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Bristol has installed its first on-road Bike Hangar on Eldon Terrace in Bedminster.
The hangar, which is the first of its kind in the city, has space for six bikes and is now available for local residents to use. The cycle hanger has been placed on the road replacing just one car parking space.
The Hangar was funded through a successful bid to the Local Sustainable Transport Fund’s (LSTF) Active Communities Grant by residents. Spaces in the hangar cost £25 to rent for a year.
As a sign of how popular the scheme is, there is already a waiting list to use the hangar.
George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol, said:
“This is yet another improvement in cycle security and infrastructure in Bristol. Secure local bike storage overcomes a common obstacle which can hold people back from taking up cycling as an active alternative means of transport. I want to make bike ownership as accessible and easy as possible. I am also hopeful that this will inspire other individuals and communities to take similar action to make cycling more feasible for them.”
Cllr Mark Bradshaw, Assistant Mayor for Place, including Transport, said:
“The installation of this on-street cycle hanger, a first for Bristol, is a demonstration of our commitment to supporting sustainable modes of travel. Cycle storage has been long identified as a barrier to cycling, particularly for residents in terraced homes and flats. This is the first installation in our city, but I want to see more coming forward and potentially combined with car club bays and electric charging points. Local residents can now make use of this additional storage: a cycle hangar for six bikes takes up less space than one car.”
The Hangar has been supplied by Cycle Hoop and administered by LifeCycle UK.
To find out more information about the LSTF Active Transport Grant and how you can get involved, please go to Travelwest.info |
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Democrats should control Congress, according to respondents to a national poll by NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday. The poll comes as Republicans worry about Donald Trump's impact on whether they can maintain a majority in Congress.
Respondents preferred Democrats by a margin of 49 to 42 percent, the party's biggest advantage since October 2013, according the poll, which was conducted immediately after the revelation of Trump's lewd 2005 comments but before Sunday night's debate.
In a two-way competition, Hillary Clinton's lead also widened against Trump by 7 points from last month.
The poll said Clinton is also leading Trump by 11 points in a four-way ballot with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green party candidate Jill Stein.
"Trump is in a weaker position than our September track. It also does not mean he can't get these points back," said NBC-WSJ co-pollster Bill McInturff.
The poll also has these numbers on the 2005 audio of Trump:
41 percent say Trump's words are completely unacceptable, while 31 percent say they're inappropriate (but typical of how some men talk in private).
52 percent disagree that Trump's comments should NOT be an issue in the campaign, versus 42 percent who agree here.
38 percent say it disqualifies Trump from being president, while 42 percent say it does not disqualify him.
67 percent of Republican voters say they still support him as nominee, versus 9 percent who can no longer support him, and 14 percent who want him to drop out.
The poll was taken October 8 through the 9 by 500 registered voters with a margin of error of plus-minus 4.4 percentage points. |
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On the heels of the last year’s debut and this year incredibly well attended SXSW Synth Space, which was attended by more than 2k musicians – We are proud to announce the Brooklyn Synth Expo 2015, once again hosted by Williamsburg’s instrument store Main Drag Music on the weekend of November 7-8.
You’ll be able to play with large format synths, gadget synths, eruorack modules and effects by:
Arturia
Critter & Guitari
Dave Smith Instruments
Elektron
Eventide
KORG
littleBits
Moog Music Inc.
Novation
Radikal Technologies
Roger Linn Design
ROLI
Roland
Soulsby Synths
Yamaha
Vintage Synths by: Three Wave Music (The NJ store)
Mark your calendars!
Add to Calendar07-11-2015 12:00:0008-11-2015 20:00:0015Stompbox Exhibit at Main Drag200+ Guitar Pedals in the headphones!Main Drag Music, WilliamsburgThe DeliOrganizer e-mailtrue
RSVP on Facebook Event
DIRECTIONS TO MAIN DRAG MUSIC HERE |
A POLISH MAN has been awarded €11,000 after winning his unfair dismissals case against Tesco.
This decision was made by the Employment Appeals Tribunal after a number of disagreements between claimant Krzysztof Florek and his employer.
During his employment he expressed a number of grievances about his working conditions.
From the outset, Tesco, the respondent company in the case, conceded that elements of how the man was let go may have been unfair, but that Florek’s own behaviour was also a factor.
What happened?
The claimant in the case stared working for Tesco back in 2008.
In the ruling it was said that he had some English, but was “by no means fluent”, and worked mostly as a general operator of machinery at the company’s plant in the north of Dublin.
As manual labour was a big part of his job, he had a responsibility along with his employer to ensure that all reasonable health and safety standards were met.
This was something that Florek had an issue with, lodging more than 25 grievances which brought about a “never ending cycle of hearing, finding and appeal in existence during the course of his employment”.
One incident that arose during the hearing happened in March 2012 when the company was put on notice after the claimant suffered lower back pain arising from lifting heavy cases which weighted around 20kg.
After a period of absence, Florek expressed his wishes to return to work after his own doctor ruled that he was fit to do so.
The Tribunal accepted Tesco’s contention that it was entitled to conduct its own medical assessment of the claimant before allowing him to come back.
The issue that led to his eventual dismissal began in November 2012, when Florek went out sick suffering from stomach pain and lightheadedness – something that was later diagnosed as back pain.
There was a conflict in the assessments provided by the doctor acting on behalf of Tesco, who said the claimant was fit to return to work, and the claimant’s own doctor, who said that he wasn’t.
The report from the doctor acting for Tesco was issued on 6 June 2013 while the report from Florek’s GP was issued on 13 June.
Following this Tesco wrote to the claimant’s GP asking for a report before the 10 July 2013 – stating that their employee would be dismissed if it was not provided by that date.
During this period the claimant’s doctor was away on holidays, something that further complicated proceedings.
Tribunal’s ruling
In its ruling, the Tribunal described the task of reconciling the judgements of two opposing medical reports as “unenviable”.
A letter of dismissal was issued to the claimant on 22 July 2013, something that was said to be unfair considering his doctor had been away on holiday.
The Tribunal did accept that this dismissal was not “wholly the respondent’s fault” as Florek had done nothing to ameliorate the situation with his employer.
Regardless of this, the award of €11,000 compensation was made. |
Crackdown on 'pill mills' puts genuine pain patients in a hard spot. Could medical marijuana be a solution to some of the suffering?
It might be the agony of bone cancer, a spine mangled by an auto accident, or unrelenting diabetic neuropathy.
It also could be the misery of Lou Gehrig’s disease, which led Parrish’s Cathy Jordan to use marijuana to make her days bearable. She was in the news last week when law enforcement officers, some in ski masks, raided her home over some marijuana plants.
Chronic pain can be a torment, driving some patients into clinical depression and even suicide. Many will try anything to find relief.
But marijuana is illegal here, and, in a state zealously working to shut down its so-called “pill mills,” legitimate pain sufferers are finding it increasingly hard to find relief.
“Patients are ostracized and criminalized,” said Paul Sloan, who runs two pain management clinics in Sarasota and Fort Myers. “There’s a complete war on these suffering people.”
Sloan helped develop Florida’s prescription drug registry in 2011; doctors use it to see if the patient on the exam table asking for pain relief is instead making the rounds to build up a stash of highly addictive oxycodone or Vicodin.
Such seekers are the true targets of the crackdown, along with pharmacists and doctors who write and dispense prescriptions without checking anything on a patient but the depth of his or her financial wherewithal.
But what began as a legitimate attempt to erase Florida’s embarrassing reputation as the epicenter of the nation’s prescription drug epidemic has backfired, Sloan said.
“If you are a new patient trying to get your first prescription filled, you might as well move out of the state,” he said. “It helps if the pharmacist knows you.”
Even big pharmacy chains are under scrutiny by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
When the state began closing down the pill mills, some of their legitimate customers turned to chain pharmacies and mom-and-pop drug stores.
The jump in prescriptions filled at these pharmacies triggered even more raids — on them.
Last April, the DEA inspected six Walgreens pharmacies in Florida, including ones in Hudson, Port Richey, Fort Myers and Fort Pierce, as well as its state distribution center.
In September, the DEA called the distribution center an “imminent danger to the public safety” for failing to better control distribution of oxycodone and other controlled substances.
“All DEA registrants have an obligation to ensure that medications are getting in the hands of legitimate patients, and when they choose to look the other way, patients suffer and drug dealers prosper,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Mark R. Trouville.
Robert Florio, a Sarasota pain management specialist, says some patients began coming to him in tears because they could not find anyone willing to fill their prescriptions.
“Some of these people don’t have easy access to pharmacies or easy transportation,” Florio said. “Some of them have trouble ambulating from pharmacy to pharmacy because of pain.”
Some drug stores began raising the price of pain medications due to supply and demand, Florio said
“Many patients have become very stressed and depressed over this,” he said.
Both physicians say their patients are too frightened to speak up, fearing backlash by the DEA or local law enforcement.
When Sloan’s patients began to report that Walgreens had refused to fill their prescriptions, he asked a pharmacist there why.
He was told the chain has a “secret policy” to decide who will get pain medication and who will not.
“You know, not all of these patients wear suits and drive nice cars,” Sloan said. “Some of them are out of work because of their injuries.”
He was recently at a Walgreens store in Venice when a longtime customer was handed a prepared statement.
It read: “Walgreens is working hard to ensure the safe dispensing of controlled pain medications. Based on my clinical review and professional judgment, the prescription does not meet the requirements we have put into place for dispensing these medications. Therefore we cannot fill this prescription in good faith at this or any other Walgreens. I apologize for any inconvenience.”
When Sloan asked the pharmacist what the rules were, the pharmacist replied that they were secret but developed with the help of the DEA.
Jim Graham, spokesman for Walgreens corporate offices in Illinois, said he could not speak about these incidents without knowing the specifics.
However, he said by email, “Part of the professional role of a pharmacist has always included determining whether the prescription was issued for a legitimate medical purpose and whether it can be filled in good faith.
“That role also has always included the ability to decline filling a prescription that the pharmacist determines to be outside the usual course of professional practice,” Graham said.
Sloan said some of his patients have reported feeling humiliated about going to the hospital in pain, sensing they are under immediate suspicion as drug addicts.
North Port’s Joseph Majorino, 48, fell from a roof while on a construction job in 2007. The pain in his feet and ankles continues to be excruciating.
He now takes Vicodin every day, finding oxycodone too strong and other drugs too weak.
“I’m always looking over my shoulder,” Majoriono said. “Even though I cut back on the Vicodin if I have to drive, I worry that if I’m pulled over for something, the cop will arrest me.”
In an effort to help some Floridians in pain, legislators are introducing a bill, named for Cathy Jordan, to join the 18 states that already have made marijuana legal for medical purposes.
Although polls show the idea is growing in acceptance nationwide, some don’t believe marijuana is the panacea for those in pain.
In a February article in The New England Journal of Medicine, Gary Reisfield, chief of pain medicine in the department of psychiatry at the University of Florida, wrote that pot isn’t medicine and shouldn’t be used in that way.
“Simply to allow a patient with uncontrolled symptoms of metastatic breast cancer to leave the office with a recommendation to smoke marijuana is to succumb to therapeutic nihilism,” he wrote.
In a counterpoint article, Michael Bostwick, a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said that federal policy has not kept pace with scientific advances, and that “largely anecdotal but growing literature supports” the efficacy of marijuana for pain and nausea that do not respond to ordinary treatments.
Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature is unlikely to approve the medical marijuana bill, at least not on this first go-round. But if it passes, some patients say they will try marijuana and dump their legally prescribed pain medication.
Joan Marino Maser says she suffers from a number of physical problems.
“I live in extreme pain,” she wrote in the online comments section on the Herald-Tribune’s website, following a story on Jordan’s situation. “I fall all the time and I keep getting worse, not better. Smoking a little marijuana would be a lot easier on my body than the 30-plus pills I take.”
An advocacy group in support of medical marijuana conducted a poll that said 70 percent of voters supported this use.
An unscientific poll this week by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune showed 92 percent favored making medical marijuana legal.
Almost all of the comments on the Herald-Tribune website were in support of Jordan.
Deborah Lee expressed sympathy for those living in chronic pain.
“Anyone who is suffering should be allowed anything that relieves their suffering,” she wrote.
Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this report. |
At least 136 black people have been killed by police in 2016 (The Guardian, 7/7/2016). On top of police violence, the black community faces disproportionate unemployment, poverty, a lack of access to social services and mass incarceration. Much-needed protests are erupting throughout the country against the two latest atrocities, the murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
Unfortunately, five police have been killed by snipers in Dallas. These type of actions will not win justice against racism if that was the intention, and will only serve to strengthen the authority and militarization of the state and undermine the strength of Black Lives Matter mobilizations. Socialist Alternative will continue to participate in mass demonstrations against racism, poverty and police violence and put forward methods to broaden the movement and win victories.
Alton and Philando
Fifteen year-old Cameron Sterling could not hold back uncontrolled sobbing as he spoke on film after the death of his father. Alton Sterling was killed by law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 5 while selling CDs outside of a convenience store. Alton’s death and Cameron’s reaction at the press conference the following day is a stark reminder of what it means to be black in America today and losing your dad in a gruesome manner as the world watched. Alton’s death is painfully reminiscent of Eric Garner’s death on a Staten Island, New York street on July 17, 2014, by an illegal choke hold.
In a matter of twenty-four hours, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, Philando Castile – along with his girlfriend and precious four-year daughter – was stopped by officers for a busted taillight. Philando would be shot four times as he reached for his license and died in the back seat of his car; his death was live streamed by his brave girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, to show the world he was innocent. Diamond was held overnight in police custody – without food or access to her traumatized daughter – after the murder of her boyfriend. This injustice was correctly met with mass protests and direct action that Socialist Alternative members participated in.
Racist Policing U.S.A.
The killings of Alton and Philando sadly confirm the reality described in the remarkable speech by actor and activist, Jesse Williams, at the recent BET Awards about law enforcement terror and systemic racism in our society.
The recent acquittals of the Baltimore law enforcement officers in the Freddy Gray case, and non-indictment decision in the Jamar Clarke case has confirmed for this generation that the American criminal justice system is rigged and stacked up against working people and people of color. There is one set of laws for rich white people like Hillary Clinton and another set of laws for black workers and youth.
Ferguson and Baltimore
The two rebellions in Ferguson and Baltimore in 2014 and 2015 respectively rocked the very core of U.S. society as hundreds of thousands of young people and black workers expressed their rage at law enforcement, the political establishment, and the black mis-leadership class. Over 40 bills were introduced to curb law enforcement terror and enhance police accountability to the community. The Department of Justice and Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing reports acknowledged the numerous violations and police misconduct in police departments across the country.Yet, the racist police murders, mass incarceration, militarization of the police and rampant economic injustices continue.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed the “Blue Lives Matter” bill into law, making the state the first in the nation where public safety workers are considered a protected class under the hate-crime law. As USA Today highlighted over a year ago, “President Obama has signed into law a measure that will require instant nationwide “Blue Alerts” to warn about threats to police officers and help track down the suspects who carry them out. The city, state, federal governments fortify the “blue wall” with militarized law enforcement that mainly serves to protect the property, prestige and power of the 1%.
Since Ferguson and Baltimore, there’s a heightened class and racial polarization, along with a developing radical consciousness, in society due to the crisis of capitalism. Donald Trump has been whipping up racist rhetoric and attacks while Hillary Clinton defends the policies of her husband that led to mass incarceration and more militarized police. The times we are living through demands a concerted effort to challenge the system of capitalism and racism head on.
Black Lives Matter: Which Way Forward?
In several cities around the country, there were protests to express utter rage at the police killings in Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights. In Dallas, Texas, at a peaceful gathering and march, snipers fired upon law enforcement officers killing five and injuring seven.
If the perpetrators were politically motivated against police brutality these attacks on law enforcement are totally counter-productive. It takes place in the absence of a strong workers movement to oppose the policies of big business and the racist violence that flows from it.
As Marxist and working-class activists, we oppose terrorist methods which have historically been shown to be a failed method of fighting back against oppression. It is a dead-end strategy that provides the state license to leave a trail of blood from the itchy trigger fingers of law enforcement. Support can be drummed up for institutions of the capitalist state when tragedies like the murders of random law enforcement officers take place.
Working people’s civil liberties and human rights will be further undermined by the state under the cover of pursuing the suspects. These acts can and will have a negative effect on the BLM banner and activists, putting the struggle against law enforcement terror on the defensive and criminalizing the movement and its activists. The deaths of New York police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjain Liu in December 2015 brought BLM protests to a halt at that time and allowed the right to viciously attack the movement.
To win victories against racism and poverty, we need mass demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of people on the streets disrupting “business as usual.” Union leaders should support Black Lives Matter in more than just words by mobilizing their members to attend protests with contingents connecting the fight against police violence to the struggles for good jobs, health care, education and public services.
As Shanelle Matthews, the director of communications for the Black Lives Matter Network stated in a recent interview in The Atlantic about organizing for the upcoming DNC and RNC conventions, “Because we’re decentralized, and all of the chapters work autonomously, to each of the chapters in their regions [conventions] mean something different.”
The recent police killings of Alton and Philando places an urgency to centralize and coordinate our movement’s actions, ideas, and message, especially since the corporate media, two parties of big business, and law enforcement will go on the offensive against the movement after the Dallas events.
A united working-class movement using the method of mass protests, non-violent civil disobedience, walk-outs and strikes, based on a program that puts people’s needs first, will be most effective in fighting back against racial and class oppression. As we approach the DNC and RNC, we need a massive mobilization to highlight law-enforcement terror, the agenda of Wall Street and the role of both parties in the rise of the prison state and endemic inequality. Our movement should prepare for marches and possible Occupy Wall Street-style occupations in Washington D.C. to demand justice for Alton, Philando, and all victims of law-enforcement terror as we head towards the general elections in November. The Time is Now! |
Before she lost her Senate race, criticizing the GOP candidate was considered tea party heresy. Now she's barely permitted to speak at rallies.
In the tea party, one day you're in, and the next you're out:
Former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell will not speak at a tea party event featuring former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in Indianola, Iowa, this weekend, an organizer told Washington Wire. "I made a mistake," said Ken Crow, president of Tea Party of America. "I assumed there was an open slot and there wasn't."Monday night, Mr. Crow told Washington Wire that Ms. O'Donnell would appear. Tea Party of America's cofounder, Charlie Gruschow, said the group withdrew Ms. O'Donnell's after receiving numerous "emails from a lot of tea party folks that were very disappointed that she would be speaking."
And then? You're in again:
Former Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell will speak at a tea party rally Saturday in Iowa after organizers Tuesday night reversed themselves again and re-invited her, CNN has learned.
What do I take from all the drama?
Validation.
When O'Donnell emerged as a Delaware Senate candidate, a lot of people, myself included, voiced doubts about her fitness for office, and suspected that permitting her to be a spokesperson would be more trouble than it was worth. But she was embraced by the grassroots. They boosted her to a primary victory over a moderate Republican. Folks who criticized her were labeled turncoat RINOs (for critics on the right) or liberal elitists (for critics on the left). |
The Frenchman has suggested the absence of Thomas Vermaelen, who has been ruled out for another four to six months, means they are short of an ideal squad
Jeremy Mathieu says Barcelona need another defender to have a “complete squad” after the latest injury setback to Thomas Vermaelen.
The Belgium defender has not kicked a ball since signing from Arsenal in the summer and now faces another four to six months out after suffering a further strain in his hamstring that will require surgery.
Mathieu admits the blow does leave Luis Enrique’s side short at the back and suggested having another defender would fill one of the few holes remaining in the Camp Nou squad.
Barcelona are appealing a transfer ban that prevents them from buying players in 2015 after irregularities in their acquisition of players aged under 18 and Mathieu is clearly hoping that attempt proves successful.
"It is difficult for him and for the group because we are left with one player less," the Frenchman told reporters when asked about Vermaelen.
"Now we have only three centre-backs and Thomas will be out of action for a long time.
"We will see if the club can sign another player to try to complete our squad."
The 31-year-old stopper will face former club Valencia as Barcelona travel to the Mestalla on Sunday and he admits it will be a memorable fixture against a team he represented for five years.
"It will be a special match for me – it is nice to return to the Mestalla, where I was for so long," said Mathieu.
"I don’t know how I will be received. I left a good impression there and if they whistle me I have to accept it. I will be on the opposite side and now I am 100 per cent Barca, but I had great moments at Valencia.
"Barca have gone through a difficult period and we are better after two good matches. I hope that we can continue the form in this game. We are going there to win, but we know they are a team who are capable of doing great things and they are very close to us in the league."
Mathieu attempted to play down any controversy between him and coach Luis Enrique after his post-Clasico comments that suggested he was surprised to have been picked to play at left-back for the 3-1 defeat at the Bernabeu.
He continued: "I said that without looking to cause controversy. When I signed, I spoke about playing as a full-back or as a centre-back. I said that I was surprised, but I will play where they tell me.
"I did not know I was going to play as a full-back, but it was not a criticism. I did not say it to create a bad atmosphere, only that I was surprised when I saw my name at full-back. If the coach asks, I will play there again."
Second-placed Barcelona currently sit four points clear of Valencia in the Liga table going into the match. |
A liberal arts education is the best preparation for many careers, especially in the U.S., given today's global technology-driven economy, CNN host Fareed Zakaria says.
"The future of a country like the U.S. rests on our ability to master how technology interacts with how humans live, work and play," Zakaria said to The WorldPost. "And that depends on skills fostered by the liberal arts, such as creativity, aesthetic sensibility and social, political and psychological insight."
Because of tough economic times, the rising cost of higher education and an increasingly competitive job market, too many Americans -- and American politicians -- are turning away from the liberal arts under a false perception that they are a poor career option, Zakaria says.
In his new book, In Defense of a Liberal Education, Zakaria writes that America's success was built on a liberal arts education -- on multidisciplinary study for the sake of learning rather than vocational study for the sake of a set career path. Liberal arts subjects -- such as English, philosophy and political science -- teach people how to think, write and communicate; those skills remain useful through the many twists and turns of a career in today's ever-changing digital economy, he argues. And, he says, it is dangerous to overemphasize STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education as separate from or more important than the liberal arts.
Rather than pitting the liberal arts against STEM, Zakaria says, there should be more cross-pollination between the two groupings. Creativity and innovation occur when disciplines cross paths, he says. There are numerous examples of this in Silicon Valley. Facebook co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who was a psychology major before he dropped out of Harvard University, said Facebook is "as much psychology and sociology as it is technology."
Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple, credited a course in calligraphy for the font aesthetic of the Mac computer. When unveiling a new edition of the iPad, he said, "It is in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough. It's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our hearts sing."
Zakaria notes that science used to be a bigger part of the liberal arts, and he advocates further integrating science -- especially technology -- into the liberal arts and creating hybrid programs. Some universities have already done so, with programs such as Stanford University's hybrid music and technology degree and various universities' digital humanities programs. Zakaria points to a new liberal arts school that's a partnership between Yale University and the National University of Singapore as a model. In addition to traditional liberal arts core requirements such as history and literature, Yale-NUS requires various science courses, ranging from computer science to biotechnology, with an emphasis on scientific thinking rather than memorization of facts.
However, such hybrid programs are far from plentiful. Zakaria says too many students faced with job-prospect pressures are lured not into STEM (which not everyone has the aptitude for) but into professional-sounding but debilitatingly narrow majors, such as business and communications.
A couple of years ago, statistician and writer Nate Silver pointed out the same trend, finding a rise in people majoring in health professions, hospital administration, nursing and business as well as some newer professional degrees such as criminal justice. Silver says this likely has to do with the fact that college has become a norm for a broader range of students, including some who may choose careers more associated with the middle class, such as nursing.
So are fewer people actually majoring in the liberal arts? There are varying reports since the liberal arts cover so many majors, and the data varies by major. But the pressure to be on a career track is clear. Last year, President Barack Obama said (and later apologized for saying), "Folks can make a lot more potentially with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree." And the governors of Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin have all suggested cutting liberal arts programs on the premise that they're not job creators.
They point to data that show liberal arts majors have relatively high initial unemployment rates and low initial earnings compared with STEM majors. And it's true: Many liberal arts majors have a rough start. However, it may get better with time. Zakaria points to a study showing that, later in their careers, liberal arts majors actually make slightly more on average than STEM majors and unemployment levels even out as well.
The WorldPost spoke with Zakaria about the role of the liberal arts today.
Why are the liberal arts important in today's digital world, in which technology is disrupting cultural norms and so many industries?
There's no question that the world we are living in is defined by two great forces: globalization and technology. Given globalization, you need some understanding of the rest of the world, which the liberal arts foster. The technological revolution has meant that a good deal of basic industrial work -- which used to be done by a skilled craftsman or even a low-level engineer -- is now fairly routine, commoditized and either being done by technology or through outsourcing. In other words, a machine is doing it, or a person in China is doing it (obviously that's exaggerating). For advanced industrial countries, the real challenge is doing something that is value-added -- something that adds some bells and whistles to this routine, commoditized work.
The future of a country like the U.S. rests on our ability to master how technology interacts with how humans live, work and play. And that depends on skills fostered by the liberal arts, such as creativity, aesthetic sensibility and social, political and psychological insight. Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber, told me that the world of bits and bytes is bumping up against the world of atoms. In other words, the digital world is bumping up against the real world. And that collision, which of course Uber is at the heart of, means that you have to understand computers but you also have to understand the world. And as Uber is finding out, part of that is understanding everything from local politics to traffic issues to work habits.
Anyone now can make a $30 sneaker somewhere in the world. The question is, how do you sell it for $300? To do that, you have to be great at branding, marketing, advertising and design. And that's a metaphor for almost every industry. To pull it off, you're going to need some education beyond basic STEM skills.
In the sciences today, some say we are playing (or even creating) God by building artificial intelligence, modifying genes, colonizing Mars and more. What role do the liberal arts play here?
There's a very important question that we forget to ask: To what end do we use science? It's a political, economic and moral question. We need a broad understanding of how these sciences will affect humans. Rather than having an ethical philosopher in every company, everybody involved should have some breadth of perspective. And that can be deepened with some training in the liberal arts.
You write that, "The greatest shift in liberal education over the past century has been the downgrading of subjects in science and technology." Explain.
Science was always a central part of the liberal arts. "Art" just meant as opposed to "craft." In ancient Greece and Rome and in the Middle Ages, people used to study science for exactly the opposite reason they study it now. Now, many people study it because it's intensely practical. In 1400, the reason you studied science was because you were searching for abstract knowledge. It had no practical application. If you wanted to get ahead in a career, you studied law, history and politics.
There was a conception that the liberal arts (including science) were interrelated largely because knowledge and wisdom came from a supreme deity. The interconnection was all part of God's magic and mystery. As science began to unravel that idea in a way, people began to compartmentalize, and science became something that scientists studied but that didn't have applications in philosophy, history, etc. That took hold by the late 19th century, and it created these two separate cultures: the sciences and non-sciences. And we're all poorer for it. It's unfortunate that there's such a high degree of scientific illiteracy in America today and that scientists are not as well trained as they could be in the humanities.
The liberal arts-versus-science division is particularly true with STEM, which, more than other sciences, is seen as vocational. I studied international political economy at Berkeley, and it never occurred to me to venture over to a separate college on campus to take a computer science course. But if students are encouraged to do that, they might feel less anxious about choosing a liberal arts major. Should the liberal arts be updated to include some basic technology and engineering courses?
Yes, very much so. We do need to think more about how to integrate the more technical subjects of STEM into the liberal arts. I think of coding as similar to learning a foreign language. It broadens you and allows you to understand the inside of the machines that dominate our lives. We need to conceive of these kinds of course requirements for the liberal arts.
One problem is that, when I was on the board of Yale, I found that science professors were often not very eager to teach courses for non-specialists. I'm going to caricature but the great physicist would say, "Physics is hard. If you want to take it, then you've got to take Physics 101, then Physics 102 and so on. And you need to know advanced calculus. We're not going to teach physics for poets." And that's a mistake. It's important to try to educate people in basic concepts no matter what their eventual specialization. That is at the heart of the liberal education. |
A lawsuit filed Thursday in New York alleges that American Airlines failed to make an emergency stop after a beverage cart struck a passenger’s head during takeoff, leaving the man with a severe brain injury.
Charles and Helga Johnson, from Stanfordville, are seeking $10 million in damages from the airline stemming from the incident, according to Reuters.
According to the complaint, a fully-stocked beverage cart struck Charles Johnson in the head after it flew down the aisle during the plane’s takeoff form Hartford, Conn., to Charlotte in April 2016.
Johnson said the impact ripped off his hat, gave him a large forehead gash, severe bleeding and a loss of consciousness. The complaint said the plane did not make an emergency landing and continued on its two-hour trek to Charlotte.
He now suffers from “chronic traumatic brain injury and post-concussive syndrome,” headaches, mood swings and anxiety, the complaint said. He also has been unable to work because of the injuries.
Matt Miller, a spokesman for American Airlines, said the company was reviewing the complaint.
Click for more from Reuters. |
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails County GOP in Minnesota shares image comparing Sanders to Hitler Holder: 'Time to make the Electoral College a vestige of the past' MORE on Sunday defended instructing an aide to send information to her through a “nonsecure” channel, saying the data she requested was not classified and accusing her presidential rivals of seeking to score political points over a non-issue.
The State Department released more than 3,000 of Clinton’s emails from her time as secretary of State on Friday. One of the emails has drawn scrutiny because in it, Clinton, who was awaiting a secure fax detailing talking points, instructed an adviser to turn the talking points into “nonpaper w no identifying heading and send nonsecure” because the fax wasn’t coming through.
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Sen. Chuck Grassley Charles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleyOvernight Health Care: Senators grill drug execs over high prices | Progressive Dems unveil Medicare for all bill | House Dems to subpoena Trump officials over family separations Senate confirms Trump court pick despite missing two 'blue slips' GOP lawmaker says panel to investigate drug company gaming of patent system MORE (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has called the email "disturbing,” but Clinton on Sunday defended her actions and said the talking points were “never sent” in a non-secure fashion.
“This is another instance where what is common practice — I need information, I had some points I had to make and I was waiting for a secure fax that could give me the whole picture, but oftentimes there is a lot of information that isn’t at all classified,” Clinton said Sunday on "Face the Nation." “So whatever information can be appropriately transmitted unclassified often was. That’s true for every agency in the government and everybody that does business with the government.”
In the email marked June 17, 2011, Clinton told aide Jake Sullivan that she hadn’t yet received a set of talking points.
“They say they’ve had issues sending secure fax,” Sullivan says. “They’re working on it.”
Responded Clinton: “If they can’t, turn into nonpaper w no identifying heading and send nonsecure.”
The State Department release does not make clear what the contents of the email were or whether the information was classified. Clinton contends that she trusted Sullivan to respond appropriately.
“The important point here is that I had great confidence because I worked with Jake Sullivan for years,” Clinton said. “He is the most meticulous, careful person you could possibly do business with, and he knew exactly what was and wasn’t appropriate.” |
Ontario Rat II Folder Knife, 8860, 8861
Save on the purchase of 2 or more RAT Model 1 Folders. Click "Buy in Bulk and Save" above.
Hands down the most popular folding knife made by OKC, the RAT folders come in multiple blade configurations. The RAT Folder knife was originally a collaboration folding knife (Jeff Randall - Randall's Adventure Training). This is latest version of the RAT Folding Knives. The Ontario RAT II Folder knife is smaller than it's predecessor with a plain edge 3" AUS-8 Stainless Steel blade, ground with a full flat taper and available in either a satin or black finish. Slimmer also than the RAT 1, the RAT II folder's blade is .095" thick. A smaller black Nylon 6 handle on the Ontario RAT II Folder knife measures 4.1" (closed length) and is also somewhat textured to offer an excellent grip. The RAT II folder also deploys with a thumbstud and is 7" in overall length. The Liner lock offers a secure open position on the RAT folder. Rockwell Hardness on the Ontario Knife RAT Folder Knife is 55-56 HRC. The Ontario RAT 1 Folder knife comes with a removable pocket clip installed which allows for tip-up or tip-down, left-handed or right-handed carry.
Ontario RAT II Folder Knife Snapshot:
RAT II Folder Knife Blade Length: 3"
RAT II Folder Knife Thickness: .095"
RAT II Folder Knife Blade Grind: Full Flat Taper
RAT II Folder Knife Blade Material: AUS-8 Stainless Steel
RAT II Folder Knife Blade Finish: Black or Satin
RAT II Folder Knife Blade HRC/Hardness: 55-56 HRC
RAT II Folder Knife Handle Material: Nylon 6
RAT II Folder Knife Handle Length: 4.1" (Closed Length)
RAT II Folder Knife Handle Color: Black
RAT II Folder Knife Overall Length: 4"
RAT II Folder Knife Carry System: Removable Pocket Clip
Editor's Review of Ontario RAT Folder Knife: I remember when Ontario Knife and Jeff Randall collaborated to produce these RAT Folders years and years ago. Honestly, it's the folding knife I carry in my pocket every single day. You couldn't ask for a more practical folding pocket knife. The RAT folder has a slim design that's not bulky in your pocket, it deploys quickly with a thumbstud and quick flick of the wrist. I use my RAT folder nearly every day for regular work tasks like opening boxes, cutting, etc., and I only sharpen it every few months at most. The liner lock toggles easily (but not too easily) for quick closing, but in all the years I've carried it, it has never failed. The RAT II Folder is a bit smaller and more ideal for smaller hands - but all in all, any of the RAT Folder Knives are, in my opinion, an excellent choice for an everyday carry pocket knife. |
It was the exact kind of frothy, high-octane camp that made most of Revenge's first season delectable, largely because it was between these two characters. Even Victoria's face – a slowly yet subtly morphing expression of surprise as she opens the door – was sensational. To see the show striking the same tone in its second season was a reason to feel relieved. No sophomore slump here. Everything's going to be fine.
Of course, everything wasn't. Shortly after, Revenge got too lost in its deep mythology, sacrificing its pedal-to-the-metal plot drive for answering questions with questions. Put simply, it pulled a Lost or, more accurately, an Alias. It became an action-driven series that saw Emily facing off against (and being assisted by) scores of far less interesting (mostly) men and (a few) women. There was talk about "the Initiative," a shadowy group with little identity or clear purpose. It was deeply tied into the show's mythology, but it failed to grab the audience's interest.
Rapidly, the show turned into a striking antithesis of its first season, Revenge season two was boring, and a soap opera really can't afford to be boring.
Fast forward a year. Creator and showrunner Mike Kelley steps down – or is forced out; it's never been made quite clear – and another producer, Sunil Nayar, is tapped to take the reins. Within the first episode, Nayar showed that he had a keen sense for what made the show great. In a spectacular twist, Victoria and Emily team up to oust Ashley Davenport, the aimless and uninteresting thorn in the show's side since day one. But instead of just sending her away offscreen during the midseason, the series leads dispatch her in spectacularly over-the-top fashion.
"Get on that plane, and go back to Croydon," Emily spits at her, channelling pure Krystle Carrington. When Ashley responds that the two women are evil, Victoria doesn't deny it. "What we are, like it or not, is family." It's like Dallas moved to the Hamptons.
Other moments in the episode indicated the new showrunner knew what he was doing. The flash-forward mystery – who shot Emily at her wedding? – was enticing. Dumb plot threads were cut at their base, while potentially quite campy and enjoyable ones (hello, Victoria's hunky and sexually flexible son Patrick) were fostered. And in a nod to viewers' complaints about the show's complex and shadowy organization, Emily told her partner Nolan Ross, "Let's never say the words 'The Initiative' ... ever again."
Unfortunately, because so much damage had been done to the show in season two, it took some time to recover. New, less interesting plot threads about a French magazine owner's family were introduced. The show kept Aiden, Emily's least interesting lover, around for the entire season. Even if the show knew what to do, it couldn't speed it along for fear of narrative whiplash.
That's why the last four episodes of the third season were so sensational. After a year of just wanting to get there, get back to what made the show great, it finally got to make its move. Conrad went down. Aiden was killed. Victoria, finally learning the truth about Emily's identity, was committed to a mental institution after falling prey to an impressive gambit. Emily's revenge was complete. |
Harry Redknapp was unveiled as QPR's new manager in November Photo: The Sport Review
Harry Redknapp says that Chris Samba has taken a “massive pay cut” to join Queens Park Rangers from Anzhi Makhachkala.
The 28-year-old penned a three-and-a-half year deal at Loftus Road on Thursday after the Hoops had a £12.5m bid accepted by the Russian side for the Congo international.
It had been speculated Samba was set to pick up a £100,000-a-week wage, but Redknapp rubbished these claims.
“He was willing to take a massive pay cut because I don’t think he was enjoying it over there,” Redknapp told QPR’s weekly call-in show.
“I’ve tried to sign him loads of times. Tony (Fernandes) said to me ‘I’m going to get you these players and when I do you’re going to build a statue of me in your back garden.”
Earlier on Thursday, Samba admitted he wass delighted to seal a return to the English top flight after moving to Anzhi from Blackburn Rovers in February 2012.
“I’m delighted to be back in the Premier League. It’s the best league in the world to play football,” said Samba. “I’ve been linked with the club for a long time.
“With Harry here though, he is really passionate and he wants to do something with the club. Unfortunately things haven’t gone the way the club would have wanted so far this season but there’s still a lot of time and I’m sure we can get out of it.”
He added: “I know what is going on with the project here. There is a very important fan base, I’ve played at Loftus Road before and it’s fantastic.
“The club is ambitious and I’m sure it’s a good challenge for me. If I can be a part of it I will be very proud, it will be a great achievement for me.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe we could get out of trouble.” |
CONTACT
[email protected]
The best way to reach Nightmare during the open season is by visiting the Lonestar Events Center on any open night and speaking directly with the ticketeers. They will put you in contact with whoever you are trying to reach.
HOW MUCH ARE TICKETS ? CAN I PRE-PURCHASE?
Tickets to Nightmare on 19th Street are $20 on Thursdays/Sundays and $25 on Saturdays/Fridays and on Halloween. This buys you one entrance into all of our attractions. Fast passes may be purchased to skip MOST if not all of the line. Additionally, readmission can be purchased on Thursdays for an additional $10. No pre-purchase is available so get there early!
WHAT IF I DO NOT MAKE IT THROUGH ALL THE ATTRACTIONS ?
As long as you stick to the correct order, you will be able to make it through all attractions any night we are open. However, with your wristband you WILL be able to come back another night and finish what you have missed.
DO YOU ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS ?
Yes, we accept Visa, Mastercard and Discover.
WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE LAST YEAR ?
