text
stringlengths 14
100k
| meta
dict |
|---|---|
After sending out letters to MPs pointing them to the C-32 FAQ, I received the following form letter from the Office of the Leader of the (official) Opposition.
Dear Sir/Madame:
On behalf of Michael Ignatieff, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your recent email regarding Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act.
There is no question that Canada’s Copyright regime needs to be modernized. The Liberal Party believes that Canada needs to implement fair and balanced copyright rules. We must modernize our copyright laws to protect the works of our local artists, writers, poets, film-makers and musicians, and reach a balance between this protection and the needs of consumers.
There are plenty of international examples of copyright modernization that have reached these goals. These tried and tested models can serve as examples for Canada. We also had extensive consultations over the last months in Canada and these provided us with all the information needed to adopt a balanced bill that will address the pitfalls of the previous Bill C-61.
The Harper Conservatives have taken four and a half years to table this legislation, so as a responsible opposition we will take some time to review it. However, we believe that Canadian consumers who have legitimately purchased a CD or a DVD or other product should also have the ability to transfer their purchase onto their iPod or make a personal backup copy on their computer, so long as they are not doing so for the purposes of sale or transfer to others.
Thank you for taking the time to write to the Leader of the Opposition.
Yours sincerely,
C. McKone
Office of the Leader of the Opposition | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A dog IQ test has been developed by scientists who say it could pave the way for breakthroughs in our understanding of the link between intelligence and health.
Experts have discovered that dog intelligence works in the same way as human intelligence, so clever canines who perform well in one task tend also to do well in others – just like humans.
Recent studies have shown that brighter people tend to live longer, and so scientists believe if they can prove the same is true in dogs they can use them to study long-term health problems such as dementia.
Dr Rosalind Arden, a research associate at the London School of Economics, which carried out the study with Edinburgh University, said the discovery could have “far reaching implications for understanding human health and disease and canine health and disease”. “We asked the question, if a dog is good at one test does it tend to be better than average at the other test? And we found that yes that’s true,” she said.
Scientists put the intelligence of 68 working border collies to the test by devising a series of cognitive tasks for them to carry out.
One involved finding their way to a food reward they could see but was behind a barrier and another involved offering two plates of food and assessing if the dogs learnt to go to the one with the bigger portion.
Those that performed well in one of these tasks tended to be above average in the others too. Dr Arden said scientists have known for some time that brighter people tend to live longer. But this can be notoriously tricky to investigate because our lifestyle choices - whether we smoke, and how much we eat, drink and exercise - have a major impact on our health.
Dogs offer a good insight because they are “basically teetotal”, Dr Arden said. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Nearly 200 Democratic members of Congress plan to file a lawsuit against President Trump on Wednesday, claiming that his business empire violates the Constitution.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is filing the suit in federal district court and is joined by 196 other congressional members as plaintiffs. No Republicans have joined the lawsuit.
No Republicans have joined the lawsuit, which has been obtained by The Washington Post and the Hartford Courant.
The legal complaint argues that Trump’s income from foreign entities counts as gifts, and Constitution’s “foreign emoluments clause” requires Trump to obtain the consent of Congress to receive such payments.
“The framers wrote the emoluments clause and made it central to our constitution because of their fear that the country and its officials would become corrupted,” Blumenthal told the Courant.
“They could foresee … foreign interference by corrupting our officials through payments or benefits or advantages.”
The lawsuit comes one day after Maryland and Washington D.C. filed similar suits against Trump. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
EXCLUSIVE: Former SAG President Ed Asner is urging stage actors to vote no on Actors’ Equity’s proposal to scrap L.A.’s 99-seat theater waiver. Balloting on the plan begins today, with an Equity Council vote slated for April 21.
The proposed change would require small theater companies to pay actors minimum wage for performances, a move that opponents say would result in the shuttering of many theater in the city that provide a crucial environment for young thespians to hone their skills while exploring a wide range of roles –even if they’re only being paid car fare.
‘I hate to go against the laws of unionism, but actors need the 99-seat rule.’
Asner’s a lifelong union man who is about to appear in Arthur Miller — A Life, presented by L.A. Theatre Works, where he is a board member. He has plenty of live-stage credits in addition to his work in film and television and has always been on the side of actors earning a decent wage – until now. “We try to be a union in every respect,” he told Deadline, “except for the fact that acting is also an art, and an art needs rehearsal; an art needs practice. I hate to go against the laws of unionism, but actors need the 99-seat rule, which allows actors to practice their art while defying the laws of minimum wage.”
The actors in these productions refer to themselves as “volunteers” – a term Equity itself uses to describe below-minimum wage acting jobs, even though California does not exempt them from the state’s minimum wage laws. “The law is the law, but sometimes the law is wrong,” Asner said. “There are death penalties in many states, but that doesn’t mean that the death penalty is correct.” Of course, the law depends upon the state enforcing it. in the decades since the 99-seat theater waiver was created, California has never fined a producer for failing to pay minimum wage to actors.
“I think the exception should be acknowledged,” Asner said. “It’s been acknowledged all of these years. I don’t think there is any other craft or union in which practitioners need to practice their art. The 99-seat rule allowed actors to work in front of people and develop their craft. And therefore, I think this exception should be made. This exception cries out to be acknowledged. It’s been working well all these years. It has been sustainable.”
The change in the rule was prompted when several local actors complained to Equity that they weren’t getting a fair deal from small companies. At least 100 of them signed a petition in a bid to force a change in the 99-seat waiver rules. The union then came up with a plan to compel the companies to pay their actors minimum wage — currently $9 an hour, going up to $10 on Jan. 1 – if a majority of LA’s Equity members approve it and the Equity Council agrees.
“Most actors say that this is not work – that this is practicing our art,” Asner said. “Since time immemorial, actors have been known to work for free, and will continue to do so. It is not a governable art.”
Clearly, that wasn’t the Screen Actors Guild’s position when Asner was president in the 1980s, but he contends that acting in films is different than acting onstage. “Film automatically means that someone is making money, or it wouldn’t be made,” he said. “When money is being made, it should be apportioned out to the actors as well. I can guarantee you, that if this new rule is passed, actors will go on being unpaid even more than they are now.”
To stay in business, many wives theaters say they will turn to non-Equity actors – or to union actors who quit Equity by opting for financial core status, which frees them from having to follow the union’s rules. Others may simply be forced to close their doors. “Once you shut down theaters, you shut down art,” Asner said. “Theatre is not a mirror – it’s a hammer. Progress will be stopped if it’s not allowed to flourish.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
“Nice puff piece on San Francisco’s Trash Inspectors” in the Atlantic, one of Ace’s co-bloggers quips. “I can’t quite put my thumb on why California has a debt issue. It couldn’t be paying people to do stuff like this can it?” The piece highlights — I take it back, praises — nanny-state intrusiveness to the nth-degree:
To help improve the city’s landfill diversion rate, Slattery and his crew pound the pavement, both in the early morning and in the evening, keeping tabs on what’s being thrown out and educating people about the three-bin system. The early-morning cart monitors are armed with clipboards, and they take notes about the trash sorting behavior of each household, which is later entered into a database and given to the outreach crew. “Bad, bad, bad,” says Calderon, shaking her head as she peered into the bins in front of a small home. “This goes in here,” she says, pointing to pieces of plastic packaging that had been put in the black bin instead of the blue recycling bin. She makes a note of it and moves to the next house. There’s no time to waste, because it’s garbage day, and the crew has to remain a few blocks ahead of the trash collectors. In the course of the morning, we encountered a handful of people – mostly Chinese Americans – who looked somewhat surprised to find a group rummaging through their trash. Each time, Slattery points to his vest and explains that he’s with the Department of Environment. By about 7 a.m., the workers take off their reflective vests and headlamps and head back to the office to log the data they’ve gathered. San Francisco residents are required by law to separate their compost and recycling from the rest of their trash, and soon they’ll have an added incentive to do so. Recology, the city’s trash hauler, will likely be raising its rates this summer. Under the proposed change, compost and recycling would no longer be free, but people who opt to downsize their black trash bin would pay a reduced fee.
Needless to say, this is all bulls***, to give it a name:
[jwplayer config=”pjmedia_eddriscoll” mediaid=”61856″]
And it’s also a case of two Atlantics in one; elsewhere on the Website, Conor Friedersdorf (I know, I know) explores “What Progressives Can Learn From Their California Failures.” But won’t of course:
What vexes me most about California governance is the pervasive dysfunction. Whatever one thinks about taxation in the state, disagreements about how big government should be and what it should do are proper and unavoidable. But the flame-retardant-couch law? The inability to fire the worst teachers in a timely manner? The pernicious giveaways to the California prison guards? The public-employee pensions so unsustainable that they’ve already bankrupted cities? The gerrymandering? The inability to provide accurate cost estimates for high-speed rail? These problems aren’t rooted in different ideological visions or the minority party’s intransigence. They’re just amateur hourish — seemingly undeniable evidence of inept governance. The state needs its own Washington Monthly just to chronicle all of the dysfunction. Says Krugman, “at this point the state’s G.O.P. has fallen below critical mass, losing even its power to obstruct — and this has left Mr. Brown free to push an agenda of tax hikes and infrastructure spending that sounds remarkably like the kind of thing California used to do before the rise of the radical right.” Fair enough. The Democrats are running things now. Let’s see how quickly they fix the problems that I’ve mentioned, now that nothing matters save their own ability to govern, or lack thereof. I predict that the legislature will remain captive to teacher and prison-guard unions, that public-employee pensions will continue to eat up an unsustainable share of the state’s revenue, that the increased tax revenue will largely be steered to special-interest groups, and that Democrats will prove unable to complete large infrastructure projects on time or on budget. Let’s revisit in a year to see if my pessimism or Krugman’s optimism proves closer to the mark. I sincerely hope I am proved wrong.
As long as its cities are featherbedding their payrolls by hiring people to go through their citizens’ garbage, it’s a safe bet he won’t be on this topic, at least.
For another example of a once Golden State now in twilight, Aaron Clarey explores “How Liberal Art Majors Destroyed Stockton,” at his Captain Capitalism blog:
I pointed this out a while ago, but it needs repeating. You cannot expect a group of adults whose only experiences are in the non-profit/government/education industries to lead with any measure of competence in that they are politicians first and foremost and have not the ability nor care to adhere to mathematical and financial reality. They are mentally spoiled little children who just happened to be in adult bodies that purposely and consciously chose weak degrees requiring no rigor, effort or thought, and consequently chose easy “careers.” It should be no shock that Stockton, or any city or organization, led by such weak and talentless people went bankrupt.
Is it the quality of the people who managed its services that led to Stockton’s fiscal collapse, or is it that they very likely succumbed to what Victor Davis Hanson has dubbed “The Bloomberg Syndrome:”
It is a human trait to focus on cheap and lofty rhetoric rather than costly, earthy reality. It is a bureaucratic characteristic to rail against the trifling misdemeanor rather than address the often-dangerous felony. And it is political habit to mask one’s own failures by lecturing others on their supposed shortcomings. Ambitious elected officials often manage to do all three. The result in these hard times is that our elected sheriffs, mayors, and governors are loudly weighing in on national and global challenges that are quite often out of their own jurisdiction, while ignoring or failing to solve the very problems that they were elected to address. Quite simply, the next time your elected local or state official holds a press conference about global warming, the Middle East, or the national political climate, expect to experience poor county law enforcement, bad municipal services, or regional insolvency.
QED:
But while Stockton’s mayor is busy turning her back on ethical oil, her city makes the list of America’s most dangerous cities in multiple years.
Stockton’s rococo global warming concerns, and San Francisco’s garbage nannies are both reminders that the simpler, smaller, and more focused the government, the less qualified the people running it need to be. Or as Milton Friedman once said, “It’s nice to elect the right people, but that’s not the way you solve things. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right things:”
[jwplayer config=”pjmedia_eddriscoll” mediaid=”61849″]
Unfortunately for all of us though, California politicians and civil servants take the notion of “politically profitable” far too literally. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Leh, Ladakh, J&K — His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that Tibetans have no freedom inside Tibet with some hard-line Chinese officials see our Tibetan identity as a threat to separate Tibet from China. Therefore, they have tried to eliminate Tibetan culture and language.
The spiritual leader of Tibet also encouraged Tibetans to be united as one community, to speak to the world on the basis of our own traditions. "Our Tibetan culture is a culture of peace, of non-violence and of compassion," said an official post on Monday, citing His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited Zangdok Palri on Sunday morning, not far from his residence. His Holiness was welcomed by representatives of the Himalayan Buddhist Association, organizers of a conference celebrating Thonmi Sambhota, who created literary Tibetan 1372 years ago.
In their introductory remarks Tashi Rabgye and Tsering Dorjee noted the importance of Thonmi Sambhota's achievement to the translation of Buddhist literature into Tibetan. The Kangyur and Tengyur collections created as a result have for centuries been crucial to the culture of Tibet and the trans-Himalayan region. The speakers also expressed gratitude to His Holiness for encouraging the development of Ladakh and its culture since he came into exile.
In his address, His Holiness referred to the historic cultural and spiritual ties between Ladakh and Tibet and expressed his appreciation of the convening of the conference.
"Although Thonmi Sambhota is known to have composed eight texts on Tibetan language and grammar", he remarked, "only two, dealing with grammar, the Sumchupa and Takyi Jugpa, survive. Whether you call it Bhoti or Tibetan, this written language is important because it preserves the profound Buddhist culture we share. In today's rational world the epistemological texts of Dignaga and Dharmakirti, only available in Tibetan, provide us with tools for analyzing the nature of reality.
"We should not regard Buddhism only as a religion, but also as a source of knowledge and education. As a science of mind it can teach us how to deal with disturbing emotions such as anger, jealousy and greed. This can bring peace of mind that is of benefit to the individual, his or her family and community, and the world at large. If the idea of pratitya-samutpada, interdependence, were more widely understood, there would be no room for violence among our human brothers and sisters."
His Holiness explained that the content of the Kangyur and Tengyur can be classified as dealing with science, philosophy and religion. He referred to the ongoing project to make the scientific and philosophical material more widely available. A Compendium of Science has already been compiled in Tibetan and is being translated into English, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, German, Mongolian, Russian, and Vietnamese.
"This Conference should not be merely a celebration of Thonmi Sambhota," His Holiness concluded, "but an opportunity to teach school children and their parents the significance of the language in which Kangyur and Tengyur are written."
At the SOS TCV Choglamsar football ground, His Holiness was received by the local elected Chief Representative of Ladakh along with local Tibetan officials and the Director of SOS TCV Choglamsar. He was given a traditional Tibetan welcome. On the stage, he was greeted by Ganden Tripa Rizong Rinpoche.
Addressing close to 5000 Tibetans, His Holiness spoke about the common identity of people from the Land of Snow and their efforts to preserve their unique culture, language and religion. He said that just as the Chinese people have their own ancient cultural heritage of which they are proud, Tibetans too are proud to be Tibetans and make efforts to protect their rich heritage and identity.
"Unfortunately, some hard-line Chinese officials see our Tibetan identity as a threat to separate Tibet from China. Therefore, they have tried to eliminate our Tibetan culture and language. Tibetans are compelled to learn Chinese in schools. Without knowledge of Chinese, Tibetans in Tibet are unable to find good jobs."
In the 7th century, he said, the Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo commissioned Thonmi Sambhota to create a written form of Tibetan. Later, Emperor Trisong Detsen turned to India rather than China and invited the Nalanda master Shantarakshita to establish Buddhism in Tibet. Consequently, Tibetan Buddhism, which incorporates the Nalanda tradition, takes a rational scientific approach to investigation. Today, many people, including scientists and educated young Indians, are showing an interest in Buddhism and Tibetan is the language in which it is most accurately conveyed.
Turning to the Ladakhis in the audience, His Holiness said: "We are very grateful to have been able to establish our schools and settlements here [Ladakh] and I would like to thank you."
"Since the time of Nehru, the Indian Government has been extremely kind and helpful to the Tibetan people. Here in Ladakh Bakula Rinpoche and Sonam Norbu fostered a special friendship between Tibetans and Ladakhis," he added.
"Tibetans have no freedom inside Tibet, where Tibetan culture and religion are endangered. However, here in India, Tibetans as well as the people of the Himalayan regions, from Ladakh up to Mön, have the freedom and opportunity to preserve our Buddhist traditions and their related culture."
His Holiness concluded by saying: "It is very important for Tibetans to be united as one community. We must all make efforts in this regard. History will remember our efforts, so we must constantly rededicate ourselves with courage and see the present circumstances as an opportunity to fulfil our potential. Our Tibetan culture is a culture of peace, of non-violence and of compassion. This is the kind of culture the world's entire 7 billion people need. Therefore, I believe we Tibetans have a significant contribution to make to the world on the basis of our own traditions." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Gemeinsam mit der Formel-1-Organisatoren sei ein Konzept ausgearbeitet worden, durch das der benötigte Tross an der Rennstrecke weniger als 2.000 Personen umfasse. Laut Ö3-Angaben seien aber keine Fans und keine Journalisten bei den ersten beiden Rennen der Saison zugelassen.
Alle Teammitglieder müssen zudem negativ getestet werden. „Es wird in England oder von den Teams organisiert, dass die schon mit dem entsprechenden Testzeugnis anreisen“, sagte Marko, seines Zeichens Motorsportberater bei Red Bull Racing. Den verspäteten Saisonstart könnte nur eine zweite Infektionswelle mit dem Coronavirus verhindern, so der Steirer.
F1-Auftakt mit zwei Rennen wird konkreter Der Formel-1-Auftakt in Spielberg nimmt laut Red Bulls Motorsportberater Helmut Marko konkretere Formen an.
Bereits zehn Absagen
Der ursprüngliche Grand Prix von Österreich war für 5. Juli angesetzt. Die zehn davor im Kalender stehenden Rennen sind wegen der Coronavirus-Pandemie aber allesamt bereits verschoben oder abgesagt worden. Daher wird mittlerweile auch über zwei WM-Läufe nacheinander am selben Ort nachgedacht. In Spielberg könnte die Premiere erfolgen.
Marko ist guter Dinge, dass es danach noch weitere Rennen gibt. „Es laufen Gespräche mit weiteren europäischen Veranstaltern“, sagte der 76-jährige Steirer. Die Chancen auf einen Auftakt in Spielberg hatte er schon vergangene Woche als „sehr hoch“ bezeichnet. Auch ohne Zuschauer an der Strecke sei der Werbewert durch eine weltweite TV-Übertragung enorm. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
IOTA – the next generation cryptocurrency
The promise sounds almost too good to be true, send money to anyone in the world instantly, completely free. You could send a million dollars or a fraction of a cent, on demand, and without fees to anyone around the world.
IOTA is a forward-thinking cryptocurrency that responds to the growing technological needs of the Internet of Things (IoT). Analysts predict between 26 billion to over 100 billion connected devices by 2020, constantly making transactions with each other. Instead of relying on a blockchain to handle these transactions, IOTA uses “the Tangle”, a graph with infinite scale, no miners, and no blocks.
IOTA’s strength is its response to the problems of high transaction fees and long wait times. The transaction costs on blockchain-based currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum make small trades too expensive to make sense. IOTA offers a currency with new possibilities for micro-trading by removing the barriers of fees.
Every day, our world becomes smaller and more connected through the Internet of Things (IoT). When Gilfoyle hacks Jin Yang’s “Smart Refrigerator” in Silicon Valley, his coding not only affects Jin Yang’s refrigerator, but all the other refrigerators communicating with it over the IoT. So when microtrading is possible within the IoT, we can trade and use resources like never before.
9/2/17: Sending a friend $2 worth of Bitcoin today will cost you $5.72 in transaction fees.
What is the “Tangle”?
You’re at the doctor’s office waiting for a prescription to be filled so you get a number and sit down. In this case, this Take-A-Number system determines who goes to the pharmacy counter next. Every trading platform relies on a system to track who’s next in line. For Bitcoin, the 2008-based blockchain determines who gets to send money next. Instead of blockchain technology, limited by mining for new coins and fees, IOTA relies on the Tangle to perform seamless transactions.
The Tangle is based on a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). Like a blockchain, the DAG gives an order to transactions awaiting completion. Instead of standing and waiting in a line, or taking a number, the DAG graph works as the ledger of transactions. Each transaction coming in must first verify two other transactions on the ledger. That means you use your own computer’s electricity to trade funds instead of paying a miner to do that for you with blockchain ledger systems like Bitcoin. You use exactly the amount of power needed to complete your transaction and two others, no more and no less, explaining why there’s no fee to exchange IOTA around the world.
The future of IOTA is exciting. It’s already breaking ground, holding the eighth largest market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies today in just three months on the market. Over 1.5 billion dollars of that is from its ICO on June 13th, 2017, which was more than any other cryptocurrency at the time. Blockchains have been fundamental, but this could be the next evolution in cryptocurrency.
If you are interested into learning more about this new Blockchain technology, then you should definetly check out the Tangle whitepaper.
This IOTA article was kindly written by Leslie Ankney | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The year was 1956. Ohio State’s college football program was ranked fifth in the annual Associated Press preseason college football poll and was coming off a season in which they had won all but two games. Expectations for a strong season were, no doubt, high.
But head coach Woody Hayes was in hot water with the Big Ten for providing loans to his players, and after an investigation, the conference put the team on probation for one year and banned it from playing in that season’s Rose Bowl.
Sixty-two years later, Ohio State is once again entering the season with a No. 5 preseason ranking, having won all but two games the previous season. Controversy blankets the campus once more: Head coach Urban Meyer has been suspended for the opening three games of the season after an investigation concluded that he had mishandled domestic assault allegations against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith.
High expectations are nothing new in Columbus. For about as long as college football has been around, the Ohio State Buckeyes have been a force. In the annals of the sport’s history, only Michigan (943) — oh, the irony — and Notre Dame (906) have won more games than the Buckeyes (898). Since the turn of the century, only Boise State, which has played in three non-Power-Five conferences over that stretch, has won more total games than Ohio’s flagship university.
And that prodigious success isn’t lost on Associated Press voters.
Ohio State has failed to make the poll just four times in the 69-year history of the poll, most recently in 1988. That was John Cooper’s first year at the helm after taking over for the fired Earle Bruce. Cooper wouldn’t miss another preseason poll. Hayes only missed out in 1966 and 1967, the lone instance of the team failing to crack the AP preseason poll in consecutive years.
Which got us thinking: Does Ohio State dominate this poll more than any team in any sport dominates its preseason poll? AP voters produce a preseason, weekly and postseason poll for three college sports: football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. In 1989, the polls expanded to a 25-team format, which remains the current standard.
Across the three sports, only the Tennessee Volunteers women’s basketball program has been more of a mainstay on the preseason poll than the Ohio State football team, according to data from the website College Poll Archive. Tennessee has made the AP preseason poll 98 percent of the time. It’s missed just once in the poll’s 42-year history — in 1976, the year the poll was introduced. Largely under their legendary coach, the late Pat Summitt, the Volunteers piled up eight national championships and 18 Final Four appearances, controlling the sport for decades before Connecticut assumed the mantle.
The preseason elite Teams with the highest rate of appearances in AP Top 25 preseason polls in men’s or women’s basketball and college football Appearances RK Team Sport Count Rate* 1 Tennessee Women’s basketball 41 98% 2 Ohio State Football 65 94 3 Kentucky Men’s basketball 50 88 4 Oklahoma Football 60 87 5 USC Football 58 84 North Carolina Men’s basketball 48 84 7 Notre Dame Football 55 80 8 Texas Women’s basketball 33 79 9 Georgia Women’s basketball 32 76 10 Alabama Football 52 75 Texas Football 52 75 UCLA Men’s basketball 43 75 *In preseason polls since 1976-77 season for women’s basketball, 1961-62 for men’s basketball and 1950 for football. Source: College Poll Archive
Ohio State has at least five more appearances on the AP preseason poll than any team in any sport, having qualified in 94 percent of available seasons. Since 1989, Ohio State’s average ranking in the preseason AP poll is 10.3. And perhaps no team dominates the opening month of the season like Ohio State, which has gone 21-2 over the last six years in the month of September, winning by an average margin of more than 30 points per game. But preseason rankings aren’t always pinpoint precise: Ohio State typically underperforms relative to its lofty preseason ranking.
AP preseason polls typically draw from blue-blood schools, so it’s no surprise that other well-heeled programs like the football teams at Oklahoma and USC and the men’s basketball team at Kentucky are among the most-ranked.
But on the gridiron, no team is accustomed to high expectations like the Buckeyes. Columbus has produced the second-most first-round NFL draft picks all time, and the team is expected not only to win, but to dominate. In this weekend’s season opener against Oregon State, Ohio State opened as 38-point favorites, the most lopsided betting line of any opening-week contest for a ranked team. “A place like Ohio State, we’re expected to win every game we play,” Meyer has said. “There’s not many places like that.” Those are expectations that Meyer also noted aren’t always “easy to embrace.” But players and coaches alike should recognize that’s what they’ve signed up for in Columbus: a culture of on-field success, national title aspirations and a preseason ranking. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Pokémon Sun & Moon has celebrated classic anime series and cast members' careers with on screen homages. Now it appears to be time for more recent anime to get a shout out in Pokémon. A Pikachu named "Boruto" appears in episode 129 "Dairantō! Battle Royal 151!!" (Big Brawl! Battle Royal 151!!) with an identical hair style to a certain yellow-haired ninja. The episode debuted on Sunday.
The Pikachu Boruto appears to be cheerful and cocky, much like the eponymous protagonist of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Unfortunately, he doesn't have long in the limelight, as he is immediately KO-ed by Mimikyu within seconds of his appearance.
The Pokémon Sun & Moon anime series premiered on TV Tokyo and its affiliated stations in Japan in November 2016. The Boruto: Naruto Next Generations television anime series premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo in April 2017. The anime is based on Ukyō Kodachi and Mikie Ikemoto's Boruto sequel manga, which launched in Weekly Shonen Jump in May 2016.
[Via @VantaJay] | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The union claimed the referral from Senator Cash and her staff leaking news of the raids were proof that the probe was politically motivated, intended to "embarrass or politically harm" Mr Shorten, and was therefore unlawful. Loading But Justice Mordecai Bromberg dismissed the union's allegations on Friday and ruled the commissioner’s investigation was not politically motivated, and that the AWU had failed to demonstrate the decision to probe the union was influenced by Senator Cash’s referrals. "The contention [by AWU] was that concerns expressed and requests made by the minister in two letters forwarded to the commissioner by her had influenced the decision to investigate," Justice Bromberg said. "On the evidence, I have held that the AWU has not demonstrated that the minister’s communications to the commissioner were a material and operative reason for the commissioner’s decision to investigate.
"I have concluded that the evidence before the court does not establish that the decision made to conduct the investigation was made for the improper purpose contended for by the AWU." A spokesman for Senator Cash said the judgment cleared her of wrongdoing. "The AWU’s pursuit of the minister was always a political game," the spokesman said. "Despite the political attack by the AWU, the minister has been cleared of any political influence over the ROC’s decision." However, Justice Bromberg ruled the commissioner's decision to launch an investigation was invalid over a "jurisdictional" error and that a half-day hearing would be set to determine whether the search warrants were also invalid.
Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Justice Bromberg said the commission's probe of the unions was based on a "suspicion", which was not a reasonable ground for an investigation. "The commissioner did not proceed reasonably in forming the opinion or state of satisfaction he was required," Justice Bromberg said. "Having concluded that the decision to conduct the investigation is invalid in so far as the investigation concerns whether [certain sections] of the Registered Organisations Act has been contravened, I have given some consideration as to whether the search warrants are invalid. "I have concluded that that matter ... should be the subject of further submissions from the parties and a short further hearing."
Australian Federal Police raided the Melbourne and Sydney offices of the union on October 24, 2017 as part of the investigation into a 2006 GetUp donation and a $25,000 donation made in 2007-08 to Mr Shorten’s first parliamentary campaign for the seat of Maribyrnong. Loading Mr Shorten was AWU national secretary from 2001 until he entered politics in 2007, and was on the board of GetUp until early 2006. AWU donations to Labor campaigns in the federal seats of Stirling and Petrie were also under the commission's scrutiny. At an earlier hearing, Senator Cash told the court she found out about the AFP raids as they unfolded live on television.
Ben Davies, the senator's then chief-of-staff, and David De Garis, her then media adviser, have since been implicated in the leaks to the media, as has Michael Tetlow, who at the time worked for the-then justice minister Michael Keenan. The investigation was probing donations made by AWU to GetUp and Labor campaigns while Bill Shorten was union leaer. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Shorten blasted the commission's investigation as a waste of taxpayers' money. "The witch-hunt cost millions and the government cowboys running it did not even stop to check if their investigation was legal," he wrote on Twitter. "What a waste of taxpayers' money when so many Australian families are doing it tough." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A Starcraft 2 blog about the main competitions written in English by a French guy. Follow me @Unfrozious on Twitter. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
But these numbers are likely to be underestimated because "design issues and functional limitations" of the NSW Family and Community Service (FACS) computer system impedes staff from recording what is happening. The auditor was also told some staff were too busy to follow up on minor and moderate antisocial behaviour. The anti-social behaviour of public housing tenants made workers at four of the state's offices "often" nervous, in 12 other regions they were "sometimes" nervous but in four areas staff were "rarely" or "never" nervous, the auditor reported. These findings come in the same week the NSW government passed new laws to force "problem" tenants to pay a bond and a "three strikes" policy to speed up evictions for those who commit fraud.
The NSW Auditor asked staff and tenants about the "strikes" policy - intended to promote safety and security in public housing by evicting bad tenants after three strikes - but the majority saw no improvement since it began in 2015. NSW Tenants Union policy officer Leo Patterson Ross said the rise in drug-dealing reports, from 69 in 2016 to 122 last year, was "relatively small" across a portfolio of 120,000 properties. "What they're doing is struggling to cope with difficulties in their lives and that can come out in damaging behaviour, but what the government seems to think is that these people are purely evil and need to be punished," Mr Patterson Ross said. "All it does is make people's lives more miserable for no real benefit - there's no evidence-based discussion around this. They [the NSW government] talk at the NGOs and say, 'This is what we're doing' and when we say, 'Don't do that, it's a terrible idea,' they do it anyway." But for residents such as Jason Vorva, who lives a block away from public housing towers in Waterloo, the drug use, loitering and burglary are "relatively constant" and he is frustrated it’s "allowed to continue".
"I’ve given up calling the police unless there’s a blood-curdling scream," Mr Vorva said. "I've seen people pull out of the housing commission unit there and roll down their window and throw a handful of used needles out on the street and I've seen that more than once. "When you live around it for a while you get sad, apathetic but also frustrated because I feel like it's allowed to continue. The parade of people who are well into their drug addiction is really sad. "I look out my window in the morning and see people drinking with signs up saying there's no public drinking here." Jason Vorva lives in Waterloo and is sick of the drug use and bad behaviour of some public housing tenants. Credit:Brook Mitchell. Mr Vorva's patio area was broken into about a week ago and, the week before that, his neighbour's bike was stolen from his patio area. Neither of them bothered to report it to the police.
"Honestly, I didn't want to take the time to report it because there's no effect," he said. "We’re invested in staying and living here, we love it here but there are those problems." A "local allocation strategy" has been introduced to exclude people with recent drug supply or manufacturing convictions from being housed in Redfern, Waterloo, Surry Hills or Glebe. Drug offences in Waterloo and Redfern were more than 1000 incidents per year from 2013 to 2017, but the trend in drug crime across Redfern has dropped by about 9 per cent annually. A NSW Police spokeswoman said officers work "closely with other government agencies to support housing policies". "[Redfern police] engage the community and conduct regular high-visibility patrols in and around social housing estates," she said.
The effects of public housing on local crime were "generally small, at most, an additional 3 per cent" once social factors are controlled for, one Sydney study found. And many social housing estates have lower rates of crime than surrounding areas, Australian research has found. 'I hate it when they call us housos' "Housos" cop stereotypes as drug-using dole bludgers but this is not always true and a dozen tenants from properties in Waterloo and Redfern spoke to the Herald on Monday. None of them were prepared to be named because they feared reprisals. "People who live here might not look flash but they’re down-to-earth folk who help each other. I hate it when they call us housos," a man in his 50s said. "We get kicked in the guts by the public and the media but we have to grin and bear it. We look after each other." "It's very hard to talk to FACS because they are understaffed and poorly organised," one man said.
"It’s like the lunatics are running the asylum," another quipped. "I can't complain, I don't speak enough English!" one older man joked. Residents say that drug use, loitering and burglary are 'relatively constant'. Credit:Christopher Pearce Many people said the FACS system for handling complaints was too slow and they had given up reporting issues, because "you don't get much satisfaction" and can spend more than an hour on the phone as you get "bounced around from person to person". A younger man said he thought Redfern was quieter at night than places such as Manly or even Newtown where "it gets intense" from Thursday to Sunday night.
"We don't have anything like that, there are a few small pockets in the area with daytime drinkers but you find that stuff everywhere I think, overall the number of bad people who live here is small," he said. Breaking the cycle of eviction Homelessness NSW chief executive Katherine McKernan said that, instead of looking for ways to evict tenants with "strikes", the government should be maintaining tenancies and "not cycling people into public housing then out and then back in". "Two in five people trying to access crisis accommodation are now unable to get in, and for two in three people who do get into a homelessness service, they aren't housed at the end of the support because there's simply no housing to access. "We think we need a social housing plan of about 5000 homes a year until 2026 to meet the current demand," Ms McKernan said.
The net number of new public housing dwellings that will be built over 10 years was calculated to be 9900, by UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre Professor Hal Pawson. Shelter NSW chief executive Karen Walsh has worked in social housing policy for about 20 years and said the mix of people who find themselves homeless is "really different" than it was. "People who had low and high support needs were being housed together years ago and they could support each other but now the majority of people are in the highest needs category," Ms Walsh said. "It’s a confluence of the crisis that the community finds itself in. The gap between the properties that are being delivered and the unmet need is increasing. "For people that are already really disadvantaged, people that are older, young people and Aboriginal people, these are the ones that are getting hurt most because the system is absolutely failing them."
Homelessness at 'epidemic levels': MP Sydney state MP Alex Greenwich said homelessness was now at "epidemic levels". "A disaster that threatens life on a large scale is often declared a state of emergency, which initiates urgent action to make people safe and help them recover. Homelessness is putting tens of thousands of lives at risk; there is no reason not to invoke a similar response," Mr Greenwich said. "Just like a bushfire, homelessness can burn through a person's entire life, and just like a flood, it can wash away all hope." Minister for Social Housing Pru Goward's spokeswoman said the NSW government had "committed more than $1 billion over the next four years for homelessness services". | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Posted: August 29, 2017 by
In part two of our Kronos malware analysis, we look at the malicious actions Kronos can perform.
In the previous part of the Kronos analysis, we took a look at the installation process of Kronos and explained the technical details of the tricks that this malware uses in order to remain more stealthy. Now we will move on to look at the malicious actions that Kronos can perform.
Analyzed samples
ede01f7431543c1fef546f8e1d693a85 – downloader (a .doc with a malicious macro) 2a550956263a22991c34f076f3160b49 – main bot (packed)
Special thanks to @shotgunner101 and @chrisdoman for sharing the samples.
Configuration and targets
Kronos is known as a banking Trojan. For the purpose of enabling and configuring this feature, the bot may download from its CnC additional configuration file. After being fetched, it is stored in the installation folder in encrypted form. (It is worth to notice that when the config is sent over the network it is encrypted using AES CBC mode – but when it is stored on the disk, AES in ECB mode is used.)
Below you can see an example of the installation folder of Kronos, created in %APPDATA%/Microsoft . The folder name is further used as a BotId . Both stored files, the executable and the configuration, has the same name that differs only by the extension:
Here you can see the captured configuration file in a decrypted form:
https://gist.github.com/malwarezone/d6de3d53395849123596f5d9e68fe3a3#file-config-txt
The format of the configuration follows the standard defined by the famous Zeus malware.
The config specifies the external script that is going to be injected in the targeted website, as well as the place of the injection. Below you can see a fragment of the configuration for a sample target – Wells Fargo Bank:
In the given example, the injected script is figrabber.js
It is hosted on the server of the attacker:
The current configuration targets several banks, but also steals credentials for popular services like Google, Twitter, and Facebook.
Indeed, if we open the websites that are targeted by the malware we can see that the injects has been performed. The fragments of code that were defined in the config are implanted in the source of a legitimate website. Some examples included below:
Facebook:
Citibank:
The injected scripts are responsible for opening additional pop-up that is trying to phish the user and steal his/her personal data:
Wells Fargo:
More cases, and their comparison with a normal site behavior before the infection, demonstrated on the video:
The form is customized to fit the theme of each page. However, its content is the same for each target. Overall, the attack is not very sophisticated and it will probably look suspicious to the more advanced users. It’s based purely on social engineering – trying to convince a user to input all personal data that are necessary for banking operations:
Downloader
Apart from infecting browsers and stealing the data, Kronos also has a downloader feature. During our tests, it downloaded a new executable and saved it in the %TEMP% . Payloads are stored in the additional directory with the same name as the main installation directory:
Downloaded payload:
6f7f79dd2a2bf58ba08d03c64ead5ced – nCBngA.exe
The payload is downloaded from Kronos CnC:
…in unencrypted form:
In the analyzed case, downloaded payload was just an update of the Kronos bot. However, the same feature may also be used for fetching and deploying other malware families.
Command and Controll (CnC) server
In the analyzed case, Kronos used Fast-Flux technique for its CnC. The domain was resolved to a different IP each time. For example, the domain hjbkjbhkjhbkjhl.info was resolved to an IP address randomly picked from the pool given below:
46.175.146.50 46.172.209.210 47.188.161.114 74.109.250.65 77.122.51.88 77.122.51.88 89.25.31.94 89.185.15.235 91.196.93.112 176.32.5.207 188.25.234.208 109.121.227.191
Watching the communication with the CnC, we observed queries to the site connect.php , with an optional parameter a :
connect.php - initial beacon connect.php?a=0 - sending data to the CnC connect.php?a=1 - downloading the configuration form the Cnc
CnC panel
Thanks to the code of the CnC panel that leaked online, we can have more insights on all the functionalities and their implementation. Like most of the malware panels, the Kronos panel is written in PHP and uses MySQL database. Overview of the files:
It turns out, that in total the bot has three commands:
a=0 – sends the grabbed page content
– sends the grabbed page content a=1 – fetch the configuration file
– fetch the configuration file a=2 – send the logged windows
Below we can see the relevant fragments of the panel’s code (implemented inside connect.php ), responsible for parsing and storing the data uploaded by the respective commands.
Command #0 ( a=0 ):
Command #2 ( a=2 ):
The configuration that is sent to the bot is prepared by the following code:
Command #1 ( a=1 ):
We can also see very clearly how the config is encrypted – using AES in CBC mode, where the key is first 16 bytes of md5 of the BotId (it confirms what researchers form Lexsi lab found by reverse engineering).
However, AES is not the only cryptographic algorithm that is utilized by Kronos. Other commands use BlowFish in ECB mode:
Command #0 ( a=0 ):
Command #2 ( a=2 ):
In all cases, there is a variable called UniqueId that is used as a key. The UniqueId is nothing more but the BotId , that is sent in every POST request in XOR encoded form.
You can find the corresponding Python scripts for decoding the appropriate requests and responses here:
https://github.com/hasherezade/malware_analysis/tree/master/kronos
Kronos comes also with option of adding some plugins, extending the core functionality:
As we may conclude, the plugins are capable of extending Kronos with some espionage capabilities, such as VNC (for viewing the desktop) and logging typed keystrokes.
Decrypting the communication
With the help of prepared scripts (available here), we can decrypt the important elements of the communication between the Kronos bot and the CnC server. Let’s assume that we have a PCAP file with a captured traffic.
The BotId
We need to start from getting the Kronos BotId , because as we know it will be used to derive the encryption keys. We will find it in the requests sent by the bot to its CnC (74 bytes long):
After dumping the request, we can use the following script to decode it:
./kronos_beacon_decoder.py --infile dump1.bin
As the output we will get the decoded beacon, consisting of:
Hash of the configuration file (if no configuration file was present at the moment, this part will be filled with “X” characters) The BotId
Example:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX{117BB161-6479-4624-858B-4D2CE81593A2}
So, in the demonstrated case the BotId is {117BB161-6479-4624-858B-4D2CE81593A2} .
The configuration
Having the BotId, we can move to decrypt the configuration. It arrives in the response to the a=1 request:
Example of the request followed by the encrypted response from the CnC:
After dumping the response, we can use another script to decode it, giving the BotId as a parameter:
./kronos_a1_decoder.py --datafile dump2.bin --botid {117BB161-6479-4624-858B-4D2CE81593A2}
As a result, we will get the configuration file. Example of the decoded config:
https://gist.github.com/malwarezone/a7fc13d4142da0c6a67b5e575156c720#file-config-txt
The sent reports
Sometimes we can find the Kronos bot reporting to the CnC in requests a=0 or a=2:
Example of the encrypted request:
Finding out what was exactly the data stolen by Kronos is not difficult if we dump the data and use the dedicated script:
./kronos_a02_decoder.py --datafile dump3.bin --botid {117BB161-6479-4624-858B-4D2CE81593A2}
Example of the decoded report:
https://gist.github.com/malwarezone/a03fa49de475dfbdb7c499ff2bbb3314#file-a0_req-txt
Conclusion
In terms of code quality, Kronos is written in a decent way, however its features are nothing novel. Although the bot got good reviews on underground forums, in terms of popularity it was always legging behind. Probably its relatively high price was the important factor deciding why it lost with the competitors.
Appendix
See also:
This was a guest post written by Hasherezade, an independent researcher and programmer with a strong interest in InfoSec. She loves going in details about malware and sharing threat information with the community. Check her out on Twitter @hasherezade and her personal blog: https://hshrzd.wordpress.com. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
WASHINGTON — So now we have a good idea why President Trump won’t release his tax returns.
Because every time we’ve gotten a hint of what they look like, they paint a damning picture — both of his record as a businessman and his tax practices.
On Tuesday night, the New York Times revealed that, according to official IRS tax transcripts, Trump reported losing more than $1 billion in losses from 1985 to 1994.
The money graf in the piece: “In fact, year after year, Mr. Trump appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer, The Times found when it compared his results with detailed information the I.R.S. compiles on an annual sampling of high-income earners.”
Of course, that’s not the only story we know about Trump’s taxes.
In October, those same New York Times reporters wrote that Trump “participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents.”
Last month, in fact, Trump’s sister stepped down from her job as a federal judge, ending an investigation into whether “she violated judicial conduct rules by participating in fraudulent tax schemes with her siblings.”
And during the 2016 campaign, the Times got its hands on Trump’s 1995 tax return, in which he declared a $916 million LOSS.
That deduction was so substantial, the Times said, “it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years.”
So last night’s story is a big one. But let’s not forget about the other New York Times blockbuster reports on Trump’s taxes.
They don’t paint a pretty picture.
And they help explain why Trump doesn’t want the public to see his most current tax records.
This morning, Trump responded to last night’s story with a pair of tweets:
....you would get it by building, or even buying. You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes....almost all real estate developers did - and often re-negotiate with banks, it was sport. Additionally, the very old information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2019
By the way, in the 2000 presidential race, Trump spent a lot of time criticizing Bill Bradley.
Why? Bradley helped write that 1986 tax-reform law that changed these write-off schemes.
DOJ threatens House Dems if they vote to hold Barr in contempt
As NBC’s Mike Memoli puts it, the Trump Justice Department is throwing down the gauntlet
If House Democrats vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt, DOJ writes, Barr will recommend asserting executive privilege over the Mueller report and its underlying documents.
The Washington Post adds that the move all but assures Barr will be held in contempt of Congress.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler responded with this message, per Memoli: "In the middle of good faith negotiations ... [DOJ] abruptly announced that it would instead ask President Trump to invoke executive privilege on all of the materials subject to our subpoena. This is, of course, not how executive privilege works."
But as James Fallows asks, “How can you possibly assert Executive Privilege over something that is not simply in Congress’s hands but *on sale in book stores*?”
2020 Vision: Climate soars to the top of the Dem issue list
NBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald writes that climate change “has recently shot to the top of polls of issues that Democratic voters care about in the presidential primary.”
“That's a big shift from the last presidential election in 2016, when climate change did not get a single question during the debates between Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump.”
Our most recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed the top issues among Democratic respondents this way:
Health care: 36 percent of Dem respondents said was their No. 1 issue.
Climate change: 20 percent.
Jobs and the economy: 12 percent.
On the campaign trail today
Beto O’Rourke campaigns in both Iowa and Minnesota… Amy Klobuchar participates in a town hall on Fox News… Joe Biden raises money in Los Angeles… And speaking at the Machinist Union legislative conference in DC are Kirsten Gillibrand (9:30 am ET), John Delaney (9:45 am ET), Tim Ryan (10:00 am ET), Seth Moulton (10:30 am ET) and Bernie Sanders (11:00 am ET).
Data Download: The number of the day is … $1 million
$1 million.
That’s the amount (at least) that Kamala Harris has raised in minority-majority ZIP codes, more than twice the amount raised in the same areas by her next-closest competitor, Beto O’Rourke.
That’s according to an NBC analysis by Jonathan Allen, Lauren Egan and Jeremia Kimelman.
Tweet of the day
This is the most heartbreaking photo I have ever taken. These children are watching police clear their school after eight students were shot at the STEM high school next door. #highlandsranchshooting pic.twitter.com/sdAifNi6Ww — Ashley Michels (@ReporterAshley) May 8, 2019
The Lid: Thinking outside the Fox
Don’t miss the pod from yesterday, when we took a deep dive into the effect Fox News viewership has on public opinion.
ICYMI: New clips you shouldn’t miss
Iran says it will stop complying with some parts of the Iranian nuclear deal.
Don’t miss this headline from Reuters: “Trump fixer Cohen says he helped Falwell handle racy photos”
The Trump campaign is not happy with “dishonest fundraising groups” after a damning report about a group run by former Trump deputy campaign manager David Bossie.
And our own Andrea Mitchell accepted the 2019 Freedom of the Press Award last night. In her remarks, she said “We are not the enemies of the people. We are not fake news. Those slogans are meant to isolate us from the public - to diminish our credibility and undercut our effectiveness.”
Trump agenda: Constitutional clash
Here’s the latest from Jonathan Allen on the constitutional clash between Trump and House Democrats.
