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Plans to create a US ‘space force’ will take global militarisation to another level.
Speaking to an audience of military personnel in California earlier this year, United States President Donald Trump unveiled his scheme to create a sixth branch of the US military: the “space force”.
According to Trump’s version of the story, the idea had unfolded as follows: “I was saying it the other day cos we’re doing a tremendous amount of work in space. I said maybe we need a new force; we’ll call it the space force. And I was not really serious, and then I said what a great idea, maybe we’ll have do do that.”
Of course, such flashes of creative brilliance are to be expected from the man who self-identifies as “a very stable genius“.
It seems, however, that the whole space force notion may not have materialised in as spontaneous a fashion as Trump has implied. As CNN pointed out, the idea for a “space corps” as a distinct military branch surfaced last year but was ultimately “nixed from the final version of the $700 billion bipartisan defence policy bill”.
Rewind a bit further in time, and we find that a similar suggestion was also put forth in 2001 by a commission headed by soon-to-be US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
And as NPR recalls: “The concept of a space force goes back to the Cold War”.
Anyway, facts are flexible in the Trumpian era.
Overspending on war
Explaining to the gathering in California that his “new national strategy for space recognises that space is a war-fighting domain, just like the land, air and sea”, Trump vouched for the feasibility of a space force “because we’re spending a lot and we have a lot of private money coming in. Tremendous”.
He’s right, at least, about the spending habit; just take a quick glance at that $700bn figure a few paragraphs back.
Or consider the December 2017 statement by the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, who found that, while the US “spends more on national defence than China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Kingdom, India, France and Japan combined”, the nation isn’t exactly flourishing.
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Among numerous other trivia, the report notes that “Americans can expect to live shorter and sicker lives, compared to people living in any other rich democracy”.
With “one-quarter of youth living in poverty”, the US youth poverty rate is the highest of any country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and, as of 2013, US infant mortality rates were “the highest in the developed world”.
Let’s get ‘more lethal’
Granted, this state of affairs is not enormously surprising given the US government’s consistent prioritisation of the health of the arms industry over the health of the humans that are allegedly being defended from ubiquitous foreign nemeses, only to languish in sickness and poverty at home.
Meanwhile, Trump’s latest mission to convert outer space into a proper “war-fighting domain” would seem to fit in rather nicely with mankind’s valiant quest to destroy itself.
And though various observers have downplayed the possibility that the Trumpian space force vision will ever debut in real life, there are plenty of more ominous indicators.
For example, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who last year opposed the creation of a space corps, is quoted in a May 2018 dispatch on the Defence Department website as saying that “we want to make the [US] military more lethal in outer space and cyberspace, at sea, on land, and in the air”.
And in February, US Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein declared his belief that “we’re going to be fighting from space in a matter of years.”
Universal militarisation
Practically speaking, of course, space is already a war-fighting domain. There is a space-based layer to the United States’ ballistic missile defence system – successor to Ronald Reagan’s so-called “Star Wars” initiative of 1983 – and space capabilities are already integral to bellicose international endeavours by the US military.
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On top of that, the Air Force Space Command, a division of the US Air Force, currently boasts “more than 36,000 professionals assigned to 134 locations worldwide”, according to its website.
The need to take things to the next level with a full-out US “space force”, then, presumably has something to do with US reliance on comprehensive militarisation strategies as a means of perpetuating domination both domestically and globally.
Methods have generally ranged from the more straightforward installation of US bases, outposts, and troops in the vast majority of countries in the world to the less tangible militarisation of US society and culture, which is often conducted in even subtler ways than, say, via Trump’s idea to arm teachers to halt school shootings.
Shooting for the stars?
In an academic paper titled Constructing Civilian-Soldiers: The Militarisation of Inner Space, Syracuse University professor Jackie Orr explores the “history of attempts by the US government, media, military, and academy to enlist the psychological life of US citizens as a military asset”.
After all, any state wishing to be on perpetual war footing would do well to have behind it a civilian population emotionally conditioned to either demand more war or at least view it as necessary or inevitable.
Utilising George W Bush’s post-9/11 assertion that “every American is a soldier” to discuss the so-called “war on terror” as “the most recent theatre of operations for securing the psychological organisation of US civil society for the manufacture of mass violence”, Orr contends that the duties of the civilian-soldier extend to outer space, as well: that “final, fantastic frontier for the US military’s imaginary and material battlefields”.
Fast forward to 2018 and Trump’s insistence that “our service members will be vital to ensuring America continues to lead the way into the stars”. But in this case, shooting for the stars is hardly a good thing.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. | {
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The company plans to expand the preview to other Insider rings and regions sometime in the future. It's also currently limited to native Xbox One games and not retro players hoping to relive Xbox and Xbox 360 classics. It's going to be a while before you can simply assume that your game library will be available wherever you are. This beats retreating to the living room, though, and gives Microsoft an answer to the PS4's Remote Play. | {
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FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- Immigrations and Customs Enforcement denied stay of removal requested for an undocumented immigrant detained in Fairfax on May 18. The denial means Liliana Cruz Mendez, an 11-year Virginia resident, will be deported back to El Salvador.
Cruz Mendez originally received a misdemeanor conviction for driving without a license in 2006. She was granted stays of removal in June 2014 and May 2015 by the Obama administration. Cruz Mendez was detained May 18 at a regular check-in at ICE's Fairfax office and put on deportation orders. CASA, a Latino and immigrant organization fighting on Cruz Mendez's behalf, wrote to ICE Acting Director Thomas D. Homan as a last ditch-effort to keep her in the country. "Liliana has no other criminal history and has been a model resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia since 2006," wrote Nicholas Katz, senior manager of legal services for CASA. CASA had filed the stay of removal request after Cruz Mendez was detained on Thursday.
(Subscribe to get Virginia Patch News Alerts and a newsletter. iPhone users can download the Patch app in the App Store.) She has two young children who are U.S. citizens. Her husband has applied for asylum, afraid to return to his home country. The organization says her son Steven suffers from asthma and a learning disability, and that these would be difficult to treat in El Salvador.
When the deportation would happen is at ICE's discretion. ICE spokesperson Carissa Cutrell said said in a statement to Patch Tuesday, "While ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security, Secretary Kelly has made clear, ICE will no longer exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States."
ICE's decision comes after Gov. Terry McAuliffe pardoned Cruz Mendez Wednesday in an attempt to release her.
"Today I pardoned Lilian Cruz Mendez, a mother of two who lives in Falls Church, for minor driving offenses that may contribute to her deportation," said McAuliffe in a statement Wednesday. "While this pardon will not necessarily ensure that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agrees to return Ms. Mendez to her husband and two children, I hope it will send a clear message that tearing this family apart will not make our Commonwealth or our country safer."
Patch got word the governor was exploring a pardon Tuesday from Fernanda Durand, a spokeswoman for the Latino and immigrant organization CASA.
Democrats, including McAuliffe, Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Rep. Don Beyer, who represents part of Northern Virginia, have expressed support for Mendez's release. Beyer spoke at a rally May 23 at ICE's headquarters in DC. Beyer said in a statement after ICE's decision, "The remarkable turn of events in our nation will deport Liliana to her native El Salvador, despite a pardon by her governor for a broken tail light infraction, and advocacy by both of her U.S. Senators. It will also deprive two young children of their mother." | {
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OTTAWA—A charitable group dedicated to preserving the country’s broadcasting heritage is calling on the CBC to stop destroying original television and radio broadcast materials as it moves to digitize the content.
The Canadian Broadcast Museum Foundation says the public broadcaster’s English service earlier this month began destroying acetate transcriptions, as well as audio and video recordings that span eight decades, after converting the master copies into a digital format.
The foundation asked the CBC earlier this year for time to find a suitable space to archive and preserve the material, but says it was turned down.
It notes that Radio-Canada, the public broadcaster’s French-language service, intends to retain its master recordings after making digital copies.
The CBC acknowledges it started this month to destroy original recordings that had been converted and would continue to do so until the end of June.
But a spokesman for the broadcaster says it was being done only after the content was digitized under its own, strict archiving guidelines.
“Our focus is on preservation of content and if we do not digitize this content, it will be lost,” said Chuck Thompson, head of public affairs for CBC English Services.
“With that in mind, between now and June 30, CBC intends to proceed with the safe and environmentally responsible destruction of those carriers which have been digitized, so long as our standards for media quality and data security have been met,” he said in an email.
The foundation raised concerns about losing the original recordings in a letter last month to Heritage Minister Melanie Joly.
It told the minister a plan was in the works to store the CBC’s archival content in the decommissioned underground NORAD Canadian Forces base in North Bay, but that it couldn’t meet a March 31 deadline to transfer the materials and asked the minister to delay destruction of CBC’s original English-language programming.
A spokesman for Joly declined comment, calling it a CBC decision.
Kealy Wilkinson, the foundation’s executive director, called the destruction of the content “truly disturbing.”
“At a time when Canada is finally committed to sustain and support Indigenous cultures, it has become the first developed nation to systematically destroy master recordings of its largest audiovisual heritage collection, our English-language radio and television artifacts.”
The CBC said it had already digitized over 20 per cent of its content and would accelerate the process over the next five to eight years.
“We are investing in the digitization of our audio and video media to protect and preserve our archives, to make them easier for our production teams to access and for Canadians to rediscover,” Thompson said in an email, noting that the CBC is recognized among its peer broadcasters as an industry leader in archival preservation.
Thompson added that the equipment needed to play the original recordings had become obsolete or would require “significant maintenance.”
But internationally accepted standards and best practices of audiovisual preservation call for retention of originals, due to the unknown characteristics of digitization, such as long-term stability and vulnerability to electromagnetic interference, the foundation said.
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It also questioned why Radio-Canada was preserving its master recordings after making digital copies but CBC had opted to rely only on digital copies.
“Such inequitable treatment of cultural treasures is not acceptable,” said Wilkinson. | {
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Photo: Ian Gavan/Getty Images
Despite getting nominated for a Tony when she was 12 years old, making her film debut in the musical-theater-themed Camp, and turning Pitch Perfect’s low-key folk number “Cups” into a Billboard Hot 100 hit, somehow Disney’s Into the Woods marks Anna Kendrick’s first full-blown movie musical. She picked one hell of a starting place — Stephen Sondheim’s legendary fractured fairy tale packs one doozy of a libretto. Under the eye of Chicago director Rob Marshall, Kendrick co-stars as Cinderella, a dreamer who encounters Emily Blunt’s Baker’s Wife, Meryl Streep’s Witch, and, of course, Chris Pine’s Prince Charming as she wanders through the overgrowth. Songs are sung, high notes are hit, and Kendrick never misses a beat. While in New York, Kendrick sat down with Vulture to discuss grappling with Sondheim on film, evolving Cinderella into a 21st-century character, and looking ahead to her musical follow-up: the Off Broadway adaptation The Last Five Years.
There’s a moment in D.A. Pennebaker’s Company documentary where Elaine Stritch struggles to perform “Here’s to the Ladies That Lunch” while Stephen Sondheim becomes increasingly frustrated. The scene came to mind as I watched you perform Into the Woods’s “On the Steps of the Palace” while wearing a corset. More than typical Broadway shows, do Sondheim numbers need to be conquered? Do they test you?
Are you kidding? Fuck yeah. It’s so complicated. (I’m now thinking about Elaine Stritch and getting all misty-eyed.) It’s so intimidating. The music team — very matter-of-factly — when we started rehearsal, was like, “Oh, ‘On the Steps of the Palace’ is the hardest song in the show.” It’s mean. It’s unkind how hard that song is. They were like, “To be honest, no Cinderella has ever sung it note-perfect before, and you’re going to do it.” Our music director, Paul Gemignani, worked with me on High Society when I was 12. He worked with me on A Little Night Music when I was 17. And he does not suffer fools. He does not mince words. When he tells you that he’s happy, you know it’s true because he has told you many times before that he is not. It was so great to have him there. He’s the one who raised the key to find Cinderella’s voice inside of me, because my tendency is to just power through vocals and make it loud, make it big, put it in my chest. He raised the key, and the first time I sang it through, he was like, “There’s Cinderella.”
How did that change the song?
It forced me to live in that upper register. But then Rob was like, “Okay, but are you sure you want to raise the key, because I’m still going to make you belt that top note?” That last note. I was like [whispering], “I can do it. I can do it.” At the table read, we were all sitting, and I had to run across the room and stand to get that note out. But luckily, I was standing in the recording studio. It’s challenging vocally, but what’s so great about it is you get there, and once you have it, once you have every note, you live in it, and you just ride it. [Sondheim] has written your performance for you in melody. He’s mapped out your emotional journey for you in melody. You just have to keep up.
Was Sondheim present for any of the recordings?
He wrote the updated lyrics for “Steps of the Palace.” He was in and out of the booth with me, which I want to say was so exciting and glamorous, but I was just trying not to piss my pants. I was so intimidated.
What were his notes?
He’s very matter-of-fact. It’s like, “Do it again. Do it again. Great, we can move on.” He’s not an emphatic person.
Had you encountered him in any of your past musical work?
“Ladies Who Lunch” was in Camp. Which he watched — and again, not a very emphatic man — said, “She has great teeth.” And I was like, “You know what? He didn’t say, ‘She has no business singing that song.’” I’ll take it.
As someone who really respects Sondheim’s work, was there any trepidation over signing up for Disney’s version of Into the Woods?
There wasn’t because it was Rob and it was Meryl, and we had that firepower. If it was a studio like Disney doing it with a director who was very easy to control or didn’t have very strong clarity of vision, then maybe there would be that silly worry that “Oh, the studio’s going to whitewash it.” But they were so excited to have this company of people working on it that they were very hands-off.
The other day you posted a funny image on Twitter of the original Disney Cinderella telling Prince Charming, “Let’s get one thing straight: I can do whatever the fuck I want.” Anyone who calls themself a feminist has debated the merits of the “Disney Princess.” Do you see your role in Into the Woods confronting a lot of what Disney’s done in the past?
What’s interesting is that these tales have been told for centuries and it must be because there is a resonance in them for every generation. What’s interesting about this version, and what’s very modern about this one, is that not only does Cinderella leave her prince, but she leaves with forgiveness and respect and compassion for the prince. It’s not black and white for her. It’s not even black and white for the prince, who lives a pretty black-and-white life. There’s a moment that’s basically, “This isn’t our path.” [Prince Charming says,] “I shall always love the maiden that ran away.” [And Cinderella says,] “And I the faraway Prince.” There is something extremely relevant and modern about the idea of civility in separation.
How would you compare the work you had to do on Into the Woods to performing the on-screen numbers in your next movie, The Last Five Years. The latter plays quite raw.
The music for The Last Five Years is like running a 26-mile marathon, and singing Sondheim is like ballroom-dancing up Everest. Jason [Robert Brown] is a very, very challenging composer. It’s like trying to compare Rembrandt and Pollock. They’re both artists, and they’re both making you feel, but they do it in unbelievably different ways. Jason also takes you on a journey and finds what is universal in specificity in this amazing way. But, my God, are they doing it in completely different ways.
Were you singing that entire score on set?
The Last Five Years we sang almost everything live. When we’re in a convertible on the West Side Highway, there was no point — it’s not going to be usable sound. But any time we were indoors, we were singing live.
I have to shout-out to a little movie you made with Joe Swanberg that’s now on Netflix called Happy Christmas. It’s pretty much the antithesis of Into the Woods, off the cuff and casually natural. But maybe it presents the same kind of challenge as conquering Sondheim?
Thank you so much. I can’t tell you what that means. That was such an amazing opportunity for me because I worked with Joe on Drinking Buddies. The fact that he saw the capacity in me to play someone broken, I felt so grateful for. I often play people who are very together and maybe a little damaged underneath or a little vulnerable underneath — but to play somebody who’s just falling apart, I was so grateful for that opportunity. It was terrifying. I’m so glad that people responded to it.
Many of Joe’s collaborators have gone on to make their own indie dramas. Would you pick up a camera and shoot your own one day?
Only if we made it for $80,000 at somebody’s house, because that’s how Happy Christmas got made. That’s my comfort zone. | {
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Altcoin Analysis: BTC, ETH, XRP, EOS, LTC Cryptocurrency Review
July 10, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE
Since Monday, the market has grown by an average of 8%, mainly due to the growth of Bitcoin. Volumes increased. The capitalization index is at the level of $353 billion, which corresponds to the values of two weeks ago.
Credit: CoinMarketCap
We are going to launch our Altcoin Hub Index Fund very soon. So you will be able to invest from as small as $10 to unlimited funds in a secure index fund where real professionals will trade and manage your portfolio for a small (3%) yearly fee.
You will also be able to have a live view of how your portfolio is doing and exit any time you want.
Stay updated and don’t miss the chance to invest in private Altcoin Hub Index Fund — only 100 positions are available!
Bitcoin
BTC price breaking through local resistance at $11,900, continued their ascent. The immediate goal is located in the area of the previous highs of 26 June. As expected, after reducing volatility, the bulls started showing again, but everything happened relatively quickly, which means that big money continues to show interest in this asset even at current levels, and the overall market consensus on the future prospects of the first coin is rather positive. From a practical point of view, it makes sense to stay long until the price reaches the resistance level, and the further strategy will depend on the behavior of participants in the $14,000 key point for 1 BTC.
Ethereum
At ETH, market participants also show increased activity, volumes have increased, but a pronounced progressive upward movement has not yet occurred. Here, the price is most likely trying to pull up following the BTC movement. It is still far from the highs of June 26, but based on the current technical picture, it is still preferable to stay in a long position with a stop loss below the red line at $300. Scenarios can be very different, but the uptrend indicated by the blue line is still upward, and therefore trading from purchases in the calculation, if not for a quick impulse, then at least to continue the trend, while maintaining general market sentiment, can bring positive results.
Ripple
In XRP, as in the second altcoin, by market cap, nothing changes. Participants are only interested in BTC and ETH, and nothing can be done about it. As part of portfolio management, as we wrote in the last review, it is advisable to keep a small long position for some diversification in order to reduce risk, as well as in case of a sharp change in the current market situation. Everything can happen, therefore, you don’t want to miss the momentum. The strategy does not change. The apparent weakness in the coin of many disappoints, but this is the market. The volume of long is based on current reality. Stop loss below the blue line.
EOS
In EOS, consolidation is preserved and for this reason, the strategy does not change — we are waiting for an exit, and if the chart break through the level of $6.10, a window will open for opening a long position. So far, altcoins are not in demand, but at the same time, the technical picture hints that, if such a scenario is implemented, the impulse may be sufficient to catch a good ride on it. Careful observation of the dynamics and waiting for the moment is now justified from the point of view of possible future prospects.
Litecoin
In LTC, the chart attempted to break the upper limit of the range, but then returned. Apparently, there is a demand for coins, but fear in the market is still stronger. Positions are temporarily covered to clarify the situation. LTC, along with other altcoins, is waiting in the wings, and therefore the capital preservation strategy is most convenient here.
DISCLAIMER: All Content on this site is information of a general nature and does not address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Nothing in the Site constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the Site constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.
Author: Marko Vidrih
Charts via Investing.com powered by TradingView | {
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HARTFORD, Conn. -- The nation's two largest teachers unions want schools to revise or eliminate active shooter drills, asserting Tuesday that they can harm students' mental health and that there are better ways to prepare for the possibility of a school shooting.
The American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association joined with the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund in calling for an end to unannounced drills or drills that simulate gun violence.
“Everywhere I travel, I hear from parents and educators about active shooter drills terrifying students, leaving them unable to concentrate in the classroom and unable to sleep at night,” said Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association. “So traumatizing students as we work to keep students safe from gun violence is not the answer. That is why if schools are going to do drills, they need to take steps to ensure the drills do more good than harm."
The report released Tuesday recommends schools concentrate on training teachers to respond to an active shooter incident rather than drilling students.
It also issued guidelines for schools that decide to use drills. Those include never simulating an actual shooting; giving parents, educators and students advance notice of any drill; working with mental health officials to create age-appropriate and trauma-informed drills; and tracking the effects of drills.
About 95% of schools drilled students on lockdown procedures in the 2015-16 school year, according to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics.
“In Indiana they were shooting teachers with rubber pellets so they would feel the adrenaline of what a school shooting would feel like," said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, which is part of Everytown. “In California recently, a superintendent hired a stranger to wear a mask to rattle the doors of classrooms without letting faculty and students know. We've seen students asked to pretend to be victims and lie down using fake blood in the hallway.”
Jean-Paul Guilbault, the chief executive of the Alice Training Institute, which runs active shooter drills, said they are effective when done appropriately. He said his company never runs surprise drills but believes that simulating an event is the best way to prepare for one “and allow students to practice their options, whether that be lockdown or evacuation.”
“According to a recent study conducted by The U.S. Secret Service, most school shootings last for two minutes or less, and nearly half of the events studied ended within one minute,” he said in a written statement. “That means it is up to us to keep ourselves safe for those seconds that will feel as slow as a lifetime. We drill so everyone has a plan when faced with danger, to give people a chance at survival.”
But Abby Clements, who was teaching second grade at the Sandy Hook school in Newtown when a gunman killed 26 people in 2012, said she doesn't believe a drill would have saved lives there.
“Our students knew what to do,” said Clements, who now teaches at another elementary school in town. “We taught them what to do in an emergency. We knew evacuation routes and where a safe spot was in the room, where nobody could see inside. But frightening students with some type of active drill, I think that is barbaric. There is no way you could possibly be prepared for the infinite number of ways that a shooting could go down with these weapons of war."
Clements, an active member of Moms Demand Action, said it breaks her heart when she hears stories like the one about a little girl who refused to wear light-up shoes after a drill, because she was told it could make her an easier target.
“I've got kids at the elementary school level who tell me they have to keep a cell phone on them at all times, just in case,” she said. “It should not be like that.” | {
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As if the El Paso mass murder couldn't be a more noxious showcase for political bad behavior, in wades the Mexican government, launching lawsuits against the U.S. for supposedly failing to protect its citizens, which is something Mexico never bothered about before. According to NBC News: Mexico on Sunday threatened to take legal action against the United States for failing to protect its citizens after this weekend's mass shooting in the border city of El Paso. Of the 20 people gunned down at a Walmart at the Cielo Vista Mall, at least seven were Mexican citizens, and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard promised Mexico City will act. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry called the attack in El Paso a "terrorist act against innocent Mexicans." Apparently, they've seen how their individual illegals can exploit loopholes in U.S. law to their advantage, and now that bastion of peace and tranquility to our south... (Read Full Post) | {
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With speculation abound on what Ubisoft's E3 lineup would include, it's now safe to say that we know at least one game that's on the schedule: Far Cry 5.
The existence of this next title was announced in two different places. Many people from Ubisoft's quarterly financial earnings report have reported that the game was announced there. If you'd rather not just take their word for it, an Ubisoft Developer posted the banner above in the official Ubisoft Forums in a thread simply titled "Are you ready."
We won't know the specifics on this game until presumably E3 2017.
In other Ubisoft news, South Park: The Fractured But Whole is officially on schedule for this coming fiscal year, likely putting its release date in the first quarter of 2018.
The Fractured But Whole was originally scheduled for Q4 2016, only to be delayed to 2017 only to be delayed once more to this fiscal year (April 2017 to April 2018). | {
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Health officials often warn about a childhood obesity epidemic, but new research suggests that in Canada, for the first time in years, the numbers of overweight and obese kids have decreased.
Between 1978 and 2004, the rate of Canadian kids who were overweight or obese climbed “significantly” from 23.3 per cent to 34.7 per cent. More than three in 10 children who were two to 17 years old fell into the overweight or obese categories.
Between 2004 and 2013, rates have eased from 30.7 per cent to 27 per cent, according to a new University of Manitoba study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
“Canadian children are still heavier than World Health Organization (WHO) norms – both their weight and BMI are higher than the average, but they are doing better than our U.S. counterparts and over the last 10 years, their rates of obesity are declining,” Dr. Atul Sharma, of the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, said.
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“We still need to improve. The battle isn’t over yet,” he told Global News.
READ MORE: Why your child’s weight in grade 5 could predict future obesity risk
Sharma is a pediatrician specializing in kidney work. He’s also a statistician while his co-author and wife, Dr. Celia Rodd, is a pediatric endocrinologist focusing on kids with diabetes and hormone problems.
Their pair spent nearly three decades at McGill University in Montreal. As the decades passed, they saw more kids with Type 2 diabetes – related to obesity in adulthood.
By the time they moved to Winnipeg, the situation worsened. About 10 per cent of diabetes cases Rodd saw in kids in the 1980s was tied to lifestyle, for example, but by 2010, about 30 per cent was obesity-related, Sharma said.
“We both, over 30 years of careers in pediatrics, have seen the impact, the reach on obesity in the health of the children we care for. This has an impact beyond childhood – children who are obese at age two are more likely to be obese as adolescents and that tracks up to age 35,” he warned.
READ MORE: Do babies inherit junk food addictions from their moms?
The team worked with Statistics Canada and Health Canada national study data to look at rates of obesity in kids over the years. The data is “very high quality,” Sharma said. Thousands of kids, chosen to represent 96 per cent of the population, were monitored. The data covers all age groups, races, and socioeconomic classes.
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By 2013, rates of kids who were obese or overweight sat at 27 per cent. Both weight and BMI were lower too. These details don’t align with climbing obesity rates in other countries, such as the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
“Working with patients and families on a day-to-day basis, we see the burden of being overweight or obese is dramatic. It’s hard to get a sense of where the numbers would go based on your clinical experience,” Sharma said.
“So few countries have crested and most of them are increasing or only just starting to plateau. We were surprised in a pleasant way,” he explained.
READ MORE: Sesame Street characters to be used to help encourage kids to eat fruit, veggies
In 2000, the WHO introduced kids’ BMI growth charts for frontline health-care workers to use. Sharma suggests this may have been the catalyst for change because now family doctors and pediatricians had a baseline to show parents where their kids fell when it came to weight, BMI and waist circumference.
In adults, a BMI of 25 or more is considered overweight while 30 is obese. In kids, the definition is based on WHO percentiles. If your child falls above the 85th percentile next to peers of the same age and sex, he or she is classified as overweight. The 97th percentile and above is considered obese.
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“Doctors could sit down with parents and say ‘your child is above normal range’ and it allowed a conversation on how to make changes happen,” Sharma said.
READ MORE: Preschoolers’ eating habits linked to future heart health risks
He’s hopeful the rates will keep dropping based on the handfuls of initiatives health officials are rolling out to combat childhood obesity.
His team’s next steps are to look at how factors, such as socioeconomic status, what region you grew up in, what access to food your family had, play a part in risk of obesity.
Sharma and Rodd’s full findings were published in the CMAJ.
[email protected]
Follow @Carmen_Chai | {
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Rumoured Everton target Juan Mata has told Manchester United fans to ignore speculation surrounding his future at the club.
Mata, 28, has been linked with an Old Trafford ext this summer following the appointment of Jose Mourinho based on the pair's history at Chelsea.
Mourinho sold Mata to United in January 2014 and the arrival of Henrikh Mkhitaryan earlier this month also seemed to cast further doubt over the Spain international's future.
Everton and Valencia have been heavily linked with trying to sign him , although those rumours have yet to become anything fimer.
Nevertheless a United fan stopped Mata at the club's Carrington training ground and asked him about his situation.
"Don't always listen to the media," he told the fans. When one Red asked him if he was staying, Mata laughed.
Mata came on at half-time in Saturday's friendly and Mourinho was particularly warm with the forward as he congratulated his players at full-time.
It was Mata who intercepted Wigan goalkeeper Jussi Jaakelainen's pass to assist Will Keane for United's opener.
Koeman knows Mata from the time both spent at Valencia. | {
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After winning big in his home state of New York last week, Donald Trump's clean sweep of all five states in the Northeastern United States on Tuesday further cemented his frontrunner position in the Republican presidential race.
And while Trump's boastful designation of himself as the "presumptive nominee" and "champ" after his Northeastern victory is premature, he does have a point. His strong showing in recent contests has made his path towards clinching the necessary delegate votes to win the nomination outright in the remaining primaries less difficult and more likely than just a few weeks ago.
A sign that Trump himself already has his eyes on the general election is the fact that he will give a foreign policy speech at the historic Mayflower Hotel in Washington on Wednesday, just one day after his primary victory.
Trump's momentum
"Trump marches on and looks unstoppable even though he might still be unable to get the 1,237 delegates needed to win," said Steffen Schmidt, a US elections expert at Iowa State University. "He gets delegates, but much more important is the momentum."
With his thumping of party rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich in both the New York and the Northeast primaries, Trump's prospects of reaching the necessary delegate count ahead of the nomination convention this summer have clearly improved.
But even if Trump falls short of that magic number 1,237 it could soon become nearly impossible to hand the Republican nomination to anyone else, said Iwan Morgan, professor of US studies at University College London. "It is going to be very difficult even if he were not to get the correct delegate count for the party establishment to pull, let's call it an anti-democratic coup against the clear choice of most Republican primary voters."
National candidate
After having shown strength in the North and Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and the South, Trump can now legitimately claim to be a national rather than a regional candidate, noted Morgan. "Ted Cruz always had that against him."
Trump has so far won 27 contests, compared to 10 for Cruz and one for Kasich.
Cruz and Kasich are under pressure to win to stop Trump
"Cruz and Kasich look weak and that's very bad this season," said Schmidt. Unless the newly formed Cruz-Kasich alliance can rack up some wins soon to improve their record starting with the Indiana primary next week, they have no claim to deny Trump the nomination even if he misses the required delegate tally.
Legitimacy problem
"Quite obviously neither Cruz nor Kasich would have the legitimacy to be foisted on the party in place of Trump," said Morgan. "If you have a way to choose your party's nominee and you do your best to subvert that I think that would create a civil war within the Republican Party whose principal outcome would be to ensure a Democratic victory."
Hillary Clinton has the nomination all but wrapped up
The Democratic presidential race, meanwhile, is pretty much a done deal with Hillary Clinton winning four out of five states in Tuesday's primary. "Clinton continues to seem inevitable," said Schmidt. | {
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759 Bracketeers voted in Batch 154, and 5.67m votes have now been cast.
Visual results are here and today’s results are:
Karn Liberated defeats Angelic Favor with 94.48% of the vote
Goblin Assault defeats Ivory Cup with 91.89% of the vote
Heroes’ Bane defeats Lead Astray with 90.66% of the vote
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief defeats Oath of Mages with 89.91% of the vote
Krark’s Thumb defeats Aven Battle Priest with 88.70% of the vote
Falkenrath Aristocrat defeats Gryff’s Boon with 88.44% of the vote
Puppeteer Clique defeats Lightning Volley with 88.12% of the vote
Tidings defeats Heliophial with 86.44% of the vote
Throat Slitter defeats Rubbleback Rhino with 86.29% of the vote
Crater Elemental defeats Felhide Brawler with 85.16% of the vote
Lobber Crew defeats Bog Rats with 83.01% of the vote
Whetwheel defeats Cinder Storm with 82.06% of the vote
Hellcarver Demon defeats Lightning Hounds with 81.77% of the vote
Jace’s Ingenuity defeats Torpor Dust with 81.39% of the vote
Goblin Flectomancer defeats Stalking Bloodsucker with 78.01% of the vote
Aligned Hedron Network defeats Reckless Embermage with 76.94% of the vote
Trench Gorger defeats Jabari’s Influence with 74.97% of the vote
Stitched Mangler defeats Feint with 73.25% of the vote
Sunseed Nurturer defeats Angel of Light with 68.87% of the vote
Devil’s Play defeats Slip Through Space with 67.59% of the vote
Howl from Beyond defeats Wing Storm with 67.22% of the vote
Ivory Giant defeats Selhoff Occultist with 66.11% of the vote
Mockery of Nature defeats Death’s-Head Buzzard with 65.27% of the vote
Mind’s Dilation defeats Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers with 63.68% of the vote
Cover of Winter defeats Sandstone Warrior with 63.56% of the vote
Sylvan Bounty defeats Burrenton Shield-Bearers with 62.08% of the vote
Verdant Touch defeats Sluggishness with 60.86% of the vote
Ruination Guide defeats Suleiman’s Legacy with 59.22% of the vote
Roil’s Retribution defeats Sheltering Word with 59.13% of the vote
Stony Silence defeats Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII with 56.03% of the vote
Xathrid Slyblade defeats Bösium Strip with 55.23% of the vote
Order of the Sacred Bell defeats Floodtide Serpent with 51.12% of the vote
Full results to date can be seen here. | {
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Publicado por Unknown en 12:30 p. m.
Sometimes when you are running your tests on your CI environment, you want to run tests in parallel. This parallelism is programmed in build tool such as Maven or Gradle or by using Jenkins plugin.
If you are using Docker as a testing tool for providing external dependencies to the application (for example databases, mail servers, ftp servers, ....) you might find a big problem and it is that probably Docker Host used is one and when running tests in parallel, all of them are going to try to start a container with same name. So when you start the second test (in parallel) you will get a failure regarding that a conflict container name because of trying to start at the same Docker Host two containers with same name or having same binding port in two containers.
So arrived at this point you can do two things:
You can have one Docker Host for each parallel test.
for each parallel test. You can reuse the same Docker Host and use Arquillian Cube Star Operator.
Arquillian Cube is an Arquillian extension that can be used to manager Docker containers in your tests.
To use Arquillian Cube you need a Docker daemon running on a computer (it can be local or not), but probably it will be at local.
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One of my favorite things about the new year is getting to look ahead at all the great books being released in the coming months. And 2019 has a lot of really great books lined up—and quite a few featuring queer characters and stories. From contemporary YA novels featuring nonbinary characters to fantastic graphic novels with lesbian mermaids, 2019 has it all. Check out some of our most anticipated 2019 LGBTQ reads, and get ready to add a whole lot of great, new books to your Goodreads TBR shelf.
Sugar Run by Mesha Maren (January 8, 2019, from Algonquin Books)
Jodi McCarty is only seventeen when she’s sentenced for manslaughter. Eighteen years later, she’s sitting at a bus stop still reeling from her unexpected freedom, trying to figure out where to go next. Not back home to Appalachia—she’s not ready for that. Then she meets Miranda, a troubled young mother, and falls in love. Together, they try to make a fresh start. But is that even possible in a small, West Virginia town that refuses to change?
Song of the Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh (January 22, 2019, from Razorbill)
The second book in Sarah Glenn Marsh’s fantasy series, Reign of the Fallen. Karthia is not the land it once was. And now that resurrecting the dead has been outlawed, Odessa is happy to be getting away from Karthia and all the memories of heartbreak that come with it. When Meredy winds up on the same sea voyage, though, thoughts of the past and heartbreak are never far. Healing might still be possible—especially with fantastic new lands to explore. But when political unrest and disturbing new developments bring them back to Karthia, Odessa fears that without the help of the Dead, these problem may be too much even for the two of them to handle.
The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan (January 29, 2019, from Scholastic Press)
Rukhsana Ali thought living up to her conservative Muslim parents’ expectations was hard before she was caught kissing a girl—but after? That’s another story, entirely. She’s suddenly whisked away to Bangladesh to stay with family. But where does Rukhsana fit in in a world of tradition and arranged marriages? And yet help and perspective come in the most surprising of places—like her grandmother’s old diary and her unexpectedly supportive extended family.
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The Music of What Happens by Bill Koningsberg (January 29, 2019, from Arthur A. Levine Books)
Max and Jordan seem like total opposites. Max is the epitome of chill, a video gamer totally at ease with his sexuality. Then there’s poet Jordan. Totally not chill and fairly sure even Mr. Right—if he ever finds him—would get tired of him. Throw them together for one summer in Mesa, Arizona where the temp hits 114 degrees easy, and these two opposites will have to decide what they’re willing to risk to get everything they ever wanted.
Willa & Hesper by Amy Feltman (February 5, 2019, from Grand Central)
A story of falling in love and falling apart, and what it takes to find yourself again and pick up all the pieces. Willa and Hesper are in love until they aren’t. Until Willa gets to know Hesper a little too well and Hesper starts to shut her out. Hesper runs away to her hometown of Tbilisi, Georgia, hoping to rediscover her origins. Meanwhile, heartbroken Willa decides to join a group of Jewish twenty-somethings to visit Holocaust sites, but winds up contending with more of her past—ancestral and romantic—than she expected. As both women try to uncover the truth of their pasts in the hopes of finding a way forward, will they find the answers and belonging they crave or just more questions?
The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson (February 19, 2019, from Simon Pulse)
When your parents run a funeral home, you get pretty used to death. But when Dino’s ex-best friend, July, dies and comes back to life, well, that’s definitely a new experience. Now Dino and July have to confront how things ended as they try to figure out what on Earth—or beyond—is actually going on. Shaun David Hutchinson is the author of great novels like We Are the Ants, The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza, and At the Edge of the Universe, so it’s easy to assume this one will be another heartbreaking hit.
We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia (February 26, 2019, from Katherine Tegen Books)
In Medio, the divide between the elite and the lower class is vast and uncrossable. Daniela knows that all too well. As a student at the Medio School For Girls, she is far more privileged than most. But that privilege didn’t come easily. Her parents sacrificed everything to obtain the false documents that got Daniela into that school. And if anyone were to find out her top standing, her engagement to the son of a prominent politician, and her entire life would be undone. But when a resistance group asks her to spy for them, she faces a difficult choice. Continue down the path set for her by her parents or risk everything to fight for a better future and a more equal Medio.
When Brooklyn Was Queer (March 5, 2019, from St. Martin’s Press)
The never-before-told story of Brooklyn’s queer history, from the early days of Walt Whitman to the women working the Navy Yard during World War II. This book recounts the queer history of Brooklyn from the 1850s to present day, telling the story of many forgotten or overlooked LGBTQ figures like Ella Wesner, a famous drag king, Mabel Hampton a black lesbian dancer at Coney Island, and many others.
You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman (March 5, 2019, from Sourcebooks Fire)
Ariel is on track to be the perfect college applicant: perfect grades, first chair violin, extra curriculars. It may seem effortless, but Ariel works hard for that perfection. A failed calculus quiz is not part of the plan, but Ariel figures a few all-nighters should be enough to set things back on track. He can sleep after graduation. But then his grades continue to slip, and he’s forced to get a tutor—Amir, who he’s never really liked but is a calculus whiz. Except, Amir might not be so bad. In fact, Ariel might really like Amir. But adding a relationship on top of everything else might just push him over the edge. I’m really excited to see a YA book tackling issues of perfectionism and academic pressure.
Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala (March 6, 2018, from Harper)
Being gay is an abominable sin to Niru’s loving, Nigerian parents—which is why the only person who knows his secret is his best friend Meredith. When his father discovers the truth, the fallout is swift and brutal. But Meredith is struggling with problems of her own and unable to provide the emotional support Niru needs. Can the two friends reconcile their own needs with each others? Or will the path they’ve been set on hurtle them toward more senseless destruction than anyone could ever have imagined?
(This looks to be dealing with pretty heavy topics and queer suffering, so proceed with caution if that’s going to be difficult for you.)
