text
stringlengths 14
100k
| meta
dict |
|---|---|
American banks angling to get relief from post-crisis rules may soon be breathing easier.
The House is set to vote next week on a Senate bill that would cut regulations for thousands of community banks and regional lenders, including State Street, BB&T and Sun Trust, according to a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday.
After nearly two months of tough negotiations, House Republicans brokered a deal last week with the Senate to move forward on a vote, ending a deadlock that would have jeopardized a bill backed by the White House, Republicans and some Democrats.
The House is now expected to vote on the Senate's bill unchanged and will likely send it to President Trump for his signature.
House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters last Tuesday that the House agreed to advance legislation, crafted by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, along with a companion package of bills supported by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling.
The majority of the House measures are aimed at removing barriers for businesses and entrepreneurs who are seeking capital and investment.
Related: Bankers worry Dodd-Frank rollback bill could in jeopardy
"I had a good meeting with the majority leader over break on this, and so we've got an agreement," Ryan said referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
In a statement last week, Hensarling expressed optimism the Senate bill along with measures passed by the House in the last six months would "create regulatory policy that will help us achieve sustained 3% economic growth."
After weeks of stalemate, the outgoing Texas Republican signaled last month he might be willing to drop his demands to amend Crapo's bill, if the Senate would agree to move forward on a separate package of bipartisan bills passed by his committee.
"I'm far more wedded to substance than form, so as I've told other people, I'm more than happy to attend multiple signing ceremonies," Hensarling said at a US Chamber of Commerce event in late April.
Hensarling wanted to add a number of measures to the Senate bill. One would ease disclosure requirements for banks on mortgage loans. Another would allow more companies to file confidential IPOs without divulging all their sensitive financial information right away.
But any changes in the House would send the bill back to the Senate. And moderate Senate Democrats, whose support was critical in advancing the banking bill, have said they won't vote on the bill twice.
"This bill will not pass if it comes back to the Senate," said Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, at an American Bankers Association conference in Washington. "We've stretched this about as far as we can go."
Democrats who supported the bill drew backlash from more progressive members of the party, who argued that a regulatory rollback would make the financial system more vulnerable to another crisis.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who opposed the bill, wrote on Twitter after it passed that "bankers are popping champagne."
Related: What's in the Senate banking bill
McCarthy welcomed both chambers "taking additional policy action" to help improve access to capital for entrepreneurs and small businesses "in the coming weeks."
A spokeswoman for Crapo, a Idaho Republican, declined to comment.
The Senate's bill would raise the threshold at which banks are considered "too big to fail." That trigger, now set at $50 billion in assets, would rise to $250 billion. That means more than two dozen midsize US banks would be shielded from some Federal Reserve oversight.
They would no longer have to hold as much capital to cover losses on their balance sheets. They would not be required to have plans in place to be safely dismantled if they failed. And they would have to take the Fed's bank health test only periodically, not once a year.
Community banks with less than $10 billion in assets would no longer have to comply with the so-called Volcker Rule. The rule bars financial institutions from making risky bets with money that is insured by taxpayers. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
This article is by Sheila Wisz Ellayn.
I joined the wonderful community of Mythic Scribes in November of 2011. During my first weeks here, something surprised me. That was how most of the other members were trying to make their fantasy settings as realistic as possible.
I am in love with surreal and impossible settings for my fantasy stories. Some of them are similar to reality, but I also have a universe that is an endless, bottomless, partially frozen ocean. I love multiple moons with vivid colors, steppes of blue grass, and castles made of crystal.
At first, I found it difficult to understand why my fellow fantasy storytellers would want to create worlds as similar to Earth as possible. But with time, I came to accept the trend of more realistic fantasy.
Recently, I have discovered a new trend that has sparked conflict within me. This is the trend of making magic more scientific and realistic.
What is Fantasy?
First, we have to ask ourselves what defines the fantasy genre. There are many writers who do not have any clear definition of fantasy. Therefore, they have come to believe that our genre has vague borders, and is even interchangeable with science fiction.
Some writers have also expressed the view that fantasy and science fiction are two ends of the same spectrum. However, I would argue that both genres are very different from each other in ways that many fans do not appreciate.
Science fiction is a great genre, and I respect it. In order to write real sci-fi, you need to have a solid grasp of science, as the whole genre is about building your stories around scientific principles and concepts. It is a stricter and also a colder genre than fantasy.
On the other hand, fantasy is defined by a disregard for strict realism.
Fantasy is about the impossible, the magical, the wondrous, and inexplicable.
To a certain extent, fantasy is also about wish fulfillment. You wish that what you just read could be real. When you read well-written fantasy, your sense of disbelief is crushed, and you are transported away from this world.
Why Fantastic Magic is Important
While characters in science fiction must remain moored to what science can accept, characters in fantasy often have access to a power that enables mysterious and supernatural feats: magic.
Magic can take many forms. What defines magic is that it goes against the scientific principles known to our world, and makes the impossible happen.
Think of Gandalf the Grey fighting the Balrog, Minerva McGonagall demonstrating transfiguration, Elsa of Arendelle creating ice from nowhere, and even plants that fight against zombies.
I define “fantastic magic” as a supernatural force that has no regard for the limits of science. And most of us like that so much, that we do not even question it. We just enjoy watching Elsa create a snow monster, or witnessing a plant inexplicably digest a zombie.
This wondrous aspect of magic is one of the key attributes that reside at the heart of our beloved fantasy genre.
Scientific Magic?
That is why I am left scratching my head when some writers propose what I call “scientific magic.” This is a type of magic that is plausible and believable from the point of view of science.
I am not able to understand what they are trying to achieve, but I do suspect that these writers really want to write fantasy like the rest of us. The problem is that they seem to disapprove of anything mysterious or supernatural, and want to turn fantastic magic into something explainable.
For them, supernatural magic is wrong, broken, and the result of poor thinking. They believe that it breaks the immersion of our readers. Instead of embracing the wondrous nature of fantasy, they come up with pseudo-science in order to logically (at least, according to them) explain the incredible feats that their characters perform.
What they are doing diminishes the wow factor of fantasy.
If you reduce magic, and every fantastic event in your story, to nothing more than logic and pseudo-science, are you still writing fantasy?
People Love Fantastic Magic
Most people have a fondness for my type of magic, the type that kicks reality to the curb.
My father is not a reader of fantasy novels, but he does love how Spider-Man flies between skyscrapers and stops a passenger train with nothing but the strength of his legs. He has never stopped to wonder if such feats could be carried out in the real world.
Millions of Star Wars fans love the Force. Do they stop to question how it works?
When you watch Frozen, do you stop to question how Elsa is making snow? Do you wonder if there is enough humidity in the air for her to manipulate and freeze the molecules?
Millions love the X-Men, even though their powers make no scientific sense.
So why should fantasy authors concern themselves with the scientific plausibility of their magic and settings? Is it possible that, by doing so, they are robbing fantasy of the awe and wonder that makes it truly great?
For Further Thought
In your opinion, what defines the fantasy genre?
Who is your favorite character whose powers simply defy science with no explanation? | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Monday Tailgate: Lessons learned from Week 11 of college football
Eddie Timanus | USA TODAY
Show Caption Hide Caption Week 11 Campus Conclusions: Playoff chaos is coming USA Today Sports' George Schroeder looks at lessons learned from Week 11 of the college football season.
The College Football Playoff selection committee says it starts from scratch each time its new weekly evaluations are compiled. It's a good thing, because four of its top 10 teams went down to defeat this weekend.
All this is to say that there's plenty more that can change over the final three weeks of the regular season as the 2015 campaign nears its conclusion.
Here's what else we learned from Week 11:
Don't write off the Pac-12 just yet.
Yes, Saturday was not a good day for the league's top contenders as both Stanford and Utah went down to defeat. It's true that no team with two losses has ever made the playoff. It's also true that the precedent for this is exactly one year.
A whole lot of things would have to break in the Pac-12 champion's favor, but a whole lot of dominoes had to fall a few years ago when twice-beaten LSU got an unexpected shot at the BCS title following the 2007 season. And that, remember, was only a two-team event.
What, no crazy lateral ending this week?
Boise State came close — about three yards short in fact —, but this time New Mexico made the needed tackle to get off the field with the win. There's a reason such endings are rare, and the last month or so of seemingly one a week has been the exception rather than the rule. Of course, we'll all watch next week to see where the next bunch of bananas gets picked, right?
It's really hard to go unbeaten.
Yes, we've learned that before, but it's always worth repeating. Only five remain in the club, and one, Houston, needed a fourth-quarter comeback with its backup quarterback in the game to overtake Memphis. Another, Iowa, held off a stiff challenge from a traditional rival, outlasting Minnesota 40-35.
We all knew it was only possible for one contender to emerge unscathed from the Big 12, and now Oklahoma State is the last one that can manage it.
And finally — this is still just a game.
The news from overseas drove that point home for sure. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Georgia state Rep. Erica Thomas said she wants police to charge the man who she claims told her to "go back to where you came from."
Thomas told WSB-TV about her demand that Eric Sparkes be charged after a press conference in which she said she was "not backtracking" her initial claim.
State Rep. Erica Thomas just told us she wants police to charge the man who confronted her in a Mableton grocery store. At 12, how this controversy has gone viral, and how both Dems and Repubs are reacting to it. pic.twitter.com/m45wKyBHxL — Richard Elliot (@RElliotWSB) July 22, 2019
The Georgia Democrat originally claimed Friday that Sparkes had confronted her in a Publix grocery store checkout line and told her to "go back to where you came from."
Thomas appeared initially to backtrack the claim on Saturday, saying in an interview: "I don't know if he said 'go back,' or those types of words ... I don't know if he said 'go back to your country' or 'go back to where you came from,' but he was making those types of references is what I remember."
"So you don't remember exactly what he said?" a reporter asked Thomas.
"No, no, definitely not. But I know it was 'go back' because I know I told him to 'go back,'" the lawmaker responded.
Sparkes has argued Thomas' version of the story is "untrue" and that the worst thing he said was to call her a "bitch" for having too many items in the express checkout.
"That's all I said after that, and I walked out of Publix," he said, adding that he is of Cuban descent. "Her words stating on [Facebook] in her video, stating I told her she needs to go back where she came from, are untrue."
This is Eric Sparkes. He says he did call @itsericathomas the B word...but says the other things she said are not true. pic.twitter.com/9q5JU5CwBp — Christian Jennings (@CJenningsWSB) July 20, 2019
Sparkes responded to Thomas' press conference by saying he was considering a defamation lawsuit against the lawmaker.
"Ms. Thomas has taken an innocuous situation that began on my part to be about being inconsiderate and turned into a national case about race over night," Sparkes said in a statement Monday. "Ms. Thomas accuses me of telling her to go back to wherever. Those words were never spoken. She backtracked slightly and now is changing her story. I am in the process of exploring with attorneys a defamation lawsuit against her."
The man State Rep. Erica Thomas encountered in a grocery store just sent me a statement reacting to her morning newser: “Ms. Thomas has taken an innocuous situation that began on my part to be about being inconsiderate and turned into a national case about race over night....” pic.twitter.com/LnMkQozABx — Richard Elliot (@RElliotWSB) July 22, 2019
Eric Sparkes’ statement continues: “Ms. Thomas accuses me of telling her to go back to whereever. Those words were never spoken. She backtracked slightly and now is changing her story. I am in the process of exploring with attorneys a defamation lawsuit against her.” — Richard Elliot (@RElliotWSB) July 22, 2019
The war of words between Thomas and Sparkes has gained national attention after President Trump told four liberal congresswomen to "go back" to their home countries. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Do you find major Chinese metropolises too dark at night? We sure as hell don’t, but clearly someone out there thinks the city of Chengdu could use a little extra light at night, as indicated by the recent announcement that Chengdu will soon launch an ‘illumination satellite.’
The satellite, also referred to as the ‘artificial moon,’ will be blasted into orbit in 2020, according to People’s Daily Online. The fake moon has been in the works for years and is designed to brighten Chengdu at night.
The orbital object will work by integrating the brightness produced by the moon each night, according to Wu Chunfeng, chairman of the Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Wu, who was speaking about the project at an innovation and entrepreneurship event on October 10, also noted that the artificial moon will be eight times brighter than the actual moon, have an optical range of up to 80 kilometers and be bright enough to replace street lights. The ‘space spotlight,’ as we’ve dubbed the satellite, will allegedly have a “precise illumination range [that] can be controlled within a few meters,” according to People’s Daily Online.
During the event, which was held in Chengdu, Wu said that the idea behind the illumination satellite came from a French artist who previously envisioned dangling a necklace of mirrors above the surface of the earth in order to immerse Paris in reflected sunlight year-round.
Not everyone is thrilled about the project, though, with some people voicing their concerns about the effects a continuous lunar glow will have on lives of animals and cosmological observation, according to Express.
Kang Weimin, director of the Institute of Optics and the School of Aerospace at Harbin’s Institute of Technology, pacified these worries, stating the satellite will only emit a “dusk-like glow,” according to Cifnews.
As China’s space program becomes increasingly ambitious, tossing a new moon into space should come as no surprise. In May, the nation successfully launched a communications satellite to the dark side of the moon, Express reports. China is now one step closer to landing where no country has landed before.
READ MORE: China Launches Mission to the Far Side of the Moon
[Cover image via Mike Petrucci/Unsplash] | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Via The New York Observer:
On Feb. 3, a k a Super Bowl Sunday, in an original News Corp. smorgasbord, reporters from FOX News will be teaming up with reporters from FOX owned and operated stations from around the country for a three hour broadcast event, focusing on—USA! USA!—presidential politics and professional football.
As the anchors toggle back and forth between discussion of the Super Bowl and Super Tuesday, they will chew over political dispatches from FOX Broadcasting reporters from around the country. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The US has told the Russian government that it will not seek the death penalty for Edward Snowden should he be extradited, in an attempt to prevent Moscow from granting asylum to the former National Security Agency contractor.
In a letter sent this week, US attorney general Eric Holder told his Russian counterpart that the charges faced by Snowden do not carry the death penalty. Holder added that the US "would not seek the death penalty even if Mr Snowden were charged with additional, death penalty-eligible crimes".
Holder said he had sent the letter, addressed to Alexander Vladimirovich, Russia's minister of justice, in response to reports that Snowden had applied for temporary asylum in Russia "on the grounds that if he were returned to the United States, he would be tortured and would face the death penalty".
"These claims are entirely without merit," Holder said. In addition to his assurance that Snowden would not face capital punishment, the attorney general wrote: "Torture is unlawful in the United States."
In the letter, released by the US Department of Justice on Friday, Holder added: "We believe that these assurances eliminate these asserted grounds for Mr Snowden's claim that he should be treated as a refugee or granted asylum, temporary or otherwise."
The US has been seeking Snowden's extradition to face felony charges for leaking details of NSA surveillance programmes. There were authoritative reports on Wednesday that authorities in Moscow had granted Snowden permission to stay in Russia temporarily, but when Snowden's lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, arrived to meet his client at Sheremetyevo airport, he said the papers were not yet ready.
Kucherena, who has close links to the Kremlin, said Snowden would stay in the airport's transit zone, where he has been in limbo since arriving from Hong Kong on 23 June, for the near future.
The letter from Holder, and the apparent glitch in Snowden's asylum application, suggest that Snowden's fate is far from secure.
But a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin insisted Russia has not budged from its refusal to extradite Snowden. Asked by a reporter on Friday whether the government's position had changed, Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that "Russia has never extradited anyone and never will." Putin has previously insisted Russia will not extradite Snowden to the US. There is no US-Russia extradition treaty.
Putin's statement still leaves the Russian authorities room for manoeuvre, however, as Snowden is not technically on Russian soil.
Peskov said that Putin is not involved in reviewing Snowden's application or involved in discussions about the whistleblower's future with the US, though he said the Russian security service, the FSB, had been in touch with the FBI.
Speaking on Wednesday, Snowden's lawyer said he was hoped to settle in Russia. "[Snowden] wants to find work in Russia, travel and somehow create a life for himself," Kucherena told the television station Rossiya 24. He said Snowden had already begun learning Russian.
There is support among some Russian politicians for Snowden to be allowed to stay in the country. The speaker of the Russian parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, has said Snowden should be granted asylum to protect him from the death penalty.
The letter from Holder was designed to allay those fears and negate the grounds for which Snowden as allegedly applied for asylum in Russia. The attorney general said that if Snowden returned to the US he would "promptly be brought before a civilian court" and would receive "all the protections that United States law provides".
"Any questioning of Mr Snowden could be conducted only with his consent: his participation would be entirely voluntary, and his legal counsel would be present should he wish it," Holder said.
He added that despite Snowden's passport being revoked he "remains a US citizen" and said the US would facilitate a direct return to the country.
Germany's president, who helped expose the workings of East Germany's Stasi secret police, waded into the row on Friday. President Joachim Gauck, whose role is largely symbolic, said whistleblowers such as Snowden deserved respect for defending freedom.
"The fear that our telephones or mails are recorded and stored by foreign intelligence services is a constraint on the feeling of freedom and then the danger grows that freedom itself is damaged," Gauck said. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Swing into a hand-drawn, action-packed arcade adventure game where you’ll unite Spider-Men and Spider-Women against the ultimate threat! Experience a story that feels like it jumped straight from a Marvel comic as you recruit an army of heroes in the Spider-Verse. Combat famous villains from the Spider-Man comics, who have opened a dimensional portal in New York to summon endless versions of themselves! This exponential evil is moving from dimension to dimension, destroying each one. Now ours is fighting to survive! FIRST FREE SPIDER-MAN GAME! • The first Spider-Man web-runner! Swing, run and fight through chaotic Manhattan in over 5 different Marvel environments! • Go beyond a runner with unique gameplay! Battle dimensional super villains, swing, wall-climb and skydive! • Play story mode with 5 boss battles and 25 missions per Issue! New daily events with spectacular rewards in Event mode! Or climb up the leaderboards in Unlimited mode! FIRST NARRATIVE RUNNER! • The Sinister Six are moving from dimension to dimension – and our world is next! But it ends now… with an army of Spider-Men! • Dive into an extensive Marvel Universe spanning over 50 years of Spider-Man with iconic characters, including multiple variations of each villain, as well as Nick Fury, Mary Jane, and Black Cat! • Written with an experienced Spider-Man comic writer to ensure a faithful recreation of the Spider-Man Comics! MOST SPIDER-MEN EVER IN A GAME! • Summon, collect and play with tons of Spider-Man cards from the Marvel Universe, including Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, and the Scarlet Spiders! • Collect, fuse, and level up your Spider-Men, each with their own unique in-game benefits, and send them on Spidey Ops missions! This app allows you to purchase virtual items within the app and may contain third-party advertisements that may redirect you to a third-party site. Terms of use: http://www.gameloft.com/conditions/ | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Beardy guitarist (and Stanley Cup-winning goaltender) Braden Holtby shared his Top 10 favorite songs on Spotify earlier this week.
The playlist includes one of the most influential figures in jazz history (Louie Armstrong), a couple of guitar rock legends (Jack White and Gary Clark Jr.), and some folksy newcomers (pretty much everyone else).
Holtby explained his choices in a feature in the Capitals’ new yearbook, W Magazine. I also reached out to two professional rock stars and Capitals fans, Camden Welle’s Andy Tongren (lead singer/guitarist/handsome guy/producer) and Steve Patrick (drummer), to evaluate the goaltender’s picks.
Playlist
Sturgill Simpson’s “Call To Arms” was Braden Holtby’s favorite song because its lyrics and energy are “incredibly cohesive.”
I turned to the band members for their analysis.
“I don’t honestly know much about Sturgill Simpson other than the fact that he can grow a pretty exceptional mustache,” Steve Patrick, the nephew of Capitals’ President Dick Patrick, said in a very unhelpful quote.
“I don’t know much about Sturgill either,” Andy Tongren said. “But he makes me want to ride a motorcycle then drink a bunch of bourbon though. One of his listed genres on Wikipedia is ‘outlaw country’ and I think that’s pretty dang neat.”
Filling out the top three for Holtby was Louie Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World” (Holtby’s grandfather’s favorite artist) and Gary Clark Jr.’s “Numb (live)” who he called the best artist he’s ever seen play.
“Black and Blu is my favorite Gary Clarke Jr. album and it was cool to see him pick something off that record,” Tongren said. “But, I’m glad he chose the live album version because it’s Gary Clark Jr. and he’s a beast live.”
Next, Holtby chose The Avett Brothers “Murder In The City” fourth and City and Colour’s “We Found Each Other In The Dark” fifth. Holtby noted that he’s a good friend of the City and Colour’s lead singer, Dallas Green. Green provided Holtby with a private recording of “The Girl” to surprise and thank his wife Brandi in 2018.
“City and Colour is actually really cool. Dallas Green is from Alexisonfire,” Patrick said. “I got into City and Colour because I loved Alexisonfire when I was a little scene boy. City and Colour was like my first intro into folk music.”
“I just know I had the tightest jeans and a chemically straightened helmet of hair and I f*cking loved that band,” Patrick added. “And City and Colour introduced me into folk music sort of accidentally. I don’t know City and Colour is considered folk but it made me realize I liked that sound and started searching for other similar artists. Now I pretty exclusively listen to folk music!”
Holtby next picked Colter Wall’s “Sleeping On The Blacktop”, “Do You Remember” by Jack Johnson (Holtby credited this song for making him learn how to play guitar), The White Stripes’ “Hello Operator”, and Matchbox Twenty’s “Hand Me Down.”
Tongren and Patrick called the latter picks “safe”
“I mean, Matchbox Twenty is Matchbox Twenty. There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re just very safe,” Patrick said. “The White Stripes are great pump up music. I feel like you can pull any of their songs out of a hat and it makes you want to run through a wall.”
Finally, Holtby closed out his Top 10 list with The Tragically Hip’s “Poets”, a nod to Gord Downie who, in Holtby’s words, was an “incredibly amazing human” and personal friend. Holtby raised $21k for Downie’s charity with a game-worn mask before the lead singer passed away in 2017.
“My overall impression of the playlist… I now understand how Braden Holtby can possess such a powerful beard,” Tongren said.
“This isn’t bad but I draw the line at Jack Johnson,” Patrick said.
“He gets lots of points for City and Colour and Gary Clark Jr.,” Tongren said. “But because of Jack Johnson I wouldn’t call it a shutout. A really strong .948 save percentage.”
Andy Tongren and Steve Patrick perform in the band Camden Welles. You can listen to their latest song “Pretty Ugly” below. (It’s really good!) | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Oscar contender “ Boyhood ” is Richard Linklater’s somewhat overpraised autobiographical movie about his youth in Texas is the 1960s-70s as filmed through the gimmick of following a boy actor growing up from about 2000-2012.
From Criticwire:
Although the praise for Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" has been about as unanimous as praise can get , there's been a small but persistent objection, mainly lodged by critics of color, that the film's focus on a white middle-class male and the claim to universality implied by its title effect a kind of erasure. "Depicting a white American male from childhood to adolescence," Armond White wrote , "it celebrates the emblematic figure of American social power. If Mason's boyhood is "Boyhood," what about the boyhoods of those whose lives are radically different from his own? What about "Girlhood"? Wouldn't the movie have been more interesting if were about Mason's sister (Lorelei Linklater) or his mom (Patricia Arquette)?
Not if Richard Linklater had made it.
Is the concept of “autobiographical” really that unclear? So far, Richard Linklater is the only writer-director in American movie history to make an autobiographical movie over 12 years. If you want to watch an autobiographical movie called “Girlhood,” then you would need a former girl to have made it. And so far no former girls have done that.
But in order to suggest life continues outside the frame, we first have to see a hint of that life inside it, and for Grisel Y. Acosta at Latino Rebels, "Boyhood’s” near total lack of Latino characters amounts to a kind of subtle racism:
When we see “The Birth of a Nation,” after returning from the bathroom because of becoming sick to our stomachs, we know without a doubt what the problem is and we can easily criticize the film —despite its merits in editing— for its horrendous content.
A film like Boyhood, on the other hand, has been praised universally for its “life-like” dialogue and visual realism, largely due to the fact that it was shot over the course of 12 years. Much like “The Birth of a Nation,” it is being praised for its innovative technique and will likely be shown in many a film school, just like “The Birth of a Nation” often is. However, unlike “The Birth of a Nation,” the racism depicted in “Boyhood,” I suspect, will not be seen as clearly as the racism in the former film.
Some folks will argue, “Well, what’s wrong with the Mom character being nice?” You must look at the overall structure of the story. If you delete all people of Mexican descent from the imagery onscreen, then only have one interaction with a person of Mexican descent, and that one interaction is one of a white savior uplifting the Mexican, THAT IS RACIST. But, because it is cushioned in the decade-plus depiction of a warm, interesting family, we will accept it. We will say, “Oh, but it’s still such a wonderful film.” We will say, “Oh, but didn’t Linklater really accomplish something with this.” We will say, “Look at how brilliant we can be.” We won’t say, “Damn, we made a really racist film.” Ever. I mean, it’s not like we have the KKK running around lynching people, right?
Logically, it feels like a stretch: the initial exchange so brief and minor that his evolution feels unearned. Worse, Ernesto’s journey relies on an audience that has internalized the idea that Olivia’s words could have such effect, a trope on race and class called-out incisively by the show “Cougar Town”: “If there’s anything we’ve learned from Michelle Pfeiffer in “Dangerous Minds” or Sandy Bullock in “The Blind Side” or Hilary Swank in that movie nobody ever saw, it’s that all you need to fix minority problems is a really pretty white woman.”
Being a huge fan of Mr. Linklater’s work, I came up with my own justification: while Boyhood” itself is not racist, perhaps the boy in question is. Think about it, the film is clearly Mason’s (Ellar Coltrane) story and as such, we can safely assume that everything is seen from his perspective. But is he a reliable narrator when it comes to political correctness and tolerance? As a Caucasian, heterosexual male, growing up in one of the most conservative states in America, wouldn’t it make sense that Mason would grow up to be racist?
In this tale of a white family living in a state that borders Mexico, isn’t it strange that the only time they’re shown truly interacting with a Spanish-speaking non-white individual is when they are saving them from a life of manual labor? Perhaps we’re meant to gather from this that Mason is aware of the barriers that those with brown skin must overcome to make it in a place like Texas, but unlike the film’s references to other forms of discrimination, it’s not made obvious.
Just because (probably) White people made a movie where White characters are front and center, that doesn’t mean the movie is actually racist as well. It just makes it a false representation. A story. A vision. A fable. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Edward Nixon, the youngest brother of former President Richard Nixon who staunchly defended his older sibling's White House legacy, has died. He was 88.
The Richard Nixon Foundation announced that Edward Nixon died Wednesday at a nursing facility in Bothell, Washington, a Seattle suburb.
A geologist and Navy Veteran, Edward Nixon worked on his brother's 1968 and 1972 White House campaigns and served as co-chairman of the Nixon re-election committee in 1972.
Richard Nixon's daughters, Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, called their uncle "our family's rock" since the former president died in 1994.
Edward Nixon was the fifth and youngest son of Frank and Hannah Nixon and had been the last surviving brother of the former president.
Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace during the Watergate scandal. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Gerardo Pisarello, primer teniente de Alcaldía, afronta la entrevista como alcalde accidental de la ciudad. Las fechas estivales –las vacaciones de la alcaldesa– han querido que Pisarello, hombre fuerte de Ada Colau, represente esta semana al gobierno de BComú: en unos minutos anunciará, como alcalde, los ganadores del concurso de calles adornadas de la 199a fiesta mayor de Gràcia.
El curso político ha acabado. Pisarello está más descansado que hace unos meses, cuando atendió Catalunya Plural en pleno pacto con el PSC. Sin embargo, ha sido un verano movido. Y el primer teniente de Alcaldía no rehuye las polémicas coyunturales que lo han acompañado: vendedores ambulantes, intento de cierre del Centro de Internamiento de Extranjeros (CIE) de la Zona Franca...
"No sabemos si estamos a tiempo de parar la burbuja turística", destaca sobre otro de los grandes problemas de la ciudad: los máximos históricos del turismo en Barcelona. Tampoco esquiva otros problemas estructurales: remunicipalización del agua o los relacionados con la política catalana y estatal. "El referéndum unilateral es una iniciativa legítima ante el bloqueo del PP, pero se plantea de forma poco inclusiva", dice Pisarello, que no evita hacer previsiones para el curso que comienza. En este segundo ejercicio, Barcelona en Comú debe dejar de apagar fuegos para implementar muchas más de las políticas que llevaba en su programa. "Las ciudades tenemos que ofrecer un nuevo pacto social", adelanta.
Cooperativa de manteros y 40 plazas más por los planes de empleo. "Un primer paso", valoraron la semana pasada los vendedores ambulantes. ¿No llega un poco tarde la medida?
Estos son proyectos que necesitan mucho tiempo. Poner en marcha un proyecto en la maquinaria municipal implica mucho más tiempo de lo que la gente piensa. Pero existe toda la voluntad política para tirarlos adelante: siempre hemos dicho que la única forma coherente de mantener el discurso de que la venta ambulante no autorizada en Barcelona no está permitida es intentar dar una salida a esta gente. Muchas de estas personas venden por su vulnerabilidad. Los planes de empleo y la cooperativa son inéditos en Barcelona: una vía de integración sociolaboral y de acceso a la ciudadanía, ya que los planes están pensados para 12 meses y este es el tiempo que te permite obtener la ciudadanía. No es sólo una política de inserción laboral. Si tenemos en cuenta que en Barcelona, en tiempos estables, hay alrededor de 250 vendedores, estos planes que pueden llegar a casi 75... Son 75 que tendrán posibilidades reales de integración.
¿Basta con 75 plazas?
Esto no es resolver mágicamente la cuestión, pero es una salida importante. Hemos estudiado cómo se ha afrontado el problema en otras ciudades como Vancouver o Quito, y lo que hacen es contribuir a la organización de los colectivos y, sobre todo, a intentar regularizar parte de su actividad. Encontrar espacios.
¿Se están buscando espacios? Hace un año ya se hablaba de ello...
Es uno de los temas que se está estudiando, por eso hemos hecho este estudio. No hemos decidido todavía, pero ya adelanto que es uno de los temas que se están tratando. Porque ha sido una salida en otros países.
¿Son 250, los vendedores? A la salida de la reunión con el Síndic los cifraron en 800.reunión con el Síndic
Cuando llegamos eran 250 pero hace unos meses tuvimos una situación muy especial en el Passeig de Borbó donde llegamos a tener 800 manteros. Cuando se planificaron los programas de empleo no se contaba con la subida hasta 800 personas; 800 en situación de irregularidad que, además, suponían un agravio real para los pequeños comerciantes de un barrio popular como es la Barceloneta. Había posibilidad real, lo veías cuando hablabas con los vecinos, del estallido de una situación de xenofobia. Por eso hemos descongestionado la ocupación intensiva del espacio público.
Si la cifra actual es de 250 vendedores, ¿donde están el resto de personas?
Han vuelto a las ciudades de las que venían. Se ha lanzado un mensaje claro: Barcelona no permitirá la venta ambulante no autorizada.
¿Consideran un éxito la política de ocupación del espacio público, basada en la presencia policial y la construcción de un skatepark?presencia policial y la construcciónskatepark
Con estas cosas no se puede ser autocomplaciente... Pero ha sido satisfactoria porque ha sido una intervención de saturación cívica. Se ha puesto un skatepark, y se ha minimizado al máximo la violencia. Se ha evitado un conflicto popular real. Si lo comparas con la experiencia de otros ayuntamientos de la costa, la experiencia de Barcelona ha sido satisfactoria, siempre teniendo en cuenta que se trata de un problema estructural que obedece a una situación de injusticias globales. Y que no se puede resolver sólo desde un Ayuntamiento.
¿Cuesta menos saturar un espacio que crear modelos sociales?
Evidentemente es mucho más fácil saturar un espacio que generar todo un plan de empleo.
El auto del caso de los cuatro manteros detenidos les acusa de blanqueo por ingresar dinero en un banco; el Sindicato Popular de Vendedores Ambulantes denuncia "persecución" y políticas "racistas" por parte del Ayuntamiento. ¿Ha contribuido el consistorio a la criminalización del colectivo?auto del caso de los cuatro manteros detenidos"persecución" y políticas "racistas" por parte del Ayuntamiento
En todo momento hemos intentado separar el fenómeno de la venta ambulante no autorizada de las personas que la ejercen. Las personas tienen derecho a sobrevivir y este debe garantizarse con el acceso a los derechos sociales básicos. Y a derechos de participación política. Pero la venta ambulante no autorizada no puede estar permitida por diferentes razones. ¿Racismo? Si comparamos la publicidad institucional del mandato de CiU con la nuestra... Allí había ejemplos clarísimos de racismo institucional puro y duro. Después, naturalmente, hay una serie de prácticas que contribuyen a un cierto racismo pero que no están vinculadas al Ayuntamiento. Las hemos denunciado más de una vez: Ley de Extranjería, Código Penal...
¿Qué se puede hacer desde aquí? Siempre se dice que en materia de derechos humanos todo el mundo es competente.
Podemos contribuir, por ejemplo, a regularizar a estas personas. Algo para lo que tampoco tenemos competencias, pero hemos hecho cosas... Como desbloquear obstáculos que existían para empadronarse en la ciudad de Barcelona. Utilizar los panes de empleo como vía de regularización para el acceso a la ciudadanía también es una manera de restar limitaciones a la Ley de Extranjería.
El CIE es un buen ejemplo de conflicto con la Delegación de Gobierno: no se respetó el cese de actividad que pidió el Ayuntamiento. ¿En qué situación estamos ahora mismo?
Desde un primer momento insistimos en que los CIE son un signo de vergüenza en Europa, y siempre hemos defendido que los cerraríamos. Hay un conflicto abierto y nosotros haremos valer todas las vías para alcanzar el objetivo: cerrar el CIE. Depende de lo que podamos hacer como gobierno, y también de la presión social. A veces tengo la impresión de que no hay suficiente conciencia de lo que significa tener un centro de internamiento. Podemos tener ideas valientes como gobierno pero si no conseguimos que llegue a la conciencia de la ciudadanía...
Mucha de esta gente que hacía presión, está ahora en el Ayuntamiento.
Cuando perteneces a una candidatura integrada por gente de movimientos sociales que ha decidido dar el salto a las instituciones, y llegas en situación de minoría enfrentando poderes muy fuertes, quieres contar con la mejor gente. Muchas veces son aquellos con los que has compartido el activismo. Se plantea un dilema: ¿la mejor gente, dentro o fuera de la institución? Dentro aportan coraje y valentía. Fuera presionan. Es un dilema que no tiene una respuesta única...
¿Hay suficiente tiempo, dentro de las instituciones, para hacer esta reflexión?
Es una sensación que tenemos permanentemente... A veces somos conscientes de que muchas políticas no las podemos sacar adelante por incompetencia personal. Pero muchas veces echamos de menos un contrapoder social fuera de las instituciones. En el Ayuntamiento hay lógicas propias semejantes a El Castillo, de Kafka. ¿La mejor forma para evitarlo? Mantener el contacto con la calle. Aunque no siempre depende de ti... Tenemos esa sensación con todo lo que tiene que ver con la construcción de Barcelona como ciudad refugio, por ejemplo. Debería haber una movilización de envergadura enorme. Y no existe.
Pero ha habido otras movilizaciones. Por la venta ambulante. O por el Banc Expropiat, por ejemplo.
Son movimientos legítimos, pero de un alcance limitado. Y que no representan a sectores importantes de la sociedad barcelonesa. Para que se produzcan cambios, se necesita a mucha más gente... Necesitas movimientos más transversales. Nos faltan movimientos masivos.
Según los datos del Gremio de Hoteleros o incluso de Airbnb, estamos en datos que están rondando máximos de turismo en Barcelona. BComú ha empezado una serie de políticas para desinflar este turismo, pero no se está ahuyentando a los visitantes.
Nosotros no somos enemigos del turismo, somos enemigos de la economía especulativa. De hecho, decimos que somos los mejores amigos del turismo entendido como una actividad sostenible, respetuosa con su entorno y que no beneficia sólo a unos pocos. A pesar de todas las regulaciones que hemos puesto sobre la mesa, éste continúa creciendo. Eso es cierto. Y no sabemos si estamos a tiempo de parar la burbuja. El turismo, además, afecta a todo: hace pocos días, por ejemplo, publicábamos el informe sobre salarios de la ciudad de Barcelona, y una de las cosas que decía este informe es que los salarios más altos de la ciudad son los del sector financiero y, en cambio, los más bajos son los de la hostelería.