This October 2018, Nightmare on 19th Street brings a new addition to Blood Moon Manor - Voodoo Alley! Meet the Cajun Voodoo queen Marie Laveau and her dark minions deep in the heart of our New Orleans Cemetary. In additional to this chilling addition to our main attraction, see our new box office and numerous other production changes we've made throughout the off-season!
DO YOU SERVE ALCOHOL ?
No.
HOW SCARY ARE YOUR ATTRACTIONS ?
We do our part by providing hands down the scariest haunted house in West Texas. Of course, fear is a relative emotion, and everyone has their own particular fear threshold and pet phobias (we like to collect pet phobias). All in all, you are paying us to entertain and scare you, so that is what we do. Being scared in an otherwise safe environment is fun - for most people. At Nightmare, our goal is to immerse our visitors into a particular scene to make them feel as if what is happening is, in fact, reality. We do this by using detailed sets, experienced actors and suitable lighting and audio. All together, these variables make for one relatively scary attraction. You've got adrenal glands, you be the judge.
CAN MONSTERS TOUCH ME ?
We do give our actors a "no touch" policy - you don't touch us, we don't touch you. In other words, our ghouls will never intentionally grab you. However, due to very dim lighting, you may occasionally come into accidental contact with one of our staff.
HOW DO I WORK AT NIGHTMARE ?
Anyone can be a part of our Nightmare crew. All positions available are on a VOLUNTEER basis however. To be a ghoul, show up at the Lonestar Events Center at 6:30PM on any open day. We provide costumes, make-up, etc. Identification will be required, and all volunteers must be older than 13 and have parents permission if between the ages of 13-16.
WHAT SHOULD I WEAR ?
You should wear comfortable, preferably closed toed shoes. Please be warned, there is a chance you will be getting slightly wet, and two of our attractions are outside and subject to inclement weather conditions.
WHAT AGES ARE YOUR ATTRACTIONS RATED FOR ?
We leave that for you to decide. Only you can judge what is acceptable for your children. We would not, however, recommend any of our attractions for children under the age of 12.
DO YOU OFFER DISCOUNTS/COUPONS ?
Periodically throughout the season. Stay tuned to FMX for more details during the season or join our email listing from the website for further promotions.
IF I LEAVE THROUGH AN EMERGENCY EXIT, DO I GET A REFUND ?
No. If you decide to exit any attraction early we will not grant a refund or re-entry ... wimp ...
CAN I TAKE PICTURE AND/OR SHOOT VIDEO ?
We do not allow video or photography inside our attractions during operational hours unless special arrangements are set-up via the appropriate contacts beforehand. This includes cell phones. If we see you taking pictures or shooting videos with any device w/o proper notification, the device will be confiscated and given back when you leave - pictures deleted. We do, however, allow for cell phone pictures outside of the attactions while waiting in line.
CAN I GO THROUGH THE ATTRACTIONS MORE THAN ONCE ?
Your ticket is good for one trip through each attraction. On Thursdays, however, a repeat pass for $10 will be offered inside the park gates. Speak to the ticketeers if interested.
ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS ON ATTENDING ?
Our attraction is not recommended for women who are in late stages of pregnancy and those with heart problems or prone to seizures. Strobe lights and heavy fog are in use throughout the attraction. Additionally, Nightmare on 19th Street reserves the right to refuse entry to or remove from property anyone behaving in a violent or disruptive manner or under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. No refunds will be given. Be warned ...
IS IT SAFE?
We employ a full staff of professional security and keep professional law enforcement on site. If you follow all rules you will have an awesome experience unlike anything else in all of West Texas.
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK! |
An Ontario woman has decided to Go Public, as she fights to get Mini Canada, owned by BMW, to pay $10,200 to repair her Mini Cooper, after a blown engine that left her car unusable.
"When the car stopped dead, I could have been killed or killed someone," Yasmina Bursac told Go Public.
"I'm a relatively experienced driver, I've been on the road for a long time. It was frightening."
Bursac bought her used 2010 Mini Cooper S from a Volkswagen dealership in Mississauga, Ont., in July 2013 for $21,000 .
The vehicle was only three years old with 61,000 kilometres on the clock, and Bursac says the Volkswagen dealership she bought it from told her it was in good shape and safe to drive.
Yasmina Bursac bought her used 2010 Mini Cooper S from a Volkswagen dealership in Mississauga, Ont. in July 2013 for $21,000. (Yasmina Bursac)
But just over a year later, on Sept. 26, 2014, Bursac says she was travelling at 70 km/h along a Mississauga road when her car suddenly stopped without warning.
She heard a hissing sound and couldn't restart it.
Bursac had the car towed to a nearby gas station where a mechanic looked at it.
"He told me … the engine had been completely damaged beyond repair and I needed a new engine. I was in disbelief because the engine only had 64,000 kilometres on it," she said.
Bursac wanted a second opinion, so she had the car towed to Budd's BMW/Mini dealership in Oakville, Ont.
She says the dealership confirmed the worst — a vacuum pump had failed, causing the timing chain to snap and doing irreparable damage to the engine.
Bursac says the dealership told her a refurbished engine would cost her just under $10,200. Bursac was shocked; she still had about $19,000 in car payments to make.
Mini agrees to pay 60%, with strings attached
Bursac called Mini Cooper Canada to complain. How could a relatively new car with so few kilometres have such a massive mechanical failure?
Yasmin Bursac's 2010 Mini Cooper S is still awaiting a refurbished engine. (CBC)
After some negotiation, the company offered to pay 60 per cent of the $10,200 cost, if Bursac got the repairs done at its dealership.
But Bursac had done some research, and believed the initial estimate was inflated, so the offer to pay a large portion of the cost wasn't the deal it seemed to be, especially when the damage wasn't her fault.
"It was shocking, because online the price range for a refurbished engine was between $1,700 and $3,000."
Mini already facing class action lawsuits in U.S.
Class action lawsuits involving certain Mini Cooper models have already been filed in the U.S.
One $85-million US lawsuit alleges BMW failed to notify consumers about a design defect that could cause water pumps to fail in thousands of 2007-13 Mini Coopers.
The engine of Yasmin Bursac's 2010 Mini Cooper S - damaged beyond repair. (CBC)
That class action is pending court approval and involves the water pump that wasn't recalled. BMW denies the allegations.
In November 2013, a big class action lawsuit was settled involving the 2002-06 Mini Hardtop and the 2005-08 Mini Convertible.
Plaintiffs alleged a design defect caused the continuously variable transmissions or CVTs in the vehicles to prematurely break down, which could lead to transmission failure while driving.
In that case, BMW denied the allegations but agreed to provide refunds to consumers.
'A used Mini is a piece of junk'
Go Public could not find a record of any class action lawsuits in Canada, but that doesn't mean there are no unhappy Mini drivers.
George Iny, president of consumer advocacy for the Automobile Protection Association in Canada, says his organization hears a lot of complaints about the older Mini models — especially those manufactured between 2002 and 2008.
"A used Mini is a piece of junk. And the pity is, unlike other BMW products, it's sold to people who would otherwise be driving in a small Volkswagen or Toyota or something like that," he told Go Public.
George Iny, president of consumer advocacy for the Automobile Protection Association in Canada, wants to see so-called "lemon laws" in Canada, like the ones in the U.S. (CBC)
"These are the people who don't necessarily have the BMW wallet to pay for BMW price repairs. It's both not reliable and very expensive to fix."
The problem, according to Iny, goes beyond Mini products. He says that across the country, provincial governments are failing when it comes to protecting car owners.
Iny says that under most provincial consumer laws, defective goods are subject to a refund or replacement, but the provinces seem to ignore that when it comes to defective vehicles.
He says car manufacturers know they won't be penalized or face fines if their cars are defective.
"Very few retailers would refuse to take back really defective goods. Car makers and car dealers do that every day," Iny says.
Lemon laws needed in Canada, say advocates
Iny wants to see so-called "lemon laws" in Canada, like the ones in the U.S.
Class action lawsuits involving certain Mini Cooper models have already been filed in the U.S. (CBC)
Individual states have their own legislation that goes by different names, but they all give car buyers extra protection if their vehicles are defective — if they have bought a so-called "lemon."
"What you would need is some kind of 'lemon' protection for both new and used car buyers, because the car companies don't respect the implied warranty that you get. You need something clearer," said Iny.
In the case of the Mini, Iny says BMW could do a lot better by offering its customers extended warranties for problematic models or cheaper repair rates, just as other car makers have done in the past.
In Bursac's case, she tried to strike a deal with the BMW dealership, suggesting it fix the car and then sell it, subtracting the cost of the repairs, enabling her to pay off as much of her loan as possible.
But Bursac says the dealership refused, saying the best it could do is offer her $1,000 for the broken-down car.
BMW: there's little Mini Canada can do
Barb Pitblado, BMW Group Canada's director of corporate communications, says that because Bursac bought the car second-hand from a non-Mini dealership without an extended warranty, there is little Mini Canada can do.
BMW tells Go Public, because Bursac bought the car second-hand from a non-Mini dealership without an extended warranty, there is little Mini Canada can do. (CBC)
Pitblado says the company offered to pick up 60 per cent of the cost of replacing the engine as "a gesture of goodwill and to make [Bursac] happy with her brand experience with Mini."
Pitblado offered to put Bursac back in touch with the BMW/Mini dealership.
Bursac declined that offer, saying the situation leaves her saddled with car payments for a vehicle without an engine, which she can't drive or sell.
"It was just a horrible experience and it's continued to be a horrible experience," she says.
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We tell your stories and hold the powers that be accountable.
We want to hear from people across the country with stories they want to make public.
Submit your story ideas to Kathy Tomlinson at Go Public.
Follow @CBCGoPublic on Twitter. |
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The Supreme Court has ruled that tribunal fees of up to £1,200, introduced by the Tories under David Cameron , are unlawful.
In a humiliating slapdown the Government will be forced to repay up to £27 million in fees already paid by workers pursuing employers for unfair dismissal, equal pay or discrimination and other issues.
Trade union Unison took the government to court, arguing the charges are illegal and discriminatory.
Their case was dismissed by the High Court, but they appealed to the Supreme Court, who today ruled in their favour.
(Image: REUTERS)
A review of the impact of the fees earlier this year showed there had been a 70% drop in the number of cases since they were introduced in 2013.
Low-paid women, especially those treated unfairly when they were pregnant or on maternity leave, were the biggest losers, an analysis by Unison found.
The seven Supreme Court judges ridiculed the government’s misunderstanding of “elementary economics, and plain common sense”, when it claimed higher fees would mean increased demand."
In their judgement, they ruled the fees had a "deterrent effect upon discrimination claims, among others” and put off more genuine cases than so-called ‘vexatious’ claims the government claimed the fees were supposed to deter.
The court said access to justice is of value to society as a whole, and that evidence showed fall in claims was “so sharp, so substantial and so sustained” that they could not reasonably be afforded by those on low to middle incomes.
Unison said the Government will have to refund more than £27 million to the thousands of people charged for taking claims to tribunal since July 2013, when fees were introduced by Chris Grayling, the then Lord Chancellor.
General secretary Dave Prentis said: "The Government is not above the law, but when ministers introduced fees they were disregarding laws many centuries old, and showing little concern for employees seeking justice following illegal treatment at work.
"The Government has been acting unlawfully, and has been proved wrong - not just on simple economics, but on constitutional law and basic fairness too.
(Image: Coventry Telegraph)
"It's a major victory for employees everywhere. Unison took the case on behalf of anyone who's ever been wronged at work, or who might be in future. Unscrupulous employers no longer have the upper hand.
"These unfair fees have let law-breaking bosses off the hook these past four years, and left badly treated staff with no choice but to put up or shut up.
"We'll never know how many people missed out because they couldn't afford the expense of fees, but at last this tax on justice has been lifted."
Unison's assistant general secretary Bronwyn McKenna said: "The Supreme Court correctly criticised the Government's failure when it set the fees to consider the public benefits flowing from the enforcement of legal rights enacted by Parliament.
"The effective enforcement of these rights is fundamental to Parliamentary democracy and integral to the development of UK law. Unison's case has helped clarify the law and gives certainty to citizens and businesses in their everyday lives."
The decision marks the end of a four-year fight by Unison to overturn the Government's introduction of fees. |
Police said they aren't sure how an RV started moving, but it ran over a woman's foot and crashed into a southeast Portland home Tuesday, July 11, 2017. (SBG photo)
PORTLAND, Ore. – An RV ran over a woman’s foot and crashed into a home in southeast Portland Tuesday morning, Portland police said.
According to police, the damage to the duplex is not significant, but the RV struck a meter and started a gas leak near SE 136th Avenue and Center Street.
Paramedics rushed the woman to the hospital.
Police aren’t sure how the RV started moving.
Neighbors said it was rolling less than 5 miles per hour when it hit the home.
Officers evacuated the duplex once they realized a gas meter was clipped.
Firefighters waited crews to shut off the gas line before they approached the structure.
Officials closed SE 136th Avenue for more than an hour while crews worked to make the area safe. |
With Nigeria having reached 12-month milestone, Africa will have gone a full year without polio unless Somalia reports a case within the next month
Nigeria marked its first year without a single case of polio on Friday, reaching a milestone many experts had thought would elude it as internal conflict hampered the battle against the disease.
It means Nigeria could come off the list of countries where polio is endemic in a few weeks, once the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirms that the last few samples taken from people in previously affected areas are free from the virus.
The achievement turns up the pressure on Pakistan, where most of the world’s few remaining polio cases occur, to follow suit. Pakistan has reported 28 polio cases since 1 January this year.
Nigeria’s polio-free period, dating from 24 July 2014, is the longest it has gone without recording a case. The hope is that next month the entire African continent will have gone a full year without a polio infection. The last case recorded in Africa occurred in Somalia on 11 August 2014.
All this brings closer the prospect that polio will soon become only the second human infectious disease after smallpox to be eradicated.
“It’s an extraordinary achievement. It really shows the value of government leadership and taking ownership of the programme,” said Carol Pandak, the director of Rotary International’s polio programme.
Until the 1950s, polio crippled thousands of people a year in rich and poor nations alike. The poliomyelitis virus attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours of infection.
It often spreads among young children and in areas with poor sanitation – a factor that encourages its transmission in areas of conflict and unrest. But it can be halted with comprehensive, population-wide vaccination.
Nigeria had struggled to contain polio since some northern states imposed a year-long vaccine ban in mid-2003. Some state governors and religious leaders in the predominantly Islamic north alleged the vaccines were contaminated by western powers to spread sterility and HIV/Aids among Muslims.
Traditional leaders throughout the country pledged in January 2009 to support immunisation campaigns and push parents to have their children vaccinated. But at about the same time Boko Haram militants began a bloody insurgency to carve out an Islamist state in the northeast.
In 2012, Nigeria still seemed to be losing the battle against polio, recording more than half of all the world’s cases.
But Oyewale Tomori, Nigeria’s chairman of the expert review committee on polio eradication, says Abuja’s prioritisation of the polio fight, including establishing emergency operations centres to coordinate vaccination campaigns and reach children in previously inaccessible areas, helped drive the project on.
Tactics such as engaging traditional and religious leaders as well as polio survivors in immunisation campaigns and using thousands of voluntary workers to build trust were also vital. Equally important will be the continuation of high levels of vaccine coverage to keep the virus at bay.
“We’re well on the way,” Tomori said. “It’s a time of great happiness, but we don’t want to celebrate prematurely.”
Since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988, there has been a reduction in polio cases worldwide of more than 99%.
Then the disease was endemic in 125 countries and caused paralysis in nearly 1,000 children a day. By contrast, so far in 2015, there have only been 33 new cases worldwide – 28 of them in Pakistan, with the rest in Afghanistan.
Nigeria still has two more years before it, along with the whole of Africa, can be certified officially polio-free by the WHO, but health experts say its achievement bodes well for wiping the disease out. Global health experts still hold out hope for an end to polio worldwide by 2018.
Pandak says it’s now Islamabad’s turn to feel the huge international pressure Abuja came under to commit itself to finding every polio case and vaccinating every last child.
“When you’re the last country in a region to still have polio, there’s a lot of pressure from the global community and from your neighbours,” she said.
“Everybody spurs you on, polio gets talked about at the highest levels of government, and that pressure is something Pakistan is acutely politically aware of.”
While Pakistan has more polio cases than anywhere else this year – neighbouring Afghanistan has recorded five – it is doing better, with 70% fewer cases this year than in the first seven months of 2014. |
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California woman sentenced to four years in prison for planting a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili is going back behind bars for creating another tall tale, this one about a shooting involving her son.
The San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday (http://tinyurl.com/m89r2tv ) that Anna Ayala pleaded no contest to three felony charges and will receive a two-year prison term when formally sentenced in September.
The so-called Chili Finger Lady was arrested in October after she told police that her son had been shot in the ankle by two men.
Guadalupe Reyes accidentally shot himself and Ayala lied to prevent him from going to prison as a felon in possession of a firearm. Reyes will also receive two years in prison for that very charge. |
Prominent players in San Francisco’s progressive world are being accused of colluding to boost District 11 supervisorial candidate Kimberly Alvarenga.
Steven Currier, a longtime resident of District 11 who ran unsuccessfully for supervisor in 2000, filed complaints with the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission and the city’s Ethics Commission saying Alvarenga’s employer, Service Employees International Union Local 1021, has illegally set up an independent expenditure committee to benefit her campaign. Alvarenga works as the union’s political director, though she said she went on leave in early September. She did not answer repeated questions about whether she continues to receive a paycheck from the union.
Documents show SEIU 1021, which represents city workers, has created an independent expenditure committee to benefit Alvarenga that has spent $23,242 to date, including $4,608 on door hangers with her family’s photo. The hangers were paid for on Aug. 27, before Alvarenga’s leave began. Independent expenditure committees and candidates are prohibited from having any communication with each other, and Currier says it’s hard to believe the union and its political director haven’t had any interaction.
Alvarenga said, though, that’s exactly the case.
“I am currently on leave from my job as political director for SEIU 1021,” she said in a statement. “I know nothing about the complaint and have no information regarding the SEIU independent expenditure.”
Cecille Isidro, a spokeswoman for SEIU 1021, said the complaint is “completely without merit and has no basis in fact.”
“It is not a violation for someone employed by a labor union to run for office,” she said.
Ahsha Safai, Alvarenga’s main competitor, said he doesn’t buy that Alvarenga and her employer aren’t in communication.
“I don’t know how you can claim independence between the two,” he said. “It’s absolutely unfair.”
Currier, a retired law firm administrator who supports Safai, also targets political journalist Tim Redmond in the complaints.
SEIU 1021 pays Redmond $4,000 a month for work on its quarterly magazine, Worker Power. SEIU 1021 has also made donations to Redmond’s online newspaper, 48hills.org. On the 48hills site, Redmond has posted some hard-hitting stories about Safai, which Currier says is another example of questionable ethics.
Currier had words about Redmond that can’t be printed in a family newspaper and called his stories about Safai “hit pieces” and “completely, completely false.”
Redmond countered that the stories have been “entirely legitimate journalism.” And he added he’s open about his financial ties to SEIU 1021 and his support of Alvarenga.
“If anyone doubts where I’m coming from politically after 33 years (as a San Francisco journalist), they aren’t paying attention,” he said.
— Heather Knight
Weed TV: In what is believed to be the first time a pro-marijuana TV commercial will air statewide in California, the pro-Proposition 64 campaign launched an ad campaign Tuesday, focusing on allaying fears that parents may have about legalizing weed for adult recreational use.
The two 30-second spots emphasize how the measure would permit sales only at licensed outlets, ban advertising aimed at children and clearly label edible products to avoid confusing children. Nowhere is a cannabis plant seen in the ads.
It is not the first pro-weed commercial to air in the state. During the failed Proposition 19 campaign in 2010, former San Jose Police Chief Joseph McNamara starred in a 30-second ad that took a different tack — emphasizing support among law enforcement for legalization. The ad aired only in some markets and not statewide.
Andrew Acosta, a spokesman for the No on 64 camp, dismissed the ads as representative of a ballot measure “written by and for the marijuana industry. ... They got it wrong for Californians, but right for the folks looking to turn this into the next Gold Rush.”
— Joe Garofoli
Jill Stein here: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton might not be doing public events in San Francisco, but that doesn’t mean the city won’t get a look at other, oh, less-viable presidential candidates.
Jill Stein, the Green Party’s nominee, will be in the Bay Area on Thursday, campaigning in Oakland and San Francisco.
The physician, whose campaign slogan is “People, Planet & Peace Over Profit,” will be at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. in Oakland, for a rally from 4 to 7 p.m and then head to the Chapel, 777 Valencia St. in San Francisco, for musical performances and a rally. The event begins at 7:30 and Stein is scheduled to speak at 9 p.m.
— John Wildermuth
Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Twitter: @hknightSF, @joegarofoli, @jfwildermuth |
Cask Days is North America’s largest cask beer festival, taking place every October in Toronto. Our club has partnered with Cask Days and Toronto Brewing to collaborate on the the Cask Days Homebrew Competition. The winners of this competition work with our partner breweries to re-brew their beer to be served at the festival. This is a rare opportunity and winners get to share their love of the hobby with a thirsty crowd of thousands of people.
*Winners have been announced! See the post here.
Click here to go to the registration software.
Summary
Key Dates:
General Registration Open: Friday May 27th, 2016
Entry Registration Open: Wednesday June 1st, 2016
Entry Submission Deadline: Tuesday July 12th, 2016
Judging: Sunday, July 17th, 2016
The first ever Cask Days Homebrew Competition will take place in July! This is a collaborative effort between Cask Days, Toronto Brewing, and GTA Brews.
Entrants will compete for 10+ spots to have their beer served at Cask Days 2016 in October. The winners of this competition will work with our partner breweries in August and September to re-brew their beer. This is a rare opportunity for homebrewers to get their name out there and share their love of the hobby with a thirsty crowd of thousands of people.
$9 per entry, max 3 entries per person, 1 spot per person.
If you have questions, or aren’t sure of which style to enter your beer as, email: [email protected]
Competition Overview
The goal of this competition is to facilitate the selection of 10+ brewers that will be able to brew their winning beer to be served at Cask Days 2016. Winners will work with the organizers and partner breweries to re-brew a firkin of their winning beer in the mid-August to late-September. A $40 stipend will be provided to help cover the costs, but winners are responsible for sourcing their own ingredients for the re-brew. At Cask Days we plan to have a voting station where the best beer will be selected by people’s choice.
Due to the logistics of brewing the winners beers at partner breweries, this competition is open to Ontario residents only.
With the anticipated number of entries being high, we have decided to split this competition into two stages to make things more manageable.
Stage 1: BJCP Homebrew Competition
The first part of the competition will follow a standard BJCP homebrew competition format and will be used to select the best beers to move on to the next stage. We will be using the 2015 BJCP Guidelines. More than one beer from each category/table may move forward to stage 2 at the judge’s discretion.
If you have never entered a BJCP competition before or feel that the types of beers you brew aren’t suited for BJCP competitions, please read the “I Don’t Brew to Style” section below.
Stage 2: BOS Style Selection Round
The final stage of the competition will be used to select the overall winners. This will be less formal than stage 1 and more similar to a BOS (Best of Show) round. The best beers from stage 1 will be presented to the judges all at once, who will then pick the overall winners. There will be no formal feedback provided to entrants from the stage 2 judges.
Selection Criteria
When selecting the 10+ winners there will be several things considered including:
– Practicality of reproducing this beer within a 2 month period
– How well the beer fits into the theme of the event (cask beer)
– Overall quality and flavour appeal
Judges for the final round will consist of BJCP judges, pro brewers, and prominent beer community members.
“I Don’t Brew to Style”
Beer styles (even specialty ones) are very useful because they help group beers with similar flavour characteristics and balance. A style/subcategory declaration helps set the drinker’s expectation for your beer.
“I Don’t Brew to Style” is a common phrase in the beer community, and there is some truth to it, but really only when you consider the classic style subcategories (1-26). Even then, the classic style subcategories are fairly broad, as long as the beer is balanced. Outside of the classic styles there are 8 specialty categories (21B, 27-34), each containing several subcategories, that capture anything else you could possibly brew. Coffee porter (30A), strawberry witbier (29A), dry hopped brett saison (28A), kettle soured wheat with apricot+dry hopped (28C), Black IPA (21B), and even chili+chocolate+mango imperial stout (29B) are all at home in the available specialty categories. If you brew a hybrid of several other styles, that can be entered in 34B (Mixed Style Beer). If you think you have brewed something that is completely unique and fits no where else, please enter it in 34C (Experimental Beer). “Not brewing to style” isn’t a barrier to BJCP competitions, you just need to enter your beer in the right subcategory and provide a proper description.
If you aren’t sure where you beer fits after browsing the guidelines, send us an email at: [email protected]
Submission Details
*All Entries must be registered through the competition software and properly labeled*
Cost is $9 CAD per entry, with a max of 3 entries per person. There is a limit of 1 entry per classic style subcategory (1-26), and 2 entries per specialty beer category (21B, 27-34), provided they are different beers. Score sheets will be emailed to participants.
Each entry will consist of two 12 oz brown glass bottles. Bottles must be void of all identifying information, including brewery labels and embossing. Any marked caps must be blacked out. A Bottle ID form must then be attached to each bottle by elastic band. Bottle ID labels can be printed from the “Account” -> “Entries” page and show your personal info and entry number. Recipe sheets and PayPal receipts are not required, only Bottle ID labels. Bottles will not be returned to contest entrants.
12oz brown bottles are preferred; however we will also accept green/clear glass, sizes up to 22 oz, and corked bottles, if necessary.
Please fill out the entry forms completely (when adding entries on this site). Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients/processes that must be specified per the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines. Failure to note such ingredients/processes may impact the judges’ scoring of your entry.
Drop Off Locations
Toronto Brewing Downtown
1567 Dundas Street West. Toronto, ON. M6K 1T9
(647) 348-8895
Toronto Brewing North
3701 Chesswood Drive, Unit 115. Toronto, ON. M3J 2P6
(416) 901-3900
Shipping Info
Shipped entries must be received by the entry deadline.
Ship entries to:
Toronto Brewing North
3701 Chesswood Drive, Unit 115
Toronto, ON
M3J 2P6
Partner Breweries
Muddy York Brewing Co.
Amsterdam Brewery |
Getty Images
The Gettleman pipeline could push another Giant to Carolina.
Last week, it was linebacker Chase Blackburn. Now, it could be receiver Domenik Hixon.
According to Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer, Hixon will visit the Panthers on Monday.
It’s not a surprise that new Panthers G.M. Dave Gettleman, who came to Carolina from the Giants, has interest in players he helped bring to New York.
In six years with the Giants (after one and change in Denver), Hixon has shown periodic flashes of significant potential, but he has never quite delivered. In 2012, he caught 39 passes for 569 yards in 13 games, with three starts.
Hixon ostensibly would fill the roster spot created by the departure of Louis Murphy, who signed with the Giants.
The Raiders recently hosted Hixon, who also has drawn “very mild interest” in Cleveland, which makes it sound like an inner ear infection. |
Summary of Critique of Political Economy Chapter 1 by Karl Marx
(Chapter 2 to follow in a future post.)
Written before Das Capital, the Critique of Political Economy covers much of the theoretical ground of the opening chapters of Capital but in more detail. Sometimes readers have difficulty with the theoretically dense and stylistically strange nature of Capital’s opening chapters. For those interested in thinking more about these opening chapters, especially the stuff about money, it may be helpful to read the Critique.
The one caveat that is important to note however is that in the Critique Marx had not yet made the distinction between exchange value and value. The development of this important theoretical distinction is one of the most important aspects of the opening chapter of Capital.
What follows is a summary of the Critique. It is no substitute for reading the book itself. I write it mostly for self-clarification as I think about a future video on Money. The stuff on money is mostly in chapter 2, but I thought I might as well type up notes on chapter 1 while I’m at it. The origin of money in the commodity form is in chapter 1 though.
Chapter 1- Commodities
As we know a commodity has a use-value and an exchange value. The use-value of a commodity falls outside of the realm of political economy except in that it is a bearer of exchange value. Why? The use-value does not bear the mark of the social relations of production. We can’t tell that an object is a commodity by examining its use-value. The use-value is limited by the particular properties of the commodity, and is not a universal quality that can be quantified or compared with other use values in any meaningful economic sense.
[Of course, most of the uses that commodities serve are needs created by capitalism. So when Marx says that the use-value does not bear the mark of the social relations of production we should read this in the narrow, specific sense that the use-value has no relation to the division of labor or socially necessary labor time represented by a commodity rather than in the broad sense of the observation that uses and needs are created/conditioned by capital.]
Exchange value appears at first sight as a quantitative relation. Commodities are equivalent to other commodities despite having different, incomparable uses. Despite different uses Marx tells us they “represent the same entity.” (I take it this is a kernel of what later becomes the concept of ‘intrinsic value’) When two commodities have equivalent exchange values this means that they have equivalent volumes of the same time of labor. Though what Marx goes on to talk about is the quality of this labor (that it is abstract, simple labor, etc) it should be pointed out that he does seem to operate under the assumption at this point that equivalent exchange values represent equivalent labor content, on an individual basis. Of course, with his fully-fledged theory of price and value, as worked out in the 3 volumes of Capital (and in his comments in chapter 2 of this book), this identity of value and price, on the level of individual commodities, does not hold. He makes similar statements about quantitative equivalence in the beginning of Capital. My instinct is to take this as an opening assumption, abstracting from the complexities of the later stages of the analysis. But Marx does not state that this equivalence is merely a simplification.
What kind of labor forms the value of commodities? It is abstract, general labor. It is also simple labor. Labor time is the inherent measure of labor.
Simple labor is a real abstraction. There is a real process which reduces all labors to a common denominator. Labor does not appear as different, isolated labors. Instead, under capitalism, labors appear as different arms of the same social organ. As in Capital, Marx says that this is not the place to discuss the actual processes of the reduction of complex labor to simple labor. But tells us that it is a constant process. This makes it a real abstraction.
He covers the concept of socially necessary labor time.
In capitalism private labor produces exchange value. This is how it becomes universal labor, or social labor. This universal labor time is represented in the general equivalent. Hence, universal abstract labor is the specific type of labor of a capitalist society, not all human societies.
Marx enters into a brief discussion of the way the social relations between men appear inverted as social relations between things. This is obviously a precursor to the concept of the ‘fetishism of commodities’ introduced in the end of chapter one of Capital vol. 1.
Labor is both abstract and concrete at the same time. It is both social labor and natural labor. Concrete labor makes use-values. Abstract labor makes exchange values.
Use-values stay the same while the social relations around them change. Hence the labor time it takes to make a use-value can change and thus the exchange value changes. (It seems a simple enough point, yet we see the confusions that have been made in the 20th century by physicalist misreadings of value theory which seem to posit that exchange-value is the same as physical quantities!) Scarcity and abundance effect the productivity of labor and therefore APPEAR to effect exchange value directly.
The exchange value of a commodity is not revealed by examining one use-value in isolation (say, in the nature of a supply and demand graph), but by examining the relation of all commodities to each other. Exchange value manifests itself in the endless series of equations through which commodities demonstrate themselves as being the equivalent of another commodity in value. The universal equivalent is the one commodity that all other commodities measure their exchange value in.
The commodity is not a use-value for the seller, only for the buyer (if only this was understood by marginalists…). The commodity is only an exchange value for the seller and a potential use-value for the buyer. But it must be a use-value to a buyer in order for its labor to be social. (Though this is a condition for social labor it is not a determinate of the value of a commodity.) Private labor is not directly social. It must be socially useful to be social.
Here’s a puzzle: The commodity must enter exchange as social labor but this universality is only a result of exchange! How can this be? The puzzle is solved via the universal equivalent. The universal equivalent has two uses. It has its own use (if it is gold then it can make rings, microprocessors and stuff…) and it has a universal use in that it is used to measure the value of all other commodities. This resolves the contradiction of the commodity, that the commodity has a particular use value but a universal exchange-value. All commodities express their exchange-value not in an endless series of equations, but in one equation, their equivalence with the universal equivalent, money. This is expression of equivalence exists ideally before the purchase has been made. This is why we have price tags. We guess the exchange value of a commodity against money. But this price has to be realized in exchange in order for the process to be complete. Though exchange value has this ideal aspect this does not mean that money is a symbol. Money and value are quite real.
The fetish character of the commodity form is even more striking in money where money appears to have its own autonomous power.
Exchange value, of course, predates capitalist social relations. It originates at the borders of societies where trade begins between societies, not within societies. At first these exchange values are random. But as soon as a part of production begins to be production for exchange and not for use then exchange values begin take on predictable forms. This leads to the development of money.
Bourgeois economy treats barter as a natural form of exchange and sees money as a mere expedient. (This is true for contemporary bourgeois economy as well as the classical political economy.) Money is seen as a material instrument, a tool for simplifying barter, rather than as a social relation. But Marx knows that money doesn’t just solve the difficulties of barter in a technical sense. These difficulties arise from the development of exchange value and from the appearance of social labor as universal labor.
Notes on the History of the Theory of Commodites (a section at the end of Chapter 1) I didn’t take the best notes on this section…
Adam Smith thinks that the Labor Theory of Value applies to pre-capitalist societies. He sees it as a theory of subjective equalizations of labor time. Smith tries to derive exchange value from the social division of labor. Ricardo focuses on the quantitative determination of value rather than the qualitative side which would allow him to see the specifically capitalist nature of the value form. He sees capitalist labor as the eternal form of value. Sismondi focuses on the specific social character of labor, he develops an idea of necessary labor time and a critique of large industrial capital.
Ricardo represents the final shape of classical political economy. He leaves us with some controversies.
1. Labor itself has exchange value yet different types of labor produce different amounts of exchange value. We get into a viscous circle by making exchange value the measure of exchange value… Marx will later solve this by distinguishing between labor and labor power. The capitalist buys labor power but labor is what produces value. Marx says we need a theory of wages to explain this.
2. Point two seems to be a reiteration of point one. Marx says we need a theory of capital to explain this.
3. Supply and demand cause exchange-value to deviate from exchange-value. Marx says we need a theory of competition to explain this. Later, in Capital, when he develops the difference between value and exchange-value, this becomes a little clearer.
4. How do non-commodities have exchange value? For this, Marx says, we need a theory of rent.
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Welcome back to another episode of Empire or Jedi. I’m your host, David Snider, and I’m joined again by fellow nerds Ryan Caldwell and Chad Griner. We may have just missed Christmas, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have one last Christmas present for you. That’s right, after months of broken promises, we’re finally bringing you our movie review for Rain Man Goes to Universal Studios, aka The Wizard. Get ready for 50,000 points worth of awesomeness, Ninja Gaiden-style. HAI!!!
Topics of discussion in this episode include the disappointing lack of Daniel Stern narration in the movie; we discuss the merits of working at the Nintendo Hotline; and finally, we applaud The Wizard for what is probably the truest depiction of adults trying to play video games ever.
Be sure to leave a comment or rating on empireorjedi.com or on iTunes. You can also listen to us at Stitcher Radio and get updates on the show through our Facebook page or our Twitter feed @empireorjedi.
Warning: This podcast includes offensive language and may not be suitable for children. Listener discretion is advised. |
There are many reasons to hate flying economy. The tiny seats, the inedible food, the fees airlines charge for things you'd get for free in a medieval dungeon. Manon Kühne can't fix any of that, but she's has found one small way to make sitting in 17C just a bit less hellish. She's designed an ingenious head rest that not only makes sleeping in an airplane seat borderline comfortable, it also keeps your head, and your drool, off your neighbor's shoulder.
The Dutch industrial designer, who graduated from Delft University of Technology last year, won the student category at the Crystal Cabin Awards for something she calls HeadRest, a thesis project she created in collaboration with Zodiac Aerospace's Human Factors and Ergonomics Lab.
HeadRest fits onto your seat back and sports two wings that fold out, creating a U-shape around your head. Stretchy fabric spans the wings, forming a "hammock" to support your head and keep you from sliding onto a fellow traveler who's already uncomfortable enough, thank you.
Kühne started the project in December 2014, and from the beginning wanted to make economy class a nicer place. Too many of the innovations in air travel, she says, are "for the happy few" at the front of the plane. HeadRest makes you more comfortable by supporting your head, and by making a cramped seat seem a bit more spacious by blocking your peripheral view of the guy next to you. Kühne designed the piece to be easily retrofitted onto existing seats, and the fabric is removable so it can be washed on the regular.
So when do you get to use one? In a few years, maybe. The award-winning design is a prototype for now, and, like anything going into a commercial airliner, would need to pass all sorts of certifications before appearing on passenger flights. If and when that happens for HeadRest, airlines would do the math that comes with balancing the extra weight (more weight=more fuel), maintenance, and cost against the benefit to passengers. Zodiac can help sway things in your favor, because it owns the rights to Kühne's design. Here's hoping the company is already on it, because neck pillows stink. |
It’s competitive out there. Many jobs have dozens and dozens of applicants, so in order to get that all important interview, your CV has to work incredibly hard. But how do you do that?
Lead with benefits, not features.
Your CV is selling you, and people don’t buy things based on features, they buy things based on the benefits they bring.
“I’m good at managing my own time” is a feature of you, but it doesn’t explain the benefit the reader will gain when they hire you.
“Efficiency and productivity are two crucial things I’ll bring to this role, because I’m good at managing my own time.” lets them know your skill will add value.
If you can explain why your skills are useful, you’ll show an understanding of the job role and you may even highlight a benefit that other candidates can’t bring to the table.
Keep it short and sweet.
Don’t use seven words when four will do. If there are a lot of applicants for the job, your CV might only get a matter seconds to impress before the reader moves on. Be as concise and impactful as possible.
Use fixing points
As mentioned above, your CV might not get the attention you think it deserves. In fact, it might only get a glance. A glance can take in up to ten fixing points on an A4 page, each lasting 0.2 seconds. So yes, it might only take someone two seconds to decide whether or not they will actually read your CV.
Believe it or not, humans are actually capable of making judgements that quickly about whether something is relevant or suitable to them. So, make it easier for the reader to pull out key information at a glance. Instead of using subheads like ‘Experience’, ‘Education’ and ‘References’, use ‘2 years at company XYZ’, ‘3 top A-Levels’ and a quote, like ”the best employee I’ve had in years!”
Obviously you would go into further detail underneath, but use emboldened subheads that will stand out, make an impact and stick in the memory of the reader.
Write, read, rewrite, repeat
Your CV isn’t done when you’ve finished your first draft. Read it and edit it, then get other people to read it and edit it again. Sometimes you can spend so long looking at something that you just become numb to it. Ask your friends or parents what they think of it. And read it aloud. You won’t get a true idea of how it flows unless you read it aloud.
