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Liverpool winger Harry Wilson was signed by the club as an eight-year-old. Now 16 and part of Liverpool's Under-18 setup, Wilson will be producing a daily diary for Bleacher Report during their trip to New York for the Newark International Soccer Classic.
Read Harry's Tuesday entry here.
We played Fuddercol of Colombia in our opening match of the tournament yesterday. It was on 3G turf, and the conditions were really warm, so it took us a while to acclimatise. We were slow to get going; they pressed well, and the first half was tough.
But in the second half we found our way and took control. We started to dominate possession and went ahead with a penalty from our captain Nathan Burke, after Ryan Kent was fouled in the box. A second goal arrived from Louis Robles later on.
I had a quiet first half, but really came into the game after halftime. As with Brendan Rodgers' first team, we concentrate on passing a lot and try to tire the opposition out until gaps appear. The coaches don't set a target number of completed passes, but it's a big focus of what we do to move the ball around.
After the game, we went out for dinner and once again saw plenty of Liverpool supporters. They might not recognise us, but they see our Liverpool gear and make eye contact. Then you see them giving their mate a nudge and pointing out what we're wearing.
I always try to be as nice as I can with fans, because you're representing the club. You do everything you can do for them. We'll be getting some media training soon to help us deal with life away from the football pitch.
Ambitions
First of all, I'd like to get onto the Liverpool first team and play regularly. I also want to play for Wales and maybe captain the Welsh team. Ultimately, I want to look back and have people say, "Harry Wilson's had a great career."
As for the first team, it may be next season before I get my chance. I'm working hard and I'm doing everything I can to get there.
Right now, I'm on a two-year scholarship. When I finish that, I'll be told if Liverpool want me to stick around.
Harry Wilson was speaking to B/R's Will Tidey. You can follow Harry on Twitter here, and if you have any questions you'd like him to answer, please leave them in the comments section below. We can't promise he'll answer them all, but we'll try and pick the best out. |
An October 2017 file photo of Moroccan women filling up containers with water, in Zagora, southeastern Morocco, which has recently seen protests for access to clean water
At least 17 people were killed and 40 injured in Morocco on Sunday in a stampede as food aid was being distributed in a southern village, a local youth association said.
All of the victims were women, according to Moroccan news portal Hespress.
The incident occurred in the village of Sidi Boualem in the southern province of Essaouira, where a large crowd of people were scrambling to receive food handouts from a benefactor, Rachid al- Wasat, head of the provincial youth association, told DPA. "There was no proper organization during the distribution process, resulting in this disaster," he said.
Initial reports said that at least 15 people had been killed and four others injured as more than 1,000 people jostled for food aid. Forty others lost consciousness due to overcrowding.
Food aid campaigns are common in remote, poor areas of Morocco. |
The Wyoming Cowboys are looking to freshen up the fan experience at homes games and they have decided to do that with a new field design for the 2013 season. Images of the new field design surfaced on Tuesday and it was met with mixed reactions.
Here is an image of the new field design, via Paul Lukas of Uni Watch on Twitter:
While there is very little you can do to impress with the horrible yellow and brown color scheme that Wyoming uses, but the new field design is actually pretty impressive and unique. I have always been a fan of the light and dark green alternating every five-yards and the endzone design looks great with the mountains coming from the goal line and the two-tone font in the endzone.
For what I was expecting from Wyoming, this has exceeded my imagination.
It’s not quite up there with some of the better fields in college football, but Wyoming’s definitely stands out and will catch your attention. It is just a shame one of their main colors is brown.
What are your thoughts on the field design? Sound off in the comments section and share your thoughts. |
Wests Tigers lock Elijah Taylor says the club will get more than just a football coach if they appoint his former coach Ivan Cleary as Jason Taylor's successor.
The Tigers forward says he was stunned the club decided to axe Taylor after three rounds and believed the club had acted prematurely in sacking the coach following back-to-back losses.
The Raiders have returned to form with an outstanding attacking performance as the green machine dismantled a meek Tigers outfit 46-6 in Canberra.
GETTY IMAGES Elijah Taylor, pictured playing for the Tigers last year, was handed his NRL debut by Ivan Cleary at the Warriors and followed him to Penrith.
However it's opened the door for his former Warriors and Panthers coach to take the reins at Concord.
READ MORE:
* Sacked Tigers coach breaks silence
* Ivan Cleary keen on Tigers job
"He gave me my debut opportunity at the Warriors back in 2011," Taylor said of Cleary.
"That was my debut season and training full time with the Warriors when I was 18. I followed him to Penrith and we all know what happened there. You want to play for him. He's a coach you want to play for. He's a family man. He puts trust in the players to play what they see and freedom to the players.
"A lot of the Penrith boys keep in touch with Ivan. It's just that relationship. He's more than a coach. A lot of the Penrith boys that we had hope to see him get a coaching job... He's the type of coach that will fit in everywhere. When he was coaching at the Warriors, all three grades were in the grand final on grand final day. it says a lot about recruitment and the way he handles and manages players. That's one of his strongest assets - man management. But I can't choose the coach – I have no power there."
While Taylor will no doubt be ecstatic to work under the man he followed from the Warriors to Penrith, where he was shown the door by Anthony Griffin, he couldn't hide his disappointment over the clubs' decision to part ways with their coach.
"A lot falls on the players. The last two performances haven't been up to par. It's not the coach out there dropping the ball. It's not the coach out there controlling our energy or missing tackles," he said.
"That's our job as footy players. But round three...I thought it was a bit early. It caught me off guard big time. We'll see what happens. We just finished four months of finishing an off season with a coach and now he's gone. It's round three and we play the Storm this weekend. We'll have to dig deep and work hard for each other.
"Just the timing – and that JT brought me from Penrith. Just the timing – round three. We have another four months of footy to play. I thought it was too early. I played at the Warriors in 2011 when we lost our first three games but still made the grand final."
This is the third club in which Taylor has experienced a changing of the coach.
There has been a suggestion Jason Taylor restricted Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses' attacking flair during his time at the club, but Elijah disagreed.
"Coming in as a fresh pair of eyes from a strict regime under Anthony Griffin, they had a lot of freedom under JT," he said of the halves.
"They still have a lot of freedom now. They had the freedom to play what they see under JT. They'll have that freedom with whatever coach comes in because they are so dangerous and you don't want to restrict players like that." |
Important Author's Note (2013):
HP and the Wish of Life began in 2002, and therefore is AU for every book after GOF. After idling in a half finished state (17 chapters) for many years, I look forward to finally giving everyone the full tale! I will be incorporating canon details in the later chapters.
For those who like to jump ahead, I would consider Chapter 8 to be when the story begins to hit its stride. The first ten chapters are a fluffy, youthful set up, and the story gets darker as it progresses. Harry will not have a main pairing in this tale, his story is much bigger than just romance. He will have a few dalliances with a few girls, but that is it.
In re-reading the story, it amused me how many small details actually showed up in the books (Like Sirius' dark family past and him giving Harry his first broom etc). Therefore, when re-editing, I've kept the first ten chapters unchanged in terms of original plot lines.
I appreciate reviews and anaylsis, in fact, I live on them – so please do review and provide me with your thoughts and theories. It really does push me to continue writing.
Harry Potter and the Wish of Life
Chapter 1: Birthday Wish
By Usako3000
It was Harry's 15th birthday and all was quiet on Privet Drive, a normal evening to suit the normal folks of the neighborhood. Unfortunately for him, he was the one person on the street that was anything but normal.
Lying uncomfortably on his bed, Harry vaguely listened to the bellowing voices of his uncle and aunt as they congratulated elephant-statured Dudley on finally getting his 15 year old brain around the concept of multiplication.
Though Harry carried with him a burden of forthcoming horror, the summer holidays had progressed as usual except that the Dursleys had been noticeably downcast. Their son, Dudley had been sent home with reports of being below his age level with recommendations of acquiring tuition over the summer.
"Below his age level, indeed!" Aunt Petunia had shrieked, her bony hands wringing together in fury.
"By God!" Uncle Vernon had ranted, face ballooning like a purple plum about to explode, "How dare they! Those simpering fools! Obviously they don't know talent when they see it!"
Nonetheless, Dudley had been subjected to at least an hour of math, literature and geography every day. It had been fun at first, for Harry to taunt Dudley, but the novelty of that had soon wore off. This summer, all the Dursleys had treated him with nothing short of fear and contempt. Normally, Harry would have preferred this to the slave labor and epic yelling he was usually subjected to, but things were different now. The past year at Hogwarts had been horrifying: Voldemort was back, Cedric had died because of him, and the world was simply all wrong. All Harry wanted was to be like all other children and seek comfort in his family when something went wrong.
But, yes, that was right, he had no family.
His parents, his beautiful Mother and wonderful Father had been killed by Voldemort. His godfather had been wrongfully convicted of aiding the murder and had to be in hiding. And Harry? Harry had to stay with his aunt and uncle who despised him.
Turning on his side, Harry sighed. It wasn't the first time he had fallen on the thought that if only he could have died with his parents he would have been much happier. No scar, no guilt, no life.
It was hard, having the weight of the world on his shoulders. Voldemort, who terrified legions of wizards was coming for Harry. Not to mention, Harry distinctly felt as if he was the only one capable of taking on Voldemort. Afterall, despite all of Dumbledore's strength, if they were a match then wouldn't Dumbledore have taken Voldemort down long ago? It was frightening to think about being the only line of defense available. He felt very young and very fragile.
Although he had wonderful friends in Ron and Hermione, they could always choose to walk away. Harry however was chained forever and always to the murderer of his parents. It would be nice to have a choice. Or at least, a family to be there when he was scared.
Instead he simply read the news reports of unexplained attacks or missing persons throughout wizarding London with a heavy heart and no one to turn to with his own fears.
Green eyes flicked to the clock beside him. It was almost midnight and almost his birthday. Letting one long arm dangle beside his bed, Harry pulled out a small box from beneath it. Sitting up, he withdrew a small cupcake. Hermione had had the foresight to send him a big batch of cupcakes two days prior to his birthday with a note informing him that since he wouldn't get a proper cake her baking attempt could be an appropriate substitute.
Harry glanced at his clock, resting on top the mounds of Dudley's broken toys. Five, Four, Three, Two, One – Midnight! At that moment a shooting star blasted by the window and Harry almost jumped up in shock. A star wish and a birthday wish? It was almost too good to be true. Closing his eyes tightly, he wished.
He wished desperately, the events of the year weighing heavy on his shoulders.
He wished miserably, feeling the lonliness and yawning future stretch out before him.
He wished hopefully, a child's heart still present in the body that had taken so much abuse in recent years.
| I wish my parents hadn't made Peter Pettigrew their secret keeper and we would be a family. |
He opened his eyes slowly, heart screaming for his wish to have come true, though he knew the reality before he even saw it. His bare room came back into focus, and Harry sighed, tossing the cupcake aside. Lying back down, his dark hair cushioned by his striped pillow, Harry felt burning tears slide out of his eyes and down his cheeks.
He cried for Cedric Diggory, the innocent boy who had not deserved to die. He cried for the world, which was soon to undergo horrors unknown. He cried for himself, an orphan who despite trying hard, still remained as alone as before.
Shrouded in the depth of space, entwined in the mists of time, three startlingly beautiful woman floated, unaffected by everything except themselves.
|He made a wish. . .| the one with the black hair noted softly.
|Yes, Future. But, are you certain...| The blonde whispered.
|Oh Present, you know he's worthy. It should be up to me after all.| The redhead responded sharply, turning quickly to face her sisters.
|Past is correct. Do you consent, Present?| Future goaded.
Looking between her sisters, Present relented. |Of course.|
Past smiled.
The three floated together to form a circle. Hands joining they smiled. |Harry James Potter, heir to Godric Gryffindor, your wish has been granted.|
And with a flash of light, the Past was rewritten, the Present changed and the Future rerouted.
Small streams of sunlight cast warm strips of comfort over Harry. Caught in the limbo between being awake and asleep, he was barely aware of the voice calling to him.
"Harry! Harry!"
Stirring, he grumbled to himself, unwilling to escape his land of dreams where his parents were alive and there were unlimited Bertie Botts' for all. Vaguely, Harry decided to let Aunt Petunia call his name until she went hoarse. He had no plans of getting up yet.
"Harry!" The voice grew closer, and Harry frowned, eyes still tightly shut. That didn't sound anything like Aunt Petunia - the voice wasn't nearly as shrieky.
It was then a pair of soft lips descended on Harry's forehead. He jerked awake in shock, eyes flashing open to meet a mirror image of themselves.
Harry gaped. There, leaning over him was a extremely beautiful woman with glittering green eyes and a curtain of auburn hair cascading down her shoulders.
He knew who it was immediately, Lily Potter.
His mother.
To be Continued. . .
- Although you have many chapters ahead to read, I'd really appreciate comments and reviews on earlier chapters as you read through! I love being interactive with my readers and I hope you'll take the time to leave me a message! :) |
By way of the comments of others, suffice it to note, as reported by Vatican Radio, that no less than the President of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki, “did not hesitate to say that this documentdeparts from the teaching of John Paul II [meaning the entire Magisterium regarding marriage and procreation], and even that in it can be noticed traces of the anti-marriage ideology. According to Archbishop Gądecki, this text also highlights the lack of a clear vision for the synodal assembly.”
I must disagree with the final sentence of the report. The Synod had a very clear vision: nullification of the Church’s censures of sexual immorality of all kinds, including sodomy, and with this nothing less than an effective decommissioning of the Church as moral preceptor of humanity. This is what the aged Modernist cabal Pope Francis put in charge of this sham of a Synod has in view.
I say sham because the entire event was nothing but elaborate camouflage for the advancement of a predetermined position: that the Church would be seen to adapt herself, at long last, to the “reality” of “modern” sexual relations and conjugal arrangements—formerly known as sins of the flesh—and thereby complete her adaptation to “the modern world” in keeping with the conciliar “opening to the world.” As the alarmed President of the Polish Episcopal Conference put it, the Secret Synod’s relatio “should be an incentive to fidelity, family values, but instead seems to accept everything as it is.” Or, as I put it four days ago, the real theme of the Secret Synod is: “Let us compromise on everything.”
In an application of Vatican II as preposterous as it is diabolical, the Secret Synod proposes to legitimate civil marriage, cohabitation, adultery, and even homosexual “unions” by focusing on “constructive elements” in these evils in the same manner as the Council, in Lumen gentium, purported to find “many elements of sanctification and truth” in non-Catholic religions. The Secret Synod suggests, in all seriousness, that just as there are “positive elements in other religions” so must the Church now recognize “seeds of the Word” at work in “cohabitation, civil marriages and divorced and remarried persons.” Hence, says the Secret Synod, “a new dimension of today’s family pastoral [sic] consists in accepting the reality of civil marriage and cohabitation,” which are now to be viewed as “a germ to be accompanied in development toward the sacrament of marriage…” As the Secret Synod would have it, therefore, the concept of living in sin would simply be abolished. Rather, “[a] new sensitivity in today’s pastoral [sic] consists in grasping the positive reality in civil weddings and, having pointed out our differences [!], in cohabitation.”
Read the previous paragraph again if you don’t believe it.
Cardinal Kasper’s proposal to admit public adulterers to Holy Communion in “some” cases—Pope Francis’s proposal from the very beginning, let us face it—is also enshrined in this wicked document. “It is not wise to think of unique solutions or those inspired by a logic of ‘all or nothing,” says the Secret Synod before noting that “some argued in favor of the present regulations because of their theological foundation,” while “others were in favor of a greater opening on precise conditions…” Then the bomb is detonated: “For some, partaking of the sacraments might occur were it preceded by a penitential path—under the responsibility of the diocesan bishop—and with a clear undertaking in favor of the children. This would not be a general possibility, but the fruit of a discernment applied on a case-by-case basis, according to the law of gradualness…”
Yes, the Secret Synod has invented a new moral law: “the law of gradualness,” a perversion of the legitimate principle that spiritual progress is gradual, not the bare avoidance of sin, the break from which must be decisive before spiritual progress can be made (Cf. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio 34 and Vademecum for Confessors, Pontifical Council for Family [1997] 3:9) . With the help of this abuse of terminology, a mere verbal trick, objective mortal sinners would be allowed to receive the Blessed Sacrament without a firm purpose of amendment so long as they could be said to be moving “gradually” toward acceptance of the Church’s moral teaching—in other words, thinking it over while they continue to commit precisely the same sins, receiving absolution and Holy Communion nonetheless. Here the entire moral edifice of the Church, the sanctity of the Blessed Sacrament, the integrity of Confession, and the Faith as a whole are under direct attack.
But the Secret Synod saved the worst for last. In a section entitled “Welcoming Homosexual Persons,” the Modernist coven responsible for this travesty gives a diabolical nod to sodomy:
“Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community: are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities? Often they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?”
How does one “accept and value” the intrinsic disorder of homosexuality without compromising Catholic doctrine? One does not, of course. One simply accepts that it is no longer an intrinsic disorder and that the Church was wrong ever to say so. That is the aim of the Secret Synod. But there is more:
“Without denying the moral problems connected to homosexual unions it has to be noted that there are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners. Furthermore, the Church pays special attention to the children who live with couples of the same sex, emphasizing that the needs and rights of the little ones must always be given priority.”
Notice that the Secret Synod does not stop at characterizing sodomitical unions as “precious support”—oh, but only sometimes! Hiding a vice that cries out to heaven for retribution behind a vague reference to “moral problems,” it also simply assumes that innocent children will be raised by sodomite “couples” and that the Church will now accept this development while it tends to “the needs and rights of the little ones”—as if the rights of children did not include, first and foremost, their natural right not to be subjected to the horror of being adopted by sodomites. The Secret Synod has effectively dispensed with the entire teaching of the Church against homosexual conduct in general and “gay marriage” and “gay adoption” in particular, which Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, speaking during the reign of Pope Benedict, called “a crime which represents the destruction of the world.”
The document just produced by the Secret Synod is another crime that represents the destruction of the world, in which members of the upper hierarchy are now openly participating. Even though, of course, the judgments of the Synod will bind no one—this being yet another addition to the pseudo-Magisterium of the post-conciliar epoch—the damage it has inflicted is already catastrophic. In effect, the Secret Synod has proposed, and the whole world will now hail incessantly, a practical abolition of the consequences of sin, including even habitual sodomy, with respect to standing in the Church. Indeed, the relatio dispenses with the very concept of the impediment of mortal sin in favor of an unheard-of continuum of moral behavior representing what the Secret Synod likens to the “levels of communion formulated by Vatican II” in its view of Protestants. Under the newly invented “law of graduality,” everyone on the continuum would have access to the Sacraments without regard to the objective immorality of his conduct. The pernicious nebulosity of Vatican II now finds its ultimate application: all sinners are more or less confirmed in their sins in the name of “mercy,” just as all of the Protestant sects are more or less confirmed in their theological errors. There is no need to elaborate the apocalyptic implications.
In yet another of his bizarre sermons, clearly in support of this repulsive document, Francis today introduced us to a new deity: “the God of surprises.” According to Francis, “God is always new; he never denies himself, he never says that what he had said is wrong, but he always surprises us.” Always! In case we failed to get the message, Francis reprised yet again his by now obsessive theme that Catholics committed to defending the Church’s traditional teaching and discipline against compromise are like the Pharisees: “The scholars of the law had forgotten how many times God surprised his people, like when he freed them from slavery in Egypt… They were too wrapped up in their perfect system of laws…. Am I attached to my things, my ideas. Am I closed? Am I able to understand the signs of the times and be faithful to the voice of the Lord that is manifested in them?”
Francis would have us believe that the Secret Synod speaks with the voice of the Lord; and with disgusting audacity and brazen blasphemy the drafters of this devilish piece of trash have dared to profess that they maintain “a fixed gaze on Jesus Christ, to pause in contemplation and in adoration of His Face.” But we know who this “God of surprises” really is. His name is legion, and that legion is at work in the Hall of the Secret Synod.
Four days ago I wrote: “the Secret Synod is in the grip of madness.” I never imagined that that assessment would border on an understatement. Even if the final document of the Secret Synod somehow retreats from what we have seen today, there is little doubt that we have entered into the time of the Great Apostasy foretold in Scripture. With a strange Pope in command of the Church and another claiming to be a Pope Emeritus for the first time in history, it seems only a miracle can deliver the Church from a situation she has never before witnessed. Our Lady of Fatima, intercede for us! |
A Milwaukee early voter in 2010. (Morry Gash/AP)
Almost no one shows up at the polls pretending to be someone else in an effort to throw an election. Almost no one acts as a poll worker on Election Day to try to cast illegal votes for a candidate. And almost no general election race in recent history has been close enough to have been thrown by the largest example of in-person voter fraud on record.
That said, there have been examples of fraud, including fraud perpetrated through the use of absentee ballots severe enough to force new elections at the state level. But the slew of new laws passed over the past few years meant to address voter fraud have overwhelmingly focused on the virtually non-existent/unproven type of voter fraud, and not the still-not-common-but-not-non-existent abuse of absentee voting.
In August, Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola University Law School, detailed for Wonkblog 31 instances of documented, in-person voter fraud that would have been prevented by stricter rules around identification at the polling place. The most severe instance Levitt outlined involved as many as 24 voters in Brooklyn who tried to vote under assumed names.
There are almost no elections in which 24 votes makes a significant difference, particularly at the federal level. The graph below compares the vote total and the margin of victory for every race with less than a million votes in general elections since 2006.
Most elections, understandably, have margins of victory well into the thousands. So here are all of the House races with a margin of victory under 20,000 since 2006. The five solid-colored dots are those in which the margin of victory was 500 or less. No race was within a 24-vote margin.
Senate races generally have a much larger total vote count. There were nine Senate races in that time period that had a margin of under 20,000 votes, including one — the 2008 Senate race in Minnesota — that was settled by about 300 votes. It's marked in blue on the graph, and we'll come back to it.
Despite how rarely in-person fraud could determine an election, even if it were common, Republican politicians and conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation have put an emphasis on new voter restrictions. After the Supreme Court blocked Wisconsin's law late last week, Gov. Scott Walker (R) defended the law by saying, in essence, that its effect on outcomes didn't matter. "It doesn’t matter if there’s one, 100 or 1,000," he said during a gubernatorial debate. "Amongst us, who would be that one person who would like to have our vote canceled out by a vote that was cast illegally?"
Last week, we reported on a Government Accountability Office report indicating that some 100,000 fewer people voted in Kansas and Tennessee due to the introduction of voter ID laws in those states. The decline was weighted more heavily toward younger voters and black voters — or, to be clear, more-Democratic voters (the kind Democrats accuse the laws of targeting). In an editorial Monday, the New York Times attacked the "big lie" central to voting restrictions, that "there is virtually no in-person voter fraud; the purpose of these laws is to suppress voting."
Levitt, author of the Wonkblog piece, also prepared a lengthy report on voter fraud in 2007 for the Brennan Center for Justice. It whittles down common stories about thousands of fraudulent votes into the reality that those reports usually stem from haphazard comparisons of voter rolls with population data. Levitt's report also emphasizes the role historical allegations of fraud play in coloring the current debate; indeed, the Heritage Foundation's Web site uses examples from 1844 and 1948 to demonstrate that fraud exists. Many proponents of voter ID laws also cite absentee ballot fraud, despite the fact that these more-plentiful examples wouldn't be affected by voter ID laws.
John Fund of the National Review focused on absentee ballot fraud in an editorial Monday. After the 2012 election, the state legislature in Colorado passed new laws aimed at making it easier to register and vote with as much eagerness as Republican initiatives aimed at things like voter ID. Voters in Colorado this year can register and vote on the same day, and the state moved to an all-mail ballot system, similar to ones used in Washington and Oregon. This, Fund worries, could lead to an election thrown for the Democrats. Fund has argued for new voting restrictions like voter ID laws for years, and his column includes a contested figure for fraud in the 2008 Minnesota election that focuses on felons who voted before being legally allowed to do so. Is Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), the winner of that 2008 race, a senator thanks to voter fraud? It's unlikely.
In an e-mail to The Post, Levitt made clear that absentee ballots can be a threat to the integrity of elections. He pointed to instances in a Pennsylvania state Senate race in 1994 and the Miami mayor's race in 1998 as examples. Fraud in absentee balloting is "unfortunately quite real," he said.
That doesn't mean it's widespread, though. In 2013, an election worker in Oregon was sentenced to jail for fraud — becoming the 13th person in the state to be convicted since it went to all-mail balloting in 2000.
And it's worth re-emphasizing here that most voter ID laws don't specifically target absentee ballots. And, in fact, the laws largely wouldn't do anything to curtail absentee voter fraud even incidentally if passed — a key point in Levitt's Wonkblog essay.
"The thing about voter fraud isn't that it doesn't exist," Levitt told The Post on Monday. "It does exist, and all responsible observers both know and say that. The question is whether the proposed policy solution (invariably tighter ID requirements at the polls) is tailored to the problem that actually exists, and at the same time not sufficiently severe that it creates more trouble than it solves."
That's a subtlety that is often lost. |
"Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods," Chuck Todd tells Pres. Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway this morning. WATCH: pic.twitter.com/Ao005dQ13r — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 22, 2017
On Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, called easily disproved claims made by White House press secretary Sean Spicer “alternative facts.”
A bewildered Chuck Todd responded, “Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods.”
While the phrase “alternative facts” reminded many of the terms “falsehoods,” “lies” and “untruths,” it reminded many others of George Orwell’s dystopian, politically charged novel “1984.”
If you play George Orwell's book "1984" backwards, it says "Trump is President, Trump is President, Trump is President" — Brad Reason (@BradReason) January 24, 2017
1984 has become the inspiring story about a man overcoming fake news to love his leader. https://t.co/wJBhbwjmfX — Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) January 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/ZackGianino/status/823742487634157568
Not only were people inspired to tweet about that, they wanted to purchase a copy. By early Wednesday morning, the novel was the best-selling book on Amazon.com.
“We put through a 75,000 copy reprint this week. That is a substantial reprint and larger than our typical reprint for ‘1984,’” a Penguin spokesman told CNN.
Sales of the novel also enjoyed a marked spike in 2013 — one edition experiencing a 10,000 percent jump in sales — following the leak of NSA documents.
Many quotes from the book especially resonated with readers following Conway’s remarks.
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command,” for example, reminded some of Spicer’s argument that Trump’s inauguration had record-breaking crowds, despite obvious evidence to the contrary.
That this particular novel — a mainstay in high school classrooms — would be so thoroughly referenced in the past week makes sense as the book is a powerful political statement against an all-seeing, untrustworthy government.
Its plot follows Winston Smith, an everyman living in a society controlled by an omnipresent, totalitarian power, which distorts the truth, erases and alters evidence of the past and essentially controls its subjects. Throughout the novel, readers are introduced to a litany of inventive phrases describing this government’s actions, such as “doublethink” (believing contradictory things), “newspeak” (ambiguous, political propaganda) and “Big Brother” (the controlling government).
Much like “gas-lighting” (from the 1944 film “Gaslight“), “Catch-22” and “The Manchurian Candidate,” these terms derived from fiction have endured as cultural shorthand to describe government actions such as false propaganda and forced belief systems — understood even by those who never read a page of Orwell’s prose or seen the movies.
[Some call Trump a ‘Manchurian candidate.’ Here’s where the phrase originated.]
While “1984”‘s spike is particularly notable, the book’s popularity has been rising for many years, likely because it’s often used to describe governments actions. As Ian Crouch wrote in the New Yorker, “words … are manipulated by the three branches of government to make what might seem illegal legal — leading to something of a parallel language that rivals Orwell’s Newspeak for its soulless, obfuscated meaning.”
The Orwell estate’s literary agent Bill Hamilton said in 2015, “Interest in Orwell is accelerating and expanding practically daily. … We’re selling in new languages — Breton, Friuli, Occitan — Total income has grown 10 percent a year for the last three years.”
Orwell wrote the book at the end of his life, as he was stricken with tuberculosis living reclusively on the Scottish isle of Jura. He died at 46, just six months after the book’s publication in June 1949, thinking of the book as a critical and commercial success.
It was, but three years later the novel had fallen out of fashion. Only about 150 copies were purchased each month, barely enough to keep the book in print.
This undated image of Orwell (AP)
It remained that way until 1954, when the BBC produced and distributed a filmed “horror” adaptation of the novel. The network was quick to add a disclaimer: “This is one man’s alarmed view of the future.”
It was an instant hit. As the Daily Beast reported:
Television lives by viewing figures. Those for Nineteen Eighty-Four were, for a live drama, unprecedented. The tally (seven million) was exceeded only by that for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the previous year. “Big Brother is watching you.”’ “doublethink,” “thought- crime” and the “two-minute hate” became catchphrases.
Then the book’s popularity exploded. And like Big Brother’s gaze, it became ubiquitous — and stayed that way. Sales soared toward the astounding numbers they reach today.
The CIA grew interested, financing an American 1956 film adaptation with one request — instead of ending the film with the iconic four words (or at least the sentiment they contain), “He Loved Big Brother,” the agency doctored the story to have Winston Smith being shot after yelling “Down with Big Brother!”
Two versions were made of the film. The one with the altered ending played in Britain, according to “The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters” by Frances Stonor Saunders, while the one with the original ending played in American cinemas.
More film adaptations (these seemingly free of CIA interference) were eventually made, as the book was printed and reprinted to aid high school English teachers in informing America’s youth.
Outside of the classroom, the novel eventually became such a pop culture phenomenon that Apple announced the first MacIntosh through a Ridley Scott-directed television commercial directly referencing it, which fittingly aired during the 1984 Super Bowl.
Perhaps the phrase “alternative facts” will soon have as much cultural currency as the terms Orwell penned more than a half-century ago, even though the former were said in earnest while Orwell’s were bitingly critical. |
Eight men have been arrested over one of Sydney's gangland executions, more than a year after Mehmet Yilmaz was gunned down in the street.
The 29-year-old was shot at point-blank range in front of his fiancee while getting into his car in St Marys on September 9.
Police said Yilmaz was not formally aligned with any gangs but was believed to be closely linked with one.
Eight men have been arrested over one of Sydney's gangland executions, more than a year after Mehmet Yilmaz was gunned down in the street (pictured)
The 29-year-old was shot at point-blank range in front of his fiancee while getting into his car in St Marys on September 9
Police said Yilmaz was not formally aligned with any gangs but was believed to be closely linked with one
Two men have been arrested over kidnapping and assualt by Strike Force Osprey, a team dedicated to investigating the eight gangland killings
Homicide squad detectives say he was kidnapped and assaulted in the weeks before his murder in western Sydney.
Two men have been arrested by Strike Force Osprey - a team dedicated to investigating the eight gangland killings - over the kidnapping and another six were in custody over the murder, police said on Thursday.
A 40-year-old man was charged over the alleged kidnapping and assault and was refused bail, according to NSW Police.
The 40-year-old man was arrested September 21 and will face court Thursday.
Since Tuesday, five men have been arrested including a 28-year-old man who was charged with murder, direct criminal group and participation in a criminal group.
The 28-year-old man was refused bail and will appear in court Thursday.
A 25-year-old man and 31-year-old man were charged with murder and participation in a criminal group and were refused bail.
The 25-year-old man will face court Thursday and the 31-year-old man is expected to face court Friday.
Six men are in custody over the murder, Homicide Squad Commander Detective Acting Superintendent Jason Dickinson (pictured) said Thursday
A 40-year-old man was charged over the alleged kidnapping and assault and was refused bail, according to NSW Police
A 25-year-old man and 28-year-old man were charged with accessory after the fact to murder and participation in a criminal group and were refused bail.
The 25-year-old is expected to face court November 3 and the 28-year-old will appear in court December 1.
Strike Force investigations executed six search warrants at Blackett, Meadowbank, Mt Druitt, Stanhope Gardens, St Marys and The Ponds Thursday morning.
Two men, aged 28 and 46, were arrested during the operation.
Since Tuesday, five men have been arrested including a 28-year-old man who was charged with murder
Mr Dickinson said this week's operation (pictured) was successful after more than 12 months of investigation
Strike Force investigations executed six search warrants at Blackett, Meadowbank, Mt Druitt, Stanhope Gardens, St Marys and The Ponds Thursday morning (pictured)
The 28-year-old man was charged with accessory after the fact to murder and participate in a criminal group and was refused bail before he is expected to face court Thursday.
The 46-year-old man was charged with take/detain in company with intent to get advantage and occasion bodily hair and wound with intent. He was refused bail and will face court Thursday.
Homicide Squad Commander Detective Acting Superintendent Jason Dickinson said this week's operation was successful after more than 12 months of investigation.
'Earlier in the investigation, Strike Force Raptor seized 84 firearms and more than 12,000 rounds of ammunition and the Drug Squad seized more than $400,000 worth of illicit drugs,' Mr Dickinson said Thursday morning.
A 25-year-old man and 31-year-old man were charged with murder and participation in a criminal group
A 25-year-old man and 28-year-old man were charged with accessory after the fact to murder and participation in a criminal group
All the men were refused bail and will front court in coming weeks with more arrests expected to be made as investigations continue
Investigations are continuing and more arrests are expected.
Yilmaz's death is one of 10 underworld shootings and apparent revenge executions across Sydney since 2015.
The deaths included Mafioso kingpin Pasquale Barbaro, 35, who was executed outside an Earlwood home in November 2016.
Barbaro's grandfather and cousin were both killed in gangland hits and there were unconfirmed rumours he was an informant.
Gangland figure and convicted killer Ahmad, 40, was killed on a rooftop car park of Bankstown Central shopping centre in April 2016.
His execution was believed to be in retaliation for the fatal shooting of Safwan Charbaji outside a Condell Park panel beater several weeks earlier.
A key suspect in the Ahmad murder, Hamad Assad, was killed at St Georges Hall home last October.
A month ago, the shopping centre rooftop where Ahmade was killed was 3D laser-scanned to help detectives progress their investigation. |
By Alison Martino
I grew up trick or treating on Halloween in the late ’70s and early ’80s at the Witch’s House. The owners at that time would dress up as ghosts and goblins and hand out taffy from a witch’s kettle. There was dry ice coming from the moat around the house and Disney’s Haunted Mansion soundtrack could be heard out the upstairs window. It was an event. - See more at: http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/exclusive-look-inside-witchs-house-beverly-hills/#sthash.iVNgewYR.dpuf
I grew up trick or treating on Halloween in the late ’70s and early ’80s at the Witch’s House. The owners at that time would dress up as ghosts and goblins and hand out taffy from a witch’s kettle. There was dry ice coming from the moat around the house and Disney’s Haunted Mansion soundtrack could be heard out the upstairs window. It was an event.
Then suddenly, the house went dark in the ‘90s, no explanation given. Over time, the property started to show neglect. Thankfully, REAL ESTATE AGENT Michael J. Libow purchased the cottage in 1998 and taken wonderful care of it since. What began as a gradual renovation project 15 years ago turned into something else: Landmark #8 for the City of Beverly Hills.
In addition to restoring the property, Michael has made some incredible additions to the house. The landscaping in the front yard is purposefully bizarre, with gnarled, twisted trees and a wooden bridge crossing a mystical moat with a ceramic glass bottom. The home now looks more organic, like it’s growing up out of the ground. There is a huge wrought iron spider web COMPLETE with a nefarious looking spider and the house is surrounded by a rickety-looking picket fence.
I had the pleasure of visiting my childhood haunt earlier this year, and it immediately reminded me of “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” at Disneyland. I half expected Walt’s ghost to appear at any moment. Its dilapidated-looking pitched roof is pointed like a witch’s hat, and the walls of the house slope precariously, giving the impression it could collapse at any moment. Saggy, wooden WINDOW SHUTTERS are hung at odd angles.
Michael was kind enough to allow me and photographer Stephen Russo, my Vintage Los Angeles colleague, to TOUR the home while he prepared to welcome more than 4,000 trick-or-treaters this Halloween. Between a few rounds of pinball on Michael’s vintage Captain Fantastic pinball machine, he spoke with me about his oddball home and what it’s like on All Hallows Eve.
Tell me about the Witch’s House history.
The house was built for Willat Studios back in 1920 as a set for a few silent films, including Hansel and Gretel, and a studio office. It was not built to be lived in. Nobody’s certain when exactly it was moved to Beverly Hills. I am desperately searching for photographic evidence of the house being moved on a truck. You can imagine what a big deal that must have been back in the 1920s. I’ve seen building permits from 1924, so that helps narrow the date down, but back in the 1920s, Ward Lascelle, one of the producers who worked with the Willats, bought the structure because the studio was planning on demolishing it.
Ward Witch's outside the Witch's house at the corner of Carmeleta and Walden Drive shorty after it was moved
from Wallet Studios to Beverly Hills
I would love to know what he was thinking back then. Some Web sites and historians refer to this house as the Spadena House. Let me explain why: Ward Lascelle’s wife, Lillian, DIVORCED Ward, kept the house, and then married the house boy/guest/man servant, whose last name was Spadena. Lillian took over the house’s legacy and eventually sold it to the Green family in 1965. I purchased it from Mrs. Green in 1998, so I am truly now the keeper of “The Witch.”
Why did you want to own it?
I was raised in ‘baja’ Beverly Hills, so I knew the Witch’s House as a kid. It was the place that everyone migrated to on.
Halloween. I was actually scared of it back then. I never imagined I would one day be the owner. I graduated from Beverly Hills High in 1981 and from UCLA with A MAJOR in mathematics in 1986. My initial inclination was to become a rocket scientist, but as fate would have it, my family was forced to move around quite a bit in the early ‘80s and I became fascinated with architecture and real estate. I decided to get a real estate license to support myself through school and I’m glad I did. I began my career in Cheviot Hills which, oddly enough, introduced me to a well-known 1930s architect named Aiken who designed storybook-style homes. Consequently, I fell in love with that style.
Years later, after growing my career at Coldwell Banker, I was searching for a home in the flats of Beverly Hills. The Witch’s House was placed on the market in 1997 and it was being shown extremely discreetly by the Greens. In fact, Mrs. Green would only allow a prospective buyer to visit the house if he or she brought a deposit toward the purchase price with them in the form of a cashier’s check. If she sensed a buyer would want to tear it down, she casually ignored that person. I had to cajole the listing agent to allow me to view it because I wanted to see if I could remodel the home. After buying it, I thought I could get away with powdering its witch’s nose. Boy, was I wrong!
How did the house look before you purchased it?
The exterior looked similar. It always had that Gingerbread-house-in-Bavaria look to it. The entire interior, unfortunately, had the look of a bad tract home from the 1960s with sliding glass doors and recipe tiles adorning the kitchen, red shag carpet throughout, ELECTRIC FIREPLACES, and super low cottage cheese ceilings in many rooms.
198os
What was your overall vision?
The home always straddled the line between cool and kitschy. In my remodel, I wanted to keep it a bit more cool and a little less kitschy. I had been to Barcelona, Spain and fallen in love with Antoni Gaudi’s sensibility. I was fascinated with how his buildings appear to emanate from the ground in an organic fashion. I wanted my home to have a similar vibe as it is such an anomaly for the flats of Beverly Hills. I designed the home with barely a right angle in it, as I’m told that this is a sign of good Feng Shui. There’s also a nice mix of water and fire elements, which supposedly contributes to good chi, but the funky shapes of the doorways and entryways were most certainly influenced by the Gaudi structures I saw in Spain, and not by a Feng Shui master
.