Steve Mnuchin spoke to Trump fundraisers just a day after blocking Democrats’ demand to see Trump’s tax returns.
The trade war could upend the economic status quo heading into 2020.
It’s the first anniversary of the “Be Best” campaign.
2020: Inslee talks climate change
Jay Inslee was on TV with one of us(!) yesterday to talk about the connection between climate change and health care.
Kamala Harris has a new bill to help public defenders.
POLITICO reports on how Joe Biden is tapping into his deep network.
And Biden says Trump uses immigration “to demonize people.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Space rulez
NASA has produced its own set of coding standards to ensure code quality and safety among all NASA applications. These standards have evolved from their own guidelines and are set to be applicable to the greater software development industry.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a.k.a. NASA, has been busy looking after the civilian space program as well as continued aeronautics and aerospace research. So it comes as no surprise that their own experience in software development has led them to publish a set of coding guidelines. The research was carried out by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) Laboratory for Reliable Software.
Rules for code safety
A huge amount of arbitrary rules and inconsistent guidelines causes code quality of even the most critical applications to suffer, according JPL lead scientist Gerard J. Holzmann. That’s why the lab has released ten coding commandments to govern all NASA software: “The Power of Ten – Rules for Developing Safety Critical Code”.
Holzmann and the team penned the rules for developing software with code safety in mind. The rules were specifically written with regards to C, as NASA backs the language for safety-critical code with its long history and extensive tool support. However, the rules can be applied to coding in most other programming languages:
Restrict all code to very simple control flow constructs – do not use goto statements, setjmp or longjmp constructs, and direct or indirect recursion. All loops must have a fixed upper-bound. It must be trivially possible for a checking tool to prove statically that a preset upper-bound on the number of iterations of a loop cannot be exceeded. If the loop-bound cannot be proven statically, the rule is considered violated. Do not use dynamic memory allocation after initialization. No function should be longer than what can be printed on a single sheet of paper in a standard reference format with one line per statement and one line per declaration. Typically, this means no more than about 60 lines of code per function. The assertion density of the code should average to a minimum of two assertions per function. Assertions are used to check for anomalous conditions that should never happen in real-life executions. Assertions must always be side-effect free and should be defined as Boolean tests. When an assertion fails, an explicit recovery action must be taken, e.g., by returning an error condition to the caller of the function that executes the failing assertion. Any assertion for which a static checking tool can prove that it can never fail or never hold violates this rule (I.e., it is not possible to satisfy the rule by adding unhelpful “assert(true)” statements).
SEE ALSO: Developing NASA’s mission software with Java
Data objects must be declared at the smallest possible level of scope. The return value of non-void functions must be checked by each calling function, and the validity of parameters must be checked inside each function. The use of the preprocessor must be limited to the inclusion of header files and simple macro definitions. Token pasting, variable argument lists (ellipses), and recursive macro calls are not allowed. All macros must expand into complete syntactic units. The use of conditional compilation directives is often also dubious, but cannot always be avoided. This means that there should rarely be justification for more than one or two conditional compilation directives even in large software development efforts, beyond the standard boilerplate that avoids multiple inclusion of the same header file. Each such use should be flagged by a tool-based checker and justified in the code. The use of pointers should be restricted. Specifically, no more than one level of dereferencing is allowed. Pointer dereference operations may not be hidden in macro definitions or inside typedef declarations. Function pointers are not permitted. All code must be compiled, from the first day of development, with all compiler warnings enabled at the compiler’s most pedantic setting. All code must compile with these setting without any warnings. All code must be checked daily with at least one, but preferably more than one, state-of-the-art static source code analyzer and should pass the analyses with zero warnings.
Rationales have been included under each rule in the official paperwork, which as a whole may come across as rather strict on the first read through. However, as Holzmann explains:
If the rules seem Draconian at first, bear in mind that they are meant to make it possible to check code where very literally your life may depend on its correctness: code that is used to control the airplane that you fly on, the nuclear power plant a few miles from where you live, or the spacecraft that carries astronauts into orbit.
These rules may be just the digital seat belt the industry needs – after all, it would be in our best interest to avoid catastrophes such as these… | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Frightened Rabbit singer's brother joins Great Scottish Run in his memory Published duration 28 September 2018
image caption Drummer Grant said his brother's death had made the issues of mental health hugely important to him
The brother of Frightened Rabbit singer Scott Hutchison is to take part in this weekend's Great Scottish Run to raise awareness of mental health issues.
Grant Hutchison hopes to help highlight the problems of depression and anxiety which his brother suffered from before taking his own life.
Scott's body was found near the Forth Road Bridge in May. He was 36.
Drummer Grant said his brother's death had made the importance of getting help for people "huge" to him now.
He also wants more support and education for the friends and family of people who are struggling with mental health problems.
'Delicate situation'
He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I'm someone who has not suffered, certainly in the same way as Scott did, so was probably quite ignorant of how serious it can be.
"If you don't have that empathy, not having gone through it yourself, it's really difficult to know what to do because it's such a delicate situation.
"My usual approach with things is to go in quite forcefully and quite strongly, and that's not necessarily the best approach in this situation.
"So not being able to fall back on my usual instincts made it really difficult to know how to be there and support him."
image caption Scott Hutchison took his own life in May after suffering from depression
Grant said the backing of family and friends had helped him to cope since the death of his brother.
He said: "It's obviously been extremely difficult but I've got a great support network who have been incredibly strong and kept me strong and been there for me when I needed it.
"It sounds like a cliche but it genuinely is just getting through to the end of each day. You can't really look beyond that."
'Better equipped'
He added: "There should be more information out there for people like myself in that situation. If I felt there was somewhere I could go to educate myself and learn more about Scott's depression and anxiety, then that maybe would have equipped me to help more."
Grant will be among tens thousands of 10k and half-marathon runners taking to the streets of Glasgow for the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run on Sunday.
And he joked his unusual "training" regime had left him "fighting fit".
He said: "I had my stag do and a friend's wedding these past two weekends. But I'm feeling good and it will be great fun." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
California cops arrested a man Saturday after he allegedly exposed himself before trying to kidnap a teenage girl on her way to school last week.
The Sacramento Police Department said in a news release that 20-year-old Joseph Dumarce was arrested after an "extensive follow-up investigation and diligent work" by patrol officers and detectives.
The 13-year-old girl was walking to school around 7:30 a.m. on Friday when a man driving a silver 4-door sedan pulled up next to the girl and began to ask for directions.
TEENAGER ARRESTED IN 2 DEATHS AT EASTERN WISCONSIN HOME
"As the victim started to answer the suspect’s questions, she noticed the suspect was masturbating," police said.
After the girl tried to walk away, Dumarce allegedly drove past the girl, pulling his car in front of her. He then got out of the vehicle and tried to pull the girl into the back seat of the vehicle, according to police.
POLICE: MAN FLEEING POLICE LEFT CHILD TO DIE IN BURNING CAR
Dumarce's vehicle was reportedly captured on surveillance footage and prompted a plea from authorities to the public for information.
Police were later able to arrest Dumarce due in part to the surveillance video and the description given by the victim.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Neighbor Sofia Nyothson told FOX40 she used to feel safe letting her kids play alone outside of her home until she learned the incident happened just across the street.
“It’s a wake-up call. It’s unbelievable,” she told the television station. “Kids should feel safe. We should be safe for our kids to walk to school, walk home from school, walk with their friends. I’m at a loss for words. It’s scary.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A New Jersey mother has been credited with helping thwart a potential school shooting -- 650 miles away.
Koeberle Bull of Lumberton, N.J., was surprised to find a Facebook messenger alert from a man she didn’t know: an account belonging to Dylan Jarrell, of Lawrenceburg, Ky., who was seen holding a weapon in his profile picture. The message was filled with offensive and racist remarks aimed at Bull's three children, who are featured in her profile.
“There's no such thing as white privileged you f---ing autistic f---. I hope your black children gets hung for you being so stupid...Act your race retard,” the message read in part, according to a screenshot later posted on Bull's Facebook page.
"I was angry that someone could even think that way about three beautiful children," Bull told FOX29.
MISSING MICHIGAN GIRL FOUND IN SEMI-TRUCK IN KENTUCKY, MAN ARRESTED, COPS SAY
Bull said she was not sure how Jarrell found her online. So the mother of three decided to take action and call the Kentucky State Police to lodge a complaint.
The Kentucky State Police said they were able to make contact with Jarrell on Thursday just as he was pulling out of his driveway. Police said an investigation uncovered a cache of weapons.
“A firearm, over 200 rounds of ammunition, a Kevlar vest, a 100-round high capacity magazine and a detailed plan of attack were also discovered in the possession of the subject,” the Kentucky State Police said.
Police believe the suspect was about to carry out an attack at a nearby school before he was stopped. A search warrant was obtained and executed on the suspect’s home where authorities found an Internet history that included a search for how to carry out a school shooting.
KENTUCKY INMATES WHO ESCAPED JAIL IN TRASH CAN ARE CAUGHT
“There is no doubt in my mind that as a result of this investigation we saved lives,” Commissioner Rick Sanders said in a news conference. “This young man had it in his mind to go to schools and create havoc. He had the tools necessary, the intent necessary, and the only thing standing between him and evil and doing evil is law enforcement."
Jarrell, 21, pleaded not guilty to “making terroristic threats” on Monday, FOX29 reported. He was also charged with harassing communications and is currently being held in the Shelby County Detention Center.
Bull told FOX 29 she was just trying to do the right thing.
“I’m not a guardian angel. I’m not a hero," she said. "I’m a mom." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Last September, Maamoun Abdel-Karim was a broken man.
Syria's director of antiquities had just received news of an explosion at the hands of fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in the Temple of Bel in Palmyra, an ancient structure dating back to the third millennium BC. The museum at the site had been turned into a prison.
Back then, the satellite images were not clear; Abdel-Karim could only hope that the columns around the temple were still standing, despite the force of the blast.
Six months later, days after Syrian troops announced they had wrested the ancient site back from ISIL, Abdel-Karim finally has a full picture of the damage. "The news is, it's not bad, but it's not good," he told Al Jazeera over the phone from Damascus.
With international support, he added, Palmyra can be rebuilt.
READ MORE: Syrian regime seeks symbolic victory in Palmyra
On Sunday evening, experts from the Syrian directorate of antiquities visited Palmyra to assess the destruction, providing Abdel-Karim with a stream of photographs from the site of the ruins. They will need "several days" to complete their appraisal of the damage, said Abdel-Karim, who was awaiting clearance from the Syrian army to head to the site himself.
"We had the idea in our heads, because of the barbarity of Daesh [ISIL], that everything was destroyed," he said. "But the pictures confirmed to me the destruction of Palmyra does not preclude restoration."
The recapture of Palmyra by Syrian troops is considered an important and symbolic victory over ISIL, which seized the area 10 months ago. ISIL fighters killed many people as they overran Palmyra, including the archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad, who was beheaded in August after he reportedly refused to reveal where authorities had hidden treasures on the site.
The Lion of al-Lat, a limestone statue standing 10 feet tall outside the museum of Palmyra, was initially believed to have been annihilated, but photographic evidence now shows that it remains intact. "This was the most beautiful news," Abdel-Karim said.
Through ISIL-produced videos and satellite imagery, it was already known that the Temple of Bel, dating back to 32 AD; three funerary towers; the Temple of Baalshamin, one of the most complete ancient structures on the site; and the 2,000-year-old Arch of Triumph had been destroyed. The extent of the damage, however, was not verifiable until now.
The damage wrought on Palmyra's museum was the most appalling, Abdel-Karim said. Images from the site showed floors littered with shattered statues, harkening back to photographs ISIL published in July, which showed fighters smashing artifacts said to have been looted from the site. Now, Abdel-Karim can confirm that they vandalised and decapitated the heads of some 20 statues from the museum.
This is not just for the Syrian government, or the army. It's for the opposition also. In the end, it's for our common memory. Maamoun Abdel-Karim, Syria's director of antiquities
Before Palmyra fell, the directorate of antiquities relocated 400 statues from the site to safe areas in Damascus.
"We couldn't get to the rest because of clashes," Abdel-Karim said, adding: "We can't restore all of them, but the good news is that we can restore some."
A group of archeologists and experts sent by the directorate are now working to assess how much of the ancient site - known as the "pearl of the desert" - can be rehabilitated. The appraisal process will look at how many ancient stones remain in one piece and can be used in the rebuilding. New stones, if needed, will be retrieved from a nearby quarry. The intricate work means the two temples will be especially challenging to repair.
OPINION: If Palmyra is destroyed
Before any reconstruction can begin, however, the directorate of antiquities needs authorisation from UNESCO, which categorises the ruins as a world heritage site. If approved, Abdel-Karim said, the funerary towers, both temples, several tombs and a Mamluk-era citadel could be rehabilitated "easily".
"We know the area centimetre-by-centimetre - all we need is the help of the international community."
But not everyone is confident that Palmyra's former glory can be restored. According to Cheikhmous Ali, the director of the Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology, several buildings, including the temples and burial tombs, "are completely razed". Illegal excavations carried out by ISIL fighters and other looters have also destroyed areas not yet explored by archaeologists.
For Ali, the most difficult aspect of reconstruction will be the restoration of the architectural layers destroyed by bulldozers and dynamite. The presence of the Syrian army is no guarantee against future looting and destruction, he added, noting that looting was rampant in the area before ISIL moved in.
"The presence of [President Bashar] al-Assad's army does not reassure me," he said. "The looting that began in 2012 before the arrival of ISIS and illicit excavations will continue even if the Syrian army takes control of the city."
The Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology, working with a network of Syrian archaeologists and local community members, has managed to intercept many Syrian artifacts in the black market. Ali confirmed that some came from Palmyra and were promptly handed over to Interpol. But international help is needed to follow up and repatriate more artifacts, Abdel-Karim added.
"This is not just for the Syrian government, or the army," he said. "It's for the opposition also. In the end, it's for our common memory." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
DEVON, Pa. (WPVI) -- Starting Saturday, patients with one of 17 serious medical conditions are able to purchase medicinal marijuana in Chester and Bucks County.Two new dispensaries opened their doors and Action News spoke to several patients.Jeanne DaSilva, a medical marijuana patient said, "I have multiple sclerosis. Okay, I'm in chronic pain and I have glaucoma."DaSilva has been waiting for this day for a long time.Medical marijuana is now for sale in Pennsylvania.DaSilva and many others will for the first time buy medical marijuana at the Keystone Shops in Devon.She nearly cried when talking about her hopes for this."My neurologist said and I have neuropathy he thinks this will help me up to 50 percent so I'm almost in tears I can't wait to see what it does," DaSilva said.Keystone Shops is one of the first six medical marijuana dispensaries to open in the state over the last two days.The other in our area is called the Terra Vida Holistic Center is Sellersville.When you walk into Keystone Shops, you won't see any dried marijuana leaves for sale.That's not considered medicine in the state yet.According to Keystone Shops Chief Medical Director Dr. Louis Van De Beek, they sell oils, topical creams and items than can be vaporized.He only sees this as a positive."People you see out there are looking for relief from some very serious medical conditions. We know not every one of them are going to be helped by medical marijuana but we know that many of them will be," said Dr. Van De Beek.He also hopes this can help curtail the opioid epidemic."It's our sincere hope that medical marijuana represents one solution to that horrible dilemma we face as a society," added Dr. Van De Beek.According to the state, right now 17,000 patients have registered to participate, with nearly 4,000 patients approved by certified physicians.The grand opening of the Key Stone Shops was so popular they expected a few hundred patients today.So many people showed you can see they had to get the local police out here to help direct the traffic.------ | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Blog recap: Tesla exec Elon Musk speaks in Detroit
Two years since his last trip to the Motor City, Musk will speak Tuesday afternoon to the Automotive News World Congress at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, which is currently hosting the North American International Auto Show. Tesla Motors has enjoyed a remarkable run since his last visit, prompting one prominent stock analyst to call Tesla "the world's most important car company."
Follow along with Freep reporter Nathan Bomey and other members of the Freep auto team live from the Automotive News World Congress | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Synopsis
Storyline:
Uniformed New Orleans PD officer Danny Fisher earns his promotion to detective to his near-rather lucky, albeit brave, arrest of ruthless terrorist arms-dealer Miles Jackson, whose girlfriend Erica Kessen got accidentally killed during the dirty FBI-operation. Exactly a year later, Miles has escaped and blows up Danny’s house as foretaste of a Herculean race to accomplish twelve near-impossible tasks against the clock, otherwise his kidnapped wife Molly will be killed. Yet at the end, another master-plan is suspected.
Written by
KGF Vissers
User Reviews: John Cena, who should stick to the wrestling ring, does in 12 ROUNDS what boils down to a reprise of his character from THE MARINE. The plot is also the same, which has Cena once again chasing after his kidnapped wife. The actress playing the wife even looks like the wife from THE MARINE. The only difference is this time, Cena must match wits with an IRA type who puts Cena through a series of improbable tasks to save her. The film is of the shaky camera and CGI variety, and it frankly isn’t as heart-pounding as THE MARINE. This is partly because we’ve seen it all before, and because the tasks Cena must undertake are completely unbelievable. Plus the acting is sub par. The flick also is highly derivative of past flicks like DIE HARD, PHONE BOOTH, DIRTY HARRY, CELL PHONE and LETHAL WEAPON, among others. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Variable reduction is a crucial step for accelerating model building without losing the potential predictive power of the data. With the advent of Big Data and sophisticated data mining techniques, the number of variables encountered is often tremendous making variable selection or dimension reduction techniques imperative to produce models with acceptable accuracy and generalization. The temptation to build an ecological model using all available information (i.e., all variables) is hard to resist. Ample time and money are exhausted gathering data and supporting information. Analytical limitations require us to think carefully about the variables we choose to model, rather than adopting a naive approach where we blindly use all information to understand complexity. The purpose of this post is to illustrate the use of some techniques to effectively manage the selection of explanatory variables consequently leading to a parsimonious model with highest possible prediction accuracy. It may be noted that the following techniques may or may not be followed in the given order contingent on the data. The very basic step before applying following techniques is to execute univariate analysis for all the variables to get observations frequency count as well as missing value count. Variables with a large proportion of missing values can be dropped upfront from the further analysis.
CORRELATION ANALYSIS
We begin with developing a Correlation matrix between the dependent and independent variables, and between all the possible 2-pair combinations of independent variables. Correlation describes the strength of the linear association between two variables. It is measured by the correlation coefficient (r). The sign of the correlation coefficient indicates the direction of association and it always lies between -1 (perfect negative linear association) and 1 (perfect positive linear association). A zero value of r indicates no linear relationship. Let’s say we want to calculate a correlation matrix for variables all VAR1 VAR2 VAR3….VARN , including TAR – the target variable.
As a first screening check, we will analyse the correlation coefficient between the dependent variable (TAR) and the independent variables (VAR1, VAR2, VAR3,….,VARN). A correlation coefficient (abs) value of >=0.65 can be taken as a benchmark value for a significant linear association between the variables. The variables with a significant linear association with the target variable, indicated by a large correlation coefficient (r), should be included in the model at a prelim level. In the above example, VAR3 and VARN are significantly associated with TAR and should be included in the model.
We further move ahead by analysing the correlation coefficient of the 2-pair combinations of independent variables. A higher correlation coefficient (r) between two independent variables implies redundancy, indicating a possibility that they are measuring the same construct. In such a scenario, it would be prudent to select either of the two variables in consideration or adopt an alternative approach to selection which involves two most widely used techniques viz. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis.
PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS (PCA)
Principal Component Analysis is a variable reduction procedure and helps in obtaining a smaller number of variables called Principal Components, which account for most of the variance in the observed variables from a group of a large number of redundant (correlated) variables. We can see that the variables VAR3 and VAR4 are highly correlated with r =0.95. Similarly, VAR2 and VAR4 with r =0.78 are significantly correlated. Principal Component Analysis can be performed on a set of correlated variables to obtain a new variable (Principal Component) which will have the properties of all the variables in question. Linear combination of optimally-weighted variables under consideration and can be used for subsequent analysis. One can compute as many principal components as the number of independent variables which can be further analysed and retained on the basis of the variability explained by them.
In SAS, a procedure called PRINCOMP is used for computing Principal Components where each component is a linear combination of the original variables (in our example VAR2, VAR3 and VAR4), with coefficients equal to the Eigen-Vectors of the correlation or covariance matrix. Principal Component Analysis can also be used for exploring polynomial relationships and for multivariate outlier detection.
EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS
Exploratory Factor Analysis is also a variable reduction procedure, similar to Principal Component Analysis in many respects but the underlying procedure for both the techniques remains the same. However, conceptually there are significant differences between the two techniques which are explained later in this section.
Factor analysis is a statistical technique concerned with the reduction of a set of observable variables in terms of a small number of latent factors. The underlying assumption of factor analysis is that there exists a number of unobserved latent variables (or “factors”) that account for the correlations among observed variables, such that if the latent variables are partialled out or held constant, the partial correlations among observed variables all become zero. In other words, the latent factors determine the values of the observed variables. The term “common” in common factor analysis describes the variance that is analyzed. It is assumed that the variance of a single variable can be decomposed into common variance that is shared by other variables included in the model, and unique variance that is unique to a particular variable and includes the error component. Common factor analysis (CFA) analyzes only the common variance of the observed variables; principal component analysis considers the total variance and makes no distinction between common and unique variance. The selection of one technique over the other is based upon several criteria. First of all, what is the objective of the analysis? Common factor analysis and principal component analysis are similar in the sense that the purpose of both is to reduce the original variables into fewer composite variables, called factors or principal components. However, they are distinct in the sense that the obtained composite variables serve different purposes. In common factor analysis, a small number of factors are extracted to account for the intercorrelations among the observed variables–to identify the latent dimensions that explain why the variables are correlated with each other. In principal component analysis, the objective is to account for the maximum portion of the variance present in the original set of variables with a minimum number of composite variables called principal components.
Secondly, what are the assumptions about the variance in the original variables? If the observed variables are measured relatively error free, (for example, age, years of education, or number of family members), or if it is assumed that the error and specific variance represent a small portion of the total variance in the original set of the variables, then principal component analysis is appropriate. But if the observed variables are only indicators of the latent constructs to be measured (such as test scores or responses to attitude scales), or if the error (unique) variance represents a significant portion of the total variance, then the appropriate technique to select is common factor analysis.
MULTICOLLINEARITY CHECK – VARIANCE INFLATION FACTOR (VIF)
Next, we look at Multicollinearity, which occurs when independent variables are highly correlated among themselves. For instance, we have 5 independent variables – VAR1, VAR2, VAR3, VAR4, and VAR5. If any one of these variables can be expressed as a linear/non-linear function of other variable(s), then we say that data suffers from multicollinearity. In such a scenario, the coefficient estimates may change erratically in response to small changes in the data. The presence of multicollinearity affects the validity of individual predictor’s estimated coefficient. The Variance Inflation Test (VIF) is recommended for a more thorough solution to the problem. For each explanatory variable i, R-square is defined as the coefficient of determination in a regression model where independent variable i is considered as target variable and all other independent variables are explanatory variables. Higher R-square results in higher VIF and indicates high correlation between the target variable (i.e. independent variable i) and all other independent variables.
The VIF provides information on how large the standard error is compared with what it would be if the variables were uncorrelated with the other predictor variables in the model. It is calculated for each explanatory variable and those with high values are removed. The definition of ‘high’ is somewhat arbitrary but a common thumb-rule classifies a VIF value of >=5 significantly high implying high multicollinearity. A cut-off VIF value of <=2 is used by most businesses since it offers a more stringent and clear rule.
Now, once we have decided on the cut-off value for VIF, the next step is to check and compare the VIF values of the observed explanatory variables. Variables with a VIF value greater than the cut-off value may be dropped from the model. If for instance, the VIF values for all the explanatory variables is greater than the cut-off value then one can choose to keep the variables with the lowest VIFs. However, this is not a thumb-rule to address the problem of collinearity in the data. Different practitioners use different ways of handling the problem of multicollinearity and the probable success of the different methods depend on the severity of the collinearity problem and the business problem at hand.
WALD CHI-SQUARE
Wald Chi-Square is another popular technique which assists in variable selection. The Wald Chi-Square test statistic is the squared ratio of the Estimate to the Standard Error of the respective predictor. The probability that a particular Wald Chi-Square test statistic is as extreme as, or more so, than what has been observed under the null hypothesis is given by Pr > Chi-Sq.
For instance, a business analyst, who has data on sales and number of sales executive in a retail outlet, wonders whether sales is associated with the number of sales executive in a retail outlet. Say is the average increase in sales for outlets having greater than 50 executives as compared to outlets having less than 50 executives: then the Wald test can be used to test whether is 0 (in which case sales has no association with number of sales executive in a retail outlets) or non-zero (sales varies with respect to number of executives presents in the outlet).
Wald chi-square is calculated to check the association between the dependent variable and the independent variable. We use univariate Logistic regression to calculate the Wald Chi-square statistics for each independent variable. Wald chi-square value greater than 6 is considered to be better as higher the value higher is the association between the dependent and independent variable. Variables having chi-square value less than 6 can be dropped from the model as they do not have a significant association with the dependent variable.A Fashion brand in
A Fashion brand in US uses direct sales agents to sell products directly to the customer. Agents host the collection of the company in their local areas .The Company reported a decline in the revenues for past couple of years, so to expand and grow the business company wants to understand the attributes which affect the performance of an agent so that they can bring efficient agents on board.After running
After running univariate logistic regression for all the independent variable on dependent variable, summary table having Wald chi-square statistic for each independent variable is made.
From the above table, we can see that variables having Wald chi-square statistic greater than 6 are more significant as compared to variables having chi-square value less than 6 i.e. Variable 3 and variable 4 are highly significant as compared to variable 1 and variable 2.
Variables having Wald chi-square statistic less than 6 can be dropped from the model building exercise. It will enhance the model performance and there will be very less loss of information because of dropping those variables. This technique can also be used to check the impact of dropping variable(s) on the model’s predictive accuracy, though to be implemented at the later stages of model development.
VARIABLE CLUSTERING USING PROC VARCLUS
The VARCLUS procedure can also be used as a variable-reduction method. A large set of variables can often be replaced by the set of cluster components with little loss of information. A given number of cluster components does not generally explain as much variance as the same number of principal components on the full set of variables, but the cluster components are usually easier to interpret than the principal components, even if the latter are rotated.
The VARCLUS procedure divides a set of numeric variables into either disjoint or hierarchical clusters. Associated with each cluster is a linear combination of the variables in the cluster, which may be either the first principal component or the centroid component. PROC VARCLUS tries to maximize the sum across clusters of the variance of the original variables that is explained by the cluster components.
By default, PROC VARCLUS begins with all variables in a single cluster. It then repeats the following steps:
Step 1 : A cluster is chosen for splitting. Depending on the options specified, the selected cluster has either the smallest percentage of variation explained by its cluster component (using the PERCENT= option) or the largest eigenvalue associated with the second principal component (using the MAXEIGEN= option).
: A cluster is chosen for splitting. Depending on the options specified, the selected cluster has either the smallest percentage of variation explained by its cluster component (using the PERCENT= option) or the largest eigenvalue associated with the second principal component (using the MAXEIGEN= option). Step 2 : The chosen cluster is split into two clusters by finding the first two principal components, performing an orthoblique rotation (raw quartimax rotation on the eigenvectors), and assigning each variable to the rotated component with which it has the higher squared correlation.
: The chosen cluster is split into two clusters by finding the first two principal components, performing an orthoblique rotation (raw quartimax rotation on the eigenvectors), and assigning each variable to the rotated component with which it has the higher squared correlation. Step3: Variables are iteratively reassigned to clusters to maximize the variance accounted for by the cluster components. The reassignment may be required to maintain a hierarchical structure.
The procedure stops when each cluster satisfies a user-specified criterion involving either the percentage of variation accounted for or the second eigenvalue of each cluster. By default, PROC VARCLUS stops when each cluster has only a single eigenvalue greater than one, thus satisfying the most popular criterion for determining the sufficiency of a single underlying factor dimension.The following statements create the variable clusters:
PROC VARCLUS DATA=SAMPLE CENTROID MAXCLUSTERS= N;
VAR PREDICTOR VARIABLES;
RUN;
The output will include the total number of clusters created, the number of variables used in the analysis, the number of observations, and the maxeigen threshold used to create the clusters. It will show the number of final clusters PROC VARCLUS has created. PROC VARCLUS will also show which variables have been assigned to the various clusters.
The above table shows the final output of PROC VARCLUS. We can select variables from each cluster – if the cluster contains variables which do not make any business sense, the cluster can be ignored. A variable selected from each cluster should have a high correlation with its own cluster and a low correlation with the other clusters. The 1-R**2 ratio can be used to select these types of variables. Small values of this ratio indicate good clustering. Variables having low 1-R**2 ratio can be selected. Two or more variables can also be selected from the cluster.
INFORMATION VALUE (IV) & WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE (WOE)
Last but not the least, Information Value (IV) and Weight of Evidence (WOE) technique is very useful for variable selection in model building process. The main advantage of this technique is that it can assess both continuous and categorical variables. Weight of Evidence analyzes the predictive power of a variable in relation to the targeted outcome, Information Value assesses the overall predictive power of the variable being considered, and therefore can be used for comparing the predictive power among competing variables.
The Following tables illustrate how the weight of evidence and information value is calculated.
The Following table has all the variables Information Value in descending order
Now the question arises how to interpret the IV? The Below table states the rule of thumb for IV interpretation.
Mostly, Variables with medium and strong predictive power are selected for model building. This is one of the most efficient technique for variable reduction.
BUSINESS SCENARIO
In one of the exercises, our team had 200 variables initially in the dataset. It’s not viable to build a model putting all the 200 variables. So we used the above discussed techniques to reduce down to a manageable number for model building. After analyzing all the variable reduction techniques result and as per business understanding we came down to 50 variables for model building. 50 variables is also a high number but manageable for building a model. All the 50 variables are put in to the model building process, various selection techniques i.e. forward/ backward/step-wise are deployed while building the model. After doing this exercise, let say we came down to 15 variables which are statistically significant. Ideally, a good model should not have more than 10 predictor variables. So now we will reduce down from 15 to 10 on the basis of business understanding as to which variable are highly explainable both statistically and as per business implication or we can choose the top 10 variables on the basis of the wald chi-square statistic. Now we form different combination of variables to reduce down from 15 to 10 variables and build model for each set of variables which gives us ‘N’ number of models.
Now these ‘N’ models will be relatively compared with each other basis the model performance parameters i.e. lift chart, K-S Statistics, Hosmer and Lemeshow test, Gini coefficient. On the basis of Models performance comparison, we select the best predictive model. This best model has the final set of predictor variables which are highly significant statistically and also as per business implications.
CONCLUSION
In this post, I have discussed many vital techniques for variable reduction. Each technique has their own relevance and importance. So, variable selection is an art as well as science. Use of variable selections techniques differ with respect to different business scenarios and also depends upon the intellectual decision making of an analyst.
About the Author, Shailendra Kathait:
Shailendra Heads Analytics Delivery & Solutions for Valiance Solutions where he is responsible for building Machine Learning Products and Analytics driven outcomes for our clients. He brings 8 plus years of core Distributed Machine learning, Image Processing & Analytics experience with Fortune 100 companies like IBM(R), American Express & ICICI Group across EMEA, US and Indian Subcontinent region. Shailendra has deep Interest in Neural Networks, Deep Belief Networks, Digital Image Processing & Optimization.
Shailendra holds several Patents and is Anchor author of several publications on Machine Learning & Optimization. He can be followed on LinkedIn.
For original article, click here | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
"Kunskap som ökar intäkterna är en god investering"
Vi på Nischad Utbildning har utbildat och stöttat 2 500+ verksamheter att få ökad lönsamhet med sina sociala kanaler - alltifrån stora koncerner till små egenföretagare. Ta en titt på vårt kursutbud och boka dig en kursplats redan idag.
Vi är ständigt nyfikna på vad som går hem hos världens sociala medier-användare, och hur man bättre genererar konkret försäljning. Vi analyserar därför löpande fler än 3 miljon verksamheter i de sociala medierna.
Använd sökfunktionen uppe till höger på sidan för att hitta en analys av din eller konkurrentens verksamhet. Eller varför inte söka på ort, län eller bransch.
Se vårt kursutbud
Vad är NU-poäng?
NU-poängen (Nischad Utbildning) är ett kvalitetsvärde som Nischad Utbildning har utformat. Det är ett värde mellan 0 och 100 som baseras på de senaste 3 månadernas aktiviteter på Facebook. NU-poängen bygger på följande:
Engagemang. Ett mått på hur stor andel av de svenska följarna som regelbundet engagerat sig i inläggen genom att gilla, kommentera eller dela. En kommentar betyder mer än en gilla, en delning mer än en kommentar.
Ett mått på hur stor andel av de svenska följarna som regelbundet engagerat sig i inläggen genom att gilla, kommentera eller dela. En kommentar betyder mer än en gilla, en delning mer än en kommentar. Följarskara. Hur många du har en potential att nå ut till. Ett stort engagemang i all ära, men utan en viss publik skapas ingen effekt.
Hur många du har en potential att nå ut till. Ett stort engagemang i all ära, men utan en viss publik skapas ingen effekt. Frekvens. Hur ofta du kommunicerar. De sociala nätverkens filter vill leverera en strid ström av intressant innehåll till sina användare. Ett viss flit i ditt publicerande är till din fördel.
Ett vanligt företag/organisation bör ligga kring 50 NU-poäng eller högre. Ett värde långt under 50 visar på en problematik som behöver åtgärdas. De flesta parametrar i NU-poängen baseras på ditt och andra verksamheters medianvärden och inte medelvärden. Enstaka toppar eller bottennapp påverkar därför inte resultatet. Det är genomgående hög "vardagskvalitet" som premieras. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
User Info: Laminated_Tramp Laminated_Tramp 12 years ago #1
If you want full step-by-step guides to each star then you are in the wrong thread. There are at least three other threads discussing step-by-step guides to each star so please DO NOT request or post any full guides to a star in this thread.
Levels containing a star:
2-2
3-x (hint in itself)
4-5
4-7
5-4
6-5
6-6
1-1
DON'T READ ON IF YOU DO NOT WANT ANY HINTS ON HOW TO GET EACH STAR WITHIN THE ABOVE LEVELS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's hard to give small hints when you have collected every star but I have done my best. Most of these have helped people already on these boards so I hope they are sufficient, let me know. I'm worried about my hint for 4-5 so if it doesn't help at all I'll try to make a new one.
Hints:
2-2 : Take the level slowly. You might need to take a breather at the end, pay attention!
3-x : Study the painting and it's surroundings.
4-5 : Rewinding is very useful for getting somewhere quickly.
4-7 : Remember you can pause to hold your position while some things continue to move (green glow items).
5-4 : This level showed that enemies can bounce off your head, try and see what you can do with this.
6-5 : Similar to 4-5. Also what did World 6's version of phases show us?
6-6 : Some enemies will follow you, so you can get them to a desired location.
1-1 : Pay attention to the lever/switches in the level.
Gamertag - Laminated Tramp First of all this thread is a list of levels which contain stars with a small hint for each so if you want to work out each star on your own without searching through every level then you are in the correct thread.If you want full step-by-step guides to each star then you are in the wrong thread. There are at least three other threads discussing step-by-step guides to each star so please DO NOT request or post any full guides to a star in this thread.Levels containing a star:2-23-x (hint in itself)4-54-75-46-56-61-1DON'T READ ON IF YOU DO NOT WANT ANY HINTS ON HOW TO GET EACH STAR WITHIN THE ABOVE LEVELS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It's hard to give small hints when you have collected every star but I have done my best. Most of these have helped people already on these boards so I hope they are sufficient, let me know. I'm worried about my hint for 4-5 so if it doesn't help at all I'll try to make a new one.Hints:2-2 : Take the level slowly. You might need to take a breather at the end, pay attention!3-x : Study the painting and it's surroundings.4-5 : Rewinding is very useful for getting somewhere quickly.4-7 : Remember you can pause to hold your position while some things continue to move (green glow items).5-4 : This level showed that enemies can bounce off your head, try and see what you can do with this.6-5 : Similar to 4-5. Also what did World 6's version of phases show us?6-6 : Some enemies will follow you, so you can get them to a desired location.1-1 : Pay attention to the lever/switches in the level. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
New Storj Share GUI v5.0.0 with New Interface and Protocol Updates 3 May
2017
Storj, the decentralized blockchain-based and encrypted file storage system with its own crypto token, has released a new Storj Share GUI version 5.0 with new interface and protocol updates now that is is out of beta stage. The new updated interface makes it easier to control the storage you share on the platform as well as making it easier to monitor things. After running it for a couple of hours however we are still noticing the main issue that the service faces at the moment – lack of users that want to use it for file storage. Now that Storj is out of beta and is giving away 25GB free storage for the first 12 months there are still not enough users to take advantage from that offer. As a result users with unused free space are not that much encouraged to use the service, because they are not earning much and are unable to utilize their free storage resources.
Something that is planned to happen soon that will hopefully generate more interest and move things further a bit is the upcoming Storj SJCX token sale that was recently announced. Storj has recently announced their plans to move away from the Bitcoin-powered Counterparty platform to the Ethereum platform. There are still a little over 16 days until the start of the crowdsale left, so if you are interested you might want to keep track of that as well.
– To download the new Storj Share GUI v5.0.0 and give it a try… | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
There should be no wage discrimination, no matter if you are working in an office, a factory, or doin' woman's work.
41,611 shares | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A Manhattan bride planned her fairy tale wedding which included a reception at the luxurious Harold Pratt House in the Upper East Side; however, the groom-t0-be’s dream wedding included a prenuptial agreement that the bride said she was not comfortable signing. As a result, the bride-to-be called off her wedding and decided that she would turn her frustration into something good by offering a pre-Mother’s Day luncheon to needy families. The bride used her $8,000 reception deposit to provide a group of needy families with a fun day filled with food, face painting, ice pops and balloons.
The Daily Mail reports that bride-to-be Yiru Sun planned a dream wedding and reception at the Harold Pratt House in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Yiru Sun is a vice president of New York Life Insurance and a single mother to a six-year-old daughter. Sun thought she was planning a future with her future husband, but two months ago she realized that the relationship wouldn’t work out when she read over the prenuptial agreement that her husband-to-be wanted her to sign. After reading the prenup, Sun said she did not feel comfortable signing the document and ultimately called off her wedding.
As a result, the $8,000 deposit that Sun put down for her wedding reception at Harold Pratt House was seemingly useless. However, upon further thought, Sun says she worked through her initial feelings of frustration and realized that this was an opportunity to turn her dream day into a fairy tale for someone else. Sun decided to use the funds to provide needy families in the area the ability to enjoy the luxurious food that she had planned for her wedding guests while turning it into a festival of sorts by offering face painting, balloons and ice pops to children attending her event.
“At that moment, I started to think it was God’s plan. I cannot be the princess of my wedding day, but I can give the kids a fairy tale.”
As a single mother, Yiru wanted her event to focus on children. Therefore, Sun decided to turn what was supposed to be her big day into a day that the children wouldn’t forget. Yiru Sun says that though the day was not what she originally intended for her event at Harold Pratt House, she says that it made her happy to look around and see her guests enjoying themselves. She notes that the children and their families seemed happier than any wedding guest who would have attended her nuptials.
“My guests feel even more happier than wedding guests. They don’t need to prepare wedding gifts.”
According to the New York Post, Yiru donned her wedding gown for the big event and was able to host 60 needy children and their families at the Harold Pratt House with her wedding reception deposit. Yiru refused to disclose details on her pre-wedding breakup, only noting that she was not comfortable signing the prenup that was presented to her before the wedding. Yiru revealed to guests that she was initially “frustrated” after learning her special day would not take place as planned. However, she says that just six days after calling off the wedding, she knew that she could turn the ruined wedding into something good for other families.
The children attending the event were thankful for what Yiru sacrificed to offer them such an amazing experience. One 10-year-old girl who attended the party said that the event was special because Yiru cancelled her own big day to do something fun for kids. She also thought the ice pops were a nice touch.
“It’s special because this lady canceled a special day for her family and herself just for little kids to have fun. And she brought ice pops.”
[Image via Facebook/ Yiru Sun] | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Many families in Hyderabad are trying to piece their lives back together after a local TV channel, TV9, carried a story that outed young homosexual men.One man attempted suicide. Others have called in sick to work while they figure out how to adjust to a world that now knows intimate details that they were not ready to share.The channel featured a reporter phoning gay men whose photos and phone numbers were identified on a social networking site. The men were recorded without their permission, and the conversations were broadcast along with their profile photos.The channel presented the story as an investigative piece into the underground gay culture in the city. The poverty of ethics was mixed with a homophobia that was reflected in statements that described the sexual activities of gay men as "against the law of nature.""Three people have gone underground. They don't want to show their faces to their parents now. They don't know. It is a shock for them," says Krishna, an openly gay young man who works with a community based organization.Sethumadhavan, who is 32-years-old, is familiar with the heartache that often accompanies alternative lifestyles and choices. At the bank where he worked his colleagues found out about him and started harassing him at workplace."Colleagues ridiculed by calling me names - there was sexual harassment, low self-esteem, guilt and I even attempted suicide because of that," he said.He now runs a catering service because the government of Tamil Nadu has been very supportive of the community. He lives in Coimbatore.
Gay rights groups across the country are planning to hold demonstrations to demand action against TV9, but also to call attention to the insensitivity in media and society towards homosexuality.Some people have argued that because the information about the men who were outed on TV was available on a website, it was in the public domain. However, gay rights activists point out that sites like the one covered in the TV story offer a chance for friendship and peer support groups -much needed when there is little assistance or acceptance elsewhere. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
LIFESTYLE From Mami Wata to Mary, These Are the References Behind Beyonce's Grammy Performance: Exclusive
Even without an album of the year win, Beyoncé swept the Grammys with a spellbinding performance of her songs, “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles.” Her fashion was custom designed by Peter Dundas for his new eponymous collection and, alongside her set design, paid tribute to various female deities and the overall majesty of women. Below, our list of the songstress' strongest cultural references from her 2017 Grammy performance.
Solange Knowles
Beyonce has gushed previously about being Solange’s biggest fan. Is it that surprising, then, that she honored her sister’s Grammy-award winning album, A Seat At The Table by literally taking a gravity-defying seat at the head of a long table on stage? Not at all.
A post shared by Solange (@saintrecords) on Feb 13, 2017 at 3:37pm PST
Oshun
This Yoruba deity is the goddess of love and fertility, whose responsibility for both giving life and taking it away is exemplified through her powers over the Earth’s waters. She is one of the highest orishas, or dieties, in the Yoruba culture and is represented wearing flowing yellow garments. Beyoncé alluded heavily to Oshun in her maternity photos, and continued the relationship on stage through the inclusion of vivid yellow cloth, draped around her, her mother, and Blue Ivy.
A post shared by Simone Maddox (@pejerel) on Feb 13, 2017 at 11:23am PST
Mami Wata
Mami Wata is a West African water deity depicted with long, flowing hair and known for her beauty. Dundas even incorporated this into his outfit sketches, as Beyoncé’s free flowing tresses intensified the halo glow around her. Mami Wata is also a derivative of the ancient Egyptian goddess, Uati, who predates Isis as the mother of all of the Egyptian gods, able to give birth and life without male counterpart.
A post shared by Peter Dundas (@peter_dundas) on Feb 12, 2017 at 6:14pm PST
Parvati
The Hindu goddess of devotion is known as a “Mother Goddess” and “Goddess with Creative Power”, honoring fertility, love, and all-encompassing divine power. Traditionally depicted with golden skin and either a red dress or with accented breasts and hips, Parvati’s attire was best mirrored in Dundas’ chained outfit and his show-stopping red number post-performance. The influence was also shown in the heavy necklaces, multiple swaying arms, and profusion of flowers.
A post shared by Angel T (@angel_yogagurl3) on Feb 13, 2017 at 10:48pm PST
Virgin Mary
The stunning crowning halo, custom made for Beyoncé, cannot escape references to the Virgin Mother Mary, hailed and honored within Christianity for her piety, devotion, and sacredness. Beyoncé’s dancers even wore similar halos as they surrounded the expecting mother, hands outstretched in allusion to Christian (see: Baptist) forms of prayer and protection. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
UK electronic act and trip-hop pioneers, Massive Attack, are currently in the midst of celebrating their landmark album, Mezzanine's, 20th anniversary and while most conventional bands would capitalize on such an achievement by going on tour or put out a special re-release of the album to mark the occasion, Massive Attack is far from conventional.
In a press release, the group announced that they would be reissuing Mezzanine as DNA spray paint. Using cutting edge technology to encode the information of the album onto strands of DNA, Mezzanine is the second largest file to be encoded in this method. After being transcribed into strands of nucleic acid, the album is then encapsulated in microscopic glass spheres to be able to be mixed in with the paint. Available in "matt black," each can of spray paint contains roughly one million copies of the album. Related | Riccardo Tisci Shows His Inaugural Collection For Burberry
The decision to mix the DNA encoded album into spray paint probably arises from Massive Attack's co-founder Robert "3D" Del Naja's background as a graffiti artist in Bristol before forming the band. There was even a rumor once that Del Naja was the secret identity of infamous British street artist Banksy.
"It's a creative way to store your back catalogue," says Del Naja. "Although DNA-encoded spray paint is unlikely to be adopted by street artists seeking anonymity."
Photo via Instagram | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Web 2.0 Expo happening in San Francisco has us quite excited, as Zedomax.com, a blog revolving around technology and gadgets, has found an Android tablet prototype smoothly running Flash and Air.
As you may remember, Adobe had a bit of a falling out with Apple last month, and vowed to instead gun for Android at full speed. With that announcement, we found out that the private Air/Flash beta has been a huge success with developers, with some porting their apps from Flash/Air to Android in a matter of hours.
According to Max, the founder of Zedomax, the tablet he saw was running Flash and Air apps, including Youtube, flawlessly:
It runs Adobe’s Flash and Air apps flawlessly. That was the first time I saw Adobe’s Air apps running on a tablet and totally impressed by how it ran.
Check out his videos below:
Mike, the Adobe representative Max was speaking mentioned a whole slew of Android tablets coming before the end of the year, though he refused to name the companies involved (we know of quite a few already, no worries there).
