he said.
These conclusions unnerved Kelley and eventually led him to change the focus of his career from psychiatry to criminology. His personal connection with Göring rattled him even more deeply, and as Kelley fell into alcoholism, workaholism, and depression, he faced his own capacity for evil.
Kelley’s study of evil had turned into something personal. In Kelley’s mind, Göring had possessed a combustive mix of admirable and atrocious qualities, many of which the psychiatrist shared. On New Year’s Day 1958, standing in front of his family, Kelley took his life by gulping cyanide, just as Göring had done a dozen years earlier. What the psychiatrist had learned from the Nazis about human behavior was appalling. What he discovered about himself hurt more. |
Getty Images
The Giants created an opening for a defensive coordinator by firing Perry Fewell on Wednesday and they’re reportedly looking at a member of another NFC East team’s staff for a possible replacement.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Giants have requested permission to interview Redskins defensive backs coach Raheem Morris for the position. Morris has been in that role for the last three seasons and joined the staff in Washington after his three-year stint as the head coach in Tampa came to an end. He’s never been a defensive coordinator in the NFL, but did run the defense at Kansas State for the 2006 season.
The Redskins could block Morris from interviewing, a right they’ve had reinforced to them a couple of times recently as they look for a defensive coordinator of their own. Morris hasn’t been mentioned as a candidate for the position, however, and that might lead Washington to let him pursue other opportunities this year. |
2016 Olympics
$2m set aside to tempt All Blacks to Olympics
ESPN Staff
Liam Messam is keen to play in the 2016 Olympics © Getty Images Enlarge
All Blacks Liam Messam and Conrad Smith have declared their interest to play for the New Zealand Sevens side in the 2016 Olympics.
Reports in the New Zealand Herald says close to NZ$2m (£1m) will be set aside by the New Zealand Rugby Union to help cover the salaries and compensation for any All Blacks stars who want to play in the short form of the game come 2016. According to the newspaper, some players will be told to miss the entire Super Rugby campaign in preparation while others will be fast-tracked nearer the tournament.
Players such as Sonny Bill Williams, Liam Messam and Ben Smith have been mentioned as Kiwis who may be interested in swapping 15s for Sevens on a temporary basis and Messam has confirmed his interest.
''My major goal is to get to the Olympics and I'll be 32 by then," Messam said. "So I know I need to do all the recovery work and I need to eat what I need to to be able to train every day.''
Conrad Smith, 32, also expressed his interest, saying: "There's obviously certain forwards that don't give it much thought, but for the last year or so certainly some of the backs and some of the guys that have been involved before talk about how they'd love to be involved and why not?"
"It's a pretty unique opportunity to get an Olympic gold. That would be something most guys would jump at."
Ben Smith, however, is unsure whether he will dedicate a section of his career to Sevens having already run out in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. ''I'm not too sure. It's two years away. I'm just worrying about the [Rugby] Championship coming up. A lot of people will make decisions over the next few years. I really enjoyed my time with the sevens and I'm sure a lot of people will want to be part of it.''
Winning the 2016 Olympics was one of the NZRU's goals when they set out their four-year strategic plan in 2012. Alongside winning next year's World Cup, NZRU CEO Steve Tew hopes they will realise their aspirations in Rio de Janeiro come 2016.
"We've said we will pick the best team possible to go win a gold medal in Rio, but the debate is what makes that team up?" Tew told Radio Sport. "Is it a lot of players who have been only involved in sevens for a long period of time? Or is it a mix of players who have played both versions of the game?
"In the end it is going to come down to how many and for how long? My sense is we will have some fifteens players who could make a very valuable contribution and transition in a relatively short period of time and others who would need longer."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd |
Gonzalez had three federal indictments. The first was in May 2008 in New York for the Dave & Busters case (trial schedule September 2009). The second was in May 2008 in Massachusetts for the TJ Maxx case (trial scheduled early 2010). The third was in August 2009 in New Jersey in connection with the Heartland Payment case. [3]
ShadowCrew Edit
While in Kearny, he was accused of being the mastermind of a group of hackers called the ShadowCrew group, which trafficked in 1.5 million stolen credit and ATM card numbers.[9] Although considered the mastermind of the scheme (operating on the site under the screen name of "CumbaJohnny"), he was not indicted.[10] According to the indictment, there were 4,000 people who registered with the Shadowcrew.com website. Once registered, they could buy stolen account numbers or counterfeit documents at auction, or read “Tutorials and How-To’s” describing the use of cryptography in magnetic strips on credit cards, debit cards and ATM cards so that the numbers could be used.[10] Moderators of the website punished members who did not abide by the site's rules, including providing refunds to buyers if the stolen card numbers proved invalid.[10]
In addition to the card numbers, numerous other objects of identity theft were sold at auction, including counterfeit passports, drivers’ licenses, Social Security cards, credit cards, debit cards, birth certificates, college student identification cards, and health insurance cards.[10] One member sold 18 million e-mail accounts with associated usernames, passwords, dates of birth, and other personally identifying information. Most of those indicted were members who actually sold illicit items. Members who maintained or moderated the website itself were also indicted, including one who attempted to register the .cc domain name Shadowcrew.cc.[10]
The Secret Service dubbed their investigation "Operation Firewall" and believed that up to $4.3 million was stolen, as ShadowCrew shared its information with other groups entitled Carderplanet and Darkprofits. The investigation involved units from the United States, Bulgaria, Belarus, Canada, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Ukraine.[11] Gonzalez was initially charged with possession of 15 fake credit and debit cards[2] in Newark, New Jersey, though he avoided jail time by providing evidence to the United States Secret Service against his cohorts. 19 ShadowCrew members were indicted.[2] Gonzalez then returned to Miami.[10]
TJX Companies hack Edit
While cooperating with authorities, he was said to have masterminded the hacking of TJX Companies, in which 45.6 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen over an 18-month period ending in 2007, topping the 2005 breach of 40 million records at CardSystems Solutions.[12] Gonzalez and 10 others sought targets while wardriving and seeking vulnerabilities in wireless networks along U.S. Route 1 in Miami. They compromised cards at BJ's Wholesale Club, DSW, Office Max, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority and T.J. Maxx.[13][14] The indictment referred to Gonzalez by the screen names "cumbajohny", "201679996", "soupnazi", "segvec", "kingchilli" and "stanozlolz."[13] The hacking was an embarrassment to TJ Maxx, which discovered the breach in December 2006. The company initially believed the intrusion began in May 2006, but further investigation revealed breaches dating back to July 2005.[12]
One of his alleged co-conspirators was 7-foot-tall Stephen Watt, known in the hacker world as "Unix Terrorist" and "Jim Jones." Watt worked at Morgan Stanley in New York City and wrote the sniffer program.[15]
Arrest Edit
Gonzalez was arrested on May 7, 2008 on charges stemming from hacking into the Dave & Buster's corporate network from a point of sale location at a restaurant in Islandia, New York. The incident occurred in September 2007. About 5,000 card numbers were stolen. Fraudulent transactions totaling $600,000 were reported on 675 of the cards.[16]
Authorities became suspicious after the conspirators kept returning to the restaurant to reintroduce their hack, because it would not restart after the company computers shut down.[16]
Gonzalez was arrested in room 1508 at the National Hotel[17] in Miami Beach, Florida. In various related raids, authorities seized $1.6 million in cash (including $1.1 million buried in plastic bags in a three-foot drum in his parents' backyard),[2] his laptops and a compact Glock pistol.[7] Officials said that, at the time of his arrest, Gonzalez lived in a nondescript house in Miami.[7] He was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he was indicted in the Heartland attacks.[citation needed]
Gonzalez had multiple US co-defendants for the Dave & Buster's and TJX thefts. The main ones were charged and sentenced as follows:
Stephen Watt [18] was charged with providing a data theft tool in an identity theft case. He was sentenced to two years in prison and 3 years of supervised release. He was also ordered by the court to pay back $250.000 in restitution. [19]
was charged with providing a data theft tool in an identity theft case. He was sentenced to two years in prison and 3 years of supervised release. He was also ordered by the court to pay back $250.000 in restitution. Damon Patrick Toey pleaded guilty to wire fraud, credit card fraud, and aggravated identity theft and received a five-year sentence. [20]
Christopher Scott plead guilty to conspiracy, unauthorized access to computer systems, access device fraud and identity theft. He was sentenced to seven years.[21]
Heartland Payment Systems hack Edit
In August 2009, Gonzalez was indicted in Newark, New Jersey on charges dealing with hacking into the Heartland Payment Systems, Citibank-branded 7-Eleven ATM's and Hannaford Brothers computer systems. Heartland bore the bulk of the attack, in which 130 million card numbers were stolen. Hannaford had 4.6 million numbers stolen. Two other retailers were not disclosed in the indictment; however, Gonzalez's attorney told StorefrontBacktalk that two of the retailers were J.C. Penney and Target Corporation.[22] Heartland reported that it had lost $12.6 million in the attack including legal fees.[23] Gonzalez allegedly called the scheme "Operation Get Rich or Die Tryin."[2]
According to the indictment the attacks, by Gonzalez and two unidentified hackers "in or near Russia" along with unindicted conspirator "P.T." from Miami, began on December 26, 2007, at Heartland Payment Systems, August 2007 against 7-Eleven, and in November 2007 against Hannaford Brothers and two other unidentified companies.[24]
Gonzalez and his cohorts targeted large companies and studied their check out terminals and then attacked the companies from internet-connected computers in New Jersey, Illinois, Latvia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.[citation needed]
They covered their attacks over the Internet using more than one messaging screen name, storing data related to their attacks on multiple Hacking Platforms, disabling programs that logged inbound and outbound traffic over the Hacking Platforms, and disguising, through the use of proxies, the Internet Protocol addresses from which their attacks originated.[24] The indictment said the hackers tested their program against 20 anti virus programs.[citation needed]
Rene Palomino Jr., attorney for Gonzalez, charged in a blog on The New York Times website that the indictment arose out of squabbling among U.S. Attorney offices in New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Palomino said that Gonzalez was in negotiations with New York and Massachusetts for a plea deal in connection with the T.J. Maxx case when New Jersey made its indictment. Palomino identified the unindicted conspirator "P.T." as Damon Patrick Toey, who had pleaded guilty in the T.J. Maxx case. Palomino said Toey, rather than Gonzalez, was the ring leader of the Heartland case. Palomino further said, “Mr. Toey has been cooperating since Day One. He was staying at (Gonzalez’s) apartment. This whole creation was Mr. Toey’s idea...It was his baby. This was not Albert Gonzalez. I know for a fact that he wasn’t involved in all of the chains that were hacked from New Jersey.”[25]
Palomino said one of the unnamed Russian hackers in the Heartland case was Maksym Yastremskiy, who was also indicted in the T.J. Maxx incident but is now serving 30 years in a Turkish prison on a charge of hacking Turkish banks in a separate matter.[26] Investigators said Yastremskiy and Gonzalez exchanged 600 messages and that Gonzalez paid him $400,000 through e-gold.[2]
Yastremskiy was arrested in July 2007 in Turkey on charges of hacking into 12 banks in Turkey. The Secret Service investigation into him was used to build the case against Gonzalez including a sneak and peek covert review of Yastremskiy's laptop in Dubai in 2006 and a review of the disk image of the Latvia computer leased from Cronos IT and alleged to have been used in the attacks.[27]
After the indictment, Heartland issued a statement saying that it does not know how many card numbers were stolen from the company nor how the U.S. government reached the 130 million number.[28]
Plea bargain Edit
On August 28, 2009, Gonzalez's attorney filed papers with the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston indicating that he would plead guilty to all 19 charges in the U.S. v. Albert Gonzalez, 08-CR-10223, case (the TJ Maxx case). According to reports this plea bargain would "resolve" issues with the New York case of U.S. v. Yastremskiy, 08-CR-00160 in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (the Dave and Busters case).[citation needed]
On March 25, 2010, U.S. District Judge Patti Saris sentenced Gonzalez to 20 years in prison for hacking into and stealing information from TJX, Office Max, the Dave & Busters restaurant chain, Barnes & Noble and a string of other companies.[29] The next day, U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock sentenced him to 20 years in connection with the Heartland Payment Systems case. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, meaning that Gonzalez will serve a total of 20 years for both cases.[30] Gonzalez was also ordered to forfeit more than $1.65 million, a condominium in Miami, a blue 2006 BMW 330i automobile, IBM and Toshiba laptop computers, a Glock 27 firearm, a Nokia cell phone, a Tiffany diamond ring and three Rolex watches.[31]
On March 25, 2011, Gonzalez filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Boston to withdraw his guilty plea. He claimed that during the time he committed his crimes, he had been assisting the United States Secret Service in seeking out international cybercriminals and said his attorneys failed to advise him that he could have therefore used a “public authority” defense.[32][33] The Secret Service declined to comment on Gonzalez's motion, which is still pending.[33]
Gonzalez is currently serving his 20-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Yazoo City, a low security U.S. penitentiary. He is scheduled for release in 2025.[34] |
Have your say
Domino’s Pizza bosses were roasted by members of the public yesterday after a staff member was caught on camera buying potato wedges from a Scots supermarket when they ran out.
A worker at a branch of the fast-food chain in Linlithgow, West Lothian, was snapped buying 59p bags of the snacks at a local Aldi store.
The wedges are normally sold by Domino’s at £3.49 per portion - a difference in price of £2.90.
When first confronted about the claims, embarrassed staff initially claimed the food was for personal use.
But pizza bosses then admitted that wedges were sometimes purchased from the nearby supermarket, before insisting customers normally get “Domino’s wedges”.
The spud scandal was first spotted by Linlithgow resident Tom Sneddon, a First Bus employee who lives nearby.
He said: “I am a regular customer of Domino’s Pizza and was surprised to see a staff member buying potato wedges from Aldi.
“Whilst I had a bit of a chuckle, it is also really cheeky flogging Aldi products as their own.”
A spokesman for Domino’s said: “Very occasionally stores are in an unfortunate situation where some products may run out.
“With big sporting events in full swing the Linlithgow store was faced with no wedges.
“We do not advocate this as a solution and we have spoken to them to ensure ordering has been adjusted to fully cover this busy period and our customers get Domino’s wedges”. |
Ciara and Russell Wilson went from being fairly tight-lipped about their relationship to letting it all hang out, in just a few months. Now that they’ve officially come out as an item, they’re confirming what’s going down in the bedroom as well. Simply put, the answer is absolutely nothing. Over the weekend during a special Q&A session at San Diego’s The Rock Church, the Seattle Seahawk revealed that he and Cici have chosen to abstain from sex.
According to Wilson, while waiting in Ciara’s dressing room during one of her tour stops, he heard God speak to him regarding the singer.
“She was on tour; she was traveling. I was looking at her in the mirror. She was in the dressing room getting ready to go before she went on stage, and she was sitting there, and God spoke to me and said, ‘I need you to lead her.’ And I was like, ‘Really?’ And he was like, ‘No, I want you to lead her.’ So I told her, ‘What would you do if we took all of that extra stuff off the table and just did it Jesus’ way?’ And she was relieved.”
Oh, and if there’s any confusion about what doing it “Jesus’ way” means, he made it clear that he’s talking about getting busy.
“We’re talking about sex,” he clarified.
Of course, those who have embarked down the path know that the abstinent lifestyle is not easy.
“I knew that God brought me into her life to bless her and for her to bless me, and to bless so many people. With the impact that she has and the impact that I have—we’re not going to be perfect by any means. Life is not perfect. Nobody is perfect. But He’s anointed both of us, and he’s calling us to do something miraculous. And I told her—and she completely agreed–that we love each other without that. If you can somebody without that, then you can really love.
I ain’t going to lie to y’all now, I need y’all to pray for us. I know y’all seen her on the screen. If there’s a 10, she’s a 15, so pray for me. I gotta keep my mind clear and my heart clear.”
The Superbowl champion also didn’t hold back in regard to his feelings about his new lady.
“She’s a sweetheart. She’s everything you could ever want. Yeah, she’s a special girl, honestly. I met her like five, six months ago. The funny thing is, I told somebody that she was the girl I wanted to be with before I even met her. It was before I met her, I was like, I’m probably going to end up with Ciara. True story.”
He continued:
“She’s been through some heartaches; I’ve been through some heartaches. I was married before. I married a person I went to high school with. I met her when I was 15. That didn’t work out, unfortunately. For me, I just trust that God would do the healing process; that he would figure things out for me. I’ve gone through some ups and downs and all of that. I had to really, really focus on walking in the Spirit and living in it. I met this girl named Ciara, who is the most beautiful woman in the world. She is the most kind woman in the world. She’s the most kind person; the most engaging person. She’s everything I could ever want.”
Check out his Q&A below.
Follow Jazmine on Twitter @JazmineDenise |
Varnish does more than just provide a protective sheen to a violin. It influences the vibrations and impulses that the wood absorbs and therefore the quality of sound the instrument produces, says Marjan Gilani of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technology (EMPA) in Switzerland. In research published in Springer's journal Applied Physics A, Gilani and her colleagues demonstrate the importance of the vibro-mechanical properties of varnish, its chemical composition, thickness and penetration into wood.
Often, a violin's sound board is made of spruce tonewood. Varnish is applied to protect the wood from the long-term effects of humidity and wear. Violin makers normally have their own particular method for applying varnish to finished instruments. It is applied in liquid form, and then dries to a solid transparent film.
Gilani's team investigated how the hardening effect of varnish changes the vibrational properties of master grade tonewood specimens when using four different varnishes. The researchers prepared two simple varnish recipes themselves, and obtained two other varnishes from German master violin makers. These were applied on specimens of Norway spruce tonewood cut from the outer and inner part of the same tree.
Non-destructive methods such as vibration tests and X-ray tomography techniques were used to take measurements before and after coating with the various varnishes, and at different stages of hardening. The thickness of the varnish and the depth to which it penetrates into the wood were among the features measured. The researchers carefully noted how the microstructure and physical properties of each varnish influences the wood's natural frequencies and internal damping. The latter refers to a material's ability to absorb and stop vibrations quite rapidly.
It was found that all the varnishes increased damping throughout the wood surface. A moderate increase of damping can, in general, benefit the sound of violins. When high notes are dampened, instruments sound warmer and more mellow. In unvarnished wood, the sound is faster along the grain and slower perpendicular to it. The sound is also damped more strongly perpendicular to the grain than along the grain. With all applied varnishes, these differences are reduced, leading to a more isotropic* sound radiation. The varnishes of the German violin makers reduced these differences even more than the laboratory varnishes. Additionally, their varnishes also allowed for a higher sound radiation than the laboratory varnishes, thus leading to a louder tone to be emitted.
"Varnish coating plays an important role for the long-term quality of the sound of wooden musical instruments, but as applied on the wood surface, impulse changes in the vibro-mechanical behaviour of wood can be recorded," says Gilani.
source: Springer |
Sword Fighting and Training Basics for Beginners
Sword Fighting 101: the pointy end goes in the other guy
While sword fighting skills may not be as much of a pressing need as it was to our ancestors, most sword collectors have an interest - whether it is largely academic, a lifelong dedication to training or just practicing a few moves and/or doing some occasional (safety conscious) 'backyard cutting'.
With this in mind, I am pleased to present to you a series of articles that address the more practical side of the hobby - Western, Eastern and general sword principles as well as links to further resources and much more to be added as this page expands over the coming months.
To get started, simply select your main area of interest from the menu below.
Select Your Sword Fighting Style
Universal Sword Fighting Principles
Did you know that you can read the classic treatise on Sword Fighting, the Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi for Free Online? Check it out here!
Like the humorous illustration at the top of this page, the basic principle of a sword fight was to deliver a fight ending blow without taking one yourself - or as the Sword Saint, Miyamoto Musashi put it, "the object is to cut down your enemy".
Simple enough, but as is often the case, the simple things in life are often overlooked.
While battle was and still is essentially chaotic in nature, and no plan survives first contact with the enemy, there are several characteristics and factors common to the winner (survivor) of a medieval duel, trial by combat or battlefield ordeal - and these are outlined in chapter 14 of Hank Reinhardt's excellent book, the Book of Swords as follows:
Physical Conditioning (modern people were nowhere near as tough as our ancestors) especially of the back and the abdomen, though cardio and strong wrists are key for Sword Fighting.
(modern people were nowhere near as tough as our ancestors) especially of the back and the abdomen, though cardio and strong wrists are key for Sword Fighting. Mental Aspects - specifically, Awareness & Calmness/Serenity.
- specifically, Awareness & Calmness/Serenity. Deception - fighting fair is a sure way to get you killed in a sword-fight. Historically, foul play was not only expected, it was par for the course.
- fighting fair is a sure way to get you killed in a sword-fight. Historically, foul play was not only expected, it was par for the course. Confidence and Toughness of Spirit
and Toughness of Spirit Rhythm - or rather, the lack of it. Falling into a predictable pattern is anathema to sword fighting.
- or rather, the lack of it. Falling into a predictable pattern is anathema to sword fighting. Intimidation - or rather, not being intimidated or using intimidation against a lesser opponent.
- or rather, not being intimidated or using intimidation against a lesser opponent. Timing and Distance - simple enough, but striking at the right time and being close enough to actually hit is a skill in itself.
- simple enough, but striking at the right time and being close enough to actually hit is a skill in itself. And finally Caution - not timidity, but having enough common sense to not underestimate your opponent.
Most of these factors to winning a sword fight, be it in a duel 400 years ago or in a modern day sports contest, are self explanatory, timeless principles. But while quite a few are more or less the correct 'winning' mentality and take years to cultivate, others are simple techniques or tricks.
For example, it is relatively easy to learn a few tricks and employ deception in Sword Fighting. Examples include, feigning weakness or fear before attacking strongly, glancing down at a leg, dropping the shoulder and feinting a downward blow only to whip it up and attack the helmet, or the classic Musashi tactic - feigning to jump aside when the enemy attacks, and then dashing in strongly the millisecond they relax..
Examples of Simple Deception in Sword Fighting
Example One
Figure 1: Fighter A closes the distance with sword raised preparing for what appears to be a mighty overhead strike.
Figure 2: With sword still raised, his actual attack is a hard kick to Fighter B's liver, groin, bladder or midsection, his sword raised to intercept against Fighter B's sword if the kick is unsuccessful, or attempt to deliver a follow up strike on his momentarily staggered opponent..
Example Two
Figure 1: Fighter A steps in and prepares to deliver a full force overhead attack on Fighter B with speed and intent.
Figure 2: Fighter B wisely parries the attack with the forte (strongest part) of his sword.
Figure 3: Without missing a beat, fighter A follows up with what looks like the same attack he did in figure 1, however..
Figure 4: While looking at the opponents head and keeping the actual target only in his peripheral vision, he sidesteps out of the way of any potential counterattack and attacks with one hand, suddenly dropping the attack into his opponents foremost leg. Because the first attack was so strong and potentially deadly, Fighter B is likely to fall for the feint.
Simple tricks like these work, but they do not occur in a vacuum. One of the classic Musashi tactics is to utilize everything in the environment to your advantage - such as standing with the sun behind you so that the glare distracts your opponent, or chasing them in such a way that they trip over inanimate objects behind them.
However real skill at sword fighting occurs not from a few simple tricks, but when all the winning factors are present. As Hank and Musashi both note, it all comes together when you are 'in the zone' - when you aren't really thinking about anything in particular and just let everything happen naturally, with the right technique at the right time delivered at the right speed to the right target at the right distance.
To achieve this state of 'no-mind' one must train diligently. Below are some training techniques from an excellent resource I found to help you create the necessary foundation.
Basic Attacks and Lines of Defense
There are basically 8 angles of attack with a sword when cutting - straight down, straight up (ouch!), diagonally down to the right, diagonally down to the left, diagonally up to the right, diagonally up to the left and left and right strikes horizontally.
While other angles are theoretically possible, they are all pretty much variations of the 8 main attack angles - as are thrusts.
Most experts agree that if you want to win at sword fighting, you are better off seizing the offensive than waiting for the right time to counter-attack. But no matter how skilled you are on the offense, at some point you will have to take some defensive action, and for that there are basically 5 main counters as shown below.
1: Can be used to defend against an overhead attack and should have enough space so that it can absorb the force of the incoming blow. The same basic principle can be used against a rising vertical attack, though with the sword held downwards instead of up.
2: Simply extending the arm outwards and away from the body can parry most downward diagonal cuts or thrusts or high horizontal attacks coming from the left to the right.
3: Conversely, an attack from right to left is parried by swinging the arm across the body.
4: Diagonal rising cuts, cuts directed to the right leg, or low horizontal attacks can be parried by dropping the sword downwards and bracing with enough space to absorb the impact of the blow.
5: Conversely, low attacks directed to the left side of the body are parried by turning the wrist so that it faces outwards and sweeping the attack aside.
Unlike Hollywood however, parries should be a last resort and should be part of a layered defense as the best option to avoid an incoming strike or thrust is to not be there when the strike comes in, by a combination of footwork, slipping or ducking the attack and having a parry in place as a last line of defense.
Sword Training Drills
It is a controversial book, with stick figure illustrations and somewhat lightweight at only 80 pages. But the Modern Swordsman by Fred Hutchinson is, at least in my opinion, one of the very best books on Sword Fighting and Sword training for the self taught swordsman ever written..
From training on a wooden pell to deliberately practicing sword strikes in slow motion with exaggerated strikes that extend beyond the ideal to simulate the effects of an adrenaline surge on technique, to recommendations to train with overly heavy swords to build up muscle all the right spots and make a normal sword feel weightless, this book is jam packed with unique and innovative sword training ideas.
For example, have you ever thought about training your hand eye coordination by striking or thrusting at floating, randomly moving bubbles?
You would be surprised how hard it is - and how such a simple drill can dramatically increase your precision and ability to avoid focusing on details that will distract you or cause you to lose focus.
Probably the best $7.99 I ever spent on a Sword Fighting Book and absolutely no fluff or filler..
Real Sword Fighting
Why train for it and what it would really be like..
No-one these days who trains in swordsmanship literally expect to end up in a life and death sword fight. But most serious martial artists who study the sword, be it in the Eastern or the Western Tradition mentally train as if preparing for the real thing in order for it to be valid and as Guy Windsor so eloquently put it in his book Sword Fighting For Writers, Game Designers and Martial Artists "Every martial art is, at its root, a way to handle the terror that comes with someone trying to kill you".
In a very personal story by Guy, he explains how his sword training helped him cope with the stress of almost losing both his wife and his baby daughter to a pregnancy gone horribly wrong in its late stages. Part of this was combat breathing (in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4) but the majority of his strength came from his sword training experiences and mental toughening it brings about..
Because back in the day, real sword fighting was much more hideous, viscous and downright frightening than Hollywood could ever imagine.Forensic archeologists have found that the vast majority of skeletons found on the battlefield took several hideous blows before they finally succumbed to their wounds..
In his book, Guy writes on the subject:
"The mental state of the combatants is usually maximum arousal expressed as rage, especially when wounded. The records abound with tales of men continuing to fight long after a sensible modern person would have stopped and called an ambulance... There is no pain in the midst of combat. That comes later"
Test Cutting
Probably the most exciting part of training, other than sword fighting and sparring practice, is test cutting - and it is practiced at various levels.
From formalized and very serious Japanese Tameshigiri to casual backyard cutting of water filled bottles, often all you need is to take into account some very important safety considerations, a suitable target and - of course - a well made and sharp sword.
So what is a suitable target? Well, here are some that are popular in the sword training community:
Soft rush mats, either tatami mats or cheaper beach mats (though beach mats do tend to scratch up a blade and are not as consistent as tatami).
Water filled P.E.T. bottles and milk jugs
Pool noodles (great for perfecting speed and edge alignment)
Carpet Rolls
Bamboo or River Cane
Cardboard Tubes or boxes (though cardboard can scratch up a blade as well as they often have some of the abrasive grit used in the pulping process left behind).
Rolls of soaked newspaper, either with or without a PVC insert to simulate bone.
Of course, for the sharp sword part - you'll find plenty of reviews and information on many different types of swords in the various sections of SBG.
But for information on what kind of targets to use and how to cut safely, I think you'll find the free ebook and video below to be of some considerable benefit:
FREE EBOOKS FROM SBG!
100% free to download PDF eBooks from SBG. Simply click on the cover to download - no messing about, no asking for your email address, no need to subscribe to our newsletter (though you can if you like, its how we will tell you when new ones become available).
Just free information (free to read, free to distribute - just don't change anything or try to sell them!)
No BS, just free downloads
An important Word on Sword Safety
WARNING - GRAPHIC IMAGE DIRECTLY AHEAD...
VIDEO: Sword Safety 101
A MUST watch video for everyone and anyone who handles swords
They say a picture tells a thousand words..
And in this case, the picture sent to me below is the best way to REALLY drive it home that swords are not toys and that a moments lack of concentration can have implications that last a lifetime...
This injury was caused by a Gladius sword that cut right through the target and kept going, biting deep into the cutters leg and causing him to lose 6 pints of blood and requiring 66 stitches and emergency surgery...
Swords are not toys. So please, for your own sake AT THE VERY LEAST, watch the video to avoid this kind of thing happening to you...
Seriously.
I hope you found this information on sword fighting and training helpful. To return to the Sword Buyers Guide Hompage from Sword Fighting and Training Basics, click here |
The highly affordable STM32 Nucleo boards allow anyone to try out new ideas and to quickly create prototypes with any STM32 MCU.
Sharing the same connectors, STM32 Nucleo boards can easily be extended with a large number of specialized application hardware add-ons (Nucleo-64 include Arduino Uno rev3 & ST morpho connectors, Nucleo-32 include Arduino Nano connectors).
The STM32 Nucleo boards integrate an ST-Link debugger/programmer, so there is no need for a separate probe.
A comprehensive STM32 software HAL library together with various software examples are provided with the STM32 Nucleo boards, and seamlessly work with a wide range of development environments including IAR EWARM, Keil MDK-ARM, mbed and GCC/LLVM-based IDEs.
All STM32 Nucleo users have free access to the mbed online resources (compiler, C/C++ SDK, and developer community) at www.mbed.org allowing to build a complete application in only a few minutes. |
By By Scott Tuttle Nov 28, 2013 in World Kano - In a campaign to enforce a law in place since 2001, police in the north Nigerian city of Kano confiscated 240,000 bottles of beer on Wednesday which was taken to a landfill and destroyed. Hisbah, the patrol unit that enforces Sharia law, had been collecting alcohol and cigarettes from incoming trucks over the past few weeks until its total stockpile grew to an impressive 240,000 bottles of beer, 8,000 liters of a local alcoholic beverage called burukutu, and 340,000 cigarettes. Before a large crowd cheering "Allah Ahkbar," (God is great) a large bulldozer destroyed the cache of seized products on Wednesday. "We hope this measure will help restore the tarnished image of Kano. ...We hereby send warning to unrepentant offenders that Hisbah personnel will soon embark on an operation into every nook and corner of (Kano) state to put an end to the sale and consumption of alcohol and all other intoxicants," said The Hisbah police force works in conjunction with the regular police in Kano. They share many similar law enforcement duties, but the Hisbah are also involved in community services, development work, and dispute resolution. They generally focus their investigations on what Islamic law deems as immoral behavior rather than ordinary crimes. According to First and second offenders arrested by the Hisbah are typically given counseling, and repeat offenders are more often given fines and/or jail sentences. The Hisbah operates in multiple states in the north of Nigeria where most of the country's Muslim population lives. They are approximately 9,000 officers strong. Kano is the regional capital of the state bearing the same name in the northern, predominantly Muslim half of Nigeria. According to Associated Press , Sharia law was introduced to nine of Nigeria's 37 states back in 2001, but had been lightly enforced until recently when the state government passed a directive calling for stricter implementation.Hisbah, the patrol unit that enforces Sharia law, had been collecting alcohol and cigarettes from incoming trucks over the past few weeks until its total stockpile grew to an impressive 240,000 bottles of beer, 8,000 liters of a local alcoholic beverage called burukutu, and 340,000 cigarettes.Before a large crowd cheering "Allah Ahkbar," (God is great) a large bulldozer destroyed the cache of seized products on Wednesday."We hope this measure will help restore the tarnished image of Kano. ...We hereby send warning to unrepentant offenders that Hisbah personnel will soon embark on an operation into every nook and corner of (Kano) state to put an end to the sale and consumption of alcohol and all other intoxicants," said Aminu Daurawa , chief of Kano's Hisbah unit.The Hisbah police force works in conjunction with the regular police in Kano. They share many similar law enforcement duties, but the Hisbah are also involved in community services, development work, and dispute resolution. They generally focus their investigations on what Islamic law deems as immoral behavior rather than ordinary crimes.According to Mohammed Yusuf Yola , a spokesman for Hisbah, “Those arrested include Muslims and non-Muslims and we treat them equally because this is about morality.”First and second offenders arrested by the Hisbah are typically given counseling, and repeat offenders are more often given fines and/or jail sentences.The Hisbah operates in multiple states in the north of Nigeria where most of the country's Muslim population lives. They are approximately 9,000 officers strong. More about Nigeria, Beer, Sharia law, Police, Islam More news from Nigeria Beer Sharia law Police Islam |
Could gender differences in the symptoms of autism mask their prevalence in girls? A recent study into autistic friendships highlights some striking asymmetries.
According to a new study, the way in which autistic boys and girls enter friendships can be quite different. According to a new study, the way in which autistic boys and girls enter friendships can be quite different.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that around 1 in 68 American children have been identified with an autism spectrum disorder.
Autism appears to be far more prevalent in males than females; almost five times more boys are thought to have the disorder than girls. According to the CDC, around 1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls are on the autistic spectrum.
Research being presented today at the British Psychological Society's Division of Educational and Child Psychology puts an interesting slant on autism, friendship and the differences between girls and boys.
Felicity Sedgewick and her team at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London in the UK conducted a study comparing autistic children's relationships with the relationships of non-autistic children of equivalent age.
In total, 46 young people, aged 12-16, all of a similar intellectual level, were assessed by a number of psychological measures and interviewed at length.
According to Sedgewick:
"Autism is seen as being much more common in boys because more boys than girls are diagnosed as being on the spectrum. This may be because diagnostic tools and criteria have been developed with boys and so are more biased towards identifying a 'male presentation' of autism. So it is important to look at possible differences between autistic girls and boys to understand differences in the presentation of autistic features."
Gender differences in autistic relationships
Sedgewick's results showed that the girls, autistic or otherwise, had similar scores for social motivation and friendship quality. Autistic girls, however, reported substantially less conflict in their closest relationships when compared with non-autistic girls.
As far as the autistic males were concerned, their relationships were qualitatively different. They were less motivated to form friendships and the bonds they did build were less secure, close or helpful than their non-autistic peers.
One of the key findings was that the relationships of autistic girls were more similar to those of non-autistic girls than they were like autistic male's relationships. The autistic girls were also less likely to pick up on conflict within their relationships than non-autistic girls.
The results are a tantalizing glimpse into how a non-gender specific diagnosis might not always pick out autistic girls. Sedgewick says:
"Our findings show that the problems dealing with social relationships are more subtle in autistic girls than they are in autistic boys, which might contribute to the difficulties detecting autism in girls. Dealing with conflict with friends and significant others could be an important area to target when supporting girls and young women on the spectrum."
The gender discussion
The question of gender and autism is a huge one. It encompasses a number of issues and potential avenues for research. At one end of the spectrum, there is the possibility that the diagnosis of female autism is lacking. Perhaps a male-oriented clinical research setting has led to skewed diagnostic tools.
The questions raised by the gender discussion are not limited to diagnostic frameworks, though. Could it be that females are better at masking autistic traits? Are autistic girls less likely to be disruptive at school and therefore less likely to be brought to the attention of teachers and psychologists?
Some research has shown that autistic boys are more likely to display repetitive behavior than autistic girls; perhaps this makes them easier to spot.
However, it could well be that autism is indeed more common in males (perhaps not such a large difference as is currently believed, but the difference may remain). This raises the question: why do males seem to display autism more often than girls?
Is this gender split due to biochemistry? Is it a hormonal imbalance? A subtle difference in brain structure? The questions are mounting up. Dr. Judith Gould, consultant clinical psychologist and director at The Lorna Wing Centre for Autism says:
"Autism is more diverse than originally thought, with new ideas being put forward every day. In fact, it's a case of 'the more we know, the less we know,' particularly in how gender affects individuals with autism."
A disorder as varied and complex as autism is unlikely to be fully understood for a long time, but these kinds of discussions are illuminating and necessary.