Who helped you execute your vision?
I worked with a fantastic film production designer named Nelson Coates and an equally wonderful landscape designer, Jane Marshall; they were able to draft things that I couldn’t. The ceilings in the living room, den, and entry were the same height they are today, but the rest of the house was much, much lower. I used to hit my head in the bedroom hallway. All of the wild hardware comes from J Nicolas Hardware in Corona Del Mar. The expert woodworker who created all the incredible cabinetry, doors, WINDOWS and custom built-ins is a film industry veteran named Jim Betts who typically worked with Styrofoam on film sets and was super excited to be able to fabricate items out of solid oak at my home. For the pool, which I put in, I wanted a lagoon style and requested “beach entries” on either side so that I could walk into it without stepping down stairs.
The most difficult task was placing each tile on the pool surface. The exact process had never been done before according to my tile expert at Ann Sachs Tile. Each tile was laid in a mosaic pattern individually, not in sheets. All of the glass inside the home was done by James Thomas Stained and Leaded Glass in Studio City, which is owned by Dawna Miceli and her husband, Jim Thomas. Dawna is a relative of the legendary Miceli’s Pizzeria family, so some of the glass may look very familiar!
What goes down here on Halloween night?
The Witch’s House is a Mecca on Halloween—I knew that when I bought the house. What I didn’t realize is how much work it really is! In just a few hours we typically have between three and four thousand children and their families visit with hands outstretched and mouths agape. I hire private security for the night. Police and volunteer officers also maintain control in the area. The surrounding streets are cordoned off as it’s simply too dangerous to have traffic flow when masses of children are in the streets. When I look out from the WINDOW on Halloween night, it can be a bit frightening how many people are out front, but it’s an incredible tradition and I’m happy I brought it back. Some neighbors love it, some don’t. Out of courtesy to certain ones who asked me to one year, I tried to shut the whole event down. I even placed newspaper announcements and left off the lights—but people still came by. Now I embrace it.
Halloween Night!
Alison Martino passing out candy to 5,000 visitors in 2015
How often do tour buses come by?
Countless times per day, and more in the past 10 years since the “crop top” VAN CONVERSIONS have been in place and new independent TOUR companies exist. I was told by a Starline tour guide that mine is the most requested and most visited non-celebrity house in all of the West Los Angeles!
Do you ever see yourself moving?
I can’t imagine living anywhere else. My home is irreplaceable. I tell my clients, I will never treat their homes as a commodity; the same goes for my Witch’s House.
Who would you like to have at your next dinner party?
I would love to have Tim Burton over. He’s such a master at melding fantasy and reality. That’s what I have tried to do in my home. It’s very Burton-esque!
Alison Martino is a writer, television producer and personality, and L.A. pop culture historian. She founded the FACEBOOK PAGE Vintage Los Angeles in 2010. In addition to writing for Los Angeles Magazine and VLA, Martino muses on L.A’s. past and present on Twitter and Instagram
event.
Then suddenly, the house went dark in the ‘90s, no explanation given. Over time, the property started to show neglect. Thankfully, real estate agent Michael J. Libow purchased the cottage in 1998 and taken wonderful care of it since. What began as a gradual renovation project 15 years ago turned into something else: Landmark #8 for the City of Beverly Hills.
In addition to restoring the property, Michael has made some incredible additions to the house. The landscaping in the front yard is purposefully bizarre, with gnarled, twisted trees and a wooden bridge crossing a mystical moat with a ceramic glass bottom. The home now looks more organic, like it’s growing up out of the ground. There is a huge wrought iron spider web complete with a nefarious looking spider and the house is surrounded by a rickety-looking picket fence.
I had the pleasure of visiting my childhood haunt earlier this year, and it immediately reminded me of “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” at Disneyland. I half expected Walt’s ghost to appear at any moment. Its dilapidated-looking pitched roof is pointed like a witch’s hat, and the walls of the house slope precariously, giving the impression it could collapse at any moment. Saggy, wooden window shutters are hung at odd angles.
Michael was kind enough to allow me and photographer Stephen Russo, my
Tell me about the Witch’s House history.
The house was built for Willat Studios back in 1920 as a set for a few silent films, including Hansel and Gretel, and a studio office. It was not built to be lived in. Nobody’s certain when exactly it was moved to Beverly Hills. I am desperately searching for photographic evidence of the house being moved on a truck. You can imagine what a big deal that must have been back in the 1920s. I’ve seen building permits from 1924, so that helps narrow the date down, but back in the 1920s, Ward Lascelle, one of the producers who worked with the Willats, bought the structure because the studio was planning on demolishing it. He had owned this lot at the time, so he moved the house here to Beverly Hills and turned it into a functioning home. It was really small at the time. There was only the entry foyer, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a tiny kitchen. I would love to know what he was thinking back then. Some Web sites and historians refer to this house as the Spadena House. Let me explain why: Ward Lascelle’s wife, Lillian, divorced Ward, kept the house, and then married the house boy/guest/man servant, whose last name was Spadena. Lillian took over the house’s legacy and eventually sold it to the Green family in 1965. I purchased it from Mrs. Green in 1998, so I am truly now the keeper of “The Witch.”
Why did you want to own it?
I was raised in ‘baja’ Beverly Hills, so I knew the Witch’s House as a kid. It was the place that everyone migrated to on
Halloween. I was actually scared of it back then. I never imagined I would one day be the owner. I graduated from Beverly Hills High in 1981 and from UCLA with a major in mathematics in 1986. My initial inclination was to become a rocket scientist, but as fate would have it, my family was forced to move around quite a bit in the early ‘80s and I became fascinated with architecture and real estate. I decided to get a real estate license to support myself through school and I’m glad I did. I began my career in Cheviot Hills which, oddly enough, introduced me to a well-known 1930s architect named Aiken who designed storybook-style homes. Consequently, I fell in love with that style.
Years later, after growing my career at Coldwell Banker, I was searching for a home in the flats of Beverly Hills. The Witch’s House was placed on the market in 1997 and it was being shown extremely discreetly by the Greens. In fact, Mrs. Green would only allow a prospective buyer to visit the house if he or she brought a deposit toward the purchase price with them in the form of a cashier’s check. If she sensed a buyer would want to tear it down, she casually ignored that person. I had to cajole the listing agent to allow me to view it because I wanted to see if I could remodel the home. After buying it, I thought I could get away with powdering its witch’s nose. Boy, was I wrong!
How did the house look before you purchased it?
The exterior looked similar. It always had that Gingerbread-house-in-Bavaria look to it. The entire interior, unfortunately, had the look of a bad tract home from the 1960s with sliding glass doors and recipe tiles adorning the kitchen, red shag carpet throughout, electric fireplaces, and super low cottage cheese ceilings in many rooms.
What was your overall vision?
The home always straddled the line between cool and kitschy. In my remodel, I wanted to keep it a bit more cool and a little less kitschy. I had been to Barcelona, Spain and fallen in love with Antoni Gaudi’s sensibility. I was fascinated with how his buildings appear to emanate from the ground in an organic fashion. I wanted my home to have a similar vibe as it is such an anomaly for the flats of Beverly Hills. I designed the home with barely a right angle in it, as I’m told that this is a sign of good Feng Shui. There’s also a nice mix of water and fire elements, which supposedly contributes to good chi, but the funky shapes of the doorways and entryways were most certainly influenced by the Gaudi structures I saw in Spain, and not by a Feng Shui master.
Who helped you execute your vision?
I worked with a fantastic film production designer named Nelson Coates and an equally wonderful landscape designer, Jane Marshall; they were able to draft things that I couldn’t. The ceilings in the living room, den, and entry were the same height they are today, but the rest of the house was much, much lower. I used to hit my head in the bedroom hallway. All of the wild hardware comes from J Nicolas Hardware in Corona Del Mar. The expert woodworker who created all the incredible cabinetry, doors, windows and custom built-ins is a film industry veteran named Jim Betts who typically worked with Styrofoam on film sets and was super excited to be able to fabricate items out of solid oak at my home. For the pool, which I put in, I wanted a lagoon style and requested “beach entries” on either side so that I could walk into it without stepping down stairs. The most difficult task was placing each tile on the pool surface. The exact process had never been done before according to my tile expert at Ann Sachs Tile. Each tile was laid in a mosaic pattern individually, not in sheets. All of the glass inside the home was done by James Thomas Stained and Leaded Glass in Studio City, which is owned by Dawna Miceli and her husband, Jim Thomas. Dawna is a relative of the legendary Miceli’s Pizzeria family, so some of the glass may look very familiar!
What goes down here on Halloween night?
The Witch’s House is a Mecca on Halloween—I knew that when I bought the house. What I didn’t realize is how much work it really is! In just a few hours we typically have between three and four thousand children and their families visit with hands outstretched and mouths agape. I hire private security for the night. Police and volunteer officers also maintain control in the area. The surrounding streets are cordoned off as it’s simply too dangerous to have traffic flow when masses of children are in the streets. When I look out from the window on Halloween night, it can be a bit frightening how many people are out front, but it’s an incredible tradition and I’m happy I brought it back. Some neighbors love it, some don’t. Out of courtesy to certain ones who asked me to one year, I tried to shut the whole event down. I even placed newspaper announcements and left off the lights—but people still came by. Now I embrace it.
How often do tour busses come by?
Countless times per day, and more in the past 10 years since the “crop top” van conversions have been in place and new independent tour companies exist. I was told by a Starline tour guide that mine is the most requested and most visited non-celebrity house in all of the West Los Angeles!
Do you ever see yourself moving?
I can’t imagine living anywhere else. My home is irreplaceable. I tell my clients, I will never treat their homes as a commodity; the same goes for my Witch’s House.
Who would you like to have at your next dinner party?
I would love to have Tim Burton over. He’s such a master at melding fantasy and reality. That’s what I have tried to do in my home. It’s very Burton-esque!
- See more at: http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/exclusive-look-inside-witchs-house-beverly-hills/#sthash.iVNgewYR.dpuf I grew up trick or treating on Halloween in the late ’70s and early ’80s at the Witch’s House. The owners at that time would dress up as ghosts and goblins and hand out taffy from a witch’s kettle. There was dry ice coming from the moat around the house and Disney’s Haunted Mansion soundtrack could be heard out the upstairs window. It was anThen suddenly, the house went dark in the ‘90s, no explanation given. Over time, the property started to show neglect. Thankfully, real estate agent Michael J. Libow purchased the cottage in 1998 and taken wonderful care of it since. What began as a gradual renovation project 15 years ago turned into something else: Landmark #8 for the City of Beverly Hills.In addition to restoring the property, Michael has made some incredible additions to the house. The landscaping in the front yard is purposefully bizarre, with gnarled, twisted trees and a wooden bridge crossing a mystical moat with a ceramic glass bottom. The home now looks more organic, like it’s growing up out of the ground. There is a huge wrought iron spider web complete with a nefarious looking spider and the house is surrounded by a rickety-looking picket fence.I had the pleasure of visiting my childhood haunt earlier this year, and it immediately reminded me of “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” at Disneyland. I half expected Walt’s ghost to appear at any moment. Its dilapidated-looking pitched roof is pointed like a witch’s hat, and the walls of the house slope precariously, giving the impression it could collapse at any moment. Saggy, wooden window shutters are hung at odd angles.Michael was kind enough to allow me and photographer Stephen Russo, my Vintage Los Angeles colleague, to tour the home while he prepared to welcome more than 4,000 trick-or-treaters this Halloween. Between a few rounds of pinball on Michael’s vintage Captain Fantastic pinball machine, he spoke with me about his oddball home and what it’s like on All Hallows Eve.The house was built for Willat Studios back in 1920 as a set for a few silent films, including, and a studio office. It was not built to be lived in. Nobody’s certain when exactly it was moved to Beverly Hills. I am desperately searching for photographic evidence of the house being moved on a truck. You can imagine what a big deal that must have been back in the 1920s. I’ve seen building permits from 1924, so that helps narrow the date down, but back in the 1920s, Ward Lascelle, one of the producers who worked with the Willats, bought the structure because the studio was planning on demolishing it. He had owned this lot at the time, so he moved the house here to Beverly Hills and turned it into a functioning home. It was really small at the time. There was only the entry foyer, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a tiny kitchen. I would love to know what he was thinking back then. Some Web sites and historians refer to this house as the Spadena House. Let me explain why: Ward Lascelle’s wife, Lillian, divorced Ward, kept the house, and then married the house boy/guest/man servant, whose last name was Spadena. Lillian took over the house’s legacy and eventually sold it to the Green family in 1965. I purchased it from Mrs. Green in 1998, so I am truly now the keeper of “The Witch.”I was raised in ‘baja’ Beverly Hills, so I knew the Witch’s House as a kid. It was the place that everyone migrated to onHalloween. I was actually scared of it back then. I never imagined I would one day be the owner. I graduated from Beverly Hills High in 1981 and from UCLA with a major in mathematics in 1986. My initial inclination was to become a rocket scientist, but as fate would have it, my family was forced to move around quite a bit in the early ‘80s and I became fascinated with architecture and real estate. I decided to get a real estate license to support myself through school and I’m glad I did. I began my career in Cheviot Hills which, oddly enough, introduced me to a well-known 1930s architect named Aiken who designed storybook-style homes. Consequently, I fell in love with that style.Years later, after growing my career at Coldwell Banker, I was searching for a home in the flats of Beverly Hills. The Witch’s House was placed on the market in 1997 and it was being shown extremely discreetly by the Greens. In fact, Mrs. Green would only allow a prospective buyer to visit the house if he or she brought a deposit toward the purchase price with them in the form of a cashier’s check. If she sensed a buyer would want to tear it down, she casually ignored that person. I had to cajole the listing agent to allow me to view it because I wanted to see if I could remodel the home. After buying it, I thought I could get away with powdering its witch’s nose. Boy, was I wrong!The exterior looked similar. It always had that Gingerbread-house-in-Bavaria look to it. The entire interior, unfortunately, had the look of a bad tract home from the 1960s with sliding glass doors and recipe tiles adorning the kitchen, red shag carpet throughout, electric fireplaces, and super low cottage cheese ceilings in many rooms.The home always straddled the line between cool and kitschy. In my remodel, I wanted to keep it a bit more cool and a little less kitschy. I had been to Barcelona, Spain and fallen in love with Antoni Gaudi’s sensibility. I was fascinated with how his buildings appear to emanate from the ground in an organic fashion. I wanted my home to have a similar vibe as it is such an anomaly for the flats of Beverly Hills. I designed the home with barely a right angle in it, as I’m told that this is a sign of good Feng Shui. There’s also a nice mix of water and fire elements, which supposedly contributes to good chi, but the funky shapes of the doorways and entryways were most certainly influenced by the Gaudi structures I saw in Spain, and not by a Feng Shui master.I worked with a fantastic film production designer named Nelson Coates and an equally wonderful landscape designer, Jane Marshall; they were able to draft things that I couldn’t. The ceilings in the living room, den, and entry were the same height they are today, but the rest of the house was much, much lower. I used to hit my head in the bedroom hallway. All of the wild hardware comes from J Nicolas Hardware in Corona Del Mar. The expert woodworker who created all the incredible cabinetry, doors, windows and custom built-ins is a film industry veteran named Jim Betts who typically worked with Styrofoam on film sets and was super excited to be able to fabricate items out of solid oak at my home. For the pool, which I put in, I wanted a lagoon style and requested “beach entries” on either side so that I could walk into it without stepping down stairs. The most difficult task was placing each tile on the pool surface. The exact process had never been done before according to my tile expert at Ann Sachs Tile. Each tile was laid in a mosaic pattern individually, not in sheets. All of the glass inside the home was done by James Thomas Stained and Leaded Glass in Studio City, which is owned by Dawna Miceli and her husband, Jim Thomas. Dawna is a relative of the legendary Miceli’s Pizzeria family, so some of the glass may look very familiar!The Witch’s House is a Mecca on Halloween—I knew that when I bought the house. What I didn’t realize is how much work it really is! In just a few hours we typically have between three and four thousand children and their families visit with hands outstretched and mouths agape. I hire private security for the night. Police and volunteer officers also maintain control in the area. The surrounding streets are cordoned off as it’s simply too dangerous to have traffic flow when masses of children are in the streets. When I look out from the window on Halloween night, it can be a bit frightening how many people are out front, but it’s an incredible tradition and I’m happy I brought it back. Some neighbors love it, some don’t. Out of courtesy to certain ones who asked me to one year, I tried to shut the whole event down. I even placed newspaper announcements and left off the lights—but people still came by. Now I embrace it.Countless times per day, and more in the past 10 years since the “crop top” van conversions have been in place and new independent tour companies exist. I was told by a Starline tour guide that mine is the most requested and most visited non-celebrity house in all of the West Los Angeles!I can’t imagine living anywhere else. My home is irreplaceable. I tell my clients, I will never treat their homes as a commodity; the same goes for my Witch’s House.I would love to have Tim Burton over. He’s such a master at melding fantasy and reality. That’s what I have tried to do in my home. It’s very Burton-esque!- See more at: http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/exclusive-look-inside-witchs-house-beverly-hills/#sthash.iVNgewYR.dpuf
event.
Then suddenly, the house went dark in the ‘90s, no explanation given. Over time, the property started to show neglect. Thankfully, real estate agent Michael J. Libow purchased the cottage in 1998 and taken wonderful care of it since. What began as a gradual renovation project 15 years ago turned into something else: Landmark #8 for the City of Beverly Hills.
In addition to restoring the property, Michael has made some incredible additions to the house. The landscaping in the front yard is purposefully bizarre, with gnarled, twisted trees and a wooden bridge crossing a mystical moat with a ceramic glass bottom. The home now looks more organic, like it’s growing up out of the ground. There is a huge wrought iron spider web complete with a nefarious looking spider and the house is surrounded by a rickety-looking picket fence.
I had the pleasure of visiting my childhood haunt earlier this year, and it immediately reminded me of “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” at Disneyland. I half expected Walt’s ghost to appear at any moment. Its dilapidated-looking pitched roof is pointed like a witch’s hat, and the walls of the house slope precariously, giving the impression it could collapse at any moment. Saggy, wooden window shutters are hung at odd angles.
Michael was kind enough to allow me and photographer Stephen Russo, my
Tell me about the Witch’s House history.
The house was built for Willat Studios back in 1920 as a set for a few silent films, including Hansel and Gretel, and a studio office. It was not built to be lived in. Nobody’s certain when exactly it was moved to Beverly Hills. I am desperately searching for photographic evidence of the house being moved on a truck. You can imagine what a big deal that must have been back in the 1920s. I’ve seen building permits from 1924, so that helps narrow the date down, but back in the 1920s, Ward Lascelle, one of the producers who worked with the Willats, bought the structure because the studio was planning on demolishing it. He had owned this lot at the time, so he moved the house here to Beverly Hills and turned it into a functioning home. It was really small at the time. There was only the entry foyer, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a tiny kitchen. I would love to know what he was thinking back then. Some Web sites and historians refer to this house as the Spadena House. Let me explain why: Ward Lascelle’s wife, Lillian, divorced Ward, kept the house, and then married the house boy/guest/man servant, whose last name was Spadena. Lillian took over the house’s legacy and eventually sold it to the Green family in 1965. I purchased it from Mrs. Green in 1998, so I am truly now the keeper of “The Witch.”
Why did you want to own it?
I was raised in ‘baja’ Beverly Hills, so I knew the Witch’s House as a kid. It was the place that everyone migrated to on
Halloween. I was actually scared of it back then. I never imagined I would one day be the owner. I graduated from Beverly Hills High in 1981 and from UCLA with a major in mathematics in 1986. My initial inclination was to become a rocket scientist, but as fate would have it, my family was forced to move around quite a bit in the early ‘80s and I became fascinated with architecture and real estate. I decided to get a real estate license to support myself through school and I’m glad I did. I began my career in Cheviot Hills which, oddly enough, introduced me to a well-known 1930s architect named Aiken who designed storybook-style homes. Consequently, I fell in love with that style.
Years later, after growing my career at Coldwell Banker, I was searching for a home in the flats of Beverly Hills. The Witch’s House was placed on the market in 1997 and it was being shown extremely discreetly by the Greens. In fact, Mrs. Green would only allow a prospective buyer to visit the house if he or she brought a deposit toward the purchase price with them in the form of a cashier’s check. If she sensed a buyer would want to tear it down, she casually ignored that person. I had to cajole the listing agent to allow me to view it because I wanted to see if I could remodel the home. After buying it, I thought I could get away with powdering its witch’s nose. Boy, was I wrong!
How did the house look before you purchased it?
The exterior looked similar. It always had that Gingerbread-house-in-Bavaria look to it. The entire interior, unfortunately, had the look of a bad tract home from the 1960s with sliding glass doors and recipe tiles adorning the kitchen, red shag carpet throughout, electric fireplaces, and super low cottage cheese ceilings in many rooms.
What was your overall vision?
The home always straddled the line between cool and kitschy. In my remodel, I wanted to keep it a bit more cool and a little less kitschy. I had been to Barcelona, Spain and fallen in love with Antoni Gaudi’s sensibility. I was fascinated with how his buildings appear to emanate from the ground in an organic fashion. I wanted my home to have a similar vibe as it is such an anomaly for the flats of Beverly Hills. I designed the home with barely a right angle in it, as I’m told that this is a sign of good Feng Shui. There’s also a nice mix of water and fire elements, which supposedly contributes to good chi, but the funky shapes of the doorways and entryways were most certainly influenced by the Gaudi structures I saw in Spain, and not by a Feng Shui master.
Who helped you execute your vision?
I worked with a fantastic film production designer named Nelson Coates and an equally wonderful landscape designer, Jane Marshall; they were able to draft things that I couldn’t. The ceilings in the living room, den, and entry were the same height they are today, but the rest of the house was much, much lower. I used to hit my head in the bedroom hallway. All of the wild hardware comes from J Nicolas Hardware in Corona Del Mar. The expert woodworker who created all the incredible cabinetry, doors, windows and custom built-ins is a film industry veteran named Jim Betts who typically worked with Styrofoam on film sets and was super excited to be able to fabricate items out of solid oak at my home. For the pool, which I put in, I wanted a lagoon style and requested “beach entries” on either side so that I could walk into it without stepping down stairs. The most difficult task was placing each tile on the pool surface. The exact process had never been done before according to my tile expert at Ann Sachs Tile. Each tile was laid in a mosaic pattern individually, not in sheets. All of the glass inside the home was done by James Thomas Stained and Leaded Glass in Studio City, which is owned by Dawna Miceli and her husband, Jim Thomas. Dawna is a relative of the legendary Miceli’s Pizzeria family, so some of the glass may look very familiar!
What goes down here on Halloween night?
The Witch’s House is a Mecca on Halloween—I knew that when I bought the house. What I didn’t realize is how much work it really is! In just a few hours we typically have between three and four thousand children and their families visit with hands outstretched and mouths agape. I hire private security for the night. Police and volunteer officers also maintain control in the area. The surrounding streets are cordoned off as it’s simply too dangerous to have traffic flow when masses of children are in the streets. When I look out from the window on Halloween night, it can be a bit frightening how many people are out front, but it’s an incredible tradition and I’m happy I brought it back. Some neighbors love it, some don’t. Out of courtesy to certain ones who asked me to one year, I tried to shut the whole event down. I even placed newspaper announcements and left off the lights—but people still came by. Now I embrace it.
How often do tour busses come by?
Countless times per day, and more in the past 10 years since the “crop top” van conversions have been in place and new independent tour companies exist. I was told by a Starline tour guide that mine is the most requested and most visited non-celebrity house in all of the West Los Angeles!
Do you ever see yourself moving?
I can’t imagine living anywhere else. My home is irreplaceable. I tell my clients, I will never treat their homes as a commodity; the same goes for my Witch’s House.
Who would you like to have at your next dinner party?
I would love to have Tim Burton over. He’s such a master at melding fantasy and reality. That’s what I have tried to do in my home. It’s very Burton-esque!
- See more at: http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/exclusive-look-inside-witchs-house-beverly-hills/#sthash.iVNgewYR.dpu I grew up trick or treating on Halloween in the late ’70s and early ’80s at the Witch’s House. The owners at that time would dress up as ghosts and goblins and hand out taffy from a witch’s kettle. There was dry ice coming from the moat around the house and Disney’s Haunted Mansion soundtrack could be heard out the upstairs window. It was anThen suddenly, the house went dark in the ‘90s, no explanation given. Over time, the property started to show neglect. Thankfully, real estate agent Michael J. Libow purchased the cottage in 1998 and taken wonderful care of it since. What began as a gradual renovation project 15 years ago turned into something else: Landmark #8 for the City of Beverly Hills.In addition to restoring the property, Michael has made some incredible additions to the house. The landscaping in the front yard is purposefully bizarre, with gnarled, twisted trees and a wooden bridge crossing a mystical moat with a ceramic glass bottom. The home now looks more organic, like it’s growing up out of the ground. There is a huge wrought iron spider web complete with a nefarious looking spider and the house is surrounded by a rickety-looking picket fence.I had the pleasure of visiting my childhood haunt earlier this year, and it immediately reminded me of “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” at Disneyland. I half expected Walt’s ghost to appear at any moment. Its dilapidated-looking pitched roof is pointed like a witch’s hat, and the walls of the house slope precariously, giving the impression it could collapse at any moment. Saggy, wooden window shutters are hung at odd angles.Michael was kind enough to allow me and photographer Stephen Russo, my Vintage Los Angeles colleague, to tour the home while he prepared to welcome more than 4,000 trick-or-treaters this Halloween. Between a few rounds of pinball on Michael’s vintage Captain Fantastic pinball machine, he spoke with me about his oddball home and what it’s like on All Hallows Eve.The house was built for Willat Studios back in 1920 as a set for a few silent films, including, and a studio office. It was not built to be lived in. Nobody’s certain when exactly it was moved to Beverly Hills. I am desperately searching for photographic evidence of the house being moved on a truck. You can imagine what a big deal that must have been back in the 1920s. I’ve seen building permits from 1924, so that helps narrow the date down, but back in the 1920s, Ward Lascelle, one of the producers who worked with the Willats, bought the structure because the studio was planning on demolishing it. He had owned this lot at the time, so he moved the house here to Beverly Hills and turned it into a functioning home. It was really small at the time. There was only the entry foyer, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a tiny kitchen. I would love to know what he was thinking back then. Some Web sites and historians refer to this house as the Spadena House. Let me explain why: Ward Lascelle’s wife, Lillian, divorced Ward, kept the house, and then married the house boy/guest/man servant, whose last name was Spadena. Lillian took over the house’s legacy and eventually sold it to the Green family in 1965. I purchased it from Mrs. Green in 1998, so I am truly now the keeper of “The Witch.”I was raised in ‘baja’ Beverly Hills, so I knew the Witch’s House as a kid. It was the place that everyone migrated to onHalloween. I was actually scared of it back then. I never imagined I would one day be the owner. I graduated from Beverly Hills High in 1981 and from UCLA with a major in mathematics in 1986. My initial inclination was to become a rocket scientist, but as fate would have it, my family was forced to move around quite a bit in the early ‘80s and I became fascinated with architecture and real estate. I decided to get a real estate license to support myself through school and I’m glad I did. I began my career in Cheviot Hills which, oddly enough, introduced me to a well-known 1930s architect named Aiken who designed storybook-style homes. Consequently, I fell in love with that style.Years later, after growing my career at Coldwell Banker, I was searching for a home in the flats of Beverly Hills. The Witch’s House was placed on the market in 1997 and it was being shown extremely discreetly by the Greens. In fact, Mrs. Green would only allow a prospective buyer to visit the house if he or she brought a deposit toward the purchase price with them in the form of a cashier’s check. If she sensed a buyer would want to tear it down, she casually ignored that person. I had to cajole the listing agent to allow me to view it because I wanted to see if I could remodel the home. After buying it, I thought I could get away with powdering its witch’s nose. Boy, was I wrong!The exterior looked similar. It always had that Gingerbread-house-in-Bavaria look to it. The entire interior, unfortunately, had the look of a bad tract home from the 1960s with sliding glass doors and recipe tiles adorning the kitchen, red shag carpet throughout, electric fireplaces, and super low cottage cheese ceilings in many rooms.The home always straddled the line between cool and kitschy. In my remodel, I wanted to keep it a bit more cool and a little less kitschy. I had been to Barcelona, Spain and fallen in love with Antoni Gaudi’s sensibility. I was fascinated with how his buildings appear to emanate from the ground in an organic fashion. I wanted my home to have a similar vibe as it is such an anomaly for the flats of Beverly Hills. I designed the home with barely a right angle in it, as I’m told that this is a sign of good Feng Shui. There’s also a nice mix of water and fire elements, which supposedly contributes to good chi, but the funky shapes of the doorways and entryways were most certainly influenced by the Gaudi structures I saw in Spain, and not by a Feng Shui master.I worked with a fantastic film production designer named Nelson Coates and an equally wonderful landscape designer, Jane Marshall; they were able to draft things that I couldn’t. The ceilings in the living room, den, and entry were the same height they are today, but the rest of the house was much, much lower. I used to hit my head in the bedroom hallway. All of the wild hardware comes from J Nicolas Hardware in Corona Del Mar. The expert woodworker who created all the incredible cabinetry, doors, windows and custom built-ins is a film industry veteran named Jim Betts who typically worked with Styrofoam on film sets and was super excited to be able to fabricate items out of solid oak at my home. For the pool, which I put in, I wanted a lagoon style and requested “beach entries” on either side so that I could walk into it without stepping down stairs. The most difficult task was placing each tile on the pool surface. The exact process had never been done before according to my tile expert at Ann Sachs Tile. Each tile was laid in a mosaic pattern individually, not in sheets. All of the glass inside the home was done by James Thomas Stained and Leaded Glass in Studio City, which is owned by Dawna Miceli and her husband, Jim Thomas. Dawna is a relative of the legendary Miceli’s Pizzeria family, so some of the glass may look very familiar!The Witch’s House is a Mecca on Halloween—I knew that when I bought the house. What I didn’t realize is how much work it really is! In just a few hours we typically have between three and four thousand children and their families visit with hands outstretched and mouths agape. I hire private security for the night. Police and volunteer officers also maintain control in the area. The surrounding streets are cordoned off as it’s simply too dangerous to have traffic flow when masses of children are in the streets. When I look out from the window on Halloween night, it can be a bit frightening how many people are out front, but it’s an incredible tradition and I’m happy I brought it back. Some neighbors love it, some don’t. Out of courtesy to certain ones who asked me to one year, I tried to shut the whole event down. I even placed newspaper announcements and left off the lights—but people still came by. Now I embrace it.Countless times per day, and more in the past 10 years since the “crop top” van conversions have been in place and new independent tour companies exist. I was told by a Starline tour guide that mine is the most requested and most visited non-celebrity house in all of the West Los Angeles!I can’t imagine living anywhere else. My home is irreplaceable. I tell my clients, I will never treat their homes as a commodity; the same goes for my Witch’s House.I would love to have Tim Burton over. He’s such a master at melding fantasy and reality. That’s what I have tried to do in my home. It’s very Burton-esque!- See more at: http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/exclusive-look-inside-witchs-house-beverly-hills/#sthash.iVNgewYR.dpu
The entryway in 1933Entryway Today |
SpaceX believes they have “all the necessary pieces” to achieve a full recovery of the booster stage, with the next launch of their Falcon 9 v1.1 set to test another key technology towards that aim, via the debut of landing legs on the aft of the first stage. While there is a low likelihood SpaceX will be able to recover the first stage of the CRS-3 Falcon 9 from the water, the returning booster will attempt to deploy its landing legs during its descent.
SpaceX CRS-3:
The NET (No Earlier Than) March 16 launch of the Falcon 9 v1.1 has a primary objective of lofting the next Dragon spacecraft (CRS-3/SpX-3) into orbit for her journey to the International Space Station (ISS).
Preparations are continuing with the processing and integration of the spacecraft and launch vehicle at SpaceX’s SLC-40 facility located at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Milestones in the upcoming flow include the potential of a static fire (hot fire) on the launch pad, currently penciled in for March 7, per L2 KSC/Cape scheduling documentation.
As recently revealed by NASASpaceFlight.com – via comments made by Tom Mueller, Co-Founder and VP Propulsion for SpaceX – the decision was taken to install four landing legs on to the aft of the F9 v1.1 first stage. The potential for this launch to include the innovative legs was known for some time. However, the actual decision to integrate the legs on the CRS-3 F9 was not confirmed until deep into the rocket’s flow.
Just days later, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted a couple of photos showing the legs as installed on the rocket, confirming the company is ready for the next milestone towards the rocket becoming fully reusable.
Both NASA sources, and SpaceX officials, note the addition of the legs on the rocket will incur no impact to the primary goal of lofting Dragon into orbit on its resupply mission to the ISS.
The debut of the Falcon 9 v1.1 on September 29, 2013 – carrying the CASSIOPE satellite – involved the first in space test objectives toward the ultimate goal of returning the first stage back to Earth for reuse.
These events occur after staging, with the first stage booster rotating 180 degrees via Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters, prior to the re-ignition of three of the booster’s nine Merlin 1D engines.
This “boost back” maneuver, as it will be known when the stages eventually return to a designated landing site, currently targets an area over water, allowing a safe testing zone to refine control of the returning stage, prior to the eventual landing attempts on terra firma.
“Extended and precise high altitude reentry burns have occurred (on previous Falcon 9 v1.1 missions) that are similar to a boost back, but we did not attempt to bring the rocket close to land,” noted SpaceX Spokesperson Emily Shanklin in a series of responses to NASASpaceFlight.com
The first stage of the Falcon 9 v1.1 that successfully lofted the CASSIOPE satellite managed to conduct its three engine burn, allowing for reentry.
However, the stage started to spin during its return, causing the fuel to centrifuge. According to Mr. Mueller, the baffles in the tanks were not designed for those stresses, causing debris to get into the engines, resulting in them shutting down prematurely. The stage was lost when it impacted the Pacific Ocean.
The next advance in the testing will come during the March launch of the Falcon 9 on the CRS-3 mission. Not only will SpaceX attempt to bring the stage back down over water, but they will also attempt to test the deployment of the landing legs.
“During this test, SpaceX will attempt to execute first a reentry burn and then a landing burn with the Falcon 9 first stage. For the first burn, we will relight three engines to do a supersonic retro propulsion burn to slow the vehicle down and help ensure it survives atmospheric reentry,” Ms. Shanklin added.
“Assuming successful reentry, SpaceX will relight the center engine to stabilize the stage and reduce the vehicle’s velocity prior to contact with the water. About 10 seconds into the landing burn, SpaceX will attempt to demonstrate successful deployment of the legs in preparation for future land landings.”
While the successful execution of the aforementioned test objectives may still result in the first stage being unrecoverable from its watery touchdown, SpaceX is confident they are on the right track to eventually gaining the confidence that will allow them to return a booster stage to land.
*Click here for more SpaceX News Articles*
“It’s important to note the probability of recovering the first stage is low, maybe 30-40 percent. SpaceX is getting closer, but it is not likely that we will recover the stage during this attempt,” Ms. Shanklin continued.
“With the data from the recovered portions of the stage and the now complete Grasshopper program, SpaceX believes we have all the necessary pieces to achieve a full recovery of the boost stage.”
Grasshopper to F9R:
The Grasshopper program provided tantalizing visuals of what a first stage looks like as it gracefully heads back to its landing site.
The Grasshopper testing was conducted at SpaceX’s McGregor facility in Texas, ahead of a new phase of testing is scheduled to take place in New Mexico, utilizing the larger F9R rocket.
Numerous tests have involved the Grasshopper showing its ability to carry out incremental objectives, opening with a short hop of just six feet during Test 1, through to a massive 1,066 foot leap during Test 6.
The seventh test proved to be the most stunning, as the Grasshopper did much more than rise upwards before returning to its concrete pad.
That leap completed a divert test, flying to a 250 meter altitude with a 100 meter lateral maneuver before returning for a landing on the center of the pad.
The test demonstrated the vehicle’s ability to perform more aggressive steering maneuvers than have been attempted in previous flights.
Preparations for testing with the next system, a test vehicle called Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R-Dev1), have already begun in Texas, with the rocket already sporting its own set of landing legs. Its Merlin 1D engines have already been test fired in preparation for its shipping to Spaceport America in New Mexico.
“Grasshopper was a vertical landing test rig designed to test some of the technologies necessary to return a vehicle from orbit. The last flight under the Grasshopper program was completed last year,” noted Ms. Shanklin.
“Future testing, including that in New Mexico, will be conducted using the first stage of a Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R), which is essentially a Falcon 9 v1.1 first stage with legs.
“F9R test flights in New Mexico will allow us to test at higher altitudes than we are permitted for at our test site in Texas, to do more with unpowered guidance and to prove out landing cases that are more-flight like.”
The incremental test approach will eventually move on to testing the tricky return of the second (upper) stage of the Falcon 9 v1.1, while work has already begun on the propulsive landing capability for the Dragon spacecraft.
Once all three elements sport the ability to return to land for reuse, SpaceX will be able to boast a fully reusable launch system, which will in turn drive down manufacturing costs and allow for a more aggressive launch manifest.
(Images: SpaceX, Spaceport America and L2)
(Click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/ – to view how you can access the best space flight content on the entire internet and directly support NASASpaceflight.com’s running costs) |
Blazerunner Profile Joined November 2014 2 Posts #2 I love this series, keep up the good work.
One suggestion: When referencing decklists that come from Ladder, include the season where the player hit or finished with a certain rank. It's nice to know which lists are more recent.
Come to think of it, for tournament lists, if you can also briefly inform the month of the tournament would be additional help. It would be welcome, but not as much as for ladder.
Of course, if this is too much work another suggestion is to just consistently do it for new lists.
ExoFun Profile Joined August 2010 Netherlands 2 Posts #3 Tempo mage has 2x same deckname list.
Kroge Profile Joined June 2015 Russian Federation 1 Post #4 Thanks for great work!
I'd really appreciate links for decklists that are text based, it'll help a lot
Knugzz Profile Joined August 2014 Australia 21 Posts Last Edited: 2015-07-15 11:16:43 #5 On July 15 2015 16:59 Kroge wrote:
Thanks for great work!
I'd really appreciate links for decklists that are text based, it'll help a lot
It's not really hard to netdeck man. Do you really need a text-based list so you can copy-paste it in so you don't have to make the effort to add the cards yourself. It's not really hard to netdeck man. Do you really need a text-based list so you can copy-paste it in so you don't have to make the effort to add the cards yourself.
Paragleiber Profile Joined June 2009 295 Posts #6 The article makes it sound like Midrange Shaman is utterly terrible for the ladder but there is one topic on reddit right now about it reaching rank 1 on the ladder and another one about it reaching top 10. http://www.twitter.com/Paragleiber
Catholicizer Profile Joined May 2015 United States 56 Posts #7 On July 15 2015 08:44 ExoFun wrote:
Tempo mage has 2x same deckname list.
Control Priest as well. Control Priest as well.
Jarlax Profile Joined November 2010 25 Posts #8
This: Freeze Mage has likely gained popularity strictly because of its usefulness in tournament play, but it is all but extinct on the ladder right now .