Here's to all the great Flash content we'll finally be able to access on our mobile devices, hopefully starting in early 2H of 2010!
Sources: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
FILE PHOTO: The logo of CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) is pictured at the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris, France, June 2, 2015. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
DUBAI (Reuters) - A gas field development contract with France's Total TOTF.PA, and China's state-owned CNPC remains unchanged, a senior Iranian oil official said according to the oil ministry news agency SHANA on Saturday - hours after state new agency IRNA quoted him as saying CNPC had taken Total's share in the project.
“The role of the members of the consortium developing this project is in accordance with the provisions of the contract, and there is still no formal change in these provisions,” Mohammad Mostafavi, director of investment at Iran’s state oil firm NIOC, was quoted as saying.
IRNA earlier quoted Mostafavi as saying CNPC had taken over Total’s share in Iran’s multi-billion dollar South Pars gas project. There was no explanation for the apparent discrepancy.
Total signed a contract in 2017 to develop Phase 11 of South Pars field with an initial investment of $1 billion, marking the first major Western energy investment in the country after sanctions were lifted in 2016. South Pars has the world’s biggest natural gas reserves ever found in one place.
But the French company had said it would pull out unless it secured a U.S. sanctions waiver, and Gholamreza Manouchehri, deputy head of NIOC, said in June that if Total were to walk away, then CNPC would take over.
A spokeswoman for Total declined to comment.
Total has not said what it would do with its 50.1 percent stake should it pull out, and it has until Nov. 4 to wind down its Iran operations.
The renewed U.S. sanctions were among those lifted under a 2015 deal between world powers and Tehran on curbing Iran’s nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in May. Washington is planning to impose heavier sanctions in November aimed at Iran’s oil sector.
There was no immediate comment on the IRNA report by CNPC, which held a 30 percent stake in the project. The remainder is held by Iran’s Petropars. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
TECUN UMAN, Guatemala (Reuters) - Almost 1,000 Central American migrants entered southern Mexico on Thursday in a test of the new government’s pledge to manage an ongoing exodus fueled by violence and poverty that has strained relations with the Trump administration.
Slideshow ( 5 images )
Mexico’s National Migration Institute said 969 migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua crossed into Ciudad Hidalgo just days after new U.S.-bound caravans of people set off from Central America.
Caravans from Central America have inflamed the debate over U.S. immigration policy, with U.S. President Donald Trump using the migrants to try to secure backing for his plan to build a border wall on the frontier with Mexico.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is pursuing a “humanitarian” approach to the problem, vowing to stem the flow of people by finding jobs for the migrants. In exchange, he wants Trump to help spur economic development in the region.
The U.S. government has been partially shut down for more than three weeks as Democrats resist Trump’s demand that Congress provide $5.7 billion to fund his planned wall.
Mexican officials put wrist bands on the migrants as they entered the country to monitor the flow of people. The bands must be kept until the migrants register with authorities.
Once registered, migrants who met the requirements to stay would be issued humanitarian visas, allowing them to work in Mexico or continue to the U.S. border, said Ana Laura Martinez de Lara, director general of migratory control and verification.
Those who entered Mexico at the official border crossing had done so in a “very orderly” and respectful manner, in contrast to clashes that took place at the frontier in October when a larger caravan began crossing from Guatemala, she said.
Some of the migrants expected to stay in Mexico to find work but it was too early to say how many, she said.
Martinez de Lara said approximately 700 people were still waiting to cross into Mexico from Tecun Uman on the Guatemalan side of the border. She could not say if any people had tried to cross into Mexico illegally.
Mexico’s government said Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard planned to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo soon for talks on their efforts to address the migration challenge. No date was yet set for the talks, a ministry spokeswoman said. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Today I am blessed with the ability to bring you the work of one of my favorite narrator, and someone who I personally consider a heck of a good guy. I first discovered Oliver Wyman as the voice of the beloved Serial Killer and Florida Enthusiast Serge Storms in Tim Dorsey’s series of madcapped adventures. I will often credit Oliver Wyman’s performance in Hurricane Punch as the catalyst that moved me from Audiobook listener to insatiable Audiobook Fan. So, really blame him.
Oliver has been a guest before here at the old ‘lobe and is one narrator that has more than gone out of his way to embrace fans of audiobooks. Make sure you check out our interview, which I bribed him into through a series of veiled threats and pictures of Robot kittens. As an added bonus, I have included my ode to the Going Public…. In Shorts program with this series of poorly written Haikus.
They Show us their legs
By Going Public In Shorts
Raising love of words
Our Hirsute Hermit
Whose Voice Brings to Vivid Life
Shoggoths and Killers
Beloved Xe
One whose voice rhymes with sexy
Still our Ferret Hearts
So, now I present to you, one Mr. Oliver Wyman reading H. P. Lovercraft’s Pickman’s Model.
Make sure you follow Oliver on twitter at @mrkawfy.
Check out his Facebook page.
Go listen to him at Soundcloud.
For more Going Public in Shorts fun, please check out yesterday’s entry featuring Cris Duheheart at The Book Tart.
Tommorrow, one of my favorite Bloggers host one of my favorite narrators when John Lee stops by Beth Fish Reads. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Over the last few weeks, the risk of transmitting COVID-19 has triggered the cancelation and reworking of events the world over, from the Tokyo Marathon, where about 200 of the expected 38,000 participants took part, to a major tech event in Barcelona, which draws roughly 100,000 people from across the globe.
But here in the Tri-Cities, where the risk of spreading the pathogen has provoked the cancellation of Iranian New Year celebrations, the cities of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody have no similar plans regarding public events.
article continues below
“Staff take direction on these issues from Fraser Health and the BC Centre for Disease Control, and regularly monitor for guidance,” a spokesperson for the city of Coquitlam said in an email, adding, “Since the risk of transmission remains low in this area, we have not made any alternative plans.”
The statement comes ahead of the 31st Festival du Bois, to be held March 6 to 8 at Mackin Park, an event that draws an estimated 10,000 people each year, according to organizers.
Pardeep Purewal, communications manager for the city of Port Coquitlam, also confirmed to The Tri-City News that the city has no plans to re-schedule or cancel any public events it manages.
“Should the situation change, the health authorities will instruct us on what is required and we will respond accordingly as the health and safety of our residents is our top priority,” Purewal wrote in an email.
Purewal added that the city has measures in place to prevent the spread of the virus, including directing cleaning staff to sanitize city facilities on a daily basis. The city is also evaluating its cleaning protocols, Purewal said, but in the meantime, staff and facility users are being asked to follow standard hygiene etiquette for the cold and flu season, like coughing and sneezing into their elbow, staying home when sick and disposing of used tissues into a plastic-lined garbage.
Angie Parnell, general manager for corporate services for the city of Port Moody, said through a spokesperson that there are no immediate alternative plans being made for upcomign city-organized events.
"We are monitoring the appropriate public health agencies and will adjust any evetn plans as necessary," Parnell was quoted in an email to The Tri-City News. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A new poll showed that 57 percent of respondents support a Justice Department probe on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden regarding their actions in Ukraine and China.
Only 37 percent of respondents were against investigating them, according to the new poll by Investor’s Business Daily/TIPP, published on Friday.
Should DOJ investigate Joe Biden and his son regarding Ukraine and China?
Yes 57%
No 37% IBD/TIPP 9/26-10/3https://t.co/ejniZjjg1J pic.twitter.com/zY4OEYUepP — Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) October 6, 2019
The poll showed that the recent headlines on Ukraine, surrounding President Donald Trump’s calls for the Bidens to be investigated and the Democrats’ push to impeach him over those calls, are having a negative impact on the former vice president.
The poll also showed that as a result of the Ukraine issue, eight percent said they were more likely to vote for Biden, while 23 percent said they were more likely to vote against him.
The former vice president’s son, Hunter Biden, sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company and was paid $50,000 a month for no discernible work while his father was tasked with overseeing Ukraine for the White House.
The elder Biden had pushed the Ukrainian government to fire a former chief prosecutor, who had opened an investigation into the company’s CEO.
The Bidens have denied doing anything improper, and the former vice president has denied ever speaking to his son about his work, although conflicting accounts, including from his own son, have emerged, as well as a picture of him, his son, and a Ukrainian gas executive on a golfing trip together.
The younger Biden also had ties with an investment firm that raised funds in China. He once accompanied his father on a work trip to China and appeared to further those ties during that trip.
The poll surveyed 900 adults contacted via mobile phones and landlines from September 26 to October 3 and had a 3.3-point margin of error. The poll’s Ukraine-related questions reflect the views of a subset of 748 people.
Meanwhile, the poll showed that Trump was not being significantly affected by Democrat calls to impeach him after a whistleblower complaint expressed concerns he was withholding military aid in exchange for help with the 2020 elections.
The poll showed that as a result of the impeachment inquiry, 15 percent said they were more likely to vote for Trump, while 18 percent said they were more likely to vote against him.
In addition, Trump has made gains against Biden in a head-to-head matchup.
Biden led Trump 54 to 42 percent in September but now only leads Trump 51 percent to 44 percent. There are big gains towards Trump from independents. Biden led Trump 55 to 37 percent in September — an 18 percentage point lead, but that has dropped to 46 to 45 percent — only a one percentage point lead.
Trump also gained with self-described investors. They favor Biden over Trump by two percentage points at 49 to 47 percent, but that is down from an 11 percentage point lead at 54 to 43 percent in September.
Still, the poll also showed that 50 percent of those surveyed thought Trump asking the Ukrainian president to help investigate Biden is an impeachable offense, while 46 percent do not. Independents were split, with 46 percent saying it was an impeachment offense versus 47 who said it was not.
More — 55 percent — support the House’s impeachment inquiry into Trump, with independents supporting it at 53 percent to 45 percent.
But the poll also showed that Trump’s job approval rating has actually risen in October, despite calls for his impeachment. The IBD/TIPP poll found that his approval rating climbed from 39 percent to 43 percent during the month.
Forty-eight percent approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, versus 39 percent that did not.
Follow Breitbart News’ @Kristina_Wong. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Make Feedback Part of Your Design Process
How to track, manage and prioritize feedback in your design sprints
When done right feedback helps improve products, propels processes forward and helps spread, as well as improve ideas.
When it’s not done right, however, bad feedback can cause confusion, lead to delays, create frustrations, drain energy from the team.
Whether from your customers, team mates or external experts, feedback is a key component in development and design process. Feedback is vital — be it a marketing campaign or a product development sprint. It’s a cornerstone of every project.
This article is not so much about what good and bad feedback as much as it is about creating an environment for correct feedback. But before we delve into that consider these three examples of how abundantly feedback is exchanged from start to finish and really, the basis on which the wheel turns.
Internal feedback: Slack’s organic design process
Slack is a popular example of testing the product extensively internally — eating their own dogfood. Which means that even before the end users of Slack have received an update or caught a bug somewhere, there is massive testing among the hundreds of Slack employees. They all try out the system and share feedback.
Feedback kicks off their design process. “A vague problem statement” is defined from the internal feedback that has been received, as well as the customer tickets. Following this everyone gets context and problem scope is understood in a kickoff meeting, followed by investigations and a post kick off discussion.
“Following the post-kickoff, design critiques happen twice a week. When a designer feels ready, she shows her work for feedback from the larger product team. While the larger team may offer feedback to the design pair, the “lead” designer remains the clear point of contact with the product manager.”
Dogfooding provides Slack’s team with feedback on a variety of use cases. For example, feedback from the accounting department gives the development team an idea about the ease of sharing documents in Slack and the user journey for an accounting team to communicate on the platform. For a team as flexible and transparent as Slack, you can be sure that the volume of feedback exchanged would be a lot.
Feedback across the length of the process: Adobe’s outline of their UX Design Process
When laying out their UX design process, one thing that stands out in Adobe’s words is “context for existence”. To understand context, there is a need for brainstorming sessions, discussions, and definitions of the problem. Teams at Adobe conduct stakeholder interviews and conduct a kick off meeting to start it off. This is followed by product research, analysis, creating personas, user experience maps, and finally designing the prototypes and wireframes.
The feedback collected from users during the course of validation exercises forms the last leg, yet a major pillar, of their process. As Adobe puts it very aptly, UX design isn’t a linear process.
There is overlap in the various stages and considerable back-and-forth. But why is all this back-and-forth worth worrying over? Well.
“Communication is a key UX design skill. While doing great design is one thing, communicating great design is equally as important, as even the best concepts will fail if they don’t accept by the team and stakeholders. That’s why the best UX designers are great communicators.”
That hits the spot.
The value of feedback in the design process is second to none and understanding how to exchange it in a constructive and efficient manner is what helps drive the process.
External Feedback: How Lufthansa improves user experience
Lufthansa uses Usabilla to optimize the experience for website visitors. The Lufthansa team tags and sorts customer feedback into three main categories: technical issues, general usability, and project input. They track where users may have left the website, what areas they got stuck on or if there are any possible bugs harming the customer’s experience.
By using screenshots to understand the context of the issues and tracking analytics to mine for patterns, Lufthansa is able to provide a more fulfilling experience for it’s customers. The best part is that the customers identify areas of concern readily and share their feedback.
“Lufthansa finds its users are willing to leave feedback and actively pinpoint any problems. By collecting this kind of qualitative feedback, you can immediately identify bugs, errors, or simply things that don’t work the way your users expect them to.”
External feedback is invaluable because it shows gaps between what is intended by the designer and how an audience interprets the design.
Harnessing the power of feedback
In all the instances mentioned, feedback is not simply a by-product of the process but a key objective and proponent for success.
There can roughly be the following aspects of feedback:
Collecting feedback and tracking the entire volume
Measuring key metrics and drawing conclusions
Translating the feedback and conclusions into actionable intel
Prioritizing the implementation of changes
But getting these right itself, can be a challenge. Here are some things to keep in mind.
Have a goal when collecting feedback
What area are you trying to optimize? Is it a specific part of the user journey you are trying to investigate? How does the data impact business goals — does it lead to more conversions eventually or does it boost retention?
The same goes for internal feedback. Michelle Chan pin pointed a very important thing about design critiques while interning at Uber and Tesla. When you present to your team, give them context and specify the kind of feedback you are looking for. Without it, your internal review will not provide the right feedback.
Contextual feedback also saves time because time isn’t wasted in trying to recreate the issues. Rather using screenshots or images help cut to the chase and ensure quick turnaround on feedback.
Identify the right channels, people and methods
Having an objective takes care of the why. Decide upon the how and the who. Picking the right user segment is imperative to getting feedback relevant to your objectives. Using the right methods to gather feedback is the rest of the puzzle. Would a survey do the trick or would a contextual interview be better?
If you’re working with a subject matter expert, understand the best way to collaborate and collect feedback. Use tools that are accessible to them and not just your designers and developers. Since in this scenario time is at a premium, getting the feedback in a quick and efficient way is important to reduce wastage of resources for everyone.
The right tools help
This is pretty much following up from the point above. Using tools that are accessible to everyone on the team so that managers or designers — everyone can be on the same page saves time and effort.
Project management tools like Basecamp or Asana are useful for organizing and managing the volume of feedback.
However, just a project management tool is not enough. There are gaps when trying to connect external and internal feedback. Also, tracking the vast volume of feedback across the length of the process, right from definition to validation, can become overwhelming. Translating this volume of feedback into actionable tasks can help teams achieve faster turnaround times.
zipBoard helps manage the volume and context of feedback
All these issues are addressed by zipBoard, which provides context and visual tracking for teams so that time is not spent recreating issues between various teams.
Not all feedback is equal
Prioritize feedback. Be sure to check what aligns with your product and business goals. A very simple example is the philosophy followed by Crazy Egg’s product team when deciding what new features to provide and how much value would that generate for the user.
The priority matrix followed by Crazy Egg’s product team. source: Typeform blog
Similarly, whether you’re a designer or developer, knowing what feedback is relevant to your current situation can help make life simpler and manage the volume of feedback. Not that feedback with lower priority has to be chucked away, only that it may not align with the present scenario.
TL; DR
The importance of feedback to processes and productivity can be judged by the sheer number of collaboration tools now populating the market. The focus is on making feedback more visual and contextual. Whether feedback originates internally from within the team or from external stakeholders like SMEs or customers, there are challenges to exchanging constructive feedback. Keeping in mind certain guidelines and using the right tools to aid in this effort can make sure feedback serves the prophecy of being a gift for your team. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Atlassian’s CIO: On Getting More Women into Engineering Leadership
When I was growing up in India, my family made sure I knew I could do and be anything. My dad was convinced I could be the prime minister if I wanted, just like Indira Gandhi, the first female prime minister of India.
For anyone coming from a middle-class background, education was considered to be a path to success, so I was encouraged to study hard and apply myself in school. The fact that I was a girl never came up. Even when I was one of only a few women in my engineering program, it didn’t shake the confidence instilled in me by my family.
The confidence that started at home continued during my formal education, which was surprisingly gender-neutral. I took pride in taking on the hard subjects, and being the only woman in my advanced math and engineering courses didn’t faze me.
This confidence and access to education served me well during my career, allowing me to tackle difficult tasks like hardware engineering during my time at Cisco, and working my way up to my appointment as CIO at Atlassian. Unfortunately, my path through the ranks is unusual in the tech industry.
New research from HackerRank found women in engineering are 3.5x more likely to be in junior positions than men. What’s driving this trend and how do we get more women into engineering leadership roles?
Neutralizing the educational environment
First, our educational environment has a significant impact from an early age. I’m raising two boys in the US education system, and I notice it’s much more gender-biased than the schools I attended in India.
Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) is considered much more appropriate for boys, and girls are encouraged to stick to “softer” subjects. This mentality contributes to another finding confirmed by the HackerRank study – women start coding later than men. The good news is that this gap is closing in younger generations, so removing the stigma that “programming is for boys” from our education system is a key driver in preparing women for leadership roles in tech.
Breaking the ‘front-end’ stereotype
Second, the nature of the work and team dynamics play a significant role in keeping women off the leadership path. HackerRank found women learn front-end and back-end development languages, yet they routinely end up in front-end engineering roles. It turns out that front-end jobs are considered more “women-friendly,” which makes it more attractive to join a team with other women. During one mentoring session, I was talking with computer science graduates from MIT and Carnegie Mellon. These women told me that they were looking to apply their degrees in the fashion industry, instead of cutting-edge tech companies. The reason? They didn’t want to be the only woman on the team. We must change the gendered nature of programming to break the cycle of women joining a few teams in a few industries that don’t lead to the C-suite.
Closing the confidence gap
Finally, the confidence gap has a significant impact once women reach the workforce. Research shows that women are less likely to raise their hand for stretch assignments or promotions if they don’t have the concrete experience to show that they can do the job. HackerRank shows women have the skills that employers are hiring for (Atlassian included, we use HackerRank assessments for coding interviews), but they’re still unsure about going after senior roles.
I was fortunate to have a strong support system at home, supportive peers during my time in engineering school, and strong men and women advocates in the workplace.
Now that I oversee a large team, I plan to pay it forward by encouraging my direct reports to throw their hat in the ring. I’m going to intentionally discuss paths to leadership with my female colleagues and reports. I’m going to take time to understand their goals and ensure managers are assigning impactful and visible projects to all members of the team.
We need more women in engineering leadership. We know that diverse teams produce better outcomes. Let’s commit to encouraging girls to pursue STEM education, considering women for both front-end and back-end programming roles, and pushing the women on our teams to stand up and say, “I can do this job!”
I’m glad to see the progress we’ve made, and I can’t wait to see what brilliant solutions the next wave of engineers produce when they’re given a chance to shine.
NEXT: Read how CommonBond approaches diversity in hiring here.
This article is a guest post by Archana Rao, CIO of Atlassian, a leading provider of team collaboration and productivity software. She’s an IT leader with two decades of industry experience in product development, M&A, and IT operations. Prior to joining Atlassian, Archana held senior positions at Cisco Systems, Symantec, and Veritas. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Merkel rules out migrant policy reversal after attacks Published duration 28 July 2016 Related Topics Europe migrant crisis
media caption Angela Merkel: "We will offer refuge and asylum to those who are persecuted"
Recent attacks in Germany involving asylum-seekers would not change its willingness to take in refugees, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said.
She said the attackers "wanted to undermine our sense of community, our openness and our willingness to help people in need. We firmly reject this".
But she did propose new measures to improve security.
These include information sharing, deciphering web chatter and tackling arms sales on the internet.
Two recent attacks in Bavaria were both by asylum seekers. A suicide bomb attack in Ansbach on Sunday that injured 15 people was carried out by a Syrian who had been denied asylum but given temporary leave to stay.
An axe and knife attack on a train in Wuerzburg on 18 July that wounded five people was carried out by an asylum seeker from Afghanistan.
Both men had claimed allegiance to so-called Islamic State.
The deadliest recent attack - in Munich on 22 July which left nine dead - was carried out by a German teenager of Iranian extraction but was not jihadist-related.
image copyright AP image caption The suicide attacker in Ansbach targeted crowds attending a music festival - he injured 15 people
'We can do this'
Mrs Merkel, who interrupted her summer holiday to hold the news conference in Berlin, said the asylum seekers who had carried out the attacks had "mocked the country that welcomed them".
But she insisted that those fleeing persecution and war had a right to be protected, and Germany would "stick to our principles" in giving shelter to the deserving.
Referring to the attacks that have taken place in France, Belgium, Turkey, the US and elsewhere, she said "taboos of civilisation" had been broken, and they were intended to "spread fear and hatred between cultures and between religions".
But in reference to her famous phrase "Wir schaffen das" or "We can do this" - uttered last year when she agreed to take in a million migrants - Mrs Merkel said: "I am still convinced today that "we can do it".
"It is our historic duty and this is a historic challenge in times of globalisation. We have already achieved very, very much in the last 11 months".
image copyright EPA image caption An Afghan asylum-seeker injured five people in an axe attack on this train in Bavaria
Mrs Merkel said that "besides organised terrorist attacks, there will be new threats from perpetrators not known to security personnel".
To counter this, she said: "We need an early alert system so that authorities can see during the asylum request proceedings where there are problems."
Mrs Merkel added: "We will take the necessary measures and ensure security for our citizens. We will take the challenge of integration very seriously."
Seven deadly days
A week of bloody attacks has frayed nerves in Germany, which led the way in accepting asylum seekers from Syria. To date, two of the attacks have been linked to a militant group:
image copyright Getty Images
18 July: An axe-wielding teenage asylum seeker from Afghanistan is shot dead after injuring five people in an attack on a train. IS claims the attack, releasing a video recorded by the attacker before the incident
22 July: A German teenager of Iranian extraction goes on a shooting rampage in the Bavarian state capital, Munich, killing nine people, most of them migrants, before shooting himself. He is said to have been obsessed with school shootings
24 July: A Syrian asylum seeker is arrested in the town of Reutlingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, after allegedly killing a Polish woman with a machete and injuring two other people. Police suggest it was probably a "crime of passion" | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Greenhouse gases likely accounted for over half of the widespread warmth across the continental United States in 2006, according to a new study in Geophysical Research Letters. Last year's average temperature was the second highest since recordkeeping began in 1895. The team found that it was very unlikely that the 2006 El Nino played any role, though other natural factors likely contributed to the near-record warmth.
When average annual temperature in the United States broke records in 1998, a powerful El Nino was affecting climate around the globe. Scientists widely attributed the unusual warmth in the United States to the influence of the ongoing El Nino. El Nino is a warming of the surface of the east tropical Pacific Ocean.
The research team, led by Martin Hoerling at the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth System Research Lab in Boulder, Colorado, also found that greenhouse gas increases in Earth's atmosphere enhanced the probability of U.S. temperatures breaking a record in 2006 by approximately 15-fold compared to pre-industrial times. The authors also estimate that there is a 16 percent chance that 2007 will bring record-breaking warmth.
"We wanted to find out whether it was pure coincidence that the two warmest years on record both coincided with El Nino events," Hoerling said. "We decided to quantify the impact of El Nino and compare it to the human influence on temperatures through greenhouse gases."
Preliminary data available in January 2006 led NOAA to place that year as the warmest on record. In May 2007, NOAA revised the 2006 ranking to second warmest after updated statistics showed the year was .08 F cooler than 1998. The annual average temperature in 2006 was 2.1 F above the 20th Century average and marked the ninth consecutive year of above-normal U.S. temperatures. Each of the contiguous 48 states reported above-normal annual temperatures, and for the majority of states, 2006 ranked among the 10 hottest years since 1895.
Using data from 10 past El Nino events observed since 1965, the authors examined the impact of El Nino on average annual U.S. surface temperatures. They found a slight cooling across the country. To overcome uncertainties inherent in the data analysis, the team also studied the El Nino influence using two atmospheric climate models. The scientists conducted two sets of 50-year simulations of U.S. climate, with and without the influence of El Nino sea-surface warming. They again found a slight cooling across the nation when El Nino was present.
To assess the role of greenhouse gases in the 2006 warmth, the researchers analyzed 42 simulations of Earth's climate from 18 climate models provided for the latest assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The models included greenhouse gas emissions and airborne particles in Earth's atmosphere since the late 19th century and computed their influence on average temperatures through 2006. The results of the analysis showed that greenhouse gases produced warmth over the entire United States in the model projections, much like the warming pattern that was observed last year across the country.
For a final check, the scientists compared the observed 2006 pattern of abnormal surface temperatures to the projected effects of greenhouse-gas warming and El Nino temperature responses. The U.S. temperature pattern of widespread warming was completely inconsistent with the pattern expected from El Nino, but it closely matched the expected effects of greenhouse warming.
"That attribution was not confirmed at the time," says Hoerling. "Now we have the capability, on the spatial scale of the United States, to better distinguish natural climate variations from climate changes caused by humans."
Source: American Geophysical Union | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The page you are looking for is no longer here, or never existed in the first place (bummer). You can try searching for what you are looking for using the form below. If that still doesn't provide the results you are looking for, you can always start over from the home page.
Search | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Sketchfab is all about community. Beyond the option to comment on models, Plus members (and above) can interact with their followers or fans through the Contact button on their profile.
Once you click Contact, you'll be asked for your name and message. After completing this form, Sketchfab will send your message in the form of an email to the Sketchfab Plus (and above) user.
If you use the Contact button, your email will be revealed to the user you're contacting. You will not see their email address until they reply.
If you'd like to show the Contact button on your profile, feel free to upgrade your account to Plus or above
If you'd like to contact a Sketchfab Basic user, the best option would be to comment on one of their models. By default, the user should receive an email notification whenever someone comments on their models. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
School can be hard... it can be long... the days are thick and hot and heavy... wait, what were we talking about again? Big-titted and slutty Vanessa Jhons has been cramming for this geometry final, but once you get there to tutor her there's something else she'd MUCH rather be cramming. You can feel the tension between your bodies, the way you're both craving a release. And as the layers of her clothes start to fall away, those tits and that fabulous cock are just begging to get licked. Not before she takes your dick deep into her mouth, though, sucking you off in the VR blowjob that's sure to BLOW your mind. Don't miss this immersive, deeply erotic and downright wild VR porn experience with one of the hottest shemales on screen in this video from TSVirtualLovers, one of the premier shemale porn studios!
Released: Nov 22, 2018 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Two more Canadian astronauts are headed into space, the government will announce on Tuesday as it commits about $350-million to the International Space Station to secure a continued presence in the orbiting research laboratory.
This pledge will ensure that both Lieutenant-Colonel Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques, the two Canadians training as astronauts, can make the trip to the station, which circles the Earth at an altitude of about 400 kilometres.
One visit will take place before 2019, and the second by 2024, sources said. Countries earn credit toward trips to the space station based on their contributions to building and maintaining it.
Story continues below advertisement
The last Canadian in space was Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian to command the ISS. He left the space station in May, 2013.
Industry Minister James Moore will extend Canada's support for the space laboratory until 2024 in an announcement at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.
He is expected to pledge as much as $350-million over four years. The Canadian Space Agency's planned spending for the current fiscal year is more than $83-million, and this new pledge from Canada is expected to be a similar amount on a yearly basis.
Canada is the third of five ISS partners to announce a continuation of support until 2024. The Conservatives plan to underline this on Tuesday by framing the commitment as the fruits of a balanced federal budget that now frees up Ottawa to invest in other areas.
Under the international treaty that governs ISS participation, a country's funding commitments guarantee at least one space flight for an astronaut.
The countries partnering to run the orbiting laboratory invest the money in supplies and equipment and resources at home that the ISS uses.
The government is also providing $4-million to support four medical research projects in the space laboratory that are being conducted this fall. The experiments, led by Canadian universities, will test the effects of weightlessness on the human body.
Story continues below advertisement
In related news, Ottawa will invest up to $1.9-million over two years in the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer, Canada's science instrument on board the Curiosity Mars Rover. The device measures the abundance of elements and chemicals in rocks and soil.
Lt.-Col Hansen, a CF-18 pilot, and Dr. Saint-Jacques, a physician, will be on hand Tuesday to answer questions about their training and visiting the International Space Station.
The orbiting laboratory is as wide as five National Hockey League rinks and as long as one NHL rink.
Last week, the Canadian government announced it is also exploring the possibility of partnering with Israel on space missions.
The Canadian Space Agency and the Israel Space Agency are conducting studies on the proposal. They both seek to develop advanced applications for satellite communications and position Canada and Israel as leaders in this field.
A private company such as Elon Musk's SpaceX may be ready to take astronauts to the International Space Station by the time Canada's turn arrives. Both Boeing and SpaceX have contracts to transport people to the laboratory, but must pass certification tests.
Story continues below advertisement
NASA retired its space shuttles in 2011.
Nine Canadians have flown in space, including eight astronauts and Guy Laliberté, co-founder of the Cirque du Soleil. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The old Tappan Zee Bridge, which spans the Hudson River, closed in 2017 and has been replaced by a new one. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
There are three major high-altitude regions inhabited by humans: highland Ethiopia, Tibet, and the Andean altiplano. In each of these three cases, the locals have adapted in various ways to high altitude – physiological adaptations, as well as cultural. To make it even clearer, those physiological changes are, to a large extent, a consequence of natural selection, rather than individual acclimatization.
There are several recent papers on the genetic basis of human adaptation to high altitude-, and they clearly show that natural selection has taken a different path in each of these populations. This was obvious even before the sequencing started: Andean Amerindians are barrel-chested and have high levels of hemoglobin, while Tibetans pant at the drop of a hat but don’t have particularly high levels of hemoglobin. Moreover, the Tibetan adaptive response works better. Very few Tibetans get chronic mountain sickness, but a significant fraction of Andean highlanders do, especially with increasing age. Tibetan babies are significantly plumper than Andean babies. There are hints that the Ethiopian pattern may also be more effective than the Andean, but that hasn’t been studied as much.
Overall, as Cynthia Beall has pointed out, the Tibetan pattern is closer to that seen in animal species that have lived at high altitude for long periods of time.
Rasmus Nielsen concluded the changes in Tibetans happened over about 3,000 years. I doubt that. People have probably been in the altiplano longer than that, and yet their adaptations are substantially less effective.
Hominids have lived in or near Ethiopia and Tibet for much, much longer than anyone has lived in the New World – something like 100 times longer. It is possible that the populations of modern humans living in those areas picked up some altitude-friendly alleles from archaic humans that had lived at high altitude for a very long time – and naturally had more effective adaptations. It only takes a tiny bit of admixture to transmit beneficial alleles. We now have some probable examples of such transmission: it looks as if some archaic HLA alleles (Neanderthal and Denisovan) have reached high frequency in Eurasians, while a very divergent Denisovan version of OAS1, a innate immune gene, is common in Melanesians.
We can be sure that the Andean Indians did not have this opportunity, since humans have only been in the New World for 15,000 years or so. No llama jokes, please. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
If you’re ever given the choice between star immortality and role player immortality, go role player immortality every time. You’ll make less money, you won’t be as famous, and LeBron probably won’t invite you to his Space Jam remake unless he needs a couple extra bodies for his on-set pickup games. But local love for you will be unconditional in a way that it just won’t ever be for your star teammates. When you’re a beloved star player, nothing is guaranteed and the stakes are always changing -- every season, every series, every game is just another test for you to prove yourself all over again. When you’re a beloved star player, you have to be everything to everyone. When you’re a beloved role player, all you ever have to be is yourself.
Mike Scott is very, very good at being himself. Mike Scott was arguably better at being himself than anyone else on last year’s Sixers team, which would put him high in the running for best sports-wide. And Mike Scott understands that to be a beloved role player in Philadelphia, you don’t really need much: You need a distinctive look, either a distinctive name or a distinctive catchphrase, and one signature play. The look part was easy, particularly once Matthew Del Rio immortalized his signature fashion item in tattoo form. The name wasn’t totally there, even with the fun-but-incongruous Office parallels, so he made sure the catchphrase was. And then, with the last part of his role player resume on the line in Game Four of the Nets series, he loaded up from the corner and cashed out. Immortality secured. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
手稿が見つかった聖カタリナ修道院。エジプト北東部、シナイ半島にある。（PHOTOGRAPH BY UIG, GETTY IMAGES） [画像のクリックで拡大表示]
歴史上、ヒポクラテス以上に有名な医者はいないだろう。今日でも多くの医学生が、医療倫理の原則をうたった宣誓文「ヒポクラテスの誓い」を立てる。
その生涯について詳細は不明だが（彼自身が宣誓文を書いたのか、写本の一部なのかさえ議論がある）、古代ギリシャで活躍したヒポクラテスは「西洋医学の父」と広く認識されている。
そんな人物による処方せんの1つが発見されたかもしれない。現役のものでは世界最古の図書館を修復作業中のことだ。
削り取られた文字
発表によると、エジプト北東部、シナイ半島にある聖カタリナ修道院で、図書館の修復作業にあたっていた修道僧が、処方せんの記された6世紀の手稿を発見したという。調査にはギリシャの研究者のほか、エジプトとギリシャの政府が協力しており、両国の政府関係者がこの発見について発表した。
手稿に書かれた処方のうち1件は、紀元前5～4世紀にヒポクラテスが考案したものと研究者たちは推定している。残り3件は名前不明の筆記者によるもので、薬草の絵も描かれていた。（参考記事： 「死海文書「第12の洞窟」を発見、50年ぶり」 ）
見つかった手稿は、同図書館に伝わる有名な「シナイ・パリンプセスト」の1つだ。パリンプセストは引き伸ばした革でできているが、当時、これを作るには手間も費用も掛かった。その結果、多くのパリンプセストは最初に書かれた文章が削り取られたり、上から別の文章が書かれたりして、新しい手稿作りに使われた。
このほど見つかったヒポクラテスの処方の場合、元の文章を削り取ったあとの層に、「シナイ写本」と呼ばれる聖書の文章が書かれていた。
テキストを精査したのは、初期写本電子図書館（Early Manuscripts Electronic Library, EMEL）の研究者たちだ。EMELは現在、聖カタリナ修道院とパートナーシップを結んでいる。
パリンプセスト解読のため、EMELはスペクトル画像解析を用いている。この技術により、手稿の新しく書かれた文字の下にある隠れた文字を明らかにし、肉眼では見えない記述を浮かび上がらせることができる。（参考記事： 「古代の黒焦げ巻物、著者は快楽を追う哲学者」 ）
EMELの研究者マイケル・フェルプス氏は、エジプトの新聞「アッシャルク・アルアウサト」の取材に対し、「医学の記述3件を含むこの手稿は、古さでも重要さでも、世界有数のものと認められるでしょう」と話している。
人里離れた修道院
聖カタリナ修道院には、わかっているだけで130ものパリンプセストがある。目で見える文章の下には削り取られた文字が隠れているが、内容がほとんど判明していない文書が多い。（参考記事： 「マヤの絵文書に新解釈、従来マヤ暦を再編か」 ）
砂漠地帯の中でもやや人里離れたこの地は、3～4世紀に隠者や宗教学者が使ったのが最初だ。そうした歴史的な場所を囲む壁と教会が6世紀に建てられて以来、現在まで修道僧たちが修道院で暮らす。数は少ないが、修道僧たちは過去数世紀変わっていない慣習を忠実に守りつつ、今もこの修道院で生活し、働いている。（参考記事： 「シナイ半島 危うい平和の中で」 ）
修道院の図書館には、主にギリシャ語で書かれた3300の手稿があると推定されている。一方、パレスチナのキリスト教徒が話したアラム語、シリア語、ジョージア（グルジア）語、アラビア語、ラテン語で書かれた文章も再発見されている。 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Lo que parecía un resultado ajustado, pero admitido por los dos contendientes, se embarró cerca de la medianoche y quedó en medio de denuncias cruzadas. Arrancó Elisa Carrió, con un tuit en su cuenta en las redes sociales: “Ganamos pero nos están quitando votos en el Correo!” Ya habían pasado un par de horas de que la misma dirigente había festejado sonriente junto con Mauricio Macri.
Ganamos pero nos están quitando votos en el correo!
“Nos robaron en Lanús. Y van a cambiar las urnas en el Correo”, especificaron más tarde cerca de Carrió en diálogo con Clarín.
En paralelo, desde el kirchnerismo también le confirmaron a este diario que pondrán el foco en el “recuento de votos”. Los sciolistas dieron argumentos matemáticos: “En las últimas horas nos acercamos bastante (la distancia que arrancó arriba de 10 puntos terminó en 3) y ya pasó que con el escrutinio definitivo de la primera vuelta recuperamos unos 300 mil votos”. El pedido, para despegar a Scioli, lo podría hacer el PJ a través de su apoderado, Jorge Landau. Pero ninguna fuente del peronismo lo confirmó.
La diferencia tiene su explicación: poco después de las 21, fue el propio Scioli quien salió a admitir la derrota. Para esa hora, ya había felicitado a Macri. También, Cristina había hablado con el líder del PRO y proyectado una reunión en la semana.
“Lo único que sirve es el recuento definitivo. Lo del escrutinio provisorio no tiene valor judicial, es cierto. Pero nuestras mesas testigo nos dan una diferencia de cuatro puntos”, respondió a Clarín una alta fuente del PRO.
Hasta ahora, las denuncias por fraude correspondían exclusivamente a la oposición. Incluso para ayer, el macrismo montó un recuento paralelo.
El pico de las denuncias fue el comicio en Tucumán, el 23 de agosto. Pero aquella vez, la jornada fue completamente diferente: hubo quema de urnas y escenas bizarras de clientelismo a la luz del día. Nada de eso ocurrió ayer.
Según confiaron fuentes oficialistas a Clarín, fue Carlos Zannini quien convenció a Scioli de instalar la duda. Se apunta a algunos distritos en especial, donde Macri obtuvo amplias ventajas: Córdoba, Jujuy y Mendoza, en particular. “Los fiscales propios pueden haber fallado”, insistieron los K. Este diario pidió una respuesta a Scioli en particular, pero el candidato prefirió callarse.
“Aún no tengo la orden directa para pedir una revisión de las urnas, pero nos generan dudas algunas provincias. De todos modos, no creemos que se pueda revertir el resultado total”, cerró un apoderado del PJ ante la consulta de este diario | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Norske vann- og avløpsanlegg har et sterkt fornyingsbehov, ifølge interesse- og kompetanseorganisasjon Norsk Vann. En ny rapport viser at det må investeres 280 milliarder kroner for å oppgradere norske vann- og avløpsanlegg frem til 2040.
– Vi har verdens beste drikkevann i springen, men vi har latt det bli en sovepute. Hvert år øker vedlikeholdsetterslepet på vann- og avløpsnettet. I dag går over 30 prosent av vannet som blir renset i vannverkene, tapt på grunn av lekkasjer, forteller direktør i Norsk Vann, Toril Hofshagen.
Kostnadene er det kommunenes innbyggere som må dekke.
– Det er innbyggerne som betaler for tjenesten
– Ifølge våre beregninger vil det innebære en årlig gebyrvekst på fire prosent mer enn prisveksten. Det er på nasjonalt nivå. Det vil være store forskjeller fra kommune til kommune, sier Hofshagen.
FORNYELSE: Hofshagen forteller at det globale markedet skriker etter vannkompetanse og ny teknologi. Foto: Mats Sparby / NRK
I 2016 var det årlige vann- og avløpsgebyret i snitt 6911 kroner (eks. mva) for en gjennomsnittshusholdning i Norge.
En prisvekst på fire prosent frem til 2040 vil innebære at årsgebyret kan øke til 16.855 kr (eks. mva) i 2040. Det er en økning på drøyt 140 prosent fra dagens pris. Men forskjellene vil være store fra kommune til kommune.
– Det er innbyggerne som betaler for tjenesten kommunen gir. Det er en trend at distriktskommunene allerede har høyere gebyr enn bykommuner. Gebyrveksten vil bli smertelig i de områdene som allerede har høye gebyrer, forteller Hofshagen.
Må bygge nytt vannanlegg
– For Hamar-området må vi bygge et nytt vannbehandlingsanlegg for å ha riktig forsyningssikkerhet, forteller Morten Finborud, administrerende i det interkommunale vann- og avløpsselskapet HIAS.
NYTT ANLEGG: Finborud forteller at vannkvaliteten aldri har vært så god som nå. Foto: Mats Sparby / NRK
Anlegget på Hamar vil koste 300 millioner kroner og skal blant annet sørge for at vann som blir renset i vannverket ikke går tapt på grunn av lekkasjer.
– Jeg tror det er ganske representativt at vi har lekkasjer på 30 til 40 prosent. Vi trenger å gjøre noe med det, sier Finborud.
Han understreker at vannkvaliteten de leverer er svært god, og at de må sikre at den fortsetter å være det også i fremtiden.
Viktig å samarbeide
En befolkningsundersøkelse analyseinstituttet Sentio har utført på oppdrag for Norsk Vann, viser at nesten 70 prosent av de spurte er villige til å betale mer for å beholde godt drikkevann og et trygt avløpsnett. Det overrasker Hofshagen.
– Det henger nok sammen med at en husholdning i dag bare betaler 25 kroner døgnet for vann- og avløpstjenestene, sier hun.
Hun håper politikerne tar til seg tallene organisasjonen har lagt frem slik at fornyingsarbeidet kan starte raskt.
– Det viktige nå for vannbransjen og kommunene blir å samarbeide om teknologiutvikling og innovative løsninger for å begrense gebyrveksten mest mulig, sier Hofshagen. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Am I the only one around here that doesn't want to walk around with the internet on my face?
2,927 shares | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) indicated on Meet the Press today that he would seriously consider running for president in 2016, even if that required him to switch his party affiliation to Democrat.
“The truth is, profound anger at both political parties, more and more people are becoming independent,” he began.
However, “the issue of whether you run as an independent, with the necessity of setting up a fifty-state infrastructure, running as a Democrat, that’s something that I’m looking at,” he continued.
ADVERTISEMENT
Host Chuck Todd asked whether his running would necessarily be a criticism of Hillary Clinton’s record or policies.
“I don’t know that Hillary is running,” Sanders replied. “I don’t know what she’s running on. I know that the middle class in this country is collapsing. I know that the gap between the very, very rich and everybody else is growing wider. There’s profound anger at the greed on Wall Street, anger at the media establishment. The American people want real change. I have been taking on the big money and special interests all of my political life.”
“The issue,” he said, “is not Hillary.”
Watch Chuck Todd’s entire interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders via NBC News below. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
i don't always do my homework but when i do, i somehow end up on reddit
679 shares | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Las Águilas del América sería el equipo más interesado en traer a Giovani Dos Santos como refuerzo, toda vez que en el Galaxy de Los Ángeles parece que su tiempo se ha agotado.
Gio no logra ser titular en el equipo en el que también está su hermano Jonathan, y en voz del entrenador ha dejado claro que no está en ritmo:
“El está trabajando básicamente en el gimnasio y hasta que no salga al campo de juego, es difícil definir su situación”.
América ya había volteado a ver Gio y a su hermano, de hecho de manera oficial América recalcó su confusión con el hermano menor, pues de acuerdo a la escuadra había un trato, pero Jona firmó por el de la MLS.
Ahora las Águilas irían por el ex Barcelona y campeón del mundo en 2005 con la Sub 17 por el momento que vive el jugador en el que contratarlo parecería no tan costoso, y porque sin duda sería un añadido al conjunto y a la Liga MX.
Sería hacia el invierno cuando esta eventual contratación tome forma. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Photo by Getty
When Coachella opens its gates at the Empire Polo Club today, it sounds the bugle for Festival Season, now a live-music summer staple from coast to coast. At the time of the first Coachella in 1999, its multi-day, multi-stage format was a novelty to anyone who hadn’t trekked out to a Woodstock anniversary or jam-band festival in the ’90s. Today, virtually every large city in the U.S. and Canada annually throws its own mini-Coachella on some weekend between April and October, giving every music fan a close, convenient opportunity to stand in a field, imbibe the substance of his or her choice, get a sunburn, and hear some bands.
But as music festivals proliferated from George, Wash., to Gulf Shores, Ala., there’s a rising suspicion that they’ve diluted their regional charm. While the cultural flowchart used to be clear—the cool kids went to Coachella, the hippies to Bonnaroo, the aging alterna-dads and -moms to Lollapalooza—these and other festivals appear to be converging upon an unsatisfying, homogenous middle. That feeling was underscored by a New York Times article last month, where the paper’s rock critics jointly proclaimed that they will no longer cover the biggest festivals because of “an unrelenting sameness.”
However, where others bring anecdote, we bring data. We compiled the lineups from the 21 major 2016 festivals announced to this point, spanning from Coachella to Los Angeles’ FYF Fest, held in the last weekend of August. (We’ll add Bumbershoot, ACL, Riot Fest, and other late bloomers when their lineups drop, and we’ve chosen to omit often-repetitious EDM- and jam-band-focused festivals, for the sake of our carpal tunnels.)
Using each festival’s poster, we ranked every act based on their positions in the lineup, which enabled us to quantitatively crown the kings of the festival circuit in 2016. And we also tracked the history of some of the biggest festivals, to see whether the current landscape has indeed grown more uniform.
Buzz Vs. Clout
It’s hard to determine winners and losers in today’s music industry. Charts are a weird mix of albums sales and streams, award shows are out of touch, and Album of the Year lists are too slow and studio-centric. But festivals are a data-rich resource providing perspective on what artists the people want to see in a given summer. Save for outliers here and there who insist upon alphabetical socialism, the art form of the festival poster provides a hierarchical ranking from the large-font headliners to the fine print, although some folks may disagree. We combined those incidental rankings to answer two questions: who are the most representative acts for the 2016 season, and who are the most powerful?