This story of female friendship and falling in love begins with Grace, Annie, and Violet. Grace’s friend think she’s living the perfect life as a single woman without any commitments—but the truth is she’s still hoping to find the love of her life. When she meets a beautiful woman at a party, it seems like maybe she has. At the same party, Annie finally meets a man who might live up to her mother’s high standards. Meanwhile, across the city, Violet makes a discovery of her own when she falls for another woman for the first time. A heart-warming story about discovering that sometimes our happy endings aren’t what we expected them to be—and sometimes they’re even better.
Unbecoming by Anuradha Bhagwati (March 26, 2019, from Atria Books)
This memoir chronicles the life of Anuradha Bhagwati from her journey as a daughter of Indian immigrants to being a queer woman in one of the fiercest branches of the military before finally becoming an advocate for policy reform. Being a bisexual woman of color in the military isn’t easy, something Bhagwati found out the hard way after leaving her career at an Ivy League school behind to join the Marines. After finishing her time in the service, she vowed to take on the practices and policies that made her life so difficult during her time in the military, helping to enact historic policy reform, including lifting the ban on women serving in combat roles. A story of resilience and determination, sure to light a fire in everyone who reads it.
A Place for Wolves by Kosoko Jackson (April 2, 2019, from SourceBooks Fire)
James doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to forgive his parents for dragging him away from his life and friends and sister Anna. But then he meets Tomas. He wasn’t expecting to fall for anyone, but then he wasn’t expecting Tomas either. Then everything falls apart. The war that’s been brewing for years comes to a violent head, and James and Tomas must decide how far they’ll go—and what they’re willing to sacrifice—to get back home.
Described as Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe meets Code Name Verity, so I’m fully on board.
This companion novel to Geekerella follows Jessica Stone, movie star and reluctant con attendee. Jess never expected to be typecast as a space princess and can’t wait until her contract is up so she never has to play Princess Amara again. Then there’s Imogene, Princess Amara superfan determined to see her princess return for the sequel. And, yes, she’s aware that she looks uncannily like Amara actress Jessica Stone, except for her bright pink pixie cut. What neither of them expects is for Imogen to be mistakenly put on a panel as Jessica Stone—or that they’ll both enjoy the role reversal so much that they decide to continue it. Jess is enjoying a break from the limelight—especially when she gets to sit next to gorgeous girl selling fanart next to her. And Imogen is living for the chance to be a star—until a paparazzi snafu shows her that fame isn’t all fun and games.
The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown (April 16, 2019, from HarperTeen)
A new book from the author of Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit. Before Vivi, Jessica struggled with anger issues. But Vivi helped her deal with the pain and embrace her gifts as an artist. But then during their senior year, Vivi passes away. Consumed with grief, she pushes everyone away and throws away her plans for art school. Jess puts all her focus into her new work-study program, where she makes an unexpected new friend. Maybe she’ll never draw again, but if Jess can just find some way to heal, she might finally find a path forward even without Vivi in it.
How Not to Ask a Boy to Prom by S.J. Goslee (April 23, 2019, from Roaring Brook Press)
When Nolan Grant’s big sister stages an elaborate promposal to help him ask his crush to prom, he freezes. Instead of dying from embarrassment, he somehow winds up fake-dating bad boy Bern, who wants to pretend to date Nolan for his own reasons. It seems like the perfect plan to get his sister off his back and spend the rest of senior year in peace—if Bern’s ex-girlfriend doesn’t kill him first.
Carmilla: The Novel by Kim Turrisi (May 7, 2019, from Kids Can Press)
A novelization of the fan favorite web series, Carmilla, based on the novel by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. The book follows the first season of the show, where freshman Laura Hollis gets wrapped up in a sinister mystery at Silas University after her roommate Betty—along with a string of other girls—goes missing. Laura is suspicious of her new roommate Carmilla, especially when she discovers blood in the fridge and begins having strange dreams. Dreams that all the other girls reported having before they disappeared. Along with her friends, Laura is determined to play little miss detective and get to the bottom of the missing girls before anyone else gets hurt…or she goes missing herself.
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero O’Connell (May 7, 2019, from First Second Books)
Laura Dean is Frederica’s dream girl—but she maybe isn’t the best girlfriend. Reeling from their latest breakup, Frederica’s best friend introduces her to a cryptic medium who leaves her with one resounding message: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back. And as things spiral further, Frederica begins to worry it isn’t Laura Dean who’s the real problem.
Mariko Tamaki is no stranger to comics and graphic novels—she’s written This One Summer, Supergirl: Being Super, Skim, and Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power! to name a few.
We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra (May 14, 2019, from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
When Jonathan and Kurl are assigned to write letters to each other as a part of an English assignment, they never expect to fall in love. But they do. The two try to hold tight to each other and what matters even as bullying, homophobia, and terrible family secrets threaten to tear them apart.
Going Off Scrip by Jen Wilde (May 21, 2019, from Swoon Reads)
The author of Queens of Geek and The Brightsiders is back with a new queer YA romance about a writer’s room intern whose script is stolen by the head writer who also rewrites her proud lesbian lead as straight. So not happening. Along with the help of the actress she is majorly crushing on, Bex launches a campaign to get back her show and fight straightwashing in the industry.
I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver (May 28, 2019, from Push)
When Ben comes out as nonbinary, their parents kick them out of the house. Forced to live with their estranged sister and struggling with an anxiety disorder, they decide to keep their identity on the down low. But then they meet Nathan, a charismatic student at Ben’s new school who decides to take Ben under his wing. Suddenly, the disastrous events that led Ben to this new school seem like that might actually lead to something good.
I’m so excited for this queer romance with much-needed enby rep from a nonbinary author!
Being a witch in Salem may seem corny, but Hannah’s the real deal. She’s an elemental with the ability to control water, fire, earth, and air. But she spends most of her time selling candles and crystals to tourists at the Fly by Night Cauldron, spending time with her best friend, and avoiding her ex-girlfriend, Veronica. When a dangerous blood ritual interrupts the end of year bonfire, Hannah knows it’s the work of the Blood Witch—but no one in her coven believes her. Now, Hannah has to team up with the only person who believes her—and the last person she wants to work with: Veronica. Throw in a crush on the new ballerina in town and the possible fate of Salem in their hands and that’s a whole lot of supernatural pressure for one teen girl to handle.
Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith (June 18, 2019, from Margaret K. McElderry Books)
After meeting because of a near-fatal car accident, new neighbors Chris and Maia aren’t off to a good start. Throw in Chris’s backfiring good intentions and Maia’s temper, and the two would probably be okay with never seeing each other ever again. But despite all their best efforts, they just can’t seem to avoid each other. Chis, who recently came out as transgender, is still haunted by a terrifying assault last year. Maia is still grieving the loss of her older sister. Falling in love is the last thing either of them expected to happen this summer… but would it really be so bad if they did?
An Impossible Distance to Fall by Miriam McNamara (June 4, 2019, from Sky Pony Press)
When the stock market crashes in 1930, Birdie’s life crashes along with it. A trip to Coney Island to track down her missing father proves unsuccessful, but instead she discovers something even more wonderful: a barnstorming circus with lady pilots, daredevil stuntmen, and wing-walkers. She’s especially enchanted with a pilot names June. And when she finds a new lead on her father suggesting he might be in Chicago, she figures she’ll hitch a ride with the circus. Birdie’s overconfident act may get her a part in the circus, but a couple of missteps might spell the end of more than just her trip to Chicago.
Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian (June 4, 2019, from Balzer + Bray)
In 1989 New York City, three teens struggle with life, relationships, and their perceptions of the world during the AIDS crisis. Reza just moved to the city and is terrified someone will guess his secret: that he’s gay. Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle, a gay man with AIDS. Her best friend, Art, is the only out-and-proud teen in their school. A romantic relationship between Reza and Judy is doomed for the start, especially as he and Art grow closer. But is there any way to follow his own heart that won’t break Judy’s and ruin the most meaningful relationship of his life?
Red White and Royal Blue by Casey Mcquiston (June 4, 2019, from St. Martin’s Griffin)
Alex Claremont-Diaz is America’s First Son— AKA the closest thing you’ll find to a prince in the States. But there are definite downsides to being in the limelight. Like, when pictures of a confrontation with his nemesis Prince Henry get plastered all over the tabloids and cause an international scandal. With British / American relations threatened, Alex and Henry are forced to play out a fake friendship that soon turns into a very real relationship that maybe even goes beyond friendship. But with his mother’s bid for reelection, there’s a lot to lose if anyone found out about the relationship between the crown prince and the first son.
Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi (June 11, 2019, from Feiwel and Friends)
Aminah Mae Safi, the author of Not The Girls You’re Looking For , has described her second novel as her love letter to Rory/Paris from Gilmore Girls. Not convinced you need to read it yet? Just listen: Sana Khan, cheerleader and classic overachiever, is cast as the lead in Rachel Recht’s senior film project. The only problem? Rachel has detested Sana ever since the other girl asked her out—and Rachel was sure it was a prank. But now the two of them have been drawn back together, will they be able to resist falling for each other in spite of their differences?
All of Us With Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil (June 18, 2019, from Soho Press)
A punk fairy tale about a bi, Latinx governess, her tween genius charge, and the girl’s rock star parents. Xochi loves her job taking care of Pallas, daughter of pagan rock gods, and living in an enchanted mansion. She’s determined to live up to the fairy tale life she’s somehow acquired. But that’s easier said than done when she’s trying to push down her grief for her dead grandmother, ignore her complicated feelings for Pallas’s guitar playing dad, and, oh yeah, find some way to send home the Waterbabies she and Pallas accidentally summoned before the San Francisco fog extinguishers their powers for good.
This book sounds weird and wonderful and full of magic, and I’m into it.
Brave Face by Shaun David Hutchinson (August 20, 2019, from Simon Pulse)
The critically acclaimed author of We Are The Ants opens up about his experiences of being gay and depressed in this new memoir: “I wasn’t depressed because I was gay. I was depressed and gay.” A thousand moments, big and small, ultimately led him to attempt to take his own life. In Brave Face, Hutchinson shares his difficult journey and the road to recovery that finally convinced him things do get better.
Children of the River Ghost by Alexandra Aceves (2019 from Tu Books)
This YA horror novel tells the story of Katie, a sixteen-year-old still reeling from being bullied after her last relationship. Then she moves to New Mexico and falls for a mysterious girl who might actually be the ghost, La Llorona. I had my first real taste of great YA horror last year with Claire Legrand’s Sawkill Girls, and this sounds like the perfect follow up.
Fabiola & Ylini by Juliet Kahn and Amanda Scurti (2019 from Oni Press)
When the nerdy Fabiola meets an actual, real life mermaid, Ylini, it seems like love at first sight. But this magical romance will have to withstand last minute cosplay, traditional families, and and a whole lot of adolescent insecurity if it’s going to make it.
Semper Augustus by Mackenzi Lee (2019 from Flatiron Books)
We don’t know very much about this book yet. It’s set in 17th century Holland. It’s about a flower girl at the height of Dutch tulip mania. And we know that said flower girl is in love with her mistress and trying to decide whether to trick the father of the woman she loves into buying a fake Semper Augustus bulb (the most expensive tulip bulb of its time) in order to save herself and her brother. Maybe not a lot of details, but definitely enough to get me excited for this one. Especially since it’s coming from the author of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and Bygone Badass Broads.
Last Night At the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (2019 from Dutton Books for Young Readers)
Another story without a whole lot of info just yet. This is the basic description according to Goodreads: “Set in 1950s San Francisco, the YA novel is a story of love and duty that explores the complicated overlap between the city’s Chinese-American and LGBTQ communities.” That sounds good enough even by itself, but I think we can also safely assume it’s going to be pretty great coming from Malinda Lo, writer of such great novels as Ash and A Line in the Dark.
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (2019 from Tor)
This new book from the author of the River of Teeth duology sounds equally exciting and imaginative. In a future American Southwest full of fascists, bandits, and queer librarian spies, Esther is a stowaway trying to escape an unwanted marriage. That’s because her father has arranged her marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. The best friend she was in love with. The best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda. What to do in a situation like that? Stow away on a librarian bookwagon, of course.
And this isn’t Sarah Gailey’s only queer novel coming out this year. She’s also releasing a YA novel (her first), When We Were Magic, about a group of high school girls involved in a magical accident that ends in a dead boy on prom night.
Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell (2019 from Wednesday Books)
The much-anticipated (now that we know to anticipate it) sequel to Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see how Simon and Baz’s story turns out. Do our favorite wizard/vampire pair get a happy ending now that the Insidious Humdrum’s been dealt with? I want to see these precious cinnamon rolls get the happy ending they deserve! And I know the cover says 2020, but it really is going to be a 2019 release—if you don’t trust me, trust Rainbow Rowell:
wayward soon. — Rainbow Rowell (@rainbowrowell) November 7, 2018
all signs point to yes https://t.co/9bd8TdXyl3 — Rainbow Rowell (@rainbowrowell) November 7, 2018
How’s your TBR? Well, while you’re at it, why not take a look back at some of our most anticipated LGBTQ reads from 2018 and these 2019 YA books about queer girls to look out for. | {
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Dublin tops the chart when it when it comes to burglaries in Ireland.
Over the past decade, 41% percent of reported break-ins were in the capital, according to a new analysis.
The research, carried out by PhoneWatch, found an east-west divide with Louth, Kildare and Wicklow coming in behind Dublin with high burglary rates.
Kerry had the lowest burglary levels, with around one-in-19 properties burgled over the last decade.
Donegal and Mayo also had relatively lower rates.
The research found that nearly a quarter-of-a-million burglaries have been carried out in Ireland in the past ten years.
PhoneWatch Managing Director Eoin Dunne said: “While we’re seeing a welcome reduction in burglaries in recent years, the reality is it remains all too common in Ireland.
"By examining the figures over an extended period we can see the true scale and impact of burglary in Ireland."
The study found “significant variations” in the number of burglaries year-on-year; however, 2018 saw the lowest number with data from the first three months of this year suggesting a continuing decline.
According to the data, one-in-five homes in Dublin have been burgled over the past decade – compared to one-in-seven around the country.
Tallaght Garda Station recorded the highest number in the country; however, it also experienced the largest fall with a 58% decrease since 2009.
Four of the five busiest stations for burglaries were in the capital with the fifth in Waterford. | {
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"This is possible thanks to a combination of our new imagery rendering techniques and computer vision that let us automatically create 3D cityscapes, complete with buildings, terrain and even landscaping, from 45-degree aerial imagery. By the end of the year we aim to have 3D coverage for metropolitan areas with a combined population of 300 million people." | {
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Crime ocorreu na madrugada de 31/7, em Itaquaquecetuba (Grande SP). Estudante está sob cuidados da equipe cirúrgica do Hospital Santa Marcelina
Permanece internado em estado grave um jovem de 17 anos baleado ao retirar alimento vencido do lixo de um supermercado em Itaquaquecetuba, na Grande São Paulo. O caso aconteceu na segunda-feira (31/7) e, desde então, a vítima está internada no Hospital Santa Marcelina, no município.
Na madrugada daquele dia, o estudante pegava alimentos vencidos da caçamba de lixo, localizada no estacionamento do mercado, quando foi atingido no pescoço por um disparo. Outras três pessoas estavam no local e conseguiram fugir dos disparos.
Segundo investigações da Polícia Civil, uma testemunha declarou que um dos seguranças do estabelecimento teria atirado contra o grupo. Ele estava em um andar superior do mercado, enquanto os jovens no térreo, e acertou a vítima quando ela tentava fugir.
O espaço é próximo à unidade do Poupatempo do município e da Secretaria Municipal de Indústria e Comércio. Um GCM (Guarda Civil Municipal) de Itaquaquecetuba que fazia a segurança do prédio da pasta ouviu os disparos e se encaminhou ao local. O guarda disse ter ouvido três tiros.
Quando chegou, o GCM percebeu duas pessoas correndo, uma parada e uma vítima caída no chão. O GCM solicitou atendimento do Samu, que encaminhou o rapaz para o Hospital Santa Marcelina.
Posição oficial
De acordo com a assessoria de imprensa da Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de São Paulo, gerida pelo secretário David Everson Uip nesta gestão do governador Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB), o estudante segue internado em estado grave desde a entrada no hospital. O último boletim médico foi divulgado na tarde desta quarta-feira (2/8).
Procurada pela Ponte Jornalismo na noite de terça-feira (1/8) e na manhã desta quarta-feira (2/8), a pasta apenas informou que o jovem está sob os cuidados da equipe cirúrgica. Contudo, não foram detalhados os procedimentos pelos quais ele passou. Não houve alterações no quadro ou esclarecimentos de um boletim para outro.
Segundo a Secretaria da Segurança Pública, por meio de sua assessoria de imprensa terceirizada, a CDN Comunicação, o caso está sob investigação da Polícia Civil em Itaquaquecetuba, que instaurou inquérito para apurar o crime.
“Equipe da unidade foi ao supermercado e requisitou imagens de câmeras de segurança, além da relação dos nomes de vigilantes da empresa. Testemunhas serão ouvidas e outras diligências continuam em andamento para o esclarecimento do crime”, explicou a pasta, comandada pelo secretário Mágino Alves Barbosa Filho.
As seguintes perguntas foram enviadas pela reportagem à SSP:
Qual o estado de saúde a vítima foi levada para o Hospital Santa Marcelina e qual o atual quadro?
Quais as linhas de investigação seguidas pela Polícia Civil?
Além dos GCMs do município, quais testemunhas foram ouvidas para apurar o ocorrido?
Como será feita a identificação do acusado por tentativa de homicídio, já que, segundo o boletim de ocorrência, não houve flagrante ou identificação de quem fez os disparos?
Configura algum crime o ato do jovem? | {
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Halfway through my hands-on time with Evolve, I could feel the disappointment of the 2K representative next to me. I was still getting the hang of the game, and my gigantic, flying Kraken had taken lots of damage from the four players trying to bring it down. Reading the rep’s face, a comeback seemed like a long shot.
But then, something clicked. I started using the Kraken’s powers more effectively, pinpointing my lightning blasts at exposed monster hunters, while keeping them on the defensive with a barrage of energy blasts from high in the air. I got better at dividing and conquering the hunters, and when one went down, he became bait as the other players tried to revive their fallen comrade. When the last monster hunter fell, I had only a sliver of health left, and my hands were shaking.
Evolve is strictly a multiplayer game, coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC this fall. Four players team up and control the hunters, each with their own special abilities, while a fifth player controls an oversized monster with a handful of super powers. Over the course of a match, the monster can feed on creatures and “evolve” into a more powerful form, so there’s an element of hide-and-seek as the monster tries to become better equipped for fighting the hunters.
It was hard to believe my outcome wasn’t scripted, or at least pushed toward a thrilling conclusion through unseen handicaps. But speaking to Chris Ashton, the game’s design director, he assured me that Evolve’s mechanics are pure, with no extra assistance for ailing players.
“In a racing game, sometimes they’ll make the guy in the back go faster,” Ashton said. “But when you’re a seriously competitive game, you don’t want to artificially give the losing team an advantage or Nerf the winning team at all.”
There are, however, some subtle forces at work. The trapper, for instance, needs lots of time to recharge its containment field, so every few minutes, the monster has a chance to get away and get back to feeding. Meanwhile, the Kraken’s flying ability takes longer to recharge when it’s not in combat, so it’s much easier for the hunters to eventually catch up. Ashton said this creates a roller coaster effect, similar to the Turtle Rock’s use of safe rooms in its previous series, Left 4 Dead.
“We ratchet everything up, and then we ratchet everything back down so you have time to recover,” he said.
Evolve’s sense of balance comes from more than three years of prototyping and testing. The game was bare bones at first, with just a melee attack for the monster and assault rifles for the hunters. As the developers layered on new abilities–such as healing powers for the medic, a containment field for the trapper class, and a slew of special powers for the monsters–they constantly had to rebalance.
The entire studio would play the game for an hour every day, and their matches fed into a telemetry system to help the developers figure out which characters were too weak, or too strong. So by the time 2K started showing Evolve at public and industry events, Ashton expected plenty of close matches.
“We’ve played the game so much that there aren’t really any surprises,” he said.
Still, he thinks this will change when Evolve launches on October 21, and players start learning all the game’s tricks. One of the advantages of the latest game consoles is that it’s much easier to push out updates, so Turtle Rock plans to keep tuning the mechanics long after the game comes out.
“We know that once we release, if we sell millions of copies in the first day, there’s going to be millions of man-hours played,” Ashton said, “And that’s more than we’ve put into the game.”
Contact us at [email protected]. | {
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The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has continued his offensive rhetoric against women, addressing female police and army staff at a conference in honour of them as “puta”.
Speaking at an event celebrating Outstanding Women in Law Enforcement and National Security of the Philippines, Duterte took the chance to take women to task for criticising him.
Addressing the almost exclusively female audience of military and police as “puta” (which translates as “bitch”) and “you crazy women”, the president bemoaned women “depriving me of my freedom of expression.”
Attacks on the media show Duterte’s Philippines is heading for despotism | Jo Fuertes Knight Read more
“You criticise every sentence or word I say,” he complained.
His speech followed divisive comments last week in which he warned women to stay away from Catholic priests – who have been some of the most vocal critics about his brutal war on drugs – because they might be “cornered” in a church once the priest had caught the “scent of your body”.
The speech had drawn criticism particularly from women, but in true Duterte style, he used Monday’s appearance to double down on the comments. He rejected the criticism, calling women “rejects of priests” and saying “that’s not my fault”.
Yet he also used the event to attempt to demonstrate how much he admired women. “I love women,” he told the crowd. “That’s why you see I have two wives. That means I like women.” The speech was met with light laughter at moments, though mainly silence.
The speech by Duterte is just the latest in a serious of comments relating to women which have drawn accusations of sexism and misogyny.
A year ago he was branded a misogynist and “macho-fascist” after he ordered soldiers to shoot female communist rebels in the vagina. During his election campaign in 2016, speaking about the 1989 prison riot in which an Australian missionary was killed, and inmates had lined up to rape her, Duterte joked he wished he had the opportunity to rape her himself. Last June, while on stage he grabbed and kissed a married female supporter on the lips.
Yet despite his tirade of insults, according to a recent poll carried out by Social Weather Stations in the Philippines in December, Duterte’s popularity remains extremely high, with a 76% approval rating.
Somewhat ironically, his administration scored “excellent” in the area of promoting women’s rights, with a 19-point increase on the last survey. “These figures are loud and clear repudiations of the critics and detractors of President Rodrigo Duterte who have described him as misogynistic,” said presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo. | {
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Two Palestinians were arrested on Thursday after a group of men inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount hurled chairs, stones and other objects from the holy site, lightly hurting a tourist and an Israeli police officer.
The tourist was hit in the leg and sent for medical treatment, police said.
Police said the searches for additional suspects in the Temple Mount altercation were ongoing.
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Muslims are marking the holy month of Ramadan, during which political sensitivities are often particularly volatile.
Thursday also marked the 51th anniversary of Israel’s capture of the Old City and the Western Wall during the 1967 Six Day War.
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest site in Islam. Under an arrangement in place since Israel’s victory in the 1967 war, non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site but not pray there.
Jews are allowed to enter during limited hours, with police officers guiding them through a predetermined route. The Jewish worshipers are banned from praying, displaying religious symbols or raising the Israeli flag on the mount.
Ramadan this year comes after weeks of violent clashes on the Gaza border.
Israel says the violent protests are orchestrated by the Hamas terror group, which rules Gaza, and used as cover for attempted terror attacks and breaches of the border fence.
The demonstrations were meant to end on May 15, but Hamas leaders have said they want them to continue.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, well over 100 Palestinians have died since the start of the weekly protests in March, which reached their peak on May 14 when 61 people died. At least half of those killed since the protests began in March have been identified as members of Hamas or other terror groups. | {
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Amazon has announced its shortlist for its second headquarters and Toronto is the only Canadian city to make the cut.
Last September, Amazon said it would build a second headquarters in North America with a price tag of nearly $5 billion, and potentially hire 50,000 people to fill high-paying jobs.
Amazon said it received proposals from 238 cities, including Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, and have narrowed it down to 20.
READ MORE: The downsides of Amazon choosing a Canadian city for its second headquarters
The online retail giant, based in Seattle, said it would work with each candidate city over the next few months to dive deeper into the feasibility of each host area and plans to make a final decision sometime this year.
“Thank you to all 238 communities that submitted proposals. Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough – all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” Amazon spokesperson Holly Sullivan said in a statement. “Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”
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Other cities to make the cut include: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Pittsburgh.
Toronto Mayor John Tory welcomed the news Thursday of the city making the short list.
READ MORE: Toronto to bid for Amazon’s second North American headquarters
“There is no other city region in North America that can boast the same talent, the same quality of life, the same vibrancy and economic strength,” the mayor said in a statement. “Toronto is a place where people want to live and I am dedicated to making sure that our quality of life keeps getting better. We are investing millions in transit expansion and state of good repair, affordable housing, parks and active transportation. We are working hard to elevate our reputation as a liveable, affordable city where everyone can succeed.”
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The online retailer said a host city should have a population over one million. The proposed building site should be within a 45-minute drive of an international airport and no more than about three kilometres from a major highway and have access to mass transit on site.
Amazon’s current headquarters is a massive 8.1 million square feet, spread over 33 buildings, and hosts over 40,000 employees.
In the U.S., some state and local governments made public details of some of the financial incentives host cities would make available to Amazon as the company said in the past it wanted tax breaks and grants from the potential host city.
Boston’s offer includes $75 million for affordable housing for Amazon employees and others. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie approved a measure to allow up to $5 billion in incentives to Amazon.
Sean Mullin, economist and public policy expert at the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, questions whether Toronto actually has a shot at landing the second headquarters.
“How much will Amazon weigh these financial incentives that other cities have put on,” Mullen tolg Global News. “And secondly, there’s this kind of intangible question about would Amazon really go so far as to set this up outside of the United States.”
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne also welcomed the news of Toronto making the shortlist.
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“No competing U.S. city comes even close to offering this level of talent, nor can they measure up in the ways we are supporting both workers and businesses, be it through universal public health care, a strong system of publicly funded education, expanding access to quality and affordable child care or the magnitude of our commitment to public infrastructure,” Wynne said in the statement. Our fair, diverse and inclusive communities foster knowledge sharing and forward-thinking attitudes unparalleled with other regions across North America. And our world-class research institutions and generous R&D tax incentives make Ontario an ideal place to develop innovative new technologies and ideas.”
–Global News reporter David Shum contributed to this report. With a file from the Associated Press | {
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We Seemed As Much As Her However Tot Made Us Lezzies And Made Us Her Supply Of Relaxation.
When tot made us lezzies, tot luved eyeing us have joy. Cherub would even get off to what we had been doing or even offer what we will have to do finer or come with. | {
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ICE Demands Journalists 'Return' Snitch Hotline Data It Left Exposed For Three Days After Being Notified
from the people-are-awful,-and-ICE-is-no-better dept
Daniel Rivero and Brendan O'Connor of Splinter recently acquired documents pertaining to ICE's snitch program -- a "see something, say something" but for suspected undocumented aliens. What's contained in these documents is nasty, petty abuse of a crime victim hotline by Americans who don't mind turning the government into their own personal army.
This is part of new program started by the Trump Administration -- one presumably meant to pump up numbers for its weekly "Two Minutes Hate" reports, which document the criminal acts of people roaming the county without the proper papers.
Splinter didn't find much evidence backing up the administration's fervent belief that "undocumented" equals "hardened criminal." What it did find was Americans using the VOICE tip line to engage in a low-level variant on SWATting: sending ICE to round up people they just don't like.
In April, the Trump Administration launched what it called the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) hotline, with a stated mission to “provide proactive, timely, adequate, and professional services to victims of crimes committed by removable aliens.” But internal logs of calls to VOICE obtained by Splinter show that hundreds of Americans seized on the hotline to lodge secret accusations against acquaintances, neighbors, or even their own family members, often to advance petty personal grievances. [...] Together, the logs are a grim running diary of a country where people eagerly report their fellow residents to the authorities, or seek to bring the power of the immigration police to bear on family disputes.
One man called to report his stepson, who he didn't like parking near his house. Another caller reported some in-laws. One claimed his ex-wife was undocumented. This is the sort of "intelligence" being gathered by the VOICE program. Unbelievably, those reports may be some of the better ones.
In the first two weeks of the program, from April 26 to May 10, the logs show that the call center handled 1,940 calls from across the country. Most were pranks, or in the bureaucratic words of the record keepers, “concerned citizens,” who unleashed streams of profanity or talked about green aliens until the operator hung up.
ICE should have expected this. While the tip line was supposed to be used to find assistance for victims of criminal acts by undocumented immigrants, it became a clearinghouse for BS complaints from "tipsters" hoping to have the government solve their personal problems.
But there's more to this story than the low-grade ugliness of certain Americans. ICE somehow managed to expose a whole lot of personal data while compiling the spreadsheets it turned over to Splinter. The information left out in the open contained details about callers and who those callers were reporting.
[A]fter conducting Google searches for some data in that spreadsheet, including local police report numbers provided by callers, we were able to find a second spreadsheet, covering April to mid-August, hosted on the ICE web site. That spreadsheet appears to have been partially redacted to prepare it for release under the FOIA, but two columns containing intimate personal details—names, cell phone numbers, alleged crimes, addresses, and Social Security numbers—of both callers and the alleged undocumented immigrants they were calling about remained completely unredacted and publicly available. In several cases, the details would make it possible for people to figure out who informed on them.
Why ICE moved a work-in-progress document into a publicly-accessible space is something ICE has yet to explain. The agency has refused to directly respond to queries about the exposed spreadsheet. Nor was it particularly interested in ensuring this personal data remained out of the public's hands. Splinter gave ICE three days' notice before publishing, but the document wasn't removed until several hours after the Splinter article went live.
ICE's official response has been overkill. It took its entire FOIA document library offline on October 4th. As of October 9th, it is still down. Ridiculously, ICE is now demanding Splinter "return" the partially-redacted spreadsheet the agency left exposed online.
On Wednesday, an ICE lawyer sent a letter to Jonathan Schwartz, the chief legal and corporate affairs officer of Splinter’s parent company Univision, demanding that we destroy or return the spreadsheet. The letter, which was sent to Schwartz via UPS as well as emailed to the two Splinter reporters who wrote the story, is the first official acknowledgement that ICE had accidentally published private and potentially dangerous information on its web site for anyone to download. ICE had previously declined to confirm or deny the breach.
I'm sure it's boilerplate, but the wording used suggests ICE wants Splinter to box up all the bits and send them back to ICE HQ. Even stupider, the letter warns Splinter of the consequences of exposing this information, as if it wasn't ICE that exposed the document in the first place.
Please note that any further use or disclosure of the information contained in these records could impede or interfere with law enforcement activities and violate the privacy rights and interests of the people whose information is contained in the records. Further, should you perpetuate the use of disclosure of any of this information, you may endanger the persons to whom the information pertains.
This sounds like ICE is hoping to blame Splinter for any fallout from the exposed data. But this is ICE's fault entirely. As is noted (again) in the follow-up post, Splinter informed ICE of the exposed data three days before publication. The spreadsheet wasn't removed until almost 8 hours after Splinter's post went live. The data has now been accessed by any number of people who won't be affected by ICE's very belated attempt to stuff Pandora's personal data back in the box.
And that brings us to one more salient point: if you're going to hand over personal info to the government, be aware it's repeatedly shown it can't be trusted to keep citizens' data protected. People who thought they were going to get away with turning in exes, stepkids, and in-laws now need to be worried about retaliation from those they snitched on. Others using the line for more legitimate reasons are in no better shape -- victims of crime exposed by the agency they turned to for help.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community. Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis. While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
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Filed Under: dhs, exposed data, hotline, ice, return data, voice | {
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Once the drivers reached the intersection of North Point Road and Merritt Boulevard, Peach said the man driving the truck got out of his car while three other men exited the Corolla. The men all started arguing, Peach said, and the truck driver quickly pulled out a utility knife and started cutting the other men. | {
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A few items relevant to understanding introverts have come my way over the past few days. I’ve already shared them on Facebook but thought they deserved to be shared in a blog post as well. First, there is this poster (which seems to have started life in a much simpler format):
UPDATE: Click here for the original source of the image above.
There is in fact an article devoted to the topic as well from The Atlantic. And if you need something briefer, there’s this, which sums up one difference between introverts and extroverts in a nutshell… | {
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TSA Finds ‘An Anomaly’ In Rapper’s Pants
Law enforcement sources told website TMZ that after the new body scanner detected an item in his pocket, a resulting pat-down revealed the weed.
Blow, real name Kurtis Walker Combs, who now says he is a pastor, got a ticket for marijuana possession — after all, an ounce or under of pot is decriminalized in California — and went, weedless, on his way.
Legendary rapper Kurtis Blow, 51, was busted Thursday morning at Los Angeles International Airport after a TSA body scanner detected “an anomaly” in his pants, which turned out to be a bag of marijuana. | {
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Commentators on social media were not impressed. Many Italians were also left confused by another ad claiming that fertility was "a common good" — a comparison that reminded some of fascist propaganda from the 1920s which urged women to have more babies to support the nation.
AD
The ministry campaign was recalled over the weekend, but it continues to spark outrage.
"So embarrassed to live here," one user wrote. "The #fertilityday campaign is offensive, sexist and dangerous. I'm ashamed and embarrassed," another commented.
AD
As a social welfare state, Italy's pensions system and economy relies on a certain number of younger people joining the workforce every year. Other nations such as Germany have tried to counter declining birthrates by attracting more immigrants. But Italy's youth unemployment rate stands at about 35 percent.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was equally unimpressed by the efforts of his Health Ministry.
AD
"If you want to create a society that invests in its future and has children, you have to make sure the underlying conditions are there," he was quoted as saying by the BBC, implying that an advertising campaign could not make up for some of the shortcomings Italy has been accused of. Critics of the government have blamed lower wages for women and insufficient day care for the low birthrates.
AD
With a fertility rate of 1.35 children per woman, Italy is even below the E.U. average of 1.6.
But Italy is far from being the only country that has tried to motivate citizens to have more babies with unusual campaigns, and perhaps the Italian Health Ministry should cast its eyes to the north to see how the countries of Scandinavia are trying to overcome their own lack of offspring.
AD
Although some of them were branded "bizarre" by observers abroad, they are widely considered to have found the right tone by conveying a serious message in a creative or witty way.
In Denmark, for instance, schoolchildren are now taught in class that they should have more babies.
The Scandinavian country comes out on top of many international rankings, but in terms of fertility rates it lags far behind. According to the organization Sex and Society, which produces the country's sex education guides, unwillingness to raise children is only part of the problem.
AD
Whereas sex education has so far focused on using contraceptives and preventing diseases, teachers forgot to mention some crucial biological aspects. "Suddenly we just thought, maybe we should actually also tell them about how to get pregnant," Marianne Lomholt, national director of Sex and Society, told the New York Times.
AD
Between 12 and 20 percent of all Danes are unable to have children — mainly because they are already too old at the time they make the decision. Following the advice of Sex and Society, Denmark's Education Ministry now has teachers talk not only about the dangers of sex and pregnancies, but also about their benefits.
Private companies have had their own ideas: "Do it for Denmark" is the name of the ad campaign of Danish travel company Spies. In a video ad released in 2014, the company emphasized that 10 percent of all Danes were conceived abroad.
AD
“Can sex save Denmark's future? 46 percent of Danes have more sex on holiday," a voice-over explained. Hence, taking a vacation won't just relax you — it can also be seen as an act of patriotism.
AD
If Danes were successful in conceiving a child while on a vacation organized by the company, they were eligible to win three years of free diapers and a trip abroad — with their child, of course.
In neighboring Sweden, financial incentives are provided by the government. Either moms or dads are paid nearly their full salary for more than one year — for staying at home. For a total of 480 days, either the father or the mother of newborn children are legally entitled to receive 80 percent of their previous salaries.
Swedes also shouldn't worry too much about the time after their generous parental leave is over: Subsidized gym memberships and free massages are common at lots of the country's workspaces and should help them get back on track quickly.
Read more: | {
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Pasó desapercibido, pero el 21 de octubre de 2014 bien podría ser un hito. Ese día, y por primera vez en la historia, la Argentina inauguró la primera política pública del Estado nacional para el fomento de los valores centrados en el amor. El plan se llamó "Programa Enamorar, el amor en movimiento", y el responsable de la iniciativa fue Julio De Vido , el entonces ministro de Planificación Federal.
Poco más de un año después, aquel sistema que manejó millones de pesos del Tesoro mediante el que se otorgaron subsidios, se produjeron espectáculos y se fomentaron variadas actividades, parece haber quedado a la deriva.
El amor como política pública duró poco. En las épocas de romance, De Vido había asociado a la iniciática al Ministerio de Cultura comandado por Teresa Parodi.
El 1° de diciembre de 2014, el amor versión De Vido se puso en marcha. La idea se expresó entonces en un acto. El Programa Enamorar decía poner a disposición de organizaciones de la sociedad civil e instituciones privadas que tuvieran como fin promover la inclusión social, la solidaridad y la paz, un herramental de recursos tecnológicos, audiovisuales y digitales, además de herramientas de gestión que faciliten su labor diaria en la difusión y práctica de valores positivos centrados en el amor.
El amor según el ahora diputado De Vido se expresó así aquella jornada: "Todas estas cosas nos deben mover a entender qué es aquello a lo que se opone todo esto: el odio, el rencor, la envidia. Y esos son disvalores. Y vamos a decir aquí que acá hay un gran trabajo de los equipos del Ministerio de Cultura, del Sedronar, de Planificación, pero si no fuera por la acción política concreta de Néstor y Cristina ninguno de nosotros hoy estaría sentado aquí. Por eso la tarea de los profetas del odio justamente es avanzar sobre la fe popular en aquellos que fueron capaces de llevar adelante políticas que le transformen la vida y que mejoren y cambien la calidad de vida de la gente", dijo el ministro.
Acto seguido, se firmaron 12 convenios de cooperación con varias organizaciones. La Fundación Scholas Occurrentes, el Instituto Canzión, la Asociación Nazareth, la Escuela Democrática Cristiana, el Programa Vida, Ríos de Vida, la Fundación Ciudad Política, la Confederación de Trabajadores de la Economía Popular, la Fundación Corriente por los Niños, la Fundación Pupi Zanetti, Cristo La Única Esperanza y la Fundación Niños de Argentina fueron las favorecidas entonces.
El compromiso era destinar 260 millones de pesos a centros o lugares de reuniones, además de ayudas y apoyo para actividades sociales.
Pero el amor es más fuerte, escribieron Daniel Martín y Fernando Barrientos en la banda de sonido de Tango Feroz. Especialmente el que profesaban De Vido y Parodi por Néstor y Cristina Kirchner. Pese al poco tiempo de vida, el Programa Enamorar mutó hacia un formato partidista. La mayoría de las iniciativas terminaron por financiar recitales, espectáculos o muestras, generalmente montadas en Tecnópolis o en el Centro Cultural Kirchner.
La plataforma del Ministerio de Planificación Federal nunca tuvo presupuesto propio. Todo dependía del millonario Programa de Igualdad Digital, un sistema que, según datos presupuestarios, ejecutó hasta el 18 de diciembre 2472 millones de pesos de los 2865 millones de pesos que tiene presupuestado. Si bien el Programa Enamorar no tenía una partida, el presupuesto de este año estableció 71,11 millones de pesos para la "implementación, planificación y coordinación estratégica" del plan. Ese habría sido parte del fondeo de las políticas amorosas del kirchnerismo.