Makes no sense. So deck is dead on ladder but it gains +2 (rank 7) coz someone found it useful in some tournament play? I thought this is power rank based on ladder usefulness? Makes no sense. So deck is dead on ladder but it gains +2 (rank 7) coz someone found it useful in some tournament play? I thought this is power rank based on ladder usefulness?
Jacenoob Profile Joined August 2014 184 Posts #9 Thanks so much for these. Very helpul.
Montagepunkt Profile Joined January 2011 3 Posts #10 Good Work. to expect something different you have to change yourself
willoc Profile Joined February 2011 Canada 631 Posts #11 On July 16 2015 03:02 Jarlax wrote:
This:
Show nested quote +
Freeze Mage has likely gained popularity strictly because of its usefulness in tournament play, but it is all but extinct on the ladder right now
Makes no sense. So deck is dead on ladder but it gains +2 (rank 7) coz someone found it useful in some tournament play? I thought this is power rank based on ladder usefulness? This:Makes no sense. So deck is dead on ladder but it gains +2 (rank 7) coz someone found it useful in some tournament play? I thought this is power rank based on ladder usefulness?
It isn't based on ladder usefulness. It's strictly ranking of power in any constructed standard rules format.
It isn't based on ladder usefulness. It's strictly ranking of power in any constructed standard rules format. Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid!
jjpanoff Profile Joined June 2015 14 Posts #12 Patron As somebody who runs a LOT of Ramp Druid, I can tell you that the matchup against
Dreamer.T Profile Joined December 2009 United States 322 Posts #13 Patron I've lost quite a few games as control warrior with 30+ hp and an empty board vs Forever the best, IMMvp <3
Arcanefrost Profile Joined August 2010 Belgium 36 Posts #14 On July 17 2015 23:22 Dreamer.T wrote:
I've lost quite a few games as control warrior with 30+ hp and an empty board vs Patron I've lost quite a few games as control warrior with 30+ hp and an empty board vs. It's safe to say, as long as patron has the right cards in hand when he uses ET, it's GG no matter what.
That's indeed always the case with patron, if they draw right there's nothing you can do. Just a massively overpowered deck :p That's indeed always the case with patron, if they draw right there's nothing you can do. Just a massively overpowered deck :p Valor is a poor substitute for numbers.
alcaras Profile Joined July 2010 United States 21 Posts #15 On July 16 2015 08:05 willoc wrote:
It isn't based on ladder usefulness. It's strictly ranking of power in any constructed standard rules format.
I'd love to see a ranking based on ladder usefulness. I'd love to see a ranking based on ladder usefulness. http://subcreation.net/ http://twitch.tv/alcaras/
RogerChillingworth Profile Joined March 2010 14 Posts #16 On July 17 2015 20:40 jjpanoff wrote:
As somebody who runs a LOT of Ramp Druid, I can tell you that the matchup against Patron As somebody who runs a LOT of Ramp Druid, I can tell you that the matchup againstWarrior is far from favorable...
Agreed. Seeing as Patron Agreed. Seeing as
Ricjames Profile Joined April 2009 Czech Republic 47 Posts #17 Patron I really enjoy beating those wanna-be Brood War is the best RTS that has ever been created.
napkin92 Profile Joined June 2015 Germany 2 Posts #18 Thanks for this series. Especially the updates on the decks. http://www.der-ultimatives-rollenspiel.de/
holobyte Profile Joined July 2015 Brazil 1 Post Last Edited: 2015-07-20 16:16:49 #19 On July 15 2015 21:20 Paragleiber wrote:
The article makes it sound like Midrange Shaman is utterly terrible for the ladder but there is one topic on reddit right now about it reaching rank 1 on the ladder and another one about it reaching top 10. The article makes it sound like Midrange Shaman is utterly terrible for the ladder but there is one topic on reddit right now about it reaching rank 1 on the ladder and another one about it reaching top 10.
I think you got it wrong. The mere fact that the deck is listed in the power ranks already shows that it's one of the strongest decks around. Someone pointing out it's weaknesses doesn't makes it utterly garbage. I think you got it wrong. The mere fact that the deck is listed in the power ranks already shows that it's one of the strongest decks around. Someone pointing out it's weaknesses doesn't makes it utterly garbage. Da cuote
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Turkey launched its largest military operation into Syria today, sending tanks, planes and ground forces into Jarabulus in an effort to clear the Islamic State from its last remaining frontier with Turkey. The offensive, led by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels, came days after an Islamic State-linked suicide attack in a Turkish border town. The main objective for the operation, however, was to counter recent advances of US-backed Syrian Kurds along the Turkish border.
Above all, it was a message: a reminder of Ankara’s determination to limit US cooperation with the Kurds, Washington’s most effective partner against the Islamic State in Syria.
Turkey has been preparing for the Jarabulus operation for days. Last weekend, an Islamic State-linked suicide bomber attacked a Kurdish wedding in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, killing 54 – many them children. The attack was the latest in a string of Islamic State-linked bombings that have killed hundreds in Turkey over the last year. But it triggered a much stronger response than previous assaults. On Aug. 22, Turkey vowed to “completely cleanse” the Islamic State from its border region – referring to Jarabulus, the only remaining Islamic State territory at the Turkish frontier. Yesterday, the Turkish military began firing artillery into northern Syria and shelled Islamic State targets 224 times. This morning, Syrian rebel fighters crossed into Jarabulus from Turkey, and with Turkish and US air support, launched operation “Euphrates Shield” to liberate the city from the Islamic State.
But the offensive was not merely an effort to cleanse the Islamic State from Turkey’s border. Jarabulus has been under Islamic State control since January 2014, and has until recently served as a major route for foreign fighters seeking to join the terror group. For years, Ankara turned a blind eye as smuggling of militants and materials to the Islamic State continued from the border. While Turkey stepped up its border security amidst devastating terror attacks in the last year, Ankara was unwilling to carry out a military operation across the border. Notably, Turkey’s diplomatic fall out with Russia in November 2015 was a major deterrent against Turkish incursions into Syria, until Ankara and Moscow restored relations this June. But the primary trigger for today’s offensive was a recent Kurdish victory against the Islamic State in a strategic town along the Turkish border.
The Syrian-Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) is a key US ally in the fight against the Islamic State, often acting as the effective ground force for the US-led coalition’s operations in Syria. But it is also the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group leading an insurgency in Turkey – a designated terrorist organization by Turkey and the US. Since 2014, Washington’s military cooperation with the YPG in Syria has incensed Ankara, which sees the YPG’s territorial expansion along the Turkish border as a major security threat. As a compromise, the US has built an umbrella organization, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes both Arab and YPG forces. And Turkey has largely tolerated US cooperation with SDF, despite its Kurdish dominance. But Ankara also declared a red line: it would not allow the YPG to cross to the west of the Euphrates River. (The Kurds controls three unconnected cantons in northern Syria along the Turkish border, which they could unite by crossing the river.)
This month, the YPG crossed that red line. In a US-backed military operation against the Islamic State in Manbij, the SDF scored a major victory against the jihadi terror group and cut off one of the Islamic State’s most important supply lines. The conquest also meant that the Kurds were now poised to move against the Islamic State in Jarabulus. To preempt such an advance, Turkey had to launch its own operation, with its own rebels of preference, to liberate the town from the Islamic State. Indeed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could not have been clearer in his remarks on today: “Turkey will take matters into its own hands if required to protect [Syria’s] territorial integrity,” he said in a speech in Ankara. He was referring to the Kurds’ efforts to establish autonomy within northern Syria.
Clearing the Islamic State from the Turkish border is as much a win for the United States as it is for Turkey, and operation Euphrates Shield reportedly employed US intelligence and air support. But that support also risks undermining Washington’s military relationship with the Kurds, who have contributed more to the coalition’s battle against the Islamic State in Syria than any other actor, including Turkey. With the Jarabulus operation, Turkey has reminded both the US and the Kurds that its military is prepared to enforce its red lines. And by supporting the operation, Washington has reminded the Kurds that Ankara is still an ally.
Crucially, during his visit to Turkey today, Vice President Joe Biden declared that the Syrian Kurds would “lose US support if they did not retreat to the east bank of the Euphrates.” The promise was Washington’s most powerful public reassurance to its embittered NATO partner to date. To the Kurds, it was a slap in the face.
To be sure, the Jarabulus operation came at an exceptionally sensitive time in US-Turkish relations – one that certainly played to Turkey’s advantage. Bilateral ties have suffered greatly since a failed coup attempt in Turkey in June, in which some Turkish officials have alleged US complicity. The Turks have identified a US-based Turkish cleric as the main culprit, and demanded his extradition. Anti-American sentiment in Turkey is at its peak. Moreover, high-level bilateral meetings with Russia and Iran since the abortive coup have stirred suspicions of Ankara moving closer to Moscow at the expense of its partnership with Washington. Vice President Biden’s trip to Turkey today was primarily aimed at smoothing relations by showing US solidarity with Ankara.
But in Syria, differences between the two NATO allies run deep and are likely to persist. Despite today’s cooperation against the Islamic State, Turkey and the US are far from seeing eye-to-eye on the future of Syria, or on picking the right partners on the ground. Washington continues to rely on the Kurds in its fight against the Islamic State. Turkey continues to support Islamist groups, and turn a blind eye to the jihadists. Reports of some jihadists’ involvement in the Jarabulus operation today will only exacerbate U.S. concerns about any proactive role for Turkey in the Syrian conflict. For now, operation Euphrates Shield appears to have strengthened Turkey’s hand against the Kurds. But Washington’s cooperation could prove just as tactical as has been its support for the Kurds.
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The Harper government's plan for Environment Canada, the department tasked with coordinating the country's environmental policies and programs, involves millions of dollars in cuts and hundreds of job losses over the next three years.
Ottawa cuts hundreds of jobs from Environment Canada read more
Announcements, Events & more from Tyee and select partners ‘Punch to the Gut’ Musical on Residential Schools Returns to Vancouver Children of God has been shaped by intense audience reactions, says director Corey Payette.
The cuts are outlined in a newly-released 2014/15 report on plans and priorities for the department, along with government rhetoric that promises "a clean, safe and sustainable environment while supporting economic prosperity."
Budget cuts will affect the government's three top priority areas for Environment Canada, including the conservation and restoration of landscapes, water and wildlife; information on changing weather patterns and minimizing threats from pollution.
For priority one, Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq promises in the report's introduction "to protect and conserve wildlife and habitat" by unveiling "a new National Conservation Plan to further increase protected areas, focusing on stronger marine and coastal conservation."
Yet the department will cut funds for wildlife and water programs by 19.2 per cent between now and 2016/17, including a 35 per cent reduction to biodiversity programs, and nearly 10 per cent reductions for water programs, ecosystem sustainability and enforcement.
Money for water protection, for example, will decline to $88 million from $108 million.
Programs related to ensuring natural landscapes provide essential water quality, air quality and carbon filtering services for Canadians will suffer major subtractions: to $63 million a year from $92 million a year by 2017.
Many of the decreases in funding are due to something called "sunsetting," or the death of temporary or time sensitive programs that the government chooses not to renew or extend. However, funding decisions could be reversed or changed by government in future, the report indicates.
Rough weather ahead
According to Aglukkaq, the government will support priority two so that Environment Canada "can deliver high quality weather services" as well as "expand and improve our severe weather warning system."
Yet Environment Canada's weather services will be cut by 17.6 per cent between now and 2016/17. Funding for timely weather forecasts and warnings, for example, will drop to $143 million from $166 million by 2017.
Extreme weather in Canada set a record $3 billion in costs last year. For the last five years in a row, extreme weather related to destabilizing climate change has racked up nearly $1 billion in damages.
The budget for forecasts of the sea state, ice conditions and weather will also decline to $8 million from $12 million.
Minister Aglukkaq also promises that Environment Canada will develop and implement world-class regulations on pollutants, including carbon emissions, as well as "improve industry requirements for prevention, preparation, response and recovery efforts" on hazardous substances.
This will be undertaken despite 42.2 per cent cuts to pollution management and mitigation programs between now and 2016/17.
Funding for programs to "reduce threats to health and the environment posed by pollution and waste from human activities" will fall from $76 million to $44 million.
The Conference Board of Canada, an independent research agency, gives the nation a "D" for its performance on municipal waste management, carbon emissions and the release of volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere.
According to the board, "Canada generated 777 kilograms per capita of municipal waste -- well above the 17-country average of 578 kilograms per capita and twice as much as Japan, the top-performing country," in 2008.
Climate cuts
The minister also promises to support climate change mitigation efforts and "to advance our sector-by-sector regulatory approach to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions." That approach still does not include the oil sands, which now accounts for 10 per cent of the nation's carbon pollution.
The minister plans to improve the nation's much criticized climate change record (among the worst in the industrial world) with 69.4 per cent cuts to climate change programs between now and 2016/17.
Funding for climate change and clean air programs will fall to $55 million from $118 million, while the enforcement budget drops to $29 million from $41 million by 2017.
Bill Donahue, an Edmonton-based water specialist and critic of rapid bitumen development, found the document's rhetorical goals at odds with its financial math.
"It is just stunning to see the degree to which they are reducing federal scientific infrastructure and the capacity to measure and monitor the environmental problems we are dealing with," said Donahue, who alerted The Tyee about the budget document via email.
Overall, budget cuts to Environment Canada between now and 2017 will total 28.6 per cent. |
One of the biggest dilemmas that are faced by any teenager moving to college after a long and cherishable school life, which one to go for? A private or a government university? Are you the one who is moving to the college after you senior secondary school? Is your child or any of your kin’s is going to be a college student from this year? If your answer is yes to the above questions, then you definitely need to read this comparative analysis that may help you decide! Here you go!
Image source
College Fees
Higher the score, better the college and lesser the fee! One easy mechanics involved in the college fees structure. Which institutes charges you what and why, read below!
Government institute:
The fees are determined by the government and the same has to offer subsidies, reservations etc in the interest of the public welfare. If you are able to score well and manage to grab a seat in the government college, one thing, of many, you can celebrate is the meager fees.
Private institute:
Decided by the management and for the purpose of business, private institutes refuse to offer any subsidies and hence charge you more! Not only this, there are different fees structure on different levels based on your scores and nationality as well! Yes, they have the NRI and local quota separately!
Placement
Placement is a point that is considered largely while selecting the college. It is essential to find out the placement records from the previous years for the obvious reasons. The brand name of the college can definitely help you land in a better place. Let us see which institute can help you grab a better placement!
Government institute:
History reveals that the tags of the prime colleges in the nation have helped the students join better companies at considerable packages after the graduation. However, the scenario is a little different when it comes to the second-tier government colleges. Blame the reservation or any another factor that major companies seldom visit such government colleges.
Private institute:
Established private institutes are definitely working hard and using their resources well to host established companies on campus and help students in getting placed. Thank their contacts and the competition in the market that they manage to pull the 100% placements. However, the status of the “shops” here and there in the town is still same and even poorer than the government colleges.
Faculty
It is not what you teach that matters alone but whom you learn it from does too! Which one offers you the better faculty?
Government institute:
The job security and the recruitment procedure by the government help the making of qualified and the experienced faculties. They are well paid, highly educated, knowledgeable and carry an insight out of their research and the experience that help the students learn from the best.
Private institute:
This is one section where the private colleges may lack a little! Marked by the shortage of the faculties, employing graduates for teaching purpose also deprives the students of learning from the experience. However, not all the fingers of the hands are same and there are still many private institutes which have the faculties at par with the government colleges and even better.
Infrastructure
The environment where you study has an impact on your education.
Which one can offer you the better infrastructure?
Government institute:
Most of them lack on the note of infrastructure. Poor labs, old furniture in the classes and not so considerable building mark the government institutes.
Private institute:
We are bound to give full marks to the private institutes on this note. Since the purpose is to make money and funds are fair, the infrastructure is considerable and promotes the studying environment on the psychological front.
This is just a fair comparison that brings a real picture of the both to you. To chose one or to go to another is solely dependent on you. Make a wise decision considering all the aspects! All the best. |
Meet the newest Pokémon, Yungoos. The internet thinks he looks kiiiind of familiar.
Earlier today, Nintendo debuted footage of a new normal-type weasel monster who will be available in Pokémon Sun and Moon. This is what he looks like normally:
See the yellow fur on the top of his head? That’s what Pokémon fans are fixated on, and what is drawing all sorts of comparisons to Donald Trump’s famous hair on Twitter.
Some folks are going even further, and straight up drawing Yungoos as Trump, or with Trump:
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We of course had to throw our hat into the ring, which is why the lovely Angelica Alzona drew up Yungoos on the campaign trail on the first image of this post. It’s almost too perfect, no?
I’d totally vote for that guy. That razor-sharp smile inspires both confidence and terror! Yungoos is like a real politician already. |
The abridged biography of Richard Nixon, as most know it, goes something like this. Born the son of a grocer and housewife, Nixon grew up in southern California and attended Whittier College, a small liberal arts college less than 20 miles from Los Angeles. He graduated from Duke University’s law school, moved home to California and started practicing law. He was first elected as a U.S. congressman in 1946 and then a senator in 1950, then served as vice president and eventually the president, before resigning in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
The National Archives, however, adds a surprising little insert into that timeline. That is, a 24-year-old Nixon applied to be a special agent in the FBI in 1937.
Submitted on April 23, Nixon’s application, once part of the FBI’s files, is now in the holdings of the National Archives. For likely the first time ever, the document is on display to the public in “Making Their Mark: Stories Through Signatures,” an exhibition featuring more than 100 signed artifacts at the archives through January 5, 2015.
“It is a nice window into a moment in Richard Nixon’s life that people probably don’t think about,” says Jennifer Johnson, the exhibition’s curator. “He has just finished law school, and like everyone, he is clearly trying to figure out what he wants to do.”
As the story goes, Nixon attended a lecture by an FBI special agent while studying at Duke. Just before he graduated with his law degree in June, 1937, he formally applied to the bureau. He was contacted for an interview, which he did in July of that year, and completed a physical exam at the request of J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI. But, after that, it was radio silence. He never received a response.
On June 11, 1954, the then-Vice President Richard Nixon spoke at the FBI National Academy’s graduation. Hoover actually introduced him, saying that he took special pleasure in doing so, because Nixon had once applied to the bureau. “Having already embarked upon the practice of law, the FBI’s loss ultimately became the country’s gain,” remarked Hoover. Nixon, in a later address to the academy, said, “he never heard anything from that application.”
In his memoirs, Nixon describes being at a party during his vice presidency, when he approached Hoover and expressed an interest in knowing what had happened. The exchange prompted the FBI to open Nixon’s file. Apparently, Nixon was accepted, but his appointment was revoked in August 1937, before he was ever notified. The details are murky. According to Nixon, Hoover told him that he was ultimately not hired due to budget cuts made to the bureau that year. But, it has also been said that Nixon’s plan to take the California bar exam in September didn’t jibe with the FBI’s hiring schedule.
Either way, it is an interesting game of “what if,” says Johnson. |
If you haven’t read Part 1- Arizona and New Mexico, Part 2 – Colorado, or Part 3 – Wyoming and Idaho, you should go back and check them out.
When Jeff and I started out on the Great Divide, Montana seemed so far away, an almost impossible distance to ride. But after about a month of pedaling there we were, roiling through Big Sky Country. Montana has a true western feel with huge vistas, lots of cowboy boots, small country stores (I recommend the one just off route in Ferndale), and big pickups with Montana mudflaps. Jeff needed to get back to Vermont by end of August for work and time was quickly winding down. While we could have pushed a bit harder and taken less rest days, we chose to ride without a time crunch. Unfortunately this meant Jeff and I were parting ways at the Canadian border so he could keep his job. He rode back to Whitefish and spent a few days at the Whitefish Bike Retreat before flying out, while I contracted some stomach ailment and continued on to Banff.
Some notes from Montana and Canada:
Montana has some great craft brews with Cold Smoke Scotch Ale being a favorite for us
Unfortunately much of Montana also has some pretty lousy tasting water
The wide open camping in southern Montana was some of my favorite, but that’s also because we had perfect weather
It seems much of the state closes on Sunday, not good when a bike shop is needed
There’s great covered camping in the closed winter parking lot on the way down the hill to Seeley Lake
The town of Seeley Lake, while a little off route, has most of what you need to resupply
Jeff and I were fortunate to stay with Tom and Pat Arnone, who host cyclists along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route south of Columbia Falls. Tom is a bicycle frame builder, restores Italian motorcycles, and is a general master craftsman. He’s a fascinating person to spend time with.
The the Whitefish Bike Retreat has a great singletrack trail that leads back to town
Watch out for the early morning lawn sprinklers if you camp in the Eureka Town Park
Heading north from the Canadian border the GDMBR follows pavement for a few miles before turning right into the mountains and up an almost 4,000 foot dirt climb. I was already feeling pretty ill and climbing this in triple digit temperature stomped me hard
Elkford BC has a new grocery store called the Kootenay Market that’s really well stocked
There’s great camping on the GDMBR about 4 miles south of Banff
Enjoy the Photos.
While this is the last post for the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, there’s still more to come. After finishing in Banff, I pedaled and hitched back to the US border, where I was greeted by the forest fires and smoke that had engulfed the northwest. Finding lots of road closures and detours, I decided to ride to Missoula Montana and regroup.
After visiting the headquarters of the Adventure Cycling Association and plotting a rough route across the northern U.S., I started pedaling and spent a little over a month riding back to Vermont. Thanks for visiting and stay tuned.
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Saints center Olin Kreutz has left the team because he has lost his passion for the game of football, leaving a hole in middle of New Orleans' offensive line.
"He loves the games," said his agent, Mark Bartelstein. "He has to love the game. He just hasn't been feeling it."
The Saints will place Kreutz on the left-team list and then eventually release him. By doing that, the team will be able to get out of the guaranteed portion of his contract. Kreutz has been battling a sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
"He called me on Monday and Tuesday and said, 'I don't know if I can keep on doing this,' " Bartelstein said on "The Waddle and Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. "Went in and talked to (coach) Sean Payton and (general manager) Mickey Loomis and expressed it to them. They tried to talk him out of it. They wanted him to stay and he actually thought he was going to give it another whirl and called yesterday and said, 'I just know, it's not in my heart. I'm not going to keep collecting a check if I know deep inside me I can't bring what I need to bring to play every week.' "
This has been a tumultuous year for the 34-year-old center, who played the first 13 seasons of his career with the Chicago Bears but could not come to terms on a contract this offseason. Kreutz, a six-time Pro Bowl performer, had said he was willing to take a pay cut to stay in Chicago, but negotiations became public and messy and Kreutz finally signed a one-year deal with the Saints.
"I think there's probably some correlation to [how things went down with the Bears]," Bartelstein said. "It hurt him a lot the way it went down with the Bears. He wanted to finish his career with the Bears, so I think there's a part of it. But how much, it's hard to say."
Bartelstein said that Kreutz will not retire immediately.
"We're not going to file anything right now," he said. "I just never think it makes sense to do that right away. He's going to step back and spend time with his family. My guess is I'm not sure he'll play again, but we'll see. The Saints made it clear that if he changed his mind, they'd love to have him come back. But knowing Olin and the way he handles himself, I don't think that's going to happen. But we'll see."
Senior writer John Clayton covers the NFL for ESPN.com. |
Khada Jhin, the Virtuoso
“Art requires a certain…cruelty.”
I
Jhin is a meticulous criminal psychopath who believes murder is art. Once an Ionian prisoner, but freed by shadowy elements within Ionia’s ruling council, the serial killer now works as their cabal's assassin. Using his gun as his paintbrush, Jhin creates works of artistic brutality, horrifying victims and onlookers. He gains a cruel pleasure from putting on his gruesome theater, making him the best choice to send the most powerful of messages: terror.
For years, Ionia’s southern mountains were plagued by the infamous “Golden Demon.” Throughout the province of Zhyun, a monster slaughtered scores of travelers and sometimes whole farmsteads, leaving behind twisted displays of corpses. Armed militias searched the forests, towns hired demon hunters, Wuju masters patrolled the roads - but nothing slowed the beast’s grisly work.
In desperation, the Council of Zhyun sent an envoy to beg Great Master Kusho for help. Upon hearing of the region’s plight, Kusho feigned an excuse for why he couldn’t help. But a week later, the master, his son Shen, and star apprentice Zed, disguised themselves as merchants and moved to the province. In secret, they visited the countless families emotionally shattered by the killings, dissected the horrific crime scenes, and looked for possible connections or patterns to the murders.
Their investigation took four long years, and left the three men changed. The famous red mane of Kusho turned white; Shen, known for his wit and humor, became somber; and Zed, the brightest star of Kusho’s temple, began to struggle with his studies. Upon finally finding a pattern to the killings, the Great Master is quoted as saying: “Good and evil are not truths. They are born from men and each sees the shades differently.”
Depicted in a variety of plays and epic poems, the capture of the “Golden Demon” would be the seventh and final great feat in the illustrious career of Lord Kusho. On the eve of the Blossom Festival in Jyom Pass, Kusho disguised himself as a renowned calligrapher to blend in with the other guest artists. Then he waited. Everyone had assumed only an evil spirit could commit these horrifying crimes, but Kusho had realized the killer was an ordinary man. The famed “Golden Demon” was actually a mere stagehand in Zhyun’s traveling theaters and opera houses working under the name Khada Jhin.
When they caught Jhin, young Zed marched forward to kill the cowering man, but Kusho held him back. Despite the horrors of Jhin’s actions, the legendary master decided the killer should be taken alive and left at Tuula Prison. Shen disagreed, but accepted the emotionless logic of his father’s judgment. Zed, disturbed and haunted by the murder scenes he had witnessed, was unable to understand or accept this mercy, and it is said a resentment began to bloom in his heart.
Though imprisoned in Tuula for many years, the polite and shy Khada Jhin revealed little of himself - even his real name remained a mystery. But while a prisoner, the monks noted he was a bright student who excelled in many subjects, including smithing, poetry, and dance. Regardless, the guards and monks could find nothing to cure him of his morbid fascinations.
Outside the prison, Ionia fell into turmoil as the Noxian empire’s invasion led to political instability. War awoke the tranquil nation’s appetite for bloodshed. The peace and balance Kusho had famously fought to protect was shattered from within as dark hearts rose in power and secret alliances competed for influence. Desperate to counter the power of the ninja and Wuju swordsmen, a cabal within the ruling council conspired to secretly free Jhin and turn him into a weapon of terror.
Now with access to the Kashuri armories’ new weapons, and nearly unlimited funds, the scale of Khada Jhin’s “performances” has grown. His work has brought fear to many foreign dignitaries and to Ionia’s secret political underground, but how long will a serial killer, craving attention, be satisfied working in the shadows? |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Bimbo land ?
The Internet republic of Bimbo lands is the worlds first Internet republic.
What is its mission?
To unite the world.
Where is MissBimbo.com? Miss Bimbo was much better than this site.
The Internet republic of Bimbo land was created by Miss Bimbo herself and is its more intelligent successor. The old site was for junior bimbos. This site is for intelligent bimbos.
What is the national flag of Bimbo land?
When was the Internet republic of Bimbo land founded
2007
What is the capital city of the Internet republic of Bimbo land?
Bimbo City
How many states make up the internet republic of Bimboland?
There are 6 states that make up the internet republic of Bimboland. They are Atheistia, Freethinkerland, Reasonopia, Agnostica, Secville, and Antitheocra. Bimbo City is the neutral administrative capital and is its own city zone. Boob Island is the home of the President of the Internet republic of Bimbo land
What is a bimbo citizen?
A ‘bimbo’ or ‘bimbo citizen’ is a member of the internet republic of Bimboland community.
How can I become a bimbo citizen?
In order to become a citizen of bimbolands you must first pass the Bimbolands citizens test. It is free to become a bimbo citizen.
What is a bimbo senator?
A bimbo senator is a senior member of the Internet republic of Bimbo land. Only senators are eligible to put themselves forward for election to become State Ministers and then ultimately the Prime Bimbo.
Who is the Prime Bimbo?
The Prime Bimbo is the democratically elected head of the Internet republic of Bimbo land.
Where does the Prime Bimbo live?
The Prime Bimbo lives in the Pink House for the 4 month term they are in office.
I want to become Prime Bimbo. How do I do that?
Any bimbo citizen can become Prime Bimbo using the democratic process. Its a 3 stage process from Senator>State Minister> Prime Bimbo. All bimbo citizens can vote in general elections but in order to put themselves forward to become Prime Bimbo they must first become a bimbo senator. All bimbo senators are electable as state ministers. State Minister elections take place every 4 months also. Only state ministers are eligible to then become the Prime Bimbo.
Can I become Prime Bimbo more than once?
Yes a bimbo can hold the position of Prime Bimbo for 3 terms max.
How often do elections take place?
The Internet republic of bimblands holds elections every 4 months for Prime Bimbo and 4 months for State Minister.
Where do important discussions take place?
The Forum.
What is the treasury/Prime Bimbos salary?
The treasury/salary is the bank account of the Internet republic of Bimbo land. This figure is transferred to the paypal account of the Prime Bimbo at the end of their 4 month term in charge.
How is the treasury calculated?
The treasury is funded by the bimbo citizens.
A percentage of the money paid by bimbo citizens via Paypal and SMS is transferred into the bimbo treasury. The rest is wisely used for further game development.
What's the national colour of Bimbo land?
Pink
How old must I be in order to become a bimbo land citizen?
Anyone over the age of 13 are welcome to become a bimbo citizen.
When are the national holidays of Bimbo land?
Jan 1st New years day
Feb 12th Darwin day
Feb 14th Lovers day
March 8th Womens day
March 21st Spring solstice
April 13th The Hitchslap Day (Christopher Hitchens birthday)
May 3rd National day of reason
June 21st World Humanist Day
Aug 2nd The Internet republic of Bimbo land national day
Sep 21st Peace one day
Dec 25th Newtons birthday
What is the currency of Bimbo land?
The Bimbo Dollar (B$). Currently it is pegged in value to the US$
Who is the President of Bimbo land?
Miss Bimbo is the president of Bimbo land. She founded the bimbo nation in 2007 after escaping the tyranny, bigotry and and conservatism of the old world. You can read more about her here and here |
Being a huge Metal Gear Solid fan I have been reading through numerous articles and watching videos regarding the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Here are my thoughts and some new information regarding the next game in Hideo Kojima’s highly revered saga.
Creator of the Metal Gear Solid series, Hideo Kojima, recently stated in an interview that the theme of Metal Gear Solid V will revolve around race, different cultures and revenge. Much like previous Metal Gear games, each game explores topics that Hideo Kojima is interested in at the time and are controversial in today’s world. Previous games in the series have explored human cloning, nuclear weapons, free will, patriotism and of course the horrors of war. Metal Gear Solid V will undoubtedly continue the trend of exploring both taboo and important topics, that are rarely explored in video games. Hideo Kojima has made it clear that he believes video games should explore ideas that are controversial and prevalent in today’s society just as how movies and novels have done.
Speaking on the size of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Kojima said “it’s 200 times bigger than Ground Zeroes.” Many people have claimed that Ground Zeroes is only and hour long so based on that math we could say that MGSV would take 200 hours to explore and complete but, that is unlikely. Even if the game is only a tenth of that players could potentially explore the game in 20 hours with a relaxed playthrough. Along with that the game will feature an online component adding much more content for players to explore. Kojima also stated that based on feedback from Ground Zeroes, controls and playabilty will be improved and Snake’s infamous cardboard box will be returning in the Phantom Pain. I personally hope Kojima spends considerable time crafting and perfecting the online component of MGSV. I loved Metal Gear Online in Metal Gear Solid 4 even if it had a lot of flaws and would love to see its resurgence.
Metal Gear Solid V is looking like the most ambitious Metal Gear Solid game yet with dynamic weather including a day and night cycle, rain and sand storms. These realistic weather effects will affect things like the ability to successfully transport packages with the Fulton Recovery System. Kojima’s humor isn’t lost in this realistic war drama, players will be able to strap animals to the recovery balloon and have them float away to Big Boss’ Mother Base. The Fulton Recovery System that first appeared in Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker will play a key role in this installment along with Big Boss’ Mother Base. Players will be able to transport enemy soldiers, vehicles and animals among other things. Capturing enemy soldiers and enlisting them will provide the opportunity to level them up, much like Peace Walker, to help your cause and provide valuable information. Successful packages that are transported with the Fulton Recovery earn GMP to help acquire more items and Weapons similar to the Drebin Points in Metal Gear Solid 4. Mother Base is adding some RPG elements to the game, something not very present in previous Metal Gear Solid games. Players will be able to customize their Mother base and have lots to do in between missions at Mother Base, which itself acts as a giant location to be explored. This is different from the typical Metal Gear Solid experience where Snake is on his own with no breaks in between objectives. While it could be argued that adding this element will detract the fluid Metal Gear experience we know and love, I trust Kojima will incorporate Mother Base in a smart and useful way that gives the game more depth.
Speaking at a roundtable interview session at E3, courtesy of Gamasutra, Hideo Kojima stated that Metal Gear Solid V will be the most expensive game he has ever designed and a larger budget is affecting his ability to be more creative in his work. “I want to use a lot of technology, but as we use more technology we need more budget, and when you need more budget it’s more difficult to put more authorship into the game; the relationship with the marketing department becomes more difficult, so, as a creator it has become very difficult; the more technology we use, the more difficult being creative becomes.” Further into the interview Kojima explains why he focused on the dark themes of rape and torture in Ground Zeroes. “Of course I expected people to react to this, but then again the theme of the game I’m trying to create here…there are very dark themes; themes such as race, and revenge. That’s something I don’t want to look away from. I did see the reaction coming, but that doesn’t change the message I want to relay.”
With the end if E3 more details have been made public about Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and there are a few main things to take away from Kojima’s next creation. The Phantom Pain will undoubtedly be much darker than any previous Metal Gear Solid Game. It’s looking to be the deepest game visually and technically, the infamous box now has more versatility allowing players to use items in it and jump out of it, all I can say is…it’s about time. This installment will have much more RPG aspects about it with Mother Base and the game itself will be massive, with much much more terrain and areas to explore than any previous Metal Gear Solid.
Metal Gear Solid V articles to read
USGamer E3 2014: Metal Gear Solid V Combines The Best Elements Of Peace Walker And Snake Eater In One Stunning Package
Gamespot E3 2014: Making Peace in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Gamasutra Kojima Hopes To Tackle Controversial Themes With AAA Design
Eurogamer Managing Mother Base In Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Hideo Kojima Gametrailers E3 2014 Interview |
On October 1, 2015, US commerce will undergo a considerable change—a variety of big credit card companies, financial groups, and issuers will require that merchants upgrade their point-of-sale (POS) terminals to accept chip-based cards as well as (and eventually, instead of) magnetic stripe cards. You may have already received chip-based replacements for your magnetic stripe cards in the mail.
The plan to transition to the new payment standard—called EMV for EuroPay, MasterCard, and Visa, (the developers of the standard)—was agreed upon in 2012, but a recent Manta survey said that 28 percent of small and medium business owners still aren't aware of the new payment standard. That's particularly troubling, because in the event of magnetic stripe card fraud at a store's POS, the store will be liable for that faulty transaction if they don't have up-to-date hardware that can accept chip cards. (Website-based transactions, commonly considered "card-not-present transactions," are not part of the EMV transition and are treated separately.)
Today, payments processing company Square, founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, said it wants to try to speed that adoption rate up in the next month or two, and hopefully convert some businesses to Square's platform.
To do this, Square has promised to cover any faulty charges that a business incurs if the business has already pre-ordered its latest card reader, set to launch in the fall.
Square already sells a magnetic stripe reader as well as a combination mag stripe and EMV chip card reader, both of which attach to an iOS device to create a user-friendly terminal, but Square's newest device will read EMV chip cards and also accept contactless payments from NFC-enabled devices (think phones enabled with Apple Pay and eventually Android Pay and Samsung Pay). Square is hoping that its liability offer will tempt businesses to integrate its devices, even if the latest device won't be out until fall, after the October 1 liability shift deadline.
Of course, if any fraud occurs with an EMV card at an EMV-compliant terminal, the liability for those charges goes back to the card issuer as normal.
Correction: Ars originally stated that a business could continue using its non-EMV-compliant card readers and be covered for fraudulent charges by Square if they've purchased just one contactless and chip card reader from the company. This is not the case. The business would have to update all of its terminals with contactless and chip card readers, so the offer only covers businesses until those new Square readers arrive in the fall. |
Work in progress, a map of the Greek underworld, featuring the rivers (which were the main reason for doing this map), as described in a contradictory manner by several accounts including : Plato, Euripides, Cicero, Aeschylus, Simonides, Statius, Ovid, Homer and Virgil, with a stronger credibility given to the most ancient sources (which are not the more precise). I decided not to discriminate what was geographically relevant and what was metaphorical: if it can be drawn, it is. A few choices were made and can be justified. Comments, questions and criticism welcome.
Amongst essential elements, I tried to conserve : placement (relative), rivers' relative size, proximity to points of interest, physical credibility and accuracy of water flow (phlegeton runs in the opposite direction of cocytus, etc), the order of crossings needed to get from somewhere to somewhere else.
Still missing are a few important elements (Erebus, Fields of Punishment...) , the sources and gates and the connections with the outer world (Delphi, Oceanus...). The Styx should be circling 7 times the whole to form the limit between the under-world and the human world, and there seems to be a very circular/spherical geometry that I haven't figured out how to convey yet. The Tartarus is merely alluded to. No indication of scale is given.
The rivers Eridanos (only present in Virgil) and Alpheios (later accounts) are not considered relevant hence not represented. |
The trial started on Monday of a woman accused of murdering her boyfriend in extraordinary circumstances.
On a winter night in late 2008 Gabriele P. and Alex H. were having sex at home in their apartment in the east of Munich, the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reports.
As usual the 28-year-old Alex H. had pulled a pair of diver’s goggles covered in duct tape over his eyes, meaning that he couldn't see.
At some point during the intercourse he asked his girlfriend to tie him down.
But after she had bound him to the bed frame, Gabriele P. reached for an electric saw which was lying nearby. She removed the safety catch and pressed it to her boyfriend's chest. He died from the injuries.
For months his body lay where he had been killed. The 23-year-old trainee teacher cut his head from his body with the saw and then pulled a sheet over the body and never went back into the room, according to the prosecution.
It was only when the young woman took her new boyfriend home six months later, that he discovered the partially dismembered body. But instead of informing the authorities, he enlisted the help of a friend and carried the pieces down into the garden, where they were buried.
Alex H.'s foster parents became worried when they didn't hear from him and employed a private detective to track him down. But they heard a rumour that he had moved to Romania with a new girlfriend and wanted to break off contact with his entire family. It is unclear whether Gabriele P. started the rumour.
An apparent sighting in 2010 also appeared to convince authorities that Alex H. was still alive.
Only in February 2016 did police discover his remains, acting on a tip-off they had received weeks earlier.
it is now up to the judge to decide whether Gabriele P.'s crime constituted murder, or whether there were mitigating circumstances.
According to the SZ, Gabriele P.'s diary records her tumultuous relationship with Alex H. and the demeaning sexual practices he thought up and which she let happen.
Investigators have spoken to witnesses who recount how Gabriele P. threw her boyfriend out of the house after a huge argument at some point in December. But shortly after, he was able to persuade her to let him move back in.