Medical News Today recently covered research investigating how a genetic mutation can cause autism. |
NEW DELHI: A 21-year-old Delhi University student allegedly hanged herself at her residence in north Delhi's Roop Nagar over repeated threats by her lover to leak their personal videos on social media.The girl, a BCom student at the School of Open Learning, left behind a suicide note blaming her lover for her death, police said. Her family alleged that she had recently lodged a rape complaint at the Model Town police station but the cops failed to act swiftly on it. After the girl killed herself on Monday evening, police registered a case of abetment to suicide against the accused, identified as Ved Prakash, who hails from Patna. “ A team has been sent to arrest him,“ said Jatin Narwal , deputy commissioner of police (north). Police said the girl's family was in Madhya Pradesh.She had come to Delhi for her studies and fell in love with fellow-student Prakash here. The two lived in the same locality and had planned to get married before things turned sour. “Probe revealed that the two were in a relationship for three years but their families did not approve of it. Prakash was forcing the girl to leave her family and come with him to Bihar, but she was unwilling,“ a police officer said. According to the suicide note, Prakash was threatening to leak some of their personal videos if she did not leave her parents, police said.Police said the note also mentions that when she asked Prakash to marry her, he left for his home in Bihar. “He allegedly started avoiding her calls and stopped meeting her. He then told her that if she wished to marry him, she would have to leave her family and studies and come to visit him. When she refused and went back to her parents' house, he kept stalking her and threatened to tarnish her image by uploading their private pictures and videos online,“ a police source said.“The woman had registered a complaint under sections of rape on April 8 and a case was immediately registered. While we were enquiring into the matter, the girl took the extreme step,“ said Milind Dumbere, deputy commissioner of police (northwest). |
Oh my my, oh hell yes, honey put on that party dress.
thursday
RAUNCHSTAR-JUMBO ROLLERS-THE HISSY FITS
ROCK & ROLL on the Oceanfront! It’s a BANG! BANG! BANG! of summertime ROCK with Raunchstar-Jumbo Rollers-The Hissy Fits! FREE! FREE! FREE! Norfolk Comdy Festival: Locals Only Show The hometown heroes of comedy bring their best to the stage Thursday night! Not Quite Nobody: Teen Improv, Nerd Alert, Absolute Uncertainty, and the Made Up Movie.
friday
Handsome Biscuit Patio
ATTENZIONE – Fri & Sat we will be open until 9pm – Patio is coming together plus we got our ABC license. 2 can beers 2 keep it simple. #smartmouth #oskarblues #staywithmelotgoingonhere
It’s the best in sketch and improv comedy from New York to Charleston… and everywhere in between. This show features hometown heroes The Pushers, returning favorites Cats Hugging Cats and The Richmond Comedy Coalition, and making their Norfolk Comedy Festival debut… New York duo, The Bartenders.
Mid-Summer Fantasy Festival: Moon Take Thy Flight
Norfolk Festevents and Virginia Stage Company (VSC) team up to present Moon Take Thy Flight, the second installment of A Midsummer Fantasy Fest. This interactive performance art event will convene in Town Point Park, July 25th-27th, 2014 and will explore the story of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream through an eclectic assembly of visual and performance artists, large scale puppetry, musicians and event designers.
Click here for the AltDaily preview.
SINK TAPES // BANTUSTANS // FROOD July 25th @ Belmont!
SINK TAPES (NJ)
http:// sinktapes.bandcamp.com/
BANTUSTANS
https://soundcloud.com/ mtwar004/ eliot-kraemer-by-bantustans
FROOD
http:// thefroods.bandcamp.com/
Reefer Madness, the Musical
Inspired by the original 1936 film of the same name, this raucous musical comedy takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the hysteria caused when clean-cut kids fall prey to marijuana, leading them on a bizarre downward spiral filled with evil jazz music, sex and violence. You won’t be able to resist the drug-fueled fun of REEFER MADNESS.
#MIDSUMMERMOON AFTER PARTY w/ KELSIE MCNAIR & KARACELL
at the Parlor on Granby
Cap off a night of Magik and Surreal Experience with the #MIDSUMMERMOON Afterparty at the Parlor this Friday Night at 10pm!
Two amazing musical performers, Kelsie McNair and Logan Laurent , from this weekends Va Stage Company & FestEvents produced MOON TAKE THY FLIGHT will be joining us for an extended session of beautiful music, wonderful people and perfect vibes.
saturday
Robot Build!!!! International NodeBots Day
We are partnering with the NorfolkJS crew to celebrate International NodeBots Day by building JavaScript-powered robots! Beginners, experienced makers, and families are all welcome to attend.
Lunar Frolic Party at Moon Take Thy Flight
You’re invited to very special (secret) little party (drinks with all our favorite people)…
NCF: Stand Up Blast with Matt Ward (2 Shows)
Matt Ward is a father, comedian, comedy show producer, writer and musician. He is an anomaly among his pears focusing on balancing the most important parts of his life. To Ward, balance is the meaning of life. “As a lover of comedy I work hard to balance not only being a great comedy producer, but a strong comedian as well. I want to be great on both sides of the mic.” Ward says. Others marvel at the amount of projects Ward is involved in.
Soulshine ft. Michael Franti & Spearhead/SOJA/Brett Dennen/Trevor Hall
FantaSci 2014
Fantasy and Science Fiction combine at FantaSci!
Peninsula Fine Arts Center (Pfac) Emerging Artisits exhibit!
Emerging Virginia Artists provides a platform for 10 artists coming into their own, all with ties to the Commonwealth.
Click here for the AltDaily review.
THE BOTTLE BABIES/LISA DOLL AND THE ROCK&ROLL ROMANCE/MANANA COUCH
THE BOTTLE BABIES RELEASE THEIR NEW CD “NORFOLK’S FINEST” W/ SPECIAL GUESTS LISA DOLL & THE ROCK & ROLL ROMANCE (BALTIMORE) AND MANANA COUCH(BROOKLYN)!!!
Taste of Art: Legacy Celebration Fundraiser
An evening featuring Filipino American and Filipino artists of the 757 – visual, music, sculpture, digital animation, Asian fusion tapas, spoken word, & more. Yes, more!
BEACH PARTY!!! Belmont House of Smoke Presents:
the Miss ECSC Bikini Contest and Beach Party!
THE BEACH IS COMING TO GHENT!
We’re thrilled to turn the parking lot behind Belmont House of Smoke into the BEACH on Saturday, July 26th (yes, during the Bar Crawl and no, you don’t have to be part of the crawl to the come to the Beach Party) .
some AltDaily-related ish next week
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”— Ferris.
Pick-up Soccer Downtown
In Town Point Park. Let’s sweat upon each other.
Facebook Comments |
Do you remember “glo-fi”? The much maligned chillwave? Of course you do … for now. It’s interesting to note that after all of 2010’s trendy genre terms and hot-for-a-minute one-man bands, our Top 5 consists of a handful of sturdy veterans. The Top 10 expands to include a couple newcomers, newbies amid, again, three established crews. What does it mean? Well, the situation’s analogue to 2006 when a number of so-called “blog rock” bands like Tapes ‘N Tapes, Clap Your Hand Say Yeah, and Cold War Kids made immediate wav(v)es, but albums released by old standbys received the year-end kudos. This isn’t to say you should reject the new — there are plenty of debut albums in our Top 50 and plenty of worthwhile debuts that didn’t make it — but it does say something about the amount of music released and processed and then forgotten in any given year. (Trivia: Which band that debuted in ’06 made it into our Top 5?) A positive result of all the fractures, fissures, flashy genre names: The average listener is definitely hearing more music and becoming more adventurous than in, say, 2006. (Sorry Decemberists.) Which means bands that may have seemed too “weird” for a casual listener even a few years ago are popping up in unexpected places in 2010.
It’s unclear why — oil slicks, down economy, jeggings — but it’s also been a much darker year for music via bands like Crystal Castles, oOoOO, Balam Acab, Zola Jesus, White Ring, Salem, Frank (Just Frank), the sundry so-called “witch house” (and Wierd) crews. As a result, the following list features more than a couple folks who might be charged with having goth tendencies (or at least black nail polish and old Cure and/or Kate Bush shirts). To take this sense of adventure into another direction, our No. 1 is someone your father might even know about and our No. 5 is on a “major label.” Notions of what “indie rockers” listen to is shifting and expanding, a positive step toward escaping the pratfalls of across-the-board year-end list homogeneity.
One of the fun things about lists is discovery, so it doesn’t make sense giving away too much, but we will say that what follows is the result of four people saying yes and no and maybe, and that if you were to break out individual lists from it, they’d look very different. (That said, if you asked us to collaborate again, it would look very much the same.) It should be noted that the following doesn’t include any metal — a separate one-man list for the heavy stuff will show up in Haunting The Chapel later this month, so please don’t ask why we didn’t include Agalloch or Watain. Also, we disqualified EPs; those get their own special ranking below the main list.
Start digging, digesting, and disagreeing.
50 Emeralds – Does It Look Like I’m Here?
49 Small Black – New Chain
48 Sharon Van Etten – Epic
47 Baths – Cerulean
46 Frank (Just Frank) – The Brutal Wave
45 Perfume Genius – Learning
44 Field Music – Field Music (Measure)
43 Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty
42 Lower Dens – Twin-Hand Movement
41 Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal
40 Glasser – Ring
39 Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner
38 Avey Tare – Down There
37 jj – jj nº3
36 the morning benders – Big Echo
35 Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
34 Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
33 MGMT – Congratulations
32 Twin Shadow – Forget
31 Warpaint – The Fool
30 Das Racist – Shut Up, Dude
29 Matthew Dear – Black City
28 Delorean – Subiza
27 Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid
26 Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
25 ceo – White Magic
24 Tamaryn – The Waves
23 SALEM – King Night
22 Marnie Stern – Marnie Stern
21 Liars – Sisterworld
20 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today
19 Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma
18 Abe Vigoda – Crush
17 Owen Pallett – Heartland
16 The National – High Violet
15 The-Dream – Love King
14 Yeasayer – Odd Blood
13 LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
12 Crystal Castles – II
11 Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
10 Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
09 Wild Nothing – Gemini
08 Antony & The Johnsons – Swanlights
07 Vampire Weekend – Contra
06 Sleigh Bells – Treats
05 Robyn – Body Talk
04 Sufjan Stevens – The Age Of Adz
03 Beach House – Teen Dream
02 Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
01 Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
//
Here’s that list in more copy/paste friendly format so you can post on your LiveJournal:
50 Emeralds – Does It Look Like I Am Here?
49 Small Black – New Chain
48 Sharon Van Etten – Epic
47 Baths – Cerulean
46 Frank (Just Frank) – The Brutal Wave
45 Perfume Genius – Learning
44 Field Music – Field Music (Measure)
43 Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
42 Lower Dens – Twin-Hand Movement
41 Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal
40 Glasser – Ring
39 Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner
38 Avey Tare – Down There
37 jj – jj nº3
36 the morning benders – Big Echo
35 Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
34 Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
33 MGMT – Congratulations
32 Twin Shadow – Forget
31 Warpaint – The Fool
30 Das Racist – Shut Up, Dude
29 Matthew Dear – Black City
28 Delorean – Subiza
27 Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid
26 Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
25 ceo – White Magic
24 Tamaryn – The Waves
23 SALEM – King Night
22 Marnie Stern – Marnie Stern
21 Liars – Sisterworld
20 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today
19 Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma
18 Abe Vigoda – Crush
17 Owen Pallett – Heartland
16 The National – High Violet
15 The-Dream – Love King
14 Yeasayer – Odd Blood
13 LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
12 Crystal Castles – II
11 Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
10 Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
09 Wild Nothing – Gemini
08 Antony & The Johnsons – Swanlights
07 Vampire Weekend – Contra
06 Sleigh Bells – Treats
05 Robyn – Body Talk
04 Sufjan Stevens – The Age Of Adz
03 Beach House – Teen Dream
02 Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
01 Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
//
Coming up with the Stereogum list meant leaving out some personal favorites of our four staff members, so here are each of our HONORABLE MENTIONS:
//
And as mentioned in the intro, we decided to do EPs as a separate list — because, really, as we started compiling our individual staff lists we released 2010 generated more amazing EPs than any year in our collective recent memory.
STEREOGUM’S TOP 15 EPS OF 2010
15 Blondes – Touched
14 Laurel Halo – King Felix
13 Kingdom – Mind Reader
12 Gatekeeper – Giza
11 Janka Nabay – Bubu King
10 Lemonade – Pure Moods
09 Tanlines – Settings
08 oOoOO – oOoOO
07 Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People
06 Games – Everything Is Working
05 Balam Acab – See Birds
04 Girls – Broken Dreams Club
03 Twin Sister – Color Your Life
02 James Blake – CMYK
01 Zola Jesus – Stridulum
THE GUMMY AWARDS
Finally, remember the Gummy Awards? This would’ve been their fifth year, but we realized too late that the code to build it was swallowed when we moved to WordPress earlier this year. So this is a modified Gummys, because we still want to know what you think. Fill out these fields by Friday 12/17 at 6 PM EST and we’ll post the rankings soon after. We won’t use your e-mail address (no spam-o) to do anything other than pick one voter at random to receive a Wavves grinder (i.e., the perfect stocking stuffer). |
Javier Pastore has enjoyed three successful seasons in the French capital.
Paris Saint-Germain playmaker Javier Pastore is not planning to return to Serie A with Juventus, according to his agent.
- Johnson: Defeat won't slow Lavezzi
- Madrid's Di Maria set for PSG - report
Pastore, 25, signed for PSG from Palermo in 2011 for 32 million pounds and has impressed in his three seasons at the Parc des Princes, winning two successive Ligue 1 titles.
The Argentina international -- who was omitted from his nation's 2014 World Cup squad -- has been linked with a move to Serie A champions Juve in the Italian media, with new Bianconeri boss Massimiliano Allegri believed to be an admirer of the player.
However Pastore's agent Marcelo Simonian claimed the reports are nothing more than hearsay.
"Is Juventus interested in Pastore? No one has called me but I can confirm that Pastore will remain at PSG," Simonian told Tuttomercatoweb.com.
Pastore is under contract with PSG until June 2016. |
The jury has spoken in the Trayvon Martin case, rendering a verdict that many find infuriating and unjust. Now it’s time for the rest of the nation to be heard, and the discussion has begun in earnest, online and in churches, at workplaces and in bars, on television and at street protests. Across Twitter and other social media, and in a million places in the real world, a national argument has begun over what exactly the killing and trial mean.
Largely lacking from the discussion, unfortunately, is a clear analysis of where, whether, and how race fits into the case and its aftermath. For all the talk about a new conversation on race in the age of Obama, the Zimmerman trial serves as a bitter reminder that Americans, by and large, do not tackle this touchy subject—and when we do, the term of the debate are cramped, unclear, emotionally charged, and unlikely to lead to insight or shared understanding.
It’s not that people aren’t trying. The problem is that Americans, wishing to bring about a colorblind society, often end up being colormute—fearful of offending, we simply clam up about race and racism, confining our blunt, not-politically-correct sentiments or questions to small groups of trusted friends and family.
Then, when we attempt a public discussion, participants start out in different mental and moral universes, with almost nothing in the way of shared assumptions, facts, or understanding of how society works. It’s a formula for conversational disaster, after which people decide it’s better to keep their mouths shut—remaining colormute in a society that desperately needs a rational conversation about race.
“All Americans, every day, are reinforcing racial distinctions and racialized thinking by using race labels; but we are also reinforcing racial inequality by refusing to use them,” writes anthropologist Mica Pollock. “By using race words carelessly and particularly by deleting race words, I am convinced, both policymakers and laypeople in America help reproduce the very racial inequalities that plague us.”
I got a dose of the problem the morning after the verdict was announced, when I was a guest on a call-in radio program, “Religion on the Line,” with Rabbi Joseph Potasnik and Deacon Kevin McCormack. I had been booked to talk about local electoral politics, but the Zimmerman case was the topic of the moment, so we got into it.
One caller, who described himself as a 53-year-old white man, said in rapid succession that:
1. He was sick of university professors always demeaning white men.
2. Blacks commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime in America.
3. Black Americans should deal with the violent-crime issue rather than expend energy and time on situations like the killing of Trayvon Martin.
My few minutes were hardly adequate to even begin sorting through his long list of grievances and bias.
Listening to a black radio station later that night, I heard callers conclude, in ahistorical despair, that Trayvon's killing was akin in all essential matters to the notorious 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old kidnapped, beaten, and murdered after flirting with a white woman in segregated Tallahatchie County, Mississippi.
Online, the debate raged on with a range of emotions from sadness to rage to deep cynicism. In one strikingly off-base meme, a popular viral image of a Photoshopped Martin Luther King Jr. wearing a hoodie posits Trayvon as a civil-rights hero. Conservative bloggers, resorting to a favorite theme, noted a lack of protest over victims of neighborhood violence in Chicago, implying that black communities and civil-rights leaders do, say, and care nothing about black-on-black violence.
The long and short of it is that we mostly avoid talking about race publicly until it’s unavoidable—at which time we have a maximum of misunderstanding thanks to the long silences and are pretty much guaranteed to talk past one another.
It’s a very old problem: in 1903, in The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. DuBois famously noted that white acquaintances often danced around the question they really wanted to ask: How does it feel to be a problem? DuBois said he smiled and rarely answered.
American talk of race reminds me of the striking fact that, if asked to sketch a picture, many adults—even learned, sophisticated adults—often produce scrawls that resemble those of a second grader. Why? Because for many of us, second grade is pretty much the last time any teacher made a serious attempt at a serious explanation and drills on how to execute the basics of perspective, human form, color, shadow, and light on the page.
Something similar goes on with race. A Twitter follower suggested to me, in apparent seriousness, that black Americans should work on lowering the level of black out-of-wedlock births, which in turn would lead to less crime and higher educational attainment.
How this would have helped a future Trayvon Martin (whose parents I have met) remains a mystery to me, unless the assumption is that racial profiling is a rational response to statistics about births and test scores. But assuming the suggestion was earnest and not malicious, it suggests a level of confusion about culture, social inequality, and political change that would require more than a bit of conversation to cure.
But there are too many incentives for people to stay mute: as Pollock notes, teachers and school administrators who talk openly about racial differences among students face serious professional risks, including lawsuits and firings. The same is true in corporate and government settings, where fear of getting in trouble creates a convenient incentive to simply allow unequal treatment and stereotypes to flourish.
Politically, President Obama, who called for a national conversation on race, has learned the hard way that he gets damaged every time he initiates or even participates in such a talk.
The minefield of race even became an issue in the case of George Zimmerman: Judge Debra Nelson specifically warned prosecutors not to use the phrase "racial profiling” during the trial, although the more limited "profiling" was allowed.
So when audiotape of Zimmerman’s 911 call picked up him muttering "These fucking punks," and “these assholes always get away,” prosecutors were banned from saying he was drawing the kind of conclusions that people draw every day about black boys.
Trayvon, said Zimmerman to the 911 dispatcher, "looks like he's up to no good or he's on drugs or something. Something's wrong with him."
What did he mean by that? an investigator later asked Zimmerman.
The shooter’s answer: “I don’t know.” Like so many other Americans, he went mute at the moment of truth. That may have saved Zimmerman from prison, but it leaves the rest of us that much more in need of straight talk about the crisis that dares not speak its name. |
We return to the camp outside Freehold, shortly after Regan’s clandestine departure. Jen and Nelson receive stark prospects for their futures from a newly candid Nia, who also speculates about important matters metaphysical and arcane. Brennen and Yllowyyn disagree about the next steps in Brennen’s ongoing campaign, and Yllowyyn’s place in it. But once Jen comes clean about Regan’s whereabouts and intentions, Brennen drops everything and chases after his Queen in great haste.
Our next episode will be released on April 9. We hope you’ll join us then.
In the meantime, March has seen an industry-wide push to introduce more people to podcasts in general. If you have any friends who don’t listen to podcasts, recommend this show or anything else you think they might enjoy. If you do it on social media, you can use #TryPod. |
The people’s representatives can’t agree on much of anything these days — even calling a recess.
When senators and members of the House went home for their Independence Day break, they didn’t, or couldn’t, agree on an adjournment resolution. So they did what they usually do: They went into “pro-forma session,” a status when they are technically working but don’t actually do anything. Come to think of it, that’s pretty much how it is when they’re in town, too.
I visited the congressional galleries Tuesday to catch this week’s pro-forma action. On the House floor, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) was giving a lecture about D.C. voting rights to schoolchildren, who squirmed. Nearby, three maintenance workers tinkered with the electronic voting system, illuminating the board that shows which bill is up for a vote.
“MOTION,” it said. “TO TEST THE EVS.” No objection was heard, so apparently the resolution passed.
Lawmakers are home. Staffers in the Capitol lounge in open-collar shirts. But make no mistake: Congress is in session.
The U.S. Capital dome. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)
President Obama made this mistake. He made recess appointments during a pro-forma session, claiming it was really a recess, and the Supreme Court unanimously smacked him down last week: “The Senate is in session when it says it is, provided that, under its own rules, it retains the capacity to transact Senate business.”
It didn’t seem to matter to the justices that the body seldom “retains the capacity to transact Senate business” even (or especially) when its members are in town.
Obama vented his frustration Monday, condemning “the failure of House Republicans to pass a darn bill” on immigration. He defended executive actions again Tuesday, saying that “as long as they insist on taking no action whatsoever that will help anybody, I’m going to keep on taking actions on my own.”
Congress has passed just 56 public laws this year, for a total of 121 since the beginning of 2013. This virtually guarantees the current Congress will be the least productive in history, well behind the “do nothing” Congress of 1948, which passed more than 900 bills. And many of the 121 bills are not exactly weighty (H.R. 1071: “To specify the size of the precious-metal blanks that will be used in the production of the National Baseball Hall of Fame commemorative coins.”)
The GOP House won’t take up immigration or unemployment insurance, but it has passed many bills that Obama doesn’t want to sign and Senate Democrats don’t want to pass, including opening the Keystone XL pipeline, repealing the medical-device tax and 40 smaller items House leaders call “jobs” bills.
In the Senate, only nine bills have passed in roll-call votes this year (a half-dozen other substantive bills have passed by unanimous consent) and not one of the 13 appropriations bills. The Democratic majority claims the chamber has been bottled up by the Republicans, who in turn say Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has shut them out of the process. Both have a point.
According to a Republican leadership tally, Reid has granted only 11 roll-call votes on Republican amendments in the last year, and he has used a procedural tactic known as “filling the tree” 86 times in this Congress to block Republican amendments. That’s more than twice the number of times — 40 — used by the previous six majority leaders combined.
The difficulty in declaring a recess shows how far things have slipped. Reid began objecting to adjournments late in the Bush administration to prevent recess appointments. Republicans have used the same tactic in the last few years. The Constitution doesn’t allow either chamber to be out of session for more than three days without the other’s approval, and majorities in both are evidently wary of forcing adjournment votes, which could be seen as voting themselves vacations. Hence, the pro-forma Congress.
On Monday, the House opened for business at 11:30 a.m. — and after 3 minutes and 18 seconds (time for an opening prayer and Pledge of Allegiance) it recessed until a similar charade scheduled for Thursday. The Senate gaveled in at noon Monday and, dispensing with prayer and pledge, gaveled out 28 seconds later.
On Tuesday morning, public-address speakers near the (empty) Senate floor announced a shelter-in-place drill. I poked my head into the secretary of the Senate’s office and surprised a man in a sport shirt. “This is my pro-forma gear,” quipped a tieless Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), when we met in McConnell’s empty reception room.
Lawmakers return next week in time to resolve some pressing questions: Will they have the nerve to declare a formal recess when they leave for August? And will anybody notice that they’re gone?
Twitter: @Milbank
Read more from Dana Milbank’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. |
From time to time, the Singularity Hub editorial team unearths a gem from the archives and wants to share it all over again. It’s usually a piece that was popular back then and we think is still relevant now. This is one of those articles. It was originally published August 10, 2010. We hope you enjoy it!
You don’t have a flying car, jetpack, or ray gun, but this is still the future. How do I know? Because we’re all surrounded by artificial intelligence. I love when friends ask me when we’ll develop smart computers…because they’re usually holding one in their hands. Your phone calls are routed with artificial intelligence.
Every time you use a search engine you’re taking advantage of data collected by ‘smart’ algorithms. When you call the bank and talk to an automated voice you are probably talking to an AI…just a very annoying one. Our world is full of these limited AI programs which we classify as “weak” or “narrow” or “applied.”
These programs are far from the sentient, love-seeking, angst-ridden artificial intelligences we see in science fiction, but that’s temporary. All these narrow AIs are like the amino acids in the primordial ooze of the Earth. The ingredients for true human-like artificial intelligence are being built every day, and it may not take long before we see the results.
How did we create the jungle of AI that surrounds us today?
Let me answer that question with someone’s else’s question. During the panel discussion for the Transcendent Man documentary about Ray Kurzweil at the Tribeca Film festival, a viewer asked the futurist if there would be another explosion of AI that leads us to the singularity. Another explosion?
Yes, you see, back in the late 80s scientists started rethinking the way they pursued AI. Rodney Brooks of MIT (also one of the founders of iRobot) took a new approach. Instead of developing AI from the top-down he looked at building things from the bottom up. Instead of artificial reasoning, he looked at artificial behavior.
The result were robots that based their actions upon basic instincts and patterns. iRobot’s Roomba doesn’t vacuum a floor with high-level reasoning about how the carpet should eventually look, it performs a bunch of different cleaning patterns until it knows the whole carpet’s dirt-free.
That’s behavior-based AI, and it’s powerful stuff.
Along with increased processing power, artificial intelligence really took off in the 90s. Using modular and hierarchical techniques like Brooks’ behavior-based approach, researchers were able to create a bunch of AIs that did things. These weren’t philosopher programs, they worked for a living. Data mining, inventory tracking and ordering, image processing — these jobs all started falling to AIs that built simple patterns into algorithms that could handle dynamic tasks.
Now that list of tasks has expanded. We’re slowly building a library of narrow AI talents that are becoming more impressive. Speech recognition and processing allow computers to convert sounds to text with greater accuracy. Google is using AI to caption millions of videos on YouTube.
Likewise, computer vision is improving so that programs like Vitamin D Video can recognize objects, classify them, and understand how they move. Narrow AI isn’t just getting better at processing its environment, it’s also understanding the difference between what a human says and what a human wants.
Programs like BlindType compensate for human input error, and next generation phone-answering services convert your requests into commands. By assigning different situations values, narrow AIs can make choices that maximize their rewards, an approach that let the ASIMO robot figure out the best way through an obstacle course.
Artificial intelligence is also getting better at analyzing large sets of data and synthesizing new data that fits the set, which we’ve seen in programs that write music or create new art.
These are the building blocks for the next explosion of AI tools.
Do you want a security guard AI? Computer vision plus interpretation of human actions? How about a program that answers your toddler’s endless questions?
Speech recognition plus interpretation of human actions plus a large database of knowledge plus creation of new datasets (we’ve already seen it work for Jeopardy!)?
Of course, things aren’t simply plug ‘n play at this point, but you can see that as each application of narrow AI is perfected it can feed into a more complex task.
There are three key factors that will enable the creation of a strong artificial intelligence that can think like a human being.
We need greater computer power to match and mimic the brain.
We need to better understand the hardware of the brain and the way it processes information.
We need to find ways that an AI can approach higher and higher levels of problem solving.
Each of these requirements is on its way to being fulfilled.
Kurzweil (among others) predicts the continued exponential growth of processor power. The Blue Brain Project (and other research) is exploring the brain and seeking to simulate its functions. I think that the growing presence of narrow AI speaks to the third need.
There are many different approaches to AI research, and not all of them are compatible, but as we develop more and more programs that can handle simple decision making I think we are building a library of problem solving that will eventually develop into a human-like hierarchical reasoning structure.
When is the first sentient computer lifeform going to arrive? I have no idea.
But the seeds of its birth are scattered through the advanced technologies we use every day. So pick up your smart phone while traveling on a moving train, call an international bank, and ask the artificial voice that answers to recite your last ten financial transactions.
You’ll be flexing the muscles of many different modern AIs, and you know that the exercise is good for the brain.
Image credit: Shutterstock |
Historical Essay
by Paul Krassner
Patty Hearst, daughter of the dynasty that publishes the San Francisco Examiner, was kidnapped by the SLA in 1974 and later participated in a bank robbery in the Sunset District. While she was held captive, the SLA demanded a free-food program be established, with $1 million of food to be purchased by the Hearst family and given away in poor neighborhoods around the Bay Area.
photo: SLA
In FEBRUARY 1974, Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, led by Donald "Cinque" DeFreeze. One of its demands was a free-food program. Patty's father, Randolph Hearst, publisher of the San Francisco Examiner arranged for such a project. Gov. Ronald Reagan commented on the long line of people waiting for free food, saying he hoped they'd all get botulism. Patty was kept in a closet, became a member of the SLA, changed her name to Tania, adopted radical rhetoric, robbed a bank, and went on the lam, becoming a vehicle for repressive action on the right and wishful thinking on the left.
She was captured in San Francisco after 18 months. She was so surprised that she peed in her pants, but that was only reported in the Chronicle, not the Examiner... She was permitted to change in the bathroom. The FBI inventory of her possessions did not include "pants, wet, one pair," but there was on the FBI list a two-foot marijuana plant (as compared with almost a pound of pot not reported that the FBI found at the apartment from which she had been kidnapped). There was also a bottle of Gallo wine in the SLA safe house, not exactly a loyal gesture to the United Farm Workers it purported to support. And there was an unidentified "rock" found in Patty's purse.
Originally she was to be defended by Vincent Hallinan and his son, Terence, who visited her in jail. As Tania she had called Vincent a "clown" in a taped communique--now as Patty she said of Terence, "He's good. Like, I really trust him politically and personally, and I can tell him just about anything I want and he's cool." It was, however, a relationship that would not be permitted to mature.
When Patty described her physical reaction to having her blindfold removed in captivity, Terence recognized a similarity to reactions to LSD. Patty agreed that there had been something reminiscent of her acid trips with her boyfriend, Steven Weed, in the old Hearst mansion. Her defense was going to be involuntary intoxication, a side effect of which is amnesia. So Patty would neither have to snitch on others nor have to invoke the Fifth Amendment for her own protection. In response to any questions about that missing chunk of her life, she would assert, "I have no recollection."
The Hallinans instructed her not to talk to anybody-- especially psychiatrists-- about that period. But her uncle, William Randolph Hearst Jr., editor in chief of the Hearst newspaper chain, flew in from the East Coast to warn his family that the entire corporate image of the Hearst empire was at stake and they'd better hire an establishment attorney, fast.
Enter F. Lee Bailey. He had defended a serial killer, the Boston Strangler, and a war criminal, Capt. Harold Medina of My Lai massacre infamy, but he would not defend Patty if she was a revolutionary. You gotta have standards.
Bailey encouraged her to tell the psychiatrists everything and not say, "I have no recollection." She could trust these doctors, he assured her, and nothing she said could be used against her in any way. Now her defense would be based on the Stockholm Hostage Syndrome (when prisoners of war come to identify with their captors). Patty had been kidnapped again.
At her trial in 1976, the philosophical paradox that has long plagued students of human consciousness--is there is or is there ain't free will?--was finally going to be decided by a jury. In court, Patty's parents had to listen to taped communique "Mom, Dad, I would like to comment on your effort to supposedly secure my safety. The [food] giveaway was a sham.... You were playing games--stalling for time--which the FBI was using in the attempts to assassinate me and the SLA elements which guarded me ......"
At the end of the tape, DeFreeze came on with a triple death threat, paying special attention to Colston Westbrook, whom he accused of being government agent now working for military intelligence while [giving a resistance] to the FBI." From 1962-1969, Westbrook first was a CIA advisor to the South Korean CIA and then supplied logistical support in Vietnam for the CIA's Phoenix program. His job was the indoctrination of assassination and terrorist cadres.
He returned to the United States in 1970 and was assigned by prison authorities to run the Black Cultural Association at Vacaville Prison, where he became the control officer for DeFreeze, who had worked as an informant from 1967 to 1969 for the Public Disorder Intelligence Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. If DeFreeze was a double agent, then the SLA was a Frankenstein monster, turning against its creator by becoming in reality what had been orchestrated only as a media image.
But when DeFreeze finked on his keepers, he signed the death warrant of the SLA. In 1974 he and five other were burned alive in a fire during a shoot-out with police at a Los Angeles safe house. DeFreeze's charred remains were sent to his family in Cleveland and they couldn't help noticing that he had been decapitated. It was as if the CIA had said, "Bring me the head of Donald DeFreeze!"
Hearst testified that she had been raped in a closet by the lover she had once described as "the gentlest, most beautiful man I've ever known." Now, prosecutor James Browning was cross-examining her.
"Did you in fact, have a strong feeling for [SLA member] Willie Wolfe?"
"In a way, yes."
"As a matter of fact, were you in love with him?"
"No. "
A little later Browning asked if it had been "forcible rape."
"Excuse me?"
"Did you struggle or submit?"
"I didn't resist. I was afraid."
Browning walked into her trap: "I thought you said you had strong feelings for him?"
"I did," Patty replied triumphantly. "I couldn't stand him."
Wolfe had been slain in the L.A. shoot-out. His family hired Lake Headley-- an ex-police intelligence officer who was chief investigator at Wounded Knee-- to find out what had really happened. He and fellow researchers Donald Freed and Rusty Rhodes concluded that the SLA was part of the CIA's CHAOS program. In that context, they concluded that the CIA was planning to kill Black Panther leader Huey Newton and succeeded in killing black school superintendent Marcus Foster, after he agreed to meet Panther demands for educational reforms.
Surviving SLA members Bill and Emily Harris let it be known that, if called to testify, they would take the Fifth Amendment, but Emily testified, in effect, via the media. After Patty told the jury that Willie Wolfe had raped her, Emily was quoted in New Times magazine: "Once, Willie gave her a stone relic in the shape of a monkey face [and] Patty wore it all the time around her neck. After the shoot-out, she stopped wearing it and carried it in her purse instead, but she always had it with her."
Prosecutor Browning read this in the magazine and had an aha! experience, remembering the "rock" in Patty's purse documented on the inventory list when she was captured. He presented it as his final piece of evidence in the trial, slowly swinging the necklace back and forth in front of the jurors, as if to hypnotize them into believing that Patty had not been forced to rob a bank, even though he had admitted that it was "clear from the photographs she may have been acting under duress."
Patty's claim: "I was doing exactly what I had to do. I just wanted to get out of the bank. I was just supposed to be in there to get my picture taken, mainly." So the jury found Patty guilty of being a virtual bank robber. She faced seven years in prison, but after she had served 23 months, her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter.
The enigmatic graffiti COLE SLAW LIVES appeared after the trial, baffling tourists. It was a makeover of SLA LIVES, though one ex-Berkeleyite assumed that a political activist named Cole Slaw was dead because there was graffiti saying that he was alive.
--Paul Krassner, San Francisco Bay Guardian, July 7, 1999
Paul Krassner covered the Patty Hearst trial for the Berkeley Barb and Playboy. His Impolite Interviews (Seven Stories Press) and Pot Stories for the Soul (High Times Books) were both published in 1999.
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Father Ted is a sitcom produced by independent production company Hat Trick Productions for British broadcaster Channel 4. Its three series, comprising 25 episodes and a special, originally aired from 21 April 1995 to 1 May 1998. Its main characters, Father Ted Crilly (Dermot Morgan) and his fellow priests Father Dougal McGuire (Ardal O'Hanlon) and Father Jack Hackett (Frank Kelly), were exiled to Craggy Island, where they lived with the fourth main character, housekeeper Mrs Doyle (Pauline McLynn). All four actors appeared from its first episode, "Good Luck, Father Ted", to its last, "Going to America". Pauline McLynn also played a nun in the episode "Flight Into Terror", in which Mrs Doyle appears only briefly.
Main characters [ edit ]
Father Ted Crilly [ edit ]
Father Ted Crilly, played by Dermot Morgan, is a morally dubious Roman Catholic priest exiled to Craggy Island under suspicion of stealing a child's Lourdes money to fund a trip to Las Vegas.[1]
Father Dougal McGuire [ edit ]
Father Dougal McGuire, played by Ardal O'Hanlon, is a childlike, simpleminded Catholic priest exiled as punishment for unknown misdeeds. It is unclear how he entered the priesthood. (Ted asks him, "Dougal, how did you get into the Church? Was it, like, collect 12 crisp packets and become a priest?")
Father Jack Hackett [ edit ]
Father Jack Hackett, played by Frank Kelly, is an elderly, foul-mouthed, alcoholic priest whose vocabulary consists largely of the shouted words "feck!", "arse!", "drink!" and "girls!". While it is never explicitly stated why Bishop Brennan has condemned him to Craggy Island, in the episode "The Passion of Saint Tibulus" it is implied that it has something to do with a wedding ceremony Jack performed in Athlone. In "Tentacles of Doom", with the promise of more "drink", Ted trains Jack to say "That would be an ecumenical matter!" and "Yes!" so that he may convincingly circumvent any questions put to him by a party of visiting bishops. Jack has a fear of nuns; he also regards the sick and poor with contempt, referring to them as a "shower of bastards". It is later revealed, in his will, that he saved up £500,000, which Ted attributes partly to Jack's "never giving money to charity" and that "he wouldn't wear trousers during the summer".
In the episode "Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading", Ted observes that Jack has not been properly sober for 12 years, and when he does finally leave his inebriated state for a moment, realises to his horror that he is "still on that feckin' island." In the same episode when he awakens from his drunken state he is startled to find that Dougal and Ted are the only ones in the room with him, demanding, "Where are the other two?" suggesting he usually sees double.