Embellish, but be honest
Whatever you do, don’t lie on your CV. It might not come back to bite you, but if it does, it’ll be costly.
But this doesn’t mean you can’t polish the truth. Remember, you’re trying to make yourself sound good, so use positive spin.
After I worked as a salesman in a call centre straight out of uni, I wrote on my CV, “I won various awards for sales,” which is true. But there was a prize for the top salesperson every week. I worked there 8 months and won twice.
As long as you can substantiate your claims, don’t be afraid to embellish a little. |
After an initial explosion of ramen shops a few years ago, the second wave of quality is gearing up to make L.A. one of the hottest markets for ramen in the country. Long-standing favorites such as Daikokuya and Santouka have new competition, but there's still plenty of room to grow in this segment. The Little Tokyo favorite even landed on the Westside's new ramen row, Sawtelle. If there's any indication from the recent Ramen Yococho Fest and L.A. debut of the Ramen Burger™, this city might be the single best place in the country to enjoy ramen. But there's a new noodle king in town, and this one spawned from the previous top contender. From dip-ramen tsukemen to pork-infused tonkotsu bowls galore, here's a map of L.A.'s best ramen shops.
Note: Restaurants on this map are listed geographically.
Tsujita ANNEX, Beni Tora, Daikokuya (Sawtelle) Read More |
NFL Network analyst Brian Billick joins Mike and Mike and says the Packers' running game and third down conversion rate are what is holding them back from being as good as they were in year's past. (1:09)
Billick: Packers are not as explosive as they have been (1:09)
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The only thing worse for an offense than a turnover might be a three-and-out series. And the Green Bay Packers have been the kings of those this season.
As good as they’ve been at the former – only the New England Patriots have given the ball away fewer times than the Packers – it’s startling to see how often Aaron Rodgers and the offense have trotted off the field without gaining a single first down.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, no team in the league has a higher rate of three-and-out drives this season, at 40 percent. Last season, the Packers finished tied for the lowest three-and-out rate, at 24.9 percent. They have finished in the bottom half of the NFL in three-and-out percentage (defined by ESPN Stats & Info as a possession without a first down or a touchdown) only once since Rodgers became the starter in 2008.
Packers Going Three and Out A look at how often Green Bay's offense has left the field without gaining a first down, since 2008. Year % of drives NFL rank 2015 40.0 Highest 2014 24.9 Lowest (tie) 2013 30.6 5th-lowest 2012 29.0 4th-lowest 2011 27.8 7th-lowest 2010 37.2 8th-highest 2009 29.3 4th-lowest 2008 34.1 13th-lowest Source: ESPN Stats & Information
“You can’t have it,” Packers offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett said. “We go back and look at who we are and what we’re about. We want to play fast. We want to play with great tempo. We want to keep the chains moving. We have to be more consistent in situational football. That’s really the bottom line.”
For weeks now, Rodgers, coach Mike McCarthy and just about everyone associated with the Packers offense has expressed the need to run more plays. Three-and-outs aren’t helping.
Yes, the Packers ran a season-high 72 offensive plays (not counting those blown dead by penalties, which are counted in the NFL’s official snap counts) in Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers despite eight three-and-out series out of 16 total possessions. But in their three previous games, they failed to reach even 60 plays, including two games in the 40s.
It’s no wonder the Packers rank 31st in the NFL in total offensive plays (with 479) ahead of only the St. Louis Rams (456).
“There are plays to be made out there that we’re just not consistently making as often as we were,” Rodgers said.
Much of it can be attributed to their inability to convert third downs, but it’s not like they’re winning first down, either. The Packers rank 30th in yards per play on first down (4.82), which puts them in second-and-long and third-and-long situations.
“You’ve got to start fast,” offensive-line coach James Campen said. “When you get going, first and second down, you get that feeling that you’re rolling, and you have to sustain that and just keep going so you keep drives alive. That’s the responsibility of [the offensive line], to bust our tails to do that.”
Three-and-outs don’t just hurt the offense; they affect the defense, too. The Packers possessed the ball for less than two minutes on three consecutive three-and-out series in the second quarter Sunday, which meant little time for the defense to rest.
“You definitely want momentum, and it helps in a number of different areas,” Bennett said. “It keeps our defense off the field, gives them the proper rest, and going back to what we said earlier, we want more attempts. In order to get more attempts, you’ve got to be consistent in situational football.” |
Azoospermia is the complete absence of any sperm in a man’s semen. It is found in 5-10% of men who seek infertility treatment. Consequently, azoospermia is a major cause of male infertility.
Normally, a male’s testicles produce sperm which join with fluid produced by other parts of his reproductive system to become semen. If a man has azoospermia, he may still produce seemingly normal semen, but it will not contain any sperm.
Azoospermia Causes
There are two causes of azoospermia: either sperm is being blocked from exiting the testicles (obstructive azoospermia), or sperm is simply not being produced at all (non-obstructive azoospermia).
Obstructive Azoospermia
Sperm could be blocked from exiting the testicles in a variety of spots. The part of the testicle where sperm mature(epididymis), the tube that transports sperm from the testicle to the urethra(the vas deferens), and the openings on each side of the tube (the ejaculatory duct) are all potential sources of blockage, via injury, infection, prior surgeries, or genetic defects.
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Non-Obstructive Azoospermia
If the sperm isn’t being blocked, that means it isn’t being produced, or in some cases it may be produced at such low levels it isn’t making into a man’s ejaculate. This would be called severe oligospermia, and while it is still quite serious, sperm retrival and assisted reproductive technology could still make pregnancy a possibility.
Some potential causes include
– genetic mutations
– Y-chromosome deletions
– radiation (including cancer treatment)
– heavy metal exposure
– the use of certain medications or illegal drugs
– hormone imbalances
– varicoceles (enlarged veins).
Azoospermia Treatment
If sperm is being blocked from exiting the testicles, “obstructive azoospermia”, then surgery under general anesthesia is often an effective treatment that can restore the flow of sperm. If you have non-obstructive azoospermia, treatment could be trickier depending on the cause, however, there are minimally invasive surgeries to extract sperm. One such method that optimizes sperm retrieval for non-obstructive azoospermia patients is a technique called sperm “FNA Mapping” and was invented by fertility expert Dr. Paul Turek. FNA mapping is known as the “GPS of the testicle“, allowing the physician to pinpoint specific areas in the testicle with the highest levels of sperm. By mapping areas in the testicle with the highest levels of sperm, physicians can maximize the chances that they will successfully extract sperm using a surgery called “microscopic testicular sperm extraction” (mTESE). Combining sperm FNA mapping with mTESE is the ideal approach for non-obstructive azoospermic patients who want a minimally invasive sperm extraction procedure with very little risk, pain and recovery time.
In the cases where lifestyle factors are at issue, such as medication usage or hormone imbalances, treatment can be as simple as switching medications or addressing hormone problems. Varicoceles can be treated using a low-risk surgery called varicocelectomy.
However, in cases of genetic mutations or other things that are not easily treatable, sperm donation may be the most viable option for couples who wish to conceive a child. As mentioned before, for some men with azoospermia there is sperm in their testes, but even if you successfully go through a sperm retrevial, there is a significant chance that there will be no useable sperm for ICSI. By some reports there is a failure to obtain sperm in up to 50% of men with nonobstructive azoospermia.
If you believe you are struggling with male infertility, talk to a fertility specialist or a urologist. They will generally perform two semen analyses before diagnosing any problems like azoospermia and then further testing may be necessary to determine a cause. |
“Not only do we want to participate in this event, we want to leave politics out of it and out of sports altogether,” Lior Aizenberg, a spokesman for the Israeli Chess Federation, said in a telephone interview. “The relationships between countries should not be part of international events such as championships.”
Mr. Aizenberg said that Saudi Arabia’s failure to issue visas to his team was a violation of the rules of the World Chess Federation, also known by its French acronym, F.I.D.E., and that the seven Israeli players who had planned to attend were now seeking financial compensation from the federation.
In a letter sent Tuesday to the federation, Zvika Barkai, the chairman of the Israeli group, repeated the demand for compensation and called on the federation to cancel a contract with Saudi Arabia to host the event next year. Dr. Barkai also took the organization to task for failing to mention Israel in a Sunday statement about the Qatari and Iranian visas.
Image Anna Muzychuk, the defending world champion in two disciplines of speed chess, is boycotting the tournament in Saudi Arabia. Credit Karim Jaafar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The global chess organization did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. In an earlier statement promoting the event, the federation said that it had raised concerns about visas for its competitors but that it had not been advised that “any player will not be able to participate.”
The federation also said that female participants would not have to wear head coverings, “a first for any sporting event in Saudi Arabia.” |
WASHINGTON — The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Wednesday that refusing to accept Muslim refugees is the moral equivalent of slavery.
CAIR held a press conference in anticipation of executive orders from President Donald Trump to limit refugee entry from several Muslim-majority countries, block federal funds from sanctuary cities and start construction of a wall on America’s southern border.
Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director, called the proposed border wall a “multi-billion dollar monument to racism.” Awad went on to say that President Trump’s proposal has nothing to do with national security and is strictly an “Islamophobic” proposal.
A rabbi at the press conference, Joseph Berman, was on the verge of tears and said that the proposal to bar the entry of refugees from several terrorist hotbeds such as Syria and Somalia is an “affront to God.”
The Daily Caller asked Awad if refugees have a right to come to the United States, and CAIR’s communications director Ibrahim Hooper claimed that under international law refugees have “rights beyond what normal immigrants have.” Awad added that the issue isn’t one “of legality,” but of “morality.”
The CAIR executive director then equated refusing refugee entry to former American policies of slavery and women not being able to vote. He said those actions were legal but “wrong.” |
The Magna Carta and democratic rights
By Richard Hoffman and Mike Head
15 June 2015
Today marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, a major historical event in the social and political development of England and in the emergence of the rule of law against arbitrary power.
In 1215, English noblemen, rebelling against the abuses of power by King John, forced the king to agree to the Magna Carta (the “Great Charter”) at Runnymede. Their struggle was rooted in profound economic processes, which were undermining the foundations of feudal society and the political power of the monarch.
The development of agriculture and land productivity was more advanced in England than elsewhere. While still very much in their infancy, capitalist relations were emerging out of the constraints of feudalism, which were in any event less restrictive in England than on the Continent.
The Magna Carta enumerated, in fairly comprehensive terms, the rights of “freemen”—essentially, landowners. Its 63 clauses set out the restraints on the king’s absolute powers, especially over economic life, property and legal procedure. The Charter (as set out in the translation available on the British Library website) proclaimed: “To all free men of our kingdom we have also granted, for us and our heirs forever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs.”
The Magna Carta was directed toward the freer and more productive exercise of property rights by landowners and against the exercise of royal power by the king and his court over land and other property. Rights of free trading by merchants were also given concrete legal protection, along with the basis for the standardisation and regulation of commodities. Clauses 35 and 41 stated:
35. There shall be standard measures of wine, ale, and corn (the London quarter), throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a standard width of dyed cloth, russet, and haberject, namely two ells within the selvedges. Weights are to be standardised similarly. 41. All merchants may enter or leave England unharmed and without fear, and may stay or travel within it, by land or water, for purposes of trade, free from all illegal exactions, in accordance with ancient and lawful customs. This, however, does not apply in time of war to merchants from a country that is at war with us. Any such merchants found in our country at the outbreak of war shall be detained without injury to their persons or property, until we or our chief justice have discovered how our own merchants are being treated in the country at war with us. If our own merchants are safe they shall be safe too.
Alongside the codification and systematisation of land usage rights and trade, the Magna Carta effectively declared that the king was subject to the law and that freemen could not be fined, arrested, forced to confess, imprisoned, exiled or otherwise subjected to official power without proper legal process and the judgment of their peers. Clauses 38, 39 and 40 declared:
38. In future no official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported statement, without producing credible witnesses to the truth of it. 39. No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. 40. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.
As expressed in the Charter, one of the founding documents of English law, the interrelationship between freedom of property rights and legal process made clear the class character and historical content of law. The freedoms and rights declared and protected by the Charter were the rights of property owners. The document was silent about the peasantry, who remained subject to the tyranny of their lords. In 1215, a lord had the power to kill a peasant for disobedience with impunity.
In the context of medieval England itself, the social reality behind the formal rights of freemen and the continuing struggles of the peasantry was revealed in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, 166 years after the Magna Carta. Led by Watt Tyler and Jack Straw, 60,000 peasants marched on London to demand the abolition of serfdom, tithes and the poll tax. The rallying cry of the peasants was the rhyme “When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the Gentleman?”
Nevertheless, the formal rights and freedoms, and constraints on arbitrary power, enunciated in the Charter also contained a more universal content. Essentially, they gave early expression to the assertion of the inherent rights of man, however necessarily constrained and formed within the prevailing historical realities and class relations of early 13th century England. These political rights were the subject of centuries of struggles waged by the masses against the property-owning classes in England, the Continent and, later, America.
The ensuing major intellectual developments and historical conflicts included the English Civil War, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the American Revolution and Civil War, and the Chartist movement of the 19th century. Many participants in these struggles invoked the Magna Carta as a source of basic rights. They included the Levellers and Diggers, the most radical and egalitarian tendencies in the English Civil War, Thomas Jefferson in the American Revolution and the Chartists in 19th century England, who demanded the right to vote, without property qualifications.
The most significant of these events in advancing democratic rights, however, were undoubtedly the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, which shattered the old feudal order.
The Enlightenment made a frontal assault upon religious belief and thereby made Man, rather than God, the centre of intellectual inquiry. With the attack on the Church and the monarchy, it was inevitable that the great Enlightenment thinkers raised the issue of equality. The feudal system, with the Church and Crown at its apex, rested upon the unchallenged premise of man’s natural inequality.
The intellectual orientation of the Enlightenment was universalist in its conceptions, irrespective of the fact that its thinkers were drawn almost exclusively from the bourgeoisie. The natural and inalienable rights of man of which they spoke were not intended to be limited to a privileged class, but rather were directed to the emancipation of all mankind. Rousseau, perhaps the most complex and contradictory of the great Enlightenment thinkers, attacked private property as the basis of human inequality and hence the wretchedness and misery of man’s condition, declaring “the fruits of the earth belong to all and the earth to no one.”
The intellectual climate created by the Enlightenment provided the ideological weapons for the French Revolution. The revolutionary zeal of the Parisian masses on the one hand, and the ferocious resistance of the ancien regime on the other, drove the revolution further to the left and, with it, the universalist conceptions and demands of the masses. The 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was conceived as a statement of the natural and universal rights of every citizen, valid at all times and in every place.
In 1789, however, the Third Estate, in whose name the revolution was made—consisting of all those in society except for royalty, the nobility and clergy—remained undifferentiated between the rising bourgeoisie, on the one hand, and the artisans, peasants and the sans-culottes, the propertyless masses of Paris, on the other hand. Over the ensuing 50 years, with the development of industrialisation, the downtrodden masses emerged as the new working class, the modern “proletariat,” demanding the broadening of democracy to social rights—equality in living and working conditions, health and education—that were fundamentally incompatible with the profit interests of the bourgeoisie and the private ownership of the means of production.
As Karl Marx and Frederick Engels explained in the Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, the bourgeois society that sprouted from the ruins of feudalism did not do away with class antagonisms. On the contrary, the system of wage labour established “new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle.” In fact, it split society into “two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other—bourgeoisie and proletariat.”
In his famous essay Socialism Scientific and Utopian, Engels, writing of the legacy of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, observed:
Now, for the first time, appeared the light of day, the kingdom of reason; henceforth superstition, injustice, privilege, oppression, were to be superseded by eternal truth, eternal Right, equality based on Nature and the inalienable rights of man. We know today that this kingdom of reason was nothing more than the idealised kingdom of the bourgeoisie; that this eternal Right found its realisation in bourgeois justice; that this equality reduced itself to bourgeois equality before the law; that bourgeois property was proclaimed as one of the essential rights of man; and that the government of reason, the Contrat Social of Rousseau, came into being, and only could come into being, as a democratic bourgeois republic. The great thinkers of the 18th century could, no more than their predecessors, go beyond the limits imposed upon them by their epoch.
But, side by side with the antagonisms of the feudal nobility and the burghers, who claimed to represent all the rest of society, was the general antagonism of exploiters and exploited, of rich idlers and poor workers.
In Engels’ words, with the emergence of the working class, “universal emancipation” became “the historical mission of the modern proletariat.” The capitalist class, which could put itself forward as the spokesman for suffering humanity as a whole, in the battle against feudal and aristocratic privilege, sided with the forces of militarism and reaction rather than accede to the social demands of the working class.
Confronted by the threat from below to its material interests, the bourgeoisie turned to the violent use of the state apparatus against the proletariat in the 1848 European revolutions, and in 1871 brutally suppressed the Paris Commune, the first attempt by workers to take political power into their own hands.
As Leon Trotsky explained in Terrorism and Communism:
As a battle cry against feudalism, the demand for democracy had a progressive character. As time went on, however, the metaphysics of natural law (the theory of formal democracy) began to show its reactionary side—the establishment of an ideal standard to control the real demands of the labouring masses and the revolutionary parties… In the real conditions of life, in the economic process, in social relations, in their way of life, people became more and more unequal; dazzling luxury was accumulated at one pole, poverty and hopelessness at the other. But in the sphere of the legal edifice of the state, these glaring contradictions disappeared, and there penetrated only unsubstantial legal shadows.
The working class, socialism and democracy
By the turn of the 20th century, the development of global capitalism had created both an international working class and driven the major capitalist nation-states into growing conflicts over the division of the world market, resources and colonies. The fundamental contradictions of capitalism—between the old nation state system, in which the bourgeoisie was rooted, and the development of world economy, and between the private ownership of the means of production and socialised production—erupted to the surface with the outbreak of World War I, plunging human civilisation into an unprecedented catastrophe, and signaling the dawning of “the death agony of capitalism,” as Trotsky defined it, a new imperialist epoch of wars and revolutions. Lenin explained that one of the characteristic features of imperialism, along with the domination of parasitic finance capital, was “political reaction all along the line.” The brutal and anti-democratic colonial exploitation of the oppressed nations was combined with the turn to increasingly anti-democratic forms of rule at home.
Under these conditions, the struggle for genuine democracy became indissolubly bound up with the fight of the working class to overthrow the imperialist order, and to develop the scientific socialist perspective and leadership necessary to accomplish that historic task. Led by Lenin and Trotsky, the Russian Revolution of October 1917 pointed the way forward, overturning capitalist rule and beginning to establish the democratic control of the producers themselves over all aspects of economic and political life.
The subsequent degeneration of the Soviet Union at the hands of the Stalinist bureaucracy enabled global capitalism to survive, despite the horrors and depredations of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the turn by the capitalist class to fascism and dictatorship, and the descent into another world war.
Today, 70 years after the end of World War II, mankind faces once again the descent into war, dictatorship and repression. Social inequality, which has reached levels exceeding those of the ancien regime, has become incompatible with even the semblance of democratic rights.
In order to impose its brutal agenda, capitalist governments everywhere are repudiating the entire framework of legal and democratic rights. With unspeakable hypocrisy, Western governments, aided and abetted by a compliant corporate media, are, at the same time, commemorating the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta and claiming to represent its heritage. In reality, the list of core rights enunciated in the Charter stands as an indictment of world capitalism.
Habeas corpus, the principle of no detention without trial, has been violated by the return of arbitrary and often indefinite imprisonment, from Guantanamo Bay to Australia’s inhuman refugee detention camps. Torture and forced “confessions” have returned as instruments of government control, accompanied by illegal renditions. Mass electronic surveillance has been imposed, in denial of free speech. Police forces are being trained and equipped like standing armies, directed against the most vulnerable sections of the working class and youth. The very notion of a fair trial by jury, with the safeguards of the presumption of innocence and the right to remain silent, is being renounced. Without any semblance of due process, the US president orders and oversees drone assassinations and other extra-judicial killings of citizens and non-citizens alike on a weekly basis.
Citizenship rights themselves, the bedrock of legal and democratic rights, are being eviscerated, with the fundamental right not to be “outlawed or exiled” without “lawful judgment” being jettisoned. Both the British and Australian governments, while cynically trying to wrap themselves in the mantle of the Magna Carta, have moved to strip people of citizenship by ministerial decree, the modern equivalent of the royal prerogative.
Significantly, this assault has been spearheaded by the major so-called “democratic” powers, above all, the United States. Facing historic economic decline, and determined to retain its global hegemonic position, Washington is waging war against its competitors around the world and against the working class at home, under the pretext of the fraudulent “war on terror.” In the process, both Republican and Democratic administrations alike have renounced constitutional and legal limitations on executive power, and erected the scaffolding of a police state.
Today, 800 years after the Magna Carta, the working class confronts the reversal of the social gains of centuries of struggle for political and democratic rights. No constituency remains within the bourgeoisie anywhere for the defence of even the most fundamental rights. The only progressive alternative is the independent political mobilisation of the working class, on the basis of a socialist program, to conquer state power. New forms of genuine democracy—arising in the course of revolutionary mass struggles by the working class, the vast majority of the population—will become the foundations for workers’ governments, committed to world socialism, that is, to peace, justice and social equality for all.
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This study determined the overall acceptability, sensory characteristics, functional properties, and nutrient content of cakes made using chia (Salvia hispanica L) gel as a replacement for oil or eggs. Chia gel was used to replace 25%, 50%, and 75% of oil or eggs in a control cake formulation. Seventy-five untrained panelists participated in rating cakes on a seven-point hedonic scale. Analysis of variance conducted on the sensory characteristics and overall acceptability indicated a statistically significant effect when replacing oil or eggs for color, taste, texture, and overall acceptability (P<0.05). Post hoc analysis (using Fisher's least significant difference method) indicated that the 25% chia gel cakes were not significantly different from the control for color, taste, texture, and overall acceptability. The 50% oil substituted (with chia gel) cake, compared to control, had 36 fewer kilocalories and 4 g less fat per 100-g portion. Cake weight was not affected by chia gel in the formulation, although cake volume was lower as the percentage of substitution increased. Symmetry was generally not affected. This study demonstrates that chia gel can replace as much as 25% of oil or eggs in cakes while yielding a more nutritious product with acceptable sensory characteristics.
2010 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
BJCC officials say plans for outdoor stadium on hold Share Shares Copy Link Copy
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WEBVTT WVTM 13'S JEFF ELIASOPH HAS THEPROGRESS REPORT.REPORTER: THIS IS WHAT ANOUTDOOR VENUE IN DOWNTOWNBIRMINGHAM COULD LOOK LIKE.>> WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A45,000 SEAT STADIUM.IT WILL COST ANYWHERE BETWEEN$150 MILLION TO $175 MILLION.YOU HAVE TO HAVE MONEY.>> IT IS GOING TO REQUIREPUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS WITHTHE COMMUNITY, UAB, THE CITY OFBIRMINGHAM AND JEFFERSON COUNTY.REPORTER: THEY ARE WILLIAM BELLHAS EXPRESSED SUPPORT FOR THEPROJECT IN THE PAST BUT NEXTMONTH'S ELECTION PUT THINGS IN AHOLDING PATTERN.>> IT DOES, BUT NO MATTER WHO ISELECTED, YOU WOULD THINK THAT APROJECT SUCH AS THIS WOULD BEGOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY.REPORTER: ADDING NEW INTERESTAND URGENCY TO THE PROJECT, THERETURN OF UAB FOOTBALL INSEPTEMBER.WHEN IT RESUMES, THEY WILLBE PLAYING AT THE OLDGRAY LADY LEGION FIELD, WHICHOPEN FOR BUSINESS 90 YEARS AGOTHIS FALL.UAB WOULD BE A KEY LESSEE IN AMODERN STADIUM, BUT THE IDEA ISTO BRING IN MAJOR CONCERTS ANDOTHER EVENTS, LIKE SOCCER ANDMONSTER TRUCK SHOWS.THE BJCC SAYS THE EXISTINGFACILITIES PROVIDE A QUARTER OF$1 BILLION OF ECONOMIC IMPACT TOTHE AREA EVERY YEAR, BUT NEEDRENOVATION AND EXPANSION AFTER40 YEARS.>> IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN?>> I THINK IT WILL.REPORTER: BUT THERE IS NOTIMETABLE.STAKEHOLDERS INCLUDINGBIRMINGHAM NEED TO COME FORWARDIN THE MONTHS AND YEARSFOLLOWING AUGUST ELECTIONS.GUY: WE REACHED OUT TO SEVERALOF THE BIRMINGHAM MAYORALCANDIDATES, INCLUDING MAYORBELL.ONLY ONE RESPONDED.RANDALL WOODFIN SAYS HE'S NOTOPPOSED TO THE STADIUM, BUT HEIS OPPOSED TO USING TAXPAYER |
Tabletop RPGs are a niche hobby here. There aren’t a lot of players to begin with, and those who play sometimes fade out of the scene due to real-life commitments. It’s also difficult to get new players (and game masters) because of how obscure the hobby can be.
Quickstarts are, IMO, a great way to rope in new players. They come with the bare minimum rules with most of the complex layers stripped away, and so are easy to learn. They also have almost everything one would need to play right off the bat, barring dice/cards and the actual players; pre-gen characters are usually included, as are introductory adventures. Finally, most are free.
There are many Quickstarts, and I can’t claim to have tried most of them. I have however looked through and played a number. There are many good ones, but to keep things brief, I’ve shortlisted 5 of them based on the criteria of ease for new players and aesthetics (art, layout and length). The choices also differ in theme and gameplay mechanics, so there’s something for everyone. Without further ado, they are:
Savage Worlds is one of the most popular systems out there now. I like it a lot – it’s easy for the GM to run, and for players the narrative flows really quickly, living up to the “Fast, Furious, Fun” catchphrase. Savage Worlds is also good for introducing new players to the hobby as it strikes a middle ground between the simulationist and narrativist style of gameplay.
I prefer the 2015 Test Drive to the 2012 one because the art and formatting are more pleasing to the eye. The adventure also seems to be more interesting and well-paced (I stress on the word ‘seems’ because I haven’t run either of them, only read through), even though I’m not a huge fan of Fritz Leiber’s works. Regardless of which one you go with, the rules mostly remain the same (2015’s version uses new rules for Shaken), and as such, either one will make a good candidate if you want to make it your first ever RPG played/run.
Scarlet Heroes can be played with only 2 people in the group – 1 GM, 1 Player. This makes it really easy to run. Don’t have a fixed gaming group? No problem, you only need one player anyway. The rules are mechanically simple and are similar to old-school games, but with some added nuggets like the Fray die. The Quickstart itself facilitates the entry of new players by keeping things clear and concise. It’s overall a very good game to pick up if you want to see what the hobby has to offer (including some of its roots).
Swords & Wizardry (hereafter abbreviated S&W) was one of the first few RPGs I’d ever read. It is almost a direct clone of 0e Dungeons & Dragons’ rules by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, which means it’s a cinch to pick up and play. The quickstart makes this even easier. Most of the rules are condensed, so new players won’t be scared off by tables and charts, and even though there are no pre-generated characters, it’s easy to roll one up. Art is sparse but nice, and the layout is functional, making text easy to read. Finally, there’s an included adventure which is simple to run
After players have cleared The Dungeon of Akban, they can move on to the full set of rules by downloading the Complete core rulebook for absolutely no charge at all. One thing to note is that there are some discrepancies between the core and Quickstart rules, due to both being done by different authors and the Quickstart being built off an older version of S&W, but it should not pose much of a problem.
Mongoose Traveller is a sci-fi game with highly modular rules, including augmentations and interstellar travel. This means it can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. I love the system. Combat, especially infantry, can be fast and deadly, while there is a great deal of character customisation options. Book 0 only takes the bare minimum of rules from the entire set. You can’t play out ship battles but on-foot combat is fine, and there are lists of basic items that one can purchase across several adventures.
However, those aren’t the only reasons why Book 0 is on this list, especially because there are no pre-generated characters or even an included adventure. No, the reason why it’s included is simply because character creation is actually an experience on its own, and will surely be an eye-opener for some. Half of the quickstart is dedicated to character creation. For those who have never tried rolling characters in Traveller, give it a shot. You never know what kind of character you’ll end up with, as not many games have you almost killing your character before an actual game session even starts.
While all the above recommendations are streamlined in some form from their core rulebooks, they still have a few added layers of complexity that may be challenging for first-time GMs. OneDice does not, and is as easy to pick up as its name implies. To perform a task, you roll a d6 and add the score from a relevant ability and skill, then compare it against the target number (or another player’s score if it’s against his/her character) to see if you succeed.
Also, at only 44 pages long, the basic rules only take up 25 pages (p.5 to p.29), including examples of play. But wait, Savage Worlds Test Drive only hits 15 pages, so OneDice Quickstart should take longer to finish reading, right? Well, while Savage Worlds Test Drive 2015 crams about 500 words per page, OneDice Quickstart only does 200. It’s that easy to digest in one reading session.
OneDice Quickstart can be downloaded for free, but it’s also on a pay-what-you-want pricing scheme, so if you like it, do consider dropping Cakebread & Walton a dollar or two or picking up OneDice Universal 🙂
There’s something for everyone
It took a while to write up this list as I had to look through my library of games and pick out those that I thought met the criteria of having easy and/or interesting gameplay mechanics, but I hope it’s of use to budding players and GMs. Of course, given the extensive selection of games out there, I also hope it will expose existing players to less well-known games.
On a final note, this is by no means an exhaustive list, as there were several other quickstarts that I was tempted to add to the list but didn’t (e.g. Basic Role-Playing/Call of Cthulhu, Eclipse Phase). Let me know your thoughts on the quickstarts mentioned; in particular I’d very much like to hear from those of you who’ve played or read any of them before. Please also don’t hesitate to share if there’s a quickstart that you’ve played before that’s not on the list. As always, have a good week ahead and happy gaming!
-Jim
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Beijing: China has lodged a diplomatic protest after US President-elect Donald Trump broke with decades of diplomatic protocol by holding direct talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
But Beijing also sought to play down the significance of the 10-minute telephone call held between Mr Trump and Ms Tsai on Friday, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi blaming the exchange on Taiwan's "petty action" while noting the White House's immediate affirmation of the so-called one-China policy.
"The one-China policy is the bedrock of the healthy development of Sino-American relations," Mr Wang told reporters at an academic forum in Beijing on Saturday. "We do not wish to see this political foundation meet with any disruption or damage."
China's foreign ministry said Saturday it had lodged "stern representations" with what it described as the "relevant US side", without elaborating specifically whether this included the Trump transition team directly. It urged the careful handling of the Taiwan issue to avoid any unnecessary disturbances in ties. |
Champion's choice? No more.
Since the last bare-knuckle days of the 1880's, when boxers began protecting their hands with leather mittens, it had been the privilege of the champion and his promoter to select the brand of gloves that were to be used in the ring.
But this ritual changed in March, when officials at the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the nation's leading regulatory agency, voted unanimously to allow each fighter to choose his own brand of gloves -- provided the brands of gloves are not specified in a contract.
Some states have followed suit, and fighters are looking to take advantage. For tomorrow night's super-lightweight title fight, Arturo Gatti will use Everlast gloves, made in Moberly, Mo., and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will box with Winning gloves, made outside of Tokyo.
The differences in the gloves are distinct and range from the quality of leather to the location of the padding and stitch work.
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Rules mandate that a glove weigh no more than eight ounces for matches under 154 pounds and 10 ounces for all other matches above that limit. But there are no rules that mandate where the weight within the glove should be distributed. After bruising his hands in his defeat of Gianluca Branco in January 2004, Gatti switched his preferred glove from Cleto Reyes, a Mexican brand that uses a significant percentage of horsehair, to Everlast, which abandoned horsehair three years ago for high-density foam. |
Scheme's numbers are not like the rest of its library. They're older, and they're mostly borrowed from other languages (Maclisp and Common Lisp), so they follow those languages' style rather than Scheme's. They're designed more for the convenience of users than of theorists; they have a usefully complete feature set; they have a printed representation; their operations are predefined and polymorphic and have very short names.
What would Scheme be like if numbers followed the same style as the rest of the language?
It would be necessary to import a library before using any numbers.
(import (scheme numbers))
Numeric constants would be provided as functions returning the constant, apparently because the section of RNRS they appear in is called “Standard Procedures”. Only the most basic constants would be provided; pi would not be among them.
(define (exact-rational-zero) (make-exact-rational (exact-integer-zero) (exact-integer-one)))
Numbers would have no printed representation. Creating them would require explicit constructor calls.
There would be no polymorphism. Most operations would include a type in their name.
(define (factorial n) (if (exact-integer<=? n (exact-integer-one)) (exact-integer-one) (exact-integer-multiply! (factorial (exact-integer-subtract n (exact-integer-one))) n)))
The distinction between exact and inexact numbers would still be supposedly “orthogonal to the dimension of type”. But the lack of polymorphism would make it even more obvious that in practice exactness was simply one of the type distinctions: that between floats and everything else.
Floating-point numbers would be called “inexact rationals”. Their constructor would take a numerator and denominator, just like exact rationals; their floating-point representation would be considered an implementation detail. Various details of the specification would be inconsistent with IEEE floating point.
NaN would not be a number, of course. inf.0 and -inf.0 would be exact transfinite numbers, not inexact rationals. There would be no negative zero.
Names would be descriptive, like inexact-rational-square-root and exact-integer-greatest-common-divisor .
There would be exact-integer->list and list->exact-integer operations to convert to and from lists of digits (in arbitrary bases). Converting the lists into strings would be up to you. Converting anything other than exact integers to strings would also be up to you.
Numbers would be portably mutable. Some operations would have destructive versions. (If we did this exercise on Python, some would have only destructive versions.) Racket would omit these, supposedly to make optimization easier, but would have separate mutable numbers for programs that need them.
Operations more obscure than exponent would be left to SRFIs. Users would be able to choose between the widely supported SRFI and the complete SRFI.
exact-integer-divide would not be provided, on the grounds that it's not defined for all integers, and can't be implemented efficiently without special hardware.
There would be a portable way to use exact integers as indexes into lists, but not into vectors or strings. This would be remedied in R7RS.
Some implementations would support surprisingly obscure and practical floating-point operations, while omitting basic operations their authors never needed.
(define (numerically-stable? thunk tolerance) "Run a floating-point computation with various rounding modes to see if this significantly changes the result. This is not a reliable test of numeric stability, but it's an easy way to find bugs." (let ((down (call-with-rounding-mode round-down thunk)) (up (call-with-rounding-mode round-up thunk)) (nearest (call-with-rounding-mode round-to-nearest thunk)) (zero (call-with-rounding-mode round-to-zero thunk)) (roughly-equal? (lambda (a b) (inexact-rational<=? (inexact-rational-absolute-value (inexact-rational-subtract a b)) tolerance))))) (and (roughly-equal? down up) (roughly-equal? down nearest) (roughly-equal? down zero) (roughly-equal? up nearest) (roughly-equal? up zero) (roughly-equal? nearest zero)))
There would be debates about whether eq? should “work” on numbers. This would really be about whether numeric operations should always return fresh numbers, and whether the compiler would be allowed to copy them, but no one would mention these merely implementational issues.
eqv? and equal? would compare numbers, even immutable ones, by identity. Hashtables would — OK, standard Scheme doesn't have hashtables. But if it did, the default hash function would hash numbers by identity, not by value.
Arithmetic overflow would still be “a violation of an implementation restriction”. There would still be no way to find out how large a number could safely be.
There would still be no bitwise operations on integers. Schemers who understood the purpose would advise using an implementation that supports bitvectors instead of abusing numbers. Those who did not would say they're easy to implement.
(define two (exact-integer-add (exact-integer-one) (exact-integer-one))) (define (exact-integer-bitwise-and a b) (list->exact-integer (map exact-integer-minimum (exact-integer->list a two) (exact-integer->list b two))))
Complex numbers would, mercifully, be left to a SRFI. The SRFI number would be real, but in most implementations complex-number support would be purely imaginary.
All the comparison predicates would end in ? .
Edit: Replaced some stray uses of <= and + and min with their counterfactual-Scheme equivalents.
In the HN comments, cousin_it says:
We can see similar examples in other languages, e.g. C++ strings are "like C++" and a pain to use, while Java strings are "not like Java" and a pleasure to use. Maybe language design really isn't about general-purpose elegance, but about finding good special-purpose solutions.
Or about using the good general-purpose solutions you already have. |
SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes midfielders Cordell Cato, Anibal Godoy and Alberto Quintero, and defenders Kip Colvey and Shaun Francis have all been called to their respective national teams. Cato, Godoy, Quintero and Colvey will each compete in a pair of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, while Francis will play in a single Caribbean Cup qualifier.
Cato will join the Trinidad and Tobago National Team from Nov. 5-16 and will compete against Costa Rica at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Trinidad on Nov. 11 and against Honduras in Honduras on Nov. 15.
Cato, 24, has made 19 prior appearances for T&T, scoring three goals. In his MLS career, Cato has tallied seven goals and nine assists in 104 games played. He made 15 starts in 21 total appearances in 2016 for the Quakes.
Colvey will connect with the New Zealand All-Whites for two matches against New Caledonia. New Zealand hosts the island nation at QBE Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand on Nov. 12, before traveling to New Caledonia for their second meeting at Yoshida Stadium on Nov. 15.
Colvey, 22, was the Earthquakes’ third-round SuperDraft selection in 2016 (No. 49 overall) and made three starts in four total appearances for the club this season, tallying one assist. His most recent appearance for the All-Whites was a 90-minute performance in a 1-1 draw against the United States.
Francis joins the Jamaica National Team for a third-round Caribbean Cup qualifying match against Suriname on Nov. 13. The match, which was originally scheduled for Oct. 5, got postponed due to safety concerns surrounding Hurricane Matthew.
Francis, 29, has scored two goals in seven prior appearances for Jamaica since his international debut in 2010. During his seven-year MLS career, Francis has tallied five assists in 90 games played, and made 17 starts for San Jose this season.
Godoy and Quintero link up with the Panama National Team for a pair of Hexagonal World Cup qualifiers. After taking on Honduras at Estadio Olympico in San Pedro Sula on Nov. 11, Panama returns home to host Mexico on Nov. 15 at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City.
Godoy, 26, started all 23 games he appeared in for San Jose in 2016, tallying one goal and two assists. He has scored one goal in 66 previous appearances for Panama.
Quintero, 28, appeared in 30 matches (29 starts) this season for the Quakes after joining the team on loan from Lobos BUAP in February. Quintero finished with three goals and four assists during his debut season with the club and has made 74 prior appearances with the Panama National Team, scoring four goals. |
Elderly South Korean women practice TaeKwonDo on February 9, 2006 in Incheon, South Korea. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images A startup in South Korea is making headlines for only hiring staff that are aged 55 years and over.