The prosecution alleges though, that it was at this point the young woman decided to murder him.
But her defence saw that the act was not premeditated. It claims that the electric saw lay in the bedroom as the couple were undertaking renovation work.
The attack was an impulsive "act of desperation" - a crime that does not constitute murder - the defence argues. |
Dogecoin
Such rhythm! So rhyme! Wow -- it's bobsled time. In the ultimate Internet fairytale, the founders of amusing meme-based crypto-currency Dogecoin have raised nearly enough money for a two-man bobsleigh team from Jamaica to go to the Winter Olympics.
After the story of Winston Watts and Marvin Dixon qualifying for Sochi 2014 went viral online -- thanks to the Internet's collective nostalgia for 1993's "Cool Runnings" -- it became clear Jamaica's first trip to the Winter Games since 2002 might founder for want of funds.
"We need about $40,000 for travel and also to buy new runners for the sled because we can't go to an Olympics with only one set," Watts told the BBC.
The Dogecoin Foundation, founders of the shiba-inu fronted online currency, quickly started Dogesled.net, a tip jar for the Caribbean ice racers. It had all the ingredients for a whirlwind of virality -- a funny pet-related meme, bitcoin, nostalgia, money-raising, and lovable '80s funny man John Candy.
More than 26 million Dogecoins, worth $30,000, were donated in just a couple of hours, with enthusiastic fans buying so much of the currency that it massively inflated its value. Other online fundraisers for the team have nearly matched that total.
Team Jamaica
"We noticed the value of Dogecoin had more than doubled since we'd last checked," Dogecoin founder Liam Butler told The Guardian, "so we raced back to my house to ensure we could get the best price for the donations in a form the team could actually use.
"As much as we have faith in Dogecoin to become the community currency of the Internet, we still understand that the team need to buy their airfares in a fiat currency," Butler said.
The comic-sans currency made the news last week when it emerged that it accounted for more transaction volume than all other cryptocurrencies combined, although this was largely due to each coin's tiny value. It was also the subject of a hack last month, with $16,000 worth going missing. |
European commission says Turkey has not met conditions of possible deal including border security and human rights issues
Turkey has missed an EU deadline that would have allowed its citizens visa-free travel through most of Europe, amid ongoing tensions over a controversial migration deal.
EU leaders promised the Turkish government that 79 million Turks could have access to Europe’s 26-country border-free Schengen travel zone by June, as part of a hotly disputed bargain on migration. But this was always conditional on Turkey meeting 72 EU conditions on border security and fundamental rights.
The European commission announced on Wednesday that Turkey had still failed to meet some of the conditions, including changes to its counter-terrorism legislation.
In a separate decision, EU ambassadors are expected to approve the opening of negotiations on one part of Turkish membership talks later on Wednesday. The decision to open talks on budget is a symbolic gesture that was promised under the migration deal.
The prospect of Turkey’s membership of the EU has inflamed the UK EU referendum debate even though Turkey is unlikely to join for decades, if ever. The visa deal does not apply to the UK or Ireland, which are outside the EU’s Schengen area.
Since Turkey’s EU membership talks began in 2005, only one of the 35 “chapters” has been closed. Several are blocked over the country’s long-running dispute with Cyprus, while Turkey is seen by the EU as regressing on freedom of expression and the rule of law.
The widely expected decision to delay the visa deal came one day after the EU’s ambassador to Turkey resigned. Hansjörg Haber will leave his post as the EU ambassador to Turkey in August, after making provocative comments about the migration deal that infuriated the Turkish government. The German diplomat, who was only appointed last August, was accused of showing disrespect for Turkish national values and Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Doubts about the visa deal have mounted ever since Erdoğan ousted the prime minister who led negotiations with the EU. Turkey’s strongman leader has flatly rejected EU calls to rewrite his country’s anti-terrorism laws, saying: “We’ll go our way, you go yours.”
In a statement the European commission said progress on the EU-Turkey deal was fragile.
But Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner in charge of migration and visa policy, said he expected Turkey to meet the EU conditions on visa-free travel. “Statement diplomacy is not very helpful,” he said, adding that his talks with government officials at the highest possible level showed a strong will to cooperate with the EU.
“I believe the migration crisis is bringing Turkey closer to Europe,” he said.
He declined to specify when the deal could be agreed, muddying expectations that this might happen when the EU published its next progress report in September.
Anxieties about visa-free travel in the EU have surfaced in several countries. A visa-free deal for Georgia’s 5 million citizens was put on hold last week, after last-minute opposition from France, Italy and Germany. The EU is also negotiating a visa-free travel deal with Ukraine. Governments, led by France and Germany, have insisted on an emergency brake that would allow them to halt the arrangement if there was abuse of the rules.
Since the EU agreed the migration pact with Turkey in March, the number of migrants making the perilous journey to Greece has fallen sharply. Fewer than 50 people a day risked the dangerous Aegean Sea crossing in May on average, compared to daily arrivals of up to 2,000 at the start of the year.
So far 511 Syrian refugees have been resettled in Europe from Turkey, under the one-for-one scheme. Around 462 migrants, including 31 Syrians, have been sent back to Turkey from Greece.
The EU executive also called on Greece to take urgent steps to improve its asylum claims system, which fell foul of human rights standards even before a surge in arrivals on Greek beaches last year. Issuing a series of recommendations, it said Greece had to do more to ensure the safety of unaccompanied children and guarantee legal aid for claimants.
But a senior human rights advocate at the Council of Europe said the EU-Turkey deal had created problems for Greece, which was struggling to cope with processing asylum claims.
Tomáš Boček, special representative on migration and refugees at the Council of Europe, said migrants and refugees were spending too long in overcrowded camps and asylum-processing “hotspots” in Greece while they awaited a decision on their claims.
Around 50,000 people are on the Greek mainland, while a further 7,000-8,000 are estimated to be in camps on the Greek islands.
The Council of Europe, which is not an EU body, has sharply criticised the EU-Turkey deal as a possible breach of international law.
Boček, who served as the Czech Republic’s ambassador to the EU, recently visited Turkey, which is housing 3.1 million refugees.
Ahead of a report to be published later this summer, he voiced concern that half a million Syrian refugee children were not in school in Turkey.
Many children were working in fields or textile factories to help support their families, he said. “It would be difficult for any country to deal with this, but there are shortcomings, which are understandable because of this great number of refugees.” |
Molested by an astronaut. There’s your answer. What else could explain why Fox would launch a cerebral, high concept scifi show produced by Joss Whedon (Dollhouse) in the very same 9pm Friday time slot that obliterated their last cerebral, high concept scifi show produced by Joss Whedon (Firefly)? Moon-pedophiles.
Before you ask, it’s a little know fact that network executives have a goatee from birth.
I hate to say it, but given all the recent delays, rewrites and production problems, I’d almost rather they just canned the show now and let me say goodbye before I really get hooked. I would like to point out that Dollhouse is premiering on Friday the 13th. That’s how I likes my omens. Good and ominous.
How about a shirt that says “Friday Night on Fox : Where TV Shows Go To Die”?
UPDATE:
I made the shirt.
I wasn’t too happy with the final design, so I took it down for revisions. |
Mixed martial arts has taken major steps towards professionalism and acceptability in the mainstream. With the rise of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), more and more fans can tune in to watch the fastest growing sport in the world. With that being said, it wasn’t always what you see nowadays.
The fights were held in low budget casino halls and basketball gymnasiums. There were little to no rules, and of course, no weight classes. Not until later would the sport develop weight classes, and rules for making said weight on time.
This obviously changed the way you would have to prepare for a fight. Weight-cutting has been done since the inception of Olympic wrestling and boxing. But for MMA, it was a brand new venture. The problem I see as a coach is the process of how some fighters go about cutting weight. And when that process is flawed it will hinder performance. This is my take on how to properly weight-cut for mixed MMA.
Weight cutting do’s and don’ts for MMA
Weight cutting in general is not a very healthy thing to do. With that being said, let me just clarify that I am NOT a health professional or medical physician. I’m only giving you my opinion on what I would do, and my approach. Now that we got that out of the way, let me first begin with the starting process of an optimal weight-cut. As a fighter, you should never be fifteen pounds above your fighting weight class. You must have a clean enough diet year-round to maintain healthy weight for your career.
If you are a professional this definitely should go without saying, eating a balanced base of macronutrients help to facilitate your training. Also consuming micronutreints, like vitimans and minerals, helps your body recover and stay healthy. Always look to have adequate hydration for a 150 pound and below (walk around weight) fighter. You should take in at least one gallon of water daily.
For a fighter who is 155-200 pounds, take in at least one and a half gallons of water daily. And for 200 plus pound fighters, take in at least two gallons of water per day. Now this also fluctuates if you’re having multiple training sessions in one day. If that’s the case, make sure to add electrolytes and salt tabs if you begin to cramp or sweat a lot.
When a fighter starts the cutting process, I tell them to always start their cut one week out from fight night. The diet should have taken care of the weight up until that point. Don’t misunderstand the two, cutting is something that you are doing in a short period of time to get as much weight off. Which is then put back on shortly after. You should start the cut, ideally, 10-12 pounds away from the classes specificed weight. At this point is when a fighter would start a water load. Which is a process of adding excess water, and then taking out a half gallon each day till weigh-ins. So iff your weigh-ins are on Friday, you will start on that Sunday before. The regiment looks like this:
Sunday: 2.5 gallons of water with lemon
Monday: 2 gallons of water with lemon
Tuesday: 1.5 gallon of water with lemon
Wednesday: 1 gallons of water with lemon
Thursday: .5 gallons of water with lemon
Friday (weigh-in day): 8 oz in the morning
When following this strategy, your body will begin the flushing out process of any excess fluids. The more water you take in, the less water you will hold. Meaning, once you put the water in your body, your body will begin to flush out the excess.
With your water load in-progress, you want to keep your carbohydrate intake in a range from moderate to low. Still, we want to make sure–through dieting correctly–you can still maintain some carbohydrate intake throughout the week. Carbohydrates are extremely important for performance and recovery, so cutting this completely out will make it difficult to replenish fully after weigh-ins.
Protein must be a constant in order to maintain muscle mass and strength, along with staying satiated. Fats at this point can be minimal to zero. Fats have the most calories per gram out off all three macronutrients. Cutting fats would not be as detrimental as cutting the other two macros. When it comes to sodium, you want to minimize it as much as possible when you are water loading up to the moment a fighter hits the scale.
The reloading process can be the most vital to your performance come fight night. If your reload is not on point, it could damage all the work you put in. As soon as they step off the scale, I have my fighters take in one liter of a mix that is half water and half pedialyte. Once that is finished, continue drinking the entire bottle of pedialyte, then one more liter of water.
After about 30 minutes (post weigh-ins) consume a whey protein shake in water, with some form of carbohydrates. Preferably in powder form. An hour after weigh-ins, with the urine being clear, go ahead and have your first meal. This should consist of some form of red meat, and fast acting carbohydrate. Still consume plenty of water, and every two hours continue to have slower digestive carbohydrates, some fats, and lean protein. When the fighter wakes up the next morning, they should be at the same walk-around weight that they were at two weeks before weigh-ins.
As far as saunas or epson salt baths, I’m not really a big fan of them. If you like them, or absolutely need it, then I’ll have a fighter do it. But the diet should take care of 80 percent of the cut, and the rest is all water manipulation.
This is the safest and most effective route to go when you are trying to stay healthy and have a long career in the sport. Too many injuries, and metabolism problems, come from a bad weight-cut. As a strength and conditioning coach I’m trying to protect my fighters and keep their careers as long as possible. So focus on your diet and stop thinking you can cut twenty plus pounds in a bath. It’s not optimal, and not effective, when it comes to performing at your best on fight night. Now that you have an understanding, I hope this helps the process.
Phil Daru
American Top Team Head Strength & Conditioning Coach
Former Professional MMA Fighter
Sports Medicine, Exercise Science Degrees
FMS, ACE Certified
Main Photo: |
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After striking expensive deals with such Hollywood personalities as Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart and Jamie Foxx, Sirius XM has been asking some of its top radio talent to take dramatic cuts in pay.
So said Bubba the Love Sponge, who for five years was the No. 2 talk-show host at Sirius XM until he quit a few days ago after he says management tried to cut his salary by 80 percent.
In December, CFO David Frear talked of “more favorable economic terms” as content deals came up for renewal, so it’s no secret that Sirius XM is trying to rein in costs. If a glimpse into Bubba’s salary negotiations is any indication, the cost-cutting measures could be brutal.
Even top talker Howard Stern hasn’t been immune, as analysts figure he re-upped at Sirius XM for about $80 million a year, down from a previous deal that had him earning $100 million annually.
But while Bubba attracts an audience about 38 percent the size of Stern’s (roughly 750,000 to Stern’s 2 million, according to insiders), it turns out his worth to Sirius XM was negligible in comparison. And he’s not alone, he said.
“They’ve asked everybody to take a pay cut,” he told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. “With me, it was a take it or leave it offer. We decided to leave it.”
Bubba, whose real name is Todd Clem, was earning $1 million annually at Sirius XM, and the company wanted to slash that to $200,000 beginning this year, he said.
Bubba blamed management’s penny-pinching on its obsession with striking rich deals with Hollywood, sports and music personalities who have name recognition but no discernible talent for radio. Sirius XM, for example, pays Winfrey about $18 million a year and Stewart roughly $7 million.
The company also has on its payroll Eminem, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Dylan, skateboarder Tony Hawk, skier Bode Miller, “Entourage” actor Jerry Ferrara and a host of other prominent names.
“They paid an exorbitant amount for Hollywood people like Jamie Foxx with no f—-ing radio talent, so radio people like me have suffered,” Bubba said. “A lot of good radio people aren’t getting an opportunity because of these Hollywood people.”
Sirius XM didn’t respond to requests for comment.
“Eminem doesn’t even have to show up and they pay him zillions of dollars. Where does Bubba the Love Sponge sign up for that!” he joked.
“I don’t have any business on a movie set, and actors don’t have any business behind a radio mike,” Bubba added.
Bubba has for years had an unusual relationship with Sirius XM. He joined the same day as Stern and anchored the Howard 101 channel. A year later, he accepted a pay cut but was allowed to syndicate the show to a half-dozen traditional radio stations. That’s when he cleaned it up in order to pass muster with the FCC. A year after that, he began delivering four hours of exclusive and uncensored content to Sirius XM.
“Three times we were able to do a deal. This time we came to an impasse,” he said. “I didn’t think an 80 percent pay cut was fair market value for my services.”
Instead, Bubba has joined radioIO.com, making him the first major radio personality to ditch satellite in favor of the Internet. RadioIO is owned by ioWorld Media, a publicly traded company.
At RadioIO, Bubba will host a free show plus another show that will become part of the service’s subscription package. Plus, members of his on-air radio crew will get to program their own music channels based on the genres they like.
“They gave me a fairly lucrative base salary, plus incentives like stock and commission on subscribers. It’s far better than Sirius ever was,” he said. |
Those who created the banking crisis are also the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Democratic Chairman of the Agriculture Committee yesterday announced to the press that “The banks run the place,” in reference to the US Congress. He is the second notable elected official to speak out in recent weeks over the gross and institutionally corrupt conflict of interest on Capitol Hill.
“I will tell you what the problem is,” Collin Peterson told the New York Times, “they give three times more money than the next biggest group. It’s huge the amount of money they put into politics.”
Peterson is pushing for legislation to regulate derivatives trading. His proposed bill would limit derivatives trading to public exchanges, rather than private clearinghouses, which are managed by banks.
In this sense he directly opposes the proposal of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, to have the transactions monitored by the New York branch of the Federal Reserve, a move also (coincidentally?) proposed by the heads of the banking industry.
Over-exposure to credit derivatives of mortgage-backed securities – or credit default swaps (CDS) was a key reason for the failure of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, American International Group, and Washington Mutual last year, and is at the centre of a financial black hole that is engulfing the economy.
“Peterson’s bill specifically bars derivatives trading in a clearinghouse regulated by the New York Federal Reserve, which he said in an interview ‘is a tool of the big banks’ that ‘wouldn’t do much’ to regulate the contracts,” the New York Times writes.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
“Because the banks’ lobbyists persuaded some of his Republican colleagues to resist more sweeping changes, Mr. Peterson said, he has had to modify a bill he introduced that is similar to Mr. Harkin’s in calling for wide-ranging limits on derivatives.”
Peterson’s warning mirrors that of Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who just a few weeks ago uttered the same rarely acknowledged truth.
“And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place,” he said.
(Article continues below)
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Barack Obama received $69,823,872 in contributions from the banking industry, while John McCain got $60,605,254, with the total between the two exceeding $130 million.
This makes the banks the biggest donor to the presidential campaigns by a clear $35 million, second only to lobbyists and lawyers. Feel the democracy in action.
The New York Times reports that the top five financial sector companies — Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Credit Suisse — gave $22.7 million and spent more than $25 million combined on lobbying activities in one year.
The banks have literally bought the House of Representatives.
In this sense the vast swathe of regulatory powers eventually handed over to the government will first be filtered through the very interests they are supposed to be overseeing, and we are back to where we started.
We have tirelessly exposed how the very people tasked with rescuing the economy by both the Obama and Bush administrations are the same ones who helped create the financial crisis in the first instance. Geithner is a prime example, being as he is a protege of former Goldman CEO and Citigroup director Robert Rubin.
Salon journalist Glenn Greenwald has exposed more ties between the House and the banks, and how financial policy is now almost wholly dictated by the banking industry.
This article was posted: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 10:17 am
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Paul Shannon (@BlueReZZ) has seen the teams at 7digital evolve over the time he's been there. The journey of the teams is interesting as their shape and size was governed by the systems they were building and the ways they were building them. Paul will talk through the history of 7digital; showing how it grew from 2 people to 130 people, and a Technology Team of 1 to the current 42 it is today. You might learn a new way to create, merge and grow teams, and you'll probably learn about how the tech team of Shoreditch start up got them from a desk in Oxford Street to be a globally operating, publicly listed company.
About Paul
Paul Shannon VP of Technology at 7digital. He started there as a developer 3 years ago in the Services Dev Team, building and maintaining their API. He previously worked in Staffordshire for a small company working in the vehicle finance industry where he, along with the rest of the team, helped adopt agile, lean and XP practices. Continuing his love for continuous improvement he's since led teams and moved |
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Moscow, Idaho—Okay, a confession: We never actually saw the site of the former Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake. We got really bad directions and drove around for a while looking for it, but we had to be in Moscow at a decent hour, so we kept on going. Sorry. Basically, though, the story is this: For about three decades northern Idaho was the notorious base of operations for the Aryan Nations, who’d turned to Hayden Lake because of its isolation and general absence of non-whites. By day they’d attend services at their shrine to Adolf Hitler,* or conduct exercises at their 20-acre wooded compound outside town; by night, they’d unwind to pagan death metal. Once a year, white supremacists from around the world would converge upon Hayden Lake (population 494) for a big conference.
Of course, if you happened to live in Hayden Lake and didn’t hate the rest of the planet, this was a really frustrating situation. But it wasn’t until 1998 when things finally reached a tipping point. That’s when a bunch of Aryans Nations guards opened fire on a mother, Victoria Keenan, and her son, Jason, who had stopped on the side of the road to look for a wallet. The guards—drunk, I should note—hopped in a truck, assault rifles in tow, and followed the Keenans for two miles, spraying the car with bullets until the Keenans swerved into a ditch. Then the guards held them at gunpoint and beat them.
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit (pdf) on the Keenans’ behalf, and won a $6.3 million judgment in 2000, throwing the Aryan Nations into bankruptcy and forcing them to give up compound**. An Idaho millionaire, Greg Carr, then bought the land and re-gifted it to North Idaho College of Coeur d’Alene, and the college, in turn, decided to turn the property into a “peace park.”
The only problem with purchasing a giant white supremacist compound is that white supremacist compounds have, historically, been occupied by white supremacists, and so most of the buildings at Hayden Lake were built with some sort of sinister, martial intent—guard towers, barracks, and the like—and plastered with swastikas. There’s only so much remodeling you can do, in other words, before you give up and decide to burn the whole place down. So that’s exactly what Carr did. Which brings us to this money quote, from an old VOA story:
“…the fire chief told me that they got more training in those two months than they’d gotten in 10 years,” [Carr] said. “And when we finished, there was nothing left but the trees and the fields. And I have to add that where that compound was located is one of the more beautiful parts of northern Idaho; it’s surrounded by beautiful farms and it’s just gorgeous country.”
Kind of awesome, right? This is probably just my way of rationalizing what I missed, but I’m kind of glad I didn’t find the park. Not that it isn’t a beautiful idea, but there’s something wonderful about driving through town and seeing no evidence whatsoever the compound ever existed (a few residents simply stared blankly when I asked for directions), as if the scars had simply receded back into the earth, swallowed up by the hills and the cattle.
*Seriously
**As a result of the judgment, the Aryan Nations also lost the legal rights to its name, the “Aryan Nations.” Not as damaging, perhaps, as the $6.3 million, but still kind of a crushing blow. |
McGrath to Anchorage on the Iditarod Trail, 350 miles, 7 days.
Eric’s Photos
Growing up in McGrath, it never occurred to me that I could someday bike to Anchorage. Anchorage always felt very far away, because it was. It was also exotic. Coscto croissants, street lights, big houses. I remember being able to take long baths/showers in Anchorage because the water heaters were so big. In McGrath, my brother and I had to choose… first kid in the tub gets half as much water but it is hot and clean, second kid gets twice the water but it is luke-warm and dirty. Luc-warm? I feel like I should have something clever to say about that.
Anchorage is a one hour flight from McGrath (there are no roads), which crosses ~220 miles of rugged forest, marsh, and Alaska Range peaks. The Iditarod was a big deal, we’d make snack mixes for the mushers, some of whom stayed in our house, others in the school gym, but it still didn’t register that there was a trail between towns.
This year’s lack of snow motivated me to buy a fat bike and gear up for this trip. Eric Parsons (Revelate Designs) was a huge help. I’d used a few of his early generation bike-frame bags (in our 2010 Classic attempt), but hadn’t registered when he transitioned from garage gear to industry leader. I am very impressed with how well designed his bags are. I like multiple attachment points that allow for creative strapping, and every time I wanted a tie-down, it was there. The kit rode so snug to the bike that I hardly noticed it.
Our mutual friends Tony Perelli and Becky King were interested right away. Tony had both hips replaced 11 months ago, so this would be a serious test. He carved wooden spoons for everyone on the trip. For years we’ve been making jokes about how hard it is to clean the cheese from Mountain House Lasagna meals from spoons… amazingly, the cheese doesn’t stick to wood! Place your orders now. Becky works with Eric and sewed most of our frame bags on short notice. I get teased for how much Tyvek repair tape is on my clothing, so they made my frame bag with Tyvek envelopes from the Post Office.
We had one of those classic exchanges where someone asks, ‘Are we really going to do this trip, are there enough people?’ and then suddenly there are nine friends on board. BJ Stone and Chris Turner from work, my bestie Tomas Jensen, Eric’s go-to bike partner Dylan Kentch, who was fresh off the plane from Antarctica and brought name tags for everyone to fill out, and… in case we would have to break trail over rainy pass… Josh Mumm.
I flew to McGrath a few days early to thaw out the house (my mom and Francis were in Hawaii) and put together my bike. I borrowed a truck from Mark Cox, the neighbor, and picked up the rest of the crew Monday. Kathi Merchant (Iditarod Trail Invitational organizer) was on the same flight, and she had been very helpful letting us know about trail conditions and happily allowing us to take advantage of water at the ITI checkpoints.
We travelled on firm snowmachine trails up the Kuskokwim, past Big River (very close to the fish camp where Phillip Esai caught and fried pike for us in 2008), and to Nikolai. All of this terrain was familiar to me, flat tundra, black spruce, white spruce, birch stands, marshes, and huge meanders in the Kuskokwim River. Three of the ITI racers passed us in the night. The winner, John Lackey, finished in 1 day, 18 hours, an incredible accomplishment.
From Nikolai we turned south toward the mountains. The riding was rough; there wasn’t enough snow to smooth out the uneven tussocks. But each rough stretch was followed by a bit of smooth sailing to keep morale high. We crossed paths with several more of the ITI racers. They varied from upbeat (Jay, Jeff, Heather, those were the only names I caught) to casually commenting that they couldn’t sit down because their ass was infected.
Riding the Farewell burn was my favorite part of the trip. Recent trail work has resulted in smooth and fast trails. I was too nervous about damaging my bike to take air on the jumps, but they were ripe for it. The novelty of being on dry dirt in the middle of winter in the middle of the Alaska Range was very cool. The charred remains of the already-strange black spruce made it very aesthetic.
After the burn section we pulled into Rohn and spent some time with the ITI checkpoint hosts. BJ is friends with OE, the checkpoint manager, and Tammy Kehrer was there as a volunteer to fill Rob’s role. Tammy brought in Red Vines and Oreos for us, inspired by the snacks at the end of the Wilderness Classics. This year’s ITI was dedicated to Rob Kehrer, who has been a huge presence at the Rohn checkpoint. Tammy said that many of the racers mentioned what a sadness it was for them not to have Rob waiting there.
Climbing to the pass was pretty straightforward thanks to the trial breaking effort of Bill Merchant and the other ITI breakers. It felt great to be moving south and catching glimpses of the sun. The downhill was a blast; drifting off trail resulted in carnage, but nothing worrisome in the soft snow.
I was back on familiar terrain in Ptarmigan Valley from last summer’s Happy River packraft trip, and it was great to see the same country with a blanket of snow. We made a brief pitstop at Rainy Pass Lodge (Puntilla Lake), very grateful for water and cookies, but not interested in paying $1000 for a double occupancy room, and not allowed to hunker down in the empty shack on the air strip. The hospitality was more what we expected at the next lodges, Shell Lake, Skwenta, and Yentna Station, where we ate well and were given affordable bunks late at night and with no notice.
The rest of the route, down to Skwenta, consisted of small climbs and long descents on hummocky trails. The hummocks were large amplitude and a lot of fun to pump through. Several of the steps we had to climb back up were steep and icy and required a group effort. We had all studded our NEOS overshoes, but nearly all the studs had ripped out by this point.
Once we hit the Yentna river it was smooth sailing and big hamburgers all the way to the Susitna River. The first day was slow due to thawing and slush on the tracks, but after a hard freeze we quickly cranked out the remaining river miles.
At the Susitna we split into two groups. Everyone wearing Patagonia jackets headed north for Deshka Landing (Willow) and a ride to town. BJ, Chris, and I opted to head for Big Lake and ride the highway home; I was very motivated to do the trip ‘door to door.’ We stopped for pizza and lasagna in Big Lake, then pounded out the last 60 miles in 6 hours to get home at 2:30 am.
Some notes on gear…
I rode a Salsa Mukluk off-the-shelf because it was the cheapest bike I could find. I was pleased with how it rode and held up. Josh was on an even cheaper Motobecane model from Bikes Direct, and it also did well, and took a 5 inch wheel. We were nervous about the hydraulic brakes, but they weren’t a problem. The other guys were on Fatbacks, Pugsleys, probably a 907 in there too. Everyone rode 45NRTH Dillinger studs. I was pissed to pay so much for them, but it was definitely worth it. For people considering buying a fatbike, I think you have to include the cost of the studded tires in your budgeting (just like including the cost of a drysuit when you start shopping for packrafts).
Everyone had different footwear strategies, but the common feature were NEOS overshoes. I had the lightest model and tore through the fabric pretty early, but none of the other guys had any problems. We studded the soles with short roofing screws, but nearly all of those ripped out. The NEOS boot that comes pre-studded did not have that problem. I wore my Intuition ski boot liners in mine, with a closed-cell foam insole and a neoprene ‘boot glove’ over the toes. Even with all that, I think I would have had cold feet below 0. If we had to do more walking I would want more ankle support too. Other guys used full boots, ski boot liners, or Steger Mukluks under their NEOS. If I were to do it all again… I’d just buy a beefier NEOS and use my trusted Intuition liners again.
We were very pleased with the Revelate Designs frame bags and Old Man Mountain rear racks. We also got sweet powerful headlamps from Princeton Tec, two cuben fiber 1.5lb 4-man mids from Hyperlite Mountain Gear, and the sleeping pad of choice was the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xtherm. |
Sometimes when I look at this picture, I like it. Other times, I think it's ugly. <small wytiwyg="1">
Goodness gracious have I been neglecting this site! I'msorry guys. I didn't mean to make any of you feel like I've abandoned you. I've just been distracted lately, and with the lack of internet at my house, being active on this site sort of slipped my mind. To make up for it, expect auploading spree.Starting now.This drawing of Anna is sort of a companion piece to my previous drawing of Elsa. I love Anna for her willingness to take initiative and go out and try to set things right, even if she is a bit hopelessly naive. Yeah... Leaving Hans in charge of Arendelle wasn't exactly the best idea, there, hon. Still, Anna's love for her sister and her chemistry with Kristoff are incredibly endearing. |
If you’re confused about Ripple (XRP), don’t worry.
The term Ripple is often used interchangeably for the digital currency (XRP), the open payment network that the currency is transferred, as well as the holding company.
Ripple is a privately held, cash flow positive company that aims to create and enable a global network of financial institutions and banks to use the Ripple software to lower the cost of international payments. Ripple calls this global network using Ripple software the “Internet of Value”.
The XRP ledger is an open-source product created by Ripple. It was created to solve a major point of friction in international payments which is the pre-funding of nostro/vostro accounts. XRP can be used by banks to source liquidity on demand in real time, and by payment providers to expand reach into new markets, provide faster payment settlements, and lower foreign exchange costs.
Ripple is essentially taking a stand against what they call “walled gardens” of financial networks consisting of banks, credit cards, and other institutions such as PayPal that restrict the flow of money with fees, currency exchange charges, and processing delays.
Ripple’s Opportunity
When you think about it, the state of the global payments industry is weirdly behind.
We can stream and download entire artist discographies on our phone in the middle of a forest, yet sending a few digits of currency to your Grandma in Japan (if you don’t have a Grandma in Japan, use your imagination) requires fees and processing time.
The technology for easy global payments already exists, but why is the global payments industry so far behind?
Well, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that the financial institutions collectively making trillions of dollars over payment fees aren’t racing to innovate the traditional system that puts money in their pockets.
The financial industry has also tended to keep pertinent information shrouded in complicated financial jargon that trips up the average person. Words such as “collateralized debt obligations” and “quantitative easing” have established the financial realm in an esoteric curtain.
However, instead of taking a “burn it to the ground” approach that many cryptocurrency ideologists have adopted, Ripple aims to work with the current financial world.
The equivalent of roughly $155 trillion dollars moves across borders every year. For the sake of example, let’s assume that everyone used PayPal, which charges a 2.9% fee for each transaction. Granted, this would be way on the high end for payment fees, but we’re all probably familiar with PayPal taking a cut of our payments at some point or another. This means that about $4,495,000,000 ($4.495 trillion) of those global payments would go straight to Paypal (or another company or institution) . To add insult to injury, these payments would likely even take days to process.
Where does Ripple Come in?
So, the opportunity for something like Ripple to shake things up is there.
And I know, there are dozens of starry-eyed alt-coins saying “If we could only grab X% of this (insert incomprehensibly large, extremely competitive, and generally unattainable market), we’d be a dominant player in the industry.”
Ripple was initially launched in 2012. The thing is, Ripple is already a revenue-producing company with over 100 financial institutions on its blockchain network including Standard Chartered Bank, Westpac, Banco Santander, and BBVA.
In order to understand how Ripple functions, it’s useful to know about the RTGS and RTXP (we’ll make sense of these jumbled letters soon).
For example, when you send money via Bitcoin, the value is settled in real-time (not counting any Bitcoin delays). That’s what we mean by Real-time Gross Settlement System (RTGS).
Ripple uses what is called “gateways”, which is best described as something similar to a global ledger made up of something similar to private blockchains. This is essentially a digital portal that governments, companies, and financial institutions use to join the Ripple network. This is called the Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP), formally known as RippleNet. This is Ripple’s pride and joy.
Once another government, company, or financial institution joins RTXP, it can transact with other gateways at a much faster speed and a fraction of the cost. RTXP also makes it possible to receive payments from any fiat (ex. USD, EUR,) or cryptocurrency (ex. BTC, ETH).
Ripple essentially made something for any type of entity that regularly moves large amounts of money across borders. For example, companies such as Apple and Amazon are already spending billions across borders.
It’s important to note that the Ripple Network also functions as a currency exchange between all types of fiat money. However, in order to do do this, it has to be able to guarantee liquidity. That’s where XRP comes in. XRP is the digital asset that is built for providing source liquidity to payment providers, market makers, and banks.
While Ripple’s infrastructure makes sense for large corporations, it doesn’t lend much to the average consumer. RTXP doesn’t provide the average person much of a benefit. So, Ripple likely isn’t going to change how you personally receive and send money anytime soon, but it is looking to revolutionize how money moves around the world on a larger scale.
Ripple has shown that is can handle a tremendous amount of transactions per second, even when compared to its fellow cryptocurrency Bitcoin. BTChandles about 15 transactions per second, whereas the XRP ledger can handle more than 1500 transactions per second.
Ripple’s Supply Structure
A key element to know about Ripple (XRP) is the sheer amount of Ripple in existence. All XRP has already been created with a total supply of 100 billion. There are currently around 38.6 billion Ripple XRP tokens in circulation, with the rest held by Ripple Labs.
Source: CoinMarketCap
In an announcement in May 2017, Ripple stated its plans to release 55 billion of its XRP in escrow to ensure the certainty of the total XRP supply.
Ripple is Kind of Centralized
Given the fact that Ripple Labs holds around 61.4 billion XRP tokens, it’s not a far reach to say that Ripple is centralized, or at least more so than the majority of other cryptocurrencies.
However, Brad Garlinghouse (CEO and Founder of Ripple), views it differently.
Garlinghouse stated that “Ripple is not centralized. To be clear, if Ripple disappeared today XRP would continue to function. To me, that’s the most important measure of whether something is decentralized.”
He then went out to point out some of the facts that supported that Ripple is, in fact, decentralized.
In May 2017, Ripple released their decentralization strategy. Ripple announced the plans to diversify the validators on the XRP ledger and expanded them to 55 validator nodes in July 2017. Ripple also shared plans to add third-party validating nodes, while removing one Ripple-operated validating node for every two third-party nodes, until there is no single entity that operates a majority of the trusted nodes on the XRP ledger.
Well, I think a more accurate way to describe whether or not Ripple is centralized or not is that it’s a weird mix of both. You’ve got this holding company that has more than half the tokens with plans to release the rest, which is likely prioritizing the acquisition and onboarding of new partners on the Ripple network.
Being centralized isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does dissuade many “decentralized” ideologists within the cryptocurrency community.
Where Can You Buy and Store Ripple?
You can buy Ripple at many of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bittrex, Kraken, Bitfinex, and Poloniex, as well as through any brokerage platforms such as Changelly, or the exchange and wallet provider Gatehub.
When I first bought Ripple, I used GateHub just because it was recommended to me and it worked out pretty well. I eventually moved to a more robust exchange. If you want to hold Ripple (XRP) for the long term, however, I recommend using a hardware wallet such as the Ledger Nano S or one that supports Ripple.
Hard wallets are generally much safer because they’re offline and have better security than exchange and other online wallets, but they aren’t ideal for someone trading frequently. Online wallets such as the ones hosted on Bittrex make it easier to trade, but since they are connected to the Internet there is a risk involved.
Should You Invest in Ripple (XRP)?
Well, that’s entirely up to you.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Ripple’s success is ultimately tied to the number of partners on RippleNet (which has been growing steadily over the past year), how many people use Ripple’s products, and how effective XRP is.
Ripple seems to be doing well on those fronts, however, it’s important to note the sheer supply of XRP on the market (a total supply of 100 billion). As if that wasn’t a hard pill to swallow for investors, Ripple also holds around 62 billion Ripple (~62% of the total supply). This means they can technically inject massive amounts of their XRP into the market to control the price and keep it generally low.
However, beyond the investment metrics, it’s important to really understand the position Ripple (XRP) is in.
Do you recognize the opportunity Ripple may or may not have in front of them? Do you think the Ripple team can pull it off? What is the Ripple team doing every quarter to meet their goals?
You can also find more insights directly from the Founder and CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, in a Quora Sessions. He talks about everything from whether you should invest in Ripple and how Ripple could revolutionize finance.
Final Thoughts
So, whether you choose to invest in Ripple (XRP) or not, it’s worth watching as blockchain adoption increases. Ripple is one of the very few legitimate viable competitors to the old guard financial system and it could play a major role in how money moves around the planet.
As far as any practical applications for use by the average person of an XRP token, there aren’t many. That could also a big contributing reason to why many people just aren’t excited about holding and owning Ripple (XRP). However, when you view Ripple (XRP) through the lens of the global payments industry, it’s a traditional high-tech David vs. the established Goliath.
Coincentral |
There’s a whole industry of specialists selling highly skilled 3D modeling services. Which is great if you’re a gigantic games studio seeking to populate your next big first-person shooter franchise. But the demand for 3D modeling is likely to broaden considerably, in the coming years, with the rise of consumer-focused 3D printers.
A lot more people are going to be curious about how to design 3D objects in order to print them, and that relative mainstream is going to need far simpler tools if they’re to be capable of personally creating the things they want to be able to print.
So step forward Mixed Dimensions (MXD), a Jordanian startup now relocated to Silicon Valley that’s aiming to simplify the 3D design process by building browser-based 3D design tools for the mainstream, plus a cloud platform for sharing and browsing 3D objects, and locating related services.
“Today all design tools require the user to learn a lot of 3D concepts which are difficult by nature and our approach tries to make it as simple as drawing,” the startup tells TechCrunch. “Hence, users can simply draw and elevate shapes into 3D.”
MXD has built an HTML5-based viewer tool for viewing, sharing, converting existing models and printing them. And a Unity-based 3D object editor, which allows modeled content to be exported to Unity player, NACL, iOS and Android, with webGL also coming soon.
MXD’s editing tools are demoed in the below video — and as with anything that claims to simplify complexity, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating:
The interface is designed to work with touchscreens as well as PCs — which MXD says makes it “one of the early if not the first to enable that”.
“If you don’t have a touch screen, we offer a ‘pencil’ function, which you can freely draw and make it 3D. Also, with other 3D software packages, the user needs to utilize additional software packages to get the design ready for printing. MXD has technology that generates 3D printer instructions directly on the fly. Not only it checks files, generates the G-Code but also repairs files not ready for printing,” it adds.
MXD is launching its tools today, in private beta — and also announcing just under $1 million in seed funding, raised from a group of Venture Funds and Angels in the U.S., Europe and the Middle-East, including the Badia Impact Fund, which backs Jordanian startups, and Ecosystem Ventures.
MXD went through Alchemist Accelerator last year. That incubator is also participating in its seed round. MXD has previously taken in a “small” angel round from unnamed investors.
The new funding has already been directed to team expansion and for filing patents. MXD says it’s planning for a Series A round to be completed by this summer.