¿Qué puede hacer el gobierno de Barcelona?
Debemos actuar de manera muy clara y con mucha contundencia, haciendo que todos puedan cumplir la ley. Si estamos pidiendo a los vendedores de la calle que no tienen autorización que cumplan la ley, ¿cómo no le vamos a pedir a Airbnb que cumpla? ¿Si lo hacemos con los pequeños cómo no lo haremos con los grandes? Este fenómeno debe estar regulado, debe ser transparente, debe estar regularizado en materia fiscal, y si estas plataformas no lo entienden, tenemos que utilizar todas las herramientas, incluso las coercitivas. Es un fenómeno global, que seguramente no podemos resolver de la noche a la mañana, y aquí es muy importante la organización vecinal a la hora de poner de manifiesto cuáles son los retos que plantea el turismo y cuáles serían las posibles salidas.
En los planes comunitarios que estamos haciendo en los barrios, lo que estamos intentando es potenciar una serie de actividades económicas que a veces pueden entrar en tensión con los procesos de masificación o de presión turística incontrolada, por ejemplo, la protección de los comercios de proximidad, o los programas para apoyar iniciativas de economía cooperativa dentro de los distritos, programas para apoyar a los pequeños autónomos... Salir de un monocultivo económico como puede ser la actividad turística y potenciar la biodiversidad dentro de los distritos y los barrios. Esa es nuestra apuesta.
Asociado al turismo, en el mandato de Barcelona en Común los precios de los alquileres se han disparado.precios de los alquileres se han disparado
A veces se producen fenómenos mientras gobiernas que no has producido como gobierno: la presión turística o la subida de precios responden a dinámicas que no han sido creadas por un gobierno municipal. Nosotros en esto podemos, de entrada, reforzar el parque público de vivienda y sobre todo el parque público de alquiler.
Pero construir vivienda pública no da respuestas inmediatas.
Esto es lento, pero es algo que hay que hacer. No puede ser que en Barcelona tengamos un parque público de alquiler del 1% del total del parque. En Amsterdam o en París es del 20% o 25%. Hay diferentes maneras de crear el parque público de alquiler. Una es movilizando el parque que está vacío de manera injustificada, por ejemplo, porque está en manos de grandes entidades financieras o grandes tenedores. Nosotros nos hemos sentado con los bancos y hemos conseguido que ceden al ayuntamiento viviendas para dedicarlas al alquiler social y hasta hemos aplicado multas por la tenencia de viviendas vacías de manera injustificada.
Ahora mismo hemos aprobado una tasa sobre los pisos vacíos pensada para grandes tenedores, que es una tasa simbólica, pero que intenta dar un mensaje: cuando tenemos los alquileres por las nubes y tenemos gente que está siendo desahuciada porque no puede pagar, tener una vivienda cerrada sin ningún tipo de justificación en Barcelona es una situación anómala que no se puede permitir. Debemos desarrollar nuevas formas de tenencia de la vivienda que sean fórmulas no especulativas: hemos dado un impulso importante a la vivienda cooperativa. Tenemos algunas experiencias con Sostre Cívic y con entidades que llevan años trabajando en esta línea. Y luego, a partir de aquí, estamos haciendo toda la presión negociadora sobre el gobierno estatal para que se modifique la ley de arrendamientos urbanos, para que se introduzcan controles al alquiler privado...
Esto no depende sólo de Barcelona.
Esto no depende sólo de nosotros, pero hemos presionado tanto a la Generalitat como al gobierno del Estado para que entre en este debate, ya veces la capacidad negociadora de Barcelona puede ser importante. Me he reunido con el gobierno de Madrid para discutir cómo tirar adelante una agenda común para defender precisamente cosas como estas. Debemos buscar las alianzas para conseguir que todas estas iniciativas se puedan llevar a cabo más o menos rápido.
Hablaba de la cesión de viviendas. Una herramienta de negociación era la ley 24/2015. ¿Se han producido más cesiones desde su impugnación?
Hemos obtenido 550, algunos son cesiones y otros ejercicios del derecho de tanteo y retracto. También estamos fortaleciendo el parque de vivienda pública comprando vivienda por debajo del precio del mercado. Es cierto que esto Barcelona lo puede hacer porque lo permite su situación financiera, no es una herramienta que todos los ayuntamientos puedan utilizar.
De hecho, otros ayuntamientos como el de Sabadell se han quejado de Barcelona, porque dicen que estos acuerdos en los que el ayuntamiento paga, les restan a ellos poder de negociación con los bancos.
También es cierto que las necesidades habitacionales que tiene Barcelona son enormes y todos los instrumentos y las herramientas que se puedan utilizar serán utilizados.
BComú se comprometió a la municipalización del agua. ¿Se podrá hacer esta legislatura?
Tenemos muchas experiencias europeas que indican que la gestión municipal del agua es una gestión más eficaz, más sostenible, que tiene unas tarifas más justas y que acaba siendo más transparente. Esto lo estamos defendiendo en Barcelona, pero es un tema que es metropolitano y que también depende de una negociación política que exige mucha fuerza.
Se han conseguido algunas victorias, judiciales por ejemplo, que han mostrado que los procesos de privatización del agua que se han producido están marcados por la opacidad, lo que ha permitido avanzar más rápidamente, por ejemplo, en la reducción de tarifas. Es una reducción histórica y estamos convencidos de que será un primer paso para avanzar en el camino de la municipalización.
Agbar dijo que recurriría esta reducción de tarifas. ¿Ha presentado recurso?
No nos consta.
Este tema lo han de negociar en el Área Metropolitana con su socio de gobierno, el PSC. ¿Están dispuestos a esta reducción?
Lo que se acepta ahora nada tiene que ver con lo que se aceptaba hace un año. Hace un año posiblemente las voces que pedían las municipalizaciones eran totalmente marginales, ahora es un tema que está sobre la mesa.
¿Cuáles son los retos que afronta el gobierno de cara al nuevo curso?
Para mí el gran reto a partir de ahora es cómo pasamos de un primer año centrado en el rescate social a la oferta de un nuevo pacto social. Hemos estado muy centrados en la idea del rescate social, del rescate ciudadano: éramos conscientes de que llegábamos en medio de una crisis en la que había una situación de emergencia importante y vimos claro que lo que teníamos que hacer era revertir las prioridades en materia de inversiones que se habían producido en la ciudad en el año anterior. Esto lo hemos conseguido. Hemos aprobado dos modificaciones presupuestarias para invertir más en los barrios que más lo necesitaban, para aumentar el gasto social, para fortalecer equipamientos... Ahora debemos mantener esta línea de trabajo, pero ofreciendo un nuevo pacto social.
¿Qué significa eso exactamente?
El pacto social se ha roto desde arriba, y se manifiesta en el aumento exponencial de las desigualdades que se está produciendo, en el aumento de la exclusión social. Ahora lo que tenemos que hacer las ciudades es plantear un nuevo modelo productivo, para una transición socioeconómica.
Aquí también podemos tener algunos elementos limitados para intervenir, pero tenemos otras herramientas potentes: una es la fiscalidad, cómo avanzar hacia una fiscalidad municipal que sea más progresiva, que sea social y ambientalmente más justa –esto ya lo hemos hecho con las ordenanzas fiscales, pero debemos avanzar más en esta línea. Además de modificar también la contratación pública, por ejemplo. El Ayuntamiento de Barcelona es un gran agente económico, que mueve alrededor de 590 millones de euros en materia de contratación pública al año.
Nosotros podemos decidir cómo contratamos y por qué: permitir que pequeñas y medianas empresas tengan un lugar y que la contratación no quede en manos de los gigantes de siempre y en muchos casos de empresas vinculadas al Ibex35. Esto es un cambio revolucionario, en cierto sentido. Barcelona debe poder otorgar una especie de sello de calidad en virtud del cual las empresas que lleguen a la ciudad se obliguen, por interés propio también, a cumplir con unos estándares asociados, con unos estándares laborales exigentes. Esto forma parte de este nuevo pacto social para una transición socioeconómica en la ciudad que intente frenar, para empezar, y luego revertir, toda esta tendencia hacia la desigualdad que estamos viviendo en los últimos años.
Por todo este pacto serán necesarios presupuestos. Este año no han podido aprobar unas nuevas cuentas. ¿Ya se está trabajando de cara al próximo año?Este año no han podido aprobar unas nuevas cuentas
Serán necesarios presupuestos y aliados: políticos, y socioeconómicos también. Cuando llegas a las instituciones y quieres hacer cambios, pasan en primer lugar por cambios discursivos: nuevos conceptos, nuevas ideas. Después, y es muy importante, la misma maquinaria administrativa debe entender estas nuevas ideas. Después se necesitan actores sociales y actores económicos que te puedan acompañar. Y todas las medidas de cambio profundas que hemos impulsado desde el Ayuntamiento se han llevado a cabo gracias a los acuerdos con ERC, PSC y la CUP. Este frente amplio es el que nos ha permitido tirar adelante estas iniciativas, y eso no quiere decir que no estemos dispuestos a ponernos de acuerdo con otras fuerzas políticas, pero lo que es cierto es que las iniciativas más ambiciosas son las que se han podido acordar con estas fuerzas en Barcelona.
¿Y como están los puentes con estas fuerzas? Esquerra y la CUP marcaron distancias tras el pacto con el PSC.
No se puede dramatizar. Finalmente cuando hay intereses concretos de ciudad, estos acuerdos se producen. La tasa sobre los pisos vacíos o de otras medidas que tienen un contenido social muy claro han encontrado exactamente las mismas alianzas.
Pero los incendios también se producen. ERC criticó duramente, por ejemplo, la estatua franquista de la exposición en el Born.
En temas de memoria histórica se han dicho muchas cosas, pero, por ejemplo, cuando propusimos que la plaza Joan Carles I recuperara el nombre histórico de Cinc d'Oros los apoyos vinieron del PSC, de ERC y de la CUP, y en cambio algunas fuerzas supuestamente republicanas como Convergència no votaron a favor y tuvieron una posición cercana a la del PP y Ciutadans. Es decir, incluso en este contexto donde parece que hay dificultad, las alianzas más o menos naturales siguen siendo las mismas.
¿Qué le han parecido las reacciones a la exposición del Born?
Este debate debía producirse. Y más en un país donde tenemos un gobierno que ha permitido la conversión de la sede del Memorial Democràtic en la Via Laietana en un hotel. Necesitamos un debate sobre memoria y franquismo. Nosotros somos un gobierno de claras convicciones republicanas, antifranquistas... Esta exposición que se ha anunciado en el Born tiene ese sentido, de denunciar la impunidad del franquismo sobre todo en tiempos de democracia. Y no está contrapuesta con la defensa de otras memorias.
El año pasado como ayuntamiento una de las primeras cosas que hicimos fue, el 11 de septiembre, una conferencia que rememoraba el Saló de Cent, un salón que recuerda el Consell de Cent; una de las instituciones suprimidas precisamente como consecuencia de la Guerra de Sucesión. Y eso no impidió tampoco que el primer acto cultural que hicimos en el nuevo Born fuera una homenaje al presidente Lluís Companys.
De la misma manera que entendemos que en el Born se puede homenajear Lluís Companys, entendemos que en el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona también puede recordar la memoria de 1714: no hay memorias contrapuestas. Creemos que el Born es un espacio donde se pueden recordar todas las experiencias de destrucción por razones políticas y de resistencias ciudadanas que en realidad hermanan Catalunya con otros lugares.
¿Considera que el debate que se ha producido tenía la intención de contraponer memorias o dividir tradiciones políticas?
Se ha generado una lectura interesada pero que no es la que tiene el propio gobierno, que ha asumido la reivindicación de la memoria de 1714 como propia y asume también la memoria del 1939, y la denuncia de lo que ha significado esta destrucción también como propia, y considera que no son memorias contrapuestas y que ambas se deben reivindicar. Después de la tormenta inicial hemos visto como historiadores de diferentes tradiciones políticas como Josep Fontana o Joan B. Culla han salido a defender la pertinencia desde el punto de vista memorial de este tipo de actuación, que yo de verdad considero que cuando se haga será exitosa.
Tengo un hijo de 14 años que va al instituto y ya le han explicado quién fue Mussolini, quién fue Hitler, pero aún no le han contado quién fue Franco. Lo que en ningún caso es de recibo es que se pueda sugerir que una exhibición como la que se está planteando pueda ser entendida como un acto de apología. Al contrario, por su nombre, por el contenido de la exposición, es claramente una iniciativa para denunciar lo que ha significado el franquismo y también para recuperar las resistencias que el franquismo generó y que tan importante es recordarlas hoy.
¿Qué papel tiene actualmente BComú en el proceso abierto en Catalunya?
Hay abierto un debate interesante. Pertenecemos a una fuerza política soberanista que defiende el derecho de los ciudadanos a decidir sin pedir permiso, una de las vías en las que confiábamos era el referéndum con un nuevo gobierno. No se ha producido, por lo que nos obliga a buscar otras vías de presión, seguramente no acordadas. Necesitamos aliados que ensanchen la fuerza social. Creo que en Catalunya hay condiciones para que mucha gente que se siente soberanista, independentista o no, pueda reunir fuerzas para deslegitimar las resistencias autoritarias y neocentralistas.
Las alianzas deben pasar por un referéndum unilateral, ¿o no necesariamente?
Aquí en Catalunya esta es una iniciativa legítima ante una situación de bloqueo. La soberanía se debe conquistar y no podemos esperar de manera indefinida. Yo dudo que sea eficaz porque dudo que interpele a una parte importante de las clases populares catalanas que quieren asumir la idea del soberanismo pero que no se consideran independentistas. Está formulada de manera poco clara. Es poco inclusiva. Debemos conseguir soberanías, en plural.
¿El 11S veremos a BComú en la Diada?
Veremos, como el año pasado, miembros del gobierno, simpatizantes o militantes de BComú o En Comú en la calle. Personalmente, he asistido. Incluso a las manifestaciones convocadas por Òmnium o la ANC. Y volveré a estar allí. No porque comparta la hoja de ruta del gobierno. Pero merece la pena sumarse a cualquier espacio que se genere en la calle contra el bloqueo del PP. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Early last year, an inspiring video featuring an 87-year old grandma showing off her Animal Crossing: New Leaf town with over 3,500 hours of gameplay time went viral across the internet.
A little over a year later, the one and only grandmother Audie has returned in a new video uploaded today showing off her unboxing and opening a brand new Animal Crossing: New Horizons Special Edition Switch for the first time! The Animal Crossing wrapping paper is a nice touch too.
Before opening up the system though, she takes the time to answer some question about how she first started playing New Leaf on her Nintendo 3DS, what she enjoys most about Animal Crossing, and learns about the new villager potentially named after her.
Once Audie opens up the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Switch, her grandson Paul walks her through starting up the game for the first time and creating her new character to move onto a brand new island! Unfortunately, it’s too early yet to say whether she’ll find herself as a villager on her island.
Watch the full video featuring Audie and Animal Crossing: New Horizons yourself below:
What’s extra sweet about this unboxing though is that the Nintendo Switch was a group effort by a number of fans who contributed to a GoFundMe held earlier in the year to help purchase Audie the Special Edition Animal Crossing system.
And in case you didn’t already know, it’s been heavily speculated that the new villager Audie in Animal Crossing: New Horizons might be named after her! We can’t say for sure of course, but it’s quite likely given it’s a perfect match to the grandma’s Mayor name and how popular the original video was.
We’re so glad to see that Paul, Audie, and all of the fans who contributed to the GoFundMe were able to make this happen together giving us another wholesome video to enjoy!
For more on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, check out our many helpful pages on the game in the work-in-progress Guides section here. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Skiers at the Arizona Snowbowl resort don’t seem to mind the fake snow, generated from reclaimed sewage. Tom Marcinko
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — For 10 years, a coalition of Native American groups and environmental activists in this Western mountain community has tried to stop a ski resort from spraying artificial snow — made from wastewater — on land that 13 tribes consider sacred. Until now, it’s lost every one of five major legal actions against the U.S. Forest Service, which first approved the sale of wastewater to the Arizona Snowbowl resort in 2004. Since the winter of 2012, the privately owned Snowbowl has prospered through the cold but dry winter season with the frozen flakes, manufactured by snow-making machines on the San Francisco Peaks, 11,500 feet above sea level. The cultural argument — as one activist put it, “What part of ‘sacred’ don’t you understand?” — has failed in the legal arena. Now the Hopi tribe is trying to stop the faux snow with arguments that could carry more weight outside Native American culture. Tribal officials are arguing that the snow is bad for the environment and for people too. Last month the Arizona Supreme Court greenlit a Hopi lawsuit against Flagstaff, which so far this season has sold to Snowbowl about 134 acre-feet, or about 44 million gallons, for $77,645. The contract allows for a total of 552 acre-feet, or about 180 million gallons, to be moved through a 15-mile pipeline that Snowbowl built through the forest in 2011. The case is a potential landmark decision on balancing modern land use with traditional beliefs, said Brennan R. Lagasse, who wrote his master’s thesis on the Snowbowl controversy and now teaches a course on sustainability at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nev. “These are the kinds of issues we need to figure out,” Lagasse said. The land in question is not on the Hopi or any other reservation, but is part of the Coconino National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service has allowed the area to be used for skiing since the 1930s, but the Hopi and a dozen other tribes consider the land part of their religious heritage. The Hopi date their settlement of the land back to the year 1150, and note the USFS has designated the land as Traditional Cultural Property. Michael Goodstein, the tribe’s lawyer, based in Washington, D.C., said his client is going ahead with the litigation, though he’s not sure when it will come to trial.
Yellow snow?
The Hopi face an uphill fight. Skiing and snowboarding are big business in Flagstaff. So even before the snow blowers started to blast, Snowbowl foes took aim at public opinion, relying heavily on a yuck factor. “Arizona Snowbowl starts making fake snow from treated sewage ... and it’s yellow,” read one activist press release. It made national headlines too. Snowbowl general manager J.R. Murray sighs when the subject comes up. When the blowers went online in 2012, he said, there was some discoloration, but it came from rust inside the pipes. “It’s a nonstory,” he said.
Signs posted around the resort warn skiers. Tom Marcinko The fake flakes passed inspection by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in December. The agency did demand more signs to warn against letting the icy crystals pass your lips. The purple “Do not drink” signs, which tout the use of recycled water as a conservation measure, are easy to spot. On a Jan. 30 visit, the snow looked nothing but white, from both the bottom of the ski-lift slope and the top of the beginner’s slope. The slopes, bar and restaurant were busy with skiers and snowboarders. The resort opened for the season the day after Thanksgiving and counted 41,000 visitors for the holiday season alone. “We’ve done quite well this year so far,” Murray said. Without the snow blowers, “we would still be closed.” A white-haired Iowa couple at Snowbowl said they’d heard about the snow-making controversy but were unfazed. “He’s happy” he got to ski a hill steeper than any in Iowa, Cheryl said of her husband, Jay. He said the man-made stuff seems more slippery than the real thing. But he didn’t notice any strange colors. Employees at the resort were thankful for the fake snow, noting closures in previous years when Mother Nature’s snow was a no-show. One employee at the resort-owned hotel on US 180-W, at the bottom of the winding mountain road that leads to the resort, sounded cynical about tribal claims that hinted at the tension between the two sides. “They wouldn’t object if it was a sacred casino,” he said, referring to several Native American–owned gambling spots in Arizona.
Man-made controversy
Snowbowl supporters are quick to point out that it’s not unusual for cities to use recycled wastewater to irrigate golf courses and public parks, especially in the parched Southwest. Other ski resorts use it, too. Some communities have gone further. In Orange County, Calif., for example, the drinking water comes from wastewater, recycled to potable levels of cleanliness. But Snowbowl is the world’s first ski facility to use 100 percent reclaimed sewage to make its snow. Nobody claims it’s 100 percent clean, though. Labeled “class A+,” the cleanest wastewater going, it’s supposed to be free of fecal coliform bacteria — in four of seven daily samples. If a skier or boarder takes a spill and accidentally gets a mouthful of manufactured snow, it could be a concern. Flagstaff officials won’t discuss a lawsuit in progress, though spokeswoman Kimberly Ott said the city hasn’t tested the snow. The resort lies outside city limits. Flagstaff is making its own artificial snow this weekend. The Dew Downtown Flagstaff Urban Ski and Snowboard Festival, Saturday and Sunday, features ski and snowboard competitions along the city’s main drag. But Flagstaff is using drinking water to make snow. City officials say they applied too late for a state wastewater permit but also admit Snowbowl has made the use of treated sewage a controversial topic. Last year the city convened a panel of scientists to evaluate the wastewater it was selling to Snowbowl. “No data at the present time suggest that the continued use of reclaimed water poses an undue risk to human health,” the experts concluded. But they also recommended testing new water-cleaning technologies and raised questions about substances that include the antibiotic triclosan, the insect repellent DEET, caffeine and antibiotic-resistant genes. The Hopi legal complaint, from 2011 and recently given new life, also suggests possible dangers to wildlife. Environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, also worry about windblown snow harming a yellow-flowering local plant, the groundsel or ragwort, which is listed as an endangered species.
High and dry
While the blizzard-bearing polar vortex pummeled much of the nation, it left the Southwest untouched. Flagstaff is one of a handful of U.S. cities, particularly in the West, that are wishing for a touch of vortex. Where Route 66 curves away from City Hall, a sign flashes, “Think snow.” At 7,000 feet above sea level, Flagstaff gets cold enough for snow. But it’s a dry cold. So far, winter has brought only two significant snowfalls. The area almost hit a record of 40 dry days, broken by a few stray drops on Day 39, Jan. 30. This tourism-dependent city has recently weathered some close calls. Last year’s federal government shutdown drove tourists from local national parks, including the Grand Canyon. The southward move to Phoenix of a popular attraction — training camp for the Arizona Cardinals — worried bar owners and restaurateurs. To the surprise of many, those setbacks didn’t hurt the local economy. But merchants are happy to see — and sell — skis and snowboards.
‘Think snow’ | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Vattenfall, Preem eye large-scale hydrogen production with no fossil fuels
May 6 (Renewables Now) - Swedish utility Vattenfall AB and domestic refiner Preem have inked a cooperation pact to jointly produce fossil-fuel hydrogen that can be used on a large scale in the biofuel, electrification and electricity supply industries.
The three-year agreement was announced by Vattenfall on Monday. Under its terms, the partners will start with a project for fossil-free hydrogen production through water electrolysis at Preem’s Hisingen island refinery, outside Gothenburg city. Their goal will be to set up what will be Europe’s largest water electrolysis plant for the refinery sector. The facility will have a capacity of 20 MW.
“The partnership with Vattenfall allows us to produce fossil-free hydrogen using electrolysis, which will increase the renewability of our fuels by a few more percent,” said Preem's CEO, Petter Holland, adding that supplies of fossil-free hydrogen are low. Currently, hydrogen is widely produced from fossil-fuel sources, mainly natural gas.
Preem has set a goal of producing 3 million cubic metres of renewable fuels by 2030, which, together with direct electrification, are seen to account for most of the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in Sweden's transport sector. According to the press release, the company has identified several “strategic investment opportunities” that will help it to become less reliant on fossil fuels. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
It is Friday afternoon, and a scrum of 20 camera operators and journalists are fighting for position to interview the NSW minister for social housing, Pru Goward, who is in Sydney’s Martin Place for a press conference and photo-op with her staff. Goward had earlier traded barbs with Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, over who was responsible for removing the tents that many homeless people had set up in the centre of the city. Interest in the story was high.
Bands of journalists are stalking the area and picking off residents for interviews in front of passing office workers and onlookers. Meanwhile, a dozen NSW Department of Family and Community Services staff members in red beanies are roaming between the tents and signing up people for housing, giving the impression of blood cells drawn to a wound. When one of them joins a client at the entrance of her tent, the media pack descends, crowding in with cameras and microphones as she tries to unzip the door. The public servants, notoriously media-averse, whisper to one another and nervously look around before gently guiding their client away from the scene. Then, apropos of almost nothing, Senator Sam Dastyari appears, gives a brief head nod to three bemused journos and starts filming a social media video before promptly leaving. Back near the Housing NSW tables, Goward is confronted by the so-called Mayor of Martin Place, Lanz Priestley, for an impromptu public debate. Five or six camera operators, sensing a fight, rush back from the tents to join the rest of the pack.
Troy, 18, the youngest in the camp, stands in the middle of the square with his arms crossed, watching from a safe distance.
“A circle of cameras here, just on her,” he says. “And only just because she’s, like, the governor? What are the people of Australia gonna say when they see these people back on the streets in a week’s time?”
The people of Australia had plenty to see and say during the week or so that the tent city spent in the national spotlight early last month. Sixty homeless people sleeping in 40 tents pitched in the shadow of the Reserve Bank of Australia building, near the construction site for the 33-storey, $300 million flagship development for two of Sydney’s biggest property developers, and just a few blocks from Parliament House, was always going to draw attention.
The group had actually been in Martin Place since December, when they occupied just a small kitchen and some mattresses beneath the walkway of the construction site. This iteration lasted until June, when they were evicted by the City of Sydney with a letter declaring them a “public nuisance” and council staff loaded their gear into trucks parked beneath a banner advertising the upcoming CEO Sleepout. Days later, a new hoarding was installed to close off the area, complete with an artist’s depiction of the future skyscraper.
In many ways, the eviction was a blessing for the tent city residents: the new hoarding, painted in black, gave them a large chalkboard to work with and, more importantly, pushed them into a position of prominence in the square.
Priestley, 72, is an activist with considerable experience, opposing fracking and apartheid, organising squats in London and Brazil, and participating in Occupy Sydney. He understands the symbolism of Martin Place, and constantly refers back to the bigger picture of homelessness, of which there is plenty to discuss. To cite a few statistics: Homelessness NSW says the tent city community comprises just 0.2% of the 28,000 people experiencing homelessness in the state. At least 400 people now sleep rough in the City of Sydney area, and many of these people, along with 60,000 others, are on the ten-year waiting list for public housing. Meanwhile, crisis accommodation is at 90% capacity and affordable private rentals for people on low incomes are effectively zero. Whenever someone leaves the camp, they are immediately replaced – Priestley says at least 800 people passed through the tents within six months.
Priestley is clearly the tent city’s chief decision-maker. He tells me that the camp is entirely crowdfunded and backed by a mysterious support group of lawyers, donors and volunteers, as well as someone handling media alerts out of Monkey Mia in remote Western Australia. Priestley is affable, engaging, and able to deliver long, expletive-filled monologues about the cause and his role in it, as well as the “poverty industry” and the “zero-problem solution” to homelessness.
“This actually needs to be dealt with nationally,” he says during a typical stump speech.
As the face of the tent city, Priestley has seen his past become public record. It’s reported that he is a father of 12 children (“from ages 47 to zero”, he tells me), with the youngest born to his 20-year-old partner, Nina Wilson, who at one stage was also sleeping at the camp. The Daily Telegraph prints his photo on the front page with the headline ‘Welcome to our night mayor’. The Australian details his “long criminal history” in Australia and New Zealand, as well as his supposed links to an “anti-medicine cult”. Official records obtained by the paper reveal that Priestley – real name Rutene Lanceforde Priestly – is only 59 years old. He denies this is true.
Beneath Priestley is a leadership group, of sorts: Nigel, who is ostensibly the second-in-command; Rewi, who occasionally fronts the media; and a few others. There are the camp chefs, Danny and Rosie, and a long-haired security guard with titanium knees and black belts in several martial arts who is described by Blake, the independent filmmaker documenting the tent city, as “basically like a homeless Jean-Claude Van Damme”. And then there are the residents, who all have stories to share about the realities of homelessness. Some only come out of their tents at night, once the daily traffic has subsided, while others are more active in communal life and seem to make at least tentative gains from the place.
Troy, for example, is a smart and overconfident kid with a previous ice addiction, no formal education and six months spent on the street. He also has a baby on the way, and appears to be learning to carry that weight – doing odd jobs around the camp, speaking up during group meetings, and helping people set up tents or get established when they first arrive. Like many in the tent city, he is sceptical about applying for temporary accommodation, knowing from bitter experience that it can be an intensive process that often leads nowhere.
“This place has got more people off the street than [the council] and the [state] government combined,” Troy says. “The sooner people understand that, the better.”
In one sense, this speaks to the tent city’s effectiveness as a political movement. Despite having a ten-year waiting list, the NSW Department of Family and Community Services says it permanently housed 88 people from the tent city and visited Martin Place 49 times since March 2017. For comparison, it visited the rest of the Sydney district 70 times during the same period. But another view, spread by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and repeated in sections of the media, is that the camp is merely a distraction from the “genuine homeless”. One can either be a rough sleeper or a protester, apparently, but not both. “We do feel for the genuinely homeless, but if they’re just trying to get on TV, then, we don’t,” Channel Seven presenter Sam Armytage said while concluding a panel discussion about the camp on Sunrise.
The tent city’s week in the spotlight prompted a power struggle between the City of Sydney led by Clover Moore (who used the camp as a bargaining chip during negotiations with the state government) and Premier Berejiklian (who set the tone early when she said the homeless made her “completely uncomfortable”).
After several days of bickering between the two levels of government, Moore announced outside Town Hall that she had struck a deal with Priestley: the camp would move voluntarily into a temporary “safe space” while the City of Sydney looked for a permanent solution. It appeared, for a brief moment, that the situation might have an amicable end. What the media wasn’t told was that this deal had only been finalised a few minutes prior to the press conference, which was why Moore seemed hazy on some of the details and Priestley unexpectedly appeared at the bottom of the steps. Caught off-guard and surrounded by a media pack, he contradicted Moore by insisting the safe space included sleeping facilities, and that he “would spend months, if necessary” pushing for a better outcome. It was a profound miscalculation. Priestley’s statement added to the sense of chaos, effectively torpedoing the narrative of compromise with the City of Sydney, and providing an opportunity for the Berejiklian government to forcefully intervene. Within 48 hours, the state government had rushed new laws through parliament, giving it the power to evict the tent city residents from Martin Place.
Shortly after meeting with the City of Sydney, Priestley returned to the camp to explain, for the first time, the details of the agreement to the residents. Although he insisted the tents would stay, the news bulletins told a different story. The mood among the tent city residents quickly frayed. People paced around the camp, confused and agitated.
“Why doesn’t someone tell us the fucking truth?” demanded Peter, who had only just returned from one night in temporary accommodation.
After a short group meeting, word spread that Moore would be coming down to sign the agreement in person. Two of her staffers arrived at 9 pm with the document, accompanied by TV crews. What the cameras didn’t capture, because they were pointing the other way, was 200 food-stressed people, including most of the tent city residents, lining up beside the food vans serving that night’s meal in the square below. While the residents were preoccupied, a farce of “community consultation” was taking place above them.
Priestley read out the document for the benefit of the cameras.
“Is that OK with everyone here?” he asked, waving the page around in the air.
After an interminable silence, two of the handful of tent city residents present yelled “yeah”, and Priestley snapped to attention. “OK, I’m signing it!”
A few days later the tents finally came down amid another media frenzy, with Priestley fronting the cameras for one final verbal blast.
“[The NSW government] decided the option they should use was to implement, with haste, some of the most draconian laws this state has ever seen.”
With the kitchen being dismantled around him, Troy announced that he had found a permanent place, an apartment with enough room for his wife and baby.
Troy held up the keys for everyone to see and said he had already had his first night indoors.
“It’s weird being in four walls, bro, having a door and a place where you sleep.”
Many other residents were not so lucky, instead returning to the disconcerting cycle of moving between couches, the street and an occasional night in government-funded temporary accommodation. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
JNzinga said... (original post) Forget all that. These kids kill me. Its only one QB. If you're not ready youre not ready. Stay and compete. One thing about football, at practice everyone knows whos really better, trust me. So compete. What if N'Kosi beats him out rightfully in the spring??? Then what, he's still going to leave?
Only one QB??? Bruh, we’re not getting a QB in this class, which would leave us with what 2 QBs on the roster? Damn all that ish, we need him more than you think, and the staff damn well better do the best they can to keep him throughout the offseason... only ONE QB lmao done bumped yo’head man | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The near future is very smart. It is full of smartup business solutions to everyday problems. For example, when riding your e-bicycle, you can save the planet without sweating too much. Too much effort will prevent you from healthy habits.
Meanwhile, you can stop for an e-cigarette. You can smoke … | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Dermed vinder Danmark sin EM-kvalifikationsgruppe og er klar til hovedrunden, hvor Litauen, Belgien og Tjekkiet venter. Herfra kvalificerer tre af fire nationer sig til EM-slutrunden, hvor et dansk herrelandshold aldrig før har været repræsenteret.
- Det er historisk og noget af det, vi har kæmpet for i to år. Det er en rigtig, rigtig stor ting for dansk basketball. Jeg er stolt over mine holdkammerater, sagde Iffe Lundberg til DR Sporten efter sit kampafgørende skud.
Danmark var undervejs bagud med 16 point, men fik med et stærkt kollektivt comeback ædt sig tilbage. Helt dertil, hvor Iffe Lundberg kunne gøre det, han gør hver eneste dag. Levere blafrende net bag trepointslinjen.
- Jeg ville bare gerne have, at vi fik det sidste skud, så de ikke fik en god afslutning i den anden ende. Jeg har utrolig meget selvtillid, jeg træner de her skud hver dag, så det var bare, at stole på det, sagde Iffe Lundberg.
Det er derfor, vi spiller
Hviderusserne havde som sagt danskerne helt nede i sækken. Midtvejs i anden periode bragte de sig foran 25-9, men danskerne slog aldrig op i banen og kæmpede med alle ressourcer på hjemmebanen i Ballerup.
- For at være ærlig, kan jeg ikke huske særlig meget af afslutningen. Jeg prøvede bare på ikke at få krampe, sagde Kevin Larsen.
- Det er stort for Danmark. Lige nu er jeg rigtig træt, og jeg skal måske hjem og have en kold drink. Og så kan jeg tænke videre på det, men det er stort for dansk basketball, sagde Larsen.
Den neglebidende afslutning gjorde, at man nåede hele turen rundt i den emotionelle rutchebane, fortalte Jonathan Gilling.
- Det var vanvittigt. Det var helt fantastisk. Man var gennem hele følelsesregistret. Vi var nede og tænkte 'åh nej, hvad gør vi galt'. Så kom vi tilbage, satte en tre’er, jamen det er det fedeste. Det er derfor, vi spiller, sagde Gilling, som ikke var i tvivl, da Iffe Lundberg lagde an til at afgøre kampen.
- Den sidder der. Den sidder der. Det var det eneste, jeg tænkte. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
words and pictures by Jeff Olsen, video by Addison Zawada
Can you think of the hardest three minutes of your entire life? Childbirth, Ironman, and a trip to Disneyland might be the most PTSD-inducing day in the books for some, but we found out that the roughly 200 seconds it takes to race up three blocks of sheer San Francisco urban cliffside was more nightmarish than a salvia trip for one of our team riders.
Red Bull's Bay Climb charges up a 1/3 mile stretch of DeHaro Street in Potrero Hill, including a block of 21% grade, so next year have your tissues ready to cry or plug a nosebleed, and you might need a barf bag too. Full disclosure / partial spoiler: out of three of our team members that participated, one raced four heats total (each time faster because of a pre-race Red Bull), another threw up after each heat, and the other one chugged a beer hand-up just before winning the minor-final main event race. At only two years strong, Bay Climb is must-see – one hell of an event, more literally for those in the arena.
This story starts at a Travelodge, where bikes must be assembled on a bed or balcony, and ends at Anchor Steam Brewery, where beer heaven dreams come true. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Zahn McClarnon is in talks to join Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson in Warner Bros.’ adaptation of the Stephen King novel “Doctor Sleep,” the sequel to the horror classic “The Shining.”
McGregor stars as the adult version of Danny Torrance, while Ferguson plays Rose the Hat. Sources say McClarnon would portray Crow Daddy, the right-hand man of Ferguson’s character.
Mike Flanagan, who helmed Netflix’s adaptation of the King novella “Gerald’s Game,” is directing. Flanagan’s producing partner, Trevor Macy, will produce along with Vertigo Entertainment’s Jon Berg.
“Doctor Sleep” begins as Torrance carries the trauma of the Overlook Hotel into adulthood. He’s become a reflection of his murderous father, with a drinking problem that dulls his pain as well as his “shining” powers. Those abilities return when he embraces sobriety and uses his gift to help those dying at a hospice. He establishes a psychic connection with a young girl who shares his extreme skills, and who is being targeted by a group with similar abilities. They’ve found that their powers grow if they inhale the “steam” that comes off others, who have the power to shine, when they’re suffering painful deaths.