In "The Craggy Island Parish Magazines" (A book representing a collection of copies of the fictional "Our Parish" parochial magazine), it is stated that Father Jack served as chaplain to the fictional Paraguayan leader General Guillermo Paz for three years in the 1950s, until he left hours before Paz was hanged from a lemon tree by a group of peasants during an uprising. It is also stated that before he became a priest, Hackett had many varied careers, including captaining a ship.[citation needed]
Mrs Doyle [ edit ]
Mrs Doyle, played by Pauline McLynn, is the parish priests' housekeeper. Her first name is not mentioned on the show, but is given as Joan in the draft Competition Time script.[2] Whenever a character speaks her first name, background noise suddenly erupts, masking whatever is being said. This gag was repeated in Tedfest 2007 when Graham Linehan was going to reveal her first name in a transmission but his voice was masked by the sound of breaking glass. In the DVD commentary with Arthur Matthews in the episode Old Grey Whistle Theft Linehan stated that they 'did have a name for Mrs Doyle'.[3]
Mrs Doyle is a hyperactive, repressed and somewhat insane parish housekeeper with an over-the-top zeal for her work. Obsessed with refreshments, she is often to be found preparing copious amounts of tea, cake and sandwiches; she disdained an automated tea-making machine, stating that she "liked the misery" of making tea, and was devastated when Ted bought her one for Christmas. She eventually destroyed it and convinced Ted that she was the right person for making tea. She even stays up all night "just in case one of you needs a cup of tea!".[4] Whenever Ted or somebody else refuses one of her beverages, sandwiches or cake, she urges them on for some time, usually just by repeating "go on, go on", until the offending priest or guest finally agrees just for the sake of some peace. She then denies them the offered item(s). In one episode, when Ted finally gives in, she decides that she is forcing him to have a cake, and tells him that he should “just say no” (which he had done repeatedly), calling it a "word that Our Lord gave us to use when we didn't want any cake." She then proceeds to have the cakes destroyed.
Aside from simple domestic chores, Mrs Doyle also performs all the other tasks that need completing around the house, such as digging drainage ditches and mending the roof.[5] In this respect, Ted takes advantage of her work ethic and treats her like a general dogsbody. She frequently suffers accidents while attending to these chores, such as falling off the roof, falling down the stairs and especially plummeting head-first out of the large window frame in the front room.
Little or nothing is known about her personal life except that she must have been married at some point and previously spoke of having a sister. She has a dim view of sex, once mentioning how thankful she is that "she never thinks about that sort of thing", and in this respect appears quite conservative. In "And God Created Woman", when she and Ted are discussing the work of novelist Polly Clarke, she laments how much swearing there is in modern fiction and goes on a rant about the amount of sex in Clarke's books. She also becomes spiteful, condescending and visibly jealous whenever another woman comes into the parochial house, especially those who are good-looking or command the attention of the priests. She has women friends on the island who appear sporadically throughout the series, and all look similar and speak in the same manner.
Graham Linehan has stated that he always thought Mrs Doyle originally met Father Ted by winning the Lovely Girls competition.[6]
Supporting characters [ edit ]
Bishop Brennan [ edit ]
Bishop Leonard (occasionally known as "Len") Brennan is played by Jim Norton. Brennan appears from the episode "The Passion of St Tibulus" until the episode "Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse".
Brennan is a foul-mouthed, lecherous, narcissist who despises Ted (though he sometimes expresses concern for him, such as when Ted jumps down the stairs and through the window) and frequently casts a shadow over the lowly priest's life. In the episode "The Passion of St. Tibulus", it is revealed that Brennan has a secret partner and love child in America.
Bishop Brennan visits the island on three occasions. The first is when the blasphemous film The Passion of Saint Tibulus is being shown on the island. Ted and Dougal's earnest protest only attracts more attention to the film, with people flocking to the island to see it (some coming from as far away as Gdańsk). Bishop Brennan vows to punish the three priests by exiling them elsewhere in the world, in places even worse than Craggy Island. However, the Bishop changes his mind off-screen when Jack finds a video tape containing footage of Brennan with what is presumed to be his long-rumoured son and girlfriend (the boy's mother) on holiday in California.
Brennan makes his second visit to the island when Father Jack starts a habit of nude sleepwalking, which to Bishop Brennan's fury had been witnessed by an old and respected friend of his. Brennan's third visit is arranged when Ted has to pay a forfeit after losing a football match to Father Dick Byrne. Byrne chooses to make Ted kick the bishop "up the arse".
In a DVD audio commentary, Graham Linehan said that he considers Bishop Brennan to be the arch-enemy of Father Jack Hackett, because Jack had the potential to become a bishop, but failed, whereas Brennan had succeeded. Bishop Brennan is consistently addressed by other characters as "Your Grace," which is an unofficial salutation.[7]
Father Dick Byrne [ edit ]
Father Dick Byrne is played by Maurice O'Donoghue. He appears in five episodes of the show, in "Competition Time"; "Song For Europe"; "Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading"; "Escape from Victory"; and "Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse". Dick is Ted's equivalent on nearby Rugged Island, and his bitter rival.
Ted's nemesis, Dick often manages to outwit Ted as part of their ongoing feud. It is unknown how the feud started, but Dougal once mentions a "Scrabble fiasco" (where Father Byrne manages to get all of his words to spell "useless priest, can't say Mass"). The feud has led to various ill-judged escapades, usually after Dick has telephoned Ted to tease him for some inadequacy or taunt him for some fault. These include fooling him on the phone into thinking that Dick had sincerely believed Ted's Eurovision song would be good, and winning the annual "All-Priests Five-a-Side Over-75s Indoor Football Challenge Match." However, there are also instances where Ted gets the better of Dick. Ted mentions an occasion where Dick had lost a bet with him and that as a forfeit, he had had to say "bollocks" very loudly in front of the (then) Irish President Mary Robinson. Ted also beats Dick in the Eurosong competition, despite Dick's song, 'The Miracle Is Mine', being given a standing ovation and being far superior to the Craggy Island effort (although this was part of a plan to ensure that Ireland would lose Eurosong and thus not have to host it in future). Ted states that he "really hates Father Dick Byrne!"
In the 2010 Channel 4 retrospective 'Small, Far Away – The World of Father Ted', Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews say – perhaps seriously or possibly in jest – that Maurice O'Donoghue and the rest of the Rugged Island cast were each their second choices to play the main characters on the show.
Father Noel Furlong [ edit ]
Father Noel Furlong is played by Graham Norton. He appears in three episodes of the show, in "Hell" and "Flight Into Terror" in series 2; and in "The Mainland" in series 3.
Father Noel is a very annoying and hyperactive priest whom Ted and Dougal hate spending time with. He runs the St. Luke's Youth Group and is first encountered during Ted's abortive caravaning holiday in "Hell". Here he invades the peaceful surroundings of the priests' rented caravan and keeps them awake at night, singing songs ("The Whole of the Moon" and "Dirty Old Town") and expressing his desire to tell ghost stories at six o'clock in the morning. He regales the helpless Ted and Dougal with tales of how members of the youth group have a habit of turning in "late" ("ten past the eleven") and succeeds in driving them out of their holiday home, which he then proceeds to tip over after having himself and the youth group perform a Riverdance routine inside it.
Father Noel turns up again in "Flight into Terror" leading Father Fay and Dougal into the cockpit of a plane. While there he inadvertently causes disaster when he allows Father Fay, who does not know he is a priest, but appears to believe himself to be a monkey, to see his reflection. Father Fay goes mad and jumps on the pilot sending the plane out of its path. The pilot screams at the watching Dougal to press the emergency button. The bumbling priest presses the wrong button, which results in one of the fuel tanks being emptied.
Noel's boundless energy results in him getting his group lost in the "Very Dark Caves" in "The Mainland", and, after performing a rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody", his attempts to start a "screeching competition" cause him to be crushed by falling rocks. His very last scene features him under the rocks with his hand sticking out, still in a very happy mood. His youth group then abandon him and head to Paraguay on Aer Lingus flights. Ted tells an apparent rescue service man to save Noel, but the man turns out actually to be an uninterested dustman. In the short scene after the credits, Noel is still under the rocks, clicking his fingers and singing "Fat Bottomed Girls".
Minor characters [ edit ]
Father Larry Duff [ edit ]
Father Larry Duff, played by Tony Guilfoyle, is a friend of Ted's who always seems to be on the receiving end of some misfortune. The cause of these events is usually Ted calling him on his mobile phone. Examples of Larry's mishaps include driving off a cliff in his Ford Granada while looking for his ringing mobile ("Hell"), losing £10,000 in a TV gameshow when Ted interrupts his concentration by ringing him ("Cigarettes, Alcohol & Rollerblading"), getting hit while volunteering for a blind-folded knife throwing act, ("Tentacles of Doom") and being trampled by a herd of stampeding donkeys ("Flight Into Terror"). Occasionally Ted manages to get through to him, only to be informed he will not be arriving at a picnic as he is being investigated for weapons smuggling by the Army ("Old Grey Whistle Theft") or that he cannot accept Ted's offer of rabbits as he decided to get 12 rottweilers instead ("The Plague"). Ted often mentions Larry as being "tremendous fun". He appears to be a good friend of Bishop Facks, who appears in "Tentacles of Doom". Despite his frequent injuries, he always returns unscathed in his next appearance. Despite being close friends, Ted and Larry are never seen together on screen in the entire three series. After his last appearance in A Christmassy Ted, his fate is unknown.
The character has been referenced in Spider-Man 2099, with a statue of Larry replacing that of Francis P. Duffy in a scene depicting Duffy Square.[8]
Father Paul Stone [ edit ]
Father Paul Stone, played by Michael Redmond, is an exceedingly boring priest who featured in the episode "Entertaining Father Stone" and comes to stay at the parochial house every year. He is completely unable to hold a conversation and is more than happy just to sit and do/say nothing at all, giving one-sentence answers at best. He usually brushes off any attempted social interaction by saying something along the lines of "No. I'm fine". Despite his quiet persona, Father Stone's presence dominates those around him, leading to awkward and protracted silences which suck the life out of the room, ruining Ted's birthday party as a result. His unresponsiveness makes him practically impossible to get rid of, causing Ted and the others to go to great lengths just to avoid contact with him, such as going to bed extremely early or going out to the island's sub-standard crazy golf course in the pouring rain. When Ted prays to God with the intention of getting rid of Father Stone, he is subsequently struck by lightning after joining Ted and Dougal at the crazy golf course. He gets stuck in the same position as he was when he is struck, and surgeons are unable to remove the golf club from his hands, leading Dougal to comment: "He looks like a trophy". His grandmother and parents are alive and he is known to have one brother who is a doctor. It turns out that he hero-worships Ted and once drew a portrait of the two of them together.
Father Fintan Stack [ edit ]
Father Fintan Stack, played by Brendan Grace, is a truly appalling priest who comes to the Parochial House as Father Jack's replacement when Jack contracts "hairy hands syndrome" and is sent to St Clabbert's (known informally among the priests as "Jurassic Park"). Father Stack's unpleasant habits, in which he engages solely for his own amusement, include:
Being casually rude
Intimidating anyone within the house
Eating Ted's Frosties
Getting Dougal drunk on Jack's whiskey without Ted's permission
Jumping up and down on a photo of Ted
Driving Ted's car into a big wall (which is unseen)
Playing loud jungle music throughout the small hours (the tracks used on the show were Cutty Ranks' "Limb By Limb (DJ SS Remix)" and DJ Taktix's "The Way") while randomly drilling holes in the living-room wall.
Threatening to put people's heads through walls
His visit is abruptly cut short when he too contracts "the hair thing" after sitting in Jack's chair ("New Jack City"). Ted concludes that Stack is worse than Hitler, because not even Hitler would play jungle music at three in the morning.
Father Austin Purcell [ edit ]
Father Austin Purcell played by Ben Keaton, features in the episode "Think Fast, Father Ted". He is "the most boring priest in the world", according to Ted. The entire population of a village in Nigeria once sailed to their deaths on a crocodile-infested lake to escape him. He talks constantly in an annoying high-pitched voice about the most trivial and irritating topics, including central heating, insurance and "favourite humming noises". His conversation includes describing painting a house orange and building extensions on an extension, concluding "the house is in a circle now". Ted has to physically restrain Father Jack from punching Father Austin. After Ted allows Father Jack to leave he cries out 'Thank Christ' and promptly locks Ted up with Father Austin in his place. He claims to have known a woman once, "but she died soon afterwards". Purcell keeps talking even when no one is listening, at one point striking up a conversation with a sofa coverlet embroidered with Jesus' face: "Ah, it's yourself!".
In 2014, Keaton returned to the role, performing a stand-up routine and hosting pub quizzes entirely in character. Keaton also set up a Twitter page for the character, and a website where fans can purchase customised Father Purcell video greetings.[9][10] In 2015, Keaton began a spin-off web series, Cook Like a Priest.[11]
Father "Todd Unctious" [ edit ]
Father "Todd Unctious", played by Gerard McSorley, appears in the episode "A Christmassy Ted". He turns up at the parochial house at Christmas claiming to be an old pal of Ted's; Ted has no recollection of Todd whatsoever. Ted is required to employ long-winded strategies to find out his name, without success. An attempt to get him to write his name fails, with Unctious claiming he once fell while running with scissors, completely severing the nerve that controls handwriting. Fortunately Mrs Doyle manages to guess his name in under an hour, after increasingly ridiculous wrong guesses (including Neil Hannon, a reference to the Divine Comedy singer who wrote the show's theme tune). His behaviour disturbs Ted: he enjoys wandering around in nothing but his underpants, is not averse to showing Ted some of his more intimate scars, and likes shadow boxing. He turns out to be a thief who wants to steal Ted's "Golden Cleric" Award. It is also revealed at the end of the episode that Todd Unctious is not his real name.
Other priests [ edit ]
Unseen priests [ edit ]
Father O'Rourke , owner of the new caravan rented by Ted, Dougal and Jack which is "twice as big as the old one". ("Hell").
, owner of the new caravan rented by Ted, Dougal and Jack which is "twice as big as the old one". ("Hell"). Father Jimmy Ranable , a friend of Ted's whose time under the tutoring of Jack had the greatest effect on him. Then took part in the "Drumshanbo Massacre". ("Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest").
, a friend of Ted's whose time under the tutoring of Jack had the greatest effect on him. Then took part in the "Drumshanbo Massacre". ("Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest"). Father Benny Cake , a priest who according to Ted recorded a song that went to number one in England. He did not want people to know he was a priest so he changed his name, Ted could not remember what he called himself but mentioned "...Anyway, I think the song was called Vienna", implying he was actually Midge Ure from Ultravox (even though, in fact, that song only made it to number two in the UK chart) ("Song For Europe").
, a priest who according to Ted recorded a song that went to number one in England. He did not want people to know he was a priest so he changed his name, Ted could not remember what he called himself but mentioned "...Anyway, I think the song was called Vienna", implying he was actually Midge Ure from Ultravox (even though, in fact, that song only made it to number two in the UK chart) ("Song For Europe"). Father Clippett , "they say he does a good long Mass", now takes three hours to say mass, due to having had a stroke. "Value for money", according to Sister Assumpta. ("And God Created Woman").
, "they say he does a good long Mass", now takes three hours to say mass, due to having had a stroke. "Value for money", according to Sister Assumpta. ("And God Created Woman"). Father Shortall , whom Ted and Dougal both ask Father Stone if he has seen lately. Dougal reckons he must be nearly 80 now. ("Entertaining Father Stone").
, whom Ted and Dougal both ask Father Stone if he has seen lately. Dougal reckons he must be nearly 80 now. ("Entertaining Father Stone"). Father Jim Dougan , responsible for introducing Ted to Father Stone before he "ran out of the building" .
, responsible for introducing Ted to Father Stone before he . Father Sweeney , friend of Father Noel Furlong who is ridiculed because he had "a very small bladder, about the size of a Terry's Chocolate Orange." ("Hell").
, friend of Father Noel Furlong who is ridiculed because he had ("Hell"). Father Fitzgibbon , another priest known to Father Noel Furlong, had a cup named after him and in a bizarre coincidence his big ears made him resemble a cup. ("Hell").
, another priest known to Father Noel Furlong, had a cup named after him and in a bizarre coincidence his big ears made him resemble a cup. ("Hell"). Father Hegarty , from Chicago, does not actually appear but sends a fax through the hi-tech coffin of Father Nick in "Escape from Victory".
, from Chicago, does not actually appear but sends a fax through the hi-tech coffin of Father Nick in "Escape from Victory". Father Nolan had the misfortune of being involved in a gas explosion which punched a hole in his chest the size of a football. He was so badly injured that he could only be identified by his dental records and understandably feels rather down about it. Ted briefly mentions him in "Night of the Nearly Dead".
had the misfortune of being involved in a gas explosion which punched a hole in his chest the size of a football. He was so badly injured that he could only be identified by his dental records and understandably feels rather down about it. Ted briefly mentions him in "Night of the Nearly Dead". Father Bigley , an unseen character within the series with peculiar attributes. He was mistakenly considered dead; it emerged that he just looked dead. He has facial blotches and "big puffy fish lips bigger than the rest of his face", possibly due to an altercation with an exploding kettle. ("Hell"). He is an avid Dana fan and is now in a home following some suspicious fires. He also wears perfume, and performed at OJ Simpson's wedding. Ted mentioned that he had a friend "who was sending arms to Iraq".
, an unseen character within the series with peculiar attributes. He was mistakenly considered dead; it emerged that he just looked dead. He has facial blotches and possibly due to an altercation with an exploding kettle. ("Hell"). He is an avid Dana fan and is now in a home following some suspicious fires. He also wears perfume, and performed at OJ Simpson's wedding. Ted mentioned that he had a friend "who was sending arms to Iraq". Father Clint Power , a priest and an old acquaintance of Ted. Ted was confused when he saw the feminist headline 'Clit Power' in a magazine, as he thought that the article was referring to Clint Power.
, a priest and an old acquaintance of Ted. Ted was confused when he saw the feminist headline 'Clit Power' in a magazine, as he thought that the article was referring to Clint Power. Father Eamon Hunter , a priest mentioned by ted in his Golden Cleric speech who put him in a headlock and is now abroad working with some pygmies in the South Seas. ("A Christmassy Ted").
, a priest mentioned by ted in his Golden Cleric speech who put him in a headlock and is now abroad working with some pygmies in the South Seas. ("A Christmassy Ted"). Father Windy Shepherd Henderson, a priest mentioned by Ted who is believed to have been the parish priest to Father Shorthall and Father Coogan in Athlone. He is often mixed up with other priests of the same name such as Father Windy Shepherd Henderson who was in Tralee with Father Buckley or Father Windy Shepherd Henderson who was working in Chicago. ("New Jack City")
Bishops [ edit ]
Bishop Lindsay , whom Dougal thought was accusing Ted when he asked where Ted was when Kennedy was shot. Never appears in the series. ("Tentacles of Doom")
, whom Dougal thought was accusing Ted when he asked where Ted was when Kennedy was shot. Never appears in the series. ("Tentacles of Doom") Known collectively as "The Bishops", these three appear in "Tentacles of Doom". Bishop Jordan (Paddy Ward), an elderly bishop with a weak heart who leaves the Craggy Island parochial house in a coffin after an unsavoury incident with sewage. Bishop Eddie O'Neill (Kevin Moore), a bishop who, upon hearing Dougal's philosophy on God and existence, renounces religion and is last seen leaving for India in a van with some pot-smoking hippie friends. Bishop Facks (Denys Hawthorne), a maniacally intense bishop with a weird habit of poking people, who latches onto Jack and leaves in an ambulance with the Holy Stone of Clonrichert up his behind.
Bishop Tom McCaskell (Andrew McCulloch), the Bishop who telephones Ted with the news that he has won a Golden Cleric award. He is hiding in Rome following an unspecified scandal involving a woman who is planning to "write a bloody book about it", and is contemplating a move to South America. ("A Christmassy Ted")
Nuns [ edit ]
Sister Assumpta , a crazed, sadistic nun belonging to the Matty Hislop cult, who tortures Ted and Dougal with early wake-up calls, morning punishments, beatings and cold baths in "Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading". Fortunately for Ted, she has one fatal weakness - chocolate - and this proves to be her undoing. Ted encountered her before, as the leader of a group of nuns in "And God Created Woman".
, a crazed, sadistic nun belonging to the Matty Hislop cult, who tortures Ted and Dougal with early wake-up calls, morning punishments, beatings and cold baths in "Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading". Fortunately for Ted, she has one fatal weakness - chocolate - and this proves to be her undoing. Ted encountered her before, as the leader of a group of nuns in "And God Created Woman". Sister Imelda , aka 'the Blue Nun'. Appears to disappear with Jack during a wedding.
, aka 'the Blue Nun'. Appears to disappear with Jack during a wedding. Polly Clarke , best-selling female novelist who became a nun after her experiences in "And God Created Woman".
, best-selling female novelist who became a nun after her experiences in "And God Created Woman". Sister Julia , a nun who is reputedly 97 years old. ("And God Created Woman")
, a nun who is reputedly 97 years old. ("And God Created Woman") Sister Margaret , a nun who asks Ted where he gets the ideas for his sermons. ("And God Created Woman")
, a nun who asks Ted where he gets the ideas for his sermons. ("And God Created Woman") Sister Danita , whom Dougal had an encounter with that was "a bit too close for comfort". Mentioned in "And God Created Woman" but never appears in the series.
, whom Dougal had an encounter with that was "a bit too close for comfort". Mentioned in "And God Created Woman" but never appears in the series. Sister Monica Mulligan , a Northern Irish nun who comes to stay with the boys, is mistakenly accused of "touching" Ted and diagnoses Jack's death, but is unceremoniously shunted off when the details of his legacy are revealed. ("Grant unto Him Eternal Rest"). She also has a minor role as a nun at St Clabberts. ("New Jack City")
, a Northern Irish nun who comes to stay with the boys, is mistakenly accused of "touching" Ted and diagnoses Jack's death, but is unceremoniously shunted off when the details of his legacy are revealed. ("Grant unto Him Eternal Rest"). She also has a minor role as a nun at St Clabberts. ("New Jack City") Two nuns on plane , persistently throw paper balls at Ted in "Flight into Terror" causing him to react with rage, but a blind priest behind him laughs simultaneously (At a comedy tape he is listening to) making Ted believe that it is him throwing the paper. Pauline McLynn plays the smaller nun.
, persistently throw paper balls at Ted in "Flight into Terror" causing him to react with rage, but a blind priest behind him laughs simultaneously (At a comedy tape he is listening to) making Ted believe that it is him throwing the paper. Pauline McLynn plays the smaller nun. Sister Mary Gondola , a call centre agent working for the Matty Hislop customer services division.
, a call centre agent working for the Matty Hislop customer services division. Singing Nun , a nun working for the Matty Hislop organization, who joyously sings Ave Maria down the phone to Ted whenever his call is put on hold.
, a nun working for the Matty Hislop organization, who joyously sings down the phone to Ted whenever his call is put on hold. Sister Concepta, one of Sister Assumpta's group in 'And God Created Woman'. She gave Father Ted's mass 10/10 and Sister Assumpta dubs her as very hard to please.
Inhabitants of Craggy Island [ edit ]
John and Mary O'Leary , (Patrick Drury and Rynagh O'Grady, respectively) a married couple who own and operate a shop on Craggy Island. The pair utterly hate each other and are constantly devising ways to maim and kill each other, such as Mary threatening to stick a knife "up [John's] arse!" Despite this, they act like a happily married couple in front of priests. Whenever the characters encounter John and Mary, the pair are insulting each other or in the middle or aftermath of yet another attempt to kill each other. In a DVD commentary the writers said although they liked the characters they felt they were limited to one joke and were gradually used less as the series progressed. In the final series they only made one appearance.
and , (Patrick Drury and Rynagh O'Grady, respectively) a married couple who own and operate a shop on Craggy Island. The pair utterly hate each other and are constantly devising ways to maim and kill each other, such as Mary threatening to stick a knife "up [John's] arse!" Despite this, they act like a happily married couple in front of priests. Whenever the characters encounter John and Mary, the pair are insulting each other or in the middle or aftermath of yet another attempt to kill each other. In a DVD commentary the writers said although they liked the characters they felt they were limited to one joke and were gradually used less as the series progressed. In the final series they only made one appearance. Tom (Pat Shortt), a violent village idiot, vivisectionist, armed robber and lorry driver. Tom is often to be seen wearing his "I shot J.R." T-shirt, looking at outsiders as they arrive on Craggy Island. Ted often displays a complete lack of interest in crimes or sins Tom may have committed. On one occasion, when Tom says he has killed a man, Ted tells him that he is too busy to speak to him about it. Another time he sees Tom rob a post office while Ted is waiting in a car outside for him. Upon telling Tom that he hopes he is not up to his old tricks, Tom replies "'Tis my money, Father. I just didn't want to fill in the forms". Tom has a scar, which when asked about he declared 'I was in an argument'. He then pulls down his trousers, and grinning from between his legs declares "would you believe me own dog did that to me. Doesn't it look like a face?". He appears in "Good Luck, Father Ted", (as the first person Terry McNamee sees upon his arrival on Craggy Island) "And God Created Woman", "Hell" and "The Plague" (as the person Ted and Dougal call on to "take care of" the rabbits).
(Pat Shortt), a violent village idiot, vivisectionist, armed robber and lorry driver. Tom is often to be seen wearing his "I shot J.R." T-shirt, looking at outsiders as they arrive on Craggy Island. Ted often displays a complete lack of interest in crimes or sins Tom may have committed. On one occasion, when Tom says he has killed a man, Ted tells him that he is too busy to speak to him about it. Another time he sees Tom rob a post office while Ted is waiting in a car outside for him. Upon telling Tom that he hopes he is not up to his old tricks, Tom replies "'Tis my money, Father. I just didn't want to fill in the forms". Tom has a scar, which when asked about he declared 'I was in an argument'. He then pulls down his trousers, and grinning from between his legs declares "would you believe me own dog did that to me. Doesn't it look like a face?". He appears in "Good Luck, Father Ted", (as the first person Terry McNamee sees upon his arrival on Craggy Island) "And God Created Woman", "Hell" and "The Plague" (as the person Ted and Dougal call on to "take care of" the rabbits). The Sergeant , the island's garda. He does not enjoy his job and laments that Craggy Island is boring, to the point where he actually wishes that there was a murderer on the loose. His predecessor was Sergeant Thornton, who for some reason left his handcuffs (but not his keys) at O'Leary's. The sergeant appears in "Competition Time", "The Old Grey Whistle Theft" and in "A Christmassy Ted". His name is uncertain; in "Competition Time" he is Sergeant Deegan (played by John Olohan), in "The Old Grey Whistle Theft" he is Sergeant Hodgins (also played by John Olohan) while in "A Christmassy Ted" John Quinn plays a "Police Sergeant" (even though the word "police" is not used by the Garda Síochána). It is not clear whether these are meant to be separate characters.
, the island's garda. He does not enjoy his job and laments that Craggy Island is boring, to the point where he actually wishes that there was a murderer on the loose. His predecessor was Sergeant Thornton, who for some reason left his handcuffs (but not his keys) at O'Leary's. The sergeant appears in "Competition Time", "The Old Grey Whistle Theft" and in "A Christmassy Ted". His name is uncertain; in "Competition Time" he is Sergeant Deegan (played by John Olohan), in "The Old Grey Whistle Theft" he is Sergeant Hodgins (also played by John Olohan) while in "A Christmassy Ted" John Quinn plays a "Police Sergeant" (even though the word "police" is not used by the Garda Síochána). It is not clear whether these are meant to be separate characters. Michael Cocheese (Jon Kenny), the cinema manager, an old friend of Ted and Dougal's, who lets them in for half price.
(Jon Kenny), the cinema manager, an old friend of Ted and Dougal's, who lets them in for half price. Fargo Boyle , owner of Chris the sheep in the episode "Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep".
, owner of Chris the sheep in the episode "Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep". Giant Reed and Hud Hastings , two men paid by Fargo Boyle to frighten Chris the Sheep, and who use their bribe money to buy a fur coat and a crown respectively.
, two men paid by Fargo Boyle to frighten Chris the Sheep, and who use their bribe money to buy a fur coat and a crown respectively. Pat , an elderly gentleman who, despite the very recent death of his wife (merely hours ago), insists on going to the cinema to see the controversial movie "The Passion of St Tibulus". He also appears in Father Ted episode "Going to America" (as "Eugene"), criticising Father Ted's Sunday mass sermon.
, an elderly gentleman who, despite the very recent death of his wife (merely hours ago), insists on going to the cinema to see the controversial movie "The Passion of St Tibulus". He also appears in Father Ted episode "Going to America" (as "Eugene"), criticising Father Ted's Sunday mass sermon. Mr Benson (Mal Whyte), curator of the island's picnic spot. He appears to believe himself to be living in a spaghetti western movie. His beloved whistle was stolen from him in "The Old Grey Whistle Theft", but he got it back. In the process, however, he lost all feeling in one leg, but since his memory was also affected could not remember which leg it was. Previously, he had an affair with his wife's sister while his wife was in hospital, then got the babysitter pregnant.
(Mal Whyte), curator of the island's picnic spot. He appears to believe himself to be living in a spaghetti western movie. His beloved whistle was stolen from him in "The Old Grey Whistle Theft", but he got it back. In the process, however, he lost all feeling in one leg, but since his memory was also affected could not remember which leg it was. Previously, he had an affair with his wife's sister while his wife was in hospital, then got the babysitter pregnant. Sean Yin (played by Ozzie Yue) and his family, who live in Craggy Island's Chinatown. Ted does an extremely silly Chinaman impression, only realising at the last minute that the Yin family were watching him through the Parochial house window. They then believe him to be a racist.
(played by Ozzie Yue) and his family, who live in Craggy Island's Chinatown. Ted does an extremely silly Chinaman impression, only realising at the last minute that the Yin family were watching him through the Parochial house window. They then believe him to be a racist. Colm (Eamon Rohan), an old farmer, who appears in the episode "Are You Right There, Father Ted?" Having heard the rumours that Father Ted is a racist, he explains to Ted that the farm keeps him too busy to devote much time to "the old racism".
(Eamon Rohan), an old farmer, who appears in the episode "Are You Right There, Father Ted?" Having heard the rumours that Father Ted is a racist, he explains to Ted that the farm keeps him too busy to devote much time to "the old racism". Auld Jim Halpin , an eye-witness to the heinous whistle theft in "The Old Grey Whistle Theft". In a separate incident, Ted tells Dougal and a group of nuns that Jim is dying, in an attempt to avoid saying mass. ("And God Created Woman") Jim, however, is not dying; Dougal remembers he is outside (having come to borrow some sugar) and brings him in. He did have a cold a couple of weeks earlier though. He also went to watch The Passion of St Tibulus , despite Ted and Dougal's attempt to persuade the islanders otherwise.
, an eye-witness to the heinous whistle theft in "The Old Grey Whistle Theft". In a separate incident, Ted tells Dougal and a group of nuns that Jim is dying, in an attempt to avoid saying mass. ("And God Created Woman") Jim, however, is not dying; Dougal remembers he is outside (having come to borrow some sugar) and brings him in. He did have a cold a couple of weeks earlier though. He also went to watch , despite Ted and Dougal's attempt to persuade the islanders otherwise. Mrs Carberry , an elderly lady with extreme right-wing views who appears in the episode "Are You Right There, Father Ted?". She is supportive of Father Ted when rumours circulate that he is a racist. She has extreme views on foreign people, including the Chinese, and has an anti-Greek fixation, because "they invented gayness".
, an elderly lady with extreme right-wing views who appears in the episode "Are You Right There, Father Ted?". She is supportive of Father Ted when rumours circulate that he is a racist. She has extreme views on foreign people, including the Chinese, and has an anti-Greek fixation, because "they invented gayness". The Sewage Supervisor , unnamed, he misguidedly entrusts Tom with a gigantic sewage lorry in "Hell".
, unnamed, he misguidedly entrusts Tom with a gigantic sewage lorry in "Hell". Dr Sinnott , the island's doctor, who plays a large part in the life (and death) of the community. He must put on a radiation suit to examine Father Jack.
, the island's doctor, who plays a large part in the life (and death) of the community. He must put on a radiation suit to examine Father Jack. Imelda , (Dawn Bradfield), winner of the Lovely Girls competition. She is 19 and from Dundalk. Ted reads a series of incorrect information about her.
, (Dawn Bradfield), winner of the Lovely Girls competition. She is 19 and from Dundalk. Ted reads a series of incorrect information about her. Mary , runner-up in the Lovely Girls competition. She loses to Imelda in the Lovely Laugh Tiebreaker. Ted comments on her having a lovely bottom, but to be politically correct, he says "Of course, they all have lovely bottoms".
, runner-up in the Lovely Girls competition. She loses to Imelda in the Lovely Laugh Tiebreaker. Ted comments on her having a lovely bottom, but to be politically correct, he says "Of course, they have lovely bottoms". Joan , contestant in the Lovely Girls competition. She fails to make it to the finals because, Ted tells her, "Your sandwiches exceed the required six centimeters in width."
, contestant in the Lovely Girls competition. She fails to make it to the finals because, Ted tells her, "Your sandwiches exceed the required six centimeters in width." The Lads , attending the Lovely Girls competition. Paddy, Billy and the two other unnamed lads are there to check out the lovely girls and have pints of Guinness.
, attending the Lovely Girls competition. Paddy, Billy and the two other unnamed lads are there to check out the lovely girls and have pints of Guinness. Pat Mustard (Pat Laffan), a sex-addicted milkman who leaves a trail of exceedingly hairy illegitimate children all around the island. Mrs Doyle is one of the women who becomes infatuated with him. When Ted's surveillance photos cost Mustard his job, Mustard rigs Dougal's milk float with a bomb. The plan backfires, and Mustard himself becomes the victim. ("Speed 3")
(Pat Laffan), a sex-addicted milkman who leaves a trail of exceedingly hairy illegitimate children all around the island. Mrs Doyle is one of the women who becomes infatuated with him. When Ted's surveillance photos cost Mustard his job, Mustard rigs Dougal's milk float with a bomb. The plan backfires, and Mustard himself becomes the victim. ("Speed 3") Mr Fox , the head milkman. When shown incriminating photos relating to Pat Mustard's amorous activities with the housewives of Craggy Island, he at first offers to buy the pictures, but quickly backtracks and sacks Mustard when he realises that Ted actually objects to Mustard's conduct. Left without a milkman, he accepts Dougal's offer to fill in for a while. ("Speed 3")
, the head milkman. When shown incriminating photos relating to Pat Mustard's amorous activities with the housewives of Craggy Island, he at first offers to buy the pictures, but quickly backtracks and sacks Mustard when he realises that Ted actually objects to Mustard's conduct. Left without a milkman, he accepts Dougal's offer to fill in for a while. ("Speed 3") Mrs Sheridan and Mrs Glynn , two old pepperpots with an unusual taste in film; they are known to favour The Crying Game and Boyz n the Hood .
and , two old pepperpots with an unusual taste in film; they are known to favour and . Māori man , a man who attends the Craggy Island Celebration of Cultures. He appears in a reaction shot when Ted remarks that there are no Māori on the island, after mistakenly putting up a slide of a Māori person.
, a man who attends the Craggy Island Celebration of Cultures. He appears in a reaction shot when Ted remarks that there are no Māori on the island, after mistakenly putting up a slide of a Māori person. Alan (Eamon Rohan), the rambling host of the King of the Sheep awards.
(Eamon Rohan), the rambling host of the King of the Sheep awards. Mrs Boyle , who blabbed the news of Eoin McLove's visit to every middle-aged fan of his on Craggy Island, despite vowing that if she spread the word she'd be "struck down with every disease that it is known for a middle-aged woman to suffer from". ("Night of the Nearly Dead")
, who blabbed the news of Eoin McLove's visit to every middle-aged fan of his on Craggy Island, despite vowing that if she spread the word she'd be "struck down with every disease that it is known for a middle-aged woman to suffer from". ("Night of the Nearly Dead") Mrs Dunne , whose husband Mr Dunne tried to wash a cup last year and burnt the house down. ("Night of the Nearly Dead")
, whose husband tried to wash a cup last year and burnt the house down. ("Night of the Nearly Dead") Mrs Collins , whose husband Mr Collins tried to make his own bed last year and lost a leg. ("Night of the Nearly Dead")
, whose husband tried to make his own bed last year and lost a leg. ("Night of the Nearly Dead") Paddy Short , who was "lured" to the Holy Stone of Clonrichert "and then they beat him with a stick". Does not appear in the series. ("Tentacles of Doom")
, who was "lured" to the Holy Stone of Clonrichert "and then they beat him with a stick". Does not appear in the series. ("Tentacles of Doom") Paddy Jordan , who runs the Craggy Island Greyhound Track. ("The Plague")
, who runs the Craggy Island Greyhound Track. ("The Plague") The Rudest Couple , an aggressively territorial man and wife who show bitter and disinhibited annoyance at Father Ted for sitting in their picnic spot. They use the words "fup off", "backstard" and "grasshole" in order to comply with the picnic area's no-swearing rule in "The Old Grey Whistle Theft".