As noted above, as well as making 3D object viewer and editor tools, MXD is building a marketplace for 3D models, where its users will be able to share, buy, sell and print 3D models. 3D printing services will also be integrated into the marketplace, so users can select an object and send it to a service such as Shapeways or Sculpteo to print it for them, as well as being able to print locally on their own 3D printer (if they have one).
So MXD is building an end-to-end offering — from the creation of 3D models, to sharing and browsing them on its cloud platform, to printing them out or finding associated services. It names Autodesk and Sketchup as its main competitors, but says this end-to-end approach sets it apart from existing 3D-focused players.
It also argues that its marketplace differs from existing 3D object markets such as Thingiverse by ensuring that all 3D models are “100% printable” — because it automates model fixing and generates the required G-Code for 3D printers.
All models on the MXD marketplace can also be edited online, via a direct link with its editor tool. Plus, it again points to access to associated 3D services — such as ‘find a local 3D printer’ or ‘look for a designer’ — as a differentiator.
MXD’s business model is three-fold: a freemium model for using its tools that scales from free to very high end pricing, based on features and services; a 3D services revenue stream where MXD takes a cut on each model printed on the services used by its users; and an API embed for enterprises.
This will offer MXD’s tools to enterprises and businesses as an embed, allowing them to offer their customers the ability to personalise and print products directly from their own website.
All that’s to come though, with the startup just kicking off its private beta today. The startup tells TechCrunch its product will exit beta by early summer — so it will be hoping to be able to start scaling its 3D marketplace in the next couple of months. |
Former first lady Michelle Obama said Wednesday that while she wishes the best for President Trump, the women who voted for him “voted against their own voice.”
Mrs. Obama made the comments during a wide-ranging conversation with author Roxane Gay at the Inbound conference in Boston, Boston.com reported.
“Any woman who voted against Hillary Clinton voted against their own voice,” the former first lady said to a round of applause at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
“It doesn’t say as much about Hillary, and everybody’s trying to worry about what it means for Hillary and no, no, no, what does this mean for us, as women?” she asked. “That we look at those two candidates, as women, and many of us said, ‘He’s better for me. His voice is more true to me.’ To me that just says, you don’t like your voice. You like the thing you’re told to like.”
Mrs. Obama said women have been socialized, sometimes in “very subtle ways,” to sit and be quiet while the men do all the talking.
She also said she’s in a unique position to understand the difficulty Mr. Trump faces in the Oval Office, and that she and former President Barack Obama “want him to be successful.”
“He was elected,” Mrs. Obama said, WBUR’s Zeninjor Enwemeka reported. “When you’ve been in that position, you have a different perspective.”
“There was an entire party that didn’t support my husband,” she said.
Mrs. Obama said she’s working on a book about her childhood experiences and how she got to where she is today.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. |
Russell Street Report Lombardi's Way RUMOR MILL: Ed Reed Returning to Ravens?
The Ravens, as expected, are ready to induct Ed Reed into the team’s Ring of Honor – when the 8-time All Pro finally retires. And that might not be for another 9 months or so and the Ravens are at least in part to blame.
There’s a buzz in Owings Mills that given the team’s need at safety, the dearth of safety talent in the 2015 NFL Draft and the departure of 2014’s secondary coach Steve Spagnuolo to the New York Giants, John Harbaugh is seriously considering inviting Reed to training camp.
Reed, who once exclaimed during the summer of 2012, “I hate my job but I love football!” is said to have grown closer to Harbaugh since his departure and he would embrace camp more openly particularly if it requires him to take on a tutorial role. This is a developing story so stay tuned.
A Thanksgiving Tradition?
The NFL schedule has been a topic of discussion at the NFL Owner’s Meeting and some of the prime time games were bantered about. Count me among those who thought it might be quite some time before the league feeds the Ravens another home game on Thanksgiving but according to one source speaking under the condition of anonymity, the Seattle Seahawks are likely to be making their way to Charm City for a showdown of birds on November 26.
Hopefully Beast Mode won’t be in Feast Mode!
Trading Up!
Most believe that despite his infatuation with draft picks Ozzie Newsome will NOT use the ten he will show up with during the 2015 NFL Draft. There is a developing story making its way around the league that Ozzie covets a couple of players who could possibly fall into the middle of the first round. One player is said to be Louisville wide receiver Devante Parker.
Parker is visiting in Owings Mills at this very moment and the reason for the visit focuses on Parker’s character. The Ravens wanted to get to know Parker a bit more after word of past college campus transgressions surfaced earlier this week. That could push Parker into the teens where Ozzie could play a little leap frog, hopping up the board twice.
The first landing spot could be Kansas City where the Chiefs apparently covet the former K-State Wildcat, Wichita native and life-long Chiefs fan Arthur Brown. Word is that Brown and the Ravens 26th overall would earn Andy Reid’s 18th overall pick. How Ozzie parlays that pick remains to be seen.
Throwbacks
We’ve seen Ravens’ opponents don their throwback jerseys, particularly the jailbirds from northern West Virginia. FINALLY, the Ravens will get their chance. When the Steelers visit during the 2015 season the Ravens will dress in the purple and black uniforms circa 1996. The team has even reached out to Fred Bouchat, the original designer of the flying B, to obtain his permission to use the team’s original helmet – permission Bouchat eventually extended in exchange for a mid-five figure sum from the team.
Speaking of the Steelers, Heinz Field will finally get a makeover. Long known for presenting one of the worst field surfaces in the Western Hemisphere, the Pennsylvania Stadium Authority has procured funds to install a new Momentum Turf field to enable Heinz to host a more diverse mix of events. The NCAA Lacrosse Final 4 is already slated to take place there along with the Spice Girls Farewell Tour in 2016.
London Calling
If you’ve been waiting for the Ravens to finally play in London, consider this your lucky day! In 2017 the Ravens are slated to play the Jaguars on the road but this time it won’t be beside Friendship Fountain. Instead it will be at Wembley Stadium where you can get fish and chips along with a pint for 12 pounds.
Nepotism Does in Ravens?
Deflate Gate remains unresolved and there’s little reason to believe at this point that the league will do anything about it despite what Roger Goodell claims. But don’t be surprised if Goodell at least keeps the discussion alive in a subtle way.
Why?
It may be an effective red herring and take attention away from an even more combustible development.
A source has revealed to RSR that Bill Vinovich, the crew chief for the Divisional Playoff Game between the Patriots and the Ravens, was fully aware of New England’s deceptive formations and has shared with his inner circle that he should have stopped play to clearly identify the eligible receivers for Dean Pees’ defense. Even more alarming is the fact that Vinovich is Patriots offensive coordinator Josh Daniels’ father-in-law.
Gee thanks Bill…a day late and a potential Super Bowl berth short.
Joe Says No!
Back in February it was reported by CBS’ Jason LaCanfora that at the end of the 2013 season the Ravens offered Torrey Smith a 5–year deal for $35M that included $19M in guarantees. Granted, agents have a way of floating numbers out there to inflate the value and demand for their clients, but given the 5/$40M deal that Smith ultimately landed in San Francisco, the report is plausible.
Now comes the wrinkle…
The Ravens were feverishly trying to create cap space to strike a similar deal with the former Terp but word is Joe Flacco wouldn’t budge on his contract to clear cap room for Smith. Apparently he viewed the alleged deal to be No. 1 WR money and Flacco, particularly on the heels of what was essentially a season-ending interception in New England (that he refuses to accept blame for), doesn’t see Smith as a No. 1.
That decision had a domino effect in that it essentially killed another deal that would have delivered Anquan Boldin back to Baltimore. Q is not happy about the vast changes in San Francisco and is said to have wanted to finish his career under the guidance of John Harbaugh. But when the Smith deal fell through, Boldin opted to stay with the 49ers and he then campaigned to bring his buddy Torrey out west.
Weed
Currently the recreational use of marijuana is permitted in three States and the District of Columbia. As part of an effort to parallel the laws of resident States the NFL will now permit players of teams that call the States of Washington, Colorado (Alaska is the 3rd State) and DC home to also ingest cannabis without violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Team officials for the Seahawks, Broncos and Redskins, are quietly delighted by the ruling because they now believe it provides them with a competitive advantage in recruiting.
The Fan is Moving to Television!
It has been a long time coming but CBS Radio’s 105.7 The Fan has FINALLY reached an agreement with MASN to return the audio broadcasts to the small screen. Station head honcho Bob Philips, who worked diligently to bring Orioles’ broadcasts to the FM airwaves simultaneously brokered the TV deal. MASN 3 will provide the live TV feed 24/7.
In a related move Philips will soon announce the return of Anita Marks to The Fan. There is no definitive word on who Marks’ sidekick will be, but early indications point to WJZ’s Marty Bass.
More FM Sports Talk
You may have heard that former 98 Rock DJ Mickey Cucchiella has made his way over to WNST where he’s joined forces with Nestor Aparicio. The pairing was curious since the two reportedly loathe each other, but now the story is beginning to make sense.
Given his ties to 98 Rock and 98’s ties to the Ravens, Cucchiella has apparently enlisted the services of Aparicio to co-host sports talk with him, Monday through Friday on 98 from 6AM to 10AM beginning July 1. Cucchiella didn’t exactly part ways with the Hearst Corporation in an amicable way but the station’s plummeting ratings and the “sticky” content provided by sports talk apparently persuaded the suits at Hearst to give it a go.
The Game Day Experience
Despite the public outcry, the Ravens continue to dig their heels in the sand when it comes to an escalator servicing the upper deck ticket holders. The team has repeatedly cited risks of physical injury and costs as the rationale behind their adamant refusal.
That said RSR has learned that prior to the 2016 season the team will install an automated walkway in the club level, similar to what you may have experienced at airports, including BWI. Dick Cass explains.
“We value our club level patrons and suite holders and our collective goal is to improve their game day experience. Enabling our customer to move about the club level in swifter fashion improves their ability to get to and from concessions and back to their seats without missing meaningful action on the field.”
Cass hinted that in 2016 ticket prices throughout the stadium will spike to help finance this project.
In other stadium news, the Bureau of Public Health and Safety now insists that fans who tailgate in all Maryland Stadium Authority operated lots must now drink from plastic containers. Word is that the bureau was appalled by the way the lots were littered after games. Police navigating traffic in the area after games, also noted that many traffic jams were caused by vehicles with flat tires, the result of broken glass in tailgate lots.
Time to Purple Solo Cup up!
Mergers & Acquisitions
Lastly, the Baltimore Business Journal reports that BaltimoreRavens.com is acquiring Russell Street Report, a story confirmed by Ravens Executive Vice President Kevin Byrne.
“RSR has always had an edginess about them that we could never match for a number of reasons. Acquiring them affords us that edginess, gives BR.com another vehicle upon which we can foster an atmosphere of fun and excitement, AND it gives us an opportunity to mute Tony Lombardi and these unnecessarily controversial April Fools jokes.”
Note: If we got you, maybe you will share a few of the stories with friends in your social media circles. Enjoy your day! ~ TL |
OTTAWA – A gaffe by Health Canada has outed thousands of medical marijuana users.
Earlier this week, the department mailed 40,000 letters to medical marijuana users across the country, alerting them to major changes coming in the program beginning April 1.
But the letters arrived in an envelope that referred explicitly to the Medical Marijuana Access Program, with the name of the patient on the outside.
READ MORE: First marijuana licenses issued under new rules
George Da Pont, deputy minister at Health Canada, issued an apology on the Health Canada website Thursday, calling the mailout an administrative error.
He says the department has been in discussions with the privacy commissioner about the incident.
“I have been advised that as the result of an administrative error the envelopes were labelled to indicate that they were sent by the program,” said the apology. “This is not standard Health Canada practice.”
“On behalf of Health Canada, I deeply regret this administrative error. Health Canada is taking steps to ensure this does not happen again.”
Medical marijuana user Marcel Gignac says the gaffe has painted a target on the backs of medical marijuana patients across Canada, many of whom now fear home invasions.
“Patients are a little upset,” Gignac said from Amherst. N.S. “Health Canada put thousands of the most vulnerable at risk.”
Gignac, who is also spokesman for the Medicinal Cannabis Patients Alliance of Canada Inc., said the outing exposes patients socially as well as to thefts.
WATCH: A 16×9 investigation into Health Canada’s medical marijuana program
He said the department has previously used registered mail and discreet envelopes that do not spell out the medical marijuana program when communicating with patients.
A spokesman for Health Canada said no one was immediately available for comment.
The privacy commissioner’s office said officials first learned of the problem through individuals who contacted them.
“Our office was not notified by Health Canada of this incident,” said spokeswoman Heather Ormerod.
“We were made aware of it by a number of concerned individuals who contacted our office. We have since received complaints and we will be investigating this matter.”
Health Canada is changing its medical marijuana program to allow dozens of approved commercial growers to provide the product to licensed patients, while phasing out personal production.
Some patients have said the move could increase prices dramatically for users with little or no income. |
BERLIN — A German feature film about Anne Frank will have its world premiere at the Berlin International Film festival this month. But the new movie is not without controversy.
“Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank, or the “Diary of Anne Frank,” directed by Hans Steinbichler, will be presented Tuesday in a special screening for youth at the festival, called the Berlinale, which runs through February 21. It will reach German cinemas on March 3.
The head of the Basel-based Anne Frank Fond, Yves Kugelmann, said the film is Germany’s first cinematic production of the Anne Frank story. In 2015, the foundation initiated the first TV docudrama in Germany, “Meine Tochter Anne Frank.”
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The production, which won the 2015 TV Film Prize from the German Academy of Performing Arts, has been nominated for a prestigious Grimme Prize in 2016. The winners are to be announced in March.
Steinbichler is also in the running to make a biopic about Hitler’s favorite film director, Leni Riefenstahl. Kugelmann called Steinbichler’s new opportunity an “unseemly overlapping” in a private letter to Steinbichler that Kugelmann said was leaked to the media.
In the letter Kugelmann, whose foundation holds the rights to the Frank family archive, criticized Steinbichler for using his Anne Frank film credentials to boost his chances to make the Riefenstahl film. According to Spiegel magazine, Kugelmann also criticized Steinbichler’s attitude toward the historical subject. Kugelmann declined to discuss the accusation with JTA.
Kugelmann reportedly told Steinbichler in the letter that he doesn’t want to have any part in an “Anne-Leni” marriage and asked the director to postpone or give up any such plans.
Steinbichler confirmed to the German media that he has been asked to make a film about Riefenstahl, whose well-known Nazi-era propaganda documentaries include “Triumph of the Will” and “Olympia.” Steinbichler said he had not yet signed a contract. |
IT pays to be vigilant online and when recieving unknown calls. From identity theft to virus filled emails, even the most street-wise can be caught out by sophisticated scams.
Here are some of the ones to watch out for this year. RANSOMWARE
Scam websites or emails often look like the official thing.
Ransomware holds your computer hostage. By clicking on a link in an email or on social media, it downloads a file into your machine, allowing a third party to lock your computer, or hand held device.
The third party then demands payment to unlock your device, typically through online money services such as Bitcoin or MoneyPak as they are harder to trace.
Some even take it further and inform the user they are from special investigative services such as MI6 or the FBI and tell users they have been caught looking at child abuse images and need to pay them to have they system unlocked.
Victims include Ellen Conlin Hair & Beauty which has salons in Hyndland in Glasgow’s West End and Giffnock, who were forced to pay cyberhackers £1000 after they successfully locked them out of their work computer and began deleting database files.
Because of the type of attack there is little users can do but pay to have their system unlocked as there is currently no over ride for this.
FAKE PAYPAL EMAIL
Fraudlent emails from companies like PayPal, eBay and even the tax office inform users that their account has been experiencing suspicious activity and to log in to review it.
Once the user has logged in, the hackers have access to account details.
A woman in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire was recently victim to an email scam. Lynne Reeves thought she had found a new job as a customer care assistant but was told she needed to pay £100 to go through a disclosure, as she would be working with people’s credit details.
After turning up to her first day at work, Ms Reeves was devastated to find the company didn’t even exist and that she had just been robbed of £100 the week before Christmas.
READ MORE: Court lawyers accused of ‘money-making scam’
DODGY BUYING AND SELLING
the rise of online shopping has created an increased risk when buying or selling using second hand site such as eBay, Gumtree or Craigslist.
This also comes with certain risks. Gumtree takes no responsibility for items sold - so if your television doesn’t work or the blender never arrives, you can’t get your money back.
While eBay does offer buyer protection, it doesn’t on the eBay vehicle site, leading to many shoppers paying for a car which never arrives.
One particular scam involves people who sell furniture to someone a distance away and pay for a delivery fee warns user on Gumtree’s messageboard. The customer is then asked to transfer the delivery fee to a third party removal firm, who now have access to the sellers bank details.
Hours later, the seller finds that money has disappeared from their account.
PENSION THEFT
When the government introduced a new scheme to allow people to cash in their pensions over the age of 55, a myriad of companies formed at the back of it.
They would offer to check up how much you were owed and help to expedite the process, for a small fee. The also can tell you that they can give you the best advice on how to avoid tax on your pension, or get a higher sum for lower tax.
People would then give over their account details and these fake companies would then be free to raid someone’s pension plan.
DEBT COLLECTORS
Consumer protection website, Which? expects there to be a rise in the number of people posing as fake debt collectors.
With the rise in credit now available to consumers, comes the rising levels of debt. Some scammers will be looking to take advantage of that, turning up at doors and demanding payment for a debt that either the person paid off, or didn’t even exist in the first place.
They use intimidation tactics, including implications that they can enter their property and seize goods as payment - none of which is legal in the UK.
A real debt collector is also not allowed to discuss the financial situation with anyone bar the named person, under the Data Protection Act (1998). If someone approaches a family member or flat mate about your debt, they are most likely fake.
FAKE CHARITIES
Pulling on the heart strings, these charities will tell you about the children, or animals who need your help, through a one-off or monthly donation, pressuring you either over the phone or in person to donate there and then, before you have time to check up on them.
If you think it may be a fake charity, ask for the charity number or contact details for the fund-raising team. A real charity will be able to provide them so you can confirm the charity is real. A fake charity will be less forthcoming about these sorts of details. |
Hull's Albert Kelly has impressed since his move from cross-city rivals Hull KR
Hull have exercised an option to give half-back Albert Kelly a new contract which will run until 2018.
The 26-year-old Australian joined the Black and Whites from rivals Hull KR on a 12-month deal at the end of last season following their relegation.
The former Gold Coast Titans player has made a big impact so far, with nine tries in eight appearances and the deal will keep the influential player at the KCOM Stadium until the end of next year.
Hull coach Lee Radford said: "I'm really happy with Albert's contribution to the club since he came in. He's settled in really well on and off the field and he provides us with that bit of offensive X factor.
"I'm sure there's still plenty to come from him moving forward throughout the remainder of this season."
Kelly left Hull KR in disrepute when he was dropped as a disciplinary measure for arriving back late from compassionate leave in Australia and was a spectator as the club suffered relegation from the Super League.
Kelly used to play in the NRL for Gold Coast Titans
He had been linked with a return to the NRL but says he is now settled in east Yorkshire.
"I'm very pleased to have signed my new deal," he said. "My girls are happy, I'm happy and I'm really excited for what's to come.
"It was a no-brainer to extend my contract here. I like to think that I've been playing well recently and I'm in a happy place.
"I like to think I'm getting back to my best form and with another year under my belt, I think I can get better.
"I want for us to be competitive and to be challenging for all three pieces of silverware on offer and make sure that we're fighting to be up there towards the top." |
Viewpoint: Free-Falling Interferometry
Markus Arndt, Faculty of Physics, VCQ, QuNaBioS, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Atom interferometry in free fall demonstrates fundamental quantum physics and a new level of technology readiness for future experiments in space.
et al. [et al. [12] Adapted from H. Müntinga 1 ] and T. van Zoest Figure 1: The drop tower at ZARM (left) accomodates an entire laboratory for making ultracold atomic gases in a chip trap (upper right) while freely falling from an altitude of 120 meters. After capsule release, rubidium atoms are captured in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) and then transferred to an Ioffe-Pritchard Trap (IP) where they are cooled to a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Delta-kick cooling (DKC) with a pulsed magnetic field further cools the atoms to 1 nanokelvin. The ensemble is then protected from magnetic stray fields through adiabatic rapid passage (ARP) before the interferometry begins (AI). The interferometer consists of three moving Bragg grating pulses (lower right), about equally separated in time. When the atomic clouds overlap and interfere, they form macroscopic quantum fringes. Ultracold atoms in a microgravitational environment allow the realization of macroscopic quantum states over millimeter ranges and second scales. The drop tower at ZARM (left) accomodates an entire laboratory for making ultracold atomic gases in a chip trap (upper right) while freely falling from an altitude of 120 meters. After capsule release, rubidium atoms are captured in a magneto-optical... Show more
et al. [et al. [12] Adapted from H. Müntinga 1 ] and T. van Zoest Figure 1: The drop tower at ZARM (left) accomodates an entire laboratory for making ultracold atomic gases in a chip trap (upper right) while freely falling from an altitude of 120 meters. After capsule release, rubidium atoms are captured in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) and then transferred to an Ioffe-Pritchard Trap (IP) where they are cooled to a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Delta-kick cooling (DKC) with a pulsed magnetic field further cools the atoms to 1 nanokelvin. The ensemble is then protected from magnetic stray fields through adiabatic rapid passage (ARP) before the interferometry begins (AI). The interferometer consists of three moving Bragg grating pulses (lower right), about equally separated in time. When the atomic clouds overlap and interfere, they form macroscopic quantum fringes. Ultracold atoms in a microgravitational environment allow the realization of macroscopic quantum states over millimeter ranges and second scales. ×
At nanokelvin temperatures, Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of dilute atomic gases are quantum to the core. In a paper in Physical Review Letters, researchers from the QUANTUS Collaboration now report for the first time their results of an experiment where a Bose-Einstein condensate of rubidium atoms is formed on a microchip, released from a height, coherently split, and brought to interference under microgravity in free fall [1]. This has all been accomplished in an autonomous capsule dropped from a 110 -meter-high tower at the Center of Applied Technology and Space Microgravity (ZARM) in Bremen, Germany, which offers one of the best microgravity environments on Earth, with residual accelerations at the level of 10 - 6 g .
In drop-tower experiments, the entire “laboratory” is mounted in a capsule: lasers, vacuum chamber, electronics, optical components, magnetic coils, detectors, fast information processing units, and more (Fig. 1). All that is placed into a narrow cylinder and dropped as a whole in an evacuated tube, which then crashes into a receptacle at the bottom of the tower. The experiment starts when a cold ensemble of rubidium atoms is loaded into a magneto-optical trap on a chip. The laser-cooled atoms are then transferred into a magnetic trap where the thermal cloud is evaporated across the phase transition to Bose-Einstein condensation. Even in this quantum-degenerate ensemble, the weakly repulsive interaction between the atoms necessitates further cooling to about 1 nanokelvin and shielding from undesired B fields by adiabatic transfer to an insensitive Zeeman state. All that takes as little as 2 . 7 seconds, about the time of three heart beats and yet sufficiently long for the capsule to fall nearly 36 meters before the “real” experiment starts—even though the atoms still have two thirds of the tower to fall. Another 1 . 8 seconds can be used for all subsequent manipulation and interference of the atomic cloud. An atom interferometer generates two output branches of interfering partial BECs that can be seen in absorption imaging, just before the capsule hits the ground. And this is the result: a combination of cutting edge technology to realize quantum coherence over macroscopic distances and times in a free-falling capsule.
One might wonder why one would possibly want to undertake such an incredible effort, involving a large crowd of bright scientists, a unique infrastructure, substantial running costs, and engineering at the edge of modern technology, just to learn what we knew from earlier experiments: very cold atomic ensembles behave really strangely and are truly nonclassical when properly prepared. There are at least two reasons that I can see.
We often say that quantum physics is both a mind-boggler and the basis for future and emergent technologies. The new experiment by this research team is a perfect example of that. Quantum mechanics makes us scratch our heads because objects that we tend to approximate as little billiard balls when looking at interactions, may actually appear widely delocalized when we give them time to expand their wave function without any further perturbation or measurement.
Wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics has attracted a large number of modern demonstrations with atoms and molecules [2,3]. Such experiments are important because they force us to think about the profoundly nonclassical nature of matter, including the fact that even large objects may not possess a well-defined position in space. One goal, therefore, is to apply quantum superposition to objects with the highest mass, the largest clouds of atoms, the lowest or the highest temperature, the longest coherence times, and so forth. This helps us to test if quantum mechanics remains the optimal theory under all circumstances and why it becomes seemingly obsolete at truly macroscopic scales.
In that respect, the experiment at Bremen is among the “classics” of quantum experiments. It shows quantum coherence over truly macroscopic scales: each atom in the expanding ultracold atomic cloud individually delocalizes by millimeters and maintains its quantum phase for longer than 0 . 7 seconds. These are distances and time scales of everyday experience, and I would not be surprised to see this experiment in a textbook rather soon. Such dimensions are impressive but also potentially useful. It has been known for almost four decades, since the first studies with neutrons [4], that matter-wave interferometers can be very subtle sensors for rotation, gravity, and various other forces and fields. While the best available atomic quantum sensors can already compete with laser-based or classical devices, they may fulfill their utmost potential once they are separated from the most common noise sources on Earth.
Free-falling matter-wave interferometers bear promise as ultrasensitive force sensors and probes to test general relativity theory with quantum bodies. Future experiments in drop towers or vehicles in outer space may lead to precision experiments in geodesy, explorations of the equivalence principle or gravity waves—just to name a few.
All these devices exploit the quantum-mechanical separation of atomic wave functions. Their sensitivity grows with the area enclosed between the interferometer arms and the signal-to-noise ratio that can be achieved. In many modern implementations, the atomic wave function is controlled by a number of laser pulses, which can be precisely timed. In this case, the enclosed area is determined by the momentum recoil that can be imparted at each beam splitting laser stage as well as by the free evolution time between the pulses. While the laser wave vector k = 2 π / λ enters linearly, the time between the pulses enters quadratically in the phase.
Both parameters—area and time—are currently being improved by a number of pioneers in various places: this includes, for instance, work towards a large atomic fountain interferometer [5], the realization of an atomic sensor in zero- g parabolic flights [6], large-area multiphoton beam splitters [7,8], and interferometers [9].
The experiment at ZARM reported by Müntinga et al. is an important achievement because it combines many highly delicate pieces into an experiment of both extreme finesse and ruggedness: in the blink of an eye, it drives atomic clouds to temperatures that are rare in our Universe, and it does all that while the entire experiment is reliably and repeatedly crashed from heights that none of the experimentalists would ever survive. The machine runs autonomously and demonstrates that hands-off microgravity experiments have achieved a technology readiness that calls for further work on sounding rockets, the international space station, or a dedicated satellite.
While interaction time and area are key issues, one may also want to factor in signal-to-noise. Although by far the highest beam flux may be achieved in supersonic atomic beams, atomic Bose-Einstein condensates offer the important advantage of ultralow temperatures and ultralow atomic velocities—the best one can possibly realize on Earth and in space. This allows one to minimize the lateral expansion of the atomic cloud to a size that still fits in the machine during the free-fall time. But even so, the experimental team had to implement a trick that had been known before and which now became crucial in the exploit of long interference times. Delta-kick cooling [10] relies first on the expansion of different atomic velocity classes into a spatial distribution that can be subsequently compressed by a pulsed and spatially inhomogeneous control potential. This allowed the Bremen team to realize clouds as cold as a 1 nanokelvin and enabled them to contain the cloud in the observation region.
Since the first demonstrations of BEC with dilute atomic gases in 1995 [11], more than one hundred groups have joined the global effort to better understand and exploit fundamental quantum phenomena in a truly mesoscopic system. This comprises, for example, investigations of how BEC physics interfaces with condensed matter physics, quantum information, and quantum sensing. The consortium united in the new ZARM experiments has been busy in this field for some time, and has already shown they could repeatedly produce a BEC under microgravity [12]. Their new work goes a step further: they produce even colder atom clouds and demonstrate the first matter-wave interference experiment in the technologically highly demanding environment of a drop tower.
While the drop tower implements a close-to-perfect zero- g environment, it is not a zero rotation arrangement. A free-falling cloud will be deflected eastwards. The rotation of the Earth has already proven to be an important factor in earlier precision experiments [9], but it could be overcome in a genuine space experiment, that is, if we neglect subtle effects such as general relativistic frame dragging, which are another motivation for atom interferometry in space.
So what remains to be done? A look at the experimental fringes presented by Müntinga and colleagues indicates that future precision metrology still requires future work and substantially more repetitions of similar experiments. But drop-tower experiments are rare: ZARM Bremen is still a unique European test facility, which currently allows three repetitions per day. Significant upgrades in signal-to-noise—more specifically signal—would be required to turn this demonstration device into a working sensor. Yet it is a perfect test case for preparing experiments that many colleagues may hope to see in orbit soon.
About the Author Markus Arndt is a Professor of Physics at the University of Vienna and head of the Quantum Nanophysics Group. After his Ph.D. with Antoine Weis and Theodor W. Hänsch at MPQ Garching and LMU Munich he spent two years with Jean Dalibard at the ENS Paris where he worked on ultracold atoms, atom optics, and atom interferometry. In 1997 he joined Anton Zeilinger as a postdoc in Innsbruck to jointly start the field of macromolecule interferometry. He moved to Vienna in 1999 where he has worked ever since. His current interests cover matter-wave interferometry, molecular quantum optics, quantum-enhanced molecule metrology, molecular sources, detectors, and cooling methods as well as the interface between quantum physics and biology. |
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A photograph depicting New Year’s Eve celebrations gone awry in central Manchester has been compared to a Renaissance masterpiece
'Like a beautiful painting': image of New Year's mayhem in Manchester goes viral
A photograph of a Manchester street strewn with revellers is being lauded online for artfully capturing a uniquely British New Year’s Eve celebration.
The striking image, shot by freelance news photographer Joel Goodman, first appeared in a picture gallery on the Manchester Evening News website, and was brought to Twitter’s attention by BBC producer Roland Hughes.
Roland Hughes (@hughesroland) So much going on this pic of New Year in Manchester by the Evening News. Like a beautiful painting. pic.twitter.com/szKKRM4U4i
Accidental Renaissance: the photos that look like Italian paintings Read more
The image, likened in its composition to a Renaissance masterpiece, depicts police wrestling a man in the foreground, crowds watching near a Greggs bakery in the back, and a gentleman in blue, reclining on the bitumen, reaching for a nearby beer.
Hughes’ post was retweeted more 25,000 times, his suggestion the photo looked “like a beautiful painting” inspiring some on Twitter to turn it into one.
Ben Darlow (@kapowaz) @hughesroland @ajlanghorn I had a go at turning it into a watercolour with Waterlogue pic.twitter.com/MmbiZ0SsD3
Its aesthetic appeal was no surprise, one Twitter user pointed out: the photograph hewed to the Fibonacci Spiral used by greats such as Leonardo Da Vinci to achieve balance and mirror the beauty of nature.
Roland Hughes (@hughesroland) Thanks to @GroenMNG for proving the golden ratio can be applied to this pic: pic.twitter.com/Fa1EYSV6ih
Others took the prone man as their muse, riffing on his outstretched form and sage expression, which they compared to God himself in Michelangelo’s 1511 masterpiece, the Creation of Adam.
Another placed him at the banks of the river Seine in George Seurat’s 1884 work, Bathers at Asieneres.
Roland Hughes (@hughesroland) And there's more - good work @johnbeck_ pic.twitter.com/N6me1jnn2E
Others saw in his hopeful reach as a shining symbol of liberty.
Quoted by the Manchester Evening News, Goodman he said the appeal of the image might lie in its unusual subject matter.
“There are plenty of photographs published that show people having a great time. It’s much safer and easier photographing happy, willing people posing than photographing angry, drunk people candid.
“That’s not a criticism of the former, but it’s one reason why the latter might stand out.”
He said he was “flattered” that his photograph had been compared to Renaissance art, but said he was merely “in the right place at the right time”.
Or as American photographic pioneer Ansel Adams put it: “Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter.”
• This article was amended on 4 January 2016 to correct the spelling of Ansel Adams’s first name. |
MSNBC broadcast live almost 15 minutes of a pre-recorded Fox News town hall with Sen. Ted Cruz and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday, before being asked to turn off the cameras.
The Fox News town hall special will air Monday night at 9 p.m. ET as a special for The Kelly File with host Megyn Kelly moderating.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. ET, MSNBC cut to the town hall for almost 15 minutes at the beginning of the event, according to Politico. A campaign staffer asked the network to stop airing the content, and the network halted the livestream.
Press had been invited to RSVP for the 10 a.m. CT event in Madison, Wisconsin. A press announcement for the event listed the time and the Madison Masonic Center location.
Fox News is also running town hall specials with GOP frontrunner Donald Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Monday night. Greta Van Susteren hosts “on the trail with John Kasich” which airs at 7 p.m. ET. Sean Hannity hosts a special interview with Trump that airs at 10 p.m. ET. A description of the program indicates that audience members will be asking questions of the candidate in the course of the program as in other town hall format events.
It appears that MSNBC is the only news outlet of those that attended to air the event live.
According to the report, the various TV outlets did not receive instructions on release of the event’s content ahead of time.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana |
A statement posted on the homepage of Germany's top ice hockey league, the DEL, late on Monday confirmed that the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) had not applied for a license to operate in the 2016-17 season.
"Since our (original) announcement last Wednesday there has been an unbelievable wave of support in Hamburg, especially from fans of the Freezers. Unfortunately we have not found a strategic partner to take over the Freezers and free AEG of the task of operating two teams in one league," Tom Miserendino, president and CEO of AEG Europe said in the statement, referring to the fact that the company also owns Berlin's DEL club.
The statement also noted that the despite an average attendance at Freezers home games of more than 9,000, the company had continued to lose money operating the club. The deadline to apply for a license expired at midnight on Tuesday.
The end of the Freezers in the DEL comes despite fundraising efforts spearheaded by the team's captain, Christoph Schubert over the last few days. A crowdfunding account was set up in a bid to raise two million euros ($2.24 million) by Tuesday's deadline, in an effort to persuade AEG to operate the team in the DEL for one more season, to provide more time for a new owner to be found. However, the efforts of Schubert, the fans and others came up short, with only around 500,000 euros being raised, although the captain said a separate source of funds had brought them close to the one-million euro mark. However it simply wasn't enough.
"We are simply inconceivably speechless and sad," Schubert, who played for both the Ottawa Senators and the Atlanta Thrashers in the NHL, said in a tweet posted shortly after the deadline had passed.
DEL application from 'Fischtown'
Theoretically, this means that just 13 clubs will compete in the DEL next season, however, the SID news agency reported on Wednesday that the second division outfit Fischtown Penguins of Bremerhaven had applied for a DEL license for next season.
The club's manager, Alfred Prey said that while they were unhappy about the Freezers' fate, they needed to seize the opportunity presented by the fact that the DEL was down a team for the upcoming campaign.
"We owe this both our city and our fans," Prey said. |
Seth Rogen tweeted, "LA Protest on #Muslimban TODAY 1-5 at Federal Immigration Office, 300 N. Los Angeles St."
Members of Hollywood took to social media on Saturday and Sunday to speak out in response to President Donald Trump's executive order banning refugees from entering the U.S. The order, signed by Trump on Friday, suspends refugees from entering the country for four months and indefinitely suspends Syrian refugees.
Celebs including Kumail Nanjiani, Ava DuVernay and J.K. Rowling took to Twitter to express disdain towards the president's actions. Michael Moore tweeted about a Muslim protest occurring in New York, while Seth Rogen tweeted, "LA Protest on #Muslimban TODAY 1-5 at Federal Immigration Office, 300 N. Los Angeles St." America Ferrera, who recently led a Women's March against Trump, also voiced support for another protest taking place at the Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday evening.
LA Protest on #Muslimban TODAY 1-5 at Federal Immigration Office, 300 N. Los Angeles St. https://t.co/y2KOOJmqWx — Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) January 28, 2017
There was question to whether helmer Asghar Farhadi would be allowed to enter the U.S. to attend the Oscars on Feb. 26 for his film The Salesman, which is nominated in the foreign-language film category. The pic's star, Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, on Thursday tweeted that she plans on boycotting the awards ceremony in protest of Trump. On Sunday morning, Farhadi announced in a lengthy statement that he would not be attending the Oscars because Trump's executive order presented “ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip."
The president, who signed the order on Friday, which was Holocaust Remembrance Day, said he is establishing "new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America."
"We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas," Trump said as he signed the order at the Pentagon. "We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people."
The "Protection of the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States" cancels the US Refugee Admissions program for 120 days. According to the State Department, a 90-day ban affects Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen — all Muslim-majority nations.
Refugees will still be admitted by the U.S. on a case-by-case basis, and the government will still consider requests from those who cite religious persecution. This past year, the U.S. accepted 85,995 refugees, with 12,587 being from Syria. Barack Obama set the limit this year at 110,000.
SAG-AFTRA responded to the immigration ban on Tuesday: “SAG-AFTRA’s membership includes creative professionals from all over the world. This union values equality of opportunity regardless of race, gender, creed, disability, sexual orientation or country of birth. Any public policy that enacts discrimination based on religious or national background runs absolutely counter to those values and will be vigorously resisted. This immigration policy is misguided and we will support our fellow artists every step of the way.”
The Directors Guild of America also issued a statement on Tuesday regarding the order: "The DGA strongly believes that artists — regardless of their national origin, faith, or gender — should be able to come to the United States to showcase their work. Policies that prevent this, without due consideration, should be of concern to all who care about art and cinema. The open exchange of art is core to who we are, it's what motion pictures and television are increasingly about -- drawing humanity together, transcending borders and cultures. The DGA will continue to support the ability of artists to work and share their art in the United States."
Hillary Clinton took to Twitter amid Saturday night's protests to say, "I stand with the people gathered across the country tonight defending our values & our Constitution. This is not who we are." Her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, joined her fellow New Yorkers to protest on Sunday:
A second day of protests were seen by Sunday afternoon.
Early Tuesday morning, former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager, who's currently a correspondent for NBC News, shared her George W. Bush's memorable "Islam is peace" speech, which the then-president delivered just days after 9/11.
See the reactions from many stars in Hollywood below.
Amplifying words of one of my favorite filmmakers, Asghar Farhadi, who like too many others will be turned away from the Land of the Free. pic.twitter.com/CcskcFueuo — Ava DuVernay (@ava) January 28, 2017
The day the music died... “Protestors gather at New York's JFK Airport over refugee detainment”https://t.co/h8eyFmbAOs — Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 28, 2017
You're saying to a billion people "You're all the same. You're all dangerous to us." Children hear this. You breed evil here & everywhere. — Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) January 28, 2017
As someone who was born in Pakistan I can tell you coming into America is VERY difficult. A #Muslimban accomplishes nothing but hate. — Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) January 28, 2017
Bless up I am a Muslim American love is the love is the answer. It's so amazing to see some… https://t.co/zz3wTDQ3LX — DJ KHALED (@djkhaled) January 30, 2017
Protest happening at LAX (& airports around the country)! Let's stand up 4 one another LA! #NoBanNoWall #RefugeesWelcome #ImmigrantsWelcome pic.twitter.com/8jex7OSV2R — America Ferrera (@AmericaFerrera) January 28, 2017
"Dad, are we finally safe from people who come from countries where Trump has no business interests?"