McClarnon is coming off his breakout role as Akecheta, the Native American host in HBO’s “Westworld,” and has been on the radar of several execs following the season finale.
RELATED VIDEO: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The visit to Japan some twenty days after the catastrophic earthquake, horrific tsunami and resulting nuclear accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi site by French president Nicolas Sarkozy is described as having been focused on the continued sale of deadly MOX (a "dirty" mixture of Plutonium and Depleted Uranium). In the article, the claim is made that the French are now seen in Japan as "chi no shonin" or merchants of death. The false assertion that the French team arrived in Japan to show solidarity with those who had so greatly suffered is a joke. This is about a powerful nuclear industry protecting its own, and reaping profits from not only the sale of radioactive materials, but also winning extraordinarily lucrative contracts for the cleanup and disposal of the nuclear waste and what is left of the reactors at Fukushima. In other words, as in the oil industry where companies such as Halliburton make money off the building, operating and selling of materials to the oil industry, when disaster strikes, they also make billions off the cleanup. It's called a vertical monopoly. In other words, even disasters are lucrative. Just take a look at all of the funds investing on the negative outcomes of our common future if you want to see how the wealthiest are hedging their bets by betting on the worst of the worst kinds of outcomes for humanity and our planet.
This is very similar to what has been going on in the financial sector, where someone is going to find profits as a result of the swapping, debt-incentivizing economy. But these "crises" do not help the majority, they help the minority, those who pocket the profits. In this case, the "fallout" (pardon the pun) from the Fukushima catastrophe is that the French "merchants of death" will rake in profits in the billions (one estimate from a nuclear industry insider says up to half a trillion) dollars and contracts lasting decades. No wonder the French president and his team were on that plane before any other head of state. Yet they did not visit Fukushima itself as did the French Green party candidate, Eva Joly, who actually went to the area and met with people and officials directly impacted by the events. Greenpeace also went in right away to take real measurements that official agencies were either not taking, or simply not reporting.
One of the biggest problems is not simply that there is a massive cover-up related to what is really going on at Fukushima; it is that the media itself is to blame for its lack of front page coverage of what is taking place at Fukushima as the situation has become even more critical. Why? Because companies such as Japan's TEPCO filter which members of the press are allowed access to information and they filter the information itself. In the US, companies such as GE, owning media outlets such as NBC, are also in the nuclear technology services business. Bad press about nuclear is simply bad for business. President Obama has been pushing nuclear as well, along with renewables, while good old fossil fuels still reign. Why? Profits to US companies. But do we want these kinds of profits? Germany doesn't and will be off nuclear within a decade, replacing much of its energy needs with renewables such as solar power from the Sahara Desert.
Why does Fukushima still matter? Because no matter what TEPCO or the authorities have claimed, the reactors and the fuel pools are unstable. Jokingly, just as things have literally been heating up again, the thermometers have broken and thus no readings can be made. If one more sizable earthquake strikes near Fukushima Daiichi and disturbs what is left of the structures, especially the extremely precarious Reactor 4, and if the spent fuel pools holding thousands of rods catches fire, the release of deadly radioactivity into the air means cancers, death and contamination over an enormous area, not only in Japan but on the West Coast of the US, or virtually wherever the wind is blowing, as well as in the Pacific Ocean, where radioactivity has already been measured in kelp, fish and the water itself. Reactor 4 has leakage, this we know. Both Greenpeace and US authorities on the West Coast have measured the ocean and the presence in kelp. Some of the isotopes half lives are short enough that their presence is no longer as dangerous, but the reality is, a lot of radioactive destruction is going to be washing up on a West Coast beach near you in the months and years to come. Remember that Japanese ghost fishing boat off Alaska they blew up recently. Why do you think they blew it up?
So what in the hell is going on at Fukushima? Let's look at the recent facts related to the reactors and the fuel pools. One of the biggest problems is that the heating up of radioactive material, now mostly in molten blobs at the bottom of the heavily damaged structures, has not stopped and it is proving very difficult to keep the cooling process going. This results in what is called "decay heat."
Decay Heat is when the fission process has ended but heat is still being produced by disintegrating arms of radioactive waste materials and leads to the continual increase in temperature of fuel. As nuclear expert and former industry insider Arnie Gunderson writes in "Fukushima: The Crisis Is Not Over":
Radioactive byproducts produce heat.
During the normal operation of a nuclear reactor, there is an accumulation of many man-made radioactive materials such as iodine-131, cesium-137, strontium-90, plutonium-239, and many others.
These radioactive byproducts continue to produce a lot of heat, even after the reactor is shut down, because radioactivity cannot be stopped. This unstoppable heat is called "decay heat."
Heat damages fuel, releasing hydrogen and radioactive gases.
Unless the decay heat is removed as fast as it is produced, the temperature will continue to rise, eventually damaging the fuel and letting radioactive gases and vapors escape.
When you see hydrogen explosions, that means that the outside of the fuel has gone past 1000 degrees Celsius and the inside of the fuel is well over 2000 degrees Celsius. At that point the fuel gets brittle, and the zirconium coating burns, giving off hydrogen gas.
The greatest amount of concern at the moment are the spent fuel pools and the fact that Reactor 4 is nowhere close to being contained. Even if concrete were poured onto Reactors 1, 2 and 3 entombing them as was done with Chernobyl, Reactor 4 is a different, potentially extremely deadly, story. Gunderson explains:
But that means there is absolutely no containment for the nuclear fuel in that pool, unlike the molten fuel in the reactor cores of Units 1, 2 and 3, which still have a containment structure above them to limit radioactive releases directly into the air.
The entire spent fuel pool in Unit 4 is open to the sky, plainly visible from above. During the helicopter fly-overs you could look down into this blown-out shell of a building and see the fuel sitting there in the spent fuel pool.
That fuel is still producing a lot of heat, because the reactor was only shut down in November. So the temperature rise can easily damage the fuel and cause large radiation releases, as has been observed, from Unit 4.
Fuel pool fires are perhaps the biggest concern.
Brookhaven National Labs did a study in 1997 that showed that if a fuel pool went dry and caught on fire, it could cause 138,000 fatalities among the surrounding population. So it's a big concern. In fact it is probably the biggest concern at the whole Fukushima complex.
The Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) stated that the reason he told Americans in Japan to stay 50 miles away from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi complex was his fear that the Unit 4 spent fuel would catch fire and volatilize large amounts of plutonium, uranium, cesium and strontium. If the Brookhaven study is to be believed, such an event could eventually kill more than a hundred thousand people as a result.
In this interview with Democracy Now, Arnie Gunderson goes as far as to say that a further accident at Fukushima could result in a million deaths from cancer:
Tracing someone's cancer in five or ten years' time to Fukushima is, of course, difficult to prove, as it has been with Chernobyl etc. Another interesting comment Gunderson makes at the beginning of the interview is that he states that Mikhail Gorbachev asserted that the Soviet Union fell more due to the Chernobyl disaster than due to anything else going on at the time.
Just a few weeks ago, the situation had become so glaringly obvious to one former Japanese diplomat, Mitsuhei Marata, who served as Japan's ambassador to Switzerland, that he spoke out at the Public Hearing of Councilors on March 22, 2012. He strongly stated that,
...if the crippled building of reactor unit 4 -- with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground--collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6, 375fuel rods located some 50 meters from Reactor 4. In both cases, the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced.
Please read the entire report here as it is extremely important.
He also went on to write letters to the head of the UN and speak out in filmed interviews. The former Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan once wholeheartedly supported nuclear and now is doing an about face, saying he was wrong and that Japan's future depends upon leaving its dependence on nuclear behind. With all of the face-saving that Japanese officials have been doing by not calling for an independent international advisory team of engineers and nuclear experts, they have put all of us in danger. Thanks to the few officials and former high-ranking Japanese civil servants and diplomats speaking out, and the odd nuclear expert based in Japan, trickles of information are getting out. But even well-established journalists and editors for major foreign press groups are not able to report on what is actually going on at Fukushima. I have received messages thanking me for keeping Fukushima in the forefront, messages which mostly come from Japanese nuclear and press folks. Why? Because I have the freedom to write and speak out on issues which they do not feel they can communicate either because they are worried about losing their jobs, or becoming pariahs by "losing face" as citizens of Japan.
It is interesting to note that those who are speaking out are mothers, retired citizens and older people, as well as those who have nothing left to lose.
The first week in May will see the first time in many decades that Japan is actually using no nuclear power as its last running reactor is shut off for maintenance. Two reactors are readying to go back online soon but public outcry and simply fear may halt that in its tracks.
What is France doing about its nuclear reactors? After assuring the public in an interview with Le Monde earlier this year (Andre-Claude Lacoste: "Il faut un investissement massif"), they are investing "massively" to make sure backup energy supplies (diesel) are installed in case the reactors created to supply energy fail to allow for continued cooling etc. In other words, what is the point of continuing to massively subsidize the nuclear industry if it is not ever going to be cost-efficient, risks millions of loves, destroys the planet and results in catastrophes which end up costing billions?
Look at what Japan will be doing in the decades to come and how they will replace nuclear with renewable energy. That will not only save face but will save the planet in the balance. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
BT's Openreach is today releasing a service dashboard for customers in an attempt to be more transparent about its “performance issues” over areas such as missed appointments.
Chief exec of Openreach Clive Selley said in a call that missed appointments by BT were down by one-third compared with last May.
"I'm confident we will meet our target of halving that," he said.
He added: "This is one of the things needs to get better at on the service front... I think it is a real irritant to customers if we book an appointment with you and don’t show that is one of the service parameters we have fixed the team on."
Openreach wants to reduce its missed appointments to 2.5 per cent. It has not released an overall figure for no-shows. The biz completes around 170,000 per week, although not all of those require appointments.
To what extent the dashboard is just a PR damage control exercise for BT's poor track record remains to be seen.
The former state monopoly is currently in talks with Ofcom over its future governance of Openreach. While the regulator stopped short of recommending a full separation of the businesses earlier this year, it still wants a stronger Chinese wall between the entities. In its Digital Communications Review Ofcom found that Openreach still acts primarily in the interests of BT.
In its proposals, Ofcom said Openreach should be a legally separate company within BT, saying all its directors would be required to make decisions in the interests of all Openreach’s customers and that the new entity should have its own board.
According to Ofcom, Openreach's initial submission for its voluntary reform plans "didn't cut the mustard".
Asked at what stage BT is in its negotiations with Ofcom, Selley said: “We're in ongoing discussions, so we can’t go into detail. BT group has made an offer which establishes a more functionally separate Openreach with governance, which we think will meet the obligations of the Digital Communications Review.”
Selley said he could not give a timeline as to when those negotiations will conclude. However, Ofcom has said if BT cannot come up with suitable proposals it will force through changes.
He also said the former state-monopoly was in a prime position to deliver the government's promise of a 10Mbps 'universal service obligation' – something most providers have met with scepticism.
"I am very keen that we proactively that we address the final five per cent and offer speeds – I think we are uniquely placed to do it and we are actively talking to government and regulator in how we will do it."
He said BT would not be pushing for the scheme to be publicly funded.
Under the last government, BT received £530m in public funding to provide 90 per cent of homes broadband speeds of at least 24Mbps. The programme was subject to delays and heavy criticism, but BT reckons it will soon be complete. ® | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted a photo of a strawberry shortcake she made for her grandson and we have questions.
WTF is this? It’s not even 1/1024th of what a strawberry shortcake should look like:
Strawberries are in season and my grandson’s in town—that means strawberry shortcake! pic.twitter.com/sZNfWnqxmy — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 13, 2019
We want to see her recipe:
Is that what it’s supposed to look like? ? https://t.co/YKz1QfqSQz — Derick Waller (@wallerABC7) August 13, 2019
Mission accomplished?
Elizabeth: Wow, we did it. Grandson: “but grandma, it doesn’t look like… Elizabeth: I SAID WE DID IT!!! https://t.co/BBBzIIFbw5 — standupkid (@noredavis) August 13, 2019
It really does not look right. What did she do to it?
did you use all the parts of the strawberry https://t.co/YROdZkV0wh — Michael Malice (@michaelmalice) August 13, 2019
She has a plan for everything but dessert:
Your one failed plan. https://t.co/nwTQw9tPdp — Phillip Henry (@MajorPhilebrity) August 13, 2019
Even some supporters are concerned:
Ma’am please, I am trying to vote for you https://t.co/AaCxSdiqr5 — Chase Mitchell (@ChaseMit) August 13, 2019
Good advice:
Please delete — Joel Kim Booster (@ihatejoelkim) August 13, 2019
So, how would you caption it? Let us know down in the comments!
*** | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Kitchener Fire Department says smoking was the cause of the fire that left one man dead in an apartment building Wednesday morning near Grand River Hospital.
At 7:09 a.m., firefighters got a call about a fire in a unit on the third floor of an apartment building at 812 King St. West, according to interim deputy fire chief Rob Martin.
Around 20 firefighters went to the scene, where crews evacuated the third floor and several other floors due to heavy smoke and other toxins from the fire, said Martin.
(Melanie Ferrier/CBC) Crews also pulled out a service dog from the unit where the man died. Martin said the dog was found unconscious, brought out of the building with the assistance of paramedics and revived at the scene. The dog is now in the care of the Humane Society.
Kitchener Fire officials say the fire was caused by the 61-year-old man who was smoking in his apartment, and was using oxygen.
The man was the only person in the apartment, which he shared with his service dog.
"The [man] had some mobility issues," said Chief Fire Prevention Officer Tom Ruggle. "He had had a spinal cord injury a number of years ago and only had the use of one hand."
Ruggle told CBC News that the Kitchener Fire Department is not releasing the man's name yet because they haven't received confirmation from Waterloo Region police that the man's next of kin have been notified.
Smoking a leading cause of fire deaths
This is the fourth death in the last three years in Kitchener caused by smoking, said Ruggle.
"Smoking is still one of the leading causes of residential fires," he said.
Some residents have been able to return to the apartments but firefighters are still working to clear the third floor.
The fire marshal's office has been notified of the fire, he said. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
KINGSTON — This Sunday, on a frozen 22-metre stretch of Elbow Lake, north of Sydenham, a fading Austrian tradition springs to life.
Eisstock returns.
The ancient sport is making a comeback in this neck of the woods, only now it’s known by its anglicized handle, ice stock.
“It’s an interesting sport in that you don’t have to be particularly athletic to play it,” noted Karl Hammer Jr., head of the Kingston and Area Ice Stock Club. “Pretty much anyone can play it.”
Eisstock is no Johnny-come-lately pastime. A 16th-century painting by Belgian painter Pieter Brueghel depicts a game in progress. In the late 12th century, when messengers brought word to Austrian Duke Leopold V of Richard the Lionhearted’s capture, Leo the fifth was in the middle of an eisstock outing on the Danube.
The sport — it’s also known as Bavarian curling — derives its name from the implement that is thrown down the ice towards a daube, a doughnut-shaped object that sits in the middle of a three-by-six-metre rectangular house. The daube is about twice the size of a hockey puck while the stock, with its odd-looking 30-centimetre upright handle, is a thinner version of a curling stone weighing approximately 4.5 kilograms.
The stock closest to the daube scores three points with the next closest stocks scoring two points apiece. Should all four team members record points — a rare full house count of nine — tradition calls for that squad to let loose with its best yodel.
Another interpretation is distance eisstock in which competitors rear back and let ‘em fly. The stock can glide a half-kilometre or better, ideal for river play. Perhaps that’s what big Leo was playing that long-ago day on the blue Danube.
“It’s a very sociable sport,” said Hammer, whose father, Karl Sr., is one of the original enthusiasts who played during the sport’s local heyday in the late 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s. The majority of those early twice-a-week practitioners were members of the old Austrian Club on Gardiners Road, Franz Moeslinger, Russel Rines, Willi Frankle, Kurt Weissenaider, the four Prohaska boys (Bert, Bill, Ernst, the late Ferdinand), to name a few.
“Sometimes we’d even play the Magna International team,” recalled 77-year-old Bill Prohaska, referring to the giant automotive supply conglomerate founded by Austrian immigrant Frank Stronach. “And sometimes we’d beat them, too,” he added with a measure of pride, “and that team had money behind it and some good players from the old country.”
With the closing of the Austrian Club in the early 1990s, the game’s popularity waned in Kingston and indeed throughout the country.
“Even the Kitchener club membership had dropped,” explained Hammer, a 39-year-old special education teacher at Sydenham High School. “It once had a high Germanic population of immigrants, but that, too, had fallen off.”
The notion to resurrect the sport occurred to Hammer a tad more than a dozen years ago. Cleaning out his parents’ house, he discovered a couple of his pop’s old eisstocks near a few beer steins, fitting for such a leisurely pursuit.
Hammer gave the mothballed stocks a successful test run on Gould Lake. Before long he and others of Austrian descent, including fellow high school teacher Jason Wimmer and Wimmer’s dad, Gerhardt, were sliding stocks in winter and summer, the latter on asphalt or cement.
Today the local club features 40 members, and not just of Austrian descent.
“With every passing generation,” Hammer wrote on the the club’s website (www.kingstoneisstock.webs.com), “it becomes that much more important to find a way to keep the traditions and culture of one’s heritage alive.
“… the playing of ice stock is a win-win outcome in that it allows the continuation of Germanic culture into the cultural mosaic of Canada.”
Sunday’s eight-team tournament on Elbow Lake commences at 9:30 a.m. and runs through to the early afternoon. To get there, drive north of Sydenham on the Bedford Road for approximately 15 minutes, then turn on the Salmon Lake Road. As you near the site, just to be sure, open the car windows and listen for a yodel. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
DIEMEN - GroenLinks heeft vandaag gewonnen bij de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen in Diemen. De partij haalde 2397 stemmen en komt daarmee waarschijnlijk met vijf zetels in de gemeenteraad. De opkomst was ruim 50%.
De huidige (minderheids) coalitie van D66, GroenLinks en PvdA zou nu uitkomen op 12 van de 21 raadszetels.
Om 23.15 uur maakte burgemeester Erik Boog de voorlopige uitslag bekend; deze is als volgt:
2018 2014
stemmen zetels stemmen zetels
D66 (lijst 1) 1933 4 1569 3
PvdA (lijst 2) 1367 3 1508 4
VVD (lijst 3) 1597 3 1502 3
Leefbaar Diemen (lijst 4) 820 2 1232 3
GroenLinks (lijst 5) 2397 5 1022 2
Partij van de Ouderen (lijst 6) 351 0 985 2
CDA (lijst 7) 698 1 751 1
Ouderenpartij Diemen (lijst 8) 1094 2
Ons Diemen (lijst 9) 768 1
SP (doet niet mee in 2018) 1222 3
50,52% van de stemgerechtigde Diemenaren bracht een stem uit voor de nieuwe gemeenteraad. Dat is iets meer dan in 2014, toen kwam 49,16% van de stemgerechtigden naar de stembus.
De uitslag van het raadgevend referendum is nog niet bekend.
Uitslagen, reacties en meer verkiezingsnieuws leest u morgen (donderdag) in het DiemerNieuws. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Milenio Digital
Manelich Castilla Craviotto, nuevo comisionado de la Policía Federal, se desempeñó hasta este lunes como el comisario de la division de Gendarmería desde su creación a finales de octubre de 2014. Tardó siete años desde su llegada en 2009 a la corporación para alcanzar la máxima responsabilidad de la Policía Federal.
Antes de su incursión policiaca, Castilla Craviotto se dedicaba a ayudar a presos de bajos recursos que robaron para poder comer o encarcelados injustamente.
El originario de Mérida, Yucatán, es egresado de la carrera de derecho por la Universidad Latina y maestro en ciencias penales con especialización en Ciencia Jurídico Penal por el Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Penales (Inacipe).
En su vida académica, Castilla Craviotto se desempeñó como consejero académico del Inacipe, fue catedrático en la UNAM de las asignaturas "Teoría de la Culpabilidad" y "Práctica Forense de Criminología".
Durante 13 años, de 1996 a 2009, Castilla Craviotto colaboró en la Fundación Telmex y fue director del Programa de Justicia "Telmex-Reintegra", que consiste en pagar la fianza de detenidos que no tienen dinero, según la página de internet de Fundación Telmex.
"Una vez en libertad, los beneficiados pueden volver a sus hogares y estar atentos a las necesidades de sus familias, regresar a trabajar y llevar el sustento diario.
"Así, el programa contribuye a evitar la desintegración del núcleo familiar y fortalece las capacidades de personas, familias y comunidades de bajos recursos", explica esa institución de la empresa de Carlos Slim, el hombre más rico del mundo, según la revista Forbes.
Castilla Craviotto fue parte de ese programa que según la fundación, en mayo alcanzó las 100 mil fianzas.
El ahora comisario, de 40 años, fue entrenado por la alta dirección policial en la Policía Nacional de Colombia, el Buró Federal de Investigación (FBI) y la Real Policía Montada de Canadá.
Antes de ser comisario, Castilla Craviotto se desempeñaba como titular de la División de Seguridad Regional de la Policía Federal.
En 2009 se integró a la Policía Federal y ocupó los cargos de coordinador Estatal en San Luis Potosí y de la División de Seguridad Regional; enlace ante la Oficina de las Naciones Unidas para el Crimen y la Droga (UNOCD) en el proceso de evaluación de los procesos de la institución.
También fue representante de México en el taller de la Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation para prevenir y combatir el terrorismo en autobuses y terminales, celebrado en Manila, Filipinas.
Ahora está al frente de una nueva división de la Policía Federal, la cual está encargada a vigilar que el crimen organizado no se beneficie de las actividades económicas y productivas del país. Además de colaborar y estar cerca de la gente. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Norristown, Pennsylvania (CNN) Bill Cosby had potentially faced up to 30 years in prison, but he now faces a maximum of 10 years after prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to merge the three counts of his conviction into one for sentencing purposes.
Prosecutors asked a judge on Monday to sentence Cosby to five to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, saying he had shown "no remorse" for his actions.
"This is about a person who put himself in a situation of being a mentor, but we know he had other intentions just from the beginning," District Attorney Kevin Steele said. "We know that from the statements he made. What he saw in Andrea the first time he laid eyes on her. What his plan was. To get to the point they were going to get to. And that didn't involve consent."
However, Cosby's defense attorney, Joseph P. Green, asked for a sentence of house arrest, citing Cosby's advanced age and blindness.
"Mr. Cosby is not dangerous," he said. "Eighty-one-year-old blind men who are not self-sufficient are not a danger, unless perhaps to themselves."
The sentence is expected to come on Tuesday after Judge Steven T. O'Neill decides whether Cosby should be classified a "sexually violent predator." The determination would require him to register with state police and submit to sex-offender counseling and notification for life.
Cosby was convicted in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and assaulting Constand at his home in 2004, in the first high-profile celebrity criminal trial of the #MeToo era.
Judge O'Neill announced that the charges had been merged into one because they all stem from the same event. The state sentencing guidelines indicate 22 to 36 months in prison, plus or minus 12 months because of aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
Monday's hearing also featured victim impact statements from Constand, her parents and her sister. Constand, whose testimony at trial was central to the case against Cosby, spoke for just a few moments in court.
"I have testified, I have given you my victim impact statement," Constand said. "You heard me, the jury heard me and Mr. Cosby heard me. All I'm asking for is justice as the court sees fit."
Sexually violent predator status
A prosecution expert said Cosby should be labeled a "sexually violent predator" because he has a mental disorder that involves urges toward nonconsenting women.
"The behaviors are beyond their controls, so they are urged to act on it. He is likely to reoffend," Kristen Dudley, a psychologist and a member of the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, testified in state court.
Defense attorneys challenged her assessment that he would reoffend, saying that his age and blindness made it unlikely.
A state panel had advised that Cosby should be classified as a "sexually violent predator." Cosby declined to participate in the evaluation by Dudley, who said she came to her determination by reviewing trial transcripts and other reports.
O'Neill ruled Monday morning that the state's classification process is constitutional, knocking down the defense's argument that it is not. His expected ruling on Cosby's status will not impact the rest of the sentence.
Cosby's case tests #MeToo
JUST WATCHED Watch Cosby accusers react to verdict Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Watch Cosby accusers react to verdict 01:31
Cosby's conviction represented the first high-profile test of the #MeToo movement in a courtroom. The trial centered on testimony from Constand and also featured testimony from five "prior bad acts" witnesses who similarly said Cosby had drugged and assaulted them.
Several of Cosby's victims also arrived at court Monday for the sentencing, including supermodel Janice Dickinson , who testified at the trial. Cosby arrived with his spokespeople, Andrew Wyatt and Ebonee Benson.
Cosby, the groundbreaking actor and comedian, did not testify at the trial. But when prosecutors asked the judge to revoke his bail because, they claimed, he has a private plane, Cosby stood up and yelled, "He doesn't have a plane, you a**hole," referring to himself in the third-person.
Green downplayed the outburst on Monday when requesting that Cosby receive house arrest.
"Mr. Cosby's frustration got the better of him and he used a name towards Mr. Steele he shouldn't have," Green said, asking the judge to consider the context.
"When Mr. Steele's witnesses at trial made outbursts, that was excused, everybody understands, but when the defendant makes one it deserves 3 pages in a sentencing memorandum?"
Cosby has remained out of prison for the past five months on $1 million bail, and his lawyers said they plan to appeal his convictions. Cosby could also be allowed to remain out of prison until any legal appeal is resolved.
The decision is ultimately up to O'Neill , who oversaw Cosby's 2018 retrial, as well as his mistrial a year earlier that ended in a hung jury.
Constand's family speaks
Constand's mother told the court in her victim-impact statement that her family feels "vindicated."
"This battle was about justice and our family feels that we have been vindicated," Gianna Constand said. "The victims cannot be unraped, all we can do is hold the perpetrators responsible."
Andrea Constand's father, Andrew, told the court: "The thought of what happened to my daughter ... will always be with me forever like a dark cloud hanging over my head."
O'Neill last week denied prosecutors' request to present "numerous" witnesses who would testify that Cosby sexually abused them in incidents that did not result in criminal charges, court records show
Cosby also could address the court in an "allocution," Kate Delano, spokeswoman for the county prosecutor's office, said. Convicts typically use the opportunity before a sentence is handed down to ask for mercy.
Monday's sentencing came as Cosby's defense team has accused O'Neill of bias and asked him to remove himself from the case -- and to reverse an order that allowed the trial to happen in the first place
At issue was a "nasty" personal conflict involving a prior district attorney, Bruce Castor, Cosby's team argued. O'Neill last week denied the motion, calling it untimely and "wholly without merit," court records show.
Camille Cosby, Bill Cosby's wife, said in a statement that she had retained a former prosecutor to facilitate her efforts to "uncover the truth" regarding what she says is a feud between O'Neill and Castor.
Since the April verdicts, Cosby has not been permitted to leave his Pennsylvania home. If he wanted to leave the state for another home, he'd have to arrange it ahead of time and wear a GPS monitoring device, O'Neill ruled in April. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Le patron de la Sûreté du Québec, Martin Prud'homme, quittera pour l'instant ses fonctions pour devenir «l'administrateur temporaire» qui aura à redresser la barre au SPVM, a appris La Presse de sources sûres.
Un pari important, puisque traditionnellement la Sûreté du Québec et le SPVM ont été en rivalité. La proposition surprise faite ce matin au conseil des ministres par Martin Coiteux a surpris plusieurs personnes autour de la table. Les ministres Pierre Moreau, Pierre Arcand et Jean-Marc Fournier étaient passablement perplexes quant à l'opération envisagée par leur collègue de la Sécurité publique.
Un argument fort: M. Prud'homme était disponible sur le champ, une condition que n'offraient pas d'autres candidats potentiels, a expliqué le ministre Coiteux à ses pairs.
Il est convenu que M. Prud'homme retrouvera sa fonction de directeur général de la SQ après son passage au SPVM, qui se terminera le 31 décembre 2018.
Le directeur général adjoint de la SQ Yves Morency remplacera temporairement M. Prud'homme comme directeur général pendant le séjour de ce dernier au SPVM.
«Tutelle déguisée», selon l'opposition
Aux yeux du député du Parti québécois, Pascal Bérubé, le ministre Coiteux a commis une «erreur» en plaçant le chef de la SQ à la tête du plus important corps policier municipal. Selon lui, Québec aurait plutôt dû choisir un civil.
«On nous promet un ménage, on ne fait que déstabiliser pour un an la direction de la Sûreté du Québec, et Dieu sait qu'on a besoin de stabilité présentement dans le domaine de la police, a résumé M. Bérubé. C'est une tutelle déguisée.»
Le député dit n'avoir aucun reproche à faire à M. Prud'homme, qu'il appuie pleinement comme chef de la SQ. Il craint toutefois que la police provinciale est vue «par beaucoup trop de monde au SPVM comme un corps de police concurrent, voire rival».
- Avec la collaboration de Martin Croteau
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A 15-station expansion of DublinBikes focused on Grangegorman is set to get underway this summer and to be completed by the end of the year.
Here’s the a draft set of locations provided by Dublin City Council — the new stations are the blue markers:
The number of bicycle docking stations is to increase from 101 to 116, while 100 extra bikes are to be added to the total number of bicycles which stands at around 1,580.
Of the draft 15 new stations, 9 will be located around Grangegorman, where the DIT campus is partly still under construction.
If all goes will, four of the stations will be located along or just off the North Circular Road, three or four will be on Grandegorman Lower / Upper, and two will be on the city side of the Phibsborough Road.
Another four stations will add to capacity in the area between Croke Park and Connelly Station:
And two stations will add to capacity on the southside near the Grand Canal:
In 2016 users of DublinBikes took 4.3m journeys and more than 18 million journeys since the launch in September 2009.
At the start of this year the scheme had 68,000 annual subscribers and its busiest day ever was on September 16 of last year with 18,041 journeys taken.
Since February 2017 yearly membership subscriptions increased from €20 to €25 to partly pay for the expansion and also aiming to fill in an amount which was to date paid from the city council’s general budget.
Like this: Like Loading...
Related | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
There is no need to bundle up this week as Environment Canada is forecasting above seasonal temperatures and sunny conditions to wrap up the month of November.
It is a cooler start for the work week with high of 4 C, feeling closer to 0 with the wind chill. It will be a mix of sun and cloud with 30 per cent chance of flurries or rain showers Monday morning. Temperatures will dip down to -2 C in the evening.
Temperatures will climb up on Tuesday just in time for the Grey Cup celebrations in the city. It will be mainly sunny with a high of 12 C. The average for this time of the year is 4 C.
There will be a 40 per cent chance of showers Tuesday evening as we dip down to 2 C.
Sunny conditions will continue on Wednesday with a high of 7 C and a low of 1 C. Milder temperatures continue into Thursday with a high of 7 C and a low of 3 C. It will be a mix of sun and cloud with 60 per cent chance of showers in the evening.
The first day of December will bring a mix of sun and cloud with 40 per cent chance of showers. Friday will see a high of 7 C and a low of -1 C. Sunny conditions continue to the weekend with a high of 6 C on Saturday and 7 C on Sunday. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiades, currently in Brussels to attend the works of the European Summit, was rushed to the hospital this morning.
Anastasiades experienced continuous nose-bleeding due to high blood pressure. He was given a proper medical treatment. Doctors have requested that he remain in bed for the next 48 hours in order to avoid another bleeding incident.
The President will be closely monitor by doctors. He is currently in Brussels to discuss the provocative Turkish invasion of Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) at the EU Summit, scheduled to begin today in Brussels.
Turkey recently made incursions into the EEZ and the FIR of Cyprus, causing panic and frustration for the island’s government. Cypriot officials are closely monitoring developments. The Turkish acts have been deemed illegal, as they violate all international and European maritime laws and undermine security and stability in the greater region.
Anastasiades was expected to demand that all participating leaders at the Summit condemn Turkey and agree to warn Ankara of possible consequences if it continues such incursions.
Consequences might even include the “freezing” of Turkey’s EU membership plans.
The President of Cyprus was also expected to meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron on the sidelines of the Summit.
Greece is not on the official agenda of talks
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is expected to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Brussels today. He will have the opportunity to inform his European counterparts on the state of the Greek economy.
Samaras is going to reiterate that Greece is ready to exit the crisis and to dismiss the Memorandum of Understanding – not without the full support of all European Member states, however.
The Summit begins this afternoon at 6 pm (Greek time). At 2 pm the Greek Prime Minister will attend the Summit of the European People’s Party. On Friday, the “Greek issue” will be discussed in further detail during a lunch meeting between Eurozone leaders.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
This image was removed due to legal reasons.
Some of the world's largest tech companies are planning to send a letter to President Obama today, asking him to reject any proposal to weaken the security of their products so that law enforcement can better view encrypted data.
"Whether you call them 'front doors' or 'back doors', introducing intentional vulnerabilities into secure products for the government’s use will make those products less secure against other attackers," reads the letter, signed by 48 tech companies, including Apple, Facebook, Cisco Systems and Dropbox. Thirty-seven civil liberties groups, and a who's who of security experts also signed the letter, which was obtained by the Washington Post.
"Every computer security expert that has spoken publicly on this issue agrees on [the problem of side doors for law enforcement], including the government’s own experts," it says. Strong encryption, the letter claims, is the "cornerstone of the modern information economy’s security."
The philosophical battle over what the government can and can't ask of technology companies crossed into real life late last year, when Apple announced that the encryption strength of its iOS 8 mobile-operating system was so strong that it would be "technically unfeasible" to comply with government warrants for data. Only the user has the key to access the information.
“What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law,” responded FBI director James Comey. Shortly after, then-Attorney General Eric Holder echoed those concerns.
Apple has signaled that it will not back down. “If we don’t do everything we can to protect privacy, we risk more than money,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook at a government “cybersummit” earlier this year. “We risk our way of life.”
The confrontation between the opposing viewpoints came to a head late last month, when law enforcement officials tried to convince Congress that it should act to make sure investigators can access all kinds of encrypted data.
“What we’re asking for is not to lower [encryption] standards,” Amy Hess, executive assistant director of the FBI’s Science and Technology Branch, told the House Subcommittee on Information Technology. “Rather to come up with a way that we may be able to implement perhaps multiple keys or some other way to securely access that information, or rather be provided with that information.”
Technically, it is possible to give the FBI what it’s asking for, CATO scholar Julian Sanchez wrote earlier this year, but only theoretically. “The trouble, as any good information security pro will also tell you, is that real world systems are rarely as tidy as the theories, and the history of cryptography is littered with robust-looking cryptographic algorithms that proved vulnerable under extended scrutiny or were ultimately impossible to implement securely under real-world conditions,” wrote Sanchez.
The law enforcement push for a “golden key” quickly met bipartisan opposition. “The strongest encryption possible means not having a key," commented Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). On the other side of the aisle, Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who has a bachelor's in Computer Science from Stanford University, said that creating a "pathway for decryption" only for law enforcement is "technologically stupid."
In fact, despite law enforcement efforts to bypass encryption, Congress is steadily moving in the exact opposite direction. Several bills have been introduced in both chambers, which would prohibit surveillance agencies from forcing tech companies to give them a backdoor.
Still, the recent push from federal lawmakers urged today's letter from tech giants.
"We urge you to reject any proposal that U.S. companies deliberately weaken the security of their products," the letter asks of Obama, just in case.
"We request that the White House instead focus on developing policies that will promote rather than undermine the wide adoption of strong encryption technology. Such policies will in turn help to promote and protect cybersecurity, economic growth, and human rights, both here and abroad."
In a February interview with Re/Code, Obama suggested that he sees the issue as properly nuanced, but he declined to take a definitive side: "I lean probably further in the direction of strong encryption than some do inside of law enforcement. But I am sympathetic to law enforcement because I know the kind of pressure they’re under to keep us safe. And it’s not as black-and-white as it’s sometimes portrayed."
During a talk at the RSA Conference on cybersecurity in Silicon Valley last month, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson spoke about the tension between government and tech companies, as he announced the DHS would soon be opening offices in the Valley.
"Homeland security itself is a balance – a balance between the basic, physical security of the American people and the liberties and freedoms we cherish as Americans," he said.
Johnson asked the attendees from the tech industry for help in finding some kind of a medium between the two camps. Law enforcement alone can't strong-arm the solution, he argued.
"I can build you a perfectly safe city on a hill," he said. "But it will constitute a prison."