, an aggressively territorial man and wife who show bitter and disinhibited annoyance at Father Ted for sitting in their picnic spot. They use the words "fup off", "backstard" and "grasshole" in order to comply with the picnic area's no-swearing rule in "The Old Grey Whistle Theft". Eugene , who, in "Going to America", as he is leaving the church after mass comments to Father Ted that his sermon "bored the arse off me". After being asked "What the hell was it about anyway?", Father Ted balks, leaving Eugene to exclaim "Ah jaysus" as he walks away. (Eugene is played by the same actor as the character "Pat")
, who, in "Going to America", as he is leaving the church after mass comments to Father Ted that his sermon "bored the arse off me". After being asked "What the hell was it about anyway?", Father Ted balks, leaving Eugene to exclaim "Ah jaysus" as he walks away. (Eugene is played by the same actor as the character "Pat") Mrs Gleeson and Mrs Millet , Two housewives who are clearly waiting for Pat Mustard to deliver 'more than just dairy products' and are shocked to see Dougal arriving at the door in "Speed 3".
, Two housewives who are clearly waiting for to deliver 'more than just dairy products' and are shocked to see Dougal arriving at the door in "Speed 3". Brian Noonan, a very important junior minister who is a personal friend of Bishop Brennan.
Inhabitants of the Mainland [ edit ]
Mrs Dineen , Mrs Doyle's friend whom she meets and spends an afternoon with in the teashop, only to end up being arrested after fighting over who should pay the bill. She later reappeared in Escape from Victory where she watched the football match with Mrs Doyle.
, Mrs Doyle's friend whom she meets and spends an afternoon with in the teashop, only to end up being arrested after fighting over who should pay the bill. She later reappeared in Escape from Victory where she watched the football match with Mrs Doyle. Mrs O'Dwyer , Mrs Doyle's friend who was "robbed", meaning that she herself was stolen.
, Mrs Doyle's friend who was "robbed", meaning that she herself was stolen. Mr Sweeney , whose house was broken into and who was forced into a bra by the intruder. A victim of 200 cases of "forced transvestism" in the space of one year.
, whose house was broken into and who was forced into a bra by the intruder. A victim of 200 cases of "forced transvestism" in the space of one year. Optician , analyses Father Jack's level of eyesight using a new DRINK chart given away in a Carlsberg promotion, only to later use one given to her by Slovakian company Feckarse Industries.
, analyses Father Jack's level of eyesight using a new DRINK chart given away in a Carlsberg promotion, only to later use one given to her by Slovakian company Feckarse Industries. Tour Guide , shows Fathers Ted and Dougal and Richard Wilson amongst others around The Caves. Has great difficulty in not shouting Richard Wilson's catchphrase from One Foot in the Grave to his face.
, shows Fathers Ted and Dougal and Richard Wilson amongst others around The Caves. Has great difficulty in not shouting Richard Wilson's catchphrase from to his face. Ronald, AA member who spots Father Jack indulging in alcohol in a pub and is last seen being carried away in an ambulance.
Celebrities [ edit ]
Henry Sellers (played by Niall Buggy), jovial game-show host and ex-alcoholic, who comes to the Island to host the All-Priests Stars in Their Eyes Lookalikes Competition, after the abrupt termination of a career as a game show host in England. Ted unwittingly allows Mrs Doyle to coerce him into having a glass of sherry, after which he drunkenly trashes the parochial house and runs riot around the Craggy Island countryside. Sergeant Lewis brings him down with a tranquilliser gun at 75 yards.
(played by Niall Buggy), jovial game-show host and ex-alcoholic, who comes to the Island to host the All-Priests Lookalikes Competition, after the abrupt termination of a career as a game show host in England. Ted unwittingly allows Mrs Doyle to coerce him into having a glass of sherry, after which he drunkenly trashes the parochial house and runs riot around the Craggy Island countryside. Sergeant Lewis brings him down with a tranquilliser gun at 75 yards. Richard Wilson (star of One Foot in the Grave ) as himself. Upon hearing Ted's quoting of his character Victor Meldrew's catchphrase, "I don't believe it", he violently attacks Ted and hurls insults and threats at him.
(star of ) as himself. Upon hearing Ted's quoting of his character Victor Meldrew's catchphrase, "I don't believe it", he violently attacks Ted and hurls insults and threats at him. Eoin McLove , played by Patrick McDonnell, sickly-sweet television presenter and pop singer (hits include "My Lovely Mayo Mammy"). His only popularity is amongst middle-aged women, and he is completely dependent on others to perform even the simplest tasks for him, such as opening doors. He visits the Parochial House when Mrs Doyle, implausibly, wins a poetry competition. Bizarrely, at one point he tries to justify his obtuse behaviour by saying, quite simply: "I've no willy". Based on Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell.
, played by Patrick McDonnell, sickly-sweet television presenter and pop singer (hits include "My Lovely Mayo Mammy"). His only popularity is amongst middle-aged women, and he is completely dependent on others to perform even the simplest tasks for him, such as opening doors. He visits the Parochial House when Mrs Doyle, implausibly, wins a poetry competition. Bizarrely, at one point he tries to justify his obtuse behaviour by saying, quite simply: "I've no willy". Based on Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell. Patsy , played by Maria Doyle Kennedy, is Eoin McLove's manager and dogsbody.
, played by Maria Doyle Kennedy, is Eoin McLove's manager and dogsbody. Lazlo St Pierre and John Morgan , night-time and morning DJs respectively on a local radio station which Ted, Jack and Dougal listen to while driving back from Father Finnegan's. Voiced by the writers; Graham Linehan, and Arthur Mathews in yet another little cameo.
and , night-time and morning DJs respectively on a local radio station which Ted, Jack and Dougal listen to while driving back from Father Finnegan's. Voiced by the writers; Graham Linehan, and Arthur Mathews in yet another little cameo. Terry MacNamee (Gerard Lee), producer of the TV programme Faith of Our Fathers .
(Gerard Lee), producer of the TV programme . Charles Hedges (played by Peter Caffrey) and Fred Rickwood (played by Jon Kenny), a gay couple; respectively, producer and presenter of "A Song For Ireland". When offstage, Fred is dirty and disheveled and his speech is entirely incoherent, yet when he appears on camera he inexplicably becomes clean, well-dressed, and charismatic.
(played by Peter Caffrey) and (played by Jon Kenny), a gay couple; respectively, producer and presenter of "A Song For Ireland". When offstage, Fred is dirty and disheveled and his speech is entirely incoherent, yet when he appears on camera he inexplicably becomes clean, well-dressed, and charismatic. Niamh Connolly (played by Clare Grogan), a radical feminist pop singer based on Sinéad O'Connor, who condemns the Catholic Church for various (unlikely) atrocities during the Great Famine. She comes to Craggy Island in an attempt to create a safe haven for victims of intolerance and hypocrisy. Dougal mistakenly "sells" the Parochial House to her.
(played by Clare Grogan), a radical feminist pop singer based on Sinéad O'Connor, who condemns the Catholic Church for various (unlikely) atrocities during the Great Famine. She comes to Craggy Island in an attempt to create a safe haven for victims of intolerance and hypocrisy. Dougal mistakenly "sells" the Parochial House to her. Father Ben and Father Brendan, the stars of a TV sitcom called "Father Ben" that is much enjoyed by Ted and Dougal. It is the in-universe version of Father Ted and it follows the lives of Father Ben and Father Brendan, and even appears to take place in the same house. The series included a cameo appearance by Father Ted co-creator Arthur Mathews as the long-suffering Ben. In fact they both bear a startling resemblance to Ted and Dougal. In the short bit of the show that appears in the episode "The Plague", Father Brendan has shorts on his head, and Dougal remarks that "Brendan's an eejit".
Other characters [ edit ]
Gerry Gleason and Mrs Gleason , a hapless couple at Kilkelly Caravan Park who have their caravan invaded, their lovemaking spied on, their private ablutions interrupted and their lives generally made a misery by the priests from the Island. In addition Mr Gleason is carried naked through the countryside on the bonnet of Ted's car, and thrown to the ground. Mrs Gleason returns briefly during the "Speed 3" episode when Dougal delivers her milk; she thinks it will be Pat Mustard, so she is topless and screams when Dougal arrives.
and , a hapless couple at Kilkelly Caravan Park who have their caravan invaded, their lovemaking spied on, their private ablutions interrupted and their lives generally made a misery by the priests from the Island. In addition Mr Gleason is carried naked through the countryside on the bonnet of Ted's car, and thrown to the ground. Mrs Gleason returns briefly during the "Speed 3" episode when Dougal delivers her milk; she thinks it will be Pat Mustard, so she is topless and screams when Dougal arrives. The St Luke's Youth Group , shepherded by Father Noel Furlong and comprising Gerry Fields, Janine Reilly (who Noel Furlong thinks "would love to screech"), Tony Lynch (hypothetically eaten by Father Furlong who then shouts "shut up" to his face) and Nuala Ryan. Last seen heading off on Aer Lingus flights to Paraguay, having finally escaped Father Noel.
, shepherded by Father Noel Furlong and comprising Gerry Fields, Janine Reilly (who Noel Furlong thinks "would love to screech"), Tony Lynch (hypothetically eaten by Father Furlong who then shouts "shut up" to his face) and Nuala Ryan. Last seen heading off on Aer Lingus flights to Paraguay, having finally escaped Father Noel. Mrs O'Reilly , one of the women made love to by sex-addicted milkman Pat Mustard in Speed 3. Theresa O'Reilly has the distinction of being the only "Mrs" on Craggy Island to have her first name revealed, apart from Mary who runs the shop.
, one of the women made love to by sex-addicted milkman Pat Mustard in Speed 3. Theresa O'Reilly has the distinction of being the only "Mrs" on Craggy Island to have her first name revealed, apart from Mary who runs the shop. Father Peter Clifford (Stephen Tompkinson) and Assumpta Fitzgerald (Dervla Kirwan) from the BBC drama series Ballykissangel , who appear in Ted's dream in "A Christmassy Ted".
(Stephen Tompkinson) and (Dervla Kirwan) from the BBC drama series , who appear in Ted's dream in "A Christmassy Ted". Dermot Stone (James Beswick) and Mrs Stone (Kate Binchy), who say it is a "terrible thing" that their son has been struck by lightning, but at the same time are distressed that he survived. Mr Stone's extroverted character is in stark contrast to his son.
(James Beswick) and (Kate Binchy), who say it is a "terrible thing" that their son has been struck by lightning, but at the same time are distressed that he survived. Mr Stone's extroverted character is in stark contrast to his son. Mammy (Joane Hall), Father Stone's sinister grandmother who horrifies Ted when she whispers to him that she "knows what (Ted's) 'up to'", frightening Ted into thinking that she knows he asked God to do away with Father Stone.
(Joane Hall), Father Stone's sinister grandmother who horrifies Ted when she whispers to him that she "knows what (Ted's) 'up to'", frightening Ted into thinking that she knows he asked God to do away with Father Stone. Tarot reader , a charlatan who reads Ted's fortune when Dougal backs out in "Good Luck, Father Ted". When Ted is uncertain about crossing her palm with silver, she says: "Gimme a pound!"
, a charlatan who reads Ted's fortune when Dougal backs out in "Good Luck, Father Ted". When Ted is uncertain about crossing her palm with silver, she says: "Gimme a pound!" Surly youth , appears under the cliffs in "Good Luck, Father Ted", watching men playing bodhráns and dancing a jig.
, appears under the cliffs in "Good Luck, Father Ted", watching men playing bodhráns and dancing a jig. Laura Sweeney (Zara Turner), the senior partner from law firm, Corless, Corless & Sweeney, and executor of Jack's will, who punches and swears at Ted when he and Dougal laugh at the notion of her being a solicitor. ("Grant unto Him Eternal Rest")
(Zara Turner), the senior partner from law firm, Corless, Corless & Sweeney, and executor of Jack's will, who punches and swears at Ted when he and Dougal laugh at the notion of her being a solicitor. ("Grant unto Him Eternal Rest") Mr Pearson , Ted and Dougal tried to stay with him for a second week of their holiday last year but his, it turned out, was not a guesthouse. ("Hell")
, Ted and Dougal tried to stay with him for a second week of their holiday last year but his, it turned out, was not a guesthouse. ("Hell") The fellow from England , touched the Holy Stone of Clonrichert and grew a beard. Never appears in the series. ("Tentacles of Doom"),
, touched the Holy Stone of Clonrichert and grew a beard. Never appears in the series. ("Tentacles of Doom"), Mwengwe, Ted and Dougal's friend from Addis Ababa. Mentioned in Cigarettes Alcohol and Rollerblading. He is supposed to have a satellite antenna in his house.
Pets and other animals [ edit ]
Sampras , Dougal's pet rabbit, named after Pete Sampras (because of some bizarre perceived connection between tennis and rabbits that Dougal does not explain).
, Dougal's pet rabbit, named after Pete Sampras (because of some bizarre perceived connection between tennis and rabbits that Dougal does not explain). Ronaldo , Dougal's escape-prone, cycling hamster (named after the Brazilian striker Ronaldo).
, Dougal's escape-prone, cycling hamster (named after the Brazilian striker Ronaldo). Chris , Fargo Boyle's multiple winner of "King of The Sheep" who suffers a crisis of confidence and starts burping.
, Fargo Boyle's multiple winner of "King of The Sheep" who suffers a crisis of confidence and starts burping. Big Brendan , another burping sheep who won the King of the Sheep in 1983, but Ted was convinced it was a "fluke."
, another burping sheep who won the King of the Sheep in 1983, but Ted was convinced it was a "fluke." The Ants , a colony of giant ants living in the field that the Parochial House is in, which Dougal investigates with binoculars.
, a colony of giant ants living in the field that the Parochial House is in, which Dougal investigates with binoculars. Éamonn , the rabbit that Dougal bets £10 on at the Craggy Island Greyhound Track when Ted tries to race the rabbits in "The Plague".
, the rabbit that Dougal bets £10 on at the Craggy Island Greyhound Track when Ted tries to race the rabbits in "The Plague". The Beast of Craggy Island , a fictional beast which is scaring everybody on the Island. Ted and Dougal later find out a Stereogram hanging from a tree is responsible for the noises believed to be made by the beast. ("Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep")
, a fictional beast which is scaring everybody on the Island. Ted and Dougal later find out a Stereogram hanging from a tree is responsible for the noises believed to be made by the beast. ("Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep") Brick, Father Jack's very own pet brick which he lovingly cares for, only to have a sudden change of heart and hurl it at Ted. |
Speaking after winning the 2017 Sir Tom Finney player of the year award, Aiden McGeady stated his desire to return to Deepdale once his loan is over.
The Irish international winger collected the main trophy at the ceremony, presented on the pitch during the half-time of the community day in PR1, and said that whilst his future was out of his hands, he would love a return to a club where he has enjoyed his time.
“I get asked about my future a lot, but in all honesty, I don’t know what is going to happen in the summer, because I probably won’t have the final say,” he told PNE PlayerHD. “I’d like to come back because I have enjoyed it.
“It has been the best thing that has happened to me in the last few years.
“Before this I was forgotten about the last couple of years; I wasn’t playing at Everton, I didn’t play much at Sheffield Wednesday, but here I have played, I have enjoyed it, it has been great for me and I would like to come back, but it is out of my hands.”
McGeady was the runaway winner of the fan voted trophy and was proud to have collected the award named after another entertainer and winger.
“It is a massive accolade to be recognised for your performances over the course of a season. Ultimately you cannot do it on your own, you need the help of you team-mates and I wouldn’t be taking home any prizes without the help of the team.
“I am very proud to win the award.
“It is nice to be appreciated and to be wanted and the fans have taken to me. I have said in interviews before that they are very vocal and chant your name and that is great for me as it means I am doing something right.
“I have enjoyed playing my football here, especially at Deepdale. It has been great, I have had a lot of good games and the team has got some good results as well.
“Tom Finney was before my time, but I know he was a great player and you don’t become a Sir for nothing and it is an honour to pick up a trophy in his name,” he added. |
Jasmine Brown
Staff Writer
The University of California Santa Barbara plans to enroll approximately another 4,000 more students by the year 2017. UCSB Housing and Residential Services is developing new housing for occupancy in 2016 to accommodate this growing population of students.
The San Joaquin Apartments will be dedicated to fulfilling the university’s long-term goal of offering four years of housing for all freshmen and sophomore students. It will provide living accommodations for 1,000 additional students with two to three bedrooms in each unit.
The area just north and east of the Santa Catalina North Tower is to be the primary location for the new housing project, according to the housing’s Long Range Development Plan.
While the new San Joaquin Apartments will serve sophomore, junior and potentially senior undergraduates, Santa Catalina will remain a housing option for freshmen. The purpose of the close proximity is to provide students with a sense of community while they live in an evolving living and learning environment.
Barry Colwell, Coordinator of Resource Planning of Housing and Residential Services, plans to assist the campus in providing affordable, community-connected housing for the influx of students in the future.
“The Long Range Development Plan calls out for the enrollment of this campus to go to approximately 25,000 from the current 21,000,” said Colwell. “The current goal is to ultimately provide campus owned housing to 50 percent of enrolled students.”
According to Colwell, the $175 million project plans on accommodating the living needs of students, while providing a small community for those living west of the main campus.
“It will include a new, larger dining commons on El Colegio to replace Portola, and even a market and late night Bistro,” said Colwell.
Raul Martinez, former RHA President and fourth-year business economics and political science double major, shared the importance of students’ input during the development process.
“Being able to advocate for all the students was really important,” said Martinez. “There is a committee that includes all students, who sits with architects and Residential Life to discuss things from the designs to landscaping.”
In the current developing stage, the San Joaquin plan is going through various reviews as far as design and students are an integral part in the planning process.
“Housing is very receptive to students’ input,” said Martinez. “It is important that students are provided with more student options as the rates for enrollment increases.”
UCSB Housing believes that the additional living community for students will balance out the steady increase of incoming students. And the San Joaquin project plans to balance the dense living environment that current freshman encounter for future students.
“The amount of triples this year is a record of 1,000,” said Colwell. “We usually have 250, maybe 300 triples in the fall when we first book up.”
Although current students and those freshmen compacted in their triples will not be here once the San Joaquin project is complete, some still share their excitement for the expansion of the Santa Catalina area.
Noel Henry, a third-year film and media studies major and former Santa Catalina resident, gives her feedback to the housing project.
“I lived in FT my freshman year and I think it is exciting for the students who will live there,” said Henry. “This community will be super important because when I lived there I felt disconnected from those living on campus.”
Additions in the Project
600 beds on site; however, for the possible increase in enrollment, targeting 800 and 1200 beds.
The new dining common will be built parallel to El Colegio Rd to replace Portola.
This new area of apartments and a market will be a developing community that will accommodate for the students west of campus.
The university commits itself to sustainable measures, so there will be transportation providing a shuttle and expanding the bike paths.
Included in this project will be a bike shop and an outdoor theater for students.
Photos Courtesy of UCSB |
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“Submissions for the Bakwin Award for Writing by a Woman are NOW OPEN through June 15, 2016. The Bakwin Award honors full-length prose work (novel, short story collection, or memoir) by an author who is a woman. The winner will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the winning book will be published by Carolina Wren Press.” Judge is Tayari Jones. Submission deadline: June 15
Hedgebrook 2016 Screenwriters Lab. “Hedgebrook’s Screenwriters Lab supports five screenwriters in developing their projects over a weeklong residency, with two mentors from the film industry, at our retreat on Whidbey Island, Washington.” Application deadline: June 16
Online Class: Become Your Own Best Editor.“Our popular editing course offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the editorial process. You’ll learn to bring the same sharp editorial eye to your own work that the editors of One Story bring to each issue. Daily online lessons will guide you through a case study of a One Story debut, issue #188, “The Remains” by Laura Spence-Ash. You’ll follow the story from first draft to publication—studying actual marked-up manuscripts—as the author and editors work together to make the story the best it can be.” June 22nd – 28th
“Register for AAWW’s third Publishing Conference on Saturday, June 25th and you’ll hear from veteran authors, agents and editors from The New Yorker, Penguin Random House, Grove Atlantic, Vice, Buzzfeed, Bomb, and Catapult.”
It went so well last month, I’m teaching Write It Better again. “David Sedaris said that good short stories, “take me out of myself and then stuff me back in, outsized now and uneasy with the fit.” How do they do this? Through a combination of readings, discussion, exercises, and critique this class will cover the elements in short fiction that – when done well – make for a great short story. We’ll discuss characters, plot, setting, dialogue, rewriting, and editing.” Begins June 28
1913 Press is accepting submissions for a prose book to publish. Judge is Maggie Nelson. Deadline: June 30
“The BLR Prizes award outstanding writing related to themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body. First prize is $1,000 (in each genre) and publication in the Spring 2017 issue of BLR. Honorable mention winners will receive $250 and publication in the Spring 2017 issue of BLR.” Submission deadline: July 1
The Winter Tangerine Awards. Judges are Chris Abani for prose, Aracelis Girmay for poetry. Submission deadline: July 1
StoryQuarterly is looking for fiction for its Winter 2017 issue. Submission deadline: July 10.
“Fairy Tale Review is thrilled to announce our third annual contest, with awards for poetry and prose—Kelly Link will serve as our judge for prose, and Traci Brimhall will judge poetry. The selected winners of the prose and poetry contests will each receive $1,000 and publication in The Translucent Issue, which will be released in 2017.” Submission deadine: July 15
This is one of the most nurturing residencies I’ve ever been to. Apply! “Six writers are in residence at a time, each housed in a handcrafted cottage. They spend their days in solitude – writing, reading, taking walks in the woods on the property or on nearby Double Bluff beach. In the evenings, they gather in the farmhouse kitchen to share a home-cooked gourmet meal, their work, their process and their stories. The Writers in Residence Program is Hedgebrook’s core program, supporting the fully-funded residencies of approximately 40 writers at the retreat each year.” Application deadline: July 26
Virginia Quarterly Review reads unsolicited fiction, poetry, and nonfiction submissions from July 1-31
“Feminist Press has partnered with TAYO Literary Magazine to launch a contest seeking the best debut books by women and nonbinary writers of color. First time authors, submit your complete manuscript, either fiction, including novels and short story collections, or narrative memoir, of 50,000 to 80,000 words, and you could receive $5,000 and a publishing contract from the Feminist Press!” Submission deadline: July 31
Gimmick Press is “currently accepting chapbook length (30-50 pages) submissions of pro-wrestling themed poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and black & white comics and/or illustrations. From the submissions received, we will choose three chapbooks, to be published together in one collection. The creators of each of the three chosen chapbooks will receive payment of $250 and 10 copies of the completed collection.” Submission deadline: July 31
Willapa Bay AIR offers “month-long, self-directed residencies to emerging and established artists, writers, scholars, singer/songwriters, and musical composers. The Residency provides lodging, meals, and work space, at no cost, to six residents each month from March 1 through September 30 of the year.” Application due July 31
“On the Island of Itaparica the Sacatar Foundation operates the Instituto Sacatar, an oceanside historic estate where creative individuals working in all disciplines may apply for eight-week residency fellowships. These residency fellowships provide unstructured time and space for selected Fellows to develop new work in the vibrant context of Bahia, Brazil. Selected through a competitive process open to all, each Sacatar Fellow receives airfare, studio, room and board, as well as logistical support during his/her stay.” Application due July 31
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Chris Ramsey said he was “disappointed” with Tjaronn Chery’s reaction to being substituted during the first half of QPR’s 4-0 defeat at Fulham.
Rangers head coach Ramsey decided to take the Dutchman off 10 minutes before the interval after the home side had raced into a three-goal lead.
Chery decided not to sit in the dugout and instead walked around the pitch to the tunnel.
Ramsey said he did not see the player in the dressing room afterwards, although QPR officials insisted Chery did not leave the stadium prematurely and that he boarded the coach with the rest of the squad after the match.
“I’m disappointed with what he did. It’s an internal matter and will be dealt with,” Ramsey said.
“I took him off because I thought we needed more discipline in the defending part of it and he wasn’t performing in that matter at that time.
“It was important at that stage to get ourselves to half-time with the score as catchable as possible.”
Ramsey admitted he was “very concerned” by Rangers’ ongoing defensive shortcomings.
They have let in 17 league goals this season – no Championship side has conceded more.
“We made a lot of individual errors that caused us more problems than we needed, right from the start, and Fulham got a lot of confidence from that,” Ramsey said. |
15User Rating: 1 out of 5
Review title of stbluesboy21 Not the hockey you know, play, or watch.
This isn't hockey, this isn't even fun hockey. This is what EA Sports take on hockey is like, and it's a poor representation of the fastest game on ice. this game is a complete rehash of NHL 17 with a gamebreaking new feature, the "defensive skill stick" a feature that was supposed balance the game, but is broken and will be spammed every time you play someone online. You get your basic roster updates. Jersey updates. And, of course, a heavy push for you to use the new expansion team Vegas Golden Knights. Features you want. There are things that were in the game last year that were helpful that have been mysteriously taken out such as being able to make changes your lines during intermission while playing online. Long story short, if you want to play a game where you will deal with a bunch of glitchy goals and TONS (can't emphasize that enough) of poke checking, then NHL 18 is the hockey game for you.. |
The NRL has issued St George Illawarra with a breach notice proposing a fine of $10,000 over comments by its coach Paul McGregor last weekend.
The breach notice was issued following McGregor's post-match statements that decisions made by match officials were "embarrassing" and "incompetent".
"In simple terms, the rule is that coaches, players and officials should not discuss referees and their performances in the public domain," NRL Head of Football Brian Canavan said.
"We have been pragmatic in dealing with instances where comments have been made but the competence and integrity of referees has not been questioned.
"But it is our view that these particular comments crossed the line.
"All coaches should be aware that they risk sanctions if they discuss the performance of referees."
The Dragons have five business days to respond to the breach notice. |
Fringe promoters Gilded Balloon are to operate their first year-round venue in Edinburgh since their long-time home in the Cowgate was burnt down.
Founder Karen Koren and her daughter Katy, who is now running the business with her mother, will be staging hundreds of comedy, theatre, music, cabaret and spoken word outwith August.
They are joining forces with a Danish dance star who has snapped up a former church in the city’s west end.
The former Charlotte Baptist Chapel on Rose Street is currently being converted to become Gilded Balloon’s first Fringe venue in the New Town.
However, Gilded Balloon is already programming shows in the 110-capacity basement and 300-capacity main auditorium from September. Shows will be staged up to six nights a week, including the Fringe comeback in August of Scottish comic Craig Ferguson after more than 20 years.
Gilded Balloon used to stage comedy, music and poetry shows throughout the year at its celebrated home in the Cowgate, which opened in 1986, before it was destroyed a huge blaze in 2002.
An ongoing £1.8 million revamp of the “Rose Theatre” is being led by dancer, director and choreographer Peter Schaufuss, a previous artistic director of both English National Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet. He also recently bought the old St Stephen’s Church in Stockbridge.
Karen Koren said: “We’re going to be doing a real mix of things throughout the year and we’re already speaking to lots of different people.
“We’ll be putting on our own line-ups, reprising Fringe shows, booking in touring productions and also working with other festivals and events.
“A lot of the shows we’ll be programming just aren’t happening in Edinburgh at the moment – the city is crying out for a venue like this.”
Katy Koren added: “One of the main reasons we wanted to take on the Rose Theatre is because it’s in the west end.
"It makes sense for us to be right in the centre of Edinburgh; it is easy to get to and it is too much of a risk to go anywhere else to be honest.
“This was a big opportunity to have our own year-round venue. We obviously know comedy really well, but we want to develop it into a space for new writing, theatre and cabaret. It’s going to be really flexible.” |
Since its release on April 4th, Persona 5 has blown people away thanks to the brilliance of its story and gameplay mechanics, but it has also earned a lot of attention thanks to its ground-breaking aesthetics, which impregnate every single interface in the game with a unique, vibrant energy. The game definitely has found a way to make turn-based RPGs to look “cool,” and wouldn’t all games look cooler with these menus?
That’s what Persona fans on the internet must have thought, since platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube are being flooded with images and videos of other games or even movies or TV shows with the Persona 5 interface pasted on. Characters like 2B from Nier: Automata, Shadow the Hedgehog, Ace Attorney, Link from Breath of the Wild or even Donkey Kong have seen their world transformed into a turn-based battle with options to attack with a sword or a gun, use an item, or summon a Persona.
And it’s not just videogame characters. One of the key aspects of the popularity of Persona is how it manages to present the normal student life as an exciting tale with magic and demons, which is why by applying the game’s interface to images from films or even real people they seem like they live in a much more thrilling world. We’ve seen memes using anime stills, like one from Ms. Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, and iconic films like The Shining, or Pulp Fiction (pictured above).
And the most advanced memes don’t even stop with still images; some of them even transform clips from movies or TV shows into a Persona adventure, like these ones from Seinfeld, the viral promo for Planet of the Apes and our personal favourite, from The Simpsons, which you can check out below.
Do you want to create your own Persona 5 meme? Just download this image and paste it over any still from a videogame or film that you think it would feel cooler with a little Persona vibe.
Stealing Hearts for Self-Defense |
Co-author urges the FDA to take a closer look.
A new study found metals at potentially toxic levels in lipsticks. (Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd, AFP/Getty Images) Story Highlights Lead was found in 24 of 32 lipsticks tested but not at excessive levels
Some lipsticks had worrisome levels of chromium, a carcinogen
Author suggests that kids not use lipstick and adults use it less
Lipstick may brighten your face but may not be good for the rest of you, a study today suggests.
Testing of 32 commonly sold lipsticks and lip glosses found they contain lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and five other metals — some at potentially toxic levels, according to researchers at the University of California-Berkeley's School of Public Health.
Prior research has also found lead in lipstick, including a December 2011 survey of 400 varieties by the Food and Drug Administration that found low levels the agency said pose no safety concerns. This UC study looked at more metals and estimated health risks based on their concentrations and typical lipstick use.
"Just finding these metals isn't the issue.It's the levels that matter," says co-author S. Katharine Hammond, professor of environmental health. She says some of the toxic metals are occurring at levels that could pose health problems in the long run.
"This study is saying, 'FDA, wake up and pay attention,' " she says.
When not blotted on tissue or left as kiss marks, lipstick and lip gloss are ingested or absorbed by the user. The health effect depends partly on how often and how heavily the product is applied. The average user applies lipstick 2.3 times daily and ingests 24 milligrams each day, while a heavy user applies it as many as 14 times and ingests an average of 83 milligrams, the UC study says..
For even the average user, the study found that some of the lipsticks could result in excessive exposure to chromium, a carcinogen linked to stomach tumors. High use could potentially cause overexposure to aluminum, cadmium and manganese.
"Lead is not the metal of most concern," Hammond says, noting it was found in 24 of the products but at levels generally lower than the acceptable daily intake. Still, since no level of lead exposure is considered safe for children, she discourages kids from playing with lipstick or using it for beauty contests.
"I don't think people should panic," she hastens, saying that not all lipstick needs to be tossed in the trash. "But if you use it several times every day, you may want to think about it." Her basic advice: "Use it less."
In a statement from the Personal Care Products Council, chief toxicologist Linda Loretz cautions that the finding of trace amounts of metals needs to be put in context, given their natural presence in air, soil and water. "Food is a primary source for many of these naturally present metals, and exposure from lip products is minimal in comparison," Loretz says. An example: Trace amounts of chromium or cadmium from lip products, as measured in the UC report, are less than 1% of the exposure that people could get from their diet, she says.
Hammond says the results are preliminary and more research needs to be done, because there's no U.S. standards for metal content in cosmetics. The European Union views cadmium, chromium and lead as unacceptable ingredients, at any level, in cosmetic products
Although the study is small, Hammond says, the 32 tested products are common brands sold in stores nationwide. The study was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Education Research Center. Its findings appear in the the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/18dqVMP |
County Chairman Corey Stewart (R-Prince William) is being criticized for calling his primary opponent in the Virginia governor's race a "cuckservative."
Stewart, who is facing former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie this year, participated in an "Ask Me Anything" forum on Reddit and made the remark when introducing himself:
Hey Reddit, I'm Corey Stewart. Republican Candidate for Governor of Virginia and former State Chair for Donald Trump for President. The primary election is June 13th. I am opposing the establishment's handpicked candidate, former Bush guy, RNC chairman, and cuckservative, Ed Gillespie. I led the nation's toughest crackdown on illegal immigration in the nation and have been attacked by the left and establishment Republicans. I need your help.
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The term "cuckservative" has been used by the so-called "alt-right" movement to label any fellow Republican or conservative as someone who appears to disavow their conservative credentials, derived from the term "cuckold."
Stewart, a conservative running on a platform of tax cuts and illegal immigration enforcement who has described himself as "Trump before Trump was Trump", has regularly criticized Gillespie as "Establishment Ed" for his ties to GOP establishment.
Virginia Republican Party chair John Whitbeck slammed Stewart's use of the term, telling the Washington Post the epithet is also often used by white nationalists.
A spokesman for Gillespie called the incident "sad", adding that it was an inappropriate way for Stewart to try to forward conservative principles.
Stewart responded to Whitbeck, asking if he was the "word-pope", adding that he saw the term as a more contemporary version of "RINO" [Republican in Name Only].
Stewart is well known in Virginia for his steadfast views on illegal immigration, recently asking his county's police force to work with ICE to deport illegal immigrants who have been previously arrested.
He was fired as state co-chair by the Trump campaign after holding a protest rally in front of the Republican National Committee, accusing then-Chairman Reince Priebus and Speaker Paul Ryan of working to "sabotage" Trump.
In Charlottesville, Stewart recently drew protests when he held a rally opposing plans to remove the city's statue of General Robert E. Lee, in the name of "defending Virginia's heritage" and opposing "political correctness."
The winner of Stewart and Gillespie's four-way primary will face Lieutenant Gov. Ralph Northam (D-Va.) or former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Albemarle).
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Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will be the next president, but there's an interesting Election Day subplot: Will Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson grab 5% of the vote?
Johnson is showing some positive momentum. He gets 7.6%* in the final IBD/TIPP Presidential Election Tracking Poll. That's up from 6.3% a day earlier and 3.7% just four days ago. That includes 16% of independents.
The libertarian candidate gets 4.7% overall in the Real Clear Politics average, up fractionally in recent days.
The 5% threshold is significant. If Johnson reaches that level, the Libertarian Party would qualify for public matching funds in 2020. It's unclear if the small-government Libertarian Party would accept such funding.
But Johnson may underperform his polling figures.
It's widely acknowledged that Clinton and the Democratic Party have a much stronger get-out-the vote organization than Trump and his allies. But Trump's GOTV efforts easily outstrip anything that Johnson has. Also, with polls showing a tight Trump-Clinton race, voters who may prefer Johnson — or Green Party candidate Jill Stein — may ultimately vote for one of the two major party picks.
Still, Johnson and running mate Bill Weld should easily record the best-ever results for a Libertarian ticket.
In 2012, Johnson got 0.99% of the vote, just shy of the Libertarian peak in 1980, when Ed Clark/David Koch got 1.07%.
But many will see 2016 as a missed opportunity for the Libertarian Party. Clinton and Trump are historically unpopular candidates, with neither party espousing a strong pro-freedom, small-government message. Meanwhile Johnson and Weld were successful GOP governors, adding a new level of credibility for the Libertarian party.
Johnson topped 10% in many summer polls, including IBD/TIPP, getting close to the 15% necessary to join the presidential debates.
But Johnson is not a great campaigner. He has little knowledge in foreign policy, famously saying "What is Aleppo?" when asked about the hotly contested northern Syria city in that country's civil war. Johnson and Weld, both pro-choice on abortion, also alienated anti-Trump religious voters, when a deft touch might have attracted that sizable group.
In Mormon-dominated Utah, Johnson at one point looked like a contender, but has tumbled to a distant fourth as pro-life Mormon candidate Evan McMullin has attracted many "Never Trump" conservatives there.
Meanwhile, Green candidate Jill Stein is at 2% in the latest IBD/TIPP tracking poll and 1.9% in the RCP average. Like Johnson, she has relatively little organization compared with Clinton and Trump.
Still, could Johnson and Stein tip the presidential election?
Johnson's support is split between libertarian-minded voters in both major parties. But his rise in support in recent days seems to be one reason why Clinton has fallen behind Trump in the IBD/TIPP poll's four-way reading. Stein, meanwhile, likely pulls almost all her support from left-wing Democrats who might otherwise vote for Clinton.
But that may overstate their impact on the actual outcome. As stated earlier, they may lag the polls. Second, they are likely to get more support in states where the winner isn't in doubt, making voters feel more comfortable making a protest vote. Also, many battleground states such as Ohio and North Carolina aren't particularly receptive to either the Libertarian or Green message. Colorado is one exception, where RCP shows Johnson at 6.1% and Stein at 3.1%.