For the first measure, which we’ll call Festival Buzz Rating (FBR), we took into account an act’s poster ranking at each festival, relative to the total number of artists listed, the size of the festival, and the number of festivals the act is playing this summer. This rewards the acts that were booked more frequently and billed the highest.
We calculate FBR by first generating a ranking of the festivals in our dataset, from largest to smallest. Each of those fests is then assigned a coefficient between 0 and 1—so Lollapalooza, with 171 acts, gets a 1.0, and we fractionally go down from there. Additionally, for each act, we calculate its percentage rank within a festival; in other words, their poster rank divided by the total number of acts. Multiply those two numbers together and multiply by 100 to get FBR.
The perhaps surprising far-and-away winner of these standings: French synth-poppers M83 racked up an FBR of 610, as they’re playing nine festivals this summer with an average ranking between 10 and 11. They’re never the headliner, but they’re in the second or third line of the poster often enough to come out on top. Other FBR leaders include the promiscuous Vince Staples and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, playing 13 and 10 of the 21 festivals we tracked, respectively, followed by LCD Soundsystem, making their controversial reunion run through eight different fests. However, all three of those bands are more than 75 points behind M83.
Interestingly, other than LCD, none of the Top 20 are headliner-type acts—they merely make the list through perseverance, a factor that plays into the festival similarity we’ll discuss soon. Indeed, you could almost think of this core roster as a modern version of the ’90s traveling festivals—such as H.O.R.D.E., Lilith Fair, and the original Lollapalooza (which switched to its current, stationary format in 2005)—that modern destination festivals replaced.
Our second statistic, Festival Clout Rating (FCR), uses average ranking, festival size, and scarcity to give more credit to the artists that don’t need to spend all summer traveling from VIP area to VIP area. We calculate FCR by dividing a bands FBR by the number of festivals they appear at. To steal a term from sports statistics, FBR is a counting stat, while FCR is a not.
As festivals grow more similar down-bill, splurging on high-profile exclusives at the top of the poster is a surefire way to stand out from the crowd. So FCR predictably prioritizes the acts you can only see in one place this summer, such as Guns ’N Roses and Jack Ü at Coachella, Mumford & Sons and Kings of Leon at Firefly, and EDM heavyweights Hardwell and Martin Garrix at Lollapalooza.
Perhaps more interesting are the FCR standings filtered down to bands that are only playing three or more festivals. Here, country-rocker Chris Stapleton is the unexpected king, as he restricts his schedule to the triumvirate of Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza. Radiohead, Ellie Goulding, Lana Del Rey, Halsey, the 1975, Flume, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are the runners-up in this semi-exclusive power tier.
The Secret To Festival Originality: Meghan Trainor
The repeaters described above hint at the amount of overlap in this summer’s music festivals. We measured each festival’s uniqueness by calculating how many of its acts appeared at that festival and no others this summer—a high bar, even with more than 900 acts listed across the 21 tallied festivals. As such, most festivals are below the 50-percent mark, with only three—Austin’s Levitation, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest, and West Palm Beach’s SunFest — more than half unique.
That simple analysis alone answers the New York Times’ question of where to find the unique festivals—just go for those organized around a particular genre, ideally one with a broad tent. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest predates the modern festival scene by several decades, dating back to 1970, and has kept the focus on the very rich local scene, while subtly stretching the scope at the top of the lineup, booking very non-jazz one-offs such as Neil Young, Nick Jonas, and Snoop Dogg. Levitation, formerly known as Austin Psych Fest, didn’t book anyone with more than three festival appearances this summer, but still will present a broad range of sounds from electronic (Caribou, Nicholas Jaar) to oldies (Brian Wilson, Lee Scratch Perry).
The most interesting “unique” festival is Florida’s SunFest, a multi-genre affair where the most obvious thread is a lack of concern about coolness. Top-liners Meghan Trainor and Train aren’t likely to show up at Coachella any time soon, and down-bill acts such as Evanescence, Rick Springfield, and Salt N Pepa are festival world rarities.
On the other side, San Francisco’s Outside Lands, Ontario’s Way Home, and New York’s Governor’s Ball are the least distinctive events. Outside Lands, beyond its exclusive headliner booking of Lionel Richie, has only one other unique artist in the top 30 acts listed on its poster: Chicago’s Chance the Rapper, who is also playing the Hot 97 Summer Jam and the EDM-focused Summer Set in Wisconsin, two festivals not included in this data set.
We then looked deeper at exactly where the most similarity between festivals lies. If you just take the top quartile of each festival, the similarity is even higher—a median of 18 percent unique bands instead of 34 percent for the full bills. Accordingly, the differences between festivals lies as you work your way down the poster, with the highest number of unique bands found in the “fine print” of the bottom 25 percent (a median uniqueness of 55 percent).
But looking at the 2016 landscape doesn’t tell us anything about whether lineups are growing more indistinguishable in music’s festival era. To measure the historical trend, we compiled the bills of the three biggest and oldest festivals of this era—Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza—back to 2005, the first year all three were active “destination” events. The data shows that they indeed did start out with distinct visions: in 2005, Bonnaroo was more than 90 percent unique from the other two fests, while Coachella and Lolla were between 75 and 85 percent dissimilar.
However, that Venn diagram has gradually closed, with Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo dropping to 65 percent unique, while Coachella held steady around 70 percent for the last 10 years compared to the other two festivals. The time series tells the story of Bonnaroo gradually moving away from its jam-band roots, while Lollapalooza has a more complicated history—its uniqueness plummeting from 2006 to 2009 as it sat at the intersection of Coachella and Bonnaroo, then spiking again as they jumped on the EDM money train before the other two festivals.
So Which Festival Is The Best, And/Or The Coolest?
Despite this mounting monoculture, you probably still want to see some bands this summer, which raises the question: given an unlimited travel budget, which festival should you choose? That circles back to the two ways we power-ranked artists earlier: do you want to attend the most 2016 festival, or the most high-powered?
To get that full zeitgeist experience, we averaged the FBR of all the acts at each festival, Logically, we found that Outside Lands and Way Home, the two least unique lineups, were the most “buzzy,” followed by the much less common bills at Coachella and Glastonbury. An interesting underperformer, given that less-unique festivals should have a higher average buzz rating, is Governor’s Ball, which is the third-least unique festival but ranks only 11th in FBR—suggesting they’re mostly sharing less popular bands with their peers.
When we average festival clout rating for each fest, the result is a blowout, with Coachella dominating every other event on the summer schedule. There’s some circular reasoning involved—FCR values exclusivity and festival size, and Coachella has the second-most acts and a lot of high-profile one-offs, including Guns ’N Roses, Jack Ü, Rancid, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, James Bay, 2 Many DJs, and Death Grips (if they actually show up). The next tier is dominated by the big-money, big-capacity fests: Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, and Coachella’s new NYC cousin Panorama.
Combine the two methods, and your best all-around bet remains Coachella, the granddaddy of the festival circuit. And good news if you’re not reading this from within the Indio grounds themselves: there’s always next weekend.
We welcome collaboration to do more with the dataset. You can access the raw data here, and view our messy code (sorry) in Jupyter notebooks on Github here and here.
Rob Mitchum is a music and science writer, mostly for Pitchfork and the University of Chicago. He lives in Oak Park, Ill., and tweets at @robmitchum (and @phishcrit, if you’re into that sort of thing).
Hunter Owens is a Data Scientist at the Impact Lab in Chicago. A child of Los Angeles, he prefers to spend his time eating tacos and listening to Vin Scully. He is still mad that he wasn’t allowed to go to Coachella in 10th grade. You might enjoy his twitter, @hunter_owens. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
In this June 5 photo, a man rides a motorcycle in a devastated part of Homs, Syria. Syrian government forces retook the control of Homs in May 2014, after a three year battle with rebels. (Dusan Vranic/AP)
The Obama administration asked Congress on Thursday to authorize $500 million in direct U.S. military training and equipment for Syrian opposition fighters, a move that could significantly escalate U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war.
Money for the assistance, which would expand a CIA covert training program, is included in a $65.8 billion request for the Pentagon’s Overseas Contingency Operations, or OCO.
The administration has said repeatedly in recent weeks that it was preparing additional assistance to vetted “moderate” opposition forces fighting both the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and extremists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), who have now spread their area of control across the Syrian border into Iraq.
If Congress approves the funding, it would mark the first direct U.S. military participation in the Syrian conflict. The training would probably take place in neighboring Jordan, where the CIA is currently training Syrian opposition forces, and possibly in Turkey.
“While we continue to believe that there is no military solution to this crisis and that the United States should not put American troops into combat in Syria, this request marks another step toward helping the Syrian people defend themselves against [Assad] regime attacks, push back against the growing number of extremists . . . who find safe-haven in the chaos, and take their future into their own hands by enhancing security and stability at local levels,” National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement.
The request does not specify the type of military equipment that would be included. Under the existing covert program, the administration has sent limited quantities of small arms and ammunition and has allowed others to send U.S.-made antitank weapons.
But the administration has rebuffed opposition calls for sophisticated weapons, including portable antiaircraft missiles. Placing the training and equipment programs in the hands of the military, rather than the CIA, theoretically will make U.S. aid to the Syrian opposition more transparent.
Although some lawmakers have warned President Obama to stay away from direct involvement in the Syria conflict, many have criticized the administration for dragging its feet on significant aid to the rebels and allowing ISIS and other extremist Sunni Muslim groups to expand across the region.
A strong bipartisan majority of the Senate Armed Services Committee approved language similar to the OCO Syria request during its consideration of the overall Pentagon budget. In initial congressional response to the new request, that panel’s chairman, Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, voiced support.
Details of the OCO budget had been withheld from the administration’s overall fiscal 2015 defense budget request, currently being considered by Congress. The contingency funding also includes money to pay for other counterterrorism operations, increased military deployments in Eastern Europe and for ongoing U.S. expenses in Afghanistan.
The speed with which ISIS forces have virtually eliminated the Syria-Iraq border and taken control of Iraqi cities and towns over the past two weeks has focused the administration’s attention on what now threatens to become a regional conflagration.
Within the OCO request, the Syria money is part of a $5 billion fund announced by Obama last month to help build a new counterterrorism infrastructure with partner countries “from South Asia to the Sahel.”
1 of 9 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Will Syrian war end century-old borders in the Middle East? View Photos Less than 100 years after boundaries were drawn in the Middle East, the durability of those borders — and the nations they formed — is being tested as never before. The sectarian war in Syria is spilling into Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Israel. Caption Less than 100 years after boundaries were drawn in the Middle East, the durability of those borders — and the nations they formed — is being tested as never before. The sectarian war in Syria is spilling into Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Israel. July 31, 2013 In Hermel, Lebanon, people cross a bridge over the canal to the Syrian side. Nearly a century ago, Europeans turned up and drew the lines that created the borders of the modern Middle East. But the chaos of Syria’s civil war has muddled the map, creating new frontiers that more closely coincide with the communities they contain. Four flags now fly over the territory known as Syria, representing the competing visions of sect, identity and allegiance that the Syrian war has exposed — and the pieces into which it might break. Dalia Khamissy/For The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
Terrorism, Obama said, remains “the most direct threat to America at home and abroad,” but is no longer centered in an al-Qaeda leadership based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Instead, he said, the threat has become decentralized, with “emerging threats” from al-Qaeda associates and newly formed groups across the Middle East and into Africa.
The Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund, he said, “will allow us to train, build capacity and facilitate partner countries on the front lines.”
A fact sheet released by the White House on Thursday said that $2.5 billion of the new funding would cover the costs of training and operations by both U.S. Special Operations and conventional forces in partner nations, as well as intelligence and surveillance.
An additional $1.5 billion of the fund — about $1 billion of which would be used by the State Department — would be spent on Syria’s neighbors to help improve border security and improve delivery of services to the millions of Syrian refugees now living in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.
The $500 million training and equipping mission would be aimed at helping “vetted elements” of the Syrian armed opposition to “defend the Syrian people, stabilize areas under opposition control, facilitate the provision of essential services, counter terrorist threats, and promote conditions for a negotiated settlement.”
Details of the “envisioned” Syria program, the White House said, would be developed “in consultation with the Congress and our international partners.”
The remaining $500 million in the fund would pay for “unforeseen contingencies related to counterterrorism or regional instability,” including the current situation in Iraq, where Obama has increased U.S. surveillance and last week announced he would send up to 300 U.S. military advisers.
A separate $1 billion European Reassurance Initiative would pay for the expanded U.S. military presence in Eastern Europe — including aircraft, troops and pre-positioned equipment — begun in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
A substantial portion of the OCO funds are to pay the final withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, a residual U.S. force of 9,800 troops that Obama has authorized for 2015, and more than $4 billion the United States has agreed to spend annually over the next several years to support Afghan security forces. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Québec aura son « I love NY ». L’opération a été menée dans le plus grand secret, mais voilà que Québec dévoilera sous peu sa nouvelle image de marque qui servira, à la manière du célèbre «I love New York», à vendre la ville à l’étranger, a appris Le Journal.
Cette nouvelle image de marque, appuyée sur un slogan qui sera composé d’un ou deux mots, se veut une saveur qui servira à faire valoir Québec, tant ailleurs au Québec qu’au Canada et sur la scène internationale, a confirmé lundi le maire Régis Labeaume au Journal de Québec.
D’après nos informations, le concept qui sera dévoilé dans trois semaines se base sur le fait que Québec est la première ville francophone d’Amérique du Nord. Il sera utilisé pour promouvoir la ville, tant sur le plan politique qu’économique et touristique.
On a également pensé à un concept qui pourrait être utilisé tant en anglais qu’en français, comme c’est le cas pour «I love New York», illustré par le mythique logo avec un cœur.
Longue réflexion
«C’est le fruit d’une réflexion de plusieurs mois, car il était difficile d’arriver à trouver quelque chose qui intégrerait autant d’éléments, mais on y est parvenu et ce sera très bien», a indiqué M. Labeaume.
Le maire n’a pas voulu préciser pour l’instant quelle était la firme qui avait travaillé sur le projet ni le montant du contrat.
Le nouveau slogan sera par ailleurs utilisé par tous les organismes qui travaillent avec la Ville, comme l’Office du tourisme, le Centre de foires et le Centre des congrès, par exemple.
Il n’est pas question de mettre de côté le fait que Québec est la capitale nationale du Québec et que son cœur historique, dans le Vieux-Québec, est classé sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO. Au contraire, tous ces titres seront intégrés dans la stratégie de marketing retenue.
Logo
C’est aussi parce qu’on s’apprêtait à dévoiler le nouveau branding de la ville que l’administration Labeaume en a par ailleurs profité, en février dernier, pour rajeunir son identité visuelle.
Rappelons qu’un contrat de 50 000 $ a en effet été confié à la firme Côté Fleuve afin de revoir la signature graphique de la ville, mais sans toucher au fameux bateau qui en est le symbole. Cette nouvelle mouture sera pour sa part dévoilée cet automne. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Home
» People
» Paul Tibbets
Paul Tibbets
Surname Tibbets Given Name Paul Born 23 Feb 1915 Died 1 Nov 2007 Country United States Category Military-Air Gender Male
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbasePaul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was born in Quincy, Illinois, United States to Paul Tibbets, Sr. and Enola Gay Haggard Tibbets. He was raised in Cedar Rapid and Des Moines, Iowa, United States where his father was a confections wholesaler. In the 1930s, he attended the University of Florida. On 25 Feb 1937, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps as a flying cadet at Fort Thomas, Kentucky, United States. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1938. By Mar 1942, he was the commanding officer of the 340th Bomb Squadron of the 97th Heavy Bomb Group. On 17 Aug 1942, from RAF Polebrook in the United Kingdom, he flew the lead bomber of 8th Air Force's first bombing mission in Europe. He also flew several missions in the Mediterranean Theater. His reputation as a pilot was superb, resulting in him serving as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's personal pilot on several occasions.
ww2dbaseIn Sep 1944, Tibbets was assigned to command a group based at Wendover Army Air Field in Utah, United States, which later became the 509th Composite Group selected to deliver the resulting bomb from the Manhattan Project. On 5 Aug 1945, he formally named his B-29 Superfortress bomber "Enola Gay" after his mother. At 0245 on the next day, Colonel Tibbets lifted off from Tinian Island in the Mariana Islands ever so carefully with the atomic bomb "Little Boy". Two specialists assembled the weapon mid-flight, and bombardier Thomas Ferebee dropped the bomb over Hiroshima, Japan at 0815 local time. The bomb took 43 seconds to fall. After the long 43 seconds, Tibbets saw something he could never have imagined:
"A bright light filled the plane. The first shockwave hit us. We were eleven and a half miles slant range from the atomic explosion but the whole airplane cracked and crinkled from the blast.... We turned back to look at Hiroshima. The city was hidden by that awful cloud... mushrooming, terrible and incredibly tall."
ww2dbaseThe blast killed about 140,000 people, with many more dying later.
ww2dbaseAfter the war, Tibbets remained in the military, joining the newly formed United States Air Force. Eventually reaching the rank of brigadier general in 1959, he retired from active service on 31 Aug 1966. After retirement, he worked for the civilian air line Executive Jet Aviation based in Columbus, Ohio, United States; between 1976 and 1987, he served as the president of the company. In 1976, he re-enacted the Hiroshima bombing, which was viewed by many as inappropriate; the US government issued an official apology for the re-enactment. Although apologetic about the 1976 re-enactment, he consistently noted that he had no regrets of using the atomic bomb. "If you give me the same circumstances, hell yeah, I'd do it again", he said. "Thousands of former soldiers and military family members have expressed a particularly touching and personal gratitude suggesting that they might not be alive today had it been necessary to resort to an invasion of the Japanese home islands to end the fighting."
ww2dbaseTibbets passed away in 2007 in his home in Columbus, Ohio at the age of 92. He specifically noted in his will that he wanted neither funeral service nor a headstone so to avoid protesters.
ww2dbaseSources: BBC, Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Nov 2007
Paul Tibbets Timeline
23 Feb 1915 Paul Tibbets was born. 23 Jul 1945 A test bomb in the shape of the atomic bomb Little Boy, designated L-1, was dropped in the sea near Tinian, Mariana Islands from a B-29 bomber piloted by Paul Tibbets, to test the radar altimeter mounted on a B-29 bomber. 24 Jul 1945 A test bomb in the shape of the atomic bomb Little Boy, designated L-2, was dropped in the sea near Tinian, Mariana Islands from a B-29 bomber piloted by Paul Tibbets. 25 Jul 1945 A test bomb in the shape of the atomic bomb Little Boy, designated L-5, was dropped in the sea near Tinian, Mariana Islands from a B-29 bomber piloted by Paul Tibbets. 31 Jul 1945 A test bomb in the shape of the atomic bomb Little Boy, designated L-6, was dropped in the sea near Iwo Jima, Japan from B-29 bomber Enola Gay piloted by Paul Tibbets. 1 Nov 2007 Paul Tibbets passed away.
Photographs
Did you enjoy this article? Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends: Facebook
Reddit
Twitter
Stay updated with WW2DB: RSS Feeds
Visitor Submitted Comments
Show older comments
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
ザンビアのショッピングセンター上に不気味な人型の影が現れ目撃者を驚愕させる
Weird human-shaped figure terrifies locals when it appears in clouds above Zambian shopping centre
3月4日【Daily Mail】
ザンビアの都市キトウェ（Kitwe）のショッピングセンターMukuba Mallの上空に突如として不気味な人型の影が現れ、目撃者たちは恐怖に駆られて逃げ惑った。
写真には空に引き寄せられているような巨大な人間そっくりの頭部と胴のような影が写されており、長さは100ｍ以上あったのではないかと考えられている。
濃い黒色の影は雲とは異なる物質のようで、この写真の撮影角度からはこの影がショッピングセンターを見下ろしているように見える。
この影は30分ほど上空に観ることができたが、中には神の顕現だと考える人もいたようだ。
目撃者の一人：「あの人のような影を見て驚きました。30分近く見ることができました」
「祈りを捧げ始める人もいれば、走り出す人もいました。とても不思議なできごとでした」
（翻訳終了）
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
【続報】
この人型の陰については、人型の凧（たこ）の画像を加工したものではないかという説もあります。
日本語でも説明がありました。ご参考まで。
http://karapaia.com/archives/52235264.html
【コメント】
このザンビアで目撃された人型の影が映画ハリー・ポッターに登場するディメンターという存在に酷似していると、翻訳元の記事や下の動画に写真がありました。
ハリー・ポッターのディメンター
このスコットランド訛りの男性による解説つき動画では、今回の目撃された人型の影は有名なブルービーム計画の一部ではないかと考えて説明しています。
あまりご存知ない方のために簡単にまとめました。
ブルー・ビーム計画（Project Blue Beam）とは
NWOの実現のため新世界政府の基盤を構築するため、NASAと米軍の技術を用いて空に存在しないモノを映し出し、それにより反キリスト者をリーダーに新しい「神」を崇める新時代の新宗教を作り出そうという計画です。この新宗教がなければNWOは実現しないとエリート層は考えているようです。
第一段階
意図的に特定の場所に人工地震を起こし、それにより発見された考古学的な新事実によって既存の宗教（キリスト教とイスラム教）の教義が全世界に対して否定される。
この基盤として、一部の有名なハリウッド映画が「宇宙から侵略者が到来し、地球が一致団結して戦う」というアイディアを市民に植え付けている。
第二段階
地球上の各地で、その土地の信仰対象に応じて異なるモノが空中に3次元のホログラムとして音声などと共に照射される。
この新しい「神」はあらゆる言語を話すことができる。
・宇宙のショーとして
UFOが目撃され、これにより世界の終わり的なムードが盛り上げられる。
その後、新しい「キリスト」、つまり救世主が登場。
・人工的な携挙（rapture、ラプチャー）
ベッドの上から空の母船などに吸い込まれるなどして多数の人たちが突如として姿を消す。
新しい世界宗教に対する反発やその後の聖戦などでは、これまでの人類の歴史になかったほどの規模の犠牲がでるだろう。
・古い予言の実現
上空約100km辺りの空を映画のスクリーンとして利用し、衛星やコンピュータを用いた「ショー」が繰り広げられ、奇跡として受け止められる。
世界各地の宗教ごとに異なるイメージが照射される（キリストやモハメッド、ブッダ、クリシュナなど）。終末論を熱心に信じる信奉者たちは予言の実現と考えるだろう。
この「神」が既存の宗教の教義は誤解されていたと説明をし、否定する。
これにより世界的に信仰の基盤が失われ、社会や信仰が大規模に無秩序となり、国同士で非難し合い始める。
また、現在人気の「チャネリング」に対して注意しなければならない。それぞれが神聖なガイドによるものだと主張していながらも、それぞれの内容は酷似している。メッセージの内容がNWOにとって有益になりそうな方向性にある場合は特に要注意。
第三段階
技術的なサポートの元、同計画の一環として極低周波や超長波を用い、各個人の脳内にテレパシー・電気的な信号を送信し、受信者は自らの「神」が話しかけていると深く信じ込む。
衛星から放射される光線により、人間は人為的な思考を形成し始め、それに基づいて行動し始めるだろう。
技術の進化により盲目の人が見えるようになり、耳の聞こえない人に音が聞こえ、医薬品などを用いずに痛みをなくすことが可能になっているが、こういった脳科学的な知識に基づく装備をCIAやFBIなどはすでに利用している（治療ではなく拷問や自殺に見せかけた暗殺のため）。
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
ブルービーム計画について様々な仮説がありますが、上記はその一例です。
お空から神様や宇宙人などが降りてきて、地球上の人間（あるいは信者）を助けてくれるという終末論が一部で人気になっていますが、その背景には信奉者だけではなく意図的にこのシーンを盛り上げている集団がいる可能性も考えられます。
（終末論の盛り上がりの例：アメリカのキリスト教系の一部のカルトなどでは、携挙はもうすぐだと大盛り上がりですし、一部のイスラム教でも、普通のおばちゃんさえ「もう（宗教的な意味で）世界の終わりだ」などと考えている人もいるとか）
今回の人型の影だけでなく、他にも毎日の様に世界中から不思議なモノの目撃談があります（同じくアフリカでは空中に浮かぶ都市なども目撃談が続いています）。
不思議な現象をすべて科学的に片づけるのも少しロマンに欠けますし、こういった仮説があるからと言って神や宇宙人の存在を否定するわけでもありません。ただ意図的にそういったモノの存在が利用される可能性があることを示唆しているだけです。なので、あまりそういった「救世主（メシア）」みたいな存在には容易に過剰な期待はしない方が無難かもしれません。
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
With the passage of the government’s bill on plain packaging now assured, an ever-desperate tobacco industry is now concentrating on the legal apocalypse that they say will descend on Australia through the courts.
With the passage of the government’s bill on plain packaging now assured by the support of the opposition, the Greens and all but one of the independents, an ever-desperate tobacco industry is now concentrating on the legal apocalypse that they say will descend on Australia through the courts.
These arguments are all a paper-thin house of cards, starting with the central problem that plain packaging will not extinguish brand identities. All brands will still carry brand names allowing smokers to clearly exercise their freedom of choice to select between the much-vaunted but mostly non-existent differences in brands. This is critical, because in the highly unlikely event of a ruling by the High Court in favour of the industry, all calculations of compensation will need to take account that branding differences have only been diminished, not extinguished.
Given that some 30-40 nations now have appropriated massive sections of packs with graphic warnings and that not a cent has been claimed or awarded in brand damage anywhere in the world for this egregious assault on brand identity, the prospects of any claim for huge compensation even in the unlikely event of a favourable ruling are vanishingly small. The companies would need to demonstrate with precision that sales losses arose from losing colours, logos and different pack shapes, not brand names.
Given that consumption is falling every year, this task would be like unraveling gossamer while wearing boxing gloves.
Few of those megaphoning this legal Armageddon appear to have even read the draft Bill itself. Section 11 makes it clear that plain packaging won’t apply if it were to be determined (by a court) that its operation would result in an acquisition of property otherwise than on just terms. So in the unlikely event that the High Court says there is an acquisition of property (more on this below), the legislation would revert to a fallback position in the regulations under which “the trade mark may be used on the packaging of tobacco products, or on a tobacco product, in accordance with any requirements prescribed in the regulations”.
In other words, the bill has been drafted with a get-out-of-jail-free card under which plain packaging will not proceed if the court said it was an unjust acquisition. So massive damages or compensation will simply not arise.
Moreover, Monash University’s Prof Mark Davison has explained “As for the Constitutional argument that the legislation acquires property on other than just terms, Professor Craven, a noted Constitutional expert, has since observed on Radio National’s Background Briefing that the tobacco industry’s prospects of success are about the same as a three-legged horse has of winning the Melbourne Cup. The reason for his view is simply explained. The extinction of rights or the reduction of rights is not relevant. The government or a third party must acquire property as a consequence of the legislation.
Thanks for signing up We look forward to seeing you bright and early with your need-to-know talking points and tidbits for the day ahead. Get Crikey FREE to your inbox every weekday morning with the Crikey Worm. Please enter your email address Sign up
“The government does not wish to use the tobacco trade marks. Nor does it want third parties to do so. It does not desire to or intend to acquire any property. The proposition that prohibitions on the use of property do not constitute an acquisition of property was confirmed by the High Court as recently as 2009. In that case, the High Court held that the government was entitled to extinguish property rights in licences of farmers to take bore water.”
But the industry and its errand boys, such as those at the Institute of Public Affairs, nonetheless know that the threat of a massive legal penalty will get them headlines. A big number is required and the number that has been selected is $3 billion … per year. So where did this satisfyingly large number come from? It started circulating in May 2010 and has been repeated countless times since by frothing shock-jocks and some who should have known better.
Step forward Tim Wilson, the director of intellectual property and the Free Trade Unit and the IPA. Wilson sent a submission to Senator Steve Fielding’s inquiry into plain packaging where we can examine his prowess with the numbers.
At page four in his executive summary he says plain packs would lead to a court order to award the tobacco industry between $378 million and $3027 million per year. Table 2 (page 13) in his submission shows two lines of numbers for the total value of tobacco sales in Australia in 2006: one for the value including excise tax (which goes to the government) and one for the sales value ex-tax (in other words the returns to manufacturers and retailers combined). By taking the trouble to differentiate the two, Wilson must know that no court would order the return of the tobacco tax component to the companies: it’s the ex-tax value that fuels such a pipe-dream.
Wilson then calculates the ex-tax value on two assumptions: a 10% and a 30% fall in sales each year that might follow the introduction of plain packs. He calculates these two figures at $378 million and $1.135 billion. So where does the $3 billion factoid come from? Are you ready for this? The tax-included sales value of a 30% fall is $3.027 billion.
So how reasonable are Wilson’s assumptions that plain packs will cause a fall of a minimum 10% through to 30% a year? Between 1999 and 2003 the average annual fall in total dutied cigarettes was just 2.6%. The most sales have ever fallen in one year was just shy of 10% in 1999 after the combined impact of a change in the way cigarettes were taxed (from weight to per stick) and a big boost to the national quit campaign by health minister Michael Wooldridge.
Most analysts of the likely impact of plain packaging believe that its main impact will be on children over the next generations. Just as no Australian aged under 19 today has ever seen a local tobacco ad or tobacco sponsored sporting event, no child growing up after 2010 will ever see carcinogenic tobacco products packaged in carefully market researched attractive boxes. Smoking rates by kids today are the lowest ever recorded. Plain packs are expected to continue that downward momentum, starving the industry of new generations of new smokers as older smokers quit and die early. Plain packs will probably not influence long-term, older smokers much.
Wilson’s $3 billion number is thus based on a projected decline, which is so far off the planet of declines ever recorded, that it is dreamland stuff. Worse, it appears to be a willful selection of the tax-included biggest number he could sight in his own table. To the delight of the industry, it has now become a virulent factoid with Google showing more than 7000 hits for “plain packs cigarettes” and “$3 billion”. Tim, you are a true contributor to informed public debate.
*Simon Chapman is professor of public health at the University of Sydney. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Ruben Gallego’s decision came as a surprise to many Democrats who had expected him to launch a campaign early next month. | Matt York/AP Photo 2020 elections Democrats could dodge messy Arizona primary after Gallego passes on Senate bid
Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego will not run for Senate next year, choosing not to enter a contentious primary that could have hurt Democrats' chances to flip the Republican-held seat.
Gallego’s decision likely clears the way for Mark Kelly to become the party’s nominee to challenge Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed after losing the race for Arizona’s other Senate seat in 2018. Kelly — a former astronaut and Navy veteran who is considered Democrats' best Senate recruit so far this cycle — is the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot in 2011 when she was in office.
Gallego told reporters Monday he had seen recent polling showing that his path to victory in the primary was to run a negative campaign, which would have been a "bitter, bitter primary" and would have hurt Democrats' chances to win the seat. The primary is in late August 2020, making it difficult for candidates in competitive intraparty fights to pivot to a competitive general election. McSally struggled to gain ground after her GOP primary last year, and Democrats were eager to avoid a similar situation.
"Republicans want a bitter primary between Democrats so they can hold this seat, and if they want that they're going to have to find another race," Gallego said. "I'm not going to be part of their tool."
The Arizona Republic first reported Gallego's decision not to run for Senate.
COUNTDOWN TO 2020 The race for 2020 starts now. Stay in the know. Follow our presidential election coverage. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Gallego said he decided not to run Sunday after conversations with his family. He spoke to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Sunday and informed his staff and political advisers about his decision Monday.
Gallego did not directly endorse Kelly and said the two were going to have a conversation Tuesday. He hinted that other Democrats could get into the race, but he said he expected Kelly to win.
"We're going to talk because I want to make sure he's got the right plan, but I'm going to definitely support the Democrat who can win this no matter what, and I think that will be Mark Kelly," Gallego said.
"I want to make sure he understands where I'm coming from and I want to make sure he knows what it takes to win," he added.
Kelly said he looks forward to working with Gallego "to stand up for Arizona families."
“As a Navy guy, I know it’s always better to avoid a fight with a Marine,” Kelly said in a statement. “I have a lot of respect for Congressman Gallego’s service to our nation.”
Arizona is expected to be at the center of Democrats' hopes to win back the Senate in the 2020 elections, and it will likely be a major battleground in the presidential race.
Gallego’s decision came as a surprise to many Democrats who had expected him to launch a campaign early next month. He had been suggesting for weeks that he was leaning towards running and believed, as a progressive, military veteran and Latino, he would have been competitive in both the primary and general elections.
His decision not to run is likely to frustrate the party's left flank. Several groups had been preparing to back Gallego in the primary, hoping to get behind a liberal candidate after centrist Democrat Kyrsten Sinema won the state’s other seat last year.
Kelly has already proven to be a strong fundraiser, bringing in more than $3 million since his launch last month.
| {
"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
Weekend = Strike out Monday = Whine on Reddit | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
I reported on the April 25th the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) was aiming to classify electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) as tobacco products. This means that the same restrictions on advertising, taxation, access and public use will apply to them too, and may discourage tobacco smokers to quit.
It was described at the time by Katherine Devlin, President Electronic Cigarette Trade Association (ECITA) as “…hugely unhelpful for public health.”
E-cigarettes seem to have united the libertarian right and the socially concerned left in wanting to give a choice to smokers. Libertarians such at the Institute of Economic Affairs, and anti-smoking Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) see it as a way of weaning addicts off smoking. Much of the intellectual input has been a mixture of the two camps.
Clive Bates, the former head of ASH, is one of the main researchers and proponents and ironically was a speaker at the IEA debate in July 2013 entitled ‘Free Market Solutions in Health: Prohibition or Harm Reduction’. There was broad agreement in the room, with disagreements mostly focused upon what level of government regulation was required.
The WHO, faced with growing opposition, have more intellectual ballast to deal with. A letter published yesterday from 53 leading health academics has urged the organisation to desist from its goals. Example signatories include John Britton, Professor of Epidemiology; Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos, Martin Jarvis, Emeritus Professor of Health Psychology and Linda Bauld, Professor of Health Policy. They say:
“We have known for years that people smoke for the nicotine, but die from the smoke: the vast majority of the death and disease attributable to tobacco arises from inhalation of tar particles and toxic gases drawn into the lungs. There are now rapid developments in nicotine-based products that can effectively substitute for cigarettes but with very low risks. These include for example, e-cigarettes and other vapour products, low-nitrosamine smokeless tobacco such as snus..”
They conclude:
“The urge to control and suppress them as tobacco products should be resisted and instead regulation that is fit for purpose and designed to realise the potential should be championed by WHO. We are deeply concerned that the classification of these products as tobacco and their inclusion in the FCTC will do more harm than good, and obstruct efforts to meet the targets to reduce non-communicable disease we are all committed to.”
Indeed it has reported that Philip Morris International the makers of Marlboro cigarettes has spent $650 million on a new tobacco device that greatly reduces tar and the cancer inducing chemical benzo(a)pyrene. Many of the major brands such as Imperial Tobacco and Lorillard have purchased e-cig brands while British American Tobacco have spent millions in its research centre in Southampton on harm reduction.
The reasons for the WHO’s insistence are opaque. Many anti-smokers are against the “renormalisation” of the sight of smoking. Some cynics point to the hands of the pharmaceutical industry, referred to disparagingly as “Big Pharma.”
Certainly they have the most to lose. One paper from the University of London found that e-cig users were 60 percent more likely to quit than other methods including their drugs patches and gum.
Dr. Michael Siegel, Professor of Community Health, pointed out eighteen months ago that “Anti-Smoking groups that oppose electronic cigarettes received an additional $1.4 Million from Big Pharma, beyond the $2.8 Million revealed earlier; groups repeatedly failed to disclose this Conflict of Interest.”
If the WHO does not yield, it will only mean fewer smokers quitting tobacco – the complete opposite of what they are trying to achieve. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
THE U.S. Military has unleashed a "swarm" of robotic flying machines in the skies over California.
More than 100 of tiny drones were released from three F/A-18 Super Hornets in a test which took place last year.
4 The drones are just 30cm long and can act autonomously using sophisticated artificial intelligence
4 The drones can barely be seen as they are released from three fighter jets
In a video which has just been published online, the tiny 30 centimetre "Perdix" drones are shown zooming out of the fighter jet.
The drones can act autonomously using artificial intelligence and are designed to act as a swarm, communicating and making decisions together.
It is likely the Pentagon sees the mini robots carry out surveillance mission in future, although they could also be used in targeted assassinations.
"Perdix are not pre-programmed synchronised individuals, they are a collective organism, sharing one distributed brain for decision-making and adapting to each other like swarms in nature," said William Roper, director of the Strategic Capabilities Office.
"Because every Perdix communicates and collaborates with every other Perdix, the swarm has no leader and can gracefully adapt to drones entering or exiting the team."
A total of 103 drones took part in the test, where they demonstrated "collective decision-making, adaptive formation flying, and self-healing".
4 Three fighter jets took part in the test
4 Eventually, these expensive and human-piloted planes may be replaced by smaller, cheap and totally expendable robotic war machines
The test was designed to show that "teams of small, inexpensive, autonomous systems to perform missions once achieved only by large, expensive ones".
Drones and robotic killing machines are likely to revolutionise warfare in the coming years, allowing powerful states to terrorise their enemies without actually risking their own soldiers' lives.
Related Stories Exclusive PAEDO DRONE FEARS Perverts using drones to spy on PLAYGROUNDS and capture sick footage of innocent kids Exclusive shame of drones Pentonville hit by drones blitz as Liz Truss's barking guard dogs fall asleep at their posts No drone zones Brits flying drones near airports could face jail in new crackdown VLAD'S DRONE NAVY Russia testing drones that could scramble sonars allow nuke submarines to enter the Channel undetected
“I congratulate the Strategic Capabilities Office for this successful demonstration,” said Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.
“This is the kind of cutting-edge innovation that will keep us a step ahead of our adversaries. This demonstration will advance our development of autonomous systems.”
It has been suggested that killer robots will have as big an effect on warfare as nuclear weapons, with nations able to unleash swarms of drones instead of putting boots on the ground.
Researchers recently unveiled a system which lets humans control swarms of robots using just their thoughts and eye movements. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a proficiency utilised to assist enhance the site visitors of holiday makers to a specific internet site.
This is practicable exclusively by attaining a top-ranking place on the search webpage of various search engine websites.
If you have a plan for accomplishment together with your SEO methods you may for sure get your webpage hierarchical accrued and generate extra site visitors in your internet site or weblog.
Today I need to talk about six stairs so that you can obtain your objective.
6 Steps to Plan for Success with SEO
1) Prepare an account of key phrases
Keywords are the hub of attraction for any SEO content material.
Selecting the correct key phrases to make the most of can both carry you winner or failure in your SEO planning.
Assemble many key phrases which power be superior associated to your services or products, and feed them into Google’s key phrase Tool.
These key phrases will help your net webpage to attract the eye of the online wanderer, which can drag your net webpage to be among the many high rating pages inside the search engine.
2) Construct pages, protective key phrases because the prime focus
When it’s about internet site precedence in several engines like google, it’s extremely best to construct quite few webpages classified to particular phrases and key phrases.
But in case your try is to get variety of key phrases in a single webpage, it could actually sound like an unattainable activity.
Depending on the key phrase guidelines you employ, you may plan for the variety of pages that may have to be created.
Finally, the full variety of choices, merchandise your organization can present, additionally to the prime areas of your group must be adequate fully variety of net pages that have to be created.
Thus, the plan for accomplishment in SEO advertising and marketing will altogether flexible joint on you utilizing the correct exercis of key phrases.
3) Create a weblog
Well, to have fundamental interaction your prospects and likewise to rank your key phrases, running a blog is au fond the most fascinating approach.
This is as a result of each posted weblog is simply an modern approach of making new net webpage.
This will provide you with a superb alternative to rank accrued inside the search engine.
Remember, running a blog units a powerful platform so that you can plan for accomplishment in SEO advertising and marketing.
4) Construct a well-organized plan for link-building
While the highest three stairs are devoted to single-page SEO proficiency, link-building is one prime motive to do off-page SEO.
On the one aspect it performs a giant function on making engines like google rank the internet site.
You can the to the last-place degree bit multiplication use the assistance of social networking websites to promote your hyperlinks. For instance, there’s Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and people are just some of the most well-liked ones.
You may even share hyperlinks with different enterprise websites.
This offers you higher possibilities for the online wanderer to trace your hyperlinks and elevate your net webpage to a better rank inside the search engine.
5) Always hold your self up up to now with SEO practices and information
Like different advertising and marketing methods even SEO advertising and marketing is the to the last-place degree bit multiplication ever-evolving.
Always protective your self up up to now is a quite hard activity at occasions.
With web pushed media, nothing corset the identical for very lengthy. Yet there are a number of sources available on-line that may make it handy so that you can keep up up to now on SEO associated information and practices.
The necessary factor is to remain knowledgeable and present with the market connate your product or providers.
As traits and the market change, fixing your SEO proficiency for higher rating of your internet site is important to remain on high,
Here is a listing of sources that may enable you keep up up to now.
SEO ebook
Search Engine Land
Search Engine Roundtable
6) Always measure or hold a observe of your SEO winner
SEO can devour a variety of time and effort.
But what’s the usage of disbursement honest time and effort, when the labor given will fail to bear fruit?
There are many prosody that may enable you observe your SEO proficiency on day-to-day and likewise month-to-month foundation.
Observe and notice what’s working superior and the place you may enhance your key phrases if wanted.
Benefits you may acquire from SEO advertising and marketing
The funding is marginal
Compared to different type of advertising and marketing, SEO advertising and marketing may be very pocket-friendly.
You should make investments little for this rather advertising and marketing.
But, the outcomes obtained inside the type of viewership may be very spectacular.
Thus, your small business will construct a bigger emptor base inside a marginal commercial price.
High model believability
Most customers and web customers function at a lower place the notion that the highest checklist of outcomes available are often one of the best supported the various search engines.
Take Google for instance.
The accrued you’re, the extra confidence consumers appear to have in your product / providers.
The thought is that the location have to be steady shopped and supported if Google is inserting as a high website, not understanding that site visitors will be gained by way of many avenues.
Not simply precise gross sales or clicks.
Thus the upper by way of rating of your internet site the extra model believability you acquire in your internet site.
By making a plan for accomplishment together with your SEO you may actually start to see your internet site climb to the highest utilizing these methods.
Getting your internet site to the highest of the engines must be a precedence for your small business.
By following a properly thought out plan and taking constant motion good issues are certain to occur over time.
Best needs! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
マイケル・コシンスキーという若い学者がいる。彼は、2013年の4月にとある統計モデルを発表したことで、Brexitや2017年のアメリカ選挙戦の結果に大きな影響を与えることとなった。
「いいね」からわかること
氏の発表によると、Facebookの「いいね」を解析することにより、ユーザの性別や肌の色はもちろん、支持政党や年収、さらにはIQに至るまで、極めて高い精度で判別することが可能だというのだ。例えば、ユーザが黒人が白人かは95%以上もの確率で判別可能だし、民主党支持者なのか共和党支持初なのかが85%以上、キリスト教徒なのかイスラム教徒なのかが82%、ゲイかレズなのかなども80%前後の確率でわかるという。それどころか喫煙の有無や知能指数に至るまで、僕らが何に「いいね」をつけているかを調べるだけで分析できてしまうというのだ。
さらに面白いことに、解析対象となる記事は一見こうした個人の性向には何の関係もないと思われるものばかりなのだ。例えばカーリーフライ(ジャガイモをらせん状にカットして揚げた食べ物)の投稿に「いいね」をつけたかどうかでIQの高低が判ったり、「怖がっているのは、君よりもあのクモの方だ(That Spider is More Scared Than U Are)」というページに「いいね」をつけたかどうかで、喫煙者かどうか高確率で判断できるという。
コシンスキー氏が、この研究成果を発表してからしばらくして、この彼の統計モデルをほぼそのままコピーして活動を始めた会社がある。それが今話題になっているケンブリッジ・アナリティカだ。この会社はまずFacebookアプリを作り、それを同SNS上でばらまいた。このアプリはよくあるような性格診断アプリで、誰も何も疑問に思わなかった。このアプリを利用したのは、約27万人。しかし、問題はその先にある。実はアプリ、アプリの利用者だけではなく、アプリ利用者の友達がFacebook上で何に「いいね」をつけているのかをトラックしていたのだ。この手法で、ケンブリッジ・アナリティカはなんと5000万人分のデータを手に入れたと言われている。また、Brexitの国民投票にも同じ手法で大きな影響を及ぼしたとも噂されているのだ。
前述のコインスキー氏は2016年末のアメリカ大統領選の直後にこのケンブリッジ・アナリティカによるのやり方に気が付いて声をあげたのだが、選挙後の混乱の中に埋もれてしまって話題にすらならなかった。しかし、ここにきてFacebook社自身がこの問題を公にしたことで、一気に注目を集めている。
関連記事：マイケル・コインスキー氏の研究が詳しく知りたい方はこちらへどうぞ。
Digital records could expose intimate details and personality traits of millions
SNSのコストは誰かが負担している
さて、このような事態が明るみになったことで、次には責任問題が浮上している。これはいったいFacebook社の落ち度なのだろうか？ それともこうした情報を収集し、政治的に利用したケンブリッジ・アナリティカが悪いのだろうか?