Daniel Rivero is a producer/reporter for Fusion who focuses on police and justice issues. He also skateboards, does a bunch of arts related things on his off time, and likes Cuban coffee. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The 2018-19 free agent class doesn’t look quite as exciting now as it has promised to at points in the past. Still, it’s a notable assemblage of talent. And at the top of the list of pitchers sits future Hall-of-Famer Clayton Kershaw.
Of course, that statement comes with some caveats. In particular, Kershaw will need to opt out of the remaining two years and $65MM on his deal. While that once seemed a foregone conclusion, Kershaw has not been quite his vintage self this season — or, in truth, in the campaign prior. With the backdrop of ongoing back problems, there are undeniably some cracks in the armor.
If Kershaw’s recent form has betrayed his mortality, though, it has still also illuminated his ongoing excellence and value. After all, in his 312 1/3 innings since the start of the 2017 season, he has compiled a 2.36 ERA with 9.7 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9. Even with the reduction in his velocity and swinging-strike rate on display this year, Kershaw has been among the most effective starters in baseball. And the years of unquestioned dominance that came before still represent an important background factor.
All things considered, there’s not much reason to think that Kershaw can’t beat 2/$65MM in free agency. Whether he reaches the open market could still be in question, to be sure. It’s not hard to imagine a new agreement of some kind with the Los Angeles organization coming together before Kershaw is forced to decide on the opt-out clause (or, if he does exercise it, before qualifying offer decisions are finalized). Then again, he and the team know much more about his medical situation than do the rest of us, so perhaps there’s still some possibility he’ll simply opt into the remainder of the deal.
Regardless of how it comes to pass, Kershaw will presumably end up with a more-or-less market-driven rate of pay, even if a deal comes with the Dodgers before he’s formally a free agent. After all, Kershaw’s reps at Excel Sports Management no doubt have a good idea what they think he’s worth, as does the L.A. front office.
For those of us on the outside looking in, it’s a bit more difficult to gauge. The Dodgers and others will surely be stingy, in particular, with the length of the commitment for a pitcher entering his age-31 season. But the focus here will be on the total cash posted rather than on how many seasons it’ll be spread over. Knowing what we know now, and presuming Kershaw finishes the season at his current trajectory and without any significant new injury issues, which level of total guarantee do you think he’ll sign at? | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
You merely adopted the cold. I was born in it. Molded by it.
141 shares | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
De Vlaamse regering zal dan toch niet besparen op zelfmoordpreventie, laat minister van Welzijn Wouter Beke (CD&V) aan VRT weten. Ook enkele andere besparingen op preventiediensten worden teruggedraaid.
Na de hevige kritiek op de besparing van 5.132,66 euro bij de Zelfmoordlijn, die uiteindelijk weer werd ingetrokken, draait minister Beke nu ook de besparingen bij verschillende andere organisaties terug. Zo gaan onder meer de geplande besparingen bij het Vlaams Expertisecentrum Suïcidepreventie, dat de Zelfmoordlijn beheert, niet door. Dat kan doordat er op het laatste moment nog 1,3 miljoen euro extra is gevonden door de Vlaamse regering, zei Beke.
'Die middelen die ik van de collega's heb gekregen zullen wij in 2020 gebruiken om enkele besparingen ongedaan te maken en samen te kijken hoe we in de toekomst verder op dat preventiebeleid kunnen inzetten', aldus Beke, die evenwel niet gezegd wilde hebben in Terzake dat hij op zijn beslissing terugkomt. 'We zijn tegen het eind van het jaar en dan worden de rekeningen gemaakt. Dan wordt gekeken of alles wat uitgegeven zou worden ook uitgegeven is. Als dat niet zo is, wordt gekeken of er een overschot is en hoe dan kan worden ingezet.'
De minister meldde ook dat er de volgende jaren voor tien miljoen euro aan nieuw beleid wordt uitgetekend in preventie.
GESCHRAPTE BESPARINGEN Organisatie Geschrapte besparing (eur) Vlaams Instituut gezond leven 96.564 Vlaamse Wetenschappelijke Vereniging voor Jeugdgezondheidszorg 23.100 Eetexpert 21.000 Vlaams expertisecentrum Alcohol en andere Drugs 198.551 Vlaams expertisecentrum Suïcidepreventie 54.840 Centrum voor Kankeropsporing 94.634 Free Clinic 9.100 De Sleutel 2.080 Zelfmoordlijn 5.133 Vlaams Instituut Mondgezondheid 15.463
Enkele andere organisaties die werken rond preventief gezondheidsbeleid moeten echter nog steeds inleveren. Zo zien onder andere Sensoa en het Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde vanaf 1 januari een deel van hun middelen geschrapt.
Wie vragen heeft rond zelfdoding, kan terecht op de zelfmoordlijn via het gratis nummer 1813 of op www.zelfmoord1813.be | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A police captain in the Philippines forced three LGBTQ+ people to perform a “sexy dance” in front of a minor and demanded that two of them kiss as part of a punishment for breaking lockdown orders imposed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
The incident happened Sunday night in the village of Pandacaqui, north of the capital Manila on the main island of Luzon. The three were part of a larger group police rounded up for breaching an 8 p.m. curfew.
While the rest of the group was forced to lie on the street and do push-ups, Police Captain Christopher Bombing Punzalan paid special attention to the three LGBTQ+ members of the group, according to a report in Rappler.
Punzalan not only called out the three people by name using a loudspeaker, claiming they were all out looking for prostitutes, he demanded that two of them kiss each other if they wanted to go home, and then asked all three to perform a “sexy dance.”
All of this was captured on video and live streamed on Punzalan’s Facebook page.
Two of those involved, Jessica Mallari, 22, and Shanel Salazar, 22, told Rappler that they were simply out trying to buy biscuits for their grandmother at a local store “when the captain made us do a sexy dance in front of the boy.”
The video shows a 15-year-old boy, who had also breached the curfew, being forced to watch the incident.
“They made us copy moves from TikTok, but we couldn’t do it because they were laughing at us and we were ashamed,” Mallari said. “He said if we wanted to go home, we would have to kiss. When we didn’t do it, he told us we had to do 20 push-ups.”
The video was removed, and on Tuesday Punzalan apologized for his actions. However, VICE News was able to find copies of the video on Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday morning.
This Philippines, which has a population of 105 million people, has recorded 3,870 infections and 182 deaths due to coronavirus. Duterte put the island of Luzon, home to more than 50 million, on lockdown on March 16 as part of a monthlong containment strategy. Since then, police have arrested hundreds of people for violating the lockdown rules.
The incident in Pandacaqui is just the latest in a series of human rights abuses perpetrated by officials in the Philippines as part of their efforts to police the lockdown. Previous violations include putting minors in dog cages and forcing people to sit in the harsh midday sun.
Duterte caused outrage last week when he extended the police and military’s shoot-to-kill policy, previously used on the country’s drug dealers and drug users, to those who breached curfew.
But even prior to Duterte’s orders, police in Bulacan province, north of Manila, shot a man dead after he allegedly evaded a lockdown checkpoint on a motorbike. Police said they exchanged gunfire with the man before shooting him dead and recovering a pistol at the scene.
“These abusive practices should not be swept under the rug by local authorities under the pretense of ‘implementing curfews’ and ‘just following orders,’” Butch Olano, executive director of Amnesty International Philippines, said in an emailed statement. “Acts of abuses, including torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment, must not be tolerated. Skirting the law especially during the COVID-19 pandemic only further enables the already prevalent culture of impunity in the country.”
Listen and subscribe:
|
|
or anywhere else you get your podcasts. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Kate Upton is feeling a bit like a Hillary Clinton supporter: morally outraged that her man, Detroit’s Justin Verlander, lost the Cy Young award even though he got the most first-place votes.
The damn rules, which also give some credit for second- through fifth-place votes, made Boston’s Rick Porcello the winner. You can see why Kate’s upset.
But the Clinton fans’ “moral outrage” gives me “moral ulcers” — because it’s so profoundly wrong.
To start, it’s based on an illusion: Clinton “won” an election we didn’t have: Neither side was focused on a national-popular-vote win, because both knew the rules.
And if the rules were different, the whole campaign would’ve differed, too.
Just for starters, a lot more Republicans would’ve voted in California. They had no reason to turn out when everyone knew Clinton would carry the state — and the US Senate race was between two Democrats.
It’s also just plain easier to vote in Democrat-dominated states; Oregon is entirely vote-by-mail. That runs up Dems’ national total, too.
You couldn’t move to a “fair” national-vote system without having the feds take total control of voter registration, polling hours and locations and even printing ballots. And yes, that surely strikes the “morally outraged” as an excellent idea — as long as they also get to choose all those rules.
Even then, you can’t control the weather. Suppose Sandy or Katrina struck near Election Day in a tight race: Does the whole country do a do-over vote at a later date?
Mind you, the Electoral College isn’t even remotely the most “anti-democratic” feature of our government: You could make a better case for that being the US Senate, the Supreme Court or even the states. Not to mention the Bill of Rights . . .
Heck, even the House of Representatives — the most “popular” part of the federal setup — is anti-democratic in key ways: The party that wins the most votes in House races nationwide often winds up scoring the minority of actual house seats.
The thing is, every one of these features is vital to securing our great democracy, which is actually, in the famous 1787 words of Benjamin Franklin, “a Republic — if you can keep it.”
And the whole anti-democratic package is what has allowed us to keep it these 200-plus years.
Let’s go back to “republic”: Democracy is all about majority rule; the word actually means “rule of the people.” A republic is about the self-rule of a nation of free people.
The two words yield a lot of insight into the different thinking of Democrats and Republicans — why, one side loves early voting, vote-by-mail and such schemes, for example, while the other is more eager to honor the profound ritual of going out and casting the ballot on Election Day.
This is much of why the “moral outrage” crowd outrages me: Because they generally don’t even recognize the existence of a different way of thinking, let alone understand it.
Or, God forbid, grant it a shred of legitimacy — even though it’s the actual basis of our entire system.
Look: The Founders were deeply worried about the perils of democracy — its historic instability, its record of oppressing the minority and other potential disasters.
It’s not right to let the majority have its way on everything: Hence the Bill of Rights protections for free speech, a free press and so on.
And full-on democracy — every citizen voting on every law, for example — just doesn’t work at large scale, or last long even on a small level. So we elect representatives to do the law-making, and break the country into states so that local decisions largely get made by locals.
More, the Founders focused on creating a republic that would be stable (not static) and strong: They’d actually gathered for the Constitutional Convention because the government set up after the Revolution was neither.
Yet not too strong: Small states didn’t want larger ones to call all the shots, so we got the Senate (where New York is equal to New Hampshire, etc.) to even the playing field.
And the Electoral College protects a similar value — pushing candidates to fight it out state by state, rather than relying on what today would be some godawful national advertising war. (One that, incidentally, would make money even more central to our politics.)
But here’s the biggest thing for the “morally outraged” to ponder: The whole system is set up to ensure that no single election decides all that much — particularly a “fluke” election like the one we’ve just had.
Trump didn’t win a revolution: He won the chance to try to shift the country. He can (eventually) undo a lot of President Obama’s “pen and phone” ploys, but passing anything drastic could leave him fighting Democrats and Republicans.
March and protest to express your outrage if you must — but thank the Founders for guaranteeing that, once you’re ready to do something about it, you can. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A recent trip to Keney Park showed it looking as lovely as ever.
Illegal dumping is an ongoing issue, but it was less prevalent than in the past. In its place, graffiti has been appearing on the trees. We usually come out in favor of graffiti, and that’s because it’s usually on surfaces like utility boxes or highway underpasses. Those surfaces start out dull and ugly. Why you gotta go paint on a living creature, though? Trees are already great; move the “inspirational” painting sessions elsewhere. It’s not like Hartford suddenly has an absence of concrete walls. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Craigslist
As long as people have been selling cars, they’ve also been knowing what they have. This isn’t just an internet-age problem, either. Sellers know more than you, and have done for a very long time. If you’re going to low-ball them, don’t even bother calling, because their ratty and rusty old Jeep is VERY RARE.
If you’ve been looking to get connected with a seller who seriously knows what they have, then you should definitely be following the automated twitter account @IKnowWhatIHave1. Like this seller with a ran-when-parked 1960 International cargo van. This seller definitely knows that they have a 1973 El Camino with a busted transmission. This ad for a crashed and rusty Monte Carlo with no title? Oh, they definitely know what they have.
While Twitter could certainly do with fewer bots, this is the kind of mindless entertainment the platform was invented for. While the algorithm picks up on any nationwide ad with those infamous words in that order, not all of the listings are for cars, of course, so you’ll have to do a bit of wading through to find the four-wheeled goodness. It’s worth it for a good laugh. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
“AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics” faster than GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
Something interesting has just shown up in OpenVR benchmark results database. The leaderboard access is limited, as it requires a separate purchase. However, “muchcharles” (a member of AMD Sub-reddit) discovered a new entry in the database.
The OPN code of the CPU corresponds to Ryzen 7 4800H, but the clock speeds are not the same. This might be a variant of 4800H running at different TDP, or an early engineering sample (4800H has a boost clock of 4.2 GHz).
The bigger question appears when we are trying to figure out what the GPU in this test really is. It could be an unreleased graphics in an external GPU enclosure, a Radeon running in CrossFire, or the Big Navi.
We simply don’t know yet, but this is an interesting find for sure.
Source: muchcharles @ Reddit | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Five years after the Wall Street coup of 2008, it appears the U.S. House of Representatives is as bought and paid for as ever. We heard about the Citigroup crafted legislation currently being pushed through Congress back in May when Mother Jones reported on it. Fortunately, they included the following image in their article:
Unsurprisingly, the main backer of the bill is notorious Wall Street lackey Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a former Goldman Sachs employee who has discovered lobbyist payoffs can be just as lucrative as a career in financial services. The last time Mr. Himes made an appearance on these pages was in March 2013 in my piece: Congress Moves to DEREGULATE Wall Street.
More from the New York Times:
The House is scheduled to vote on two bills this week that would undercut new financial regulations and hand Wall Street a victory. The legislation has garnered broad bipartisan support in the House, even after lawmakers learned that Citigroup lobbyists helped write one of the bills, which would exempt a wide array of derivatives trading from new regulation.
Remember what George Carlin observed:
“Bipartisan usually means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.”
The bills are part of a broader campaign in the House, among Republicans and business-friendly Democrats, to roll back elements of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the most comprehensive regulatory overhaul since the Depression. Of 10 recent bills that alter Dodd-Frank or other financial regulation, six have passed the House this year. This week, if the House approves Citigroup’s legislation and another bill that would delay heightened standards for firms that offer investment advice to retirees, the tally would rise to eight. But simply voting on the bills generates benefits for both House lawmakers and Wall Street lobbyists, critics say. For lawmakers, it comes in the form of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. The banks, meanwhile, welcome the bills as a warning to regulatory agencies that they should tread carefully when drawing up new rules. “The House is the odd man out in terms of doing Wall Street’s bidding,” said Marcus Stanley, policy director of Americans for Financial Reform, a nonprofit group critical of the financial industry. “They’re letting Wall Street write the law to its own benefit in ways that harm the public.” Wall Street’s support from the House extends beyond favorable votes. When bank executives are called to testify before Congress, industry lobbyists distribute proposed questions to lawmakers and their staff, seeking to exert some control over the debate, according to emails written by staff members on the House Financial Services Committee that were reviewed by The Times. The legislation, Mr. Himes said in an interview, poses no financial risk to the country. And while he is the second-largest recipient among House Democrats of financial sector donations, that is not what is compelling his vote, he said. Of course not. What are you a conspiracy theorist? “It hardly determines, thank goodness, how legislators think about these issues,” said Mr. Himes, a former Goldman Sachs executive. “After inflicting so much pain and suffering on the American people, now is not the time to let the largest banks back into the casino,” Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement. Sorry ma’m you’re just a little late. Some House bills have the explicit purpose of delaying new regulation. One bill scheduled for a vote this week could temporarily restrain the Labor Department from imposing a new rule requiring some financial advisers to take on a fiduciary duty to clients when providing retirement investment advice. Such a duty would demand that the advisers act in the best interest of the client. The bill that Citigroup helped draft takes aim at one of the more contentious provisions in Dodd Frank, a requirement that banks “push out” some derivatives trading into separate units that are not backed by the government’s insurance fund. The goal was to isolate this risky trading and to prevent government bailouts. How contentious! This is America after all. Full article here. In Liberty,
Mike Follow me on Twitter!
Donate bitcoins: Like this post?Donate bitcoins: 3J7D9dqSMo9HnxVeyHou7HJQGihamjYQMN
Follow me on Twitter. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
An Israeli source on Monday denied a report that the Israeli army struck missile batteries belonging to Hezbollah and the Syrian army near the Syria-Lebanon border. A report by Al Jazeera said late on Sunday that the attack resulted in several casualties.
The Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit would not confirm or deny the allegation, saying they do not comment on foreign reports. This is the third attack in Syria in the past three days that has been attributed to Israel. But unlike the two other strikes, it seems that this report is less credible.
A source in the Israeli defense establishment denied the report. The attack attributed to Israel, he said, was part of the fighting between Nusra Front, Hezbollah and Assad's army in the Qalamoun region. Israel has no interest in getting involved in the conflict between the sides, he said.
Factions in the Syrian opposition said on social media that they have four units stationed in the Qalamoun region, and claimed that they were responsible for the attack on the Syrian missile base. The opposition units fired some 30 Grad rockets at the base, they said.
The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is considered close to Hezbollah, on Monday reported that Hezbollah has been preparing for an escalation in the Syrian front as the weather improves. Until now, the cold winter and heavy snow has limited the combat capabilities of both sides.
The report of the overnight strike came hours after an Israeli Air Force aircraft struck a militant cell that was trying to place an explosive device on Israel's border with Syria.
At around 9:30 P.M. Israeli troops watching the border noticed four figures approaching the fence between Israel and Syria and placing the bomb. The cell was on the eastern side of the fence, but in effect was on Israeli territory.
The IAF aircraft then struck the cell, killing three of the militants, according to the IDF. In all likelihood the fourth militant was also hit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to the event that "any attempt to harm our soldiers or our citizens will be met with a decisive response like tonight's IDF operation that prevented a terror attack. I commend the vigilant IDF soldiers that acted quickly and accurately."
This video, posted to social media by opposition forces over the weekend, claims to show the military base after it was attacked:
The reported airstrike is Israel's second strike on Hezbollah targets in Qalamoun in three days. Israeli Air Force reportedly attacked Syrian army bases where Hezbollah stored long-range missiles late Friday night.
The airstrikes reportedly targeted the bases of the 155th and 65th strategic missile brigades, stationed in Qalamoun, near the Syria-Lebanon border. Residents of nearby cities Yabroud and Qarah reported hearing explosions.
According to an Al Arabiya report, Friday night's strikes were preceded by another attack on Wednesday, targeting a Hezbollah convoy carrying weapons. According to the report, at least one person was killed in that attack.
Last month, in wake of the Lausanne talks concerning Iran's nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "we [in Israel] are not closing our eyes, and we will continue to act against any threat." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Any proper town in Latin America has a church facing a plaza — except the towns of the Sierra Norte region of Mexico, where Jorge Santiago is from.
“In my part of the Sierra, the basketball courts are like the zócalo in the colonial city,” Mr. Santiago said, using a Mexican word for “plaza.” “It’s really the most important part of the town. A respectable town has a church, and a basketball court in front of the church.”
Call it the postcolonial era — for the last 80 years, the people who live in this mountainous part of Mexico, in the state of Oaxaca, have been crazy about basketball. Introduced to the region by a president who wanted to unite, or perhaps distract, the various indigenous groups, the sport has taken root and become more popular than soccer. It occupies a physical place of honor, with the courts built on the few flat stretches of any town.
Jorge Santiago
“Basketball was really important to me,” Mr. Santiago said of his childhood in Guelatao de Juárez. “There was nothing to do. The only place to get some satisfaction was on the basketball court. I really believe it was one of the only things that offered an opportunity for the people of the Sierra to be different from the rest of Mexico.”
Just how different is evident in “Identity at Play.” The series explores basketball and the attendant rituals that have come to surround hoop culture in the Sierra, where basketball tournaments are intertwined with local customs and celebrations. As unlikely as it might sound, the sport has helped foster a sense of community.
Not that Mr. Santiago knew that growing up. In his town, there were 300 people and two television stations, one of which carried N.B.A. games. He left to study business in Mexico City, but returned to Oaxaca after graduation. He had already begun taking photographs, thanks to a workshop he had participated in as a teenager.
At first, Mr. Santiago was interested in documenting migration. While researching that topic, he came across “True Tales From Another Mexico” by Sam Quinones, which had a story about an Oaxaca native who started a “basketball movement” in Los Angeles.
“That’s when I realized how important basketball is when you don’t have it,” he said.
Jorge Santiago
When he first started taking pictures, he concentrated too much on the sport itself. It was not until he moved to Pittsburgh, where his wife was studying, that he realized he needed to place the sport in the region’s cultural context.
“People will sacrifice the flattest space in a town to build a basketball court,” he said. “Then they end up using it just like a plaza, like a social place. It’s not only the space where sport happens. There are weddings there. All the dances take place on the court. There are political meetings there.”
Tournaments are held in dozens of villages, timed to the feast days of the town’s patron saint. That adds yet another dimension to the sport’s significance, with political and religious beliefs coming together.
“There is one photo where they are sacrificing a bull at the same time they are cutting the ribbon for the court,” Mr. Santiago said. “It’s interesting how all these get combined in basketball.”
Players from different teams go from feast to feast, vying for prize money, which ranges from 15,000 to 40,000 pesos (about $1,100 to $3,000). The big event of the season is in Guelatao’s Copa Benito Juárez, named after the Mexican president who was born there, which attracts as many as 200 teams over a five-day period.
The prize money is often supplied by migrants from the area who now live in the United States. Many of them come back for the festivities, sometimes playing on courts whose color schemes mimic N.B.A. courts.
Mr. Santiago, who stopped playing basketball once he took up photography, is now following another aspect of migrant life.
“I’m doing a project on the houses built by migrants in their hometowns,” he said. “Most of them are abandoned. They start building the house after having been in the States a while. But most of them never come back.”
Jorge Santiago
Follow @santiagophoto and @nytimesphoto on Twitter. Lens is also on Facebook. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
NASA officials confirmed Friday that a test of a key component of the space agency's mission to sample an asteroid was completed successfully. On Wednesday, for the first time in more than two years, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft unfurled its robotic arm and put it through a series of maneuvers to ensure its space-worthiness after being packed away for launch and a long flight to the asteroid Bennu.
The asteroid sampling mission launched in September 2016, and the spacecraft has since been traveling through space to catch up to an asteroid known as Bennu, which has a diameter of about 500 meters. The spacecraft will officially "arrive" at Bennu in about two weeks, on December 3, so mission scientists wanted to make sure the robotic arm was functional after being stowed for so long.
This arm and its sampler head, known as the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism or TAGSAM, is critical to the mission's goal of retrieving at least 60 grams of material from the surface of Bennu and returning this sample to Earth by 2023. The collection device will act something like a reverse vacuum cleaner.
NASA has never tried something like this before—a maneuver in which the arm will place the TAGSAM "head" at the surface of the asteroid. "TAGSAM is about the size of an old air filter in a car," explained Beau Bierhaus, a Lockheed Martin scientist who leads TAGSAM operations and serves as the OSIRIS-REx mission science co-investigator. Lockheed Martin built the spacecraft for NASA, and one of its engineers conceived the TAGSAM mechanism.
During the collection maneuver, a blast of compressed nitrogen gas will be sent from the spacecraft onto the surface of the asteroid. The TAGSAM will then collect dirt and dust particles kicked up by the nitrogen gas and store them in a special canister, while allowing the gas itself to escape. In microgravity and vacuum chamber tests, the sampling arm has collected between 400 and 500 grams during most attempts.
This sampling maneuver will not occur until July 2020. Until then, OSIRIS-REx will study the asteroid in great detail—mapping the topology of the space rock to a greater resolution than even the Earth's surface. The map of Bennu will have on the order of 5cm spatial and a few cm vertical resolution, Bierhaus told Ars.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Bill Stafford/NASA
Lockheed Martin
The spacecraft will obtain this detailed map over the next 18 months or so, with a preliminary survey that brings OSIRIS-REx to within about 7km of the asteroid's surface and then two orbital phases that bring it down to within about 750 meters from the surface. From there, it will be time for a final site selection and sample selection rehearsals. Scientists will have their say in terms of the most interesting site to sample, but other criteria rank higher, including accessibility and the ability to keep the spacecraft safe during its approach to Bennu.
NASA has few samples from other worlds in its collections. There are its Moon rocks, collected during the Apollo mission, of course. It also has bits of interstellar dust and cometary material. The Soviet Union flew three robotic landers in the 1970s that retrieved a few hundred grams of Moon rocks, and the Japanese space program has flown two asteroid sample return missions.
So this stuff isn't easy. Making sure the long-dormant sampling arm can flex its joints is a good first step. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
by Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
New Jersey is the nation's most densely populated state.
And, somehow, a state teeming with small towns, New Jersey's least-publicized asset.
The 25 towns on my best small towns list are not necessarily there because they are super shopping and eating destinations; they're just great places to escape the rat race (or whatever it is you're running away from). Perfect for day trips or weekend getaways, these towns are packed with history, tradition and congeniality.
Definitions of "small town'' vary; all my towns have populations under 15,000. Which means why you won't see such worthy places as Westfield, Cranford and Ridgewood on this list. Some of these towns, such as Ocean Grove and Pottersville, are sections of municipalities.
This is an expansion of a list I did in 2015, when I picked 10 towns. It was tough even picking 25 this time around. All the towns here have one thing in common: I could move into any of them tomorrow.
Don't Edit
25. Mauricetown
Pronounced like the much-better-known Morristown, Mauricetown, in Cumberland County, is a world, and then some, from the Morris County town. Part of Commercial Township, Mauricetown is one of many Cumberland County towns with a rich searfaring history; it was home to many sea captains in the 1800s. Today it's a tranquil place along the Maurice River and a great jumping-off point to Bivalve and the rest of New Jersey's least-known county. The Mauricetown Historical Society is open the first and third Sundays of each month.
Don't Edit
Jerry McCrea I The Star-Ledger
24. Stillwater
Stillwater Township, population about 4,200, comprises three villages: Middleville, Swartswood and Stillwater, the latter home of the Stillwater General Store, in photo. George Dallas Garris used his mustering-out pay from the Civil War to open the store in 1871, across the street from where it is today. The store's latest owner, Dean Voris, has renovated the building, which will now be called the Geo. D. Garris General Store. The store and village are an evocative slice of rural Americana in the nation's most densely populated state. And New Jersey is rich with general stores.
Don't Edit
23. Island Heights
It's the Jersey Shore town many have never heard of, much less visited. Minutes from frenetic Seaside Heights and tucked along the Toms River almost as an afterthought, Island Heights was formed, like Ocean Grove, as a religious camp meeting/summer resort in the late 1800s. The Pennsylvania Railroad once ran through town, but today the loudest noise you'll hear is probably your own breathing. There's no public beach, no boardwalk, no rides, just peace and quiet. Must-stops: the Corner Deli, Playa Bowls, and the Cottage Museum.
Don't Edit
Ed Murray I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
22. Atlantic Highlands
Bayfront setting, vibrant restaurant and cafe scene, one of the state's best breweries (Carton), ferry to New York City: what more could you want? Atlantic Highlands, not to be confused with next-door-neighbor Highlands, is an architectural treasure house, with Victorian, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and other homes. Take a guided walk starting at the Strauss Mansion through the Atlantic Highlands Historical Society. Must-stop: the Flaky Tart dessert/pastry shop. Another: Mount Mitchill, the highest natural elevation on the Atlantic Seaboard.
Don't Edit
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
21. Glen Rock
Not one but two New Jersey Transit lines run right through town, the castle/chalet-like Starbucks is one of the kitschiest anywhere, and businesses include a vacuum repair shop, a tarot card reader, a clock shop, several pizzerias (try the margherita at John's Boy Pizzeria) and a cheesecake store (Marc's). Oh, and there's a giant boulder in the middle of town. It's Pamachapuka, the "Stone from Heaven'' where an Indian Council site once stood and from which the town took its name in 1894. Bergen County is the state's most populous, but it's a small town haven; 50 of its 70 municipalities have populations under 15,000.
Don't Edit
Alex Remnick
20. Barnegat Light
Having one of the state's great classic diners (Mustache Bill's, shown here) might have been enough to put Barnegat Light on this list. When you add the state's best-known lighthouse (Barnegat Light, known as Old Barney) and an atmospheric, end-of-the-road feel (it's the northernmost community on Long Beach Island), it's a small-town slam dunk. Take one of the summertime dock tours at Viking Village and enjoy seafood platters and sandwiches at Viking Fresh off The Hook.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
19. Hopewell
My favorite Mercer County town, Hopewell exudes history, tradition, gentility, and small-town charm. Churches, restaurants, banks and markets line the picturesque main street; Brick Farm Market is a popular spot for breakfast and lunch. Stop at Nomad Pizza for excellent Neapolitan-style pizza, and at tiny Troon Brewing for beer-to-go (there is no tasting room).
Don't Edit
18. Hammonton
This Atlantic County town is slowly getting on the tourist radar, with a diverse mix of restaurants - pizzerias, Mexican restaurants, wine bar, cafes and more. Penza's Pies at The Red Barn makes delicious, fruit-loaded pies. Pick your own blueberries at DeMeo Farms or Blueberry Bill Farms; Hammonton is, after all, "the blueberry capital of the world.''
Don't Edit
Alex Remnick I The Star-Ledger
17. Ocean Grove
There is no Jersey town quite like Ocean Grove. Oceanfront setting, charming main street (Main Avenue), cute shops, ample restaurants, maybe the state's most splendid structure (the Great Auditorium). And did we mention the 100 or so tents residents call home in the summer (rules: no barbecues, no dogs, and definitely no loud music). Ocean Grove, part of Neptune Township, is a dry town, but you can have beer or wine on your tent porch, as long as it's in a cup (no cans or glasses allowed). They don't make towns like this anymore.
Don't Edit
Don't Edit
Robert Sciarrino I The Star-Ledger
16. Pottersville
It's not easy for a town to be in three counties at once, but Pottersville is part of Bedminister in Somerset County; Tewksbury in Hunterdon and Washington Township in Morris. The Lamington River runs through this sleepy hamlet, home to the LifeCamp, which provides summer day camp experience to 300 Newark-area kids every July and August.
Don't Edit
15. Port Republic
Thousands of people drive past picture-postcard Port Republic every year without realizing it; it's to your left as you cross the Mullica River southbound on the Garden State Parkway around milepost 50. There's a boatyard, a pleasant town park with gazebo, and a collection of modest homes. Port Republic is a city in name only; a mere 1,000-some lucky souls live here. Atlantic City is minutes and another planet away.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
14. Collingswood
The Camden County town has become a popular destination in recent years, and you can thank the Mob -- in part, anyway. Angelo Lutz, former Merlino family associate, runs the Kitchen Consigliere, an Italian restaurant in the center of town. The commercial strip is the longest of any town on this list, with a heady mix of hip and old-school shops, stores and restaurants. Try the Ecuadorian dishes, and organic fruit tea, at El Sitio, or the excellent Italian fare at Zeppoli. Sample the 50 kinds of olive oil at Blue Moon or dig the retro cool at The Pop Shop. The Painted Cottage, down an alley, specializes in vintage painted furniture. The fabulous Scottish Rite Auditorium is also in town.
Don't Edit
13. Keyport
"The Pearl of the Bayshore'' gains more luster every year, with its unstuffy, blue-collar atmosphere, waterfront setting, and an eclectic mix of eateries: Broad Street Diner, winner of our N.J.'s best diner showdown; Drew's Bayshore Bistro, whose owner/chef, Drew Araneo, won best chef in the first Garden State Culinary Arts Awards; Mike's Giant Sized Submarine Sandwiches and local landmark Keyport Fishery. Bring that sub or seafood to the waterfront, pull up a bench, and enjoy the view.
Don't Edit
Tim Farrell I The Star-Ledger
12. Walpack Center
No one lives in Walpack Center (about 20 people live in Walpack Township, of which it is part), but that's exactly its charm. It's the prettiest town no one lives in that you'll ever visit, a haunting reminder of the ill-fated Tocks Island project, when the government spent $100 million to buy homes in the area, evicting 8,000 people, for a dam that was never built. The National Park Service now owns all the buildings in Walpack Center except the school, which serves as town hall. The only building open on a regular basis is the local museum. Two miles away is beautiful Buttermilk Falls. The town that time forgot is well worth a visit any time of year.
Don't Edit
Don't Edit
11. Frenchtown
No county boasts more picturesque small towns than Hunterdon - Stockton, Clinton, Flemington and Lambertville are just several on a long list. Frenchtown, where the Delaware & Raritan Canal starts - or ends - (you can bike or walk all the way to Trenton), is dotted with charming shops and restaurants - the Frenchtown Cafe, the Bridge Cafe, Cocina Del Sol among them. Work off any extra calories by a brisk walk across the bridge over the Delaware River.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
10. Bordentown City
Overlooked, underpublicized; one of these days the rest of the state will become acquainted with Bordentown City (not to be confused with Bordentown Township). A stately old bank turned into a pizzeria (The Vault, above). A restaurant with killer burgers (Oliver A Bistro). An excellent Italian restaurant (Toscano). Marcello's, for more pizza. And that's just the food. Take a pleasant stroll down historic Farnsworth Avenue. One must-stop: Randy Now's Man Cave, with its head-spinning collection of CDs, records and pop culture artifacts.
Don't Edit
9. Boonton
Boonton is a vibrant, All-American small town, the kind made for 4th of July parades and assorted celebrations (Boonton marks its 150th anniversary this year from Sept. 22-24). The restaurant mix includes Thai, Mexican, Italian, Jamaican and Japanese, and don't forget the incomparable Johnnies Tavern, one of the state's great dive bars.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
8. West Cape May
No, not Cape May, but sleepy West Cape May, where 1,020 people live at the end of Jersey. Drive down Sunset Boulevard, past the Chattel House Village series of shops (Exit Zero Magazine, The Bird House), past the Nature Conservancy's South Cape Meadows (weekly guided bird walks) to Sunset Beach in Lower, home of an evening flag-lowering ceremony and the state's spookiest attraction - the concrete ship Atlantus, which sank in 1926. Just down the road: The Bread Lady -- Elizabeth Degener -- and her Enfin Farms roadside stand on Sunset Boulevard. One more stop: Willow Creek Winery.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
7. Spring Lake
Home to the Jersey Shore's longest non-commercial boardwalk, this seaside town features one of the Shore's liveliest commercial strips -- 3rd Avenue - and aptly-named Divine Park (shown here), which wraps around Spring Lake. The grand Essex and Sussex Hotel, now condominiums, is the main landmark on the oceanfront strand. Must-stops: Third Avenue Chocolate Shoppe and the Scone Pony, one of my favorite bakeries Down the Shore.
Don't Edit
Don't Edit
6. Allentown
It feels like Mercer County, but this idyllic town is actually in Monmouth County. A total of 220 homes and buildings date to pre-1860. Start at the bridge over Conines Millpond, and walk down one of the state's more charming Main Streets. The local library is in a former church, and Heavenly Havens Creamery (with Swal Dairy ice cream) and Woody's Towne Cafe are popular hangouts. And Route 539, which runs right through Allentown, is one of the state's great scenic drives. If you do nothing else in town, take the path leading to Heritage Park -- no ballfields, no buildings, just a great open space with a path made for walks, exercise or reflection.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
5. Chester
Turn off the cookie-cutter stretch of Route 206 onto Main Street Chester and its picturesque array of shops and restaurants. One sweet stop: Taylor's Ice Cream Parlor, with its white benches. Pick up homemade soup, or lemonade with fresh basil and strawberry, at Maria's. imagiNations is a cool gift shop with items from around the world.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
4. Clinton
I once lived above Joan's Jewelry Box here, but that's not why Clinton is on the list. A river - the south branch of the Raritan River -- runs through it, and the Red Mill Museum (in photo) might be the most popular Jersey postcard scene ever. The town boasts Jersey's most compact Main Street, with most of the shops and restaurants gathered on one block. Grab a sandwich at Ye Old Sub Base, a cone at JJ Scoops, or a riverfront table at The Clean Plate Kitchen. The town is a great gateway to the rest of beautiful Hunterdon County.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
3. Cranbury
You've got to love a town with weekly porch parties. It's a tradition in this Middlesex County town, where residents take turns hosting parties at their homes. Cranbury, one of the state's best-preserved 19th century villages, scarcely seems to have changed, with its tree-lined Main Street and well-maintained homes. Teddy's Restaurant, open since 1973, is where the locals eat, and a cone at Gil & Bert's Ice Cream is a summer night tradition. One other thing to love about this town: no parking meters.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
2. Haddonfield
Nearby Collingswood is the It Destination, but I like Haddonfield more. It's more tranquil, more historic-looking, and what other town has a dinosaur downtown? That's Hadrosaurus foulkii, which was the most complete dinosaur skeleton unearthed anywhere in the world when it was discovered in 1858. The Indian King Tavern Museum marks the site where New Jersey became a state and the great seal of the state was adopted. The English Gardener Gift Shop was voted one of top three British shops in the U.S., and you can take afternoon tea at the Picket Fence. Excellent cupcakes at Indulgence Cupcakery; restaurants include the Apron; The Little Tuna, and Zaffron (Mediterranean).