Of course, if the election comes down to a few thousand votes in Florida, Johnson and Stein support likely would surpass the margin of victory.
*Johnson gets 7.6% with "not sure" voters allocated to various candidates on the last day of the IBD/TIPP Poll. Unallocated, like in all the prior days of the tracking poll, Johnson would get 7.1%.
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IBD/TIPP Tracking Poll: The Most Accurate Presidential Poll In America |
United States Supreme Court case
United States v. Alvarez, 567 U.S. 709 (2012), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court struck down a portion of the Stolen Valor Act, a federal law that criminalized false statements about having a military medal. The law had been passed as an effort to stem instances where people falsely claimed to have earned the medal in an attempt to protect the "valor" of legitimate recipients. While a 6-3 majority of the Supreme Court agreed that the law was unconstitutional under the First Amendment's free speech protections, it could not agree on a single rationale. Four justices concluded that a statement's falsity is not enough, by itself, to exclude speech from First Amendment protection. Another two justices concluded that while false statements were entitled to some protection, the Stolen Valor Act was invalid because it could have achieved its objectives in less restrictive ways.
Veteran organizations and politicians reacted negatively. Several months after the decision, both chambers of Congress passed new versions of the Stolen Valor Act based on the suggestions in the Court's opinion. Despite the Supreme Court having struck down the conviction under the Act, Alvarez remained in prison for fraud on other matters.
Background [ edit ]
Stolen Valor Act [ edit ]
President George W. Bush signed the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, (18 U.S.C. § 704), into law on December 20, 2006.[1] The Act broadens previous provisions addressing the unauthorized wear, manufacture, or sale of any military decorations and medals by making it a misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal.[2] If convicted, defendants may be imprisoned for up to six months, unless the decoration lied about is the Medal of Honor, in which case imprisonment could be up to one year. Proponents in Congress argued that the law was passed to prevent imposters from "stealing the valor" of soldiers returning from engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.[4]
Alvarez's statements [ edit ]
In 2007, at a Three Valley Water District Board meeting in Claremont, California, new member Xavier Alvarez introduced himself by saying, "I'm a retired Marine of 25 years. I retired in the year 2001. Back in 1987, I was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. I got wounded many times by the same guy."[5][6]
As this statement was not true, Alvarez was indicted for violating the Stolen Valor Act.[7] The United States District Court for the Central District of California, the place where the trial was to occur, rejected Alvarez's claim that the Act was unconstitutional. This decision was reversed by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which held the law invalid.[8]
Rehearing by the entire panel of the Ninth Circuit (instead of just the three judges) was denied over the dissent of seven judges.[9] Judge Smith, one of the dissenters, argued that the panel "incorrectly rested its laurels on Supreme Court rulings in defamation cases that false facts did not receive First Amendment protections."[10] Smith argued that this was not a defamation case, because even if the act was intended to prevent injury to military personnel, "the right against defamation belongs to natural persons, not to governmental institutions or symbols."[11]
The government appealed the Ninth Circuit's decision, which was subsequently granted by the Supreme Court in 2011.
Supreme Court oral arguments [ edit ]
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on February 22, 2012.[13] Donald Verrilli, Jr., Solicitor General of the United States, appeared on behalf of the United States. Jonathan D. Libby, Deputy Federal Public Defender, appeared on behalf of Alvarez.[13]
Verrilli spoke first; he began by explaining that military honors touch on the core values of the armed forces, and the Stolen Valor Act simply aims to protect those core values. Almost immediately Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Verrilli a hypothetical:
During the Vietnam War, a protester holds up a sign that says, "I won a Purple Heart – for killing babies." Knowing statement. He didn't win the Purple Heart. As a reader, I can't be sure whether he did and is a combat veteran who opposes the war, or whether he's a citizen protesting the war. Is that person, if he's not a veteran, having received the medal, is he liable under this act?[14]
Verrilli responded by suggesting that such an act would be covered by the Act only if it were "reasonably understood by the audience as a statement of fact or as an exercise in political theater."[14]
The questions during Verrilli's argument focused on the lack of injury caused by false claims of military honors.[15] In nearly all the cases that the United States cited to support the proposition that there is no First Amendment value in falsity, the Court had addressed a false statement that harmed another, such as a defamatory statement. Relying on these cases, Verrilli stated, "[T]his Court has said in numerous contexts, numerous contexts, that the calculated factual falsehood has no First Amendment value for its own sake."[16] Justice Anthony Kennedy immediately retorted:
Well, I'm – I'm not sure that that's quite correct. It has said it often, but always in context where it is well understood that speech can injure.... You think there's no value to falsity. But I – I simply can't find that in our cases, and I – I think it's a sweeping proposition to say that there's no value to falsity. Falsity is a way in which we contrast what is false and what is true.[17]
Libby opened the defense argument by emphasizing that the First Amendment is intended to protect personal autonomy. In response to several questions, Libby played on the Court's discontent with the apparent lack of harm by stating that there is value in falsity "so long as it doesn't cause imminent harm to another person or imminent harm to a government function."[18]
Libby stumbled in the Court's estimation, however, when he conceded that the Act did not chill any truthful speech. In response, Justice Kagan stated, "So, boy, I mean, that's a big concession, Mr. Libby. Then you're saying, you can only win this case if this Court decides that the Gertz statement was a kind of overstatement, an exaggeration, puffery."[19]
Supreme Court's decision [ edit ]
On June 28, 2012, a divided Supreme Court held that the Stolen Valor Act's prohibition against making false statements of having been awarded a military medal violated the First Amendment.[20] However, the six justices in the majority could not agree on a single rationale for the decision.
Kennedy's plurality opinion [ edit ]
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for a plurality consisting of himself, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, wrote that false statements are not, by the sole reason of their falsity, excluded from First Amendment protection.[22] "The Court has never endorsed the categorical rule the Government advances," Kennedy wrote. "Our prior decisions have not confronted a measure, like the Stolen Valor Act, that targets falsity and nothing more."[23] Even though there are several examples of the use of penalizing false speech (like perjury), Kennedy argued that "[t]he Government has not demonstrated that false statements generally should constitute a new category of unprotected speech..."[24]
The plurality opinion also expressed the wide applicability of the Stolen Valor Act. "The Act by its plain terms," Kennedy wrote, "applies to a false statement made at any time, in any place, to any person". Such breadth means that the law is "sweeping... [the] reach of the statute puts it in conflict with the First Amendment... the statute would apply with equal force to personal, whispered conversations within a home."[25]
When balanced against the Government's need to protect the value of the Medal, the plurality said that "the link between the Government's interest in protecting the integrity of the military honors system and the Act's restriction on the false claims of liars like respondent has not been shown."[26] Additionally, Kennedy wrote that 'counter-speech' was a sufficient solution to the problem: "It is a fair assumption that any true holders of the Medal who had heard of Alvarez's false claims would have been fully vindicated by the community's expression of outrage... Truth needs neither handcuffs nor a badge for its vindication." [27]
Wrote Kennedy: "Permitting the government to decree this speech to be a criminal offense, whether shouted from the rooftops or made in a barely audible whisper, would endorse government authority to compile a list of subjects about which false statements are punishable. That governmental power has no clear limiting principle. Our constitutional tradition stands against the idea that we need Oceania’s Ministry of Truth," invoking George Orwell's novel 1984.
Breyer's concurrence [ edit ]
Justice Stephen Breyer, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, agreed that the Stolen Valor Act was unconstitutional, but on entirely different grounds. Breyer based his finding not on a strict scrutiny test that the plurality had used, but on a "proportionality" or "intermediate scrutiny test".[29] This test examines "whether the statute works speech-related harm that is out of proportion to its justifications."[30] After holding that Congress could create a database of those who had won the Medal, among other alternatives to the existing law, Breyer said that there were lesser restrictive means to achieve the government's interest.[31]
Alito's dissent [ edit ]
Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, dissented from the Court's decision striking down the Act. For Alito, the ruling had "[broken] sharply from a long line of cases recognizing that the right to free speech does not protect false factual statements that inflict real harm and serve no legitimate interest."[33] "The Stolen Valor Act," Alito wrote, "represents the judgment of the people's elected representatives that false statements about military awards are very different from false statements about civilian awards... [the Act] is a narrow law enacted to address an important problem, and it presents no threat to freedom of expression."[34]
Subsequent developments [ edit ]
Reaction [ edit ]
The decision received praise on constitutional grounds from across the political spectrum. The First Amendment Center called the decision "a victory for free speech and common sense."[35]
Several veterans organizations leaders were dismayed by the decision.[36] A spokesperson for the Veterans of Foreign Wars said "Despite the ruling, the VFW will continue to challenge far-fetched stories, and to publicize these false heroes to the broadest extent possible as a deterrent to others.”[37] Harold A. Fritz, a recipient of the medal from the Vietnam War agreed with the VFW that "It’s more than just a piece of metal suspended on a piece of cloth on a pin. . . . And people who abuse that . . . need to be penalized."[37] Proponents of the Stolen Valor Act promised to bring forward more limited legislation in the future.[38]
The American Legion expressed hope that a narrower law would survive constitutional scrutiny. "We felt good about portions of the decision which suggest that a more narrowly tailored bill which incorporates traditional fraud elements would be upheld," says Fang Wong, national commander of the American Legion.[39]
Alvarez's attorney praised the decision, saying "The First Amendment protects a lot of what we as Americans get to say...The government doesn't get to decide what we can and cannot say.”[37]
Aftermath [ edit ]
Alvarez remained in legal trouble due to allegations that he defrauded the government by falsely receiving health insurance benefits. He was convicted of misappropriation of public funds, grand theft, and insurance fraud in 2009 and sentenced to five years in state prison,[40] and was discharged in March 2012 from Calipatria State Prison.[41]
Revised Stolen Valor Act [ edit ]
In 2012, an effort was initiated to revise the Stolen Valor Act to comply with the Supreme Court's decision. This resulted in passage and signing of the Stolen Valor Act of 2013. In addition to a wrongful claim of receiving one of the listed military awards, intent to gain some benefit or something of value by fraud was required.[42]
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ] |
Welcome to the Flavordome. That's what Modern Times Beer is calling its new 30th Street tasting room that just soft opened in North Park, making the brewery the first to activate its space in The North Parker.
Founder Jacob McKean says the tasting room will be open through the weekend from noon to 10 p.m. but may close periodically to allow the brewery to add some finishing touches before their official grand opening in a few weeks.
The 1,624-square-foot tasting room, with capacity for about 100 inside and on an adjacent patio, has 16 taps which will be fueled by their Rosecrans area production brewery, dubbed the Lomaland Fermentorium. Brewer Derek Freese told Eater that they plan to brew special beers just for North Park, including some that'll debut at the grand opening.
Not to be outdone by the majestic Michael Jackson mosaic that towers over their main Point Loma tasting room, the North Park annex boasts a smaller, but no less impressive, wall-sized portrait of Yoda, made from old floppy disks. The nostalgia continues at the bar, which is shored up with stacks of VHS tape cases.
Modern Times Beer will sell their cans here, but won't do growler fills just yet. Food-wise, you'll have to wait for the surrounding businesses, including UnderBelly and Tacos Perla, to open, but the brewery says they're happy to have customers bring in outside food.
· Modern Times Beer [Official Site]
· All Beer Coverage on Eater [~ESD~] |
.55
Phew. It’s been a long, busy day, and needless to say, I’m pretty exhausted LOL.
Anyway, I was relaxing a bit and I kinda absentmindedly picked up one of my Trese graphic novels off my shelf and started flipping through it and rereading it. My brain automatically asked, “Do you think Trese wears pajamas to bed, at the end of her day?” and this is what happened. =)))) Just Trese chilling for a while with the Kambal and Santelmo before she turns in for the night, haha!
In the meantime, I should also turn in. Good night. X__x
PS: In case you haven’t yet, go check out the Trese books. It’s an awesome piece of work from local artists Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo (whose artwork I ADORE). It revolves around Filipino folklore, and best of all, IT’S IN ENGLISH! So yes, even my Italian fiance enjoys it. 😀
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Greek police on Saturday arrested at least four people in the capital, Athens, as part of an investigation into a terrorist plot foiled in Belgium this week, a police source and media say.
It is still unknown whether those arrested include Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27-year-old man of Moroccan origin who Belgian authorities reportedly believe may be the mastermind of the terrorist cell behind the foiled plot.
The arrests come in the wake of Belgian police raids on an alleged jihadist cell in the eastern city of Verviers on Thursday night during which two suspected Islamist gunmen were killed and a third wounded.
Thirteen suspects were subsequently arrested across the country, and two more held in France at Belgium's request.
Belgian authorities say the terrorist cell was planning to kill Belgian police on the streets and in police stations across the country. Several of those arrested had returned from fighting in Syria with jihadist militants.
Troop deployment
In the aftermath of the raids, Belgium has raised its national alert level to the second highest ranking, and has deployed hundreds of soldiers across the country to reinforce police as they seek to protect embassies, EU institutions and Jewish sites.
This comes just a week after terror attacks over three days in Paris that left 17 dead.
Belgian police said there appeared to be no direct link between the plot in Belgium and the Paris shootings, but the incident has caused many European nations to be on increased alert for Islamist terrorist attacks - particularly in view of the threat posed by young Europeans returning home after fighting alongside extremist groups in the Middle East.
German police have also arrested two people in the captial, Berlin, after raids on Friday on numerous properties linked to radical Islamic Salafists.
tj/ksb (AFP, Reuters, dpa) |
In this first part of Rewire's Women, Incarcerated series, we focus on one woman's prison time—which involved a high-risk pregnancy, forced induced labor, and shackling—to illustrate the problems that thousands of women face behind bars.
In this first part of Rewire's Women, Incarcerated series, we focus on one woman's prison time—which involved a high-risk pregnancy, forced induced labor, and shackling—to illustrate the problems that thousands of women face behind bars.
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This is the first article in Rewire’s Women, Incarcerated series. You can read the other pieces in the series that have been published so far here.
Keeley Schenwar learned she was pregnant the same day she was arrested. That spring of 2013, she didn’t pee on a stick and study the results in the bathroom; there was no moment of elation. Instead, a nurse at the Cook County Jail in Chicago led Schenwar to a separate part of the facility, away from the other women. When Schenwar asked why, the nurse broke the news.
Schenwar, who was just 23 at the time, with warm brown eyes and glossy black hair, barely knew what to say. She had been struggling with a heroin addiction for more than five years. For the second time, she’d been caught stealing from a Walgreens—medicines, makeup, razors—anything she could sell to local corner stores to scramble together the $400 or $500 she needed to pay for her addiction.
She’d been in and out of county jails for years, but this time she was headed to state prison, and she was pregnant.
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“I cried,” she told Rewire. “I didn’t want to tell anyone I was in jail. I didn’t want to tell anyone I was pregnant.”
Over the course of her incarceration, Schenwar experienced two instances of human rights abuses linked to her pregnancy. She also joined the ranks of a growing group in the United States: women who are incarcerated.
While women make up a small share of all those detained in local, state, and federal prisons and jails, their numbers are growing. The number of women in state and federal prisons jumped by 646 percent between 1980 and 2012—from around 25,000 to more than 200,000—one-and-a-half times the speed at which the incarceration for men increased during the same period. In 2012, more than 200,000 women were held in prisons or jails, according to the Sentencing Project, a D.C.-based nonprofit group that has tracked these issues for more than 25 years.
The surge in incarceration disproportionately affects women of color, according to the Sentencing Project. In 2010, Black women were incarcerated at nearly three times the rate of white women (133 versus 47 per 100,000), while Hispanic women were incarcerated at 1.6 times the rate of white women.
Experts told Rewire that, because corrections systems were created with men in mind, the facilities, practices, and policies remain ill-suited to the particular needs of women behind bars.
“There’s been a tremendous neglect of incarcerated women’s medical needs because, overall, they’re a small proportion of the incarcerated population: 9 percent of prisons, and 11 percent of jails,” said Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins University.
In fact, federal, state, and local officials charged with overseeing corrections facilities collect virtually no consistent data about how women are treated in a system made for men, Rewire found in a five-month investigation. This week, we will publish a collection of stories based on that reporting.
The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, when asked for a national count of corrections facilities that house women, could only provide Rewire with data that was a decade old. It showed that in 2005, there were a total of 1,821 state, federal, and privately run facilities, of which 187 facilities were authorized to hold only female inmates, and 276 were authorized to house both males and females.
The dearth of information points to the invisibility of, and lack of concern for, incarcerated women, experts told Rewire, and makes it difficult to determine how often abuses occur.
In our Women, Incarcerated series, we have detailed some of the major themes that emerged from our review of hundreds of lawsuits, public records requests, and interviews with experts, public officials, and currently and formerly incarcerated women.
Our findings show the existence of deep, systemic problems in the way that the criminal justice system deals with women.
While some of the egregious abuses of incarcerated women are well known—shackling of pregnant women, and rampant sexual abuse in some facilities—Rewire has identified a host of other problems that receive virtually no attention from mainstream media.
The problems include substandard conditions for pregnant prisoners; widespread failure to provide treatment or medical care for women with drug dependency, who comprise the overwhelming majority of women inmates; frequent denial of care for women experiencing miscarriage; forced induction of birth; and, ultimately, the termination of women’s parental rights because of rigid federal and state laws ostensibly intended to protect children. Articles later this week will delve deeper into these issues.
Like Schenwar, the majority of women behind bars are of reproductive age (the median age of incarcerated women in the United States is 34) and more than four-fifths suffer a serious substance abuse disorder, often related to prior trauma. The vast majority—84 percent—are behind bars for non-violent crimes, usually related to their drug dependency or social marginalization, according to a 2012 report for the Bureau of Justice Assistance that surveyed nearly 500 inmates in urban and rural jails in multiple states—one of the very few national studies of incarcerated women.
In other words, for women, incarceration frequently amounts to punishment for poverty, mental illness, addiction, and abuse, experts said.
“We’ve seen a skyrocket in the prison population overall, and women have increased faster than men,” Amy Fettig, senior staff counsel at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, told Rewire. “That’s a direct result of the fact that so many low-level offenders end up in prison or jail where previously they may have been diverted into the community, or had access to mental health care.”
Schenwar’s story is representative of many women’s experience in incarceration. In this first part of our Women, Incarcerated series, we focus on Schenwar’s prison time—which involved a high-risk pregnancy, forced induced labor, and shackling—to illustrate the problems that thousands of women face behind bars.
Inadequate Food, Conditions for Pregnant Inmates
As with many women who are incarcerated, Schenwar’s crimes were related to her drug dependency.
Her criminal record shows arrests for thefts, trespassing, a DUI, and parole violations. Schenwar was living with her boyfriend at the time she was arrested, and he too was struggling with heroin.
After finding out that she was pregnant, Schenwar hoped to avoid going to prison. She reasoned that the judge would go light on her, due to her condition, and allow her to do community service. Instead, she was sentenced to a year at the Logan Correctional Center, a place where inmates wear blue and white, but pregnant prisoners wear pink. Apart from that, the facility makes few accommodations for pregnant prisoners.
Even something as basic as food posed problems. In her four months of pregnancy during incarceration, Schenwar recalls being hungry “all the time.”
“When you’re pregnant, you want to eat,” Schenwar told Rewire. “It wasn’t like I expected my craving foods to be delivered to my cell,” she said, but she needed more than the extra apple or egg and carton of milk that were provided to pregnant inmates every day.
She also recalls that pregnant women, like all prisoners, had to walk through the open yard to access the mess hall, whether it was snowing or brutally hot.
The failure of corrections facilities to provide adequate food for pregnant prisoners emerged as a pattern across many states, our research found. Most recently, the Correctional Association of New York released a damning report, based on five years of interviews and legal research, revealing that New York’s state facilities were also failing to provide sufficient food and acceptable living conditions for pregnant inmates. And Diana Claitor, executive director of the Texas Jail Project, told us that the lack of plentiful, healthy food is a frequent problem for pregnant inmates in Texas as well.
Despite the inadequate food and conditions, Schenwar says she received good medical care while she was incarcerated. She recalls regular visits to an OB-GYN, and frequent ultrasounds. In fact, for many pregnant inmates, incarceration affords them the first opportunity to receive prenatal care. (For more on prenatal care for people in prisons and jails, read our Women, Incarcerated article on that issue.)
Schenwar is quick to explain that she wasn’t seeking sympathy. But she says that the guards reacted to her requests, and those of other pregnant prisoners, with demeaning comments.
“The officers judged us constantly,” she said. “If you would complain, they would say, ‘You put yourself here. You were doing drugs and pregnant. I don’t feel bad for you.’”
While at the prison, Schenwar maintained her use of methadone, as prescribed by her doctor. Abruptly ceasing opioid use is extremely dangerous during pregnancy, as it can lead to miscarriage. However, Schenwar’s methadone use created an unexpected complication: It disqualified her from transferring to the Decatur Facility, which has a nationally recognized prison nursery program that allows inmates to stay with their babies for the first year of their lives. So Schenwar knew that she would be separated from her daughter as soon as she gave birth.
“You’re Not Going to ‘Fall Out’ in My Yard”—Forced Induction of Labor in Illinois Prisons
What most upset Schenwar was the prison’s decision to induce her labor when she did not want to be induced—an act that constitutes a human rights violation, experts told Rewire.
At 5 a.m. in early September, Schenwar was on her way to the mess hall with the other prisoners.
“Schenwar, fall back,” she recalls one of the guards saying, as she walked behind the other inmates heading to breakfast.
Two weeks earlier, the prison doctor had informed Schenwar that her delivery would be induced. Schenwar had tried to object, saying that her baby was not ready to be born, and that she wanted to wait until her labor started naturally. Inducing labor can be risky for mothers and their babies. Studies have shown induction to be associated with higher rates of cesarean sections, longer stays in the hospital, and greater blood loss for women giving birth.
But, Schenwar says, the doctor made it clear that she did not have a choice, and when she still objected, she says the doctor called prison guards.
“I had three, maybe four, guards surrounding me saying, ‘I don’t know where you think you are. This is our prison. … You’re not going to fall out in my yard or in the mess hall and cause some kind of chaos,’” she said. “I was scared and I was having a baby and I was in prison. I went back to my cell and I cried, because I knew I would be alone.”
So, when guards told Schenwar to fall back, she thought she was in trouble. But instead guards told her it was time to give birth.
“They explained that because I was being induced that day, which I did not know, they said I could not eat,” she recalled in an interview with Rewire.
When Rewire first sought comment from the Illinois Department of Corrections in relation to Schenwar’s allegation of forced induction, Tom Shaer, who was then the director of communications, did not reply to our specific questions, but wrote in an email, “Inmate anecdotes are often either wholly inaccurate or grossly exaggerated. Not always, but often.”
This notion—that prisoners, and especially women prisoners, are liars—permeates the dozens of cases we reviewed where prisoners suffered miscarriages, still-births, and even deaths. (These cases are detailed in future articles in the Women, Incarcerated series.) While there are undoubtedly instances of false allegations, time and again prisoner’s allegations have been borne out in litigation and federal investigations.
Shaer has since left the department, and his replacement, Nicole Wilson, told us in an email that induced births are an “option” for prisoners:
Pregnant inmates consult with their physician on nutrition and birthing options to make decisions that best meet each individuals’ needs. Offenders whose pregnancies are deemed high risk are encouraged to elect induction so they can be transferred to Bloomington where the hospital can meet their specific needs for a safe delivery. [sic]
In a later email, Wilson changed her stance, saying instead that Schenwar’s methadone treatment meant she was deemed to be a high-risk patient, and that the “decision to induce would have been made by the OB/GYN and would have been made for the benefit of both mother and baby.”
Wilson said that Schenwar had not signed a “refusal of treatment,” which, Wilson said, was offered to prisoners who did not want their births induced.
However, Rewire was able to speak with Kendra Smith, who was also pregnant while incarcerated at Logan. Smith recounted that guards also tried to force her to induce her delivery, but she resisted, involving the warden and the prison’s family services officer. Smith said she recalled similar pressure being put on a third pregnant prisoner incarcerated at Logan.
According to Gail Smith, founder of Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM), the Illinois Department of Corrections seems to have initiated a practice of requiring incarcerated women to have induced labor.
“Every woman that I have spoken with after release who has given birth inside in the past year has been induced,” Smith told Rewire.
In a close examination of cases involving the shackling of incarcerated pregnant women, Rewire found hints that induction may be a standard practice at corrections facilities in other states as well.
Farah Diaz-Tello, a staff attorney at National Advocates for Pregnant Women, told Rewire that forced induced labor constitute clear human rights violations of pregnant prisoners.
“Any forced induced labor is a human rights violation, even if the pregnant person isn’t incarcerated, because people have a fundamental human right to bodily integrity and to refuse unwanted medical intervention,” she said.
Diaz-Tello said that the stories from Illinois are consistent with what her organization has been hearing from other states. For instance, she said that she had worked with a Texas woman who was forced to undergo a cesarean section while incarcerated, because the doctor was only scheduled to be at the facility for one day.
“The fact that it is happening in prison, where people are even more deprived of power than in a medical institution—that makes it even worse,” Diaz-Tello said.
“All Female Inmates Are an Escape Threat”
In addition to the forced induction, Schenwar described a lonely and traumatic labor, during which she was shackled to the hospital bed.
“There’s a guard on the couch reading magazines as your whole life is torn apart,” she said. “They don’t let any family come. After you have the baby, they shackle you to the bed at their discretion. You hold your baby and then they take her and you go back to prison.”
At the time, Illinois still had an official policy that allowed prisoners to be shackled as soon as they were “no longer pregnant,” said Wilson, the corrections department’s spokesperson. That policy was changed in November 2013 so that “inmates who’d recently delivered a child could also go unrestrained for a pre-determined period of time.”
Despite media attention to the issue, shackling of pregnant inmates remains common, with the majority of states still permitting the barbaric practice. Even in states where shackling is theoretically banned, local activists and incarcerated women say legal loopholes mean that many pregnant inmates still find themselves bound in metal chains during transportation to the hospital, and after birth.
For instance, the 2009 law that barred the use of restraints on pregnant inmates in Texas contains an exception for women deemed to be a flight risk, but doesn’t define what exactly that means.
At a 2012 meeting of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, a commissioner “spoke publicly about his belief that all female inmates are an escape threat and that therefore the exception to the bar on use of restraints would always apply,” according to a letter drafted to the commission’s chairwoman by then-state Sen. Wendy Davis. (Rewire obtained a draft of the email.)
In other words, even women in active labor and birth should be seen as escape threats.
Diana Claitor of the Texas Jails Project told Rewire that better monitoring of each incident of shackling is required to ensure the law is being properly enforced.
The emotional impact of shackling, including post-partum depression, can be profound, Claitor said.
“You suddenly feel yourself in the position of being rolled around like a piece of garbage chained to a table, and the other women there [at the hospital] shrink away in horror that you’re some kind of crazed animal that has to be shackled.”
The experience of being pregnant in prison, forcibly induced, and ultimately shackled during delivery certainly left Schenwar with a sense of shame.
Her journal from October of that year—a month after her daughter was born—shows the young woman’s regret at the situation she was in.
“You held my hand just a few hours after I gave birth, wrapped your fingers tightly around my thumb and I knew as you focused your eyes on mine without turning away that I’d love you in every way, each day for the rest of eternity,” Schenwar wrote. “I tried not to sleep, knowing we only had a short time together. Shackles tied my ankles to the hospital bed. You’re the daughter of a prisoner, twice convicted felon, all result of a heroin conviction.”
“I’ll spend the rest of my life making this up to you,” she wrote.
Schenwar was released from prison in 2014, and is now sober. She is successfully caring for her daughter, as well as working with other mothers who have recently been released from prison or jail.
“Just because you’ve been to prison three or five times, doesn’t mean you have to go back,” she said. “People get past it, and they have careers and they have lives and they have families.” |
Cole and Essien, who made a combined total of almost 600 appearances for the club and won multiple trophies, will be meeting fans, signing autographs and taking part in a live Q&A at the Fulton Market Building in New York City on Saturday 25 November.
Looking ahead to the party, Cole said: ‘I am very excited to meet the Chelsea fans in New York, who I know are some of the most passionate fans in the world. It will be a fantastic event and a great way to celebrate the club’s domestic success last year.’
Supporters there can have their photo taken with the Premier League trophy and mascots Stamford and Bridget will be cheering the team on during the game and giving away celebratory merchandise.
There will be a host of other activities on the day including a virtual reality experience, skills training from our international football coaches and half-time expert analysis on the game.
Cole and Essien will also be joining Chelsea Foundation coaches to deliver sessions with FC Harlem, our partner club based in New York, and you will be able to find out more about the trip with coverage across our social media channels as well as here on chelseafc.com. |
Qantas has its eye on non-stop Sydney to New York flights using the advanced Boeing 777-8X jetliner, which the airline has touted as a potential replacement for its flagship Airbus A380 superjumbo.
The direct route would swap the long-standing Los Angeles stopover for a 19 hour 'Harbour Bridge to Hudson' trek, which would not only be Qantas' longest flight but the world's longest.
But it will require the next-generation of aircraft due in the early part of the next decade, when Qantas will look to refresh its long-range international fleet.
Speaking at a media lunch in Sydney last week, Qantas Airways CEO Alan Joyce revealed that the airline “puts 300 people a day to New York anyway, so the market’s growing – it’s just that we can’t do (non-stop) with the technology (we have today).
“Once the technology happens we would go there straight away" Joyce told Australian Business Traveller.
"We’re looking at the new 777-8X that would potentially have the range to do it, but that doesn’t come until (the early) 2020s.”
Qantas already plans to begin flying the smaller Boeing 787-9 from late 2017 but the Boeing 777-8X is very much under consideration.
“We’ve got people that work with Boeing and Airbus – we have worked (together) on the A380, we did a lot of work with the 787 (and) we’re doing work with them on the 777(-8X),” Joyce said.
Also read: Qantas flags Boeing 777X as potential A380 replacement
When asked if there was really a market for passengers willing to take such a long flight, Qantas International CEO Gareth Evans gave an unequivocal “yes”.
“It might not be for everybody,” Evans continues. “If you don’t want to do that then there are plenty of opportunities to connect over Dallas or LA, but there will be a market of people who want to get on the plane and get off where their ultimate destination is.”
Evans also highlights that on a route this long, the aircraft needs to be “configured appropriately”, with a “premium configuration” currently under assessment, paired with “the right amount of galley space” to store and prepare what could become three inflight meals for each passenger.
“It’s going to have to have the ability to look after customers for long amounts of time… (and) the technology that’s coming with the 777-X can facilitate that, absolutely; we’d want to fly it.”
Ultra-long flights: the new norm
Joyce takes a page out of history when looking to the future of flying, noting that Qantas’ flights from Sydney to Vancouver in 1954 detoured via Fiji, Hawaii and San Francisco, which meant a total of 31 hours spent flying in between, but with the stops helping to break up the time.
“Back then, people were saying ‘imagine flying direct – that would be too long on an aircraft for 14 hours’”, Joyce continues, “yet now people would never do those kinds of (routings) with today’s aircraft.”
Would passengers really want to fly non-stop?
Passengers on today’s Qantas Sydney-New York flights break the journey at LAX with 1hr 55m between touchdown and take-off, during which they can stretch their legs and squeeze in a quick shower in the lounge before completing their 21hr journey.
Eliminating that stop would bring the trip closer to 19 hours, but that’s still 3.5 hours longer than today's Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth run.
Singapore Airlines is also eying non-stop flights to New York from its home hub in 2018 using a special long-range version of the Airbus A350.
Those long-legged A350s will also carry fewer passengers than the conventional A350 which SQ will begin flying in January 2015, but they'll enjoy more comfort thanks to all-new business and first class seating.
Read more: Singapore Airlines 'all-new' business class on long-range A350
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT |
BUCHAREST, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Russia has the right to make a military response after the downing of a Russian warplane earlier this week by NATO member Turkey, lower house speaker Sergei Naryshkin said on Friday.
Speaking in an interview with Romanian television station Digi24, Naryshkin, who spoke in Russian and was translated by the broadcaster, said: "This is intentional murder of our soldiers and this deed must be punished."
The shooting down of the Russian warplane by the Turkish air force on Tuesday was one of the most serious clashes between a NATO member and Russia, and further complicated international efforts to battle Islamic State militants.
"We know those who did this and they must be judged. At the same time, the response from the Russian side will surely follow, in line with international law. And aside from this, Russia has also the right to military response," added Naryshkin, who was attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) in Bucharest.
Naryshkin, who said economic measures against Turkey might be on the cards, said Moscow had allocated additional military resources on Thursday to boost the security of Russian warplanes.
"Even yesterday, military resources were allocated, (for) the S400 Triumph, which is the most advanced missile defense system, with the role to maintain flight safety of Russian planes, of ourmilitary and air forces whose task is to destroy terrorist infrastructure of the so-called Islamic State and other organizations operating in Syria."
World leaders have urged both sides to avoid escalation, and China's Foreign Ministry added its voice to that on Friday.
On Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying, Russia should apologize for violating Turkey's airspace. |
From Damascus, With Love
“Be careful, the walls have ears.” Ammar Khaf, a spokesman for the Los Angeles chapter of the Syrian American Council, quotes a saying that millions grew up with under Baathist rule. He talks of the fear that gripped the diaspora when Mukhabarat agents assassinated prominent exiles in the 1980s. But as anti-Assad protests spread, the community grew emboldened.
“At the first solidarity event in March 2011, only 20 people showed up,” Khaf says. “But within two months of the Revolution, I’d collected 400 names and email addresses.” SAC chapters in Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego report an “unprecedented mobilisation” of a community that numbers around 18,000 in California, according to the Arab American Institute. The SAC estimates there are a few hundred thousand Americans of Syrian descent. Many have lived here for generations and identify neither with Assad, nor with the opposition.
But the split is glaring in Los Angeles. And the walls still have ears, if you believe the pro-government camp. One participant in an online forum appeared to copy the Mukhabarat. Israeli sources close to Souciant doubt the address is real. However, intimidation was clearly the goal. A follow-up message read, “Thanks for saving the Syrian taxpayers. You inform the secret police by e-mail, saving them the cost of investigation. A true patriot.”
If the email address is fake, the risk of blowback against relatives is real. Pianist Malek Jandali recently performed in a Syria benefit concert in Los Angeles. He paid for speaking out. His parents were attacked in Homs, and their home was sacked. These reprisals haven’t deterred the SAC and related groups such as the Syrian Emergency Task Force. In April, they urged California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to push for the delivery of night goggles and encrypted walkie-talkies to the opposition. On the humanitarian front, they’ve advocated safe areas for refugees. The ideas being developed in part by Ammar Khaf’s think tank, the London-based Strategic Research and Communication Centre
Media outreach is equally important. “Assad wants this conflict to be reported as a sectarian war leading to chaos, and that’s what some American journalists are doing,” concedes Rashad al-Dabbagh, the SAC’s communications director in LA. “To counter that, we try to secure coverage of human stories. For example, we’ll connect an American reporter with a Syrian refugee.” Network television isn’t al-Dabbagh’s only target. Last week, he helped to place a story on New America Media.
The Houla massacre has sharpened that human focus and diminished the voices of al-Dabbagh’s opponents on local media. “If they do invite you at all, they quickly cut you off,” Riad “Ray” Saeid tells me at a rally in front of the Los Angeles Federal Building. “I’ve been on KBFC (radio) only a couple of times.” Ray heads Arab-Americans for Syria . I can barely hear him over the pro-Assad chants of his friends. Outnumbered by around three to one, they’re trying to match the vocal power of the Free Syria crowd across the road.
At first, Ray sounds reasonable. He calls for peace and dialogue. “A dead Sunni, a dead Shi’ite and a dead Christian all smell the same after three days,” he says. But his repeated and impassioned insistence that his rivals are “al-Qaeda sleeper cells; Wahhabis who consider me an infidel” fails to stick. “Does America want a second Iraq?” would surely be a more effective media message. As we talk, Syrian nationalists mingle with anti-imperialists holding NATO-bashing placards. An Iranian Marxist makes a speech, watched by….an Orthodox Jew.
Contrast that diversity with the Free Syria protesters, all hammering home the images of Houla’s murdered children. Small cardboard coffins are raised aloft as driversby on LA’s busiest thoroughfare honk their horns. Students from Whitney High School wearing “Walk for Free Syria” T-shirts smile for cameras. The mood is buoyant despite the display of gruesome photos from the homeland. That’s partly because Syria’s honorary consul to Los Angeles defected 10 days ago .
But talk of a turning point may be premature. President Obama is still cautious. “I’m hearing frustration from Arab-Americans with the administration, and some are now leaning towards Romney,” says Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR’s local chapter. “But there’s a chance that pressure from Romney will make Obama more forceful in the next few months.”
I ask Ayloush about the endgame for these demonstrators. Will they repatriate if Assad goes? “Around half of the diaspora left for political reasons; the other half came for economic opportunities,” he says. “Many of the political exiles — the doctors, the engineers, the social scientists — will want to rebuild their homeland.”