"Yes, sweetie. Go to sleep." — Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 28, 2017
When I worked for Amnesty International in the 80s, these were the kind of stories told by political prisoners in dictatorships. https://t.co/y7CXLQK1n0 — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 28, 2017
1. Trump's #MuslimBan is against the law. The 1965 Immigration & Naturalization Act eliminated national origins as a basis for immigration. — Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) January 28, 2017
Everybody in NYC area-- head to JFK Terminal 4 NOW! Big anti-Trump protest forming out of nowhere! Ppl mobilizing against Trump's Muslim ban — Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 28, 2017
.@realDonaldTrump
NACHO u have taken a shit on our flag & our imperative separation of church & state.
You suck at America. — Nick Offerman (@Nick_Offerman) January 28, 2017
Can't believe he's actually doing the disgusting unconstitutional things he promised to do. The Muslim ban is awful & will not be tolerated. — Emmy Rossum (@emmyrossum) January 28, 2017
To my Muslim people deeply sincerely apologize for this disgusting act of hate exhibited by our so called president. This is #unAmerican — marlon wayans (@MarlonWayans) January 28, 2017
Along with liar,racist,misogynist,fool,infantile,sick,narcissist-with the Muslim ban we can now add heartless & evil to DT's repertoire. — Rob Reiner (@robreiner) January 28, 2017
To the dude who said I don't belong in America, I started a fundraising page for Syrian Refugees in your name. https://t.co/NOR5P48fBi pic.twitter.com/jtJOsK9GrU — Kal Penn (@kalpenn) January 28, 2017
#muslimban is making me cry LIBERAL TEARS for our country and its future, and you know what that means? COMPASSION, YOU MOFOS!! — Rachel Dratch (@TheRealDratch) January 28, 2017
We've lost something very precious.
And traded it for a cowardly, foolish illusion of safety.
I'm ashamed.#MuslimBan — Adam McKay (@GhostPanther) January 28, 2017
I'm thinking of all the Syrian families I met in Iraq last year in the desperate refugee camps and how hopeless it felt. So much worse now. — Ewan McGregor (@mcgregor_ewan) January 28, 2017
This is sick & cruel & we're better than this. Our grandkids will look back on this the way we look back at Japanese internment: with shame — Richard Dreyfuss (@RichardDreyfuss) January 28, 2017
Welcome to Trump's America where, as long as he's got it all, the rest can go fuck themselves. — Harvey Fierstein (@HarveyFierstein) January 28, 2017
this refugee/muslim ban is ridiculous/wrong/heartbreaking/scary/ backwards/hateful and extremely sad. — CHARLI XCX (@charli_xcx) January 28, 2017
We don't ban entire groups bc of a small group of extremists. Period. It is fundamentally prejudicial and fundamentally unAmerican. — Mark Duplass (@MarkDuplass) January 28, 2017
I feel afraid angry & betrayed - is the world really done with loving difference? I'm not. Love Trumps Hate. We will prevail. — Riz Ahmed (@rizmc) January 29, 2017
Obviously we must prioritize keeping Americans safe. But we mustn't become un-American in the process. — Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) January 29, 2017
I hope that the world knows that our president does not represent all Americans. Most of our country is horrified by this Immigration ban. — Jesse Tyler Ferguson (@jessetyler) January 29, 2017
Tonight we fight for American values at airports all across this country. I'm at Logan Airport now to say: #nomuslimban #NoBanNoWall — Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 29, 2017
I am sad for so many people today and for the backtracking of the country I live in. hoping for a more loving and accepting future — Lucy Hale (@lucyhale) January 29, 2017
1- This country had a calling card.
We all knew what it was.
It wasn't Wall Street or Hollywood or the right to bear arms that brought... — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) January 29, 2017
2- that brought countless people, America's future, to this country.
It was freedom.
Freedom was our calling card.
Trump wants to kill that — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) January 29, 2017
3- Trump's gotta go. — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) January 29, 2017
Petition: Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the United Kingdom. https://t.co/4nDsIWGXjy — lily allen (@lilyallen) January 29, 2017
Call Speaker Ryan and tell him to stand up for American values now. 202.225.3031 — Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) January 29, 2017
Paul Ryan's office address. Go show up
Janesville: 20 South Main ST, Suite 10, Janesville, WI 53545. 608.752.4050. — Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) January 29, 2017
Hey @realDonaldTrump @POTUS, the difference between you & Hitler is that he had more charisma, better hair & he wasn't a puppet. — Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) January 29, 2017
Honestly I feel like we are in a nightmare right now!! In a country founded by immigrants how did immigrant become a bad word!!! #nobannowall #unitedwestand #nomuslimban #sayingnothingissayingsomething #standup #loveistheanswer A photo posted by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on Jan 29, 2017 at 12:20pm PST
So proud of everyone standing up to corruption, lies and hatred.
Every day it's something new and people are rising to the occasion. — Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) January 29, 2017
My wife came to this country on a refugee visa in the middle of the Cold War! My blood is boiling right now! — ashton kutcher (@aplusk) January 29, 2017
We have never been a nation built on fear. Compassion that is the root ethic of America. Our differences are fundamental 2R sustainability. — ashton kutcher (@aplusk) January 29, 2017
I absolutely oppose this Muslim ban. But why does it effect only countries with no Trump properties? Follow the $. — Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) January 29, 2017
Making our Voices heard ALL OVER THE #RESISTpic.twitter.com/vRTUtzV1Pf — Cher (@cher) January 29, 2017
Love is the only answer. We must continue to stand together during these trying times pic.twitter.com/XhdsnsSH8S — Usher Raymond IV (@Usher) January 29, 2017
It feels like the right time to pay tribute to family members that came to America as refugees due to the pogroms leading up to WWII. pic.twitter.com/0q2Ogg15UN — Mayim Bialik (@missmayim) January 29, 2017
One of the many reasons I am opposed to the #MuslimBan is because my family immigrated to North America () after fleeing wars in Russia. — Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) January 29, 2017
Big thank you to Trump for handing ISIS ANOTHER recruiting tool. Nice job Birther Boy! — Michael Keaton (@MichaelKeaton) January 30, 2017
My broken heart goes out to the innocent lives of Muslim refugees that are trying to escape terror and find safety for... Posted by Jennifer Lawrence on Monday, January 30, 2017
"This is not the America I know..." just a reminder this am to teach acceptance and love to our kids for all races, all religions.. pic.twitter.com/32XohAGMv7 — Jenna Bush Hager (@JennaBushHager) January 31, 2017
Jan. 31, 7:10 p.m.: Updated to include statement from the DGA and SAG-AFTRA. |
A now-fired professor from the University of Tampa indicated that the death, damage, and destruction wreaked upon Texans due to Hurricane Harvey is “instant karma” for President Donald Trump winning the state in the 2016 presidential election.
“I don’t believe in instant Karma but this kinda feels like it for Texas. Hopefully this will help them realize the GOP doesn’t care about them,” tweeted Ken Storey, the former college professor whose comments have garnered national media attention — including at least three segments on Fox News and Fox Business Network today alone.
Storey went on to apologize for his insensitive remarks and deleted the controversial tweet. However, his apology-tweet was not taken well, as it has over 2000 replies and less than 100 likes — reaching “The Ratio” level of poor Twitter form.
I deeply regret a statement I posted yesterday. I never meant to wish ill will upon any group. I hope all affected by Harvey recover quickly — Ken Storey (@klstorey) August 28, 2017
This apology did not prove to be enough to save Storey from his bad-take, as the University of Tampa posted a press release today stating: “We condemn the comments and the sentiment behind them, and understand the pain this irresponsible act has caused. Storey has been relieved of his duties at UT, and his classes will be covered by other sociology faculty.”
However, the former University of Tampa professor is not the only American whose political opinions block empathy for Hurricane Harvey victims, as a Slate reader wrote to the site’s advice column, “Dear Prudence,” to discuss her partner’s refusal to donate to hurricane victims due to a fear that she may inadvertently help a Trump supporter in need.
The hurricane is responsible for the death of three people so far, and that number is expected to grow in the coming days as local news stations have reported that a number of missing people may have drowned. Additionally, 50 counties in the state of Texas are being reported as flooded and 30,000 of the people living in those areas are now in shelters.
For those who wish to donate to victims of Hurricane Harvey — Trump supporters or not — the Red Cross and GoFundMe both offer vetted channels for assistance.
Watch the clip above on Storey’s comments via Fox News.
[image via screengrab]
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] |
Shares of GoPro Inc. are on a three-month bender, and much of the blame can be placed on short sellers.
Shares of GoPro GPRO, -0.47% fell another 6.4% to $21.65 in early trade Friday, after slumping 7.8% on Thursday, pushing the stock below its $24 initial public offering price for the first time. The action-camera company’s shares are down 72% over the last year, while the S&P 500 has traded flat.
Most of that decline has happened in the past three months, with the stock plummeting 60% as investors continue to bet the stock is still overvalued. Short interest on the stock has quadrupled over the last year to a record 33.2 million as of Nov. 1, the last time FactSet adjusted its short-interest data, compared with 8.2 million a year ago. High short interest means people are placing bets the stock will fall.
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Sungard Astec Analytics, which tracks short interest, named GoPro the No. 1 U.S. “hot stock” for shorts for the second straight week on Wednesday, saying that demand to borrow on the stock has exceeded supply. The second-hottest short stock this week on the Sungard list was Fitbit Inc. FIT, +0.76% which closed down 8% Thursday.
With such high short interest at this point, “any little indication that things are going south causes concerns about the stock,” said Ben Bajarin, an analyst covering consumer tech for market research company Creative Strategies.
“They’re all sort of looking for the worst-case scenario,” he said.
Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said GoPro’s short sellers are confident the stock has meaningful room to fall further, thus the bold activity despite the stock trading a whopping 75% beneath its all-time high of $93.85, reached in October 2014.
“The stock can’t get out of its own way,” Pachter said. “People absolutely detest [it].”
“The stock can’t get out of its own way.” Michael Pachter, Wedbush Securities
The stock has been in free-fall since August, with analysts reporting lackluster demand for a new mini-camera, the Hero4 Session. Last week, matters worsened when Polaroid filed suit against GoPro, claiming the Session infringes on its patents.
Shares of GoPro were downgraded to underweight by Piper Jaffray on Oct. 29, with analyst Erinn Murphy, who has a $20 target on the stock, saying that demand appears to be waning. Yet, the stock’s average rating among a poll of 15 analysts remains buy, according to FactSet, while the average target price on the stock is a still-bullish $40.25, according to the poll.
With skeptics declaring GoPro a fad and questioning its ability to innovate and grow its user base, the question at hand is whether the action camera maker will be able to prove the market for its cameras despite slowdowns in sales. It’s a question growing heavier as the holiday season approaches. Last month, GoPro reported disappointing third-quarter sales and an outlook for the holiday quarter that would equate to a roughly 17% year-over-year decline in sales.
Still, enthusiasm among GoPro’s most active users appears strong, said Bajarin, and there remains an untapped opportunity for GoPro’s line of drones and virtual-reality technologies, which have yet to be released but may start to be commercialized in 2016.
“Satisfaction level with [GoPro cameras] is still pretty high for consumers who have them and use them,” Bajarin said. “But Wall Street wants to see sales trends going up, not flat or going down.”
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Kim Jong Un’s favorite basketball player is now trying to buddy up to the next pope.
Dennis Rodman is reportedly flying over to Rome to witness the white smoke of the papal announcement and then arrange a meeting with the new pope – or at least he hopes so.
The former NBA star told TMZ that his “people” have allegedly been speaking with other unnamed people at the Vatican who will try to get a sit-down with whoever is declared the next pontiff.
Rodman, who wants to use his new odd-couple friendship with the North Korean leader to broker peace with President Obama, now thinks he’s the man to solve the problems of the Catholic Church.
Ever the aspiring diplomat, The Worm told the gossip site he will be “anywhere in the world that I’m needed.”
He added, “I want to spread a message of peace and love throughout the world.” |
Yet another of the gyms affiliated with Team Lloyd Irvin has ended their affiliation. Purebred Jiu Jitsu, a group of gyms run by UFC and PRIDE veteran Enson Inoue, has become the latest to separate themselves from TLI.
The following was posted on the Facebook page of the Guam location:
Martial Skill Inc. dba Purebred Jiu Jitsu Guam is no longer affiliated with Lloyd Irvin or Team Lloyd Irvin Mixed Martial Arts. It is our decision to end affiliation and commit ourselves to strengthening and expanding Purebred Jiu Jitsu and the "Purebred" label. While dissapointed with this outcome, we move forward with mutual respect. Sincerely, Enson Inoue Stephen Roberto Purebred Jiu Jitsu
Related story: Team Lloyd Irvin crippled by mass exodus of top students after yet another scandal
There has been a very large amount of distancing from TLI over the past few months, both from big affiliate gyms like BETA Academy -- and now Purebred -- and with students of Irvin.
We'll continue following the story and provide any updates as they become available. |
Last year's top second-base prospect, Jedd Gyorko, graduated to the Major Leagues, clearing the path for Kolten Wong to take over the top spot. He is one of three holdovers from last year's Top 10, while seven newcomers have joined their ranks.
MLBPipeline.com's 2014 Top 100 Prospects list will be unveiled on Thursday on MLB.com, as well as on a one-hour show on MLB Network, airing at 10 p.m. ET. Leading up to that, MLBPipeline.com takes a look at baseball's top 10 prospects at each position .
MLBPipeline.com's 2014 Top 100 Prospects list will be unveiled on Thursday on MLB.com, as well as on a one-hour show on MLB Network, airing at 10 p.m. ET. Leading up to that, MLBPipeline.com takes a look at baseball's top 10 prospects at each position.
Last year's top second-base prospect, Jedd Gyorko, graduated to the Major Leagues, clearing the path for Kolten Wong to take over the top spot. He is one of three holdovers from last year's Top 10, while seven newcomers have joined their ranks.
1. Kolten Wong, Cardinals: An advanced hitter coming out of Hawaii in 2011, Wong made quick work of the Minor Leagues. He made his big league debut in 2013 and earned a spot on the Cards' World Series roster. Wong has solid all-around tools, and his quick swing allows him to make consistent, hard contact to all fields. He is just about ready to take over a full-time spot in St. Louis' lineup.
2. Rougned Odor, Rangers: One of Texas' burgeoning group of young middle infielders, Odor reached Double-A Frisco in 2013 as a 19-year-old. The Rangers have pushed him aggressively throughout his professional career, but he has always answered the challenge. Odor has a sound approach at the plate and has solid power. He is a capable defender with soft hands and a good arm.
3. Mookie Betts, Red Sox: One of the breakout stars of 2013, Betts was one of nine Minor Leaguers to hit at least 15 home runs and steal 30 bases. His breakout was sparked by a better approach at the plate and improved pop in his bat. While Betts' power surge was new, his speed was not. He is a plus runner, which translates into good range at second base.
4. Arismendy Alcantara, Cubs: Long a favorite of scouts, Alcantara's impressive raw tools finally came together in 2013 and earned him a spot in the SiriusXM Futures Game. He is athletic and has a short, compact swing from both sides of the plate. Alcantara has above-average speed and knows how to use it on the basepaths. He has played shortstop and second base, but his tools are best-suited for second.
grading the prospects Here are the scouting grades* of the Top 10 second-base prospects: Player O H P R A F Wong 55 60 40 50 45 55 Odor 55 60 40 50 50 55 Betts 55 60 45 60 45 55 Alcantara 55 55 45 60 60 50 Travis 50 60 40 60 50 55 Schoop 50 50 45 40 60 50 Lindsey 50 55 45 45 50 50 Rosario 50 60 40 50 50 45 Johnson 50 55 35 80 50 45 Flores 50 60 55 20 55 40
5. Devon Travis, Tigers: A 13th-round pick in 2012, Travis was one of the biggest surprises in his Draft class. He finished second in the Minor Leagues with a .351 batting average and third with 177 hits in '13. Travis has an advanced approach at the plate and plus speed. His overall tools aren't the flashiest, but he could develop into an everyday player in the Major Leagues.
6. Jonathan Schoop, Orioles: Like Andrelton Simmons and Jurickson Profar, Schoop is a talented middle infielder from Curacao, and he joined them on the Dutch team at the World Baseball Classic last year. Schoop is an aggressive hitter and produces solid power. He is a versatile infielder, but has settled in at second base. Schoop's tools are good enough to soon make him an everyday player in the Major Leagues.
7. Taylor Lindsey, Angels: A consistent performer at every level of the Minor Leagues, Lindsey has proven to be a heady, all-around performer. He is an aggressive hitter and has an unorthodox swing, but he still has a knack for putting the bat on the ball. Lindsey is a solid defender and has a reputation for getting the most out of his tools.
8. Eddie Rosario, Twins: The Puerto Rican native represented the island at the World Baseball Classic in 2013. Rosario has a smooth swing and quick wrists, allowing him to make consistent contact. He will begin the 2014 season serving a 50-game suspension for his second positive test for a drug of abuse. Still, Rosario's all-around game makes him a solid prospect going forward.
9. Micah Johnson, White Sox: The speedy Indiana product led the Minor Leagues in stolen bases in 2013 with 84. Johnson's speed grades out at the top of the scale, and his offensive game is built around it. He has the tools to be a solid second baseman, but still has work to do defensively.
10. Wilmer Flores, Mets: The Venezuelan native made his Major League debut on his 22nd birthday in 2013. Flores has a knack for putting his bat on the ball and has begun to realize his power potential. Though he played almost exclusively at third base during his brief time in New York, he profiles best at second base and is nearly ready for a full-time spot in the big leagues.
Next up
High school second basemen usually aren't well regarded as prospects, but Gosuke Katoh proved to be the exception last spring. He was the Yankees' second-round pick and then finished second in the Gulf Coast League with a .522 slugging percentage during his professional debut. Katoh has a compact swing and uses his speed to his advantage. He is an excellent defender, and his makeup and understanding of the game could make him a quick study in the Minor Leagues.
Tommy La Stella has hit everywhere the Braves have sent him in the Minor Leagues since they drafted him in the eighth round in 2011. As Dan Uggla has struggled in Atlanta, La Stella has emerged as a possibility to become the Braves' second baseman of the future. His solid all-around tools could soon earn him a role in the Major Leagues. |
Mashape, the increasingly popular management platform and marketplace for APIs, today open-sourced one of the core technologies that power its service. The platform, called Kong, allows Mashape to power the API requests of the more than 140,000 developers who currently use its service. The company describes Kong as a “drop-in replacement for expensive proprietary API management systems.”
As Mashape CEO and co-founder Augusto Marietti told me earlier this month, the idea behind Kong is to give developers a centralized management layer for microservices and APIs. Kong gives developers a centralized dispatcher they can rely on to talk to the microservices that power their applications and APIs. Those APIs can be public or private.
Mashape obviously learned quite a bit about managing APIs through its main product, so Kong allows developers to manage authentication, data encryption, logging, rate limiting and other standard features they would expect from an API management system. All of this is powered by a straightforward RESTful API, and the platform itself was built on top of the NGINX proxy server and the Apache Cassandra database management system.
One of the core features of Kong is that it can run on virtually any platform, whether that’s in the cloud or on-premise. The platform also supports single and multi-datacenter setups.
The Kong architecture centers around plug-ins, which means authentication, logging, rate-limiting and similar features. NGINX already offers a plug-in for enabling live monitoring of NGINX Plus instances that run Kong, but as Marietti told me, the company is looking at expanding plug-in support as soon as possible. This means adding support for private and public plug-ins, as well as support for commercial plug-ins. At some stage in the future, Mashape may also offer paid enterprise support for Kong. |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A state court determined Friday that a Los Angeles Police Department policy that makes it easier for unlicensed drivers to keep their cars instead of having them impounded after police stops is lawful and can remain in place.
The policy has been supported by the city attorney and immigrant rights groups, who said the old impound policy was unfair to immigrants who cannot obtain a driver’s license.
The 13-page ruling by California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found that the policy is “within the wide discretion of the police chief” and that challengers of the policy — a taxpayer and the police union — lacked the legal standing, or ability to demonstrate sufficient connection to or harm from the law, in this case because the policy isn’t wasteful or illegal.
“Here, Special Order 7 implements state law; it does not create a new law. Use of police resources to enforce the Vehicle Code does not constitute waste,” the ruling states.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck issued the directive, which went into effect in 2012, allowing some unlicensed drivers who are stopped to produce a vehicle’s registration and proof of insurance to avoid having their cars impounded for 30 days. Depending on their record, a licensed driver can then pick up their vehicle.
After Special Order 7 was implemented, the number of vehicles impounded in Los Angeles decreased from 28,796 in 2011 to 16,242 in 2012, court documents state.
The Los Angeles Police Department said Friday that the department was pleased by the court’s decision allowing it to provide direction to its officers on the issue. “Maintaining the public’s trust is improved when the communities we serve believe the actions of our officers are fair, consistent and constitutional in each neighborhood of the city,” the department said.
Attorney Richard Levine, who represented the Los Angeles Police Protective League in the case, said the union was disappointed by the ruling reversing the trial court’s finding. Levine said the union would be evaluating various legal options in the next weeks after attorneys and the board fully examined the ruling. Options include filing a petition for review with the California Supreme Court or seeking a rehearing in the Court of Appeal, he said.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents more than 9,900 sworn Los Angeles police officers, sued in 2012, arguing the policy subjected officers to “professional and legal conflict, as well as civil liabilities” when enforcing uniform impoundment regulations. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sided with the union and struck down the policy in August 2013, agreeing that it violated the state’s vehicle code.
Still, for most of the time since its inception, Special Order 7 has essentially remained in place. Aside from a couple of months after the lower court ruling, the policy was allowed to continue while the state appeals court examined the case’s merits.
In the meantime, legislators of the nation’s most populous state passed a law allowing immigrants living in the country illegally to apply for licenses starting Jan. 2, in a bid to make roads safer and ease fears for more than a million people to get behind the wheel. A large number of those immigrants live in Los Angeles. And it is unclear how the law might affect the LAPD policy, for example, in cases where a person fails their driver’s license exams but fulfills Special Order 7 requirements to avoid having their car impounded.
Still, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, which went to court in support of the city’s policy, praised the ruling.
“What Special Order 7 does is simply direct officers on how to apply the vehicle impound laws without creating unfair hardship on poor immigrant residents who were too often disproportionately affected by harsh 30-day impounds, or creating the perception of profiling of Latinos in an effort to impound vehicles,” ACLU of Southern California Executive Director Hector Villagra said in a statement.
(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) |
Main findings
We evaluated most registered live births to Indian immigrants to Canada for more than 2 decades, and compared these births to nearly all live births to Canadian-born parents. Among Indian immigrants, high M:F ratios were observed at third-order and fourth or higher-order births, which did not vary considerably across provinces. We conservatively estimated that 4472 daughters of Indian immigrants to Canada were unaccounted for over the last 2 decades - so-called "missing girls"7-9 - largely among couples of 2 Indian-born parents (89.4%), but also among couples including 1 Canadian-born parent.
Our findings highlight the magnitude of the skewed sex ratios at birth among Indian immigrants to Canada but do not explain them. There are numerous speculations regarding the factors that may affect natural sex ratios, most of which are surrounded by conflicting evidence.18 Human intervention, in the form of prenatal sex selection, specifically induced abortion of female fetuses after prenatal ultrasonography, is the most commonly cited explanation in settings where son preference and strong patriarchal cultures are prevalent, although direct evidence of such a link remains scarce.2,20 Our companion paper adds plausibility to such a claim by showing that high M:F ratios are associated with preceding induced abortions in Ontario.21 Because son-biased sex ratios among Indian immigrants did not differ according to Canadian province in this study, those Ontario findings are likely to apply to the rest of Canada. A qualitative study supports the link between son preference and prenatal sex selection among Indian immigrants in the United States,22 not limited to induced abortion but also involving assisted reproductive technologies. Future studies may further elucidate the specific contribution of the distinct pathways leading to sex-biased ratios at birth.
It appears that skewed M:F ratios among some Indian immigrants to Canada have been present for at least 2 decades, accruing about 4472 "missing girls." This estimate may be conservative, because calculations of the deficit in the number of girls based on M:F ratios do not account for repeated induced abortions of female fetuses.21 Since the biological probability of having a male live birth is independent of the sex of the previous births of the same mother,23 consecutive pregnancies of female fetuses are likely to occur. Some couples may, therefore, undergo repeated induced abortions until they carry a male fetus.21,22 Our study confirms that most of the deficit of girls occurs at the third birth (n = 2616, 58.5%). However, the deficit of girls is higher among fourth and higher-order births (n = 1092, 24.4%) than among second-order births (n = 764, 17.1%), despite the larger number of second-order births. Few previous studies were large enough to examine M:F ratios at fourth and higher-order births.6,13 Unlike in our previous study that was limited to Ontario, and in which we included live and stillbirths in defining birth order,13 here we only included live births. Counting stillbirths dilutes the association between birth order and M:F ratios, since fertility decisions are thought to be made based on the current number and sex of the living children in the family.1
We found increasing temporal trends in the M:F ratio at the third birth paralleled by decreasing trends at higher-order births. This is likely a function of declining trends in family size over time. Under the hypothesis of the son preference, securing a boy by the third birth may release the pressure of getting a boy in subsequent births, although some couples may still recourse to induced abortions to control family size after having had a son.2 The lack of substantial provincial differences in the sex ratios of births to Indian immigrants suggests that the place of origin may be more influential than that of destination. Although the M:F ratio at the fourth birth was somewhat higher in British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan than in Ontario - something worthy of further exploration - it was higher than expected in all Canadian provinces, suggesting that our findings may be generalized to similar Indian diasporas. Finally, our study quantified the contribution of both maternal and paternal country of birth to M:F newborn sex ratios. Paternal influence has been postulated to be a key influence on M:F ratios,24 and our findings suggest that this is so even among couples of mixed nativity. Certainly, some Canadian-born mothers may have been of second-generation Indian ancestry. Data from the 2001 and 2006 Canadian censuses reported a M:F ratio of 1.32 within households of "Asian" couples with 2 previous girls, in which one or both parents were Canadian-born.11 Interestingly, among mixed nativity couples, most parents in the "Other" group (i.e., not born in Canada or India) were born in the UK, where a large Indian diaspora exists, including second-generation Indians. Further studies may clarify to what extent the skewed sex ratios among mixed nativity couples involve second-generation Indians. Although mixed nativity couples accounted for only 10.6% of the total deficit of girls in the current study, it remains to be seen how M:F ratios will change within this emerging demographic group.19 |
Possibly the easiest way to setup rtorrent/rutorrent
Installation script which is cumbersome, not very easy to use and sometimes goes unmaintained but you don’t know about that yet and ended messing up your VPS file system.
In this post, I will show you how to setup rtorrent/rutorrent with Docker. It’s rather easy and requires minimal knowledge about Linux in general.
Grab a KVM VPS from RamNode
I’m going with RamNode here but you can use any VPS provider you want. Be sure to select KVM because Docker is going to require a rather new kernel so OpenVZ won’t work. I select Ubuntu 14.04 in this tutorial. To make it easy to follow, you can do the same.
After finishing the payment, you will get an email containing your VPS information. You can perform some simple initial server setup to secure your VPS after this.
Install Docker
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://pgp.mit.edu:80 --recv-keys 58118E89F3A912897C070ADBF76221572C52609D sudo touch /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list sudo echo "deb https://apt.dockerproject.org/repo ubuntu-trusty main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install docker-engine mkdir ~/rtorrent # folder for rtorrent docker sudo usermod -aG docker <your-username> # use docker without sudo, if your user is in sudo group
Setup rtorrent/rutorrent
You will need to secure your rutorrent installation so that noone else except you can access it.
cd ~/rtorrent printf "<username>:$(openssl passwd -apr1 "<your-passsword>")
" > .htpasswd
Now we are going to use the Dockerfile made by diameter to simplify the whole process of setting up rtorrent/rutorrent/nginx. If you want to see the source code, you can check it out here on Docker Hub.
docker run -dt --name rtorrent-rutorrent -p 8080:80 -p 49160:49160/udp -p 49161:49161 -v ~/rtorrent:/downloads diameter/rtorrent-rutorrent:64 |
America's population is growing at its slowest rate in decades, and the sluggish economy is mostly to blame, according to one expert.
The U.S. population grew by just 0.72 percent in the year ended July 1, 2013, the Census Bureau reported Monday. That’s the slowest growth rate since 1937. Population growth has hovered at super-low levels for the past few years, according to William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan research organization. The trend is "troubling," Frey said, and is due largely to the weak economy.
“This real sharp decline has to do with recession-related issues,” Frey said. “Fewer people come into the country because there aren’t as many jobs, and people are postponing child-bearing.”
(The chart above shows the percentage growth rate of U.S. population since 1901, with projections to 2050).
And though the recession technically ended in June 2009, and economists are hoping for a stronger economy in 2014, population growth shows little sign of gaining strength. About half of the states showed somewhat slower growth rates this year than last year, Frey said. “It’s not like we’re surging back,” he said. “The free flow of the population across states -- flow that usually is related to movement to prosperous regions -- those are down, and I think that's what's troubling.”
In a sign of the lean times, the state that saw the largest growth in population percentage-wise last year was North Dakota. In that state, where a recent oil boom brought tens of thousands of jobs, employees can land a gig at McDonald’s that includes a $300 signing bonus.
“When the economy is ticking, you’ve got people moving to where the jobs are,” Frey said. |
More terrible news. Three cherished members from the community of Beit Ummar have been killed by Israeli forces while demonstrating in support of Gaza today. This little village, home of activists from the Palestine Solidarity Project, has been hit so hard by settlers and Israeli military forces over the years, they gang up on that village time and again, relentlessly targeting their children and strangling the community because of its coveted location. So much anguish it is hard to comprehend. It brings me great sorrow reporting these deaths today.
Palestine Solidarity Project press release:
Today, a demonstration was held in Beit Ummar, a village of 17,000 people in Hebron District, against the ongoing assault in Gaza by Israeli Military Forces. Almost immediately, the Israeli military forces that confronted the demonstration shot live ammunition into the crowd of approximately 900 people, a clear escalation from the regular response to Beit Ummar demonstrations, which have been ongoing since the Gaza assault began. THREE HAVE BEEN KILLED Hasham Abu Maria, 47, worked with Defense of Children International-Palestine and was shot in the chest with live ammunition approximately 30 minutes into the demonstration. Sultan Shuqdam and Abd Alhamid Al Brigheith were also shot and were pronounced dead at approximately 4:30 this afternoon in Al Ahli hospital in Hebron. The three will be buried today in the cemetery in Beit Ummar, which is also by the Israeli military watchtower.
Today, @DCIPalestine mourns the loss of staff member Hashem Abu Maria, killed by Israeli forces during a march in solidarity with #Gaza. — Defence for Children (@DCIPalestine) July 25, 2014
BeitUmmar at the funeral for 3 shuhada: “you kill our people, we’ll burn your shit” #PalestineResists pic.twitter.com/4DbmVScosK — Bekah Wolf (@BekahWolf) July 25, 2014
Update:
Defense for Children International-Palestine has issued a statement on Abu Maria’s death that includes some new details: |
PITMAN — A year after a dispute over Pitman’s “Keep Christ in Christmas” banner led one group to call for its removal, a new banner is causing yet another controversy over religious freedom.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the group objecting to the sign last year, claims that their request to put up their own sign, reading “Keep Saturn in Saturnalia,” was denied by borough officials over the holidays.
For years, a local chapter of the Knights of Columbus has hung a “Keep Christ in Christmas” banner over Broadway between a privately-owned building and a privately-owned utility pole in the heart of the downtown business district.
Saturnalia is described as an ancient Roman holiday that took place between Dec. 17 and Dec. 23 correlating with the winter solstice where regular rules of morality were disregarded as part of the festivities. Historic works recognize the holiday as a complete break from workday chores where citizens would often drink, gamble and dine with slaves.
According to the foundation’s staff attorney, Andrew Seidel, borough officials led them to a number of officials from both the borough and the county before passing an ordinance making it near impossible to put up their own or other signs. Seidel accuses the town of making the permit process unnecessarily restrictive for organizations looking to put up their own signs, while the Knights of Columbus is allowed to hang their banner without a permit.
“The borough passed a whole sign ordinance, which really restricts who can put up signs,” said Seidel. “From the beginning, the government has been trying to keep us out.”
Seidel said that he had gotten letters from a number of Pitman residents requesting some sort of action against the “Keep Christ in Christmas” sign and, when the town did not take it down last year, this ironic take on the winter holidays was their next step.
“They want the city to recognize their beliefs, or lack thereof if the city is going to recognize others’ Christian beliefs,” said Seidel. “To me, they’re clearly trying to keep our sign out and keep the Knights’ sign up.”
Last year, the organization stirred a small controversy after contacting borough Mayor Michael Batten requesting that the sign be moved to private property and claiming that it “unmistakably endorse[s] the Christian faith.” The banner was then determined to be a potential zoning violation by borough attorney Brian Duffield but, according to Seidel, officials have done nothing to challenge the fact that the Knights have still not obtained a permit.
Seidel said that the group is not done with the issue and intends to continue efforts to erect the Saturnalia sign “every year” until the issue is properly recognized by Pitman officials.
He has also filed an Open Public Records request with the town to obtain any and all documents relating to permission for the Knights to hang their banner, although he doesn’t expect to receive any type of official confirmation.
“It’s incredibly frustrating,” said Seidel. “There’s always options. If they’re going to allow their sign up, then our goal is to get our sign up.”
“This is a free speech and a discrimination issue,” added Seidel. “If you imagine they were doing this to a Jewish group, not letting them display a sign about Hanukkah, it would be discrimination.”
The borough’s zoning officer could not be reached by press time to respond to Seidel’s accusations. |
A majority of Americans support marijuana legalization -- yet not one sitting governor or U.S. senator supports it, according to a New York Times piece.
Marijuana prohibition is a disastrous failure. 43 years after President Nixon launched the "war on drugs," the U.S. arrests 650,000 people a year for marijuana possession -- yet marijuana and other illegal drugs are as available as ever. Thanks to the drug war, the U.S. has less than five percent of the world's population, yet nearly 25 percent of its prisoners.
Colorado and Washington made history in 2012 becoming the first states -- and the first two political jurisdictions anywhere in the world -- to legally regulate the production and distribution of marijuana, and many states are looking to follow soon. National polls showing majority support for marijuana legalization have been confirmed in states across the country -- and not just in states you'd expect but even in Florida, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio and Texas.
It's inspiring to see the evolution of American public opinion, but disgusting to see the cowardice from our "leaders." The Times story featured Democratic Governors Jerry Brown (California), Andrew Cuomo (New York) and Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire) all going against their constituents by defending marijuana prohibition.
Why would they continue to support marijuana prohibition, especially when polls show that voters overwhelmingly want marijuana legalized? In the Times piece, the Drug Policy Alliance's Ethan Nadelmann said, "The fear of being soft on drugs, soft on marijuana, soft on crime is woven into the DNA of American politicians, especially Democrats."
But being "soft on drugs" is an outdated concern. Can anyone name a politician in recent years who was hurt politically because they supported commonsense drug policy reform? I can't think of any.
As prominent democratic pollster Anna Greenberg said in the same Times piece, "There is little evidence in most states that a politician would pay a price for supporting legalization. We've moved into a frame that's not ideological. It's about a system being broken, not working, and that legalization involves strict regulation that would allow the state to collect revenues. That makes a lot of sense to the kind of voters that electeds are most concerned about. If that's the way it's being discussed, it isn't a liability for a politician."
The growing momentum for marijuana legalization is often compared to the sea change of support for marriage equality. Support for both have taken off on similar trajectories. It has become clear to Democrats that supporting marriage equality is not only the right thing morally, but the right thing career-wise. This wasn't always the case. Just a few years ago President Obama, former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and others were much more cautious.
It's telling that California's Lieutenant Governor, Gavin Newsom, became one of the highest state-level officials to publically support of marijuana legalization. A decade ago, Newsom gained national attention as one of the most prominent politicians to support marriage equality.
It's also telling that since the Obama administration gave the green light to Colorado and Washington's efforts to legalize marijuana, and spoke out forcefully against mass incarceration, it has received almost universal praise with no negative political consequences.
It's time for elected officials to take notice that support for drug policy reform and legalizing marijuana has no downside -- and in fact, it can be a key asset to electoral success. In many places around the country, candidates are winning support and winning elections by supporting marijuana and drug policy reform.
Let's hope that if the people keep leading, the leaders will soon follow. If not, many of those so-called leaders will be looking for new jobs.
Tony Newman is the director of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org) |
It has become normal over the past 15 years for the morning news to report that the president has bombed an obscure terror group in a far-flung region of the world. These attacks take place without any public debate or a vote in Congress — despite the fact that the Constitution gives Congress alone the power “to declare war.”
President Bush and President Obama argued, with little pushback, that they could target a wide array of terror groups, thanks to the resolution Congress passed in the wake of 9/11 that allows the president to use “necessary and appropriate force” against those who “planned, authorized, committed, or aided” the al Qaeda terror attacks.
The 2001 resolution has since been used to justify bombing seven countries, deploying troops from Cuba to the Philippines, and conducting wars against groups with loose or nonexistent ties to al Qaeda.
But almost all experts agree that it cannot be utilized as the legal basis for Trump’s Thursday-night cruise missile attack on Syria. While Assad is a butcher and brutal dictator, he has no connection to the 9/11 attacks, and in fact his forces are fighting al Qaeda’s largest affiliate in Syria.
Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law School professor and head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel during the Bush administration, sardonically tweeted that whatever the legal basis for the strikes is, it “exceeds all prior precedents under domestic and international law.”
Goldsmith’s perspective was the same in 2013 when the Obama administration was considering bombing Syria’s government for similar reasons. The available legal justifications, Goldsmith wrote, were so extreme that they would provide “no limit at all on the president’s ability to use significant military force unilaterally.” (Obama eventually sought congressional approval, while simultaneously insisting that he didn’t really need it.)
Louis Fisher, a scholar in residence at the Constitution Project, reacted similarly to Trump’s strike, saying that “President Trump has no constitutional authority to unilaterally commit the nation to war against Syria.”
Hina Shamsi, a top national security lawyer for the ACLU, tweeted that Trump’s strike has “no legit[imate] domestic or international law basis.” Fionnuala Ni Aolain, a professor of human rights law at the University of Minnesota Law School, wrote that the attack was “a slide into self-justificatory unilateralism by the United States [that] should not be celebrated nor validated.”
One dissenter among these legal voices is Harold Koh, a Yale Law School professor and former Obama administration lawyer. In 2011, after Congress voted not to authorize Obama’s intervention in Libya, Koh wrote a memo attempting to make the case that the U.S. bombing campaign was nonetheless congruent with the War Powers Resolution, a 1973 congressional attempt “to fulfill the intent of the framers” by keeping the power of introducing the armed forces “in hostilities” in the hands of the legislative branch.
Koh creatively argued that U.S. actions didn’t rise to the level of “hostilities,” largely because Obama was only bombing the country, and the Libyan military was unable to shoot down U.S. planes.
In a later paper for the Houston Law Review, Koh wrote that under his own criteria, he “would guess that few humanitarian crises will rise to the level of sustained ‘hostilities,’” and hence would not need congressional approval.