Don't Edit
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
1. Lambertville
Great riverfront setting, lively arts community, loads of shops, an eclectic mix of restaurants, and a funky sister city (New Hope) a state, and a short walk, away. Hunterdon County is packed with scenic small towns, but none offer quite the complete package as Lambertville. The state's most unique bar, The Boat House, is here. For great pizza, Liberty Hall. Steps away is oWowCow Creamery, winner of our N.J.'s best ice cream showdown. For Middle Eastern food, try Marhaba. Route 29, which winds along the Delaware River, is one of the state's great drives; a stop at Washington Crossing State Park, just south of Lambertville, is a must. Lambertville was incorporated as a city in 1849, but in today's real world it's very much a small town.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
What's your favorite small town?
Many worthy small towns were left off this list - there were so many to choose from! Who did we miss? What's your favorite Jersey small town? Let us known in the comments section.
Don't Edit
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
More about N.J.'s small towns
N.J.' s 10 most scenic roads
The best thing to do in each of N.J.'s 47 Shore towns
The 10 most scenic views in N.J. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
JON CARDINELLI selects the best players who represented the Stormers between 2010 and 2019.
15 Gio Aplon
Aplon spent eight seasons with the Stormers and was part of the ‘dream team’ that progressed to the 2010 Super 14 final. While the Cape franchise was known for its uncompromising defence during that period, Aplon was recognised as one of the most dangerous runners in the game. The wing-cum-fullback opted to further his career in France in 2014 before linking up with Toyota Verblitz in Japan in 2017.
14 Cheslin Kolbe
Kolbe scored seven tries in his breakout season for the Stormers in 2014 to become the newest darling of Newlands. Although small in stature – at 1.70m and 80kg – the youngster showed that he was very much in the Aplon mould with regard to his ability to hit a gap and race away from defenders. Kolbe only started to realise his potential when he moved to Toulouse in 2017, though, and was brought into the Springbok mix in 2018 on the back of a series of impressive performances in the European competitions.
13 Jaque Fourie
The Stormers took their game to the next level when Fourie joined the franchise ahead of the 2010 season. While the outside centre’s stay with the Cape franchise was relatively brief (two years) he made a significant impact on attack and defence. The Stormers midfield was never stronger than when the old firm of De Villiers and Fourie – a formidable centre partnership for the Boks in years gone by – started in tandem during the 2011 season.
12 Jean de Villiers
De Villiers returned to Cape Town after a brief stint with Irish club Munster in late 2010. The Bok centre formed part of the Stormers leadership group for many years – and was often backed to lead the side – until he finally opted to head north for one final fling with English side Leicester. His ability to organise the defence from the No 12 channel – and in many instances, steal a try via a well-timed intercept – was peerless. Damian de Allende, who went on to replace De Villiers at No 12 at the Stormers and the Boks, also deserves a mention after his contributions to the Cape franchise.
11 Bryan Habana
Habana struggled for form after moving from the Bulls to the Stormers in 2010. It wasn’t until 2012 when the record-breaking Bok wing rediscovered his mojo. A tireless and determined defender, and one of the best finishers the game has ever had, Habana made some big contributions during his four-year stay in Cape Town. He left South Africa in late 2013 and went on to win back-to-back European Cup titles with Toulon.
10 Damian Willemse
Few halfbacks have made an outstanding or significant contribution to the Stormers over the past decade. Peter Grant was more solid than spectacular during his tenure as the first-choice flyhalf, while others such as Jean-Luc du Plessis, Kurt Coleman, Elton Jantjies and Rob du Preez struggled with injuries or were simply erratic. Willemse, however, has looked the part since making his Super Rugby debut in 2017. It’s a shame that he wasn’t backed more consistently at No 10 as he has the potential to solve the Stormers’ long-standing attacking and tactical-kicking woes.
9 Dewaldt Duvenage
Duvenage played alongside Grant in the 2010 decider against the Bulls in Soweto. A scrumhalf with a strong pass and an accurate kicking boot, Duvenage was the go-to man for the Stormers during the early parts of the decade. The Cape side went on to experiment with a host of No 9s in the ensuing years. They unearthed a gem in Herschel Jantjies this past season, and one would hope that they continue to back and develop this special player in the years to come.
8 Duane Vermeulen
It remains a mystery why Vermeulen had to wait until 2012 to receive his first Test cap. A powerful ball-carrier as well as an exceptional breakdown exponent, Vermeulen was a key man for the Stormers between 2009 and 2015. His ability to organise the defence – and make those momentum-shifting spot hits – played a major role in the side’s relative success in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
7 Schalk Burger
Burger featured in all three loose-forward positions over the course of his club and international career. As the Stormers’ regular skipper in 2010 and 2011 – and in 2012, before sustaining a serious knee injury – Burger led by brutal example. He added more to his game as the years progressed, though, with those deft passes at the gainline or in the tackle often resulting in a linebreak or try.
6 Siya Kolisi
Kolisi received an opportunity to start regularly for the Stormers after Burger broke down in the first game of the 2012 season. While he didn’t fit the mould of a traditional openside flank, his speed between the rucks as well as his explosive power at the gainline lent the Cape franchise something extra on attack. He developed into a fine defender with an exceptional work rate, and was backed as the team’s regular skipper in 2017.
5 Pieter-Steph du Toit
It’s no secret that Pieter-Steph du Toit’s best – and preferred – position is blindside flank. For the sake of squeezing the aforementioned trio into this team of the decade, we’ve included the versatile forward at No 5. Andries Bekker will go down in history as one of the Stormers’ best lineout locks. Du Toit, however, will be remembered as one of the franchise’s most valuable players. Since moving back to the Cape in 2016, he’s been one of the Stormers’ most consistent performers.
4 Eben Etzebeth
It was Bekker – a giant himself at 2.08m – who marvelled at the size of Etzebeth when the latter reported for his first Stormers training session in 2012. While injuries limited Etzebeth’s involvement at Super Rugby level over the years, he certainly made his presence felt when he got on to the park. The Stormers will miss Etzebeth following the enforcer’s departure to Toulon. While the franchise boasts many second-row options at present, there is only one Eben Etzebeth.
3 Frans Malherbe
The Stormers have been blessed in the front-row department over the past 10 years or so. Malherbe, who along with Kolisi, Etzebeth and Steven Kitshoff signed a long-term deal with the franchise in 2012, has developed into one of the team’s most important players and leaders. No other tighthead has offered the same package of scrummaging power and mobility around the park. Special mention should go to Brok Harris, though, for his consistent contributions at the start of the decade.
2 Bongi Mbonambi
Mbonambi took his game to another level after moving from Pretoria to Cape Town in 2015. While the Stormers have had some excellent hookers over the past 10 years – Tiaan Liebenberg and Scarra Ntubeni to name a few – they haven’t had a player like Mbonambi, who ticks all the boxes at the set pieces, collisions and breakdowns.
1 Steven Kitshoff
Kitshoff has always had ability and composure in spades. He was tested from an early age, coming off the bench in the 2011 Super Rugby semi-final against the Crusaders. He later developed into one of the finest all-round props in South Africa, with his scrummaging prowess only exceeded by his mobility around the park. Kitshoff returned to the Stormers in 2017 after a two-year stint with French club Bordeaux. He’s currently one of the most senior players in the set-up and led the team while Kolisi was injured in 2019. The flame-haired front ranker may win his 100th cap for the franchise in the 2020 season. At the age of 27, his best may still be yet to come.
Photo: Petri Oeschger/Gallo Images | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
From labels that hold up a mirror to hip-hop and its related subcultures to self-aware riffs on high-fashion labels, streetwear brands have always maintained a certain allure for many guys. In its heyday, streetwear and sneaker culture were very closely related, with brands making gear meant to coordinate with fresh kicks, and then evolving into an industry all its own. That means it's a perfect time to lightheartedly riff on the current state of things. Read on to find out What Your Favorite Streetwear Brand Says About You.
RELATED: What Your Dress Shoes Say About You
RELATED: The 10 Types of People Who Wear Camo
RELATED: How to Stop Being Such a Hypebeast: A 10 Step Guide
RELATED: The 10 Best Online Shops for Streetwear Clothing | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland are also through
Minnows such as Albania and Iceland are also involved
Big guns England, Germany, Italy and hosts France have all qualified
As the Premier League and other domestic competitions wrap up for another season, the countdown proper to Euro 2016 begins.
Twenty four of the continent's finest teams will battle it out at the European Championship this summer, and managers across Europe are revealing the squads they hope will snatch glory in France.
Here Sportsmail lists every player in every squad, from Albania to Wales, via England and Germany.
The continent's finest teams are set to battle it out at the European Championship in France this summer
Spain's victorious captain Iker Casillas lifted the trophy in Kiev four years ago at Euro 2012
ALBANIA
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Etrit Berisha (Lazio), Alban Hoxha (Partizani), Orges Shehi (Skenderbeu).
Defenders: Elseid Hysaj (Napoli), Lorik Cana (Nantes), Arlind Ajeti (Frosinone), Mergim Mavraj (Koeln), Naser Aliji (Basel), Ansi Agolli (Karabag), Frederik Veseli (Lugano).
Midfielders: Ermir Lenjani (Nantes), Andi Lila (Giannina), Migjen Basha (Como), Ledian Memushaj (Pescara), Burim Kukeli (Zurich), Taulant Xhaka (Basel), Ergys Kace (Paok), Amir Abrashi (Freiburg), Odise Roshi (Rijeka).
Forwards: Bekim Balaj (Rijeka), Sokol Cikalleshi (Medipol Basaksehir), Armando Sadiku (Vaduz), Shkelzen Gashi (Colorado Rapids).
AUSTRIA
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Robert Almer (Austria Vienna), Heinz Lindner (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ramazan Ozcan (Ingolstadt).
Defenders: Aleksandar Dragovic (Dinamo Kiev), Christian Fuchs (Leicester City), Gyorgy Garics (Darmstadt), Martin Hinteregger (Borussia Monchengladbach), Florian Klein (Stuttgart), Sebastian Prodl (Watford), Markus Suttner (Ingolstadt), Kevin Wimmer (Tottenham Hotspur).
Midfielders: David Alaba (Bayern Munich), Marko Arnautovic (Stoke City), Julian Baumgartlinger (Mainz), Martin Harnik (Stuttgart), Stefan Ilsanker (Leipzig), Jakob Jantscher (Luzern), Zlatko Junuzovic (Werder Bremen), Marcel Sabitzer (Leipzig), Alessandro Schopf (Schalke).
Forwards: Lukas Hinterseer (Ingolstadt), Rubin Okotie (1860 Munich), Marc Janko (Basel).
BELGIUM
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Jean-Francois Gillet (Mechelen), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool).
Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Jason Denayer (Galatasaray), Bjorn Engels (Club Bruges), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit), Jordan Lukaku (Oostende), Thomas Meunier (Club Bruges), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham).
Midfielders: Moussa Dembele (Tottenham), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Radja Nainggolan (Roma), Axel Witsel (Zenit St Petersburg).
Forwards: Michy Batshuayi (Marseille), Christian Benteke (Liverpool), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Romelu Lukaku (Everton), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Divock Origi (Liverpool).
CROATIA
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Danijel Subasic (Monaco), Lovre Kalinic (Hajduk Split), Ivan Vargic (Rijeka).
Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Domagoj Vida (Dynamo Kiev), Sime Vrsaljko (Sassuolo), Gordon Schildenfeld (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivan Strinic (Napoli), Tin Jedvaj (Bayer Leverkusen).
Midfielders: Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan), Marko Rog (Dinamo Zagreb), Ante Coric (Dinamo Zagreb).
Strikers: Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Nikola Kalinic (Fiorentina), Marko Pjaca (Dinamo Zagreb), Duje Cop (Dinamo Zagreb), Andrej Kramaric (Leicester).
CZECH REPUBLIC
(provisional 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Arsenal), Tomas Vaclik (Basle), Tomas Koubek (Slovan Liberec).
Defenders: Theodor Gebre Selassie (Werder Bremen), Roman Hubnik (Viktoria Pilsen), Pavel Kaderabek (Hoffenheim), Michal Kadlec (Fenerbahce), David Limbersky (Viktoria Pilsen), Daniel Pudil (Sheffield Wednesday), Marek Suchy (Basle), Tomas Sivok (Bursaspor).
Midfielders: Vladimir Darida (Hertha Berlin), Borek Dockal (Sparta Prague), Jiri Skalak (Brighton) Daniel Kolar (Viktoria Pilsen), Ladislav Krejci (Sparta Prague), David Pavelka (Kasimpasa), Jaroslav Plasil (Bordeaux), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal), Josef Sural (Sparta Prague).
Forwards: David Lafata (Sparta Prague), Tomas Necid (Burkaspor), Milan Skoda (Slavia Prague).
ENGLAND
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley).
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham).
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham), Ross Barkley (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).
Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
FRANCE
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Benoit Costil (Rennes), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Marseille).
Defenders: Lucas Digne (Roma), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Christophe Jallet (Lyon), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Manchester City), Samuel Umtiti (Lyon), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Adil Rami (Sevilla).
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Morgan Scheiderlin (Manchester United), N'Golo Kante (Leicester), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle).
Forwards: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Dimitri Payet (West Ham).
GERMANY
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Bernd Leno (Leverkusen)
Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Emre Can (Liverpool), Antonio Rudiger (Roma)
Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Julian Draxler (Wolfsburg), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund), Leroy Sane (Schalke)
Forwards: Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (Besiktas), Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Andre Schurrle (Wolfsburg)
HUNGARY
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Gabor Kiraly (Haladas), Denes Dibusz (Ferencvaros), Peter Gulacsi (Leipzig)
Defenders: Attila Fiola (Puskas Academy), Barnabas Bese (MTK Budapest), Richard Guzmics (Wisla Krakow), Roland Juhasz (Videoton), Adam Lang (Videoton), Tamas Kadar (Lech Poznan), Mihaly Korhut (Debrecen)
Midfielders: Adam Pinter (Ferencvaros), Gergo Lovrencsics (Lech Poznan), Akos Elek (Diosgyor), Zoltan Gera (Ferencvaros), Adam Nagy (Ferencvaros), Laszlo Kleinheisler (Werden Bremen), Zoltan Stieber (Nuremberg)
Forwards: Balazs Dzsudzsak (Bursaspor), Adam Szalai (Hannover), Krisztian Nemeth (Al Gharafa), Nemanja Nikolics (Legia Warsaw), Tamas Priskin (Slovan Bratislava), Daniel Bode (Ferencvaros)
ICELAND
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Hannes Halldorsson (Bodo/Glimt), Ogmundur Kristinsson (Hammarby), Ingvar Jonsson (Sandefjord).
Defenders: Ari Skulason (OB), Hordur Magnusson (Cesena), Hjortur Hermannsson (PSV Eindhoven), Ragnar Sigurdsson (Krasnodar), Kari Arnason (Malmo), Sverrir Ingi Ingason (Lokeren), Birkir Sævarsson (Hammarby), Haukur Heidar Hauksson (AIK).
Midfielders: Emil Hallfredsson (Udinese), Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea), Aron Gunnarsson (Cardiff), Theodor Elmar Bjarnason (AGF), Arnor Ingvi Traustason (Norrkoping), Birkir Bjarnason (Basel), Johann Gudmundsson (Charlton), Eidur Gudjohnsen (Molde), Runar Mar Sigurjonsson (Sundsvall).
Forwards: Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (Nantes), Alfred Finnbogason (Augsburg), Jon Dadi Bodvarsson (Kaiserslautern).
ITALY
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Federico Marchetti (Lazio), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)
Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Angelo Ogbonna (West Ham), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan)
Midfielders: Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Stefano Sturaro (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Lazio)
Forwards: Eder (Inter), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Graziano Pelle (Southampton), Simone Zaza (Juventus), Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma)
NORTHERN IRELAND
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Alan Mannus (St Johnstone), Michael McGovern (Hamilton Academical), Roy Carroll (Linfield).
Defenders: Craig Cathcart (Watford), Jonathan Evans (West Bromwich Albion), Gareth McAuley (West Bromwich Albion), Luke McCullough (Doncaster Rovers), Conor McLaughlin (Fleetwood Town), Lee Hodson (MK Dons), Aaron Hughes (Free agent), Patrick McNair (Manchester United), Chris Baird (Derby County).
Midfielders: Steven Davis (Southampton), Oliver Norwood, (Reading), Corry Evans, (Blackburn Rovers), Shane Ferguson (Millwall), Stuart Dallas (Leeds United), Niall McGinn (Aberdeen), Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest).
Forwards: Kyle Lafferty (Norwich City), Conor Washington (Queens Park Rangers), Josh Magennis (Kilmarnock), Will Grigg (Wigan Athletic).
POLAND
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea City), Wojciech Szczesny (Roma), Artur Boruc (Bournemouth)
Defenders: Thiago Cionek (Palermo), Kamil Glik (Torino), Artur Jedrzejczyk (Legia Warsaw), Michal Pazdan (Legia Warsaw), Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund), Bartosz Salamon (Cagliari), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Lechia Gdansk)
Midfielders: Jakub Blaszczykowski (Fiorentina), Kamil Grosicki (Rennes), Tomasz Jodlowiec (Legia Warsaw), Bartosz Kapustka (Cracovia), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla), Karol Linetty (Lech Poznan), Krzysztof Maczynski (Wisla), Slawomir Peszko (Lechia Gdansk), Filip Starzynski (Zaglebie Lubin), Piotr Zielinski (Empoli).
Forwards: Arkadiusz Milik (Ajax), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Mariusz Stepinski (Ruch Chorzow)
PORTUGAL
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon), Anthony Lopes (Lyon), Eduardo (Dinamo Zagreb).
Defenders: Vieirinha (Wolfsburg), Cedric Soares (Southampton), Pepe (Real Madrid), Ricardo Carvalho (Monaco), Bruno Alves (Fenerbahce), Jose Fonte (Southampton), Eliseu (Benfica), Raphael Guerreiro (Lorient).
Midfielders: William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon), Danilo Pereira (Porto), Joao Moutinho (Monaco), Renato Sanches (Benfica), Adrien Silva (Sporting Lisbon), Andre Gomes (Valencia), Joao Mario (Sporting Lisbon).
Forwards: Rafa Silva (Braga), Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas), Nani (Fenerbahce), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Eder (Lille).
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Stoke), Darren Randolph (West Ham), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday).
Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Cyrus Christie (Derby), Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa), Richard Keogh (Derby), John O'Shea (Sunderland), Shane Duffy (Blackburn), Stephen Ward (Burnley).
Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Sheffield Wednesday), James McClean (West Brom), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), James McCarthy (Everton), Jeff Hendrick (Derby), David Meyler (Hull), Stephen Quinn (Reading), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich), Robbie Brady (Norwich), Jonathan Walters (Stoke).
Forwards: Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), Shane Long (Southampton), Daryl Murphy (Ipswich).
ROMANIA
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Ciprian Tatarusanu (Fiorentina), Costel Pantilimon (Watford), Silviu Lung (Astra Giurgiu).
Defenders: Cristian Sapunaru (Pandurii Targu Jiu), Alexandru Matel (Dinamo Zagreb), Vlad Chiriches (Napoli), Valerica Gaman (Astra Giurgiu), Cosmin Moti (Ludogorets), Dragos Grigore (Al-Sailiya), Razvan Rat (Rayo Vallecano), Steliano Filip (Dinamo Bucharest).
Midfielders: Mihai Pintilii (Steaua Bucharest), Ovidiu Hoban (Hapoel Beer Sheva), Andrei Prepelita (Ludogorets), Adrian Popa (Steaua Bucharest), Gabriel Torje (Osmanlispor), Alexandru Chipciu (Steaua Bucharest), Nicolae Stanciu (Steaua Bucharest), Lucian Sanmartean (al-Ittihad).
Forwards: Claudiu Keseru (Ludogorets), Bogdan Stancu (Genclerbirligi), Florin Andone (Cordoba), Denis Alibec (Astra Giurgiu).
RUSSIA
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Guilherme (Lokomotiv Moscow), Yuri Lodygin (Zenit St. Petersburg).
Defenders: Alexei Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Vasily Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow), Roman Neustadter (Schalke), Georgy Shchennikov (CSKA Moscow), Roman Shishkin (Lokomotiv Moscow), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit St Petersburg).
Midfielders: Igor Denisov (Dynamo Moscow), Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), Alexander Golovin (CSKA Moscow), Oleg Ivanov (Terek Grozny), Pavel Mamaev (Krasnodar), Alexander Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Oleg Shatov (Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Shirokov (CSKA Moscow), Dmitri Torbinski (Krasnodar).
Forwards: Artyom Dzyuba (Zenit St Petersburg), Alexander Kokorin (Zenit St Petersburg), Fyodor Smolov (Krasnodar).
SLOVAKIA
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Matus Kozacik (Viktoria Plzen), Jan Mucha (Slovan Bratislava), Jan Novota (Rapid Vienna).
Defenders: Peter Pekarik (Hertha Berlin), Milan Skriniar (Sampdoria), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), Norbert Gyomber (Roma), Jan Durica (Lokomotiv Moscow), Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava), Tomas Hubocan (Dynamo Moscow), Dusan Svento (Cologne).
Midfielders: Viktor Pecovsky (Zilina), Robert Mak (PAOK Thessaloniki), Juraj Kucka (AC Milan), Patrik Hrosovsky (Viktoria Plzen), Jan Gregus (Jablonec), Marek Hamsik (Napoli), Ondrej Duda (Legia Warsaw), Miroslav Stoch (Bursaspor), Vladimir Weiss (Al Gharafa).
Forwards: Michal Duris (Viktoria Plzen), Adam Nemec (Willem II), Stanislav Sestak (Ferencvaros).
SPAIN
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Porto), David de Gea (Manchester United), Sergio Rico (Sevilla).
Defenders: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Hector Bellerin (Arsenal), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Marc Bartra (Barcelona), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid).
Midfielders: Bruno (Villarreal), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Thiago (Bayern Munich), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Pedro (Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea).
Strikers: Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao), Nolito (Celta Vigo), Alvaro Morata (Juventus), Lucas Vasquez (Real Madrid).
SWEDEN
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (Kasimpasa), Robin Olsen (Copenhagen), Patrik Carlgren (AIK).
Defenders: Ludwig Augustinsson (Copenhagen), Erik Johansson (Copenhagen), Pontus Jansson (Torino), Victor Lindelof (Benfica) Andreas Granqvist (Krasnodar), Mikael Lustig (Celtic), Martin Olsson (Norwich).
Midfielders: Jimmy Durmaz (Olympiakos), Albin Ekdal (Hamburg), Oscar Hiljemark (Palermo), Sebastian Larsson (Sunderland), Pontus Wernbloom (CSKA Moscow), Erkan Zengin (Trabzonspor), Oscar Lewicki (Malmo), Emil Forsberg (Leipzig), Kim Kallstrom (Grasshoppers).
Forwards: Marcus Berg (Panathinaikos), John Guidetti (Celta Vigo), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris), Emir Kujovic (Norrkoping).
SWITZERLAND
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Yann Sommer (Borussia Monchengladbach), Roman Buerki (Borussia Dortmund), Marwin Hitz (Augsburg)
Defenders: Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Monchengladbach), Michael Lang (Basle), Johan Djourou (Hamburg), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys), Fabian Schaer (Hoffenheim), Francois Moubandje (Toulouse), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg)
Midfielders: Valon Behrami (Watford), Blerim Dzemaili (Genoa), Gelson Fernandes (Rennes), Fabian Frei (Mainz), Granit Xhaka (Arsenal), Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke), Denis Zakaria (Young Boys)
Forwards: Breel Embolo (Basle), Haris Seferovic (Eintracht Frankfurt), Admir Mehmedi (Bayer Leverkusen), Eren Derdiyok (Kasimpasa), Shani Tarashaj (Everton).
TURKEY
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Volkan Babacan (Medipol Basaksehir), Onur Recep Kivrak (Trabzonspor), Harun Tekin (Bursaspor)
Defenders: Gokhan Gonul (Fenerbahce), Sener Ozbayrakli (Bursaspor), Semih Kaya (Galatasaray), Ahmet Calik (Genclerbirligi), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray), Caner Erkin (Fenerbahce), Ismail Koybasi (Besiktas)
Midfielders: Mehmet Topal (Fenerbahce), Selcuk Inan (Galatasaray), Ozan Tufan (Fenerbahce), Oguzhan Ozyakup (Besiktas), Hakan Calhanoglu (Bayer Leverkusen), Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund), Arda Turan (Barcelona), Olcay Sahan (Besiktas), Volkan Sen (Fenerbahce), Emre Mor (Nordsjaelland)
Strikers: Burak Yilmaz (Beijing Guoan), Cenk Tosun (Besiktas), Yunus Malli (Mainz)
UKRAINE
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Andriy Pyatov (Shakhtar), Denys Boyko (Besiktas), Mykyta Shevchenko (Zorya)
Defenders: Evhen Khacheridi (Dynamo Kiev), Bohdan Butko (Amkar), Artem Fedetskyi (Dnipro), Oleksandr Karavaev (Zorya), Oleksandr Kucher (Shakhtar), Yaroslav Rakytskyi (Shakhtar), Vyacheslav Shevchuk (Shakhtar)
Midfielders: Serhiy Rybalka (Dynamo Kiev), Denys Garmash (Dynamo Kiev), Serhiy Sydorchuk (Dynamo Kiev), Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo Kiev), Evhen Konoplyanka (Sevilla), Ruslan Rotan (Dnipro), Taras Stepanenko (Shakhtar), Viktor Kovalenko (Shakhtar), Anatolyi Tumoschuk (Kairat), Oleksandr Zinchenko (UFA)
Forwards: Roman Zozylya (Dnipro), Pylyp Budkivskyi (Zorya), Evhen Seleznyov (Shakhtar)
WALES
(final 23-man squad)
Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey (Crystal Palace), Danny Ward (Liverpool), Owain Fon Williams (Inverness).
Defenders: Ben Davies (Tottenham), Neil Taylor (Swansea), Chris Gunter (Reading), Ashley Williams (Swansea), James Chester (West Brom), Ashley Richards (Fulham), James Collins (West Ham).
Midfielders: Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Joe Ledley (Crystal Palace), David Vaughan (Nottingham Forest), Joe Allen (Liverpool), David Cotterill (Birmingham), Jonathan Williams (Crystal Palace), George Williams (Fulham), Andy King (Leicester), Dave Edwards (Wolves). | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The technician’s video clearly shows a pulsing light from Mr. Meade’s phone. It also shows Mr. Meade taking the phone out of his pocket and propping it under his chin, pointed at the stage, without looking at the screen. After putting it back, he glances down quickly, then adjusts its position in his pocket, keeping his torso straight. (Mr. DelGaudio showed the video to The Times but would not allow it to be published.)
Someone who wants to turn a smartphone into a spy cam can find plenty of help. There are night-vision apps, tweaks that let you film while your phone appears to be off, apps that stash files in hidden locations, cameras disguised as phones.
Mr. Meade said that he had no idea why the device in his pocket — which he said was a “completely unmodified” iPhone 6 Plus — was emitting the pulse seen on the infrared monitor. (While some Android phones use infrared laser technology to focus, current iPhones, including the 6 Plus, do not have an infrared transmitter.)
Mr. Meade did say that he uses LED flash alerts, which are designed to be highly noticeable. But Mr. DelGaudio said that he saw no pulse from the stage, and neither did two theater employees who observed Mr. Meade.
In a small theater, during a part of the show when the audience is in “complete blackout,” any ordinary light “would have been visible from a mile away,” said Jake Friedman, Mr. DelGaudio’s manager and one of the show’s co-producers.
Mr. DelGaudio may be an outlier among high-profile magicians in his extreme reluctance to put his work onscreen. Scour YouTube and you’ll find only a few 10-year-old clips of him doing card tricks on Spanish television.
Whatever the truth about what happened the night Mr. Meade visited Mr. DelGaudio’s show, word that other magicians may have surreptitiously filmed him drew a strong response from some fellow performers. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
This item has been removed from the community because it violates Steam Community & Content Guidelines. It is only visible to you. If you believe your item has been removed by mistake, please contact Steam Support
This item is incompatible with Path of Exile. Please see the instructions page for reasons why this item might not work within Path of Exile.
Current visibility: Hidden This item will only be visible to you, admins, and anyone marked as a creator.
Current visibility: Friends-only This item will only be visible in searches to you, your friends, and admins.
Caption I WISH THE CHEST WOULD STAY LIKE THIS! Save Cancel
Created by AREDONE
Offline File Size Posted Size 0.358 MB Mar 21, 2016 @ 3:38pm 1280 x 768 41 Unique Visitors 0 Current Favorites | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Madras High Court on Wednesday rejected Karti Chidambaram's plea seeking an interim stay in income tax evasion case.
Karti and his wife are in the dock for alleged non-disclosure of Rs 1.35 crore received by the former in cash for sale of lands in Muthukadu of Tamil Nadu. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Looking through my dA gallery the other day, I noticed that the overwhelming majority of my submissions are Tetsuko Cosplay Calendars (TCCs). There are drawings of Tet-chan as comic-book heroines (and a couple of villains), TV show characters, video-game girls, even some "minor Star Trek babes". But it's been awhile that I've done a drawing of Tetsuko asSo yesterday I was inspired by a photo on WPW.net to do a pic of Tetsuko just being Tetsuko - flexing her incredible muscles for her incredible fans.If you like this pic, please consider buying the print...* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *THIS IMAGE IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT.Permission is granted to transfer this image to an individual's computer system for personal use, and for NON-commercial reposting to Internet sites provided the image (including artist's signature and copyright information) is left intact, and artist credit (e.g. "Artwork by David C. Matthews") accompanies said reposting.ALL OTHER RIGHTS RESERVED. COMMERCIAL USE OF THIS IMAGE IS PROHIBITED. ALTERATION OF THIS IMAGE, AND SUBSEQUENT POSTING OF ALTERED IMAGE, ARE PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE ARTIST.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Trump administration proposed Monday that drugmakers reveal the list prices of their medicines in television ads. This drug pricing transparency proposal effectively sets the stage for months or possibly years of battle with the powerful industry.
The drug pricing transparency proposal, released late in the day, would require pharmaceutical companies to include in its television advertising the price of any drug that cost more than $35 a month. The price should be listed at the end of the advertisement in “a legible manner,” the rule states. It goes on to explain that the price should be presented against a contrasting background in a way that is easy to read.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, nodding to an industry proposal announced earlier in the day, said voluntary moves are not enough.
“We will not wait for an industry with so many conflicting and perverse incentives to reform itself,” Azar told the audience gathered at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.
If approved, the proposed drug pricing transparency rule has no government enforcement mechanism that would force the companies to comply. Rather, it depends on shaming, noting that federal regulators would post a list of companies violating the rule. It would depend on the private sector to police itself with litigation.
“It is noteworthy that the government is unwilling to take enforcement action,” said Rachel Sachs, an associate professor of law at Washington University at St. Louis and expert in drug-pricing transparency regulation. The rule might never be finalized, she added.
“It will take many months if not years for this drug pricing transparency regulation to be implemented and free from the cloud of litigation that will follow it. And the administration knows that,” Sachs said.
Health is a Top Voter Concern for the Midterm Elections
Earlier Monday, the pharmaceutical industry trade group went on the offensive in anticipation of Azar’s speech by announcing its own plans.
“Putting list prices in isolation in the advertisements themselves would be misleading or confusing,” argued Stephen Ubl, CEO of the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, the major trade group for branded drugs.
Instead, Ubl, whose trade group represents the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers on the globe, promised that pharma companies would direct consumers to websites that include a drug’s list price and estimates of what people can expect to pay, which can vary widely depending on coverage.
Drug manufacturers would voluntarily opt in to this disclosure starting next spring, he said. Ubl remained strongly critical of the White House proposal.
The Trump administration’s proposal comes weeks before midterm elections in which health care is a top voter concern. Polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests most voters support forcing drug pricing transparency in advertisements. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)
The White House’s plan, which was teased in President Donald Trump’s blueprint this summer, has won praise from insurance groups and the American Medical Association.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) also proposed the plan in the Senate last month, but it failed to garner enough support.
Experts pointed out a host of complications, suggesting that neither PhRMA’s approach nor the White House’s would fully explain to consumers what they’ll actually pay for drugs.
Drug Pricing Transparency
On Monday, Grassley applauded Azar’s announcement, saying it was a “common-sense way to lower prices.”
But Dale Cooke, a consultant who works with drug companies trying to meet Food and Drug Administration requirements for advertising, warned there is no reason to believe posting prices would help drive down prices.
“No one has ever explained to me why this would work,” Cooke said. “What’s the mechanism by which this results in lower drug prices?”
Even more, it could be confusing for patients, Cooke said. The proposed rule seemed to acknowledge this danger, he said, noting, “On the other hand, consumers, intimidated and confused by high list prices, may be deterred from contacting their physicians about drugs or medical conditions.”
A drug’s list price — the metric HHS wants to emphasize — often bears little relationship to what a patient pays at the drugstore. Insurance plans and pharmacy benefit managers often negotiate cheaper prices than the list price. Some patients qualify for other discounts. And often patients pay only what their copay or deductible requires at any given time.
Other consumers could be stuck paying the full cost, depending on how their insurance plan is designed, or if they don’t have coverage.
“The system is very opaque, very complicated and, importantly, there isn’t a huge relationship between list prices for drugs and what patients will expect to pay out-of-pocket,” said Adrienne Faerber, a lecturer at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice who researches drug marketing.
But the industry’s strategy, she said, also appeared lacking.
Under PhRMA’s plan, drugmakers would not standardize how they display their information. Where consumers go could vary on Pfizer’s website versus Merck’s to learn about the list price and the range of out-of-pocket costs. That, Faerber argued, would make it difficult for people to unearth relevant information.
Patient Affordability Platform
PhRMA also announced it is partnering with patient advocacy groups to create a “patient affordability platform,” which could help patients search for costs and insurance coverage options.
Ubl cast their proposal as a way to address more effectively the government and public concern about drug price transparency.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers rely heavily on national advertising and together represent the third-highest spender in national television advertising, according to Michael Leszega, a manager of market intelligence at consulting firm Magna.
At certain times of day, pharmaceutical ads make up more than 40 percent of TV advertisements. And those commercials stand out because they are generally longer, with a long list of side effects and warnings the pharmaceutical industry must tag on at the end.
Those disclaimers highlight another challenge for the administration: legal action.
The rule notes its legal justification was based on the responsibility of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to ensure the health coverage programs that it administers — Medicare and Medicaid — must be operated in a manner that “minimizes reasonable expenditures.”
Sachs noted that the argument may be weak because most drugs are marketed to a wider audience than Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
A body of Supreme Court decisions dictate how disclaimers and disclosures can be required, said constitutional law expert Robert Corn-Revere. He filed a “friend of the court” brief in a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court case related to commercial speech and the pharmaceutical industry.
Generally, the administration’s requirement must meet the standards of being purely factual, noncontroversial and not burdensome, Corn-Revere said.
On the question of whether requiring drug prices be listed in advertising violates the First Amendment’s free-speech guarantee, Corn-Revere said it “all comes down to the specifics.”
Ubl, when asked earlier about legal action, didn’t rule out the possibility. “We believe there are substantial statutory and constitutional principles that arise” from requiring list-price disclosure, Ubl said, adding: “We do have concerns about that approach.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Police say five people, including a 5-year-old boy, were shot on a north Philadelphia street, and two were critically injured.