僕自身がこのニュースを聞いたときにふと思い出したのは、「タダより高いものはない」ということわざだ。僕らはFacebookをタダで利用しているのに、Facebook自身は笑いが止まらないほど大儲けをしている。その利益はどこから来ているかというと、要するに僕らの情報を売っているのだ。Facebookは確かに、僕らの名前や勤務先といったプライバシーに関わる個人情報を直接売り買いしているわけではない。しかし、Facebook自身もこのケンブリッジ・アナリティカと大差ないユーザー解析を行い、広告を打ちたい事業者に大きな利便性を与えてることで利益をあげているのだ。
1度でもFacebookに広告を出してみればわかるが、地域、年齢、性別、趣味、収入などといった様々なプロファイルを細かく指定し、極めて限定的なターゲットに向かって、精度の高い広告を打つことができる。何人の目に触れ、何人が反応したのかも随時正確に把握可能だ。一度こんなサービスを利用してしまえば、新聞広告などに戻れるはずもないのだ。
なお、このようなタダのサービスを提供しているのはFacebookだけではない。Googleだって、Twitterだって、Instagramだってみんな同じビジネスモデルだ。僕ら自身はタダだと思っていても、実は誰かが何らかの形で、そのコストを負担しているのだ。
思ったていたよりも高い「タダの対価」
「僕は平々凡々な人間だから、住んでいる地域や性別ぐらいバレたって別にどってことないよ」と考える人も多いだろう。僕自身も、長らくそう考えていた。しかし、僕らがこうしたタダのサービスに払っている対価は、どうやら考えていたりもずいぶん大きそうなのだ。
そう。実は僕たちは、無料サービスの対価として、民主主義そのものを手放そうとしているのかもしれないのだ。
昨今、フェイク・ニュースが大きな話題になっているが、これらもどこかの誰か目的を持って作り、広告料を払って様々なソーシャルメディアで拡散しているのだ。どこかの製品が売れるくらいならいいが、こうして世論が分断され、選挙結果が左右される。そして気が付いてみると、民主主義そのものが機能しなくなりつつあるのだ。
僕は、SNSの会社を非難するつもりはあまりない。FacebookもGoogleもTwitterもIntagramも、慈善事業やっているわけではないのだ。どこからか利益を上げなければならない。こんなにも優れたサービスが、タダで運営できるはずがないではないか。
もしも、政治や商売に利用されるのが嫌だと言うのならば、それ相応の対価を僕ら自身が「金銭」という形で払っていく必要があるのではないだろうか？
そう。「タダより高いものはない」のだから。
PS:もしこの記事を気に入っていただけましたら、投げ銭していただけると嬉しいです。 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
resumo Taça de Portugal (Meias-Finais): Resumo GD Chaves 3-1 Vitória SC
Termina a partida! O Chaves venceu o V. Guimarães, por 3-1, na segunda mão das meias finais da Taça de Portugal, mas não consegue o apuramento para o Jamor, depois de ter perdido por 0-2, em Guimarães. Douglas acabou por ser o herói vimaranense, ao defender um penalty já no período de descontos. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A study on children and their interaction with the physical world and interactive digital technologies | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Rhinovirus is a leading cause of acute respiratory infections and asthma attacks, but infections are also frequently cleared from the nasal mucosa without causing symptoms. We sought to better understand host defense against rhinovirus by investigating antiviral defense in primary human nasal and bronchial airway epithelial cells cultured ex vivo. Surprisingly, upon rhinovirus infection or RIG-I stimulation, nasal-derived epithelial cells exhibited much more robust antiviral responses than bronchial-derived cells. Conversely, RIG-I stimulation triggered more robust activation of the NRF2-dependent oxidative stress response in bronchial cells compared to nasal cells. NRF2 activation dampened epithelial antiviral responses, whereas NRF2 knockdown enhanced antiviral responses and was protective during rhinovirus infection. These findings demonstrate a tradeoff in epithelial defense against distinct types of airway damage, namely, viral versus oxidative, and reveal differential calibration of defense responses in cells derived from different airway microenvironments.
Here, we report fundamental differences in the responses of nasal and bronchial primary human epithelial cells to rhinovirus infection or direct stimulation of the viral RNA sensor RIG-I. We studied primary nasal- or bronchial-derived airway epithelial cells using a culture system that models basal cells, the regional progenitor cells of the airway epithelium central to epithelial defense and repair following mucosal injury (). In cells derived from both sites, RIG-I stimulation triggered activation of well-characterized signaling pathways, mediating protective responses against both viral infection and intracellular oxidative stress. Interestingly, however, nasal cells showed a more predominant interferon response, whereas bronchial cells exhibited a more predominant oxidative stress response. Further investigation revealed evidence for antagonism between activity of the NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response and RIG-I-dependent interferon and ISG defense in epithelial cells and a surprising cytoprotective effect of NRF2 knockdown during RV infection due to decreased viral replication. Based on these findings, we propose a model in which epithelial cell-intrinsic defense mechanisms are tailored for different airway microenvironments to optimize airway protection.
RV first enters the respiratory tract in the nasal passages, but cells and cell lines of bronchial origin are by far more commonly used as experimental tools. Here, we sought to compare antiviral responses of primary epithelial cells cultured from the nasal or bronchial airway mucosa of healthy donors. We were particularly interested in examining nasal epithelial cells because previous work showed that incubating primary airway cells at cool temperature, mimicking the conditions of the nasal passages, dampens antiviral responses triggered by cytoplasmic RNA (). This finding suggests that nasal and bronchial epithelial cells might require different calibration of innate responses to maintain effective antiviral defense in distinct in vivo anatomical microenvironments.
Multiple lines of evidence indicate that innate defenses of airway epithelial cells can efficiently block RV replication and clear infection at its earliest stages. Airway epithelial cells are the target cells within which RV replicates, but RV replication within these cells can trigger powerful innate defense responses, including induction of type I and type III interferons (IFNs) and interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), programmed cell death, and RNaseL activity, all of which can block RV replication (). Furthermore, epithelial cell interferon responses triggered by RNA virus infection are attenuated in several patient groups susceptible to severe RV illness, including asthmatics and smokers, further supporting the idea that epithelial cell defenses are critically important for optimal control of RV infection ().
Respiratory virus infections cause an estimated 500 million colds per year in the US and contribute to the roughly 2 million annual hospitalizations for respiratory illness () However, recent evidence suggests that presence of respiratory viruses in the nasal passages is even more common but that viruses are often cleared without causing symptoms (). For example, in a recent family surveillance study, respiratory viruses were detected on average 7.3 weeks per year per person, but almost half of infections were asymptomatic (44%;). These data suggest that, in many cases, airway defense responses enable efficient local viral clearance without engaging defenses that lead to symptoms, such as excessive inflammation and mucus production. To better understand the molecular basis of antiviral defense responses in the airway, we have focused on interactions between epithelial cells and rhinovirus (RV), the most frequent cause of colds, asthma attacks, and exacerbations of chronic airway disease ().
Next, we sought to test the effect of enhancing NRF2 activity in primary nasal epithelial cells by mimicking a physiological source of NRF2 activation in the airway, exposure to cigarette smoke. Airway epithelial cells from smokers show enhanced expression of NRF2 target genes compared to non-smokers (), and enrichment of NRF2 targets is also observed upon stimulation of cultured bronchial epithelial cells in vitro with cigarette smoke extract (). To test the effect of NRF2 activation in primary human nasal epithelial cells on RV1B replication, we exposed cells to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and assessed RV amplification from a low MOI following incubation at 33°C for 40 hr. We observed a significant effect on RV1B replication, which doubled in cells exposed to CSE ( Figure 4 G). CSE exposure was toxic to NRF2 knockdown (KD) cells ( Figure S3 ), consistent with the known importance of NRF2-dependent responses for cell survival of oxidative stress and cigarette smoke exposure in particular (). Therefore, although we could not directly test the role of NRF2 in CSE-dependent increase in RV replication using knockdown, we explored the hypothesis that CSE exposure activates NRF2 and concomitantly suppresses antiviral interferon responses by testing the effect of CSE exposure on the basal and SLR14-induced expression of IFIT2 and NQO1 in these cells. We observed that CSE exposure increases expression of the NRF2 target NQO1 and decreases SLR14-dependent IFIT2 expression ( Figures 4 H and 4I). These findings are consistent with previous studies showing that CSE exposure leads to a decrease in ISG induction and a modest increase in viral replication following RV infection of human bronchial epithelial cells (). Together, these findings suggest that one mechanism whereby CSE exposure may promote RV replication is through antagonism of the interferon response by NRF2 activation. Overall, our findings support a model in which tissue-specific set points and environmental factors decrease or increase the level of NRF2 activation in RV host cells, which in turn promotes or antagonizes the antiviral response of airway epithelial cells ( Figure S4 ).
The observations reported here indicate that, within airway epithelial cells, NRF2 activity antagonizes RIG-I-mediated antiviral signaling. Previous work has shown that alteration in signaling by RIG-I-like receptors can have profound effects on the outcome of RV infection in host cells with robust interferon responses (). Therefore, we sought to probe the effect of modulating NRF2 activity within host cells on RV replication. First, we targeted NRF2 activity using small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown in nasal epithelial cells and then examined rhinovirus amplification from a low MOI. Strikingly, at 40 hr post-infection, viral titer was >10-fold higher in supernatants from control cells than NRF2 knockdown cells and virus-induced cytopathic effect was significantly more advanced in control cells than knockdown cells ( Figures 4 A–4C). NRF2 knockdown cells exhibited significantly higher expression of the ISG IFIT2 and significantly lower levels of mRNAs encoding NRF2 and the NRF2 target NQO1 compared to control cells ( Figures 4 D–4F). These findings indicate that NRF2 knockdown cells are protected from RV replication, consistent with the observed enhancement in ISG induction ( Figure 4 D).
In all panels, bars show mean and SEM of 3–6 replicate experimental wells per condition. Graphs show mRNA level relative to level in control, mock-treated cells. Significant differences by unpaired t test are indicated with asterisks:p < 0.05;p < 0.005; andp < 0.0001. The scale bar represents 50 μm. See also Figures S3 and S4
(H and I) Nasal epithelial cells were stimulated with SLR14 and then incubated for 3 hr with medium only or medium containing 2% or 4% CSE. RNA was isolated and levels of mRNA encoding IFIT2 (H) and NQO1 (I) were assessed by qRT-PCR.
(A–F) Primary human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs) were transfected with siRNA targeting NRF2 or RISC-free negative control siRNA and allowed to recover for 48 hr and then infected with RV-1B, MOI 0.05 at 33°C.
Previous studies have reported that NRF2 activation during viral infection in macrophages and dendritic cells is associated with decreased inflammatory and antiviral responses (). This work, combined with the observed relatively lower antiviral response and greater NRF2-mediated response in bronchial cells compared to nasal cells ( Figure 2 ), suggested that NRF2 activation in airway epithelial cells might be antagonizing activation of RIG-I-dependent antiviral responses. To test this hypothesis, we asked whether NRF2 knockdown in bronchial epithelial cells increased RIG-I-dependent interferon and ISG induction. NRF2 knockdown enhanced induction of mRNA encoding IFNλ1 and the ISG IFIT2 following SLR14 exposure ( Figures 3 A–3C). As expected, knockdown of mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS), an essential signaling adaptor downstream of RIG-I, abrogated SLR14-dependent antiviral responses ( Figures 3 A–3C). Next, we tested the effect of NRF2 activation on the robust SLR14-triggered interferon and ISG responses observed in nasal epithelial cells. To do this, we pretreated cells overnight with the well-characterized NRF2 activator sulforaphane prior to RIG-I stimulation and then stimulated cells with SLR14 and assessed gene expression after 5 hr. Sulforaphane (SULF) pretreatment significantly reduced interferon and ISG induction upon subsequent stimulation with SLR14 ( Figures 3 D and 3E). Sulforaphane pretreatment led to sustained NRF2 activation, as indicated by induction of an NRF2-regulated gene, glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), whereas SLR14 did not induce GCLC mRNA under these conditions ( Figure 3 F). These results indicate that NRF2 activity antagonizes interferon induction in both types of airway cells.
(D–F) Primary human nasal epithelial cells were pretreated with 10 μM sulforaphane (SULF) for 18 hr. After 3 hr recovery in medium only, cells were transfected with SLR14. After 5 hr incubation at 37°C, cells were collected for RNA isolation and qRT-PCR for mRNA encoding IFNλ1 (D), IFIT2 (E), or GCLC (F). Graph shows untreated cells with no stimulation (Ctrl) or SLR14 exposure (SLR14) or sulforaphane-pretreated cells with no stimulation (SULF/Ctrl) or SLR14 exposure (SULF/SLR14). Significant differences between control and SULF pretreated cells by unpaired t test are indicated (#p < 0.0001). Bars show mean and SD of 2–4 replicate experimental wells per condition. Graph titles indicate mRNA assessed by qRT-PCR. Results are representative of at least three independent experiments.
(A and B) Primary human bronchial epithelial cells were transfected with siRNA targeting NRF2 or MAVS or with control siRNA (RNA-induced silencing complex [RISC]-free). After recovery for four days, cells were transfected with the RIG-I ligand SLR14 and then incubated for 6 hr at 37°C, followed by RNA isolation and qRT-PCR for mRNA encoding IFNλ1 (A) and IFIT2 (B). Significant difference between transcript levels in control siRNA-treated and NRF2-siRNA-treated cells by unpaired t test is indicated with asterisks ( ∗ p = 0.02; ∗∗ p = 0.003).
Next, we compared the transcriptional changes observed in nasal or bronchial cells following stimulation with the RIG-I ligand SLR14 ( Figure 2 ). Consistent with the known role of RIG-I like receptors (RLRs), stimulation with SLR14 led to enrichment in transcripts associated with the antiviral response, including “interferon signaling,” “activation of IRF by cytosolic PRRs,” and “role of PRR in recognition of bacteria and viruses” ( Figures 2 A and 2B). Interestingly, the other top pathway enriched by RIG-I stimulation was the NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response ( Figures 2 A and 2B). NRF2 is a transcription factor that is activated by oxidative stress in the cytosol, leading to transcription of diverse targets involved in neutralizing reactive oxygen species and restoring homeostasis (). Notably, transcripts related to interferon signaling dominated the response to SLR14 in nasal cells, whereas transcripts related to the NRF2 pathway were more significantly enriched in bronchial cells ( Figures 2 B–2D). As shown on radar plots representing mean fragments per kilobase mapped (FPKM), overall mRNA levels of canonical ISGs were strongly induced and more highly expressed in nasal cells compared to bronchial cells ( Figure 2 C), whereas transcripts encoding antioxidant enzymes, a subset of NRF2 targets, were more highly expressed in bronchial cells compared to nasal cells following RIG-I stimulation ( Figure 2 D). A more complete list of enriched pathways and associated transcripts is shown in Table S1 . The effects of SLR14 treatment were not predictable from the resting transcriptomes, which showed a slight enrichment for both pathways in bronchial cells at rest compared to resting nasal cells ( Figure S2 E).
(C and D) Radar plots show average fragments per kilobase mapped (FPKM) for transcripts contributing to the “interferon signaling” ingenuity pathway (C) or for antioxidant enzymes associated with the NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response ingenuity pathway (D) in SLR14-stimulated (solid line) and unstimulated (dashed line) cells. Gridlines in (C) range from 0 to 500 FPKM (intervals of 100) and gridlines in (D) range from 0 to 200 FPKM (intervals of 50). Throughout, orange lines represent nasal cells and black lines represent bronchial cells.
(A) Dot plot depicts change in expression levels for all transcripts in stimulated versus unstimulated cells. Dots outside the gray box represent transcripts significantly increased (235 for bronchial; 533 for nasal) or decreased (47 for bronchial; 217 for nasal) in response to SLR14 stimulation (Log 2 FC > 1 or Log 2 FC < −1; p-adj < 0.05).
RNA-seq was performed on RNA isolated from two replicate wells of stimulated and unstimulated nasal or bronchial epithelial cells (total of eight samples) following SLR14 stimulation (for 1 hr) followed by incubation for 7 hr at 37°C. Libraries were prepared for paired-end RNA sequencing from two replicate samples per condition.
To assess whether the low-passage primary cells used in this study retained characteristics specific to the site of origin, we examined region-specific mRNA biomarkers. Previous work showed that regional progenitor cells derived from different airway regions retain gene expression patterns reflecting the site of origin within the respiratory tract, and furthermore that progenitor cells can proliferate and differentiate to form a differentiated airway epithelium with characteristics of the site of origin when reintroduced into a 3D matrix (). Using published microarray data (GSE32606), we identified the top 10 differentially expressed genes in nasal versus tracheal-derived airway progenitor cells and examined expression of these transcripts in cells used in this study. The differential expression pattern in our RNA-seq data comparing nasal and bronchial-derived cells largely mirrored the pattern seen previously in nasal versus tracheal-derived regional progenitor cells ( Figures S2 F and S2G). Next, we performed qRT-PCR on nasal and bronchial cells from different donors used in this study and found enrichment of the nasal-associated biomarker FOXG1 in nasal cells from different donors and higher expression of the tracheal and bronchial-enriched mRNA SERPINF1 in bronchial cells from different donors ( Figure S2 H). These results indicate that nasal and bronchial-derived cells cultured under the conditions used in this study retain gene expression patterns reflective of the site of origin within the respiratory tract.
To better understand the differences in the response to RIG-I stimulation in epithelial cells cultured from nasal or bronchial sites, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to compare the transcriptomes of resting and SLR14-stimulated cells. First, we examined resting gene expression in both cell types ( Figure S2 ). We observed many commonalities and some differences in resting gene expression ( Figure S2 A). Both nasal and bronchial cells expressed lineage markers of airway basal cells, the self-renewing regional progenitor cells of the airway epithelium ( Figure S2 B). This finding is consistent with previous studies showing that the epithelial cells that proliferate from primary airway mucosa in conventional culture have a basal cell phenotype, with expression of basal cell lineage markers KRT5 and TP63 (). Examination of transcripts for RIG-I and other signaling molecules involved in innate immune recognition of RNA viruses revealed a trend toward equal or slightly higher expression levels in bronchial cells at rest compared to nasal cells ( Figures S2 C and S2D), therefore did not provide an explanation for the phenotype shown in Figure 1 . Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed some small differences in pathway activation at rest but did not reveal a clear-cut reason for the greater interferon response in nasal cells following response to RIG-I stimulation ( Figure S2 E).
To assess whether differences in nasal and bronchial cell responses to RIG-I ligand were due to differences in transfection efficiency, we created a modified SLR14 labeled with Alexa 488 (SLR14-488). Flow cytometric analysis of nasal and bronchial cells following transfection with SLR14-488 revealed an increase in fluorescence to an equivalent degree for both cell types, indicating equivalent transfection efficiency ( Figures S1 C and S1D). Consistent with results seen with unlabeled SLR14 ( Figure 1 ), SLR14-488 stimulated greater induction of mRNAs encoding IFNλ1 and the interferon stimulated gene IFIT2 in nasal cells compared to bronchial cells ( Figures S1 E and S1F). These findings indicate that differences between nasal and bronchial-derived cells in interferon and ISG induction are not due to differences in transfection efficiency.
Previous work showed that incubating primary airway epithelial cells at cool temperature (33°C), mimicking the conditions of the nasal passages, diminished antiviral responses triggered by cytoplasmic RNA, including induction of type I and type III interferons (). These findings suggest that nasal epithelial cells may require adaptations to maintain robust antiviral defense within their naturally cooler local microenvironment in vivo. To examine this hypothesis, we obtained primary nasal or bronchial epithelial cells from healthy donors (commercially; see STAR Methods ), cultured them on collagen under conditions that promote a basal cell phenotype, and then infected with rhinovirus 1B (RV1B). All experiments were performed at low passage number (P3 or fewer). Compared to bronchial epithelial cells, nasal-derived epithelial cells displayed much more robust secretion of the type III interferon, IFNλ1, following rhinovirus infection at 37°C, at a time point when viral load was equivalent in both cell types ( Figures 1 A and S1 ). Consistent with previous studies, when cells were incubated at 33°C, IFNλ1 secretion was greatly reduced ( Figure S1 ). Interestingly, the low but detectable level of IFNλ1 secreted by nasal cells at nasal temperature (33°C) was comparable to levels observed in bronchial epithelial cells at lung temperature (37°C; Figure S1 ). Because the levels of virus replication may contribute to the difference in IFNλ1 levels between the two cell types, we next performed experiments using a non-replicating RIG-I ligand, stem loop RNA (SLR), SLR14, and a short 5′-triphosphorylated RNA ligand of the cytoplasmic innate immune sensor RIG-I (). Following transfection of cells with SLR14, we observed more robust IFNλ1 secretion and induction of mRNA for IFNλ1, IFNβ, and the interferon-stimulated gene OAS1 in nasal cells compared to bronchial cells when both cell types were incubated at the same temperature ( Figures 1 B–1H).
Data are representative of at least 3 independent experiments with airway epithelial cells of each type from two or more different donors. Significant differences between nasal and bronchial cell levels by paired t test are shown with asterisks:p < 0.0005;p < 0.005; andp < 0.05. See also Figure S1
(F–H) Fold change in mRNA for IFNλ1 (F), IFNβ (G), and Oas1(H) at time points 0–8 hr post-stimulation. Bars represent mean and SD of 2 or 3 replicate experimental wells per condition. mRNA level is plotted relative to the level in resting bronchial cells (t = 0 hr).
(B–H) Primary nasal and bronchial epithelial cells were transfected with RIG-I ligand SLR14 for 1 hr and then medium was added and cells were incubated at 37°C. Supernatants were collected for ELISA, and cells were collected for RNA isolation and qRT-PCR at the time points shown.
(A) Primary nasal and bronchial epithelial cells were inoculated with RV-1B, MOI 0.1, and incubated at 37°C for 48 hr, at which time supernatants were collected for ELISA. Bars show IFNλ1 protein in supernatant.
Discussion
Airway epithelial cells provide frontline defense against a variety of potentially harmful substances that enter the airway from the environment, including respiratory viruses and diverse substances that can cause oxidative damage. We found that stimulation of the innate immune sensor RIG-I within airway epithelial cells activates two central mechanisms that protect against these sources of damage: the antiviral interferon response (greater activation in nasal cells than in bronchial cells) and the NRF2-mediated response to oxidative stress (greater activation in bronchial cells compared to nasal cells). Here, we present evidence that NRF2 activation antagonizes the antiviral interferon response in the airway epithelium and evidence for cell intrinsic regulation (i.e., innate differences between nasal and bronchial cells) and environmental regulation (i.e., exposure to cigarette smoke that triggers NRF2 activation) of the balance between these two defense mechanisms in airway epithelial cells.
Olagnier et al., 2014 Olagnier D.
Peri S.
Steel C.
van Montfoort N.
Chiang C.
Beljanski V.
Slifker M.
He Z.
Nichols C.N.
Lin R.
et al. Cellular oxidative stress response controls the antiviral and apoptotic programs in dengue virus-infected dendritic cells. Thimmulappa et al., 2006 Thimmulappa R.K.
Lee H.
Rangasamy T.
Reddy S.P.
Yamamoto M.
Kensler T.W.
Biswal S. Nrf2 is a critical regulator of the innate immune response and survival during experimental sepsis. Suzuki and Yamamoto, 2017 Suzuki T.
Yamamoto M. Stress-sensing mechanisms and the physiological roles of the Keap1-Nrf2 system during cellular stress. Koarai et al., 2010 Koarai A.
Sugiura H.
Yanagisawa S.
Ichikawa T.
Minakata Y.
Matsunaga K.
Hirano T.
Akamatsu K.
Ichinose M. Oxidative stress enhances toll-like receptor 3 response to double-stranded RNA in airway epithelial cells. Tal et al., 2009 Tal M.C.
Sasai M.
Lee H.K.
Yordy B.
Shadel G.S.
Iwasaki A. Absence of autophagy results in reactive oxygen species-dependent amplification of RLR signaling. Ma, 2013 Ma Q. Role of nrf2 in oxidative stress and toxicity. Gehrke et al., 2013 Gehrke N.
Mertens C.
Zillinger T.
Wenzel J.
Bald T.
Zahn S.
Tüting T.
Hartmann G.
Barchet W. Oxidative damage of DNA confers resistance to cytosolic nuclease TREX1 degradation and potentiates STING-dependent immune sensing. Kobayashi et al., 2016 Kobayashi E.H.
Suzuki T.
Funayama R.
Nagashima T.
Hayashi M.
Sekine H.
Tanaka N.
Moriguchi T.
Motohashi H.
Nakayama K.
Yamamoto M. Nrf2 suppresses macrophage inflammatory response by blocking proinflammatory cytokine transcription. The antagonism we observed between NRF2 activity and interferon and ISG induction in airway epithelial cells fits with antagonism of immune defense by NRF2 observed in other models. NRF2 activity was observed to suppress the interferon response and virus-induced apoptosis in a study of Dengue virus infection in dendritic cells (), and NRF2 knockout led to exaggerated IRF3 and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation in mouse models of sepsis (). NRF2 activation has been shown to dampen production of NF-κB-dependent pro-inflammatory cytokines in diverse settings, and in fact, NRF2 activators are currently used clinically as anti-inflammatory agents (). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) promote cell-intrinsic innate antiviral signaling, including RIG-I signaling (), and neutralization of ROS has been proposed to be the mechanism whereby NRF2 activity suppresses antiviral and pro-inflammatory cytokine production (). Interestingly, ROS may enhance innate immune signaling in part by effects on nucleic acid ligands. For example, oxidation of cytosolic DNA was shown to enhance stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-dependent innate immune signaling due to decreased degradation of oxidized DNA by TREX1 (). It will be interesting to explore how oxidation of RNA ligands or other components of the RIG-I signaling pathway might influence innate immune signaling in future studies. In addition to effects on neutralization of ROS, an additional mechanism of NRF2-dependent suppression of innate immune signaling was proposed recently, in which chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-seq studies in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages showed suppression of cytokine transcription by binding of NRF2 upstream of cytokine promoters (). The mechanism(s) underlying the antagonism between RIG-I signaling and NRF2 activation in airway epithelial cells will be an important avenue for future investigation. Our findings also emphasize the importance of considering how experimental conditions impact oxidative stress in studies of innate immune signaling.
Olagnier et al. (2014) Olagnier D.
Peri S.
Steel C.
van Montfoort N.
Chiang C.
Beljanski V.
Slifker M.
He Z.
Nichols C.N.
Lin R.
et al. Cellular oxidative stress response controls the antiviral and apoptotic programs in dengue virus-infected dendritic cells. Yageta et al., 2011 Yageta Y.
Ishii Y.
Morishima Y.
Masuko H.
Ano S.
Yamadori T.
Itoh K.
Takeuchi K.
Yamamoto M.
Hizawa N. Role of Nrf2 in host defense against influenza virus in cigarette smoke-exposed mice. Despite antagonism between antiviral innate immune defense and NRF2 activity, NRF2 activation can have either protective or deleterious effects for the host during viral infection. We observed a cytoprotective effect of NRF2 knockdown during rhinovirus infection in nasal epithelial cells, consistent with enhanced ISG induction and diminished viral replication ( Figure 4 ). However, NRF2 activity was essential for cell survival during CSE exposure ( Figure S3 ). Therefore, any suppressive effects of NRF2 activation on antiviral defense represent a necessary compromise in the presence of both CSE and viral infection. Likewise,observed a protective effect of NRF2 knockdown during Dengue virus infection of dendritic cells. In contrast, during influenza infection of cigarette-smoke-exposed mice, NRF2 knockout diminished host survival (). These results likely reflect the fact that host resistance and clearance of infection is the best pathway to health in some disease settings, whereas the antioxidant response takes precedence to promote host survival in others, particularly when multiple stressors are encountered at once.
Foxman et al., 2015 Foxman E.F.
Storer J.A.
Fitzgerald M.E.
Wasik B.R.
Hou L.
Zhao H.
Turner P.E.
Pyle A.M.
Iwasaki A. Temperature-dependent innate defense against the common cold virus limits viral replication at warm temperature in mouse airway cells. Iwasaki et al., 2017 Iwasaki A.
Foxman E.F.
Molony R.D. Early local immune defences in the respiratory tract. We propose a model in which airway epithelial cells’ responses to airway injury may be differentially regulated to optimize defense responses in distinct microenvironments and can vary depending on the recent exposures of the cell. As shown in Figure S4 , in our model, virus-induced RIG-I signaling leads to activation of both the antiviral interferon response and the NRF2-dependent oxidative stress response. In nasal epithelial cells, there is an inherent bias toward less NRF2 activation and greater activation of the interferon and ISG response compared to bronchial cells ( Figure S4 A). This bias may serve to enable nasal epithelial cells to maintain robust antiviral defense in the relatively cool temperatures of the nasal passages ( Figure S1 ). This bias may also reflect the fact that the nasal epithelium is also the initial site of entry for many respiratory viruses and a site in which the consequences of local epithelial damage and inflammation are relatively low. In contrast, in the bronchi, maintaining tissue integrity and suppressing inflammatory responses to keep the large airways open is of paramount importance, fitting with the observed difference in set point favoring the NRF2 response in bronchial epithelial cells. It is also important to note that this study models defense responses of airway basal cells from different airway microenvironments, but in vivo, the relative proportions of differentiated epithelial cell types likely also play an important role in airway region-specific defense, such as the increased proportion of mucus-producing cells in the nasal passages compared to the bronchi ().
Eddleston et al., 2011 Eddleston J.
Lee R.U.
Doerner A.M.
Herschbach J.
Zuraw B.L. Cigarette smoke decreases innate responses of epithelial cells to rhinovirus infection. Proud et al., 2012 Proud D.
Hudy M.H.
Wiehler S.
Zaheer R.S.
Amin M.A.
Pelikan J.B.
Tacon C.E.
Tonsaker T.O.
Walker B.L.
Kooi C.
et al. Cigarette smoke modulates expression of human rhinovirus-induced airway epithelial host defense genes. In our model, in addition to inherent region-specific adaptations of progenitor cells from different airway sites, recent environmental exposures can further influence the balance between defense responses in the airway epithelium. For example, the NRF2 response would be expected to be activated in cells exposed to sources of oxidative stress in the airway, which could include environmental pollutants, such as diesel exhaust, cigarette smoke, microbial metabolites, or the byproducts of oxidative metabolism by resident cells or infiltrating leukocytes. Although NRF2 activation would move cells to a new state of adaptation that enhances cell survival during oxidative stress, such cells would be maladapted to viral infection due to dampening of the antiviral interferon response ( Figure S4 B). We modeled this scenario in this study by exposing nasal epithelial cells to cigarette smoke extract, resulting in increased NRF2 activity and decreased RIG-I signaling ( Figures 4 G–4I). Previous studies have shown diminished antiviral responses in bronchial epithelial cells following cigarette smoke exposure (); our results indicate that a possible underlying mechanism for this finding is antagonism between NRF2 activation and antiviral signaling.
Spira et al., 2004 Spira A.
Beane J.
Shah V.
Liu G.
Schembri F.
Yang X.
Palma J.
Brody J.S. Effects of cigarette smoke on the human airway epithelial cell transcriptome. Gern, 2010 Gern J.E. The ABCs of rhinoviruses, wheezing, and asthma. Contoli et al., 2006 Contoli M.
Message S.D.
Laza-Stanca V.
Edwards M.R.
Wark P.A.
Bartlett N.W.
Kebadze T.
Mallia P.
Stanciu L.A.
Parker H.L.
et al. Role of deficient type III interferon-lambda production in asthma exacerbations. Wu et al., 2016 Wu W.
Zhang W.
Booth J.L.
Hutchings D.C.
Wang X.
White V.L.
Youness H.
Cross C.D.
Zou M.H.
Burian D.
et al. Human primary airway epithelial cells isolated from active smokers have epigenetically impaired antiviral responses. Wark et al., 2005 Wark P.A.
Johnston S.L.
Bucchieri F.
Powell R.
Puddicombe S.
Laza-Stanca V.
Holgate S.T.
Davies D.E. Asthmatic bronchial epithelial cells have a deficient innate immune response to infection with rhinovirus. Jaspers et al., 2010 Jaspers I.
Horvath K.M.
Zhang W.
Brighton L.E.
Carson J.L.
Noah T.L. Reduced expression of IRF7 in nasal epithelial cells from smokers after infection with influenza. Importantly, there is considerable evidence that epithelial cells from patient groups susceptible to severe rhinovirus infection have a depressed antiviral interferon and ISG response. Our findings suggest that activation of the NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response in these cells could be the mechanistic basis for this phenotype. There is evidence supporting this model in one such patient group: smokers. Published data from smokers reveal a striking transcriptional signature of NRF2 activation (). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma patients are also highly susceptible to serious illness following RV infection, and in fact, RV is the top trigger of childhood asthma exacerbations (). Ex vivo experiments have shown evidence for defects in cell-intrinsic innate immunity in airway epithelial cells from asthmatics and smokers compared to healthy controls (). Our findings suggest that it will be important to investigate whether an aberrant shift toward NRF2-mediated antioxidant defense could underlie the observed defect in epithelial antiviral defense, leading to increased RV susceptibility in these patients.
In summary, the findings reported here demonstrate antagonism between two key defense mechanisms in airway epithelial cells and demonstrate how the activity levels of these responses are tailored to different set points in cells derived from different airway regions (nasal versus bronchial). We also demonstrate that NRF2 activation by an environmental oxidative stress can shift this balance and create vulnerability to rhinovirus infection. These results compel further investigation of the role of NRF2 activation in RV-susceptible patient groups and indicate that finding ways to protect the airway epithelium from intracellular oxidative stress, and thereby avert NRF2 activation, may lead to effective strategies to enhance natural defense against rhinovirus infection. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
How 94% of fish stocks have vanished from British waters
Britain's fish stocks have fallen by 94 per cent since peak levels in 1937
Stocks of some popular fish in the waters around Britain have fallen to just 6 per cent of the level they were 120 years ago, an alarming study revealed yesterday.
It means that despite the march of technology, trawlers must work 17 times harder for each fish they catch than in the 19th century when vessels were sail-powered and kept close to port.
Experts found that the decline of cod, haddock and plaice since 1889, when the first government records of fish landings began, has been far greater than thought. But it has been masked by technological developments.
Fishermen now spend weeks at sea travelling to new fishing grounds and use deeper nets after being guided by radar towards shoals of fish.
Government statistics have been analysed for the first time by experts at the University of York and the Marine Conservation Society.
They show that levels of fish brought to shore peaked at 804,630 tons in 1937, compared with just 148,000 now.
In England and Wales the amount of fish being caught in the 19th century was more than four times greater than current levels.
Writing in the online journal Nature Communications, researchers said the decline in stocks of popular fish ‘is far more profound than previously thought’.
They warned that fisheries had been declining more seriously and over a longer period than has been suggested by scientific assessments of European fish stocks, which go back only 20 to 40 years.
And they called for much stronger reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy to allow for fish in the seas around the UK to recover.
The policy allows foreign trawlers to take British fish on a massive scale and restricts what UK vessels can catch.
Britain is locked in a battle with Brussels over fish quotas-which force fishermen to dump nearly one million tons of dead fish into the North Sea each year.
A fisherman is banned from bringing fish ashore, even if it was caught accidentally, once he has reached his year’s quota for a particular species.
The scientists’ data showed that stocks of halibut, turbot, haddock and plaice have plunged by 94 per cent since 1889.
Cod has fallen by 87 per cent, hake by more than 95 per cent.
The study compared the effort trawlers put in with the amount of fish they were rewarded with to assess the availability of fish, taking into account the size of boats and the technology available.
In 1889 fleets of smaller boats spent far less time at sea but landed much greater catches.
Since the 1950s larger boats, new technology and much longer times at sea have all been introduced – but productivity has fallen dramatically, suggesting a rapid and sustained decline in stocks.
The crash since 1889 has been huge for some species – with the rate at which halibut were being caught declining 500 times.
Ruth Thurstan, the study’s lead author, said: ‘For all its technological sophistication and power, today’s trawl fishing fleet has far less success than its sail-powered equivalent of the late 19th century because of sharp declines in fish abundance.’
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
What do we know about the 2012 Atlanta Falcons? Firstly, they’re 8-0. That’s a huge start and, coupled with a not-so-dominant NFC South, has put us a long way to making the playoffs for the 4th time in 5 years. Secondly, we don’t get much media love. Whilst this is exactly exclusive to the 2012 Falcons, it’s been particularly frustrating to me this year above most others. There have been many media knocks on the Falcons this year: they’re not winning comfortably, their ground game is patchy, they’re boring to watch, repeated comeback victories are lucky and don’t count etc. etc.
I’m sure you all agree, however, that the loudest and most frustrating opinion is that the Falcons 8-0 start is not impressive as we have a soft schedule. However, after hearing enough over the weekend, I had a look at the numbers, and will attempt to demonstrate why the Falcons strength of schedule in no way affects the legitimacy of their 8-0 start.
What follows is a numbers overload, so either turn away now or soldier through knowing you have been warned. For those who can’t deal with it, there is a handy summary table at the end: scroll away, I won’t hold it against you.
To begin with, I picked who I feel are the top 8 teams in the NFL. There is a strong argument to be made that the Broncos are in the top 8, but I feel the Patriots shade them (pretty much solely based on the Patriots 31-21 victory against them earlier in the season). The teams I will look at, in order of record, are:
· Falcons (8-0)
· Bears (7-1)
· Texans (7-1)
· Ravens (6-2)
· 49ers (6-2)
· Giants (6-3)
· Packers (6-3)
· Patriots (5-3)
Having a look at the teams schedules individually (this is where the number crunching fun really begins):
Falcons (8-0)
Opponent Opponent’s Record Opponent’s record (pct) KC 1-7 .125 DEN 5-3 .625 SD 4-4 .500 CAR 2-6 .250 WAS 3-6 .333 OAK 3-5 .375 PHI 3-5 .375 DAL 3-5 .375
The Falcons 2012 opponents halfway through the year combined for a total record of 24-41, which is a win percentage of .369. They faced 1 team above .500, defeated 1 team above .500 and played one team on exactly .500
Bears (7-1)
Opponent Opponent’s Record Opponent’s record (pct) IND 5-3 .625 GB (LOSS) 6-3 .666 STL 3-5 .375 DAL 3-5 .375 JAC 1-7 .125 DET 4-4 .500 CAR 2-6 .250 TEN 3-6 .333
Total opponents’ record: 27-39 (.409)
Total record of opponents in victories: 21-36 (.368)
The Bears faced 2 teams above .500, defeated 1 team above .500 and faced 1 team with exactly .500. Their 2012 schedule has only faced teams with a combined 3 more wins than the Falcons, and their victories have come against teams with a win percentage 0.001 lower than the Falcons’ opponents.
Texans (7-1)
Opponent Opponent’s Record Opponent’s record (pct) MIA 4-4 .500 JAC 1-7 .125 DEN 5-3 .625 TEN 3-6 .333 NYJ 3-5 .375 GB (LOSS) 6-3 .666 BAL 6-2 .750 BUF 3-5 .375
Total opponents’ record: 31-35 (.469)
Total record of opponents in victories: 25-32 (.438)
The Texans have faced 3 teams above .500, won against two of them and also defeated one team exactly on .500. Their schedule has been fairly hard, facing two of the top 8 teams and having (in my eyes) the 3rd hardest schedule of the top 8 sides.
Ravens (6-2)
Opponent Opponent’s Record Opponent’s record (pct) CIN 3-5 .375 PHI (LOSS) 3-5 .375 NE 5-3 .625 CLE 2-7 .222 KC 1-7 .125 DAL 3-5 .375 HOU (LOSS) 7-1 .875 CLE 2-7 .222
Total opponents’ record: 26-40 (.393)
Total record of opponents in victories: 16-34 (.320)
The Ravens have faced 2 teams above .500, defeated one and have not faced anyone on .500. With the softest schedule of anyone on this list, the Baltimore Ravens total opponents record is dragged up greatly by the 7-1 Texans, and their victories have come against teams with a combined 19-39 record, for a paltry .320 win percentage. This is comfortably lower than the Falcons .369. Their combined opponents have only won 2 more games, and their victories have come against opponents with a combined 5 less wins than the Falcons’.
49ers (6-2)
Opponent Opponent’s Record Opponent’s record (pct) GB 6-3 .666 DET 4-4 .500 MIN (LOSS) 5-4 .555 NYJ 3-5 .375 BUF 3-5 .375 NYG (LOSS) 6-3 .666 SEA 5-4 .555 ARZ 4-5 .444
Total opponents’ record: 36-33 (.521)
Total record of opponents in victories: 25-26 (.490)
The league’s other 6-2 team have had by far the most difficult schedule, facing 4 teams above .500, winning 2 of them and also defeating the .500 Detroit Lions. They have also played 2 teams on this list, making their 6-2 record very impressive.
Giants (6-3)
Opponent Opponent’s Record Opponent’s record (pct) DAL (LOSS) 3-5 .375 TB 4-4 .500 CAR 2-6 .250 PHI (LOSS) 3-5 .375 CLE 2-7 .222 SF 6-2 .750 DAL 3-5 .375 PIT (LOSS) 5-3 .625
Total opponents’ record: 28-37 (.430)
Total record of opponents in victories: 17-24 (.414)
The Giants have faced 2 teams above .500, won once and also defeated 1 team exactly on .500. Their total schedule has only dished up 4 more wins than the Falcons’ opponents. Not an easy schedule by any stretch, but the Giants have not exactly faced the league’s elite either.
Packers (6-3)
Opponent Opponent’s Record Opponent’s record (pct) SF (LOSS) 6-2 .750 CHI 7-1 .875 SEA (LOSS) 5-4 .555 NO 3-5 .375 IND (LOSS) 5-3 .625 HOU 7-1 .875 STL 3-5 .375 JAC 1-7 .125 ARZ 4-5 .444
Total opponents’ record: 41-33 (.554)
Total record of opponents in victories: 25-24 (.510)
The Packers have faced a massive 5 teams above .500 in their 9 games so far, beating 2 of them. Whilst not facing anyone exactly on .500, the Packers have clearly had a schedule to rival San Francisco’s: facing 3 teams on this list. Their last 3 weeks have softened the draw somewhat, but the Packers are a contender for hardest schedule too. They are the only team on this list who's wins have come against teams who are combined over .500
Patriots (5-3)
Opponent Opponent’s Record Opponent’s record (pct) TEN 3-6 .333 ARZ (LOSS) 4-5 .444 BAL (LOSS) 6-2 .750 BUF 3-5 .375 DEN 5-3 .625 SEA (LOSS) 5-4 .555 NYJ 3-5 .375 STL 3-5 .375
Total opponents’ record: 32-35 (.477)
Total record of opponents in victories: 17-24 (.414)
The Patriots have played 3 teams above .500, beaten 1 of the and have not played anyone sitting on .500. Their opponents are all within a small range of victories, as they have not played any dominant teams (outside of the top 8 Ravens) or any awful sides.
Summary
Opponent’s record Opponent’s record in victories # of teams above .500 played Wins against teams above .500 Win pct against teams above .500 Falcons 24-41 (.369) 24-41 (.369) 1 1 1.000 Bears 27-39 (.409) 21-36 (.368) 2 1 .500 Texans 31-35 (.469) 25-32 (.438) 3 2 .666 Ravens 26-40 (.393) 16-34 (.320) 2 1 .500 49ers 36-33 (.521) 25-26 (.490) 4 2 .500 Giants 28-37 (.430) 17-24 (.414) 2 1 .500 Packers 41-33 (.554) 25-24 (.510) 5 2 .400 Patriots 32-35 (.477) 17-24 (.414) 3 1 .333
Ranked by opponent’s record in victories:
1. Packers (.510)
2. 49ers (.490)
3. Texans (.438)
4. Giants (.414)
4. Patriots (.414)
6. Falcons (.369)
7. Bears (.368)
8. Ravens (.320)
Ranked by opponents in victories combined wins:
1. 49ers (25)
1. Texans (25)
1. Packers (25)
4. Falcons (24)
5. Bears (21)
6. Ravens (19)
7. Giants (17)
7. Patriots (17)
Ranked by wins against teams above .500:
1. Texans (2)
1. 49ers (2)
1. Packers (2)
4. Falcons (1)
4. Bears (1)
4. Giants (1)
4. Patriots (1)
4. Ravens (1)
Conclusion
What did we learn from this brain assaulting exercise? Well, firstly, only one of the top 8 teams have beaten teams with a combined record above .500. Secondly, only 2 of the top 8 sides have even played teams with combined records above .500. Thirdly, the Falcons have won just as many games against teams above .500 as four of the remaining 7 top teams. Lastly, the 49ers, Texans and Packers are all better than their record, and clearly in the top 5 in the league, whilst the Ravens victories have come against teams with truly awful records. The 49ers and Packers are the clear outlier here, and are solidly entrenched in my top 3 as a result of these findings (I had San Fran at #3 and Green Bay at #6 before doing this).
Next time somebody tells you that the Falcons have had a free pass to 8-0, tell them that the Ravens, Bears, Patriots and Giants have all had similarly easy paths, and to take it up with them instead. 8-0 doesn’t just happen, ‘easy’ schedule or not. Thanks for reading! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
JAIPUR: At a time when both Central and state governments are making way for ancient Indian learning in their education policies, in BJP-ruled Rajasthan, a Vedic Gurukul (Vedic school of learning) run by Rajasthan Sanskrit Academy, was closed down in the last two years. Five more are on the verge of being closed down following dearth of students and teachers.
There are 27 such residential schools across the state. The concept was initiated by the former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to promote Vedic learning via Sanskrit language in 2005. The idea was also to revive the centuries-old guru-shishya tradition.
The total strength in all these schools is around 500 against 1200 seats. These schools follow a unique pedagogy through recitation of hymns (memorizing). Students wear traditional kurta-dhoti while learning Vedic hymns.
BJP MLA from Vidhyadhar Nagar, Narpat Singh Rajvi, recently raised the issue of such schools fearing that many more might close down in the coming years due to neglect from authorities. "Sanskrit is our ancient language and Vedas are a guiding principal for our society. It is very painful to see that the idea which was conceived by Bhairon Singhji is meeting unexpected fate," he told TOI.
He argued that the pay scale of teachers teaching in such schools is just Rs 8,000, way less than any other language teachers including Urdu teachers. "The poor pay scale is a reason that Sanskrit Academy is unable to find good teachers who can draw students," said Rajvi.
The admission criteria is also very tough and different from those followed in formal education. Here, students have to be in the age group of 8-12 years. This is a five-year course and the intake each year is just about 10 students. Formal education is also given but the fact that it lacks classroom teaching is a deterrent for parents for sending their wards here. Sources told TOI that none of these schools are equipped with bare minimum facilities required by any institute. "Imagine each student is getting a monthly scholarship of just about Rs 500. Additionally, they get Rs 9,000 as special allowance for books, stationary, etc. Under such limited resources, how can you expect them to become scholars of Vedas?" said Shastri Kosalendradas, senior Sanskrit Scholor based in Jaipur.
Renuka Rathore, director, Rajasthan Sanskrit Academy, told TOI, "The opening and closure of any institute depends upon availability of teachers and students. It is very normal to open or close down schools based on these parameters."