The White House and the Pentagon have yet to attempt to make a formal case that the strikes were legal. At Mar-a-Lago, Trump told reporters that “it is in the vital national security interest of the Untied States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.” A Pentagon press release echoed his comments, saying “the use of chemical weapons against innocent people will not be tolerated.”
In the past, the U.S. has made self-defense a justification for its strikes. But both statements suggest the aim of the strike was to punish Assad, not to defend the United States.
Moreover, the Trump administration is indicating they may launch further attacks against Assad without waiting for congressional approval. At a UN Security Council meeting Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the U.S. is “prepared to do more” in Syria. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday that “steps are underway” to form a coalition of nations that would look to remove Assad from power.
The administration also appears to be ignoring all issues of international law. Days before the strike, Haley touted the fact the U.S. would not seek Security Council approval. “When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively,” she told the council on Wednesday, “there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action.” |
For whatever reason, our cultural obsession with game shows has always been tinged with an element of sadism. Whether we’re watching the contestants tell their sob stories on Chopped, or Alex Trebek feign empathy for a contestant who loses on Jeopardy!, we derive an inordinate amount of glee from watching people debase themselves for money on national television.
Now, Kink.com is capitalizing on our sadomasochistic enjoyment of game shows by creating a game show that’s actually sadomasochistic. Kink Men has just released 30MinutesOfTorment.com, a gay BDSM site that’s being touted by the producers as “the Web’s first BDSM game show.”
According to Kink Men director Van Darkholme, 30 Minutes of Torment is a grueling, half hour-long physical, mental, and sexual trial that is “corporal punishment at its purest.”
“30 Minutes of Torment is a test to see how well a person’s mind, body, and spirit can hold up under extreme challenges,” Darkholme told Xbiz. “I plan to start by testing the participant’s body. As time goes on and as the site evolves, we will play with the mind and spirit—like a reality show of mind-fucking.”
Although adult companies have produced game show-inspired content in the past (most of which, for some reason, seems to be Japanese, if a quick Google search is any indication), 30 Minutes of Torment’s format doesn’t have much of [a] precedent,” says Kink PR director Michael Stabile. “There have been other game show-themed porn, but usually they’re just parodies, or are faux reality. This is a real challenge, every week, and not every man makes it.”
There are 10 torment stations, including a padded cell, a gimp room, and an electric chamber. As per descriptions of some of the initial shoots on the (very, very, very NSFW) website, these challenges include waterboarding, edging (otherwise known as orgasm control), flogging, and a lot more stuff that you’ve probably never seen on Jeopardy!.
Unfortunately, unlike most mainstream game shows, there doesn’t seem to be a cash prize for successfully completing the challenges on 30 Minutes of Torment: the site description merely says that contestants are rewarded with “bragging rights.” But either way, it’s sure to be almost as exciting as my personal favorite game show, Supermarket Sweep.
H/T Xbiz | Photo via Wikimedia Commons |
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Rockies reached across town this week to hire psychologist and former NFL linebacker Dr. Rick Perea as their mental skills coach, a job with immediate concerns for club.
Perea also works with the Denver Broncos as a sports performance consultant, helping players, including Brock Osweiler, and executives. He’ll continue working with both teams.
With the Rockies, Perea replaces Andy McKay, who left the Rockies in October to become the Seattle Mariners farm director.
Perea will focus on the Rockies’ major-league roster out of Denver.
“A lot of people recommended him,” Rockies head athletic trainer Keith Dugger said. “He’s very high-energy. We thought we could utilize what he does to help our guys.”
The Rockies leaned on McKay to help salvage the career of pitcher Tyler Matzek, who is sidelined again during spring training with what the team calls performance anxiety. Matzek posted a 4-2 record with a 1.55 ERA in six last-season starts in 2014, but he fell apart in 2015, was demoted to Triple-A Albuquerque, then removed from competition after severe control issues.
Last week, Matzek walked two and allowed a home run in three consecutive at-bats before he was pulled in less than an inning. The Rockies have not scheduled him for another appearance.
Major League Baseball requires each team to have a program in place to deal with behavioral health issues. Perea will fill that role.
“Anxiety and the mental side of the game used to be taboo in the big leagues. Nobody wanted to talk about it,” Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich said in December. “Now we realize that it’s part of the game and we address it in a more organized way.”
Rockies footnotes:
Right-hander Jairo Diaz (torn elbow ligament) will undergo Tommy John surgery March 18 in Colorado with Rockies doctor Thomas Noonan.
LHP Chris Rusin (left middle finger inflammation) played catch Wednesday for the first time in six days. Rusin won the team’s annual, rowdy spring bunting competition and a clubhouse pot worth around $2,600.
Spring Training recap: Rockies 8, Giants 6
At Scottsdale Stadium
Johnny Cueto and his $130 million contract debuted Wednesday in a San Francisco Giants uniform, as he pitched his first Cactus League game this spring. Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez didn’t get a long look.
“Can’t tell much. I only saw one pitch,” Gonzalez said. Three batters into the game, Gonzalez pulled a 1-0 fastball from Cueto for a line-drive home run. It was Gonzalez’s second home run of the spring. Cueto left in the second inning, looking rusty after getting just four outs.
“Our message is: We can hit,” Gonzalez said.
Hits
Eddie Butler allowed just two hits and a walk in three innings pitched.
Mark Reynolds tripled in the second inning. He has an .827 slugging percentage in 14 at-bats and has 12 total bases.
Misses
Reynolds and Gerardo Parra both ran into outs in the second. Reynolds broke for home on a grounder to third base and was tagged out standing up. Parra was picked off first base trying to steal second.
What’s next
Rockies host the Cincinnati Reds at Salt River Fields, Thursday, 1:10 p.m.
Rockies pitchers: LH Jorge De La Rosa, RH Tyler Chatwood, LH Yohan Flande, RH Carlos Estevez. Reds starter: LH Brandon Finnegan.
Nick Groke: [email protected] or @nickgroke |
A prosecutor involved with the case of Bill Clinton‘s pedophile pal, Jeffrey Epstein, donated money to Hillary Clinton‘s presidential campaign, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Two alleged teen sex abuse victims are suing the United States government after claiming they were not alerted by the feds about a sweetheart plea deal for Epstein. He pleaded guilty to minimal charges in the Florida criminal case, and only served 13 months in prison.
Among the depositions being sought is that of Matt Menchel, who formerly served as the Chief Justice of the Criminal Division of the United States Atttorney’s office in Miami.
PHOTOS: Putting Her Best Face Forward! Hillary Clinton Had Plastic Surgery Makeover For White House Run, Top Surgeons Reveal
According to FEC election filings, Menchel, now in private practice in South Florida, contributed $1000 to Hillary Clinton’s failed bid for president in 2008. In 2011, he also contributed $2500 to the campaign of Democratic Florida Senator Bill Nelson, a Clinton supporter.
But the feds are doing whatever they can to keep him from getting grilled about what he knows.
Court documents recently filed by the U.S. Government state, “Petitioners’ motion to depose government witnesses should be denied. They have no right to conduct such depositions, and they have already engaged in extensive and more-than sufficient discovery through the use of requests for production and requests for admissions.”
READ THE COURT DOCUMENTS
As Radar reported, the Clintons found themselves caught in Epstein’s sordid web of deception. Former U.S. President Bill, 69, once traveled to Africa on Epstein’s plane, among at least ten other trips, and was publicly associated with the billionaire before cutting ties with him after Epstein’s 2008 arrest.
In exchange for the sweetheart plea deal, federal prosecutors promised they would “not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein,” the confidential plea agreement obtained by Radar revealed. |
AMMAN (Reuters) - Thousands of Syrian refugees stranded near the closed border with Jordan, including mothers and babies, are running out of food and many need medical treatment, aid workers and refugees said on Wednesday.
A Syrian refugee boy stand outside his family's tent at Al Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, April 30, 2013. REUTERS/ Majed Jaber
Jordan closed its northern border about 10 days ago after offering refuge to hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have fled violence since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule began in March 2011.
Syrians trying to enter through unofficial border crossings have also been turned back. Jordanian officials have given no explanation for the closure, according to refugees and aid workers who have had first-hand contact with border authorities.
The kingdom has since allowed only a handful of refugees across. Even civilians seeking medical treatment have been turned back and only critically wounded people have entered, according to aid workers.
Hundreds of refugees from areas as far north as Homs and from violence-torn suburbs of Damascus still arrive daily at the border villages of Nasib and Tel Shehab in southern Syria, a few kilometers from the main routes for entry into Jordan.
YouTube videos have shown refugees including mothers and babies who waited for hours in sweltering heat but were then refused entry by Jordanian army officers.
Frequent shooting from Syrian artillery positions at the official Syrian border crossing close by has prevented large numbers gathering on the frontier, they said.
Inhabitants of border villages seeking shelter from the fierce fighting and shelling were now also heading to other villages where relative calm prevails, instead of crossing the border.
Witnesses said the recent arrivals to these border villages had depleted already minimal food supplies and created a growing humanitarian crisis.
Aid workers say Jordan is also reluctant to allow supplies of flour and food into southern Syria, hindering their work.
“What I am doing is something no international aid committee has done,” said Samer Hariri, speaking from Nasib. “Nor have they given me money to feed these people. This food is from Nasib and we are a group of volunteers who collect money and food for these people.”
Close to 500,000 Syrian refugees out of a total of 1.5 million Syrians have sought shelter in Jordan, and only a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars of international aid pledged to help the Syrian refugees has arrived.
The kingdom has received an average of around 1,000 refugees daily since the start of the year.
Jordan has publicly denied it closed the frontier - such an acknowledgement would breach international obligations to keep borders open to refugees, but officials privately say the move signaled it could not absorb any more arrivals.
“There was a need to send a message that the world has failed to pay its dues” to support Jordan, said a senior official who requested anonymity.
U.N. and aid agencies helping the Jordanian authorities have avoided criticizing the kingdom’s border move, at a time of mounting economic pressures on its deficit-ridden budget.
UNHCR’s head of mission in Jordan Andrew Harper said the growing plight of the refugees showed the need to step up aid support inside Syria, possibly by setting up aid corridors, to relieve the pressure on the kingdom.
“There is a humanitarian need in southern Syria and we need to get support there one way or the other,” Harper said.
“If we cannot give assistance to the population in southern Syria then they will have to come into Jordan ... Our objective is to help the Syrian population and at a certain point we have to look at the most practical way of doing it,” he said.
Jordanian officials worry that opening the border to a flow of goods into rebel-held areas would anger Syrian authorities who instead insist any aid should be channeled through them. |
Last night I noted that a top Russian spy who is the number two person in the FSB department which allegedly oversaw the US election hacking operation had been arrested and charged with treason. Was he a sacrificial lamb and olive branch to Trump? A way for Putin to claim that his spy services had perhaps gone rogue? Or was he suspected of being a source to US intelligence? People who fall from grace in Putin’s Russia are often dealt with with trumped up criminal prosecutions. But treason is a special charge.
Well, now we have reports that Sergei Mikhailov is suspected of being a US asset at the heart of Russian intelligence.
The report is from The Moscow Times, a respected English language publication. But the report appears to rely on a report in Novaya Gazeta.
From the Moscow Times …
A top cybersecurity specialist in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) was arrested on Wednesday reportedly on suspicion of leaking information to the U.S. intelligence community — a bombshell accusation that, if true, would mean Washington had a spy in the heart of Russia’s national defense infrastructure.
Here’s the additional detail …
According to the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the FSB believes Sergei Mikhailov tipped off U.S. officials to information about Vladimir Fomenko and his server rental company “King Servers,” which the American cybersecurity company ThreatConnect identified last September as “an information nexus” that was used by hackers suspected of working for Russian state security in cyberattacks.
The article goes on to say that four others have been arrested in connection to the treason case against Mikhailov. It is important to note that even if these are the charges, in a country like Russia, what you’re charged with isn’t just not necessarily true. It may not even be what the state and prosecutors think is true.
But this immediately poses the question: if Mikhailov was a US asset, how was he compromised? Did the information put out by US intelligence somehow lead to his exposure? Without putting too fine a point on it, a number of close advisors to President Trump are being scrutinized for ties to Russia. Some of them participated in the intelligence briefings the President receives.
Do we have a very big problem? |
The Washington Post and the New York Times lead on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s demand that the Obama administration guarantee the safety of Beijing’s trillion-dollar investment in U.S. Treasury bonds. “We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S.,” Wen said. “Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets.” The Obama administration rushed to assure Beijing that its investments were secure; analysts say that any move by China to dump its vast U.S. debt, or even merely to cease purchasing Treasuries, would drive up the cost of U.S. government borrowing and cause a spike in mortgage rates for millions of U.S. homeowners.
The Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide newsbox, at least online, with some rare economic good news: This week was the stock market’s best since November, prompting speculation that the economy could finally be close to bottoming out. “There is a real economy out there, and it has a chance of doing better,” said one relieved trader. The Los Angeles Times leads on news that a recently adopted plan to fill gaping holes in California’s state budget is already seriously out of whack; one analyst says the state is on course for a shortfall of more than $8 billion.
Speaking at a rare meeting with Chinese journalists, Wen said that he was “definitely a little worried” about the security of China’s vast holdings of U.S. debt. Economists say his concerns are reasonable: Efforts to boost the U.S. economy by taking on more debt and printing more money could weaken the dollar, diluting the value of Treasury bonds. Still, there’s little sign that China will reduce its U.S.-debt investments, or slow its purchase of T-bonds; any sell-off would risk flooding the market, devaluing China’s investments still further. Besides, analysts say, a Chinese sell-off would make it far more difficult for the United States to spend its way out of the current recession—and that, in turn, would take a heavy toll on the already-flagging Chinese export market.
Wen’s words were widely perceived as economic fighting talk, perhaps aimed at dissuading U.S. policymakers from adopting a “buy American” strategy that could endanger Chinese exports or at heading off U.S. efforts to challenge Beijing on currency issues. Still, reports the WSJ, the Obama camp moved swiftly to assuage Beijing’s concerns, with senior economic officials declaring that U.S. bonds were secure and that America’s fiscal policies were sound. “There’s no safer investment in the world than in the United States,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
The NYT off-leads with word that, in an attempt to signal a break with the Bush years, the Justice Department has declared that it will no longer use the term “enemy combatant” to describe the 241 detainees being held at Guantánamo Bay. But the department also reasserted its right to detain terror suspects without charges and provided a definition of those who could be held that was not substantively different from the framework offered by the Bush administration. Lawyers for the detainees said they didn’t expect the revised terminology to help their clients; still, the WSJ notes that the shift in emphasis hints at the Obama administration’s likely use of civilian courts, rather than military tribunals, to try those being held at the camp.
In a front-page report, the WSJ finds evidence of lingering tensions between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, where a policeman and two soldiers were murdered this week. By contrast, the NYT reports that the killings brought the country together in protest; at the police officer’s funeral, the priest declared the violence “an attack on the whole population of Northern Ireland”.
With the stock market finally having a good week, the administration sounded a cautiously optimistic note about the overall health of the U.S. economy. Obama—who, the Post notes, has lately appeared increasingly eager to blame the financial crisis on his predecessor—declared himself “confident about America,” while his chief economic adviser, Lawrence Summers, said there were “modestly encouraging” signs that consumer spending was stabilizing. The Post reports the stock-market rally on the front of its business pages—along with news that to cut costs the paper is to scrap its stand-alone business section and merge business coverage into the main A-section.
All the papers pick over the fallout from the economic crunch. The NYT reports that recessions encourage entrepreneurialism but also that hard times are leading some to delay nonessential medical treatment. The Post reports that the barter economy is booming as companies and consumers struggle to make ends meet; the WSJ notes that analysts are revising their views of the underground economy and now believe that informal trade may help stave off urban decay and unemployment. The Post reports on an airfare war that’s making travel remarkably cheap for those who can still afford it; the NYT profiles an airplane repo man, who’s earning big bucks repossessing private planes. Even America’s landfills are feeling the pinch: Garbage-collection levels have dropped by as much as 30 percent as U.S. consumers buy—and throw away - less stuff.
Jim Cramer got roasted this week by Daily Show host Jon Stewart for failing to warn the public about the impending financial crisis; the Post writes enviously of Stewart’s ability to puncture “the balloons of the powerful with a caustic candor that reporters cannot muster.” The NYT compares the episode—apparently favorably—to a Senate hearing: “Mr. Stewart treated his guest like a C.E.O. subpoenaed to testify before Congress: his point was not to hear Mr. Cramer out, but to act out a cathartic ritual of indignation and castigation.”
And finally, bad news for mosquitoes: The WSJ reports that rocket scientists are building Star Wars-style smart lasers capable of recognizing the blood-sucking bugs and shooting them out of the air. The aim is to use the death-rays—perhaps mounted on unmanned drones—to keep mosquito populations at bay and help prevent the spread of malaria. “You could kill billions of mosquitoes a night,” says one excited researcher. “Slay them all!” |
Event Details
2013 EVENT SCHEDULE
GI Tournament
Saturday, January 19th
10am - 12pm - Kids
1pm - 6pm - Adults
NO-GI Tournament
Sunday January 20th
10am - 12pm - Kids
1pm - 5pm - Adults
Location
Los Angeles Convention Center
1201 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
REGISTRATION
PRE-Registration will close on January 4th 2013 @ midnight or before depending on the amount of competitors
We will not be able to register any competitors once that maximum capacity is reached.
GI & NO-GI UNIFORM
GI competitors must wear an ALL WHITE GI. No other colors will be accepted. This is abiding to Grandmaster Helio Gracie's view that only white gi's are to be worn for jiu-jitsu.
NO-GI competitors must wear a rash guard with their belt color on their sleeve OR all black gear.
KIDS (4-12)
KIDS UNIFORM
A standard WHITE jiu jitsu gi uniform is required. Patches on the gi are OK. It is Ok to wear rash-guards or t-shirts under the gi uniform
KIDS SKILL LEVEL
All kids must sign up consistently when signing up for gi and no gi. For example, if a child is a yellow belt with the gi he must also sign up as a yellow belt in the no gi competition. You cannot sign up a child for one belt (Yellow) with the gi and anther belt (Orange) on the no gi day.
KIDS POINTS/SUBMISSION
There are no points or advantage points calculated for any positions/moves.
For our kids safety, referees are instructed to stop a match before a full submission is in place. In case of a tap or referee stoppage the match will stop, reset to standing position, restart and continue until the 4 minutes are up.
KIDS MATCH LENGTH
All matches will be 4 minutes.
KIDS MATCH OUTCOME
The children will compete with each other and the best part is, everyone will come out a First Place Winner =)
The Gracie Kids Worlds has been carefully designed to be a multi-cultural learning experience and to allow children the opportunity to exhibit their skills in an atmosphere of cooperation and respect for fellow participants. This event provides competitors the opportunity to build confidence that will last a lifetime.
One of the greatest attributes of this system is that it provides participants with the opportunity to perform under pressure in a safe and positive setting.
KIDS ROUND ROBIN
All brackets will run under a round robin system.
All kids within a bracket will compete against each other. If there is only one child in a bracket, they will be tested in some of their skills.
KIDS ILLEGAL SUBMISSIONS
These submission attempts will result in IMMEDIATE disqualification.
(Just because I will not allow these techniques for the safety of our competitor I still highly recommend you learn how to defend them at your school =)
-Slam from the guard ( ALSO when athlete is lifted up from the ground the referee will stop the match and
- No Child should have to tap out. The referee should stop the match before the child’s arm is extended or if he feels that the child might be in danger of tapping. Remember, our goal is to build each child’s confidence and provide a positive atmosphere for them to perform without the pressure of winning and loosing.
- Re-start again from the standing position after a referee separation
- No Wrist lock of any kind
- No foot locks or straight ankle locks or leg locks of any kind
- No Knee Locks or Leg Locks of any kind
- No Knee Bars of any kind
- No Twisting Leg Locks of any kind (heel hooks, toe holds and Inverted heel hooks and inverted toe holds)
- No Reaping the Knee
- No Cervical Lock of any kind
- No Frontal Neck Crank of any kind
- No Neck Locks of any kind
- No Neck Cranks of any kind
- No Calf lock of any kind
- No Bicep Slicer, No Calf Slice and No Compression Locks of any kind
- No reaping the knee
- No Scissors takedown of any kind
No Electric Chair Submissions
- No Twister Submissions
- No Butt Scooting is allowed in any division. You must either take the opponent down or pull them into the guard.
- Grabbing with 4 fingers inside the sleeve of the jacket top and inside the pants will be allowed and is OK
**Guard Jumping will NOT BE ALLOWED IN ANY DIVISION!! Guard pulling is OK
*****The difference between Jumping and Pulling Guard:
Jumping Guard (Illegal Technique)- When a competitor jumps into the guard with both feet off of the ground and is expecting their opponent to "catch" them. Sometimes this is done without the competitor even holding or touching the other competitor. This technique is not allowed in any division under any circumstances!!! This is an extremely dangerous technique that will not be allowed.
Pulling Guard (Legal Technique) - Pulling guard is exactly like it sounds. You are pulling your opponent down to the ground into your guard with at least one foot on the ground. Pulling guard requires one opponent to make contact with the other. A grip must be established on either a sleeve, collar, head, gi top or any part of the competitor prior to pulling their opponent down to the ground into their guard. Sitting to the guard is not permitted. Butt scooting is not permitted. You must attempt to take your opponent to the ground or pull them to the ground. This simulates a real fight. Would you sit to your butt in a real fight?
TEENS TOURNAMENT (13-17)
TEEN UNIFORM
A standard WHITE jiu jitsu gi uniform is required. Patches on the gi are OK
No groin protection (protective cups metal or plastic) are allowed
POINTS
There are no points or advantage points calculated for any positions/moves.
MATCH LENGTH
All Matches - 8 minutes
Finals - no time limit
MATCH OUTCOME
SUBMISSION
An athlete must submit their opponent within the 8 minute time limit to win the match and advance in the bracket.
ROLLING OR PULLING A COMPETITOR OFF OF THE MAT
*If an athlete is caught in a submission and PURPOSELY pulls their opponent or rolls off of the mat in an attempt to free themselves from the submission, they will be considered submitted and will lose the match.
**If an opponent is countering a submission and they happen to roll off of the mat but are caught in a deep and completely sunk submission (ie a heel hook or an armlock and the competitor being caught rolls to counter the submission and happens to end up off of the mat) the referee will reset the position in the center of the ring with the submission INTACT to the submitters liking. The referee will give the person caught in the submission the option to tap out before the match is restarted to give a verbal submission. If the competitor refuses and opts out start the match will be restarted with the heel hook in place.
TIE
In case of a tie neither athlete will advance in the bracket.
*Remember that the essence of Jiu-Jitsu is self defense. If one competitor attacks the whole time they are amazing for doing so. If the opponent defends the entire time and was never submitted, that makes them a great student for surviving and defending themselves well in the name of Jiu-Jitsu. Therefore in the case of a tie both competitors will be out of the event. They will both survive to live another day =)
Teen ILLEGAL SUBMISSIONS
These submission attempts will result in IMMEDIATE disqualification.
(Just because I will not allow these techniques for the safety of our competitors I still highly recommend you learn how to defend them at your school =)
Ages 13 - 17
White , Yellow, Orange and Green
-Slam from the guard ( ALSO when athlete is lifted up from the ground the referee will stop the match and re-start again form the ground)
*****Slamming is not allowed but if competitor in the guard is picked up above the waist of the standing competitor the competitor in the guard MUST open their guard and the match will continue. If a competitor is picked up above the standing competitor's waist the referee will assist the standing competitor in safely placing the guard competitor back to the ground.
Twisting leg locks of any kind (heel hooks, toe holds and Inverted heel hooks and inverted toe holds )
- No Wrist lock of any kind
- No foot locks or straight ankle locks or leg locks of any kind
- No Knee Locks or Leg Locks of any kind
- No Knee Bars of any kind
- No Twisting Leg Locks of any kind (heel hooks, toe holds and Inverted heel hooks and inverted toe holds)
- No Reaping the Knee
- No Cervical Lock of any kind
- No Frontal Neck Crank of any kind
- No Neck Locks of any kind
- No Neck Cranks of any kind
- No Calf lock of any kind
- No Bicep Slicer, No Calf Slice and No Compression Locks of any kind
- No reaping the knee
- No Scissors takedown of any kind
No Electric Chair Submissions
- No Twister Submissions
- No Butt Scooting is allowed in any division. You must either take the opponent down or pull them into the guard.
- Grabbing with 4 fingers inside the sleeve of the jacket top and inside the pants will be allowed and is OK
**Guard Jumping will NOT BE ALLOWED IN ANY DIVISION!! Guard pulling is OK
*****The difference between Jumping and Pulling Guard:
Jumping Guard (Illegal Technique)- When a competitor jumps into the guard with both feet off of the ground and is expecting their opponent to "catch" them. Sometimes this is done without the competitor even holding or touching the other competitor. This technique is not allowed in any division under any circumstances!!! This is an extremely dangerous technique that will not be allowed.
Pulling Guard (Legal Technique) - Pulling guard is exactly like it sounds. You are pulling your opponent down to the ground into your guard with at least one foot on the ground. Pulling guard requires one opponent to make contact with the other. A grip must be established on either a sleeve, collar, head, gi top or any part of the competitor prior to pulling their opponent down to the ground into their guard. Sitting to the guard is not permitted. Butt scooting is not permitted. You must attempt to take your opponent to the ground or pull them to the ground. This simulates a real fight. Would you sit to your butt in a real fight?
For any multicolored belt , child should be registered under the lower belt division. for example if the child is white and yellow he should compete under the white belt division.
There is a possibility that some kids might have to be combined with adults depending on their size and weight.
Adult Tournament
ADULT UNIFORM
A standard WHITE jiu jitsu gi uniform is required. Patches on the gi are OK
No groin protection (protective cups metal or plastic) are allowed
POINTS
There are no points or advantage points calculated for any positions/moves.
ADULT MATCH LENGTH
All Matches - 15 min
Finals - no time limit
ADULT MATCH OUTCOME
SUBMISSION
An athlete must submit their opponent within the 15 minute time limit to win the match and advance in the bracket.
ROLLING OR PULLING A COMPETITOR OFF OF THE MAT
*If an athlete is caught in a submission and PURPOSELY pulls their opponent or rolls off of the mat in an attempt to free themselves from the submission, they will be considered submitted and will lose the match.
**If an opponent is countering a submission and they happen to roll off of the mat but are caught in a deep and completely sunk submission (ie a heel hook or an armlock and the competitor being caught rolls to counter the submission and happens to end up off of the mat) the referee will reset the position in the center of the ring with the submission INTACT to the submitters liking. The referee will give the person caught in the submission the option to tap out before the match is restarted to give a verbal submission. If the competitor refuses and opts out start the match will be restarted with the heel hook in place.
TIE
In case of a tie neither athlete will advance in the bracket.
*Remember that the essence of Jiu-Jitsu is self defense. If one competitor attacks the entire time they are amazing for doing so. If the opponent defends the entire time and was never submitted, that makes them a great student for surviving and defending themselves well in the name of Jiu-Jitsu. Therefore, in the case of a tie both competitors will be out of the event. They will both survive to fight another day =)
ADULT TOURNAMENT (Ages 18 AND UP)
ADULT UNIFORM
A standard WHITE jiu jitsu gi uniform is required. Patches on the gi are OK
No groin protection (protective cups metal or plastic) are allowed
ROLLING OR PULLING A COMPETITOR OFF OF THE MAT
*If an athlete is caught in a submission and PURPOSELY pulls their opponent or rolls off of the mat in an attempt to free themselves from the submission, they will be considered submitted and will lose the match.
**If an opponent is countering a submission and they happen to roll off of the mat but are caught in a deep and completely sunk submission (ie a heel hook or an armlock and the competitor being caught rolls to counter the submission and happens to end up off of the mat) the referee will reset the position in the center of the ring with the submission INTACT to the submitters liking. The referee will give the person caught in the submission the option to tap out before the match is restarted to give a verbal submission. If the competitor refuses and opts out start the match will be restarted with the heel hook in place.
White Belts (Ages 13 and Up)
ADULT ILLEGAL SUBMISSIONS
These submission attempts will result in IMMEDIATE disqualification.
(Just because I will not allow these techniques for the safety of our competitors I still highly recommend you learn how to defend them at your school =)
- No Slamming from the guard ( ALSO when athlete is lifted up from the ground the referee will stop the match and re-start again form the ground)
*****Slamming is not allowed but if competitor in the guard is picked up above the waist of the standing competitor the competitor in the guard MUST open their guard and the match will continue. If a competitor is picked up above the standing competitor's waist the referee will assist the standing competitor in safely placing the guard competitor back to the ground.
- No Wrist lock of any kind
- No foot locks or straight ankle locks or leg locks of any kind
- No Knee Locks or Leg Locks of any kind
- No Knee Bars of any kind
- No Twisting Leg Locks of any kind (heel hooks, toe holds and Inverted heel hooks and inverted toe holds)
- No Reaping the Knee
- No Cervical Lock of any kind
- No Frontal Neck Crank of any kind
- No Neck Locks of any kind
- No Neck Cranks of any kind
- No Calf lock of any kind
- No Bicep Slicer, No Calf Slice and No Compression Locks of any kind
- No Scissors takedown of any kind
- No Electric Chair Submissions
- No Twister Submissions
- No Butt Scooting is allowed in any division. You must either take the opponent down or pull them into the guard.
- Grabbing with 4 fingers inside the sleeve of the jacket top and inside the pants will be allowed and is OK
**Guard Jumping will NOT BE ALLOWED IN ANY DIVISION!! Guard pulling is OK
*****The difference between Jumping and Pulling Guard:
Jumping Guard (Illegal Technique)- When a competitor jumps into the guard with both feet off of the ground and is expecting their opponent to "catch" them. Sometimes this is done without the competitor even holding or touching the other competitor. This technique is not allowed in any division under any circumstances!!! This is an extremely dangerous technique that will not be allowed.
Pulling Guard (Legal Technique) - Pulling guard is exactly like it sounds. You are pulling your opponent down to the ground into your guard with at least one foot on the ground. Pulling guard requires one opponent to make contact with the other. A grip must be established on either a sleeve, collar, head, gi top or any part of the competitor prior to pulling their opponent down to the ground into their guard. Sitting to the guard is not permitted. Butt scooting is not permitted. You must attempt to take your opponent to the ground or pull them to the ground. This simulates a real fight. Would you sit to your butt in a real fight?
Blue and Purple Belt (Ages 16 and UP)
ADULT Blue and Purple Belt ILLEGAL SUBMISSIONS
These submission attempts will result in IMMEDIATE disqualification.
(Just because I will not allow these techniques for the safety of our competitors I still highly recommend you learn how to defend them at your school =)
- No Slamming from the guard ( ALSO when athlete is lifted up from the ground the referee will stop the match and re-start again form the ground)
*****Slamming is not allowed but if competitor in the guard is picked up above the waist of the standing competitor the competitor in the guard MUST open their guard and the match will continue. If a competitor is picked up above the standing competitor's waist the referee will assist the standing competitor in safely placing the guard competitor back to the ground.
- No Twisting Leg Locks of any kind (heel hooks, toe holds and Inverted heel hooks and inverted toe holds)
- No Reaping the Knee
- No Cervical Lock of any kind
- No Frontal Neck Crank of any kind
- No Neck Locks of any kind
- No Neck Cranks of any kind
- No Scissors Takedown of any kind
- Knee Locks or Straight Leg Locks are OK
- Knee Bars are OK
- Bicep Slicers are OK
- Calf Slicers are OK
- Straight Compression Locks are OK
- Electric Chair Submissions are OK
- Twister Submissions are OK
- Wrist Locks are OK
- Grabbing with 4 fingers inside the sleeve of the jacket top and inside the pants will be allowed and is OK
- No Butt Scooting is allowed in any division. You must either take the opponent down or pull them into the guard.
**Guard Jumping will NOT BE ALLOWED IN ANY DIVISION!! Guard pulling is OK
*****The difference between Jumping and Pulling Guard:
Jumping Guard (Illegal Technique)- When a competitor jumps into the guard with both feet off of the ground and is expecting their opponent to "catch" them. Sometimes this is done without the competitor even holding or touching the other competitor. This technique is not allowed in any division under any circumstances!!! This is an extremely dangerous technique that will not be allowed.
Pulling Guard (Legal Technique) - Pulling guard is exactly like it sounds. You are pulling your opponent down to the ground into your guard with at least one foot on the ground. Pulling guard requires one opponent to make contact with the other. A grip must be established on either a sleeve, collar, head, gi top or any part of the competitor prior to pulling their opponent down to the ground into their guard. Sitting to the guard is not permitted. Butt scooting is not permitted. You must attempt to take your opponent to the ground or pull them to the ground. This simulates a real fight. Would you sit to your butt in a real fight?
Brown and Black Belts (Ages 18 - and UP)
No restrictions except the usual no hair pulling and eye poking etc...
Slam from the guard* ( ALSO when athlete is lifted up from the ground the referee wil stop the match and re-start again form the ground)
ADULT Brown and Black Belt ILLEGAL SUBMISSIONS
These submission attempts will result in IMMEDIATE disqualification.
(Just because I will not allow these techniques for the safety of our competitors I still highly recommend you learn how to defend them at your school =)
*****Slamming is not allowed but if competitor in the guard is picked up above the waist of the standing competitor the competitor in the guard Must open their guard and the match will continue. If a competitor is picked up above the standing competitor's waist the referee will assist the standing competitor in safely placing the guard competitor back to the ground.
- No Cervical Lock of any kind
- No Frontal Neck Cranks of any kind
- No Neck Locks of any kind
- No Scissors takedown of any kind
- No Butt Scooting is allowed in any division. You must either take the opponent down or pull them into the guard.
- **Guard Jumping will NOT BE ALLOWED IN ANY DIVISION!! Guard pulling is OK (See the difference between the two below)
- Wrist locks of any kind are Ok
- Any foot lock, straight ankle lock or leg lock is OK
- Knee Locks and Leg Locks are OK
- Knee Bars Are OK
- Twisting Leg Locks are OK (heel hooks, toe holds and Inverted heel hooks and inverted toe holds) are OK
- Bicep Slicers are OK
- Calf Slicer and Compression Locks are OK
- Reaping the knee is OK
- Electric Chair Submissions are OK
- Twister Submissions are OK
- Grabbing with 4 fingers inside the sleeve of the jacket top and inside the pants will be allowed and is OK
*****The difference between Jumping and Pulling Guard:
Jumping Guard (Illegal Technique)- When a competitor jumps into the guard with both feet off of the ground and is expecting their opponent to "catch" them. Sometimes this is done without the competitor even holding or touching the other competitor. This technique is not allowed in any division under any circumstances!!! This is an extremely dangerous technique that will not be allowed.
Pulling Guard (Legal Technique) - Pulling guard is exactly like it sounds. You are pulling your opponent down to the ground into your guard with at least one foot on the ground. Pulling guard requires one opponent to make contact with the other. A grip must be established on either a sleeve, collar, head, gi top or any part of the competitor prior to pulling their opponent down to the ground into their guard. Sitting to the guard is not permitted. Butt scooting is not permitted. You must attempt to take your opponent to the ground or pull them to the ground. This simulates a real fight. Would you sit to your butt in a real fight?
New Wild Card Rule
If a bracket has 3 competitors, those competitors that did not advance as a result of a tie in that bracket, will be participate in a wild card lottery. The competitor that draws the highest number will be placed back in the bracket. As a result, the bracket will become a 4 competitor bracket instead of a 3. The new wild card rule will only be used in the event a bracket starts with more than 4 competitors and is dwindled down to a 3. If a bracket has only 3 competitors, we reserve the option of combining weight classes to ensure each bracket is complete. Our goal is to have between 4 - 8 competitors in a bracket.
ADULT / MASTERS WEIGHT DIVISIONS
Women
Lightweight 135 lbs and below
Welterweight 136 lbs-165 lbs
Heavyweight 166 lbs and above
Men
Bantamweight 135 lbs and below
Featherweight 136 lbs-145 lbs.
Lightweight 146 lbs-155 lbs.
Welterweight 156 lbs-170 lbs.
Middleweight 171 lbs-185 lbs.
Lt Heavyweight 186 lbs-205 lbs.
Heavyweight 206 lbs. and above
ADULT AND MASTERS DIVISION
WHITE
BLUE
PURPLE
BROWN
BLACK
WEIGH INS
No gi necessary for weigh in.
No pound alowance !!
PLEASE ALL KIDS WEIGH IN ON FRIDAY
Athletes may be randomly tested for any performance enhancing drugs.
Weigh-In Locations and times
10 am to 12pm & 6pm to 9pm
all locations have same weigh in schedule
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Rancho Cucamonga
9637 Arrow Route
Suite C
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
TapouT Los Angeles ( near convention center)
400 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Gracie Gym OC
6176 Garden Grove Blvd.
Westminster, CA 92683
We should also have a location in bakersfield soon to be announced.
General Info
The LA Convention Center parking - $12 a day (no in/out).
Food will be available from LA Convention Center vendors. We highly
recommend bringing your own food and plenty of drinks.
Competitors will have free access to the LA Fitness Expo. Please check out
TheFitExpo.com for spectator tickets for
friends and family and general event info.
Everyone must have an ID at the time of weigh-ins.
All competitors must have the medical release form filled out.
Parents or guardians that are not going with their children to sign their
waiver must send an competition authorization alongside a copy of id.
Competitors may NOT fight in multiple age and weight group.
All competitors must wear gear that is both clean and in good condition.
Nails must be trimmed and clean.
Any competitors or coaches that show any kind of unsportsmanship like
conduct will be disqualified.
All disqualified competitors forfeit their match and registration fee.
Any competitor that try to intentionally hurt their opponent including but
not limited to slamming will be disqualified.
Registration fees are non-refundable.
If you get hurt or are unable to compete you will have two options
1) let someone compete in your place and we will switch info
2) use your registration for next year
all you need to do is send us an email letting us know what is the deal and we will confirm with you we have received and that you are good to go.
The Gracie US Nationals, its staff, and associates are not responsible for
any accident, injury or death tournament.
HOTEL / TRAVEL INFO
MILLENIUM BILTMORE HOTEL LOS ANGELES
506 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90071, USA
To reserve your rooms please call the hotel directly at (213) 612-1575 or book online to www.millenniumhotels.com/Biltmore
Our Classic Room Rate is $125.00
Our Club Room Rate is $165.00
• Mention code: 1301FITXPO/ Los Angeles Fitness Expo
• You can get these special lower than normal rates during the convention
period
• www.millenniumhotels.com/Biltmore
• Hotel address 506 S. Grand Ave. Los Angeles, CA
• This special room rate will be offered by the hotel until sold out.
• Pre/post group rate availability policy: *** 3-days pre- and 3-days post-
(subject to availability) ***
20 minutes from LAX.
From LAX airport, past terminal 7, right lane to Sepulveda Blvd. to 105
East (Norwalk). Proceed to 110 North (Harbor Fwy). Exit 6th Street, 4
blocks to Olive Street, turn left. 1 block to 5th Street, turn left. 1
block to Grand Avenue, turn left and turn left (2nd driveway) into the
hotel.