Capt. Frank Palumbo said shots were fired from across the street into a crowd of people. Investigators said 41 shell casings were found.
A 21-year-old man was hit five times in the chest, forearm and leg. He and a 41-year-old man were listed in critical condition at Temple University Hospital.
A 48-year-old man and a 43-year-old man were listed in stable condition. The boy was hit in the knee and taken to St. Christopher Hospital for Children in stable condition.
Several men in hooded sweat shirts were seen running away from the scene. No arrests were immediately announced.
Several other people were injured in other shootings around the city. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Well, Speaker Boehner?
Well, Speaker Boehner?
“We've got a bill that passed with bipartisan support, strong bipartisan support in the Senate. You've got a president who says that this is a number-one priority and he can't wait to sign a comprehensive immigration reform bill. You've got the majority of the American public who are committed to immigration reform and support a pathway to citizenship for those who don't have it,” he said. “The only thing that's holding it back right now is John Boehner calling it into the floor because we've got a majority of members of Congress, Democrats and some Republicans, in the House of Representatives, who would vote for it right now if it hit,” Obama continued. “So this is really a question that should be directed to Mr. John Boehner. What's stopping him from going ahead and calling that bill?”
In his interview with Telemundo's Jose Diaz-Balart, President Obama made what seems like an awfully fair argument about the fate of immigration reform in the House:But really, the president should cut House Republicans some slack. I mean, they made a Hispanic Heritage Month video —what more could anyone expect or want?
Sign our petition urging U.S. House members to bring comprehensive immigration reform to a floor vote, with or without Speaker Boehner. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
people are quitting facebook and joining reddit | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Wireless Industry Association Opposes Bill That Would Require Warrant For Them To Turn Data Over To Law Enforcement
from the do-they-not-care-about-their-users? dept
... the wireless industry opposes SB 1434 as it could create greater confusion for wireless providers when responding to legitimate law enforcement requests
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.
–The Techdirt Team
You would think that it would be in the mobile operators' best interest to protect their own customers' privacy and to stand up for their basic rights. You would think, but apparently you'd be wrong. It appears that CTIA -- the mobile operators' industry association -- is opposing an effort in California to require mobile operators to require a warrant before disclosing personal info. The bill also requires some basic reporting requirements for the companies, having them say how often info has been disclosed (hardly onerous info to track). Basically, the law asks that the mobile operators respect the 4th Amendment when dealing with law enforcement -- something that the federal government has been successfully chipping away at for years.But the CTIA is against all of this (pdf), claiming that it would be "confusing" for mobile operators.The crux of the "confusion" apparently is that the definitions in the bill are somewhat broader than what the industry says is standard, and they're afraid that this means "It could place providers in the position of requiring warrants for all law enforcement requests." I'm struggling to see what the problem is here. What's wrong with requiring warrants?The letter also fails to explain why the reporting requirements would be so "burdensome," other than the claim that providers already "are working day and night to assist law enforcement to ensure the public’s safety and to save lives." So, if I read this right, they're arguing that they're alreadyresponding to law enforcement that telling users that your personal data is being handed over to the government willy nilly is, you know, too much effort.The ACLU is calling out the industry for this move -- noting that it seems to have no problem spending all these resources passing on all of our info -- why can't it spend a little defending its subscribers' rights too?California is supposed to vote on this bill shortly. Hopefully, the state sees through these baseless claims from CTIA.
Filed Under: 4th amendment, aclu, california, ctia, warrants | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
JUST because the NRL season’s over doesn’t mean rugby league is finished for the year.
There are a whole host of fixtures coming up over the next few months.
Here’s your guide to what’s happening over the summer.
SUPER LEAGUE GRAND FINAL
Warrington take on Wigan in this year’s decider at Old Trafford.
You can watch the game live on Fox Sports 501 HD from 3am AEDT on Sunday, October 9.
Squads:
Warrington: Ryan Atkins, Ryan Bailey, Daryl Clark, Brad Dwyer, Rhys Evans, Kurt Gidley, Chris Hill, Jack Hughes, George King, Toby King, Tom Lineham, Declan Patton, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Matty Russell, Chris Sandow, Ashton Sims, Joe Westerman, Sam Wilde
Wigan: John Bateman, Joe Bretherton, Josh Charnley, Dom Crosby, Liam Farrell, Ben Flower, Anthony Gelling, Oliver Gildart, Willie Isa, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam Powell, Dan Sarginson, Jake Shorrocks, Matty Smith, Ryan Sutton, Taulima Tautai, Lewis Tierney, Jack Wells, George Williams
Chris Sandow has been named to play in the 2016 Super League grand final. Source: Getty Images
INTERNATIONAL TESTS
Saturday, October 8: Samoa v Fiji
Park International Stadium, Apia, Samoa
Watch it live on Fox Sports 507 viewer’s choice at 1.40pm AEDT on Saturday.
A replay can be seen on Fox Sports 3 at 7.30pm AEDT on Saturday night.
Samoa (squad): Leeson Ah Mau, Tim Lafai (Dragons), Sam Kasiano, Raymond Faitala Mariner (Bulldogs), Kaysa Pritchard (Eels), Denny Solomona (Castleford Tigers), Junior Paulo (Raiders), Sauaso Su’e, David Nofoaluma (Wests Tigers), Pita Godinet, Matthew Wright (Sea Eagles), Mason Lino, Ken Maumalo, Sam Lisone, James Gavet, Bunty Afoa, Erin Clark (Warriors).
Fiji: 1. Kevin Naiqama (Wests Tigers) 2. Tyrone Phillips (Bulldogs) 3. Waqa Blake (Panthers) 4. Brayden Williame (Sea Eagles) 5. Marcelo Montoya (Bulldogs) 6. Sitveni Moceidreke (North Sydney Bears) 7. Henry Raiwalui (Wentworthville Magpies) 8. Vitale Roqica (Sharks) 9. Apisai Koroisau (Sea Eagles) 10. Kane Evans (Roosters) 11. Viliame Kikau (Panthers) 12. Eloni Vunakece (Roosters) 13. Korbin Sims (Knights) 14. Erevonu (Tui) Kamikamica (Storm) 15. Petero (Ben) Nakubuwai (Storm) 16. Pio Seci (Fiji) 17. James Storer (Port Kembla — Illawarra) 18. Saimoni Lomaloma (Fiji)
Roosters prop Kane Evans in action for Fiji. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia
Saturday, October 8: Ireland v Malta
Carlisle Grounds, Bray, Ireland
Saturday, October 15: Australia v New Zealand
nib Stadium, Perth
Sunday, October 16: Ireland v Jamaica
Carlisle Grounds, Bray, Ireland
Friday, October 21: Wales v Jamaica
Wakefield Trinity, Wakefield, England
Saturday, October 29: South Africa v Niue
Pretoria
Friday, November 4: Niue v Lebanon
Pretoria
Friday, November 11: South Africa v Lebanon
Pretoria
WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Three spots in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup are yet to be decided.
Six nations — Wales, Ireland, Serbia, Russia, Italy and Spain — will all battle it out in two pools of three.
The countries to finish top of their pool will qualify while the two runner ups go into a playoff.
Pool A: Wales, Serbia, Italy
Pool B: Ireland, Russia, Spain
Fixtures:
October 15: Russia v Spain
October 15: Wales v Serbia
October 22: Serbia v Italy
October 22: Spain v Ireland
October 29: Italy v Wales
October 30: Ireland v Russia
November 4: Qualifying playoff
FOUR NATIONS
This year’s tournament will be held in the UK and will be contested between Australia, New Zealand, England and Scotland.
Scotland qualified after winning the 2014 European Cup.
Kiwis perform the Haka in the Anzac Test. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia
Fixtures (times in AEDT):
Saturday, October 29 (6am): Australia v Scotland, KC Lightstream Stadium, Hull
Sunday, October 30 (12:30am): England v New Zealand, The John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield
Sunday, November 6 (4:30am): England v Scotland, Ricoh Arena, Coventry
Sunday, November 6 (7am): New Zealand v Australia, Ricoh Arena, Coventry
Saturday, November 12 (7am): New Zealand v Scotland, The Zebra Claims Stadium, Workington
Monday, November 14 (1am): England v Australia, London Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Monday, November 21 (1:30am): Final, Anfield, Liverpool.
Where to watch: Channel Nine has the broadcasting rights to the Four Nations tournament in Australia.
Australian skipper Cameron Smith in action. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia
Squads
Australia: Cameron Smith (c) (Storm), Darius Boyd (Broncos), Shannon Boyd (Raiders), Boyd Cordner (Roosters), Cooper Cronk (Storm), Josh Dugan (Dragons), Blake Ferguson (Roosters), Jake Friend (Roosters), Tyson Frizell (Dragons), Matt Gillett (Broncos), Valentine Holmes (Sharks), Greg Inglis (Rabbitohs), David Klemmer (Bulldogs), James Maloney (Sharks), Josh Mansour (Panthers), Trent Merrin (Panthers), Michael Morgan (Cowboys), Matt Moylan (Panthers), Justin O’Neill (Cowboys), Josh Papalii (Raiders), Matt Scott (Cowboys), Sam Thaiday (Broncos), Johnathan Thurston (Cowboys), Aaron Woods (Wests Tigers).
New Zealand: Gerard Beale (Sharks), Adam Blair (Broncos), Jesse Bromwich (c) (Storm), Lewis Brown (Sea Eagles), Greg Eastwood (Bulldogs), David Fusitu’a (Warriors), Tohu Harris (Storm), Shaun Johnson (Warriors), Jordan Kahu (Broncos), Solomone Kata (Warriors), Shaun Kenny-Dowall (Roosters), Thomas Leuluai (Warriors), Issac Luke (Warriors), Simon Mannering (Warriors), Te Maire Martin (Panthers), Manu Ma’u (Eels), Jason Nightingale (Dragons), Kevin Proctor (Storm), Jordan Rapana (Raiders), Joseph Tapine (Raiders), Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys), Martin Taupau (Sea Eagles), Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Roosters), Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (Panthers).
England: John Bateman (Wigan), Kevin Brown (Widnes), George Burgess (South Sydney), Sam Burgess, (Souths), Thomas Burgess (Souths), Daryl Clark (Warrington), Mike Cooper (St George Illawarra), Liam Farrell (Wigan), Brett Ferres (Leeds), Luke Gale (Castleford), James Graham (Canterbury), Ryan Hall (Leeds), Chris Hill (Warrington), Josh Hodgson (Canberra), Jonny Lomax (St Helens), Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield), Mark Percival (St Helens), Stefan Ratchford (Warrington), Dan Sarginson (Wigan/Gold Coast), Scott Taylor (Hull FC), Kallum Watkins (Leeds), Elliot Whitehead (Canberra), Gareth Widdop (St George Illawarra), George Williams (Wigan).
Scotland: Danny Addy (Bradford), Euan Aitken (St George Illawarra), Ryan Brierley (Huddersfield), Sam Brooks (Widnes), Danny Brough (Huddersfield), Tyler Cassel (Wests Tigers), Lachlan Coote (North Queensland), Luke Douglas (Gold Coast), Dale Ferguson (Bradford), Ben Hellewell (London), Liam Hood (Leigh), Ben Kavanagh (Bradford), Kane Linnett (North Queensland), Ryan Maneely (Halifax), Frankie Mariano (Castleford), Billy McConnachie (Ipswich), Kieran Moran (Hull KR), Brett Phillips (Workington Town), Callum Phillips (Workington Town), Sheldon Powe-Hobbs (Northern Pride), Matthew Russell (Warrington), Lewis Tierney (Wigan), Dave Scott (Batley), Adam Walker (Hull KR).
2017 AUCKLAND NINES
The annual Nines tournament will be back for the fourth time at Eden Park.
Date: Saturday February 4 and Sunday February 5.
2017 RUGBY LEAGUE ALL STARS
The World All Stars will once again take on the Indigenous All Stars, but this time the fixture will be held at Hunter Stadium.
Date: Friday February 10.
Download the newFOX SPORTS Appto get the latest news and scores from your NRL team. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Over the last few weeks, many people have been noticing a sharp increase in earthquakes under El Hierro in the Canary Islands. If you recall, in 2010-12, the volcanic island was the home of an offshore submarine eruption that produced some stunning drifts of volcanic tephra and floating "coconuts" of inflated sediment coated in lava. That eruption (in the broadest sense) lasted until March 2012 and since then, beyond some minor earthquake swarms that didn't lead to any new eruptive activity, life has gone back to normal on El Hierro.
Of course, you can always add your own information to the map since Minar's files and methodology is available on GitHub. Histogram of the recent earthquakes at El Hierro, showing the sharp increase after March 18, 2013. Image: AVCAN.
Well, now it seems that magma is clearly on the move underneath the island once again. AVCAN has been tracking the seismicity and there have been hundreds to thousands of small earthquakes under El Hierro at depth of 10-20 km since March 18 (see right). However, the most interesting news is the sharp inflation the island has been experiencing, with ~10 cm of uplift in the westernmost part of El Hierro in only the last 10 days, near the focus of the earthquakes. This location of uplift and seismicity is very different than the 2010-11 activity (see above), which was centered to the south of the island. There has been no signs of undersea eruptive activity so far, according to scientists on the Ramón Margalef, a research vessel in the waters off of El Hierro.
As of today (March 26), PEVOLCA, the emergency management body on El Hierro, is keeping the alert status at Green as they believe that the current unrest is not a danger to anyone on the island. As we saw during the last submarine activity at El Hierro, the real hazard was to fisherman who ply the waters around the island. I'll have more updates as they arrive.
{Special thanks to David Calvo for keeping everyone appraised on the activity at El Hierro.} | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Blunt Talk , a live-action comedy series from Seth MacFarlane and Bored To Death creator Jonathan Ames starring Patrick Stewart (Star Trek, X-Men), has landed at Starz with a 20-episode, straight-to-series, two-season order for a 2015 premiere. The project hails from Media Rights Capital, which yielded a similar straight-to-series, two-season pickup from Netflix for its drama House Of Cards. The comedy project was recently taken out, garnering interest from multiple networks. There was so me behind the scenes back-and-forth on who would produce the series as MacFarlane is under a very rich overall deal at 20th Century Fox TV. (He is currently in negotiations for a new pact.) The TV studio, which is behind all other MacFarlane comedy series, is currently not involved in this one but I hear the issue has not been completely resolved yet. MacFarlane has very strong ties to MRC, which was behind his YouTube original series Cavalcade Of Cartoon Comedy as well as features Ted and A Million Ways To Die In The West.
Blunt Talk is a character-driven comedy revolving around Walter Blunt (Patrick Stewart), a British import intent on conquering the world of American cable news. Through the platform of his nightly interview show, Blunt is on a mission to impart his wisdom and guidance on how Americans should live, think and behave. Besieged by network bosses, a dysfunctional news staff, numerous ex-wives and children of all ages, Blunt’s only support is the alcoholic manservant he transplanted from the UK to join him in Los Angeles. The series follows the fallout from Blunt’s well-intentioned, but mostly misguided decision-making, both on and off the air. Ames, who originated the idea for the series, will serve as executive producer and as writer and showrunner. MacFarlane and Fuzzy Door Prods also serve as executive producer; Stewart will be a producer. “In the character of Walter Blunt, Seth, Jonathan and Patrick have found the alchemy that makes a borderline alcoholic, mad-genius-Brit the man you want fighting in America’s corner,” Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said. “Seth and Jonathan have struck the right balance between biting wit and outright absurdity in building this world, and we cannot wait for Patrick to breathe life into Walter.”
Blunt Talk expands Stewart’s relationship with MacFarlane. The British Shakespeare actor has voiced characters on MacFarlane’s animated series Family Guy and American Dad and also served as narrator on Ted. “My career took an abrupt and radical left turn when Seth McFarlane created CIA Deputy Director Avery Bullock on American Dad,” Stewart said. “This new character, Walter Blunt, is not at all like Avery, thank God, because this is live action and I am a Knight of the Realm. Blunt is, however, much smarter than Avery and has his own TV show, which has to be better than being Deputy Director of the CIA.” Starz will retain all domestic multiplatform rights including television, home entertainment and digital. MacFarlane is repped by WME and Karl Austen; Ames is represented by WME and Stephanie Davis; Stewart is represented by UTA. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
This one’s a mini podcast where we announce that we fixed the glitches in the previous podcast (the tits one). We can’t announce this on social media because I’ve been banned from every platform there is. This leaves us no choice but to make announcements here - as separate podcasts. Anyway, it’s fixed. I miss you. Bye. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
At the end of 2016, I went to Reykjavík for my longest stay to date. I decided to do a “stranger” project in order to rejuvenate my dormant photography, and to see if I could get to know and meet some locals.
Below are twelve portraits of some cool Reykvíkingurs. They range from brewer and writer to chef and radio personality. Some are famous, and some are not. But all were kind enough to let me take up their time with good humor. A few will have crossed the threshold from strangers, and I hope to be in able to see them when I return to Reykjavík again.
Thank you, all. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Just as we predicted a third Swapper variant has been discovered and it does indeed have a Gold top with a Bronze bottom. Who is it?
DOOM STONE!!!
After the Bronze & Silver Trap Shadow and the Silver & Gold Stink Bomb that were discovered last month, we figured it was only a matter of time before a third variant was found.
The first auction seen here comes out of California.
I have contacted the seller about where it was found and (perhaps more importantly) if there were regular Doom Stones available as well. I haven't heard anything yet, but I will update this article as soon as I do.
Check back soon! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Roller Shutter, Fire Exit & Security Doors - Collapsible Gates & Grilles London
Costello Security Installers – protecting your livelihood
We are among the most experienced team you will find in the security trade, conducting expert manufacture and installation of high quality security door, shutter and gate systems for commercial and residential customers throughout London and the South East.
We will supply and fit you security equipment within 7 days of your phone call
We appreciate how important it is to keep your property secure and protected from fire, vandalism, trespassing and criminal damage, which is why we aim to have your equipment installed within just seven days of your original phone call or consultation.
Installation backed by unrivalled experience
We are a family-owned company with more than 30 years’ experience in the security industry, and have extensive expertise in the manufacture, supply and installation of a wide range of high quality security products, including collapsible gates, fire exit doors, security doors and retractable gates.
Our key services include:
Collapsible gates
Door security shutters
Collapsible security grilles (including bar and mesh systems)
(including bar and mesh systems) Roller shutters
Security doors and gates
Door closers and door springs
Retractable gates
Fire exit doors
Locksmith services
Powder coat finishing, RAL colours and other custom modifications
Comprehensive aftercare including maintenance and repair
Free consultation and no obligation survey
We do not believe in charging you for anything that doesn’t physically improve your security and safety. Costello Security Installers offer free and comprehensive surveys of your property to establish the current quality of security within your premises. Our experienced and friendly team will then make incisive and knowledgeable recommendations - all completely free of charge and without obligation!
If you are concerned about your security, please contact us for a competitive quotation.
We are approved by all the most important parties in the security industry, including insurance services, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), the Safe Contractor Approved Scheme (SCAS), the UK Locksmiths Association and of course our substantial and loyal customer base. We also supply and install our security equipment to LPS 1175, CE 1627 and CE 1522 standards,
Costello Security Installers relish the privilege of providing extensive security, protection and real peace of mind to thousands of people, homes and business throughout London and the South East. With free no obligation surveys, high quality products, expert design and installation by our own staff, ultra-fast response locksmiths and free help and advice from engineering experts, we are Surrey’s number one choice for comprehensive security solutions.
Based in Banstead, Surrey, we serve both commercial and domestic customers in London and the Home Counties. Our security installations continue to protect clients’ premises in many locations including Croydon, Sutton, Watford, Epsom, Reigate, Sutton, Kingston upon Thames, Balham, Clapham, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Fulham, Chelsea, Richmond, Twickenham, Islington, St Johns Wood, Wimbledon, Battersea, Guildford, Woking, Romford, Leatherhead, Caterham, Crawley, Camden and Enfield.
For more details please contact us today.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Evangelist Franklin Graham claimed the political turmoil fracturing the country in the wake of impeachment proceedings into President Trump likely has a supernatural origin.
Graham spoke Thursday with author and host Eric Metaxas, who asked the 67-year-old son of the late Billy Graham what he made of the present political situation. "It's a very bizarre situation to be living in a country where some people seem to exist to undermine the president of the United States," Metaxas said. "It's just a bizarre time for most Americans."
Graham responded, "Well, I believe it's almost a demonic power that is trying — "
"I would disagree," Metaxas said. "It's not almost demonic. You know and I know, at the heart, it's a spiritual battle."
Graham agreed and laid out some of the economic success the country has seen under Trump. "If you look at what the president, just for our country, regardless of whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, unemployment is at the lowest in 70 years. More African Americans are working, more Latinos are working, more Asians are working, more everybody are working. We have an economy that is just screaming forward. It's incredible." Economic prosperity benefits churches, Graham said, because Christians have more money to tithe.
[Also read: 'God already spoke to me': Trump spiritual adviser predicts visions for those who give money to her ministry]
Metaxas then expressed frustration at many who have "vilified" both Graham and himself for supporting the president. "It's just a fascinating thing, because people seem to devolve to a sort of moralistic Pharisaism. ... Then they go on to cite how he's the least Christian, and they go on and on and on. And I think these people don't even have a biblical view when it comes to that. If somebody doesn't hold to our theology, that doesn't mean they can't be a great pilot, or a great doctor, or a dentist."
[Related: 'A modern-day Pharisee': Buttigieg's evangelical brother-in-law urges him to 'repent' of abortion views]
"It's a bizarre situation that we're in, that people seem only to have these standards for the president somehow," Metaxas said. Graham then claimed he believes Trump is a Christian but that he does not have an especially deep understanding of religious matters. "He went to churches here in New York. He didn't get a whole lot of teaching."
"He knows there's two testaments, right?" Metaxas said. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Cameras in smartphones will inevitably replace nearly all portable cameras and camcorders, but could they also make basic medical instruments obsolete? A startup called CellScope plans to do just that by turning smartphones into digital first aid kits. To kickoff its campaign, the company is developing an iPhone attachment that turns the smartphone into an otoscope, providing a magnified view of the middle ear.
Why does the company want to make it easy for doctor’s and parents to peer inside their kids’ heads? Because ear infections are the number 1 reason children are taken to see pediatricians and often why they end up in the emergency room. According to the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 93 percent of children before the age of 7 will have an ear infection and 6-8 percent will suffer with frequent infections, defined as 3 or more in a 12-month period. In the US alone, 30 million pediatrician visits each year are attributed to ear infections at a cost in the billions of dollars.
The peripheral attaches to the top of an iPhone and provides a 10x magnification. Using CellScope’s web platform, users can upload captured images and pediatricians can remotely assess the severity of the infection. Doctors can then provide a diagnosis, prescribe antibiotics, or recommend the child be brought into the office for a more thorough examination. Additionally, the images enter into the patient’s electronic medical records, so any susceptibilities to infection can be tracked through image comparison throughout the childhood years.
Because children who suffer from frequent ear infections may get fluid buildup that can lead to hearing loss, pediatricians frequently recommend implantation of tympanostomy (ear) tubes. But this requires major surgery (general anesthesia required) to get them in and out, if they don’t fall out on their own.
The smartphone otoscope allows parents to easily monitor a child’s ears closely, which may help provide greater insight into the kinds of infections that are occurring. The stored images also provide an easy way to get a second opinion to ensure that surgery is the best answer. Altogether, this may help lower the number of ear tube surgeries, which is estimated to be around 700,000 per year in the US, according to The New York Times.
For occasional ear infections, pediatricians can do little other than prescribe antibiotics, but a report from 2010 by CBS news indicates that in many cases, the best medicine for a child’s ear infection is no antibiotics at all, that is, “watchful waiting.” Coupled with a better understanding of the anatomy of the middle ear, parents can use the device to better manage the infection at home rather than immediately heading off to the doctor’s office, which itself can be a source of additional bacteria and viruses that can add insult to injury. But pediatricians can equally benefit from having a digital record of the infections available in the medical records, allowing them to review images of past infections rather than just relying on written descriptions.
The technology for CellScope originated at the University of California, Berkeley, where researchers were focusing on the development of a fluorescence microscope peripheral that could help diagnose tuberculosis in patients in developing countries (the research was published in PLoS One here). CellScope was formed in order to bring smartphone microscopes to market, but to begin, it’s aiming at microscopy applications that require lower magnification, such as the otoscope and another device in the pipeline, a dermascope to diagnose rashes and other skin ailments. Last year, Cellscope participated in the Rock Health incubator, which is an accelerator for digital startups in the health industry, and recently, the company raised $1 million from Khosla Ventures to work on this device.
Pediatricians in the Bay area and Atlanta have already been testing out the device, and a clinical study is underway to evaluate its diagnostic accuracy compared to traditional methods.
CellScope is just one of the companies that aims to utilize smartphones to bring more professional healthcare tools into the home. Erik Douglas, co-founder and CEO of Cellscope, said “It seems pretty obvious that this sort of thing is going to happen…5 years from now, 10 years from now, people will be able to do diagnosis from home. Patients will have more control over taking data and being a participant in their healthcare delivery.”
Considering that nearly half of Americans now have smartphones, it’s time we started using all that computational power to help reduce healthcare costs and keep kids healthier.
Check out the CellScope founders talking about their tech: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Older people should be encouraged to use public transport and other methods of getting around before they have to give up their driver's licence, research from the Monash University Accident Research Centre has found.
Australia will see an "explosion" in the number of drivers over the age of 65, making up 20 per cent of the people on the road by 2040.
Right now, about 70 per cent of older people use their car as their sole form of transport.
Only about 22 per cent walk or use public transport. Others do not walk because of fears about traffic and personal security.
Study author Dr Jennie Oxley said if those factors could be improved, the number of people participating in "active transport" like walking could increase.
"We do want to get older people to use alternative forms of transport before they get to that stage where they should give up driving," she said.
"If we can get them planning ahead, well that means a huge potential increase in alternative transport use."
Dr Oxley said everyone talked about retiring from work, but no-one spoke about retiring from driving.
"If you can plan ahead, make the decision yourself, with family, it's going to be much better psychologically," she said.
"We know if older drivers lose their licence... there's all sorts of depression, loss of self-esteem, loss of independence, because they haven't planned ahead.
"If we can get people to think about using alternative transport at an earlier age, they're much more used to it, so it's a smoother transition."
One of the ways to make the roads safer for the most vulnerable road users, like the elderly and children, was by cutting speed limits.
In strip malls they could be cut from 40 kilometres per hour to 30kph, Dr Oxley said.
"I believe if we can bring those travel speeds down we can save a lot of lives," she said.
Val Gallagher, 71, of Northcote, uses public transport to go into the city on a regular basis because it is easier than parking.
She hopes to be able to keep driving for years to come.
"My father drove to 93," she said.
"If I could make it to 93 that'd be great but I may have to give up earlier if I feel I can't do it any longer." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Two new rail bridges over the Yarra River - one for trams and one for freight trains - will be the defining gateways to Fishermans Bend once the sprawling inner-city industrial zone is redeveloped into a new city for 80,000.
The planned suburb will also have a new underground railway line.
Its residents and workforce of 60,000 will be heavily dependent on public transport, walking and cycling to get around.
Private car journeys will be discouraged, with parking spaces reduced and fewer than one in five journeys made by car. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Nikki Sixx and Sebastian Bach are the latest hard rock musicians to call on lawmakers to enact tougher guns laws after back-to-back mass shootings in the United States left at least 29 dead and 53 injured in Texas and Ohio on August 3 and August 4.
In El Paso, a gunman opened fire as customers crowded into a Walmart during the busy back-to-school shopping season Saturday morning, leaving 20 people dead and another 26 wounded. Just hours after the El Paso attack, a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, left at least nine people dead and 26 wounded.
On Sunday (August 4), Sixx took to his Twitter to write: "It is not too soon to be talking about how [President Donald] Trump and [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell are enabling these violent acts by obstructing common-sense legislation that would make it more difficult for would-be mass shooters to obtain weapons designed to mass kill human beings.
"Mitch McConnell likes to think of himself as Grim Reaper, well today, the Senate's Grim Reaper made it easier for a Trump supporter to kill at least 18 people," he said.
Earlier today (Monday, August 5), the MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist added: "I don't know about you, but I'm fucking sick of hearing about innocent people being slaughtered city after city because the politicians chose money over passing stricter gun control laws."
After one of Sixx's Twitter followers pointed out that "Australia's last mass shooting was in 1996 and nothing since due to harsh gun reforms..America's 'gun toting' attitude needs to change...", Sixx responded: "We refer to this often when talking about change and saving people lives.Imagine how many thousands of lives would have been saved if the politicians ( aka NRA puppets) would of followed suit."
For his part, Bach has repeatedly lambasted Trump, McConnell, Vice President Mike Pence and other Republican leaders for their inaction on gun regulation. "You and your useless Republican party don't give a fuck about the safety of the citizens of the USA," the former SKID ROW singer wrote in response to a tweet of consolation from Ohio Senator Rob Portman. "Your 'prayers' are a slap in the face to the 30 people who were mowed down yesterday because of your uselessness."
On Sunday, President Donald Trump said that "hate has no place in our country" and called the mass shootings "a mental illness problem. These are people that are very, very seriously mentally ill," he added.
Democratic presidential candidates Beto O'Rourke and Sen. Cory Booker have both said Trump is partly to blame for the shooting in El Paso due to his anti-immigrant rhetoric.
"This president is encouraging greater racism and not just the racist rhetoric, but the violence that so often follows," O'Rourke told CNN.
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney dismissed the suggestion that Trump's rhetoric has in any way contributed to white nationalist violence.
"I blame the people who pulled the trigger," Mulvaney said in an interview on "Meet The Press".
Nefarious times we are living & dying in.I don’t know about you but I’m fucking sick of hearing about innocent people being slaughtered city after city in this great country because the ? politicians chose ? over passing stricter choose gun control laws. #TimeForChange ?? — xxıS ıʞʞıN (@NikkiSixx) August 5, 2019
We refer to this often when talking about change and saving people lives.Imagine how many thousands of lives would have been saved if the ? politicians ( aka NRA ?puppets) would of followed suit. https://t.co/503RGch3ow — xxıS ıʞʞıN (@NikkiSixx) August 5, 2019
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
【3月16日 Xinhua News】中国河南省安陽市で、レンガ彫刻が施された金王朝時代（1115～1234年）の壁画墓が発見された。このほど発表された発掘調査報告によると、墓は独特な設計が施された高僧の墓で、4人が埋葬されており、壁画の内容にはこれまで見られなかった題材が含まれている。河南省の黄河以北で金代高僧の墓が見つかったのは今回が初めてであり、考古学的に重要な価値を持つ。
墓は市内の文峰大道と太行路の交差点の東南角に位置する複合施設、大華時代広場で13号棟の基礎溝工事を行った際に見つかった。墓の発見後、同市文物考古研究所は国家文物局の許可を得て、北京大学考古文博学院と共同で発掘調査を行った。
文物考古研究所の孔徳銘（Kong Deming）所長は「墓誌のある高僧の墓が見つかることもめったにないのに、墓誌ばかりか、高僧が4人も埋葬されていた」と述べ、墓の形状や構造も非常に独特だと説明した。
墓は擬木構造の八角単室塼室墓（せんしつぼ）で、全長は9.35メートル。南北方向に造られ墓道は南にのびている。墓道、墓門、甬道（ようどう）と墓室の4部分で構成されており、傾斜墓道には17段の土階段が掘られている。
墓室の平面プランは八角形で、北側と西側、東側の壁に耳室と呼ばれる小部屋が1つずつ造られている。耳室内には陶罐（陶製の水がめ）が全部で4つ置かれており、中には火葬された遺骨が納められていた。考古学者は出土した墓誌と照らし合わせ、この遺骨を4人の高僧のものと判断した。
天井は穹窿頂（きゅうりゅうちょう）と呼ばれるドーム型で、頂部はレンガを四角形に積み塞いでいる。墓室の中心にレンガ作りの供物台があり、出土当時、墓誌はこの台の上に置かれていた。
墓では特徴的な壁画も見つかった。墓室の北西、南西、北東、南東すべてに彩色画が描かれており、中でも「童子啓門図と「行医図」は特に珍しく、孔氏は「墓室の壁画によく見られるのは『婦女啓門図』であり『童子啓門図』は珍しい。『行医図』などもあまり見かけない」と語る。
出土した墓誌から、墓は金の正隆4年（1159年）に相州洪福寺文殊院の院主洪論が数人の高僧のために造ったことが分かった。墓は独特の設計と美しい壁画を持つほか、墓誌の年代記載や内容も豊富で、宋・金代の安陽の洪福寺や開元寺などの仏教寺院の盛衰や地名の歴史的変遷なども記載されている。
保存状態の良い壁画には、当時の生活の濃厚な息遣いや生き生きとした人物像が描かれている。これらは金代の人々の信仰や医療、薬学、社会生活の姿を如実に伝えており、重要な歴史的価値と芸術的価値を備えている。(c)Xinhua News/AFPBB News | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Former Taylor's Furniture building. (BlackburnNews.com File Photo by Briana Carnegie)
Share via: Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
More
A welcome new development is coming to downtown Sarnia.
Local businessman Rob Fleischer and his wife hope to open the Sarnia Downtown Market in the former Taylor’s Furniture Store in the first part of July.
They’re looking for local farmers, food producers, craftspeople and artisans.
The building has been renovated with two roll-up garage doors to access Christina St.
“It’s a beautiful building located right in downtown Sarnia and we chose it because of the historical significance and the beauty of the building,” says Fleischer. “We were thinking of doing some things with this building but when we started looking at the market concept and spoke with a number of people downtown, they all said we need a mini grocery store style market downtown. So we thought, ‘why not design one that brings different vendors in to get this thing going?’, and we’ve had a super response so far.”
More local food suppliers, farmers, craftspeople and artists are still needed.
Fleischer says hours aren’t set in stone yet, but they’ll tentatively open Thursday and Friday afternoons and evenings and then part of the day Saturdays and Sundays, likely in the first week of July. You can contact [email protected] if you are interested. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
When I was twenty-four years old, I moved to Jerusalem. It was basically my junior year abroad, only three years after my actual junior year. I took some Hebrew, began Arabic lessons, and enrolled in a few graduate level classes at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, but I did not take these studies very seriously. I spent weekends in Tel Aviv, south Sinai, and the Galilee. I also hung out in East Jerusalem—where I discovered what real hummus tastes like; sorry, Israelis—and ventured into the West Bank any number of times. By the standards set by the second intifada, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians at the time was fairly tame. The first Palestinian uprising was winding down before I even arrived in Israel. Once I got to know the city pretty well, I would walk from the university through Sheikh Jarrah and from there to Damascus Gate for the above referenced hummus. I’d ride the 29 (or was it the 23?) Aleph bus through East Jerusalem just to see if it would get stoned—this was a few years before Palestinian suicide-bombers began blowing up buses. I do not actually remember much in the way of bloodshed during my year living on French Hill, though I am sure there was violence.
I have been back sporadically over the years, most recently last week after my travels in Tunisia and Egypt. It had been eight years since my last visit. There is nothing like some ground truth for much-needed perspective. The debates that occupy us in Washington, and the West more generally, about Israel, its conflict with the Palestinians, and the country’s role in the world seem, well, either small, divorced from reality, or both when confronted with the actual experience of contemporary Israel. Here is what I learned:
The Israelis feel vindicated and they have a point. For as long as anyone can remember, Israelis and their supporters around the world have been arguing that the conflict with the Palestinians is not the cause of the Middle East’s various problems. It did not matter because the world insisted on “linkage”—after Operation Desert Storm in 1991, there was a big push to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the final report of the Iraq Study Group (released in December 2006) called on the Bush administration to pursue peace; and, recently, King Abdullah II of Jordan as well as the Swedish foreign minister suggested that resolving the Palestinian issue will somehow make the self-declared Islamic State go away. It is obvious that the combination of dispossession and occupation has radicalized the Palestinian political arena, offered various extremist groups rhetorical justification for bloodshed, and provided an endless trough of fodder for Arab intellectuals and their fellow travelers. That said, the linkage argument that reduced almost anything and everything to “the conflict” was always weak. Now, with Syria consumed by violence, Iraq struggling with the political forces that have been pulling it apart since the U.S. invasion in 2003, Yemen failing, Libya fragmenting, and Egypt lurching from crisis to crisis, the Israelis say, “You see, none of this has anything to do with us or the Palestinians.” They are correct.