Aún quedan algunos resabios. En el Centro Cultural Kirchner se puede disfrutar de la "Experiencia Enamorar", una muestra que surgió desde la usina romántica de De Vido. Se trata de una exposición de realizada por la cineasta Paula de Luque –directora del film Néstor Kirchner, la película– basada en El libro de los abrazos de Eduardo Galeano. "Esta sala tomará conceptualmente el recorrido histórico que va desde el abrazo de San Martín y Bolivar, hasta el fundacional de Nestor Kirchner, Lula Da Silva, Hugo Chávez y Evo Morales, en los comienzos de la Unasur", dice el parte de prensa de la muestra. Está abierta hasta febrero y quien por allí se de una vuelta, podrá encontrar resaltada la foto del abrazo de Néstor y Cristina Kirchner con una colmada Plaza de Mayo de fondo.
Fueron varias iniciativas. El Vitae Fest, un festival de música en el que actuó varias veces Soledad Pastoruti, es una de las estrellas del Programa Enamorar. Viajó por varios lugares. Tecnópolis, Villa María o Santa Cruz, todas comarcas kirchneristas. La Fundación Vitae, que preside Luis Quinelli, fue el organizador de estos encuentros. Hubo merchandising, dinero para armar la identidad del grupo Misioneros de Francisco, postas en la Peregrinación a Lujan y por supuesto, un spot. "El amor une, el amor derriba diferencias; el amor es paz y solidaridad; trabajamos con el corazón por qué queremos construir un país mejor –dice el corto financiado por el romanticismo de los planificadores argentinos–. Porque el amor puede cambiar al mundo, porque el amor nos hace mejores."
Hoy ya nada ha quedado de aquel otrora poderoso Ministerio de Planificación Federal y menos aún del amor como política de Estado. Los nuevos ministros aún tratan de revolver papeles para ver cómo se financiaba, cómo se controlaba, qué se pagaba y a quién. Mientras tanto, el amor según De Vido se terminó, al menos como lo fomentó cuando era ministro. Podrá, si el quórum se lo permite, volver a intentar enamorar a los argentinos desde su flamante banca de diputado. | {
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It's one of the hottest spa treatments around. A foot bath that some spas claim can actually remove toxins from your body right through your feet.
It's called a foot detox and spas charge up to $85 for this seemingly miraculous treatment that supposedly draws toxins into a tub of water that changes color based on the organs being detoxed.But we were curious. So INSIDE EDITION visited several spas in New York City and brought along a hidden camera as they performed the treatment on INSIDE EDITION'S Lisa Guerrero.At every spa visited, we were told the device can improve your health and that the color change in the water was the result of toxins being released from the body.The treatment is simple -- you put your feet in warm salt water for 30 minutes with an electronic device spas call an array. Almost immediately, the water starts turning brown. After the end of the procedure, the water is dark brown and filled with metal flakes. Many spas then consult a chart to determine which organs have been detoxed based on the color of the water.At the Antoinette Boudoir Spa in the heart of Times Square in New York City, the water turned brownish-orange."The orange color comes from liver and joints," an employee at the spa told Guerrero.The employee and the spa's owner, Clara Raykin, said the device can help patrons with headaches and sleeplessness.At the La Casa Day Spa in midtown Manhattan, we had a similar experience. Once again, the water turned brown and metal flakes appeared.An employee at La Casa told Guerrero the metal flakes came out of pores in her feet and also analyzed the water to determine what parts of the body had been detoxed."Joints and arteries," the employee said after consulting her chart.But Dr. Stephen Barrett, M.D. told INSIDE EDITION that the device cannot possibly draw toxins through the feet.So we bought our own foot bath unit and had it tested by Steven Fowler, an electrical engineer.Fowler tested the device in his lab in South Carolina and quickly discovered what's changing the water color. "Everything you see here is just rust," Fowler said, gesturing to a tub of the brown water.Fowler said inside the "array" that is placed in the water are just two metal electrodes with a positive and negative current. When introduced to salt water, a chemical process called electrolysis takes place and causes the electrodes to rust at an extremely rapid rate."This is nothing more than two pieces of metal rusting," Fowler said. "This has nothing to do with toxins. It is just a simple chemistry experiment."Fowler even tested the device for us without feet in the water and not surprisingly, the water still turned brown."It is nothing but a scam," Fowler said.Armed with this information, Guerrero went back to the spas to share with their owners what our research uncovered.Raykin, of the Antoinette Boudoir spa invited us and our cameras into her spa to prove the device worked. To test it, she ran two baths for us, one with feet and one without – a test she admitted she had never tried before.Within just two minutes, the water started changing color.Guerrero said, "There's no feet in this tub and already the water is starting to turn color.""No, no," Raykin said in disbelief.Raykin insisted the water in the empty tub would remain clear. But when the 30 minute treatment finished, the evidence was overwhelming. Both tubs were filled with the same dark-brown rusty water.Guerrero asked, "Clara, how do you explain that both of these tubs have dirty rust-colored water with particles in them, when somebody's feet were in this one and nobody's feet were in that one?""I cannot really explain it," Raykin responded.Finally, Raykin admitted the device does not detox organs."Clearly it doesn't work," Guerrero said."Actually, it looks like you're right," agreed Clara.The owner of the La Casa Day Spa, Dr. Jane Goldberg, Ph.D., did not return our calls requesting an interview, so Guerrero caught up with her on the street as she was leaving work."There's scientific documentation for it," Goldberg said."That's not true is it?" asked Guerrero. "It's a scam. You're charging people $60 for a scam. It's like snake oil.""Science is science," Goldberg responded."Science proves that this doesn't work," said Guerrero.Nonetheless, both Goldberg and Raykin said they were still going to offer the service to customers.So it seems that as long as people are willing to pay good money to soak their feet in nothing but rusty salt water, there will be businesses to accommodate them.That spa owner says she is going to send us scientific studies from the manufacturer of the foot bath she uses. By the way - the one we purchased has a disclaimer on the bottom that says it should not be used to diagnose or treat medical conditions. | {
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles understands why fans were booing during Sunday's 33-16 loss to Oakland at EverBank Field. He said he learned long ago that fans like winning more than they like the players.
"If a team loses for a while, I bet everybody's probably pretty frustrated," Bortles said. "I was fortunate enough to figure out at a young age that fans don't like players. They like winning. ... You know that they're going to cheer for you when you're winning, and want you to sign autographs and take pictures. And when you're losing, they're going to boo you.
"That's the world we live in and that's what fans do. It's irrelevant to anything that goes on in this building."
The Jaguars are 2-4 after the loss to the Raiders and just 14-40 in three-plus seasons under coach Gus Bradley. The team hasn't had a winning season since 2007.
Jaguars QB Blake Bortles understands that booing comes with losing, and that fans are more invested in winning than they are in individual players. "That's the world we live in and that's what fans do," Bortles said. Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
There was an outcry on social media among Jaguars fans Tuesday because of comments made by wide receiver Allen Robinson, who was asked what he thinks when he hears that some people want the Jaguars to bench Bortles.
Robinson told ESPN on Monday that the Jaguars have a better home-field advantage during their annual game in London's Wembley Stadium.
"When you hear the atmosphere of when we step out on the field, when we go to punt or before halftime when Blake takes a knee and you hear the booing, it's kind of funny to me," Robinson told ESPN. "It's funny that we get our best home-field advantage when we go to Wembley."
Bortles has followed his breakout season of 2015 with nine touchdown passes and 11 turnovers (nine interceptions) through six games this year. But Robinson said Bortles isn't the only player struggling. He's struggling, too, with just 26 catches for 296 yards and three touchdowns.
"People from the outside are going to make their opinions," Robinson said. "Again, as an offense we're struggling. Not just Blake struggling. Not just I am struggling. As a whole, we're struggling. This is a team thing. At the end of that, people are going to say what they want to say."
Fixing the offense -- which ranks 30th in rushing, last in third-down conversions and 24th in scoring -- would be a good first step in eliminating the boos.
"When it comes down to it, nobody's trying to make a mistake," Bortles said. "Nobody's trying to hold. Nobody's trying to throw an interception. I don't really know how else to put it other than we have to do better. I think at every position we've got to play better [and] find a way to play better.
"One thing that is good about it is we have [played better]. We've seen it before. We've done it this season. We did it last year. We have the ability and the right guys in the locker room to be successful and be a good powerful offense. We've just got to find it." | {
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"A música segura o mundo, enquanto a gente viver / É a maior fonte sem fim de alegria e prazer", poetiza Hermeto Pascoal em versos reproduzidos na abertura do encarte da edição em CD de Natureza universal, segundo álbum lançado pelo músico e compositor alagoano neste ano de 2017. Com repertório criado pelo artista para a formação de big band, o álbum Natureza universal chega ao mercado fonográfico na sequência da edição, em agosto, do álbum No mundo dos sons, gravado por Hermeto (visto em foto de Ricardo Beltrame) com quinteto. | {
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The University of New Mexico Division of Diversity and Inclusion will host an information session Monday aimed at encouraging faculty to adapt their courses to meet the school's general education diversity and inclusion requirement.
"The workshop intends to help staff and faculty to become aware of the UNM Diversity requirement, learn how their course can meet the Diversity requirement and submission process, gain tools to integrate the Diversity curriculum framework into their course and be informed on current approved UNM Diversity courses," the July 30 announcement states.
"part of a national movement to impose social justice education on America's universities"
In order to receive an undergraduate degree, UNM students are required to fulfill a “U.S. Global Diversity and Inclusion Undergraduate Requirement,” which has been in place since the 2014-2015 academic year. Students must choose from a list of three-credit courses, which the university says will help achieve a more inclusive campus environment.”
Resident UNM students pay at least $328 per credit hour in tuition and fees, totaling a whopping $656 for a three-credit course.
[RELATED: Community college to require diversity course for graduation]
“This requirement is to promote a broad-scale understanding of the culture, history or current circumstances of diverse groups of people who have experienced historic and/or contemporary inequitable treatment in the U.S. or in a global context,” according to the university.
Among the courses that satisfy the requirement are subjects such as “Introduction to Race Class and Ethnicity,” where students are taught “to notice the privilege and oppression at the core of U.S. society.” Participants will “challenge the widely accepted assumption that we as a nation have moved beyond race and racism.”
Students can also fulfill this requirement by taking “Economics of Race and Gender,” where they will address questions such as “why do women earn less than men, and blacks less than whites?” and “How does marriage affect women’s decision to work?”
Those interested in feminism and women’s studies will not have a hard time finding a course to fulfill UNM’s requirement, with 13 different women’s studies courses that meet the mark like “Population Policy and Politics,” in which students can learn about “policy tools designed to control population growth.” The “Transnational Feminisms” course also fits the bill. Students can earn their three diversity credits by examining “oppressions” with a focus on “colonization, imperialism, nationalism, global capitalism, and empire,” through various feminist lenses.
“The University of New Mexico's ‘U.S. & Global Diversity & Inclusion’ General Education Requirement is part of a national movement to impose social justice education on America's universities," National Association of Scholars Director of Research David Randall told Campus Reform. "This movement seeks to transform our universities into places that train social justice advocates to take political action to forward progressive causes, instead of places dedicated to the search for truth."
[RELATED: Mandatory diversity course not effective, prof discovers]
“They also seek to make belief in social justice political causes the prerequisite for any intellectual inquiry,” Randall said, adding that UNM’s requirement “does grave harm to students, by substituting political activism for education. It also hurts New Mexico students and taxpayers, who are forced to divert millions of dollars and student hours to subsidize politicized education.”
Randall noted that the “Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which accredits New Mexico, requires (Standards 1.C, 3.B.4) universities to work for ‘diversity,’” and that this particular UNM requirement is meant to satisfy the HLC’s requirement.
“But this is also a bureaucratic game,” Randall added, “by which UNM bureaucrats avoid responsibility for imposing diversity. The state government should challenge the HLC's diversity requirements, which work to turn New Mexico's education into political propaganda.”
In describing the requirement, UNM repeatedly points out that the requirement “double counts,” so that students can satisfy other program requirements with one of the diversity courses. The school notes that this means that students are not being forced to take extra courses.
But the NAS president says that this “double counting” actually “steers students so that the first (and often only) course they take in an area will be a social justice education course,” and as a consequence, “most students will never know there is more to the Humanities or Social Science than social justice.”
“Double-counting also steers jobs toward social justice advocates,” Randall explained. “A required course has to be taught, and a diversity requirement...means [that] there's a teaching line reserved for a social justice advocate.”
“Double-counting means that UNM has a huge incentive only to hire humanities and social science professors who teach diversity courses,” he added. “The Diversity General Education Requirements means that, going forward, social justice advocates will have a huge advantage in getting hired in those academic divisions.”
Campus Reform reached out to the University of New Mexico for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @celinedryan | {
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In Children of Men, P.D. James illuminates the entanglements of Machiavellian and Christian ideologies when both vie to procure ultimate salvation to humanity in the year 2021- the first baby to be born in 27 years. The protagonist, Theo Faran begins as a retired counselor of Britain’s oppressing dictatorship led by his cousin, Xan. He is compelled to join with a group of rebels once he learns they are protecting a pregnant woman from a compulsory human reproductive project run by the state. The story becomes an engaging progression of drama which explodes in the end chalked with irony. The story’s mounting excitement lies with the characters affected by the prospect of the ultimate prize – credit for bringing salvation to the world and the expected power which would instantly ensue. James would seemingly have the reader believe there is absolutely no hope for sobriety, integrity and trust to prevail among people when real power hangs in the balance. The movie was in a lot of ways different in that Theo never had the slightest taste for power. Clive Owen’s Theo was comparatively likable and played the part of apathetic sacrifical lamb, undisturbed by the prospects of power, since his cousin is not the dictator and plays a much smaller part. There was never a question in his head about not submitting to the state reproductive program. The movie was hard on the rebels. They were cast more as brutal terrorists with hardly an inkling of Christian pacifism- they were dreadlocked hippie murderers like the reggae gangstas in Predator 2… Despite this great moral paradigm shift, James endorsed and accepted the movie. How much of this was due to her appreciations for interpretative art versus her week kneed submission to the powers that be? As Johnny Rotten once said, “God save the queen…”
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The Wolverine "1000 Mile" is a classic style boot designed as an homage to the original models of 1914 from the Wolverine heritage brand. These boots are made from extremely soft Horween Chromexcel leather that breaks in substantially easier than most boots from heritage brands. The classic design is comfortable anywhere from rugged hikes through the wilderness, to stomping around the city
Made from super soft Horween Chromexcel leather
DuraShocks compression pads. These pads absorb shock in the heel and forefoot and are a big reason why Wolverine boots have sustained their reputation as the most comfortable boots on the market today.
Stacked leather outsole, rubber Vibram heel cap
Classic 4 hole style with 3 lace hooks
Classic plain toe design.
Waxed cotton laces
Goodyear Welt construction
Approx. 1" heel
Take your typical boot size (.5 down from regular shoes). | {
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This giveaway is over. Congratulations to our winners, Paula D. from Colorado and Jessica P. from California!
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The holidays are just around the corner, and we want to help make gift giving a littler easier for you! Enter our Holiday Giveaway to win one of two prizes to brighten your season and bring joy to others.
First prize is a day pack from Granite Gear, the Taku 24. With this pack, you’ll be prepared for any curveballs the season throws your way. Or you can load up and escape the hustle and bustle with a day trip on the trail.
Second prize is a 6-pack of Backcountry the Game. That’s right. We said a 6-pack! Don’t spend your time running all over town and fighting the crowds when you could win 3 copies of both the Appalachian Trail and Great Smoky Mountain editions of Backcountry. That takes care of a stocking stuffer for both kids, gifts for your nephew who just became an Eagle Scout, the Secret Santa game at work, and your Dad who’s not really much of an outdoorsman but just saw A Walk in the Woods and wants to connect with his inner thruhiker.
And you’ll still have a copy left over for yourself.
Keep reading for more details on the prizes and how to enter. Or skip directly to the entry form!
First Prize – Granite Gear Taku 24 Backpack
Named for a glacier just southwest of Santa’s summer home in Juneau, Alaska, the Taku pack is great for day trips or just
everyday use around town. Granite Gear notes the following features on their website:
Hip Belt Pockets
Hip Stabilizer Pockets
Shoulder Strap Pockets
Built-In Rainfly
Removable HDPE Framesheet
Removable Hip Belt
Hydration Compatible Sleeve Doubles as a Laptop Sleeve
Twin Power-Mesh Side Pockets for Water Bottles
Front Pocket With Internal Pocket
Dual Axe Loops
Haul Loops
Reflective Tabs
The Taku 24 retails for $120. Read more customer reviews and product specs on Granite Gear’s website.
Second Prize – 6-Pack of Backcountry the Game
Backcountry: The Game of Wilderness Survival is a fun, backpacking themed strategy game for ages 8 and up. The 6-pack includes three copies of both editions. The Appalachian Trail version pits players in a competition of thruhiker supremacy. The Great Smoky Mountains edition challenges players with multiple paths, shortcuts, and strategic decisions.
Learn more from the following links on our site:
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To enter the giveaway, you’ll start by simply subscribing to our email list so that we can keep you up to date on the contest and future promotions. Be sure to complete your subscription by clicking the link that will be emailed to you. You may unsubscribe at any time. Just for subscribing, you’ll earn 5 contest entries. Be sure to complete your email subscription by clicking the link in the confirmation email or you entries will not count.
Once you have subscribed to our email list several other entry options will be opened to you. Gain more entries by:
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Enter below to win | {
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2016 (1381 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A former director with the United Food and Commercial Workers union, who served as a key adviser to former premier Greg Selinger during his leadership crisis, has been charged with fraud over $5,000.
The union confirmed Monday that Winnipeg police charged Heather Grant-Jury after an investigation into expenses withdrawn from the union’s education, training and trust fund.
TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Heather Grant-Jury, a union director, was an adviser to former premier Greg Selinger after five cabinet ministers rebelled against him in 2014.
"We would like to thank the Winnipeg police for their investigation on this matter. We will be communicating with our members as well as contacting the employers who contribute to the training and trust fund on this issue, but will not be commenting further on the matter until a verdict has been rendered," UFCW Local 832 president Jeff Traeger said in a news release.
The union said it became aware of irregularities with expense claims in December 2015 and immediately suspended Grant-Jury, who was director of its education and training centre.
She was terminated following an initial investigation. During this period she resigned from her position on the board of Manitoba Public Insurance and from the NDP’s election operations subcommittee as well as all other party positions.
Last February, Selinger and UFCW announced they had cut ties with her.
The union told the Free Press an internal investigation had been launched, but offered no details.
A forensic audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP at the union’s request was completed in the spring and turned over to Winnipeg police.
On Monday, police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen confirmed a 54-year-old woman was arrested Thursday in connection to the report they got from the union.
The union said it will seek restitution.
The union’s website lists companies that employ its members — Loblaws, Great Western Brewery, Brewers Distributor Ltd., and most security companies in Manitoba — and contribute to the fund annually. Employees can take courses and programs, such as English language instruction, which are offered at the training centre for free.
Other UFCW members who take courses pay into the fund on a piecemeal basis.
Grant-Jury became a key ally to Selinger during the cabinet revolt in November 2014. She was seconded, on an emergency basis, from her union position to serve as Selinger’s principal secretary after five cabinet ministers resigned and he needed a loyal adviser.
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Heather Grant-Jury, former principal secretary of Premier Greg Selinger, has been charged with fraud.
Grant-Jury remained on the payroll until after the March 8, 2015, leadership vote and returned to the union April 2, 2015.
She also played a key role in the NDP re-election effort until the party cut ties with her in December 2015.
During last spring’s provincial election campaign, the Free Press learned Selinger knew, prior to hiring Grant-Jury, that she had been charged with theft under $5,000 in 2003 when she worked at the former Zellers store on McPhillips Street. The charges were later stayed.
In a prepared statement, the NDP said there is no connection between the current investigation and any government-provided training funds.
Union spokesman Blake Crothers said there is no government money in the fund.
Grant-Jury did not respond to a request for comment.
[email protected] | {
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In Daquq, a dusty sprawl of 130 villages just south of Iraq’s oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a long-burning cycle of revenge is quietly gearing up for another round.
The battle is a quiet one, fought in the margins of the main war between Iraq and its allies and the militant jihadists of ISIL. It’s not about all-out fighting, but retribution – a settling of scores.
In Daquq, the score being settled is between Kurds loyal to Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, and the Arabs many of them believe have no right to live on what they believe is Kurdish land.
Last summer when ISIL swept in from the west, many Iraqi Army forces, which were at that time in control of Kirkuk and the oil flats to the south, abandoned their posts. Kurdish Peshmerga flooded south to keep Kirkuk – and its oil – from ISIL’s clutches. They defended the city of 400,000, but it was close: by autumn the frontline with Isis was a just sniper’s shot west of the highway that cuts from Kirkuk all the way to Baghdad, 150 miles to the south.
As Peshmerga have wrested Daquq’s villages out from under ISIL control, Arab residents say they have not been allowed to return home.
Peshmerga say this is for residents’ own safety from IEDs and sneak attacks by ISIL: “When we consider these areas safe to live, people can come back,” General Sardar Abdul Wahab told The National in his headquarters in the Daquq village of Kheir Wali.
But in the villages under General Abdul Wahab’s control, something about the story doesn’t quite ring true.
The Daquq villages General Abdul Wahab and his men showed this reporter were eerily empty, stripped bare of furniture, vehicles, appliances and the detritus of daily life.
In Wahda, house after house had been parsed even of light bulbs and electrical wiring. Scorch marks inside houses spoke of burning, and the looting appeared to be methodical: there was nothing left. Peshmerga denied they had anything to do with the pillaging, insisting that locals and ISIL, took all household goods.
In other villages, houses hadn’t just been emptied and scorched, but knocked down. Aid workers who serve the area, all speaking anonymously for fear of angering local leaders and losing access, said the destruction wasn’t a result of fighting between Peshmerga and ISIL, but the work of the Peshmerga after ISIL had left.
“The houses are being destroyed after the conflict. Most of these houses are sustained by two pillars at the front. The pillars get knocked over and the house just falls,” one aid worker based in Erbil told me.
“They take the trucks and burn the fields. It’s total destruction designed to force Arab residents out,” he said.
Abu Ahmad is a 40-year-old Arab resident of Wahda displaced to a neighbouring village since Isis attacked in June 2014. He said he and his neighbours had witnessed the destruction of their village by men in the baggy khaki trousers and shirts worn by the Peshmerga.
“After they took everything, they burned the houses with tyres. Every day after, new houses were burning,” he said.
He and his neighbours have yet to return home, despite Wahda being cleared of Isis in March. “We hate Da’esh [ISIL], but we know they didn’t do such a thing. It was the Peshmerga,” he said.
Although Peshmerga on the ground deny any responsibility for destruction or looting, further up the chain of command, the answer changes.
Saed Kakei, a senior adviser to the minister of Peshmerga, confirmed that in some cases, Peshmerga had indeed looted. But what is relevant, he said, is the broader picture: “This matter must not be used against one party while ignoring those who were the main causes of fighting and war.”
This, says Leena Grover, a legal expert on international human rights and a research fellow at the Swiss National Science Foundation, is a critical point. “The description of the justification provided for the pillaging does seem to fit the definition of collective punishment, which is prohibited under international law, including as a war crime,” she said.
But Kakei scoffs at the suggestion that Peshmerga are collectively punishing Arabs, and instead focuses on the historical context of Arabisation.
This is the bigger picture he refers to when he considers what, to many, is the most pressing question in Northern Iraq right now: who is to control the newly accessible areas won back from ISIL? At its most pointed, this is the question of who should control Kirkuk and its valuable oilfields.
Should it be the Kurds, long brutalised by Saddam Hussein’s regime, now on the cusp of declaring their own state and eyeing Kirkuk as the jewel in its crown?
Or should it be Baghdad? For generations, Saddam Hussein forcibly expelled Kurds from the villages of Daquq and replaced them with Arabs who would be loyal to his rule. Arabisation unnaturally altered the ethnic and political make-up of much of Iraq and sowed a hatred and resentment that still festers today. Baghdad today still wants Kirkuk as part of a federated Iraq as much as it ever did – but as sectarian violence continues to blaze throughout the country, hopes for a federated Iraq are fading.
There’s another option: it could be both. Experts say this is the most historically accurate way forward.
“The whole notion that these areas, the disputed territories, were always Kurdish is crazy, just as the whole notion that they were always Arab is crazy. Historically, they are mixed areas,” said Joost Hiltermann, Mena programme director at International Crisis Group, a conflict prevention organisation.
But for two groups locked in a cycle of collective punishment and retributive violence, such an outlook is almost untenable.
Kakei, the adviser to the minister of Peshmerga, insists it’s not a case of blanket hostility towards an entire ethnic group, but rather, reversing the policy of Arabisation.
“The majority of the Kirkuki Kurds do not have negative feelings toward aboriginal Arabs. Rather, their quarrels are with those who were and still are parts of the infamous Arabisation policy, which is still in effect to this very day,” he said.
Kirk Sowell, a political risk analyst based in Jordan and publisher of the biweekly newsletter Inside Iraqi Politics, says Kakei’s view is typical of the official position of the KRG “and any educated, English-speaking Kurd you speak to: that Arabs in these areas should not be physically assaulted, but should be required to leave and compensated for their property”.
“The Kurds’ goal is to undo Saddam Hussein’s Arabisation. The Kurdish goal is not to fight [ISIL]. Saddam is more the enemy than [ISIL] is,” says Sowell.
For Hiltermann, the idea that Arabs should be removed from Kirkuk, among other areas, speaks to a toxic, black-and-white mindset. “The premise is a zero-sum game mentality: they did this to us, and if we don’t do it back to them, they’re going to keep doing it to us. It assumes that people can’t live together.”
“Arabisation was a terrible thing, and led to genocide – I don’t discount that. And people thrown off their land and stripped of property they owned have a right to have that restored to them. But there is such a thing as due-process rights for everyone concerned.”
Part of the problem in Wahda, across Daquq and throughout the stretches of Iraq known as the disputed territories, places both Baghdad and Erbil claim as their own, is a lack of functional mechanisms of transitional justice.
Iraq’s 2004 Interim Constitution established the Iraqi Property Claims Commission, which, due to its own structure and the ongoing conflict, failed to address the situation in any meaningful way.
Two years later, in 2006, the Iraqi Transitional National Assembly replaced the IPCC with the Commission for the Resolution of Real Property Disputes. This body, too, has been unsuccessful in making inroads into long-simmering disputes. Curiously, Arabs forcibly removed from their homes in Northern Iraq by Kurds or others after April 9, 2003 are unable to claim redress with the body.
“Land restitution efforts as an element of transitional justice are always fraught with complexities and challenges. In Iraq, millions of individuals have been displaced in large waves over time for different reasons,” said Grover, the human rights law expert.
“The measures taken by the Iraqi government to date are intended to offer claimants a legal avenue for redressing past injustices and thereby deter the resort to violence. Though far from perfect, reforms have been adopted over the years to improve the performance of the commission tasked with deciding property claims.”
The ongoing conflict and persistent sectarian violence and suspicion are factors in the failure of these measures to deliver results.
The chaos has escalated to a point where, as Hiltermann puts it, “It’s a free for all, grab what you can, take more in case you need to negotiate.”
“Even if it’s rightfully yours, how you regain it is just as important. You can’t violate others’ rights,” he says.
“If people benefited from Arabisation and the previous regime, it doesn’t mean they acquired things illegally. Maybe some of them did, but it needs to be examined on a case-by-case basis.”
In the case of Wahda, many of the Arabs who allege they are being collectively punished by Kurds are in fact the children of the Arabs who arrived with Arabisation. The conflict has been passed down to the next generation.
Abu Ahmad, the Arab resident of Wahda who was born in the village to parents who had moved there as part of Arabisation, said all he and his Arab neighbours wanted was to get along with their Kurdish neighbours.
But for a population bent on re-engineering a past demographic shift, making peace with the descendants is unlikely to appeal, especially when the broader context – the conflict with ISIL and the population movements this has brought about – offers opportunities for boundary changes and power shifts.
Sara Williams is a freelance journalist focused on Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. | {
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When all the counting eventually finishes, perhaps it will have one: Mirani, an electorate stretching along the coast and hinterland between Rockhampton and Mackay. If he manages to gain the seat, Andrew of Western Action Firearms and CQ Feral will be One Nation's leader in Queensland. Steve Dickson and a handful of supporters watch the results being reported on television. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Hanson and her followers spent Saturday in Buderim on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, supporting the then state leader, Steve Dickson, a former frontbench MP with the Liberal National Party before he defected to Hanson.
Hanson and Dickson were surrounded by a swirl of upbeat well-wishers for much of the day, leading her and her campaigners to declare that everyone would be surprised: the party was going to perform a lot better than the media's prediction of just a handful of seats. They dismissed downbeat polls outright. "That's what they all said about Donald Trump, and now he's President," became the refrain of the day. A double garage served as the venue for the One Nation party Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But as the sun went down and the blithe One Nation crowd retreated to the double garage of a suburban house for what was supposed to be a down-home celebratory evening, reality kicked in. Less than an hour after polls closed, joy had fled. Trump wouldn't be turning up.
Dickson stared at the TV and saw only grief for his political career. Soon, the screen was revealing devastation everywhere for One Nation. A lonely One Nation supporter as celebrations wind down. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen It seemed impossible to some in attendance - Pauline Hanson's latest faithful adviser, James Ashby himself, had said from his seat on the Channel Nine panel that "we may pick up as many as 10 seats … I would think we will still hold the balance of power in this Parliament". But that was then, before the counting revealed the wreckage. One Nation supporters watch Ipswich candidate and former senator Malcolm Roberts concede defeat. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Hanson tried to raise spirits by recalling that she had lost her federal seat of Oxley in 1998, not much more than two years after entering Federal Parliament. "And now look at me," she said. It was supposed to be reassuring. Pauline Hanson consoles a distressed supporter. Credit:Fairfax Media She didn't mention that she'd come back to Parliament, this time in the Senate, with three victorious colleagues only last year … and only one of those three are still there.
Especially, she didn't mention the shambles earlier this year when One Nation was supposed to burst triumphantly into the West Australian State Parliament. The party's campaign was a dog's breakfast, its expected vote of 13 per cent barely made it to 5 per cent, and it didn't get a single candidate into the state's lower house, though it won three seats in the upper house. Both One Nation and the WA Liberals emerged torn and ragged, having done a preference deal. Pauline Hanson departs with a bottle of Bundaberg Rum. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen These months later, the same scenario was unfolding in Hanson's home state, where there is not even an upper house to help her party save some face. Loading There was only one thing for it. | {
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「『日本で人肉売買』とされる写真はフェイク」。ブラジルのニュースサイトが１２日までに、こんな見出しの記事を報じた。フェイスブックなどを通じ、数年前からポルトガル語やスペイン語で「日本の人肉売買の実態」などとする写真や動画が広がっていたという。
ＡＦＰ通信やブラジルメディア「Ｇ１」によると、拡散していた写真は、人の遺体がいくつも冷凍庫につるされたり、切断された手や顔がパック詰めされたりしたように見えるもの。いずれも２０１２年ごろの、タイの芸術家の作品や、ホラーテレビゲームのキャンペーンを写したものだったという。
しかし、数年前からフェイスブックなどで「日本で人肉売買」「東京のレストランでは１万２千ユーロで売られている」などとして、写真や動画が拡散していた。朝日新聞が確認したところ、ある動画は２８万回以上再生され、別の動画は３万件以上共有されていた。
スペイン語のニュースサイトを装った、「独立系メディア」を名乗るサイトが、２０１６年７月に投稿した記事が発端とみられるという。元になった記事は１７年に、米国のファクトチェックを行うサイト「スノープス」で偽ニュースと確認されていた。
また、発端となった偽ニュースサイトは今年１１月にも「日本に人間動物園が開園へ」という記事を掲載。「人権は適用されない。日本は資本主義が優先される国だ」などと書いている。（サンパウロ＝岡田玄） | {
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Just when you thought MSNBC host Chuck Todd could get any more ridiculous, he sets a new gold standard for himself. If you were to believe Todd’s ramblings during Tuesday’s MTP Daily, you would think President Trump “just wants to rationalize violence” after he warned a group of evangelical leaders about Antifa’s terrorist-like actions. But in reality, it was Todd who was the one rationalizing violence.
“If it's Tuesday, President Trump is warning there will be violence if Republicans lose the midterms,” he bitterly declared as he started the show. Todd processed to opine about how America was at a critical tipping point, but all the President could do was “fear monger”.
“All of this at a moment that it feels as if the future of just the entire presidency, the country, the Republican party, the democratic party, all of it is near an inflection point depending on what voters want. And the President is apparently trying to scare voters into wanting to support the GOP,” he huffed.
Todd bizarrely took issue with Trump noting that “[w]hen you look at Antifa and look at some of these groups, these are violent people.” During the panel discussion, he asserted that Trump was “trafficking” in the crazed “conspiracies” of “Trump voters” and claimed Antifa was only “an issue in Portland, Oregon” and “some places else.” “I think he just wants to rationalize violence,” he exclaimed.
This was a jaw-dropping level of unadulterated hypocrisy from the self-proclaimed political referee. It was just a year ago that Todd allowed pro-Antifa Dartmouth University Lecturer Mark Bray onto MTP Daily to preach the virtues of their violent ways of curtailing the free speech of their political opponents.
“Mark Bray, you are writing this book Antifa, the Anti-Fascist Handbook. Explain this movement and its roots,” he beckoned his guest. As I pointed out back then: “Chuck Todd never questioned his guest’s romanticized explanation about what Antifa stood for or their own anti-Semitic streak. He failed to do his due diligence and mention that Antifa promoted communism, a bloody ideology responsible for the deaths of roughly 100 million people.”
Just four days later, Todd allowed Bray to sully the set of NBC’s Meet the Press where he again allowed him to defend Antifa’s violence. As I again noted at the time, “When describing what Antifa was, Todd downplayed the group’s radicalness by simply saying they were ‘a far-left political movement that argues it's necessary to confront hate groups sometimes with force.’” Todd let Bray get away with suggesting what they were doing was some kind of twisted version of “self-defense”.
Even though Bray appeared twice on his shows, Todd never informed viewers that his guest’s promotion of violence was condemned by Dartmouth University.
Since Todd was suggesting that Trump was manufacturing Antifa’s violence, he should try telling that to his NBC colleague Cal Perry who, along with his crew, was assault by the group in Charlottesville, Virginia this summer (a long way away from Portland). In fact, NBC actually refused to report on the attack the morning after it happened.
And it wasn’t just Todd making such hyperbolic accusations about Trump’s reason for invoking Antifa. During the first hour of CNN’s The Situation Room, network analyst and former NSA attorney Susan Hennessey argued that “you have to wonder whether or not these are not the kinds of comments that actually incite violence.”
In the second hour of the same show, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin claimed it was just another example of Trump’s racism shining through. “Theme is, ‘I'm Donald Trump and I'll protect you from the scary black people.’ Antifa is widely perceived as an African-American organization,” he claimed with absolutely no evidence.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read: | {
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This past spring, Rabbi David Wolpe dared to banish politics from his pulpit. The denunciations in these pages of his principled stand again revealed American Jewry’s massive political bias. Headlines proclaimed: “What You Call Politics, We Call Torah” and “A ‘Politics Free’ Pulpit Is an Empty Pulpit.” The articles made it clear that there’s only one form of kosher Jewish “politics” in America: worshiping at the altar of tikkun olam.
How odd. Those who believe evangelical Christians — and Israeli politicians — corrupt democracy by not separating church and state, freely mesh synagogue and state. Those who mock settlers for treating the Bible like a modern real estate manual, proclaim God is a liberal Democrat.
Sinai Temple’s Wolpe bravely suggested that it’s arrogant to decide “the Torah points in only one political direction.” More practically, it’s counterproductive in a Jewish community that loves paying homage to “diversity” to then hate those who dare deviate from American liberal groupthink.
The American Jewish house is on fire. People are fleeing synagogues — in fact, any affiliation with organized Judaism — as if these institutions were aflame or toxic. The non-Orthodox are intermarrying at a pace that makes the naughty thrill and comedic misfires of the TV sitcom “Bridget Loves Bernie” look like a relic from the 1700s not the 1970s. Today, Bernie and Bernadette so don’t care about Judaism — or may have been so alienated by official Jewishdom — that political correctness commissars such as Michael Chabon use Reform graduation ceremonies to target intramarriage as the real problem — creating “a ghetto of two.”
“Intermarriage isn’t a problem, it’s an opportunity,” the new mantra preaches. But how can a community survive with no red lines: not regarding belief, not regarding belonging, not regarding intermarriage, not regarding Israel? By definition, communities need definition.
Dodging this intellectual, ideological, spiritual, psychic, and demographic emergency, most American Jews distract themselves with other missions. Before mobilizing for or against a candidate, a president, a Supreme Court nominee or a particular policy, shouldn’t rabbis mobilize for Judaism, for Shabbat, for Jewish rituals, for Jewish learning, for Jewish values, for peoplehood, for Israel and for an American-Jewish revival?
Wouldn’t that be brave — rather than following the political herd? Wouldn’t that be interesting — rather than phoning in yet another sermon lazily bashing most American Jews’ favorite piñata, the oh-so-easily-bashable Donald Trump? Wouldn’t that be novel — challenging the congregation with some unexpected, even unsettling, Jewish insights rather than whipping up everyone into yet another my-how-wonderful-we-are-and-how-inferior-those-boobs-who-disagree-with-us-are frenzy? Wouldn’t that help shape a Jewish future in America — rather than further Americanizing and dooming the Jewish present?
In his controversial new book, “To Heal the World?” young British writer Jonathan Neumann goes further, suggesting that American Jewry’s politicization isn’t a distraction but the danger. He’s reporting a hijacking. He fears the new cult of tikkun olam, essentially warmed-over Marxism masked by a Bukharian yarmulke and a rainbow tallit, lures Jews away from a rich, authentic Judaism. Cherry-picking convenient passages from the tradition, he charges, social justice warriors have defined modern American Judaism in such a way that is just far too convenient for fitting into the bicoastal elite circles they most revere. “Isn’t it just a little bit incredible,” Neumann asks, “for the teachings of the ancient faith of Judaism to happen to comprise without exception the agenda of the liberal wing of today’s Democratic party? It’s extraordinary just how few people have questioned how plausible this is.”
How can a community survive with no red lines: not regarding belief, not regarding belonging, not regarding intermarriage, not regarding Israel?
Neumann warns that Jews are embracing a version of liberalism that jeopardizes the community’s future — especially because its false cosmopolitanism risks cutting connections to the Jewish people and the state of Israel. Thus, his punchy, peppery subtitle: “How the Jewish Left Corrupts Judaism and Endangers Israel.”