Channel NewsAsia reports the founder of content monitoring company EverYoung established the rule to prove the futility of age discrimination - a phenomenon that's reportedly prevalent in modern Korean corporate culture.
Employees at EverYoung monitor blog content on Korean web portal Naver and detect sensitive information on Naver Maps, as well as perform other IT tasks, including running coding classes for school students.
The Seoul startup, which has 420 seniors from a variety of career backgrounds working for it, mandates a 10-minute break for every 50 minutes of work, and staff are rostered on four-hour shifts.
Manager Kim Seong-Kyu told ChannelNews Asia that older employees have an attention to detail not as common in the younger workforce, with distracting mobile phones stored away during work time.
"They are full of passion. The time that they have, and their interest in this work, are primarily why they come to work," he said.
Read the full article at ChannelNews Asia» |
The Rev Rachel Mann claims that the much-maligned form of music demonstrates the “liberative theology of darkness”, allowing its tattooed and pierced fans to be more “relaxed and fun” by acknowledging the worst in human nature.
She says that by contrast, churchgoers can appear too sincere and take themselves too seriously.
The priest admits that many will be “concerned” about metal lyrics praising Satan and mocking Christianity, but insists it is just a form of “play-acting”.
Miss Mann, priest-in-charge of St Nicholas’s, Burnage, writes in this week’s Church Times : “Since Black Sabbath effectively created it in 1969 by using the dissonant sound of the medieval ‘Devil’s chord’, heavy metal has been cast as dumb, crass, and on, occasions satanic; music hardly fit for intelligent debate, led alone theological reflection.
“And yet, as both priest and metal musician and fan, it strikes me that the Church, especially at this agonized time, has a serious gospel lesson to learn from this darkest and heaviest music.”
Miss Mann says that heavy metal songs, characterized by distorted guitar sounds, “intense” beats and “muscular” vocals, are “unafraid to deal with death, violence and destruction”.
Its “predominantly male and white” fans “generally like tattoos and piercings” but are “graceful, welcoming and gentle”.
“The music’s willingness to deal with nihilistic and, on occasion, extremely unpleasant subjects seems to offer its fans a space to accept others in a way that shames many Christians.
“Metal’s refusal to repress the bleak and violent truths of human nature liberates its fans to be more relaxed and fun people”.
She goes on to claim that “metal has no fear of human darkness” and while some Christians are similarly unafraid, “many are yet to discover its potential as a place of integration”.
Miss Mann quotes lyrics by the famous thrash metal band Slayer that describe Christianity as an “abortion” and state: “I’ll take the devil any day, hail Satan.”
But she claims: “Much of metal’s fascination with Satan or evil is play-acting, driven by a desire to shock.
“Metal invites Christianity to be less afraid of wildness and the ridiculous.”
She says metal festivals such as Sonisphere, where she saw Iron Maiden play last month, are modern versions of the Feast of Fools held in England in the middle ages, where “excess and anarchy” were allowed for a day.
Miss Mann says she worries that Anglicans have made their faith “too reasonable and ordered” rather than passionate.
“I am not suggesting that as Christians we have all had a humour bypass, but we are inclined to take ourselves too seriously even when we are having fun.”
There have been Christian heavy metal bands, such as the 1980s American act Stryper and the more recent Evanescence, but few have enjoyed much critical acclaim or crossover success.
By contrast many of the biggest heavy metal artists have used anti-Christian or satanic imagery in their lyrics and album covers.
In the 1990s, followers of Norway’s “black metal” scene went further by burning dozens of churches. |
A senior commander of the powerful Haqqani militant network has been killed in a US drone strike in north-west Pakistan, officials say.
Sangeen Zadran, named on US and UN blacklists, was among five killed when missiles were fired at a house in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border.
The Haqqani group are known for carrying out attacks in Afghanistan.
The Taliban told the AP news agency he was still alive. But other reports said his funeral had taken place.
Officials told the BBC that the militant's funeral had been held in the regional capital of Miranshah and was attended by many.
He also held the position of "shadow governor " of the Afghan province of Paktika, and reports say the Taliban nominated his brother, Bilal Zadran, to replace him in that post.
Profile: Sangeen Zadran Sangeen Zadran came from the same sub-clan as the Haqqani network's leader Jalaluddin Haqqani. With the trust of the Haqqanis and very high-level military training, he was soon elevated to a top leadership position in the organisation. He was operational leader in South and North Waziristan and a top military commander in Afghanistan. Instrumental in managing disputes in Pakistan's tribal region, Zadran mediated between warring factions in the Taliban movement too. His death will be considered a big blow but experts say nobody in the network is irreplaceable. Source: FATA Research Centre
Experts say the 45-year-old was viewed as a senior militant leader in both countries and that he is a big loss to the Haqqani group although not irreplaceable.
In 2011, the US state department added him to its list of specially designated global terrorists, claiming he orchestrated the kidnappings of Afghans and foreigners in the rugged and violent border area.
He has also been identified as the man who kidnapped a US soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, four years ago - the only known American soldier currently held by Afghan insurgents.
The US has blamed the Haqqani network for a series of high-profile attacks in the border regions in recent years.
'Extrajudicial killings'
Pakistan's foreign ministry condemned Friday's drone strike as a violation of its sovereignty.
This was the second strike in a week, and the attacks caused the loss of innocent civilian lives and continued to affect US-Pakistan relations, the ministry added.
There have been fewer strikes in recent years, but Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has demanded an end to all attacks.
The Haqqani network has been described by US military commanders as one of the most resilient militant groups operating in Afghanistan.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan has led the anti-drone protests in Pakistan
It is believed to be based in Pakistan along the volatile and porous border and regularly attacks US forces in Afghanistan from its mountain bases in Pakistan.
Mr Sharif has called for a joint strategy to stop US drone strikes.
The issue is hugely controversial in Pakistan, where parts of the government and military have often been accused of criticising the use of drones in public, but co-operating in private.
It is estimated that between 2004 and 2013, CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed up to 3,460 people - although this figure will not include the very latest strikes.
About 890 of them were civilians and the vast majority of strikes were carried out by the Obama administration, research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism said.
Earlier this year, Mr Obama called the strikes part of a legitimate campaign against terrorism, but he also pledged more programme transparency and stricter targeting rules. |
Hilary Butler - Tuesday, June 25, 2013
But not the "actual flu" mind you. The one that everyone thinks is the flu when it's not the flu. Now, let's be precise. The Herald yesterday had this bizarre piece (pdf) which treads new ground.
For once, we are told a bit of truth. Very selective truth.
"Thankfully, there is still very little actual influenza circulating in the community, although we are seeing other respiratory viral infections, including common colds," the NISG virologist said.
"We know people often mistake them for influenza. They may have some similar symptoms but they're not the same disease."
"lying by omission"
People with underlying medical conditions risked serious illness, hospitalisation and even death if they contracted the flu, Dr Jennings warned, and those at greatest risk from flu complications should be immunised as soon as possible.
About 1.2 million people have already received the vaccination, which poses no risk of causing the actual flu , Dr Jennings said.
"The ACTUAL flu"?
most people won't get their head out of the pavement
"actual"
"actual"
are CAUSED by having received the influenza vaccine.
Prediction:
Real Guys Immunise. |
Written by By Alexandra Larkin, CNN
Vogue has been around for 125 years, but critics say not all that much has changed.
The iconic magazine's March cover celebrates "the modern American woman" by featuring models of different ethnicities, skin tones and body types.
But readers aren't convinced. Across social media, they're criticizing Vogue for staying inside the fashion industry's narrow parameters.
With Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Ashley Graham, Vittoria Ceretti, Imaan Hammam, Adwoa Aboah and Liu Wen on the cover, the magazine certainly has star power.
However, Graham is the only plus-size model, and all of the models have relatively light skin tones. In addition, Vogue has been accused of altering Hadid's hand in the photo to cover up Graham's stomach.
Graham responded on Instagram : "I chose to pose like that. No one told me to do anything."
In the cover story , Maya Singer writes, "In a climate of immigration bans and building walls, the biggest names in 2017 make the case that there isn't just one type of American girl — nor has there ever been."
Some of the models that graced the cover speak out in the story about the challenges they have faced and the platform Vogue has given them.
Liu Wen, the first Asian woman to grace American Vogue's cover, says, "Many Asian models now have incredible recognition and success at home first, and then they start booking jobs internationally. I think this stems, in part, from the rise of social media, which is connecting societies... and changing all of our perspectives.
In the story, Graham reminds readers, "Sixty-seven percent of the women in America wear a size 14 or larger... Maybe you could ignore those consumers before, but now, thanks to social media, they're making their voices heard... What they want is to be visible."
Readers have taken to Twitter and Instagram to express their disappointment and anger over the attempted diversity.
One commenter wrote, "You had such a great chance here and I've never been more disappointed. I hope that in the future you'll finally start taking a chance on women that represent real bodies and real standards." |
This article is over 3 years old
Edgar Latulip was reported missing in 1986 but recently began having memory flashes that made him believe he was living under the wrong name
A Canadian man who disappeared three decades ago and was believed dead will be reunited with his family after recovering some of his memory, police said Friday.
Edgar Latulip was reported missing in 1986 from the Waterloo region of Ontario and suffered a head injury. Constable Phil Gavin said Latulip went on to live in the Niagara region for the next 30 years, but recently began having memory flashes that made him believe he was living under the wrong name.
Latulip shared his concerns with a social worker, who Googled his name and discovered that he was the subject of a longstanding missing person’s investigation.
Gavin said the 50-year-old Latulip’s identity has been confirmed through a DNA test, and police are preparing to help him make contact with his surviving relatives.
“I don’t think anyone that I’ve spoken to has heard of a case like this, other than a story made for TV,” Gavin said.
According to a profile in the Waterloo Region Record newspaper, Latulip was living in a group home at the time of his disappearance. The profile said he was developmentally delayed and functioned at the cognitive level of a child.
The mystery surrounding his disappearance took its toll on Latulip’s mother, according to the profile.
“This is always at the back of my mind. Having an answer would mean closure,” Silvia Wilson told the Record.
Gavin said it was not known how or when Latulip received his head injury, nor when his memory began to return.
Gavin said Latulip has much to process.
“There’s nerves,” he said. “You haven’t seen your family members in all these years, and now a reunification process. I think it’s a lot to take in.” |
The adviser to Ben Carson on national security who blasted him in a New York Times article Tuesday has a curious, intrepid past of his own, including connections to a private spy ring and an indictment in the Iran-Contra affair.
Duane Clarridge deeply embarrassed the Carson campaign when he told the Times that Carson may not be absorbing “one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East.” In the era of highly-scripted politics and blind quotes, a campaign adviser’s public disparagement of his own candidate is damning enough. But in Clarridge, Carson has found an adviser whose dubious tales of derring-do over the past 40 years are legendary and sometimes hilarious.
Clarridge has shown a uncanny ability to insinuate himself into scandals, cloak-and-dagger escapades, and assorted murky schemes on the fuzzy line between the real world and the clandestine one. His mere presence as a counselor to Carson is more evidence that the foreign policy neophyte has surrounded himself with an off-beat cadre of advisers.
Clarridge, now 83, was hired by the CIA roughly six decades ago. During his tenure at the agency, he rose through the ranks and served in top posts in Istanbul and Rome. In 1981, he was promoted to run the Latin American division of the agency. It was there that he became immersed in the Reagan administration’s long-running involvement in Nicaragua that culminated with the Iran-contra scandal.
Clarridge’s commitment to U.S. intervention is well documented. It has led him to defend the CIA’s tactics in Chile in the 1970s and the mining of Nicaraguan harbors in the 1980s.
“We will intervene whenever we decide it is in our national security interest to intervene,” Clarridge told Australian-born journalist John Pilger in a 2008 interview. “And if you don’t like it, lump it. Get used to it world. We are not going to put up with nonsense.”
In an interview archived by George Washington University, Clarridge divulged how he finally came up with the idea to place mines in Nicaraguan harbors. He told the interviewer, he was getting a lot of frustration from Washington to do something but he recounted that he had limited resources.
“Guerilla warfare experts will tell ya don’t hit the economic targets you make enemies of the people you need. I don’t believe, that’s not true, it maybe true in certain circumstances, but it is not an all encompassing rule, and everything needs to be looked at,” he said. “I knew we had ’em, we’d made ’em outta sewer pipe and we had the good fusing system on them and we were ready. And you know they wouldn’t really hurt anybody because they just weren’t that big a mine, alright? Yeah, with luck, bad luck we might hurt somebody, but pretty hard you know?”
In 1991 he was indicted in the Iran-Contra scandal for lying to Congress. His trial was never completed. In 1992 he was pardoned before George H.W. Bush left office.
From a Cold War spy, Clarridge transitioned into self-made operative in the war on terror.
The New York TImes reported as recently as 2011, that Clarridge was conducting a Middle East private spy ring from his home in Southern California.
Back then, the New York Times characterized Clarridge’s tips from spies on the ground from Pakistan to Afghanistan as “an amalgam of fact, rumor, analysis and uncorroborated reports” that he pushed “to military officials who, until last spring at least, found some credible enough to be used in planning strikes against militants in Afghanistan.” Once funded by money from the military, Clarridge managed to keep his network afloat with private donations after officials lost interest. He used the money to try and investigate “Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, in hopes of collecting beard trimmings or other DNA samples that might prove Mr. Clarridge’s suspicions that the Afghan leader was a heroin addict,” The Times reported.
In 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported Clarridge was using his own money to look at Saddam Hussein’s money ties to countries like France and Russia.
“It will be a huge bombshell if we can pull it off,” Clarridge said at the time.
In national security circles, Clarridge is seen as an off-beat privateer who walks the tightrope between sanctioned spy and citizen security activist. Still, he has taken on some high-profile clients, including the New York Times, who hired the company he worked for – American International Security Corporation – to help find and free kidnapped reporter David Rohde in 2008. Rohde managed to eventually escape from Taliban captivity, but according to a report from Gawker, someone who worked with him said “Clarridge was inflating his role in facilitating Rohde’s escape in an effort to justify AISC’s enormous fees.”
Carson’s reliance on Clarridge as an adviser – no matter how limited – speaks to the former neurosurgeon’s newness to politics. While Clarridge confided in the Times that Carson “need[s] to have a conference call once a week” to “make him smart,” the Carson campaign immediately rushed to downplay Clarridge’s role in the campaign, going so far as to portray him as a old man who was being taken advantage of by the Times.
Armstrong Williams- a confident of Carson’s–told Business Insider that Clarridge is just one of many foreign policy advisers Carson relies on and that the two men have only sat down for briefings twice. Armstrong told the outlet that Carson and Clarridge have communicated via the phone four times.
“Clarridge’s input to Dr. Carson is appreciated but he is clearly not one of Dr. Carson’s top advisers,” the campaign said in a statement Tuesday. “For The New York Times to take advantage of an elderly gentleman and use him as their foil in this story is an affront to good journalistic practices.”
In a final twist, the New York Times reporter whose story of Clarridge blasting Carson put the old CIA hand back in the news told the Washington Post that he obtained Clarridge’s name from none other than Williams himself. |
The Vermont senator said the President had spent the weekend golfing with his 'billionaire friends': CNN
Bernie Sanders has condemned Donald Trump over his tweets criticising the mayor of hurricane-struck San Juan, saying: “It’s unspeakable. I don’t know what world Trump is living in”.
Over the weekend, and 10 days after Hurricane Maria left 95 per cent of Puerto Rico without electricity and 50 per cent of its residents without drinking water, the President stepped up his attacks on the mayor of its capital city, Carmen Yulin Cruz, after she asked for more help, saying that people were dying.
During a fussilade of 21 tweets published on Saturday, and more on Sunday morning, Mr Trump sought to claim the federal government was responding to the crisis and that critics were politically motivated or else influenced by the “fake news media”.
RT cnnbrk "RT CNNPolitics: Sen. Bernie Sanders on the President’s tweets on Puerto Rico: “I don’t know what world … https://t.co/8xqfxtMR6A" — Rik Knives (Riki) (@rikknives) October 1, 2017
“We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico. Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates…..people are now starting to recognise the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great military,” he said.
Mr Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic primary and who many believe may have beaten Mr Trump in the general election, said the President had spent the weekend tweeting from his “fancy golf club”, while the mayor of San Juan was trying to secure food, water, fuel and electricity for her residents.
“It’s unspeakable and I don’t know what world Trump is living in,” Mr Sanders told CNN.
“The people of Puerto Rico are suffering one of the worst disasters in the history of that island, and we all have to do everything we can to help them.”
He added: “We all have to remember the people of Puerto Rico are American citizens and entitled to the same help as any other community in America.”
The comments of the former mayor of Burlington, whom some believe may launch a presidential bid in 2020, came as Mr Trump scoffed at what he called the “politically motivated ingrates” who had questioned his administration’s commitment to rebuilding Puerto Rico.
The President’s attack, launched from his private golf club in New Jersey, came as American military on the ground in Puerto Rico admitted the situation was unacceptable and they were struggling to transport supplies of water, food, water and fuel to remote locations on the island of 3.5m people.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz on Friday accused the Trump administration of “killing us with the inefficiency”. She begged the President, who is set to visit Puerto Rico next week to “make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives” and appealed for help “to save us from dying”.
On Saturday, Mr Trump had tweeted: “Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help.”
He added: “They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.”
We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico. Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates,... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017
Mr Trump is due to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday with the First Lady. Ms Cruz, the mayor of San Juan said “of course”, she would meet with the President if he asked for a meeting.
Ohio’s Republican governor John Kasich, who challenged Mr Trump for the Republican nomination last year, also voiced criticism of the President’s comments.
“It’s not appropriate. I mean, when people are in the middle of the disaster, you don't start trying to criticising them,” he said. “I just - I don’t know what to say.”
The Associated Press said thousands more Puerto Ricans had received water and rationed food as an aid bottleneck has begun to ease. But many, especially outside the capital, remain desperate for necessities, including water, power and fuel.
The Trump administration has tried to combat the perception that it failed to quickly grasp the magnitude of Maria’s destruction and has given the US commonwealth less attention than it did to states such as Texas, Louisiana and Florida after they were hit by hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Also appearing on CNN, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney defended Mr Trump’s tweets and said he interpreted them as the President trying to explain how how difficult the storm relief efforts were.
He said: “I think it’s unfair to say we haven’t done everything we can because we have done everything that we can and will continue to do so.” |
Image: Richard Schneider/Flickr
On mountain ranges across the world, a small group of extreme athletes have been taking to the skies in specially-designed bodysuits to test the limits of unpowered human flight. These men and women will hike to altitudes nearly a kilometer high, only to hurl themselves from steep mountain top cliffs and fly across the terrain below.
The wingsuits they wear boast a set of wings to help maintain stability and maneuver while in the air until they finally deploy a parachute. Nevertheless, the sport is considered one of the most dangerous in the world—and over 72 percent of flyers have personally witnessed a fellow athletes final flight.
But with the sacrifices of their colleagues always at the back of their minds, a new generation of wingsuit pilots are exploring the potential for new technologies and techniques to help them fly farther, faster and safer than ever before.
"My ultimate goal? I want to fly my wingsuit on the moon, man!" Jokke Sommer told me only half-jokingly. Sommer, who is sponsored by Red Bull, is one of the sport's top stars—helped in no small part by his GoPro, and the videos he uploads to Youtube.
"When I made my first wingsuit jump 15 years ago, the suits were horrid"
Nowadays, athletes such as Sommer can begin controlled flight almost immediately, whereas achieving such control previously required a freefall of over 300 metres. Once in control, a wingsuiter can dive down mountain couloirs for between 2-3 minutes, at speeds in excess of 160 mph—while the inevitability of death stares up from six feet below.
The suits athletes wear started out as tiny flaps attached to skintight suits, but have since morphed into huge wings that span the entire length of a wearer's outstretched arms. Flyers now resemble Batman when in full flight.
Matt Gerdes, the owner of Squirrel, a premier wingsuit manufacturer, has been at the forefront of advancing wingsuit technology. Thanks to Gerdes and others like Robert Pecnik of Phoenix Fly, the time and distance that it takes for these flyers to achieve flight has been dramatically reduced.
"When I made my first wingsuit jump 15 years ago, the suits were horrid," said Jason Moledzki, a veteran Canadian wingsuit pilot. "If you could jump off and stay away from the cliff, it was a miracle of flight."
"Now, you step off a cliff and you are flying instantly for minutes," Moledzki continued. "At no point do you ever fall straight downwards, you're immediately moving forward. When you nail it, you're flying straight away, moving forward and with excellent control. No one dreamed that was possible 15 years ago."
Gerdes said that's partially because suits have gotten much bigger. "As they have increased in surface area, we have made steps forward in reducing drag and increasing efficiency," he explained.
Ellen Brennan—another wingsuit athlete, and named one of the world's fastest women—swears by Squirrel wingsuits, and believes that re-engineering the leading edges of suits will produce even further unprecedented gains. "If we can get a stiff rigid edge, we can get a much higher glide ratio," Brennan explained.
Right now, for every three feet that a flyer moves forward down the mountain, they lose one foot of altitude, but in her opinion that will change soon.
"The tech of paragliders changed and they went from glide ratios of 4:1 to 10:1 in just a few years," Brennan said. She believes materials like elastomers—which are used in body armour, a type of soft rubber that becomes stiff on impact—will help get wingsuits there.
To complement these advances in wingsuit technology, Sommer took a cue from aircraft manufacturers and began practicing in wind tunnels too. He says he's actually teaching his body how to adapt to flight.
"Humans aren't made to fly, so it'll take us longer to build up that instinct," he told me. "We want to get our brains working perfectly together with our muscles so that we fly without thinking about it. I'm building muscle memory so my body is used to flying in small spaces. That's how I become very accurate."
His methodical approach to flying might disappoint some who buy into the stereotype that wingsuiters are crazy daredevils. But the opposite is in fact true. In order to compete in this sport, one needs to be an exceptional athlete possessing a similar set of skills to an F1 driver. The speeds are similar, as are the minute mental calculations and agility required to avoid crashing—except F1 drivers likely have it easier because at least they get to remain firmly planted on earth.
Moledzki even believes that wingsuits will soon come with wheels.
"When hang gliders come in they have lots of speed and reduce altitude until they get close to the ground," he explained. "Then they level off the flight, the same way an aircraft lands. They tilt up until they bleed off all the forward speed and when there's an opportune moment they pull up more aggressively until the force is reduced to a minimum. Then they drop to their wheels"—no parachute required.
"We'll need real landing strips," Moledzki continued, and "wheels and some sort of thrusters to help us pitch ourselves vertical to flare up and land. But I think it'll happen soon."
Nevertheless, no amount of training or advancements in technology will change the fact that wingsuiting is still an inherently dangerous sport—one of the most dangerous in the world. A 2012 study of the "demographic characteristics, injury rate, severity, and morbidity in BASE jumping "found that 72 percent of wingsuit flyers have witnessed a death, and 76 percent have had a "close call" themselves. All wingsuit deaths are listed on the BASE Jumping Fatality List for other flyers to study and learn from—a sombre but necessary reminder that wingsuit flights aren't to be taken lightly.
But if athletes and manufacturers are able to make further improvements to their bodies and their equipment, it may bring Jokke one step closer to his ultimate dream: "I want to fly like a bird," he said, laughing. "Some bird species basically play in the air all day long. You look at that, and it's just two birds having fun. They aren't flying around in a way that might kill them. They are just flying on instinct and having fun. That's what we want to do." |
Andy Murray’s management team confirmed that the British world Nr. 6 is going to marry his long time girl friend. Murray also splits with some of his coaching staff for a fresh start to the 2015 season.
It’s official, Andy Murray’s long time girlfriend, Kim Sears, accepted his marriage proposal – there is no word yet on when or where the couple is going to get married.
According to a statement from Murray’s website he continues to work with Amelie Mauresmo but splits with two of his coaches: Dani Vallverdu and fitness coach Jez Green.
We sat down at the end of the season and decided that a change would be best for all of us. My off season training and Australian Open preparations have already begun and I am very excited for the new year. I thank Jez and Dani for all their hard work over the years and wish them the best for the future. |
July 16, 2012 7:30 AM | Konstantinos Dimopoulos / Gnome
Never mind the zombies; here are the Vampires! Or, well, here's a Vampires! trailer that looks very promising indeed. There are, you see, definite hints of humour and some interesting visuals on show, whereas the core gameplay idea could turn out pretty brilliantly. Vampires will after all combine certain aspects of Lemmings with real-time board game mechanics, mainly involving the rotating of maze tiles and the thinking in puzzle solving ways, and I can't really see how something of the sort could fail to entertain.
Vampires! will launch for iOS and Android devices sometime during the third quarter of 2012 and will apparently be accompanied by a beefed-up PC version. You can watch said version's definitely more impressive trailer here. |
Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series about the declining participation in Texas' summer meals programs for students. You can read the first story here.
REKLAW — Clara Crawford tapped the horn three times. Seconds later, two young boys ran down the steps of their house, their mother waving goodbye from the porch.
Each summer, most days of the week, the 86-year-old Crawford drives a 1995 Ford cargo van 35 miles to gather up about 20 hungry children in Fairview, an unincorporated community in Rusk County, and the neighboring city of Reklaw. She takes them to a program she runs at a local community center where they can play basketball in the hot sun and get a full lunch plus a snack.
In this sparsely populated part of East Texas, where some houses don’t have regular access to potable water, for seven years Crawford and her blue van have been providing a summer lifeline to kids who otherwise might be home alone and without a healthy meal.
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The Texas Department of Agriculture administers a summer meals program providing federal reimbursement for school districts and nonprofits to give out meals to hungry children — but in recent years, the program has failed to draw students in, with July participation rates crashing by 20 percent in 2016.
Experts and even the state have had trouble pinpointing exactly why, but they cite lack of transportation as the main reason rural Texas kids can't reach free summer meals available at hundreds of locations across the state. The federal government does not compensate school districts or nonprofits for getting students to and from the free meal sites.
Which is why folks like Crawford who are willing to drive kids to those meals are so important. Despite the tight pickup schedule, Crawford sometimes finds herself waiting several minutes longer than planned outside a particular house, hoping a kid will hear the honks and rush out. Most of their parents are working, or are stuck at home with illnesses or disabilities, she said.
“I hate to not get them if they want to come,” she said, peering over the steering wheel anxiously. Every summer, she considers giving up on this volunteer chauffeur gig. She’s old and doesn’t need the extra stress. But then she wonders: Who else would do it?
The need for volunteers like Crawford goes beyond this corner of East Texas. In the tiny Panhandle town of Quitaque, residents also struggle to find summer volunteers to help provide food to hungry children after the local school had to end its program. Rural communities across the state face similar challenges.
In Texas, more than 4 million people don’t always know where their next meal will come from, often resorting to skipping meals, buying less food or choosing between buying food and paying other bills. Though it’s decreased over the years, the percentage of people at risk of hunger in Texas is significantly higher than the national average.
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Even in towns that have a summer meal program, “if a site’s half a mile from a kid’s home, they’re unlikely to walk up there, let alone five or 10 miles,” said Tim Butler, coordinator of child hunger programs at the East Texas Food Bank, which gets federal money to provide meals for program sponsors like Crawford who want to feed kids locally.
The food bank also pays for Crawford's gas and vehicle upkeep through a privately-funded "rural transportation grant." Without that extra financial boost, kids in Fairview might not make it to the community center.
The federal government used to offer similar transportation grants to rural organizations that sponsored free summer meal programs, but it ended them after 2008 when the funding ran out, calling them "cost inefficient" for supporting rural areas.
'It used to be a big community'
A lifelong Fairview resident, Crawford is related to many of the kids in the area, or knows them well enough that they're basically family. As she drove — never faster than a steady 45 miles per hour — she spun out the stories imprinted in the lush landscape crowded with pine trees. She pointed out the place where, at eight years old, she got paid $3 daily to plant tomatoes. The place where her dad drove a tractor on another man's farm. And all the empty places left by folks who moved to the cities.
“There used to be a lot of people here. Now they let their trailers rot here. It used to be a big community,” Crawford said ruefully.
Clara Crawford puts a milk carton on 6-year-old Jaylynn Uniqe's plate as Ethan Smallwood reaches for ketchup at the Fairview Community Center in Reklaw. Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune
Larger school districts in East Texas don't typically need someone like Crawford because they can usually offer their own programs, and sponsor others nearby. The East Texas Food Bank seeks to fill the smaller, more rural gaps across 26 counties and 20,000 square miles, in a region where one of every five adults and one in every four children is at risk of going hungry.
“There are tons of communities out there with little resources and low population,” Butler said.
Partnering with people like Crawford ensures the meal sites draw more kids, Butler said. “They know the people in the community. They know how to get something started. They know where the kids are.”
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Besides the 20 kids Crawford drives to the community center, two or three wander over on their own, chattering and playing while the adults start to hand out food. At 14, Erica McCuin is one of the oldest in the room. She ends up watching over the younger ones, sitting and joking with them as they bite into cheeseburgers with whole grain buns and pick seeds out of orange slices.
She’s visiting her aunt for the summer two towns over and said without the program, she’d end up hanging around her aunt’s house. “I’d sit down and watch TV or play on my phone,” she said.
McCuin's aunt, Savannah Williams, is one of three women who found out about the program through the local church and volunteer to run it. They said they're determined to keep it going after Crawford someday turns in her car keys.
Panhandle volunteers try to restart summer meals
While volunteers in East Texas fight to keep kids fed, volunteers more than 400 miles away in a small Panhandle town are trying to bring back summer meals after the local school shut its program down.
In Quitaque — recently proclaimed the bison capital of Texas for its proximity to a herd of the shaggy beasts in neighboring Caprock Canyons State Park — a third of the 478 residents lives below the poverty line, nearly double the state average, according to recent Census estimates.
Kay Calvert talks about the food pantry she founded, Tri-County Meals, which helps relieve food insecurity in rural towns around Quitaque, Texas. Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune
Kay Calvert wears a few hats for Quitaque, as a founder and president of the local emergency food pantry and assistant vice president at First National Bank. She’s working with a local teacher to apply for federal funding to start a summer meals site in Quitaque for local kids, to take some financial pressure off their parents.
Having lived in Quitaque most of her life, Calvert was ignorant of the depth of need in the community until she helped start the food pantry 13 years ago.
She fought back tears when she told the story of seeing a pair of young siblings cooking beans on the stove in a house otherwise empty of food. At another house, a volunteer for the pantry checked in on an elderly woman and found cat food in her fridge — and no cat in the house.
“I thought I knew our neighbors. I thought I knew everybody was OK,” she said. “Guess what? We don’t take care of our neighbors.”
Turkey-Quitaque ISD Superintendent Jackie Jenkins said the district stopped offering summer meals two years ago, around the same time it stopped hosting summer school for lack of funding. Before that, Jenkins drove a van taking kids home from summer school and bringing sandwiches and fruit to hungry kids who were not able to attend the summer classes. She knew parents were likely working in the fields and unable to drive kids even 10 miles to get lunch.
"We knew it would be hard for them to come out here, so we delivered them," Jenkins said. But the federal program that paid for the district's meal program didn't cover those transportation costs. Now the closest program is in Memphis, a town almost 50 miles to the northeast.
Local food pantry is a lifeline
It's not just students who need help getting fed. In Quitaque, where the tiny town center is surrounded by thousands of acres of red-dirt cotton fields, many residents are day laborers, cleaning homes and mowing yards in town or working on farms seasonally during the cotton harvest.
“There’s not enough work here in these small communities. But yet they want to raise their kids here because it’s the cheapest place they can live,” Calvert said. “They don’t want to go to the cities because they can’t survive in the cities.”
The local food pantry, Tri-County Meals, collaborates with the regional High Plains Food Bank to bring boxes of food each month to elderly people and families who are regularly deciding whether to pay for heat during the winter or buy groceries at the single store in town. The food bank trucks the food to an old fire station in Quitaque, and volunteers from three nearby towns haul it away for local distribution.
By noon, the floors and tables in the old station are piled high with boxes of all types of foods: organic baby spinach, bananas, croissants and other assorted breads, packages of Hamburger Helper (popular with the kids), giant frosted chocolate cakes.
Sage Cabellero loads a box onto a trailer for delivery to Silverton, Texas, a neighboring community in the Tri-County Meals network. Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune
The box of food Judy Myers and her brother Danny Barrett receive every month from the mobile food bank gets their family almost through the full 30 days. Myers, 55, a former prison employee, and Barrett, 57, a former mail carrier, both had to stop working because of chronic health problems. Myers has back and kidney issues; her brother suffers complications from diabetes.
They live together in a house that sits on 200 acres that's been in the family for nearly a century. Myers has about $1,700 in pension payments coming in each month, and they both are applying for disability benefits.
Last Christmas was “really black in our house,” Myers said, sitting on her back porch with two kittens napping at her feet. “We had nothing at the time to cook with.”
They got an emergency food delivery through Tri-County Meals. In January, when her daughter Breanna turned 12, Myers asked the food pantry for cupcakes so Breanna could hand them out to her classmates.
But during the summer, Breanna is home from school, and Myers babysits her 2-year-old grandson — two extra mouths to feed during the day. Myers said she wishes the school district was still giving out free food in the summer, to take some of the pressure off her wallet.
Local kindergarten and first-grade math teacher Shadi Buchanan is working with Calvert to re-start a summer meals program in Quitaque, applying for reimbursement from the federal government.
But first they need committed volunteers. Parents and teachers already serve several roles for the school district, transporting kids to sports practices or teaching four or five different grades of a subject, because the district can’t afford to hire additional employees.
“It takes us all to run this village, and I think sometimes it’s overwhelming to say, 'Here’s one more thing to do,'” she said.
Buchanan wants to run the program at two separate sites, one providing meals in Quitaque and the other in Turkey, so students don’t have to make the trek more than 10 miles to school for a free meal without a bus. Jenkins has her fingers crossed that enrollment will increase once school starts in late August since more students means more state money to spend on school programs.
In the meantime, Calvert and the rest of the team at the pantry will continue to serve as many families as possible, for as long as they have the money.
“They’re out there if we open our eyes and look. The need is out there,” Calvert said. “We can only do so much.” |
Hillary Clinton likely alienated voters when she said on the campaign trail in September that half of Donald Trump’s supporters were “deplorables,” her campaign manager has finally acknowledged.
“I think it definitely could have alienated some voters, and that’s why she got out there right away,” Mook admitted reluctantly in a forum discussion hosted earlier this week by CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Tapper, who aired the segment on his show on Sunday, had asked the failed campaign chief about an internal Clinton campaign study which found that Clinton’s Sept. 9 comment that “you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables” had a more negative impact on undecided voters than anything else during the campaign.
In the CNN forum, which was also attended by Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, Mook first downplayed Clinton’s remark.
“Did you realize at that time that that comment that she made was as potentially damaging as this one study by somebody who worked for our campaign says it was?” Tapper asked.
“Hillary apologized right away after that and said that she misspoke and that she regretted the comment. That’s something that Donald Trump wouldn’t do, you know,” Mook said.
But pressed by Tapper, Mook finally said that Clinton’s comment, which she made at an LGBT function, was alienating for some voters.
WATCH:
The internal study that Tapper cited during the forum was conducted by Diane Hessan. She was hired on special assignment by the Clinton campaign to help understand undecided voters.
In an op-ed in the Boston Globe, Hessan wrote that she made contact with 300 undecideds and kept in touch with 250 throughout the campaign.
After Clinton’s loss, Hessan said that she reviewed all of her notes given to her by the undecided voters.
“All hell broke loose,” she wrote of her sample’s response to Clinton’s “deplorables” comment.
She relayed comments from a participant named George who lives in Pennsylvania, which Trump narrowly won.
“George told me that his neighborhood was outraged, that many of his hard-working, church-going, family-loving friends resented being called that name,” Hessan wrote in the op-ed. “He told me that he looked up the word in the dictionary, and that it meant something so bad that there is no hope, like the aftermath of a tsunami. You know, he said, Clinton ended up being the biggest bully of them all.”
Hessan’s findings undercut the theory floated by Mook and other campaign alums that FBI director James Comey’s actions leading up to the election led to Clinton’s defeat. Mook has blamed Comey’s decision to send letters to Congress pertaining to the FBI’s Clinton email investigation for hurting the candidate at the polls.
While Mook now realizes that Clinton hurt her electoral chances with the “deplorables” remark, he embraced it himself during the campaign.
“I think a lot of the people that stand by Donald Trump are deplorable. And the things that they say are deplorable,” he said during an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd in October.
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A new online map aims to provide every British expat with the way to find their nearest British food shop.
The map uses Google’s powerful maps interface, meaning that users are able not just to look at the interactive map and discover British shops, but get directions there.
Butchers are represented by a pig, bakeries by a meat pie, and general food stores by a pot of marmite.
View the Ultimate Interactive Map of Great British Grub in a larger format and suggest additional locations
Potential customers can check addresses, websites and phone numbers of the businesses simply by clicking on the icon.
The map’s creators, expat financial information site Which Offshore, say they are responding to demand.
“We noticed there are loads of expats asking on forums where they can get British food products,” Which Offshore online editor Michael Brinksman told The Local.
“HP sauce, Branston Pickle, Monster Munch crisps, Curly Wurly chocolate bars; you name it.
“So a few of us got together and started compiling a list of British food stores around the world to make the expat search easier.”
While France and Spain are well covered for British expats, there are large areas of the map where British food seems to disappear.
Mr Brinksman said, “Spain and France seem to have the greatest number of British food shops but we want users in other parts of the world like Scandinavia and Eastern Europe to let us know of any other stores as the aim is to continue updating it.”
The team is asking for people to contribute new places to the map through its website. |
Dr. Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon and Republican candidate for president, appeared on the Mark Levin Show Tuesday night, and sounded the alarm about the threat of domestic Islamist groups that pose as moderate organizations.
“Our political correctness is what is going to be our undoing,” Carson told the conservative radio host.
During the Holy Land Foundation trials, in 2007 and 2008, which was the largest terror financing case in U.S. history, a government-produced “explanatory memorandum helped get a handle on what the Muslim Brotherhood and some of these other organizations are doing, and CAIR in particular,” Carson explained.
“They said in that document that it would be particularly easy to carry out ‘civilization jihad’ in America because our people would be so silly and … protecting the rights of the very people who are trying to subvert our system, to their own expense,” the famed retired neurosurgeon added.
Levin remarked, “You’re the only candidate taking on this group CAIR, which is to me a very troubling front group for Hamas and some of these other outfits. And you’re the only one out there pounding away at them.”
CAIR has been declared a terrorist organization in the United Arab Emirates and was named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in the foundation’s Hamas-funding operation.
Carson noted “the gravity of the situation and what the implications are for our country.”