Will there be a place for Arab-Americans for Syria? In reply, Ayloush simply translates the chant thundering across Wilshire Boulevard: “We are thugs who are hungry/We want to eat the infiltrators.”
Photographs courtesy of the author |
Mumbai students allotted seats in the Right to Education (RTE) quota can confirm their admissions till tomorrow (Saturday) in the fifth and final round. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has given an extra day to students who have not yet reported to schools to book their seats.
As per the RTE Act, an online admission process is being held for 25% seats at entry-level-kindergarten or class 1-in 334 unaided, non-minority private schools in Mumbai. The seats are reserved for students from economically and socially weaker sections, who are entitled to free education from class 1 to 8. The government reimburses the schools for the expenses incurred.
Among 203 students selected in the fifth round on April 25, so far only 13 have confirmed their seats, just a day before the admission deadline.
Surprisingly, although this year the number of applicants was at an all time high in the admissions this year, with 9,426 vying for 7,449 seats, only 29% students have confirmed admissions till now in the four rounds conducted between March 6 and April 25.
“We are astonished at the low numbers of students confirming admissions, even after a promising start,” said Mahesh Palkar, education officer, BMC, which had conducted several awareness drives to publicise the seats this year. He attributed it to students not receiving admission to the school of their choice.
Officials said that the admissions are increasing gradually every year. When the admission process began in 2014-15, 1,069 students were admitted, followed by 1,688 in 2015-16 and 2,506 in 2016-17.
“The response to the quota is getting better every year with more awareness and word- of-mouth,” said Nisaar Khan, education inspector. “We have already crossed the number of admissions recorded last year,” he added.
First Published: Apr 28, 2017 14:59 IST |
By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes
BBC News, Moscow
Artist Ilya Glazunov agreed to put his painting right
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been raising eyebrows by telling one of the country's most famous artists how to paint better.
Visiting 79-year-old artist Ilya Glazunov, Mr Putin stopped in front of a large painting of a medieval knight.
"The sword is too short," he is reputed to have said. "It's only good enough for cutting sausage."
Not wishing to displease his powerful guest, Mr Glazunov immediately agreed to correct his mistake.
Oligarch humiliated
In North Korea, they call it "on the spot guidance".
It is when an all powerful-ruler drops by to give soldiers, scientists, farmers even artists advice on how to do their jobs properly.
However, it is not only artists that have been getting a tongue-lashing from Mr Putin.
Last week, he humiliated one of Russia's richest men on live television. He forced the billionaire businessman Oleg Deripaska to reopen an aluminium plant after protests by laid-off workers.
As the cameras rolled, Mr Putin threw his pen on the table and ordered Mr Deripaska to sign the paperwork.
It was a brilliant piece of political theatre. The reaction of many Russians seems to have been delight that Mr Putin had brought one of Russia's hated oligarchs to heel. |
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In the aftermath of a remarkably freakish Manchester United winner at St James' Park on Wednesday night, an unusually animated Louis van Gaal pinched Ryan Giggs hard on the cheek and stared hard in to his eyes as if to say: 'I told you so'.
The only problem was that Giggs wasn't buying it. Giggs has been at United for two decades and didn't even crack a smile. He knows that football like this will not take his football club where it needs to go. Not in the long run, anyway.
Giggs has seen plenty of late winning goals for United over the years. He has been part of teams that have won when they haven't deserved to, who have somehow grabbed something from games that seemingly had nothing to offer.
Ashley Young fires home the winner for Manchester United to earn his side a valuable three points at Newcastle
Young peels away in celebration as United remain on course for a top-four finish despite playing below their best
Young runs over to celebrate in front of the Manchester United fans after his late strike at St James' Park
Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Danny Blind are among the United players to celebrate with Young
Wayne Rooney was involved in the build up as his pressure forced the Newcastle defence to panic before Krul gifted the chance to Young
Krul lies on his back in dejection after his error allowed Young to slam home United's winner against Newcastle
United manager Louis van Gaal reacts to Young's winner by knocking his assistant Ryan Giggs on the cheek... ... But Giggs shows absolutely no emotion after Young's winner gave United a crucial victory in their Champions League push
MATCH FACTS, LINE-UPS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE Newcastle (4-4-2): Krul 8; Janmaat 6.5, Williamson 6.5, Coloccini 6, R Taylor 5.5 (Gutierrez 64, 6.5); Obertan 6, Abeid 6, Sissoko 6, Ameobi 5.5 (Gouffran 81); Riviere 5.5 (Perez 59), Cisse 5 Subs not used: Anita, Armstrong, Satka, Woodman. Booked: Gutierrez Manager: John Carver Manchester United (4-1-4-1): De Gea 6; Valencia 6, Evans 6, Smalling 5.5, Rojo 6 (Carrick 89); Blind 6; Di Maria 5 (Januzaj 59), Fellaini 6 (Mata 82), Herrera 6, Young 5; Rooney 6 Subs not used: Jones, Falcao, Lindegaard, McNair. Goal: Young 89 Booked: Rojo, Valencia Manager: Louis van Gaal Referee: Anthony Taylor Attendance: 49, 801 Angel di Maria was replaced early in the second half by Louis van Gaal who sent Adnan Junzaj on his place. But the Argentina had one of his better games for Manchester United and covered plenty of ground on the right wing. CLICK HERE for more brilliant stats and heat maps from Old Trafford.
His United, though, the one that he knows, used to bully teams late in games.
As his old manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted, United teams of yore used to practice scoring late goals in training. They won games like this by sheer force of will, belief and personality.
This United team, on the other hand, the one with Van Gaal's uncertain hand on the tiller, stumbles its way in to opportunities. Somehow it manages to win despite itself. If it continues like this for another two months then it may yet find itself in the Champions League places come the season's end. At the moment, though, it is hard to see it.
This, in many ways, was the modern United at their worst. Facing a home team devoid of purpose, energy and intelligence, United really should have taken hold of this game, won it comfortably and used it as a platform ahead of tougher challenges to come.
Instead, they saw Newcastle miss two golden opportunities and wasted their own with inept work in front of goal. The home team, meanwhile, were somehow denied a clear early penalty by a referee that we can only presume – generously – was unsighted.
And then there was the winning goal. A gift. A shambles. Three points handed to United on a black and white tray.
There was no late cavalry charge by United here. They had settled for a point. The game was drifting towards a conclusion that had seemed inevitable for so long.
But then Wayne Rooney's run in to the penalty area was halted by Mehdi Abeid, the subsequent back pass sold goalkeeper Tim Krul short and when the clearance – born of panic and terror – landed at the feet of Ashley Young, the goal waited – empty – just ten yards away.
Marouane Fellaini came close to scoring for Manchester United but he was denied by a brilliant stop from Tim Krul
Ashley Young had a chance to convert the rebound but took too long and was also denied by Newcastle's Dutch goalkeeper
Angel di Maria was replaced early in the second half by Adnan Januzaj as United struggled to break down a stubborn Newcastle side
SUPER STAT Wayne Rooney has scored more Premier League goals against Newcastle than any other club, although he failed to add to his tally of 12 on Wednesday night.
It was an astonishing moment. This great stadium has witnessed plenty of drama over the years and no little pantomime. It hasn't witnessed much like this, though.
In the home dugout, manager John Carver stood aghast. This was some way to lose a football match and it was hard not to feel some sympathy for him. His team had been pretty lousy but they didn't deserve to lose. His thoughts understandably were still with the early penalty shout, somehow denied him when Chris Smalling hacked down Emmanuel Riviere in the eleventh minute.
'That would have set us up nicely,' he said.
Had Newcastle scored first then it’s questionable whether United would have had it in them to respond. As it was, nothing much else happened in the first half, apart from what may have been an unpleasant exchange of saliva between Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse.
Rooney, playing as a lone centre forward, missed two chances around the half hour mark, clipping one wide when face to face with Krul and then falling over when a slip by Fabricio Coloccini presented him with another sight of goal.
There was not a shot on target from either team, however, until Marouane Fellaini’s header required Krul to parry in the 44th minute. Newcastle were poor enough to allow United the majority of the possession but Van Gaal’s team, not unusually, didn’t have the wit to do much with it.
Emmanuel Riviere ghosted in at the post but could not force the ball beyond United's goalkeeper Dave de Gea
De Gea made himself wide in the United goal to deny Newcastle the opener at St James' Park
Pappis Cisse has words with Jonny Evans after the pair appeared to spit at each other during a heated exchange in the first half
Cisse wipes his eye after he and Evans were later shown to have spat at each other during an unsavoury incident
Evans appears to spit on Cisse (left) before the Newcastle striker returns the favour (right) as tempers flared before half time
EA SPORTS DISTANCE STATS MINS KM MILES Newcastle United Daryl Janmaat 90 11.3 7.0 Gabriel Obertan 90 11.1 6.9 Moussa Sissoko 90 11.0 6.8 Manchester United Ander Herrera 90 11.5 7.2 Daley Blind 90 11.1 6.9 Jonny Evans 90 10.6 6.6
On the right, Angel di Maria was having a decent game, relatively speaking. His night was ended on the hour, though, when Van Gaal replaced him with Adnan Januzaj. It seemed an odd move and Di Maria looked less than chuffed.
At least by then the game was a little more alive. Riviere brought a save from David de Gea after Coloccini headed down a free-kick while at the other end Krul saved brilliantly from a Fellaini half-volley and a Young follow-up that perhaps took a little too long to arrive.
At last there was an atmosphere inside this great stadium and things improved further when Jonas Gutierrez entered as a substitute. His first appearance since recovering from testicular cancer, it was soon marked by a booking but nobody really cared about. It was good to see him.
Soon Newcastle could have had a goal. A break from another substitute Ayoze Perez found him and Cisse two-on-one with Evans but the pass from one team-mate to another was criminally over hit and, as such, the chance disappeared.
Perhaps that summed up the night for both teams. Just not good enough. In sport, though, mistakes often decide contests and so it was here.
Krul won a game all on his own for Van Gaal with his penalty shoot-out heroics against Costa Rica during last summer’s World Cup. Here, he did it again in rather different circumstances.
Jonas Gutierrez made an emotional return for Newcastle after recovering from testicular cancer
Gutierrez is given the captain's armband by Fabricio Coloccini after coming on in the second half at St James' Park
Chris Smalling battles with Riviere for the ball in the first half of United's narrow win over Newcastle |
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When Republican Congressman Paul Ryan released his budget, he charged six House committees with finding $309 billion in spending cuts over ten years in order to avert $55 billion in military cuts scheduled for January 2013 under a bipartisan agreement. He wrote that these cuts would be found in “lower-priority spending.” Ad Policy
On Thursday, House Republicans approved the cuts along a party-line vote, revealing exactly what they consider to be “lower-priority spending.”
These cuts should be viewed in the context of sparing a defense budget that conservative columnist George Will observes is “about 43 percent of the world’s total military spending” and “more than the combined defense spending of the next 17 nations, many of which are US allies.” Even with the $55 billion in cuts that would start in January, the defense budget would still be $472 billion (not including war costs)—three times more than China spends.
But for House Republicans, their preferred alternative of cutting lower-priority spending means… a $36 billion cut in food stamps (SNAP), which largely helps the elderly, disabled people, children and the working poor. Two million people would lose their benefits entirely and 44 million would have their benefits reduced—the current average benefit is $4 per person per day. Two hundred and eighty thousand low-income children would also lose automatic access to free school breakfast and lunch. The bill also cuts the SNAP employment and training program by 72 percent, making it more difficult for jobless recipients to find work. It’s important to note that SNAP kept 5 million people from poverty in 2010 and reduced poverty rates by 8 percent in 2009.
Cuts to lower-priority spending means… denying the Child Tax Credit to 5.5 million children—that’s an average of $1,800 out of the pockets of working families earning sub-poverty wages. The Child Tax Credit lifted 1.3 million children out of poverty in 2009.
Cuts to lower-priority spending means… eliminating the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), which 11 million children rely on—including 4 million children who receive child care assistance, 1.7 million receiving protective services and 451,000 children in foster care. It also funds meals on wheels programs, services that help protect over a half-million seniors from abuse, and community-based care that allows elderly and disabled people to remain in their homes rather than be placed in expensive institutions. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, roughly 23 million people receive services funded in whole or part by the SSBG.
“When one in five US kids live in poverty, it is not the time to slash investments in their healthcare, nutrition, economic stability, childcare and safety,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus, a bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to making children and families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions.
“There are a lot of other ways Republicans could have found their savings,” said Melissa Boteach, director of the Half in Ten campaign to cut poverty by 50 percent over ten years. “For example, one year of tax breaks for millionaires could pay for ten years of nutrition assistance. But they didn’t consider closing a single tax loophole, or look at subsidies to agribusiness, or the oil and gas industries. In the end, House Republicans are essentially saying that low-income school children, seniors struggling with hunger, foster kids, people with disabilities—that these people are lower priorities than preserving obsolete weapons systems or protecting tax breaks for the very richest among us.”
This budget won’t pass the Senate, and it wouldn’t be signed by President Obama if it did. But it does tell Americans exactly where House Republicans stand and it makes for a heck of a GOP fundraising/love letter to wealthy donors: “Please remember us generously this campaign season so that we can keep remembering you.”
Half in Ten and others will follow up with opportunities for you to let your representatives know how you feel about their vote. At a moment when 46 million people live in poverty (less than $22,314 for a family of four), and 105 million Americans—over one in three—live on less than $45,000 for a family of four, this budget deserves and needs a loud response; especially since the Democrats haven’t exactly offered a dogged fight to protect their least powerful and most vulnerable constituents either.
An Equal Voice With House Republicans having no intention to listen to the voices of people living in poverty, and even Senate Democrats in the Agriculture Committee voting to cut SNAP by $4.5 billion over ten years, thousands of low-income people are determined to organize and be heard on May 20 in their own communities.
That’s the day of the Equal Voice Online National Convention . Tens of thousands of low-income families from across the country are expected to turn out to create a national platform that reflects their views. In 2008, a similar effort was undertaken and 15,000 families participated in Los Angeles, Chicago and Birmingham. In the run-up to that event, sixty-five town hall–style meetings were held in twelve states and eleven languages. Not only did the 2008 convention successfully create the first Equal Voice National Family Platform but afterwards participating groups formed networks in their own communities.
“In south Texas, for example, these community-based organizations found that when they joined forces legislators listened to them,” says Kathleen Baca, communications director at the Marguerite Casey Foundation, which sponsors the convention. “They took the original platform that was developed at the convention and created their own for their region, and used it to organize. As a result, they were able to beat back nearly 100 anti-immigration bills.”
Baca says similar networks are now established in Chicago, Los Angeles and Alabama.
With the recession, and poor families once again being largely ignored by both parties, families felt an urgency to hold another convention now—this time online in order to make it easier for people to participate. But they still want to gather in-person, too, and Baca says that there are thirty confirmed events with anywhere from ten to 500 people expected at a venue. Sites include churches, community and convention centers, homes, restaurants and coffee houses.
Equal Voice 2012 will use a Livestream application that allows anyone to view the convention live; chat; and vote on platform issues online or by SMS text, Twitter or smartphone. The event will be live-streamed from Birmingham; McAllen, Texas; and Seattle. No candidates, no keynotes, no celebrities—just families speaking up and organizing.
“So many families again will be speaking out. The question is: Will people listen to them?” says Baca.
National Community Action Month—Get Involved
Community Action Agencies (CAAs) are nonprofit private and public organizations with their fingers on the pulse of poverty. They provide direct support for more than 34.5 million of the 46 million people living in poverty in the United States today.
Each CAA is governed locally and offers a different mix of programs and services, including: emergency aid like food pantries and domestic violence counseling, education programs like Head Start and youth mentoring, day care and job training programs, income management and housing assistance, healthcare clinics, WIC and more.
This month, CAAs across the country are celebrating National Community Action Month by hosting poverty symposia, town-hall meetings and other events to raise awareness about poverty and how CAAs respond to it. This is particularly important right now because these agencies face significant budget cuts at the local, state and federal levels and the public needs to understand the vital role they play in struggling communities.
If you want to get involved in a very direct way—helping people who are living in poverty—there are a lot of opportunities right now to learn about CAAs and take action.
For example, in a four-county area around Dayton, Ohio, CAAs are currently looking for volunteers to deliver meals or assist in a Head Start classroom. Preble County will have an open house on May 15 and Greene County has a Community Action Day on May 25.
John Bennett, communications director for the Community Action Partnership of the Greater Dayton Area, says there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer with programs or advocate on issues affecting people living in poverty.
The Southeast Kansas Community Action Program (SEK-CAP) will hold an Open House on May 12. It has opportunities for volunteers to assist with housing, transportation, early childhood education, community development, family supports and emergency shelter.
“We can also design activities around a volunteer’s specific skills,” says Becky Gray, SEK-CAP’s director of research, planning and grants development. Gray suggests that people who want to get involved email her here.
The Green Hills Community Action Agency in rural Missouri serves nine counties. The agency is currently focused on many green projects, including educating children about recycling, gardening, nutrition and alternative energy sources; working with communities on energy conservation; and community gardening to benefit local families, a food pantry and a senior center.
Finally, the Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency in Auburn, New York, might be having the coolest event—an eighty-mile Motorcycle Run on May 20 to raise donations for its food pantries. There are plenty of ways for volunteers to get involved with this agency and many were recently honored at a Volunteer Recognition event.
The range of services CAAs provide and the number of people they reach is pretty stunning. You can find one in your area and start directly helping people who are living in poverty today.
Notable Studies
“WIC Participation and Attenuation of Stress-Related Child Health Risks,” Dr. Maureen Black et al., Children’s HealthWatch. Examines how family stressors (household food insecurity and/or caregiver depressive symptoms) relate to child health and whether participation in the Women Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program lessens stress-related child health risks.
“Expecting Better: A State-by-State Analysis of Laws that Help New Parents,” National Partnership for Women and Families. Previous research shows that paid leave promotes the health and economic security of families, reduces reliance on public assistance, and benefits businesses. But this new report finds that no state has done all it could to provide paid family and medical leave and other supportive policies for new parents. In fact, thirty-two states receive a grade of “D” or “F.”
“Slower Wage Growth, Declining Real Wages,” National Employment Law Project. Hourly wages are growing slower than they did before the recession, the real value of wages has fallen over the past year, new job creation has skewed to lower-paying jobs, and wages for new and returning entrants in the workforce are declining.
“What Strategies Work for the Hard-to-Employ?” MDRC. A ten-year study of programs that serve hard-to-employ populations. Promising findings include: a program that provided unpaid work experience, job placement and education services to welfare recipients with health conditions—it increased employment and reduced the need for assistance; a transitional jobs program for ex-offenders that reduced recidivism; and an early-childhood development program that was combined with services to boost parents’ self-sufficiency—it increased employment and earnings.
Further Reading
“Family Homelessness Reaching ‘Crisis’ Point,” Annie Gowen
“No Education Reform Without Tackling Poverty,” Robert McNeely
“Health Centers for Poor, Uninsured See Ranks Swell,” David Morgan
“The Real Hunger Games,” Melissa Boteach and Katie Wright (w/ Think Progress video)
“400K to Lose Unemployment Insurance by Saturday,” National Employment Law Project
“Picking on the Poor,” Chattanooga Times Free Press, editorial
“…How Cutting the Pentagon’s Budget Could Boost the Economy,” Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier
Vital Statistics
US poverty (less than $22,314 for a family of four): 46 million people, 15.1 percent of population.
Children in poverty: 16.4 million, 22 percent of all children.
Number of poor children receiving cash aid: one in five.
Poverty rate for people in female-headed families: 42 percent.
Poverty rate for children under age 5 in female-headed families: 59 percent.
Single mothers with incomes under $25,000: 50 percent.
Single mothers working: 67 percent.
Deep poverty (less than $11,157 for a family of four): 20.5 million people, 6.7 percent of population. Up from 12.6 million in 2000.
Increase in deep poverty, 1976-2010: doubled—3.3 percent of population to 6.7 percent.
Families receiving cash assistance, 1996: 68 of every 100 families with children living in poverty.
Families receiving cash assistance, 2010: 27 of every 100 families with children living in poverty.
Impact of public policy, 2010: without government assistance, poverty would have been twice as high—nearly 30 percent of population.
Quotes of the Week
“It’s time to stop arguing whether schools prepare students for the future and launch a full scale attack on poverty.”
—Peter Edelman, Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy.
“You think poverty doesn’t have anything to do with you? Well, that can all change in a blink of an eye.”
—Myeisha Hutchinson, patient advocate, UAB Hospital.
This Week in Poverty posts every Friday morning. Please comment below. You can also e-mail me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter. |
Introduction
Which is the best graphics card that money can buy? Prime silicon and an outlandish 12GB frame buffer are enough to give the nod to Nvidia's GeForce GTX Titan X, we reckon, but if you're just a smidge more sensible with your money, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is the card you should be looking at.
Arguably too good to be seen as a second-rung solution, the GTX 980 Ti takes almost everything that's tasty about GTX Titan X and repackages it in a higher-clocked guise that's better suited to enthusiast gamers. Nvidia's reference card proved to be a stellar performer in our initial review, but you don't need to be a fortune teller to know that partner cards are going to be quicker still.
Nvidia's allies are hurtling toward retail in an effort to get their custom boards ready for your delectation and one of the first to fire a warning shot across the bows of AMD's next-gen Radeon is EVGA, who has not one but eight GTX 980 Ti solutions heading to a store near you. The firm's range includes everything from reference-cooled to liquid-cooled, but it's the middle-of-the-pack Superclocked+ ACX+ variant that's under the microscope today.
The name doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, and EVGA's diverse range takes some working out, but this particular model appears to cover most bases and fetches roughly £610 at popular UK retailers, making it £60 more than a basic reference card. We're tasked with judging whether or not that premium is warranted and initial impressions are good.
We've always liked Nvidia's reference cooler, but EVGA's custom ACX+ is a worthy, if not plain better, alternative. We'll cover actual cooling performance later in the review, but let's start by saying that this is a good-looking and well-built GTX 980 Ti. The black shroud is simple yet stylish, the gold highlights and backlit lettering add a touch of class without appearing gaudy, and we like the fact that EVGA has kept to a dual-slot form factor and a 267mm length. This is a card that'll slot easily into most performance PCs.
A solid backplate and memory/MOSFET cooling plate sandwiches the majority of the printed circuit board for extra rigidity - this is a perk of the Superclocked+ model - and cooling performance is touted as up to 20 per cent better than reference. Working toward this goal, there's a trio of straight 8mm heatpipes as well as dual fans with double ball bearings, and in an effort to keep noise levels down to a minimum, both fans are automatically turned off when core temp is below 60ºC.
There are no major surprises when it comes to the cooler - EVGA's ACX+ is a known quantity among GeForce enthusiasts - so what's of interest here is the factory overclock. Proving that Nvidia's reference design is merely a starting point, EVGA takes the 1,000MHz core and 1,075MHz boost clocks and nudges them up to 1,102MHz and 1,190MHz, respectively. A peak gain of eight per cent is nothing to scoff at, and given the cooler and the 6+2 power phase, we suspect the Superclocked+ ACX+ will boost even higher during real-world use.
The core overclock is decent, however it isn't the highest that EVGA offers - that accolade goes to the liquid-cooled Hydro Copper, which ships with a boost clock of 1,228MHz. Core speed is hardly lacking, mind, and what's more of a dampener is the 6GB frame buffer, which sadly isn't overclocked at all and runs at a reference-matching 7,012MHz.
Other areas in which the Superclocked+ ACX+ adheres to the reference mandate include support for four-way SLI, power delivery, which defaults to a 6+8-pin arrangement, and outputs, comprised of dual-link DVI, HDMI 2.0 and a trio of DisplayPort 1.2. There's little of note in the bundle, though Nvidia is currently sweetening the deal with a free copy of Batman: Arkham Knight for a limited time.
The GTX 980 Ti Superclocked+ ACX+ is in line with our expectations of a custom-cooled and factory-overclocked card. The questions that now remain are how much quicker and how much cooler than reference will EVGA's card turn out to be during actual gameplay? Let's get some answers. |
.... The comic pretty much speaks for itself.For the record, I have no hopes that this show will be good, (IF it even becomes a show, people. It's not even set-in-stone yet.) and if it did get made, I wouldn't have my hopes up or expect anything. I probably won't even watch it unless people start telling me to give it a shot. But it certainly doesn't change how I feel about FiM, no more than any other spin-off has ever affected my feelings about a TV show.Lately I think my biggest annoyance has been how the brony fanbase continues to carry on about ridiculous things, like how loads of people freaked out when Twilicorn was announced. There's too much negativity in the fanbase. Nothing can be perfect all of the time, and not every single person has the same tastes, or can be pleasedof the time. There are episodes this last season I haven't been crazy about, but that doesn't make them bad episodes, or make the rest of the show bad. I mean, my least favorite episode in MLP thus far is from theseason.I think it's a good thing, though. If you find yourself complaining non-stop about this show, then you know what? There's the door. Please use it. The rest of us bronies who actually enjoy the show for what it is and see it for how amazing and completely unique it is in it's character depth, humor and creativity will stick around. Maybe we can weed out the casuals and end up with the same iron-clad, awesome fanbase we started out with.I just want to clarify, seeing as how a lot of people are saying things like 'I never complained about this!' or 'Just because I dislike the idea doesn't make me a moron!'. This is NOT, obviously, directed at every brony in the world. This is just a not-to-be-taken-seriously comic about the same group of pessimistic fans that complain about every OTHER thing in the show as well, and regrettably have louder voices than the rest of us who are being calm and courteous with our opinions.I'm also not trying to say that people don't have a right to their opinion. I'm not terribly crazy with the idea of a human spin-off either. I'm talking about the 'fans' that are announcing to everyone that they're 'leaving the fandom' or that it is 'ruining the show' for them, when in reality the two shows will have nothing to do with one another. Lots of my favorite sitcoms from the 70s and 80s, for example, had horrible spin-offs, but the spin-offs never affected my view of the show they came from.Just wanted to clear that up.Hey! Just a reminder that I drew this way before the movie had come out. In fact, only designs for the mane six had been confirmed, and at that time, I believe we were still with the understanding that this was going to be a show. I haven't seen Equestria Girls, nor do I really plan to at any point. I don't care if it was good or horrible, it doesn't affect the main show in my eyes. But there's no need to try and convince me either way, I made my point, and it really had little to do with the idea of the movie and everything to do with the attitudes of the fans. |
Harry Reid used the massive destruction caused by flooding in parts of Colorado on the Senate floor Tuesday morning to slam House Republicans for partisanship and wasting the “taxpayer’s time” trying to repeal ObamaCare.
Reid listed numerous issues that Congress should be focusing its time during session this year and lamented that the House Republicans refused to get on board with President’s domestic agenda.
“ObamaCare is the law of the land. It’s time for Republican’s to mature,” Reid said, “to grow up … It’s time for Republicans to stop denying reality.”
After suggesting that Congress should be addressing issues with infrastructure, Reid focused on “climate change.”
“Climate change is here,” Reid said. “We’re doing nothing about it.”
Reid also suggested that Congress should “try passing immigration reform” before listing the economic benefits of ObamaCare.
Watch Senator Reid’s remarks and read the transcript below:
We should be facing the reality of climate change. Look what happened in Colorado. I talked to Senator Bennet yesterday, he said the floods were “biblical.” In one part of Colorado, it rained 12 inches in two hours. I can’t imagine that. Fires all over the West — climate change is here. I met with the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh. They don’t know what they’re going to do with the rise of the sea, which is taking place. That country has no place — no high ground. It’s that way all over the world. Martial Islands — 1,000 islands make up the Martial Islands. Fifty-five thousand people live there. These islands are being washed away with these new waves they’ve never seen before. Climate change is here. We’re doing nothing about it. They’re spending all our time, the American taxpayer’s time, trying to repeal a law that’s been in effect for four years.
Follow me on Twitter: @meredithdake |
Coinbase has been repeatedly hammered with new traffic over the last few weeks. Not a bad problem to have...
Again today, after being overwhelmed with throngs of new traders, Coinbase was forced to suspend operations temporarily. This has happened on a number of occasions over the last few months.
Cryptocurrency is experiencing a mania of sorts. Coinbase, only one exchange among many, has been accepting more than 100 000 new accounts every day. Every day! More than a million new accounts a week. Remarkable. Frankly, it's amazing they have been as stable as they have been during this onslaught.
Keep this in perspective. The CBOE launched bitcoin futures on Sunday, December 10. Within moments of launching, the CBOE website crashed due to extremely high levels of network traffic. This is the CBOE - a large, established exchange market that has the resources to handle these sorts of large-scale situations.
Coinbase and other exchanges will continue to experience outages like this because the popularity of cryptocurrency is growing exponentially. It simply can not be handled at this pace without the occasional hiccup. Crytpo-traders will just have to be patient and take a positive attitude to this -- just think -- would you prefer for your cryptocurrency to be less successful with more stability?
I'll accept the growing pains along with this incredible growth!
image source:
https://steemitimages.com |
Before we begin, before you meet the most genetically gifted bodybuilder of all time, before you become privy to certain facts about him — his draconian diet, maniacal habits, hell-bent creeds — facts you might find improbable if not outright impossible — you should know something about me: I was once a teenage competitive bodybuilder in the flaunting, brazen state of New Jersey. You know that T-shirt that declaims New Jersey: Only the Strong Survive? I wore one of those.
I grew up under Homeric standards of masculinity, raised by a family of wrestlers and weightlifters, in thrall of the Greek agglomerate of gods and heroes from the minute I was given an illustrated copy of The Iliad in fifth grade. Weightlifting rescued me from a vulnerable, pitiful sense of self during my sophomore year of high school after a girlfriend shucked me for a football star.
This is significant in a number of ways, which we will come to, but mainly this means that I do not gaze upon Phil Heath the same way you do. I do not see an aberrant beast, a narcissistic meathead with masculinity issues. I do not see a gorged addict who has crashed head-on into madness, the male counterpart to anorexia with its attendant psychosis, the clinically obsessed product of pills and syringes, a functionless showboat little better than those mental midgets on Jersey Shore.
No, I see something else entirely. In Heath, I see the most stunning physique in the history of bodybuilding. I see a reigning Mr. Olympia who works harder and devotes more time to his sport than almost any other athlete or artist you can name — aside from ballerinas, but we will get to that too. I see an athlete who allowed me access into his outrageous world to behold for myself what it takes to be this breed of champion, and if you come along with me now you might view him and his sport — his art — a bit more like I do. Indeed, Phil Heath might be the champ who makes you care about — or at least understand — the most misunderstood and fantastical sport on earth.
I. In the Gym — 10 Weeks Before the 2012 Mr. Olympia Contest
The parking spot at the door of Armbrust Pro Gym outside Denver has a sign that warns: “Mr. Olympia Phil Heath Parking Only: All Others Will Be Crushed.” When the 32-year-old Heath enters this sprawling gym it’s like watching Santa amble among his elves. At 6 p.m. on a weekday in late July, this place is a bustling paragon of the subculture: hard-core weightlifters after strength, bodybuilders wanting symmetrical perfection, teens aspiring to muscled greatness, and skin-baring fitness fanatics trying to fend off their deaths. The already amped-up air has changed in here, has become more charged since he swaggered through the door a minute ago. Even Metallica, in their distortion-fueled bruit and bluster, seem aware of his presence. You can always tell the seriousness of a gym by its music. But Armbrust is no ordinary gym — this place is a temple, and Phil Heath is its deity.
Admit it: If you have a god, he’s no stick-figure wonk. In the Book of Job, Yahweh asks the stricken man, “Hast thou an arm like God?” Heath’s arms are almost two feet in diameter and would make the good Lord run the other way in shame.
African American with fallow skin, uncommon green eyes, and faintly Caucasian features, Heath looks suspiciously either of no race at all or else of every race on earth, a glorious global amalgam. One marvels at his bubbled superhero form, at the faultless proportions of his mass, how it all jells and melds — trapezius muscles curving into deltoids curving into pectorals, biceps into triceps and forearms, hamstrings into calves, quadriceps into little kneecaps, and lats into a waist too tiny for many lifting belts (at just 29 inches, his waist looks stolen from a teenage gymnast). He possesses every desirable element on a bodybuilding stage. Of the 13 men who have held the Mr. Olympia title since its genesis in 1965, Heath is the most complete. With Adonis’s face, that golden personality, and brimful intelligence, he possesses a crossover appeal that hasn’t been seen since Schwarzenegger.
Most of Phil Heath’s every year is aimed sniper-like at a single target: the Mr. Olympia Competition, the Super Bowl of bodybuilding, started by Joe Weider, a Canadian immigrant and business-minded fitness zealot with a fondness for the Greek pantheon of gods. Heath took the Olympia crown in 2011 and spends every day here at Armbrust Pro Gym, outside Denver, thinking of a repeat: “All year long my focus is this contest, and everything I do for seventy days is about me winning it. Every meal, every workout, every rep, every supplement, every ounce of sleep, every massage therapy. Everything.”
Today is Heath’s shoulder routine. Donned in wireless headphones over a black Gift baseball cap — Heath’s sobriquet is “the Gift,” and he has his own line of merchandise — he warms up with military presses on the Smith machine, a barbell attached to a frame to permit only vertical motion and thus minimize the chance of getting hurt. The screaming, train-till-you-puke, pack-on-muscle severity of the offseason has passed; this close to the Olympia he’s careful to avoid injury. Everywhere the tall mirrors give the impression of spaces within spaces, of other rooms within other rooms to vanish into. The scent of rubber and oiled metal begins to smell aphrodisiacal.
I began in a very different species of gym: my uncle’s basement in my hometown of Manville, New Jersey, where he had set up pro-grade weights and machines before a wall of cracked mirrors. But I remember this erotically charged atmosphere from the gym I trained in once my uncle’s basement no longer matched my goals. For an 18-year-old kid, it was a festival of carnality and better than any heaven you could conjure. We had a really hard time understanding how normal people walk through this world without muscle, without being fortified against life’s lightning bolts. I shifted into bodybuilding when I joined a gym called the Physical Edge, when my physique began showing stage traits — that coveted V shape — and when guys at the Edge convinced me I should. These guys made themselves mentors and taught me all about diet and nutrition. They taught me new methods of training, not simply for strength and mass but for the aesthetics required on a bodybuilding stage. My own training program wasn’t all that different from Heath’s. In the offseason I trained with heavy weights and stuffed myself with high-calorie mounds of pasta and beef; in season I honed my diet and lightened the weights to emphasize muscle division.
Between cautious sets of 10 reps, Heath leans against the frame to rest and sips from a bottle of water (he drinks two gallons per day — give your body a constant intake of water and it won’t hold on to any). A blond Amazonian beauty saunters over to him waving around her pheromones like nunchakus, her outfit a prototype for the porn version of Barbarella. You can feel a current of that temptation buzzing in the air of Armbrust Pro Gym: desirable citizens quarter-dressed and sweating, their workout grimaces remarkably coital, on pause between pain and pleasure, scanning one another with ravenous want. And of course no one here is scanned more than Heath. They glance and goggle and glance again in a synthesis of intimidation, envy, esteem, and awe.
Even to people outside bodybuilding’s arcana, to those unaware of his stunning uniqueness, Heath is a specimen impossible not to ogle, and not merely because of his mass — and at 270 pounds of adamantine muscle he is indeed massive — but because of how that mass adheres to his 5-foot-9-inch frame. His rapid ascent to the peak of Olympus signals a sea change in the criteria for pro bodybuilders. Champions from the recent past such as Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, and Jay Cutler were monstrous, grotesque, mechanical — 300 pounds in the offseason, blocky and vascular, they looked spawned from pissed-off gods intent on hurting humankind. Heath, on the other hand, because he’s so superhero round, is, well, pretty. The human eye prefers the round to the rectangular: Think of the rolls of an infant’s body, a woman’s breast, a Roman arch. Heath has accomplished in only seven years — the physique, the titles, the endorsements — what has taken other guys 20 or more. Magazines were calling him the future of bodybuilding before he turned pro.
When I ask Dylan Armbrust, founder of Armbrust Pro Gym, what makes Heath better than the colossal others — Heath defeated Jay Cutler with a perfect score in 2011 to take the title of Mr. Olympia — he is very clear: “The aesthetics of the man are just unbelievable. He’s so round. Dorian, Ronnie, Jay — they had wide waists and big joints and had to put on massive muscle to look that way. Phil doesn’t have to do that. He can be twenty-five pounds lighter than those guys but still look just as big standing onstage with them. His genetic makeup is astounding. It could be fifty years before we see those kind of genes again.”
When Heath began prep for the Olympia he increased his reps from eight to between 10 and 12. High weight and low reps target the deep muscle fibers — the so-called fast-twitch muscle fibers — and pack on mass, increase strength. Low weight and high reps target the surface muscle fibers — the slow-twitch fibers — and sculpt the granite he needs for the stage. The adjectives mean the same thing: cut, diced, ripped, shredded. Because he has decreased his fat and carb intake for this necessary conditioning, his shoulder pump will come quicker now. The “pump” is what you want, what bodybuilders have named the state of a muscle so stuffed with blood it feels at the point of popping. Schwarzenegger famously likened it to an orgasm, and although he’s been wrong about much he wasn’t wrong about that.