The phrase tikkun olam appears toward the end of the Aleinu prayer — as you recite “al ken nekaveh” silently. In context, it reads, “letaken olam bemalchut shadai” — to perfect the world within God’s domain — or under God’s kingdom. Neumann notes that the phrase originally advanced “the cause of Jewish social justice” by calling to establish “a Kingdom of God on Earth.” Eventually, universalism replaced godliness as the standard, and liberal activism replaced Judaism as the vehicle. By the 1990s, this minor phrase became, according activist and venerable Reform Rabbi David Saperstein, “the most common organizing principle of Jewish identity.”
The tikkun olam overstretch, Neumann shows, reduces modern Judaism to an “E-Z listening” format, covering American liberalism — but hostile to Jewish continuity, communal solidarity or Israel’s particularity. Making the case for particularism, for tribe, for Jewish peoplehood, Neumann argues: “Without differentiation, any identity grouping, religious or otherwise — will become diluted and dissolve.”
“Tikkun olam-ers” are at once annoyingly fluid and exhaustingly doctrinaire. They jump ever so nimbly from passion to passion as the political agenda changes — always finding some fig leaf with a doctored pedigree to Judaize their latest political stance. In the 1960s, Rabbi Arthur Waskow transformed the haggadah into a civil rights primer. By the 1980s, the times demanded an all-“green” environmentalist text. Charging that Waskow appropriates “Jewish festivals to advance political causes,” Neumann, in his book, sarcastically asks God: “How malleable are Thy works?”
Alas, making the seder too hip cripples its purpose: “Everything, it seems, is worthy of discussion on the Seder night,” Neumann sighs, “except the actual Exodus and what is has traditionally meant to the Jewish people.”
These contortions reflect a deep American-Jewish insecurity, that what we really stand for, who we really are, would never bring former President Barack Obama to the seder table. It’s like making your first date a blockbuster movie, hoping Hollywood can generate the seductive charms you fear you lack.
Tikkun olam also has modernized, sanitized, liberalized and de-Judaized the Prophets. Defining them by their most liberal riffs, by their occasional proto-Marxist affirmations of doing good, uniting as one, and pursuing peace, offers what Neumann calls a “highly selective … misreading” of a complex, more resilient, message. This distortion misses most prophets’ crusade to improve Jewish ritual practice. And once again, it dilutes the stickiness, the traction, that Jewish particularism brilliantly provided for Jewish universalism.
Inevitably, reinforcing their politics with just the right biblical prop, recruiting God to their side, tikkun olam-ers make our religion easy but their politics brutal. “Our good faith is suspect when we demand so little of ourselves,” Neumann warns — but our politics become incendiary when we judge others so harshly. There’s no debating, bargaining or compromising when every issue becomes an existential clash between good and evil.
In many ways, it’s an old story with a new twist. Since emancipation, Jews have yearned to be accepted, adoring liberalism at is most universalistic. An old joke has three salesmen on a train. After playing cards, they start talking religion. One says, “I’m a Catholic.” The second says, “I’m a Protestant.” When the third says, “I’m a citizen of the world,” the first two chime in, “Oh, you’re Jewish.”
Since the 1930s, most American Jews have blurred their liberalism and Judaism — viewing their Democratic vote as the defining American-Jewish mitzvah — and marker. During the New Deal, Jews supposedly had three “velten” — Yiddish for worlds: “die Velt (this world); yene Velt (the world to come) and Roosevelt, a president who won as much as 90 percent of the Jewish vote. Four decades later, sociologist Milton Himmelfarb wryly observed that “Jews earn like Episcopalians and vote like Puerto Ricans.”
We need a knotty, messy, multidimensional, complex Judaism to guide us and challenge us in our often knotty, messy personal and public lives.
Although scholars have argued for decades about just what made so many American Jews liberal, all agree it runs deep. Some say it reflects the biblical Prophets’ ethics. Some say it continues the Russian Revolutionaries’ ideals. Others say it encourages the most welcoming Americans. Liberal Jews believe that being liberal is as fundamental to American-Jewish identity as an immigrant-done-good, rags-to-riches story, some brass candlesticks from the old country, and grandma’s chicken soup recipe. Former President George W. Bush’s press secretary Ari Fleischer recalled that when he “horrified” his parents by coming out as a college Republican, they told sympathetic neighbors in Westchester, N.Y.: “at least he’s not a drug addict.”
To merge Judaism and liberalism, modern American Jews have to overlook one highly inconvenient truth: The more pious Jews are, the more politically conservative they’re likely to be — in Israel and the United States. Moreover, Neumann laments, liberalism usually paves the way out of Judaism — not in.
Neumann focuses on the theological loop-de-loops that liberal rabbis execute to harmonize our 3,500-year-old tradition with the latest liberal political stance. He mocks what is a kind of “Mad Libs Judaism,” with liberals wrenching quirky biblical quotes or talmudic teachings out of context to stick it into precooked political rants. He makes readers realize that whereas, once, the Jewish masses drifted away from more conservative elites into an American identity, today the liberal elites are leading the charge into an Americanized — and bastardized — Judaism.
In truth, his history is a bit sketchy. Shortchanging the 1960s to root Jewish tikkun olam-ism in Protestant activists’ early 20th-century social gospel movement is like bypassing Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X to root the civil rights movement in Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. There’s some truth there but it buries the lede.
Tikkun olam-ism is yet another intellectual, ideological and cultural offshoot of “the movement” that revolutionized American society — and thus one more baby boomer imposition bullying the rest of us. A comprehensive history of tikkun olam would analyze how liberal social-changers, not just conservative stay-the-coursers, politicized American religion in general. That fusion became so important to American-Jewish liberals, that many felt hurt when the movie “Selma” sidelined Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s role.
The story of Heschel — and of King — adds an important nuance. Judaism, far more than Christianity, is a community-oriented religion which encourages Jews to inject “Jewish values” — religion-based sensibilities — into the public square. Moreover, even the most secular Zionist builds on the Torah’s bridging between public and private life.
Neumann worries about lack of proportion and lack of Jewish content. I would distinguish between tikkun olam and the modern perversion of Tikkun Olam (in capital letters) with an annoyingly drawn –out, Americanized pronunciation of the second word. The lower-case tikkun olam is one of a series of Jewish values, visions and virtues.
Judaism wants Jews injecting some religious and moral principles into politics. Modern tikkun olam, by contrast, makes the pursuit of a particular form of social justice American Judaism’s overriding mission. It overreaches by being too comprehensive — and too present-oriented. Tikkun olam-ers have declared a politically correct war against Judaism’s central message that the best way to achieve universal ideas is through particular loyalties to your family, the Jewish community, the Jewish people, your nation and, today, the Jewish state. That false god of universalism Enlightened Jews first worshiped has metamorphized into today’s liberal Frankenstein. Most modern liberals don’t understand that the cosmopolitan rootlessness they worship leads to a moral rootlessness that is anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist — and ultimately amoral. The cult of modern tikkun olam thus threatens Am Olam, the eternal people.
Overemphasizing the marginal story of Abraham arguing with God to save Sodom and Gomorrah misreads Abraham’s lifelong mission to do good through his intense relationship with his God and his people. Even worse, misreading Genesis to pivot around “creation” turns Judaism into a universalist cult. “Is your starting point Revelation or creation,” Neumann asks. “Without the personal and commanding God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob there is no covenant, and without a covenant there is no Jewish people.” More sobering, the modern version of social justice-oriented universalism is hostile to Israel while leaving “the theology bereft of any cogent reason for Judaism to persist.
Neumann’s timely book unleashes a powerful intellectual fusillade in what must become the great fight of our lives. The American-Jewish future, along with American Jews’ relationship to our tradition, our people and our homeland, Israel, is at risk. If American Jews continue wrenching Jewish values from the context in which they grew and which proved so useful for passing on ideals, they will succeed in so liberalizing Judaism that their kids or grandkids will merely be Jew-ish — Americans with a slight Jewish twist to them — or not Jewish at all.
If, however, we can restore the balance, we have a shot.
Beware the soft totalitarianism of the modern tikkun olam know-it-alls, even while cherishing social justice seekers’ lyrical idealism. We need a knotty, messy, multidimensional, complex Judaism to guide us and challenge us in our often knotty, messy personal and public lives.
Inevitably, our harsh, all-or-nothing political culture will caricature Neumann as conservative, anti-liberal, against tikkun olam — code-words for “evil” among the closed-minded-who-profess-open-mindedness. But his conclusion salutes the constructive idealism of those “who have been sold the fiction that tikkun olam is Judaism’s primary teaching.” He knows, however, that “noble intentions alone do not a holy people make.”
Neumann challenges American Jews to choose: reject this “self-righteous,” my-way-or-the-highway movement “that is prostituting Jewish civilization for petty partisan profit,” or watch American Jewry continue stumbling toward more “estrangement from the Jewish People … distance from Israel” and “assimilation.” Instead, Jews must “reimagine the possibilities that their ancient heritage has something unique to say” by seeking a good life and a better world through identity, through their peoplehood, through this ancient heritage and community.”
In 1988, American-Jewish liberal Leonard Fein — in full modern tikkun olam-ist mode, said, “Politics is our religion; our preferred denomination is liberalism.” I prefer Fein in his more subtle, Zionist, tikkun olam mode. In a marvelous passage I absolutely had to include in my new anthology “The Zionist Ideas,” he wrote, at the height of Israel’s 1982 Lebanon War, when so many fretted about Israel’s soul: “There are two kinds of Zionists in the world: most of us are both. We want to be normal, we want to be special: we want to be a light unto the nations, we want to be a nation like all the others. … I vastly prefer a people that chooses to risk a collective nervous breakdown, as we do, by endorsing both visions, both versions …”
American Jews already learned this lesson. In the 1880s, the Reform movement, worshiping that false god of liberal universalism, renounced peoplehood, and denounced attempts to found a Jewish state. It took genocidal nationalism at its worst — the Holocaust — and liberal nationalism at its best — Israel’s founding — to cure the Reform movement of those delusions. Starting in the late 1930s, then spurred by Israel’s founding in 1948 and Israel’s victory in 1967, Reform Jews helped shape American Jewry’s “great consensus,” pro-American and pro-Israel, pro-liberal universalism through Jewish peoplehood particularism. The balancing act was occasionally complex — and we occasionally flirted with Feinian nervous breakdowns. But the balancing act itself exhilarated, inspired and empowered.
Bravo to Jonathan Neumann for calling us out for losing our balance. And good luck to the rest of us as we try restoring that glorious seesawing between looking inward and searching outward, between David the shepherd killing wolves to save his sheep and the Prophet Isaiah’s imagining lions lying down with lambs, between defending ourselves and fixing the world, between peoplehood and personhood, between accepting what is and about dreaming about what can be, between “belonging to” and being “free from.”
Judaism has flourished in that precarious intersection, trying to stand while fiddling on the roof, trying to fight while brandishing guns and our moral code. We’ve outlasted waves of enemies. We’ve survived occasional nervous breakdowns. We’ve now raised a generation that responds to Israel experiences enthusiastically precisely because they offer vigorous, layered, deeply Jewish alternatives to the American-politics-impersonating-Judaism they’re spoon-fed in too many synagogues. And thanks to the vigorous debate we need about our laziest assumptions and haziest visions, deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall overcome modern tikkun olam-ism some day.
Gil Troy, a distinguished scholar of North American History at McGill University in Canada, is the author of “The Zionist Ideas: Visions for the Jewish Homeland — Then, Now, Tomorrow.” | {
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Thirteen percent of department leader positions at top academic medical institutions in the United States are held by women, while nearly 20 percent are held by men with mustaches. The findings of the tongue-in-cheek study, an analysis of more than 1,000 headshots of department leaders at top National Institutes of Health-funded academic medical institutions, provide a new context for examining gender disparities in the field.
The study is co-authored by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and published this week in The BMJ Christmas issue, an annual edition filled with lighter takes on scientific issues.
"The lack of women in leadership roles in medicine is well-documented, but despite the eccentricities of the study, our results show that even when you focus solely on men with mustaches -- which are rare -- women are still outnumbered across various specialties," said lead author, Mackenzie Wehner, MD, MPhil, a Dermatology resident physician at Penn Medicine.
Researchers analyzed 1,018 medical department leaders by searching the institutional websites of the selected medical schools to identify leaders, such as the chair, chief or head of each specialty. For each department leader, the team recorded the medical specialty, institution, gender, and presence of mustache.
Results showed that of the 20 specialties examined, only five (obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, dermatology, family medicine and emergency medicine), had more than 20 percent female department leaders, compared to ten specialties where men with mustaches made up more than 20 percent of department leaders.
The findings are consistent with the results of a recent study of over 90, 000 academic physicians, which showed that women are less likely to be full professors even after adjustment for age and research productivity.
To close this gap, the authors point to the need for additional efforts to implement policies against gender discrimination and introduce family benefits equally across gender -- including paid paternity and parental leave -- as well as implementing predefined hiring criteria, job flexibility, and tenure clock extensions.
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $5.3 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 17 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $409 million awarded in the 2014 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report -- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Chestnut Hill Hospital and Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2014, Penn Medicine provided $771 million to benefit our community. | {
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BY CHARLES J. ORLANDO
“Honey, I have to join Ashley Madison.”
So began the pitch I gave my wife to let me join the marrieds-looking-for-affairs website, AshleyMadison.com. It would be part of my research into women who cheat, why infidelity is increasing, and what can be done to possibly affair-proof a marriage. I proposed to “cheat” on her for a few weeks, to talk to and attempt to seduce as many women as possible, and get a real-world understanding of why women want to stay married but also need some illicit action on the side.
Of course, on my end, there’d be nothing more than conversation. She looked at me straight-faced, unflinching. I searched her eyes for any telltale sign of the Charles-I’m-going-to-punch-you-in-the-face-right-after-I-castrate-you look; nothing. After a long pause, I got her only thought: “No, I get it,” she said emphatically. “It’s a great story. But it’s kinda like asking the newly-vegetarian fox to guard the henhouse, isn’t it?”
I thought about it, and unfortunately her statement wasn’t too far from the truth. If you back me up a few years—sans wife, kids, dogs, published book on relationships and 400,000+ fans following my relationship advice on Facebook—I was a chronic womanizer. This is a past she knows about but never experienced personally.
To make matters worse, I wasn’t some weak pick-up artist using idiotic dating boot camp approaches that reeked of negativity and douchebaggery on vulnerable women in order to break them down and manipulate them into sex. No, I was far more despicable than that.
Was I looking to get women into bed? Of course, but it was more than that. I worked hard to become the embodiment of seduction. To quickly read the spoken and unspoken clues of what a woman was looking for in a man and then give her the perception I was that guy—in effect, to become so alluring that she would willingly give herself over, thinking that having sex was her idea. After all, it’s much easier to convince people of things they think they have thought of themselves. It was quite a rush, and as the wake of emotional destruction would later exemplify, seducing women became my drug of choice.
“No, babe, that’s not even close,” I told her, not fully considering the implications of the coming situations. “That was 15, almost 20 years ago. And you know that I love you. There’s nothing to fear.”
After another pregnant pause, she consented with a few words of sage advice: “Don’t fuck up.”
The statistics
According to the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, nearly 50 percent of married women and 60 percent of married men will have an extramarital affair at some point in their marriage. When you consider that these statistics are nearly double what they were a short 10 years ago, clearly this is beyond an issue; it is now commonplace.
But it’s far from a surprise; it was predicted.
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Futurist Alvin Toffler wrote the best-seller Future Shock in 1970, and with matter-of-fact conviction he wrote of “trial” or “temporary marriages”—young people’s first marriages, lasting three months to three years—and of “serial marriages” that would take place after the dissolution of the “trial marriage” at specific turning points in people’s lives.
So, does this mean marriage has “jumped the shark” and become obsolete? Hardly. Marriage is not the issue. Commitment and loyalty or the lack thereof are at the crux of this. After all, marriage is a legal and/or spiritual binding of two people, but if commitment isn’t there and loyalty becomes a matter of subjectivity or convenience, the marriage is already nonexistent. Cheating then becomes a symptom of a secretly failed marriage.
But is it really so black and white, with no grey and no room for mistakes, missteps, or moments of weakness? Do people who cheat want to leave their current marriage? Are they secretly trying to get caught so they’ll have an excuse to get out? I needed answers to these questions (and many others), so I headed where any high-tech junkie looking to cheat on his wife would go: online.
The Business of Infidelity
The advent of the Internet has made having an illicit affair easier than ever before. Meeting Mr. or Ms. Right, The Sequel, is a mere mouse-click for anyone with a credit card. If you’re looking to hit-it-and-quit-it, there’s AdultFriendFinder.com, Craigslist’s Casual Encounters or Fling.com (among many others). But sex-only semi-anonymous hookups wasn’t where my investigation was headed, as women looking to merely have sex can meet a man anywhere—nightclubs, coffee shops, Facebook, wherever.
My hypothesis was simple: women who were looking for an extramarital affair with another married man were looking to connect in some way. If both parties were married, they not only started on even ground, but they had something in common—they were missing something from their current relationship. I needed to uncover the motivations behind starting and maintaining an affair.
And affairs are big business. Numerous websites are dedicated to connecting those looking to engage in flagranté delecto sans spouse. AffairsClub.com, MarriedCafe.com, LonelyWivesAffairs.com are but the tip of the iceberg, and all have women and men signing up in droves.
The undisputed leader for cheating is AshleyMadison.com, the “life is short, have an affair” website. AshleyMadison has experienced meteoric growth since its founding in 2002, with no slowing in sight. And while founder and CEO Noel Biderman doesn’t condone having an affair, he seems perfectly comfortable with others doing their infidelity thing.
Now it was my turn to get my (feigned) cheat on.
I filled out my nickname and relevant info, plopped down my credit card number (discretely billed as “AMDB” to my credit card statement), and then all I needed to do was wait. I was faced with the eternal online seduction dilemma: now what? What will make the opposite sex want me online? What do women want to see on my profile?
Recent reports state that Ashley Madison has a community that is comprised of 70 percent men and 30 percent women. Clearly women have the upper hand with choice, so I needed to stand out against all the other guys. I posted a real picture of me (I was looking to connect in-person, after all), but I listed a fake name (if they Googled my real name, I was sure to be caught). To formulate the right approach, I decided to do something I couldn’t do in the real world: get into the minds of my competition, albeit a little sneakily.
I signed up for a second Ashley Madison account as a woman, “Shelly,” and began checking out the guys’ profiles. Most of the men’s profiles highlighted attempts at humor, asking straight-out for sex to romance (“I like walks on the beach.”)
In contrast, so many of the women’s profiles were dripped with laments ranging from “lack of attention” to “seeking excitement” to “need someone who pays attention.” Additionally, it was fascinating to see “Shelly’s” inbox fill up in a matter of minutes. I hadn’t even added a picture or completed the profile for that persona.
With a firm understanding of where my competition played—and the miserable approaches of some—I got to work writing something unique and confident yet mysterious and seductive. I set up three profiles to see which would resonate the fastest and which would hit with the most success. “Scottie” was unsure, shy, and a bit weak (“I’m not sure why I’m here”), “Greg” was the quintessential Alpha Male (“You know you want me”), and the aforementioned “Cameron” was closer to the middle (“Too many men get comfortable—even complacent—and forget that foreplay starts outside the bedroom…that kisses can start soft with cheek strokes, but end with the back of her hair being pulled in wild passion”).
Early Success
Online
I responded to a few messages, and before I knew it I was invited to a chat session with “SexyCat” (profile name changed to ensure her anonymity). SexyCat wanted to know all kinds of things—and what I would do if given the opportunity.
With my wife watching TV on the couch a mere 10 feet away, here I was talking dirty to a 36-year-old married woman (whose husband was probably watching TV on the couch a mere 10 feet away from her). SexyCat wasn’t the only one. I discovered that to satisfy their deep longing for passion with minimal risk, many women sign up for Ashley Madison to have virtual sex via chat.
Over the next several days, I had chat sessions of varying length with 33 different women. In each session, I attempted to take things to the next level—an in-person meeting—but no-go. Most of these women seemed comfortable in getting what they needed online. It was arm’s-length cheating for them (and perhaps one-handed typing). I hope I didn’t disappoint them and that virtual cigarettes were ablaze in post-coital, pixelated afterglow of my cybersex adventures.
I told my wife about my hot chats, and she laughed. We got into a long discussion about the arm’s length approach to cheating these women had, and if it was really cheating. If it was borderline anonymous (read: they didn’t know much about me), it was akin to an interactive romance or erotic novel. I recounted some of the more sexually explicit material these ladies had written, as well as what I wrote in response. We both said aloud what we have known for a long time: When it comes to sex, women will get into the real detail, so much more so than most men. And with the inherent anonymity of chat, those inhibitions only grow exponentially. But I hadn’t been afraid; I can talk dirty with the best of them.
However, Ashley Madison had more in store for me than just chat sessions.
Date #1: “Ashley”
“Ashley” initially reached out to me and was eager to meet. After a brief inbox exchange on the website, we decide to meet for coffee at a cafe in Mountain View, a stone’s throw from California’s Silicon Valley. She was a dead-on match to her picture: a striking 5’8″ blonde. As we headed inside, I caught a glimpse of our reflections in the window and laughed quietly. At 5’5,″ I look like Dudley Moore to her Brigitte Nielsen.
She was confident, and as it turned out, a bit of a cheating pro. At 43, Ashley is a pure Type A personality, a Sales Executive in high-tech; she’d been married for 22 years and has had several affairs. Ashley Madison has been her “outlet” for the past number of years. I asked if her husband has an outlet, as well, and she was clear that he doesn’t. “He would never,” she said with equal confidence. “He doesn’t have time for this kind of thing.”
As we talked, our conversation turned to the philosophical and intellectual side of life and world events: Descartes, Nietzsche, politics, world history, religion and sex, subjects about which I have no shortage of opinions and personal insight. And I realized her outlet was mental and intellectual stimulation. She was fascinated that I was able to keep up with her, and she flushed, showing signs that this was more than banter for her—it was foreplay.
Ashley told me she loved her husband but couldn’t understand why he had dropped back from their relationship. He was committed to “passion and romance” when they dated but had recently become “all work and no play.” She shared briefly that as the Chief Technical Officer of a technology start-up, he was too busy for her, with travel and his company taking all his time. “But he’s always been too busy, ever since we got married,” she lamented.
I piled on to her discontent by falsely offering that my wife also has no time for me, but I then asked her: “So why don’t we leave them, then? Why are we here?” She didn’t miss a beat. “I need passion. I need to feel something, almost anything at this point. He has great qualities, but…“ We then dropped the subject at her request.
She was extremely intelligent and witty—and she was just as clear that sex was a priority.
“You seem a little green, so let me explain where I’m at. I’m not here looking for a husband, so you don’t need to worry about that. I’m looking for a man to take the lead; to invest his time, but not his emotions. Oh, and your height isn’t a problem.” We both laughed.
Our hour-long coffee date flew by, and under different circumstances I would have loved to continue the conversation. She was strong, funny, direct, but she seemed OK with missing out on what she really wants from a relationship and settling for something mediocre in her romantic life. I left the date thinking I might better understand her on our next date.
Date #2: “Shannon”
“Shannon” read my profile and reached out to me to begin a dialogue. When we connected, she was upfront that she wasn’t yet clear on her limits—so if I was looking for sex today, I needed to move on. I told her I wasn’t clear either, and that coffee sounded good, hoping we could share a bit of time to see how we both felt.
Shannon was interesting: 35, dirty blonde hair, smart, funny, full of life, well-read and educated. She had made the decision to raise her two kids as a stay-at-home mom. She and her husband met in college and had been together ever since, but his attentiveness waned after the first couple of years. I asked why she stayed. Her answer: “Because I love him.”
I felt strangely comfortable with her, so I shared that I hadn’t had an affair yet, and that I’m new to the site and not clear on what to do—or when. She empathized, remembering when she was new to Ashley Madison. She’d had two affairs in the past, but they were strictly for sex, and it left her feeling empty. “Sex is great, but I’m looking for some time together, too. Not dating, but just something new. My husband is a great guy, but he talks to me like I’m stupid half of the time. And I have kids; I don’t want to leave.”
At the end of our date, I keep things cool, and she asks if we can get together again. I tell her that I’d love to (knowing I can’t and won’t), and I ask her to reach me back on Ashley Madison. She’s sent me three messages since, and I answered the last one telling her that I realized after we parted that I couldn’t cheat on my wife—it’s just not how I’m made. She responded, telling me she understood and wished me well.
Date #3: “Lisa”
I found “Lisa” by searching through the profiles. She was an attractive brunette, 5’4″, 39, 130lbs., two kids, residing in the Bay Area. After reading her profile (something I’ve been told many men don’t do with online dating sites), I sent her an inbox message telling her that I really liked her snarky attitude, her bold statements, and her general approach to life (which I had read about in her writing).
Her profile stated that she wasn’t sure what she wanted from being a member of Ashley Madison, but she was clear that she wanted to chat with me.
We took the chat off the site to Yahoo! Messenger, and within seconds it was clear that she wasn’t after cybersex, she was trying to feel me out—no overtly intrusive questions, just getting to know me a bit. We talked about books, sex, great places to travel, music, movies and more sex.
After about 40 minutes of banter, I went in for the kill: “Want to grab a bite to eat this week?” I wrote, asking her to lunch. My convincer: “It’s just lunch. 60 minutes. If there’s no connection, no harm, no foul. And I know a great place in The City. Come join me. ;)” I typed, dripping with confidence. She agreed.
We met the next day at Albona Restaurant in San Francisco’s North Beach restaurant district. It was crowded, but she recognized me instantly from my profile picture, and I had already secured a table. We exchanged pleasantries, ordered a mid-day cocktail (I think I needed one), and began talking—me sprinkling in my interview questions throughout normal conversation. Over the next hour I played the part of the guy who was married but just couldn’t get into the humdrum of married life. I needed something. She quickly agreed with me and then spouted answers as I took mental notes.
I asked her why, with all the choices available to her, she had answered my email. Her answer: because of how I phrased things on my profile. Aside from the raw passion I had exhibited, she said I showed “thoughtfulness, intelligence, and a confidence” that came through in my writing—and I didn’t send her a picture of my penis.
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At 39, with two young kids, she lamented that her marriage had grown cold, and her husband complacent. Her relationship was good in many ways—financially stable, secure, friendly—but it lacked… She stopped. I probed, “Passion?” and she almost leaped off her seat in agreement. She longed for spontaneity, the freshness that accompanies new relationships, and the effort that her husband had put in 10 years prior.
Midway through the meal, I started flirting with her. The challenge: I couldn’t get my wife out of my head.
But as I continued, I found myself returning to the guy I was years before: focused on seduction, listening for clues to her wants and needs. We were now done with lunch, and I turned my attention to how far I could take her. As it turns out, she was the one who gave me the in by asking, “What do you find the most attractive about me?”
This question is a pick-up artist’s dream for a number of reasons. First, it speaks to her not having been complimented often enough, as she was fishing, apparently insecure and looking for validation. It also shows that she wants to know where my head is at; what do I see first when I look at a woman, and how does that relate to her? And lastly, it’s an inviting question, in that she wouldn’t have asked if she wasn’t interested in me. So, her simple question tipped the scales in my favor.
“You have a great walk,” I told her. She looked at me like I was crazy. “No, really,” I said. “You can tell a lot about a woman by the way she walks and her body language as a whole. Is she looking at the ground, unconfident, or is she standing tall, greeting the world? And, you have a swing when you walk,” I added playfully.
She was taken aback—as I knew she would be. A clever man might talk about a woman’s intelligence being a turn-on, but most men don’t usually talk about confidence in this fashion.
I moved the conversation from confidence-building to sex, and she followed along, clearly digging where I was guiding things. She was very interested in how I saw her, hungry for the compliments and clearly longing for the passion I started putting out. She reversed the question on herself and then told me what she liked about me, and the conversation tumbled into her passionate thoughts, how I was making her feel: relaxed, free, feminine.
At this point, I was in a dicey situation. I didn’t want to sleep with her, but the challenge of having her commit to giving herself over was intoxicating. So I kept pushing the limits and pouring it on, all the while hoping that my wife would understand the true motivations for my actions.
Fifteen minutes later—an hour-and-a-half after we arrived at the restaurant—I made The Ask: Was she interested in heading down the street to a nice hotel and experiencing what I have been describing? I told her I haven’t prepared for this but connections like this are rare and that I’m having a hard time controlling myself. I didn’t want to be so forward, but…and I stopped talking, letting my look fall to the floor. This gave her the illusion of being in control of the situation with a choice. A short pause and a coy smile from her told me instantly that she is absolutely hooked, and mine for the taking.
She agreed to go to the hotel with a whisper, and leaned across the table to kiss me to seal the deal.
And I froze. My body language changed instantly, and I sat back from the table and put my hand up to stop her advance.
“I can’t.”
“What?” she laughed.
“No, really. I can’t do this.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, with genuine confusion. With a sigh—and for the first time realizing that I didn’t have an exit from this situation—I explained: “I’m working on a research project on adultery. This is a part of it. I’m sorry, but I can’t cheat on my wife.“
I paused and she stared at me in disbelief. I had effectively brought her to the apex of her wanting, and now I was pulling the rug out from under her.
“So, this was all bullshit?” she asked through her teeth, not wanting to cause a scene in the restaurant. I sat motionless, unsure of what to do when she made the decision for me. With a look that would level an army, she seethed out, “Fuck you, Cameron,” and threw what was left of her martini at me. She turned and stormed out of the restaurant.
It wasn’t her fault. I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t tempted—but my wife, my honor, my word and my humanity are not worth it, no matter how attractive she might have been. After patting myself dry amidst slack-jawed looks from other diners, I left the restaurant and headed home. I was emotionally spent.
The Fight
As I pulled into my little suburb-of-a-town, I arrived at a local coffee shop down the street from my house, and I called my wife to see if she would join me. She agreed, but when she arrived I knew something was wrong. My thoughts were confirmed when I greeted her. With a smile on my face and my arms out to embrace her, I was greeted with, “Don’t even touch me, I can smell you from here. You smell like liquor and whores.”
This was not what I planned on, and this isn’t the way our open and honest relationship normally runs. She sat away from me, her arms folded in front of her, sipping her coffee and barely looking at me. I told her the story of what happened: the restaurant, the lunch, the flirting, the advance from Lisa, the cocktail. Her anger intensified.
“That’s bullshit, Charles. No one throws a drink on someone for nothing. What did you do? Just tell me. What did you do?”
For much of the afternoon, she fought with me. Given what my investigation was trying to uncover, and in light of my recent actions—even though they were “allowed” actions based on what we had discussed—I felt I had nothing to stand on. I tried to explain that I didn’t do anything, but she wasn’t buying it.
After three hours of not speaking to me, it became clear what was really bothering her when she told me emphatically: “You know, Charles, it’s amazing. I don’t care about your ‘date.’ And for all I care, you could have slept with her. But tell me this: When was the last time you took time out of your day and took me to lunch for no reason?”
A Revelation
Her statement to me was an eye-opener, and in polling 250+ women in the days that followed, I reached an important understanding. When an adulterous man is found out, there are many, many women that can get past the sex act itself.
But the real problem is where his effort has been going. As his wife sits idle, being supportive, holding down her half of the relationship, house and kids, a cheating man will put boat loads of effort into seducing the other woman: four-star restaurants and hotels, gifts, laughter, spontaneity, passion, sex.
From there, it’s a sad realization for his wife that translates to “I’m not worth the effort.” This is a fatal blow to her self-esteem and self-worth and terminal to the relationship. My wife and I got past it, but I had to relent to the fact that I hadn’t done those things for her recently. It wasn’t purposeful, but it was a mirror into my own accidental complacently (and I’m supposed to be an expert). It’s not that I take her for granted. But in acting like a cheater, I had fallen into my own trap. Accidentally? Perhaps, but does it matter? Isn’t the end result the same?
With all my experience and expertise, I keep learning.
Reflection
Contemplating all of my experiences with the women of Ashley Madison—chat sessions and in-person dates—several things became painfully clear. First, there isn’t one “type” of woman looking to cheat online. Some were looking to have sex, period. Others were looking to subsidize their current relationship with a human connection—and if it led to sex, even better.
But all were clear that they were not leaving their current relationship. These weren’t monkeys getting a grip on the next branch before letting go of the first. They just wanted to feel what they used to feel from the man in their life.
The most common complaint was a lack of passion and effort by the man in their current relationship. It makes sense. When a man begins dating a woman, he puts in tons of effort; he woos her. Once she’s “his,” he stops putting in that effort, but she still longs for it. She wants to be desired, seduced, and connected with on a regular basis. So many men seem to be missing the boat. They start strong, having a decent sense of how to capture a woman at the beginning, but upon entering a relationship they are unprepared for the long haul and investment a successful relationship demands past the dating phase. The situation starts to reek of complacency and satisfaction in mediocrity.
Should the women of Ashley Madison leave their current relationships before starting a new one? Yes, but the sad truth is that these women weren’t looking to start a new relationship. I got the distinct impression that they were filling their needs outside their relationships until such time that he noticed he was disconnected, it became unbearable, or it ended on its own. And until then, they were willing to settle for a half-marriage with a side of passion.
I still feel that cheating is the wrong thing to do, but this is the grey area I didn’t see before.
To the men thinking of getting married: being married isn’t like dating. Marriage doesn’t take “work” per se, but it does require concerted effort and investment in each other, and in you. If you aren’t into it, don’t do it, as you will be setting yourself up for failure—perhaps finding your wife on Ashley Madison. Or worse, out with a guy like I used to be, enjoying passion because you stopped bringing it.
Men in established relationships and marriage need to remember that women are women first and foremost—and wives and mothers second. If a man stops bringing passion and effort to his relationship and stops treating her as a desired woman, he shouldn’t be surprised when she feels forced to fill her needs elsewhere.
Charles J. Orlando is a relationship expert, best-selling author, and television and radio personality best known as the author of the acclaimed relationship book series The Problem with Women is Men. This piece was originally featured on Your Tango and republished with permission.
Photo via Jen BFO-CFN/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | {
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Vicenç Navarro
Autor del libro 'Ataque a la democracia y al bienestar. Crítica al Pensamiento económico dominante'. Anagrama 2015
Si usted, lector, lee la prensa económica o las páginas económicas de la prensa en general, habrá visto que en bastantes países se han introducido prácticas bancarias mediante las que las instituciones financieras, en lugar de pagar intereses por el dinero que el ciudadano deposita en el banco, cobran a este para guardarle el dinero. Es lo que llaman intereses negativos. Y usted se preguntará: ¿por qué lo hacen? Y la respuesta a esta pregunta varía según el economista al cual usted pregunte. Las llamadas "ciencias económicas" no son tan científicas como la mayoría de la población cree. La respuesta a la pregunta que usted se hace dependerá de los valores que tenga el economista que le responda.
Una respuesta muy frecuente que le darán es que hoy hay en el mundo muchísimo dinero. En realidad, hay tanto que no se sabe qué hacer con él. Y, para los ricos, es más seguro tener el dinero depositado en el banco que tenerlo debajo de la almohada en su domicilio. Y tendrá que admitir que la respuesta tiene cierta lógica. Ahora bien, lo que usted es probable que hiciera si tuviera mucho dinero sería que, en lugar de poner su dinero debajo de la almohada o en un banco, intentaría utilizarlo, bien invirtiéndolo, bien comprando propiedades que le generaran renta ahora o más adelante, o aumentando el consumo. Y esto es precisamente lo que la mayoría de economistas también le dirán. Y puesto que el problema mayor que tienen hoy las economías desarrolladas es la escasa demanda, parece lógico que se tomen medidas para aumentar el consumo. De ahí que las autoridades públicas intenten que, en lugar de guardar el dinero, la gente lo utilice comprando. Es importante, por lo tanto, que los bancos, en lugar de pagarle unos intereses por sus depósitos, incrementando el ahorro, le cobren a usted cuando usted quiera guardar su dinero en el banco, porque lo que el Estado quiere es que usted lo gaste en lugar de guardarlo.
Esta explicación parece lógica. Pero hay un gran fallo, y es asumir que el que no aumente el consumo en el país sea porque no hay suficiente dinero en circulación, lo cual no es difícil de ver que no es cierto. En realidad los bancos centrales, incluyendo el BCE, han estado imprimiendo más y más dinero (miles de millones de euros) y, en cambio, la economía permanece estancada. A decir verdad, los bancos ya han estado proveyendo dinero con préstamos a intereses negativos durante mucho tiempo. Si los intereses del dinero que usted ha depositado en el banco son más bajos que la inflación (que es lo que ha ocurrido durante bastante tiempo), usted está perdiendo dinero en su depósito bancario. Los bancos le estaban prestando dinero a unos intereses negativos.
Por qué la política monetaria es dramáticamente insuficiente
Y ahí el gran error de los talibanes neoliberales. Creerse que la economía puede configurarse a base de la cantidad de dinero que hay en el mercado (que depende, entre otros factores, de la cantidad de dinero que imprime el Banco Central, que es lo que se llama política monetaria) es estar profundamente equivocado. Ello no quiere decir que sea completamente erróneo. Hay un elemento de verdad, pero solo un elemento, y ahora es un elemento muy poco importante. Lo cual no quiere decir que los bancos no pudieran ayudar en el estímulo de la economía. Pero hoy, la banca privada no lo hace. Lo que debería hacer el Banco Central es dar (es decir, darlo a intereses muy bajos) dinero a los Estados (una cantidad que pueda regularse) y que estos prestaran directamente a las familias y a las pequeñas y medianas empresas a intereses bajísimo, lo cual no hacen, pues todo lo hacen a través de la banca privada, que en su mayor parte utiliza este dinero para fines especulativos.
Y ello lo hace no porque los banqueros sean mala gente (aunque muchos sí que lo son, por ser súper avariciosos y no siempre honestos con sus clientes), sino porque la rentabilidad de la inversión es mucho mayor en estas inversiones especulativas que no en lo que se llama inversiones productivas (en la producción de bienes y servicios). Y además no se fían de las pequeñas y medianas empresas, pues no las ven muy seguras. En otras palabras, el problema no es la falta de dinero sino los canales por los que se distribuye tal dinero. En realidad las grandes empresas nunca han tenido tanto dinero. Pero tienen un gran problema: no tienen donde depositarlo. Y de ahí que los bancos les pidan dinero para guardárselo.
¿Cuál es, pues, el problema?
Créame que, aunque usted, lector, no lo verá frecuentemente en los medios (porque estos están controlados por los bancos, al estar muy endeudados), el problema mayor es la falta de demanda de bienes y servicios, porque la población no tiene dinero para comprarlos. Y el que no tenga dinero es porque la mayoría de la población consigue sus ingresos a base del trabajo, es decir, en forma de salarios u otras formas de compensación relacionadas con el trabajo. Ahí está el punto clave. Las rentas derivadas del trabajo (como porcentaje de todas las rentas) han ido descendiendo, mientras que las rentas del capital han ido creciendo. Y este es el problema gravísimo, más silenciado y ocultado hoy en la prensa española. Y si cree que soy paranoico, muéstreme dónde ha leído usted artículos que hablen de ello. Puede que lo haya visto en algún artículo solitario, pero es la excepción que confirma la regla.