FOR ALL OUT OF STATE AND COUNTRY TRAVELERS
If you would like us to help with your travel arrangements such as flight
reservations, rides to and from airport, sauna locations and a list of
things to do in LA for you and your family please email us at
[email protected]
SPECTATOR TICKETS
Competitors do not have to purchase spectator tickets for themselves. We
encourage you to buy your spectators tickets in advance so you won’t be in
line missing the show.
We will also have a kids play area this year so bring the whole family !
=)
http://www.thefitexpo.com/tickets.asp
Have any questions?
[email protected]
or call 909.941.3861 |
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Over the past few months activists opposed to the Dakota Access pipeline have ramped up pressure on the pipeline company’s financiers, and now the city of Seattle is showing what kind of weight a large municipality can add as it looks at taking $3 billion in city business away from Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo is one of 38 banks offering financial support to the pipeline and its parent companies, according to research by Food & Water Watch, but it’s one of only 17 banks that have directly financed the pipeline construction by Dakota Access LLC. And one of only seven banks financing all of them with significant lines of credit offered to parent companies Energy Transfer Partners, Energy Transfer Equity, and Sunoco Logistics.
Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant introduced legislation that would end the city’s contract with Wells Fargo, which handles $3 billion worth of city government business, including employee payroll. It was unanimously approved to go to a full vote in January. Wells Fargo’s contract with the city has another year to go, meaning no big changes right away, but the legislation could have broader implications as it proposes rules to ensure that the city does business with socially responsible businesses. In remarks introducing the bill December 12, Sawant said the city “can make a strong commitment to environmental, economic, and racial justice” by moving its business to an institution with a reliable social justice record.
“What we’re trying to accomplish is to establish a guide for the city of Seattle, a guide for socially responsible banking practices,” said Seattle activist and Standing Rock Sioux tribe member Matt Remle, a major backer of the proposal.
The action comes at a critical time for the Standing Rock tribe protesting the pipeline. The water protectors say the oil pipeline crossing the Missouri River endangers their water supply and violates sacred grounds. After months of standoffs and confrontations between water protectors and militarized police, the Army Corps of Engineers recently chose not to approve the current path of the pipeline. But many fear that a Trump administration will overturn that and the pipeline will be completed as currently routed.
Wells Fargo’s loans and investments in the project reach nearly half a billion dollars, according to the Food & Water Watch report. And while numerous banks have large investments in the pipeline, including Citibank, Wells Fargo is a strategic target not just because of its relationship with the city. Recent scandals have made it vulnerable to pressure.
The Seattle City Council bill cites how the company “directed employees to fraudulently create more than 2,000,000 unauthorized bank and credit accounts during the past five years, negatively affecting the credit ratings of millions of customers,” and terminated 5,300 “of the corporation’s lowest-paid workers” without firing a single senior executive. As a result of that scandal, Seattle City Light in October ended its $100 million bond financing relationship with the bank.
Remle said that he has heard little opposition to the bill and is confident it will pass next month. In September, the city council issued a resolution in support of the water protectors. Remle said he hoped Seattle’s new bill would segue into further direct action against the banking giant. Minneapolis, which like Seattle has a sizable Native American population, is considering similar legislation to divest from Wells Fargo.
“My immediate goal after this is to work with some of our local gaming tribes, especially the ones in the Interstate 5 corridor,” Remle said, referring to tribes such as the Tulalip and Puyallup. “Some of those tribes near the major urban centers do pretty well, and I know of a few that are banking with Wells Fargo. I’d like to turn to them next.”
Meanwhile in downtown Seattle, activists organized by the local chapter of 350.org are staging daily demonstrations in support of the measure outside of the bank’s Seattle corporate office until January 5, when a group of deposit holders will one after another close their accounts and voice opposition to the bank’s investment in the pipeline.
“People seem very supportive of our attempts to move the needle on it,” said 350seattle.org organizer Alec Connon. “It’s really clear that banking with Wells Fargo is not aligned with the values of the city of Seattle.”
In a statement in response to Seattle’s proposal, the company said that it is “proud of the support it has diligently and professionally provided the city of Seattle as its operating bank since 1999.” In regard to the pipeline, it acknowledged that it is one of “17 financial institutions involved in the financing” of Dakota Access and that the “loans we have provided represent less than 5 percent of the total.” That does not include the credit lines given to Dakota Access’ parent companies.
Early this month, Wells Fargo reportedly reached out to Standing Rock tribal elders for discussions after a DAPL-related protest took place outside the bank’s Minneapolis corporate office.
Connon noted that while a resolution in support of Standing Rock was adopted by the city, Sawant’s bill was a necessary escalation. “We need to see them pass this ordinance, because we need to see actions and not just words.” |
Image copyright AFP Image caption Marine Le Pen is widely expected to reach the second round run-off in the French presidential race next May
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has called for an end to free education for foreign children.
In a speech in Paris, the National Front's candidate in the 2017 presidential race next spring said she had nothing against foreigners.
"But I tell them: if you come to our country don't expect to be taken care of, to be looked after, that your children will be educated without charge," she said.
"No more playtime," she added.
Ms Le Pen is widely expected to be one of two candidates to reach the second and final round of the election in May.
Latest opinion polls suggest she is running neck-and-neck in polling for the first round with the centre-right candidate Francois Fillon, who was selected in national primaries at the end of November.
However, around two-thirds of voters would choose Mr Fillon over Ms Le Pen in the deciding round.
Since Marine Le Pen took over the running of the FN from her father almost six years ago, she has worked hard to detoxify the party's extremist image and attract mainstream voters.
Her presidential campaign bears no trace of the party name and features a blue rose, borrowing imagery from both left and right.
The party has continued to focus on reducing immigration and deporting illegal immigrants, as well as leaving the EU.
However, Ms Le Pen has had to respond to Mr Fillon's election as candidate by setting out distinctive policies.
On Wednesday, she accused him of being in hock to France's business organisation Medef, the European Commission, the banks and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. |
After seven months of military operations in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners are facing a counter-offensive by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The Houthis—who refer to themselves as Ansar Allah—and allied units of the Yemeni Army launched a three-pronged offensive designed to broadly encircle Yemen’s port city of Aden, and further isolate the fiercely contested city of Taiz.
It is unlikely that the Houthis and allied forces want to retake Aden, or secure and hold those territories that were part of what was an independent South Yemen (the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen). One reason is that the Houthis and their allies, who are mostly drawn from Yemen’s northern elite, will find it increasingly difficult to operate outside of their traditional powerbases in northwest Yemen, particularly as seven months of civil war have further solidified the divide between north and south. Additionally, those forces based in south Yemen that oppose the Houthis are better armed and marginally better trained than they were seven months ago, when the Houthis and allied forces took over Aden before being pushed out by a Saudi-backed offensive.
The Houthis’ renewed push south is both an effort to secure the borders of what was formerly North Yemen (the former Yemen Arab Republic) and an effort to strengthen their position ahead of expected UN-led peace talks in Geneva. The counter-offensive also coincides with what may be a shift in the willingness of Saudi Arabia and its partners to continue fighting in Yemen.
Renewed Push South
Houthi fighters and allied Yemeni Army units began a well-coordinated counter-offensive in late October, when small, mobile bands of fighters moved toward the towns of Dhubab (located on the Red Sea coast), Damt (centrally located on the main road from Sana’a to Aden) and al-Bayda (a town located along another important north-south corridor). The towns were all occupied by members of the Popular Resistance, a loose alliance of southern separatists, tribal militias, militant Salafists and backers of Yemen’s exiled, Saudi-backed government.
By November 8, the Houthis and allied forces had seized control of Dhubab and Damt (Middle East Online, November 8; al-Masdar, November 8). They, however, failed to retake al-Bayda, where fighting continues. Further south, in what appears to be a separate but linked operation, Houthi fighters have taken up positions on the hills north of al-Anad airbase, in the governorate of Lahij. Sudanese soldiers fighting on behalf of the Saudi-led coalition are housed on the base (Jordan Times, November 8). Al-Anad, along with Aden’s international airport, is also used by the coalition as a base for its Apache attack helicopters.
The Houthi leadership has promised to “liberate” the airbase, but the forces have not attacked al-Anad despite holding the high ground. The deployment of 400 additional Sudanese troops to Aden on November 9, may be a response to this Houthi led counter-offensive (Middle East Eye, November 9). However, the troops, who arrived in Aden with lightly armored APCs and Toyota trucks, will find it difficult to resupply and defend the airbase, which is reliant on a single road that links Aden with Sana’a. The road and vehicles traveling on it are highly vulnerable to ambush attacks, which the Houthis excel at.
The fact that the Houthis and their allies were able to push as far south as al-Anad—located just 40 miles north of Aden—demonstrates that the Popular Resistance and Saudi-led coalition forces exercise little control over areas outside of the coalition’s headquarters and the temporary capital of Aden.
Objectives
As outlined above, the objectives of the current Houthi offensive are most probably threefold: secure the borders of what was North Yemen ahead of negotiations, further isolate the besieged city of Taiz and increase the pressure on Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners.
The first of these aims underlines that the restoration of a unified Yemen looks increasingly unlikely. The divisions between north and south Yemen were significant before the outbreak of civil war. After the Houthi’s brutal occupation of Aden and the Popular Resistance fighters’ alliance with Saudi Arabia, whose air campaign and naval blockade have devastated Yemen, these divisions are now chasms. Symbolic of this is that the flag of the unified Republic of Yemen is no longer flown in southern Yemen, and the flag of the formerly independent South Yemen now flies outside of the exiled Yemeni government’s offices in Aden.
Despite the Houthis’ and their allies’ rhetoric about reunifying the country, the leadership in Sana’a likely realizes that this is impossible to achieve through military means and also unlikely via political means. However, the northern-based leadership also knows that North Yemen is not viable without southern Yemen’s resources. Most of Yemen’s remaining oil and gas reserves are located in South Yemen. Thus, the Houthis and the northern elites allied with them will continue to put pressure on the south militarily.
The second critical objective of the current offensive is to further isolate the city of Taiz, where the Houthis have enforced a blockade for months. Taiz, which is located within the densely populated and well-watered central highlands, has long been on the cultural and physical border between North and South Yemen. As such, while it was part of North Yemen, it has always been contested during times of civil strife. The Houthis and, more broadly, the northern elites know that they must control Taiz and its economic resources if they want to maintain their position as leading power brokers in Yemen. If the current counter-offensive is successful, it will mean that Taiz is surrounded by territory that is controlled by the Houthis and their allies.
The third objective is to increase pressure on Saudi Arabia and its partners. The Houthis’ current offensive is occurring at the same time as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are reconsidering the efficacy of their direct involvement in the war. In early November, the UAE began moving significant numbers of its troops out of Yemen. While the UAE states that this is simply a troop rotation, it is worth noting that along with the troops, the UAE is also moving out much of its hardware, which is unusual if this is indeed a troop rotation (Khaleej Times, November 3).
Additional Pressure Points
As part of their strategy to exert pressure on the coalition—in particular on Saudi Arabia—the Houthis and allied units of the Yemeni Army continue to launch hit and run operations along Saudi Arabia’s southern border. In what appears to be an escalation of the cross border attacks, on November 5, Houthi forces seized—and briefly held—the Saudi border town of al-Rabu’ah. [1] While the attacks have not been covered or documented by Western or Gulf-based media outlets, the Houthis have posted hours of video on YouTube that purports to show their forces attacking what appear to be elements of the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF), Saudi towns and numerous border posts.
In addition to maintaining, if not intensifying, their cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, Houthi media outlets claim that the Houthis and elements of the Yemeni Armed Forces have successfully targeted Saudi and Emirati naval ships off Yemen’s Red Sea coast. These attacks have not been confirmed by Saudi Arabia or the UAE. However, the Yemeni Navy does have Chinese C-802 anti-ship missiles in its inventory so such attacks are possible.
Conclusion
It is unlikely that the current counter-offensive will result in the Houthis and their allies regaining control of Aden and the parts of southwest Yemen that they briefly controlled in mid-2015. The Houthi leadership and the northern elites allied with them know that they cannot retake, much less secure, all of southwest Yemen, even if Saudi Arabia and its partners cease military operations in the country.
However, the counter-offensive shows Saudi Arabia and its partners that seven months’ of intense aerial bombardment has done little to impede the Houthis’ and their allies’ ability to plan and execute complex offensives. While the counter-offensive does have important strategic aims, its primary purpose is to strengthen the Houthis’ and their allies’ bargaining position in Geneva, if—and when—talks begin.
Michael Horton is an analyst whose work primarily focuses on Yemen and the Horn of Africa.
Notes
1. The video purports to show Houthi and allied Yemeni Army units in action against the RSLF in al-Rabu’ah, a town located in Saudi Arabia’s Asir region that is home to ethnic Yemenis, some of whom are Zaidi Shi’a. The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AJy05cNJ-c.
2. See: http://www.janes.com/article/55592/yemeni-rebels-claim-third-anti-ship-missile-attack. |
Russia's President Vladimir Putin says those responsible for crimes during the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome won’t escape responsibility if their guilt is proven, and will swap house arrest for prison bunks.
"Six criminal cases had to be launched, in which four people were arrested. Two of them, however, are under house arrest, while the other two are in pre-trial detention,” Putin is cited as saying by Interfax.
“But if their guilt of the suspected of crimes is proven, they’ll have to swap their warm beds at home for prison bunks," he added.
Putin arrived at Vostochny for its first launch, which was scheduled to take place at 5:01am Moscow time (02:01GMT) on Wednesday.
However, automatic systems canceled the launch of a Soyuz-2.1a space rocket less than two minutes before the liftoff.
The president later said “the malfunction, as far as I understand, is not due to the condition of the cosmodrome, but to the rocket itself."
"I want to hear how the post-launch analysis is being carried out. Without any doubt, conclusions will have to be made," he added.
Read more
The construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome began in 2012, with the site to become the maiden Russian cosmodrome for civilian purposes.
The first launch at Vostochny was expected in 2015, but was postponed to April 2016 due to mismanagement of the project and poor performance by subcontractors.
At some point during construction, the workers at the site had to go on strike after salaries were delayed.
Criminal investigations into alleged embezzlement and other corruption-related crimes were launched against those involved in the construction of the cosmodrome.
According to a 2014 inquiry by the Audit Chamber, Roskosmos was responsible for financial irregularities worth 92.9 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) during the Vostochny construction, with the cosmodrome’s cost overstated by 20 percent.
Putin decided to stay at the Vostochny Cosmodrome until a meeting of the government commission on Thursday morning, which is to set a new launch date.
“If the commission opts for staging another launch attempt Thursday morning, Putin will be present at the launch site to witness the event," Dmitry Peskov, presidential press secretary, said.
Read more
Earlier, Putin examined the launch site, saying that despite construction problems "in general, the cosmodrome was built in line with standards."
The head of Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, Igor Komarov, said the problem that prevented the first launch at Vostochny may be fixed within 24 hours.
"An automatic stop of the launch occurred due to malfunction of the automated control system. The orbit for the launch was sun-synchronous, thus a postponement for 24 hours is planned… I think there is every reason to believe that it can be fixed in one day," Komarov said.
According to Roscosmos, the postponement of the maiden launch had nothing do with the cosmodrome’s infrastructure or any human factor.
"This has no relation to the specifics of the Vostochny Cosmodrome… This is not linked to the work of the mobile tower or the launching system. A glitch has occurred, we need to study and eliminate it," said Aleksandr Ivanov, the Roscosmos deputy head.
Roscosmos spokesman Igor Burenkov said that the canceled launch at Vostochny shouldn’t be dramatized.
“Such things happen quite often. Our colleagues abroad also experience the same problems… In general, technology is a very serious thing. Even [clothes] irons break from time to time, let alone a rocket, which is a lot more complicated,” Burenkov explained. |
All the Permits
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Camp safely and legally by making sure you have all of the right permits for everything you want to do — camping, fishing, hunting, whatever the case may be.
First Aid Kit
positivelysplendid.com
And with help from Because you don’t really want to have to have to do the Survivorman thing. Here's a list that should definitely be in there, from Outdoor Life. Here’s a list from the American Red Cross.And with help from Positively Splendid , you can make a cute little holder for everything.
Flashlight and Extra Batteries
www.amazlab.com
(Headlamps are useful too…and you can use that trick where you attach it to a gallon jug of water to use as a lantern or just use SL6 Torch' lantern function.)
Sunscreen
Bring it, wear it, and Bring it, wear it, and wear it right . No excuses.
Rain Gear
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Check out this video to figure out what to pack in case it rains. Or reschedule if there’s a bad forecast.
Insect Repellent
thefrugalgirls.com
Gotta keep those buggers from bugging you. The Frugal Girls have a list of the best non-nasty-smelling things you can use.
Campfire Starters
mommysavers.com
So you can spend more time roasting marshmallows. Toilet paper rolls and dryer lint are an inexpensive DIY project.
Matches
theburlapbag.com
To help your fire starters along. You can keep them in a mason jar for cute storage, with a sandpaper top. (And for the smokers, this is a great emergency back up, just in case your lighter breaks or gets lost.
Weather-Appropriate Clothing
CHECK THE WEATHER. If it’s supposed to be cold one night, you don’t want to freeze!
Tent
Adorable bunting optional. Adorable bunting optional.
Your Tent’s Rain Fly
Your tent probably comes with one, and if it starts raining you’ll definitely want it to keep you and everything inside your tent warm and dry. Also, Your tent probably comes with one, and if it starts raining you’ll definitely want it to keep you and everything inside your tent warm and dry. Also, make sure you’re using it properly.
Sleeping bag
juicy-bits.typepad.com
Backpacker magazine has a handy guide for finding the right sleeping bag. If you’re backpacking and hiking, you might want to opt for a super lightweight one. Or you can go Juicy Bits’ route and glamp.
Ground Cloth or Tarp
pinterest.com
If you bought a tent, it probably came with one. If not, you can just use a tarp. It will (if used the right way) help keep the rain out! Bonus: if you use a tarp, you can possibly turn it into a big tarp shelter. (If you manage to put up each and everyone of these take photos, post them and earn my eternal and undying respect.)
Extra Stakes
bushsmarts.com
Ok, so this is a little optional. But I’ll never forget the time I went camping without extra stakes and one of my tent mates had to rig up something with some extra marshmallow skewers. These titanium tent pegs might be overkill, but they’re easy to spot in a sea of leaves.
Mallet to get those stakes in the ground
If the ground’s damp you’ll be fine, but if the ground’s harder, you’ll have a tough time getting those stakes in the dirt. You can always try to use your foot to press it in, but better to be safe than sorry.
Camp Pillow
www.pininterest.com
Hoodie/pillow can work as a laptop protector too. You can also get a fancy one at REI, or just use the bag that your sleeping bag came in stuffed with your down jacket. Hoodie/pillow can work as a laptop protector too. You can also get a fancy one at REI, or just use the bag that your sleeping bag came in stuffed with your down jacket.
Lantern |
Jesus Christ’s true disciples don’t do good to earn praise from others (see Matthew 6:1-6). However, most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints want their church to be well regarded so others might be moved to consider its claims. In this, they obey Jesus: “Let your light so shine before men,” he said, “that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). After all, his sheep will hear and recognize his voice (John 10:27).
But the LDS Church will never be universally respected, let alone beloved. And this shouldn’t be surprising.
The Savior taught in both hemispheres that, while the gate to destruction is broad “and many there be which go in thereat,” “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14; 3 Nephi 14:13-14).
He warned his first disciples they would be despised and abused:
“Blessed are ye,” he said, “when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).
“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:18, 20). “Yea, the time cometh,” Jesus predicted, “that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (see John 16:2).
In other words, opponents of early Christianity often regarded themselves as doing good, fighting evil. Why should it be different now?
Today, many millions venerate the names of those first Christian disciples. They “build the tombs of the prophets” and “garnish the sepulchres of the righteous” (Matthew 23:29). While the disciples lived, though, the world neither loved nor respected them.
“We preach Christ crucified,” reported the apostle Paul, “unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
And, indeed, true revelation often goes beyond human logic and understanding (see, for instance, Moses 5:6; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Nephi 11:16-17; 1 Nephi 19:3; Alma 7:8). If it only told us what we could have discovered on our own, it would be redundant.
The apostles, said Paul, were “despised” as “fools for Christ’s sake” (1 Corinthians 4:10).
“Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called,” he explained. “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen” (1 Corinthians 1:26-28).
Joseph Smith’s First Vision was received “with great contempt,” and he was soon advised that his name would be had not only for good but for evil “among all nations, kindreds and tongues” (Joseph Smith—History 1:21, 33).
Very quickly in the founding text of the Restoration, Nephi sees “the mother of abominations,” who would have “dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues and people.” By contrast, peering into the future, he sees that “the saints of God were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small” (see 1 Nephi 14:11-12). That is, while the restored church will spread worldwide, it won’t become numerically dominant.
Why not? Partially because elite opinion will despise it. Lehi saw “a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit” of the tree of life. Some who partook were “ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost” (see 1 Nephi 8:25-28, 33). Nephi learned that the building represents “the world and the wisdom thereof,” and rebellious worldly “pride” (1 Nephi 11:35-36).
Faithful church members should be neither disheartened nor ashamed. These realities were predicted long ago. Ultimately, though, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25). |
Clinton has not always been a steadfast surrogate for this White House. | Jason J. Lee for POLITICO Clinton: 'Of course' country better off
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bill Clinton pleaded with the American people to “keep President Obama on the job” Tuesday night, urging voters to give the president another four years to turn around the economy and protect the social safety net from what Clinton called draconian Republican cuts.
Delivering a lengthy, point-by-point rebuttal of last week’s Republican National Convention, veering frequently from his prepared text, Clinton cast Obama as a steadfast economic leader who has been stymied by an intransigent Congress. If Obama is reelected, Clinton said, the full impact of his policies will soon be felt.
Story Continued Below
( Also on POLITICO: Obama, Clinton share hug on stage at DNC)
“No president, not me, not any of my predecessors — no one could possibly have repaired all the damage that he found in just four years,” Clinton said of Obama. “But he has laid the foundations for a new, modern, successful economy of shared prosperity. And if you will renew the president’s contract, you will feel it. You will feel it.”
Addressing a question that has stymied other Democrats in recent days, Clinton argued that thanks to the economic stimulus, the auto bailout, the health care overhaul and other White House policies, the country is better off now than it was four years ago.
( PHOTOS: Scenes from the Democratic National Convention)
“Are we where we want to be today? No. Is the president satisfied? Of course not. But are we better off than when he took office? Of course,” Clinton said.
Calling out Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for what he called untruths about welfare reform and Medicare in their campaign messaging, the former president dubbed the Republicans agents of a discredited economic philosophy: “We simply cannot afford to give the reins of government to someone who will double down on trickle-down.”
“If you want a country of shared opportunity and shared responsibility, a we’re-all-in-this-together society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden,” he said.
Clinton’s upbeat message, promising that an economic recovery is already underway — “I believe it, with all my heart I believe it” — is a rationale for Obama’s reelection that the president has struggled to convey himself, striking a balance between optimism about the future and candid acknowledgment that people have struggled during the economic crisis.
Obama joined Clinton on stage at the conclusion of his remarks, making his first appearance before the convention and bringing Charlotte’s Time Warner Cable Arena to its feet. Clinton’s remarks served as the formal nominating address for the president; delegates voted to nominate Obama for a second term shortly after midnight.
An icon of centrist Democratic politics, Clinton spoke to the crowd at the end of an evening punctuated by hard-edged liberal rhetoric. Immediately preceding him was Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, the heroine of Democratic activists who pummeled Romney for his comment that “corporations are people.”
“President Obama believes in a level playing field,” Warren said. “He believes in a country where nobody gets a free ride or a golden parachute. A country where anyone who has a great idea and rolls up their sleeves has a chance to build a business, and anyone who works hard can build some security and raise a family.”
And Warren wasn’t the only champion of the left to swing a hatchet at the Romney-Ryan ticket before Clinton addressed the crowd.
Sandra Fluke, the activist who became a national figure when Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut,” warned that Romney would usher in “an America in which states humiliate women by forcing us to endure invasive ultrasounds.”
Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee that Ryan chairs, assailed Romney and Ryan as extensions of failed George W. Bush-era policies. |
The pioneering chat app that taught us to text is pulling the plug. On December 15th, AOL Instant Messenger will shut down after running since 1997. AIM dominated online chat in North America at the turn of the century. But with SMS and social apps like Facebook and WhatsApp having conquered chat, AOL is giving up the fight with no planned replacement.
“We know there are so many loyal fans who have used AIM for decades; and we loved working and building the first chat app of its kind since 1997,” AOL wrote on the AIM help page. “Our focus will always be on providing the kind of innovative experiences consumers want. We’re more excited than ever to focus on building the next generation of iconic brands and life-changing products.”
TechCrunch reader Daniel Sinclair tipped the shut-down to us, which follows the cut-off of third-party apps back in March. Now AIM’s official MacOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps are being pulled off life support.
“From setting the perfect away message to that familiar ring of an incoming chat, AIM will always have a special place in our hearts,” AOL wrote to users in an email. People can download images they sent until December 15th, but the app’s download links will start disappearing now. Unfortunately there’s no way to save or port your buddy list.
Initially the chat experience built into AOL desktop, AIM launched as a standalone app in 1997. Its iconic Away Messages were the ancestor to the modern tweet and status update. It battled for supremacy with competitors like ICQ, and messengers from Yahoo and Microsoft MSN. But eventually text messaging, Google’s GChat and Facebook took over, while AIM never fully figured out the shift to mobile. That led to AOL’s fall from grace, going from being valued at $224 billion in today’s money to just $4.4 billion when it was sold to Verizon in 2015. For context on the business AOL let slip away, WhatsApp sold that same year to Facebook for more than $19 billion.
Back in March, a former AOL employee told Ars Technica that he estimated AIM usage had sunk to single-digit millions of users, and the cost of AOL keeping the OSCAR messaging protocol running became too high to justify.
Regardless of [Disclosure] TechCrunch being owned by AOL, this moment is bittersweet for me. AIM taught me to write as 12-year old trying to navigate the world of grade-school friendship and romance. I was a shy kid who’d fumble for words in person, but found my voice through the keyboard where I could compose and edit my thoughts before revealing them. After three straight all-night AIM chats, I asked out my first girlfriend, on pins and needles staring at my cathode ray tube until she agreed.
AIM was a domain parents didn’t understand, giving it a feeling of clandestine cool — akin to getting one’s first car but for the internet generation. In fact, it was what first convinced me that social technology would change the way we interact with each other so vividly that it was worth studying and eventually writing about for a living.
So, farewell to AIM and my embarrassing screen name KDog313. Being a teenager will always sound like one of your incoming messages. |
A Look Into Ukraine’s World Famous Petrykivka Paintings
UATV English Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 22, 2017
Petrykivka paintings are one of Ukraine’s famous cultural landmarks. A new exhibition held in Kyiv shows the secret of this Ukrainian traditional art.
TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO REPORT
Valentyna Deka’s whole life revolves around Petrykivka paintings. Deka even got her family involved in this unique Ukrainian paintings. The ornamental folk art is on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2013.
Valentyna Deka, Painter
Ornaments first appeared on houses walls and then turned into a separate folk art form — the Petrykivka painting. Of course, we have two houses decorated using the Petrykivka style designs.
The birthplace of the world famous paintings is the village of Petrykivka.Valentyna is proud to call that same village her home.
Olha Havrylenko, Chairwoman of Petrykivka Village Council
Among the 7,500 people living here, there are 2 painters, 17 award-winning artists, and more than 250 people who are currently learning the Petrykivka style painting.
In the Polish village of Zalipie, dozens of houses have Petrykivka-style designs. The colorful floral ornaments are also considered to be a part of the country’s traditional heritage. The ethnographic museum of Tarnów has many of the designs on display.
Svitlana Pakhlova, Manager of the Project
The city of Tarnów is not far from the Ukraine border. So, of course, they have very close relations. Poland and Ukraine are two different countries, but we have very similar art. Despite the different traditions, colors, and different patterns — they have similar designs. The art is also connected by the different artists’ inspiration, kindness, and sincerity.
A separate part of the exhibition showcases ceramics made by modern artists who have been influenced by Ukrainian traditions. |
Feline Longmore hadn’t anticipated having fans. She didn’t grow up playing the game in which she is now nationally ranked. She doesn’t look much like the average competitor, either: Far from the stereotypical teenage boy gamer, Longmore is a 31-year-old woman.
And yet, here in the starkly lit, heavily air-conditioned ballroom of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Sunday morning, she has fans. Lots of them. Toward the end of each round of the Star City Games Open Series tournament — the country’s biggest competition for the fantasy card game Magic: The Gathering — crowds of admirers tend to gather around Longmore’s table. One bespectacled teenager hovers nearby during every round. He’s the proud owner of a Longmore-autographed High Tide — the card she is famous for playing — obtained at a different tournament. But he doesn’t say anything about it. He just watches.
The response to Longmore’s success hasn’t always been so positive. When she won a similar tournament in Seattle two years ago, the online backlash was virulent. The day after her victory, a thread went up on a message board for gamers titled “Magic The Gathering Legacy tournament champion is a chick. Would you hit it?” When commenters found out that Longmore is transgender, their language became even more venomous.
This was the Magic world asserting its boundaries. Invented in 1993 as a quick trading-card game that could be played between rounds of Dungeons & Dragons, it’s a fairly geeky pastime even by gaming standards. Some players have said they got involved in Magic in high school because they weren’t cool enough to hang out with the kids who played video games. For them, Magic was a refuge, the one clubhouse where they could be themselves.
For nearly two decades, that clubhouse has included mostly young, white men — a demographic that still makes up about 90 percent of tournament participants.
But Longmore’s success, and the recent success of other female players, set off something of a crash course in diversity training for Magic players. It had to. The game isn’t just some extra-obscure corner of the offbeat nerd community anymore: It’s a $200 million-a-year industry with a fan base of 20 million and a growing pool of elite players who make their living from tournament prizes (which top out at about $40,000). There’s even a Magic movie in the works.
“That kind of behavior, it’s just not healthy for the game,” Cedric Phillips says of the online vitriol directed at Longmore and other female players. A former professional player-turned-play-by-play announcer for Star City Games, which organizes tournaments, Phillips watches the Magic community more closely than almost anyone. And he does see it improving.
He attributes the change, in part, to demographic shifts that are happening across the gaming culture. According to a report released by the Entertainment Software Association in the spring, women make up 48 percent of all computer and video game players, and the average age of gamers is 31. Similar data for tabletop games such as Magic is hard to come by — but John Ward, executive director of the Game Manufacturers Association, says that, anecdotally, he’s seen more women become involved in these kinds of games as well.
Gaming is becoming more mainstream, Phillips says, and as it does, it’s growing more diverse. Magic offers a case study for the question all games will soon face (if they aren’t already): As the community expands, can it drop its no-rules, boys’ club mentality?
“Gaming has always been perceived as a guy thing to do,” says Tifa Robles, founder of a Seattle-based group that aims to cultivate a more welcoming Magic community at local game shops. “So either someone was hitting on you, or they assumed that women don’t know what’s on their cards the same as men do.”
Andy Bruce, a competitive player who participates in three to four tournaments a week, has written extensively about what it’s like to be a woman in Magic: people staring at her chest, speculating about her underwear, asking her if she was going to take her shirt off so she could win.
Bruce found similar testimonies from other female players online and realized the breadth of the problem. It goes beyond Magic, too. Bruce pointed to Anita Sarkeesian, whose video series “Feminist Frequency” draws daily threats and crude remarks for its critiques of how women are portrayed in video games.
It’s difficult for gamers to pinpoint the source of these attitudes: Is it the immaturity of players? A belief that women don’t belong in the gaming world? But they do see something of an explanation in gaming’s origins. So many people come to gaming because they were excluded elsewhere — and they can be irrationally defensive of their communities once they’ve found them.
“When you have that level of ostracism and feeling like you’ve made a clubhouse, anything that threatens the way you look at it is really, really dangerous,” says Elizabeth Sampat, a game designer and steering committee member of the International Game Developers Association’s “Women in Games” special-interest group. “This is their territory and they have to defend it, no matter what.”
It is slowly, by some measures, getting better.
Robles, who took time away from competing when she was working for Wizards of the Coast, is again playing and no longer the only woman at tournaments — female players typically now make up 5 to 10 percent of tournament participants.
And behavior at competitive events is being more tightly regulated. In conjunction with Wizards of the Coast, the network of volunteer judges who run tournaments instituted new rules this summer that broaden the definition of “unsporting conduct” and allow judges to bar players for offensive language and harassment.
Helene Bergeot, Wizards of the Coast’s director of global organized play, didn’t comment on whether there was a specific reason for the rule change. But she did say that the company recognizes Magic’s widening fan base, “and that’s also the reason why we are striving to make the Magic tournaments as welcoming as possible.”
Longmore prefers to stay out of those politics. Unwilling to let anything get in the way of her game, she hasn’t paid attention to the backlash from her 2012 victory in Seattle or any that have followed.
Even at Sunday’s tournament, which isn’t going as well as she’d hoped, she stays upbeat. Though it’s clear by the fifth round that she is not going to make the top eight — her original goal for the day — she decides to stay through the afternoon. She loves the game, and because she’s gunning for an invite to the Players’ Championship at the end of the year, it’s good to play as many matches as possible.
A friend checks her next assignment for her, and Longmore walks over to a table where a young man is already shuffling his deck. He looks at her as she sits down, then at the cards in her hand.
They shake hands, and when they begin to chat, the man’s first question isn’t about Longmore’s gender. He wants to know about High Tide, the card she’s famous for playing.
Longmore smiles and dives in.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Hasbro lists “Magic: The Gathering” as a “boys’ action gaming product. The company lists Magic in its “games” category. This version has been corrected. |
Starting with its first quarter, Apple will relegate the iPod to the "other" revenue category, an area that signals that the music player just isn't material to the company anymore.
Simply put, Apple has signaled that the iPod has the same rank as the accessories it sells for its other products. Apple will put the iPod in a category with Apple TV, headphones, peripherals and accessories. In addition, Apple will start a new category for iTunes, software and services that'll cover content, apps, licensing, cloud services and Apple Pay.
What's interesting about the demise of the iPod's standing is that the device has touched every product that made Apple a juggernaut. The iPod served as the base for Apple's turnaround.
Apple's Mac surges on back-to-school, emerging markets | Apple Q4: Strong quarter, beats estimates thanks to 'record' sales | Apple Q4: Cook talks Apple Pay; IBM deal; Mac-iPad convertible?
In 2001, Apple launched iTunes and the iPod. Entering the music player category wasn't an original idea, but Apple did it better than everyone else. In 2002, the iPod became compatible with Windows and went from 600,000 units to 10 million by the end of 2004. Through Sept. 1, 2010 Apple sold 275 million iPods.
More importantly, the iPod got Apple into mobility and created an iTunes ecosystem that ultimately gave birth to the App Store. The software inside the iPod was a starter set for iOS. When the iPhone was launched in 2007 one of the biggest selling points was that it was a phone that could play your music library. Sure, there were apps in the beginning, but the real sell was that the iPhone was like your iPod except it could text and make calls.
When then CEO Steve Jobs launched the iPhone, he paid homage to the iPod and said the smartphone was just like your iPod but better. Check out the slides from Jobs keynote:
You can go chart almost every product Apple has after the Mac and see the connecting tissue to the iPod. Perhaps the iPod is fading fast with fourth quarter sales falling 28 percent to a mere $410 million, but the device lineage lives on. |
Op-ed: If Change Can Come to LGBT America, It Can Happen in the Middle East
Under a veil of secrecy, I was asked to meet Firas at a restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side. I wasn't sure what to expect but felt compelled to make the trek to hear what he had to say. Firas had read one of my op-eds on The Advocate; he connected to my openness as a gay American writer and asked if I could help share his story. As I approached the restaurant, I could see a tall young man wearing a dark suit and a bright smile seated outside; I guessed he was somewhere in his late 20s. I sat down and we started to converse. There we were, two gay men with so much yet so little in common. Firas was born in the kingdom of Bahrain, a small island located in the Persian Gulf. I have to admit, before I met Firas, I didn't know too much about this part of the world. Firas hopes to educate Americans like me about his country and what it is like living there as a gay man.
Firas first left Bahrain as a teenager to attend college in Europe. He later returned home, but he wanted to "escape and liberate" himself from a society with deep religious ideologies not openly aligned with the person he is. While homosexuality has been legal in Bahrain since the 1970s, due to the nation's position within the Arab world, it is not openly embraced. Moreover, in recent years, there has been a crackdown on gays, with some arrested under vaguely worded "morality" laws. But among gays within the Arab world, Bahrain offers a "don't ask, don't tell" atmosphere. Firas told me to think of Bahrain as the Las Vegas of the Middle East: What happens in Bahrain, stays in Bahrain. The nation is a “relatively” liberal enclave in a very conservative region, and, as such, provides a welcome place of escape for gay men living in surrounding countries, especially in nearby Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, gay rights are denied, as society there is heavily influenced by Arab tribal customs.
Firas came out to his family when he was 15, and he has a brother who is also gay. In Bahrain, they can go out to "gay bars," but don't expect to see any rainbow flags or a Pride parade. Firas took a job in the United States with the hope of creating small waves of change within his country and to learn Western ways to help LGBT people in the Middle East establish and promote their rights. Firas is able to live more freely here in New York City and was excited to tell me about an upcoming birthday weekend he had planned for his boyfriend. However, he struggles with having to conceal his identity among colleagues, given his position. Firas explains,”The reason for secrecy is because in the Arabian peninsula and specially in the Gulf, tribalism plays a huge part in diplomatic relations; my security can be at risk when I go back home. Coming out to my immediate family and close friends was easy, but taking my journey to the next level could not only affect me but my family on whole.”
While listening to Firas's story, I could not help but think of my own struggles growing up as a gay man in America. I reflected back to a time when gays were seldom depicted on television. When I was growing up in the '80s, the images of gay men ingrained in my head were associated with the AIDS epidemic. I remember seeing skeletal men with sores on their bodies on the nightly news. Because of these images, I did not want to be gay. I was not ready to accept myself until years later. I remember watching Ellen DeGeneres come out in 1997; it was a catalyst of conversation in my home and in the homes of millions of Americans. The following year, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was beaten, tortured, and left to die. Shepard's murder horrified the nation and brought attention to hate-crimes legislation at state and federal levels. Fast-forward to 2015, with the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage, we have come a long way. Point being, every society has its own history; change is indeed possible, even in the Middle East.
Firas would one day like to marry his boyfriend and reveal himself to his colleagues without risk of punishment. He hopes one day Bahrain could be a leading country for the gay movement in the Middle East. Firas feels strongly that by sharing his personal story, he can inspire other gay Middle Easterners to move beyond traditions and follow their hearts to an acceptance that the LGBT Arabs are just as entitled as everyone else for basic human rights.
The issue of LGBT rights has gained visibility at the United Nations, and that's in spite of attempts by some countries to try to argue that their culture precludes them recognizing gay rights. The U.N. recently launced Free & Equal, a highly visible antihomophobia campaign that's on track to reach 2 billion people by the end of this year, making it the U.N.'s most popular human rights campaign to date. This is good news for Firas and the millions like him.
Bon Appetit and an actor, writer, and commenter. |
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