After his shoulder workout, Heath peels down to his sport briefs to pose in a corner away from the crowd. The word gym, remember, derives from gymnasium, which derives from the Greek gymnos, which means “stripped.” At the gymnasiums and wrestling schools in ancient Greece the male athletes trained in the nude, and the original Olympic games, in legend founded by Heracles himself, were spectacles of masculine nudity. In the West, our entire mode of thinking about the male body and male beauty has been handed to us by the ancient Greeks. The prominent social place they allowed for sculptures of that beauty is unmatched in antiquity. One needn’t be gay to be stunned by the grandeur of Heath’s physique just as one needn’t be an architect or a Christian to be stunned by Saint Peter’s Basilica. When a former roommate bestowed upon Heath his sobriquet and brand name, he meant both a gift to bodybuilding and a gift of beauty to those with eye and heart enough to see it.
I snap scores of photos with my phone, drooling like an enraptured imbecile. Heath: “I need to beat these guys in every category there is — size, balance, flow, full symmetry, conditioning, muscle separation — and I’m beating them at their peak. They’ve got twice as much experience. In order to knock the champ off his throne, you have to do something we’ve never seen before, because right now I’m the ideal, and all I have to do is beat myself from last year. It’s my job to make it extremely easy for those judges to pick me as the champion.”
Balance and proportion, rhythm and harmony — these are the terms of representational art. And if you believe that this plethoric focus on the body is vain, narcissistic, superficial, then ask yourself this: How is it any different from a writer’s all-consuming focus on his book or a painter’s on her canvas? Is it really more egoistic than a ballet dancer’s brutal pursuit of perfection? Why are we so eager to dismiss the body as art? In his absurdist novel Body, Harry Crews christened bodybuilders “the mysterious others,” “the mad imaginings of a mad artist.” Unholy monks of muscle with a monomaniacal vision, professional bodybuilders possess the brand of focus that has allowed mystics and ascetics to float free of their bodies, except that their focus necessitates a further filling of their bodies — bodies forged into outrageous walking artwork, 3-D anatomical charts staggering enough to spook Andreas Vesalius, the father of anatomy. Part athlete, part artist, they use muscle tissue as their clay, their choreography. They are triumphant Greco-Roman warriors shunning the puny Christian principle that loathes the body while lauding an unblemished soul, and yet their no-pain-no-gain credo is Christ-like to its core — you must rove through hell to reach your heaven. Every bodybuilder becomes a nutritionist, a chemist, a ritualist and rebel. Masters of nature, they achieve their own apotheosis. To exist in this world of extremity is to leave the rest of us behind almost completely.
Beholding Heath’s singular physique in this intimate way is a surreal experience. The rotund poetry of the man makes him look engineered. And indeed, that’s the other component to the preparation — the open secret among bodybuilders: anabolic drugs. Like the drug ubiquity in cycling and in many major team sports, steroids in bodybuilding are obsessed over by everyone but the athletes. We as a culture like to feign shock every time we discover that the prom queen isn’t a virgin — and she’s never a virgin. I’m nauseated with boredom every time I hear that steroids are cheating. If you think steroids alone are responsible for a pro’s physique then you must also admit that all you require to win the Tour de France seven times over is the same dope plunged into Lance Armstrong. Let me stress this again: You, average male, could inject the choicest chemicals mad science has concocted and you will never, ever win the Tour de France or have the beauteous physical symphony of Phil Heath.
II. The Heath Residence — Nine Weeks Before the Olympia
To the west the Rocky Mountains loom in all their muscular heft. In the driveway of this manse a white Benz coup reclines next to an electric blue Bentley Continental Supersports. Inside Heath has amassed an ultrasound machine to relieve inflammation, a Vitaeris 320 hyperbaric chamber to saturate muscle tissue with pure oxygen and thus speed recovery, and a Lux infrared sauna for destroying free radicals. He has earned the lucrative endorsements that are the aim of every pro bodybuilder. He had in hand multiple contracts from top fitness companies before he ever stepped onto a national stage. He clearly relishes his throne, his status as the monarch of this cosmos, the glittery perks of money and fame.
Heath wasn’t like me. Bodybuilding wasn’t an aim he’d been working toward since he was a teen but rather a destiny, a genetic truth revealed to him suddenly at the age of 22. He was reared by his mother and stepfather in a scarred swath of South Seattle, and turned to sports for both refuge and respect. He was recruited out of high school to play point guard at the University of Denver, but at only 5-foot-9, he knew he could ditch those plans for the NBA. He began weight training to improve his strength and size, and within only six months he and everyone else at the gym knew they were gazing upon a genetic anomaly. His physique responded to the iron with a speed, density, and rotundity no one had ever seen before.
And yet his God-given gifts, a cause for celebration in basketball, are now derided by the multitude: “You can give me credit on a skilled sport — golf, basketball — but when it comes to someone’s appearance — how often do guys compliment another man on anything? They find it feminine. It’s easy for them to say, ‘Why do you want to look like that?’ Seriously? You just have a hard time saying, ‘Man, it must take a lot of work to look like that,’ because let’s be honest, it does, whether you’re a champion or not. And the thing is, the guy who is usually criticizing me is the skinny dude who never played a sport, who was never good at one, and probably got picked on, or the guy who is completely out of shape. It would be like me judging every fat person, and there’s plenty of ’em. I could say, ‘Why do you look like that?’ How hurtful would that be?”
We are in the Heaths’ kitchen, where he spends an exorbitant amount of time. Jennie — of Italian descent and eight years older than her husband — joins me at the table as Heath boils pasta and grills steak.
“That’s his goal in all of this,” Jennie says, “to change the stereotype of bodybuilding. They even have hot dog–eating contests as a sport, and bowling, but they won’t look at bodybuilding.”
Heath agrees. “Cup stacking on an ESPN highlight? That’s pretty messed up.”
Those who contend that bodybuilding isn’t a sport because it lacks utility, a specific function of physicality, have never attempted rounds of competitive posing in lanes of scorching spotlight. The skill lies in the difficult mastering of muscle development and nutrition, in the wedding of power with grace, and in the grueling exposition of the outcome.
Jennie leans toward me, her shampooed hair like ambrosia. “He might start sweating when he eats. Don’t bug out. That’s normal when he switches his carbs.”
It’s called thermogenesis. Heath’s body is so finely tuned, so sensitive to every gram of carbohydrate, so expectant of a uniform meal every two and a half hours, that it knows precisely when he switches from red potato to white potato to sweet potato, from brown rice to white rice. He doesn’t switch carbs for a change of taste but because certain carbs actually alter his aesthetic. His muscles remain fuller and rounder on potatoes and pasta, leaner and less round on rice. Carbs are like coal into a steam engine: When they hit his system they stir his metabolic rate. “My body is saying I’ve gotta use this now, burn it up, I can’t store it.” That’s how we get fat — when our metabolism isn’t trained to burn what our bodies consume but instead holds on to it for a future use that never comes.
The diet is the most unforgiving element of this sport, more taxing than squats or dead lifts. When I began training at 16, I had so much trouble adding mass that I’d have to force-feed myself tuna fish and wheat bread — I’d sit in the hallways of my high school with malodorous Tupperware containers as other students walked by eyeing me like I was a mutated zoo exhibit. Each night before bed I choked down a quart of protein shake with the consistency of sawdust, and if I puked it all up, as I often did, I blended another and tried again.
Heath cooks a meal eight times a day, and in solidarity Jennie and her 19-year-old son, Mikey, recast their eating habits when Heath begins dieting for the Olympia competition 14 weeks from showtime.
“I took two trash bags of banned food out of here as soon as his diet started,” Jennie says.
No fruit, no sugars. Those simple carbs are too quick. Fruit doesn’t build muscle. During prep he consumes only 40 grams of complex carbs per meal — roughly half a bagel. Counting calories is crap. Heath counts grams — the grams are what matter. Between 70 and 75 grams of protein per meal — roughly 10 ounces of chicken breast — are needed to sustain his anabolism. He has an organic chicken sponsor, a local farm, that trims and weighs his portions. They don’t freeze the meat, only deep-chill it, because freezing and thawing reduces its quality. As it gets later in the day, he swaps chicken for steak because steak is a denser protein and can carry his body through the night. As the contest nears, all of his protein comes from fish because it’s leaner than meat — several pounds per day of tilapia, halibut, orange roughy. For weeks everything in the house, including their dogs, reeks of fish.
“People don’t get the diet,” Jennie tells me. “Can you guys go to the movies? No. The last thing he wants to do is sit in a movie theater that smells like popcorn and hot dogs.”
“No sporting events,” Heath says. “No summers.”
Jennie isn’t pleased by this. “No summers because that’s when everyone is barbecuing and drinking beer.”
And what’s it like to have a life with this man?
“I’ve had a hard time finding my place in this with him,” Jennie says. “I’m a pretty family core person, and that’s when it would get hard. This last year, with him taking the title and traveling, was the hardest. There were times when I’d have to call and say, ‘OK, I’m struggling, you need to be home.’ Anything I need to argue with him about, I write it down, get a list going, because even tension, people don’t understand what stress does to your cortisol levels.”
Cortisol, a steroidal hormone produced in the adrenal gland, creates havoc with the body’s processing of protein and glucose and can wreck the long-fought-for aesthetics of Heath’s physique. How’s that for a sweet deal? Three months out of every year your wife can’t argue with you.
“If Jennie and I got in a really bad blowup, if we were both crying, I could drop eight pounds in a day.”
“Nothing can take the focus off,” she says.
Heath graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in business and IT, but, aware of the pitfalls of bodybuilders’ put-on hyper-masculinity, he would have made a superb psychologist. The paradoxical “femmy”-ness of bodybuilding isn’t lost on him — the tanning, the hairlessness, the fetishizing of food, the repining for male regard — and he’s the first to admit that he lacks some essentials of stereotypical manliness (he’s hopeless with home improvement and doesn’t know his way around Lowe’s). He has a small shopping problem, a weakness for Louis Vuitton bags (Jennie calls him “Posh”). This irony never occurred to me when I was a kid — the irony that we hyper-muscled boys had turned into a clan of adoring femmes who sought the esteem of other boys and older men, who tanned our bodies bronze and shaved our bodies smooth, who dressed in spandex and obsessed over food. We boys had morphed into female stereotypes and in the process of impressing one another forgot the reason we had turned to bodybuilding in the first place — for the girls.
“He’s a sex symbol,” Jennie says of her husband, “and that’s hard on me.”
“Sex symbol to women and men,” Heath says.
“Not many people’s husbands are running around the world in little panties.”
Before I leave the Heaths’ that night, I slide across the table a photograph snapped in an alien epoch — I’m 18 years old, onstage competing in my second and last bodybuilding contest. I was never any good — I was runner-up in my first show and took fourth place in my second — but I’ve never been able to forget that euphoria of triumph as I walked offstage clutching a trophy. I was so proud of my adolescent self for enduring workouts harsh enough to snap a man, for sticking to a 12-week diet of mind-boggling blandness, and for prancing around in a banana sack before an auditorium of very discerning people.
Heath: “No way.”
Jennie: “Is that you?”
Heath: “Dude, you had some delts on you. And legs.”
Jennie, tearful: “So you get it! You understand!”
Indeed I do, my friends. Indeed I do.
III. Las Vegas — Olympia Weekend
At the Trump Hotel in Vegas, Heath has commandeered a baroque, carpeted conference room for a men’s magazine photo shoot. In some nooks of the hotel there is buzz that Heath’s chief competition — Kai Greene, an astonishing monster from New York — has come to Vegas in the freakiest shape of his life. But when the champ arrives for photos he doesn’t care about buzz. He’s slow-moving, down to 250 pounds, all the oomph sucked out of him by the vampiric demands of the Olympia. The contest is only 28 hours away and he’s water-depleted; every sentence is labored. The trick at this crucial juncture is to keep his body full and round on the right carbs and protein while siphoning the remaining fluid from between his skin and muscle tissue. Carbs require water to be assimilated, and because he’s not drinking any, that required water gets pulled from beneath his skin, creating the dry see-through aesthetic you see onstage. The problem, of course, is that dehydration feels downright bubonic. What’s more, Heath has retreated so deep inside himself that I wonder if he’ll have the patience for an hour of photographs.
Halfway through the shoot all is well, and then his trainer, Hany Rambod, hurricanes into the room. Rambod is a lava-blooded, high-strung former med student, perhaps the most sought-after trainer in the sport, an expert who can mean the difference between winning and not. He’s none too pleased with this photo shoot — Heath should be on his back, his legs elevated to reduce water retention — and he’s even less pleased with how Heath looks to him right now. Where everyone else beholds a physical exemplar to chasten Zeus, Rambod sees a champion who’s not as round or rested as he needs to be. The camera stops clicking for Rambod to inspect Jennie’s notes of what Heath has eaten these last several hours. Then he orders Heath through several poses — back double bicep, side chest, front lat spread — his head wagging in consternation.
“You flattened out,” Rambod says. “When did you last eat?”
Now there’s an edgy exchange between them in which Rambod assaults Heath’s priorities and says he himself is “at critical mass” — meaning, I think, that he’s supremely pissed off. Heath tries to mollify him, but there’s no mollifying Hany Rambod. He orders the Heaths back to the hotel suite, dashes from our midst, and just like that, with only half the pictures the magazine needs, the shoot is shut down.
“He’s right,” Heath says, pulling on clothes. “I can’t lose this show for some fucking photographs,” and then he, too, is gone.
Ninety minutes later Heath returns and we witness firsthand the wizardry of Hany Rambod. Heath feels far less fatigued and his muscles have filled, rounded, hardened. The difference might be subtle, but after rest and a meal of steak and potatoes he has gone from second place to first. This is part of Rambod’s priceless function: He provides an objective eye on Heath’s condition during this tense last phase, because Heath’s own psycho-emotional state can cause him to misjudge the mirror and commit an uncorrectable error of nutrition.
At the meet-and-greet an hour later, Rambod says, “We’re trying to get that Saran-wrapped look. On the cover of magazines, that look isn’t weeks of looking like that. You can only look like that for one day, and you’re trying to peak during that one hour of competition tomorrow night.”
If Heath peaks too soon or too late, there’s no recovering from that, and he has lost the title. Every minute detail of his diet must be monitored to make sure he peaks at maximum roundness and hardness during that single hour onstage Friday. Or as Heath tells me: “I want people weeping. I want them to say this is the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen.”
Heath has a spray-tanning appointment in a room at the Orleans Hotel — if an athlete’s skin isn’t bronzed, every striation will get washed out in the strong sheen of stage lights. A walkie-talkied employee escorts us through the empty arena so that Heath might bypass the heart-wrecked throng who won’t get to have photos taken with him, and Heath isn’t indifferent to that. There’s the stage to our left, alight with an enormous screen proclaiming in proud scarlet: “Joe Weider’s Olympia.” In the center aisle of the arena Heath pauses to take in the stage, and then folds over the back of a seat, hands gripped in prayer. He stays that way for a minute or more, swiping at tears. Then we’re moving again toward the hotel. “I just got caught in that moment,” he says. “I’ve gone through a lot in my life to get to this point.”
The spray-tanner has bedecked a hotel room in a hazmat motif certain to scare the maid — sections cordoned off by heavy sheets of plastic and duct tape, a standing tent in the bathroom, fans straining to thin the toxic scent. Naked, one hand on his rooster, legs spread, Heath chats and jibes as the tanner coats him in even lanes of wet bronze. It’s close to 11 p.m. and he’s the most animated I’ve seen him all day, his garrulous self despite dehydration. He talks about the sureness of his winning the Sandow tomorrow — the first-place trophy is a statue of Eugen Sandow, the pioneer of bodybuilding. I briefly consider asking about his chief rival, the massive Kai Greene, but I can’t muster the nerve.
IV. The Competition
The following night at the Orleans Arena, Heath is the last of the 19 competitors to appear backstage. He enters in flip-flops from behind a tall scrim, trailing a cooler on wheels, headphones fastened, zipped to the chin in the black warm-up suit worn by every man. At the center of this wide space a black rug has been lain before a wall of mirrors. In between assortments of workout equipment, men lie on their backs like fallen soldiers, most with their legs raised on benches. They glance over at the champ because he’s the only man they’ve been thinking about all year. Heath finds a chair apart from them — face stern, head bobbing just slightly to whatever music croons to him — and seconds later he’s encircled by a crush of cameras and mikes and lights.
The atmosphere back here does not come close to chummy. Paramedics sit on standby near a gurney (there’s always a risk of fainting, or worse, if you screw up the diet). Slowly the supine begin to rise and strip. They maunder behind a curtain where a platoon of women apply oil with blue surgical gloves, then they return to grab weights to inflate themselves further. One by one each will perform his routine, and then all will emerge onstage for comparison.
There’s a giant off in a corner by himself, seated with his back to the ruck, his head hidden deep in a hoodie. This is Kai Greene, and they call him the Predator — a two-foot length of braided hair hangs from the top of his skull like a fuse. If it were your chore to craft a character the inverse of Phil Heath, you’d craft Kai Greene. Withdrawn and eccentric, an orphan raised as a ward of the state of New York, a visual and graphic artist who still resides in the projects, he evinces enigma and involution. And when he disrobes for oil, it’s obvious that there might be trouble: His waist is nearly as narrow as Heath’s, his dense back shredded, massive quads cut to ribbons. In the 2011 Olympia he took third place. Tonight he has come to take it all.
Heath notices Greene from where he warms up on the carpet — it’s impossible to say if that expression on him is confidence or concern. But as Greene ascends the metal stairs to the stage, Heath joins the half-moon at the monitor to see exactly how much trouble he might be in. The thousands in the audience thunder for Kai Greene.
And they thunder once more when Heath stalks into sight, his posing music a mix of Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Jay Z, and 50 Cent. The art of posing is tantamount to dance in its presentation of shape, form, and flow, and the posing routine of many a bodybuilder is quite literally a dance routine. A flawless pose begins slowly, fluidly, in time with the music, and then tenses into a burst at the corresponding spot in the song. Not only does a great pose direct attention to the muscle group being flexed, it also highlights the rest of the body in relation to that muscle group. The clumsy poser is sibling to the clunky-footed ballet dancer. I never had a fraction of Heath’s fluid grace because I was never comfortable enough with those muscles hung on me, never fully convinced that this was the identity I wanted.
Heath poses to the judges perched in the orchestra and to the audience tiered left and right. Their criteria are clear as per IFBB guidelines: Athletes are rated by “size, shape, density, separation and definition, in relation to symmetry and natural aesthetics,” in addition to the “qualities of balance, proportion and the overall ‘flow’ of the physique.” Heath shines in every one of those criteria — the man looks drawn by the imagination of Stan Lee.
At the end of Heath’s routine, the 19 men stand shoulder-to-shoulder at the lip of the stage. The judges call them through a series of poses for comparison, and within 20 minutes 17 of them are split into two lines at either side. Only Heath and Greene remain at center to duke it out, and during their pose-for-pose comparison, something is askew. Greene keeps inching forward, and when the judges call a pose, he waits almost until Heath is coming out of his before beginning his own — so as to leave the judges with the final impression and also save himself from having to be compared too closely shot-for-shot. At one point he pretends to punch Heath. The crowd laughs, but Heath is not amused. The announcer says, “They say you gotta knock the champ out, and I guess that’s a good way to do it.” It’s a brazen move, and Heath lets him get away with it. In other words: Kai is controlling this combat. He can’t quite equal Heath’s rotund thickness, but he’s close — closer than anyone expected.
Backstage once more, Heath sits in exhaustion and mops sweat from his shoulders. The others have gone. A reporter from Flex magazine approaches and suggests that Heath isn’t as detailed as he could be. Exasperated, Heath defends his conditioning, and then: “I don’t need any negativity right now.” Not long after, back at the Trump, Heath and Rambod hold a private council to scrutinize photos and strategize for tomorrow night. Insider wisdom has it that only 90 percent of the contest is won on Friday night — Saturday still matters. Jennie and members of Team Heath meet down in the lobby lounge, the mood among them ill at ease. It wasn’t supposed to be this close. No one has ever seen Greene’s waist that small. And why wasn’t Heath more ferocious during that duel with him? As a lifelong athlete, he knows when to untether the beast. An unaskable inquiry, a shelf cloud, hovers over Team Heath. What if he loses?
V. The Competition Continued
At 6 p.m. the next night, Heath is in their suite at the Orleans devouring a hamburger. If you’re thinking that a burger can never be good for the physique, you’re right — if the physique is yours or mine. But Heath’s body fat percentage is so low, his metabolism so high, and his anabolic rate so efficient that the burger’s density will get stuffed directly into his muscle bellies, keeping him round. And what I notice about him is twofold. First, he’s fuller and harder than he was 24 hours ago — he spent all day going from the kitchen table to the bed and back again. And second, he’s mad as hell. If last night he had on a game face, he now wears a war face.
And from the moment he arrives backstage he mentally drubs the others — that easeful strut and those authoritarian glances at Greene announce he will not be bested. He lathers another burger with ketchup to smash it down. We two retreat to the solitude of the bathroom to check his fullness, and in that mirror, beneath those fluorescent bulbs, with me next to him like an apparitional toothbrush, he looks otherworldly. “He’s not this big,” he says, referring to Greene, and the only response I can give is an astounded nod of assent.
When the onstage clash between these two titans finally comes, Heath is so aggressive, so domineering, and so charismatic, Greene seems to be shrinking before our eyes. The Predator can’t return the Gift’s glares of intimidation. He looks sluggish and almost sick up there. The crowd is aflame. This is the spectacle they came for. And here’s what those two are thinking up there — they’ve whipped themselves like workhorses the whole year for this brief time onstage before the judges, and they know what the judges want, and they know there’s nothing at all that can be done now to improve their lot, only perform as they have practiced and present their sculpted figures with grace and élan. Nothing is subjective here, nothing left to capriciousness, to chance. And Heath knows he’s got it all, knows he’s the athlete-artist who in 30 quick minutes might be one step closer to resurrecting his sport from the boneyard of mainstream irrelevance.
Their showdown finished, Heath and Greene rest off in the left wing as the others compete. Heath is high-wattage — he can’t keep still. Greene, meanwhile, folds onto the railing, his head low, visage glazed over as in shock. A woman applies an ice pack to his nape and a paramedic advances within reach.
Heath never did feel a flash of doubt, was never bothered by the whispers. He knew all along that Kai Greene could not conquer him. When the announcer hollers Heath’s name as victor, his team weeps in bliss and relief.
Among the numerous reasons I abandoned bodybuilding, there is this: the inevitability of growing up, of growing out of an identity in extremis that was never really mine. There are myriad ways to be a man, to become a man, and at 19 I discovered that the pursuits of the mind and spirit can rival those of the body — their accomplishments are just as muscular, just as robust, and for me they were transformative in a way that bodybuilding never was. It always feels like a kind of miracle when you are found by the identity that endures. But I haven’t lost my reverence for the monastic dedication this sport can impart, and I never lost my ability to stand ecstatic before an uncommon champion like Heath. His own fulfillment lies in realizing his fate, in altering the image of his sport, in doing what he was born to do.
Onstage in Vegas, Heath has his fist pumped high. He is given the gold medal, the first-place trophy, and the check for $250,000. “Man,” he said, “it feels freakin’ good to be king up in here.” And no matter what you might think of Phil Heath, if you still consider him a human aberration or if you agree with me that he’s walking artwork, you can’t change the fact that he has earned what most men clamor for: He is the undisputed ruler of his world.
William Giraldi is the author of the novel Busy Monsters and fiction editor for the AGNI journal at Boston University. |
Gingrich supported the bailout, stating that if he were in the House he would have reluctantly voted fo r it. He also supported the prior bailout of Savings & Loans under Clinton. He opposed the stimulus, yet pushed to add $27 billion to it that his clients profited from. Gingrich said he was aware of the bubble prior to the collapse, but did not notify the public. He was hired by the head of Freddie Mac's Lobbying Operations and was paid $1.8 million for his “consulting” between 2000-2008. Just after his contract ended Freddie Mac received a $170 billion taxpayer-funded bailout.
Newt Gingrich
HOUSING BUBBLE BAILOUTS
$
Rick Santorum
In 1995, supported the backdoor Clinton bailout of Mexican bonds through the Fed and the Treasury Department. Goldman Sachs happened to be a key benefactor of the bailout. Gingrich went against his own party and over 80% of the public who opposed the bailout.
FEDERAL RESERVE
Supports the Fed policy of artificially manipulating interest rates. This manipulation has been implicated in the housing bubble crash of 2008, and even in the crash of 1929 that commenced the Great Depression. Santorum said he would have opposed the bailout. However, he voted in favor of bailouts of the Airline and Steel industries. Santorum also condemned the stimulus, but has a record of defending spending increases, declaring in 2003 “I am no longer a deficit hawk.” Encouraged policies which pushed the mortgage giants to take on more subprime debt. In 2005, when Senate Republicans were trying to tighten the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Santo- rum was pushing to “orient” them to accomplish Democrats’ affordable- housing goals. Breaking his prom- ise to stop any gun control laws from coming up for a vote as Speaker, Gingrich supported several antigun laws including the infamous Lautenberg gun ban as well as "safe zones." Supported a national biometric thumb- print database for gun owners.
GUN RIGHTS
GRADED BY GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA
C
Supported the Lautenberg gun ban, which lowered the threshold for losing one’s Second Amendment rights to a mere non-violent misdemeanor. Supported anti-gun Arlen Specter over pro-gun Republican Pat Toomey in the 2005 Pennsylvan ia Senate race.
B-
CANDIDATE FACT SHEET
Romney supported the bank bailout, and in 2010 said that “It was the right thing to do.” He also expressed support for the 2009 ‘all Democrat’ stimulus writing in his book that “It will accelerate the timing of the start of the recovery.” Now claims to be against both. Paul strongly opposed the bailout and the stimulus, voting against both. Paul argued that the bailout was morally wrong and unconstitutio nal. He also stated that it was just propping up Wall Street by dumping the bad debt on Main Street. As Governor, Romney aggressively promoted policies that were contrib- uting to the bad assets on the books of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He proclaimed in a 2004 press release "fair and affordable housing should be a right, not a privilege." He then pledged roughly $350 million in state and federal funds to assist low-income borrowers with special mortgage financ- ing. Paul accurately predicted the housing bubble in a speech before Congress in 2001. Stated that govern- ment backed loans, such as those from Freddie Mac, were responsible for the bubble. His warnings went unheeded and were considered fringe ideas -- every expert now agrees that Paul was correct.
M i t t R o m n e y R o n P a u l
Believes that the Federal Reserve (the Fed) should remain "Independent." He supports the Fed’s artificial manipulation of interest rates, which has been implicated in multiple economic crashes, including the housing bubble of 2008, and the Great Depression in 1929. A partial audit that Paul pushed for revealed the Fed gave out
$16 trillion
in secret loans to U.S. and foreign banks. Paul has introduced legislation to bring full transparency to the Fed. Paul has been the Fed’s most outspoken opponent for 30 years. In 1994, said "I don't line up with the NRA." In his 2002 campaign, Romney supported a federal assault weapons ban. As Governor, he signed the nation's first ban on assault weapons and steeply increased fees on gun owners by 400%. The GOA says Ron Paul is a "powerful advocate for the 2nd Amendment," and that he has been one of the most consistent defenders of the 2nd Amendment in Congress. Received an endorsement from the National Association for Gun Rights along with Michele Bachmann. |
U-23 MNT
CHICAGO (Sept. 18, 2015) – U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team head coach Andi Herzog has named the 20-player roster that will compete in the 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship, which will be played across the United States from Oct. 1-13. The USA will look to clinch a spot in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The U.S. was drawn into Group A and opens with a pair of games at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, against Canada on Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. CT and Cuba on Oct. 3 at 4 p.m. CT. The U-23’s will conclude group play at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on Oct. 6 against Panama at 7:30 p.m. MT.
“For us it was important that we find the right balance between attacking players and defensive-minded players,” Herzog said. “Because there are no FIFA dates for the first week of the tournament, there were challenges in getting players released. We had discussions with a lot of teams, and while some clubs didn’t release their players overall we received a lot of support, especially from MLS. There was a lot of competition for spots. Of course a few players will be disappointed that they didn’t make the roster and I understand, but we can only have 20 players on the roster and only17 field players, so they weren’t easy decisions. Now we have to be focused on the games and we have to win.”
Defending Olympic gold medalists Mexico are joined in Group B by Costa Rica, Haiti and Honduras. The top two teams from each group will advance to the tournament semifinals. Winners of the semifinal games will advance to the finals and clinch spots in the Olympics. The winner of the third-place game will qualify for a one-game playoff against Colombia in the final opportunity for an Olympic spot.
The U.S. enters the tournament having defeated Qatar in its final tune-up. In June, the team finished third at the renowned Toulon Tournament in France, defeating the Netherlands and England. The team is 6-4-0 in 2015, including a 3-0 win against Mexico in April.
The U.S. hopes to return to the Olympics for the first time since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where it posted a 1-1-1 record but did not advance past the group stage. The USA’s best showing in the Olympics came during the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, when the team defeated Japan in the quarterfinals and finished fourth in the event.
Roster By Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Charlie Horton (Leeds; Cleveland Ohio), Ethan Horvath (Molde; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Zack Steffen (Freiburg; Downington, Pa.).
DEFENDERS (5): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur; Westcliff on Sea, England), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls; Clifton, N.J.), Eric Miller (Montreal Impact; Woodbury, Minn.), William Packwood (Unattached; Concord, Mass.), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Fatai Alashe (San Jose Earthquakes; Northville, Mich.), Gboly Ariyibi (Chesterfield; Arlington, Va.), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham; Dallas, Texas), Marc Pelosi (San Jose Earthquakes; Sunnyvale, Calif.), Matt Polster (Chicago Fire; Milwaukee, Wis.), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC; Gahanna, Ohio), Gedion Zelalem (Rangers; Bethesda, Md.).
FORWARDS (4): Alonso Hernandez (C.D. Juarez; El Paso, Texas), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart; Berlin, Germany), Jordan Morris (Stanford; Mercer Island, Wash.), Maki Tall (FC Sion; Washington, D.C.).
Roster Notes |
At least 12 truck drivers have quit because they are concerned about the safety of a new alternative highway between Picton and Christchurch, their union says.
Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly
The inland route via the Lewis Pass was never intended to be a main arterial route but that changed when the Kaikōura earthquake forced coastal sections of State Highway 1 to be closed.
Five people have died in crashes on the alternative route since the quake in November, with the latest smash occurring yesterday when two people died after a car and a truck collided just north of Culverden.
Before SH1 became impassable, the Picton to Christchurch route took drivers about 4.5 hours, giving them enough time to make the return journey on the same day.
The windy narrow inland route had nearly doubled their drive time, but First Union organiser Bryce Hamilton said freight companies and their customers were still insisting the trip was done in one day.
This pressure, combined with driving a road that was never meant to be the main highway, was the reason so many were now either quitting the industry altogether or finding work on less dangerous routes, he said.
Photo: Google Earth
"They know that on a long enough timeline their survival rate will drop to zero if they keep driving that road because they've been in the game for, some of them, upwards of 30 years and they know that it's dangerous in their heart of hearts.
"They say to their employer, look, you know, thanks for the employment but I don't want to do this, it's just too unsafe."
There was not enough incentive for those employing drivers to make their jobs safer, he said.
"We want to see better regulation, we want to see WorkSafe investigating road incidents with trucks. We want to stop the blaming of drivers because they're very professional at their job. We actually want some of these operators to be held to account because we're putting people out on the road there that have accidents and they do kill."
The Road Transport Association's Marlborough chairman and a trucking company owner, Peter Heagney, agreed some owner-operator drivers were pushing the limits and making the route unsafe.
"People [are] doing unrealistic schedules on their trucks to try to get the work done in that period. Some of the ones that are working for some people, they've got them screwed down to such a ridiculous rate, people are most probably pushing the envelope a bit harder to try and make a dollar," Mr Heagney said.
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
And because the route now took almost twice as long to cover, more drivers had to be hired - which meant there were more inexperienced drivers on the road.
"The last thing we want is an accident and we don't want other people having accidents."
Marlborough's head of road policing, Sergeant Barrie Greenall, said the end of the busy summer period and a fall in numbers using the roads had bred complacency amongst some drivers.
"What we've seen recently is, as the traffic volumes start to drop off, the opportunities for those that want to make poor choices and try and cut down the time has increased and we're starting to see a rise in incidents and accidents," Mr Greenall said.
NZ Transport Agency earthquake recovery manager Steve Mutton said $60 million had been spent upgrading the road and the agency was about to begin consultation on bringing in permanent speed restrictions on parts of the alternative highway. |
A Confederate flag flying outside a home on - of all days - the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. turned a few heads yesterday.
A Confederate flag flying outside a home on - of all days - the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. turned a few heads yesterday.
It turns out the flag at 5 Old Wood Road had nothing to do with the Civil War, slavery, racism or Martin Luther King. Instead, it's a show of support for an Irish soccer team.
A woman who answered the phone there late yesterday said the flag is used by supporters of the Cork Gaelic Athletic Association, whose nickname is the Rebels. She also said the flag won't come down.
"It wasn't meant to offend," said the woman, who declined to give her name. "It stays up all the time."
A neighbor said the home belongs to Paul White.
That neighbor said White often hangs flags at the residence, including the American, English and Scottish flags.
Some associate the battle flag of the Confederacy with slavery, and debates have been waged in various states and towns about its appropriateness.
"I am curious why on a day like today he would choose that flag," the neighbor said. "But I'm not going to get all bent out of shape about it."
The neighbor described the Whites as "really nice people."
(Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or [email protected].) |
Warhammer 40K is an inspiration-rich environment for artists. It depicts wars on planetary scales, superhumans, xenos, traitors, dark gods, and boasts more books, stories, history, and fluff than you could poke a stick at. For me, Warhammer 40,000 is where my love of gritty sci-fi started, and the imagery that went with the rule books, novels, and issues of White Dwarf was a big part of what drove that new obsession in an 11 year old me. I reached out to some of the brilliant minds I’ve been fortunate enough to work with or interview through GdM to ask for their favourite 40K art pieces and why.
Dark Angels by Jim Burns
Andy Hall (Writer for Total War: Warhammer) There is such a trove of 40K artwork that picking a defining piece is no easy task. My first thoughts were towards some of John Blanche’s seminal illustrations, maybe the Golden Thrown or the Eternity Gate from the second edition… but in the end I’ve chosen Jim Burn’s Dark Angels. This single piece of art was a defining part of my childhood. The almost photorealistic look of the Space Marines brought the 41st millennium to life to my young eyes. The piece was published as the cover for the first ‘Epic scale’ Space Marine, but there’s a few other interesting titbits tied to the art. It may or may not have used Al Pacino in Scarface as a reference for the un-helmeted Sergeant. Even more interestingly, originally, the Dark Angel chapter was actually intended to have black power armour, but in this picture (whether due to the artist or colour processing at the time, I can’t remember!) came out as a very dark green. Thus a 40K legend was born, lending the art even more prominence!
Helbrecht Triumphant by Mark Gibbons
Graham McNeill (Black Library author) I’m a firm believer that when art and words work together, you get the best results, and that has never been more borne out than when I worked with Mark Gibbons on Codex: Black Templars. Mark produced so many amazing pieces of concept art for this project that it was tough to choose which to fully develop, but one image that was a given was High Marshal Helbrecht, the leader of the Black Templars. Mark and I talked about Helbrecht’s back-story and how his service on Armageddon would be a perfect backdrop for the piece. Of all the Space Marine leaders, Helbrecht most encapsulates what it means to be a heroic, yet zealous Space Marine; and Mark’s piece really captures his power, his contempt for the foe, and the awe in which he is held. Helbrecht stands in the midst of a bloody battlefield, a beacon of hope in a place of carnage, a stalwart defender of the Emperor’s grand dream – even in the face of innumerable foes. Mark’s black and white work has always evoked the grim darkness of the 41st millennium brilliantly, and this piece entirely captures the gothic ruin of the Imperium, the looming threat of it permanently being two minutes to midnight, but still offers the hope that humanity might yet prevail.
Unknown
Gav Thorpe (Games Workshop games designer and Black Library author)
(Our apologies to the artist – Based on the discussion on Gav Thorpe’s Facebook Page, we believe it to be Steve Tappin). I don’t really do ‘favourites’ or all-time top 5s or that sort of thing because it varies with my mood, so for this particular choice I have picked a piece of art that triggers something each time I look at it. There are two things about this eldar piece from the first edition of Warhammer 40,000, Rogue Trader. The first is the sense of space. So much of the gothic nature of 40K is about claustrophobia, and lots of the original art is exceptionally dense with detail. This piece is very different, a world far removed from our own. Secondly is the reminder that 40K is most definitely space fantasy, not science fiction. When I see this earliest incarnation of the eldar I remember that, despite whatever developments have been made in imagery and backgorund, they are still elves in space. It’s the wings mainly, but also the otherworldly glow of their lift pack that says star-faeries.