Breitbart News has reported extensively on CAIR’s ties to radicalism.
An FBI chart that surfaced in December thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request depicted CAIR as a Hamas-related organization.
Frank Gaffney, the president and founder of the Center for Security Policy, said Carson made one the “most important” statements of the election cycle, for drawing attention to the issue at hand.
“Dr. Ben Carson has just made one of the most important statements of the 2016 presidential campaign. In an interview with Mark Levin last night, the GOP candidate called attention to a document known as “the Explanatory Memorandum” and observed that it lays out the Muslim Brotherhood secret plan for taking down our country,” Gaffney tells Breitbart News.
“Specifically, this Memorandum declares the Brotherhood’s mission in North America is “destroying Western civilization from within” and describes how this ambitious goal is being pursued through a variety of stealthy techniques,” he added.
Carson should be far from the only candidate speaking about this ever-important issue, the Center For Security Policy President said.
“Every other candidate to be our next Commander-in-Chief and every voter contemplating which one to hire for that job needs to acquaint themselves with this ominous plan, and learn how it has been successfully implemented over the past twenty-five years,” Gaffney concluded. |
Baltimore Ravens team president Dick Cass sent a letter to season-ticket holders, suite holders, and sponsors about the noticeable dip in attendance at games this season, and cited the team’s protest during the national anthem as one reason.
“The numbers [of no-shows] are higher, and it is noticeable,” Cass wrote. “There are a number of reasons for the no-shows, but surely the one-time protest in London has been a factor.”
In September a dozen Ravens players knelt during the national anthem before a game in London. The protest was the first in a days-long chain of protests that occurred across the NFL, after President Trump attacked NFL players for kneeling during the anthem.
“We have responded to your concerns about the protest by re-doubling the efforts of both the organization and our players to make the Baltimore area a better community,” Cass wrote. “We have also reached out to a number of you who wrote or called about the protest. I personally made a number of phone calls and met with some of you.”
The NFL’s ratings have fallen by nearly 20 percent since players started protesting during the national anthem two years ago.
Full letter from Cass below:
From Dick Cass, Team President
I am writing to thank you for your continued support of the Baltimore Ravens. You are an important part of who we are and what we have become.
Created over 22 seasons, our bonds with you are strong and deep. Our Ravens family is built on memories of great games, plays and people. That foundation includes you and Ravens players named Jonathan, Ray, Ed, Sizzle, Joe, Todd, Bart, Goose, Mac, Edwin and many others. Our cement is a pair of Super Bowls, the “Mile High Miracle,” the single-season best defense ever, and playoff wins in New England, Oakland and Pittsburgh, as well as memorable regular season victories at M&T Bank Stadium over Jacksonville, the Steelers and Seattle and the snow game against Minnesota.
All along, our organization and our players have volunteered to make our community better. That work continues almost daily and, certainly, weekly. We are especially proud of our current players’ commitment to make Baltimore a better place to live and work.
We are once again in a serious battle to make the playoffs. If we achieve that goal, it will be the seventh time in the last 10 years. But we know it has been an unusual season. A glut of injuries, especially on offense, had us struggling early to find both consistency and our identity.
We had the poor showing in London, complicated by the kneeling of a dozen players during the National Anthem. That became an emotional and divisive issue. We know that hurt some of you. Others saw it differently and welcomed the dialogue that followed. Others bluntly told us to keep statements and protests out of the game. There are some of you who have stayed away from our games.
We have had significant numbers of no-shows in the past when our play on the field has not met the high standard we and you have set for the Ravens. But this year has been different. The numbers are higher, and it is noticeable. There are a number of reasons for the no-shows, but surely the one-time protest in London has been a factor.
We have responded to your concerns about the protest by re-doubling the efforts of both the organization and our players to make the Baltimore area a better community. We have also reached out to a number of you who wrote or called about the protest. I personally made a number of phone calls and met with some of you. Some of my Ravens colleagues have also made a number of calls. While we have not been able to reach all of you, we have learned a lot from these interactions.
We want the Ravens to continue to be a strong, unifying force and source of pride in our community. When the Ravens win, we can bring families and the community together. We’ve done that before, and we can do it again. In light of recent events, we are also reminded that winning alone is not always enough to make the Ravens the unifying force we want to be.
We don’t take your support for granted, and we know that we must continue to earn your respect and investment in us. We are committed to putting the best possible team on the field and providing an outstanding gameday experience for you. That commitment requires us to continue to make significant investments in our facilities. This summer we will finish our $45 million renovation and expansion of our Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills. By the beginning of the 2019 season, we will complete our ongoing $120 million renovation of M&T Bank Stadium. (By the way, our first set of escalators to the upper bowl will be completed in 2018.)
We hope you and your loved ones are having a wonderful holiday season. Let’s add to the celebration with a Ravens run to the postseason. Thank you for reading this.
Sincerely,
Dick Cass |
French President François Hollande evening news on French private channel TF1 and public channel France 2, from the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 11, 2016 | EPA/Stephane de Sakutin François Hollande pledges to keep reforming after cabinet reshuffle President brings back long-time ally Jean-Marc Ayrault and the Greens into government.
PARIS — French President François Hollande said Thursday night that he had instructed his government to “act, reform and go forward” just hours after he reshuffled the cabinet less than 15 months before the 2017 presidential election.
In a half-hour prime time interview on France’s two main television channels, Hollande said the government’s top priorities would remain the same: security, job creation and the environment.
Hollande earlier in the day had appointed the prime minister he sacked less than two years ago, Jean-Marc Ayrault, to the job of foreign minister.
The French president also appointed to the cabinet current or former leaders of the Green party, which formally opposes joining a coalition with the Socialists two years after storming out after disagreements with Hollande.
Both Ayrault and the Green leaders, as well as a couple of junior Socialist party ministers appointed on Thursday, had opposed the French president’s plans for constitutional reform, which will allow judges to strip those convicted of terror acts from their French passports.
Asked about those dissenting views, Hollande said he didn’t want to behave like an army officer disciplining all his subordinates for their previous views. “But once in government, they’re expected to abide by the government’s decisions," he said.
Backing for Macron
Hollande also pointedly supported his controversial Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, who has often seemed more eager than his cabinet colleagues to tackle France’s structural impediments to growth and job creation.
“He has his own temper, and his CV is not your classical political CV," Hollande said. “I’d rather have talents in the government, than people who are just happy to comment outside.”
Macron, he said, “is opening new paths, and he can lead along the way.”
The interview was devoid of any presidential comment on sitting Prime Minister Manuel Valls, said to be in the throes of a bitter rivalry with Macron.
Although Hollande repeated three times during the interview that he wasn’t “prone to political calculations” – a protest that will be greeted with amused skepticism by the French political class and even within his own party — he also announced that he would organize a local referendum on the hot-button environmental issue of the Notre Dame des Landes airport near Nantes, in the west of the country.
After years of local protests and several lawsuits, a French court recently gave the go-ahead to the police to forcibly remove protesters who prevented works in the area.
If local voters turn down the airport plans, it won’t be built, he said. But if they agree, the works will go ahead.
New foreign minister Ayrault, a former long-time mayor of Nantes, has in the past bitterly clashed with the Green party and local protesters on the topic of the airport.
Ayrault will replace Laurent Fabius, whom Hollande nominated to the job of president of the Constitutional Council, which ensures laws comply with the constitution.
During his 2012-2014 stint as prime minister, Ayrault, 66, had limited dealings with foreign affairs, which in France are seen as the president’s preserve. His main foreign experience comes from the many travels he took to Germany in his time as a high-school German-language teacher.
Seeking support
By choosing Ayrault as Fabius’ successor, Hollande is replacing a French political heavyweight and one-time antagonist with a Socialist apparatchik with deep ties to the party machine.
Hollande, who remains deeply unpopular less than two years from the presidential election, aimed to bring in figures that might appeal to a wider electorate of left-wing and Green voters. Green party leader Emmanuelle Cosse was appointed housing minister but will have to resign from the party to take up that role.
Energy and Environment Minister Ségolène Royal, Hollande’s ex-partner who was briefly rumored to be in line for the foreign minister's role, will remain in her post. Hollande named Green party member Barbara Pompili as secretary of state for international relations on climate.
Hollande also took the opportunity to sack the culture minister, Fleur Pellerin, a former civil servant he had promoted to the job less than two years ago, after serving as undersecretary for small businesses.
Pellerin, who had never seemed to find her bearings in what is a high-profile job in France, will be replaced by Hollande’s current culture adviser Audrey Azoulay, 44.
In the interview, Hollande, who was questioned by France’s two best-known nightly news anchors, didn’t field a single question on Europe, the current Brexit negotiations or the refugee crisis — nor did he seem to think it necessary to dwell on those topics.
This article was updated to correct the name of the Green party leader. |
As the owner of a major PR firm, I know first-hand that proper public relations campaigns can change government policies and affect real change. The recent Israeli Foreign Ministry campaign to bring the issue of Jewish refugee rights to public and diplomatic attention has the potential to be a unique game-changing campaign which can have an actual impact on Arab-Israeli peace negotiations.
More than 850,000 Jews from Arab states had property confiscated, and were forced out of Arab countries in the days following the establishment of the State of Israel. While the Palestinians have long spoken of their refugees (who in reality were not forced out of their homes), Israel raising this issue could potentially create a real dilemma for the Arab world. Can they claim the Jews weren’t kicked out? (They can’t.) The Israeli government must forge forward with plans to institute a national day of recognition for Jewish refugees from Arab countries, and to build a museum to deal with this issue.
The campaign, entitled “I am a Refugee,” was launched in Geneva as the United Nations refugee agency celebrated its 60th anniversary, and will capture unique stories of people. By putting a human face to the Jewish refugee issue, it will be much more effective than an impersonal campaign. This is a real, powerful issue, and it will be hard for the media and others to ignore the claims of the hundreds of thousands who can offer their personal stories. Seeing the stories of Jews from Iraq, Morocco, and Tunisia who were thrown out of their homes – how can anyone say they don’t have rights?
The potential power of this claim can be seen in the always-PR savvy Hanan Ashrawi of the PLO Executive Committee responding so quickly. She published an article in a number of Arab media outlets this weekend saying the “claim that Jews who migrated to Israel, which is supposed to be their homeland, are ‘refugees’ who were uprooted from their homelands… is a form of deception and delusion.” Ashrawi speaking up so quickly shows that the Palestinian Arab negotiators realize the potential power of this issue.
Now, naturally, of course Israel will hear many reasons why the Jews aren’t refugees. When is a refugee not a refugee? When he’s a Jew…yet it’s a good public relations issue for Israel to raise.
The next battle which an enterprising MK or NGO can take on is the concept of a two-state “solution.” I often get confused when there is talk of two states – don’t the Arabs have 22 states? Doesn’t Russia maintain its claim to Chechnya – and they don’t release Chechen prisoners. There’s no “two-state” solution for Tibet, Taiwan or India and Pakistan – all nations with ample territorial dispute.
It’s another publicity campaign that can make noise and have real impact. The Jewish state can raise real issues that exist worldwide to show the double standard facing Israel. |
Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff does not object to the four-game suspension handed out to Cody Eakin on Friday.
The Department of Player Safety slapped the 25-year-old with a four-game ban for his charge on New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqivst in Thursday's contest and as Ruff sees it, Eakin was in the wrong.
"I expected (the suspension) to be within that range," Ruff said, according to NHL.com's Sean Shapiro. "It's something that I obviously don't condone. it wasn't a good play on his part, and he hurts the team by taking himself out of the lineup now."
The Stars could use all hands on deck as the team has struggled in December going 3-5-0 in eight games this month. The team currently sits four points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and things aren't getting any easier.
The team's next three games pit them against the Philadelphia Flyers, the St. Louis Blues, and the Los Angeles Kings, clubs all seeded higher in the standings. |
The new study is the first to suggest that keeping weight down can cure patients.
Researchers were able to spot the link between fat in the pancreas and diabetes because of a new MRI scanning technique which allowed them to accurately test levels of fatty deposits in the organ. It showed that fat levels decreased by 1.2 per cent over eight weeks in diabetic patients. During the eight weeks the patients were asked to limit the calorie intake to 1200 kcal a day, around half of recommended levels.
A control group of non-diabetic obese patients saw no change in the level of fat in their pancreas demonstrating that the increase in fat in the pancreas is specific to people who develop Type 2 diabetes.
Naveed Sattar, professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow said: "This is a big deal because it shows that weight gain is triggering diabetes and that people who lose enough weight can be diabetes free and come off insulin.
"What we need to do now is make sure that this weight loss is sustainable in the long term, which is why we are doing a much bigger trial to see if people can keep the weight off. Obviously some people will struggle to do that and it won't be for everyone.
"But this is good news as we can now tell people that if they lose weight they will get better. Being lighter also helps people become more phsically active, which should also help keep the weight off." |
On August 3, Heritage Platinum Currency Auction, will betaking place at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Denver
Heritage Platinum Currency Auction will present the finest-known 1882 $1,000 Gold Certificate, PCGS, Very Fine 35. The specimen is one of only 96,000 examples that were printed, and far fewer survived following the redemption rate ordered under the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, with only 11 being traced today.
It is estimated to sell for upwards of $300,000.
One of the most coveted of all United States Currency design types, a stunning gem rainbow 1869 $20 Legal Tender, PCGS, Gem New 65PPQ, is centered perfectly and displays a gorgeous deep red seal, black design details, blue serial numbers and a deep swath of anti-counterfeiting blue ink and colored fibers cascading through the design.
The finest-graded 1882 $20 Gold Certificate, PMG, Superb Gem, Uncirculated 67 EPQ, known to exist was produced for just six years before the famed “Technicolor” $20 came into favor and a wide-margined, 1869 $50 Legal Tender, PCGS, Very Fine 35, from The Yuri Solovey Collection, is desired for its stunning eye appeal and design elements.
The last example offered by Heritage nearly two years ago sold for more than $223,000.
The currency auction also includes the last 1861 $500 Confederate Bill issued in Montgomery, weeks before the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter.
This auction is open for bidding now at www.HA.com/currency.
PMG-Certified Gold Certificates Currently Available on eBay |
It is one of the most bitter ironies of this century so far that a war carried out as part of the so-called war on terror turned out to be one of history’s worst acts of terror.
US NGO Just Foreign Policy estimates that more than 1,450,000 Iraqis have died since the US-led invasion 10 years ago.
That is a death rate of about one in every 17 or 18 Iraqis. The Iraq genocide — as we could easily call it — claimed more lives than the Rwandan genocide.
It can be hard to grapple with such mind-boggling numbers, so let us put it in Australian terms. Consider some kind of disaster that wiped out every person in Canberra, Newcastle, Wollongong, Hobart, Geelong and Darwin. That would be roughly the same amount of casualties as in Iraq.
So much for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
We were told the West had to invade to because of the threat of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction — a transparent lie, since proved to be such. But in the name of saving the world from WMDs, Iraqis were subjected to one of history’s worst bombardments of WMDs.
The invasion began with the US’s “shock and awe” campaign. Naomi Klein says more than 30,000 bombs were dropped in the first six weeks, together with 20,000 precision-guided cruise missiles (amazingly, that accounted for two-thirds of all cruise missiles made up until at the time).
The 2003 invasion, and the 1991 Gulf War before it, left hundreds of tonnes of depleted uranium scattered across the country. Depleted uranium has a half life of between 700 million and 4.5 billion years, so the problem will not go away.
This, along with the other toxic wastes that go along with war, has led to an epidemic of cancer and birth deformations. Before the Gulf War, 40 of every 100,000 Iraqis were stricken with cancer. Al Jazerra said on March 15 that by 2005, the rate had increased 4000%. Some Iraqi doctors say that is still a gross underestimation and prefer to double the figure again.
The city of Fallujah is probably the worst affected. In 2004, US forces twice laid siege to the city, declaring it populated by “enemy combatants”. It used depleted uranium and chemical weapons, such as white phosphorus, and turned the city to rubble.
Researchers later visited 711 families in Fallujah and asked them about incidents of cancer and birth defects. Their results were published in a 2010 study. One of the authors said Fallujah represented “the highest rate of genetic damage in any population ever studied”.
The deaths from cancer and other war related illnesses were not included in Just Foreign Policy’s Iraq war casualty estimates.
We were told that the invasion would liberate the Iraqi people and bring them democracy. Right after the invasion, the US-installed governor Paul Bremer gave Iraqis a taste of exactly what was meant by the terms freedom and liberation, and for whom.
In her book The Shock Doctrine, Klein said that a week into the job, Bremer decreed the privatisation of 200 Iraqi firms. The corporate tax rate was slashed from 45% to 15%.
With the exception of the oil industry, foreign companies were allowed to own 100% of Iraqi assets and could take all profits out of the country, tax-free.
Bremer also took control of US$20 billion of assets from the Iraqi national oil company, about half of which has never been accounted for. The invasion freed markets, but robbed Iraqis.
Supporters of the war insist that Iraq is a better, safer place with Saddam Hussein gone. Refugees International said that today, close to 3 million Iraqis remain refugees in their own country, living in “constant fear, with limited access to shelter, food, and basic services”.
Iraq was one of only five countries in the world where life expectancy fell between 2000 and 2009, the Huffington Post said in 2011.
“Liberated Iraq” is one of the world’s most corrupt nations, says Transparency International. Opposition politicians have accused US-backed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of organising the arrest and torture of at least 1000 political opponents, Anti-War.com reported last year.
The idea that Iraq is now a democracy is the sickest of jokes. Iraqi police opened fire on an anti-government demonstration in Mosul on March 8, killing at least one, Human Rights Watch reported on March 16. They opened fire on another protest in Fallujah in January, leaving nine dead bodies.
Baghdad man Kadom al-Jabouri gained worldwide fame in 2003 when he was filmed taking a sledgehammer to a statue of Hussein. He told the British Observer on March 9: “I dreamed for five years of bringing down that statue, but what has followed has been a bitter disappointment.
“Then we had only one dictator. Now we have hundreds ... nothing has changed for the better.”
Ten years on, the key players in the war are still eager to justify their atrocities, saying they made the world a better place. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on March 15 that the Iraq War “the most difficult decision I ever took and the most balanced decision”.
He said the invasion had saved lives and helped Iraqis: “If you’d left Saddam in charge of Iraq, you would have had carnage on an even worse scale in Syria and with no end in sight.”
In an interview with Democracy Now, Arundhati Roy said Blair’s argument was preposterous: “This man is saying, ‘Oh, we did such a wonderful thing. We saved these people.’ Now, isn’t that like — isn’t it insane?
“I mean, I don’t know how to respond to something like that, because it’s like somebody looking at somebody being slaughtered and saying, ‘Oh, he must be enjoying it. We are really helping him,’ ... how do you argue rationally against these people?”
There is no question the anti-war movement was right to protest the Iraq invasion. We were right to stand up against this monstrous and brutal war. We were right to say it was a war crime. We were right to say the politicians who led the drive to war — especially George W. Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard — were war criminals. They are war criminals. They should be brought to justice. |
"I don't want an in/out referendum because I'm not happy with us leaving the European Union, but I'm not happy with the status quo either. I think what the vast majority of this country wants is a new settlement with Europe and then that settlement being put to fresh consent. That's what will be going in our manifesto."
The impression the prime minister was trying to create in the minds of the 70% plus of voters who want a referendum was that we would eventually have the chance to either accept the deal he had struck, or, if we rejected it, we would then leave the EU. He tried to sound unequivocal, and therefore sincere, when he said that an EU referendum would be the "cleanest, neatest and simplest way" to decide the issue.
David Cameron might not exactly be in the Derren Brown class when it comes to pulling off extraordinary illusions, but he did pour some '70s magic act dry-ice over the issue of an EU referendum during the week of the Tory conference. He wanted to kick the EU referendum into the long-grass and so he gave the impression that were he to win the next general election he would re-negotiate a new relationship with Brussels. This would then be put to a popular vote at some unspecified point in the lifetime of the next parliament.
Putting to one side the disconcertingly undemocratic implication that referendums should not enable people to vote for outcomes the prime minister does not personally share, his response confirms that in the referendum he is suggesting might one day take place, we will be presented with two options: either we accept the deal that emerges from the re-negotiated deal the government can strike with Brussels, or, if we reject it, whatever the status quo will be at the time will persist. So, this will only constitute, in reality, if it ever happens, an in/in referendum.
The trouble facing David Cameron is now several fold: First, everyone who cares about the EU referendum issue no longer buys the Cameron act. Remember, in 2007 he gave "a cast iron guarantee" that he would hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. When challenged as to whether this promise would hold if the treaty had already been ratified, Cameron refused to confirm that he couldn't, in that context, give the British people a retrospective referendum, which any straight-talking politician would have done.
Second, he has just come to an agreement with Alex Salmond for a straight in/out referendum on Scotland's relationship with Westminster. The Scottish vote will not only result in increasing numbers of people asking why the whole of the UK cannot have a similarly existential poll regarding where ultimate political over their lives resides, but it will also inevitably result in speculation north of the border that there might be a need for a second, EU referendum. This is because if there is a vote for independence, Scotland will have to apply for membership and sign up for the euro, as the European commission has recently confirmed.
Third, there is the outside possibility that Labour, under the astute policy guidance of Jon Cruddas, might decide to promise us a real in/out referendum. This would cause the Tory leadership the kind of acute problem Harold Wilson's Common Market referendum gambit posed for Edward Heath in the two 1974 elections.
Fourth, and most importantly, events will probably overtake David Cameron and the re-negotiationist faction. Within the next three years, two new EU treaties establishing banking, fiscal and political union might well have been ratified. These will have major implications for Britain, Denmark, Sweden and the other countries outside the single currency. The eurozone members will be able to caucus and vote as a block and so impose a whole range of measures on the non-euro governments. Ultimately, it will be up to the European Court of Justice to interpret whatever treaty will emerge and what the supposed opt-outs David Cameron has negotiated actually mean. Once full fiscal union has been achieved, the idea that it would be possible to be half-in and half-out a full, unitary EU system of government will quickly evaporate.
Last, very few outside the ranks of Cameron loyalism, really believe that a thorough re-negotiation with Brussels is now a serious possibility. In any case, putting aside the fact that the consent of all 26 other member states would be necessary for a new settlement with Brussels, this fantasy rests upon the assumption of a Tory majority at the next general election. Not something that can be taken for granted.
By being as disingenuous as he has been, the prime minister's various statements on the referendum question have served only to encourage a widespread deconstruction of his magic act. More end of the Westminster pier than Penn and Teller in Las Vegas. |
(KIEV) - Ukraine's prime minister and entire government resigned on Tuesday and its parliament scrapped anti-protest laws that had infuriated the opposition, in the biggest concessions yet to protesters in a two-month crisis.
Ukraine also dominated an EU-Russia summit in Brussels at which Russian President Vladimir Putin struck a conciliatory tone, saying he would not revise the terms of a bailout for Kiev even if the opposition came to power.
Giving in to opposition pressure and protests that have spread far beyond Kiev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said he was quitting to preserve the unity of the country.
Azarov will be replaced in an interim capacity by deputy prime minister Sergiy Arbuzov, a felllow Yanukovych loyalist, while other ministers will stay on until a new cabinet is named.
It is not clear who could succeed Azarov as prime minister, although some analysts floated the idea that a pro-opposition tycoon, Petro Poroshenko, might step into the post.
World boxing champion and opposition leader Vitali Klitschko said the announcement of Azarov and the government's resignation was "not victory but a step to victory".
Parliament also on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to repeal the same contentious anti-protest laws it had approved just two weeks ago, a move that had re-ignited the crisis.
Only two lawmakers voted against the motion, with 361 voting in favour -- including all of Yanukovych's Regions Party MPs -- and the reform was passed to applause from opposition benches.
'Change the system'
Yet the dramatic twists do not spell an end to Ukraine's crisis as two central opposition demands -- the release of jailed protesters and early elections -- remain unresolved.
Lawmakers are to gather again on Wednesday to debate the release of scores of protesters.
The presidency earlier said it wanted to make the amnesty conditional on protesters vacating official buildings they have seized and occupied and taking down their barricades.
The opposition has ruled this out and wants Yanukovych to bring forward to this year a presidential election scheduled for early 2015.
"We are here so that the president also resigns to change the system of power in the country," said Vasyl, 49, from the Ivano-Frankivsk region of western Ukraine, one of the protesters camped out with thousands of others on Independence Square in central Kiev.
"People went out on the streets because they could not stand this president any more."
Militants remain camped out in the sprawling military-style enclosure that has taken over much of the city centre and is surrounded by barbed wire and barricades topped with pikes.
Groups of protesters wearing motorbike helmets and wielding baseball bats can be seen patrolling several streets in the capital.
But there has been no significant violence in Kiev in recent days, following clashes last week between protesters and riot police that left three activists dead.
Jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, said Tuesday's concessions were the "first real result from the fight of people who took to the streets".
But she added: "It is not enough. Do not stop!"
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton brought forward a visit to Kiev by several days and is expected to arrive late Tuesday after attending the Brussels summit with Putin.
In an apparent reference to the build-up of pressure on Yanukovych from the West, Putin on Tuesday warned that "the more intermediaries there are, the more problems there are" adding: "Russia will never interfere".
The Kremlin leader also emphasised that Russia "will not" review its $15-billion (11-billion-euro) bailout for Ukraine whoever is in charge in Kiev -- a relief for the economy which is hugely reliant on the credit.
There is still a lot of concern for Ukraine on the economic front, however, and Standard & Poor's also Tuesday downgraded Ukraine's credit risk rating by one notch to CCC+ from B-, citing political instability.
Concessions 'warmly welcomed'
Western leaders were cautious, with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier saying he hoped Azarov's resignation was a "signal" for further dialogue.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, a prominent critic of Yanukovych's actions, said on Twitter he "warmly welcomed" the moves by parliament and was hoping for more steps.
Canada, which has a large Ukrainian minority, praised the courage of protesters and on Tuesday said it would refuse entry to any government officials linked to the crackdown.
The protests began in November as a drive for EU integration after Yanukovych under Russian pressure ditched a key deal with the bloc.
They have since snowballed into a wider movement against his rule, spreading into his heartland in the mostly Russian-speaking east. |
Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2008 July 2
Night Shinings
Credit & Copyright: Laurent Laveder (PixHeaven.net / TWAN)
Explanation: In the early morning hours of June 30th, ghostly clouds hovered in the east in this view of near dawn skies over western France. The noctilucent or night-shining clouds lie near the edge of space, reflecting sunlight from about 80 kilometers above Earth's surface. Usually spotted above the poles in summer, they are now seen with increasing frequency farther from the poles, in this case extending to the photographer's latitude of about 48 degrees north. The trend could be a telltale sign of global changes in the atmosphere. Another 400,000 kilometers away, the Moon's sunlit crescent shines brightly, its night side illuminated by Earthshine. Of course, as a bonus for early risers June's old crescent Moon was followed closely across the sky by the lovely Pleiades star cluster, surrounded by cosmic dust clouds and shining from a mere 400 light-years away. |
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., likely the next chairman of the Senate committee with oversight over Washington, D.C., said Thursday that he would like to hold a hearing on marijuana legalization.
When asked about his view of marijuana legalization in D.C., Johnson told a group of reporters, "What we can do is we can hold hearings to find out how it's all working, to highlight the issues, highlight the problem, try and define the problems. So I think that's what we should really do."
Johnson, who will likely be the next chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said such a hearing would focus on how legalization in other states has unfolded. In November, nearly two-thirds of D.C. voters elected to legalize up to 2 ounces of marijuana for recreational use in the District for adults over the age of 21. After the election results are certified on Dec. 3, the bill will be sent transmitted to Congress for a 30-day review process.
Johnson said, in general, he supports more local autonomy for D.C., but refrained from taking a position on whether the District should be allowed to legalize the drug.
"I have no comment on that right now. That's a relatively complex issue, dealing with state law and federal law and we've got these experiments — we're not enforcing federal law," said Johnson. "I guess right now I'm just sitting here watching the states' experiment and seeing how that happens. If anything I'd want to use the committee to hold a hearing, see how it's working."
Four states have legalized marijuana so far, which conflicts with federal law that criminalizes the drug. Since the D.C. marijuana referendum is subject to congressional review, lawmakers could be voting on whether to support a less stringent drug policy than the Drug Enforcement Administration.
On the House side, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the chairman-elect for the Oversight and Government Reform panel, which has jurisdiction over the District, said he opposes marijuana legalization.
“The recreational consumption of marijuana is not something I’ve been in favor of," said Chaffetz. He suggested Congress could address the issue before he takes the gavel, saying, "There's not much I can do about it."
However, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson is expected to transmit the bill to Congress in January, meaning Chaffetz will have to confront the issue as chairman.
During the 60-day review process, Congress could opt to pass a resolution of disapproval against the referendum. But lawmakers are less likely to take that route, since it would have to be passed by both chambers and signed by the president, who has warned against intervening in District affairs in the past. Congress is more likely to block legalization through an appropriations rider .
Johnson said he is also personally against the recreational use of marijuana but believes it's an issue that should be determined by states. However, he did not indicate whether the same determination should be granted to the District.
"I can't support it myself because I think it sets a really bad example for young children," Johnson said. "But states are doing that. Let the voters decide ... Again, I like local control of those issues and then what we can do here in Congress is hold hearings, find out, how's it working? What kind of problems are there?"
When it was pointed out the voters in D.C. did decide to legalize marijuana, Johnson said, "Apparently," and walked away.
Correction 10:55 a.m. A previous version of this story misstated the length of the congressional review process . It is 30 days. |
Bill Gates, Y Combinator channel millions to trucking app
Convoy is an app that connects mid-size truckers with loads in search of delivery. (Photo: Convoy)
SAN FRANCISCO — A few tech startups want to build trucks that drive themselves. That's an earnings play for the future.
Until then, other tech ventures aim to earn a slice of the nation's $800 billion trucking pie today by using technology to connect drivers with shipments.
Convoy, a nearly two-year-old Seattle-based startup, has convinced a growing number of high profile investors — including Bill Gates, through his firm Cascade Investment — that its solution is worth banking on. CEO Dan Lewis announced Tuesday that Convoy had raised $62 million in Series B funding, bringing its total to $80 million.
Leading the round was tech incubator Y Combinator, which until now has not invested in a venture that it has not helped start. “By improving trucking, Convoy is improving the foundation of our economy,” YC Continuity parnter Anu Hariharan said in a statement.
Other investors in the round include Sen. Bill Bradley and media mogul Barry Diller. Investors in Convoy's first round included Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Convoy CEO Dan Lewis (Photo: Convoy)
"We aim to cut down on the 40% of the time that trucks are empty, and even if we're 1% more efficient that would save 400 million gallons of fuel," Lewis tells USA TODAY. "This wasn’t possible until 2015 or so, when many truckers got upgrades to smartphones with their phone plans. That's when we could start tracking where people were in real time."
Lewis adds that a big appeal of his app for many truckers is the ability to not only avoid driving empty, but also plan a loaded route that steers them back to where they live. "Truckers are always eager to get home as efficiently as they can, ideally while working," he says.
Convoy makes its money by taking a percentage of the fee charged by the truck drivers to companies looking to move their freight around regions.
Earlier this year, Uber made a jump into this space with Uber Freight, which is overseen by Lior Ron. Ron was a co-founder of self-driving truck company Otto; his partner in that venture, Anthony Levandowski, became head of Uber's autonomous car program when Uber bought Otto for around $690 million last summer.
But that investment ran into a guardrail earlier this year when Google, Levandowski's previous employer, accused Uber of using 14,000 files stolen by Levandowski before he left Google to help build its light detection and ranging sensors (LiDAR). Uber has denied the claim, and the case is expected to go to trial this fall.
"I don't see that Uber has a particular advantage here (in trucking), as compared to the ride-hailing business where it clearly does," Lewis says when asked about the new competitor.
Convoy has more than 300 shippers as customers, including large brands such as Unilever and Anheuser-Busch. Around 10,000 trucking companies are in the Convoy network.
Lewis says he plans to use the new round of funding to expand operations to the East and Southeast, both extremely busy trucking corridors.
"This is where the impact starts," he says, "when we go from niche to mainstream."
Follow USA TODAY tech reporter Marco della Cava on Twitter.
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2tFSz8U |
On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence walked out of the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the visiting 49ers after several 49ers players knelt during the anthem.
Pence tweeted:
I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem. — Vice President Pence (@VP) October 8, 2017
Pence’s action elicited an incendiary response from one of the players who knelt, San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid, who called it an example of “systemic oppression.”
After the game, Reid bloviated:
My honest reaction, first of all, does anybody know the last time he’s been to a football game? OK, with that being said, he tweeted out a 3-year-old photo of him at a Colts game, so with the information that I have, the last time he’s been to a Colts game was three years ago. So this looks like a PR stunt to me. He knew our team has had the most players protest. He knew that we were probably going to do it again. And so, this is what systemic oppression looks like. A man with power comes to the game, tweets a couple things out and leaves the game with an attempt to thwart our efforts. Again, based on the information I have, that’s the assumption that I’ve made.
Reid continued:
It’s really disheartening when … the vice president of the United States is trying to confuse the message that we’re trying to put out there. This is about systemic oppression that has been rampant in this country decades upon decades. And I will continue to encourage people to educate themselves on how we got to where we are today, because it didn’t happen overnight and it’s not going to happen overnight to fix these issues. So we’re going to keep talking about it.
Reid joined teammate Colin Kaepernick in kneeling during the playing of the national anthem in the 2016 preseason. He wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in late September 2017 in which he stated that when he joined Kaepernick, "I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy." He added, "I have too often seen our efforts belittled with statements like 'He should have listened to the officer,' after watching an unarmed black person get shot, or 'There is no such thing as white privilege' and 'Racism ended years ago.' We know that racism and white privilege are both very much alive today."
Watch Reid below: |
The Phillies are going to look at lot different as they take on the Chicago Cubs on Players Weekend, August 25-27 at Citizens Bank Park, but for two players, they won’t get the look they desired.
Major League Baseball is paying homage to Little League Baseball and the kid in all of their players by offering the chance to wear brightly colored jerseys and a nickname of your choosing on the back, unless that nickname infringes on a copyright.
According to Matt Breen of Philly.com, two players, Zach Eflin and Hoby Milner had their nickname requests denied due to trouble with copyrights. Eflin was hoping to be known as “Led Zeflin” and Milner wanted to use the Force as “Hoby Wan Kenobi.”
Neither player was listed on the Phillies.com article displaying the nicknames the players on the team selected.
Don’t worry, though, not only was the $13.5 million dollar, 7.1-inning man Clay Buchholz included, his jersey is available for purchase.
If you missed it, here’s how the Phillies and Cubs will look on Players Weekend. |
This week Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has invited Professor Ekmelledin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to discuss “Transition and Change: The OIC and the Islamic World”
Events take place on February 15th and 16th at the National Press Club of Australia and at Griffith University, Brisbane. Following similar events in Europe and Washington, Mr Rudd’s visitor is here to educate and help us overcome “Islamophobia” in Australia.
The OIC, which represents 56 Islamic states, makes up the largest voting bloc of the UN.
United in their effort to limit critical discussion of the Islamic religion and sharia law, these countries refuse to sign the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. OIC members construed the ‘Cairo Declaration’, in which human rights are subject to interpretation by Islamic clergy and sharia law. The OIC is headquartered in Saudi Arabia, a feudal monarchy renown for violation of basic human rights under strict sharia law.
The feigned concern of the OIC with discrimination against Islam and more notably views not supportive of Islam is in contrast to the violent intolerance experienced by non-Muslim minorities in many Islamic countries. Indigenous religious minorities, which are not afforded the same respect, recognition or equality demanded by the OIC for Muslim immigrants in the West.
Author and human rights activist Ayan Hirsi Ali ‘s recent article 'The Global War on Christ-ians in the Muslim World' highlights “... an unrecognised battle costing thousands of lives.” With these facts in mind, there are serious questions democratic governments should be asking the OIC, before taking advice from Professor Ihsanoglu.
Q Society appeals to Mr Rudd to show courage and openly address this discrepancy and the discrimination against non-Muslims, evident in almost every OIC country.
Vilifying critics of Islam and sharia practices as 'islamophobic' is in fact aiding and abetting those who seek to silence the debate about the rise of Islamic sharia, both in the West and in the once secular countries of the OIC. |
Major League Baseball announced today that owners of all 30 clubs have ratified a new posting system between MLB and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The two sides also agreed to an extension of the previous posting system through Nov. 1, 2018, and MLB formally announced within its release that Shohei Otani will be posted by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters today. The release fee on Otani has been set at the maximum $20MM. Additionally, the Seibu Lions will post submarine right-handed reliever Kazuhisa Makita on or before Dec. 31, MLB announced. A release fee has not yet been set for Makita.
Beginning today, any team that is willing to meet the Fighters’ release fee ($20MM) will be allowed to negotiate with Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo of CAA Baseball. Only the team that ultimately secures a contract with Ohtani will be required to pay that $20MM out to the Fighters, however. The negotiation window will run through 11:59pm ET on Dec. 22, according to the league’s release, giving teams three weeks to negotiate.
As for Ohtani, his age means that he falls under the collective bargaining agreement’s designation as an international amateur, meaning he’ll be subject to international bonus pools. At present, the Rangers’ remaining pool of $3.535MM is the largest amount he can be paid. The Yankees ($3.5MM) and Twins ($3.245MM) are next in line. The Pirates can offer north of $2MM, while other suitors for Ohtani’s services like the Mariners and Angels can offer better than $1.5MM.
Ultimately, it seems unlikely that Ohtani’s free agency will come down to a simple matter of the highest bid, though. By coming to the United States right now, he’s forgoing the chance to sign a free-agent contract that could have been worth more than $200MM by simply waiting another two seasons. Balelo has already submitted a memo to all 30 teams asking for presentations including details on evaluations of Ohtani as a pitcher and hitter; player development and medical facilities; Spring Training facilities; cultural assimilation for Ohtani; a “detailed” plan for integrating Ohtani into the organization; a sales pitch on the city itself and what makes it desirable; as well as relevant marketplace characteristics.
Unlike Otani, the 32-year-old Makita is not a young star headed into his prime. Rather, he’s long been a successful starter and reliever. Makita is still subject to the posting system, though, because he did not begin his pro career in Japan until the age of 26, thus leaving him shy of the requisite nine years of service time to be considered a free agent under Japan’s rules. However, under MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, Makita is considered a professional. In other words: he’s subject to the posting system but not to international bonus pools.