Y que no lo haya visto no se debe a que los periodistas sepan la verdad y la oculten. Esto pasa, pero no es lo más frecuente. Es más la ignorancia que la mentira lo que predomina en los medios económicos (aunque en algunos fórums es al revés). Es muy fácil de ver lo que está ocurriendo. En realidad yo ya predije lo que pasaría en mi libro de Ariel Sociedad Económica en el año 1997 (Neoliberalismo y Estado del bienestar). Que no haya suficiente demanda no es porque los salarios sean demasiado altos (supuestamente frenando la competitividad), sino porque, al revés, son demasiado bajos. Y contribuyen a ello los recortes de gasto y empleo públicos (que en España son de los más bajos de la UE-15, el grupo de países con semejante nivel de desarrollo al nuestro). En realidad, tales recortes disminuyen la demanda de una manera muy sustancial. Hoy la escasez de la demanda es el mayor problema en la Eurozona (y muy en especial en el sur de Europa), y es responsable del estancamiento económico y el bajísimo crecimiento económico. Y este estancamiento económico está causado, a su vez, por la bajada en picado de la inversión productiva (en la UE-15 ha bajado un 8,4% en el año 2000 a un 6,8% en el 2014, y en España todavía peor, de un 7,5% a un 5,7% durante el mismo periodo). El descenso en áreas como la investigación y el desarrollo ha sido también muy notable. En realidad, las políticas de reformas laborales (llevadas a cabo por los gobiernos PSOE y PP, y aplaudidas por el partido Ciudadanos), que han tenido como consecuencia la bajada de salarios y el aumento de la precariedad, y las políticas de austeridad y recortes realizadas y aplaudidas por tales partidos han tenido un impacto muy, pero que muy negativo, causando primero la Gran Recesión, y retrasando más tarde, la recuperación económica.
¿Está cambiando la sabiduría convencional neoliberal?
Sí, fuera, pero no en España, donde hay un retraso muy notable, debido al enorme dominio de los medios de información por parte de fuerzas conservadoras y neoliberales. Tanto la dirección del FMI como incluso el Presidente del BCE han indicado que las políticas monetarias son insuficientes, y que se requiere estimular la economía mediante medidas fiscales. Ahora bien, lo que entienden por medidas fiscales es reducir los impuestos, con lo cual consideran que estimularán la economía, lo cual es cierto, pero solo hasta cierto punto, puesto que las bajadas de impuestos por regla general benefician más a las rentas superiores que a la mayoría de la población, y los primeros tienen ya tanto dinero que lo que reciben como bajada de impuestos lo guardan y no lo consumen, al contrario que la mayoría de la población, que tiene mucho menos y gasta casi todo lo extra que recibe. De ahí que la mejor manera de estimular la economía sea revertir casi 180º las reformas contraproducentes que se han estado imponiendo a la población. En realidad, el Presidente Roosevelt sacó a EEUU de la Gran Depresión con un incremento enorme del gasto público, mediante inversiones públicas muy necesarias en el país, el establecimiento de la Seguridad Social y facilitando la sindicalización para que aumentaran los salarios. Hoy esto es lo que se necesita en España. Y por desgracia, ni el PP, ni el PSOE, ni Ciudadanos están proponiendo algo semejante a ello. Y las propuestas del PSOE no se distancian suficientemente de las políticas públicas que siguieron sus antecesores. Y ahí está el problema. Hoy la necesidad mayor de a economía es estimular la economía mediante un aumento muy notable de la inversión pública en las áreas sociales, energéticas e industriales, creando buen empleo. Y un aumento muy notable de los salarios, revirtiendo las reformas laborales para reforzar a los sindicatos en lugar de debilitarlos, como han hecho las reformas laborales del PSOE y del PP, aplaudidas por Ciudadanos. De no hacerlo, iremos en el mismo camino de Grecia, a la cual han impuesto la continuidad de ls reformas neoliberales. Y tal cambio de políticas es posible en contra de lo que se indica en los círculos económicos y políticos donde se reproduce la sabiduría convencional. Portugal es un ejemplo donde la coalición gobernante de izquierdas ha parado tales políticas. Y España podría ser otro. En realidad, los días de la austeridad están contados pues existe hoy una rebelión en los países de la Eurozona (véase lo que ocurre en Francia) frente a tales políticas que han dañado tanto a las clases populares. La victoria en las próximas elecciones del 26 de junio de una coalición de partidos progresistas antiausteridad sería un paso muy importante para revertir el austericidio presente. Piénseselo, puesto que su voto puede determinar que se continúe con estas políticas desastrosas o que se reviertan en dirección contraria a la que se ha estado imponiendo. Así de claro. | {
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Ever since 2000, game consoles have effectively (if not very assertively) been banned in China. There's already been signs of a warming attitude with official plans for the Nintendo 3DS XL coming this December, but Sony may have slipped out hints of a fuller thaw without anyone noticing until now. A Sina Weibo user just discovered that the 160GB and 320GB versions of the previous-generation PlayStation 3, the CECH-3012, passed through China Compulsory Certificate approval in July -- an odd move when the console couldn't actually go on sale in an official capacity in current conditions. Certification is still far from a guarantee that Sony will actually sell the PS3 in the country, most of all when it's a slightly outdated model of a console line that's edging ever nearer to a replacement. The government certainly hasn't commented on what the regulatory clearance means. If it ultimately leads to more gamers in Chengdu or Shanghai, however, we're all for it. | {
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Three Chinese fishing vessels have been impounded in East London harbour, for allegedly fishing illegally in South African waters.
The vessels were brought into port on Sunday night as part of a joint operation by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DAFF), the SA Maritime Safety Authority and the SA Navy.
They were escorted the DAFF vessel, Sarah Baartman, and the SA Navy ship, SAS Drakensberg.
This followed an investigation into reports that Chinese fishing trawlers were fishing illegally in South African waters.
"On 20 May 2016, just off Port Elizabeth, the joint patrol spotted two foreign fishing vessels from the automated identification system on board the Navy vessel. We established that the vessels had gear on board and we verified that they had not applied to enter into our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and that created suspicion. The seas were rough, which made it impossible for our inspectors to board the vessels. Our fishery control officers instructed the vessels through radio communication to sail to East London, but they did not cooperate," the DAFF said.
A spokesperson for the Department Bomikazi Molapo, said two vessels played cat and mouse on the high seas with the SA Navy, before they were eventually intercepted and instructed to sail to East London.
"DAFF's patrol vessel and the SA Navy vessel had to increase speed in order to intercept the foreign fishing vessels which were speeding off, but managed to intercept them. The vessels stopped and they switched off their engines.
"That continued and at about 02h00, on Sunday morning 22 May 2016, the foreign fishing vessels started their engines and within no time and with no communication with the Inspectors, they started steaming towards the east.
"The two foreign vessels were followed throughout the early hours of the morning and they were intercepted again, and fortunately this time the weather had improved and the fisheries inspectors and the SA Navy officials boarded the foreign vessels.
"The inspections were conducted, whereby fish and gear was found on both foreign vessels, both with no permits. The vessels were again instructed to sail to the nearest port, which was East London," the statement read.
En route to East London a third Chinese fishing vessels was spotted and also instructed to sail to East London.The foreign fishing vessels were found to have the following tons of fish on board:
-- Fu Yuan Yu 7880 (36 crew) - about 340 tons of squid.
-- Fu Yang Yu 7881 (34 crew) - about 60 tons of squid.
-- Run Da 617 (26 crew) - about 200 tons of squid and other species of fish.
All the fish holding cabins have been sealed off as required by investigation standards.
As part of further investigations of the vessels, all fish will be taken out of the vessels for further identification, counting and weighing.
Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana said the capture of the vessels indicates the country's seriousness to protect its territorial and exclusive economic zone. "We cannot tolerate the plundering of our marine resources, which are a source of food security and play a huge role in realising our goals in Operation Phakisa. We are also looking into the sudden influx of these vessels in our waters ," Zokwana said.
The Principal Officer of the Centre for Fishing in East London, Thobile Gqabu, says the South African Maritime Safety Authority is conducting a survey of the vessels today.
The inspection also considers crew safety, pollution threat, vessel safety standards and all related matters in terms of International conventions as well as South African Maritime Law.DAFF and SAPS are busy with registration of the docket, after which it will be handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority. | {
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ICICI Bank has shut its project financing division in a bid to reduce its exposure to long-term assets, especially in the infrastructure sector, and focus on retail and unsecured lending. Executives working in this division have been sent to others, including corporate banking.
The move comes in the backdrop of lacklustre credit demand from the infrastructure sector.
Banks are baulking at funding infrastructure projects due to asset-liability mismatches (with the projects requiring long-term financing but banks funding them through short-term liabilities), delays in statutory clearances, and bad loans.
“The bank has been saying it will reduce its exposure to long-term assets and to lower rated corporates. It has also been focussing more on unsecured and retail lending. Also, there is no huge demand for infrastructure projects these days. But if there is a good project or borrower then the bank is always there to lend,” said an industry source.
The source added that the team may have been reduced as it was felt that there is no need for a dedicated team.
Infrastructure lending down
According to Reserve Bank of India data on sectoral deployment of bank credit, the outstanding credit of scheduled commercial banks to the infrastructure sector has come down by ₹52,135 crore so far this fiscal (up to September-end), against a growth of ₹45,747 crore in the year-ago period.
ICICI Bank was among the biggest infrastructure lenders till 2013. But the economic downturn and poor regulatory environment hit the infrastructure sector, which in turn added to ICICI Bank’s rising NPAs.
The dismal performance of the infrastructure sector can be attributed to loan impairment resulting in lending constraints due to tighter regulatory norms and adverse effects on profitability, especially in telecommunication and power, said RBI officials Jessica M. Anthony, Shiv Shankar and Satyananda Sahoo in an article in the RBI bulletin.
ICICI Bank did not respond to an email sent by BusinessLine seeking comments. | {
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This magical land has been a travel inspiration to many, and despite being so close to the Arctic circle, and contrary to common belief, winters are a great time to visit Iceland. If you are looking for a great trip away this winter, something that is different from the rest-Iceland makes for a great bet! Here are 7 reasons why its such a great idea to do Iceland in winters.
1. Beautiful light:
Day light hours are limited in winter. But despite the house, when the sun does come out, it makes for brilliant lighting for photographs. The slant of the sun rays are something else , during this time of the year. In the daylight the sun is not rising very high above the horizon, it hovers low for a long time creating beautiful soft golden lightning. Whether you are professional or amateur photographer, your pictures will look truly stunning! And despite being so close to the arctic circle it gets relatively good amount of sun throughout the year. The lowest being for 5 hours ranging from 11am - 4pm.
Also check: 12 Amazing restaurants around the world with the best views
2. Its not that cold:
Despite being so close to the Arctic circle, and contrary to what its name suggests, its is not that immensely unbearable cold during the winter. Infact in the winter months, cities of Paris, London, NY get much colder. The reason being the gulf stream that ends up moderating the temperature. So it goes to a zero degrees and the added wind chill. But apart from that winter is completely doable!
Also check: Top 6 Amazing festivals of Bhutan
3. Icelandic Airwaves festival:
If the sights and the fireworks in the sky are not enough to lure you to Iceland in winter, then the Airwaves festival which hits Reykjavik should get you charged! Supported by Icelandair, Iceland Airwaves showcases hot new international bands, as well as Icelandic artists that are on the rise. The festival has a unique start as a one-time gig in an airplane hanger in 1999. Only 5 bands performed, but now it’s one of the most upscale events in the international music scene. It happens every year in November.
4. Northern lights:
A natural light show that's the result of a collision between sun and earth particles. It's easier to see in winter because the nights are longer. The sightings are highest in November-Feb end and that coincides with the winter season of this magical land.
5. Great deals on flights/stays:
Iceland Air proves some insane offers, which allows you to stop over in Reykjavik for the weekend or more, at no additional price. Apart from these airfare deals, if you are flying near the Atlantic, the overall prices are lower, and that in an expensive country like Iceland makes it quite a sweet deal! Stays, car hire charges see a big difference in prices, and that always helps. Also all the spots are much less crowded and you get plenty of time to experience the place at a slower pace.
Also check: Top 10 European Destinations Perfect For A Self Drive Holiday
6. Icelandic horses are even cuter:
Be ready to scratch lots of Icelandic horses! I mean lots of them! They are naturally very friendly and want to cuddle all the time. Always when you are walking nearby, they are approaching you, sucking your sleeves and asking for some scratching.
In the cold season they develop a thick winter fur which protects them from the cold, snow and rain... and makes them cuter than ever.
7. Winter Only sights:
Standing on the black sand beach of Vík while everything else is surrounded by snow will make you feel like you are in a black and white movie—or another world. Sure, Iceland always looks like a magical fantasy land, but its frozen waterfalls and colorful rows of houses rising up from a blanket of pure white can only be seen in the off-season. Those clear, crisp winter nights are also when you have the best chance of catching the Northern Lights.
Iceland is home to glaciers that cover roughly 10 percent of the island—and while you can visit them any time of the year, the water running through their caves freezes only in winter. This is when they become one of the most breathtaking natural phenomena: the Crystal Caves. Two of the most popular glaciers for winter ice cave tours are Vatnajokull, in South East Iceland, and Langjokull in the South West. It is a must do experience and travellers make a trip back to Iceland just to experience this!
And just because its winter, you don’t need to miss out on your Hot Pools. You can swim outside every day, even in winter. The Blue Lagoon and the other pools are all naturally heated, so worry not.
Also check: Say "Cheers" around the world
The Blueberry Trails organizes amazing holiday packages for the traveler in you.For our upcoming tour schedule and International tours from Mumbai and for custom made Holiday Packages from India write to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call at +91 8080 122 441 for further information. | {
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by Eldon MacDonald
Potential Carolina Hurricanes Picks
The purpose of this article is to give readers a feel for what the Carolina Hurricanes might be looking for in the upcoming 2013 NHL Draft in New Jersey and to provide some idea as to who may be available and picked with each draft selection. To give the reader a fairly wide range of information, we have provided the following:
Major Needs
Likely Draft Positions and Potential Picks
The Major Team Decision Makers
The Big Club – Current Roster
Top 10 Prospects
The Last Three Drafts
The reader should be aware that the suggested picks may or may not be available at the team’s turn at the draft. They are indicative, however, indicative of the types of players that will be available and the types of choices that Jim Rutherford and staff will have to make come June 30th in New Jersey.
Other Posts in This Series (THW’s War Room Final Rankings)
Round 1 – Prospects ranked 1 to 30
Round 2 – Prospects ranked 31 to 60
Round 3 – Prospects ranked 61 to 90
Round 4 – Prospects ranked 91 to 120
You can use these posts to get more information on a player ranked 1 to 120 including the following on most prospects:
Nicknames
Audio
Video
Quotes
Twitter
Stats
Major Needs
1 – Someone to keep Alexander Semin company –Yes, if Jim Rutherford was prepared to stick out his neck signing Alexander Semin he might as well go all in and sign another Russian to make him to continue to feel comfortable in Carolina and help maintain motivation. His experience in Washington could make him the perfect mentor for a young Russian stud prospect.
2 – Power play controlling defenseman – Ryan Murphy on the horizon but he has not been the same guy since getting the concussion. Maybe we will get the old Ryan Murphy back like Marty Frk and Patrice Bergeron; maybe not. However, the power play is too important not to have a backup plan.
3 –Some grit – Either on offense or defense, a little more grit would go a long way in making Carolina more difficult to play against.
4 – Best player available (BPA) – Best player available is always a good strategy. However, when there are many players of similar value, it is usually the one who has the qualities your team values the most that comes out on top. Carolina’s prospect cupboard is pretty bare, so BPA makes even more sense to Carolina this June.
Likely Draft Positions and Potential Picks
Round 1; pick 5 (The numbers in brackets are my rankings)
Preference 1 – Valeri Nichushkin (#5)
Preference 2 – Sean Monahan (#7)
Preference 3 – EliasLindholm (#6)
Preference 4 – Nikita Zadorov (#9)
Preference 5 –Rasmus Ristolainen (#8)
Preference 6 – Darnell Nurse (#10)
The Canes have a strong tendency with going for a forward in the first round. This year there are a number of excellent forwards who will be available at number 5, likely Valeri Nichushkin, Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan. I can’t imagine MacKinnon, Drouin or Barkov slipping beyond four.
Is Nichushkin just what the doctor ordered for the Canes? http://t.co/Qt1GuJWKZ3 #SunbeltHockey — Sunbelt Hockey (@SunbeltHockey) June 18, 2013
Valeri Nichushkin hits the needs category dead on and can be argued to be the BPA as well. However, Jim Rutherford can meet his needs later without taking Nichushkin if he feels (maybe correctly) that Nichushkin is too risky a project for Carolina. Nichushkin did not have a great Combine and failed to impress many scouts during the interview process.
Scout on Nikushkin interview: "Early word was he's a different type of Russian kid (personality). Interviewed poorly, spooked by setting." — Gare Joyce (@GareJoyceNHL) June 14, 2013
The other two high-end forwards likely to be available are both centres: Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan. With the Staal brothers at the core of the team for some time to come, the Canes would have to convert the one they select to a winger. I have a slight preference for Monahan as the convertee since his physical presence would augment the impact of the Staal brothers.
There are no wingers other than Nichushkin, in my opinion, who merit a selection at number 5 so that leaves the d-men, a category that Rutherford usually passes on in the first round (Ryan Murphy the obvious exception). There are three defensemen who may merit overcoming Rutherford’s aversion to first round d-men:
Nikita Zadorov, ranked at 9 – a huge shutdown defenseman who may qualify as meeting need one as well. Unfortunately, He does not have a huge offensive upside. The Hunter brothers (London Knights owners and management) really like him, I really like him and he was very impressive in his interviews at the combine.
Scouts sees Zadorov as riser. "Improved leaps and bounds over course of season. Physically dynamic & showed skills more as he went on." — Gare Joyce (@GareJoyceNHL) June 14, 2013
Rasmus Ristolainen, ranked at 8. Risto doesn’t meet need number one but could meet need number two while still providing a large physical presence at the back end.
Darnell Nurse, ranked at 10. Scouts are divided on Nurse; some rate him the best of the three as he has some Chris Pronger-like traits – size, nastiness, offensive potential. Others do not believe he has the hockey sense to be that great.
Wide variance of opinion on D Nurse. Some think difference between Jones & DN not so great. Others not fans of DN. #NHL #draft — Gare Joyce (@GareJoyceNHL) June 11, 2013
Round 2: Pick 35 – Historical success rate = 33%
Preference 1 – Dillon Heatherington (#43)
Preference 2 – Ian McCoshen (#36)
Preference 3 – JT Compher (#38)
Potentially available starting at 32 and ending at 43 are: Morgan Klimchuk, Robert Hagg, Shea Theodore, Zach Fucale, Ian McCoshen, Justin Bailey, JTCompher, William Carrier, ArtturiLehkonen, Michael Mc Carron and Dillon Heatherington.
There is quite a bit of talent in this group and a team would be lucky with any one of them. There is very little difference in the talent coming from the 25 to 45 group so you could almost say the first round extends to around 45. Dillon Heatherington, a 6’4 maybe 6’5 hard to play against d-man, would be my first choice for Carolina in this group. Although, I have Dillon at 43 in my rankings, I keep recommending him as a solution over lower ranked players so I have probably have understated his ranking.
Round 3: Pick 66 – Historical success rate = 24%
Preference 1 –PavelBuchnevich (#69)
Preference 2 –Micheal Downing (#66)
Preference 3 –Gustav Olofsson (#70)
Potentially available starting at 62 and ending at 72 are: Eric Roy, Linus Arnesson, Nick Sorensen, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Michael Downing, Lucas Wallmark, Jan Kostalek, PavelBuchnevich, Gustav Olofsson, Yan PavelLaplante and Mitchell Wheaton.
If Rutherford doesn’t take Nichushkin in the first, Pavel Buchnevich, a very talented Russian forward (can play centre or wing), who may slip to the third because of being Russian would be a nice second choice as a companion for Semin. Buchnevich looked very strong at the U18’s outscoring his more famous countryman, ValeriNichushkin. Alternately, there are two defensive prospects who would be picked in the second round in most years likely to be still available in Michael Downing and Gustav Olofsson. Both have decent size and skating ability.
Round 5: Pick 126 – Historical success rate = 11%
Preference 1 –Tyler Lewington (#122)
Preference 2 –Ben Harpur (#129)
Preference 3 –Jarred Hauf (#130)
Potentially available starting at 122 and ending at 132 are: Tyler Lewington, AlexandreCoulombe, Marcus Högberg, Connor Rankin, ColeCassels. Mitchell Theoret, Spencer Jensen, Ben Harpur, Jarred Hauf, Jeff Corbett and Stephen Harpur.
Hmmm…starting to get close to darts time. There are really no prospects in this group screaming “take me”. Likely you will be getting a better pick by selecting from the group I have listed under the round six pick, players I have ranked higher than NHL Central Scouting who may fall to the fifth round or beyond. However, some of the defensive prospects in the 122-132 range may have long-term potential so I have listed them above.
Round 6: Pick 156 – Historical success rate = 9%
Me 90 – NHL 156 – Matt Murphy
Me 97 – NHL 211 – Peter Trainor(3 rd time available)
time available) Me 109 – NHL NR – Jesse Lees
Me 114 – NHL 230 – MiroAaltonen(3 rd time available)
time available) Me 119 – NHL >290 – MarkusSøberg
Me 124 – NHL 200 – Marcus Högberg
Me 125 – NHL 165 – Cole Cassels
Me 131 – NHL 175 – Steven Harpur
Me unranked – NHL unranked – Albert Yarullin (3 rd time available)
(3 time available) Me unranked – NHL unranked – Mitchell Theoret (re-entry prospect)
(re-entry prospect) Me unranked – NHL unranked – BrendenKichton(re-entry prospect)
It is virtually impossible to tell who might be available from 156 on so what I did was list those personnel who I have ranked in the 3rd and 4th rounds which the NHL has ranked 156 or greater that still have a decent chance of still being available. As this is as good time as any to make sure you take the best player available, I have listed the prospects in ranking order. I have also added Albert Yarullin who has a big shot on the power play, Mitchell Theoret (6’2, 212) who looked very good for Barrie in the OHL playoffs and Brenden Kichton, a power-play quarterback with Spokane.
The Major Team Decision Makers
1 –President and General Manager: Jim Rutherfood
2– VP of Hockey Operations – Ron Francis
3 – Head Scout: Tony McDonald
4 – Coach: Kirk Muller
The Big Club – Current Roster
No. Left Wing Centre Right Wing 1 Jiri Tlusty Eric Staal Alexander Semin 2 Jeff Skinner Jordan Staal Chad Larose 3 Drayson Bowman Tuomo Ruutu Patrick Dwyer 4 Tim Brent Kevin Westgarth 5 Prospect Prospect Prospect 1 Zach Boychuk Victor Rask 2 Zac Dalpe Riley Nash 3 Erik Karlsson Jeremy Welsh
No. Defense Defense Goal 1 Joni Pitkanen James McBain Cam Ward 2 Jay Harrison Joe Corvo Dan Ellis 3 Tim Gleason Justin Faulk Justin Peters 4 Marc-Andre Bergeron Bobby Sanguinetti Prospect Prospect Prospect 1 Keegan Lowe Ryan Murphy 2 Austin Levi Danny Biega
Top 10 Prospects
1 – 2011 – 012 – Ryan Murphy
2 –2011 – 042 – Victor Rask
3 – 2011 – 073 – Keegan Lowe
4 – 2008 – 014 – Zach Boychuk
5 – 2008 – 045 – ZacDalpe
6 – 2007 – 021 – Riley Nash
7 – 2012 – 099 – Erik Karlsson
8 – 2010 – 067 – Danny Biega
9– 2006 – FA – Jeremy Welsh
10 – 2010 – 085 – Austin Levi
Murphy and Rask remain top prospects for Carolina Hurricanes – http://t.co/ddfQztIMR4 #Canes — Hockey's Future (@HockeysFuture) May 26, 2013
The Last Three Drafts | {
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Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were both on the lineup for Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit so naturally, despite the acoustic nature of the charity event, fans pondered whether Soundgarden's Chris Cornell would join Pearl Jam (who now features Soundgarden's drummer Matt Cameron as well) to play some tracks from the supergroup Temple of The Dog. Sure enough, Cornell came out during Pearl Jam's set and the ensemble rocked the single "Hunger Strike."
Although widely hailed as the greatest supergroup of the era, it's incorrect to label them as such: Pearl Jam actually released its hit debut album, Ten, four months after performing on Temple of The Dog with Cornell and Cameron. The Soundgarden vocalist had lived with Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Wood, and when the vocalist died of a drug overdose, Cornell teamed with his drummer and former Mother Love Bone members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, along with relative newcomer Eddie Vedder, to craft a tribute. The resulting album became an even bigger phenomenon after Pearl Jam struck it huge.
That was far from the last supergroup to spring forth from Pearl Jam. Here are five other groups that featured members of the group.
Mad Season
Mad Season is easily the second most noted "super" act to come out of the Seattle during the grunge era. Considering the drug issues that plagued the scene, it's not surprising that at least three of this band's members could relate to the struggles with addiction. Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready met bassist John Baker Saunders while in rehab and the pair teamed with Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin (the most sober member) back in Seattle. Alice in Chains vocalist Layne Staley rounded out the lineup with songwriting assistance from other Screaming Tree Mark Lanegan. The results are about as dark as you'd expect.
Wellwater Conspiracy
Wellwater Conspiracy is more accurately a Soundgarden side project although Cameron joined Pearl Jam full-time soon after releasing this band's debut album, Declaration of Conformity. He founded the more psychedelic rock band with John McBain and Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepard, although the latter would soon leave the group. With help from contributors including Josh Homme, Wellwater has released three albums while Cameron juggles his gig with Pearl Jam. Despite not releasing a new record since 2003, the band has never officially folded.
Brad
Guitarist Stone Gossard apparently needed a break from the spotlight after Pearl Jam's Ten blew up so he got together with Regan Hagar and Shawn Smith of Seattle rockers Satchel to form the band Shame. They quickly found out that "Shame" had already been taken as a band name so the group took the simple title Brad, named after Shame member Brad Wilson (apparently they spent a long time coming up with "Shame" and really didn't feel like thinking too hard after that). The group has actually been the most consistent of the Seattle supergroups, having released five albums with lengthy gaps in between over the last 21 years.
Three Fish
Ament had a similar thought process to Gossard's and decided to start a side project during 1992. He went to Tribe After Tribe, a band that had opened for Pearl Jam during its '92 tour, and drafted vocalist/guitarist Robbi Robb as well as drummer Richard Stuverud, whose band War Babies was on the brink of shutting down anyhow. The band's 1996 self-titled debut was one of the more interesting listens of the year, as the group combined its rock roots with that genre's fascination with Eastern elements, resulting in a culmination of the ideas Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath toyed with during the '70s.
The Rockfords
By the time 1999 rolled around, McCready's second successful group, Mad Season, had officially called in quits following the death of Saunders, its bassist. He turned to the band Goodness for some new troops, picking up fellow guitarist Danny Newcomb, drummer Chris Friel and vocalist Carrie Akre. It helped that McCready, Friel, Newcomb and bassist Rick Friel had all been in the band Shadow during the '80s before grabbing the spotlight. The band got help from Seattle and Heart's own Nancy Wilson singing on "Riverwide" but its 2000 self-titled debut would be its last album of original work. | {
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SPARTA — A 53-year-old Sparta man was arrested after he broke into a movie theater and was caught on a surveillance camera masturbating in a stairway of the building, police said.
Michael Shea forced open a locked back door at the American Place Sparta Theatre on Center Street, which was closed at the time, and went to a rear stairway and began masturbating, police said.
Shea was caught on a surveillance camera that was being viewed by a theater employee who was inside a theater office, police said.
Shea was arrested at 8:35 p.m. Sunday when he was seen by police walking away from the building. He was found in possession of several pieces of women’s undergarments, as well as pornographic material, police said.
Shea was charged with burglary, lewdness and disorderly conduct. He was being held in the Sussex County jail in lieu of $11,000 bail with no 10 percent option.
Recent Sparta news: | {
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NEW DELHI: Law-enforcers in the city are keeping a close watch on the activities of an Islamic radical group - shariah4hind - that has given the call for a mass rally around the Parliament to demand the enforcement of the Shariah laws. The group, through its website shariah4hind.com, has denounced the Indian Constitution and asked Indian Muslims to protest on March 2 and 3. The website has been blocked after Delhi Police received a complaint in this regard. The Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena has also petitioned Delhi high court to stop this rally.The government has been requested not to issue visa to Sheikh Anjem Choudary, the London-based leader of the group, as the rally could create communal tension in the country. But, Choudary has announced they will hold a video conference with other leaders in Lebanon on March 2 and 3 and broadcast it.The website, shariah4hind.com claims to have issued a fatwa against Indian political leaders and the Indian Constitution, calling the move of their group as "India's biggest Muslim uprising". The website claims that their first targets will be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior BJP leader L K Advani, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi . The website has a countdown timer to the event, which has sent the agencies into a tizzy.Choudary spoke to TOI over telephone from London. He advocated for the Shariah law: "According to the Shariah, Muslims are not allowed to participate in the elections, which have been going on in India, or vote for any party like BJP, Congress or SP. Muslims must not abide by any other law but the law of Allah."Senior Delhi Police officers said they will not allow any such rally in the city. Sources said they will also try to stop the broadcast of live speeches of Choudary and Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad , worldwide leader of Al-Muhajiroun, on March 3.Choudary further told TOI that if he does not get the visa from Indian High Commission, he would go ahead with the programme and ask all the Muslims to gather near the Parliament. The website claims that the protesters would assemble at the Parliament from Raisina Road, Rajya Sabha Marg and Red Cross Road."A Delhi Police officer had also called me up, asking me to cancel the programme; but I told him that it will not be cancelled as we don't abide by your laws or courts. They cannot stop Muslims from rising," he said.Delhi Police said the content of the website is defamatory in nature, and if needed, they might register a case against it.The website, shariah4hind.com claims to have issued a fatwa against Indian political leaders & the Indian Constitution, calling the move of their group as "India's biggest Muslim uprising" | {
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This item is now Free.Compatible with iOS 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12Battivator is a tweak designed to save and extend battery life on your iOS device.With Battivator it is possible to setup custom profiles, which will trigger at predefined actions like a specified battery level or device state, and turn off, turn on or toggle various system settings. Configure your device to automatically disable wifi, mobile data and handoff at a specified battery percentage or if your battery is in a critical level the device will automatically kill all background apps and even send an SMS/iMessage with the current battery percentage. Choose from various actions which are grouped in the following categories:- Power Saving,- Sounds & Vibration- User Notifications- ExtrasAll actions are specially chosen and prepared to work on every iOS device in both, standby (including deep sleep) and in use, to extend the battery life as much as possible.Decide by yourself what system settings you want to disable based on your needs and get notified when a certain battery level is reached.Additionally the tweak includes a fully customizable Low Power Mode which you can toggle anytime with a button on the power down screen, low battery popup, flipswitch or in the preferences. You can decide by yourself what settings or features should be disabled in the low power mode in order to extend the battery life of your iOS device when you need it.The tweak also includes a basic logging feature, which logs every battery percentage drop or rise and every action which Battivator is performing giving you a detailed overview of your battery usage.Configure options from Settings app
See larger Screenshots below.. | {
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KALAMAZOO, MI - A crowdfunding effort is underway to help re-make Bates Alley in downtown Kalamazoo into a more usable space for business and the public.
The effort is to convert the one-block street from what has been described as a "little-known, underinvested" alley into "a vibrant, activated public space for outdoor dining, events and connecting with friends and neighbors," according to Downtown Kalamazoo Inc.
Bates Alley is a narrow and generally east-west street that runs from Portage Street to Edwards Street, behind businesses that have entrances on East Michigan Avenue.
Downtown Kalamazoo Inc., nearby businesses and others are working with the city of Kalamazoo to use the state's crowdfunding tool/collaborative to raise $50,000 that the Michigan Economic Development Corp. is expected to match through its Public Spaces Community Places grant program.
That program partners with Patronicity, a civic crowdfunding and grant-funding platform, to help communities, nonprofits and other business entities fund certain projects.
If successful, it will provide the project with $100,000 necessary for the conversion. DKI President Andrew Haan said the project is also being supported by contributions from nearby businesses, property owners, the Jim Gilmore Jr. Foundation and in-kind contributions from the city of Kalamazoo. He estimated that the value of those contributions will be nearly $100,000.
The conversion work includes such things as: Repairing and repaving the street; installing overhead bistro signs; replacing parking lot fencing with ornamental trees and landscaping; installing lighting along the cornices of buildings; installing removable bollards at either end of the street to limit vehicular access; and installing bicycle racks, waste receptacles and other streetscape items.
"We see it as a public improvement that will benefit the business in that area and provide an engaging public space for events, dining and other activities," Haan said.
In a press release, Katharine Czarnecki, senior vice president of community development for the MEDC, said, "Public Spaces Community Places is a place-making initiative and Bates Alley exemplifies good place-making. We are pleased to provide resources for and serve as a partner in this effort."
Clarence Lloyd, president of the Downtown Kalamazoo Retail and Restaurant Association, said he connected with the project because "there's so much possibility in the space and it's been underutilized for so long."
He said making Bates Alley a better-lighted and better-used area will help businesses on East Michigan Avenue, and act a link between two sections of the downtown.
"The entertainment district is right there and you kind of want to make things more walkable (and) accessible, connecting these two parts of the downtown - the whole east side of the downtown ... with the core of the downtown," he said.
Haan agreed that the project, as conceived, "will stitch together the traditional downtown core of the mall with the growing east end of downtown."
Lloyd said the project will "convert this alley into a pedestrian-only pathway. It's also going to allow some of the restaurants that are currently here to create an outdoor patio space for dining and other events."
The crowdfunding effort was launched late last week and through midday Thursday, Oct. 5, had $11,075 in contributions.
Lloyd, who is also manager of the Consumers Credit Union location at 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall, is among a supporters of the project who appear in a two-minute video on the crowdfunding site.
In the video, Alex Mantakounis, owner of Tempo Vino Winery at 260 E. Michigan Ave., and A.J. Danias, manager of Fuze Kitchen & Bar at 214 E. Michigan Ave., said they would like to have outdoor seating.
Mantakounis said he is frequently asked if his business has outdoor seating. He said, "Right now we don't."
The conversion would change the face of downtown, Marie Blinn, owner of Old Peninsula Brew Pub, says in the video. And it will bring more people to the area "and that's something that is lacking."
Information about the crowdfunding effort can be accessed at:
With matched funding from MEDC of up to $50,000 per project, the Public Spaces Community Places initiative has provided more than $4.1 million in matching grants for community improvement projects sine it was started in 2014, according to the state. | {
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Jeffress actually said, “I’m afraid it will cause a civil war-like fracture from which our country will never heal.”
By Monday, #CivilWarSignUp and #CivilWar2 were in the top trending hashtags on Twitter.
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Historian Kevin M. Levin joked he was getting ready for a second Civil War with two of his colleagues: Princeton University’s Kevin M. Kruse and Grand View University’s Kevin Gannon.
Others, like White House antagonist George Conway and activist Brittany Packnett, volunteered what they would bring to a “Civil War potluck.”
Another historian, Georgetown University’s Adam Rothman, reminded everyone that even before Trump became president, he had a history of invoking the Civil War inaccurately.
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As the New York Times reported in 2015, between the 14th and 15th holes at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., Trump installed a flagpole with a plaque reading:
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“Many great American soldiers, both of the North and South, died at this spot. The casualties were so great that the water would turn red and thus became known as ‘The River of Blood.’ It is my great honor to have preserved this important section of the Potomac River! — Donald John Trump”
Three local historians, however, told the Times the story wasn’t accurate.
“No. Uh-uh. No way. Nothing like that ever happened there,” said Richard Gillespie of the Mosby Heritage Area Association.
“How would they know that? Were they there?” then-candidate Trump responded.
Hashtags poking fun at the president’s historical embellishments and inaccuracies have been popping all year, like #LostTrumpHistory and #RevolutionaryWarAirports.
This isn’t even the first time Civil War rhetoric has launched a million joke tweets. In July 2018, #SecondCivilWarLetters satirized conspiracy theorists Alex Jones’s baseless claim that Democrats planned to launch a second domestic rebellion on July 4.
This time, though, it was the commander in chief invoking the language of insurrection, so not everyone got the joke.
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Historian and journalist David M. Perry tweeted Monday: “I don’t really mind if y’all make #CivilWarSignUp jokes if it helps you cope. But remember some of us aren’t laughing. I’m not laughing.”
Approximately 620,000 soldiers died during the American Civil War, according to the American Battlefield Trust. That’s a little fewer than the number killed in all other conflicts in U.S. history combined. | {
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The education secretary, Michael Gove, has approved three free schools run by groups with creationist views, including one with a document on its website declaring that it teaches "creation as a scientific theory".
Grindon Hall Christian school in Sunderland, a private school due to reopen in September with state funding, says on its website that it will present creationism as science and affirm the position that Christians believe God's creation of the world is "not just a theory but a fact".
Ministers have also approved a free school in Sevenoaks, Kent, that says on its website it will teach in RE classes that "God made the world", while a third free school, in Nottinghamshire, is a fresh proposal from a group initially turned down over creationism.
In the US, where the campaign for creationism has been stronger, the states of Louisiana and Tennessee have recently passed laws allowing the science underpinning evolution to be critiqued in the classroom. But the creationist lobby has been less successful in gaining a foothold in Britain.
Secular groups have been concerned that the free schools policy – which allows parents, charities or faith groups to set up new schools – would allow the state-funded teaching of creationism.
A decade ago, the Guardian revealed that fundamentalist Christians who did not believe in evolution had taken control of a state-funded school, Emmanuel College in Gateshead. The school was a city technology college, a form of independent but taxpayer-funded school which was a forerunner of academies and free schools.
Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association (BHA), said he was concerned that the government's scrutiny of free schools was inadequate. "Grindon Hall Christian school is a classic example of the so-called 'teach the controversy' approach, often used by American creationist groups to get creationism taught in schools," Copson said.
"The issue with the 'teach the controversy' approach is that there is no scientific controversy over evolution and creationism. The scientific consensus is overwhelmingly in favour of evolution."
Grindon Hall says it teaches evolution as "an established scientific principle, as far as it goes". However, the school's policy document adds: "We believe no scientific theory provides – or ever will provide – a satisfactory explanation of origins, ie why the world appeared, and how nothing became something in the first place."
The school's principal says this document is obsolete and the school would not teach creationism in science.
The Sevenoaks Christian school, due to open next year, says on its website: "The government has said that free schools cannot teach 'creationism' or 'intelligent design' in science lessons as an alternative to the theory of evolution and we are content to accept this."
A third free school approved by the government to open next year, the Exemplar-Newark Business academy, is a fresh proposal from a group whose previous application was turned down because of concerns over its teaching of creationism. Backers of the school in Nottinghamshire say creationism will be taught only in religious studies.
The Grindon Hall principal, Chris Gray, said the document on the school's website is "out of date". He said: "First of all, it's illegal. Secondly, we were questioned at length about it when we were interviewed to be a free school, and that was to the [Department for Education]'s satisfaction. A number of schools have been sadly turned down on that. That document is from a time when we were not as clear as we are now about the proper distinction as to what is taught in a science lesson and what might be taught in assembly – two different spheres.