It’s never been better regionally, for Israel. Even with the Iran deal, the Israelis have never been in a better strategic position—at least in the short term. Syria’s military, which previously gave the Israelis pause, has proven to be ill-equipped, poorly led, and reduced to little more than the most grotesque displays of wanton violence like barrel bombs and the deliberate targeting of civilians. Hezbollah is being ground up in Syria. The group’s mystique in the Arab world diminished greatly since its collaboration with the Assad regime and Tehran in the carnage that has killed more than 400,000 and displaced half of Syria’s population. Hamas has made it clear that it wants to avoid another round with the Israel Defense Forces. The Turks, whose strategic position in the region cratered in 2013, want to make up with the Israelis. Officials in Jerusalem seem ambivalent, having proved that they can get along just fine without Ankara and the nasty anti-Zionism of the Justice and Development Party. Israel now enjoys strong security ties with Egypt (just ask the Egyptians) given the confluence of Israeli-Egyptian interests in fighting extremism in the Sinai Peninsula. To top it all off, there is strategic consensus among Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia on the need to confront Iranian power in the region. The Israelis feel pretty good about all this and they should, but risks remain. Hezbollah still has thousands of Iran-supplied rockets trained on Israel. Turkish and Israeli interests diverge on the future of the Kurds as well as Cypriot gas. And while it is true that the Gulf countries do not care much about the Palestinians, some kind of flare up concerning the Temple Mount—not an impossibility given the nationalist, religious, and nationalist-religious makeup of the Israeli cabinet—might make it hard on the Saudis, in particular, to continue their current “forward leaning” posture toward the Israelis.
There really are no partners for peace. How many times have I heard Israeli leaders say that they do not have a partner in peace? Too many. The Israeli public apparently agrees with them and evinces a “[expletive deleted] ‘em” attitude toward the Palestinians. Early last week, I rode to Jerusalem from Modiin on Route 443, a road that was built two decades ago for Israelis and Palestinians. Since the second intifada, however, Palestinians have been forced to go through checkpoints to access the road, greatly diminishing the number of them who use it. It is now just another commuter route for Israelis who travel this ribbon of asphalt between two sections of the West Bank separation barrier, marked by watchtowers. I am not sure the sea of Israelis who were using Route 443 the morning I rode on it noticed or cared that they have created an environment in which a morally obtuse occupation enables their convenience. I should not be shocked by this, however. Like everyone else, Israelis place a premium on their security and their prevailing narrative is: “There was a peace process and they blew up our buses, we withdrew from Gaza and got rockets, and now our people are being stabbed randomly.” All of this is true, albeit stripped of all the complexities and physical consequences of the continued occupation and settlement of the West Bank as well as the blockade (in collaboration with Egypt) of the Gaza Strip. This has produced what seems like a structural shift in the Israeli electorate to the right, which in turn has resulted in a government whose ministers have no interest in a two-state solution. There are many Israelis who are unapologetic about these developments, but then they surely must recognize that they are not the only ones who can legitimately claim that they have no partners for peace.
The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) forces have lost. Tel Aviv is a boomtown. It has always been cool, but it has a certain creative vibe that is making it a global city. The world clearly does not buy the BDS message. While American and European campuses are ablaze with controversies over BDS and anti-Semitism, the folks in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel seem to have shrugged it off. Maybe that is the fabled “Tel Aviv bubble,” which is so far removed from refugee camps, the hilltop youth, Hamas, and the ugly politics of “the conflict” that it allows Israelis to tune it all out if they choose to do so. The Israelis have succeeded in making their conflict with the Palestinians manageable and have thus turned inward in pursuit of a dynamic and creative society. I am not sure this kind of complacency is a good thing, especially since there is good reason to be concerned about BDS, especially the recrudescence of anti-Semitism associated with it. The Israeli government is pouring money into combating BDS, but it all seems rather beside the point. Israelis do not seem to care all that much about what the world thinks—a recent survey found that they were among the happiest people in the world—and the most effective anti-BDS strategy is one that the Israeli government (and the Palestinians) do not have much interest in—a credible peace process. All the while, Tel Aviv keeps rocking.
The World This Week A weekly digest of the latest from CFR on the biggest foreign policy stories of the week, featuring briefs, opinions, and explainers. Every Friday. View all newsletters >
It seems odd that it needs repeating that Israel is complicated, but so much of the commentary about it bears little resemblance to the country that actually exists. Israelis are neither uniquely good nor are they uniquely bad. I met neither war criminals nor sages during my visit, just people trying to figure out how to live. Given their circumstances, Israelis have tried to insulate themselves from their neighbors through walls, fences, roads, guns, and territory. It is a good thing they never gave up the Golan Heights—it is too valuable strategically—but, in the long run, the West Bank is another story. There are a lot of people there who do not want to be occupied, want to build their own state, and deeply resent and reject the presence of Israeli settlers. There are many Israelis who know this and would like nothing more than to wash their hands of the Palestinians, but remain frustrated at the obstreperousness of the Palestinian Authority, the threat of violence from Hamas, and Israel’s own crazy politics. As one friend said to me after meditating on the circumstances in which he lives, “What are we supposed to do?” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Panthers are right in the thick of things with a 6-3 record through nine weeks.
But the New Orleans Saints and more foes stand in Carolina's way to another NFC South title.
Check out the video above for a breakdown of the Panthers and Saints upcoming schedule to figure out who has the advantage heading into the second half of the season. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
When you have to build a web application, you are often asked to add search. The magnifying glass is something that we now add to wireframes without even knowing what we are going to search.
The search has become an important feature and we've seen a big increase in the popularity of tools like elasticsearch and SOLR which are both based on lucene. They are great tools but before going down the road of Weapons of Mass Destruction Search, maybe what you need is something a bit lighter which is simply good enough!
What do you I mean by 'good enough'? I mean a search engine with the following features:
Stemming
Ranking / Boost
Support Multiple languages
Fuzzy search for misspelling
Accent support
Luckily PostgreSQL supports all these features.
This post is aimed at people who:
use PostgreSQL and don't want to install an extra dependency for their search engine.
use an alternative database (eg: MySQL) and have the need for better full-text search features.
In this post, we are going to progressively illustrate some of the full-text search features in Postgres based on the following tables and data:
CREATE TABLE author ( id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY , name TEXT NOT NULL ); CREATE TABLE post ( id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY , title TEXT NOT NULL , content TEXT NOT NULL , author_id INT NOT NULL references author ( id ) ); CREATE TABLE tag ( id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY , name TEXT NOT NULL ); CREATE TABLE posts_tags ( post_id INT NOT NULL references post ( id ), tag_id INT NOT NULL references tag ( id ) ); INSERT INTO author ( id , name ) VALUES ( 1 , 'Pete Graham' ), ( 2 , 'Rachid Belaid' ), ( 3 , 'Robert Berry' ); INSERT INTO tag ( id , name ) VALUES ( 1 , 'scifi' ), ( 2 , 'politics' ), ( 3 , 'science' ); INSERT INTO post ( id , title , content , author_id ) VALUES ( 1 , 'Endangered species' , 'Pandas are an endangered species' , 1 ), ( 2 , 'Freedom of Speech' , 'Freedom of speech is a necessary right' , 2 ), ( 3 , 'Star Wars vs Star Trek' , 'Few words from a big fan' , 3 ); INSERT INTO posts_tags ( post_id , tag_id ) VALUES ( 1 , 3 ), ( 2 , 2 ), ( 3 , 1 );
It's a traditional blog-like application with post objects, which have a title and content . A post is associated to an author via a foreign key. A post itself can have multiple tags.
What is Full-Text Search.
First, let's look at the definition:
In text retrieval, full-text search refers to techniques for searching a single computer-stored document or a collection in a full-text database. The full-text search is distinguished from searches based on metadata or on parts of the original texts represented in databases. -- Wikipedia
This definition introduces the concept of a document, which is important. When you run a search across your data, you are looking into meaningful entities for which you want to search, these are your documents! The PostgreSQL documentation explains it amazingly.
A document is the unit of searching in a full-text search system; for example, a magazine article or email message. -- Postgres documentation
This document can be across multiple tables and it represents a logical entity which we want to search for.
Build our document
In the previous section, we introduced the concept of document. A document is not related to our table schema but to data; together these represent a meaningful object. Based on our example schema, the document is composed of:
post.title
post.content
author.name of the post
of the all tag.name associated to the post
To create our document based on this criteria imagine this SQL query:
SELECT post . title || ' ' || post . content || ' ' || author . name || ' ' || coalesce (( string_agg ( tag . name , ' ' )), '' ) as document FROM post JOIN author ON author . id = post . author_id JOIN posts_tags ON posts_tags . post_id = posts_tags . tag_id JOIN tag ON tag . id = posts_tags . tag_id GROUP BY post . id , author . id ; document -------------------------------------------------- Endangered species Pandas are an endangered species Pete Graham politics Freedom of Speech Freedom of speech is a necessary right Rachid Belaid politics Star Wars vs Star Trek Few words from a big fan Robert Berry politics 3 rows )
As we are grouping by post and author , we are using string_agg() as the aggregate function because multiple tag can be associated to a post . Even if author is a foreign key and a post cannot have more than one author , it is required to add an aggregate function for author or to add author to the GROUP BY .
We also used coalesce() . When a value can be NULL then it's good practice to use the coalesce() function, otherwise the concatenation will result in a NULL value too.
At this stage, our document is simply a long string and this doesn't help us; we need to transform it into the right format via the function to_tsvector() .
SELECT to_tsvector ( post . title ) || to_tsvector ( post . content ) || to_tsvector ( author . name ) || to_tsvector ( coalesce (( string_agg ( tag . name , ' ' )), '' )) as document FROM post JOIN author ON author . id = post . author_id JOIN posts_tags ON posts_tags . post_id = posts_tags . tag_id JOIN tag ON tag . id = posts_tags . tag_id GROUP BY post . id , author . id ; document -------------------------------------------------- 'endang' : 1 , 6 'graham' : 9 'panda' : 3 'pete' : 8 'polit' : 10 'speci' : 2 , 7 'belaid' : 12 'freedom' : 1 , 4 'necessari' : 9 'polit' : 13 'rachid' : 11 'right' : 10 'speech' : 3 , 6 'berri' : 13 'big' : 10 'fan' : 11 'polit' : 14 'robert' : 12 'star' : 1 , 4 'trek' : 5 'vs' : 3 'war' : 2 'word' : 7 ( 3 rows )
This query will return our document as tsvector which is a type suited to full-text search. Let's try to convert a simple string into a tsvector.
SELECT to_tsvector ( 'Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value' ); query will return the following result : to_tsvector ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 'becom' : 4 , 13 'man' : 6 , 15 'rather' : 10 'success' : 8 'tri' : 1 , 11 'valu' : 17 ( 1 row )
Something weird just happened. First there are fewer words than in the original sentence, some of the words are different ( try became tri ) and they are all followed by numbers. Why?
A tsvector value is a sorted list of distinct lexemes which are words that have been normalized to make different variants of the same word look alike. For example, normalization almost always includes folding upper-case letters to lower-case and often involves removal of suffixes (such as 's', 'es' or 'ing' in English). This allows searches to find variant forms of the same word without tediously entering all the possible variants.
The numbers represent the location of the lexeme in the original string. For example, "man" is present at position 6 and 15. Try counting the words and see for yourself.
By default, Postgres uses 'english' as text search configuration for the function to_tsvector and it will also ignore english stopwords. That explains why the tsvector results have fewer elements than the ones in our sentence. We see later a bit more about languages and text search configuration.
Querying
We have seen how to build a document, but the goal here is to find the document. For running a query against a tsvector we can use the @@ operator which is documented here. Let's see some examples on how to query our document.
> select to_tsvector ( 'If you can dream it, you can do it' ) @@ 'dream' ; ? column ? ---------- t ( 1 row ) > select to_tsvector ( 'It''s kind of fun to do the impossible' ) @@ 'impossible' ; ? column ? ---------- f ( 1 row )
The second query returns false because we need to build a tsquery which creates the same lexemes and, using the operator @@ , casts the string into a tsquery. The following shows the difference between casting and using the function to_tsquery()
SELECT 'impossible' :: tsquery , to_tsquery ( 'impossible' ); tsquery | to_tsquery --------------+------------ 'impossible' | 'imposs' ( 1 row )
But in the case of 'dream' the stem is equal to the word.
SELECT 'dream' :: tsquery , to_tsquery ( 'dream' ); tsquery | to_tsquery --------------+------------ 'dream' | 'dream' ( 1 row )
From now on we will use to_tsquery for querying documents.
SELECT to_tsvector ( 'It''s kind of fun to do the impossible' ) @@ to_tsquery ( 'impossible' ); ? column ? ---------- t ( 1 row )
A tsquery value stores lexemes that are to be searched for, and combines them honoring the Boolean operators & (AND), | (OR), and ! (NOT). Parentheses can be used to enforce grouping of the operators
> SELECT to_tsvector ( 'If the facts don' t fit the theory , change the facts ') @@ to_tsquery(' ! fact '); ?column? ---------- f (1 row) > SELECT to_tsvector(' If the facts don '' t fit the theory , change the facts ') @@ to_tsquery(' theory & ! fact '); ?column? ---------- f (1 row) > SELECT to_tsvector(' If the facts don '' t fit the theory , change the facts . ') @@ to_tsquery(' fiction | theory ' ); ? column ? ---------- t ( 1 row )
We can also use startwith query style when using :* .
> SELECT to_tsvector ( 'If the facts don''t fit the theory, change the facts.' ) @@ to_tsquery ( 'theo:*' ); ? column ? ---------- t ( 1 row )
Now that we know how to make a full-text search query, we can come back to our initial table schema and try to query our documents.
SELECT pid , p_title FROM ( SELECT post . id as pid , post . title as p_title , to_tsvector ( post . title ) || to_tsvector ( post . content ) || to_tsvector ( author . name ) || to_tsvector ( coalesce ( string_agg ( tag . name , ' ' ))) as document FROM post JOIN author ON author . id = post . author_id JOIN posts_tags ON posts_tags . post_id = posts_tags . tag_id JOIN tag ON tag . id = posts_tags . tag_id GROUP BY post . id , author . id ) p_search WHERE p_search . document @@ to_tsquery ( 'Endangered & Species' ); pid | p_title -----+-------------------- 1 | Endangered species ( 1 row )
This will find our document which contains Endangered and Species or lexemes close enough.
Language support
Postgres provides built-ins text search for many languages: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.
SELECT to_tsvector ( 'english' , 'We are running' ); to_tsvector ------------- 'run' : 3 ( 1 row ) SELECT to_tsvector ( 'french' , 'We are running' ); to_tsvector ---------------------------- 'are' : 2 'running' : 3 'we' : 1 ( 1 row )
A column name can be used to create the tsvector based on our starting model. Let's assume that post can be written in different languages and post contains a column language .
ALTER TABLE post ADD language text NOT NULL DEFAULT ( 'english' );
We can now rebuild our document to use this language column.
SELECT to_tsvector ( post . language :: regconfig , post . title ) || to_tsvector ( post . language :: regconfig , post . content ) || to_tsvector ( 'simple' , author . name ) || to_tsvector ( 'simple' , coalesce (( string_agg ( tag . name , ' ' )), '' )) as document FROM post JOIN author ON author . id = post . author_id JOIN posts_tags ON posts_tags . post_id = posts_tags . tag_id JOIN tag ON tag . id = posts_tags . tag_id GROUP BY post . id , author . id ;
Without the explicit cast ::regconfig the query will have generated an error:
ERROR : function to_tsvector ( text , text ) does not exist
regconfig is the object identifier type which represents the text search configuration in Postgres: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.3/static/datatype-oid.html
Fow now the lexemes of our document will be built using the right language based on post.language .
We also used simple which is one of the built in search text configs that Postgres provides. simple doesn't ignore stopwords and doesn't try to find the stem of the word. With simple every group of characters separated by a space is a lexeme; the simple text search config is pratical for data like a person's name for which we may not want to find the stem of the word.
SELECT to_tsvector ( 'simple' , 'We are running' ); to_tsvector ---------------------------- 'are' : 2 'running' : 3 'we' : 1 ( 1 row )
Accented Character
When you build a search engine supporting many languages you will also hit the accent problem. In many languages, accents are very important and can change the meaning of the word. Postgres ships with an extension call unaccent which is useful to unaccentuate content.
CREATE EXTENSION unaccent ; SELECT unaccent ( 'èéêë' ); unaccent ---------- eeee ( 1 row )
Let's add some accented content to our post table.
INSERT INTO post ( id , title , content , author_id , language ) VALUES ( 4 , 'il était une fois' , 'il était une fois un hôtel ...' , 2 , 'french' )
If we want to ignore accents when we build our document, then we can simply do the following:
SELECT to_tsvector ( post . language , unaccent ( post . title )) || to_tsvector ( post . language , unaccent ( post . content )) || to_tsvector ( 'simple' , unaccent ( author . name )) || to_tsvector ( 'simple' , unaccent ( coalesce ( string_agg ( tag . name , ' ' )))) FROM post JOIN author ON author . id = post . author_id JOIN posts_tags ON posts_tags . post_id = posts_tags . tag_id JOIN tag ON author . id = post . author_id GROUP BY p . id
That works, but it's a bit cumbersome with more room for mistakes. We can also build a new text search config with support for unaccented characters.
CREATE TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION fr ( COPY = french ); ALTER TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION fr ALTER MAPPING FOR hword , hword_part , word WITH unaccent , french_stem ;
When we are using this new text search config, we can see the lexemes
SELECT to_tsvector ( 'french' , 'il était une fois' ); to_tsvector ------------- 'fois' : 4 ( 1 row ) SELECT to_tsvector ( 'fr' , 'il était une fois' ); to_tsvector -------------------- 'etait' : 2 'fois' : 4 ( 1 row )
This gives us the same result as applying unaccent first and building the tsvector from the result.
SELECT to_tsvector ( 'french' , unaccent ( 'il était une fois' )); to_tsvector -------------------- 'etait' : 2 'fois' : 4 ( 1 row )
The number of lexemes is different because il était une are stopwords in French. Is it an issue to keep these stop words in our document? I don't think so as etait is not really a stopword as it's misspelled.
SELECT to_tsvector ( 'fr' , 'Hôtel' ) @@ to_tsquery ( 'hotels' ) as result ; result -------- t ( 1 row )
If we create an unaccented search config for each language that our post can be written in and we keep this value in post.language then we can keep our previous document query.
SELECT to_tsvector ( post . language , post . title ) || to_tsvector ( post . language , post . content ) || to_tsvector ( 'simple' , author . name ) || to_tsvector ( 'simple' , coalesce ( string_agg ( tag . name , ' ' ))) FROM post JOIN author ON author . id = post . author_id JOIN posts_tags ON posts_tags . post_id = posts_tags . tag_id JOIN tag ON author . id = post . author_id GROUP BY p . id
If you need to create unaccented text search config for each language supported by Postgres then you can use this gist
Our document will now likely increase in size because it can include unaccented stopwords but we query it without caring about accented characters. This can be useful e.g. for somebody with an english keyboard searching french content.
Ranking
When you build a search engine you want to be able to get search results ordered by relevance. The ranking of documents is based on many factors which are roughly explained in this documentation.
Ranking attempts to measure how relevant documents are to a particular query, so that when there are many matches the most relevant ones can be shown first. PostgreSQL provides two predefined ranking functions, which take into account lexical, proximity, and structural information; that is, they consider how often the query terms appear in the document, how close together the terms are in the document, and how important is the part of the document where they occur. -- PostgreSQL documentation
To order our results by relevance PostgreSQL provides a few functions but in our example we will be using only 2 of them: ts_rank() and setweight() .
The function setweight allows us to assign a weight value to a tsvector ; the value can be 'A', 'B', 'C' or 'D'
SELECT pid , p_title FROM ( SELECT post . id as pid , post . title as p_title , setweight ( to_tsvector ( post . language :: regconfig , post . title ), 'A' ) || setweight ( to_tsvector ( post . language :: regconfig , post . content ), 'B' ) || setweight ( to_tsvector ( 'simple' , author . name ), 'C' ) || setweight ( to_tsvector ( 'simple' , coalesce ( string_agg ( tag . name , ' ' ))), 'B' ) as document FROM post JOIN author ON author . id = post . author_id JOIN posts_tags ON posts_tags . post_id = posts_tags . tag_id JOIN tag ON tag . id = posts_tags . tag_id GROUP BY post . id , author . id ) p_search WHERE p_search . document @@ to_tsquery ( 'english' , 'Endangered & Species' ) ORDER BY ts_rank ( p_search . document , to_tsquery ( 'english' , 'Endangered & Species' )) DESC ;
In the query above, we have assigned different weights to the different fields of a document. post.title is more important than the post.content and as important as the tag associated. The least important is the author.name .
This means that if we were to search for the term 'Alice' a document that contains that term in its title would be returned before a document that contains the term in its content and document that with an author of that name would be returned last.
Based on the weights assigned to parts of our document the ts_rank() returns a floating number which represents the relevancy of our document against the query.
SELECT ts_rank ( to_tsvector ( 'This is an example of document' ), to_tsquery ( 'example | document' )) as relevancy ; relevancy ----------- 0 . 0607927 ( 1 row ) SELECT ts_rank ( to_tsvector ( 'This is an example of document' ), to_tsquery ( 'example ' )) as relevancy ; relevancy ----------- 0 . 0607927 ( 1 row ) SELECT ts_rank ( to_tsvector ( 'This is an example of document' ), to_tsquery ( 'example | unkown' )) as relevancy ; relevancy ----------- 0 . 0303964 ( 1 row ) SELECT ts_rank ( to_tsvector ( 'This is an example of document' ), to_tsquery ( 'example & document' )) as relevancy ; relevancy ----------- 0 . 0985009 ( 1 row ) SELECT ts_rank ( to_tsvector ( 'This is an example of document' ), to_tsquery ( 'example & unknown' )) as relevancy ; relevancy ----------- 1 e - 20 ( 1 row )
However, the concept of relevancy is vague and very application-specific. Different applications might require additional information for ranking, e.g., document modification time. The built-in ranking functions such as ts_rank are only examples. You can write your own ranking functions and/or combine their results with additional factors to fit your specific needs.
To illustrate the paragraph above, if we wanted to promote newer posts against older ones we could divide the ts_rank value by the age of the document +1 (to avoid dividing by zero).
Optimization and Indexing
Optimizing the search on one table is straight forward. PostgreSQL supports function based indexes so you can simply create a GIN index around the tsvector() function.
CREATE INDEX idx_fts_post ON post USING gin (( setweight ( to_tsvector ( language :: regconfig , title ), 'A' ) || setweight ( to_tsvector ( language :: regconfig , content ), 'B' ))); -- If this throws an IMMUTABLE error then you can use this workaround CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION gin_fts_fct ( title text , content text , language text ) RETURNS tsvector AS $ BODY $ SELECT setweight ( to_tsvector ( $ 3 :: regconfig , $ 1 ), 'A' ) || setweight ( to_tsvector ( $ 3 :: regconfig , $ 1 ), 'B' ); $ BODY $ LANGUAGE sql IMMUTABLE ; CREATE INDEX idx_fts_post ON post USING gin ( gin_fts_fct ( title , content , language ));
GIN or GiST indexes? These two indexes could be subject of a blog post themselves. GiST can produce false matches which then requires a extra table row lookup to confirm the match. On the other hand, GIN is faster to query but bigger and slower to build.
As a rule of thumb, GIN indexes are best for static data because lookups are faster. For dynamic data, GiST indexes are faster to update. Specifically, GiST indexes are very good for dynamic data and fast if the number of unique words (lexemes) is under 100,000 while GIN indexes will handle 100,000+ lexemes better but are slower to update. -- Postgres doc : Chap 12 Full Text Search
For our example, we will be using GIN but the choice can be argued and you need to take your own decision based on your data.
We have a problem in our schema example; the document is spread across multiple tables with different weights. For a better performance it's necessary to denormalize the data via triggers or materialized view.
You don't always need to denormalise and in some cases you can add a function based index as we did above. Alternatively you can easily denormalise data from the same table via the postgres trigger function tsvector_update_trigger(...) or tsvector_update_trigger_column(...) . See the Postgres doc for more detailed information.
If it's acceptable of having some delay before a document can be found via search query then this may be a good use case for using a Materialized View so we can build an extra index on it.
CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW search_index AS SELECT post . id , post . title , setweight ( to_tsvector ( post . language :: regconfig , post . title ), 'A' ) || setweight ( to_tsvector ( post . language :: regconfig , post . content ), 'B' ) || setweight ( to_tsvector ( 'simple' , author . name ), 'C' ) || setweight ( to_tsvector ( 'simple' , coalesce ( string_agg ( tag . name , ' ' ))), 'A' ) as document FROM post JOIN author ON author . id = post . author_id JOIN posts_tags ON posts_tags . post_id = posts_tags . tag_id JOIN tag ON tag . id = posts_tags . tag_id GROUP BY post . id , author . id
Then reindexing the search engine will be as simple as periodically running REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW search_index; .
We can now add an index on the materialized view.
CREATE INDEX idx_fts_search ON search_index USING gin ( document );
And querying will become much simpler too.
SELECT id as post_id , title FROM search_index WHERE document @@ to_tsquery ( 'english' , 'Endangered & Species' ) ORDER BY ts_rank ( p_search . document , to_tsquery ( 'english' , 'Endangered & Species' )) DESC ;
If you cannot afford delay then you may have to investigate the alternative method using triggers.
There is not one way to build your document store; it will depend on what comprises your document: single table, multiple table, multiple languages, amount of data ...
Thoughtbot.com published a good article on "Implementing Multi-Table Full Text Search with Postgres in Rails" which I advise reading.
Mispelling
PostgreSQL comes with a very useful extenstion called pg_trgm . See pg_trgm doc.
CREATE EXTENSION pg_trgm ;
This provides support for trigram which is a N-gram with N == 3 . N-grams are useful because they allow finding strings with similar characters and, in essence, that's what a misspelling is - a word that is similar but not quite right.
SELECT similarity ( 'Something' , 'something' ); similarity ------------ 1 ( 1 row ) SELECT similarity ( 'Something' , 'samething' ); similarity ------------ 0 . 538462 ( 1 row ) SELECT similarity ( 'Something' , 'unrelated' ); similarity ------------ 0 ( 1 row ) SELECT similarity ( 'Something' , 'everything' ); similarity ------------ 0 . 235294 ( 1 row ) SELECT similarity ( 'Something' , 'omething' ); similarity ------------ 0 . 583333 ( 1 row )
With the examples above you can see that similarity returns a float to represent the similarity between two strings. To detect misspelling is then a matter of collecting the lexemes used by our documents and comparing the similarities with our search input. I found that 0.5 is a good number to test the similarity of misspelling. First we need to create this list of unique lexemes used by our documents.
CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW unique_lexeme AS SELECT word FROM ts_stat ( 'SELECT to_tsvector(' simple ', post.title) || to_tsvector(' simple ', post.content) || to_tsvector(' simple ', author.name) || to_tsvector(' simple ', coalesce(string_agg(tag.name, ' '))) FROM post JOIN author ON author.id = post.author_id JOIN posts_tags ON posts_tags.post_id = posts_tags.tag_id JOIN tag ON tag.id = posts_tags.tag_id GROUP BY post.id, author.id' );
The query above builds a view with one column called word from all the unique lexemes of our documents. We used simple because our content can be in multiple languages. Once we create this materialized view we need to add an index to make the similarity query faster.
CREATE INDEX words_idx ON search_words USING gin ( word gin_trgm_ops );
Luckily unique lexemes used in a search engine is not something that will change rapidly, so probably we won't have to refresh the materialized view too often via:
REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW unique_lexeme ;
Once we have built this table finding the closest match is very simple.
SELECT word WHERE similarity ( word , 'samething' ) > 0 . 5 ORDER BY word <-> 'samething' LIMIT 1 ;
This query returns a lexeme which is similar enough ( >0.5 ) to the search input samething ordered by the closest first. The operator <-> returns the "distance" between the arguments, that is one minus the similarity() value.
When you decide to handle misspelling in your search you may want to not look for misspellings on every query. Instead, you could query for misspellings only when the search returns no results and use the results of that query to provide some suggestions to your user. It is also possible that your data may contain misspellings if it comes from some source of informal communication such as a social network in which case you may obtain good results by appending the similar lexeme to your tsquery .
"Super Fuzzy Searching on PostgreSQL" is a good reference article about the use of trigrams for using misspellings and search with Postgres.
In my use case the unique lexemes table has never been bigger than 2000 rows but from my understanding if you have more 1M unique lexemes used across your document then you may be meet performance issues with this technique.
About MySQL and RDS
Does it work on Postgres RDS?
All the examples illustrated work on RDS. From what I'm aware the only restrictions on search features imposed by RDS are those that require access to the file system such as custom dictionaries, ispell, synonyms and thesaurus. See the related issue on the aws forum.
I'm using MYSQL should I use the builtin full-text search?
I wouldn't. Without starting a flame war, MySQL full-text search features are very limited. By default, there is no support for stemming nor any language support. I came accross a stemming function which can be installed, but MYSQL doesn't support function based indexes.
Then what can you do? Based on what we have discussed above if Postgres fulfills your use case then think about moving to Postgres. This can easily be done via tools like py-mysql2pgsql. Or you can investigate more advanced solutions like SOLR and Elasticsearch.
Want to work on challenging projects using Postgres?
If you are interested in working with Postgres on some interesting projects, come join me at Opendoor. We heavily use PostgreSQL for Data Processing, Web Development, Data Warehousing, ETLs, Data Science, and Geo Analysis. We are always looking for passionate Engineers and Data Scientists to join our team. Please reach out to our recruiter, Ryan or apply via our job page
Conclusion
We have seen how to build a decent multi-language search engine based on a non-trivial document. This article is only an overview, but it should give you enough background and examples to get you started with your own. I may have made some mistakes in this article and I would appreciate if you report them to [email protected]
The full-text search feature included in Postgres is awesome and quite fast (enough). It will allow your application to grow without depending on another tool. Is Postgres Search the silver bullet? Probably not if your core business needs revolve around search.
Some features are missing but in a lot of use cases you won't need them. It goes without saying that it's critical that you analyze and understand your needs to know which road to take.
Personally I hope to see the full-text search continuing to improve in Postgres and maybe a few of these features being included:
Additional built-in language support. eg: Chinese, Japanese...
Foreign data wrapper around Lucene. Lucene is still the most advanced tool for full-text search and it will have a lot of benefits to see integration with Postgres.
More boost or scoring feature for the ranking of results would be first-rate. Elasticsearch and SOLR offer advanced solutions already.
A way to do fuzzy tsquery without having to use trigram would be nice. Elasticsearch offers a simple way to do fuzzy search queries.
without having to use trigram would be nice. Elasticsearch offers a simple way to do fuzzy search queries. Being able to create and edit dynamically features such as dictionary content, synonyms, thesaurus via SQL this removing the need to add files to the filesystem
Postgres is not as advanced as ElasticSearch and SOLR, but these two are dedicated full-text search tools whereas full-text search is only a feature of PostgreSQL and a pretty good one. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
U.S. looking at expanding role on ground in Iraq, Syria
Jim Michaels | USA TODAY
The Pentagon is considering plans that would place U.S. advisers closer to ground combat in Iraq and Syria in a move that could amount to a major escalation in its war against the Islamic State, a senior defense official told USA TODAY.
The potential move reflects growing concern at top government levels that U.S. military operations in Syria and Iraq are not making sufficient progress against the Islamic State. The official, who is familiar with the plans, was not authorized to discuss the possible changes publicly because no decisions have yet been made.
The options under consideration include placing U.S. advisers alongside local combat units in Iraq and embedding a small number of U.S. advisers with Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State, the official said.
The White House would need to approve any U.S. military expansion on the ground. President Obama has warned against expanding the U.S. role beyond its defined mission and inadvertently ushering in another Mideast war. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Wednesday that U.S. strategy in both countries would remain limited to supporting local forces working to defeat the Islamic State.
Last week, American Special Forces soldiers accompanied Kurdish units on a successful mission to rescue 70 prisoners from the Islamic State. A U.S. soldier, Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, was killed in the fighting. The Pentagon said U.S. forces would assist in future raids if conditions warranted. The U.S. military currently has about 3,400 troops in Iraq, mostly serving in an advise-and-assist mission for Iraq’s military.
Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged this week that the military is considering new options in Iraq and Syria but declined to give specifics. “We're continuing to examine ways to enhance the effectiveness of our operations,” he said in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The Pentagon hopes moving advisers closer to combat will bolster local forces' advance in the key cities of Ramadi, an influential Sunni city in western Iraq, and Raqqa, the de facto Syrian capital of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.
In Iraq, the military has struggled to recapture Ramadi, which fell to militants in May, but Iraqi troops have been closing in on its city center for the past week.
In Syria, Kurdish forces backed by U.S. airstrikes have had some success against the militants, but it has been largely limited to Kurdish regions in the northeast. To expand the fight beyond those regions, the U.S. recently air-dropped 50 tons of ammunition to support the Syrian Arab Coalition, a group opposed to the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad that seeks to recapture Raqqa.
Taking back Ramadi and placing military pressure on Raqqa would be a blow to the Islamic State, which has attempted to hold territory in its attempt to create a caliphate, or state under Islamic law, across Iraq and Syria.
The administration appears to be moving in the direction of engaging more directly with ground forces in Iraq and Syria, said William McRaven, a retired admiral and former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.
“We’ve known for a very long time that airstrikes alone can’t solve the problem,” said McRaven, who is now chancellor of the University of Texas system. “You have to put boots on the ground.”
“It looks like they are proceeding or moving in that direction, where Secretary Carter and the president are prepared to take more risks in ensuring that we can actively ... degrade ISIS,” he said. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
While President Donald Trump continues his push to divert billions of dollars toward building a border wall with a "constitutionally illegitimate" national emergency declaration, the Poor People's Campaign has announced a bus tour across the United States to expose "real emergencies" that his administration has ignored and exacerbated.
"Instead of tackling the real emergencies... the president is diverting funds to build a monument to white supremacy at our southern border."
—Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Poor People's Campaign
"Instead of tackling the real emergencies," said campaign co-chair Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, "the president is diverting funds to build a monument to white supremacy at our southern border." Meanwhile, she pointed out, 140 million Americans (pdf) are "just one emergency away from poverty," and 14 million households can't even afford their water bills.
The National Emergency Truth & Poverty Bus Tour is set to begin in late March and has stops scheduled in 27 states and Washington, D.C. It will focus on five sweeping issues impacting Americans: systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy, and "our distorted moral narrative."
Although the tour comes partly as a challenge to Trump's racist anti-immigration policies, campaign co-chair Rev. Dr. William Barber II emphasized that these "socio-political and moral emergencies" need to be addressed by lawmakers across the political spectrum. As Barber put, "Democrats haven't done enough to make things better and Republicans do too much to make things worse."
"Part of the problem that we see in policies of Democrats vs. Republicans is one talks about they want the wall and the other side said they don't want the wall," Barber told The Associated Press. "But nobody has sat down and said: 'Here are the real emergencies and here is how these resources could be used to address these real emergencies.'"
"It's shameful to call for a fake emergency, a racist emergency, an emergency rooted in white supremacy, & not address the real emergency in our country today...We as the #PoorPeoplesCampaign will never step away from this fight." @RevDrBarber Text TOUR to 90975 to learn more! pic.twitter.com/phJjxSj2XH SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Never Miss a Beat. Get our best delivered to your inbox.
— Poor People's Campaign (@UniteThePoor) February 25, 2019
In addition to shining a light on major problems plaguing the nation's poorest communities, according to a statement from the campaign, the tour also "kicks off an organizing effort aimed at registering poor and impacted people, clergy, and activists for a June Poor People's Moral Action Congress in Washington, D.C."
The bus tour and the summer meeting alike aim to drive home the point that, as Barber and Theoharis argued in an op-ed published Monday by the Guardian, "in today's America, the real emergency is that a quarter of a million people die from poverty each year while our political system refuses to use the great wealth of this nation to lift the load of poverty."
The pair outlined various ways that Trump's $8 billion in contested border wall funding could be better spent:
3.36 million children or 2.25 million adults receiving low-income healthcare for a year.
774,312 military veterans receiving VA healthcare for a year.
98,982 elementary school teaching jobs for a year.
107,999 clean energy jobs for a year.
897,800 Head Start slots for children for a year.