Makita owns an excellent 2.83 ERA in 921 1/3 career innings. After moving to the bullpen full time in 2016, he’s posted a minuscule 1.91 ERA in nearly 150 innings. Makita’s submarine delivery could well hold appeal to a wide swath of clubs looking to give opponents a different look in the middle and late innings of a game, but his 5.0 K/9 rate will give teams some pause as well.
Beginning next offseason (Nov. 1, 2018), the release fee associated with a posted player will be directly tied to the size of the player’s contract with an MLB club. Per the league’s release, the sliding scale is as follows: |
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) -- Screenshot from This Week
A bill that would defund Planned Parenthood clinics in Ohio was approved by lawmakers and sent to Gov. John Kasich’s (R) desk for approval on Wednesday, Think Progress reported.
State Republicans developed House Bill 294 in the wake of the heavily-edited videos released last year by the anti-abortion Center for Medical Progress (CMP), which were quickly debunked. Kasich said as recently as last month that he would sign the measure, in footage released by the progressive group American Bridge 21st Century.
“What I’m for is making sure we have robust funding for womens’ health. When it comes to the domestic abuse and everything else, we have lots of resources to deal with it,” Kasich says after being questioned by a woman in the video, adding, “I’m going to sign a bill to defund it, so you shouldn’t be confused.”
When the woman begins mentioning the other functions provided by Planned Parenthood, Kasich throws up his hands and walks away, saying, “We’re done.”
According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, only three of the state’s 27 Planned Parenthood clinics perform abortions. Yet HB 294 would defund all of them because it targets organizations that perform or “promote” abortions, or any contractor working with them.
“This bill uses Planned Parenthood as a stand in punching bag for Ohio’s women,” said state Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D). “By passing this bill, the Ohio House is showing women where they are on the priority list and unfortunately, it shows they are at the bottom.”
The bill was passed a day after Kasich finished second to Donald Trump in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary, and shortly before he takes part in a GOP candidate debate on Saturday night in Greenville, South Carolina.
“We’ve seen the dire consequences for women, men and young people when politicians block access to care at Planned Parenthood health centers,” Planned Parenthood Action Fund president Cecile Richards told Think Progress. “It’s time for political games to end — and for Governor Kasich to veto this bill so Ohioans don’t lose vital care.”
The CMP’s videos touched off investigations in several states concerning Planned Parenthood, none of which turned up any evidence of malfeasance on the group’s part. David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, the duo behind the videos were indicted last month by a grand jury in Harris County, Texas over the illicit recordings.
Watch Kasich defend HB 294, as posted online, below. |
A Manhattan Beach neighborhood is on alert after a shocking attack on Sunday. A man was forced to lie face down in the sand as his female companion was sexually assaulted.A man and woman in their 40s were sitting on the sand near the 3400 block of Waterline when the suspect approached from behind at about 12:15 a.m., police said. The suspect simulated a handgun and forced the man to lie face down in the sand while he sexually assaulted the woman."He had his hand in his pocket, told them that he had a gun," said Sgt. Paul Ford of the Manhattan Beach Police Department. "He ordered the male victim to hand over his cellphone, and then ordered him to lie face down in the sand. He then turned his attention to the female victim."At some point, the man was able to escape without being noticed and ran up to a nearby house to call for help.The suspect realized that the male victim was gone and then fled the scene on foot, heading southbound down the street. Items that the victims had were also taken by the suspect.Authorities searched the area for the man, but he was not located.Residents say they normally feel very comfortable walking their dogs or strolling around the city."It's completely shocking to me. As a resident, we truly believe that it's one of the safest places in the country," Peter Erling said.The suspect was described as a Hispanic man, between the ages of 25 to 30, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, with a thin build and a thin mustache. He was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.Manhattan Beach detectives are handling the investigation. Anyone with further information was urged to contact detectives at (310) 802-5127. |
Bigotry and hypocrisy seem to go hand-in-hand. Just consider all the stories of anti-LGBT lawmakers caught with male prostitutes or outted after sending naked pictures to men. However, all of that pales in comparison to this recent story. Esten Ciboro was recently in the news for protesting Target’s new policy of allowing transgender people to use the restroom of their choice. Now it turns out that he has been arrested for keeping a 13-year-old girl chained inside his basement. The girl, who has not been identified, was forced to use the restroom in a bucket and was fed scraps of spoiled food.
The girl said her captivity was punishment for wetting the bed and that she escaped using a spare key she stole from her captors after they went jogging. According to the police, Ciboro and his father, Timothy, were trying to flee when law-enforcement officials arrived on the scene. It’s unclear how long the girl was kept in captivity, though court documents report that it could have been as long as a year. Both the girl and two other children were placed in state custody and sent to a foster home. Timothy Ciboro made the following statement concerning the children:
‘I miss my babies with all my heart. I want them to do right. That’s the way they were raised. If they have any questions, all they have to do is open the Bible and they will have all the answers.’
Ciboro and his father were both arrested and are facing charges of kidnapping and child endangerment. Both are currently being held in jail awaiting bond and have sought a public defender, though no date has been set for the trial.
This isn’t the first time Ciboro has made headlines in recent weeks. On May 4th, Ciboro posted the following on Facebook.
‘For those unaware: Target will be allowing men in the girls’ restrooms of its stores and will also allow women in the boys’ restrooms of its stores — all to support queerism and confusion.’
Here is a video of the AP’s report on the arrest and hearing:
Featured Image courtesy of NY Post and Lucas County Jail. |
I’ve been spending a bit of time, on and off, over the last few months thinking about one of the most annoying bugs in wxHaskell, and how to fix it: that wxHaskell is now unusable from within GHCi.
There are actually two separate bugs: the first, which prevents things from working at all, is that on Windows, there is no DLL version of libstdc++; the second is that you cannot restart a wxWidgets session in GHCi after the application has terminated.
The first bug is a consequence of the fact that, on Windows, GHC uses the MinGW compiler suite to do C/C++ compilation and all linking (including with Haskell objects). The version of MinGW included in GHC does not support dynamic linking of libstdc++.
When wxHaskell was fully cabalized, one of the changes was to replace a complex and fragile build system for the C++ coe in wxHaskell with a much simple cabal-based build. The consequence of this is that the C++ code and wxcore Haskell 0bject code reside in the same library, which means that wxcore needs to be linked against libstdc++.
For compiled binaries, this is not so much of a problem: the static libstdc++ is linked with the other code and all works well. However, in the GHCi case, it is fatal: GHCi doesn’t know how to statically link non-Haskell object code, although it can load DLLs. When you try to load load wxcore, GHCi complains that it cannot load stdc++ (Loading package wxcore-0.12.1.6 … <interactive>: stdc++: The specified module could not be found. can’t load .so/.DLL for stdc++ (addDLL: could not load DLL))
The second problem: inability to restart a GUI, is a consequence of wxWidgets using static destructors. These are only executed when the application fully terminates, which is not the case in a GHCi.
It turns out that a good solution to both of these problems is to repackage the C++ part of wxHaskell as a DLL. The reasons are:
The C++ code in the DLL needs to be linked with libstdc++, but this can be done at DLL link time. If libstdc++ is statically linked with the DLL, wxcore no longer needs to depend on linking to libstdc++ (only wxc.dll).
If the DLL is dynamically unloaded, the C++ static destructors will be executed (as far as I can tell, this should be true for Linux .so shared libraries as well as Windows DLLs). This means that so long as the wxc shared library is loaded at application start-up and unloaded at application termination, we should be able to correctly restart a GUI.
GHCi can load DLLs, so wxHaskell should become usable on GHCi again (since the libstdc++ requirement would have gone away).
The problem, and it has occupied quite a bit of my rather limited spare time, is that this requires quite a bit of re-architecture.
Changes to compile wxc as a DLL
This is probably the simplest part, since wxc was compiled as a DLL in an older version of the build system. The downside is that I would like to use cabal to do the building, since asking anyone to have prerequisites much beyond Haskell Platform greatly reduces the attractiveness of a library.
Changes to use dynamically loaded libraries.
Most usage of shared libraries is pseudo-static, that’s to say that the addresses of functions exported from the shared library are fixed-up when the application is loaded by the linker-loader. In my case, I want to do things fully dynamically. The outline code is fairly straightforward (caveat: this is outline code – I haven’t run it!).
On Windows, you need something like:
HINSTANCE dllHandle = LoadLibrary("wxc.dll"); ... if (dllHandle != NULL) { FnPtrType fnPtr = (FnPtrType) GetProcAddress(dllHandle, "functionName"); if (fnPtr != NULL) { return fnPtr(params...); } } FreeLibrary(dllHandle);
Code in Unix-land is very similar indeed:
void* lib_handle = dlopen("path/to/libwxc.so", RTLD_LAZY); ... if (lab_handle != NULL) { FnPtrType fnPtr = dlsym(lab_handle, "functionName"); if ((error = dlerror()) == NULL) { return fnPtr(params...); } } ... dlclose(lib_handle);
The problem is that I have about 2,000 functions which need to be exported in this way, and the only sane approach will be to automate things. I also need to find the correct locations to load and unload libraries, and to ensure that all function pointers are invalidated when I unload the DLL.
I now have most of the work done on changes to the build system, and my ideas thought through for the dynamically loaded libraries. In the next few entries (which will hopefully be more closely spaced than of late), we’ll look at these in some more detail.
One aside: I mentioned doing some work to enable Swig to be used as a wrapper generator for the wxc wrapper layer. I still want to do this, but it has been put aside in the “too much work right now” pile. Doing things as I am planning is less maintainable in the long run, but stands a fighting chance of being finished sometime this decade, and I want people to use wxHaskell more than I need to have an awesome system for automating the generation of wrappers over C++ code.
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Robert Downey Jr. has joined ensemble comedy Chef, reteaming with his Iron Man and Iron Man II director and co-star Jon Favreau. Favreau wrote and is helming the film. Also on board are Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale. Aldamisa International will start pre-sales in Cannes on the movie that’s based on an original idea from Favreau about a man who loses his job as a chef and starts a food truck to reclaim his artistic promise. Production starts July 8 in LA. Karen Gilchrist and Aldamisa co-chair Sergei Bespalov are producing. Aldamisa is financing with partner Kilburn Media and Mark Manuel. CAA packaged and is repping U.S. rights. The deal was negotiated by Jere Hausfater and Philip Elway on behalf of Aldamisa.
Related: ‘Avengers’ Cast And Stingy Marvel Ready To Rumble Over Sequel Cash & Strong-Arming |
This article is about Binky Barnes, whose real name is Shelley. You may be looking for the first Shelley Barnes, or BINKY, the band.
Shelley[10] "Binky" Barnes is a 3rd grader in Mr. Ratburn's class at Lakewood Elementary School. He is the leader of a club of bullies called the Tough Customers. However, he does have a softer side.
Contents show]
Physical appearance
Binky Barnes is an anthropomorphic bulldog and usually wears a long sleeved orange-pecan button up shirt, dark blue slacks, a light blue belt buckle, and brown loafers. He usually wears his shirt tucked into his pants. In the chapter book Arthur and the World Record, Binky says that the tallest man in the world (8 feet, 11 inches) is twice as tall as he is, meaning that Binky measures around 4 feet, 5-1/2 inches.
For formal occasions, Binky will wear a gray polka dotted suit with a top front pocket on the right-hand side of the jacket. Binky kept 3 pencils in this pocket. The suit also has two pockets, one on each side, with the pocket on the left-hand side being slightly above the one on the right. The suit has two buttons and a black sleeve patch, one on each sleeve. He also wears a white collar shirt, a light green tie, matching trousers and black shoes. He wears green pajamas and green slippers for bed.
Personality
Though Binky is generally portrayed as the typical school bully (more so in the earlier episodes and books), he also has a softer side: he dances ballet, plays the clarinet and flute, and is a lepidopterologist (butterfly collector), but wants to keep the butterflies alive while in his collection. He usually keeps these interests private and rarely tells or shows others about them.
Binky is a keen cyclist, as well. We see in numerous episodes that Binky cycles to school and enters most cycling tournaments in Elwood City. His most treasured possession is his Lance Armstrong T-shirt.
Binky also enjoys the works of various poets and classical music composers, such as Frédéric Chopin, the great romantic composer.
In addition to the interests that indicate his softer side, Binky (despite his reputation as a bully) is shown to not be as tough as he likes to make his classmates think he is. For example, in "Bully for Binky," it's revealed that he's never actually had to fight anyone during all the years that he's been considered, as the victims are typically too scared to do so and usually end up running away. But then when Sue Ellen finally stood up to him and challenged him to a fight and Binky later discovered that Sue Ellen took martial arts lessons (specifically Tae Kwon Do, which Binky later so on TV), Binky started getting worried that Sue Ellen could potentially beat him in a fight.
Binky's secretly afraid of the dark and is also afraid of Santa Claus (but claims not to be). He is forward and goalkeeper for the Lakewood Elementary Soccer Club.
Binky seems to thoroughly enjoy art as one time he put a lot of effort into correcting a picture in an art gallery, which was hung in a different way to that which the artist intended.
Family
Mrs. Barnes: Binky's mom is a nurse who loves her son very much, and probably isn't very aware of his bullying habits. She's very well-meaning, but occasionally can be a worrywart, as evidenced after she discovered Binky had a serious peanut allergy, during which she kept a constant watch on him. Binky seems to love her very much, as he made put a lot of effort trying to make her a rhyming card for her birthday. [11]
Mr. Barnes: Little is known of Binky's dad since he only appears occasionally, other than the fact that he too is very loving towards his son.
Mei-Lin Barnes: Binky's baby sister Mei-Lin is from China and was adopted by the Barnes family very recently. At first, Binky didn't know how to open up to his new sister, but with patience and some hard work, the two of them developed a very strong bond. Binky takes good care of his sister and works hard to raise her along with his parents and is excited when Mei-Lin shows signs of growth, as he was thrilled when she learned to stand by herself.[11]
Future Life
In the intro to the episode, "The Election", it is revealed that Binky will be a member of The United States Secret Service. At the end of "The Contest" Binky is shown to have updated his wardrobe as a teenager to incorporate a leather jacket, a white shirt, jeans, and sunglasses.
Quotes
"I was scared of the dark too, but I was more scared of Binky Barnes."
– Buster Baxter, "Arthur's First Sleepover"
"Sometimes I just can't figure Binky out. It's like he's two different people: Bully Binky and, uh... that other guy. I think I like the other guy best."
– Arthur Read, "Brother, Can You Spare a Clarinet?"
Trivia
Appearances
Gallery
The full image gallery for Binky Barnes may be viewed at Binky Barnes/Gallery. |
I don't think I can stress this enough. Case in point: The Affordable Care Act. While in 2012 the Supreme Court decided that The Affordable Care Act was constitutional, they did not, however, find that expanding Medicaid was appropriate unless it was optional. The decision for states to expand Medicaid then landed in the hands of the governors or the state legislatures. Currently, there are 24 states that have decided not to expand for some reason or other, who were elected by the citizens in their states. In a crazy chain of events, elections, and depending on the state that you're in-- you may or may not be covered, which in turn can affect your health, which can affect you getting up and going to go vote on November 4th. |
Among the many wonderful things about owning Redskins season tickets during the team’s 1980s glory days was one benefit for which I was especially grateful. It got me out of Hebrew school a half hour early.
Eight Sundays a year—give or take the occasional 4 o’clock kickoff or Monday-night matchup, or when I had to surrender one of my family’s two tickets to my no-account little brother (who cared nothing about football and only wanted to go for the nachos)—my father would pick me up at Temple Sinai on Military Road at 11:30. We’d zip through Rock Creek Park, past the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, onto the Southeast Freeway, and into the RFK parking lot. At our first game, my dad innocently asked the attendant guarding the VIP compound, “Let a small car in?” and he waived us through—a ritual repeated for the next five years. At the last game of each season, we gave him a tin of my mom’s homemade lemon squares.
Inside RFK, the upper-deck seats around ours were filled by a microcosm of Washington itself: the black civil servant from Northeast, the white dirt contractor from Chantilly, the Jewish dentist from Potomac. I was introverted, but I knew a lot about the Redskins—such as who our third-string, emergency backup quarterback was (offensive lineman Russ Grimm) or what Darrell Green’s time was in the 40 (4.15 seconds). For three hours on those Sundays, I held court. “Let the kid talk!” people around us shouted when some more voluble but less knowledgeable adult tried to interrupt.
It would be hard for anyone who didn’t live these moments to capture their splendor, just as it’s hard to explain to anyone who knows only FedExField, Daniel Snyder, and the belatedly recognized racist team name how special Washington football was 30 years ago.
In Hail to the Redskins: Gibbs, the Diesel, the Hogs, and the Glory Days of D.C.’s Football Dynasty, Adam Lazarus takes a stab at it. But Lazarus is not a memoirist, much less a cultural anthropologist of Washington. He’s a sportswriter whose last book chronicled San Francisco’s late-’80s quarterback controversy between Steve Young and Joe Montana, an equally parochial moment in football history. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Despite the scores of people Lazarus interviewed and the countless hours he apparently spent in the Washington Post archives, Hail to the Redskins, for those of us who recall the city back then, is not parochial enough.
• • •
The book introduces the period’s main characters: Bible-beating, teetotaling head coach Joe Gibbs and hard-drinking running back John Riggins—whose first meeting came at a breakfast during which Riggins drained his Budweiser and then the one Gibbs wouldn’t touch. Pretty-boy quarterback Joe Theismann, with his Corvette hair and myriad endorsement deals, and Theismann’s eventual successor, Doug Williams, whose Job-like perseverance through his wife’s death and his exile to the USFL was rewarded when he became the first African-American starter at his position to win a Super Bowl. And of course, Jack Kent Cooke, the free-spending, General MacArthur-quoting owner who presided, not always benevolently, over the entire operation.
Lazarus replays the three Super Bowl wins in 1983, 1988, and 1992, hitting the obvious high notes: Riggins’s 43-yard touchdown run in ’83 and Williams’s 340-yard passing in ’88. But he features some deep cuts from the catalog, too, recalling the 17-point, fourth-quarter comeback against the Raiders in the 1983 regular season and the 1988 playoff triumph over the Bears at a frigid Soldier Field. The author’s character sketches of the more unheralded Redskins from that era, from mammoth offensive lineman Joe Jacoby to tiny but tough wide receiver Gary Clark, get at something fundamental about those teams. Unlike other NFL dynasties—typically built around one or two superstars, such as Joe Montana and Jerry Rice’s 49ers or Tom Brady’s Patriots—the Redskins, Lazarus writes, were “[q]uintessentially egalitarian.”
But the story of the Redskins in those years was about more than players, coaches, or the owner, more even than the games—it was about the city itself. Or rather, two cities. Washington in the 1980s was home to both the parsimonious Ronald Reagan and the felonious Marion Barry, to both white Republican revolutionaries who came from California and Texas to end the federal government’s war on poverty and homegrown black Democrats in the District eager to finally enjoy the spoils of home rule. Then there were the rest of us, caught in between and not always sure where we belonged in the Washington ecosystem.
For six days of the week, everyone existed in separate spheres. On Sundays, for a few hours, the love of the local football team brought us together. As an old Post beat writer tells Lazarus, “The Redskins had that unique ability to unite Washington’s two sectors: the political sector and that urban core.” After the first Super Bowl triumph in 1983, Reagan and Barry gave federal and city workers two hours of paid leave to attend the victory parade along Pennsylvania Avenue, and half a million people showed up.
The unity produced its own tensions. The holier-than-thou Gibbs—who lobbied Congress to return prayer to public schools, “to put God back in his rightful place in our life”—availed himself of womanizers and drug users (even, in one instance, a drug dealer), so long as they racked up sufficient sacks and rushing yards. Blind-side end Dexter Manley, meanwhile, a semiliterate cocaine addict, registered Republican after being awarded a plaque naming him “Secretary of Defense” by Caspar Weinberger, Reagan’s actual Secretary of Defense.
Lazarus mentions these and other details, but he doesn’t explore them. In his monochromatic retelling, there were some very big football games, and then way off in the background were a political revolution and a drug scourge.
• • •
Inevitably, then, it’s not the sins of commission that drag the book down (though they exist: Lazarus writes that “car horns honked across Capital Avenue” after one big win; RFK is on East Capitol Street). It’s the sins of omission. He rightly quotes Joe Jacoby’s wife, Irene, explaining that her husband retired because “he can’t walk,” but shamefully fails to mention her primary cultural contribution: the wonderfully low-budget commercial she and Joe cut for Theater Vision, a local big-screen TV retailer. Lazarus name-checks long-forgotten dining establishments in the Virginia suburbs—Jay Schroeder’s All-Pro Restaurant off Route 50, anyone?—but devotes no ink to Duke Zeibert’s, the downtown power-lunch spot where Cooke displayed his Super Bowl trophies, or the Malt Shop, the Tenleytown bar where players traditionally caroused after their appearances on Redskins Sidelines at Channel 9’s studios nearby.
Sonny, Sam, and Frank’s lone appearance in the book is their playing of a diesel-horn sound effect whenever Riggins ran the ball—as if that covered a fraction of their place in the era’s zeitgeist. As far as Lazarus is concerned, Ken Beatrice, host of WMAL’s post-game and of the weeknight Sports Call show, might as well have never shouted, “You’re next!” His name is nowhere in the book. Having summoned these figures in my mind without calling them forth, Hail to the Redskins threatened entire swaths of Washington’s cultural history—not to mention my childhood.
Of course, some things I’d like to forget. In 1988, during the Redskins’ playoff run en route to their second championship, the Bethesda insurance agent who had long sold my dad our seats from his family’s block of season tickets realized he could fetch a prettier penny elsewhere. That year, I watched the NFC championship game on CBS. The insurance man never sold us tickets again, which spelled the beginning of the end of my love of the Redskins and football.
It was just as well. In a few years, I’d be done with Hebrew school and in a few more the Redskins would be in Raljon, Cooke would be dead, and Snyder, disastrously, would be calling the shots. Not long after, we’d learn about the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs and the dangers of chronic traumatic encephalopathy and other things that called the entire sport into question. The insurance agent’s mercenary act was merely a precursor of the failings to come. In that way, he unwittingly did me a favor. I’ll always have the Redskins of my childhood. The Redskins of my adult years are somebody else’s problem.
Jason Zengerle is the political correspondent for GQ.
This article appears in our September 2015 issue of Washingtonian. |
Facial Scarring Compensation: The amounts of compensation you can claim for scars to the face causing minor to severe disfigurement in the UK
Facial scarring compensation: Find out the types of accident which can lead to facial scarring compensation claims, how your solicitor calculates the amount of compensation you can claim, what effect your gender and age have on your compensation payments with examples of facial disfigurement average compensation payouts for both men and women.
What type of accident can give rise to a UK facial scarring compensation claim?
There are many different types of accident which can cause a scar to the face and disfigurement. The person responsible in law for the accident will be responsible for paying your facial scarring compensation.
Facial Scarring Claim
Each type of accident has a different procedure for claiming compensation, some examples with links to a page I have written explaining the claims process include:
1. Road traffic accident causing facial disfigurement
A RTA such as a car accident or motorcycle collision can cause many different types of injury including minor and severe facial scarring.
Click road traffic accident to see the page I have written setting out the claims procedure following a RTA.
2. Burn injury or other work injury
An employer owes a duty to keep employees safe – chemicals ca cause burns to the face and other work accidents can lead to facial scarring claims.
Click accident at work to see the works compensation claims process.
3. Clinical injury causing facial scarring
Surgical procedures in hospitals can sometimes go wrong and lead to scarring and other injuries.
Click medical accident claim to see the UK process for claiming medical accident facial scarring compensation.
4. Other types of accident causing facial scarring
Other types of UK accident might include slip trip fall claims, criminal injury compensation, injury to minors, industrial accident, holiday accidents abroad, animal accident claims, etc.
How does your solicitor calculate how much facial scarring compensation can you claim?
The amount of facial scarring compensation you can claim in the UK does not depend on the accident type, but on the severity of the facial injury.
Your lawyer can calculate how much your claim is worth based upon a medical report completed by a plastic surgeon. This report will be based upon a medical examination and a review of your GP and hospital notes.
The plastic surgeon will describe how severe your injury is, refer to photographs of your scarring, describe if the scars are hypertrophic (raised scar tissue), whether the scarring causes any discomfort (pain and itchiness) and set out what the future holds in a prognosis explaining whether any corrective surgery would assist in reducing the appearance of the scar.
Your solicitor will look at the medical report and look at claims previously decided by the courts to decide to determine how much compensation you should recover.
Do women receive more compensation for scarring than men?
“Yes and No” – up to the middle of 2017 there were two different award scales for men and women, but the law has recently facial scarring differently to allow men to recover as much as women for the same scar, so long as the psychological impact can be shown to be as significant.
The overall payout is in part determined by the psychological effect on the victim in addition to the extent of the facial scarring itself. Women are sometime viewed as having a stronger psychological reaction to facial scarring than men – so indirectly might be awarded more than men for the same scar. If however the psychological effect can be shown to be the same for a man and a woman – the award should be the same.
Does your age affect the amount of compensation you can receive?
“Yes” – the young tend to receive larger average compensation payouts than an older person as a young person is often more self conscious and will have to live for a longer period with the disfigurement.
How much compensation can a can a man recover for a scar to the face?
Some examples of average compensation payouts for facial scarring for men and women in 2018 include:
1. Minor facial scarring average claim payouts for men: £1,500 – £3,100
2. Scarring to the face of a man which is visible from a short distance leads to compensation calculated between: £3,500 – £12,000
3. Severe facial scarring average compensation payouts for men: up to £85,000
Summary Of Facial Scarring Compensation And Free Online Legal Help
On this page your have seen examples of facial scarring compensation amounts for men and women together with an explanation of how average compensation payouts are calculated by your accident claim solicitor.
I recommend you click body scarring claims to see the page I have written setting out the amounts of compensation you can claim for scarring to other body parts.
If you would like to discuss your facial scarring claim with me in person free of charge or have the amount of average compensation payout you recover calculated online click facial scarring claim. |
The U.S. Embassy in Berlin has instructed Foreign Service personnel stationed there not to attend Sen. Barack Obama's public rally today, which the State Department this week labeled a "partisan political activity" prohibited under its regulations for those serving overseas.
Government employees serving in the United States are permitted to attend such events under the Hatch Act, which bars other partisan activity, such as contributing money or working in behalf of a candidate...
...The American Foreign Service Association, the union of the diplomatic corps, objected to the ruling, calling it an "unnecessarily narrow interpretation" of the Foreign Affairs Manual. "The fact that you are working for the U.S. government overseas should not preclude political activity that you could engage in in the United States," one retired senior Foreign Service officer said. |
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Edgerrin James stood on the sideline throwing up a U with athletic director Blake James. Jessie Armstead signed autographs.
Russell Maryland, Jon Beason and Randal Hill chatted with friends. Down the sideline at the other end zone, former coach Howard Schnellenberger stood in his usual shirt, tie, slacks and suspenders. They were not the only ones watching the Miami football game so intently.
#Canes4Life "Former Canes Back on the Sidelines... That's a Big Deal... I remember how motivated I was when I seen some of the GREATS on the sideline....Extra motivated.... Our AD Blake James 'Gets It'... #GoCanes A photo posted by Edgerrin James (@edgerrinjames) on Apr 16, 2016 at 12:07pm PDT
Former players from across different eras all came together to see Mark Richt and what he has in store for their beloved alma mater, giving the entire program a collective bear hug that has been missing for years.
They are not the only ones. Fans have shown their support, too, doubling attendance at the spring game at Lockhart Stadium, about an hour north of campus. The turnabout is noticeable. Remember, this is the same school that drew embarrassing headlines for the ubiquitous banners that flew on game days urging former coach Al Golden to be fired.
“So far, it’s like coach Richt is the president of Miami,” quarterback Brad Kaaya said.
A record 300 former players attended a get-together Friday, held every year before the spring game. Last year, Miami had around 80 attend. Richt was one of the last to leave. "We just shot the breeze and told war stories. Just had fun talking about old memories and what could be in the future,” Richt said.
This is the same program that saw one former player after another openly bash Golden, splintering what is traditionally one of the most unified alumni bases in college football between those who chose to quietly support and those who chose to vocally oppose.
But in just four short months, Richt has changed the dynamic. Vitriol has been replaced with candy hearts that might as well spell out “We love U!”
“He’s one of us,” Edgerrin James said. “He’s a Hurricane. He understands what it takes. You look at the turnout we had, you look at the former players who came back. Everybody’s excited. There’s just a difference when you have one of your own in the stable.”
Richt is suited for the job perhaps more than any other coach in America. His background as a quarterback at Miami clearly helps. But so does his track record at Georgia, where he averaged nearly 10 wins per season with the Bulldogs.
About 100 former players attended Mark Richt's first spring game at Miami, including Raphael Kirby, far left, and Edgerrin James, far right. Andrea Adelson/ESPN
On top of all that, Richt easily handles being a program ambassador and is never shy about shaking a few hands, speaking on the rubber chicken circuit or voicing his opinion when he needs to.
“We all know we got a gift from Georgia,” said Dave Heffernan, who roomed with Richt for one season when the two played at Miami.
Richt is no dummy. He understood the need to get former players unified and the value in getting them pulling in the same direction. Miami has not been allowed to welcome them back to the sideline for actual games while it is under NCAA probation. Getting them on the field for the spring game was just a taste of what should come once probation is over in October.
The good will extends beyond former players. Blake James said season-ticket renewal rate is at 85 percent, the highest number he can recall. Over 6,000 new season-ticket packages have been sold. There is renewed hope for an indoor facility to finally gain approval, with Richt taking the lobbying lead.
Players have noticed all the positivity, too. Let Kaaya explain how it felt to go to a game knowing there would be a banner flying overhead.
“It’s hard when I know any bad decision I make on the field is going to affect my coach,” Kaaya said. “If I throw a pick, or if I do something that’s going to lead us losing this game, there’s going to be a banner up at our next home game. We’re 3-0 and I’m going into the Cincinnati game and there’s a banner. I’m just thinking, ‘I hope we don’t lose this game. I hope I play well so my Twitter mentions aren’t going to have, ‘I hate coach Golden’ or ‘Fire coach Golden.’
“We put in all this work and there’s a banner saying, ‘Bring back Butch.' ... 'Throw it in the tank for the season.’ Geez you’re giving up on us, too? That part right there, it was hard to take at times as a player. It was a bit nerve-wracking.”
The pressure is not necessarily off. Buy-in is always high when a new coach is going through the honeymoon phase. His credentials made him the perfect choice, but Richt will be held to the same expectation as every coach before him: win a national championship.
“He’s got to,” Edgerrin James said. “The city of Miami isn’t going to accept anything but getting this thing back.” |
The final stage of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) chain involves storing the CO2 deep underground in locations where it will remain locked away for thousands of years.
In order to transport carbon dioxide (CO2) most efficiently, it needs to be liquefied. This is achieved by pressurising the gas. "If you increase the pressure to about 70 atmospheres, the CO2 becomes a dense liquid - about the same density as crude oil," explained Stuart Haszeldine from the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences. "This means that you can transport much more carbon dioxide in a small space." In this state, the gas is then ready to be moved, either by tanker or pipeline, to the location where it will be buried deep underground. Some people are trying to solve all storage problems all at once before taking the first step of the journey
Professor Stuart Haszeldine,
University of Edinburgh A storage site 800m or more underground will ensure that the pressure will be great enough to keep the CO2 in its liquid state. When the CO2 is pumped into the subterranean storage site, it spreads out into the surrounding porous rock (eg limestone). "Although they may appear solid, most of these rocks are sedimentary and made of sand or carbonate pieces," explained Professor Haszeldine. "About a third of the rock is space made up of microscopic pores, and this is where the CO2 seeps into." Because the CO2 is buoyant, the storage area needs to have a geological "cap" to prevent the molecules escaping. This means the location requires an impermeable layer, such as mud or clay, above the area where the CO2 is being pumped. There are three main geological options that are being assessed for their suitability: • Oil and gas fields: Considered to be "secure vessels" because the sites have safely stored oil or gas for millions of years. A natural porous reservoir with an impermeable seal above it. • Saline aquifers: The injected CO2 physically pushes the salt water out of the way before dissolving into the water over time, forming fizzy salty water. • Unmineable coal seams: Works in a slightly different way to the previous two options. The liquid CO2 chemically "sticks" on to the small fractures and pores in the coal. This option is a less attractive option at the moment, because it is still at an experimental stage. Current estimates show that we could store up to 40 years of global CO2 emissions in the world's known oil and gas fields. Saline aquifers are 100 times bigger than oil and gas fields, which could mean that there is potential to lock away carbon dioxide for at least several centuries. One problem is that while some nations are well-endowed with oil fields or saline aquifers, such as the UK, others have few. India and Japan, for example, have very little in the way or oil or gas fields. This means that they will have difficulty finding sites in which they can lock away their liquid CO2. "These nations may have to export their CO2 to other storage sites around the world," Professor Haszeldine suggested. He added that another hurdle to overcome was the use of saline aquifers to store CO2 on a large industrial scale. This still needed further investigation, he said. "There are possibilities that the increased pressure to push in the CO2 could cause complex interferences between different boreholes used to inject the CO2. "It is possible to overcome this, but this has not been physically demonstrated yet." Lessons to come Professor Haszeldine highlighted another potential problem: "When you are storing CO2 under a landmass with a large human population, we will have to be extra vigilant. "We need to make sure that when the CO2 is pushed in, we know where the salty water that is pushed out of the way ends up. "If the salty water is pushed upwards within the layering within the sedimentary basin, it could enter freshwater aquifers used for agriculture or drinking water. "Although it is not very likely, it does mean that there is an extra factor that needs to be demonstrated." However, he said that this should not be used as a reason not to push ahead with carbon capture and storage technologies. "Some people are trying to solve all storage problems all at once before taking the first step of the journey. "We don't need to answer all of those questions right now; we can get on and use the best sites now and progressively learn more as we go along."
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Narrator: “Ever wonder how Hillary Clinton can afford so many ads? Chances are, they were paid for with Wall Street cash. Hillary Clinton’s gotten 54 times more money from Wall Street interests than from all of Iowa. Hillary rewarded Wall Street with the $700 billion bailout—then Wall Street made her a multi-millionaire.” Clinton: “I represented Wall Street.” Narrator: “Heh. You sure did, Hillary. Does Iowa really want Wall Street in the White House?”
Karl Rove didn’t suddenly become a rabid critic of Wall Street’s influence, just like the RNC didn’t just turn into overnight Bernie fans. The truth of the matter is a lot simpler: They’d prefer to see Sanders win the Democratic nomination because they think he’d be easier to beat in November.
If you don’t like the implications of that conclusion, there are a couple of ways you might respond. You could point to general election polls showing Sanders with bigger leads on potential GOP opponents than Clinton, but there are flaws with that approach. As Markos Moulitsas put it, “[Y]ou can’t compare a candidate who has been through the media wringer for decades and has universal name ID” like Clinton, to someone like Sanders who is only now reaching the national stage and about whom almost a fifth of voters still have no opinion. Put another way: If Sanders were to experience the same white-hot glare of hostile GOP attention that Clinton has for her entire public life, that polling gap would disappear, or perhaps even shift in Clinton’s favor.
A better argument might be that Rove is an idiot—he’s the guy who told NPR he had “the math” showing Republicans wouldn’t get wiped out in 2006, and he’s also the same doofus who had a live TV meltdown on election night in 2012 when Fox News (doing something correctly, for once its life) called the state of Ohio, and thus the election, for Barack Obama.
But that’s Rove mugging for the cameras (or microphones). The public Rove is cheerleader-in-chief for the Republican Party, no doubt. But for all his clownish bluster, I’m not convinced that he isn’t a lot smarter in private, when he isn’t playing to an audience and can be honest about what the numbers actually say. What’s more, for the “Rove is a moron” theory to actually carry the day, not only would Rove have to be in the wrong—the RNC would as well.
Now, that’s not impossible. We’ve certainly seen wide swaths of the GOP fall under the spell of various electoral delusions at various times. (Remember "shellshocked Romney?") But the evidence for this case is far from certain, and it always pays to be skeptical in politics. After all, a spokesman for Todd Akin declared that McCaskill “would be very unwise to want to run against” Akin and said that his boss “poses the greatest threat” to the senator. Both of those statements turned out to be very wrong.
I would hope this goes without saying, but I am emphatically not comparing Bernie Sanders to Todd Akin. I am only comparing their situations: The opposing political party in each case thinks the man in question is the weakest possible opponent and thus is trying to boost his chances to win his own party’s primary. That’s as far as the comparison goes, and no farther.
And while McCaskill ultimately proved to be right, the GOP could yet be wrong here. But what if they’re not? |
Me: "Didn't you hear? NASA's planning to visit an Asteroid."
Steve: "Wait, didn't NASA get shut down after the Space Shuttle?"
Me: (Uh oh, not this conversation again...)
While Steve's facts may be fuzzy, one thing is clear: despite NASA's award-winning social media and web outreach efforts, there are still massive gaps between the public's perception of the agency, and the reality. And unless you are a big space geek like me with daily space Google alerts, it's not unreasonable to be a bit confused.
So why does this matter? For one, 16.8 billion of our tax dollars are funding the agency. Second, NASA is currently up for reauthorization in Congress, and a recent draft bill includes a proposal to cut the agency's funding by $1 billion and redistribute what's left towards some pretty controversial projects -- like sending humans to an asteroid.
But how can we as a nation have an honest dialogue about the future of our space agency and its public value when the conversation has to begin with proving that NASA does still indeed exist? Here are five popular misconceptions about the space agency that are creating noise in NASA's PR signal:
#1. "Wasn't NASA shut down after the Space Shuttle?"
Since the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle program, the big white birds have been immortalized in museums across America. Last year, many of us marveled at the decommissioned Shuttle Endeavour piggy backing a Boeing 747 soaring over the Golden Gate Bridge, but the piece of information that slipped through the cracks is that while the Shuttle program may be over, the human spaceflight program still very much exists.
The combination of a costly $450 million per mission, ageing vehicles, and limited capabilities (the Shuttle could only get astronauts to low earth orbit), necessitated retiring the Space Shuttle in order to free up funds towards developing new transport vehicles.
The two programs paving the way for the future are the Commercial Crew Program designed to shuttle astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station, and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, which when combined with newly designed heavy lift rockets, will be able to take astronauts farther from Earth than ever before - including Mars.
Until these new spacecraft are ready, our astronauts are catching lifts to the International Space Station via the Russian Soyuz vehicle, at $70 million a seat. At that cost, the Space Shuttle replacement can't come soon enough.
It's also worth mentioning that human spaceflight constitutes only 45-50 percent of NASA's budget, meaning that half of the agency is working on unmanned projects ranging from landing rovers on Mars to launching telescopes that are detecting potentially life-friendly Earth-like planets outside of our solar system.