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION (Page No. - 36)
1.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.2 MARKET DEFINITION
FIGURE 1 DRIP IRRIGATION: MARKET SEGMENTATION
FIGURE 2 DRIP IRRIGATION: REGIONAL SEGMENTATION
1.3 PERIODIZATION CONSIDERED
1.4 CURRENCY CONSIDERED
TABLE 1 USD EXCHANGE RATES, 2014-2019
1.5 AREA UNIT CONSIDERED
1.6 STAKEHOLDERS
1.7 SUMMARY OF CHANGES
2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (Page No. - 41)
2.1 RESEARCH DATA
FIGURE 3 RESEARCH DESIGN
2.1.1 SECONDARY DATA
2.1.2 PRIMARY DATA
2.1.2.1 Key industry insights
2.1.2.2 Breakdown of primary interviews
FIGURE 4 BREAKDOWN OF PRIMARY INTERVIEWS: BY COMPANY TYPE, DESIGNATION, AND REGION
2.2 MARKET SIZE ESTIMATION
FIGURE 5 MARKET SIZE ESTIMATION METHODOLOGY: BOTTOM-UP APPROACH
FIGURE 6 MARKET SIZE ESTIMATION METHODOLOGY: TOP-DOWN APPROACH
2.3 DATA TRIANGULATION
FIGURE 7 DATA TRIANGULATION
2.4 RESEARCH ASSUMPTIONS
2.5 LIMITATIONS
3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (Page No. - 49)
FIGURE 8 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY CROP TYPE, 2020
FIGURE 9 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY COMPONENT, 2020
FIGURE 10 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2020
FIGURE 11 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SHARE (VALUE), BY REGION, 2020
4 PREMIUM INSIGHTS (Page No. - 53)
4.1 OPPORTUNITIES IN THE MARKET
FIGURE 12 INCREASING NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE AND PRECISION IRRIGATION TECHNOLOGIES SUPPORTS THE GROWTH OF THE MARKET
4.2 MARKET, BY CROP TYPE AND REGION
FIGURE 13 FIELD CROPS ARE PROJECTED TO DOMINATE THE MARKET THROUGH 2025
4.3 ASIA PACIFIC: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY APPLICATION & COUNTRY
FIGURE 14 SURFACE APPLICATIONS TO ACCOUNT FOR A SIGNIFICANT MARKET SHARE IN ASIA PACIFIC IN 2020
4.4 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY CROP TYPE
FIGURE 15 FIELD CROPS SEGMENT TO DOMINATE THE MARKET IN 2020
4.5 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SHARE, BY KEY COUNTRY
FIGURE 16 INDIA AND CHINA TO BE THE KEY MARKETS FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, 2020
5 MARKET OVERVIEW (Page No. - 57)
5.1 INTRODUCTION
FIGURE 17 GLOBAL IRRIGATED AREA, BY SOCIOECONOMIC INDICATOR, 2018
5.2 MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS
5.2.1 INCREASING POPULATION DENSITY
TABLE 2 GLOBAL POPULATION DENSITY, 2019
FIGURE 18 POPULATION GROWTH TREND, 1950-2050
5.2.2 DISTRIBUTION AND AVAILABILITY OF WATER FOR IRRIGATION
5.2.2.1 Rates of water withdrawal
FIGURE 19 SECTOR-WISE WATER WITHDRAWAL, BY REGION, 2017
TABLE 3 COUNTRIES WITH THE LARGEST AGRICULTURAL WATER WITHDRAWALS, 2018
FIGURE 20 GLOBAL SECTOR-WISE WATER WITHDRAWAL, 2018
5.2.2.2 Area under irrigation
TABLE 4 IRRIGATED AREA, BY KEY COUNTRY, 2018
5.3 MARKET DYNAMICS
FIGURE 21 MARKET DYNAMICS: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET
5.3.1 DRIVERS
5.3.1.1 Government programs and subsidies driving acceptance of drip irrigation systems
5.3.1.2 Efficiency in the use of water in drought-prone areas
TABLE 5 WATER REQUIREMENT, BY CROP: DRIP IRRIGATION VS CONVENTIONAL IRRIGATION
5.3.1.3 Cost efficiency in agricultural production
5.3.1.4 Enhanced crop yields
TABLE 6 INCREASE IN YIELD: DRIP IRRIGATION VS. SURFACE IRRIGATION
5.3.2 RESTRAINTS
5.3.2.1 High initial cost of large-scale drip irrigation systems
TABLE 7 COST BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS FOR SUBSURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
5.3.2.2 High cost of system maintenance
TABLE 8 COST BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS FOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF SUBSURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
5.3.3 OPPORTUNITIES
5.3.3.1 Increasing adoption of precision agriculture and sustainable practices
5.3.3.2 Advancements in technological capabilities of drip irrigation systems
5.3.4 CHALLENGES
5.3.4.1 Environmental degradation of equipment, resulting in additional costs for clean-up and disposal
5.3.4.2 Soil salinity hazards and bio clogging in drip irrigation systems
5.3.5 COVID-19 PANDEMIC IMPACT ON DRIP IRRIGATION INDUSTRY
FIGURE 22 PRE- & POST-COVID SCENARIO IN THE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET
5.4 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS
FIGURE 23 THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS IS THE KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO VALUE ADDITION IN DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
5.5 MARKET ECOSYSTEM
5.6 PATENT ANALYSIS
FIGURE 24 NUMBER OF PATENTS APPROVED FOR DRIP TUBES AND DRIP EMITTERS IN THE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, 2012-2019
FIGURE 25 REGIONAL ANALYSIS: PATENT APPROVAL FOR EMITTERS AND DRIP TUBES, 2012-2019
TABLE 9 LIST OF MAJOR PATENTS FOR DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, 2018-2019
5.7 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
5.7.1 US
5.7.2 INDIA
5.7.2.1 Quality specifications for laterals
TABLE 10 QUALITY PARAMETERS FOR LATERALS
6 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY CROP TYPE (Page No. - 77)
6.1 INTRODUCTION
FIGURE 26 FIELD CROPS TO DOMINATE THE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET DURING THE FORECAST PERIOD
TABLE 11 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 12 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 13 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 14 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
6.2 FIELD CROPS
6.2.1 INCREASING CONCERNS OVER WATER SCARCITY PROBLEMS FOR FIELD CROPS FUEL THE DEMAND FOR DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AMONG FARMERS
TABLE 15 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE FOR FIELD CROPS, BY REGION, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 16 MARKET SIZE FOR FIELD CROPS, BY REGION, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 17 MARKET SIZE FOR FIELD CROPS, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 18 MARKET SIZE FOR FIELD CROPS, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
6.3 FRUITS & NUTS
6.3.1 HIGH PROFIT MARGINS AND INCREASING EXPORT DEMAND FOR FRUITS & NUTS INCREASED ADOPTION OF DRIP IRRIGATION
TABLE 19 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE FOR FRUITS & NUTS, BY REGION, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 20 MARKET SIZE FOR FRUITS & NUTS, BY REGION, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 21 MARKET SIZE FOR FRUITS & NUTS, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 22 MARKET SIZE FOR FRUITS & NUTS, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
6.4 VEGETABLE CROPS
6.4.1 IMPROVED YIELDS AND HIGH RATES OF AGRICULTURAL EFFICIENCY DRIVE THE DEMAND FOR DRIP IRRIGATION OF VEGETABLE CROPS
TABLE 23 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE FOR VEGETABLE CROPS, BY REGION, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 24 MARKET SIZE FOR VEGETABLE CROPS, BY REGION, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 25 MARKET SIZE FOR VEGETABLE CROPS, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 26 MARKET SIZE FOR VEGETABLE CROPS, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
6.5 OTHER CROPS
TABLE 27MARKET SIZE FOR OTHER CROPS, BY REGION, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 28 MARKET SIZE FOR OTHER CROPS, BY REGION, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 29 MARKET SIZE FOR OTHER CROPS, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 30 MARKET SIZE FOR OTHER CROPS, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
6.6 COVID-19 IMPACT ON CROP TYPES
7 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY COMPONENT (Page No. - 90)
7.1 INTRODUCTION
FIGURE 27 DRIP TUBES/DRIP LINES TO DOMINATE THE MARKET DURING THE FORECAST PERIOD
TABLE 31 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 32 MARKET SIZE, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
7.2 EMITTERS/DRIPPERS
7.2.1 GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES AND DEMAND FOR LOW-COST EMITTERS DRIVE DEMAND IN ASIA PACIFIC
TABLE 33 EMITTERS/DRIPPERS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 34 EMITTERS/DRIPPERS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
7.3 PRESSURE PUMPS
7.3.1 LARGE FARM SIZES AND INCREASING ADOPTION OF PRESSURE COMPENSATED SYSTEMS SUPPLEMENT THE SEGMENT GROWTH IN NORTH AMERICA 94
TABLE 35 PRESSURE PUMPS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 36 PRESSURE PUMPS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
7.4 DRIP TUBES/DRIP LINES
7.4.1 INNOVATIVE SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AND EASY INSTALLATION AID THE GROWTH OF DRIP TUBES/DRIP LINES IN ASIA PACIFIC
TABLE 37 DRIP TUBES/DRIP LINES MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 38 DRIP TUBES/DRIP LINES MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
7.5 VALVES
7.5.1 INCREASING SALES VOLUME OF DRIP KITS AMONG SMALL FARMERS INASIA PACIFIC SUPPORT THE GROWTH OF VALVE COMPONENTS 96
TABLE 39 VALVES MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 40 VALVES MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
7.6 FILTERS
7.6.1 FILTER SOLUTIONS ARE SOUGHT TO OVERCOME POOR WATER QUALITY AND THE INCREASING RISKS OF CLOGGING IN SUBSURFACE SYSTEMS
TABLE 41 FILTERS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 42 FILTERS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
7.7 FITTINGS & ACCESSORIES
7.7.1 COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND HIGHER IRRIGATION SYSTEM CONTROL BOLSTER DEMAND IN ASIA PACIFIC
TABLE 43 FITTINGS & ACCESSORIES MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 44 FITTINGS & ACCESSORIES MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
8 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY APPLICATION (Page No. - 100)
8.1 INTRODUCTION
FIGURE 28 SURFACE APPLICATION TO DOMINATE THE MARKET DURING THE FORECAST PERIOD
TABLE 45 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 46 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 47 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 48 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
8.2 SURFACE APPLICATION
8.2.1 LOW COSTS OF INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE LEADS TO AN INCREASING DEMAND FOR SURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
TABLE 49 SURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016 - 2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 50 SURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 51 SURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 52 SURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020- 2025 (USD MILLION)
8.3 SUBSURFACE APPLICATION
8.3.1 ADVANCEMENTS IN FERTIGATION AND INLINE EMITTER TECHNOLOGIES TO DRIVE THE GROWTH OF THE SUBSURFACE SEGMENT
TABLE 53 SUBSURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 54 SUBSURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 55 SUBSURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 56 SUBSURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
9 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY EMITTER/DRIPPER TYPE (Page No. - 108)
9.1 INTRODUCTION
FIGURE 29 INLINE TO DOMINATE THE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET DURING THE FORECAST PERIOD
TABLE 57 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 58 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
9.2 INLINE EMITTERS
9.2.1 IMPROVED EFFICIENCY AND FERTIGATION COMPATIBILITY DRIVE DEMAND FOR INLINE EMITTERS
TABLE 59 INLINE EMITTERS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 60 INLINE EMITTERS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
9.3 ONLINE EMITTERS
9.3.1 ONLINE EMITTERS WITNESS HIGH ADOPTION RATES AMONG SMALL FARMERS SEEKING COST-EFFECTIVE IRRIGATION SOLUTIONS
TABLE 61 ONLINE EMITTERS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 62 ONLINE EMITTERS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY REGION (Page No. - 113)
10.1 INTRODUCTION
TABLE 63 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY REGION, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 64 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY REGION, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 65 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY REGION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 66 MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY REGION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
FIGURE 30 CHINA IS PROJECTED TO BE THE FASTEST-GROWING MARKET FOR DRIP IRRIGATION
10.2 NORTH AMERICA
FIGURE 31 NORTH AMERICA: REGIONAL SNAPSHOT
TABLE 67 NORTH AMERICA: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY COUNTRY, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 68 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 69 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 70 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 71 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 72 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 73 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 74 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 75 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 76 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 77 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 78 NORTH AMERICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.2.1 COVID-19 IMPACT ON THE NORTH AMERICAN DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET
10.2.2 US
10.2.2.1 Federal subsidies and increasing scope of automation drives the adoption of drip irrigation equipment in the US
TABLE 79 US: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 80 US: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 81 US: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 82 US: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 83 US: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 84 US: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.2.3 CANADA
10.2.3.1 Increasing agricultural production and awareness among farmers to drive the demand for drip irrigation systems
TABLE 85 CANADA: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 86 CANADA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 87 CANADA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 88 CANADA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 89 CANADA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 90 CANADA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT,2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.2.4 MEXICO
10.2.4.1 Government policies and high water tariffs encourage farmers to adopt drip irrigation systems in Mexico
TABLE 91 MEXICO: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 92 MEXICO: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 93 MEXICO: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 94 MEXICO: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 95 MEXICO: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 96 MEXICO: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.3 EUROPE
FIGURE 32 EUROPE: REGIONAL SNAPSHOT
TABLE 97 EUROPE: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY COUNTRY, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 98 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 99 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 100 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 101 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 102 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 103 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 104 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 105 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 106 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 107 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 108 EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.3.1 COVID-19 IMPACT ON THE EUROPEAN DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET
10.3.2 SPAIN
10.3.2.1 Exports of fruits and nuts drive drip irrigation in Spain
TABLE 109 SPAIN: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 110 SPAIN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 111 SPAIN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 112 SPAIN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 113 SPAIN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 114 SPAIN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.3.3 ITALY
10.3.3.1 Vineyards contribute to the demand for drip irrigation systems in Italy
TABLE 115 ITALY: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 116 ITALY: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 117 ITALY: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 118 ITALY: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 119 ITALY: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 120 ITALY: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.3.4 FRANCE
10.3.4.1 Increasing need for modernization of irrigation system supplements drip irrigation deployment in France
TABLE 121 FRANCE: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 122 FRANCE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 123 FRANCE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 124 FRANCE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 125 FRANCE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 126 FRANCE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.3.5 UKRAINE
10.3.5.1 Improving agriculture prospects in Ukraine drives the demand for drip irrigation systems
TABLE 127 UKRAINE: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 128 UKRAINE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 129 UKRAINE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 130 UKRAINE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 131 UKRAINE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 132 UKRAINE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.3.6 REST OF EUROPE
TABLE 133 REST OF EUROPE: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 134 REST OF EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATIONZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 135 REST OF EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 136 REST OF EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 137 REST OF EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 138 REST OF EUROPE: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.4 ASIA PACIFIC
FIGURE 33 ASIA PACIFIC: REGIONAL SNAPSHOT
TABLE 139 ASIA PACIFIC: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY COUNTRY, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 140 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 141 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 142 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 143 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 144 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 145 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 146 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 147 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 148 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 149 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 150 ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.4.1 COVID-19 IMPACT ON THE ASIA PACIFIC DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET
10.4.2 CHINA
10.4.2.1 Increase in market reach of domestic players and government support drives drip irrigation demand in China
TABLE 151 CHINA: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 152 CHINA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 153 CHINA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 154 CHINA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 155 CHINA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 156 CHINA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.4.3 INDIA
10.4.3.1 Government subsidies and concerns over water scarcity favor drip irrigation growth in India
TABLE 157 INDIA: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 158 INDIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 159 INDIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 160 INDIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 161 INDIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 162 INDIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.4.4 AUSTRALIA
10.4.4.1 High water tariffs and government incentives for water conservation support drip irrigation growth in Australia
TABLE 163 AUSTRALIA: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 164 AUSTRALIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 165 AUSTRALIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 166 AUSTRALIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 167 AUSTRALIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 168 AUSTRALIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.4.5 JAPAN
10.4.5.1 Increase in scope of protected agriculture attract investments for drip irrigation
TABLE 169 JAPAN: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 170 JAPAN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 171 JAPAN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 172 JAPAN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 173 JAPAN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 174 JAPAN: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.4.6 SOUTH KOREA
10.4.6.1 Minimal pockets of agricultural land and high agricultural productivity drives demand for drip irrigation systems in South Korea
TABLE 175 SOUTH KOREA: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 176 SOUTH KOREA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 177 SOUTH KOREA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 178 SOUTH KOREA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 179 SOUTH KOREA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 180 SOUTH KOREA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.4.7 REST OF ASIA PACIFIC
TABLE 181 REST OF ASIA PACIFIC: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 182 REST OF ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 183 REST OF ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 184 REST OF ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 185 REST OF ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 186 REST OF ASIA PACIFIC: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.5 REST OF THE WORLD
TABLE 187 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 188 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 189 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 190 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COUNTRY, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 191 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016 -2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 192 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 193 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 194 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY APPLICATION, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 195 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 196 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 197 ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY EMITTER TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 198 ROW: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.5.1 COVID-19 IMPACT ON THE REST OF THE WORLD DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET
10.5.2 BRAZIL
10.5.2.1 Increase in government regulations on water use supports drip irrigation in brazil
TABLE 199 BRAZIL: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 200 BRAZIL: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 201 BRAZIL: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 202 BRAZIL: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 203 BRAZIL: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 204 BRAZIL: MARKET, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.5.3 SOUTH AFRICA
10.5.3.1 Introduction of low-pressure emitters and driplines aids farmers in South Africa
TABLE 205 SOUTH AFRICA: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 206 SOUTH AFRICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 207 SOUTH AFRICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 208 SOUTH AFRICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 209 SOUTH AFRICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 210 SOUTH AFRICA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.5.4 SAUDI ARABIA
10.5.4.1 High evaporation rates demand the adoption of drip irrigation in the region
TABLE 211 SAUDI ARABIA: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 212 SAUDI ARABIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 213 SAUDI ARABIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 214 SAUDI ARABIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 215 SAUDI ARABIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 216 SAUDI ARABIA: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
10.5.5 OTHERS IN ROW
TABLE 217 OTHERS IN ROW: DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 ('000 HA)
TABLE 218 OTHERS IN ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 ('000 HA)
TABLE 219 OTHERS IN ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 220 OTHERS IN ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY CROP TYPE, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 221 OTHERS IN ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2016-2019 (USD MILLION)
TABLE 222 OTHERS IN ROW: MARKET SIZE FOR DRIP IRRIGATION, BY COMPONENT, 2020-2025 (USD MILLION)
11 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE (Page No. - 194)
11.1 OVERVIEW
11.2 COMPETITIVE LEADERSHIP MAPPING FOR TIER I & II COMPANIES
11.2.1 VISIONARY LEADERS
11.2.2 INNOVATORS
11.2.3 DYNAMIC DIFFERENTIATORS
11.2.4 EMERGING COMPANIES
FIGURE 34 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET: COMPETITIVE LEADERSHIP MAPPING, 2019 (TIER I & II)
11.3 STRENGTH OF PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
FIGURE 35 PRODUCT PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS OF TOP PLAYERS IN MARKET
11.4 BUSINESS STRATEGY EXCELLENCE
FIGURE 36 BUSINESS STRATEGY EXCELLENCE OF TOP PLAYERS IN MARKET
11.5 COMPETITIVE LEADERSHIP MAPPING FOR TIER III COMPANIES
11.5.1 PROGRESSIVE COMPANIES
11.5.2 STARTING BLOCKS
11.5.3 RESPONSIVE COMPANIES
11.5.4 DYNAMIC COMPANIES
FIGURE 37 DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET: COMPETITIVE LEADERSHIP MAPPING, 2019 (TIER III)
11.6 COMPETITIVE BENCHMARKING
11.6.1 STRENGTH OF PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
11.6.2 BUSINESS STRATEGY EXCELLENCE
FIGURE 38 KEY DEVELOPMENTS OF THE LEADING PLAYERS IN THE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET, 2014-2020
11.7 MARKET SHARE OF KEY PLAYERS, 2019
FIGURE 39 JAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AND NETAFIM LED THE DRIP IRRIGATION MARKET IN 2019
11.8 COMPETITIVE SCENARIO
11.8.1 NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES
TABLE 223 NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES, 2014-2020
11.8.2 EXPANSIONS
TABLE 224 EXPANSIONS, 2016-2019
11.8.3 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
TABLE 225 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS, 2014-2020
11.8.4 AGREEMENTS, COLLABORATIONS, PARTNERSHIPS, AND JOINT VENTURES
TABLE 226 AGREEMENTS, COLLABORATIONS, PARTNERSHIPS, AND JOINT VENTURES, 2014-2020
12 COMPANY PROFILES (Page No. - 213)
(Business overview, Products offered, Recent Developments, SWOT analysis, MNM view)*
12.1 JAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS LTD.
FIGURE 40 JAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS LTD.: COMPANY SNAPSHOT
FIGURE 41 JAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS LTD.: SWOT ANALYSIS
12.2 LINDSAY CORPORATION
FIGURE 42 LINDSAY CORPORATION: COMPANY SNAPSHOT
FIGURE 43 LINDSAY CORPORATION: SWOT ANALYSIS
12.3 THE TORO COMPANY
FIGURE 44 THE TORO COMPANY: COMPANY SNAPSHOT
FIGURE 45 THE TORO COMPANY: SWOT ANALYSIS
12.4 RIVULIS IRRIGATION LTD.
FIGURE 46 RIVULIS IRRIGATION LTD.: SWOT ANALYSIS
12.5 HUNTER INDUSTRIES INC.
FIGURE 47 HUNTER INDUSTRIES INC.: SWOT ANALYSIS
12.6 NETAFIM LTD.
FIGURE 48 NETAFIM LTD.: SWOT ANALYSIS
12.7 RAIN BIRD CORPORATION
12.8 CHINADRIP IRRIGATION EQUIPMENT CO. LTD.
12.9 ELGO IRRIGATION LTD.
12.10 SHANGHAI HUAWEI WATER SAVING IRRIGATION CORP. LTD.
12.11 ANTELCO PTY LTD.
12.12 MAHINDRA EPC LTD.
FIGURE 49 MAHINDRA EPC LTD.: COMPANY SNAPSHOT
12.13 MICROJET IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
12.14 ALKHORAYEF GROUP
12.15 METZER GROUP
12.16 GRUPO CHAMARTIN S.A.
12.17 SISTEMA AZUD S.A.
12.18 DRIPWORKS INC.
12.19 IRRITEC S.P.A
12.20 GOLDEN KEY MIDDLE EAST
12.21 KSNM DRIP
12.22 METRO IRRIGATION
12.23 RAINDRIP, INC
12.24 AGRODRIP S.A.
12.25 IRRIGATION DIRECT CANADA
*Details on Business overview, Products offered, Recent Developments, SWOT analysis, MNM view might not be captured in case of unlisted companies.
13 ADJACENT & RELATED MARKETS (Page No. - 269)
13.1 INTRODUCTION
13.2 LIMITATIONS
13.3 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET
13.3.1 MARKET DEFINITION
13.3.2 MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 50 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET IS ESTIMATED TO RECORD A HIGH GROWTH DUE TO ADOPTION OF SMART TECHNOLOGIES FOR AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES
13.3.3 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET, BY AUTOMATION TYPE
TABLE 227 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY AUTOMATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.4 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET, BY SYSTEM
TABLE 228 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY SYSTEM, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.5 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET, BY IRRIGATION TYPE
TABLE 229 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (THOUSAND HA)
TABLE 230 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.6 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET, BY END USE
TABLE 231 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY END USE, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.7 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET, BY COMPONENT
TABLE 232 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY COMPONENT, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.8 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET, BY REGION
TABLE 233 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2018-2025 (MILLION HA)
TABLE 234 IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.8.1 North America
TABLE 235 NORTH AMERICA: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (MILLION HA)
TABLE 236 NORTH AMERICA: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.8.2 Europe
TABLE 237 EUROPE: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (THOUSAND HA)
TABLE 238 EUROPE: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.8.3 Asia Pacific
TABLE 239 ASIA PACIFIC: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (THOUSAND HA)
TABLE 240 ASIA PACIFIC: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.8.4 South America
TABLE 241 SOUTH AMERICA: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (THOUSAND HA)
TABLE 242 SOUTH AMERICA: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.3.8.5 Rest of the World (RoW)
TABLE 243 ROW: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (THOUSAND HA)
TABLE 244 ROW: IRRIGATION AUTOMATION MARKET SIZE, BY IRRIGATION TYPE, 2018-2025 (USD MILLION) 281
13.4 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEM MARKET
13.4.1 MARKET DEFINITION
13.4.2 MARKET OVERVIEW
FIGURE 51 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET IS ESTIMATED TO RECORD A HIGH GROWTH DUE TO MINIMUM LABOR REQUIREMENT
13.4.3 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY TYPE
TABLE 245 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY TYPE, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.4.4 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE
TABLE 246 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.4.5 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY FIELD SIZE
TABLE 247 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY FIELD SIZE, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.4.6 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY MOBILITY
TABLE 248 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY MOBILITY, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.4.7 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION
TABLE 249 SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.4.7.1 North America
TABLE 250 NORTH AMERICA: SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.4.7.2 Europe
TABLE 251 EUROPE: SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.4.7.3 Asia Pacific
TABLE 252 ASIA PACIFIC: SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.4.7.4 South America
TABLE 253 SOUTH AMERICA: SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
13.4.7.5 Rest of the World (row)
TABLE 254 ROW: SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MARKET SIZE, BY CROP TYPE, 2017-2025 (USD MILLION)
14 APPENDIX (Page No. - 292)
14.1 DISCUSSION GUIDE
14.2 KNOWLEDGE STORE: MARKETSANDMARKETS' SUBSCRIPTION PORTAL
14.3 AVAILABLE CUSTOMIZATIONS
14.4 RELATED REPORTS
14.5 AUTHOR DETAILS | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
New Trivia Feature Debuts
As seen on Raw last night, WWE launched a new trivia feature which was sponsored by Little Caesars. The question, which was pretty great in my opinion, asked which WWE legend was cousin to the Hart Family, with the answer being Roddy Piper.
WWE Edits Raw Crowd Reactions
Also on Raw last night, while many of the live crowd reactions were heard on the final broadcast, including many of the chants directed towards Big Show, one noticeable edit was Randy Orton vs Cesaro. When a graphic was shown announcing the match, Cesaro actually got a huge pop from the live crowd which WWE edited out. The canned pop went to Orton instead, and Cesaro’s reaction was barely audible.
WWE at Facebook HQ (Video)
The following has been posted on Twitter, featuring WWE stars visiting the Facebook HQ in London: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Six nights a week after a hard day’s work, Michelle Sebastian, 29, single and a luxury hotel executive in Bangalore, returns home to a hot shower and a large bowl of noodles. She changes the vegetables each night, she switches the sauces and she varies the masala, the blend of Indian spices. But her dinnertime staple stays the same: instant noodles.
Life and Love in the New Bangalore Tales of ambition and youth from India’s outsourcing hub.
“I throw in broccoli, baby corn, shallots, sprouts, whatever I fancy.”
“Sometimes I sauté it in sesame oil or add cheese.”
One day it is noodle soup, the next day it could be noodles mildly tossed in butter.
Ms. Sebastian, a vegetarian, cannot stop gushing about the versatility and wholesomeness of her daily meal.
Her culinary pick may seem bland considering the bewildering array of choices in the city around her. At standing room-only joints, the local idli-dosa (steamed savory cakes and crisp crepes from rice batter), are served through the day. There are thali places, which serve up a variety of morsels that make up a wholesome meal on a thali, or tray. There are cafes serving sandwiches, and tony restaurants where waiters expertly uncork wine bottles as they present the chef’s French culinary concoctions.
And yet, with all this within reach, Ms. Sebastian and other young professionals in Bangalore and other Indian cities are increasingly reaching for instant noodles. The Indian instant noodles market, currently an estimated $300 million, will double in the next few years, says the consultancy group Technopak Advisors.
Saritha Rai for The New York Times
Could it be that in the vast culinary expanse that is India, from Kashmir in the north to the southern tip of Kanyakumari, from the arid deserts in the West to the coastal states in the East, where gastronomic diversity is a fundamental truth, has found a unifying food at long last?
Once alien to India’s food culture, instant noodles have captured the collective imagination of young Indians, somewhat like the domination of English, a language that holds sway in a country with so many native tongues. Instant noodles are a habit from the growing up years for those born in the last few decades, says Chirag Yadav who runs Chaipatty, a Bangalore hangout that serves tea and two-minute noodles.
“For many middle-class Indians living away from home, it is about the struggle to eat on a small budget, the challenge of rustling up a snack without a proper cooking appliance, and the urge to sate sudden hunger pangs whether at three in the morning or four in the afternoon.”
Mr.Yadav says on-the-go noodles adequately reflect the personality of those in their 20s and 30s — having a quick-fix meal within reaching distance 24×7 — something that Indian food, with its lengthy preparation time and complicated cooking processes, does not lend itself to.
“It works for the Facebook and Twitter generation – insomniacs staying up late even if they have to get in to work by 9am — who want to grab a bowl of noodles to quiet the midnight cravings,” says Mr. Yadav.
Supermarkets in every city have rows of shelf space dedicated to a profusion of instant noodle brands in a baffling range of flavors.
There are multi-grain and whole wheat variants, spinach- and beet-infused ones. You can choose between curry, or masala or chicken tikka flavors.
Perhaps therein is the secret of its popularity.
“The liberal use of ginger, garlic, onions and chilli pepper transforms the dish to suit the Indian palate,” says Kripal Amanna, a food writer. ‘Indianizing’ the noodles or even giving it a regional twist is not much of a challenge, he says.
To many, noodles are a pleasant diversion from staple Indian carbohydrates of rice or wheat rotis, flatbread.
“Instant” noodles are also instantly available. Tiny neighborhood groceries carry dozens of variants. Stores selling cigarettes and morning newspapers have packets of noodles strung out in the front. It is on the menu of roadside eateries, self-service breakfast nooks, and hole-in-the-wall places in remote locations.
In a recent Bollywood potboiler Ra.One, superstar Shahrukh Khan uses his fingers to shovel yogurt and noodles (yogurt suey?) into his mouth, a takeoff on the south Indian custom of eating rice and yogurt.
The noodle obsession transcends class, regional and culinary expertise barriers. In contrast to the rest of the world, instant noodles here are “100 percent vegetarian”.
A single-serve packet starts from 5 rupees ($0.10) and requires no cooking skills, unlike traditional Indian dishes.
Noodle mania is only rising as urban Indian households cope with a time deficit. More women are getting into the workforce, and more men are entering the kitchen to pull together meals with modern-day quick fixes such as instant noodles.
Activist groups warn that the national proclivity to burgers, pizzas, colas and instant noodles — whose ingredients are often mislabeled — could drive a country genetically prone to heart disease and diabetes towards a health care crisis. In Bangalore, obesity is on the rise, as the increased advertising for weight loss medicines and slimming clinics suggests.
But for the petite Ms. Sebastian, a few added vegetables convert the bowlful of noodles into a fresh and healthy choice, easing away the guilt of eating “junk.’’
Saritha Rai sometimes feels she is the only person living in Bangalore who was actually raised here. There’s never a dull moment in her mercurial metropolis. Reach her on Twitter @SarithaRai. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
В Госдуме России признали, что конституция РФ важнее "каких-то конвенций какого-то Евросоюза и каких-то законов международного характера".
Об этом заявил первый заместитель председателя комитета Госдумы по международным делам Леонид Калашников (КПРФ), комментируя запрос в Конституционный суд о применении решений Европейского суда в России, сообщает РИА Новости.
"Я всегда выступал за приоритет российского права над международным. Сегодня мы наприсоединялись к стольким конвенциям, что нас просто разденут и разуют скоро всякие иски типа ЮКОС на 50 миллиардов. Кто бы чего ни предпринял против России, оно, как правило, одобряется", - заявил Калашников.
По мнению депутата, Конституционному суду пришло время дать пояснение о приоритетах. Калашников напомнил, что, например, в США существует приоритет национальных законов над международными договорами.
Как сообщал "Обозреватель", Россия проиграла длившийся почти десять лет судебный процесс, инициированный экс-акционерами ЮКОСа. Третейский суд в Гааге счел, что Россия нарушала Энергетическую хартию, и фактически признал нефтекомпанию экспроприированной. По решению суда, Россия также должна оплатить издержки судебного процесса в размере $65 млн.
Также в прошлом году ЕСПЧ присудил экс-акционерам ЮКОСа €1,86 млрд. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Over the Thanksgiving break the intrepid crew over at Chipworks sent over their initial teardown information for Apple’s A9X SoC. The heart of the recently launched iPad Pro, the A9X is the latest iteration in Apple’s line of tablet-focused SoCs. We took an initial look at A9X last month, but at the time we only had limited information based on what our software tools could tell us. The other half of the picture (and in a literal sense, the entire picture) is looking at the physical layout of the chip, and now thanks to Chipworks we have that in hand and can confirm and reject some of our earlier theories.
A9X is the first dedicated ARM tablet SoC to be released on a leading-edge FinFET process, and it’s being paired with Apple’s first large-format tablet, which in some ways changes the rules of the game. Apple has to contend with the realities of manufacturing a larger SoC on a leading-edge process, and on the other hand a larger tablet that’s approaching the size of an Ultrabook opens up new doors as far as space and thermals are concerned. As a result while we could make some initial educated guesses, we’ve known that there would be a curveball in A9X’s design, and that’s something we couldn’t confirm until the release of Chipworks’ die shot. So without further ado:
A9X Die Shot w/AT Annotations (Die Shot Courtesy Chipworks)
Apple SoC Comparison A9X A9 A8X A6X CPU 2x Twister 2x Twister 3x Typhoon 2x Swift CPU Clockspeed 2.26GHz 1.85GHz 1.5GHz 1.3GHz GPU PVR 12 Cluster Series7 PVR GT7600 Apple/PVR GXA6850 PVR SGX554 MP4 RAM 4GB LPDDR4 2GB LPDDR4 2GB LPDDR3 1GB LPDDR2 Memory Bus Width 128-bit 64-bit 128-bit 128-bit Memory Bandwidth 51.2GB/sec 25.6GB/sec 25.6GB/sec 17.1GB/sec L2 Cache 3MB 3MB 2MB 1MB L3 Cache None 4MB 4MB N/A Manufacturing Process TSMC 16nm FinFET TSMC 16nm &
Samsung 14nm TSMC 20nm Samsung 32nm
Die Size: 147mm2, Manufactured By TSMC
First off, Chipworks’ analysis shows that the A9X is roughly 147mm2 in die size, and that it’s manufactured by TSMC on their 16nm FinFET process. We should note that Chipworks has only looked at the one sample, but unlike the iPhone 6s there’s no reason to expect that Apple is dual-sourcing a much lower volume tablet SoC.
At 147mm2 the A9X is the second-largest of Apple’s X-series tablet SoCs. Only the A5X, the first such SoC, was larger. Fittingly, it was also built relative to Apple’s equally large A5 phone SoC. With only 3 previous tablet SoCs to use as a point of comparison I’m not sure there’s really a sweet spot we can say that Apple likes to stick to, but after two generations of SoCs in the 120mm2 to 130mm2 range, A9X is noticeably larger.
Some of that comes from the fact that A9 itself is a bit larger than normal – the TSMC version is 104.5mm2 – but Apple has also clearly added a fair bit to the SoC. The wildcard here is what yields look like for Apple, as that would tell us a lot about whether 147mm2 is simply a large part or if Apple has taken a greater amount of risk than usual here. As 16nm FinFET is TSMC’s first-generation FinFET process, and save possibly some FPGAs this is the largest 16nm chip we know to be in mass production there, it’s reasonable to assume that yields aren’t quite as good as with past Apple tablet SoCs. But whether they’re significantly worse – and if this had any impact on Apple’s decision to only ship A9X with the more expensive iPad Pro – is a matter that we’ll have to leave to speculation at this time.
Finally, it's also worth noting just how large A9X is compared to other high performance processors. Intel's latest-generation Skylake processors measure in at ~99mm2 for the 2 core GT2 configuration (Skylake-Y 2+2), and even the 4 core desktop GT2 configuration (Intel Skylake-K 4+2) is only 122mm2. So A9X is larger than either of these CPU cores, though admittedly as a whole SoC A9X contains a number of functional units either not present on Skylake or on Skylake's Platform Controller Hub (PCH). Still, this is the first time that we've seen an Apple launch a tablet SoC larger than an Intel 4 core desktop CPU.
GPU: PVR 12 cluster Series7
One thing we do know is that Apple has invested a lot of their die space into ramping up the graphics subsystem and the memory subsystem that feeds it. Based on our original benchmark results of the A9X and the premium on FinFET production at the moment, I expected that the curveball with A9X would be that Apple went with a more unusual 10 core PowerVR Series7 configuration, up from 6 cores in A9. Instead, based on Chipworks’ die shot, I have once again underestimated Apple’s willingness to quickly ramp up the number of GPU cores they use. Chipworks’ shot makes it clear that there are 12 GPU cores, twice the number found in the A9.
In Imagination’s PowerVR Series7 roadmap, the company doesn’t have an official name for a 12 core configuration, as this falls between the 8 core GT7800 and 16 core GT7900. So for the moment I’m simply calling it a “PowerVR 12 cluster Series7 design,” and with any luck Imagination will use a more fine-grained naming scheme for future generations of PowerVR graphics.
In any case, the use of a 12 core design is a bit surprising since it means that Apple was willing to take the die space hit to implement additional GPU cores, despite the impact this would have on chip yields and costs. If anything, with the larger thermal capacity and battery of the iPad Pro, I had expected Apple to use higher GPU clockspeeds (and eat the power cost) in order to save on chip costs. Instead what we’re seeing is a GPU that essentially offers twice the GPU power of A9’s GPU. We don’t know the clockspeed of the GPU – this being somewhat problematic to determine within the iOS sandbox – but based on our earlier performance results it’s likely that A9X’s GPU is only clocked slightly higher than A9’s. I say slightly higher because no GPU gets 100% performance scaling with additional cores, and with our GFXBench Manhattan scores being almost perfectly double that of A9’s, it stands to reason that Apple had to add a bit more to the GPU clockspeed to get there.
Meanwhile looking at the die shot a bit deeper, it’s interesting how spread out the GPU is. Apple needed to place 6 clusters and their associated shared logic on A9X, and they did so in a decidedly non-symmetrical manner. On that note, it’s worth pointing out that while Apple doesn’t talk about their chip design and licensing process, it’s highly likely that Apple has been doing their own layout/synthesis work for their PowerVR GPUs since at least the A4 and its PowerVR SGX 535, as opposed to using the hard macros from Imagination. This is why Apple is able to come up with GPU configurations that are supported by the PowerVR Rogue architecture, but aren’t official configurations offered by Imagination. A8X remains an especially memorable case since we didn’t initially know Series6XT could scale to 8 GPU cores until Apple went and did it, but otherwise what we see with any of these recent Apple SoCs is what should be a distinctly Apple GPU layout.
Moving on, the memory controller of the A9X is a 128-bit LPDDR4 configuration. With twice as many GPU cores, Apple needs twice as much memory bandwidth to maintain the same bandwidth-to-core ratio, so like the past X-series tablet SoCs, A9X implements a 128-bit bus. For Apple this means they now have a sizable 51.2GB/sec of memory bandwidth to play with. For a SoC this is a huge amount of bandwidth, but at the same time it’s quickly going to be consumed by those 12 GPU cores.
L3 Cache: None
Finally let’s talk about the most surprising aspect of the A9X, its L3 cache layout. When we published our initial A9X results we held off talking about the L3 cache as our tools pointed out some extremely unusual results that we wanted to wait on the Chipworks die shot to confirm. What we were seeing was that there wasn’t a section of roughly 50ns memory latency around the 4MB mark, which in A9 is the transfer size at which we hit its 4MB L3 victim cache.
What Chipworks’ die shot now lets us confirm is that this wasn’t a fluke in our tools or the consequence of a change in how Apple’s L3 cache mechanism worked, but rather that there isn’t any L3 cache at all. After introducing the L3 cache with the A7 in 2013, Apple has eliminated it from the A9X entirely. The only cache to be found on A9X are the L1 and L2 caches for the CPU and GPU respectively, along with some even smaller amounts for cache for various other functional blocks.
The big question right now is why Apple would do this. Our traditional wisdom here is that the L3 cache was put in place to service both the CPU and GPU, but especially the GPU. Graphics rendering is a memory bandwidth-intensive operation, and as Apple has consistently been well ahead of many of the other ARM SoC designers in GPU performance, they have been running headlong into the performance limitations imposed by narrow mobile memory interfaces. An L3 cache, in turn, would alleviate some of that memory pressure and keep both CPU and GPU performance up.
One explanation may be that Apple deemed the L3 cache no longer necessary with the A9X’s 128-bit LPDDR4 memory bus; that 51.2GB/sec of bandwidth meant that they no longer needed the cache to avoid GPU stalls. However while the use of LPDDR4 may be a factor, Apple’s ratio of bandwidth-to-GPU cores of roughly 4.26GB/sec-to-1 core is identical to A9’s, which does have an L3 cache. With A9X being a larger A9 in so many ways, this alone isn’t the whole story.
What’s especially curious is that the L3 cache on the A9 wasn’t costing Apple much in the way of space. Chipworks puts the size of A9’s 4MB L3 cache block at a puny ~4.5 mm2, which is just 3% the size of A9X. So although there is a cost to adding L3 cache, unless there are issues we can’t see even with a die shot (e.g. routing), Apple didn’t save much by getting rid of the L3 cache.
Our own Andrei Frumusanu suspects that it may be a power matter, and that Apple was using the L3 cache to save on power-expensive memory operations on the A9. With A9X however, it’s a tablet SoC that doesn’t face the same power restrictions, and as a result doesn’t need a power-saving cache. This would be coupled with the fact that with double the GPU cores, there would be a lot more pressure on just a 4MB cache versus the pressure created by A9, which in turn may drive the need for a larger cache and ultimately an even larger die size.
As it stands there’s no one obvious reason, and it’s likely that all 3 factors – die size, LPDDR4, and power needs – all played a part here, with only those within the halls of One Infinite Loop knowing for sure. However I will add that since Apple has removed the L3 cache, the GPU L2 cache must be sizable. Imagination’s tile based deferred rendering technology needs an on-chip cache to hold tiles in to work on, and while they don’t need an entire frame’s worth of cache (which on iPad Pro would be over 21MB), they do need enough cache to hold a single tile. It’s much harder to estimate GPU L2 cache size from a die shot (especially with Apple’s asymmetrical design), but I wouldn’t be surprised of A9X’s GPU L2 cache is greater than A9’s or A8X’s.
In any case, the fact that A9X lacks an L3 cache doesn’t change the chart-topping performance we’ve been seeing from iPad Pro, but it means that Apple has once more found a way to throw us a new curveball. And closing on that note, we’ll be back in December with our full review of the iPad Pro and a deeper look at A9X’s performance, so be sure to stay tuned for that. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
As we all know, thanks to the History Channel, the world will end ... sometime Friday.
Unfortunately, we still don't know if our finale will come via an asteroid, a super-virus or a rise of the planet of the apes. The ancient Mayans didn't specify.
But listen-up, Syracuse: Certain matters must be resolved before we march -- or, in case of a zombie apocalypse, lurch -- into doomsday.
Yes, folks, it's time to start padding our obit and tie up a few loose items.
We gotta hurry. We may only have a few hours ...
1. Formal proclamation forgiving Keith Smart
An official City Hall parchment must be written in official City Hall mumbo jumbo, with several "whereas-es" and a "therefore." It should be signed by politicos, religious leaders and, most importantly, Syracuse University basketball coach Jim Boeheim. The end will come nearly 25 years since Smart's jump shot propelled Indiana University past SU in the 1987 NCAA men's championship. Let's not cling to bitterness. In fact, let's offer Smart a "Doomsday Key to the City:" He gets meals, drink, a car -- anything he wants. Too bad the world's about to end, eh, Keith? Hey, ask us how it feels.
2. Pick up the traffic cones
Yes, we're done fixing the highways. In fact, let's announce that everything is finished -- everything. No more cleaning the lake, expanding the mall, boosting the downtown, saving the neighborhoods. We're finally done. This is it, everybody: What you see is what we got. The roads are the roads, the lake is the lake, Syracuse isn't Manhattan, but neither is Rochester. It was never our destiny to build the world's largest mall. Who needed a shopping center with its own area code? Cut the ribbons, everybody. Gather the dignitaries, including Keith Smart. We're done. (And not a moment too soon.)
3. Welcome home, Tom and Richard
A true e-Hollywood factoid says Tom Cruise was born in Syracuse, before his family headed to Canada. His daughter, Suri Cruise, rhymes with his home town. (What's with that, anyway?) Plus, Richard Gere grew up in Liverpool. So quick, here's our mission impossible: Whisk them home for the last act. In the movies, that's how it happens -- the big chase scene. They can even serve as Keith Smart's chauffeur. (Nobody else will.)
4. Reopen -- then re-close -- Manley Fieldhouse
We cannot forget John Thompson's famous 1980 taunt: "Manley Fieldhouse is officially closed." It came after his Georgetown men's basketball team beat SU in the final men's game ever played at Manley. .. until now. SU must reopen the arena for men's hoops and play one last intersquad game and -- this is critical -- win! Then, quick, close the place! For good!
5. Universal pardon of winter
Let us formally absolve the season of winter for its criminal involvement in every fender-bender, travel delay and frozen body appendage that ever prompted us to scream its name in vain. Even with global warming on our side, we shall declare an end to hostilities. Winter will go into the books as just one of the four seasons -- the others, of course, being "Still Winter, Almost Winter and Three Months of Bad Sledding." (That's a 40-year-old Syracuse joke, by the way.) Keep in mind that if the world ends Friday, we avoid winter. Even doomsday has its bright side.
6. Bump the borders
For the last century, the city of Rochester has enjoyed the smug, self-importance of being New York's third largest city. Let's wipe that Kodak grin off its face. In a matter of minutes, the city of Syracuse should annex Auburn, Cortland, Oneida and Fulton and become No. 3. Or maybe annex Rochester itself, and knock Buffalo off its winged "Queen City" pedestal. Or let's secede from New York State and declare ourselves the People's Republic of Syracuse. We must work fast, though, so Albany cannot launch a counter-move. And let's not turn our back on Utica.