"If children question for themselves their origins, that's what we want them to do – to ask sensible, responsible questions. Am I here by accident, or – dare I use the word – design?"
Sevenoaks Christian school said in a statement: "Sevenoaks Christian school are delighted to have been successful in their bid to open a free school in 2013.
"With the support of 800 local families and more than 20 local churches, our proposal is both popular and broad-based.
"We reject the BHA claims as misleading and unfounded. Free schools cannot teach creationism and we accept this."
On Friday, the DfE announced that 102 free schools had been approved to open from next year, 33 of which describe themselves as religious.
The department says creationism or intelligent design should not be taught as "valid scientific theories" in any state-funded school. The government says it expects to see evolution included in the science curriculum of all free schools.
A DfE spokeswoman said: "It is absolutely not true that this free school will be able to teach creationism as scientific fact. No state school is permitted to do this. We have clear guidelines about what schools can and cannot teach. Any free school found to be contravening the guidelines will be in breach of their contract and will be subject to action by the department, including prohibiting them from operating."
Faith-based free schools have sought to draw a clear public distinction between teaching creationism in science and teaching the biblical creation story in RE. The principal of Grindon Hall said he would not teach creationism in science lessons.
Gray said: "I'd run a million miles from that – it's lethal."
Referring to the Sevenoaks Christian school, the BHA said: "Teaching creationism in RE is no more acceptable than teaching it in science, as pupils who are taught one thing in one subject and then the opposite in another are going to end up confused. The previous government made this very clear in their guidance on creationism and it is deeply concerning to see the present government watering that down." | {
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La madrugada de este lunes se registró un sismo de magnitud 5.8 a las 02:11 frente a las costas de Atacames. Posteriormente se han registrado hasta las 05:00 otros 15 eventos con magnitudes entre 2,9 y 4,2 en la misma zona, informó el Instituto Geofísico.
Tonsupa es al parecer la ciudad más afectada, donde se han registrado derrumbes en varias viviendas. "Las vías tanto la E-15 como la E-20, que son las rutas principales de la provincia, no se presentaron novedades reportadas a la línea única para emergencias 9-1-1", señaló la cerntral de emergencia ECU-911.
Debido a estos incidentes, las clases en Esmeraldas han sido suspendidas esta mañana. El COE provincial ha sido convocado para las 09:00 por el gobernador Gabriel Rivera.
5 sismos sobre 4 grados en Esmeraldas. Mayor de 5.9.
Zonas sin electricidad. Se evalúan daños.
Clases suspendidas en la provincia.
¡Ánimo! — Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) 19 de diciembre de 2016
También se reportó que la zona norte de Esmeraldas se quedó sin energía eléctrica. Las autoridades evalúa las estructuras de edificios y viviendas.
Los sismos registrados no reúnen condiciones para un tsunami, reportó el ECU-911 Esmeraldas.
Según reportes de la Secretaría de Gestión de Riesgos, este evento fue sentido también en Guayas (Durán y Guayaquil), Manabí (El Carmen), Pichincha (Quito, Puerto Quito, San Miguel de los Bancos, Pedro Moncayo, Mejía, Rumiñahui) y Santo Domingo (Santo Domingo, y La Concordia).
.@ECU911_ monitorea perfil costanero #Atacames.
Los sismos registrados no reúnen condiciones para un tsunami.
Siga solo información oficial. pic.twitter.com/U4xs2B7w9x — ECU-911 Esmeraldas (@ECU911Esmeralda) December 19, 2016
En varios barrios de Esmeraldas los moradores decidieron dormir en las calles por el miedo a que las réplicas continúen, en las redes sociales los usuarios mostraban fotografías de afectaciones a viviendas y construcciones hoteleras.
El COE provincial empezó a realizar evaluaciones para determinar los daños ocasionados en las viviendas, el municipio de Atacames reportó que varias casas y hoteles sufrieron desprendimientos en paredes, mientras que el departamento de Riesgos de Muisne informó que se mantienen en alerta.
Además el COE también descartó que haya daños en la infraestructura de la refinería de Esmeraldas.(I) | {
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A second unit equipped with the S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft system has assumed combat duty in Russia’s Crimean peninsula. As of now, the region is fully covered with the most advanced surface-to-air missile system.
The 12th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, deployed on the Black Sea shoreline south of the city of Sevastopol, became fully operational on Saturday.
“As of today, the whole air defense of Crimea is equipped with the most modern S-400 surface-to-air missile system unmatched in the world,” the Air Force and Air Defense Fourth Army commander Lieutenant General Viktor Sevostyanov said during the regiment deployment ceremony.
Last year, the 18th Guard Anti-Aircraft Missile Sevastopol-Feodosia Regiment became the first unit in Crimea to receive the cutting-edge S-400 system. The 12th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment received the modern systems some time ago and the crews have been training to operate them. The detachment has been previously equipped with older, yet reliable, S-300 systems.
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“The S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system can engage almost all existing targets, including the ones under development, the hypersonic ones. This system also reliably protects from ballistic targets. This complex has larger range; a large part of the Krasnodar region will be also shielded,” Sevostyanov said.
The S-400 anti-aircraft system is designed to engage aerodynamic targets at a range of up to 400km and ballistic missiles up to 60km away. The system can use at least four interceptor missile types suited to different targets. An S-400 unit can engage up to 36 targets simultaneously.
The complex was adopted by the Russian military back in 2007 and began replacing older systems. Over the past five years, 16 anti-aircraft regiments have been equipped with the S-400 systems, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said last December.
The importance of strengthening Russia’s defenses in Crimea was stressed by Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier this week. “We know that both provocations and subversive activities continue on the Russian-Ukrainian border near Crimea,” Peskov said, while commenting on the S-400 deployment. “That’s why Russia’s adoption of all the necessary measures to protect its security should not be viewed as a threat to anyone. This should be perceived as ensuring its own security.” | {
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Thursday on ESPN’s “Get Up,” co-host Michelle Beadle reacted to Ohio State University football coach Urban Meyer being suspended three games for mishandling domestic abuse allegations made against an assistant coach, saying she does not watch football – NFL or college – because the sport does not “really care about women” or “people of color.”
“There’s a reason why this will be the second season I don’t watch NFL and I don’t spend my Saturdays watching college football either,” Beadle stated. “I believe that the sport of football has set itself up to be in a position where it shows itself in the bigger picture to not really care about women — they don’t really care about people of color, but we won’t get into that for NFL either — but as a woman I feel like a person who has been marginalized.”
She continued, “And every single one of these stories that comes out, every single time, pushes me further and further away. I realize they don’t care, but for me it’s opened up my weekends. I appreciate you for giving that to me. I don’t care anymore. I’ve lost the ability to be surprised. You got three games. You could’ve been fired. They could’ve gotten away with not having to pay you a single dime. You survived it, and not only did you survive it, but you didn’t have the grace enough to at least look over the statement you were handed seven seconds before and pretend that you meant a single word in it. The entire thing is a disgrace. I’m just numb to it. I’m just ready for NBA to kick off, quite frankly.”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent | {
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LAS VEGAS – Clint Capela arrived moments before the tip of the Rockets' summer league game and took a seat on the front row the way NBA stars so often do when they stop by to support the youngsters. Capela was there to learn.
It was the easy part of his workday, but as he has with every Rockets summer game this week, Capela had a place next to John Lucas, the team's new director of development, so Lucas could be in his ear with every lesson he believed Capela needed to hear.
Putting in the work
Each morning they have been on the court working. Every afternoon or late in the evening, they have been back at it. Capela has a new shadow, pushing him and measuring the limits of Capela's patience with his demands.
"I'm working with him two times a day," Capela said before the Rockets summer league team lost 89-71 to the D-League Select team on Monday. "It's hard, but I'm happy with it. He's been working with a lot of players. He knows how to do it. "
Capela is expected to succeed Dwight Howard as the Rockets' starting center and might have benefitted from playing time if he was on the summer league team. But if he played in the afternoon, he could not have gone through two-a-day practices with Lucas.
"I haven't gotten one "Are you kidding me?' He just does the work," Lucas said. "I get him out here at 6 in the morning. No problem. Out here at 10 at night. No problem. … I've been waiting for him to want a day off. Obviously, we're learning each other, how far I can push and prod so we can get there."
Untapped potential
Capela has shown the work ethic before he enrolled in Lucas' summer school. On the day Mike D'Antoni was introduced as Rockets head coach along with assistants Jeff Bzdelik and Roy Rogers, Rogers arrived at Toyota Center to find his future student "already lathered up."
"The No. 1 thing is getting him in the gym. He's already doing that," Rogers said. "He hasn't even tapped into his potential yet. As long as he is willing to work on and off the court, he has a chance to be a special player.
"Sometimes, you get bigs who want to dominate. … It's hard for young players to know who they are and even harder to accept who they are. He's done both. That's why he can be a special player. When you're out there with James Harden, trust me, teams are game-planning on how to stop James Harden. James is very unselfish. He's willing to give the ball up. When he gives it up, you have to do something with it."
That's where this summer's work comes in. Capela showed flashes of being a strong pick-and-roll finisher, but he has made just 35.9 percent of his NBA free throws. Lucas believes Capela has the potential to develop face-up shooting touch along with post moves to hooks with either hand. But first, he has to be able to make a free throw. In Las Vegas, he has had to make 500 a day.
"Getting his free throw fixed, that's a big key," Lucas said. "We're working on that, trying to establish some confidence. His athleticism is off the chart, but he's much more than an athlete playing basketball.
"Now, obviously we're not there. But his confidence about it is there. He has the capabilities to shoot some sky hooks, and use his athleticism and length. In the lane, he's really going to be a great rim protector."
Big expectations
To do that, he has to stay on the court more than he has had to so far in his 89 NBA games. Capela has averaged 17.5 minutes. To dramatically increase that workload, the Rockets believe he must improve his strength and conditioning.
Listed at 6-10, 240 pounds, Capela already looks sturdier, the result of offseason work that began just a few weeks after the end of the season. There remains, however, a long way to go to live up to expectations of "special."
"That's why I'm trying to work like this back home," Capela said. "I'm pretty excited. I take it as a challenge.
"I need to focus on what is most important. I think what is most important for me is to work out with him and be ready for the next season." | {
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Episode Info:
Dr. Maher Hathout is joined by Munira Lekovic Ezzeldine, a marriage and family counselor, for an honest discussion on homosexuality and Islam. Beyond the theological issues, they talk frankly about how these principles translate in the real world: How should people who are gay (including Muslims) be treated within our society and within our families? How should families struggling to reconcile their child’s sexual and religious identity approach their children? Can you be gay and still be Muslim?
Note: We apologize for the inconsistent quality of this episode’s audio. We experienced some technical difficulties in the process of recording and editing this episode.
Click here to play the episode.
You can also right click on the link above
and choose “Save As” to download the audio file. | {
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FILE: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. PTI Photo
ROHTAK/BHIWANI: Looking to gain a foothold in Haryana ahead of the Assembly elections due next year, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday held a roadshow in the Jat-dominated areas in the state, urging people to vote the party to power to build a "new Haryana".
Kejriwal's roadshow comes close on the heels of a rally in Hisar on Sunday where he had announced that the AAP would contest the Haryana Assembly polls.
During his roadshow in the Rohtak-Bhiwani belt of the state on Saturday, he told people to be the change-bearers.
"We have to rebuild Haryana and a new Haryana cannot be made by old parties and old leaders. It's time for change. The AAP is the change. You have tried BJP, Congress and INLD. These parties served their own interests and ignored the common people," Kejriwal said at pit stops along the route.
The roadshow began in the morning and continued till evening.
Kejriwal, who was accompanied by the AAP's Haryana head Naveen Jaihind, covered Bahadurgarh, Sampla and Rohtak, Kalanaur, Dadri, Bhiwani and Tosham during the roadshow.
In one of the brief speeches he made on the way, Kejriwal said, "You have to bring an AAP government in Haryana now. The state needs an honest government. Kejriwal alone cannot do it. I am a small person, but together 2.5 crore people of the state can bring about a change."
Kejriwal told AAP workers and volunteers to reach out to every household and appeal to people to strengthen the party.
"We do not have money to fight elections. We do not have money in our accounts. But people are our biggest strength," he said.
Attacking the BJP and the Congress, he said, "They divide people. Only the AAP can give you security, peace, build schools and hospitals, and help your trade flourish. We do not believe in hollow talks. You can ask the people of Delhi."
"We have to bring a change in the system. Once that change comes, it will not matter if Kejriwal or AAP is there or not tomorrow. The system will take care of itself. We have to root out corruption. We have weeded it out from Delhi, now we have to eliminate it in Haryana.
"We have to work for farmers, traders. We have to shape the future of our children," he told the gatherings, invoking his Haryana roots.
"Ask the people of Delhi, they are happy. We changed the shape of government schools, free medicines are provided at hospitals... There has been no hike in the power tariff in the last three years and the electricity is cheap," he added.
Haryana witnessed a number of violent incidents after the BJP assumed power in the state and many innocent people were killed and property worth crores of rupees was destroyed, Kejriwal alleged.
After tasting defeat at the hustings in the previous Lok Sabha polls from Haryana, the AAP had not contested the October 2014 assembly elections in the state.
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Will she make more anti-Semitic statements? Will the sun rise?
The anti-Semitism of hijabbed Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has apparently gotten to be too much even for the inveterately anti-Israel Democrat Party leadership. “I unequivocally apologize,” Omar tweeted Monday, after party leaders including Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, James E. Clyburn and others publicly castigated her: “Congresswoman Omar’s use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters is deeply offensive. We condemn these remarks and we call upon Congresswoman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments.”
However, Omar’s apology was more of an admission that she had gotten caught than a sign of a genuine change of heart.
Omar wrote:
Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes. My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole. We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I unequivocally apologize.
At the same time, I reaffirm the problematic role of lobbyists in our politics, whether it be AIPAC, the NRA or the fossil fuel industry. It’s gone on too long and we must be willing to address it.
Omar’s second paragraph nullified her apology. She had claimed that AIPAC was paying American politicians to be pro-Israel; she made it clear in her apology that she still believes that. All her widely criticized anti-Semitic tweets, meanwhile, are still on her Twitter feed.
It all started when far-Left hate propagandist Glenn Greenwald tweeted: “GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy threatens punishment for @IlhanMN and @RashidaTlaib over their criticisms of Israel.” To that, Omar responded: “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.” The Forward’s Opinion editor, Batya Ungar-Sargon, then tweeted: “Would love to know who @IlhanMN thinks is paying American politicians to be pro-Israel, though I think I can guess.” Omar answered: “AIPAC!” And clearly she still believes it.
It isn’t hard to see how Ilhan Omar’s Congressional career will unfold: she will continue to repeat anti-Semitic tropes; she will blame jihad massacres on the US, Israel, and the victims; and she will continue to claim victim status when called out for her hatred. Omar is a far Leftist and a devout, Sharia-adherent Muslim; neither group is distinguished for mavericks or original thinkers. In fact, both are marked by an ideological lockstep that brooks no dissent, disagreement, or fair consideration of opposing ideas. That makes Omar’s future drearily predictable.
And so when considering the sincerity of Omar’s apology, it should be borne in mind that she wouldn’t be where she is today, in the House of Representatives, if her views were not widely shared among the very Democrat leadership that rebuked her Monday.
For it isn’t as if Omar’s anti-Semitic tweets from this week were something new. Before she was elected to Congress, she had denounced what she called “the apartheid Israeli regime,” and claimed that it Israel had “hypnotized the world” to ignore its “evil doings.” Nancy Pelosi either knew this or was criminally negligent when she named Omar to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Democrat Party during the Obama years hardened its stance against Israel. Omar was only able to rise in its ranks and gain a plum assignment as a first-term Representative not in spite of her anti-Semitism, but because of it. A January 2018 Pew Research Center poll found that only 27 percent of Democrats sympathized more with the Israelis than with the Palestinians.
This is extraordinary in light of the fact that both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas routinely incite hatred of and violence against Israel in their official media organs. They teach children that it is a good and noble thing to want to grow up and kill Jews. The Democrats have for years ignored this genocidal incitement, and approved of and even participated in the demonization of Israel in the international media and at the United Nations.
And so now the Democrats are appalled at their Muslim Representative’s Jew-hatred, and she is contrite? Do they really expect anyone to fall for this charade? It is noteworthy that while the cowardly Republican House leadership stripped Rep. Steve King (R-IA) of his committee assignments for a misquote, Omar has not been removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Nor will she be removed. She is exactly where the Democrat leadership wants her to be.
* * *
Photo by Fibonacci Blue
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His new book is The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here. | {
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Aw, look, she wants to play! Just watch out for the highly lethal poison glands in her mouth.Patreon: www.patreon.com/CuttlefishDrea… Facebook design page: Cuttlefish Dreamer Designs | {
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The Philadelphia Flyers have agreed to terms with forward Petr Straka on a one-year contract, according to general manager Ron Hextall .
Straka, 24 (6-15-1992), will embark on his fourth season in the Flyers organization. He originally signed with the club on April 11, 2013 and joined the Phantoms for the 2013-14 season. He is coming off a 2015-16 season in which he recorded 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points in 64 games with Lehigh Valley.
Straka was recalled by the Flyers on January 27, 2015 and made his NHL debut that night against the Arizona Coyotes. He recorded two assists over a three-game stay before returning to Lehigh Valley. Over three seasons with the Phantoms, Straka has recorded 42 goals and 46 assists for 88 points in 192 games.
Prior to starting his pro career, Straka posted 97 goals and 111 assists for 208 points in 212 QMJHL games over four seasons with Rimouski and Baie-Comeau. A native of Plzen, Czech Republic, Straka was originally drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2nd round (55th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
The Philadelphia Flyers will celebrate 50 years next season. Full season ticket memberships and 11-game plans are available now. Call 215-218-PUCK or click HERE for membership options. | {
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For the past decade, Torche have confounded listeners while delighting them at the same time. Are they metal? Pop? Punk? Pop metal? Does it even matter? While several members of Torche have said publicly that they don’t consider themselves a metal band, their roster of former touring partners indicates that some very reputable musicians consider them heavy. The fact that their new album, Restarter, (we are premiering the title track today) might be the heaviest of their four albums only muddies the waters even more.
One thing you can say definitively about Torche: They are masters of melody and songwriting, dating back to their debut and the critical favorite Meanderthal, which was named a top 10 record in multiple locations in 2008. As they’ve hopped from labels, they have sharpened their songwriting chops even more, offering listeners their heavily distorted and fuzzy take on pop and rock and metal and probably a few other things. While Restarter, released on the reliably extreme label Relapse, might be their heaviest album, it doesn’t abandon the things we’ve grown to love about the band. We talked to bassist Jonathan Nuñez about their new record, why a lot of heavy music doesn’t make listeners feel good and how their hometown of Miami has influenced their sound. And while you’re reading, listen to “Restarter” — it’s an incredible song.
STEREOGUM: Could you tell me a little bit about the track we’re premiering today, “Restarter”?
NUÑEZ: The track started with a riff that Andrew [Elstner, guitarist] worked on. It kind of captures the vibe of the artwork by coincidence. Steve [Brooks, guitars and vocals] and I had the idea for the artwork that [touched on] the fall of mankind, post-apocalyptic, machinery taking over –- what lies ahead for all of us. It was sort of James Cameron. And I think the song kind of has a futuristic, almost Blade Runner-type vibe whereas some of the songs are more rocking. This song is kind of eerie, slightly haunting. The song, honestly, was going to be named something else. “Restarter” was thrown around for a few song titles and I thought it fit here. It came to match the song and it also matched the whole record. And I’m all for short titles when it comes to songs and records.
STEREOGUM: So some of the ideas on this record are a lot darker?
NUÑEZ: It’s not close to a concept record. But I think the tones and sounds we’ve been getting live have influenced what we played and the feel and the vibe. We gravitate to a heavy tone and certain notes that cater to certain feelings. There was no agenda like it has to be heavy because it’s on Relapse. There is the sunny track or two but the overall tone is darker, heavier and moodier. It’s definitely a bit slower than Harmonicraft and the songs breathe more.
STEREOGUM: You mentioned Blade Runner. Were you or the band reading or watching any other dystopian stuff?
NUÑEZ: Not really. We just try to maximize our time together writing. Steve is in San Francisco, Andrew is in Atlanta and Rick [Smith, drums] and me are in Florida. When we get together we put in some really long days. We were all fans of sci-fi, whether it was comic books, TV show — anything from The Outer Limits crossing into horror. We also liked Creepshow and Star Wars. It’s what the average kid growing up in the ’70s and ’80s liked. Somehow, it sort of fascinates all of us; there’s a sci-fi type of sound and vibe to Restarter.
STEREOGUM: That’s funny because the way you talked about the title track almost made it sound like it had a Fear Factory feel to it.
NUÑEZ: [laughs] Well, “Annihilation Affair” [the opening track] does have a rhythmic, pummeling repetition to it. It has a hypnotic vibe and is pleasurable but punishing.
STEREOGUM: Because of technology a lot of bands can live in disparate places and write music almost piecemeal. It sounds like what makes Torche work is getting to the same place.
NUÑEZ: Absolutely. And I agree –- nowadays as a recording engineer I work on projects where people just go home and when something feels good I send them an upload. The Internet has a lot of pros and cons. You can record with four people around the world. We do Torche demos via email and file sharing but we have to get together. For Restarter, I think I wrote two complete songs with a drum machine, and that’s the first time we’ve ever done something like that because we are so used to playing off of each other. We like to be able to add in and play with songs and build things around riffs. We are pretty intense when it comes to critiquing each other. We all work hard to get the best end result.
STEREOGUM: Can you hear when other bands do something remotely because it doesn’t sound spontaneous?
NUÑEZ: You can hear when a band plays together. It tends to sound more lively and energetic and less stiff. I like stuff with the rough edges, stuff that jumps out. If it’s too locked into a grid, it almost feels like programmed music. You can feel when people are just raging in a room. Music has to have character. Nowadays, people are so quick to sequence something. But I like a record to take you places, and if it’s too on the grid and perfect it’s not real. All the classic rock bands –- it’s more about the grand scheme and the big picture. It’s not about every track being triggered. That stuff turns me off and I won’t listen to it. I like people who push sounds and equipment. It’s a plus if you can capture the feeling of a band live. You want to have a reaction like, “This is what I heard live and I like this feeling.”
STEREOGUM: What has always stuck with me about Torche both listening your albums and seeing you live is a certain warmth.
NUÑEZ: I hope that’s the case. We’re from Florida and we use a lot of valve amplifiers and a lot of analog gear. You can pass a guitar around the room and it will sound different from one person to the next. And when a group of people is in the mix there’s a whole element. It’s like a meal; a bunch of ingredients doing something different.
STEREOGUM: There’s so much heavier music —- particularly metal –- where the focus is on making you feel bad. Do you think metal has lost the ability to make people feel good? Just look at what AC/DC did over the years.
NUÑEZ: That’s a pretty good point. One of the bands that first grabbed my attention was Steve’s old band Floor. It was so catchy and the melody was great but it was so heavy. I don’t think there is anything more powerful than melody, whether acoustic or something crushing. A lot of metal bands use dark and dissonant sounds as opposed to things that are brighter and dare I say uplifting. AC/DC is powerful and rocking and make you want to party. I am also a fan of melodic stuff that has morbid lyrics. I remember when I first heard the Misfits; they have this fuzzy, brown gritty tone. And they had fast songs but also these morbid punk ballads. It’s rare to have a heavy and happy band. Your average band is pissed off and dark. Growing up I listened to a lot of Youth Of Today and Gorilla Biscuits and then [Metallica’s] Kill ‘Em All and [Slayer’s] Reign In Blood. But when I heard the Misfits, it was like, holy shit. The sounds weren’t metallic. It was like fuzzed-out classic rock or punk. You could hear the aesthetic in their music.
STEREOGUM: You’ve now released four records on four different labels. Is that the reality of the recording business these days?
NUÑEZ: We worked with Robotic Empire for the debut, but they felt it was time for us to move and grow. We were excited to work with Hydra Head, but they stopped putting out new music. So we went on and Volcom seemed the most interested. I don’t know if the label decided to close or just work to promote bands. Relapse was interested years ago and Steve wrote them. And they had been fans since the beginning. We met them in person when we were on the road and everything has lined up incredibly well. They are a very solid label and genuinely into what we’re doing.
STEREOGUM: Do you think Miami has influenced your sound?
NUÑEZ: People tend to work harder here. It takes a lot to get out of the state and get noticed. We’re at the bottom of the southeast. Bands from here have to push it because we’re cut off. I do feel there’s been a huge resurgence here lately for people starting bands. There’s a certain energy with the weather and lifestyle. But there can be distractions because you can always go to the beach. [laughs] Being cut off, you work extra hard and try to put a signature on your sound. And when you do that, it radiates. You can hear that in our bass and the guitars, which are like beams of sunlight. You can hear that we’re not from LA or Chicago. We’re not from anywhere but here. Florida is crazy as hell but there’s an energy here and some musicians are able to hone in on that.
STEREOGUM: Does Andrew still hear about that pissing bat? [Elstner needed to have a series of rabies shots in 2012 when a bat urinated in his eye.]
NUÑEZ: Sometimes we’ve gone overseas and there will be bats and he will walk fast. It was a freak accident and freak story. He had to deal with it on the road with getting rabies shots and he won’t forget about it. But it always comes up. It’s a funny story — now that everything is OK.
//
Restarter is out 2/24 via Relapse. | {
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Sault Ste. Marie Police Service have no other information at this time
A damaged police car sits askew in a driveway next to tire treads that appear to go over a culvert on Cooper Street on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 30, 2017. Jeff Klassen/SooToday
1 / 1 A damaged police car sits askew in a driveway next to tire treads that appear to go over a culvert on Cooper Street on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 30, 2017. Jeff Klassen/SooToday
Witnesses say a shirtless man was driving a police car when it struck a utility pole and was left damaged on Cooper Street around 1 p.m. today.
Two witnesses that live nearby said they saw a police car travelling north on Cooper Street ‘about a 100 miles an hour’ with the siren on.
Brian Dawson, a neighbour across from the driveway where the police car came to rest, told SooToday he heard a car accelerating followed by the sound of brakes screeching, skidding, and a bang.
Another neighbor said the sound woke her up.
According to Dawson — whose wife also saw some of what happened — people at the scene went to help the vehicle's occupant but they backed away when, instead of a uniformed police officer, a man with no shirt was sitting in the driver’s seat.
The shirtless man left the police car and headed north before being arrested by police officers who arrived on scene soon after the crash said Dawson.
Sault Ste. Marie Constable Sonny Spina was asked if the police car was stolen or if a police officer was driving the vehicle but Spina said at this time he had no further information.
The full text of a news release from Sault Ste. Marie Police follows:
*************************
Today at approximately 1:10 p.m. a Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Patrol vehicle was involved in a single motor vehicle collision in the 600 block of Cooper Street where it struck a utility pole. Damage to the pole was minimal; however the police vehicle sustained significant damage.
This incident is currently under investigation and no further information may be released at this time.
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A South Florida teacher is out a job after throwing an after-school surprise birthday party in a classroom that featured sex toys and X-rated party favors, according to a report.
Parents told WSVN-TV that the party at the Mater Lakes Academy charter school in Miami Wednesday exposed the students -- who were as young as 11 -- to sex-themed party favors.
The mother of a young girl who was an attendee said the party was for a former male student, and when he walked into the classroom “they surprised him with a hat that had a penis attached to the top and a string to be able to pull it . . . ,” the station reported.
She also said the party included a cake that was in the shape of the female form, according to the station.
The station aired snippets of video shot at the party showing the hat and other sexual items. Students who were reported to be members of the school's dance team can be heard singing happy birthday.
“You can’t even imagine,” said the mother, who is also a teacher, WSVN reported. “You know, I’ve raised my daughter the proper way and never taught her anything similar to that.”
The woman told the station her daughter was extremely upset.
“She couldn’t sleep last night. She woke up crying,” she said. “It hurts that she’s being taught this at the school where I trust she’s gonna be taken care of.”
The teacher wasn’t identified.
Mater Lakes Academy officials said the dance teacher had been fired, but wouldn’t say who brought in the X-rated party favors, the station said.
They said in a statement, “Once we became aware of the situation, we addressed it immediately and have taken the appropriate measures and the individual has been dismissed,” the station reported. | {
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A cruel note calling an Ohio amputee a “cry baby one leg” has gone viral following a struggle between neighbors over an apartment building’s designated handicapped spot.
Ashley Brady, 26, lost her leg in a 2014 accident. She learned how to walk again, but Brady struggled to make it across the complex’s parking lot without slipping and falling on icy patches.
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But her struggles didn’t end after her building gave her a handicapped parking spot.
“I finally get my handicapped parking spot last Thursday (March 12, 2015) and then I come home on Saturday and they’re parking in my parking spot,” she told an ABC affiliate, referencing a neighbor who did not have a handicap. So Brady decided to leave a “stern” note explaining her situation and “what it’s like to walk around without your own leg.”
The shocking letter Brady reportedly received as a response to justify her actions reads:
Hey handicap! First, never place your hands on my car again! Second, honey you ain’t the only one with “struggles.” You want pity go to a one leg support group! You messed with the wrong one! I don’t care what your note said shove it, but you touch my car again I will file a report, I am not playing! I let the office know the cry baby one leg touches my property I will cause trouble so go cry your struggles to someone who cares cause I’m walking away with both mine! -[Expletive]
After Brady’s sister shared the letter on Facebook in an attempt to shine a light on the nuanced struggles many handicapped people face on a daily basis, it went viral and she received sympathetic feedback right away.
Ashley wrote–I lost my leg over the summer and am just trying to adjust to my new life. I requested to have a handicap… Posted by Amputee Coalition on Monday, March 16, 2015
“[My neighbor] told me to cry to someone who cares,” Brady says, “So I went to the internet and it turns out a lot of people care.”
[ABC]
Read next: Someone Keeps Photocopying Their Cat at the University of Wisconsin Library
Listen to the most important stories of the day.
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If former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is being held accountable for the laws he has broken, he’s got plenty of company in Washington, D.C., Real Clear Politics founder Tom Bevan argued Wednesday evening.
Manafort is now facing more than seven years in prison for crimes he committed before joining Donald Trump’s presidential campaign as well as for crimes he committed during the Russia investigation. His legal troubles are far from over as he has now been indicted on an additional 16 counts in New York state.
During Thursday's "Special Report" All-Star panel, Bevan -- along with national security analyst Morgan Ortagus and Georgetown Institute of Politic executive director Mo Elleithee -- weighed in on the Manafort sentencing as well as the latest developments from former FBI lawyer Lisa Page’s congressional testimony.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL SHOW
Bevan began by making it clear that “nobody is going to shed a tear” for a “corrupt guy” like Manafort. That being said, he insisted that if Manafort was being punished for his crimes, then plenty of others should be as well.
“If the standard is now, ‘We’re going to prosecute for FERA violations and we’re going to drain the swamp,’ let’s do it because there are another fifty or a hundred Paul Manaforts doing the exact same thing. So if that’s the standard, let’s go ahead and drain the swamp,” Bevan told the panel.
Elleithee warned about the consequences of President Trump possibly pardoning Manafort, saying that at minimum the “optics look bad” and noting that Trump cannot shield Manafort from the state-level charges against him.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Meanwhile, Ortagus noted Lisa Page’s significant role in revealing what happened in the Department of Justice during its handling of the Clinton email investigation as well as the early stages of the Russia probe. Testimony shared by the House Judiciary Committee shows that Page confirmed to lawmakers that the Justice Department instructed the FBI not to pursue charges of “gross negligence” against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“When the story, the history is written about all of this, Lisa Page is going to be such a fascinating and integral character in this,” Ortagus said. “I mean, look at all the number of people -- Comey, McCabe, Strzok -- all of these people she’s given congressional testimony to counter them, to contradict them and they are all in trouble, multiple times over. ... So pay attention to Lisa Page. She’s taking down some of the biggest names in the FBI.” | {
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Self-styled positivity guru Emile Ratelband asked a court in the Netherlands to approve his request for a new birthday that officially would make him 49.
UTRECHT, Netherlands — Self-styled positivity guru Emile Ratelband thinks age is just a number. And his is a number the Dutchman wants changed.
The 69-year-old TV personality has asked a court in the Netherlands to approve his request for a new birthday that officially would make him 49.
Ratelband says his legal appeal is consistent with other forms of personal transformation that are gaining acceptance and government recognition in the Netherlands and around the world.
"With this free(dom) of choice, choice of name, freeness of gender, I want to have my own age. I want to control myself," he said Thursday.
Ratelband says he wants to avoid age discrimination in society — especially on dating websites.
"So when I ask for a mortgage, for example, they say it's impossible," he told The Associated Press. "If I go on Tinder, then I get women from 68, 69 when women are there."
How about just being economical with the truth about his age?
"I don't want to lie," he said. "I want to be myself, so don't force me to lie."
Marjolein van den Brink, who specializes in human rights and gender issues at Utrecht University's law school, said age discrimination is a problem but is different than the issues involved in reassigning gender.
"It's quite clear that elderly people have a much smaller chance of getting a job than younger people," she said. "But that's just one element and it's only something that happens to you once you reach the age of 40, 45, 50, depending a bit on your job.
"Whereas gender is something that follows you from birth to grave, and it determines nearly everything — and not just in the labor market but everywhere," she said.
In rare cases, even race has also become more fluid.
In Britain, theater director Anthony Ekundayo Lennon has attracted attention in part because despite being the son of white Irish parents, he looks like a mixed-race man. He has also written and told journalists that he thinks of himself as black.
He says he was racially abused as a teenager because of his appearance, and when he started an acting career, he found it easier to pursue non-white parts. He also took an African middle name.
Now some black artists are complaining because Lennon was recently given a paid traineeship in a program designed to give more black people a chance for careers in the arts.
His case resembles in some ways that of Rachel Dolezal, a white woman in the United States who identified herself as black after she was raised by religious parents who had adopted four black children. She was working for the NAACP when her ruse was uncovered in 2015.
Ratelband, the Dutch TV personality, says the Dutch government could benefit if it were to accept his age demand. He said he'd be happy to forfeit his monthly pension of around 1,200 euros ($1,370) — a concession he estimates would save nearly 300,000 euros ($343,000) over the 20 years he wants shaved off his age.
The court in the central city of Arnhem is expected to issue a ruling in about four weeks.
Ratelband, who makes a living urging people and businesses to be positive, denies that the age request is a publicity stunt. He claims he is seeking a personal positive effect.
"Now I'm an old man. I have to save my money to give to my kids so that they can live," said the father of seven. "But If I have that age again, I have hope again. I'm new again. The whole future is there for me again."
____ | {
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Portugal offers great quality of life, is considered a gem for food lovers and is one of the safest countries in the world according to the Global Peace Index. In recent years its startup scene has been growing and gaining international exposure, especially with events such as WebSummit. Overall 2019 was a year of consolidation, as startups were recognized in the tourism sector, one of the forces lifting Portugal out of the financial crisis. More and more young entrepreneurs are emerging from universities in Lisbon, Porto, Aveiro, Braga or Coimbra, and international companies like Mercedes-Benz, Cloudflare, Huawei or Revolut are setting up digital operations across the country. Startup Portugal is boosting governmental policies such as the Startup Visa, National Incubation Network RNI (with over 130 incubators) and the 200M co-investment programme.
Here are a few of the hottest early-stage Portuguese startups tackling topics like sustainability, digital communications, travel, food, pets and health, that you might just be hearing more of in 2020.
Didimo – Didimo, founded in 2016, is a leader in the creation of high-resolution digital “humans”. Their technology brings authenticity to virtual interactions by enhancing character creation. The technology developed by founder Verónica Orvalho and her team allows anyone to take a single selfie, and in just a few seconds, create a digital identity that looks, speaks, and acts like them. These “didimos” have several applications, from retail to online games and entertainment, and they have giant business partners like Amazon and Sony. They finished 2019 by closing a €4.4 million round of funding to expand to the education and health markets, so keep an eye out for “didimos”.
LUGGit – LUGGit, founded in 2019, offers real-time luggage collection, luggage storage and delivery via an app, saving every traveller from carrying their luggage before check-in and after check-out, giving them instead the time and convenience of enjoying the city. In 2019, they were able to launch the product in Lisbon and Porto, won an acceleration programme (Newton), were nominated for a WTO innovation award and raised their first funding round of €400K with Portugal Ventures. This year they plan to expand across Europe, so check them out next time you’re visiting a city.
Virtuleap – Virtuleap is a virtual reality (VR) startup taking cognitive assessment and training to a new level, by bringing together VR games, AI, education and healthcare. Its app ‘Enhance’ offers a daily cognitive workout of short, intense and fun games scientifically designed to help increase attention and concentration levels. These training games test and train various cognitive skills like memory, problem-solving, spatial orientation and motor control. Enhance VR is already available in English and Mandarin, and in the coming months, you’ll find the app available also in German and French. The startup, founded in 2018, has raised over €485K in seed funding, to put in place its plans to lead the market.
ABtrace – We trust in antibiotics to help us with bacterial infections, but did you know that Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is on the rise? Fewer antibiotics are effective, as microorganisms or “superbugs” develop antimicrobial resistance. ABtrace, founded in 2018, processes healthcare data through an augmented decision-making tool, comparing it to billions of data points and presenting a recommendation for which, if any, antibiotic should be prescribed. Its solution enables clinicians to make better informed decisions when prescribing antibiotics, helping to reduce overuse and misuse, which ultimately contributes to the fight against AMR.
Barkyn – André João was frustrated with the dull and cold nature of the online pet market. So he created Barkyn in 2017, a personalised service for dogs, which assigns each dog a vet and who users can contact 24/7. Users can sign up via a subscription-based model, choosing a specific package adapted to the size and age of their dog, to receive a monthly supply of dog food at home. The startup has already made the life of over 26K dog owners much easier, having now also expanded to Spain and Italy. In 2020, they’re heading to Central Europe, so if you love your dog, go online and check out Barkyn’s new product lines (one includes lobster!) and order some tasty dog snacks.
Infraspeak – Hotels and other large buildings pose big challenges. Founder Luís Martins, having had first-hand experience with the daily problems experienced by technicians and engineers, was driven to make building maintenance more intelligent. Infraspeak, founded in 2015, is a website platform and mobile app software that helps hotel managers, technicians and staff to run critical daily operations. Today, Infraspeak has saved hundreds of thousands of hours, paper sheets and stress for building personnel, having helped 1.3 million faults be reported and 22.5 million tasks be executed. Today, the company manages more than 500K assets in 39K buildings, in 10 different countries. Next time you lay your head on a hotel bed, think of how many problems were solved even before guests notice them.
Stratio Automotive – Stratio also made it onto our list of Portuguese startups to watch in 2019. They are fusing automotive engineering with machine learning to automate anomaly and fault detection. Started out monitoring trucks and buses and now work with vehicle manufacturers to enhance product quality by automating vehicle testing, throughout its entire lifecycle with tools that enable the creation of a data-rich feedback loop between market and R&D. Stratio maintains vehicles on the road without unplanned downtime and paving the way for a zero downtime future. Founded by Rui Sales and Ricardo Margalho the startup’s team has grown to 50+ people and raised an initial €3 million funding round in May 2019.