The Word: NASA is still very much alive and kicking!
#2. "NASA is too expensive. How can we justify that kind of spending right now?"
Few will contend with the idea that NASA is a source for inspiration to children and adults alike, and a testament to the technological capabilities of American scientists and engineers. But the reality is, this stuff does cost money. And with the sequester wreaking havoc on all federal programs, these questions are more than pertinent.
Yet before determining if the spending is worth it (as many of us have very strong opinions on), it's essential to first know how money we're actually talking about here.
Public opinion polls show that Americans believe that NASA takes up about 20% of the national budget. However, the overall annual NASA budget is only about 0.5% of U.S. Government spending. That's half a penny of every tax dollar. By comparison, in 2012, the government spent the same amount of money on Farm Subsidies (0.4%) and Agricultural Research (0.1%) as it did on NASA. And these numbers pale in comparison to the real big ticket items -- Defense (24.8%) Social Security (22%), and Healthcare (22.7%).
This is not to downplay the significance and priority of these other programs, nor is it to imply that NASA is cheap. Rather it provides perspective: even if we were to delete the space program altogether, it would hardly make a dent in our budgetary problems. And if history is any judge, we can probably assume those funds wouldn't be redirected to international aid and public education anyway.
The Word: NASA is not free, but it certainly isn't the cause of our financial woes.
#3. "Why are we spending all that money on Space when we could be spending it down here on Earth?"
There are currently no banks or shops in space, so it turns out every dollar NASA spends is spent right here down on Earth. The design, R&D, and manufacture of satellites, rockets, and other space-related technologies--and employing tens of thousands of people to do it--pump billions of dollars into the U.S. economy. Studies estimate a $7-$14 return on investment for every $1 of NASA expenditure, with all of it going directly back into the U.S. Treasury.
Much of NASA's work is conducted at 10 NASA field centers across the country that employ around 57,500 workers. Before the Space Shuttle retirement, the Kennedy Space Center accounted for $4.1 billion of financial activity in the state, and in 2009 Johnson Space Center in Houston generated $2.96 billion in business volume in the state of Texas.
And of course, there are the technologies that NASA R&D and missions have enabled. Tang and Velcro may be the most popularly mentioned ones (though they were not actually invented by NASA), but more impactful ones include water filters, MRI machines, mammography technology, and due to the miniaturization of electronics during the Apollo era, the catalysis of the microelectronics industry. Many people have pulled together lists of technological pull-through from the space program, and NASA publishes an annual publicly available Spinoff magazine that details each year's commercialized technology transfers.
The Word: Every dollar NASA spends is spent here on Earth, and the technological advances from the work often benefit our everyday lives.
#4. "Private space companies are taking over, so why do we need a government space program?"
Perhaps a byproduct of adversarial debates in Congress about the role of government vs. private enterprise, a rather inaccurate narrative of NASA vs. private spaceflight has emerged. There certainly are activities that private companies are capable of doing faster, better, and cheaper than a bureaucracy plagued NASA. With the success of SpaceX's Dragon docking with the International Space Station, April's Orbital Sciences's Antares launch, and Virgin Galactic's triumphant Space Ship Two test flight, there is no doubt that something very special is happening with private spaceflight this time around.
But how private is private, really? Let's take SpaceX as an example (Virgin Galactic is focused primarily on sub-orbital flight for tourism--which is not NASA's ball game). The single biggest customer in the market for these spacecraft is NASA. And in addition to standing on the shoulders of NASA giants, SpaceX is heavily dependent on the US government, having received $440 million in federal subsidies in 2012, and to date, an estimated $911 Million in NASA contracts.
The commercial space industry is not going to replace NASA any time soon. However, if these partnerships work out as all intend, these companies can take over the commercially viable aspects of space exploration like launching and deploying satellites, and other activities in low-earth orbit.
And NASA would be quite happy to give this up to focus on what it does best: the big missions where the main return on investment is not shareholder value, but rather pushing the limits of science, engineering, and discovery. Going to the Sun. Searching for exoplanets. Visiting Saturn's Rings. These missions demand great patience, are full of uncertainty, and require long and difficult project lifetimes that extend beyond the Wall Street fiscal cycles, Congressional elections, and Presidential terms in office.
Will Elon Musk and SpaceX really send humans to Mars? Perhaps--depends on whom you ask. But until these companies scale and the technologies evolve, theirs and NASA's fates will remain interdependent.
The Word: It's not NASA vs. private companies, but rather, NASA in partnership with private companies.
#5. "Isn't NASA a part of the Department of Defense?"
Back during the Cold War, sending NASA astronauts to the moon was primarily a powerplay to show the Soviet Union that we were not to be messed with. But the war is over, and the world has changed. While NASA still does the occasional DARPA funded projects and works closely with contractors who also contract with the Department of Defense (e.g., Lockheed Martin and Boeing make the rockets that launched the Curiosity Rover to Mars), NASA is not a defense organization.
It is a civilian agency, focused on the peaceful exploration and utilization of space.
No other national agency can claim the international cooperation that NASA can: from the latest Mars rovers in which several countries contributed to their design, to the post-war cooperative relationship with the Russians in the tight quarters of the International Space Station, NASA has proven capable of collaborating with nations that our own State Department would be hard pressed to sit comfortably at the table with. NASA understands that the complexities, costs, and geopolitical nature of space exploration require a truly international effort, and that no country is capable of accomplishing these great feats alone.
The Word: NASA is a civilian agency devoted to the peaceful and cooperative exploration of space.
Obviously any number of these topics can be expanded into a more nuanced debate about the purpose of scientific exploration, how government spending and public-private partnerships should work, and what budget allocations ought to be. And the more we, the members of the public, have an understanding of the baseline assumptions, the more prepared we are as a nation to have these conversations. |
There is increasing evidence for a role of early life gut microbiota in later development of asthma in children. In our recent study, children with reduced abundance of the bacterial genera Lachnospira, Veillonella, Faecalibacterium, and Rothia had an increased risk of development of asthma and addition of these bacteria in a humanized mouse model reduced airway inflammation. In this Addendum, we provide additional data on the use of a humanized gut microbiota mouse model to study the development of asthma in children, highlighting the differences in immune development between germ-free mice colonized with human microbes compared to those colonized with mouse gut microbiota. We also demonstrate that there is no association between the composition of the gut microbiota in older children and the diagnosis of asthma, further suggesting the importance of the gut microbiota-immune system axis in the first 3 months of life. |
Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter.[1] Like his father, Woody Guthrie, he is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs. Guthrie's best-known work is his debut piece, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree", a satirical talking blues song about 18 minutes in length that has since become a Thanksgiving anthem. His only top-40 hit was a cover of Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans". His song "Massachusetts" was named the official folk song of the state in which he has lived most of his adult life. Guthrie has also made several acting appearances. He is the father of four children, who have also had careers as musicians.
Early life [ edit ]
Guthrie was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of the folk singer and composer Woody Guthrie and Marjorie Mazia Guthrie. His sister is the record producer Nora Guthrie. His mother was a one-time professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company and founder of the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease (later Huntington's Disease Society of America), the illness from which Woody Guthrie died in 1967. Arlo's father was from a Protestant family and his mother was Jewish.[2] His maternal grandmother was the renowned Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt.[3]
Guthrie received religious training for his bar mitzvah from Rabbi Meir Kahane, who would go on to form the Jewish Defense League. "Rabbi Kahane was a really nice, patient teacher," Guthrie later recalled, "but shortly after he started giving me my lessons, he started going haywire. Maybe I was responsible."[4] Guthrie converted to Catholicism in 1977,[5] before embracing interfaith beliefs later in his life.[6]
Guthrie attended Woodward School in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn from first through eighth grades and later graduated from the Stockbridge School, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1965. He spent the summer of 1965 in London, eventually meeting Karl Dallas, who connected Guthrie with London's folk rock scene and became a lifelong friend of his.[7] He briefly attended Rocky Mountain College, in Billings, Montana. He received an honorary doctorate from Siena College in 1981 and from Westfield State College in 2008.
As a singer, songwriter and lifelong political activist, Guthrie carries on the legacy of his father. He was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award on September 26, 1992.[8]
Alice's Restaurant Massacree 40th Anniversary tour Guthrie performing during his 2005tour
On Thanksgiving Day 1965, while in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, after a brief stint in college, Guthrie, then 18 years old, was arrested for illegally dumping on private property what he described as "a half-ton of garbage" from the home of his friends, teachers Ray and Alice Brock, after he discovered the local landfill was closed for the holiday. Guthrie and his friend, Richard Robbins, appeared in court, pled guilty to the charges, were levied a nominal fine and picked up the garbage that weekend.[9]
This littering charge would soon serve as the basis for Guthrie's most famous work, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree", a talking blues song that lasts 18 minutes and 34 seconds in its original recorded version. Guthrie has pointed out that this was also the exact length of one of the infamous gaps in Richard Nixon's Watergate tapes, and that Nixon owned a copy of the record. The Alice in the song is Alice Brock, who had been a librarian at Arlo's boarding school in the town before opening her restaurant. She later opened an art studio in Provincetown, Massachusetts.[10]
The song lampoons the Vietnam War draft. However, Guthrie has stated in multiple interviews that the song is more an "anti-stupidity" song than an anti-war song, adding that it is based on a true incident.[11] In the song, Guthrie is called up for a draft examination and rejected as unfit for military service as a result of a criminal record consisting solely of one conviction for the aforementioned littering. Alice and her restaurant are the subjects of the refrain, but are generally mentioned only incidentally in the story (early drafts of the song explained that the restaurant was a place to hide from the police). Though her presence is implied at certain points in the story, Alice herself is described explicitly in the tale only briefly when she bails Guthrie and a friend out of jail. On the DVD commentary for the 1969 movie, Guthrie stated that the events presented in the song all actually happened (others, such as the arresting officer, William Obanhein, disputed this, and Guthrie has said that he embellished some minor details).[citation needed]
"Alice's Restaurant" was the song that earned Guthrie his first recording contract, after counterculture radio host Bob Fass began playing a tape recording of one of Guthrie's live performances of the song repeatedly one night in 1967.[12] A performance at the Newport Folk Festival on July 17, 1967 was also very well received.[13] Soon afterward, Guthrie recorded the song in front of a studio audience in New York City and released it as side one of the album, Alice's Restaurant.[13] By the end of the decade, Guthrie had gone from playing coffee houses and small venues to playing massive and prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Woodstock Festival.[14]
For a short period after its release in October 1967, "Alice's Restaurant" was heavily played on U.S. college and counterculture radio stations. It became a symbol of the late 1960s, and for many it defined an attitude and lifestyle that were lived out across the country in the ensuing years. Its leisurely, sassy finger-picking acoustic guitar and rambling lyrics were widely memorized and played by irreverent youth. Many stations in the United States have a Thanksgiving Day tradition of playing "Alice's Restaurant".[15]
A 1969 film, directed and co-written by Arthur Penn, was based on the true story told in the song, but with the addition of a large number of fictional scenes. This film, also called Alice's Restaurant, featured Arlo and several other figures in the song portraying themselves. The part of his father Woody Guthrie, who had died in 1967, was played by an actor, Joseph Boley; Alice, who made a cameo appearance as an extra, was also recast, with actress Pat Quinn in the title role (Alice Brock later disowned the film's portrayal of her).[16][not in citation given]
Despite its popularity, the song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is not always featured on the set list of any given Guthrie performance. Since putting it back into his setlist in 1984, he has performed the song every ten years, stating in a 2014 interview that the Vietnam War had ended by the 1970s and that everyone who was attending his concerts had likely already heard the song anyway. So, after a brief period in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he replaced the monologue with a fictional one involving "multicolored rainbow roaches", he decided to do it only on special occasions from that point forward.[17]
Musical career and critical reception [ edit ]
Guthrie performing with the Guthrie Family Legacy Tour 2007
The "Alice's Restaurant" song was one of a few very long songs to become popular just when albums began replacing hit singles as young people's main music listening. But in 1972 Guthrie had a highly successful single too, Steve Goodman's song "City of New Orleans", a wistful paean to long-distance passenger rail travel. Guthrie's first trip on that train was in December 2005 (when his family joined other musicians on a train trip across the country to raise money for musicians financially devastated by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, in the South of the United States). He also had a minor hit with his song "Coming into Los Angeles", which was played at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, but did not get much radio airplay because of its plot (involving the smuggling of drugs from London by airplane),[18] and success with a live version of "The Motorcycle Song" (one of the songs on the B-side of the Alice's Restaurant album). A cover of the folk song "Gypsy Davy" was a hit on the easy listening charts.
In the fall of 1975 during a benefit concert in Massachusetts, Arlo Guthrie performed with his band, Shenandoah, in public for the first time. They continued to tour and record throughout the 1970s until the early 1990s.[1] Although the band received good reviews, it never gained the popularity that Guthrie did while playing solo. This band is not to be confused with the popular country music group Shenandoah, an entirely different group that had musical hits from 1986 to 2006. Arlo Guthrie's band Shenandoah consisted (after 1976) of David Grover, Steve Ide, Carol Ide, Terry A La Berry and Dan Velika.[19] The Ides, along with Terry a la Berry, reunited with Guthrie for a 2018 tour.[20]
Guthrie's 1976 album Amigo received a five-star (highest rating) from Rolling Stone, and may be his best-received work. However, that album, like Guthrie's earlier Warner Bros. Records albums, is rarely heard today, even though each contains strong folk and folk rock music accompanied by widely regarded musicians such as Ry Cooder.[citation needed]
A number of musicians from a variety of genres have joined Guthrie onstage, including Pete Seeger, David Bromberg, Cyril Neville, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Judy Collins, John Prine, Wesley Gray, Josh Ritter, and others.
Acting [ edit ]
Though Guthrie is best known for being a musician, singer, and composer, throughout the years he has also appeared as an actor in films and on television. The film Alice's Restaurant (1969) is his best known role, but he has had small parts in several films and even co-starred in a television drama, Byrds of Paradise.
Guthrie has had minor roles in several movies and television series. Usually, he has appeared as himself, often performing music and/or being interviewed about the 1960s, folk music and various social causes. His television appearances have included a broad range of programs from The Muppet Show (1979) to Politically Incorrect (1998).[21] A rare dramatic film part was in the 1992 movie Roadside Prophets. Guthrie's memorable appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival was documented in the Michael Wadleigh film Woodstock.[1]
Guthrie also made a pilot for a TV variety show called The Arlo Guthrie Show in February 1987. The hour-long program included story telling and musical performances and was filmed in Austin, Texas. It was broadcast nationally on PBS. Special guests were Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt, David Bromberg and Jerry Jeff Walker.[22][23]
Politics [ edit ]
In his earlier years, at least from the 1960s to the 1980s, Guthrie had taken a decidedly leftist approach to American politics. In his often lengthy comments during concerts his expressed positions were consistently anti-war, anti-Nixon, pro-drugs and in favor of making nuclear power illegal. However, he apparently regarded himself as more an individualist than the major youth culture spokesperson he had been regarded as by the media, as evidenced by the lyrics in his 1979 song "Prologue": "I can remember all of your smiles during the demonstrations, ... and together we sang our victory songs though we were worlds apart."[24] A 1969 rewrite of "Alice's Restaurant" pokes fun at then-former President Lyndon Johnson and his staff.
In 1984, he was the featured celebrity in George McGovern's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in Guthrie's home state of Massachusetts, performing at rallies and receptions.[25][26]
Guthrie identified as a registered Republican in 2008. He endorsed Texas Congressman Ron Paul for the 2008 Republican Party nomination, and said, "I love this guy. Dr. Paul is the only candidate I know of who would have signed the Constitution of the United States had he been there. I'm with him, because he seems to be the only candidate who actually believes it has as much relevance today as it did a couple of hundred years ago. I look forward to the day when we can work out the differences we have with the same revolutionary vision and enthusiasm that is our American legacy."[27] He told The New York Times Magazine that he is a Republican because, "We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans. We needed a loyal opposition."[28]
Commenting on the upcoming 2016 election, Guthrie identified himself as an independent, and said he was "equally suspicious of Democrats as I am of Republicans." He declined to endorse a candidate, noting that he personally liked Bernie Sanders despite disagreeing with Sanders' platform, and he praised Donald Trump for not relying on campaign donations, stating that he thought it "wonderful" that "he's [Trump] not in anyone's pocket," but did not believe that this necessarily means that Trump has the best interests of the country in mind.[29]
In 2018, Guthrie contacted publication Urban Milwaukee to clarify his political stance. He stated "I am not a Republican," and expressed deep disagreement with the Trump administration's views and policies on immigration. Guthrie further clarified, "I left the party years ago and do not identify myself with either party these days. I strongly urge my fellow Americans to stop the current trend of guilt by association, and look beyond the party names and affiliations, and work for candidates whose policies are more closely aligned with their own, whatever they may be ... I don't pretend to be right all the time, and sometimes I've gone so far as to change my mind from time to time." [30]
Legacy [ edit ]
Arlo Guthrie in 2010 in Nuremberg
Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Guthrie often sings songs of protest against social injustice. He collaborated with poet Adrian Mitchell to tell the story of Chilean folk singer and activist Víctor Jara in song. He regularly performed with folk musician Pete Seeger, one of his father's longtime partners. Ramblin' Jack Elliott, who had lived for two years in the Guthries' home before Arlo left for boarding school, had absorbed Woody's style perhaps better than anyone; Arlo has been said to have credited Elliott for passing it along to him.[citation needed]
In 1991, Guthrie bought the church that had served as Alice and Ray Brock's former home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and converted it to the Guthrie Center, an interfaith meeting place that serves people of all religions. The center provides weekly free lunches in the community and support for families living with HIV/AIDS, as well as other life-threatening illnesses. It also hosts a summertime concert series and Guthrie does six or seven fund raising shows there every year. There are several annual events such as the Walk-A-Thon to Cure Huntington's Disease and a "Thanksgiving Dinner That Can't Be Beat" for families, friends, doctors and scientists who live and work with Huntington's disease.[31]
One of the title characters in the comic strip Arlo and Janis is named after Guthrie. Cartoonist Jimmy Johnson noted he was inspired by a friend who resembled Guthrie to name one of his characters Arlo.[32][33]
Personal life [ edit ]
Guthrie resides in the town of Washington, Massachusetts, where he and Jackie Hyde, his wife of 43 years, were long time residents. Jackie died on October 14, 2012, shortly after being diagnosed with liver cancer. He also has a home in Sebastian, Florida.
Guthrie's son Abe Guthrie and his daughters Annie, Sarah Lee Guthrie, and Cathy Guthrie are also musicians. Annie Guthrie writes songs and performs, and also takes care of family touring details. Sarah Lee performs and records with her husband Johnny Irion. Cathy plays ukulele in Folk Uke, a group she formed with Amy Nelson, the daughter of Willie Nelson. Abe Guthrie was formerly in the folk-rock band, Xavier, and has also toured with his father. Abe Guthrie's son, Krishna, is a drummer and toured with Arlo Guthrie on his European tour in 2006[citation needed] and played guitar for the 2009–2010 Tour. Krishna plays drums in Modest Me. Arlo Guthrie is a grandfather of Abe's son Krishna and daughter Serena, Annie's son Shiva Das (Mo) and daughter Jacklyn, Sarah Lee's daughters Olivia Nora and Sophia Irion and Cathy's daughter Marjorie Maybelle Midwood.
Works [ edit ]
Guthrie tuning up before a performance in Kodiak, Alaska in 2013.
Discography [ edit ]
Select filmography [ edit ]
Notable television appearances [ edit ]
Beat Club (season 1, episode 52) February 28, 1970
(season 1, episode 52) February 28, 1970 The Byrds of Paradise (1994, 8 episodes), a short-lived ABC drama set in Hawaii
(1994, 8 episodes), a short-lived ABC drama set in Hawaii Relativity December 29, 1996
December 29, 1996 Renegade , guest-starring in "Top Ten with a Bullet" (season 5, episode 14) aired on January 24, 1997
, guest-starring in "Top Ten with a Bullet" (season 5, episode 14) aired on January 24, 1997 Rich Man, Poor Man: Book 2 two episodes, 1976
two episodes, 1976 The fourth season of The Muppet Show .
. The Fiftieth Anniversary of "Alice's Restaurant". PBS special on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2015
Film and television composer [ edit ]
Alice's Restaurant (1969) (song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree")
(1969) (song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree") Woodstock (1970) (song "Coming into Los Angeles" – the song heard on the officially released soundtrack recording was not played at the Woodstock festival. Rather, it is a recording of a previous live presentation.)
(1970) (song "Coming into Los Angeles" – the song heard on the officially released soundtrack recording was not played at the Woodstock festival. Rather, it is a recording of a previous live presentation.) Clay Pigeon (1971) also known as Trip to Kill (UK)
(1971) also known as (UK) Baby's Storytime (1989)
Producer and writer [ edit ]
Isn't This a Time! A Tribute Concert for Harold Leventhal (2004)
(2004) Mooses Come Walking (1995) (children's book)[34]
Appearances as himself [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ] |
When Hal Jordan, the fictional playboy test pilot, was given a power ring from a dying spaceman, thus making him the Green Lantern of Sector 2814 (Earth), he joined an elite military institution called the Green Lantern Corps -- a group dedicated to preserving order in the universe while sporting distinctive green attire. Now, thanks largely to Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and others, they've been joined by a new emerald power: the "green-collar" worker.
"We need to make sure that we start jump-starting the jobs in this country again," Clinton said during Monday's Democratic presidential debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C. "That's why I want to put money into clean-energy jobs, green-collar jobs."
Later, when speaking of his plans of an economic stimulus during his presidency, Edwards said what he had "proposed for green-collar jobs will create jobs within 30 or so days, so we will have an immediate impact on the economy and stimulate the economy."
This wasn't the first time either Clinton or Edwards has touted such jobs. In various speeches on the campaign trail, Clinton has used green-collar to describe the employment that'll be created in the wake of job losses in manufacturing and other sectors. She can foresee a future where the manual labor of installing solar power panels or maintaining wind turbines becomes a mainstream occupation.
"These are jobs that can't be outsourced by and large," Clinton said last year on the Senate floor.
Not to be outdone, Edwards himself has been trying his best to to make green-collar part of the American labor-force lexicon. Last July, Clinton's fellow Democratic candidate for president announced his own plan to train 150,000 green-collar workers each year.
"We can turn the crisis of climate change into an opportunity for a new energy economy, right here in America -- and Iowa in particular," Edwards said in, you guessed it, Iowa.
But the term isn't limited to people running for high office. Last June, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during an appearance on "Charlie Rose," spoke about a "green revolution" and "green-collar jobs, green jobs that, again, reverse global warming, reduce energy independence and take us to another place, where everybody participates, not just some." (Sadly, in his recent television ad, which begins with a newspaper editorial quotation from a few years back dubbing him "The Godfather of Green," Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) leaves out any mention of "green-collar" workers. He also leaves out the fact he received a zero rating from the League of Conservation Voters during the 109th Congress.)
Nor has it been limited to political rhetoric. Earlier this month, in a report on c areer change, BusinessWeek.com described "green career changers" as the "growing number of professionals" who are "taking their talents and moving them to jobs that can help improve the environment."
For the record, green-collar has been floating around in linguistic limbo since 1992, according to Tom Pitoniak, an associate editor at Merriam-Webster. For years, he says, it was mainly used by those closely involved with environmental work. However, only recently has it roared into popular use, becoming a buzzword for politicians and increasingly important in the business vernacular.
"Going forward, I can see companies boasting of their green-collar attributes," Pitoniak says. "I think you're going to see a company boasting of the greenness of its own jobs, some being green-collar. Green has an indisputable connotation to it."
The term, of course, is a play off of white-collar and blue-collar. The former was introduced in the early part of the 20th century, while the latter didn't find widespread use until the industrial boom that followed World War II -- a period of labor-market change in many ways similar to the one we're experiencing now.
However, while white-collar and blue-collar bring distinctive images to mind -- the mutual fund manager screaming into his BlackBerry, the coal miner coming home, coughing from a long day -- such iconic imagery is hard to find with the green-collar worker.
"Blue- and white-collar are polarizing terms," says Pitoniak. "This is different. You've sort of got light-green and blue-green-collar jobs. Sure, there's work where physical labor is involved, but a lot of jobs don't involve wielding a shovel. You've also got scientific and scholarly jobs which are typically considered white-collar. I think the term 'green-collar' is very distinct."
Adding his own personal experience to the issue, Pitoniak says, "A couple of weeks back, my wife and I took my son's Cub Scout troop to a recycling factory. It's pretty much a dirty job. I once had a summer job working on a rubbish truck and this place didn't seem too different. It didn't seem like a green-collar job, but it certainly could be considered that."
The elite Green Lanterns of the universe would not be amused. |
The families of US personnel left İncirlik airbase
ADANA – Doğan News Agency
DHA photo
The families of U.S. troops and civilian personnel stationed at İncirlik Air Base in Adana left the base on April 2 and 3, after an order by the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department to leave several areas of Turkey for their security.“Our families are very important to us. In order for us to continue fighting, they need to stay back. We are doing the best we can to make the evacuation operation as easy as possible,” said Col. John Walker, noting that the evacuation of the families was a hard process.Some 670 women and children were evacuated from İzmir, Muğla and Adana and taken to Germany in accordance with the issued order, meaning no civilian who is a family member of U.S. soldiers and civilian personnel has been left at İncirlik Air Base, a key base in the efforts of the coalition fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria.The number of civilians who have now left the airbase has reached 1,000 since the September 2015 recommendation to leave the country.The families who reached the U.S. base in Germany will later back move to their countries.The order by the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department followed a September 2015 recommendation to leave the country, but there was no mandatory order at the time.“This decision allows for the deliberate, safe return of family members from these areas due to continued security concerns in the region,” the Pentagon said in a statement on March 29. |
By the time the votes were tallied, 81 percent of white evangelical and born-again Christian voters had cast their ballots for Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States. Even though the real estate mogul is an adulterer now on his third marriage who has bragged about sexual assault, a large majority of the Christian right supported him.
Far-right Christian leaders also reflected this preference among their base, with some fervently backing Trump months ago or eventually coming around to the candidate as they feared an attack on their social values under a Hillary Clinton presidency. Now that Trump is the president-elect, most radical Christian leaders are on board.
“After eight years under the Obama administration, religious freedom has never been more endangered than it is today. Our nation has an opportunity over the next four years to make freedom mean something again,” said Tony Perkins, president of the far-right Family Research Council, the day after the election.
Knowing he would need to win over evangelicals in order to beat Clinton, Trump promised them much of what they wanted. He gave a well-received speech to hundreds of Christian conservatives in New York this summer and formed a 26-person “evangelical executive advisory board.” The board is almost all male, and according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “stacked with anti-LGBT activists.”
In Trump, right-wing evangelicals see someone who will protect them from what they view as liberal tyranny assaulting their religious freedom. Nonprofit churches want the right to engage in politics. Business owners want the right to discriminate against LGBT employees and customers. Religious private schools want states to fund voucher programs so low-income students can attend on the public dime. And perhaps most important to right-wing Christians is defunding Planned Parenthood, which Trump has pledged to do, and making abortion illegal, which he has signaled may happen. Trump told “60 Minutes” the Sunday after Election Day that he would appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, and that if the court struck down Roe v. Wade, states could decide whether to allow abortion or not.
Perkins said that the election was “a rejection of a court that has acted as an oligarchy for the last four decades,” implying that a Supreme Court filled with Trump nominees could reverse women’s right to abortions and other laws his community opposes. The Family Research Council is labeled an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The American Family Association, which the Southern Poverty Law Center also considers an anti-LGBT hate group, put out a press release the day after the election titled “Trump Will Make America Great.” While calling both Trump and Hillary Clinton flawed candidates, president Tim Wildmon wrote that Trump “has promised to choose Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade,” in contrast to Clinton, who “promised to expand federally funded baby murder in the womb, continue failed Obama-era immigration policies and declared war on religious liberty.”
Right-wing evangelical leaders aren’t just happy Trump will be president—they’re thrilled Mike Pence will be second in command. “There is no politician whom I respect more,” said right-wing Christian leader James Dobson.
Pence is an evangelical Christian and a fierce opponent of abortion. As governor of Indiana he signed a law requiring fetal tissue from abortions to be buried or cremated, signed abortion restrictions and slashed funding for Planned Parenthood. He also holds bigoted views on LGBT individuals, opposing classifying attacks on LGBT people as hate crimes and supporting gay therapy.
The radical Christian right had a major victory in July when it took part in drafting the Republican Party platform. Perkins reportedly had a significant role in the process, having introduced amendments including one opposing the right of transgender people to use the bathroom matching their gender identity and another implying an endorsement of gay conversion therapy.
Now Trump’s transition team contains several members connected to the anti-LGBT Family Research Council.
Some right-wing evangelical leaders were behind Trump well before the general election. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, the largest religious university in the country, was one of the first major right-wing Christian leaders to back Trump. He endorsed the candidate in January and stood by him through criticism from Liberty University students and after an Access Hollywood video surfaced in which Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women. On November 17, Falwell met personally with Trump and said that the president-elect had offered him the position of Secretary of Education, which Falwell declined.
Controversial televangelist Pat Robertson repeatedly defended Trump during the general election, brushing off Trump’s comments in the Access Hollywood tape as “macho talk.”
Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and chair of Trump’s evangelical advisory board, told the Washington Post that Trump “stated his shared commitment to [evangelical] issues, including life, religious freedom, judges and support for Israel.”
Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, applauded the prospect of Trump’s Supreme Court appointments, his “pro-life pledge” and promise to defund Planned Parenthood. Daly wrote that he’s optimistic about Trump’s “pledge to champion pro-religious liberty policies and once again welcome faith in the public square.” Focus on the Family supports a bill introduced in the House in September called the “Free Speech Fairness Act,” which would allow churches and other 501(c)(3) nonprofits to engage in certain political activity, which the Johnson Amendment banned in 1954.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, a huge, far-right Christian legal team that fights for anti-LGBT laws, proclaimed that in the election, “the American people stood up and said ‘no’ to an anti-life agenda and partial birth abortion.” “We do know that we have an opportunity to move forward in our defense of religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family in ways that we never expected,” stated the group.
Some prominent far-right Christians who didn’t initially support Trump came around eventually. James Dobson, who founded the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family, came down very hard on Trump earlier this year, saying he couldn’t support Trump based on his gay marriage stance and recording a robocall urging Republican voters to support anyone but Trump. But in July, Dobson endorsed Trump, saying his primary concern was the Supreme Court appointments. Dobson hailed Trump’s win as “good for America,” stating it is “a reaffirmation of the importance the American people place on religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and a conservative judiciary.”
Franklin Graham, president of an evangelical association named after his evangelist father, Billy Graham, gave a tacit endorsement of Trump in October, writing, “This election is about the Supreme Court and the justices that the next president will nominate.” After the election, Graham told his followers that God led Trump to victory.
Bob Vander Plaats, the influential conservative Christian leader in Iowa who runs the Family Leader there, did not endorse a presidential candidate and even feuded with Trump during the primary. But after the election, he wrote that his group successfully “engaged thousands around the world in praying for God’s hand on this election.” The church’s “awakening,” begun during the election, could “be a historic victory for a revived America,” he said, evoking Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Trump and Pence aren’t the only good news for right-wing Christians. Trump’s nominee for education secretary is Betsy DeVos, a Michigan billionaire and Republican mega-donor who has spent much of her life promoting the use of taxpayer dollars to send children to religious schools. She once described her education reform work as “a biblical battleground where she wants to ‘advance God’s Kingdom.’”
Some evangelicals had more tepid reactions to Trump’s win.
Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, was never a fan of Trump’s, and the day after the election, Moore wrote, while he opposes “abortion culture” and “divorce culture,” he also opposes the “racism/nativism culture” that Trump has stirred. We are “part of a Body,” he wrote, “a Body that is white and black and Latino and Asian, male and female, rich and poor.” He implored Christians to stand up for what they think is right. “We should be ready to pray and preach, to promote the common good and to resist injustice.”
Having been outspoken in her opposition to Trump, Christian author and radio show host Julie Roys called him “arguably the most morally flawed person to ever hold our nation’s highest office” on November 9. While warning against the prospect of a socially liberal Republican Party and calling for unity, she also encouraged evangelicals to “reach out to the disenfranchised” and to “heal the gender gap.”
Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote in October that evangelicals faced an “excruciating crisis” of conscience in determining whom to support for president. Mohler wrote that he saw “evangelical support for Trump as a horrifying embarrassment.” Two days after the election, however, Mohler said on his radio show that now Trump has an “incredible opportunity” to nominate someone in the mold of Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court, something Mohler strongly supports.
Trump may have pretended to care about issues dear to evangelicals to get elected, but by welcoming a significant right-wing Christian presence among his advisers, transition team and Cabinet, he could usher in a conservative social policy shift for which the radical Christian right has been fighting for some time. |
Roughly 1,700 U.S. Army paratroopers are headed to Iraq to assist security forces in their fight against the Islamic State group.
The 82nd Airborne’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will soon deploy in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. The troops will replace members of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Col. James “Pat” Work, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne, told Military Times on Thursday that his men are ready for the winter deployment.
“The 2nd Brigade Combat Team is highly trained, disciplined and fit,” the officer said. “Readiness is our top priority; our paratroopers are prepared for this deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Our team looks forward to this important mission and our opportunity to assist our Iraqi partners.”
The Pentagon also announced in mid-October that 500 soldiers from the Big Red One from Fort Riley, Kansas, will also deploy to Iraq.
“We will assist in training Iraqi commanders, staffs, soldiers, and police officers as they plan and conduct counter-ISIL operations in both the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys, with a central focus on the City of Mosul,” Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Martin, incoming commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division, told Army Public Affairs on Oct. 14.
The Pentagon has been coy about exact numbers of U.S. military personnel in Iraq, but its Force Management Level (FML) for most of the summer hovered around 3,800 individuals in Iraq and 300 in Syria (not including temporary troops in the region).
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. |
As a manufacturer, Triumph has a lot to be proud of: The British-born marque has vastly broadened its model range in recent years, gradually improved upon the reliability of its bikes, and used its long-standing know-how to produce some of the most well-balanced three-cylinder sportbikes currently on the market. Of course, sitting at the top of any segment—the middleweight naked-bike category in this case— only means there’s a long list of manufacturers nipping at your heels. Most recently, Triumph’s biggest threat has come from Yamaha’s sensibly built FZ-09. And people are already beginning to recognize the potential shift in tide. My grandpa, a longtime sportbike enthusiast and avid street rider, is one of those people. And like every other two-wheel aficionado who has recently pored over FZ-09 reviews while simultaneously sipping on their morning coffee, his most prominent question is this: “Does the FZ-09 work as well as they say it does, or should I just spend the extra money on a Street Triple?” Naturally, I recommended we find out for ourselves. There were some prerequisites to take into account before jumping into yet another nakedbike comparison test, like whether or not to compare the Yamaha with Triumph’s standard Street Triple or up-spec Street Triple R. With its non-adjustable suspension, the standard model seemed like the more sensible choice; however, that wasn’t to be since Triumph had already wiped the standard model from its test fleet. Pushed into a corner and forced to pick the R, we still found it hard to overlook the fact that this model is only $600 more expensive than the standard edition and comes with fully adjustable KYB suspension and Nissin four piston (versus two) brake calipers. All things considered, you’d be crazy to not make the same upgrade if given the chance. The other point to consider is the competition. MV Agusta’s Brutale 800 is the FZ-09’s most obvious challenger when you take engine displacement into account, but the MV is also $2,499 more expensive than the Street Triple R and a whopping $4,508 more costly than the FZ-09. The 800, featured in a sidebar alongside a few other middle-displacement naked-bike options, is slightly better than the Brutale 675 Triumph’s Street Triple R toppled in an earlier comparison (“Triple Duel!” December ’13), but the 2014 model is still a polishing stone away from competing with the Yamaha and Triumph. Besides, my grandpa didn’t ask if the FZ-09 was better than the Brutale 800, and that’s likely the case with the majority of people in the market for a new naked bike. That brings us back to our main participants, the FZ-09 and Street Triple R. And more importantly, to the overlying question: Is the FZ-09 the new king of the middleweight-ish naked category, or does Triumph’s Street Triple R still reign supreme? After a few days of riding around town and in the canyons, my grandfather and I are pretty sure we’ve figured that out. But first…
The Basics
There are fundamental differences between the Street Triple R and FZ-09 that bear mentioning. To start, the Yamaha rolls into this comparison with a $2,009 price advantage that’s hard for potential Triumph owners to overlook. Thanks to an entirely new three-cylinder engine with 107.2 hp at 10,000 rpm and 61.6 foot-pounds of torque at 8,500 rpm, the bike also holds a 10-hp advantage over our Street Triple R test model, which when strapped to our Dynojet dyno, produced 96.9 hp at 12,000 rpm and 46.4 foot-pounds of torque at 9,600 rpm. In Triumph’s defense, the Street Triple R’s horsepower and torque curves are as straight and smooth as lane one at your local bowling alley. Things are more similar with the bikes on the scale, though the 414-pound Triumph does hold a 3-pound advantage over the 417-pound FZ-09 when filled with fuel and parked curbside, ready to ride. Likewise, the Triumph comes with a two-year warranty and the Yamaha just a one-year warranty.
The Triumph’s analog tach might not look as hip, but it works better—period. Fuel gauge and gear position indicator on both bikes is a nice touch.
Throw a leg over each bike and you’ll notice the Triumph’s riding position is slightly more committed. Yamaha says the goal was to put its rider in a more upright position by way of a handlebar that is taller and further rearward (along with lower footpegs) than the old FZ8. The Yamaha’s seat is mostly flat like a motard bike’s saddle but props you up when sitting toward the back of it (not always a good thing), and both bikes’ seats are narrow enough at the seat/ tank junction to provide plenty of rider control. The FZ-09’s seat is dirt-bike-firm, whereas the Triumph’s saddle is more bucket-shaped and a bit plusher. Neither is perfect, but after 300 miles in the Yamaha’s saddle you’ll definitely want to upgrade to the manufacturer’s “comfort seat.” Affixed to the FZ-09’s handlebar is a digital display that’s better aligned with your sightline, but that’s almost a necessity as Yamaha has replaced the FZ8’s analog tachometer with a digital bar graph atop the display that’s difficult to read while putting that three-cylinder to the test on a canyon road. Both bikes have a gear position indicator and fuel level gauge, which is a plus during around-town commuting, but Triumph’s larger tach is undeniably more useful. Mirrors on the Triumph aren’t as adjustable or forthcoming with scenery, and the Yamaha’s highly adjustable glass was easier to reference despite a bit of vibration throughout the bike under acceleration.