7. The Saltine Warrior
Generations of SU traditionalists still pine for the courageous warrior on horseback who graced the peak of SU's football history. The greatest player ever, Jim Brown, led the Orange into an era that included the likes of Ernie Davis and Floyd Little. But where is the Saltine Warrior? Baby boomers see Otto the Orange as little more than an Alfred E. Newman face sewn into a pillow. For the final glorious hours, put somebody on a horse and bring back the Warrior. And if we can find a private jet, bring back Jim Brown. For the finale, let's bring back the greatest player ever.
8. State fair attendance record
Let's face it: In the final meltdown, two places will draw the masses. First is the fair. Who wouldn't want to be vaporized with a grilled sausage, while frying in the metal bleachers of Chevy Court? We can set the all-time fair record. The second location: Wegman's. Surely, Alec Baldwin will be there, holding court on food court. Let's just hope they don't run out of half-moon cookies.
9. Ask forgiveness from the Iroquois
Hat in hand, emissaries must march to the Onondaga Nation, and simply say, "Hey, we're sorry for taking your land." Yes, it's more than two centuries after the fact. Better late than never. At the end of the world, don't you think they would forgive?
10. Time capsule
Quick: Send a delegation to the base of Onondaga Lake, where the Haudenosaunee Tree of Life once grew. Find a tall pine, dig a hole, bury all the traffic cones, cover it with a slab of concrete and then let some little kid scribble this inscription: "We had fun. See you in 10 million years. The Cuse."
Best part: If on Saturday, the world
HASN'T
ended -- oh well, no damage done. We just give Keith Smart a bag of salt potatoes and send him packing. But let's leave those traffic cones buried. Starting tomorrow, it's a new world. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
11 Min read time Share:
Image: Jared Rodriguez, Truthout
Contrary to most narratives, corporations have always been one of the most powerful forces in American political life.
The mass defection of CEOs of some of the nation’s most powerful corporations from President Trump’s now-defunct Manufacturing Jobs Initiative and his Strategy and Policy Forum has led to a spate of commentary about the turn of business leaders to politics, much of it suggesting that this is a new phenomenon. “This is a remarkable moment in history,” observes Lou Dobbs, the business journalist turned right-wing political commentator. Dobbs is quoted in a recent celebratory New York Times article by David Gelles on corporate executives. Also quoted in the article is Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, who states, “In this maelstrom, the most clarifying voice has been the voice of business.”
Business got political a long time ago; indeed, it has consistently been one of the most powerful forces in American political life. So how did this come to be obscured?
There is an emerging mythology around the involvement of business elites in politics—recent commentary marks it as a new phase of corporate activism, a radical break from the past. “Companies got political only under duress,” Gelles claims. These commentaries suggest that businesses have been forced against their will into the political fray. “Companies are naturally designed to be moneymaking enterprises,” writes Gelles. The assumption here is not only that businesses have been brought unwillingly into the political arena but that the innate purpose of business—moneymaking—is outside of the realm of politics. The reality is that business “got political” a long time ago; indeed, it has consistently been one of the most powerful forces in American political life. How did this story come to be obscured?
One answer is that both business leaders and pundits have emphasized business’s role in the culture wars while minimizing its role in the class war. Politics is about “taking a stand or adopting a cause,” as Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, told Gelles, “cause” being understood here not as capital gains tax rates, but as engaging in social issues. This perspective limits the boundaries of politics to “speaking out” on controversial social issues. And it ignores the “stands” that corporate leaders take on economic issues—regulation and anti-trust, for example. In this telling, their positions are less acts of politics than of doing what comes naturally and spontaneously for people oriented toward profit-making as their raison d’être.
There are at least two other reasons for the obfuscation of corporate politics. One is that business advocates since the New Deal have claimed that their political forays are purely defensive. Another is that commentators have fenced economics off from politics, so that pursuing profit is viewed as the natural condition of business, a healthy state that can be dangerously distorted by the introduction of the “political” concerns of government officials. This view goes back at least as far as the presidency of Calvin Coolidge, who famously declared that “the chief business of the American people is business.” But his subsequent (and often ignored) statement is perhaps more significant: “They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world. I am strongly of opinion that the great majority of people will always find these are moving impulses of our life.” For Coolidge, business was a substitute for politics, not merely for businesspeople, but for all Americans.
If ordinary people are incipient business owners, then the reverse is also true: businesses are treated as people. This view, which dates back to nineteenth-century jurisprudence and the doctrine of “corporate personhood,” has only accelerated in recent years. It is not uncommon for Hobby Lobby to be described as a “Christian” or “faith-based” company, or for the Berkeley-based fast-food restaurant, Top Dog, to be called a “libertarian business.” These designations are a new phenomenon. Although there have always been companies that sold religious products and business titans, such as John D. Rockefeller, who were characterized as Christians, nobody would have described Standard Oil as a “Christian enterprise.” While the new nomenclature can be seen as a recognition of the political nature of business, it has been used very differently—as an assertion of identity politics.
‘The chief business of the American people is business.’
It is a measure of the influence of this discourse—and part of a long-term concerted campaign by advocates of “free enterprise”—that Gelles accepts the view that profits are the “natural design” of business and that it is only the recent “duress” that has led businesses to engage in politics. Business leaders have long couched their combativeness as a response to unfair attacks by savvy and effective bureaucrats and politicians armed with highly cultivated political instincts, which businessmen and women supposedly lack. In accepting this conception of apolitical businesspeople forced into politics, recent commentators are recapitulating an old story, one that has been narrated since at least the early days of the New Deal. This narrative was repeated throughout the period from the 1930s through the 1970s, the era that historians refer to as the “New Deal Order.” The culmination of this style of argument came in 1971, with a document that has come to be known to history as the “Powell Memo.”
• • •
Forty-six years ago, the corporate lawyer, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., just months away from being nominated by Richard Nixon for a place on the Supreme Court, wrote a confidential memorandum to the US Chamber of Commerce in which he encouraged current business leaders and trade groups to inject themselves more firmly in politics. In his memo, Powell claimed that what he called “the apathy of business”—its normal state of disengagement from politics—was increasingly untenable. “No thoughtful person can question that the American economic system is under broad attack,” Powell wrote. Business needed to respond forcefully, for the “survival of what we call the free enterprise system” was at stake. The old formula, in which business interests “tried to maintain low profiles, especially with respect to political action” was no longer feasible in a new era that called for “hard-nose contest with their critics.” If what Powell called “the business system” was to flourish, it would have to get over “a disposition to appease” and stop shunning “confrontation politics,” which had, regrettably, become a necessary tool in the battle to save itself and the country.
The Powell Memo is the culmination of a long-term strategy of fighting—rather than accommodating—the New Deal order.
What was significant about the Powell Memo was not just that it encouraged business leaders and organizations to engage in anti-governmental politics, but that it also counseled them to enter into the culture wars. Powell emphasized that his colleagues should fight in the arena of popular culture. He demanded ideological “balance” on college campuses and in the media (which, he noted, were fundamentally businesses dependent “upon profits, and the enterprise system to survive”). Claiming that the media had puffed up Ralph Nader into a “legend,” he called for equal veneration for business leaders. He highlighted the importance of “television, which now plays such a predominant role in shaping the thinking, attitudes and emotions of our people” and devoted a whole section to this topic in a portion of the memo titled “What Can Be Done About the Public?”
In September 1972, after Powell joined the Supreme Court, his confidential memo was made public. The investigative reporter Jack Anderson broke the story of Powell’s memo in three of his “Washington Merry-Go-Round” columns, calling it “a blueprint for an assault by big business on its critics,” which reflected a “militant political action program.” (Anderson lifted the phrase “political action” directly from Powell.) Ever since, commentators have pointed to it as an important turning point in the conservative counterrevolution. The Powell Memo changed America and ignited a right-wing political movement, according to Jerry Landay, in a hyperbolic assessment that is not out of line with the views of many commentators.
But even then, Powell’s message that business needed to enter politics was not new. In 1933, soon after Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, one of his leading opponents, Col. Robert R. McCormick, the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, argued that “business must enter politics or be destroyed by radical notions.” As McCormick described it, this was an unwanted and purely defensive war. Politics, in the form of the New Deal, imperiled business and therefore business must, against its normal instincts, turn to politics so as to be able to carry out its normal, apolitical functions. Such calls for business leaders to enter politics were echoed throughout the twentieth century.
The Powell Memo is thus best thought of as the culmination of a long-term strategy of fighting—rather than accommodating—the New Deal order, of becoming political only to defeat politicians who were straying outside of their lanes in their attack on business. It was also an extension of the recognition that public relations was a crucial front in the war for free enterprise, a position that advocates of “selling free enterprise” had stressed since the 1930s. With the benefit of historical hindsight, we can observe that Powell wrote his memorandum at a time when the New Deal coalition was under threat. One of the most astute readers of the change in mood was Richard Nixon. In a nationwide radio address in 1968, he announced that a totally different grouping had emerged, one which would take down the last vestiges of the New Deal order. “Without most of us realizing it, a new alignment has been formed,” Nixon declared. He called this alignment the “silent center.” Nixon’s message was not at all new: “The more centralized and domineering a government gets, the less personal freedom there is for the individual.” But he argued that this message had a more receptive audience that made up the nation’s majority. Nixon was prescient. A decade later, a Gallup poll confirmed increasing agreement with the claim that “the government has gone too far in regulating business and interfering with the free enterprise system.”
Business interests won this political battle in large measure by claiming that to reject “politics” as it has become understood at the height of American liberalism. In his memo, Powell highlighted the danger of “stampedes by politicians to support almost any legislation related to ‘consumerism’ or to the ‘environment.’” Powell called for a revival of faith in what he said was “variously called: the ‘free enterprise system,’ ‘capitalism,’ and the ‘profit system.’” This was the natural business environment, rather than the bureaucratically imposed and therefore political system that threatened to turn the nation in a socialist direction.
In hiving off economics from ethical and moral consideration, business elites and those writing about them have dangerously narrowed the meaning of politics.
Powell imagined a topsy-turvy world in which business had “little influence” in the political arena. On top of its own ineffectuality, business had become, Powell claimed, the “favorite whipping-boy of many politicians for many years.” It had, incredibly, sunk to the level of a subaltern group, a hated and despised “other,” whose interests were not represented in society’s corridors of power. Indeed, Powell claimed that “few elements of American society today have as little influence in government.” As evidence, Powell highlighted the widespread condemnation of corporations by that year’s presidential candidates. Moreover, Powell observed a growing class war that served to “undermine confidence and confuse the public.” He detected in the attacks on free enterprise a new form of “political demagoguery”—which consisted of “setting of the ‘rich’ against the ‘poor,’ of business against the people”—as “the cheapest and most dangerous kind of politics.” Given business’s status as a “whipping-boy,” Powell understood these juxtapositions as perverse because it they justified class warfare directed against a group lacking prestige or power.
It is in this context that Milton Friedman’s 1970 defense of business’s responsibility to produce “profits” is significant. What Gelles takes to be an argument for political neutrality, was, in reality, a manifesto for a counterrevolution against the social control of business through governmental instruments. It was a call for business to reclaim its rightful place as director of its destiny rather than being “unwitting puppets,” as he put it, to “the intellectual forces that have been undermining the basis of a free society.” Friedman, like Powell, wrote in a highly charged political moment, a time when the consumer advocate, Nader, routinely made Gallup’s annual list of most admired Americans and young people were, according to Stewart Alsop (in a passage quoted by Powell) disposed to “despise the American political and economic system” and support the “socialization of basic U.S. industries.” In supporting the idea that business should operate according to natural “market mechanisms” rather than “political mechanisms” as “the appropriate way to determine the allocation of scarce resources,” Friedman was himself making a political argument masked as an observation about how business worked.
Readers of the Friedman article took him to be making a political argument. They responded that there was nothing natural about profits—that they should be thought of as the product of political debate and discussion. “When we demand that automobiles be designed so as not to foul the air, we are weighing a 1 per cent reduction in corporate profits against a 10 per cent increase in the cost of remaining healthy,” argued one of the letters to the Times in response to the article. Another reader noted that profit maximization by business forced “society at large to absorb the costs of environmental pollution, rather than internalizing such costs and thereby reducing net profits.” In the 1970s, as the New Deal Order waned, business’s assertions that profits were neutral and outside of politics were frequently challenged. The recent commentary on businesspeople in politics suggests the need for a revival of such provocations.
Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks, is quoted in Gelles’ article praising the recent political awakening of CEOs: “Not every business decision is an economic one.” This is undoubtedly true. But what has been obscured in the recent celebrations of the newfound moral voice of business leaders is that economic decisions are also political. In emphasizing a certain type of corporate ethics and hiving off economics from ethical and moral consideration, both business leaders and those writing about them have dangerously narrowed the meaning of politics. In so doing, they have reinforced business leaders’ preferred narrative about the nature of business—a story which insulates them from criticism of their actual role as important political actors in all senses of the term. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A coalition of Muslim NGOs has threatened to campaign against Muslim MPs who don't support PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's controversial bill to amend the law on punishments imposed by syariah courts.
Ummat secretariat chairperson Aminuddin Yahaya said the motion - which seeks to push for amendments to the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355) - will only affect Muslims, and as such there was no reason for Muslim MPs to oppose it.
"We are issuing an ultimatum. They (Muslim MPs) have to support (the motion).
"If Muslim MPs oppose (the motion), we will, in the 14th general election, campaign in their parliamentary constituencies and explain that these are the leaders who opposed the strengthening of Islamic laws," Aminuddin said when met outside Parliament today.
He was there as part of a demonstration to show support for Hadi's motion.
Some 70 people, many clad in black and white jubahs, were lined up along the bridge leading to Parliament, holding placards to voice their support for Hadi’s motion.
The motion was to tabled for debate in the House about 12.15pm today.
The motion is on a bill seeking to raise the present punishment cap under syariah law to 30 years’ jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the whip.
The current syariah punishment cap is three years’ imprisonment, RM5,000 fine and six strokes of the whip.
Aminuddin stressed that these amendments would only affect Muslims, and that lawmakers from parties such as DAP should explain this to their constituents. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Donald Trump has blasted the Scottish Government as 'small-minded and parachial' and labelled Alex Salmond a 'has been' after he l ost a legal battle against an offshore windfam being built in the view from his Scottish golf resort.
The controversial property tycoon had wanted to block plans for an 11-turbine scheme in the bay off the coast near the Trump International Golf Links at the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire.
Scottish Government ministers had approved proposals the wind farm in 2013, but Mr Trump said it would spoil the view from his luxury golf links - and argued that ministers were wrong to give the project the green light.
Donald Trump (pictured) has lost a legal battle against a proposed offshore wind farm that the US presidential hopeful claimed would spoil the view from his Scottish golf resort
The new wind farm will be just off the coast from Trump's resort, and the tycoon had tried to argue that it would ruin the view from his Menie Estate
He took his objection to the scheme to the Supreme Court in London in October, where his lawyers argued that the consent for the £230million European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre was unlawful, but his challenge was today dismissed.
A spokesman for the Trump Organisation said the fight would continue on 'every possible front'.
'This is an extremely unfortunate verdict for the residents of Aberdeen and anyone who cares about Scotland's economic future,' said George Sorial, executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, which is Mr Trump is the president of.
'The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre will completely destroy the bucolic Aberdeen Bay and cast a terrible shadow upon the future of tourism for the area.
'History will judge those involved unfavorably and the outcome demonstrates the foolish, small minded and parochial mentality which dominates the current Scottish Government's dangerous experiment with wind energy.'
Mr Sorial said planning conditions remained 'unpurified' and suggested that 'plummeting' oil prices and money shortages might prevent the completion of the project.
He added: 'We will evaluate the court's decision and continue to fight this proposal on every possible front.'
Mr Trump also labelled former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond a 'has-been' following today's verdict, after the SNP MP for Gordon said the billionaire was a 'three-time loser' who had 'at best postponed and at worst jeopardised' a £200 million economic boost from the offshore project.
Mr Salmond attacked Mr Trump for failing to live up to promises on the economic benefits of the Aberdeenshire course and for denying Scotland the chance of hosting the Open Championship at his second Scottish course at Turnberry in South Ayrshire following controversial comments on Mexicans and Muslims during the US presidential race.
The controversial property tycoon had wanted to block plans for an 11-turbine scheme in the bay off the coast near the Trump International Golf Links at the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire (pictured)
According to 'insiders' at golf's governing body the R&A, the controversy was enough for them to pull the plug of any chance Turnberry had of hosting The Open in 2020.
The MP said: 'As First Minister, I was cited in Trump's legal action. Now that it is concluded, I am free to speak my mind on the damaging impact of his interventions on the Scottish economy.
'First, he has failed to meet the claims he made for the Menie estate golf complex.
'He has created a fine golf course but it does not even have a permanent clubhouse at present, far less the claims of thousands of jobs and billions of investment.
'He has submitted further plans this year but we are now seven years into the project with very slow progress.
'Second, by his unacceptable behaviour he has condemned Turnberry, one of the outstanding golf courses on the planet, and the scene of two of the greatest Open Championships since the war, to Open Championship oblivion.
'There is no way the R&A will go near the Ayrshire course while Trump is in charge. As a result, Scotland stands to lose the £100 million economic return from a Turnberry Open.
'Third, this delay in the offshore wind demonstrator is deeply damaging to Scotland's hopes of being on the cutting edge of that new technology.
'His behaviour and comments are unlikely to attract the votes of many Mexican Americans or Muslim Americans.
Mr Trump is escorted by Scottish pipers as he officially opens his new multi-million pound Trump International Golf Links course in 2012
'Given his treatment of Scotland, Scots American are likely to join the ever-growing list of people alienated by Trump.'
Responding, a spokesman for the Trump Organisation said: 'Does anyone care what this man thinks? He’s a has-been and totally irrelevant.
'The fact that he doesn’t even know what’s going on in his own constituency says it all. We have a permanent clubhouse and the business is flourishing.
'He should go back to doing what he does best - unveiling pompous portraits of himself that pander to his already overinflated ego.'
Judges ruled against the billionaire businessman's objections to the project, a joint venture by Vattenfall Wind Power and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, which says the turbines would yield enough electricity to power 68,000 UK households over a year.
The loss of the long-running legal battle is another blow for Mr Trump, who has found himself under fire for controversial remarks made on the campaign trail in recent weeks, including proposing a ban on Muslims entering the US.
Mr Trump opened the Trump International Golf Links on the Menie Estate in 2012 after a string of clashes with Scottish environmentalists and homeowners, before falling foul of Mr Salmond.
However, he halted plans for an expansion of the course and associated facilities after Scottish Ministers approved the offshore wind farm.
Mr Trump's bid for a judicial review of the wind farm consent was first dismissed in February last year.
Mr Trump and his wife Melania in Las Vegas last night. He has come under fire in recent weeks for his controversial comments while on the campaign trail
The New-York-based entrepreneur, who is seeking the Republican nomination, then lodged an appeal against the ruling, but it was also rejected.
He had claimed the scheme's approval was predetermined and the Scottish Government showed a bias.
But the judgment concluded 'none of the considerations founded on by the petitioners comes anywhere near to supporting the petitioners' suspicions'.
Mr Trump previously vowed to take the case all the way to Europe if necessary, and has said he would pull the plug on plans to further develop the resort if the wind farm project went ahead.
TRUMP'S WIND FARM TRIBULATIONS 2006: Donald Trump buys land on the private Menie Estate in east coast of Scotland, eight miles north of the city of Aberdeen, for £7million, with plans to build 'the world's greatest golf course'. 2010: Work begins on the course following a lengthy planning wrangle and complaints from local politicians, people living nearby and environmentalists because the land includes protected coastal dunes. 2011: Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm applies for permission to create and run the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre in Aberdeen Bay, with a plan to build up to 11 wind turbines. July 2012: The 18-hole championship course, designed by Martin Hawtree, opens. March 2013: Scottish Government ministers approve proposals for the 11-turbine scheme. Trump International Golf Club Scotland then mount unsuccessful challenges against the decision in Scottish courts before appealing to the Supreme Court. Winter 2013: The hotel at the site opens, followed by a new clubhouse in May 2015. February 2014: Trump's petition to review the Scottish Government's decision not to hold a public inquiry on the wind farm application and their decision to grant consent for the project is dismissed. December 2015: Trump has loses his Supreme Court fight against the offshore wind farm project. Advertisement
A panel of five Supreme Court justices heard that Trump International Golf Club Scotland had developed a golf resort at the Menie Estate and Menie Links.
In 2011, Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm had applied for permission to create and run the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre in Aberdeen Bay, with a plan to build up to 11 wind turbines.
Scottish ministers agreed to the wind farm in 2013, when Trump International Golf Club Scotland then mounted two unsuccessful challenges against the decision in Scottish courts before appealing to the Supreme Court.
The golf course was approved by the Scottish Government in 2008 after a controversial public local inquiry but Mr Trump and Mr Salmond spectacularly fell out after Scottish ministers backed the proposed wind farm in Aberdeen bay.
In one letter, Mr Trump said the then first minister would be known as 'Mad Alex' and 'the man who destroyed Scotland' if the plans went ahead.
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: 'I am pleased that the Supreme Court has unanimously found in our favour.
'The proposed European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre is an important project for Aberdeen and north-east Scotland.
'It will give the industry the ability to test and demonstrate new technologies to enable costs to be further reduced.
'Aberdeen is already of global importance for hydrocarbons and this wind deployment centre cements its role in renewable offshore development, further positioning Aberdeen as the energy capital of Europe and a world energy centre.'
Vattenfall and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), partners of Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Ltd, the company behind the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), welcomed today’s Supreme Court decision.
Andy Paine, AOWFL project director, said: 'This is another significant step forward for the EOWDC. It affirms the scheme’s potential to position Scotland, and particularly the North-east, as a centre of innovative offshore wind power. The project partners remain committed to seeing the EOWDC come to fruition and delivering long-term economic benefits to the region.'
Aberdeen City Councillor Jenny Laing, said also welcomed the Supreme Court ruling.
She said: 'Both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils are today approving a Regional Economic Strategy which outlines a "Renaissance" scenario for the local economy in the next 20 years, in which we maximise the recovery of remaining oil and gas reserves from the UK Continental Shelf while diversifying into other sectors including renewables, tourism, food and drink, agriculture and life sciences.
The Republican front runner has caused international outrage in the last few months after a series of political gaffes made during the race to the White House.
The controversy reached a peak last week when Mr Trump called for a 'total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States' until further notice in the wake of deadly shootings in California.
More than half a million people have since backed a petition calling for the Republican candidate to be banned from the UK for 'hate speech'. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Blue tarps and patterned blankets form tents, while furniture, shopping carts, discarded shoes and other refuse are scattered up and down the sidewalks – it’s now an everyday scene that is having an impact on small businesses in Van Nuys.
Business owners in the San Fernando Valley say they are fed up with the growing number of homeless encampments and the trash that they are bringing with them.
“Our customers are scared to come to our businesses,” said one man who didn’t want to go on camera. “They feel it’s too scary to walk down the street, and it is.”
Encampments and a lot of trash are covering the streets and sidewalks in Van Nuys. On one street, a shopping cart carrying an empty cat litter container and other trash sat askew on the sidewalk, in front of discarded boxes, cups, clothes and other refuse. On the other side of the street, more shopping carts filled with garbage spilled out of makeshift tents up and down the sidewalk.
With fires and drug paraphernalia becoming an all-too common sight, business owners want the city to do more to clean up the mess.
The city of Los Angeles says it is doing what it can to help the situation, and that people should call 311 to report homeless encampments and trash. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
This report card isn’t going on anyone’s fridge.
Twentieth Century Fox received its first-quarter grades from the Walt Disney Co. last week, and in a public rebuke, the studio’s new corporate parent made it plain that it viewed the first few months as an ominous sign of trouble ahead.
In a sharp reprimand that left staffers at Fox reeling and worried about their already fragile job security, Disney chief executive Bob Iger declared on the company’s Aug. 6 quarterly earnings call that “the Fox studio performance … was well below where it had been and well below where we hoped it would be when we made the acquisition.” Iger’s tone was measured, but his message was clear: Shape up.
“I’ve never seen a public hanging like that,” remarks one prominent Hollywood producer.
Iger was giving voice to simmering frustrations on the part of many Disney insiders. Several people close to the matter say Walt Disney Studios chief creative officer and co-chairman Alan Horn and co-chairman Alan Bergman have been troubled by the poor box office returns and the viability of numerous projects in various stages of development.
Of the first few Fox films that Disney was tasked with distributing this year, only one, “Breakthrough,” released in April, was profitable. The faith-based movie grossed $50 million worldwide on a $14 million budget and was produced by DeVon Franklin — whose overall production deal at Fox dissolved in the merger.
The other Fox movies that Disney released — “X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” the action comedy “Stuber” and “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” which opened this past weekend to just $8.1 million — were flops. Those offerings had the added misfortune of arriving just as Disney was shattering records with blockbusters such as “Avengers: Endgame,” “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.”
Running a company that is seemingly allergic to failure, Iger and chief financial officer Christine McCarthy had to break the news to investors that Disney’s per-share stock price and revenue projections were off. Disney brass pinned much of the failure on Fox’s film division, though a close examination of the company’s quarterly report also revealed that lighter-than-anticipated attendance at Disney’s theme parks was also a drag on earnings.
Still, the Fox numbers were dismal. “Dark Phoenix” was a franchise-chilling failure that contributed to a $170 million write-down, and Fox is mired in seventh place in U.S. market share, behind all its studio rivals.
“If Disney hadn’t bought Fox and they were just going along with business as usual, there’d still be layoffs and there’d be a For Sale sign on the lot,” says Jeff Bock, box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “There’s no way they’d have been able to survive in this climate.”
In a blow to Fox vice chairman Emma Watts, who was tapped to run production at the studio, Iger told analysts that top lieutenants Horn and Bergman would be tasked with “redefining 20th Century Fox’s film strategy for the future, applying the same discipline and creative standards behind the success of Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm.”
Looking for quick fixes, Disney has subsequently shuttered much of Fox film’s development slate, intends to shrink its theatrical output and has ordered reboots of beloved Fox library titles for its direct-to-consumer platform, Disney Plus. Rival studio executives estimate that Disney essentially torched at least $50 million worth of development. Watts has weathered the transition as the sole senior leader. Fox Film CEO Stacey Snider left in the first round of layoffs at the studio, and Fox 2000 head Elizabeth Gabler announced a move to Sony Pictures last month.
To be fair, Disney got more than just Fox’s film studio in its $71.3 billion purchase of much of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets. The company also bought Nat Geo, FX, and several other television properties such as The Simpsons — all are valuable brands that will help it as it tries to move aggressively into the streaming space. But the performance of the film division has been a source of concern and annoyance.
Fox has several completed films set to be released by Disney through 2020, including “X-Men” installment “New Mutants” and an astronaut drama with Brad Pitt titled “Ad Astra.” Many original scripts and optioned properties have been “paused” from going into production, one studio insider says. Disney is prioritizing making more broadly commercial projects, which includes ongoing work on sequels to James Cameron’s “Avatar” and starry safe bets like the on-screen reunion of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the drama “The Last Duel.”
Finished films looking for studio support are struggling, insiders say. Disney largely ignored “Dark Phoenix” after it acquired 20th Century in March, according to sources. The marketing team familiar with the film was laid off, and Disney did not spend as aggressively to promote the release. One insider says that the film’s lone premiere in Los Angeles was done with an eye to controlling cost — a bit of economizing that annoyed the film’s creative team. Other filmmakers seeking reshoots for their projects have been asked to submit rigorous storyboards to justify the additional expenses, another knowledgeable insider says.
Disney is optimistic that handing Fox superhero properties such as “Fantastic Four” and “X-Men” to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will improve the quality of these movies, but bumps must be smoothed over in that transition. The studio is unimpressed with “New Mutants,” an “X-Men” spinoff with a haunted-house vibe, and believes it has limited box office potential.
The studio is also grappling with how to fit the very R-rated Deadpool into its PG-13-rated Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The goal is to find a way for the character to move seamlessly between “Avengers” spinoffs and bloody, profane stand-alone adventures.
Fox’s footprint in comic book, family and animation fare is disappearing from the theatrical marketplace and moving onto Disney Plus, set to launch in November. Iger told investors that “reimaginings” of Fox library titles like “Home Alone,” “Night at the Museum,” “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” are all being ordered for the digital platform. Fox Family chief Vanessa Morrison is overseeing these projects. While Iger touted a new installment of “Planet of the Apes” on last week’s call with analysts, little progress has been made on sequels to the sci-fi series.
Gone are original films such as a slate of titles from British animator Locksmith. The company’s completed movie “Ron’s Gone Wrong,” about a fleet of robots designed to be every child’s best friend, will be released by Disney in November 2020 — but three slated projects, including a film about misbehaving fairies (pitched as naughty Tinkerbells) have been given back to their creators. A live-action version of the female-centered comic “Lumberjanes,” from animator Noelle Stevenson, has also been canceled. TV kingpin Greg Berlanti will no longer direct the Jackie Kennedy drama “The Editor,” but is still attached to produce it along with the movie musical “Be More Chill.”
The belt-tightening has put Watts’ future at Disney in question in recent weeks, though two insiders close to the company say she now has a contract in place to remain the shepherd of the Fox label for the next two years. Her priorities will be “Avatar” and delivering Steven Spielberg’s reboot of “West Side Story,” a $100 million musical that is set in the 1950s and will retain the Broadway show’s original music. The script for the film, by Tony Kushner, examines the demonization of immigrants in a way that draws parallels to President Trump’s xenophoic rhetoric.
The only bright spot for the film operation would seem to be Fox Searchlight, the long-operating darling of the indie film world, which will test Disney’s patience with the wacky Hitler drama “Jojo Rabbit,” from “Thor: Ragnarok” director Taika Waititi, this fall. The movie is expected to be a major awards contender.
The scathing takedown of Nazism may, however, prove a little too edgy for Disney brass accustomed to producing movies suitable for parents and kids. Searchlight has started to screen the film for its new parent company. Halfway through one recent viewing one executive grew audibly uncomfortable, worrying aloud that the material would alienate Disney fans. His unease may have been over the film’s cutting-edge satire, but it was also an expression of the culture clash taking place as the two studios embark on their new union. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Direct Nanaimo to Toronto flights coming in June Dec 1, 2017 8:21 AM
NANAIMO — Next summer, it’ll be easier to travel to the heart of Canada.
Air Canada announced Friday, Dec. 1 they’re starting several seasonal flights from Toronto to the West Coast, including Nanaimo, from late June to early October. The flight from Nanaimo will leave four times a week — Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday — at 12:15 p.m.
Angela Mah, Air Canada spokesperson, said the numbers showed Nanaimo could handle more than their daily, year-round flights to Vancouver.
“It says a lot about Nanaimo and Vancouver Island that we’ve seen a lot of demand, particularly during the summer, into this area…and we saw the opportunity to put in additional flights.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
North Dakota leads nation in rate of population gain
FARGO - Justin Walden had a checklist involving quality of life amenities and city attributes that he weighed when considering a move to advance his college teaching career. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
I have been waiting for this feature for more than a year and it is almost there! This likely brings us one step toward diskless compute nodes. This “under the hood” article will explain the mechanisms in place to perform fast and efficient Nova instance snapshots directly in Ceph.
I. Rationale
Here I am taking the assumption that both OpenStack Glance and OpenStack Nova are configured with Ceph. So Glance stored its images as RBD block in Ceph and Nova boots root ephemeral disk in Ceph (using libvirt_image_type=rbd option in your nova.conf ).
Currently while taking a snapshot of a Nova instance, the system will have to through several steps to upload that image into Glance. First, the state of your virtual machine will change to pause, then qemu-img will be called to copy the content of the root ephemeral drive to the compute local filesystem. Once Nova has a local copy it resumes the state of the virtual machine. The snapshot taken is usually stored in $instances_path/snapshots before it gets uploaded into Glance image service.
So now, the image will get streamed from the compute node to Glance API endpoint and then uploaded into Ceph.
Given that Ceph is used everywhere, this process is extremely slow and inefficient. It also brings to light some majors issues that might be really tricky to deal with while operating an OpenStack public cloud. Basically, even if our instances live in Ceph we still need some local storage to be able to perform snapshots and store them locally on the hypervisor before upload to Glance. It is a bit of a waste to have to allocate some space that is not being used all the time and we can not predict how often and for how long they will be.
Introducing Nova RBD snapshot. The ideal is rather simple, seeing that we have Ceph already used by Nova and that RBD images have snapshot capabilities we thought why not use this functionality instead of this monstrous workflow?
And this is exactly what this spec and patch are about. Let’s dive into the implementation in the next section.
II. Under the hood
An image is worth a thousand words.
Hopefully the workflow in the image is clear enough so you have understood already the details :). The implementation works with both clone images and flat RBD images. As reminder, if your images have a RAW format in Glance, this will later result in a clone RBD image for your root ephemeral disk of your instance. This clone will have a parent which is the Glance image.
In case, you do not use RAW images or do not expose image direct URLs you will get a flat RBD image. So no matter the result the snapshots will work perfectly.
One more thing to note is that in case the RBD snapshot fails for some reason, we fallback to the default method (the one explained in the first section). So just in case, it is nice if you could allocate a tiny partition (depending on the size of your environment tmpfs could potentially do the job). For this, you can explicitly set a directory where to save Nova snapshots.
[libvirt] snapshots_directory = /fail/safe/path
That’s all.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
AUSTIN, Texas — Two of the three families targeted by package bombs left on Austin doorsteps knew each other and were connected through local activism in the black community, a civic leader said Tuesday, but it was not clear how they might be tied to a third household where a package bomb also exploded.
Investigators have said the three explosions that killed two people and wounded two others could have been hate crimes since all the victims were black or Hispanic. But they also said they have not ruled out any possible motive.
Dixon Mason, a prominent dentist in east Austin, was grandfather of 19-year-old Draylen Mason, who was killed Monday after carrying a package left at his home into the kitchen and opening it. The elder Mason was friends with Fredie Dixon, stepfather of 39-year-old Anthony House, who died in a similar attack in another part of the city on March 6, said Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the NAACP.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Linder said, explaining that he was concerned by the fact that the families were acquainted.
Still unknown, though, is what connection — if any — the two families had to a third household where another package bomb exploded Monday, injuring a 75-year-old Hispanic woman.
Business records indicate that Dixon was a leader of Austin’s African American Cultural Heritage District, or “Six Square,” which the city defines as 6 square miles of east Austin that was originally created as the Negro District by the Austin City Council in 1928. He also was a longtime pastor at Wesley United Methodist Church, one of the city’s oldest historically black churches.
Dixon was quoted in by the Austin American-Statesman in 2015 lamenting how Austin’s population and prosperity were effectively creating economic segregation by raising the cost of living.
“Austin is quickly becoming a city of the privileged and the non-privileged,” Dixon told the newspaper. “Is that the kind of Austin we want?”
Linder said Austin’s minority community is on edge following the bombings.
“Given the fact these people are people of color, that definitely gets people’s attention,” he said. “And they feel vulnerable, and they should based on the nature of the incidents.”
The FBI and other federal officials continue to assist in the investigation. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told a news conference Tuesday, “We’re not saying terrorism or hate is in play, but we certainly have to consider that.”
Tina Sherrow, a retired agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the materials to build such bombs are commonly available at hardware stores or online, and that police have been mum on details because the perpetrators may be watching media coverage.
“I don’t look at it as terrorism, but it’s terrorism of a community for sure,” Sherrow said.
The package explosives were not delivered by the U.S. Postal Service or any private carrier but left overnight on doorsteps. Still, Manley urged Austin residents to call 911 if they receive any unwanted packages that look suspicious. Authorities responded to 250-plus calls about parcels without finding any that were explosives.
Investigators collecting evidence continued to come and go, and yellow police tape still marked off the sites of Monday’s two blasts, which occurred about 5 miles apart.
At the site of the March 2 bombing, there were no police, but the door to the red-brick house where the package exploded was still boarded up.
There was nothing obvious linking the three neighborhoods where the bombs exploded, other than all were east of Interstate 35, which divides the city. The east side has historically been more heavily minority and less wealthy than Austin’s west side, although that has changed as gentrification has raised home prices and rents everywhere.
The attacks occurred amid the South By Southwest music festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Austin each March. But the blasts happened far from the main events and concert venues. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
For the older geeks, owning the OG Castle Grayskull was by far one of the pieces which every kid of the 70s/80s coveted.
Now, seeing these geeks have all grown up, it’s time for brands who own the He-Man license to cash in on nostalgia.
Advertisement ▼
Enter the Mega Construx Probuilder Castle Grayskull Playset.
Having languished in the shadow of LEGO for the longest time, Mega Construx is ready to go head to head with their brick rival. This playset contains over 3,500 pieces which allow you to build a detailed Castle Grayskull complete with a drawbridge that opens and closes, a working elevator, and a throne room with surprises. Just like the original!
The worry is the lack of an actual entertainment vehicle in the form of a TV series or movie to really push this set though.
Also included with the playset is a suite of working weapons and launchers. But the icing of the cake has to be the included 6 micro action figures: He-Man, Skeletor, Man-at-Arms, Teela, Beast Man, and the exclusive Sorceress! This might be your best bet to get hold of these figures as getting the single figs are close to impossible since launch.
Advertisement ▼
Regardless, the price of US$249.99 for the Mega Construx Probuilder Castle Grayskull Playset should not put off any fan and it’s currently available for pre-order via Amazon.com. But before that, you can settle for the current range on Amazon, such as the Probuilder Wind Raider Attack set.
Drop a Facebook comment below! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Send this page to someone via email
The City of New Westminster has struck down a bylaw that countless residents have been violating for more than a century.
Enacted in 1903, the city’s curfew bylaw banned residents from being out after sunset.
The bylaw was aimed at teenagers staying out late but the city says no tickets have ever been issued. The fine for breaking the curfew was $1.
On Sunday, New Westminster Mayor Jonathan X. Cote jokingly wondered if New Westminster residents would finally be able to stay out after sunset.
Will #newwest residents finally be able stay out after sunset? Repeal of 1903 Curfew Bylaw under review on Monday 😉 pic.twitter.com/baY5146J7Z — Jonathan Cote (@jonathanxcote) April 23, 2017
The answer turned out to be yes. The bylaw was repealed in a city council meeting Monday night without any opposition.
Story continues below advertisement | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
As readers will know, I have been thinking about the hullabaloo about CO2 and global warming and I quickly concluded that CO2 is no threat, won’t do any significant warming (which would be good anyway), and is in fact 100% good for the planet. But someone said to me, if CO2 is no danger, that doesn’t mean that humans are not causing a danger in some other way. Of course I agreed with this, because there are lots of things humans are doing wrongly and thereby causing terrible damage to our world (and the CO2 storm in a teacup is distracting us all from fixing those real problems).
My friend then went on, however, to propose that the danger was still global warming and that the mechanism was, instead of CO2 greenhouse warming, the mere fact that human technology gives off heat. All the power used by all the machines and transport and so on eventually ends up as waste heat. Maybe that is in itself enough to cause us serious warming trouble? So I did some calculations.
According to the laws of thermodynamics, the process of doing useful work must necessarily lose some of the energy from the fuel in the form of waste heat; and that heat, well, heats. In other words, because of the huge extra amount of useful work we do, we create excess heat that would not have been here otherwise, and that heat has to either be dissipated somehow, or else raise the temperature.
The factors that have caused the ice ages, as we saw, are primarily small changes in insolation (heating) by the Sun. The changes can happen because the Sun’s energy output changes or because of cyclic changes in the Earth’s orbit and inclination, etc., changing the amount of heat that actually arrives on the surface. Changes in the Earth’s orbit are believed to be the triggers for the onset of ice ages, and the changes in heating caused by those changes are thought to be quite small compared to the total power output of the Sun. This might lead us to suspect that human-caused changes in the amount of heat at the surface might indeed have a significant effect on the climate.
To answer this question, we need to compare the amount of variation due to the Sun with the amount of heat emitted by industrial civilisation. if the latter is ‘in the same ballpark’ as the former, then human civilisation might be holding off the onset of a new ice age.
Although there is much dispute about the exact mechanism that causes the onset of ice ages, much of it doesn’t concern us right now because one basic fact is clear: somehow or other, the responsibility lies with changes in the amount of heat received from the Sun.
One theory is that the cause is Northern Hemisphere summer cooling. At our current stage in geological history, the North Pole is surrounded by land masses, which are snowed under every winter. If the summers became just a bit colder, then some of that winter snow would remain on the ground throughout summer, and would then turn to ice. The ice will reflect sunlight much better than green plants or dirt or even liquid water, so the cooling will accelerate and the next summer will be even colder and leave even more ice lying around. And so the planet falls into an ice age. Retained heat in the oceans slows down the changes and ‘smooths over’ short-term effects, but once the process starts, the killing ice eventually reclaims its deathly kingdom.
Dr David Archibald suggests that a key measure of this process is the amount of insolation at 65° north latitude. The power of the Sun at 65°N is about 476 Watts per square metre. That means that at midday in mid-summer at, say, Reykjavik (at 64°N, almost the only significant city anywhere close to 65°N), the Sun has about the power of five old-style incandescent light bulbs. When summer sun at this latitude is sufficient to melt the winter snowfall, all is well. Other factors in this calculation are the length of summer (because, for example, a longer, but slightly cooler summer might melt more ice than a shorter warmer one) and how high in the sky the Sun is in mid summer. And the higher it is in summer, the deeper and colder the long winter ‘night’ will be. The factors are complex and researchers disagree as to how exactly they should be combined in order to make good predictions, but some combination of these factors decides whether we bask in life-giving warmth or flee the deadly cold. We cannot hope to make predictions from the kind of short overview we are doing here, but we can get an idea of the magnitudes involved.
How much radiant energy the Sun has in the past or will in the future shine upon the Earth at this latitude can be reliably calculated from basic physical and astronomical properties of the way the Earth orbits the Sun and how that orbit changes with time. This is not an uncertain thing like the forecasts of climate models; it is not exactly easy to calculate, but it depends only upon the extremely well verified equations of Newtonian physics (or, if you prefer a few thousands of a percent more accuracy, relativity). If we didn’t know how to do these calculations, we could never have landed men on the Moon or flown discovery missions past Saturn and on to Uranus and Neptune. Yes, we do know how to make these calculations and we know it very reliably.
When the calculations are done, we find that at the depth of the last ice age, around 22,000 years ago, the Sun’s power (again at 65°N) was around 463Wm-2. On the other hand, at the height of our own interglacial, the Holocene, which occurred about 11,000 years ago (yes, we have been on the downward slope ever since—though you would never guess it from the hairy scary stories about warming in the media) the summer insolation at 65°N was about 527Wm-2. In other words, we have:
What When Sun’s Power Previous Ice Age 22,000 years ago 463Wm-2 Holocene Peak 11,000 years ago 527Wm-2 The Perfect Time Now 476Wm-2
From these figures, we may make the following inferences:
The difference between peak warmth and deepest cold was around 55Wm -2 ; The current value, being only 13Wm -2 above the value at the depth of the ice age, is almost all the way back to ‘cold conditions’; it may be that only stored ocean heat is keeping us out of an ice age (for now).
Moving on, how do these power figures compare with human energy output (mainly by burning fossil fuels)?
Human energy usage in 2006 was 491 exajoules. This translates to an average power usage of 15.56 terawatts each second (divide by the number of seconds in a year). To compare this with the Sun’s power as discussed above, we need to average this over the entire planet. The Earth’s surface area is 510 million sq. km., which gives 30,500 W per sq. km, or 0.03Wm-2. One final adjustment is needed to allow us to do the comparison: the Sun’s insolation given above was as received at noon, whereas this figure is an average over the whole planet. Since the planet’s area is four times the areas of a circle of the same radius, we must multiply by four, giving about 0.12Wm-2 as our final figure for comparison.
The human energy output of about 0.12Wm-2 is clearly overpowered by even the smallest of the numbers we have looked at so far. The 13Wm-2 difference between ice age conditions and today is at least a hundred times larger than human energy output. We might delay a killer ice age slightly, but our heating of the planet is nowhere near large enough to save us.
Are we heating the Earth too much – with heat?
Ron House June 3, 2010 As readers will know, I have been thinking about the hullabaloo about CO2 and global warming and I quickly concluded that CO2 is no threat, won’t do any significant warming (which would be good anyway), and is in fact 100% good for the planet. But someone said to me, if CO2 is no danger, that doesn’t mean that humans are not causing a danger in some other way. Of course I agreed with this, because there are lots of things humans are doing wrongly and thereby causing terrible damage to our world (and the CO2 storm in a teacup is distracting us all from fixing those real problems).
My friend then went on, however, to propose that the danger was still global warming and that the mechanism was, instead of CO2 greenhouse warming, the mere fact that human technology gives off heat. All the power used by all the machines and transport and so on eventually ends up as waste heat. Maybe that is in itself enough to cause us serious warming trouble? So I did some calculations.
According to the laws of thermodynamics, the process of doing useful work must necessarily lose some of the energy from the fuel in the form of waste heat; and that heat, well, heats. In other words, because of the huge extra amount of useful work we do, we create excess heat that would not have been here otherwise, and that heat has to either be dissipated somehow, or else raise the temperature.
The factors that have caused the ice ages, as we saw, are primarily small changes in insolation (heating) by the Sun. The changes can happen because the Sun’s energy output changes or because of cyclic changes in the Earth’s orbit and inclination, etc., changing the amount of heat that actually arrives on the surface. Changes in the Earth’s orbit are believed to be the triggers for the onset of ice ages, and the changes in heating caused by those changes are thought to be quite small compared to the total power output of the Sun. This might lead us to suspect that human-caused changes in the amount of heat at the surface might indeed have a significant effect on the climate.
To answer this question, we need to compare the amount of variation due to the Sun with the amount of heat emitted by industrial civilisation. if the latter is ‘in the same ballpark’ as the former, then human civilisation might be holding off the onset of a new ice age.
Although there is much dispute about the exact mechanism that causes the onset of ice ages, much of it doesn’t concern us right now because one basic fact is clear: somehow or other, the responsibility lies with changes in the amount of heat received from the Sun.
One theory is that the cause is Northern Hemisphere summer cooling. At our current stage in geological history, the North Pole is surrounded by land masses, which are snowed under every winter. If the summers became just a bit colder, then some of that winter snow would remain on the ground throughout summer, and would then turn to ice. The ice will reflect sunlight much better than green plants or dirt or even liquid water, so the cooling will accelerate and the next summer will be even colder and leave even more ice lying around. And so the planet falls into an ice age. Retained heat in the oceans slows down the changes and ‘smooths over’ short-term effects, but once the process starts, the killing ice eventually reclaims its deathly kingdom.