Secret City Trails – If you enjoy walking tours, Secret City Trails, founded in 2017, offers a new way to discover cities using gamification. After choosing a trail, users receive instructions via email, and then the riddle-cracking game begins. Users can play with the city, notice its unique details and have fun together, and even play together in groups with a leaderboard for the fastest players. It’s a fun way to discover a new place, while preserving and promoting the authenticity of cities. Unleash your curiosity and thirst for discovery, and chose one of unique playful tours across 50 cities in Europe, from Palma de Majorca to Moscow. Having started 2020 with an investment of €200K, we can expect to see a lot more of this startup in the coming months.
Vawlt Technologies – Online security is a major concern for both companies and individuals. Vawlt, founded in 2018, has developed a cloud-based solution that encrypts and stores data according to users’ needs, distributing it across different public cloud services (such as those provided by AWS, Microsoft, etc.). In this way they ensure maximum security against data loss; even if a server is physically destroyed, data can still be recovered. Intrusions are also covered, as not even Vawlt has access to customers’ passwords. In May 2019, the startup landed €550K seed investment to expand further.
Twevo – Have you ever wondered how drones and other unmanned vehicles can fly and move around without hitting each other or stumble into obstacles? Twevo, founded in 2016, is a telecommunications engineering startup with a solid team of PhD’s, that has patented and developed several communications systems. Their first product ‘REVOsdr’, is a multicarrier software-defined radio (SDR) that enables fast and reliable point-to-point data link communication over long distances. Having such a reliable and secure communication link is key for operations like commercial UAVs/drone flying. The team has won two rounds of H2020 funding from the European Union, showing that it is surely headed in the right direction.
By the way: If you’re a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out our Startup Sourcing Service! | {
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Die Autofahrer, die in der vergangenen Woche auf der Autobahn 5 bei Weiterstadt Rettungskräfte gestört haben, haben nur geringe Geldstrafen wegen Ordnungswidrigkeiten zu erwarten. Ein Sprecher der Darmstädter Polizei erklärte auf Anfrage von FAZ.NET, dass sich alle geprüften Fälle „im Bereich der Ordnungswidrigkeit“ befänden. Den meisten Fahrern drohe eine Strafe von 20 Euro wegen des Blockierens der Rettungsgasse, in Einzelfällen könne eventuell auch eine Strafe wegen des Überholens auf der rechten Spur verhängt werden (100 Euro, ein Punkt). Das gelte für die Autofahrer, die den Rettungskräften auf dem Standstreifen gefolgt seien.
Mehr zum Thema 1/
Die Feuerwehr Mörfelden hatte gegen 30 Autofahrer Anzeige erstatten, nachdem die Helfer ausgerückt waren, weil ein Arbeiter aus Baden-Württemberg bei einem Sturz von einem Baugerüst schwer verletzt worden war. Feuerwehrmann Theo Herrmann sagte danach im Interview: „Unser Einsatzleitfahrzeug ist mit der Polizei vorneweg gefahren, die Autofahrer haben eine Rettungsgasse gebildet. Leider sind ein paar Schlaumeier auf die Idee gekommen, sich hinter dem Feuerwehrauto einzureihen. Kurz darauf ging dann gar nichts mehr, die Autos waren quasi verknotet, konnten nicht mehr nach links oder rechts. Wir haben zusammen mit dem Rettungswagen versucht, durchzukommen, irgendwann haben wir aufgegeben und sind die letzten 800 Meter gelaufen.“ Auf dem Weg seien sie ausgelacht und angepöbelt worden. Fotos von den Autos hatten sie nach dem Einsatz der Polizei übergeben. Zu dem Bußgeld von 20 Euro, das den Autofahrern drohte, sagte Herrmann: „Das ist lächerlich, es kann um Leben und Tod gehen, in anderen Ländern sind die Strafen viel höher.“
Danach schlossen sich mehrere Politiker dieser Einschätzung an. Zuletzt hatte sich der sächsiche Innenminister Holger Poppenhäger (SPD) zu Wort gemedelt. „20 Euro sind nach meinem Dafürhalten zu wenig“, sagte er. Helfer von Rettungsdienst, Polizei und Feuerwehr kämen bei versperrten Rettungswegen oft nur schwer an die Unfallstelle heran. Auch die Thüringer Polizei sieht hier Handlungsbedarf. Denkbar seien nach der Einkommenshöhe gestaffelte Bußgelder, sagte der Minister. | {
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Rush Limbaugh disclosed his opinion of Facebooks’s meeting with conservatives during his Thursday show.
“Zuckerberg at Fakebook had the meeting with conservatives. Chatsworth Osborne Jr. was one of them, he accepted the invitation and went out there,” Limbaugh joked. “I was not invited, folks. No. No. No. Again, it’s what we talked about yesterday. I think Zuckerberg, the people he invited — I would not have been invited to this.”
“I’m too famous to go, too big for something like this. That’s not something that I could be invited to. Never gonna happen,” said Limbaugh.
Limbaugh stated “there’s no such thing as an algorithm that’s not biased.”
“An algorithm is nothing more than a computer program written by human beings,” he explained. “And if a bunch of liberals are writing the algorithms, and if they don’t think they’re liberals, and if they don’t think they’re biased, and if they don’t think there’s anything particularly ideological about ’em, you have to understand a lot of people grow up liberal, that’s all they know. That, to them, is normal. That, to them, is what is.
“And anything that’s not that is the circus act,” he said. “And so they grow up, they are normal, and there’s no reason they would include conservatism or whatever they think it is in their algorithms.
“There’s no such thing as an apolitical liberal. They are defined by it. They’re governed by it,” Limbaugh argued. “Fakebook and Google may as well have offices in the White House, in the West Wing, they’re there that much.
“There are more Google visits on the White House logs than anybody else. And Fakebook is in there as well,” he said.
Breitbart News was contacted about attending the meeting with Zuckerberg but declined, with Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon and Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow describing the event as a “pat conservatives on the head” session and a giant photo-op.
Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos also mocked the meeting, claiming that the attendees had been “cucked by Zuck” and “used as window-dressing by a corporation’s public relations department”. CPAC organiser Matt Schlapp and Sean Davis from The Federalist agreed, as well as Matt Drudge from the Drudge Report.
Editor of the Daily Signal Robert Bluey, The Blaze founder Glenn Beck, and President of the Media Research Center Brent Bozell fought back against these allegations, however, with Bozell calling Yiannopoulos “silly” and “an embarrassment to Breitbart” for criticising the meeting. | {
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Inspired from watching the street band Caladonia on YouTube over the weekend, music from my home country! Made me want to play a dwarven bard | {
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LOCAL: OSP’s Springfield Post encourages safe teen driving
Leciejewski said instead, those hired at the division will go through 10 weeks of firefighter training. They’ll be able to go on fire calls, but they won’t be certified as an EMT or a paramedic. Once the new hires complete that part of their training, then they’ll be able to go on EMS calls as well.
EMS accounts for nearly 80 percent of all of the calls the division handles, but Leciejewski said because every current firefighter on staff is also a certified paramedic, he thinks they’ll be able to balance getting new recruits their certifications and maintaining their run volume.
“Having that paramedic requirement when you walk in the door we think may be a hindrance to some local people here in Springfield,” he said.
Springfield City Manager Jim Bodenmiller said the city hasn’t been able to achieve full staffing in the police or fire divisions for the last couple of years — the fire division in particular.
“When we’ve required paramedic certification on hire, our application pool has been much smaller and we’ve had less diversity,” he said.
RELATED: Study says children more likely to wake up to mother’s voice than smoke alarm
The division has required the certification since about 2009. Bodenmiller said the city has discussed removing the requirement for the last two years.
He said when the city announced Friday it would eliminate the preliminary paramedic certification, there were already 32 emails from interested candidates — that’s more than all of the applicants from the last round of hires.
“That in itself shows me this change is going to be effective,” he said.
The city will be looking to hire at least four firefighters when the civil service test period comes around in the coming months.
Bodenmiller said anyone interested in becoming a firefighter should contact the City of Springfield’s Human Resources department at (937) 324-7318 and ask to be placed on a notification list.
In late November to early December, those interested will be contacted with more information about the service test. | {
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This week, Core Aurelia Team member, Patrick Walters , shows us how to create custom elements that leverage content selectors.
Warning: This blog post covers a deprecated version of Shadow DOM, known as Shadow DOM v0. Aurelia 1.0 and beyond uses the current specification, known as Shadow DOM v1, which leverages slots. Please read our official documentation for more information .
About the Author
Patrick is a developer living in the DFW area and is passionate about making the developer experience as seamless and easy as possible in Aurelia, based on leveraging ideas from studying many other languages and frameworks. His preferred stack is Aurelia with Ruby on Rails and his preferred development environment is Sublime Text 3 with iTerm2 and Chrome.
Code samples: aurelia-modal on github
The Problem Imagine that you want to have a modal dialog in your application but you don't want to have to include a ton of HTML every time you use it. You also might want to toggle the visibility of different sections of the modal, depending on its use. Perhaps you also want to be able to skin it differently based on its content.
The Solution With Aurelia we can create custom elements that take advantage of Content Selectors to solve these problems. Aurelia uses concepts from the Shadow DOM to separate content and presentation. To see how this works we'll build a single, shared modal dialog that dynamically changes its content as needed. This will give us a single visibility property to manage. We will use Aurelia's compose and custom elements to swap out the content. Finally, we'll leverage content selectors to allow re-skinning the modal more easily and further abstracting style-specific logic out of our view, making it is easier to adjust styling.
Starting Out As always let's get an Aurelia app running. To begin, download the navigation skeleton and unzip it. After that, we need to do some basic setup at the root of that project directory. $ npm install $ jspm install - y $ gulp watch Now we have our app being served at localhost:9000 .
Using our Modal Dialog In our src/app.html file, let's add a basic usage of the modal dialog that we want to create: < modal > < modal-header title = " Edit Person " > </ modal-header > < modal-body content = " person-information " > </ modal-body > < modal-footer buttons.bind = " [ ' Cancel ' ] " > </ modal-footer > </ modal > Here we are using a modal custom element and and setting the header , body , and footer of it. So far we haven't actually created these custom elements, but I wanted to show you first how they would be used, so you can understand the purpose of the following steps which describe their creation.
Creating the Modal Element Let's create the modal element first. There are two parts for each of the elements we will create, the View (HTML) and the View-Model (JS). Let's start with the view. View - modal.html < template > < div class = " modal fade " ref = " modal " > < div class = " modal-dialog " > < div class = " modal-content " > < content select = " modal-header " > </ content > < content select = " modal-body " > </ content > < content select = " modal-footer " > </ content > </ div > </ div > </ div > </ template > Here we are using Bootstrap's default modal implementation. Did you notice the content selectors in the modal-content div? That is how we tell our modal element where to render the different content types that we defined in the app.html. The value of the select attribute is actually a CSS Selector. Cool isn't it? Here's the View-Model that encapsulates the behavior of the modal: View-Model - modal.js import $ from 'jquery' ; export class Modal { attached ( ) { $ ( this . modal ) . modal ( ) ; } } You can see in our attached callback that all we are doing is passing our referenced modal to the Bootstrap modal plugin.
Now, let's create the header and footer elements. We'll start with the header's view: View - modal-header.html < template > < div class = " modal-header " > < button type = " button " class = " close " data-dismiss = " modal " aria-label = " Close " > < span aria-hidden = " true " > × </ span > </ button > < h4 class = " modal-title " > ${title} </ h4 > </ div > </ template > Again, this is just a base Bootstrap modal header. The only adjustment we've made is to add a string interpolation binding to render the title into the h4 element. Here's how we define the accompanying view-model: View-Model - modal-header.js import { bindable } from 'aurelia-framework' ; export class ModalHeader { @bindable title = '' ; } We create the bindable property title with a default value of '' (empty string). Also, note that we are using ES7 property initializers to create the property. If we didn't want to (or couldn't) use ES7 property initializers, we could always write that same code using class decorators, like this: import { bindable } from 'aurelia-framework' ; @ bindable ( { name : 'title' , defaultValue : '' } ) export class ModalHeader { } And, just for the sake of completeness, if you didn't want to use any ES7 features, you could use pure ES6 like this: import { Decorators } from 'aurelia-framework' ; export class ModalHeader { static decorators ( ) { return Decorators . bindable ( { name : 'title' , defaultValue : '' } ) ; } } Remember though, in all cases, this creates a custom element with a single HTML bindable property "title" that has a default value of the empty string. The footer is constructed in a similar way. Let's see the view first: View - modal-footer.html < template > < div class = " modal-footer " > < button type = " button " class = " btn btn-default " repeat.for = " button of buttons " > ${button} </ button > </ div > </ template > Again, it's just the base bootstrap footer, but we've changed the button so we can display more, based on what is bound. View-model - modal-footer.js import { bindable } from 'aurelia-framework' ; export class ModalFooter { @bindable buttons = [ ] ; } Again we create a buttons property that is bindable and is an array which will contain the labels for our buttons.
Creating the Body Now we need our modal-body template. It will be in charge of what gets shown in the main content area. View - modal-body.html < template > < div class = " modal-body " > < compose view-model.bind = " content " > </ compose > </ div > </ template > It is the base bootstrap body, but we've added Aurelia's compose element with a binding so that it renders whatever gets set for the content property. Here's the view-model: View-model - modal-body.js import { bindable } from 'aurelia-framework' ; export class ModalBody { @bindable content ; } Our content will be a string property which tells the view what to compose into the body.
Content to Render We need to have some content to dynamically compose into the body of our modal. Let's just steal from the starter kit's welcome.html in order to keep things simple: View - person-information.html < template > < form role = " form " > < div class = " form-group " > < label for = " fn " > First Name </ label > < input type = " text " value.bind = " person.firstName " class = " form-control " id = " fn " placeholder = " first name " > </ div > < div class = " form-group " > < label for = " ln " > Last Name </ label > < input type = " text " value.bind = " person.lastName " class = " form-control " id = " ln " placeholder = " last name " > </ div > </ form > </ template > View-Model - person-information.js export class PersonInformation { constructor ( ) { this . person = new Person ( ) ; } } class Person { firstName = 'Patrick' ; lastName = 'Patrick' ; } Here we just create a person class and instantiate it to be our 'person'. This will provide some demo data for our person-information.html | {
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Arctic Fire is gathering of swordsmiths in Anchorage, Alaska. The events are live broadcast on-line, and later available as videos. In 2012 the event featured presentations by each smith on elements of the craft. In 2013, we collaborated to build an artifact blade, and had some fun with giving it away (see ArcticFire2013.com). In 2016 we are re-creating the fabled hoard of Grendel from the epic poem, Beowulf.
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Immigrants collect their belongings before being deported across an international bridge into Mexico on March 14, 2017, from Hidalgo, Tex. (John Moore/Getty Images)
The Trump administration is launching a series of steps aimed at publicly spotlighting the alleged dangers posed by illegal immigrants, as it seeks to bolster political support for the need for stricter enforcement.
This week the administration released a list of cities that have not fully cooperated with federal immigration authorities, and soon the Department of Homeland Security will unveil an office staffed by more than two dozen employees tasked with closely assisting families of Americans who were victims of violent crimes by undocumented foreigners.
DHS lawyers also are examining federal privacy laws to determine ways to more freely share potentially incriminating personal information on immigrants among government agencies and release it publicly, including the nationality, immigration status and criminal history of those swept up in enforcement raids.
And on Thursday, the Justice Department specifically highlighted immigration offenses and arrests during the release of its annual federal statistics report.
(The Washington Post)
Administration officials said the strategy is intended to reframe the political debate over immigration reform from what they view as a misplaced emphasis on the well-being of the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants to the negative impacts their presence can have on local communities.
At the White House, President Trump has on several occasions used the bully pulpit to highlight some of the most sensational crimes by immigrants, and he met in the Oval Office with family members of their victims.
“We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored,” Trump said during his prime-time address to Congress last month before highlighting each of the families’ stories.
“These brave men were viciously gunned down by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record and two prior deportations,” Trump said to two widows of law enforcement officials killed in the line of duty. “Should have never been in our country.”
But critics, including civil rights advocates and immigration lawyers, said the Trump administration is purposely inflating the dangers and scapegoating a wide swath of immigrants to manipulate public fears and create more political support for its hard-line policies.
Although federal data are limited, two reports released this month — by the Sentencing Project and the libertarian Cato Institute — confirmed past studies that immigrants, including those here illegally, commit crimes at lower rates than do native-born Americans.
“The big picture concern is that the administration’s policies seem premised on the idea that immigration status is some kind of indicator for criminality, when in fact that is not at all the case,” said Gregory Chen, advocacy director for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “Why is this administration so hyper-focused on making the connection between crime and immigration?”
Trump has been making that connection from his first campaign speech in June 2015, when he referred to Mexican immigrants as rapists, criminals and drug dealers. He appeared at campaign events with “angel moms” whose children had been killed by undocumented immigrants.
Beyond illegal immigration, Trump has characterized legal immigrants as potential terrorist threats in his attempts to enact a ban on refugees and travelers from several majority-Muslim nations. Although his two travel-ban orders have been blocked in federal court, the most recent one included a provision mandating that the government begin publicizing information about acts of “gender-based violence against women,” including “honor killings,” in the United States by foreign nationals.
In a visit to DHS in January, during which he signed a pair of executive orders to ramp up deportations in the United States, Trump said, “Pundits talk about how enforcing immigration laws can separate illegal immigrant families, but the families they don’t talk about are the families of Americans.”
Trump’s focus on those families, through the new office called Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE), represents a sharp break in rhetoric from his predecessor. President Barack Obama emphasized a balance between upholding the law and showing empathy toward immigrants who had not committed crimes, particularly those known “dreamers” who arrived in the country illegally as children and were often depicted as hard-working strivers.
This week, White House press secretary Sean Spicer cited a rape case at a high school in Rockville, Md., in which the two alleged teenage perpetrators were in the country illegally as rationale for Trump’s hard-line policies.
“Part of the reason that the president has made illegal immigration and a crackdown such a big deal is because of tragedies like this,” Spicer said, in response to a question about the case. “This is why he’s passionate about this, because people are victims of these crimes. . . . Immigration pays its toll on our people, if it’s not done legally, and this is another example.”
Trump’s allies also have featured coverage of sensational crimes by immigrants. Breitbart, the conservative news site previously overseen by senior White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon, regularly devotes a section on its home page to such content.
Trump aims to shine the spotlight on the fact that “bad immigration policy has consequences for American families,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower immigration levels. “When [the media] do sob stories about families that are separated because a drunk-driving father is deported, okay, but there are plenty of victim stories among Americans, too.”
Inside DHS, career officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement are said to be relieved by the Trump administration’s new guidelines, said one career official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
The official said the staff used to joke wryly that Obama’s policies amounted to “prosecutorial discretion by news conference,” meaning deportation proceedings against immigrants would be dropped based on the amount of negative publicity the cases got from advocacy groups.
“There was a great sense of frustration among agents and officers that even when we were clearly in the right we were not allowed to robustly defend ourselves at times we felt we should,” the official said.
The number of deportations, which had peaked under Obama at the end of his first term, fell sharply during his second as the administration implemented policies targeting enforcement actions against hardened criminals and those who had recently arrived in the country.
This week, DHS took the first step toward a more robust public-relations strategy as mandated by Trump’s executive orders, publishing a list of 206 local jurisdictions — to be updated weekly — that refused to detain jailed immigrants beyond their release dates so that the federal government could take them into custody and try to deport them.
The move to name and shame the jurisdictions is aimed at putting public pressure on them to cooperate — especially sanctuary cities that do not want immigrants to fear the police or be deported for minor traffic offenses. Trump has threatened to withhold some federal funds from such cities.
John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE, rejected the notion that the Obama administration was lenient on criminal immigrants. Rather, he said, the number that had committed serious offenses, such as murder, rape, being involved in drug deals or driving while intoxicated, was relatively small.
“When we had broader [enforcement] priorities, we were snatching up a lot of nonpublic safety threats but burning a lot of resources,” Sandweg said. Trump is “trying to mislead the public into thinking that 11 million people are a threat. That’s not true. It’s a very small subset that are a threat. The way to enhance public safety the most is to keep ICE focused on that small percentage.”
Instead, Trump’s executive orders significantly expand the pool of immigrants that are considered priorities for removal, a strategy, critics said, to help the president more easily boost deportations and fulfill his campaign promises.
“We are going to get the bad ones out — the criminals and the drug dealers and gangs and gang members and cartel leaders,” Trump said during his visit to DHS. But his critics predicted ICE will begin targeting those with outstanding removal orders based on relatively minor infractions or those checking in with parole officers.
“If the facts were aligned with what they say about the criminality of immigrants, they wouldn’t have to play up these horrible anecdotes,” said Alex Nowrasteh, a co-author of the Cato immigration crime report. “I see it as a political tactic to support a policy agenda. It’s policymaking by fear, not fact.” | {
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The guest commentary by Rick Carlson (“Opioid abuse is serious, but so is chronic pain,” The Herald, March 18), struck a similar chord. I also am the husband of someone who suffers from a disease that causes chronic pain. My wife has struggled with pain for more than 13 years and has used opioid pain medications responsibly for relief, which has made the pain tolerable. Prior to her disorder, she was an active wife, mother of two and a tireless volunteer for many organizations.
In the past the medical community prescribed opioid medications for many on an as-needed basis. Now with the opioid abuse problem increasing, the backlash against patients who responsibly use prescribed opioids is increasing.
Pain patients are now treated with suspicion and in some states, including Washington, are subjected to urine drug testing up to three or four times a year. This testing is not always covered by insurance, including Medicare, which means an out-of-pocket expense up to $1,000 per test. For patients on a fixed income, it means they live with the pain or forgo food, heat or other necessities to pay for medications and drug tests.
My wife has been told by her medical clinic that if she did not like the drug testing, she could move out of state. She also was informed that the drug testing was being done to protect the physician’s license, not to help the patient. Washington state has an opioid prescription-tracking system, so it appears that over-prescribing opioids should be documented to help find physicians and patients who are contributing to the crisis. But it is pain patients who are made responsible and are the scapegoats for the opioid abuse problem.
Patients who utilize opioid pain medications responsibly should’nt be penalized and forced to live with pain as a response to the opioid epidemic. A better solution needs to be found that continues to help patients, like my wife, and many others who live with pain.
Rick Rauma
Snohomish | {
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Dwayne Roloson is stepping down as the Ducks’ goaltending consultant due to family reasons, Ducks general manager Bob Murray confirmed.
NHL.com correspondent Kevin Woodley first reported the move on his Twitter account. Roloson, 46, succeeded Pete Peeters as goalie coach and held the position for the three seasons, mostly working with John Gibson, Frederik Andersen, Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth.
Team sources say it is possible that Roloson, a former NHL goalie with 227 wins, may stay with the organization in a more limited capacity. Roloson once dressed for the Ducks as an emergency goalie in a November 2014 game due to an injury to Gibson but did not play.
Sudarshan Maharaj, who has worked primarily with the San Diego Gulls at the AHL level and has often guided Gibson, is considered to be the leading candidate to replace Roloson. A formal announcement on a new hire could come next week.
The Ducks continue to have discussions with defenseman Hampus Lindholm and center Rickard Rakell on new contracts. Lindholm and Rakell are coming off their rookie deals and figure to be seeking lucrative, multiyear extensions. | {
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With only two issues left, we’re getting unfortunately close to the end of the Poe Dameron comic series. This issue took the focus off of Poe himself and chose to focus more on Black Squadron as a whole. The issue involves Jessika Pava narrating the events that transpired after they evacuated D’Qar, and what kept Black Squadron busy during the events of The Last Jedi.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
While the comic opens with Jess Pava’s narration of who she is and what Black Squadron is doing, the panel quickly cuts over to Poe’s reaction. Judging by Threepio’s delicate phrasing, it’s clear that Poe is still upset about the lives lost under his command in the battle over D’Qar. He’s not sure if he can take the loss of any more friends and comrades – and, to be fair, neither can we.
The comic leaves things a bit open-ended regarding the fate of Black Squadron. Threepio says that the recording was captured by a node that was destroyed by the First Order, so it’s impossible to tell if they’re alive or dead. This could be a good way to leave things open-ended for the film, or, more likely, to set up the next two issues, as we see a pretty confident and cohesive Black Squadron on the cover of issue #31.
Speaking of that cover, while we see Suralinda Javos alongside the rest of the team, she’s no longer wearing a flight suit that she’s wearing in this issue. Jessika specifically mentions that she doesn’t trust Sura, saying that she doesn’t feel like she’s all that committed to the team. This definitely feels like a set up for something more to come, although it seems a little hasty to have her suddenly betray the Resistance within the last two issues.
Overall, the comic feels a bit short to me. The team goes out to the beautiful planet of Pastoria, where General Organa hopes that the influential leader can persuade other planets to fight against the First Order. While they have no militarized force of their own, they have fuel, resources, …and a powerful leader who can apparently convince people to do something for nothing. Suralinda is the first to point this out, but they follow his request to fly escort to one of his ships regardless and end up helping them destroy his primary political claimant to the throne.
In a slightly ironic twist, it sounds like that king-to-be would have actually helped resist the First Order. Unfortunately this king saw the destruction of Hosnian Prime and decided that there is no way anyone can stand up to the might of the First Order and called Organa’s Resistance “a doomed crusade.” Regardless, he gives the team fuel in exchange for their help and some parting advice: get out while you still can.
Overall, this comic felt extremely short to me. It can basically be summarized as, “Threepio finds Jess Pava’s recording of the time they were tricked trying to get help on Pastoria.” Considering how close we are to the end of the comic line, I think many people were looking for a stronger narrative arc. Perhaps this was just a set-up for issues #30 and #31, or perhaps its best days are behind it.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Agent Terex was a compelling villain, and it was interesting to see how his relationship with Poe evolved from issue to issue. Considering how the comic initially set up to explain just how Poe ended up on Jakku to find Lor San Tekka, it achieved what it set out to do. We got to see how Black Squadron evolved through the early stages of the Resistance, and hopefully they have a happy ending in Episode IX.
Or at least as happy as an ending can be in the Star Wars universe. Whatever happens to Black Squadron, I’m sure Poe will come running to help them out. After all:
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近日，瀏覽網站時看到了幾起青少年殺害父母的新聞，看後不禁令人震驚：山東省青島市的17歲少年王某，因多次要求外出打工被母親拒絕後就用斧頭將母親殺害，並將其埋到院子裡，拿著母親的手機和1200多元現金逃離現場。後來王某被抓提審時說自己是一時衝動才殺了母親，但沒有絲毫悲傷、懊悔的表情。
河南省偃師市25歲男子張某，因不滿父母經常對其逼婚便將父母殺害。砍殺父母之後，張某便前往網吧打遊戲。
2011年7月，美國一17的歲青年，在其家中用錘子殘忍殺害了自己的親生父母，並將他們的屍體藏在臥室，然後若無其事地邀請60個朋友來家中參加狂歡聚會。而殺害父母的原因據說是因為父母不答應他在家裡開派對。
人常說：「人之初性本善」，但看看身邊發生的這些不可思議的慘劇，不由得讓人感到心寒。有的網友評論說，父母逼婚可以拒絕，但不能以此為由殺害父母啊。有的網友感慨說，辛辛苦苦把孩子養大，到頭來養兒沒防老倒把自己先送走了。有的網友表示痛恨：能做出這樣的事簡直不是人！那麼，究竟是什麼原因導致這些年輕人如此喪心病狂地殺害父母呢？有人說，可能是因為衝動。有的網友說，是父母與兒女之間缺乏溝通。還有的說：他們都是讓爸媽給慣壞了！人只能根據事物的表面現象來分析推斷，卻看不透事物的實質與根源，只有造物的主發表的真理能揭開真相，告訴人類真正的原因。
神說：「起初神造的亞當、夏娃是聖潔的人，也就是在伊甸園中他們是聖潔的，沒有沾染污穢，而且對耶和華是忠心的，他們並不知道背叛耶和華，因為沒有撒但權勢的攪擾，沒有撒但的毒素，他們是最聖潔的人類。他們生在伊甸園之中，沒有污穢玷污他們，沒有肉體佔有他們，他們敬畏耶和華，後來經撒但引誘，就有了毒蛇的毒素，有了背叛耶和華的心，活在了撒但的權勢之下。他們起初聖潔而且敬畏耶和華，這才是人，後來經撒但引誘之後，吃了善惡樹的果子，活在了撒但的權勢之下，被撒但逐漸地敗壞，便沒有人原有的形象了。起初的人類有耶和華的氣息，根本沒有一點悖逆，人心裡沒有邪惡，那時的人是真正的人類。人經撒但敗壞，便成了畜生，人所思想的盡都是惡，都是污穢，沒有善，沒有聖潔，這不是撒但嗎？」「因著撒但的敗壞，人的良心麻木，道德敗壞，思想腐朽，精神面貌落後。未經撒但敗壞的人本是順服神的，本是聽神話就順服的，本是理智、良心健全的，本是人性正常的。當人經撒但敗壞之後，人原有的理智、原有的良心、原有的人性都麻木了，都被撒但破壞了……人的理智失常，人的性情都變成了畜生一樣的性情……」
從神的話中我們可以看到，起初神造的人類是聖潔的，他們沒有敗壞性情，沒有撒但的各種毒素，他們心地善良、單純誠實、沒有惡毒。在神的帶領下，人與人之間也能和睦相處，沒有不義的事情發生。但當人類被撒但敗壞以後，撒但就利用各種毒素來敗壞人，人就開始遠離神。人類離開了神的帶領與祝福，不再明白做人的道理，不再懂得人生存的意義與價值，而是在撒但的侵蝕之下越來越敗壞、越來越邪惡。隨之「人不為己、天誅地滅」、「順我者昌、逆我者亡」等撒但毒素成為人的生命，人都把個人的利益看得高於一切，以至於泯滅了良心，失去了人性理智，所作所行完全違背了道德人倫。儘管國家用各種方式教育，父母也精心栽培、諄諄教導，但這些90後的少年依舊是我行我素，為了擺脫父母的管教，達到自己的慾望與目的，竟然喪心病狂地用殘忍的手段殺害了自己的親生父母，更令人氣憤的是他們在作了這些惡之後還能吃喝玩樂，心裡沒有一絲責備、沒有恐懼、沒有悲傷，讓人不禁感嘆他們怎麼會如此的冷血、無情。
以上所說的事例只是當今社會的冰山一角，但是從這些事例中足可看到人類已敗壞到了頂峰，到了神不忍目睹的地步。神要結束這個敗壞的時代，神說：「萬物的結局近了也就是指神工作的終結，指人類發展的終結，即指被撒但敗壞的人類已發展到了盡頭，亞當、夏娃的子孫後代已繁殖到了盡頭，也指就這樣的一個被撒但敗壞的人類不可能再繼續發展下去。」「我要毀滅這個舊的骯髒到極處的人類……」神的話告訴我們，這個人類已發展到了盡頭，神要毀滅這個敗壞到極處的人類。不過在毀滅這個人類之前神還是要拯救一些可挽救的人，將這些人帶入下一個時代。如今，全能神繼主耶穌的救贖工作之後再次道成肉身，以發表真理的方式來審判、潔淨這個敗壞的人類，以此來喚醒人的良心和理智，使人的心與靈得以甦醒過來，歸回到神的面前。因神不忍心看著他所造的人類再這樣墮落下去，也不忍心看到撒但再殘害人，神是以極大的忍耐在等待、尋找能聽他話語的人，神要將這樣的人從撒但的權勢之下拯救出來，最終把這些人帶進他的國度中。正如神說：「神在尋找渴慕他顯現的人，在尋找能聽他話語的人，尋找不忘記他託付而為他獻上身心的人，尋找在他面前如嬰兒一樣對他順服、對他沒有抵擋的人。你若不受任何勢力的阻撓而為神獻身，那你將會是神所看中的對象，將會是神所賜福的對象。」
蘭蘭
歡迎您來到探討東方閃電福音網，若您在信仰方面遇到什麼困惑，或者在日常生活中遇到什麼難處不知道怎麼解決，歡迎您通過屏幕右下角的【線上】聊天功能與我們聯繫，期待與您一同探討和交流，在基督的愛裡共同成長。 | {
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Je m’appelle Camille, j’ai 29 ans, j’ai fait de grandes études, j’ai eu une carrière de cadre supérieur en marketing pour de grands groupes industriels du CAC40, et cela fait 1 an que je suis au chômage. Et je viens de passer… la meilleure année de ma vie, car je ne me suis jamais sentie autant utile à notre société qu’en étant au chômage.
J’écris aujourd’hui ce message à mes proches qui s’inquiètent de ma situation, du trou dans mon CV, qui me demandent chaque fois avec un peu d’anxiété « Mais qu’est-ce que tu fais en ce moment ? », « Et tu cherches du travail ? ». Et aussi à tous ceux qui m’interrogent : « Tu fais quoi dans la vie ? », et pour qui mes réponses équivalent à un « rien » (je n’ai pas de poste au nom rutilant), et pour moi à « tout ». Mais j’écris aussi à ceux qui décrient les chômeurs comme des assistés, des vampires d’ASSEDIC, des paresseux, ou ceux qui crient au scandale quand on leur parle de revenu universel.
Laissez-moi vous partager mon expérience.
J’ai quitté mon poste de cadre sup et mon salaire confortable, il y a un an. Pourquoi ? Car j’avais ce sentiment profond qui me rongeait que ce que je faisais n’avait pas de sens, que je passais mon temps à détruire le futur de notre société, en manipulant les masses par de fausses promesses de bonheur, de beauté assurée, de reconnaissance sociale, s’ils consommaient les produits que je vendais. Je faisais partie d’un système pervers qui veut vous faire croire que la croissance infinie dans un monde fini est possible, et que, pour que vous puissiez consommer toujours plus, la destruction de notre écosystème n’est pas un problème.
Alors je suis partie. Mais je me suis bien vite fait rattraper et stigmatiser : « Tu vas faire quoi ? », « c’est quoi ton nouveau plan de carrière, ton nouveau plan de reconversion ? ». Je me sentais très coupable de dire que je n’en avais pas. La pression sociale était énorme, elle venait de toute part, de l’extérieur, mais aussi à l’intérieur de moi, car ce que je faisais était très peu compris, il fallait que je retourne rapidement dans le rang, d’une manière ou d’une autre.
Mais j’ai résisté, j’ai fait taire mes doutes, et j’ai tenu, j’ai réussi à m’écouter et à assumer mes choix, sans me laisser influencer par le regard des autres.
Alors, face à cette page blanche, j’ai décidé de faire des choses qui avaient du sens à mes yeux, je me suis laissée voguer au gré de mes passions et de mes convictions, en acceptant de ne pas avoir de but précis, de simplement partir de ce dont j’avais envie.
Cette démarche m’a permis deux choses : m’épanouir et contribuer au bien commun.
- M’épanouir car j’ai enfin eu le temps de me plonger et de me former à des sujets qui m’intéressaient. J’ai enfin eu le temps de lire, d’aller à des conférences, de suivre des cours en ligne gratuits (MOOC), de suivre des formations sur les thématiques de la transition écologique. J’ai aussi eu du temps à consacrer à mon développement personnel, de plonger à l’intérieur de moi pour mieux me connaître, m’écouter, m’apaiser et entamer ce prodigieux chemin vers la spiritualité.
- Forte de ces nouvelles compétences et connaissances, j’ai aussi pu les faire partager, et j’ai eu du temps pour me consacrer aux autres. Je me suis engagée dans de nombreuses associations écologiques, sociales et solidaires. J’ai contribué à des projets novateurs et collaboratifs, en travaillant dans un supermarché coopératif et dans un bar participatif, qui sont des laboratoires d’initiatives pour le monde de demain. J’ai contribué à faire de la démocratie en montant un comité de suivi citoyen sur mon territoire, à œuvrer avec la mairie à rendre ma ville plus résiliente, soutenable et solidaire. J’ai organisé des apéro-débats citoyens pour réunir des inconnus et faire grandir nos visions mutuelles sur des grands enjeux de société. J’ai accompagné des entrepreneurs de l’ESS à renforcer leurs projets, j’ai participé à l’écriture d’un MOOC pour aider des professionnels du tourisme et de l’événementiel à réduire leurs déchets. J’ai organisé des ateliers d’initiation à d’autres modes de consommation : sur le zéro déchet et la cosmétique naturelle. J’ai partagé mes astuces d’un mode de vie de déconsommation et zéro déchet sur ma page Instagram, puis dans les médias, pour diffuser au plus grand nombre que des alternatives existent à une consommation et à un capitalisme débridés.
Bref, mon année de chômage a été intense, chargée, passionnante, pleine de rencontres et de projets.
Je marche encore en aveugle sur cette route, je n’en connais toujours pas la destination, mais j’apprécie le chemin, et c’est ce qui est important.
Vous trouvez que je vis aux crochets de la société ?
Je n'ai jamais été autant utile à ma planète et à la société qu'aujourd'hui. Avant, je contribuais à détruire notre futur, aujourd’hui, je contribue à en construire un nouveau, plus désirable et durable. Chaque jour je me bats pour changer le monde. Modestement certes, à mon échelle, mais avec un pouvoir d'influence qui me surprend chaque jour.
Auparavant, l’argent que je gagnais, je le dépensais dans une quantité de biens de consommation de grandes marques pour compenser mes frustrations et me donner l’illusion d’une satisfaction personnelle. Aujourd’hui je ne dépense l’argent de mes indemnités chômage qu’auprès de commerçants de quartiers, de petites marques éthiques et locales, d'associations qui contribuent à redynamiser le tissu local.
Quand je raconterai ma vie à mes petits enfants, je n'ai pas envie de leur dire que j'étais un "high potential" au service d'une filière d'une grande entreprise. Je veux leur dire que j'ai tenté de toutes mes forces de protéger le monde dans lequel ils vivent, que j'ai lutté pour qu'ils connaissent les animaux que j'ai connus, que j'ai construit des solutions pour qu'ils évoluent dans un monde plus juste et solidaire.
Alors, l'inquiétude que j'ai quant au trou dans mon CV par rapport à mes initiatives pour tenter d’apporter des solutions face à un monde qui n’évolue plus sur la bonne voie et qu’on risque de conduire a sa perte, vous savez…
Il y a parfois des choses bien plus grandes que nous face auxquelles nos petites préoccupations - savoir de combien sera sa promotion - semblent bien légères.
J’ai enfin compris qu’il n’y avait pas de mal à être inadapté à une société malade.
L’orientation prise par mon engagement, c’est mon combat ; mais nous avons chacun le nôtre. Osez assumer être un vilain petit canard aujourd’hui. Osez affronter la pression de la société, en vous accrochant bien fort à vos convictions. Vous verrez que demain, quand vous serez aligné avec vous-même et épanoui, vous attirerez les autres, vous inspirerez, et ceux qui hier vous jugeaient auront envie de faire comme vous pour rayonner comme vous rayonnez.