"It's time to talk about the real emergencies plaguing our nation and the real moral issues of our day—the lack of healthcare, living wage jobs, clean water and sanitation, the militarization of our communities, the attack on indigenous sovereignty," they concluded. "It's horrific that America has come to this. But just as shameful is that we have the power to change it, but don't." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Tens of thousands of people rally in the centre of Seoul on Saturday to call for the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. Demonstrators urged the Constitutional Court to quickly evict Park out of the presidential office and called on Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who has been serving as acting president since the parliament impeached Park in December, to approve the extension of the special probe on the influence-peddling scandal involving Park and her 40-year confidante | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Over the years, the game and the rules have remained virtually unchanged even though the outer packaging has gone through many revisions and speciality editions - covering topics as varied as dogs, sports teams and movies. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Mass Effect: Arrival – the pending DLC BioWare has been teasing all week on various social networking sites – has a March 29 release date.
Arrival tasks Commander Shepard with traveling to the edge of the galaxy in order to recover an important asset – an operative that has information on the imminent Reaper invasion. Admiral Hackett is noted as making a prominent return in the downloadable content, voiced by sci-fi star Lance Henriksen.
“All year, we have been extremely honored and humbled by the reception we have received for Mass Effect 2 from players around the world, including our post release DLC”, said Casey Hudson, executive producer of the Mass Effect series. “Mass Effect: Arrival is an exciting extension to Mass Effect 2 and will show players just how close the Reapers are to returning and completing their deadly harvest.”
The DLC marks the last mission for Mass Effect 2 and will bridge the narrative gap between ME2 and ME3.
Arrival will set you back 560 Microsoft Points/ $6.99 (estimated, as we're going off a U.K. announcement) and offers up three new achievements/trophies for your trouble. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
In order to understand the war against Syria it is essential to understand Syria’s role in the resistance front of the Arab Nation against Israel. I shall do so in this article, explaining in particular the connection between Syria and the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, and why the two are so closely bound to each other.
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Islamic movement of resistance against any aggression on Lebanese territory. It has stood in the way of Israeli plans to establish a “Promised Land” of Israel (“Greater Israel”) stretching all the way from the Nile to the Euphrates, as desired by the early Zionist leaders and by current Zionist ideologues. It is also staunchly opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Hezbollah has also been a consistent supporter of the Palestinians. Hezbollah has never behaved in the disgraceful way of many Arab governments, whose policy towards Israel is by contrast one of acquiescence and surrender.
In 2000 Hezbollah successfully liberated the south of Lebanon from Israeli occupation. In 2006, in a war that lasted 33 days, Hezbollah defeated the might of the Israeli military, repelling Israel’s attack on Lebanon.
Over the course of those 33 days Israel brought all its huge military power to bear, expecting a quick and easy victory in just 2 to 3 days. Instead Hezbollah stood its ground, defeating the Israeli attack on their country.
Israel’s defeat by Hezbollah in 2006 was for the Israelis a massive psychological blow, smashing the myth of Israel’s invincibility, and breaking the aura of fear that up till then had surrounded Israel.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s Secretary general, is fond of this saying:
“Beirut was destroyed by Sharon and rebuilt by Hafez Al- Assad. To Syria we say: Long life Syria Al- Assad.”
President Hafez Al Assad , the previous leader of Syria, helped to create Hezbollah and was one of its earliest backers. Syria, Hezbollah and Iran form together what Arabs call the Axis of Resistance. This Axis is committed to resisting Israel and to defending the interests of the Arabs as against Israel and the US.
The Axis of Resistance however has enemies in the Arab World. Conservative, US-aligned Arab states oppose it.
Take the case of Egypt. People in Egypt supported Hezbollah even during the period when Egypt was most closely aligned with the US, during the time when former President Hosni Mubarak was at the helm of the country. However the Egyptian intelligence apparatus actually arrested Egyptians who supported Hezbollah during the 2006 war with Israel. Egypt also closed Rafah border crossing with the Gaza strip when Gaza was being attacked by Israel.
The Arab street in Egypt and elsewhere nonetheless supports Hezbollah. Most Arabs consider Israel to be the enemy. Hezbollah as a key part of the Axis of Resistance commands their support.
This puts the rulers of most of the Arab states in a very embarrassing position. Most of them want to recognise Israel and achieve a normalisation of relations with Israel. However that is not what their people want. They see that as a sellout of the Arab interests and of Arab people and Arab land to Israel. The result is that in most of the Arab world the people and the rulers are set against each other.
After the 2006 war Hezbollah’s popularity with the Arabs greatly increased. This made the position of the Arab rulers even more difficult. Their response, led by the reactionary autocratic monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council, was to get the Arab League to declare Hezbollah a terrorist group.
The sad truth is that the dictator monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain essentially control the Arab League because of their money and power. The result is that they are able to use the Arab League to promote their own agenda in the Middle East – one which is aligned not with broader Arab interests or the wishes of most Arabs, but with those of the US and Israel.
The result is that the Arab League all but welcomed the war in Iraq, backs the Saudi aggression against Yemen and in 2013 even welcomed the US decision to bomb Syria, just as it had previously welcomed the US decision to bomb Libya.
This sets out the background to the war that is being waged against Syria. Essentially it is part of a plan by the US and Israel and their reactionary Arab allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council to break the Axis of Resistance. Ultimately the intention is to destroy Hezbollah, the key resistance movement resisting Israel, by depriving it of Syria’s support.
What this means is that the wars in Lebanon and Syria cannot be separated from each other. The method used is to shred the region by spreading religious violence. Hezbollah is Shia. Syria’s President is Alawite. So the so-called “Islamic State” has been created, which is Sunni.
The “Islamic State” has been designed to attract Takfiri fighters from all over the world to join the war against Syria. That way the war to destroy Syria and break the Axis of Resistance is fought with no shortage of fanatical recruits. The war is sponsored and funded by Saudi Arabia, the true factory of Wahhabism, as well as by countries like Qatar and Turkey.
The plan is to topple President Bashar al-Assad, who has followed his father’s Hafez Al-Assad’s policy of supporting Hezbollah and the Axis of Resistance, refusing to normalise relations with Israel or recognise Israel’s occupation of Arab and Palestinian land. The plan is to overthrow and replace Assad with a representative of the “moderate rebels” who will be more willing to work with Israel and who will not view Israel as the enemy, since he will be instead obsessed with the ideology of radical Islamism. In that way two objectives are achieved: the destruction of Hezbollah and the destruction of the Syrian Arab Army, the two major Arab military forces resisting Israel.
As for the Arabs, they need to understand the nature of the game that is being played with them. Was Gaddafi overthrown in Libya because he was a Shia or an Alawite? Hardly! Or was he overthrown because he was just a piece in this game of dominoes?
As for democracy, can we trust any “democracy” brought to us by American tanks? Recent history is not so far in the past that we cannot find in it a guide to the present. What about Iraq? Did it become a “democracy” after the US invaded it? Did they not execute Saddam Hussein, who was a Sunni leader, not an Alawite or a Shia?
And what alternative do they offer in place of these fallen leaders? Chaos. The so-called “Islamic State”. Destruction as a way of life. Suicide bombings.
It is all just a step towards what Condoleezza Rice once called “the new Middle East”: a fragile region, easy to control, whose resources are easy to pillage.
After resistance in Syria is eliminated, what the the US and Israel want is to eliminate the Syrian Army: the main defender of the Arabs from attack by Israel. The US wants to shred Syria’s army, just as it once shredded Iraq’s army, and for the same reason. It doesn’t want Arab states to have strong armies. Moreover in order to achieve these destructive goals the US is prepared to do whatever it takes: play on sectarian differences or set ethnic groups like the Kurds off against each other.
Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia, and Hezbollah are the only powers who are genuinely fighting terrorism in the Middle East. In the Middle East “terrorism” is something created and used by the US to achieve its geopolitical objectives. Breaking the Axis of Resistance is the overriding priority. That is why Syria is at war.
Hezbollah and the Syrian Arab Army are not aggressors. They have never wanted to attack anyone. They just defend their homeland and defend their people from aggression.
This is a war for existence and it is a war by deception. But it is also a single war. It is not only a war against Syria or Lebanon, because there are other targets slated for destruction as well as them. No one can say Hezbollah is fighting just for Syria. Nor can anyone say Syria is defending Lebanon or Hezbollah. They are fighting together against a plan of imperialism that was organised even before 2006. Their fight – in victory or defeat – is inextricably linked.
0 0 vote Article Rating
Help us grow. Support The Duran on Patreon!
Read Later Add to Favourites Add to Collection Report | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
When she peeks out of the bedroom and finds Brad jacking it to her picture, Lily knows she’s finally in business to get the climaxes she’s craving. She gets on her knees to work Brad’s cock with her soft lips and wet tongue, doing whatever it takes to let Brad know how much she wants him.
Rising to her feet, Lily helps Brad to peel off his clothes as she works her bra off to free her small boobs. Brad’s hands are all over her body in a constant caress as he worships her every curve before leaning her over the desk. Once Lily is in position, Brad wastes no time in feasting on that perfect pussy before sinking balls deep into her tight twat.
Lily’s position is perfect to give Brad the chance to let his hands roam to her small tits as he works his hips for both of their pleasure. The music of their moans fills the room as Brad keeps up a hot horny pace. When he flips Lily over onto her back and then takes the time to once again lick and stroke her needy slit, he brings her right to the edge of a big climax before pushing her over with his hard dick.
Continuing to work that delectable snatch, Brad takes his pleasure with long strokes that leave them both tantalized. As he feels himself getting closer, he pulls out of Lily’s warmth and takes aim. The blonde reaches down to stroke her lover off, bringing him the rest of the way to the inevitable cum explosion that she has been aiming for since the very start. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Enter your email address to follow this amazing blog and receive fresh notifications of new posts by email. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The CR-V was introduced in its fifth-generation in 2017 without a hybrid model on offer. That's now changed with the release of the 2020 CR-V Hybrid, and after spending a week with it can tell you whether it was worth the wait. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Philip "aizy" Aistrup is the lurker for North, a team which has experienced an upward trajectory recently, looking particularly strong going into the ELEAGUE Premier Quarterfinals against Heroic.
Ahead of his match, aizy took the time to answer questions from theScore esports, talking about the progression of his team and being in the spotlight.
With 2017 ending soon, I’d like to ask about your look back on the year. What has been your experience on North, both as a roster and an organization?
I think our best experience as a roster has probably been since adding valde [Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså].
We went to the finals of DH Malmö, won DH Montreal and we're now playing quarterfinals at ELEAGUE. We feel like we are more confident than ever and it only helps with having North behind us, which has been a really great organization for us.
DH Montreal Champions! The circumstances weren't optimal but happy that we won! A post shared by Philip Aistrup (@aizylife) on Sep 10, 2017 at 2:21pm PDT
In our previous interview with you, we spoke a bit about your adjustment coming into the team. What’s your comfort level nowadays in your role?
I'm now playing as a lurker, which I've never tried before. I usually was the guy running around with MSL [Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen], like k0nfig [Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke] is now, but we felt like we had to try some new things and so far it's working out great.
Obviously, as I never tried playing as a lurker, for me, I still have a lot to learn and I'm still in a learning process but I feel more and more comfortable as we play.
You’re often the focus for analysts and many have made their interpretations on the inner workings of your teams or your intentions as a player. What’s your take on your apparent superstar storyline?
I feel like analysts don't always see the details and that's fine, it's not easy from the outside. As long as your team knows what's happening, that's all that matters.
Even players who probably have way more knowledge about the game in detail can't know what's going on within a team and I feel like this both goes for a "support" player and a superstar.
valde seemed to be a missing piece to the North puzzle as you guys look better than ever. How would you describe him as a person?
valde is a really calm guy both outside the game and inside and I think that's very useful for the team to help with more stressed situations. He's a great teamplayer and you can't have too many of them.
You guys have been working with a mental coach lately. What has that experience been like?
Yes, we've been working with a mental coach that will try to help us both as a team and individuals to overcome as many mental problems within the game [and] can help us with improving as a team and as players.
The Danish Rivalry (North, Astralis, Heroic and partially FaZe) has been a big storyline of the year and looks to continue into 2018. cajunb told us that he still thinks Astralis is number one, but North are catching up. What’s your take on the matter?
Danish rivalry is always fun, more pressure because we want to beat each other so bad.
I think it's hard to rate who is number one since everyone beats everyone right now. But I would probably rate Astralis as number one as well just because of results.
Your opening match in the EL Premier playoffs is a Danish derby with Heroic. How will you guys approach that set? What does former Heroic player valde bring to the table?
We will just approach the game like we approach any game, doesn't matter who we play. Our coach and MSL will try to narrow down the maps in the veto and look into them, pretty much.
Hopefully valde will go crazy in-game and carry us since it's his former team, haha.
What do you think of Valve’s changes so far to the pistols and reduction in unarmored aim punch? How does this affect the overall meta or your gameplay?
To be honest I haven't really paid that much attention to it. I don't think the changes had such a big impact.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Despite outward claims from the fossil fuel industry that it shares the public's concern over the rapidly warming planet, a new study shows that oil and gas companies are actively and aggressively undermining climate targets agreed to by world governments.
The thinktank Carbon Tracker released a report entitled "Breaking the Habit" on Thursday, detailing the immense investments powerful companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and BP have continued to make in offshore drilling, tar sands, and fracking projects in the years after nearly 200 countries agreed that the warming of the globe must be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The companies have invested $50 billion in climate-warming fossil fuel projects since the beginning of 2018, according to the report.
"Every oil major is betting heavily against a 1.5C world and investing in projects that are contrary to the Paris goals," report author Andrew Grant told The Guardian.
Author and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben shared The Guardian's report on the study on social media, saying its findings detail the "insane greed" of the fossil fuel industry at the expense of the planet.
Important new study from the folks @CarbonBubble: the oil majors are all betting huge sums on projects that will guarantee we can't meet Paris targets. This is the working definition of insane greed. https://t.co/kaW1SNTQVP — Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) September 6, 2019
At least 30 percent of the companies' investments over the past two years have gone towards the kinds of energy projects that have been found to pump as much as 37 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere per year as well as endangering marine life, drinking water sources, and people who live near fracking and pipeline projects.
"Last year, all of the major oil companies sanctioned projects that fall outside a 'well below two degrees' budget on cost grounds," the report reads, referring to the goal of keeping global warming under 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels—and more ambitiously, under 1.5 degrees.
"These will not deliver adequate returns in a low-carbon world," Carbon Tracker said.
The continued investments in new fossil fuel projects come three years after the Paris climate agreement entered into force, when the E.U. pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent compared to its 1990 levels and the U.S. agreed to slash its emissions by 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Since the agreement was forged fossil fuel companies have claimed to be working towards reducing their emissions.
"We agree that the world is not moving fast enough to tackle climate change," a spokesperson for Shell told The Guardian. "As the energy system evolves, so is our business."
Critics on social media said Friday that Carbon Tracker's report demonstrates how, with Shell's plans for a $13 billion natural gas investment and plans by BP and ExxonMobil to invest in an offshore project in Angola, profits still trump preserving the planet for powerful companies—priorities which will cause suffering for communities that have contributed the least to the climate crisis.
"None of the largest oil and gas companies are making investment decisions in line with the global climate goals," tweeted the group End Water Poverty.
'None of the largest oil & gas companies are making investment decisions in line with the global climate goals.' Pursuing profits over people & sustainability will increase water insecurity for communities who contribute the least to global emissions. https://t.co/I7Q4a2TsIC pic.twitter.com/YEaoNgSTlW — End Water Poverty (@EndWaterPoverty) September 6, 2019
Grant suggested that shareholders at Exxon, Shell, and other oil and gas companies must urge executives to shift away from emission-causing projects.
"Investors should challenge companies' spending on new fossil fuel production," Grant told The Guardian.
But others on social media said the power to stop companies and their wealthy investors lies with policymakers who need the political will to bring the fossil fuel sector to heel.
"These dirty fossil fuel companies are not getting the message, let alone acting on the urgency of the climate crisis," wrote British Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley. "But it is governments who must hold them to account, and end the subsidies that are funding their environmental destruction." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Beijing and Moscow will ‘boycott’ the meeting being organised as part of backchannel Palestine-Israel peace plan.
Chinese Ambassador to Palestine Guo Wei said his country, along with Russia, would not participate in a US-sponsored meeting in Manama slated for June 25 and 26, according to Palestine’s WAFA news agency.
Wei reportedly made the remarks at a meeting in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah with Nabil Shaath, a top adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“Boycotting the Bahrain conference comes within the framework of a bilateral Russian-Chinese agreement not to participate in it,” Wei was quoted as saying.
According to the news agency, Wei had stressed Beijing’s position “in support of the Palestinian cause and people, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state of Palestine within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital”.
Early last week, the US announced plans to hold a landmark conference in Manama, where Trump administration officials are expected to unveil economic aspects of the “Deal of the Century”, a US backchannel Palestine-Israel peace plan, the terms of which have yet to be made public.
The Manama meeting will reportedly be chaired by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump‘s senior adviser and son-in-law, and Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East envoy.
Along with host Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have both announced their intention to send representatives to the event.
The meeting is expected to be attended by a host of finance officials and business leaders from several countries.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), for its part, says it was never consulted about the planned meeting and has stated its refusal to take part in the event.
Last week, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the meeting would not address the core political issues of the conflict: final borders, the status of Jerusalem, or the fate of Palestinian refugees.
“Any solution to the conflict in Palestine must be political … and based on ending the occupation,” he said.
Ever since Trump’s controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017, the Palestinian leadership has rejected all US peacemaking efforts. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
It's clear the Vulf boys are familiar with the artistic greatness of Mocky, having done a sublime cover of "Birds of a Feather" on Mr. Finish Line. Upon finding Vulfpeck's live cover of Time Inflation (Message to R2) on Youtube, I realized the universe was calling for an official recording.
It's clear what needs to be done.
What better way is there to fulfill the grand scheme of the cosmos than by collaborating with Mocky himself for the next Vulfpeck album?
Dearest Mocky and members of Vulfpeck, if you can find it within yourselves to make this happen, you will fulfill the childhood dreams of pretty much everyone on earth. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Bangarra's Yolande Brown. Credit:Greg Barrett But Topp was good, receiving critical acclaim for her Bodytorque works Trace in 2010 and Scope in 2011. Her latest piece of choreography, Tinted Windows, explores the divide between dancers known for their physical prowess and those who are great storytellers and features costumes by fashion designer Toni Maticevski. It is one of six new works in the national ballet company's latest Bodytorque show and one of two by female choreographers. But Topp and Halaina Hills, whose debut work Mode.L is based on Stravinsky's Octet for Wind Instruments, are rarities in the world of ballet choreography, which continues to be dominated by men. Bodytorque aside, the Australian Ballet has not had a new work by a female choreographer on the main stage since it presented Meryl Tankard's Wild Swans in 2003. A similar situation exists in Britain where the Royal Ballet has not commissioned a major new work by a woman in 14 years. The last main stage work by a woman for the English National Ballet was Cathy Marston's Facing Viv in 2002, according to Britain's The Telegraph. The lack of female choreographers concerns the new artistic director of the English National Ballet, Tamara Rojo, who said ballet was dominated by a male perspective.
Bangarra's Jasmin Sheppard. Credit:Greg Barrett "Very often we see relationships approached from a male perspective. Like in porn, it shapes the way you look at things," she told Time Out magazine. Rojo said men took a more physical approach to ballet, while "I find women start with the emotional landscape''. ''They say, 'This is the situation, let's find a language for it'.'' Rojo suggested the career interruption caused by motherhood, as well as the type of self-doubt expressed by Topp, were two reasons women were under-represented in ballet choreography. Likening ballet to pornography might be a headline grabber but the Australian Ballet's artistic director, David McAllister, concedes that gender plays a part in choreography.
''I do think there is a sense of emotional vulnerability and intensity that female choreographers have that sometimes is not so evident in male choreographer's work,'' he says. He believes women approach the creative process differently. ''Men can be a little bit more slapdash where women are more into detail and correcting a lot of detail along the way.'' But McAllister says he does not believe women in ballet are butting heads with a glass ceiling. After all, many of his predecessors have been women, including Dame Peggy van Praagh, who was the founding artistic director in 1962 and led the company until 1974 and again in 1978; Marilyn Jones, who was artistic director from 1979 to 1982; and Maina Gielgud, who led the company from 1983 to 1996. McAllister says the heavier workloads of female dancers may put a brake on their choreographic ambitions. The dancing burden in classical ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake and La Sylphide falls heavily on the ballerinas. ''I have a theory that women in a ballet company are so busy all the time,'' he says. ''They work a lot harder than the men because of the repertoire. Women are featured a lot more in classical ballet productions. The men have more time to sit around the dressing room pondering creative ideas.''
McAllister says courage is also required to stand in front of a group of dancers and ask them to perform new movements. ''Usually guys have more chutzpah,'' he says. ''When women do decide to choreograph they come up with interesting concepts and are much more considered. Men tend to go where other people fear to tread and with more abandon.'' First-time choreographer Hills agrees but says there may be other factors at play. ''Creativity is not encouraged enough in the rigid strictures of ballet. Women in the corps de ballet spend 10 years trying to look like someone else. The creative side might be squashed a little bit less for male dancers because they don't have to be one of 16 swans.'' Hills suggests another reason why men might be more attracted to choreography may be similar to why many men design fashion for women. ''Ballet is obviously about creating movement with the human body and you want to make the human body look its most beautiful,'' she says. ''Maybe men feel more passionate about making women beautiful.''
The lack of female choreographers was explored in a 2007 New York Times story by Claudia La Rocco, who wrote: ''But as women have flourished as artistic leaders in modern dance (albeit with some struggles), ballet has lagged behind''. Certainly, major artistic decisions at contemporary dance companies such as Force Majeure, Chunky Move and DanceNorth are made by women, while freelance choreographers such as Narelle Benjamin also thrive. Bangarra Dance Theatre has staged six works by choreographer Frances Rings since 1995. Four of the company's senior female dancers will each create a new work for its latest offering, Dance Clan 3. Jasmin Sheppard, whose Macq explores the 1816 massacres of Aboriginal people around Sydney, says there is no slacking off for the male dancers in Bangarra. ''I definitely think contemporary dance is an entirely different world in that respect. Women and men have equal time on the stage and probably equal workloads. That's probably why you get more female choreographers in the contemporary world.''
Sheppard says contemporary dancers have a greater role in the choreography than their ballet counterparts: ''It's about tasking your dancers and finding ways to work with dancers and having them involved in the stories.'' Cultural protocols also provide a greater role for Bangarra's female dancers in telling certain traditional stories. But Yolande Brown, who is creating Imprint for Dance Clan 3, says she believes the gender influence can be overstated. ''I think men are inherently very different to women but every man is different from other men,'' she says. ''I see an individual's stamp more than their gender on a work and I think there are a lot of men out there who are incredibly poetic and sensitive. I think it goes further than female or male.''
Bodytorque.technique is at Sydney Theatre from October 31 to November 3. Dance Clan 3 is at Studio Theatre, Pier 4 in Walsh Bay from November 20 to December 1. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A man wanted over a horrific attack that left his girlfriend with head-to-toe injuries has been arrested after a dramatic pursuit in which an elderly woman was carjacked and four vehicles were wrecked in Brisbane.
The man faces a string of charges, including torturing and attempting to disfigure his 21-year-old girlfriend, who was found with shocking injuries at a Bulimba unit nine days ago.
She was found after a panicked man made an anonymous call to police. She's still fighting for her life in hospital, suffering burns and what police called "significant injuries to the front of her entire body, significant injuries from head to toe".
Officers hunting for her 31-year-old partner went to a Stafford property late on Monday but he allegedly jumped in his car and took off, ramming two police cars as he fled.
He then abandoned his damaged vehicle and pulled an elderly woman from behind the wheel of her car and took off in that, police say.
The police helicopter tracked the stolen car to Nundah, where it was also abandoned, and the man allegedly stole yet another car before crashing that into the gate of a property.
He then fled on foot and forced his way inside a Clayfield home, where officers arrested him.
The Bald Hills man has been charged with acts intended to disfigure, acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, torture, deprivation of liberty and supplying a dangerous drug.
He will face Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday and police expect to lay further charges against him over Monday's pursuit. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Buried in this morning’s Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia Limited Edition announcement was some new information regarding how the upcoming Alm and Celica amiibo will function in the game, as well as a brief mention of the upcoming Corrin amiibo!
Using the Alm and Celica amiibo will allow the player to access an exclusive dungeon, earn special items, and strengthen their armies.
You can also tap them and all of the previous Fire Emblem amiibo to summon an illusory hero of the respective character, which act as temporary allies for a single turn. This includes Marth, Ike, Roy, Robin, Lucina and even the unreleased Corrin amiibo!
Check out the full section from this morning’s press release:
“Also launching on May 19 are the Alm and Celica amiibo figures, available only as a set at a suggested retail price of $24.99. When used in the game, these amiibo will activate their own exclusive dungeons, allowing heroes to earn items and level up their armies further by defeating bosses. By selecting Mila’s Turnwheel from the menu on the overworld map, they will also be able to take advantage of their Alm and Celica amiibo in battle. During combat, players can sacrifice a portion of Alm or Celica’s health in order to summon a computer-controlled illusory hero, which will act as a temporary ally for a single turn. As Alm and Celica get stronger, their stats can be saved to their respective amiibo, allowing their summoned unit to grow in strength alongside them. In addition, all Fire Emblem amiibo from the Super Smash Bros. series can be used to summon an illusory hero of that character, allowing players to seek assistance from spectral visages of Marth, Ike, Roy, Robin, Lucina and the upcoming Corrin amiibo. All other currently available amiibo are also compatible, and will summon an additional monster to the battleground to assist players in battle, providing some much-needed help in case of a strategic emergency.”
What do you think? Will the Corrin amiibo be released before Fire Emblem Echoes? Let us know in the comments below! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Publié le 19 nov. 2019 à 6:51 Mis à jour le 19 nov. 2019 à 12:37
Les aficionados de la Fiat 500 peuvent préparer leurs mouchoirs : malgré sa très grande popularité, Fiat veut cesser à moyen terme la production de ce modèle, en tout cas dans sa version originelle , celle d'une citadine de poche apte à se faufiler dans les embouteillages. Et la Panda semble elle aussi condamnée à moyen terme : le constructeur souhaite se désengager de ce que les professionnels de l'automobile appellent le segment A, les voitures de petit gabarit.
« Dans un futur très proche, vous nous verrez nous concentrer sur un segment avec des volumes plus importants, des marges plus grandes, et cela impliquera une sortie du segment des mini-voitures », a expliqué fin octobre Mike Manley, le PDG de Fiat-Chrysler, lors de la présentation des résultats trimestriels aux analystes financiers.
Des annonces qui se succèdent
Le groupe italo-américain ne fait pas figure d'exception. Arrêt de la production de l'Opel Adam, retrait par Ford de la Ka + du marché européen, PSA qui abandonne son partenariat avec Toyota sur le segment A… Les annonces se succèdent et confirment toutes la tendance. « Le segment A à motorisation thermique tel qu'on le connaît aujourd'hui arrive peut-être au bout de l'exercice », résume Guillaume Crunelle, responsable du secteur automobile chez Deloitte France.
Cette évolution peut sembler paradoxale : les voitures citadines de petite taille et qui consomment peu semblent tout à fait pertinentes dans le contexte de restriction des émissions de CO2 et de lutte contre la pollution de l'air. Mais pour les constructeurs, le jeu n'en vaut plus la chandelle.
VIDEO. Auto : l'électrique bientôt moins chère que la voiture à essence ?
Une rentabilité qui se délite
Les voitures du segment A ont toujours été les moins rentables pour eux. Pour rendre les prix abordables, la marge est réduite à quelques centaines d'euros, malgré des coûts de production serrés au maximum. Mais la profitabilité ne sera bientôt plus du tout au rendez-vous. D'abord du fait d'une baisse tendancielle du marché. « Alors que ce segment pesait 12 % des ventes au niveau mondial en 2012, il n'en représentera plus que 7 % en 2022, pointe Olivier Hanoulle, directeur chez Roland Berger. Ces modèles souffrent de la concurrence des voitures low cost, comme ceux de Dacia. Avec comme conséquence une baisse des volumes qui enchérit les coûts unitaires.
Surtout, le segment A se retrouve victime… de la lutte contre la pollution et le réchauffement climatique. Le coût de mise aux normes des moteurs thermiques, pour réduire les émissions de CO2 ou de particules fines, ne cesse d'augmenter et se chiffre souvent en milliers d'euros. Ce qui anéantit la marge ou débouche sur des hausses de prix qui poussent les clients à préférer le modèle au-dessus, la Clio ou la Peugeot 208, par exemple. Fiat-Chrysler, comme les autres constructeurs, va s'efforcer de faire migrer ses clients du segment A vers des modèles du segment B, où les marges, plus élevées, permettent a priori de mieux encaisser les évolutions de la réglementation.
Le salut par l'électrique
Une sortie par le haut est toutefois possible, mais à moyen terme. « Les petites voitures légères sont condamnées par la réglementation CO2, sauf à les électrifier, explique un cadre du secteur. Mais aujourd'hui, le coût de la batterie peut représenter jusqu'à 70 % du prix du modèle ! » Dans quelques années, la baisse tendancielle du coût des motorisations électriques devrait rendre aux petites citadines toute leur pertinence dans les villes. C'est la voie que compte explorer Volkswagen, avec son petit modèle, la Up, qui n'existera plus qu'en version électrique à la fin de cette année. De même, Daimler a cédé le contrôle de la Smart au chinois Geely, qui va transférer la production en Chine et ne fabriquera plus que des modèles 100 % électrique. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Getahn Ward
The Tennessean
Orlando, Fla., and Fort Worth, Dallas and San Antonio, Texas were the other top five hottest single-family markets.
Nashville also posted the highest score in terms of economic prospects based on job and population growth.
For the second quarter, local home sales increased 7.4 percent year-over-year.
Annual local home price growth was 12 percent for the recent second quarter, marking improvement for 20 straight quarters.
Nashville has the hottest single-family housing market in the U.S., according to a report that shows nation-leading annual growth in home sales and price appreciation for the recent second quarter.
The No. 1 ranking by online real estate marketplace Ten-X Research of Irvine, Calif.., is also based on local growth in population, wages and jobs plus overall state of the economy.
“In all of these areas, Nashville’s doing far better than national averages,” said Rick Sharga, a Ten-X executive vice president, citing as example last year’s 2 percent local population growth being three times the nation’s average. “Unless there’s something unforeseen that disrupts the economy like a major employer moves out, it’s really well-positioned for the next few years.”
Orlando, Fla., and Fort Worth, Dallas and San Antonio, Texas, were the other top five hottest single-family markets also based in part on annual home price growth and annual home sales growth.
Cost of living also rising at nation's fastest rate
A separate study by personal finance website GoBankingRates, meanwhile, showed Nashville’s cost of living rose the fastest nationwide over the past year with the amount needed to live here comfortably up $9,135. It takes a salary of $70,150 to live in Nashville today, the report said, citing housing costs among factors with the median list price of a home rising almost 30 percent to nearly $340,000 from April 2015 to 2017.
Ten-X’s Top Single-Family Housing Markets Summer 2017 report, however, said that Nashville's housing affordability remains favorable even as prices have surged almost 40 percent beyond their prior peak, which it suggests that prices can continue to progress without pressuring buyers, “The Metro also carries modest downside risks as prices only fell moderately during the housing bust,” that report read.
Previously, Nashville had been in the top 10 in Ten-X’s tracking, but ranked No. 1 for the first time in the most recent quarter. For the second quarter, local home sales increased 7.4 percent year-over-year with price growth of 12 percent to mark improvement for 20 straight quarters.
Among the 50 largest U.S. housing markets, Nashville posted the highest score in terms of economic prospects based in part on jobs and population growth. Education, health care and leisure and entertainment are among growing sectors with local employment up 4 percent year-over-year.
Reach Getahn Ward at [email protected] or 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Tim Tebow, hero to second-grade boys everywhere, is simultaneously a professional baseball player and a sportscaster. The Mets' most famous non-prospect will get to keep his old job while he tries out his new one.
Sandy Alderson acknowledges that Tim Tebow won't be available every day in instructional league because of Tebow's ESPN broadcasting job — Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) September 8, 2016
MORE: Tebow means nothing for the Mets
Tebow signed with the Mets on Thursday; his first step is playing in the team's instructional league, except for a few days a week, when he does college football work for the SEC Network.
Will Alderson allow Tebow to miss days while he tries to become an astronaut, or a fireman or president of the United States? Wait long enough and we'll find out.
It's easy to make fun of Tebow for this; good luck trying to figure out how he can be fully committed to the experiment when he's not fully committed to the experiment. One thing about it, though: Don't feel bad for the Mets.
Signing Tebow, Alderson said, is “an opportunity to associate with excellence" — Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) September 8, 2016
Those are the words of a man who knows what he's gotten into: a decent play for attention that isn't really about Tebow making it to the majors. It's a fun little thing where everyone can hedge their bets. They seem to be on the same page. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Roman numerals CXCV
The Roman numeral CXCV corresponds to the Arabic number 195.
CXCV = 195
We hope you have found this information useful. Please, consider to like this site on Facebook.
How to read and how to write CXCV
Symbols are written and read from left to right, from highest to lowest.
If number CXCV is within to text or sentence it should be read in its equivalent in Arabic numbers, in this case 195.
Previous number
CXCIV is number 194
Next number
CXCVI is number 196
Calculate the conversion of any number and its equivalent in Roman numerals with our Roman numerals converter. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
We've all had dreams of getting picked up by our favourite team, playing shoulder to shoulder with the pro's that we watch on a regular basis and cheer for day in and day out. Thanks to Jersey Mike's we were able to make that into a reality for one lucky fan — and his friend.This is a momentous day for Team Liquid’s CS:GO squad. We’re happy to announce that Joseph “Touken_” Le will be the sixth member of our CS:GO team for five days. Touken_ was a participant, and winner, in Jersey Mike’s Fan Above competition before receiving the invitation to join Team Liquid.Touken_ brings years of Team Liquid fandom to the team, through checking out players’ streams and watching countless matches. Grinding to become one of our CS:GO team’s biggest fans makes us confident that Touken_ can bring our game to the next level.Welcome Touken_ to the Alienware Training Facility and the Team Liquid fam! We're sure he'll enjoy his time with us as much as we'll enjoy having him here. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
Calls Aishwarya Average looking goes to GB Road to fuck 40 year old Aunties. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Ending weeks of speculation, President-elect Donald Trump has asked National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins to remain in his position. It is not clear for how long.
"We just learned that Dr. Collins has been held over by the Trump administration," an NIH spokesperson said in a statement. "We have no additional details at this time."
Collins, a geneticist who has headed the $32 billion NIH for the past 8 years, has been campaigning to keep his job and met with Trump last week. On Wednesday, he told a reporter at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he still didn’t know what his fate would be. But although Collins had the support of key Republicans in Congress, he has been one of several candidates for the NIH post, including Representative Andy Harris (R–MD).
Like other political appointees, Collins was required to submit a letter of resignation to the Obama administration after the November 2016 presidential election. Barring any action from the Trump team, his resignation would have taken effect on 20 January.
Collins had said that if not asked to remain NIH chief, he would go back to his lab at NIH for the time being. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email
Novak Djokovic has asked a ball boy for "forgiveness" after an outburst in the Miami Open final left the youngster startled.
The world no.1 launched a verbal tirade towards his team after losing the second set of the final to Murray - but the ball boy was inadvertently caught up in the middle of it all.
The ball boy had passed a towel to Djokovic.
Umpire Damien Dumusois issued Djokovic with a warning for the way he addressed his team, but did nothing about the manner the ball boy was treated.
However, Djokovic, who eventually won the tournament, has issued a heartfelt apology on his Facebook page following the incident.
In the apology, Djokovic said: "Unfortunately a ball boy was in the middle of it and I really, really feel sorry and regret that he was there.
In pictures - Djokovic wins the Miami Open:
"There was absolutely no intention whatsoever to hurt him or scare him in any kind of way. I sincerely hope he forgives me. I really apologise.
"I do care about children a lot right now and I look at it in a much different way. So I want to apologise to his parents for this situation as well.
"As a father I wouldn't wish that something like this happens to my son.
"Again I sincerely hope you can forgive me and that we can move on. Unfortunately sometimes the emotions get the better of you."
Djokovic rallied from that second set loss to Murray with a 6-0 win in the final set to claim the championship in Miami. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Subsets and Splits