The FZ-09’s digital display is positioned nicely, but the tachometer readout is too small to read at a glance. A, Standard, and B modes are easily adjusted, thankfully.
Twists, Turns, and Traffic
The Street Triple R and FZ-09 are mostly free of electronic rider aids, though the Triumph gets ABS and the FZ-09 three separate riding modes— A, Standard, and B, all of which are selected via an easy-to-access button on the right side of the handlebar. Fueling in any mode isn’t perfect, but in A mode the throttle response is so sharp that it’s only good for fast, sweeping roads where you aren’t continually opening and closing the throttle. Standard mode is the setting the bike will lapse to whenever the key is cycled, but the fueling in that mode will lead you to believe the tank’s been topped off with a 12-pack of Red Bull, and the result is a bike that’s surprisingly difficult to shuffle through traffic on. Contrastingly, in B mode you can feel the throttle blades opening more slowly than the throttle tube, and the payoff is an on/off transition that’s 90 percent as good as the same transition on the Triumph, which fuels seamlessly at just about every rpm, despite a very small hiccup just north of 4,000 rpm. Yamaha’s quick-revving three-cylinder engine refills the hole dug by the FZ-09’s throttle and is hands down the best attribute of this naked bike. “I really like the engine on the FZ-09 because there’s so much torque down low that you just roll the throttle on,” my grandpa says. “If you’re on the Triumph, you just got to get used to shifting.” The dyno chart supports that claim and shows that the Yamaha produces an impressive 50 foot-pounds of torque (or 80 percent of its maximum torque) as low as 2,500 rpm (versus 37 foot-pounds on the slower-revving Street Triple R at the same rpm). Fortunately for the Triumph, its transmission is among the best non-electronically-assisted transmissions we’ve ever tested. The Yamaha’s six-speed gearbox is exceptionally smooth as well, with what feels like just a slightly longer throw between gears.
ABS robs some of the aggression we loved on previous Triumph models, but it wasn’t a huge hindrance on the road. Suspension is on the stiff side but fully adjustable.
The FZ-09’s power advantage is mitigated by the bike’s softly sprung suspension, which, when running through a mountain road, causes the bike to move around at the mere thought of a steering input. The Street Triple R steers a bit heavier, especially at parking lot speeds or as you transition from full lean in one direction to full lean in another direction, but its chassis is more sure-footed and planted on its side, which allows you to put bigger inputs into the bar and counter the heavier handling. My grandpa adds: “For a guy who’s just riding around town and going pretty slow up a canyon road the FZ-09 is okay, but if you really start riding it, it’s kind of scary.” Then he goes on to say, “You can steer the Triumph and make it go right where you want it to, but with the Yamaha it’s always moving around and a lot more difficult to keep on a line.” Moreover, we can’t help but wonder how light the Street Triple, with its a shorter wheelbase (1,410mm versus 1,440mm), less rake (23.4 degrees versus 25.0 degrees), and less trail (95mm versus 103mm), would handle if its handlebar was as wide as the piece on the Yamaha; added leverage is undoubtedly good for a motorcycle, and the Triumph’s bar is narrow enough that your hands are typically resting on its ends. The R’s stiffer suspension provides more support when you grab a handful of brake, and this allows you to get more aggressive with the lever. Stopping power builds progressively through the Triumph’s radially mounted Nissin calipers biting on 310mm discs, whereas the FZ-09 has an initial bite that causes you to overpower the fork if you’re not careful. The Yamaha’s brakes— complete with smaller, 298mm discs—aren’t as powerful or easy to modulate, and the Triumph’s ABS offers an extra safety net without intervening as speeds pick up on a canyon road. Actually, we never did get into the Triumph’s ABS while in the canyons.
The Yamaha FZ-09 sports Advics calipers and 298mm discs. The fork is too soft for aggressive riding, with very little damping control.
On the freeway ride home you’ll notice the Yamaha’s under-sprung and under-damped suspension is less a hindrance, though with the rebound adjusters turned in we noted an adverse affect on the compression side of the stroke (there’s no compression adjuster on the shock or fork), and that’s a pretty good indicator of the suspension’s bottom-shelf status. My grandpa says: “When I was behind the FZ-09 I could see the back of the bike moving up and down a bunch, but the Street Triple R isn’t bouncing around at all.” That lack of movement on the Street Triple R isn’t accompanied by blended insides either, as the bike’s suspension is still somewhat forgiving. Bigger hits suggest there’s a bit too much high-speed compression damping, and Triumph’s definitely leaned toward a stiffer setup, but with the fully adjustable fork and shock you can tune most of that out; plan on updating the Yamaha’s fork if you want it to handle half as good as the Triumph. The Street Triple R’s advantages trickle into its 4.6-gallon fuel tank, which outshines the Yamaha’s diminutive 3.7-gallon cell and offers you more fun between fuel stops. Fuel mileage is slightly better on the Triumph too, with that bike offering an average of 46 mpg and the Yamaha 42 mpg, on average. For obvious reasons, wind protection isn’t great on either bike, though we’ll admit the taller, wider bar on the FZ-09 broadens your chest and turns you into a slightly larger sail. Tires are a point of interest as well, and we were happier with Triumph’s Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa tires than the Yamaha’s Dunlop Sportmax D214 buns, which weren’t as trustworthy when cold and felt overworked by the FZ-09’s poor suspension.
Yamaha’s goal was to put its rider in a more upright riding position, and thus the FZ-09’s ergonomics are less committed than the Triumph’s. Unfortunately, the FZ-09’s seat is overly firm.
Which Would We Buy?
When a motorcycle is introduced with an MSRP that significantly undercuts the competition, it’s suspected that the manufacturer will have cut more than a few corners in the development process or that the quality of that bike’s components is laughable, but that’s not entirely the case with Yamaha’s FZ-09, and we were actually quite pleased with overall fit and finish—enamored, even, with the engine. Even still, there are some matters you’ll need to address if you want the FZ-09 to live up to its full potential outside the confines of your neighborhood—aftermarket suspension and a fuel controller being the most obvious. There goes that $2,000 cost advantage… And that brings us to the Triumph Street Triple R, which is a more refined motorcycle…now. If you’re willing to spend the extra money on the Yamaha and make it work, we doubt you’ll be disappointed. But if you want something you can ride out of the dealership and never have to worry about setting up, then we suggest the dealer you ride out of has a Triumph logo on its door. Chances are that’s the dealership you’ll find my grandpa at, too.
2014 Triumph Street Triple R Test Notes
**+ **Rock-solid chassis
**+ **Suspension that, you know, works
**– **Steers heavier than FZ-09
**– **Still thinking…
**x **Most refined naked bike money can buy? Possibly. Suggested Suspension Settings
FRONT: Spring preload—4 lines showing on adjuster; rebound damping—14 clicks out from full stiff; compression damping—17 clicks out from full stiff; ride height—6mm showing above top triple clamp
REAR: Spring preload—10mm thread showing; rebound damping— 8 clicks out from full stiff; compression damping—7 clicks out from full stif
2014 Yamaha FZ-09 Test Notes
**+ **Torquey, quick-revving engine
**+ **Nimble handling
**– **Soft, bottom-shelf suspension
**– **Abrupt throttle
**x **If only the suspension were as good as the engine… Suggested Suspension Settings
FRONT: Spring preload—2 lines showing on adjuster; rebound damping—0.5 turn out from full stiff; ride height—0mm showing above top triple clamp
REAR: Spring preload—Position 5 of 7; rebound damping—1 turn out from full stiff
Opinions Ray Adams
Age: 70
Height: 6’1”
Choosing between these bikes is a tossup, really. I like the motor in the FZ-09 and the extra horsepower over the Street Triple, but the suspension just isn’t as good. On the Triumph, everything works really well; the bike runs good, handles fantastic. It’s just a good bike. If I wanted a project, I’d have considered the Yamaha. But I’m 70 and don’t like working on bikes half as much as I like riding them, so I’d pick the Street Triple over the FZ-09. Kent Kunitsugu
Age: Old
Height: 5’8”
The Yamaha’s suspension didn’t seem that bad to me when I first rode it, but it has definitely loosened up since then, which reflects on its budgetary build. Not to worry though, as both that and the abrupt throttle response can surely be cured with some easy aftermarket mods bought with the money you’ve saved. Add a slightly lower set of bars and I think you’ve got an excellent midsize naked bike—outside of the small fuel tank. Even with its flaws, the FZ-09 makes the Street Triple feel a bit plain by comparison. Bradley Adams
Age: 24
Height: 6’4”
I think it says a lot about the FZ-09 that it can make a young, wheelie-happy guy like me just as content as someone like my grandpa. It’s one of those bikes that is simple in design but practical and still plenty of fun to ride. I’m really curious to see how the bike would work with aftermarket suspension and a reflashed ECU or fuel controller—or, more importantly, how much that stuff would cost… After all, what’s the point of a cost-effective bike if you’ve got to dump a few thousand dollars into it to make it work? Not Your Average Grandpa I remember very vividly the first time I drove a car because as I swung the driver door open, my grandpa stepped up and, with a straight face, asked, “I didn’t hear any burnouts. Are you sure you’re an Adams?” To say that my grandfather is different from the rest would be a gross understatement, but for that reason I knew no better person to call in for SR ’s 2014 naked-bike test. He’s got the mettle to back up that invitation, too; an avid street rider who raced between the ages of 41 and 50, he’s got a total of eight Over 40 Championships and a State Championship to his name. His list of rides—old and new—is just as impressive and includes no less than four GSX-R1000s, three Suzuki Hayabusas, a Gold Wing, and a B-King that’s currently being outfitted with a turbo. —BA
Yamaha’s new three-cylinder engine is spectacular and has gobs of lowend torque. At the same time, it’s hard to fault the Triumph’s billiardtable- smooth power and torque curve.
Specifications Bike 2014 Triumph Street Triple R 2014 Yamaha FZ-09 MSRP $9999 $7990 ENGINE Type Liquid-cooled, DOHC, inline transverse three-cylinder, 4 valves/cyl. Liquid-cooled, DOHC, inline transverse three-cylinder, 4 valves/cyl. Displacement 675cc 847cc Bore x stroke 74.0 x 52.3mm 78.0 x 59.1mm Compression ratio 12.7:1 11.5:1 Induction Keihin EFI, 44mm throttle bodies, single injector/cyl. Mikuni EFI, 41mm throttle bodies, single injector/cyl. CHASSIS Front suspension 41mm KYB inverted fork, 4.5 in. travel 41mm KYB inverted fork, 5.4 in. travel Rear suspension KYB shock absorber, 5.3 in. travel KYB shock absorber, 5.1 in. travel Front tire 120/70ZR-17 Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa 120/70ZR-17 Dunlop Sportmax D214 F Rear tire 180/55ZR-17 Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa 180/55ZR-17 Dunlop Sportmax D214 Rake/trail 23.4º/3.7 in. (95mm) 25.0º/4.1 in. (103mm) Wheelbase 55.5 in. (1410mm) 56.7 in. (1440mm) Seat height 32.3 in. (820mm) 32.1 in. (815mm) Fuel capacity 4.6 gal. (17.4L) 3.7 gal. (14.0L) Weight 414 lb. (188kg) wet; 386 lb. (175kg) dry 417 lb. (189kg) wet; 395 lb. (179kg) dry Fuel consumption 41–49 mpg, 46 mpg avg. 38–46 mpg, 42 mpg avg. PERFORMANCE Quarter-mile 11.00 sec. @ 121.9 mph 11.06 sec. @ 123.4 mph Roll-ons 60–80 mph/3.08 sec.; 80–100 mph/3.09 sec. 60–80 mph/2.96 sec.; 80–100 mph/3.29 sec. Alternatives
MV Agusta Brutale 675 | MSRP $11,998
The Brutale 675 is MV Agusta’s gateway to the wheelie-saturated world of naked bikes, but entry-level here means you still get an electronics package with four riding modes and an eight-level traction control system. Bump absorption comes courtesy of a non-adjustable Marzocchi fork and Sachs shock, and like the Italian manufacturer’s supersport models, the Brutale 675 is equipped with a counter-rotating crankshaft for quicker steering characteristics. Albeit non-adjustable, the Brutale 675’s suspension provides decent support on a canyon road in addition to some compliance on the highway. The counter-rotating crankshaft aids noticeably in handling, and while the transmission won’t fare well in a back-to-back comparison with the Triumph 675’s gearbox, the engine is quite impressive, with great power from 7,000 rpm up. In fact, if MV engineers can smooth out the power—and torque—curve while simultaneously refining the Brutale 675’s electronics, they’ll have a great package on their hands. —BA
MV Agusta Brutale 800 | MSRP $12,498
MV Agusta’s Brutale 800 is intended to fill the middle ground between MV’s quick-steering Brutale 675 and arm-stretching Brutale 1090. The list of differences between it and the 675 is quite short, but in addition to a longer-stroke engine with around 16 more horsepower, you get fully adjustable suspension and stickier Pirelli Rosso II tires. The Brutale 800’s Eldor ECU continues to be updated in an attempt to make the bike more user-friendly, and the latest settings are definitely noticeable, as even in Sport—one of four riding modes—the 800’s throttle response is much softer. This makes the bike less strenuous in stoplight-to-stoplight riding situations, but at the same time the connection between rider, throttle, and rear tire isn’t completely natural. Expect the settings to evolve further, and don’t be surprised if the 800 engine leaves you entirely satisfied; this is one hell of a powerplant. —BA |
White Tea
White tea is made from immature tea leaves that are picked shortly before the buds have fully opened. The tea takes its name from the silver fuzz that still covers the buds, which turns white when the tea is dried.
White tea leaves destined to be sold undergo even less processing than green tea leaves.
Leaving tea leaves so close to their natural state means that white tea contains more polyphenols than any other type of tea. It is these powerful antioxidants that are responsible for killing cancer-causing cells.
White tea has been proven to provide protection within the body for the skin and skin cells. It protects the cells from sun damage and possibly prevents skin cancer thanks to the protective measure it takes once inside the body. (tea.topicgiant.com)
According to studies performed at the Linus Pauling Institute of Oregon State University, white tea appears to have more potent anti-cancer qualities than green tea
a 2004 study at Pace University concluded that white tea can help your body's immune system fight off viruses and dangerous infection-causing bacteria.
The same study concluded that fluoride-rich white tea helps prevent the growth of dental plaque, the chief cause of tooth decay.
Growing evidence suggests that antioxidants found in white and green tea have the ability to not only minimize signed of ageing, but also to prevent their appearance. (origins.co.uk)
Find Tea Palace White Teas |
Though it is likely to happen eventually, a league source said Sunday that there was no deal done yet between the Patriots and free agent offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer.
Vollmer, a 2009 second-round draft pick, surprisingly has generated little interest on the open market since hitting free agency March 12.
That could be because of the right knee arthroscopy Vollmer underwent in late February; the problems he was having with the knee led to the right tackle struggling a bit down the stretch last season.
Before that, however, the 6-foot-8-inch native of Germany was playing at an extremely high level, allowing just one sack and 14 quarterback pressures through the first 10 games of the season. He missed Week 12, and when he returned a game later in Miami, he had arguably his worst outing of the season, allowing two sacks. According to profootballfocus.com, that was the first time in Vollmer’s career he had allowed two sacks in a game.
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Teams also may not be looking at Vollmer as a potential left tackle, which is the more high-profile of the two spots. He did start at left tackle for several games as a rookie because of an injury to Matt Light, but he has been on the right since.
The source said Vollmer does want to remain with the Patriots, who made him the 58th overall pick four years ago. But it is possible that Vollmer wanting to stay with New England has the team looking for a hometown discount-type deal.
If Vollmer re-signs, he will be the only one of the four second-round picks New England made that year who stays with the team beyond his rookie deal. Darius Butler was released during training camp in 2011, Ron Brace was cut late last season, and Patrick Chung signed with the Eagles as a free agent this month.
Vollmer was one of the best tackles slated to hit the free agent market, though two of them did not make it that far: Denver’s Ryan Clady and the Kansas City’s Branden Albert were franchised by their teams. Andre Smith is expected to return to the Bengals.
The only top tackle to switch teams is Jake Long, who left the Dolphins for St. Louis by signing a four-year contract worth as much as $36 million; he received $16 million guaranteed from the Rams. |
Review Series Part Four: The Attack
In a fitting conclusion to the review series, we come to the Liverpool attack. It is very much a case of saving the best until last; the Reds’ front line was little short of formidable this season, scoring an incredible 101 goals in the league and providing fans and neutrals alike with scintillating displays of attacking football. It is almost unbelievable that it was only the previous season which saw Jonjo Shelvey deployed as a rudimentary ‘false nine’ in a fortuitous win over West Ham; since then, the addition of Sturridge and Coutinho and the astounding form of both Suarez and Sterling have transformed the Liverpool front line into one of the most potent in the league – if not in Europe. Although the team may be more balanced next season, away from the all-out blitz of forward play that characterised so many games this year, the possibility of quality additions and the return of players such as Borini and Suso are an indication that the club’s offensive prowess is unlikely to be diminished any time soon.
Luis Suarez
During the dark days of last summer, there were few who could have predicted the vast impact Luis Suarez would have on Liverpool’s season – in a positive manner. From the moment he sank his teeth into the arm of Branislav Ivanovic to the low points of begging to leave in the national press, being forced to train on his own and the farcical business of release clauses without a release clause, it seemed that Suarez was destined to leave Anfield in a cloud of recrimination and drive a giant hole through the club’s fledgling preparations for the season. In some ways, then, the six-game ban at the start of the season was a blessing in disguise. It allowed Suarez to come to terms with the fact that the club would not let him go, enabled him to build up a hunger for playing again and settle himself and, crucially, guaranteed he would come flying out of the blocks when he was eventually allowed back on the field – and fly out of the blocks he did. In a record-breaking season Suarez scored 31 goals in just 33 games, winning the golden boot, the European golden boot and sweeping the player of the year awards along the way. He also renewed his commitment to the club and there were practical demonstrations of this new-found loyalty as he captained the side in the absence of Gerrard and Agger., in addition to personal redemption in the eyes of the fans with the tears against Crystal Palace – a kind of raw emotion it is nigh on impossible to fake. Moments of individual brilliance peppered the season, from his virtuoso performance against Norwich to an 18-yard header against West Brom and his swivel and shot against Arsenal which was centimetres away from being goal of the season. The importance of Suarez to the team as a whole was also underlined with a highly-creditable 12 assists. The partnership with Daniel Sturridge was of such importance to the team that Rodgers experimented with a number of different formations in order to get the most from it, from the early trials of a 3-5-2 to the eventual favourite 4-4-2 diamond. That said, both strikers were flexible enough to play in a 4-3-3, showing in the games against Everton and Arsenal that they were willing to work for the team defensively without sacrificing attacking threat. With guaranteed Champions’ League football next season and a key role in one of the most exciting sides in Europe, the future of Suarez at Liverpool seems as assured as it has ever been. A strong campaign next season with silverware, and the indiscretions of last year will finally be forgotten, allowing the Uruguayan to make the impact in the Liverpool hall of fame that his talent demands.
Rating – 10/10
Daniel Sturridge
The brilliance of Suarez overshadowed what was an excellent season for Daniel Sturridge. His early season form in the absence of his Uruguayan partner was vitally important for Liverpool, grabbing crucial goals against the likes of Stoke, Notts County, Villa and, of course, Manchester United. Once the two strikers were reunited there was no dip in form; an astounding mid-season run of scoring in eight consecutive games highlighted Sturridge’s remarkable ability as a goalscorer, while his sumptuous chip against West Brom was indicative of his willingness to attempt the spectacular – and succeed. With the whole Liverpool attack functioning perfectly as a unit, it is no great surprise that Sturridge recorded an impressive seven assists for the season, with the majority of these going to Suarez. Although there were a few problems with injury (not helped by his overwhelming desire to represent England in any fixture, friendly or otherwise) Sturridge proved himself to be a bargain acquisition with 21 league goals over 29 games, answering some of the critics who doubted his capacity to perform over the length of an entire season. Electric pace, an unerring eye for goal and an unselfish streak that is often overlooked, Sturridge has all the attributes necessary to become a Liverpool legend over the next few years.
Rating – 9.5/10
Raheem Sterling
After a slow beginning to the season, Raheem Sterling clicked into life with a fine display against Spurs at White Hart Lane. His intense pressing from the front and his calmness in front of goal were among the highlights of a memorable game, and would prove to be the stand-out qualities the youngster showed for the remainder of the campaign. Playing as part of a front three, Sterling was able to use his significant pace to provide an outlet for rapid counter-attacks, as well as offering a layer of protection for the full-back. There were developments in other areas of his game as well; the incredible pass to Sturridge to set up the striker against Swansea a fine indication of the increased range of passes in Sterling’s locker. It was this versatility and game intelligence which persuaded Rodgers to try him as the ‘point’ of the diamond formation. Sterling thrived in this position, scoring and assisting a number of important goals in the final fun in, most notably against Manchester City and Norwich. With the reward of a place in the England squad, Sterling’s start will continue to rise next season and he promises to be a fine player for the Reds in the years to come.
Rating – 8.5/10
Iago Aspas
A promising pre-season for the Spaniard had many Liverpool fans anticipating a solid first campaign in English football, but things didn’t pan out that way. Despite a couple of encouraging performances at the beginning of the season, Aspas looked ill-suited to the physical demands of the Premier League and soon dropped out of the manager’s plans. An ill-fated cameo against Chelsea is likely to prove the epitaph for a frustrating term at Liverpool; even with an increased number of games next season, the return of Borini means it is unlikely that Aspas will be given many opportunities to start, and at the age of 27 his career would be better served by returning to Spain.
Rating – 5.5/10
Conclusion
A wonderful season made so by the brilliance of Liverpool’s attacking football. The tandem of Suarez and Sturridge, ably supported by Sterling and Coutinho, seems set to be the bane of many a Premier League defender’s life over the next few seasons. Borini’s loan at Sunderland highlighted the Italian’s determination and outright quality (10 goals in 40 games playing on the wing for a relegation-threatened side) and there will be ample opportunity for him to demonstrate his ability for the Reds next year. The possibility of top-class additions to the front line – the likes of Tello, Konoplyanka, Shaquiri et al already being mooted by the media – means that the club are well-equipped with firepower to make good on the promise of this season. We should be looking forward to it already. |
Bay Area's La Boulange bakery sold to Starbucks
La Boulange offers a range of breads and pastries, including croissants. La Boulange offers a range of breads and pastries, including croissants. Photo: Russell Yip, The Chronicle Photo: Russell Yip, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Bay Area's La Boulange bakery sold to Starbucks 1 / 4 Back to Gallery
Bay Bread Group's La Boulange Cafe & Bakery, the San Francisco bake shop known for its French pastries and sandwich menu, was sold Monday for $100 million to Starbucks Coffee Co.
La Boulange's founder, Pascal Rigo, will remain general manager of both Bay Bread and La Boulange, while Starbucks plans to take the fast-casual restaurant chain national and fill its coffee shops with breads and pastries produced by the bakery.
"It's a superb opportunity to bring high-quality food into Starbucks," said Cliff Burrows, president of the Seattle coffee company's United States and Americas division, adding that La Boulange also will start selling its own special Starbucks coffee blend.
As far as expanding La Boulange, Burrows said they "will take it one store at a time" and have not determined future locations. "Wherever opportunity takes us," he said.
Rigo founded the company in 1999 with La Boulangerie - a bakery with an oven in the back of the store - on Pine Street, and he lived above the shop for nine years. That store became the prototype for 19 La Boulange cafes across the Bay Area.
Rigo expanded the company six years ago by joining forces with Next World Group, a privately held global investment firm with offices in San Francisco, Brussels and Paris. Sébastien Lépinard, Next World's founder, said their intention was to eventually take the company nationwide.
"It would have taken us much more time," Lépinard said. "Having Starbucks come in is an amazing opportunity for La Boulange and Bay Bread."
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, and Burrows said pastries and baked items will start replacing Starbucks' current bakery fare in 2013. There are 17,000 Starbucks worldwide, including more than 10,000 stores in the United States. Starbucks also owns Seattle's Best Coffee, Tazo Tea and Evolution Fresh fruit juices. La Boulange will be the only bakery in its portfolio.
La Boulange's new Starbucks status may not play well in San Francisco. The city has a steadfast policy against formula retail. Rigo doesn't seem worried. The bakery's 20th store is scheduled to open in the Westfield San Francisco Centre in coming months.
"Everyone at La Boulange is so excited about the sale," said Rigo, adding that the coffee giant is the perfect partner for helping the bakery and cafe achieve its potential. |
Three or four individuals broke through Marengo Guns' primary and secondary doors Thursday morning. Marengo Guns Owner Dominic DeBock said the individuals stole several firearms. Burglars set off the security alarm inside Marengo Guns after breaking through the shop's primary and secondary doors Thursday morning. Marengo Guns owner Dominic DeBock said he was unsure how many firearms were stolen. Sarah Nader – [email protected] Several firearms were stolen about 1:40 a.m. Thursday at Marengo Guns. Three or four individuals broke through the primary and secondary doors to steal the guns, the shop owner said.
MARENGO – Three or four people crashed through the primary and secondary doors of Marengo Guns, 20014 E. Grant Highway, about
1:40 a.m. Thursday and stole several firearms, shop owner Dominic DeBock said.
DeBock said he wasn’t immediately sure how many and what specific firearms were stolen. |
In part one of this two-part series, Meaghan O’Connell and I discussed our experience reading David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. At that point, we were a couple of hundred pages into the novel. Now we are back to continue that conversation, and to illuminate for our audience just what it means to read (or not read) a classic in 2016…and to no doubt embarrass ourselves further in the name of honesty, entertainment, and, of course, literature.
Edan Lepucki: I’m 80 pages from finishing David Copperfield…and I’ve given up. I just can’t do it anymore. The endless scenes with characters’ verbal tics on full display; the moralizing about the beauty of a woman’s purity; Mr. Micawber’s debts and heart; Uriah Heep’s writhing. I just can’t. I am so bored! I found that I was barely reading and when I stop reading my life takes on a sad, lifeless tone, like my hair before I get my blonde highlights. My former English professor, the brilliant David Walker, wondered on Twitter why we didn’t try Our Mutual Friend or Bleak House. Why didn’t we? I guess I wanted a comic novel, a famous crowd pleaser. But I am far from pleased.
Where are you in the novel? Are you compelled to continue?
I am left with a few thoughts from this project. The first one being, what does “Dickensian” mean? Want to take a stab at defining that, based on what you’ve read of Davy C.?
Meaghan O’Connell: Oh, Edan. When I got this email from you I cheered out loud. I still have 200 pages to go and I can barely remember what it’s like to truly love a book. I am so behind and the book is starting to feel endless. Every night I tell myself, “Okay, go to bed early. Read for an hour or more.” Then I get in bed, read two pages, and fall asleep at 9 pm or whatever it is.
I am still a little invested, mostly in D.C.’s romantic prospects, but I, too, would prefer to never read the name Uriah Heep again. I think I want to finish it, but I need to bring a few more books into the rotation, save it for when I am in a certain mood, I guess the mood to be somewhat tediously entertained?
IT’S SO LONG.
I wanted to read David Copperfield because supposedly it is the author’s favorite, and based largely/vaguely on his own life. And the book does make me curious about Dickens himself, or at least the narrator. Like, hi, D.C., please, step forward, talk to me in like 200 pages instead of 860. Maybe tell a different story altogether? Great Expectations perhaps? I probably should have just re-read that. I love reading things I read when I was younger and understanding things that passed by me then.
Dickensian. I think in casual conversation people mean it to be “about poor people”? Things that are bleak. I picture a small boy with soot on his cheeks, begging for bread, maybe a starving cat in the background. It’s all very grey. There are waistcoats, which it turns out are simply VESTS, and they are threadbare. I think this is based almost entirely on Oliver Twist?
Having read 70 percent of the book I would say that I guess that isn’t totally off, but if you said a book was Dickensian, well, for one, I would not want to read it, at least not for a long time. I would imagine it to be bloated but funny, obsessed with class, tragicomic? An orphan? A lot of failed romance but probably some sort of happy ending (I may never know the end of this, but he does reference his future children at some point — which was weird!)
It’s been strange to read a book I just like okay, to be missing that big propulsive drive in my life. This book is not really making me think about anything? It’s not inspiring, or not in any way that is conscious. I guess I am inspired that Dickens took up so much damned space. Mostly it’s felt, much as it did the last time I read his work, like homework. I need a breath of fresh air! I have no urge to write lately and I never thought I’d say this/provoke lovers of Victorian literature in this way, but I blame Charles Dickens.
Have you really abandoned poor Davey? (Edan, you know he probably has abandonment issues!!) Are you on to other books? What’s it like on the other side?! I’m really left feeling like, God, maybe I should just watch a BBC version of this book and see if he ends up marrying Agnes after all. I really wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who is not a scholar of some kind, which seems like a pretty brazen pronouncement, but, you know what, I stand by it. Do not read this book!! Life is short.
Edan: What’s amazing to me is how many people, when I told them I was reading David Copperfield, said that they had read and loved the book when they were younger. This is startling to me because, while Dickens isn’t difficult on the sentence level, there are still quite a few cultural and era-specific references that were unclear to me, as a worldly adult. (For instance, all the stuff around Copperfield’s career, before he starts writing for money, confused me.) And the intense moralizing about young women made me worried about all the women who read this as kids. Don’t run off with the hot asshole, little girls, or you will never recover! (Well, hey, that’s maybe kind of a good lesson to live by…) It did make me consider David C. as a (very) long young adult novel, or even middle grade novel. The reader, for a time, is Davy’s age, and can grow along with him. There were a lot of plot turns that I saw coming for hundreds of pages, which might be less obvious to a younger audience.
When I think about “Dickensian” I, like you, first imagine waistcoats and soot, a bad cough. Certainly orphans. But also long narratives that rely very much on coincidence. Now that I’ve read most of David Copperfield, I’d say, too, that the Dickensian style has colorful and immediately memorable characters with distinct names and ways of speaking: Peggoty, Mr. Dick, Miss Murdstone. As much as I began to dislike this novel, I’m in awe of how efficiently he brought these figures to life, and with such joy, it seems.
In his terrific introduction to the Modern Library edition of the novel, David Gates does a bang-up job of citing the book’s flaws, from Mr. Micawber’s anti-semitic one-liner to Dickens’s flawed and flat depiction of women, such as Agnes, whom Gates calls “the celestially backlit hall monitor.” He goes on to argue that Dickens “writes best about damaged, dark, and dangerous women.” Gates cites the scarred Rosa Dartle in the novel, whom I was also very much mesmerized by. Aside from the needless length of the book, I do think the depictions of women were what made me finally put it down. I started skimming right around when Dora asked Davy to call her Child Wife. Just no.
Since you asked, I’ve given up D.C. for good and I’m enjoying reading again. I ate up Charles Yu’s metafictional How to Life Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, which is like Italo Calvino crossed with Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure crossed with George Saunders. Then I read the forthcoming debut novel Home Field by The Millions staff writer Hannah Gersen, which was so beautiful and compelling that she and I joked my blurb should be: “Better than Dickens!”
Speaking of Hannah, she told me that she appreciates Dickens’s influence more than Dickens’s work. What do you think this means?
Meaghan: It’s funny you wrote today because I picked the book back up last night! I’d read enough of Charlotte Shane and then Rebecca Curtis to be ready to reenter the fore. It was very pleasant. If I can keep reading intense lyric memoirs and bizarro short stories between chapters of this doorstopper, I might just finish it.
The “my great love is so delicate!” shit is pretty tedious, though I did laugh when he described her to Agnes, making excuses for how fragile she was, how she couldn’t be troubled with this or that. Getting relationship advice from the unassuming girl everyone else knows you SHOULD be with felt so modern — a satisfying set up! If he isn’t headed for one in a series of falls and if he doesn’t end up with backlit Agnes, I will be bitter indeed.
And you’re right — efficient! Who would have thought we’d use that word to describe Dickens? The very name Miss Murdstone makes me so angry. Mr. Micawber evokes dread, awkwardness. They flit in and out of the story so any lasting impression seems like an achievement. There’s a sort of necessary hamfistedness? Or if it’s deliberate maybe it’s just over-the-top, but good over-the-top. He’s having fun with it, there seems to be this continual raised eyebrow throughout, and yet he maintains such sincerity with David Copperfield! Maybe that’s what feels sort of YA about it? He’s so pure of heart and unflagging and “honorable” and so on. He’s good-humored but never totally self-aware? It’s SO sincere even as it’s funny.
Poor kids being assigned this book in school. At least with Great Expectations there is the spider cake to cling to.
I totally get the influence versus the work thing, what a smart, gentle thing to say, like maybe he might read this. A friend, when I told her I wanted to read some Dickens, was like, “Or maybe read some Nancy Mitford? Or Jane Austen even?”
To me “Dickensian” evokes what I was trying to get at earlier, a sense of playfulness (I hate when adults say “play” but there it is), a very kind evisceration, wit, and a noble heart. It is fun, though I think it’s more fun to have that foundation and then undercut it. It’s thrilling in a way, how tired so much of it feels, while still being full of life. To have him be brilliant but also to feel like we (“we” lol) have made progress, literature-wise! Is that crazy to say? We’re better than you now, Dickens, but thank you for your service.
Edan: I love your phrase, “a very kind evisceration” — this is such an accurate description of what Dickens is up to in David Copperfield. I definitely appreciate this gift of his. But gift-appreciation is different from pure enjoyment.
Again, though, I circle back to this idea that perhaps we chose the wrong book; certainly we wouldn’t say that the contemporary novels we adore are better than, say, Bleak House, which everyone seems to agree is a masterpiece. I would bet that most Dickens scholars and lovers would choose another book of his for us to judge. Maybe David Copperfield is too of its time to truly work for contemporary readers such as ourselves. I get the sense that it was written to be an immersive, rousing text for the readers of its day; perhaps his more “serious” novels were striving for something other than immersion: complication, profundity.
All the 18th-century literature I read in college, like Pamela, or Humphry Clinker, were fun to talk about but a chore to read — their storytelling techniques were just so obvious and clunky. While David Copperfield was a far better read than those novels, I’m still having a better time discussing the book with you than I did reading said book. Back when I was in that 18th-century literature class, I remember feeling that The Novel, as a machine to entertain and move the reader, had become much sleeker and more powerful over the years. But by the 19th century, the machinery had improved considerably. We have Austen, as you mentioned. (Emma was published in 1815.) And George Eliot — my god, what brilliance! Middlemarch came later in the century, in 1874. David Copperfield, published in 1850, came between those two books. Perhaps some learned person can step forward to tell us why and how novels got so much more refined in the 1800s — only a century (or less) later. And is Copperfield’s episodic/picaresque quality (is it a picaresque?) a throwback to these older books? I wonder, I wonder.
I asked Hannah Gersen what she meant by Dickensian influence and she echoed what we’ve been saying, and she also remarked that Christmas movies owe a huge debt to Charles D. She’s right!
Will you read more Dickens in 2016? Ever? What do you take away from this experiment in ye olden classics?
Meaghan: God. It’s just TOO LONG. My edition is 866 pages. Life is too short to read something so plodding. And yet, I’m still reading it. I have a hard time giving up on books. I keep thinking maybe there will be some revelation near the end that will have made it all worthwhile. Like something big will unlock for me, literature-wise.
I am still a good 200 pages from the end and I just read the chapter about him marrying Dora (spoiler alert) and he totally elided the sex, while still referring to it in a sentence that manages to be both not quite comprehensible and totally revolting:
It was a strange condition of things, the honeymoon being over, and the bridesmaids gone home, when I found myself sitting down in my own small house with Dora; quite thrown out of employment, as I may say, in respect of the delicious old occupation of making love.
A run-on, but a lot of nice language I think. “My own small house” is good. “The honeymoon being over, and the bridesmaids gone home,” also really good, I’d say! BUT THEN, he ruins it all with “the delicious old occupation of making love.”
Coming from him, it reminds me of that SNL skit where they eat meat in a hot tub and call each other lover. Also I’ll admit I don’t quite know what he means by “quite thrown out of employment, as I may say” — NO YOU MAY NOT SAY, because it makes no sense. Is he fucking too much to go to work or did she fire him from fucking her? Is he just done doing it around the clock and settling into married life? (Probably.)
Anyway, not a word about the sex except that it was delicious, which, good for you, but gross. Very Jonathan Franzen.
There is a part of me that wants to try a different book because I am so stubborn and I don’t want to have given over like six weeks of my reading life to this book that is not as good as Austen! To think they were written around the same time! I am no expert in “what the novel does or is or wants to be” but, wow, the ladies were doing it better (If I may say! And I may!).
Maybe if I read Bleak House and it’s a masterpiece that opens up my brain, this will all have been worth it? These are the thoughts I’m left with, Edan.
I just read Rachel Cusk’s Outline and it was the perfect antidote, which is what other books are to me now: antidotes to David Copperfield. |
All teams enter the season equal in the standings. But the bookies scoff at such egalitarianism.
The folks at OddsShark.com, like other handicappers, see the Chicago Cubs as the favorite to win the World Series. Bettors win $500 on a $100 wager on the North Side’s ball team. Such a victory would mark the first Cubs World Series victory since the Roosevelt administration—the Theodore Roosevelt administration.
It’s an even year, so the Giants pay $800 to win it all. The Toronto Blue Jays, a favorite of baseball’s smart set, make $1,000 out of a $100 bet. The Kansas City Royals, like the New York Mets team they beat last fall, award prognosticators $1,200.
The biggest payoffs come via wagers on a trio of National League clubs. The Reds, Rockies, and Braves all pay $15,000 on a $100.
Here are the odds from OddsShark:
Chicago Cubs +500 San Francisco Giants +800 Toronto Blue Jays +1000 New York Mets +1200 Los Angeles Dodgers +1200 Boston Red Sox +1400 Kansas City Royals +1400 Houston Astros +1600 Washington Nationals +1800 St. Louis Cardinals +1800 Cleveland Indians +1800 Pittsburgh Pirates +2000 Detroit Tigers +2000 Texas Rangers +2500 New York Yankees +2500 Arizona Diamondbacks +2500 Chicago White Sox +3300 Seattle Mariners +4000 Los Angeles Angels +4000 Baltimore Orioles +4000 Tampa Bay Rays +4000 Minnesota Twins +5000 Miami Marlins +5000 Oakland Athletics +6600 San Diego Padres +12500 Milwaukee Brewers +12500 Cincinnati Reds +12500 Philadelphia Phillies +15000 Atlanta Braves +15000 Colorado Rockies +15000
The bookies fail to list the best bet: not making a $100 wager remains a sure bet to keep $100. |
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