Dr David Archibald suggests that a key measure of this process is the amount of insolation at 65° north latitude. The power of the Sun at 65°N is about 476 Watts per square metre. That means that at midday in mid-summer at, say, Reykjavik (at 64°N, almost the only significant city anywhere close to 65°N), the Sun has about the power of five old-style incandescent light bulbs. When summer sun at this latitude is sufficient to melt the winter snowfall, all is well. Other factors in this calculation are the length of summer (because, for example, a longer, but slightly cooler summer might melt more ice than a shorter warmer one) and how high in the sky the Sun is in mid summer. And the higher it is in summer, the deeper and colder the long winter ‘night’ will be. The factors are complex and researchers disagree as to how exactly they should be combined in order to make good predictions, but some combination of these factors decides whether we bask in life-giving warmth or flee the deadly cold. We cannot hope to make predictions from the kind of short overview we are doing here, but we can get an idea of the magnitudes involved.
How much radiant energy the Sun has in the past or will in the future shine upon the Earth at this latitude can be reliably calculated from basic physical and astronomical properties of the way the Earth orbits the Sun and how that orbit changes with time. This is not an uncertain thing like the forecasts of climate models; it is not exactly easy to calculate, but it depends only upon the extremely well verified equations of Newtonian physics (or, if you prefer a few thousands of a percent more accuracy, relativity). If we didn’t know how to do these calculations, we could never have landed men on the Moon or flown discovery missions past Saturn and on to Uranus and Neptune. Yes, we do know how to make these calculations and we know it very reliably.
When the calculations are done, we find that at the depth of the last ice age, around 22,000 years ago, the Sun’s power (again at 65°N) was around 463Wm-2. On the other hand, at the height of our own interglacial, the Holocene, which occurred about 11,000 years ago (yes, we have been on the downward slope ever since—though you would never guess it from the hairy scary stories about warming in the media) the summer insolation at 65°N was about 527Wm-2. In other words, we have:
What When Sun’s Power Previous Ice Age 22,000 years ago 463Wm-2 Holocene Peak 11,000 years ago 527Wm-2 The Perfect Time Now 476Wm-2
From these figures, we may make the following inferences:
The difference between peak warmth and deepest cold was around 55Wm -2 ; The current value, being only 13Wm -2 above the value at the depth of the ice age, is almost all the way back to ‘cold conditions’; it may be that only stored ocean heat is keeping us out of an ice age (for now).
Moving on, how do these power figures compare with human energy output (mainly by burning fossil fuels)?
Human energy usage in 2006 was 491 exajoules. This translates to an average power usage of 15.56 terawatts each second (divide by the number of seconds in a year). To compare this with the Sun’s power as discussed above, we need to average this over the entire planet. The Earth’s surface area is 510 million sq. km., which gives 30,500 W per sq. km, or 0.03Wm-2. One final adjustment is needed to allow us to do the comparison: the Sun’s insolation given above was as received at noon, whereas this figure is an average over the whole planet. Since the planet’s area is four times the areas of a circle of the same radius, we must multiply by four, giving about 0.12Wm-2 as our final figure for comparison.
The human energy output of about 0.12Wm-2 is clearly overpowered by even the smallest of the numbers we have looked at so far. The 13Wm-2 difference between ice age conditions and today is at least a hundred times larger than human energy output. We might delay a killer ice age slightly, but our heating of the planet is nowhere near large enough to save us. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
SHARE
The myriad strategies used to combat organized crime need government officials to implement them and “sell” them to the public, and Argentina Security Minister Patricia Bullrich is undoubtedly an expert in the latter.
Bullrich is not a conventional government official. Her journey in modern Argentine politics now spans 40 years and several distinct — even oppositional — points on the political spectrum, which has afforded her a unique perspective on the issue of organized crime. Bullrich was second lieutenant in the Montoneros, a leftist Peronist guerrilla group active in the 1970s. She then worked closely with former President Carlos Menem, only to later join the opposition.
Almost two decades since then, Bullrich is with President Mauricio Macri’s Cambiemos party and has been serving as security minister since 2015.
SEE ALSO: Argentina News and Profile
Bullrich has been in charge of implementing a strategy she says is based on “territorial control, paradigm change, much more intelligence and less chance.”
Official figures indicate that the strategy is working, with reports of increased drug seizures and decreased homicide rates. The Macri administration has also said it is undertaking a thorough fight against corruption at all levels.
Critics of Macri, however, say that the numbers only show part of the reality. They argue that a strategy based solely on drug seizures is not resolving the biggest challenges Argentina faces regarding the impact of organized crime and the availability of drugs on the country’s streets.
In an exclusive interview in Washington, DC, Minister Bullrich spoke with InSight Crime about the present and future of a country that has been occupying an increasingly strategic space on the chessboard of the fight against organized crime in Latin America.
InSight Crime (IC): When you came to power you promoted the concept of “disorganizing crime.” What does that entail?
Patricia Bullrich (PB): When we came to power in the government, our [security] forces’ behavior was passive. At our borders, they only stopped 10 percent of [the drugs] Argentina was consuming.
We set into motion what we call the 80/20 model: 80 percent intelligence, 20 percent chance. We began working to generate criminal intelligence data with information from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]. We aimed to reach the heart of Argentina’s drug trafficking organizations or families, while at the same time we initiated a program called “Safe Neighborhoods,” where we went into the neighborhoods with the highest homicide rates from gang activity and definitively lowered those rates. This gave us territorial control in places where it seemed the drug trafficking gangs had infiltrated the government.
These strategies took us from approximately eight to 10 percent confiscated to 35 percent confiscated today, according to a report from our Security Ministry’s Anti-Drug Trafficking Subdirectorate.
IC: Seizure rates can fluctuate, so in the end, what do they really show?
PB: What they show is that we are not just seizing drugs but also disconnecting crime. There has been a 42 percent increase in drug trafficking arrests. That is why we say, “organize the government” and “disorganize crime,” because [when you rely on] just chance, maybe you’ll just get what was being transported in the car or truck you stopped, but if you use intelligence you’ll follow the links until you get the entire chain.
IC: But your critics are saying that you’re arresting mainly small-scale criminals.
PB: They are not small-scale. Today, the criminal organizations in Argentina are more flexible; they’re not vertical organizations, but rather families. In areas where drug dealing has led to violence, we have lowered the level of violence.
For example, in Villa 31 [an informal housing settlement in downtown Buenos Aires], the homicide rate was 27 percent. In Villas 11 and 14 [also in Buenos Aires] we’ve brought the rate down by around 80 percent, although we still don’t have an exact number. [Editor’s note: This information could not be independently verified by InSight Crime.]
Since taking power [in December 2015] we’ve had a decrease of 21.5 percent in homicide rates. How did we do it? By conducting monthly monitoring with the 24 provincial police forces and security ministries in the country. Now, it doesn’t just depend on the federal government; it depends on coordination with the provinces to find out why the homicides are occurring — how many are from robberies, how many are femicides — to examine all the policies we have and think about which ones we should continue using to further bring down homicide rates.
The only place where we have seen an increase [in violence] is in Rosario [in the province of Santa Fe], where Rosario’s most important gang [the Monos] was tried. For now, the situation is out of control, but we’re working to get it under control.
IC: In countries like Colombia, the mafia is described as a small-scale army. In Mexico, people refer to the criminal gangs as logistics specialists. In Guatemala they’re former military officials, and Venezuela is like a “mafia state.” In Argentina, how is organized crime characterized?
PB: We’ve detained some security forces officials, politicians and judges, but I wouldn’t say that’s characteristic.
Today, the criminal organizations in Argentina are more flexible; they’re not vertical organizations, but rather families.
The main characteristic of organized crime in Argentina is that they are families — thieves and criminals who change and see an opportunity to make more money through drug trafficking.
There are also gangs and drug organizations in the favela- or villa-type neighborhoods that fight over business territory and have a certain hierarchical model. There are Argentine, Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian.
IC: How are you addressing the arrival of Colombian gang members to Argentina?
PB: By signing an information exchange agreement with Colombia. It allows us to know their identities, if they’ve had prior drug trafficking charges, if their passports are legitimate or not.
IC: But you have to be careful too. Here in the United States on a daily basis we face a president who blames everything on foreigners …
PB: We’re saying that 75 percent of [criminal] activity linked to drug trafficking originates in Argentina.
To us it makes no difference whether it’s an Argentine, Colombian or Peruvian. What happens is the nature of the borders with countries that have the raw materials and the product makes everything more complicated.
IC: You mentioned the “Safe Neighborhoods” program as part of your security strategy. To me, it seems very similar to what they did in Brazil with the famous Police Pacification Units (Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora – UPP). But it didn’t work in Brazil. Why would it work in Argentina?
PB: I think that in Brazil the program failed when its political crisis took the attention off the government, the ministries, the national and provincial governments, and the pacification police — the UPP — that were in each neighborhood were left on their own. If they’re left alone, they’ll naturally become the same police forces that operated in the favelas before.
They’re shaped by the place [where they operate], so it’s very important not to take your eye off them — monitoring — and not to remove the incentive to change that these police officers have. [It’s also important] to implement strategic changes in the lives of the people.
IC: In contrast to what happened in Rio de Janeiro, how do you ensure that the social aspect is implemented?
PB: We’re working on the whole social aspect, the education aspect and the active part pertaining to drugs. Because we’re the Security Ministry, we’re in the anti-narcotic part of it, but the government also has a directorate focused on drug prevention.
We have schools to prepare students for careers. We have institutions providing all types of education and social support, and places to help people, so what we are seeking is a comprehensive plan.
IC: In difficult situations such as Rosario and other places, the decision has been, “Okay, let’s send in the big guns,” like the Argentine National Gendarmerie. What are the criteria for using the kind of mechanism some would term “mano dura,” or zero tolerance?
PB: First, the gendarmerie is a security force that has two important strengths. It’s true it’s one of the more militarized of the security forces — one might say the most militarized — but it’s a security force that creates a lot of closeness. Its members are used to living in the interior of the country, on the borders in those smaller communities, so they have a closeness that’s very important for this type of work.
The first criterion we have is [focused on] the places where drug trafficking gangs have attempted to take over the territory.
This is always done with the agreement of the [provincial] governors, and basically everything considered organized crime and the provincial police is under the command of the gendarmerie.
IC: What lessons have you learned from the Monos case? There has already been a trial and 13 of those charged were police officers [nine were sentenced].
PB: In the Monos case, it’s important to know that there was complicity from the police, but also important is that they were tried and are now in prison, and they are standing trial for drug trafficking because the [previous] trials were for homicide. Now, the drug trafficking trial is starting. [Editor’s note: The drug trafficking trial has not yet begun, but it is believed it will start at the end of the year.] That’s going to be very important. And today what’s happening in Rosario is a situation where other gangs want to try to take their place.
IC: But has a structure replaced that of the Monos, or are the Monos still giving orders, even from prison?
PB: Our objective is to send them to prison far from where they are, where they don’t have control — that they’re not sent to their own province, so they don’t continue to give orders.
IC: We haven’t really touched on the idea of decriminalizing drug use. You’ve publicly expressed your opposition to it. Why?
PB: Because we believe that decriminalization, not consumption — which is already decriminalized in Argentina. [Editor’s note: Drug use is not completely decriminalized. See InSight Crime’s Argentina Profile for more details.] But decriminalization has had a negative effect, from our perspective, everywhere that it has been decriminalized.
We believe that if the population perceives less risk, the number of people using drugs will rise, the number of people selling drugs will consequently rise, and it will create a situation where problems with health and other issues will rise.
There is also a discussion going on in the Netherlands about the consequences of decriminalization …
IC: And in Uruguay, of course, they’re experimenting.
PB: In Uruguay it’s very new. We’ll see. If tomorrow the United Nations were to say, “After today drugs will be sold in pharmacies like any other medication,” and that meant the price of drugs would immediately decrease, we would accept it. Now, to do it in just one country, no.
In a country like Argentina, which shares borders with [drug] producing countries, no. We believe that the situation would become worse than it is now.
SEE ALSO: Coverage of Drug Policy
IC: You’ve been at your post for more than two years. What have you learned? What will be different here on out given what you’ve learned?
PB: Well, the first thing we’ve learned is that, in the decision to work on security, we’ve had to rebuild things that were largely destroyed. For example, the relationship between security forces and civilians was being destroyed by both sides. We believe that’s a relationship we have to rebuild and that it’s extremely important to do so.
We have to take better care of security forces when they are acting within the framework of the law. They have been neglected a lot in Argentina, and that leads to poor work and corruption, and it’s important that they feel that when they do things well they’re protected by the political authorities.
We’ve learned that organized crime groups know that the best way in is to bribe a government official. So, we need to have controls in place. We’ve created an external security unit, which has really given us results.
And something else we’ve learned that we haven’t yet put into practice is that we have to work more than anything with the youth when they commit crimes.
IC: Before they enter the prison system?
PB: Before they enter the prison system. And that’s fundamental, and we still haven’t achieved it. It’s something we’re discussing. I’ve brought it up with the president because lives can be thrown off course, and instead of becoming criminals their futures could be different.
IC: We do a lot of work on the subject of elites and organized crime. How do you address the issue, focusing on the political elite, the economic elite? In other words, rather than thinking of crime from the bottom up, thinking of it from the top down.
PB: Yes, the truth is we haven’t done any work on elites. If you have anything, it would be interesting if you gave it to us. But the truth is that we disarmed many of the large gangs that had mixed with Argentina’s elites, in the exclusive neighborhoods with the exclusive yachts and more exclusive cars and money invested in land.
IC: Which ones, for example?
PB: Well, for example, we recently ran an operation where we detained a very well-known attorney who was building a train station with a very large parking lot in a very well-known neighborhood where he had contacts and was laundering money for a Colombian drug trafficker. We confiscated all his funds and, well, brought him to justice.
Another very well-known case was the attempt to export 2,500 kilograms of cocaine to Canada. It was also a system for business start-ups involving locally and regionally known attorneys and accountants, together with the people who started up the businesses.
So, we’ve had many cases. We’ve noticed that there are many facets to drug-related activities. But I’d be interested if you have some work on elites.
* The transcript for this interview was translated and edited for clarity and length.
Josefina Salomón, Mike LaSusa and Tristan Clavel contributed research and reporting for this story.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Voetbalfans na Ruttes 'bek houden': 'Je haalt de emotie niet uit het voetbal'
Juichen en zingen in het stadion, daar ontkom je volgens supportersverenigingen niet aan. "Als het erop aankomt zul je dit altijd houden. Daar moeten we reëel in zijn." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Device takes less time to print objects than traditional printers.
KYOCERA Document Solutions has launched its next generation 3D printer, ProJet 4500 professional, in collaboration with 3D Systems.
According to KYOCERA, its new device is a photo realistic full-colour plastic 3D printer, which is the first of its kind in the industry and capable of creating flexible and strong full colour parts.
The printer is expected to be suitable for R&D, concept design, product verification, and can be used to fulfil small production requirements.
The ProJet 4500 is capable of printing 3D models faster with minimal wastage and producing multiple designs in one build.
When compared to the presently used 3D printing devices, ProJet 4500 consumes less time and is costs effective, said KYOCERA Document.
KYOCERA Document Solutions UK Product Marketing manager Trevor Maloney said: "Following the announcement of our strategic partnership with 3D Systems earlier this year, we’re delighted to have expanded the product range on offer to our partners and end-users.
"As 3D printing becomes a more affordable technology we’re excited to offer solutions for all use types through one of the most comprehensive 3D portfolios in the UK."
The new 3D printing solution is a part of a partnership agreement between 3D Systems and KYOCERA which aim to help produce mission critical parts and models with the new solution. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Here we go again…
UPDATED BELOW
NOTE: More on this story which has been picked up by the New York Times HERE.
And even more HERE.
Yesterday, I wrote about how Americans for Prosperity representatives helped knock down their own tent on the grounds of the Michigan State Capitol building during an anti-Right to Work for Less rally there. Subsequent to posting that piece, I was alerted to comments on Reddit. You can read those comments HERE. What is evident from the comments is that there is a lot of editing that has gone on with the videos Fox News is now running in nearly constant rotation making it look like all of the violence and hostility at the rally yesterday came from union members. As it turns out, significant portions of it were faked and creative Breitbart-style editing helped it along much more.
This morning I spoke with with the Reddit commenter who posted the information. He assisted me in putting this piece together and was present for the conversation that happens in the first minutes of the first video below.
Here’s the first, highly edited video which ends with Fox News contributor Steven Crowder getting punched by some union protesters:
This video is actually a composite of things that happened over the course of the day, many of them hours apart. The initial conversation happened early in the morning. At about 0:16, it cuts to Crowder saying, “You’ve already destroyed one tent, leave this one alone.” That happened hours after the interview with the union workers that starts the segment. The guy he’s talking to is standing quite a distance from the tent but Crowder insists that he’s somehow tearing down the tent.
Selective editing at about 0:39 mark shows what appears to be union guy attacking Crowder for no apparent reason. However, if you look closely, you’ll see that the guy is getting up off the ground — that he was NOT the one that became aggressive first.
At about 1:13, as the tent is coming down, Crowder comes over to the cameraman and waves him off as if to say, “that’s enough filming.” The reason for this becomes clear if you watch this longer, less edited version of the video:
What they apparently don’t want you to see is union members using knives to cut the tent open to let people inside out. Rather, the message that is being sent by the conservative media and blogosphere is that the union members deliberately cut the tent to pieces in an act of malicious vandalism. As was pointed out on Reddit HERE, the union members actually ask, “Is everybody out?” and then proceed to make sure that they are.
At 1:49 in the longer video, one union members notes that an AFP guy has a gun and brags that he’s “killed plenty of mother fuckers with a gun” (i.e., he’s killed people who were in possession of guns.) This is being played up as if a UNION MEMBER had a gun. Not true.
If you want to see a blatant act of theater on Crowder’s part, keep watching that segment. At 2:07, Crowder asks the cameraman “are you recording this?” The cameraman answers, “Yes”, then Crowder acts as if he’s being roughly shoved back into the crowd unprovoked. If you watch closely, the guy who supposedly pushed him has his hands by his side.
UPDATE: It appears that Crowder was actually pulled back by a protester in that segment which is not evident in the longer video but IS evident in the shorter, edited video. My apology for the error and thanks to those in the comments who pointed it out to me.
For those who have accused me of defending violence by union members, I don’t. It pisses me off to no end that these people allowed themselves to be manipulated by Americans for Prosperity and Fox News and incited into doing stupid shit that gives ALL union members a bad name even though the stupid shit was done by only a small handful out of the 15,000+ people that attended the rally and behaved perfectly calm.
That said, there is no question in my mind whatsoever that AFP and Fox employees set out to incite a huge crowd of very angry people. My wife Anne spoke to a number of union members yesterday who spoke about their fear of the future. They are barely making ends meet now and, with the passage of Right to Work for Less laws, they will now have even less of an opportunity to improve their situation. They are afraid and they are angry and Americans for Prosperity sticking their thumb into their eye fans the flames. They had two HUGE tents taking up space in the middle of the Capitol grounds that were largely empty throughout most of the day.
People that were present at the rally told me that Crowder uses a technique of intentionally invading your personal space to make you uncomfortable and then peppers you with questions to make you angry. It is an intentional act to incite an angry response. The Capitol grounds were a tinderbox of angry folks and both AFP and Fox News tossed a lit match into it and then blamed the wood for catching fire. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Posted by posila on 2020-02-07
Hello,
We released 0.18.4 this week, same old same old, more bugfixes, more bugs, more changes. At this stage of development, not many interesting things are happening, we are just polishing what we have.
Minor terrain render optimization posila
Just a couple days before the release of 0.18.0 I had an epiphany about a terrain rendering problem that was bugging me for a really long time. When rendering terrain, we reuse the texture from the previous frame. How this was always done, is that we would render the texture shifted to the new position, fill up the gap, and then copy the final result back into the texture for reuse in next frame. So what was bugging me about this? This simple operation would result in rasterizing 2 screens worth of pixels. While that is not a problem for at least half decent GPUs from the past decade, it's a significant work load for integrated GPUs, which in general have an order of magnitude lower memory bandwidth than dedicated GPUs. It could also be equally bad for old low-end dedicated GPUs.
One of the extreme examples is the Intel HD Graphics 3000 - an integrated GPU on the Sandy Bridge CPU architecture. When you sit still and the terrain can be reused without shifting, it would take 'just' 2 milliseconds to copy it to the game view. But when you started to move, the GPU time to render the terrain could go up to 5 milliseconds. And that is only at 1600x900 resolution. Not even 1080p. So, it was bothering me we were spending nearly 1/3rd of a frame time (16.66 ms) to render the terrain, when the engine has much more work to do to render the rest of the game (for comparison GeForce GTX 750Ti or Radeon R7 360 would do the same under 0.5 ms at 1080p).
The realization I had, was that I can 'scroll' the buffer texture. If I remember the offset of the top left corner, I can un-scroll it to the game view, and then instead of copying all the terrain back to the buffer, we can just adjust the offset and update the parts that changed. So, the number of pixels copied is proportional to how much the terrain scrolled. It is so simple I am embarrassed not to have figured this out years ago.
Mp4 playback not supported on your device.
Most people could not have noticed this optimization, as most GPUs people have nowadays did the un-optimal thing in a fraction of a millisecond already. But it still made me very happy to be finally able to remove this inefficiency. Contemporary integrated GPUs are also significantly faster, and while it might not be as much of a challenge to render the game for them, they do share some resources with the CPU - be it the last level of cache, or CPU cooler, so the integrated GPU working hard may cause the CPU to slow down.
However, the point I wanted to illustrate by this post is how broad a range of GPUs there is. People see a 2D game and expect to be able to play it on essentially anything. If we want to live up to that expectations, we have to impose a lot of limitations on ourselves, because 'anything' also includes a couple orders of magnitude slower GPU than is found in an average gaming computer of today. CPUs got a lot faster in the last decade too, but mostly due to increasing the number of cores and adding wider vector computation units. They didn't get that much faster when executing serial code, which is unfortunately most of Factorio's game code. So if you play the game on a laptop with a Core 2 Duo and GeForce 320M, you'll run into framerate issues due to the weak GPU much sooner than a UPS slowdown due to the old CPU.
Side note: You might ask, why do we bother with caching the terrain in the first place and not just re-render it from scratch every frame. Short answer is - because Factorio's terrain rendering is insane due to its complicated tile transition rules, and re-rendering it every frame is just not fast enough. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Photo credit: San Diego Sheriff Department
A West Hills High School freshman has been arrested by sheriff's deputies after posting a threatening message on social media accompanied by a photo of a rifle made of Legos.
The 14-year-old's name was not released but he was charged with "making terrorist threats after he posted a photo of a Lego rifle on social media with a threatening message," according to Grossmont Union High School District spokeswoman Catherine Martin.
Martin went on to thank deputies from San Deigo County Sheriff's Department "for their quick action." She also affirmed authorities take "any threats to our schools very seriously." News of this latest arrest follows another threat to Westview High School where another student was arrested on suspicion of threatening to carry out a shooting.
The Westview student allegedly told classmates to stay home Wednesday if they wanted to avoid his upcoming gun rampage, according to San Diego police. Students reported the comments to authorities and that student was arrested and booked into juvenile hall.
The recent spree of school shooting threats follows the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history last month in Parkland, Florida. 19-year-old Nikolas Curz killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School before being arrested by authorities an hour after the shooting.
Related coverage: <a href="https://thegoldwater.com/news/19589-Researchers-Schools-Are-Safer-Than-The-90-s-And-Still-One-Of-The-Safest-Places-For-Kids">Researchers - Schools Are Safer Than The 90's And Still One Of The Safest Places For Kids</a>
<i>On Twitter:</i>
<a href="https://twitter.com/MAGASyndicate">@MAGASyndicate</a>
Tips? Info? Send me a message!
Source: http://fox5sandiego.com/2018/02/28/student-arrested-for-allegedly-posting-photo-of-lego-rifle-with-threat/ | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Men, Women and Chimps Why is it so easy for women to manipulate men? Why do women like the bad guys rather than the nice guys? The answers from evolution are revealed below. According to Dr Helen Fisher ... For millions of years, women worked. They came home with 60 to 80 per cent of the evening meal - a double-income family was the rule. Goodness! So women came home with 60 to 80 per cent of the evening meal - for millions of years, eh? How strange! Even Homo Erectus didn't quite materialise until some 2 million years ago. Helen Fisher must be a clairvoyant! We barely know how males and females interacted with each other 100,000 years ago, let alone millions of years ago. And look at this! ... "Women are sturdier animals because they have the most difficult job on Earth raising tiny, helpless babies and performing a multiplicity of tasks concurrently." Raising tiny helpless babies is the most difficult job on Earth? Yeah. Sure. Even baboons do it! In the jungle! Every goddamn mammal on the planet does it. Dr Helen Fisher will surely soon be telling us that menstruating is a sign of high intelligence and that painting your fingernails regularly is a mark of genius. But this kind of politically-correct flimflam masquerading as science poisons and debases all academia these days. And it is designed to demean men while fraudulently bolstering the qualities of women. Females of all species were, apparently, always wonderful, and males were simply parasitic on them. This has been the recurring theme, in one way or another, since the 1970s. Well. There is one thing that I am sure about concerning both hominids and humans, and this is the fact that females have been manipulating, deceiving and tricking their male counterparts ever since they were chimpanzees. women are the schemers, the phonies and the frauds In comparison to males, females are the schemers, the phonies and the frauds. But they need to be this way. Because females - whether they be chimpanzees or humans - survive happily ONLY by manipulating males to do their bidding. Let's think about chimpanzees for the moment. They live in troops dominated by a few alpha males. Well. Why do these alpha males bother to hang around? You got me there, Harry. Why don't they just eat the baby chimps and the female chimps (an easy source of food) and then go off into the jungle to have a jolly good time eating bananas, chasing small mammals and playing football? Well. The reason is that there is an inbuilt mechanism inside the brains of males that prevents them from harming their females and children. This mechanism MUST exist. And, at the very minimum , this 'psychological' mechanism has a huge defensive currency from the female's point of view. And, of course, such a mechanism is clearly evident in humans. For example (and there are thousands of examples like this throughout History) when William the Conqueror invaded Britain and killed King Harold and his troops in 1066, and when he later brutally suppressed those troublesome unhappy folk in the rebellious north, the men and young boys were mostly killed. The women, however, were not. And this scenario has been repeated over and over again since time immemorial. There are definitely strong mechanisms that protect females from the violence of males. In a nutshell: There are definitely strong mechanisms that protect females from the violence of males. And human females certainly use their knowledge of this to considerable manipulative advantage. In the chimp world these mechanisms save female chimps from being harmed by male chimps, and the very presence of the male chimps within their troops also protects them and their offspring from sources of danger that arise from other animals. And, of course, the social and sexual attractiveness of females has something to do with all this. For example, when an aggressive-looking alpha male chimp approaches a female, a typical response is for her to stick out her backside and offer herself for sex. This diverts the aggressive male, and it appeases him in some way - which is probably why he often behaves with apparent aggression in the first place. Good tactic! But this act of appeasement is also a 'turn on' for the females. They love it! Indeed, when female chimps are in their estrus period they will gleefully copulate 40 or 50 times a day. 50 times a day! Stop complaining Eric. Only 24 more to go.
And then we can break for lunch. In other words, not only do female chimps love it, but they cannot manage even to take a half-an-hour break from it! This is no hobby. This is an obsession. An unbelievably insatiable addiction. ... human females also love to appease dominant males. And human females also love to appease dominant males. And they are also clearly often very excited by what we now call 'abuse'. Look at the soap operas that they love to watch, day after day; the books that they like to read, and the topics that are continually being covered on their emotionally-charged chat shows. They can't get enough of it! Human females are obsessed with the idea of being 'vulnerable'. They cannot stop wallowing in the idea of themselves being 'abused'. In other words, this must be one of the biggest turn-ons in their emotional books. But do they copulate 50 times a day? Yes: but mostly in their heads - as they salivate over each emotional syllable that emanates from Oprah's moist lips, as they turn hungrily to the next page concerning the latest abuse scandal, as they sit there in their living rooms - eyes wide, mouths open, brains dead - as the brute in the soap opera slaps that poor woman's face; again and again and again. But they love it! Now let's just go back to the chimps before I get carried away, and see how this works in terms of evolution to see how human females got to be the scheming masochists that they are today. For the sake of argument, imagine for the moment that chimps are completely unable to think in any logical way. Try to see them as automatons who respond purely on the basis of their 'feelings' - their 'emotions'. For example, when chimps copulate, they surely do it for some immediate reward of some sort (pleasure!). They certainly do not realise that copulation leads to babies. OK. So here we are in the jungle. And the situation is this. There are these very heavy muscular aggressive alpha male chimps floating around the place and the smaller females and their offspring somehow have to survive around them. How on Earth do they achieve this successfully? If, for example, they run away to live on their own then they have had it. They will not survive on their own. And, of course, if they do not hang around with male chimps then they will simply fail to reproduce. Such females do not have a long lineage. They disappear from the evolutionary tree very quickly. In fact, the evolutionary success of females and their lineages will be very much dependent on how effectively they manage to entice the ALPHA males into copulating with them and protecting them. Indeed, it is not much use being a female who copulates only with weak males. Females who copulate only with weak males are going to reproduce weak males, and, to make matters worse, weak males, in the presence of alpha males, do not have much hope in the way of producing many future offspring. Females who are 'turned on' by weak males are not, therefore, going to produce a long lineage of descendants. They are doomed! females who are 'turned on' by aggressive males ... are going to make it big time! On the other hand, females who are 'turned on' by aggressive males and who can manipulate such males without being harmed by them are the outright winners. Their descendants (and their genes) are going to make it big time! Not only are they going to reproduce strong males themselves, who will likely then go on to be future alpha males, they are also going to reproduce the same kind of females. They will produce females who have the same fabulous, scheming, manipulative abilities as themselves - who have the same desires to copulate with alpha males - and who will manage to gain the same kind of protection from alpha males for their growing offspring. The genes of these females will spread and spread and spread. And remember that none of these things requires any 'conscious' or 'logical' intent. They can arise purely from emotional responses and 'feelings' that have been 'selected for' by the process of evolution. And those chimps who, by chance, have the best combinations and whose youngsters inherit them are going to dominate the future. No forward planning is necessary. Natural Selection! Sexual Selection! In summary, here are the qualities that will lead to female chimps bearing a long lineage. 1. The female chimps need to be attracted to the alpha males, not to the weak ones. 2. They need to be able to attract the alpha males into copulating with them. 3. They need to be able to manipulate the alpha males into doing them no harm. 4. Better still, they need to manipulate the alpha males into protecting them. Female chimps and their descendants without these qualities are doomed to extinction by being swamped by those that have them. In short, as far as female chimps are concerned, being attracted to dominant males and being able to manipulate them successfully for their own purposes is the key to evolutionary success. Indeed, they do not really have any other key. There is no other key! there is much about human female behaviour that seems to fall into place when one studies the behaviour of their chimpanzee counterparts. And, of course, given that the emotional and feeling parts of the brains of human females are not that much different from those of chimps, there is much about human female behaviour that seems to fall into place when one studies the behaviour of their chimpanzee counterparts. Alpha male chimps, on the other hand, do not need to be as complexly manipulative as females in order to produce a long lineage. Their size and their ability to aggress with impunity carry a lot of weight in any conversation. Good gums. Good teeth. Yep: She'll do. They do not need to 'attract' their females. They have the ability to catch them, to threaten them, and to have their wicked ways with them. And this ability - derived, basically, from their sheer size and strength - is also very useful when it comes to keeping the weaker males out of the picture. But apart from having size and strength, there are two other qualities that will contribute very strongly to the survival of a particular alpha male's lineage. 1. He needs to be very sexually attracted to females and to cause them no harm despite his size. In other words, he must be very much positively affected and appeased by the signals that emanate from females. 2. The stronger is his sex drive and the more females that he impregnates, the better! There are, of course, some qualities that will benefit the evolutionary success of both males and females. For example, the more protective that they are toward their youngsters, the more likely are their lineages to survive. (However, male chimps do not seem particularly concerned about their youngsters.) But there are distinct differences between male and female chimps when it comes to those qualities that are significant in determining the longevity of their lineages. The successful alpha male chimps basically succeed on the basis of their brute strength - or the threat of it - and their high sexual drives, and the successful female chimps succeed by having sex with such beasts and by negotiating their way around them. The fundamental difference when it comes to encounters between them is that the successful female chimps need to be able both to attract and to control the behaviour of the alpha male chimps (or they are in deep trouble evolutionary-wise) without using force, whereas the reverse is not the case - after all, the alpha males can simply have their wicked ways by force. And it is important to notice that female chimps who adopt a strategy of avoiding alpha males have little hope of success. On the contrary, it is only those who will lurk around in the vicinity of the alpha males that will be impregnated by them. And given that female chimps cannot possibly understand the connection between sex and the quality of their offspring, the ONLY reason that they do lurk around near alpha males must be because they 'like' doing so . Indeed - as we already know - they love it! In fact, they love it about 50 times a day. In other words, they really, really do like their alpha males. But these female chimps are also playing with fire. They must be able to give off signals that protect themselves from attack. And the best way (in fact, the only way) to do this is to appear to be as non-threatening as possible. And the weaker and the more vulnerable that they look to the alpha male, the less of a threat does the alpha male perceive them to be. human females are rather like young children in many respects And, putting it bluntly, this is why human females are rather like young children in many respects - squeaky voices, not much body hair, round bits, soft skin and, of course, inexplicable tantrums. The idea is to look and act vulnerable - just like children. Hi Honey-Bundle; some flowers for our first wedding anniversary. From the alpha male's point of view, of course, his lineage will do particularly well if he impregnates such females. And he will give birth to sons who are sexually disposed towards the very same kind of chimpanzee 'womenfolk' that he, himself, was attracted to - i.e. his sons will also be attracted to vulnerable-looking female chimps who lurk around them, entice them, and who blissfully proffer their services in a non-threatening way. The groupies! Alpha males who have a different point of view as to what constitutes 'attractiveness in females' will have a much harder time in comparison. For example, if they were to prefer the more dominant, the more threatening, the less readily available types of female chimps (feminist chimps) their lineages, statistically speaking, are just not going to make it. There will be no hope for them! Feminist Chimp But also notice that the males who ended up producing long lineages were actually designed to be manipulated by vulnerable-looking females. They were designed to fall for all the hooplah. Those that did not fall for all the female hooplah, did not make it. That's right Guys. You were actually designed by Nature to be stupid and a complete and utter imbecile when it comes to females. You were actually born that way. And Boy, does it show! And so it is that chimps have evolved to be the way they are. The males are highly sexual and aggressive and they particularly like to have sex with females who lurk around them looking weak and non-threatening. The females get their kicks out of having sex with alpha males The females get their kicks out of having sex with alpha males whom they need to attract (the males do not need to attract, they can threaten to use force) and around whom they have to negotiate their way with skill. Indeed, this seems to be one of their main pleasures in life. 50 times a day. 50 times! Male chimps compete with each other for access to the females by way, mostly, of aggression and intimidation. The females compete with each other for the alpha males by trying to be the most attractive and the most available to them, and by appearing to be the least threatening toward them; i.e. the most vulnerable to them. Well. The above is an extremely simplified version of the chimpanzee mating game. Their social structures are much more complex than indicated. For example, the alpha males do not spend much of their time chasing away the weaker males. In fact, the males mostly get on quite well with each other; with the occasional grunt passing for chatter. (So, not much in the way of human male evolution there!) And the females are not constantly vying with each other over access to these alpha males. Though, strangely, the females do not actually communicate with each other much. And there are complex social hierarchies that exist both within and between the genders that fluctuate and change with time. Nevertheless, on balance, the successful lineages will derive from the intimate goings-on between the strongest males and the females who are the most able and willing to consort with them. the female's route to evolutionary success does not depend so much upon her physical strength but upon her ability to manipulate And the main point being made here is that the female's route to evolutionary success does not depend so much upon her physical strength but upon her ability to manipulate the strongest males to her own advantage through the various signals that she presents to them. And, further, the more weak and vulnerable that she appears to be, the more attractive will she be to the males. (Remember that if there were any male chimps who, in fact, preferred the more feisty females who always said, "No," and who fought like tigers to escape from their amorous advances, well, they would have died out long before. Such male chimps would not have left many descendants. Only those males who sought (enjoyed) the company of compliant females made it.) (According to Brown, who is affiliated with the ISR Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, the current findings are consistent with earlier research showing that expressions of vulnerability enhance female attractiveness.) And if we move the evolutionary clock forward by some 6 million years to where we are today, as humans, we can surely see similarities between the behavioural inclinations of members of our own species and those of chimpanzees. human males are very much attracted to what appear to be weak and vulnerable females For example, human females remain very attracted to dominant males, and human males are very much attracted to what appear to be weak and vulnerable females. And all this appears to be something that is embedded deep within our natures. But there is something else that happened throughout our own evolution - the development of a complex language. And language is a system through which members who speak and understand it can influence each other. And this is one of the main purposes of language. It is, fundamentally, a tool of manipulation. Its purpose is to allow users of it to affect the attitudes and behaviours of others. There is no point in talking to a piece of flint and telling it to shape itself into an arrow head. It does not matter how much you verbally abuse that piece of wood. It will not shape itself into a spear, no matter how much you shout at it. Language is a tool that allows users of it to manipulate other users. It is not a tool that can operate directly on objects in the environment. And in much the same way that female chimps needed to develop their non-verbal manipulative skills in order to negotiate successfully with the alpha males with whom they wished to mate and to live amongst, so it is that human females have also developed greater language skills than males in order to achieve more or less the same ends. (Female chimps are also much more expressive verbally than are male chimps. And while chimp 'language' is fairly minimal, it is very effective in expressing basic emotions - fear, rage, joy etc - through various yelps, hoots and screeches. Yep. Even male chimps have to put up with all the histrionic verbiage of their moody females while remaining mostly silent on the issues.) Nope: I'm not listening. humans now consist of two genders, one of which - the female one - is extremely adept at manipulating the other And so it is that humans now consist of two genders, one of which - the female one - is extremely adept at manipulating the other through means other than sheer force. And it seems that human females now have the upper hand in a number of ways. 1. They clearly have much stronger non-verbal manipulative mechanisms than do males. 2. They have developed greater language skills with which to manipulate others. 3. They have had millions of years in which to refine such skills. 4. Even the mildest use of 'force' or the threat of it (a male's manipulative tool in the gender war) have increasingly been outlawed. So. What hope have men got, eh? It is noteworthy that this ability of females to manipulate males is not necessarily a mark of 'intelligence' by any means. For example, when a wife cajoles or seduces her husband into fixing the computer, she requires far less in the way of intelligence than does he in order to achieve her aims. She merely requires the ability to manipulate him. And in the chimp world, alpha male chimps will very often give females some of their freshly-caught meat in exchange for a bit of sex. But when one looks closely at the question of who is getting the best deal out of any exchanges, it is surely legitimate to focus on what skills, what effort, and what intelligence were required to gain the wherewithal to make them. Well. The male chimp had to rush off somewhere into places unknown in order to seek out, catch, and then kill the prey, whereas the female chimp simply had to bend over. That's not a fair exchange! That male chimp has been suckered! Hmm. I think I've been suckered. Indeed, in western societies today the divorcing wives of wealthy men frequently manage to acquire huge wealth simply by having done little more than having allowed themselves to be provided with the most privileged and most pampered of lifestyles for a few years. And this kind of grossly unbalanced type of exchange has clearly predominated in the world of gender relations among both chimps and humans. And the astonishing amount of effort, time and money that human females put into altering the way that they look in order to manipulate the males around them surely tells us where their real skills, motivations and their conscious predilections lie. men in the western world are not aware of just how manipulative are their women Unfortunately, however, men in the western world are not aware of just how manipulative are their women. And there are two main reasons for this. 1. The feminist-indoctrinated media have gone out of their way to hide the various ploys of women while highlighting those of men. (For example, they claim that women 'do not lie about rape' - which they do, by the thousand - and that men are rarely victims of domestic violence - which they are, by the million.) There is, therefore, little consciousness raising among western men about the ways in which they are constantly being manipulated by women. 2. One of the requisites for being a good manipulator is the ability to hide the fact that you are manipulating. And, needless to say, this ability to hide one's manipulative intent is very strongly developed in females. And it has to be this way. Without the ability to hide the fact that one is manipulating, there is no point in learning how to manipulate! Indeed, women begin to manipulate every morning as soon as they sit in front of the mirror. the well-honed manipulative ability of women was clearly recognised by most of the great religions In fact, the well-honed manipulative ability of women was clearly recognised by most of the great religions throughout most of history, and the various coverings that many women today are forced to wear in some societies dominated by religion are specifically designed in order to reduce this ability to manipulate. And so when one considers the human species as consisting of two different groups of individuals competing with each other for survival (and for comfort) it is quite clear that the females (especially in the west) have been winning hands down for quite some time. And it is men who now need 'liberating' not women. Indeed, it is the men who get sent off to die in battle. It is the men who end up doing all the arduous, difficult and dangerous jobs. It is the men who end up in prisons. It is the men who get blamed for everything. And so on and so on. Indeed, as civilisation has marched onwards, particularly in the west, the females have become increasingly empowered - empowered at the expense of the males; literally. the feminists hijacked the mainstream media in order to stir up hatred toward men. And in the past many decades, women have successfully managed to further empower themselves hugely through the added means of mass communications technologies. The best example of this, needless to say, was the manner in which the feminists hijacked the mainstream media in order to stir up hatred toward men. Their ability to manipulate and deceive through visual images and language was increased enormously by the hierarchical way in which the media were structured at the time. This huge extra advantage gained by having so much effective control through the media is, of course, still operating, but, thankfully, it is now being undermined by the internet and by the growth of the men's movement. And the skilful manner in which women manipulate men for their own purposes (as well as the deceits that are necessarily involved in doing this) are now being increasingly exposed. And, as this happens, one imagines that increasing numbers of men will not take too kindly to what they see. However, none of the above is to suggest that men do not attempt to manipulate women. They surely do. But ... 1. Men are more often seeking something from women that is very easy to provide (e.g. sex and/or affection) as opposed to something that requires a huge continuing effort (e.g. earning a lot of money). 2. They are nowhere nearly as adept at manipulation as are women - either verbally or non-verbally. 3. Men rarely think about using much in the way of manipulation as a tool when it comes to inter-gender interactions - and certainly not to anywhere near the same extent as do women; e.g. they rarely put on make-up, they rarely flash their legs or look tearful when a police officer has just stopped them for speeding, and they rarely spend a fortune on their underwear! And if we think very carefully about the world, both now and in the past, the evidence surely tells us that there is barely an object or an idea that has been conceived, created, constructed or manufactured by humans that has not been conceived, created, constructed or manufactured by men . Look around the room that you are in. There is scarcely an item that has been conceived, created, constructed or manufactured by women. Not even the bricks. western women still manage successfully to portray themselves as being superior to their men And yet western women still manage successfully to portray themselves as being superior to their men and continually worthy of special privileges and considerations! Well. Quite clearly. This would simply not be possible were it not for their astonishing skills when it comes to manipulation. Furthermore, even though it is men who make up the vast majority of victims when it comes to violence, crime, homelessness, physical and mental illness, premature death, suicide, war, accidents at work, loss of home, loss of children and, indeed, when it comes to most other things, it is still the case that women victims get most of the attention, most of the sympathy and most of the funding. And so, once again. This would simply not be possible were it not for their astonishing skills when it comes to manipulation. The skills that women have, and the ones that they are most predisposed to use, do not cure diseases. They do not make important discoveries. They do not tap the resources of the earth. They do not even build houses. Their skills are mostly aimed toward manipulating males. And most western women clearly both recognise and understand this and use this to their advantage from a very early age. ... + UK Women are taking more time and trouble over their underwear and spending a small fortune in the process. Here we meet five women who spend more on their lingerie than they do on the rest of their wardrobes. + UK More than nine out of 10 of the girls believe it should be up to their husbands to provide for them. "According to a survey of 5,000-plus teenage girls, their main ambition is to complete university then return to the homestead - whether their partners like it or not. " Leviticus 12 1:6 If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; ... But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks. Correct! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });
An IDF tank struck a Hamas observation post, killing one Palestinian after an IDF officer was lightly wounded on Tuesday evening by gunfire along the border with the southern Gaza Strip.“An initial investigation in the field found that during a riot, which included rock throwing, a terrorist opened fire at IDF troops,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement. “A bullet struck the helmet of an IDF officer who was stationed at the scene.”He was lightly wounded by the gunfire and was treated in the field before being evacuated to Soroka-University Medical Center in Beersheba. The officer was later released from the hospital.The Palestinian casualty was identified by the Ministry of Health in Gaza as 24-year-old Mahmoud Abed al-Nabahin. Another two Palestinians were reported to have been injured, one seriously.The shelling came in response to gunfire targeting IDF troops stationed along the border fence near Kibbutz Kissufim during a riot which saw hundreds of Palestinians hurling stones at troops stationed along the border fence.In addition, five Palestinians approached the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip, with two infiltrating into Israel before returning immediately to Hamas-run coastal enclave.Earlier in the day, an IDF tank struck a Hamas post in the northern Gaza Strip in response to shooting from the post at IDF soldiers, though no injuries or damage was caused, the IDF said.The escalation on the southern border comes after a period of relative quiet with the ongoing weekly “Great March of Return” protests relatively quiet, without any casualties on the Palestinian side last week.Thousands of Gazans protest along the security fence in the weekly demonstrations, which began on March 30, calling for an end of the 12-year-long Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.During the violent Friday protests, Gazans have been burning tires and hurling stones as well as grenades and other explosive devices toward IDF troops. Gazans have also launched countless aerial incendiary devices into southern Israel, devastating thousands of hectares of land and forests.The first Israeli soldier killed along the Gazan front since Operation Protective Edge in 2014 also occurred near Kibbutz Kissufim, after an IDF force responded to a violent protest by 20 Palestinian youth some 400 meters from the border fence. Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi was killed after he was shot in the chest by sniper fire.Another soldier was struck by sniper fire in the area less than a week after Levi was killed. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Subsets and Splits