Vous me demandez ce que je fais dans la vie ? Je suis éveilleuse de consciences manager, consultante en changement de paradigme, transition écologique project manager, ingénieur en création de lien social, amour de soi et spiritualité développeur.
Et je m’en porte bien.
Maintenant, imaginez que l’on prolonge mon chômage, et par là-même tous les impacts positifs que cela a actuellement. Allons plus loin, imaginez que l’on donne la chance à tout un chacun d’avoir cette même expérience positive que moi et que l’on démultiplie ces impacts. Combien de personnes seraient plus heureuses, plus centrées, plus épanouies, plus utiles, plus actives ? Combien de changements toutes ces actions individuelles libérées, mises bout à bout, pourraient entraîner, pour notre société, notre démocratie et pour la planète ?
Et si je vous disais que cette solution existe, que son efficacité a été prouvée par d’éminents économistes, défendue par des philosophes et des personnalités publiques, implémentée dans certaines communes ? Elle s’appelle le revenu universel, et qui sait, ça vaudrait peut-être le coup que l’on y réfléchisse.
Camille | {
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“German firms are studying the prospects of investing in Iran on a large scale in coming years,” Soltani told Tasnim on Monday.
Stressing that Iran cannot rely on China and South Korea alone in order to restructure its domestic industry, he said that Germany, as one of the world’s industrial powers, can play a major role in modernizing the country’s industrial and manufacturing systems.
Soltani added that Germany is eyeing to invest in Iran’s petrochemical, chemical products, household, oil, and car industries.
According to figures released by the Customs Administration of Iran, the Islamic Republic imported $1.27 billion worth of goods from Germany in seven months, starting 21 March 2016 – the start of the current Iranian calendar year of 1395.
Germany is now the fifth main exporter to Iran and the leading European country with a significant level of trade activities with the Islamic Republic.
The top four exporters to Iran – as figures relating to the same seven-month period showed – are China ($5.71 billion), the UAE ($4.98 billion), South Korea ($1.88 billion) and Turkey ($1.55 billion), figures released by the Customs Administration of Iran showed.
The top importers of Iranian non-oil commodities and services over the same period have been China ($4.43 billion), the UAE ($3.88 billion), Iraq ($3.50 billion), Turkey ($2.50 billion) and South Korea ($1.95 billion).
A majority of Iran’s exported items are downstream products such as condensate, liquefied petroleum gas, gas oil, propane and others.
Key items imported during the period have been cattle feedstock, soy, rice, auto spare parts and vehicles.
Figures released by Iran’s Customs Administration last month showed that the country’s non-oil exports to Europe for a period of five months starting March 21, 2016 had increased by 21 percent. Top importers were accordingly identified as Italy, Spain and Germany. | {
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Get the latest NUFC transfer and takeover news straight to your inbox for FREE by signing up to our newsletter Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email
Lyon have accepted Newcastle United's £7million transfer bid for Bafetimbi Gomis.
However, as reported this morning on ChronicleLive, there are still add on fees and payments to Gomis' representatives.
Reports in France this morning indicated that Lyon were prepared to accept Newcastle’s offer and offload Gomis.
And Lyon president Jean Michel Aulas said: "We have accepted the proposal of Newcastle, which is eight million euros (£7million), plus two million bonus.
"The agreement is now linked to the acceptance of agents' fees.
"I understand that the problem is in the amount and manner of payment of commissions."
It is another twist in the tale in the Gomis deal after Lyon went public on Monday to say United had ended their interest.
But Newcastle had merely told Lyon they weren't going to up the bid that was slapped in last weekend.
Gomis has just one year left on his contract and personal terms aren’t thought to be a problem between United and the player.
The player is thought to be desperate to join United's French legion. | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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ran into someone from high school didn't look like shit | {
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Get 25% off from 11/10/2017 through 11/12/2017 using our Black Friday Pre-Sale coupon code BF1725 with no minimum required. Shop early and save big! Also start making your holiday wishlist by logging in and going to any product page, and clicking the “add to wishlist” button. Lastly, don’t forget to share it with all your friends and family.
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*Some restrictions apply. Limit one coupon code per order. | {
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NOTE: Video is after the jump because it's just too explosive for the front page. Also, some dude yells "SHIT!" when the thing goes off so be sure to turn your speakers up loud enough for your boss to hear.
This is a video of some idiot sitting in a chair atop an airbag his friends (who obviously aren't really his friends) are about to remotely deploy. In this case, the airbag does little to protect Captain Crashtest. As a matter of fact, it does just the opposite. Now I know what you're wondering: "OMG, does he die?!" Unfortunately not. But thankfully, if he keeps this shit up his days are numbered. I'm talking double digits, tops.
Hit it for the relatively worthwhile video.
Youtube
via
Man Rides Exploding Airbag Indoors, Internet Laughs [jalopnik]
Thanks to Peterman, who once sat on top of a seat belt fastener until his leg fell asleep. NOW THAT SOUNDS LIKE A VIDEO WORTH WATCHING! | {
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drilling through tunnel face
Installation of Tendon
Final view of Bus duct
Location: Power House, Mangan, Sikkim
Brief of the Problem: High Vibrations in Tunnel Profile after Seismic Event
The Power House of Teesta-3 Hydro Electric Project has located at Mangan roughly 20 km from its dam location in Chungthang Village. It is an underground powerhouse. An earthquake of 7 Richter magnitude scale occurred in 2011, and the powerhouse was in the earthquake zone. The seismicity caused the vibration in the geological strata and created a disturbance in the rock layers. This, in turn, endangered the stability of the powerhouse.
The powerhouse chamber is namely: bus duct and transformer chamber. The bust duct is used to carry electrical appliances and cables. There were a total of 6 bus ducts and one entry tunnel to the transformer chamber. Distance between the parallel tunnels (bus ducts) was approx. 18 m.
Engineered Solution: Retrofitting using Horizontal Cable Anchors
There was a need to provide the system which confines the zone around the powerhouse. Since the seismic vibration caused the geological disturbance, that could be avoided by the system, which not only reinforces the disturbing mass around the bus ducts but also provides the rigidity.
To serve the above purpose, a system of horizontal cable anchors were used. Anchors prestressed at a load of 100-Ton. Holes of 125mm diameter were drilled with 17.5 m depth for the installation of horizontal cable anchors. This resulted in to increase in tunnel wall stability and provided resistance against lateral deformation.
Difficulties Faced during Execution:
Since the strata were extremely difficult in terms of implementation of the cable anchors, the drilling and installation of cable anchors have to be done with extreme care.
Moreover, the fragile geology created obstruction in maintaining the horizontal direction of drilling holes. The presence of the rock bolt in between the anchoring direction led to repeated changing of drill bits. Due to this issue, it took us a little longer to complete the work.
The technology used for Execution:
The emerging technology of cable anchors for the purpose of tunnel stitching was used, and cable anchors were stressed from both sides, and after that, they were locked for better protection. To keep a hold of the correct horizontal direction, tools were imported for guidance purposes. Also, a sophisticated portable micro piling rig was used as the size of the bus ducts were small for a normal-sized machine.
Achievements:
Geo Spar was successful in resolving the issue of vibration permanently. Till now, the powerhouse is secured, and there has not been any other issue. We are proud to say that we were able to deliver a reliable and secure solution. | {
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Könnt ihr euch noch an die Zeiten erinnern, als man den WhatsApp-Entwicklern einen Obolus gab und man sicher sein konnte, den Service ohne Werbung nutzen zu können? Seit der Übernahme durch Facebook ist der Dienst gänzlich kostenlos und man fragte sich immer, ob Facebook mit den gesammelten Daten Geld verdient. Mark Zuckerberg möchtet das Unternehmen noch profitabler machen und regt schon länger an, auch mit WhatsApp mehr Geld zu machen.
Chris Daniels, seines Zeichens Vice President von WhatsApp, bestätigt nun, dass das Unternehmen Werbung in eurem WhatsApp-Status platzieren wird. Eine konkrete Timeline dafür gibt er nicht vor, man munkelt jedoch, dass es schon im nächsten Jahr passieren wird.
Ab dem Start dieser Aktion könnte Facebook richtig Geld damit verdienen, denn der Nachrichten-Service hat mittlerweile über 1,5 Milliarden Nutzer, von denen sicherlich auch einige den Status nutzen. | {
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Six fire crews attend the scene in west of the city after blast at Osney Mead building was followed by fire and collapse
This article is more than 3 years old
This article is more than 3 years old
Several people were unaccounted for after an explosion and fire at a block of flats in Oxford.
At least two people were injured when the blast ripped through the building, causing it to collapse.
Emergency services were called to the Osney Lane and Gibbs Crescent area at 4.45pm on Tuesday, Thames Valley police said. The cause was not yet known.
Oxfordshire county council said around 40 firefighters joined the rescue operation, with the help of urban search and rescue teams from Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
A spokesman said: “The emergency services were contacted at 4.45pm following reports of an explosion, a fire and the collapse of a property.
“Two people have been treated for minor injuries and one was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
“A small number of people are unaccounted for in this ongoing investigation.”
Surrounding buildings were evacuated and members of the public were advised to avoid the area.
South Central Ambulance Service said a male was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and a female was taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries.
Chief Inspector Marc Tarbit of Thames Valley police said on Tuesday night: “Our officers are currently on the scene working closely with our colleagues from the other emergency services.
“We are continuing to ask members of the public to please avoid the area to allow the emergency services to work at the scene.
“I also appreciate incidents of this nature cause disruption to the community so I would like to thank people locally for their patience and understanding while we are working to respond to the incident.” | {
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John Patrick Mullin is an investment banker, speaker, writer and a big fintech and edtech enthusiast. Senior research analyst at the Guotai Junan Securities & Finance Institute, John currently focuses on fintech, covering AI/ML, Blockchain and cryptocurrencies, P2P lending, etc.
In his spare time, he serves as a community partner for the FinTech Connector. He is also advising several Blockchain companies in Hong Kong, Switzerland and the US. He writes about his experience working in the Chinese financial sector for LinkedIn China, and about cryptocurrencies and fintech innovation for Cointelegraph.
We caught John at the BlockShow Asia to talk about those issues which are usually not discussed by him as a Cointelegraph author - his background, travels, education and personal views on the development of the community.
Cointelegraph: We’re here today with John Patrick Mullin, community partner at FinTech Connector. Community, connector- how do you actually feel yourself, which role do you play?
John Patrick Mullin: Yes, sure. Let me maybe explain what FinTech Connector is as a whole. FinTech Connector is a global community of fintech-minded people. It was founded by a guy named Angel Lorente in New York. It was born out of the MIT fintech coworking community. They sit in the class, and Angel, who works in Morgan Stanley, started doing meet-ups locally in New York City, where he was working. First, it started with just two people talking in a bar about fintech, which ended up growing within the first month to 30 people. Now, we are actually 19 cities, 19 communities in 13 countries – that’s within just one year. Our mission is to try to connect the global fintech community through our local leadership, I would say. We are connecting innovators with our fintech entrepreneurs, start-ups with the experts of fintech, veterans, people who have capital, technology, etc.
We’re doing it on a global scale. The problem we are trying to solve is really that you have a lot of fintech communities, but they are regional, very localized, but we’re global already. We’re in every continent except for Australia and Arctic, but Australia is coming very quickly. That’s kind of what we are trying to do. It’s really about what we are trying to do on a local level, I mean, I’m heading up the local Shanghai FinTech Connector together with my partner Rold. We try to educate, nurture, develop, and do events to build a community locally to be able to better support our global ambition, I suppose.
CT: Well, that’s a great initiative. We are here at a community gathering in Singapore. How do you feel being at BlockShow Asia and how do you find this community that gathered today?
JOHN: So far, very good, honestly. Thank you very much for having me first. I actually write for Cointelegraph, so very happy to be a part of not only the writing community of Cointelegraph but also at the Blockshow which is an offline event. FinTech Connector has a Singapore cowork, and we’re here today which is very cool as well to for me to be able to see them. It was really good to be a part of and see how me being in Shanghai is able to connect with people in Singapore as well. You see how small the community is, everyone knows each other, but it’s a close-knit community and it’s always good to work together, to be the intelligence of fintech, of Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, etc.
CT: Do you think there are differences between communities in different places? I mean, in Asia, in Europe, in the US?
JOHN: Oh, 100 percent! Even in China. China is a very, very big country. You see differences just between Beijing and Shanghai. It’s very regionalized, it’s very localized and there are definitely differences in how people act, what you’re looking at. Hong Kong has one way of being within the fintech community, Singapore has another one. China is very, very different as well. I am personally a little bit Asia-centric, although I am from the West, I just haven’t lived there for a while. But you’ll definitely see differences depending on where you’re going to be.
CT: You mentioned MIT. Is it your background?
JOHN: I did not go to MIT. MIT had an online fintech course called The Future of Commerce and it was about big data analytics. Together with EdX, it started to get smarter. They did that, I guess, two years ago. Most recently, they partnered with Oxford, so they do Oxford fintech course. Actually, I am taking part in it right now. It’s quite an interesting course so far. It’s really good for networking connections. I even met with some of my Oxford colleagues here today who posted it on our little Telegram group which is pretty cool. I met up with people down in Hong Kong. I met with even some of the professors who came from Shanghai. It’s really a great opportunity to network with people from the fintech community and I put some theoretical backing just to a general understanding of fintech.
CT: Speaking of academia and fundamental inspiration. What was your recent reading that inspired you the most?
JOHN: The recent reading that inspired me the most… Uh, good one! To be honest, this is maybe not so specific to Blockchain and cryptocurrency, but one of my favorite personal books… Well, actually, I have two. The first one is “Dealing with China” by Henry Paulson, who was a former Goldman Sachs CEO and then Treasury Secretary under George W. Bush. He talked about his experiences and how he did business with China – and this is really inspired a lot of things I’m doing. The second one would be “One Hour in China” book by Jeffrey Towson and Jonathan Woetzel. Jeffrey Towson is a professor at Beijing University, Peking University and Jonathan Woetzel is a partner at McKinsey in Shanghai. They wrote a book that condenses everything you need to know about China into one hour. It started inspiring me to write a lot about Chinese consumers. I do a lot of writings. I write for LinkedIn China, I write for Cointelegraph. Those two books formed me in what I’m trying to do.
CT: Interesting. Do you speak Chinese?
JOHN: [speaks Chinese]. That’s probably my limit, in fact, I must say. I need to work on it.
CT: You have a nice accent.
JOHN: [laughing] Thank you! China is my fifth country. I was born in the US, I went to school in Spain for four years, I lived in Belgium for a little bit, I lived in Germany, and most recently China flipped past two and a half. If I’ve ever been around the world, I would definitely say I am a global citizen at this point. I haven’t lived in the US for the last eight years now, so been around and I’m always looking for a next adventure, I suppose.
CT: Interesting. I think that is where the Blockchain is. A global community and it’s great.
JOHN: It really is a global community!
CT: Thank you very much for being here with us today.
JOHN: My pleasure!
Check out another Cointelegraph interview with John Patrick Mullin on fintech trends and Blockchain technology: | {
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By Dhel Nazario
Thousands of devotees chanting “Viva! Nazareno!” joined the annual Traslacion of the image of the Black Nazarene which began before dawn at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.
Devotees believe that coming in contact with the image—touching it by hand or wiping it with a towel—can cure even the most severe illnesses. Some, however, joined the procession as a way of showing their gratitude to the Black Nazarene for all their blessings.
The transfer of the image of the Black Nazarene to its “andas” or carriage by the “Hijos” was accomplished without a hitch unlike in the past when devotees would surge towards the image to touch it even before it gets placed on its carriage.
More than four hours after leaving the Quirino Grandstand, the carriage of the Black Nazarene has only made past two of its 25 routes (Quirino Grandstand and Katigbak Drive thru Padre Burgos St.) before arriving at the Quiapo Church.
Devotees, however, remarked at the quick pace of the procession and how the carriage swiftly made its way out of the huge sea of people at the Katigbak Drive at the Manila Hotel before it trudged on Padre Burgos Street.
As of 10 a.m., the carriage went past the Manila City Hall where many of the devotees were waiting to join the procession. Passing through the narrow Padre Burgos street contributed to the slower movement of the carriage. Other devotees even went over the Intramuros golf course fence to rest and avoid the narrow stretch of the Manila City Hall.
As of this writing, the carriage is slowly making its way to Jones Bridge—at Plaza Lawton just in front of Park and Ride.
“Kapag maluwag po kasi yung daan, mabilis sya, pero pag masikip talagang bumabagal siya,” one devotee said.
The Philippine Red Cross have recorded that most of the injuries were foot abrasions from devotees who tried to get close to touch the image of the Black Nazarene. Several devotees also fainted, mostly women who were mainly in the middle of the procession.
First-aid services and Red Cross volunteers are stationed at the path of the procession complete with spine boards and other medical equipment in case of any medical emergency.
Members of the Manila Police District and National Capital Region Police Office police officers are also deployed in the area including members of the Philippine Army to ensure the safety of the devotees and maintain peace and order.
The image is expected to arrive at the Quiapo Church at 2:30 a.m. | {
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s trade surplus fell last year for the first time since 2009, data showed on Thursday - a further sign that vibrant domestic demand is sucking in more imports and slowly re-balancing the country’s export-oriented economy.
The European Commission and U.S. President Donald Trump have criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel for Germany’s large trade surplus, while scepticism towards free trade is mounting in some poorer euro zone countries.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has also urged Berlin to increase domestic spending and boost imports, warning that ballooning current account surpluses in countries such as Germany are partly responsible for the rise of protectionism elsewhere.
“The improvement of the trade balance is driven by imports and not by exports,” Dekabank analyst Andreas Scheuerle said. “This means we don’t have to put the brakes on exports. This is a win-win situation.”
In 2017, Germany’s trade surplus shrank to 244.9 billion euros ($300.9 billion) from its record high of 248.9 billion euros in the previous year, according to data from the Federal Statistics Office. It was the first decline since 2009.
The wider current account surplus, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments, edged down to 257.1 billion euros from 259.3 billion euros the previous year.
“This will please U.S. President Donald Trump, for whom the German export surplus has always been a thorn in his side,” said Christiane von Berg from BayernLB.
Exports rose by 6.3 percent in 2017 to a record high of 1.28 trillion euros, the data showed. But this was outpaced by an 8.3 percent increase in imports to 1.03 trillion euros, also an all-time high.
“Demand for German products clearly picked up on all continents. But we’re particularly pleased about the economic upturn in Europe,” said Holger Bingmann, head of the BGA trade association.
A container ship is seen at the shipping terminal Eurokai in the Port of Hamburg, Germany November 6, 2017. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
The recent appreciation of the euro has so far hardly affected German export flows, Bingmann added.
The German government expects the consumer-led upswing in Europe’s largest economy to continue this year, forecasting 2.4 percent growth for 2018 after 2.2 percent in the previous year.
To secure a fourth term as chancellor, Merkel on Wednesday handed her Social Democrat coalition partners control of the finance ministry, giving them licence to spend a record budget surplus, and embracing their demands for European reform.
The agreed hike in additional state spending is likely to boost domestic demand even further and help reduce the still-large trade surplus in coming years.
“It is an important signal that in the coalition government programme it has been agreed to strengthen investments in infrastructure and in vital technologies,” deputy economy minister Matthias Machnig, a Social Democrat, told Reuters.
A government report said last month import growth was expected to continue to outpace export growth in 2018.
In December alone, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 0.3 percent on the month while imports rose by 1.4 percent, the data from the statistics office showed.
The exports figure beat expectations of a 1.0 percent fall while imports also came in stronger than the forecast 0.5 percent decrease.
The seasonally adjusted trade surplus in December narrowed to 21.4 billion euros. This was smaller than the Reuters consensus forecast of a surplus of 21.7 billion euros.
($1 = 0.8140 euros) | {
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Dresden
Bei einem Unfall an der Reicker Straße ist eine 55 Jahre alte Radfahrerin am Freitagnachmittag tödlich verletzt worden. Wie die Polizei mitteilt, wurde die Frau auf Höhe der Wieckestraße von einem Mercedes Benz erfasst. Der 18-jährige Mercedes-Fahrer fuhr in Richtung Innenstadt und überholte eine langsam fahrende Kolonne. Als die Radlerin offenbar nach links abbiegen wollte, fuhr der Wagen sie an.
Sie wurde nach ersten Informationen meterweit durch die Luft geschleudert, das Fahrrad in zwei Teile gerissen. Sie verstarb noch an der Unfallstelle. Die Verkehrspolizei hat die Ermittlungen zur Unfallursache übernommen.
Von DNN | {
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The disconnect has been over funding for an internationally recognized program that focuses on alternatives to police arrests, which was appropriated by the council last fall but not released by the mayor.
After weeks of back and forth with council, the mayor's office committed Friday to releasing the full budget for the program. Resolving the question of when and how the diversion program will be funded had been “urgent,” all nine city council members said in a letter to the mayor’s office last Tuesday, “and confusion about what the City intends" was "only increasing with the passing weeks.”
But even with the promised contract, the confusion and disagreement around the program show how, despite broad momentum toward stemming persistent low-level crime, consensus on the best path forward can be harder to come by.
Durkan, a former prosecutor, has said she wants to be the mayor who finally tames parts of downtown that appear unsafe to business owners and tourists, and in recent weeks she has floated several new ideas for tackling the problem. But when it comes to the council’s preferred approach of expanding alternatives to the conventional criminal justice system, she has proceeded cautiously.
The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program began in Seattle in 2011 and brought together law enforcement and public defense attorneys to find alternatives to repeatedly arresting drug users, sex workers and other low-level offenders. Unlike other criminal justice diversion programs, LEAD works directly with the Seattle Police Department to offer case management in lieu of arrest. The program also accepts client-referrals from the community.
After LEAD saw years of modest growth, the Seattle City Council approved an additional $3.5 million for the program last fall — more than double what the city had spent the year before. With studies showing positive results, the program has appealed to the council’s progressive inclinations toward criminal justice reform, while also offering the case that it is, above all, a crime reduction program. In particular, looking at clients with outstanding warrants, one study found a nearly 60% decrease in rearrests after six months.
The new funding was intended to clear a backlog of roughly 300 cases-in-waiting, increase referrals and improve case management ratios for the program’s existing roughly 700 clients — thereby lightening the load on case managers.
But for all of 2020, Durkan has not allocated the additional budget. The mayor said the delay was necessary to ensure accountability and that the program is well-suited to Seattle's current realities. It's important to develop reporting requirement to be used for the program moving forward, representatives from Durkan's office said.
That changed Friday, after weeks of questioning from the council and LEAD representatives, when the mayor committed to releasing a contract for the full amount in the next two weeks. "As with any contract, [the Seattle Human Services Department] is working closely with LEAD to develop both the appropriate budget, reporting requirements, and performance measures for the contract," Durkan's Chief of Staff Stephanie Formas said in an email.
"LEAD, the City Council and the Mayor are united to ensure LEAD and its clients are set up for success and outcomes, especially as we use the opportunity to scale the program," she said.
In the wake of the Jan. 22 shooting at Third and Pine, Durkan has said improving public safety requires a mix of diversion, upstream focus, urban design and increased law enforcement. In her State of the City speech last week, she promised a new “community response team” to help curb retaliatory gun violence.
She did not mention LEAD by name.
Her inaction on the contract had frustrated and confused council members and angered LEAD staff, who said they were unable to plan for the future and, without proper staffing ratios, were at risk of breaking the program’s effectiveness.
"It is very challenging to have a budget that the council passed and the mayor signed into law and not have a contract," said Jesse Benet, the Deputy Director of the Public Defender Association, where LEAD is housed.
Increasing caseloads without the budget to follow has strained LEAD, Benet said, and the contract uncertainty has made planning for the future difficult. "We can’t continue on how we are right now," Benet said. "It’s breaking case managers. We’re seeing higher turnover. We’re starting to get client complaints."
Journalist Erica Barnett first reported on the delay of the contract's release.
At issue, at least in part, was a rift between how Durkan’s office and council members view the additional funding. When it allocated the money, last year’s council assumed it would go toward scaling up what the program had already been doing for nearly 10 years.
Durkan and her staff, however, are treating distribution of the dollars as if the city were creating an entirely new program — a process that can take months. The mayor’s office staff said Durkan believes it’s worth examining how LEAD fits into the shifting realities of a city that has more people living outside with serious behavioral and substance use issues.
"While not a homelessness or behavioral health program, the connection between behavioral health, housing stability and criminal justice involvement requires the City to ensure clients are receiving appropriate services," Formas said.
Durkan has hired a consultant who will examine the program in the coming months, even after a contract has been provided.
But what Durkan called due diligence has led to confusion on the council, as well as questions about whether the mayor was slow-walking the program intentionally.
"As elected leaders, it is irresponsible for us to allow policy in this area to be set through neglect and atrophy," the council members said in their letter.
The mayor's office promised Friday that would not occur, and Formas said the contract, for $6.2 million over the course of the year, would be released in two weeks.
In a text message from South Africa, where she's talking to local officials about LEAD, co-founder Lisa Daugaard said she was cheered by recent conversations she'd had with the mayor's office in which they talked about the scope of the program while "working together to identify resource gaps in what we can offer participants, and ways to enhance those supports. That would be a resolution we’d embrace with enthusiasm, and we’re more than ready to get to work."
Since its creation, LEAD has spread across the country — and even the world — to cities desperate for an alternative to the expensive revolving door of arrests and rearrests.
It continues to enjoy broad support in Seattle from most major players in civic and political life. In a surprising convergence of alliances, 19 organizations signed a letter Thursday, urging Durkan to immediately release the funds. Among them were the Downtown Seattle Association and Socialist Alternative — two groups often on opposite ends of an issue.
Despite broad support, even those most intimately involved with the program warn that it’s fragile and can fall apart without proper care. A LEAD pilot in New Haven, Connecticut, has so far not gone well, in part because of lack of buy-in.
Daugaard and others say LEAD is well-suited to help even the most complicated population that may struggle with severe behavioral and substance use issues. | {
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When I first moved from New York City to Singapore, it was in Little India, a neighborhood to the east of the metropolis's Central Business District, not an American expatriate enclave, that I found an escape from homesickness. It was here that I heard the melodies of familiar languages and ate familiar foods, dishes that my family has cooked and eaten in both the Old World and the New.
Serangoon Road, the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, has been for centuries a commercial and community space for immigrants from the Subcontinent. Indians were among the first migrants to Singapore in the early 19th century, and Singapore was part of a larger interlocking colonial network, the hub of which was India.
The area continued to develop as the center of South Asian life (largely Hindu and Tamil speaking), as a focal point for a new migration, and as a growing commercial center. The name "Little India," is a Singapore Tourism Board (STB) concoction—the moniker was not used until the 1980s. That was when Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority earmarked Little India as a conservation area and STB demarcated the neighborhood as a cultural heritage tourism area. Today, the neighborhood is a religious and cultural hub for the South Asian community, both local and foreign, as well as a major tourist destination.
Food is the neighborhood's choice commodity, yet few travel guides detail the rich and unique cuisines found in Little India. Where else can you find the authentic tastes of the entire Subcontinent in the area of less than one square mile? The flavors found in Little India are the real deal and not watered down for Western palates; the neighborhood's restaurants cater to this city's large, diverse and discerning South Asian population.
And now is the best time to visit, as the neighborhood is rapidly changing. Singapore's thousands of transient workers aren't afforded the same rights as the city's other residents and measures have been put in place to keep workers out of the city altogether. In December 2013, according to a New York Times editorial, "frustration among Singapore's unappreciated and underpaid migrant workers" led to the worst riot to hit Singapore since 1969. A bus hit and killed a 33-year-old Indian migrant worker; the government blamed the incident on the consumption of alcohol, which fit neatly with prevalent stereotypes of South Asian men.
Since the alcohol ban was put in place and as more and more restrictions are placed on workers' movements, fewer who live outside the neighborhood congregate here, explains Debbie Fordyce, a Member of the Executive Committee of Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a nongovernmental organization dedicated to improving conditions for low-wage migrant workers. This has had an effect on local businesses. "I don't know how much longer these businesses will survive," she says.
At the same time, trendy newer establishments, such as tapas bars and craft breweries, have found cheaper rents and street cred by locating themselves in this previously-overlooked part of town. Their presence, and the crowd they draw, has changed the nature, both economic and sociocultural, of the neighborhood. For example, with pricier restaurants driving older, more affordable food to the periphery, "bootleg" food service establishments have cropped up in the neighborhood's back lanes and tenements or as home/apartment-based outfits serving their own communities, outside the purview of regulators.
But even if you stick to Little India's established restaurants, you could spend an entire vacation sampling the neighborhood's varied cuisines. To best experience all the vibrant foods that make Little India special, follow this guide.
What to Eat
Little India is bound by Kitchener Road in the north, by Jalan Besar in the east, by Sungei Road in the south, and by Race Course Road to the west. The neighborhood's food offerings differ from east to west and north to south.
For Tamil Specialties: The Southern End of Little India
The large numbers of vegetarian eateries at the southern end of the neighborhood clustered around Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, one of the oldest temples in Singapore, make evident that Little India has long been a Hindu Tamil enclave. Komala Vilas on Serangoon Road opened its doors in 1947 and its menu has changed little since. The eatery is a favorite among recently-arrived Tamils who miss home-cooked food, notes Kokila Annamalai, women's rights activist and third generation Tamil Singaporean.
Order the thosai meal, and you'll get an extra-long, extra-crisp fermented rice crepe (paper thosai) served with three vegetables, yogurt, coconut chutney, and sambar, a tangy vegetable-and-lentil stew, offered on a freshly cut banana leaf. The array of vegetables offers a tour of diverse flavors and textures: choose the paruppu urundai kuzhambu, moist lentil dumplings in a tamarind-spiced curry, keerai poriyal, stir-fried greens that retain their rich, woodsy flavor, and payathangai poriyal, and sweet, chewy stir-fried yard long beans flecked with mustard seeds.
For Regional North and South Indian Cuisine: Near Race Course Road
The restaurants along Race Course Road and Serangoon Road, the streets nearest to the Little India MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) station, are most illustrative of the growing importance of tourism on the Singapore economy and recent immigration trends to Singapore from India. Here, travelers find a large cluster of North Indian restaurants, some of them mediocre and offering nothing novel, and branches of regional and international Indian restaurant chains. But there are several gems serving a wide range of regional cuisines along this crowded stretch.
Sunil Deep immigrated to Singapore from India in 1991 and worked as an engineer until 2005, when he and four friends opened Spice Junction, a Kerelan restaurant, on Race Course Road. (His other three partners have since left the business.) The "spice" in Spice Junction refers the legendary spice coast of southern India, from whose ports traders have exported cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric and more for centuries—these famous spices are the key to enlivening Spice Junction's food. "Many of the spice profiles we employ are simply not used in any other cuisine," Deep says.
Spice Junction has an extensive seafood menu including meen pollichathu, pomfret seasoned with a tangy, oniony paste of curry leaves, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, and coconut milk that's kept moist on the grill thanks to a fragrant banana leaf wrapper, and meen moily, fish stewed in light, fresh, and creamy coconut milk curry, two Keralan classics.
But the restaurant also carries delicacies I've not seen prepared outside my in-laws' kitchens, such as kappa vevichathu, a savory tapioca and coconut mash; puttu kadala, a breakfast staple of steamed cylinders of ground rice and toasted, grated coconut, served with a smooth, coconut milk-laced chickpea stew; and Malabar chicken biryani, which is made using jeerakasala rice, a sweet, extraordinarily aromatic short-grain rice only grown in Kerala. Spice Junction also serves beef, such as erachi olarthiathu, a beef stir fry with a large dose of black peppercorns and toasted coconut, a Syrian Christian delight. "Most Keralans eat beef, regardless of religion," says Deep. He notes, though, "We don't put it front and center on our menu." (Or on their website.)
Lahore-born, Kolkata-raised Deepali Ray founded Fifth Season on Race Course Road in 2005 after a long career as an accountant. She began her business as a stall in her Central Building District office building. The restaurant focuses on 'Tangra Chinese cuisine': Tangra, in east Kolkata, was once home to a large population of Hakka immigrants from the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of China. It's where "Indian Chinese cuisine" is said to have originated. "Some patrons enter our restaurant expecting 'Indian' food," says Ray. "Others expect 'Chinese' food. They are all pleasantly surprised by the fusion of flavors and cooking techniques."
But what is most unique on Fifth Season's menu are its Tibetan delicacies, including the momos, half-moon-shaped dumplings stuffed with ground meat or cabbage, ginger, garlic, and onions and served with a spicy tomato dipping sauce. Tibetans have been in exile in India for generations, and their foods are cultural cousins to dishes from the Indian Himalayas, Bhutan, and Nepal. The steamed momos at Fifth Season are remarkably tender, and their moist filling bursts with the flavors of ginger, nutmeg, and cilantro. The pan-fried momos, bathed in a fiery garlic, Sichuan peppercorn, and red chili sauce, have a smoky, singed flavor and are best washed down with a hearty and spicy thukpa, or Tibetan noodle soup.
Just as Ray did, Ranbir Kaur, a factory line operator, her husband Gurcharan Singh, and her mother-in-law, Gurmit Kaur, opened a lunch stall some twenty-five years ago to serve a growing clientele of expatriate Indians working in the information technology sector. Today, the family runs the unassuming restaurant Jaggi's Northern Indian Cuisine, which is a must-visit for Punjabi specialties that you're unlikely to taste elsewhere. Jagwinder Singh, Ranbir Kaur and Gurcharan Singh's son, fell into the family business at a young age. "At eight or nine years old, I was delivering ingredients to my mother and grandmother in our stall in the morning, or washing dishes in the evening," he says.
He now oversees the restaurant, where patrons order at a glass counter stocked with an ever-changing array of delicacies, such as dal makhani, smooth and buttery lentils cooked with fresh cream, and rarely-seen bharwan karela, bitter gourd stuffed with a pungent, tangy mix of spices. (The bharwan karela tends to sell out; arrive for an early lunch to enjoy this labor-intensive dish!) Chicken makhani, a luxurious dish of yogurt-marinated chicken in a velvety, buttery curry accented with cumin, and cinnamon, is a must-order at Jaggi's.
The restaurant I frequent most in Singapore's Little India is Kailash Parbat, a branch of an international chain. While the restaurant is known for its delicious Mumbai street food, it is the Sunday menu that carries special delicacies from the Sindh region of present-day Pakistan. After Partition, which cleaved the Subcontinent, these dishes were preserved in home kitchens, and are rarely, if ever, served in India's restaurants.
For the dal pakwan, a thick split chickpea stew is flavored with sharp and slightly bitter carom seeds and scooped up with pieces of flaky, crispy deep-fried flatbread (pakwan). Crunchy and fibrous lotus stem features prominently in Sindhi cuisine. Try it in the bhee patata, a mildly bitter, firm lotus stem and soft potato curry that offers the perfect juxtaposition of textures. Kailash Parbat's Sindhi kadhi, a tangy chickpea flour-thickened vegetable curry, is resplendent with chunks of cauliflower, carrot, and earthy, nutty drumstick tree seed pods, brightened with sour kokum.
For Home Cooking and Halal Food: The Northern End of Little India
While many of the restaurants on Race Course Road are somewhat upmarket, the restaurants at the northern end of the neighborhood, around the Anguila and Abdul Gafoor Mosques and Mustafa Centre (a 24-hour shopping mall), are less so, with bare fluorescent lights and nary a tablecloth. But don't let the lack of amenities be a deterrent: there are great eats here.
Duck into Swaad Pure Vegetarian Restaurant, a nondescript joint with a laminated menu and a glass case of food on wheels, for its Gujarati thali, a meal made up of a selection of various dishes from the western Indian state of Gujarat. Their thalis are laden with undhiyu, an earthy mélange of fresh lentils and winter root vegetables, including green bean pods that retain their crunch, Gujarati kadhi, a yogurt-based sweet and spicy curry whose key ingredient is jaggery (made from the sap of palm trees), and dhokla, a savory, crumbly semolina cake, along with chapati and rice. This is the place for rich comfort food that tastes of home: the chapatis are slathered with ghee, and chaas, salty buttermilk seasoned with cumin and fennel seeds, is served over ice, tableside.
At this end of Little India, close to the mosques, you'll also find the best halal food. While Tamil is the language of trade at the southern end, you're more likely to hear Urdu and Bengali here in the north.
Karachi-born Singaporean Syed Arif Salahuddin, a former journalist, opened Bismillah Biryani on Dunlop Street twelve years ago across the street from Abdul Gafoor Mosque. Over the years he's learned where to source the best spices (he goes to Mustafa Center to score cinnamon sticks from Sri Lanka and black cardamom from India), how to best prepare basmati rice from his native Pakistan, and the ideal temperature to ferment yogurt so that it will not sour. The results of his obsession with precision are moist, tender meats and fluffy-not-sticky grains of rice that he still wakes at 5:30 a.m. every day to prepare.
Pershawari pista kulfi is a relatively recent addition to Bismillah Biryani's menu: the pistachio-heavy frozen dairy-based dessert is made by simmering milk for hours. "Lick, don't bite," Salahuddin says, so you can savor the complex flavors in the caramelized milk.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy. | {
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オークションサイトで使用済み下着を売って得た収入は「課税対象になるのか」という質問が弁護士ドットコムに寄せられました。
相談者は数カ月前から、オークションで下着の出品を始め、収入を得ているそうです。しかも、新品での出品ではなく「必ず使用した後、洗濯をして」出品します。片手間の仕事ではなく「頻度はものすごく多く、月60着ほど出品しています」。
この相談者が気にしているのは「この場合は生活用動産扱いで、課税の対象にはなりませんか」という点。納税した方がいいのかどうか、真剣に悩んでいます。使用済み下着を販売して収入を得る行為の問題はさておき、そもそも今回のケースで、女性の収入は課税対象になるのでしょうか。佐藤全弘税理士に聞きました。
●「生活用動産」は原則、所得税はかからない
「最近は、インターネットで手軽に個人の私物を売買することができようになりました。ただ、ほどんどの人は税金の心配は必要ないかもしれません。というのも、相談者が言うように、オークションサイトなどで売った生活用動産については、原則、所得税はかからないからです。
所得税法第9条には『自己又はその配偶者その他の親族が生活の用に供する家具、じゅう器、衣服その他の資産で政令で定めるものの譲渡による所得』は、非課税と規定されているからです。
なお、貴金属や宝石などの1個又は1組の価額が30万円を超えるものは生活用動産ではありません。これらの譲渡による所得は、課税されます」
では、相談者の確定申告は不要でしょうか？
「相当な期間にわたり継続的に譲渡している場合については、譲渡所得ではなく事業所得又は雑所得となり、課税対象となるため注意が必要です。今回の場合、内容はどうであれ、営利を目的として継続して販売しているように思えますので、課税対象とされる可能性はあります」
【取材協力税理士】
佐藤 全弘（さとう・まさひろ）税理士
お客様の立場にたって、わかりやすい税金を目指すとともに付加価値の高いサービスを提供することをモットーとしてお客様のニーズに応えられるパートナーを目指します！
事務所名 ： 佐藤全弘税理士事務所
事務所URL：http://satouzeirishi.com/
（弁護士ドットコムニュース） | {
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