Covens by Leonid Kozienko
Shawn King (Graphic Designer Vault Books and Ragnarok Publications)
Choosing a favorite piece of 40k art is as daunting a task as taking on a horde of orks. There are countless options of beautifully grotesque pieces swarming around me which I would love to grip firmly in my gauntleted hands but, just as I hone in on one target another barrels into me, and another, and another, until I’m laying defeated on the broken soil, bloodshot eyes staring aimlessly, seeking for an answer as to how this much awesomeness could exist in one place… So, you can kind of see my dilemma when Adrian asked me to write a few words about my favourite piece of 40k art. Instead of wracking my brain trying to select an overall favourite piece I’ve decided to go with my favourite piece in this moment, and it’s one of those that sneaked past my targeting system and blindsided me, leaving me dazed for days. The piece is from Leonid Kozienko and I can’t stop looking at it. The palette speaks to my neutral-color-loving soul – that’s what first drew me in. Once it had my attention I noticed the cleanliness – that might sound like an odd word when dealing with this grimdark universe, but I find Leonid’s style to be very precise and it lends a realistic feel to this scene which really captures the gritty and dangerous atmosphere of 40k. The attention to detail here is wonderful. The little things like belts, straps, buckles, the structure of those gnarly helmets and vambrace, the transitions from mutations to skin, the way in which the central figure holds its blood-spattered sword, the smoking bullet streaming by the back figure’s head (or through it…). There’s also a sense of horror here that I really enjoy – horror at how these abominations came to be, and horror at the fact their onslaught looks undeterred by the Imperial Guard’s relentless efforts (yeah, those guys are nothing but mangled body parts now…). I could keep going but Adrian’s giving me the ‘wrap it up’ signal so that’s it … this time.
Last Stand Art by Kev Walker
Adrian Collins (Editor in Chief Grimdark Magazine) Ever since I saw Last Stand by Kev Walker on the cover of White Dwarf I was in love with this piece. It encapsulated everything I, as a Space Marine fan, saw in my mind’s eye. Insane heroism against the worst of odds, death, destruction on a planetary scale, brutality, resilience, brotherhood and regality. This image took me from a dabbler in to a full-blown fan. |
A USA TODAY investigation finds that a wide array of dietary supplement companies caught with drug-spiked products are run by people with criminal backgrounds and regulatory run-ins.
Larry LeGunn is shown in a 2005 photo taken by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in Florida. (Photo11: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office) Story Highlights USA TODAY investigation finds wide array of supplement companies run by people with criminal histories
Supposedly natural supplements spiked with drugs account for more than half of serious drug recalls
Better enforcement needed to curb 'shadow industry,' major trade groups say
Like many pills and powders sold as dietary supplements, Dr. Larry's Tranquility pills were not what they seemed.
And neither was Dr. Larry.
The pills promised insomniacs a great night's sleep with an all-natural blend of ingredients such as figwort root and licorice.
Then, earlier this summer, these particular pills — out of an estimated 85,000 supplement products on the market — happened to get tested in a lab by regulators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency is budgeted to run just 1,000 tests a year in its limited oversight of the $30 billion industry.
The tests showed Tranquility was spiked with two powerful prescription drugs: an anti-psychotic medication best known as Thorazine, and the anti-depressant and sleep medication called doxepin.
Research by USA TODAY shows that Larry LeGunn is a convicted criminal and not a licensed doctor. He's a former chiropractor who had to give up his Florida license in 2010 after being charged with grand theft and insurance fraud relating to his treatment of auto accident victims, according to court and licensing records. LeGunn ultimately pleaded no contest to an amended charge of misleading solicitation of payments.
Jeffrey Bolanos in a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office mug shot. (Photo11: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)
Far from an isolated case, a USA TODAY investigation finds that a wide array of dietary supplement companies caught with drug-spiked products are run by people with criminal backgrounds and regulatory run-ins. Consumers buying products from these firms are in some cases entrusting their health and safety to people with rap sheets for crimes involving barbiturates, crack cocaine, Ecstacy and other narcotics, as well as arrests for selling or possessing steroids and human growth hormone. Other supplement company executives have records of fraud, theft, assault, weapons offenses, money laundering or other offenses, the investigation shows.
• Jeffrey Bolanos, who runs Beamonstar Products in Queen Creek, Ariz., has twice been convicted on drug charges, most recently in a 2008 case that notes possession of crack cocaine and a relapse with methamphetamines, court records show.
In May, his company, which has received industry awards for its sexual enhancement supplements, recalled three supposedly all-natural products after FDA tests found that two contained tadalafil, the medication in the prescription erectile dysfunction drug Cialis. The third was potentially spiked. One of Beamonstar's tainted supplements was marketed for women. Bolanos had no comment.
Martin McDermott of Kilo Sports in a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office mug shot. (Photo11: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)
• Martin McDermott, president of Kilo Sports in Phoenix, was indicted in 2004 with three felony counts of dangerous drug possession involving the steroid boldenone and testosterone, and one felony count of possession of prescription drugs, specifically human growth hormone, for sale. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia and received probation.
In 2009, three Kilo Sports products were recalled for ingredients the FDA said should be classified as steroids. The company recalled another supplement in 2010 because of concerns it contained an anti-estrogen drug. McDermott didn't respond to interview requests.
• Barry Nevins, who runs DrBarrysVitamins.com, isn't really a doctor and under an agreement with prosecutors isn't supposed to represent himself as one in his vitamin store. Yet as recently as this week, his website touted "Dr. Barry" — whose only Florida health care license was as a massage therapist — as "a leading formulator, developer and manufacturer of natural pharmaceuticals."
Barry Nevins (Photo11: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office)
In 2011, Nevins was charged with unlicensed practice of the health care profession, a felony, records show. While facing those charges, FDA tests found one of Barry's Vitamins & Herbs' products, Virility Max, was secretly spiked with a drug that's a chemical cousin to Viagra. Prosecutors in Palm Beach County, Fla., said they are now reviewing the website to determine whether Nevins has violated a deferred prosecution agreement reached in March in the 2011 case. Nevins declined to be interviewed.
• Jay Cohen, CEO of IQ Formulations, was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2008 for wielding a machete and striking the driver's side mirror of a teenager's car parked outside Cohen's home blaring music, police and court records show. Cohen, who told USA TODAY he was protecting his family, pleaded no contest in 2010 to assault and received probation.
Jay Cohen of IQ Formulations, shown in a mug shot taken by the Broward County Sheriff's Office. (Photo11: Broward County Sheriff's Office)
In November, IQ Formulations recalled its Hydravax weight-loss supplement after the FDA told the company it contained a prescription-only diuretic drug. A company spokesman said the recall was the result of a supplier providing a tainted ingredient.
USA TODAY scrutinized about 100 companies that have been caught selling supplements secretly spiked with drugs and potentially dangerous chemicals since 2007. The examination found that at least 14 were run by people with criminal records beyond traffic infractions. The newspaper researched corporation records to identify the company executives and owners, then examined police, court and professional licensing records, ordering files from across the country to determine what they had done in the past.
There are likely many more supplement company executives with criminal records. The FDA's tainted-supplements database lists 123 companies that have been caught selling about 460 spiked products in the past six years, but the corporate records of nearly three dozen of the companies couldn't be located. For about 150 spiked products, the FDA's database doesn't list a manufacturer, in many cases because it was unclear to the agency who made them. And many companies selling sketchy products aren't listed in the FDA's database.
Supplement executives with criminal records who granted interviews generally said their pasts had nothing to do with their ability to make good supplements and they often blamed suppliers for putting drugs in their products without their knowledge.
"China will lie, just lie and tell you it's all herbal and they slip in a little trace of something," LeGunn said, adding that he no longer has supplements made there.
But most didn't respond to interview requests or refused to talk about their backgrounds.
"I'm not going to discuss anything. I have the right to remain silent," said Gisselle Lopez, a partner in Svelte 30 Nutritional Consultants LLC in Kissimmee, Fla., when a reporter asked about a 2003 theft conviction and why her staff referred to her as "Dr. Gisselle." Florida records don't show her as having a medical license. Her company recalled one of its weight loss supplements in 2011 after FDA tests showed it was spiked with sibutramine, the active ingredient in the prescription weight loss drug Meridia that was pulled off the U.S. market because of heart attack and stroke risks.
'A TALE OF TWO INDUSTRIES'
USA TODAY's ongoing investigation has shown that consumers of tainted diet supplements have paid dearly in some cases, suffering side effects ranging from severe bleeding and dangerous effects on diabetes control to liver damage, strokes and death. Athletes have had their sports careers jeopardized after testing positive for ingredients laced into sports supplements.
Dallas-based USPlabs has been linked to a recent outbreak of serious liver injury cases among people taking its OxyElite Pro weight-loss supplement. Its CEO, Jacob Geissler, has a criminal history involving anabolic steroids and has clashed repeatedly with the FDA. USPlabs recalled OxyElite Pro in November. Until recently, Geissler served on the board of trustees of the American Herbal Products Association, a major industry trade group.
Driven Sports Vice President Matt Cahill, whose pre-workout powder Craze has been found by teams of scientists to contain a methamphetamine-like compound, is a convicted felon with a history of putting risky products on the market.Craze was named 2012's "New Supplement of the Year" by Bodybuilding.com, a major online retailer of sports supplements.
"All industries are going to have people with criminal problems in their background," said Steve Mister, president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a supplement industry trade group that lists major corporations such as Procter & Gamble, Bayer HealthCare and Abbott Nutrition among its members.
Histories of financial fraud or violent behavior may not have much relevance when it comes to making supplements, Mister said. "But I do think when you talk about people with a history of criminal convictions with controlled substances and illicit drugs, and they are making products where they have the opportunity to bring that prior background into their product, that is concerning."
"It is unfortunately a tale of two industries. There's a mainstream, responsible industry," Mister said of the supplement business. "Then there is this sort of shadow industry, the smaller guys playing around the fringes. The problem is how we distinguish between the two."
WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT
Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, known by the acronym DSHEA, the FDA must show that a product is unsafe before it can take any action to restrict its use or seek its removal from the market. Nutritional supplements such as the vitamins, minerals, protein powders and herbal blends used by more than half of Americans are treated like foods and assumed to be all-natural and safe — unless proven otherwise. Although supplements are often sold and used as remedies for various conditions, they aren't required to prove their safety and effectiveness before being put on the market, as is required with medications.
"Supplements are under-regulated by the FDA," said June Rogers, director of drug program and policy at the NFL Players Association, whose members are tested for a variety of performance-enhancing drugs. "Anyone is allowed to go out and make a supplement and basically sell it until the FDA comes knocking at your door. But before that happens, there's a lot of profits to be made."
Loren Israelsen, a top supplement industry association official who is credited as a key architect behind the DSHEA supplement law, said that 20 years ago nobody envisioned the kinds of rogue players, advanced chemistry and drug-spiked products being seen today.
"It is so counterintuitive and opposite to the really fundamental principles of what this industry is about that we probably didn't fully recognize it because it was so not a part of us," Israelsen, president of the United Natural Products Alliance, said in an interview this week.
Israelsen was convicted in 1997 of conspiracy to defraud the United States, for a scheme that involved falsifying documents to import evening primrose oil despite an FDA ban on its importation. The documents falsely declared that the shipments were such things as "Vitamin E" to avoid seizure and sought to conceal that Health Products International was the company importing the material, federal records show.
During the conspiracy, Israelsen was a vice president and general counsel at Health Products International, which he described as the manufacturing arm of Nature's Way, where he also was a top executive. He said his actions should be viewed in the context of a time when the industry felt the FDA was taking overzealous and unjustified actions against natural products.
"I was much younger and breathing more fire," he said. "In retrospect, would we do it that way again? No."
Israelsen said there's a difference between standing up for evening primrose oil and supplement company executives fighting the FDA over substances with questionable chemical origins. He said recent media coverage of supplement makers like Cahill and Geissler and their potentially dangerous products has altered the way the industry views calls for additional regulation.
"It has been fundamental. Things have changed. That's a reality," Israelsen said. "We have to just look at where we are and what needs to be done to best address it — because it's in our best interest to address it."
In what could be considered an important conciliation for his industry, Israelsen said he's open to having discussions about whether new tools are needed to make it easier and faster for the FDA to take action.
In the past, the industry has opposed and defeated legislation that would require supplements to be registered with the FDA, arguing that criminals wouldn't register and that good companies would be overly burdened.
But Israelsen says he now thinks it's possible that requiring registration could give the FDA a "faster, easier way to say they're not in compliance."
A bill reintroduced this summer by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would require supplement firms to register products with the FDA within 30 days after being marketed, including providing a description of each product, its ingredients and a copy of the label.
Other supplement industry trade groups emphasize that better enforcement would address the industry's bad actors. Under existing laws, any person who markets a supplement that violates the law can be found guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines, notes the Council for Responsible Nutrition.
Such criminal cases appear to be rare, however, and they can take years and can involve more complex felony charges. The FDA has so far not provided data, requested under the Freedom of Information Act, on how often the agency has sought criminal prosecution of supplement makers.
"More executives should be subject to these misdemeanor cases," said Mister, who heads the council. "That would send a very strong message to the industry."
Supplement makers also can be subject to individual and corporate fines of up to $500,000 for a series of violations in a case, Mister noted. "If you don't have a cop watching the speed limit, people will speed."
Daniel Fabricant, director of the FDA's dietary supplements division, said: "We're doing all we can with the tools we have." He noted that limited resources at the agency are a factor, along with competing priorities among the many food and medical products regulated by the agency.
In some recent cases, the FDA has used its authority to detain and seize adulterated or misbranded dietary supplements, as it did this year with supplements made by USPlabs and Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals that contained the controversial stimulant DMAA. The FDA has the authority to order a recall of supplements if a manufacturer refuses to do so, and the agency threatened this in a letter to USPlabs that prompted the company to recall OxyElite Pro last month.
Patrick Arnold, a chemist who helped BALCO President Victor Conte develop the steroid known as "the clear," speaks to reporters after a sentencing hearing in August 2006 in San Francisco. (Photo11: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)
But the FDA still should do more, argues Patrick Arnold, who was convicted in 2006 as the Illinois steroid chemist in the "Balco" scandal that involved distributing performance-enhancing drugs to high-profile athletes.
"Obviously, we want to avoid regulatory interference as much as we can because it never ends up being a good thing," Arnold said. But without better FDA oversight, Arnold said, it will become increasingly difficult for supplement makers to compete without spiking their products.
He pointed to the lack of any public action by the FDA to address repeated findings by independent labs — including by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in June 2012, and various teams of international researchers — of undisclosed amphetamine- and methamphetamine-like compounds in Craze. This week, another peer-reviewed journal article reported tests showing similar findings in additional samples of Craze, as well as in Detonate. Driven Sports says the tests are wrong; Gaspari officials have not responded to interview requests.
"When stuff like this happens with Craze and Detonate, that just makes people so pissed off that they're ready for some regulation," Arnold said. "That's so unfair to competitors and it's a public health issue."
Arnold pointed out that there have been people with criminal backgrounds making supplements as long as he's been in the business. "When I first got started in the 1990s, just about every major supplement owner was an ex-steroid dealer," he said. "You make money selling steroids, then start your supplement company."
With the Internet, he said, it doesn't take much to start selling the pills and powders. "It's a very low barrier of entry," Arnold said. "And you don't have to be that smart. You just pretend that you know science."
Arnold says prison time, his notoriety and the increased scrutiny his products have drawn from regulators have changed the way he does business. But his products still have pushed into gray areas. In 2009, two of his products — Ergopharm's 60-OXO Xtreme and 6-OXO — were the subject of a recall after the FDA said they contained substances that should be classified as steroids. In recent years, Arnold has taken credit for being the first supplement maker to put the controversial stimulant DMAA into his products. He says he removed it after the FDA crackdown and after more scientific evidence emerged raising questions about whether it's naturally in geraniums.
Elizabeth Stapleton shakes up a sample of supplements that were sent in for testing at Aegis Sciences Corp. in Nashville. Aegis is among the private groups doing testing for athletes and others seeking to detect spiked supplements that have the potential to damage careers and cause health problems. (Photo11: Larry McCormack, The Tennessean, for USA TODAY)
HIDING DANGEROUS INGREDIENTS IN PLAIN SIGHT
The problem of supplement adulteration is significant, whether it occurs with criminal intent or is the result of lax quality control and insufficient oversight of suppliers.
Just over half of all Class 1 drug recalls in the USA from 2004 to 2012 — those that could cause serious health problems or death — involved supposedly all-natural dietary supplements that were spiked with hidden pharmaceuticals, according to research published this year in the scientific journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Of the 237 supplements recalled for hidden drugs, 40% were sold for sexual enhancement; 31% for bodybuilding and 27% for weight loss, the researchers said.
But hidden drugs have been found in other categories of supplements as well, including diabetes and arthritis remedies. This summer, Purity First Health Products recalled various lots of Vitamin B50 capsules, Vitamin C capsules and multi-mineral capsules after FDA tests indicated the presence of steroids.
With minimal testing being done by the FDA, a growing number of private companies are doing their own tests to identify problems that aren't being detected and addressed by regulators.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency tests and reviews labels of supplements of interest to athletes, and maintains a list of "high-risk" supplements, many of which have not been subject to FDA action.
Sometimes troubling ingredients hide in plain sight on the products' labels under names most consumers would never recognize.
"At least 200 different names are being used for testosterone," said David Black, founder of Aegis Sciences Corp. in Nashville, which has created a database of supplements to help clients at 140 universities, the NFL Players Association and other sports organizations. A mobile Aegis Shield app has recently been made available to the public.
While there are about 2,475 ingredients in the products in the Aegis database, more than 35,000 aliases are used for the ingredients on their labels. For example, there were 167 aliases for marijuana and 82 aliases for methylhexanamine, better known as DMAA.
Aegis also found other ingredients that might make consumers think twice, including "Wu Ling Zhi" — which is flying-squirrel feces, and "Putrescine," which is also known as the foul odor of decomposing flesh.
"In our experience, we've seen so many products out there that are not what they're represented to be," Black said. "If a product has a great claim and actually does what it claims to do, it probably has an ingredient that shouldn't be in there."
And the people who pay the price, ultimately, are those who — knowingly or unknowingly — indulge. U.S. Olympic Committee athlete ombudsman John Ruger noted in an e-mail to USA TODAY this week that "despite our aggressive efforts to educate them on the potential pitfalls, the harsh reality is that we will have athlete(s) who miss the Olympic Games because they take a supplement that includes a banned substance."
To read more articles in USA TODAY's Supplement Shell Game series, go to: supplements.usatoday.com
To report an adverse health event involving a dietary supplement, contact the FDA's MedWatch program online or call 800-332-1088.
Follow USA TODAY investigative reporter Alison Young on Twitter: @alisonannyoung
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1bUq4ih |
A trip through the HTML time machine that is Warren Buffett's company's website.
You expect some weird things out of Berkshire Hathaway. Helmed by that quirky billionaire Warren Buffett, he of the ' Sausage McBuffett ' and a deep commitment to value investing, the company has not been afraid to zig when others zagged. They are big on freight rail , for instance, and their sexiest holding is an industrial lubricant maker
All that to say, perhaps we should not be surprised that the company's website was built in the 1990s, and hasn't really entertained a redesign since. The biggest change to its interface came in 1999, when the design switched from a single bulleted list of 11 links to a two-column bulleted list with a teensy bit more white space around its 14 hotlinks.
The header is an enduring feature of the page, in place since 2002. It looked and looks like this, only changing to accomodate a new company headquarters' address.
In case you're wondering, the clever big B and H effect is generated by simply increasing the font size (FONT SIZE=6) on those first letters and then decreasing it for the rest (FONT SIZE=4).
Another fixture on the BH homepage is its footer, which I reproduce in full: "If you have any comments about our WEB page, you can either write us at the address shown above or e-mail us at [email protected] . However, due to the limited number of personnel in our corporate office, we are unable to provide a direct response." That was put into place in the year 2000 and hasn't changed by a single word.
But the most charming of all the web strategy decisions that Berkshire Hathaway has made is its inclusion of advertisements for various BH companies. The web, after all, is just a glorified marketing platform, so you might as well throw up some direct response ads on any page, even the home page for a company with a market cap of over $200 billion.
A nearly identical version of that advertisement appears on the 1997 version of the page. The only thing that's changed, actually, is that the URL for the insurance company's webpage got added in 2005. The other ad that's stayed put for the entire duration of the site's history is for Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, Fechheimer, an activewear company that makes polos, oxfords, t-shirts, jackets, hats, and kids clothes with Berkshire's name printed on them.
As someone who built websites in the mid 1990s for a variety of realtors in southwest Washington State, this WEB page nearly brought me to tears. I can practically see the Geocities template it knocked off, and it made me wish life could be as simple as its <tr><td></td></tr> structure. Or, perhaps life really is simpler in Omaha. If you're the billionaire owner of infrastructure companies. |
AEG Facilities, a world-renowned sports, entertainment and venue organization that operates more than 100 arenas and stadiums on five continents, will take over management of Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Center on September 1, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced.
AEG Facilities replaces SMG, which managed the Civic Arena/Mellon Arena and CONSOL Energy Center for approximately 20 years.
The list of venues in the AEG Facilities family includes the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, the O2 Arena in London, O2 World in Berlin and the MasterCard Center in Beijing, China.
The two new partners signed a five-year deal.
“We are excited to create this dynamic partnership with AEG Facilities and look forward to building on the success CONSOL Energy Center has enjoyed in its first two years of operation,” said Travis Williams, Chief Operating Officer of the Pittsburgh Penguins. “AEG Facilities brings an outstanding reputation for venue management and will work with us to enhance the overall fan entertainment experience at all CONSOL Energy Center events. We welcome them to Pittsburgh.”
“AEG Facilities is thrilled to partner with the Pittsburgh Penguins and add CONSOL Energy Center to our portfolio of elite global venues,” said AEG Facilities President Bob Newman. “This exceptional new arena has achieved great success in just two years, and together with the Pittsburgh community, we look forward to building upon its stellar foundation, and to many years of continued growth and high-profile event activity.”
AEG Facilities and the Penguins announced that workers at CONSOL Energy Center will retain their jobs. This includes part-time workers such as ushers, ticket-takers and concession vendors as well as full-time electricians, carpenters, utility crew, security workers and SMG office staff.
ARAMARK will continue as the food and beverage provider.
AEG Facilities will evaluate members of SMG’s senior management team in Pittsburgh to determine whether they will continue in their current positions
“We want to thank SMG for its years of dedicated service and contributions to the community,” Williams said.
For more information on AEG, please visit www.aegworldwide.com |
With so many new series popping up on streaming services and DVD every day, it gets harder and harder to keep up with new shows, much less the all-time classics. With TV Club 10, we point you toward the 10 episodes that best represent a TV series, classic or modern. If you watch those 10, you’ll have a better idea of what that series was about, without having to watch the whole thing. These are not meant to be the 10 best episodes, but rather the 10 most representative episodes.
In a recent interview, series creator Kurt Sutter gently poked fun at his ambitions for his biker-club drama Sons Of Anarchy, which is about to air its series finale—the final beat of a seven-season crescendo of chaos, disorder, and brutal violence. Speaking on Anarchy Afterword, a Sons post-show, a self-deprecating Sutter referred to his “pretentious Hamlet archetype,” the loose concept for Sons’ overarching mythology. Early on, Sons followed the Hamlet template faithfully: Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam) is the backbone of Charming, California’s chapter of the Sons Of Anarchy, an outlaw biker gang. At the head of the club, known as SAMCRO—an acronym for Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original—is Clay Morrow (played by Ron Perlman). Morrow is also Jax’s stepfather, having married Jax’s mother, Gemma (Katey Sagal), and the pair are the likely suspects in the mysterious death of John Teller, Jax’s father.
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Sons follows Jax as he struggles to reconcile John’s more peaceful, progressive vision for SAMCRO with the present realities of managing an a gang of outlaws that counts gun sales, drug distribution, and prostitution among its chief business interests. Sadly, Jax starts out believing there’s a way out of this life. He spends most of the series blind to the harsh truths around him, while the audience witnesses all of Clay and Gemma’s various manipulations, many of which include murder. But it’s one thing to know Jax’s path to redemption is hopelessly blocked with obstacles; it’s another thing to watch the slow, bruising process through which Jax gives up and lets his goodness slip away.
Sons has quickly grown beyond its Shakespearean silhouette, but the real issue was never that the Hamlet riff was pretentious; it’s that the Bard only had five acts to fill. Sutter had 13 episodes a year, necessitating a larger universe of characters and a far more circuitous route to the inevitable tragic end. But in the back half of its final season, Sons has started hitting the classic dramatic notes Sutter teased at for years. The show was never known for its consistency or its depth, but with those early hints of Hamlet, Sutter promised to march his tragic hero toward complete disintegration, and he nailed it, though it took some time to get there.
The following 10 episodes feature key moments in Jax’s tragic downfall and are among the heights of Sutter’s Shakespearean ambitions.
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“The Sleep Of Babies” (season one, episode 12)
The earliest catalyst for Jackson’s tragic downfall isn’t a trauma he suffers; it’s one suffered by Opie (Ryan Hurst), the closest thing to a brother Jax has ever known. In “The Sleep Of Babies,” Opie’s wife, Donna (Sprague Grayden), is accidentally killed in a hit job intended for Opie, and one of Jax’s fundamental, grounding relationships goes with her. Never again does Opie command the authority to remind Jax of his goodness or to convince him they still have a chance to right SAMCRO’s course. At first, Jax isn’t perceptibly affected by the shift in his relationship with Opie, but their division widens as Jax burrows deeper into SAMCRO, while Opie straggles along out of habit and inertia. The list of Clay’s offenses against his stepson could fill volumes, but the hit on Donna remains the first and deepest cut because it cost Jax his best friend. At this point in the series, the mythology around John Teller’s mysterious death has barely started to coalesce, making the attempt on Opie’s life the first irreparable fracture in Jax’s relationship with Clay.
“Na Triobloidi” (season two, episode 13)
Revenge isn’t a corrosive act for Jax, it’s a cultural imperative. Slights against the club cannot go unanswered (though they can certainly be placed on hold if an important strategic relationship hinges on the proper care and maintenance of the status quo). So while season-two finale “Na Triobloidi” finds Jax in revenge mode, in pursuit of Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin) and the skinhead goons who raped Gemma, the most corrupting moment comes after Jax dispatches some of his foes, when his son Abel is kidnapped and taken to Ireland. Abel’s kidnapping is when Jax discovers he’ll never truly be able to keep his loved ones out of harm’s way. And given his instinctual grasp at retaliation, “Na Triobloidi” is where Jax’s downward spiral becomes inevitable. It’s the moment at which Jax finally begins to grasp the dangers inherent to his lifestyle and view vengeance as his only available recourse given his deep roots in the club and his reluctance to get out and stay out. The episode also leaves Zobelle in the wind, taunting Jax with a lack of closure to which he’s never been accustomed and infecting him with a bloodlust that can never be fully satisfied.
“With An X” (season four, episode six)
The world of SAMCRO is cruel, but often just. The people who create chaos and misery for others also expose themselves to it, so there’s often a rudimentary moral logic to Jax’s most revolting choices. “With An X” is the episode when Jax starts making truly indefensible choices. Ima, a SAMCRO groupie involved in the club’s porn business, winds up pulling a gun on Gemma and Tara after being discovered in an illicit tryst with a remarried Opie. Jax, who also had a fling with Ima, visits Ima’s dressing room and slams her face into a makeup station to let her know she’s not welcome around him, Opie, or the club. Jax commits horrific acts early and often in Sons, but typically in service of some pragmatic goal or to protect his family. Jax believes bloodying Ima’s face is arguably an extension of his role as protective husband and father, but it’s one of the first awful things Jax does that feels mostly gratuitous—he caps off the abuse by blowing a wad of phlegm into Ima’s face, an act so revolting even Jax is conflicted about it, and Hunnam plays that ambivalence beautifully.
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“Laying Pipe” (season five, episode three)
By season five, Opie has long outgrown his narrative utility to Sons, but remains a symbol of a theoretically possible redemption for Jax and the club. While the audience is prepared for Opie’s demise, Jax certainly isn’t, and watching Opie get beaten to death in prison as a sacrifice for the club is the most pivotal point for Jax’s metamorphosis. Opie is the heart and soul of SAMCRO, a symbol of the loyalty, sacrifice, and brotherhood that make the club so alluring for the lost boys it attracts. But Opie reflects both the beautiful and the ugly sides of unwavering devotion to the club, and once Jax sees his best friend clobbered to death with a metal pipe (the episode title is among the show’s cruelest jokes), he’s never able to romanticize the club again. Kudos to Arkin, who directed the episode, and managed to make a nauseating moment out of a character death that felt necessary and overdue. Jax is devastated by the loss, but at this point, Clay still hasn’t been properly dealt with, allowing Jax to continue viewing Clay as the source of the evil that permeates every facet of SAMCRO.
“Ablation” (season five, episode eight)
Jax’s pragmatism condemns him as a person, but it acquits him as a leader. He distinguishes himself as president material early on by always having a novel, if icky solution to the club’s most pressing problems, a quality that takes an especially sinister tone in “Ablation.” Jax and Gemma’s relationship is dysfunctional and incestuous from its inception, but it’s never creepier than when Jax blackmails Gemma into seducing Clay to get proof of his crimes. Jax aims an arrow at Gemma’s softest spot, telling her manipulating Clay is the only way to work her way back into Jax’s good graces after her alcoholism endangers the grandchildren she loves so fiercely. Gemma doesn’t always make herself easy to empathize with, but given that she had already lost a child of her own, it’s easier to empathize with her in “Ablation.” She’s forced back into a romantic relationship with the man who beat her to a pulp, a scenario that would be horrific enough were it not her only son pulling the strings.
“Darthy” (season five, episode 12)
Jax’s chilling actions in the climax of “Darthy” aren’t without precedent because of “With An X,” when Jax makes clear there are no allowances for gender when dealing with threats to his family. It’s still heartbreaking to watch Jax shoot a newly clean and sober Wendy (Drea De Matteo) full of heroin to prevent her from gaining custody of Abel. What makes the scene even more disturbing than the act itself is the lead-up to it: Clay is spared the execution Jax so badly wanted for him, leaving Wendy, Abel’s mother, as the only threat he could neutralize himself, without bylaws, rules, or limitations. The righteous anger Jax feels for Clay is redirected at Wendy, who has her flaws, but is reasonable in having parental aspirations that don’t involve international kidnappings. Worse still, Jax was operating from Gemma’s playbook without even realizing it, forceably reprising Gemma’s use of heroin to hasten Wendy’s death in the pilot.
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“Aon Rud Pearsanta” (season six, episode 11)
Jax’s execution of Clay in “Aon Rud Pearsanta” is a blessing and a curse. It’s a settling of scores years in the making, and Jax, results oriented as always, turns Clay’s reckoning into an opportunity to take out Galen O’Shay (Timothy V. Murphy), one of Jax’s most intransigent foes. But it would prove far less satisfying than Jax expected. Since the show’s earliest episodes, in which he gets embraces some hippie notions from reading his father’s manuscript, Jax has been aware of an institutional sickness within the club. Clay becomes emblematic of the decay instantly, given the discord in John and Clay’s relationship and Clay’s advocacy for the club’s involvement in the gun trade. Clay burnishes that image by being completely amoral and cutting a swath of destruction just to lay claim to a bundle of letters. It’s understandable why Jax would become convinced SAMCRO could rebound with Clay finally out of the picture. But the bitter aftertaste of killing the club’s biggest internal foe comes later, as Jax comes to grips with the hollowness of Clay’s death. Clay was a symbol of the SAMCRO curse, but not the cause of it.
“A Mother’s Work” (season six, episode 13)
The steepest slope in Jax’s decline follows the gruesome death of his wife Tara (Maggie Siff) at Gemma’s hand, the point where a theoretical someday in which Jax gets to live out his days with Tara and his children evaporates once and for all. Jax’s duty to protect his family grows more important to him as the possibility of doing so becomes more remote, so even while Jax has grown accustomed to tragedy, he’s superlatively devastated upon finding Tara forked on the kitchen floor at the end of “A Mother’s Work.” Jax isn’t gutted just because the love of his life has been murdered, but also because his delusion of being able to protect Tara grew stronger as the threats to her became more imminent. The even deeper tragedy is Jax finally gaining an understand of Opie’s grief and dissociation following Donna’s murder in season one, but only after Opie is already dead. After failing to protect Opie and Tara, Jax is officially lost to the dark side. Gemma’s only saving grace comes from Jax’s willful blindness about her potential involvement. Luckily for Gemma, Jax wasn’t ready to lose anyone else just yet.
“The Separation Of Crows” (season seven, episode eight)
It’s easy to forget when “The Separation Of Crows” begins that it’s going to address a piece of the SAMCRO mythology never before dealt with directly. The audience knows about the suspicious circumstances around the death of John Teller from SOA’s earliest episodes, but until “Crows,” Jax has been kept in the dark with little to no evidence to confirm his suspicions. Jury White (Michael Shamus Wiles) knows all too well what happened to John, having known the elder Teller since serving with him in Vietnam. But Jury doesn’t lay out the events as cleanly as Jax might have liked, suggesting that while Clay was responsible for tampering with John’s bike, John would not have unwittingly ridden the bike. He would have done so as an act of sacrifice, well aware it had been tampered with. It was an alternate history for which Jax was not prepared, and Jax’s rage paired with his suspicion of Jury leads him to kill a brother, further narrowing his path forward.
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“Red Rose” (season seven, episode 12)
The Jax of “Red Rose” is practically killing for sport at this stage. At the very least, he’s killing in the same callous, indifferent manner in which Tara was killed. When Jax finally learns that Gemma killed his wife and catches up with her in Oregon, he finds out just how cruelly arbitrary Tara’s death was. “I barely remember what happened that night,” Gemma says. It’s fortunate for Jax he’s been out of redemption mode for months at this point, because at any other time it would have been impossible for him to shoot Unser (Dayton Callies), then Gemma, and comport himself calmly. But in “Red Rose,” he’s accepted his father’s death, Opie’s death, Tara’s death, and even his own, having admitted to killing Jury. Jax understands this is not a story from which the characters are supposed to walk away clean. There are karmic debts to be paid, for him as much as anyone else caught up in SAMCRO’s maelstrom. Sutter might not have hit all the Shakespearean beats he had in mind, but he nailed the tragic hero who accepts his fate.
And if you like those, here are 10 more: “The Revelator” (season one, episode 13), “Gilead” (season two, episode seven), “Bainne” (season three, episode 11), “Hands” (season four, episode 10), “Small World” (season five, episode six), “J’ai Obtenu Cette” (season five, episode 13), “Poenitentia” (season six, episode three), “John 8:32” (season six, episode nine), “Black Widower” (season seven, episode one), “Suits Of Woe” (season seven, episode 11)
Availability: Seasons one through six are available for streaming via Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime. Season seven is available for digital purchase. |
GETTY Lord Blackwell spoke out about the EU in a House of Lords debate
Lloyds Banking Group chairman Lord Blackwell, speaking in a personal capacity, said the current situation was not "ultimately sustainable". But he said the UK is likely to remain attractive to investment "whatever the outcome" of the in-out referendum, set to be held in 2017. He admitted his comments, made in the House of Lords, will be seized upon by Eurosceptics looking to break away from the union. Lord Blackwell said: "I don't agree that remaining in the European Union without a significant change in the current arrangements is ultimately sustainable from a political and constitutional perspective, nor do I believe that there is a compelling economic argument to overcome those reasons.
"The long-run impact of a change in our position will depend upon whether any attempts to create trade barriers are offset by the potential benefits from being free to develop a less regulated and potentially globally competitive UK economy. "There are voices on both sides of that argument, but in the end our global competitiveness in markets outside the European Union must be a primary concern." He said the simplest solution would be to stay in the single market if changes to keep industry and the City of London competitive were made. But if Britain did leave a trade agreement would still be needed.
PA Lord Rose and Baroness Brady at the launch of the pro-EU campaign
GETTY Boris Johnson has played down the impact of leaving the EU
There are voices on both sides of that argument, but in the end our global competitiveness in markets outside the European Union must be a primary concern Lord Blackwell
He added: "While uncertainty may mean some business investment is held back in the short term, there are many reasons why the UK are likely to remain an attractive global location whatever the outcome." Lord Blackwell's comments came as former Marks & Spencer chairman Lord Rose launched the campaign to stay in the EU. Launching the Britain Stronger in Europe group yesterday he said being in the union brings £450 of benefits to each British household every year.
GETTY David Cameron and Angela Merkel: The pair have been in talks about renegotiating EU membership
London Mayor Boris Jonson, however, played down the impact of leaving Europe. Speaking in Japan he said: "We want, in an ideal world, to stay in a reformed European Union but I think the price of getting out is lower than it's ever been. "It's better for us to stay in, but to stay in a reformed EU. That's where I am." |
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